compensation

A four-panel comic. In the first two panels, a woman with curly orange hair and a brown jacket leans toward a large dark car and taunts the driver: "Big car there, bro. Compensating for something?" The man at the wheel replies flatly, "My mother never loved me." In the next two panels she backpedals: "Oh god, I'm sorry. I meant you had a small penis or were weak." The man answers, "That's why my father never loved me" — turning every insult into a fresh confession of childhood neglect. Votey (aftercomic): a close-up of the man's sad, downturned face as he says, "The engine is very loud so I can't hear myself cry."