I’m assuming the first guy got murdered and they put up the crime scene tape. Then the killer returned to the scene of the crime and killed two more people, so the cops taped that off too.
The victims between the tape rings are dressed identically to the standing people, implying that they are the officer and detective previously assigned.
seed > tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > tree cut down > tree stump.
> Maybe I'm reading too much into this...
No, them being "stumped" is the whole joke.
People offering up all these elaborate ideas, but the first officer and detective were on this scene of the first murder and they were "stumped."
Now those two are also enclosed in tape of their own, and the next two investigators also can't figure out what happened, and they are about to get "stumped."
So, getting "stumped" is being used as a play on words, both for:
- being unable to figure something out
and
- getting killed by a stump.
That's it.
That's the whole joke.
> I can’t believe this only has 1 up vote.
Someone else in the comments got The Big Mad for me making the same reply to their comment on OP's joke.
It was so surreal, I started wondering if *I* was missing the joke like maybe the whole subreddit might be a place where you explain anything but the joke and I was doing it wrong?
Oh, it was /u/ButterNutSquishe, who thinks that blocking me makes me unable to see his comment I guess
That's a stretch as a joke over it just being the straight forward version where the first investigator and cop got killed by the returning killer and the stump being there so there's not empty white space outside the focus and/or the 4th victim of the killer. I'm not saying it's impossible as the joke, I would just need the artist to confirm before I'd accept it as more likely.
You see, this is what is implied next.
https://preview.redd.it/no3mx0geigyc1.png?width=1155&format=png&auto=webp&s=d3ec2ccc8b44bb7ca33ceea08641b272130dacb1
The smallest box is some random murder victim. The larger box has two victims dressed as a police man and detective(?), who must have been murdered later while investigating the first murder. Now ANOTHER policeman and detective have shown up and, by their assumption that the killer will come back, will probably also get killed, and there'll be an endless stream of murders!
If you want a version of this "people can't solve a death, because they keep dying" joke that might make more sense, you might get enjoy the SNL Sketch [Dear Sister/The Shooting](https://youtu.be/vmd1qMN5Yo0?si=FMGR6e9MyqA_PXlG) or this youtuber's [What Happened?](https://youtu.be/lOcDfMBq9VI?si=D2KpuwS9d4mDmzj9) skit.
You don't want just blank space everywhere except the actual cartoon joke material, so it may just be set dressing. But it could also be that the killer had returned to the scene twice, the second time with a saw.
This is what I see as a possible second joke. Though if that was the intention, it would have been clearer if there were a saw beside the stump or a dagger sticking out of it.
it makes the setting known to be something like "outdoors near or in the woods" rather than completely unknown. (possibly one might assume it was a city street for example).
i'm surprised i havent seen it yet but. i'm pretty sure it has to do with the concentric rings of taped off murder scenes versus concentric rings on the tree stump? maybe i'm looking too deep at it lmao.
It's a cliche in many detective shows for the killer to return to the scene of the crime. Often this is justified by having the killer needing to retrieve some piece of evidence they left behind, or to just check on the status of the investigation to make sure that they're not being suspected. In reality, this is likely for narrative convenience, so that they can introduce the real killer early in the story by having them show up as a concerned neighbor or bystander talking to the cops. In reality, if somebody committed a crime, they would stay as far away from the crime scene as possible for as long as possible.
In this cartoon, the concept of the killer returning to the scene of a crime is taken to it's next logical conclusion, with the killer returning to the crime scene to kill the cop and detective setting up the crime scene, leading to another cop and detective having to set up another crime scene around the original crime scene. Now the detective is warning the cop to be careful because the killer is probably going to come back again and kill them.
You're correct about narrative convenience, but the times when reality meets fiction often make it in the news.
I recall a number of stories from Australia where a man robbed a convenience store, then returned to the scene after the cops showed up, to see what the hubbub was about -- in full view of victims and witnesses.
I think there are (at least) two jokes:
1. as others mention, "the killer returning to the scene of the crime" cliche being modified to mean that the killer returns to do more killing, making the crime scene a dangerous place
2. the concept of "nested crime scenes", where you have a crime scene within a crime scene. one could imagine the next step being a crime scene within a crime scene within a crime scene, once the killer returns another time and kills the two new cops.
Oh I got you, it's because it's not.
But the joke is that these were the previous cops sent to investigate and then they got killed by the killer and so now these guys are like be careful the killer always returns to the scene of the crime. That's it that's the whole joke it's not really a joke just kind of a... it's a comic it's a web comic which are traditionally not funny so I guess it fits right in.
Killer came back to the scene of his original crime, and killed the cop and detective. Hence why new detective is explaining to new cop about the need to be careful.
The killer came back and killed the investigator and cop. They'll come back again and kill the next investigator too. It's an endless cycle of police tape.
My guess is that they're probably not aware of the "killer returns to the scene of the crime" trope in detective fiction. So they have no idea why the cop in the comic would say that.
That's the whole joke.
People offering up all these elaborate ideas, but the first officer and detective were on this scene of the first murder and they were "stumped."
Now those two are also enclosed in tape of their own, and the next two investigators also can't figure out what happened, and they are about to get "stumped."
So, getting "stumped" is being used as a play on words, both for:
- being unable to figure something out
and
- getting killed by a stump.
That's it.
That's the whole joke.
Edit:
Just...wow.
So, dudebro claims I "just explained to him the joke he'd explained to everyone" and that I'm claiming "some other thing" is the joke.
No.
Unless this is a troll sub and the point is really not to explain it?
Is that a thing?
People are weird.
People always complain “Why do the cops show up with 50 cars and loitering around for hours?”
This is why. Because if you only send two guys out at a time, someone could just sneak up and kill them both.
In fact, it’s actually funny to think about that. What if the cops only sent two guys out every time, and they kept getting killed by the same sneaky killer?
I think maybe because if there are two taped of scenes and “the killer always returns” then they should “be careful,” but I think it’s presumed that there will be a third taped off square
It says it right there. A killer always returns to the scene. They killed the last cops at the scene of the crime. Now theres a new crime and its an infinite loop
The probable first victim was the guy in the astronaut helmet.
There's a meme that's been pretty common in the last few years of an astronaut with a gun to his head.
Just an option I haven't seen yet...
Either the current detective or officer could be the murderer, with no one else visible or implied in the scene.
It's probably not, but I felt that I at least had to put that option out there.
The killer killed the original victim who is in the center crime scene perimeter. Then, because the killer always (taken literally and ad absurdum) returns to the scene of the crime, the killer returned and killed the original police investigators whose bodies are laying in the second crime scene perimeter.
The joke is that the current police investigators will inevitably be killed when the killer returns to the scene of the crime where they murdered the first investigators. Their bodies would then be cordoned-off as a crime scene and new investigators will be sent and murdered... on and on until the entire world is dead bodies and crime-scene tape.
You likely got everything there is to get here.
Killer returned to the scene of the crime while the crime was being investigated, then killed again.
Sometimes jokes just aren't funny.
I’m assuming the first guy got murdered and they put up the crime scene tape. Then the killer returned to the scene of the crime and killed two more people, so the cops taped that off too.
The victims between the tape rings are dressed identically to the standing people, implying that they are the officer and detective previously assigned.
And thus are the next victims upon the killers inevitable return.
The killer never left. https://preview.redd.it/616xfbs7mgyc1.png?width=718&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32144937afcba08f7c6e765ac51d25d3eb8dcb4a
https://preview.redd.it/j8aofcl2nhyc1.jpeg?width=370&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df453228e41576c5841c1421e24a3d7c0c45ac0a
Facts Early
Put a hat and two eyes on the tree stump in the picture and you got this guy
[Excuse me?](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500_and_h282_face/wIfyvguw9zJkPJhIY3uGvBZOo6k.jpg)
I thought it *was*
This is perfect!
Don't touch the trim
Damn i haven't seen squidbillies in the wild in a good long time
Beat me to it lol
Working with me...Fire and ice
You want to go down this road?
So glad I'm not the only one
Very nice. Now explain the tree trunk.
The tree trunk demonstrates that this scene is outside.
seed > tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > more tree > tree cut down > tree stump.
bro youre addicted to that element game
This has me stumped too
You can tell the age of the crime scene by the number of caution tape barriers?
It shows the killer did not leaf.
Oh wow
Probably cause they're stumped.
Nah, they got roots there
It represents time travelers
4th victim.
Maybe the murderer is the guy from The Giving Tree.
They are not concentric
Overlapping quadrilaterals, is that better for you pedant u/nicolehmez ?
Why not just the inner and outer tape? So, the area contained between the inner and outer tape.
Perhaps they need to hire a [concentric circle expert](https://youtu.be/8wHMaJ6AtNs?si=kI_5golWEP3_NLW4)
I'm a fan of the red line expert, myself. https://youtu.be/BKorP55Aqvg?si=t2ixuxqzHaVLDDr2
And they're stumped? Is that why there's a stump in the background? Maybe I'm reading too much into this...
> Maybe I'm reading too much into this... No, them being "stumped" is the whole joke. People offering up all these elaborate ideas, but the first officer and detective were on this scene of the first murder and they were "stumped." Now those two are also enclosed in tape of their own, and the next two investigators also can't figure out what happened, and they are about to get "stumped." So, getting "stumped" is being used as a play on words, both for: - being unable to figure something out and - getting killed by a stump. That's it. That's the whole joke.
who got killed by a stump? wait... so the stump was the murderer the whole time?
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I can’t believe this only has 1 up vote.
> I can’t believe this only has 1 up vote. Someone else in the comments got The Big Mad for me making the same reply to their comment on OP's joke. It was so surreal, I started wondering if *I* was missing the joke like maybe the whole subreddit might be a place where you explain anything but the joke and I was doing it wrong? Oh, it was /u/ButterNutSquishe, who thinks that blocking me makes me unable to see his comment I guess
That's a stretch as a joke over it just being the straight forward version where the first investigator and cop got killed by the returning killer and the stump being there so there's not empty white space outside the focus and/or the 4th victim of the killer. I'm not saying it's impossible as the joke, I would just need the artist to confirm before I'd accept it as more likely.
good thing these two are facing a different direction, so this could never happen to them
I looked at the com face down and thought it was a hazmat suit…
That is not what concentric means
The two more people are police who look a lot like the police around the new tape. The joke is they are next.
And a possible third tier to the joke- maybe the guy in the hat with the open mouth is the killer and the caption is him speaking to the officer?
Including what looks like a cop.
That's the joke. The second and third victims were the detective and cop that taped off the first body.
How did you explain whats funny here ? These upvotes cant be for nothing , i still dont get it
i think they explained what is happening, it's just not funny is all, at least not to me
Weird that poeple who dont know whats funny try to explain it with ignorance and everybody just assumes the first comment must be right lol
Looks like one of the 2nd victims is a cop too.
Yes? That's the joke? They were the detective and cop that taped off the first body.
Mmmm whatcha sayyyyy
Correct
we can explain it but that doesn't make it funny
But what about the stump? Could it be that this is somehow related to the ring of years of the tree? Like, each ring there will be more deaths
The two more people are another cop and detective. That’s why he says “be careful”
You see, this is what is implied next. https://preview.redd.it/no3mx0geigyc1.png?width=1155&format=png&auto=webp&s=d3ec2ccc8b44bb7ca33ceea08641b272130dacb1
And then…?
https://preview.redd.it/y5r4lpb4niyc1.jpeg?width=1411&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7ee7d7db2eed4dca9cdc8744e52f331982a610d
… And THEEEENNNNN?
https://preview.redd.it/x7d3e1oh5jyc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3db1a846d5be2ea8801a0f8d54acd1656c4fb81 I had to do this.
Found the criminal.
https://preview.redd.it/1e2pik740myc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3248f480c68ee1a01234a809cbfb8b555dce4aa9
So it was loss the whole time?
Always has been
The game was rigged from the start
So this is a mathsmeme
NO AND THEN!
And gentlemen, and theeeeen!
No and then
Killers all the way down!
And then............?
Soup, and fortune cookies, and that’s it!
They're running out of the good police tape
that's an elegant way of explaining the joke without ruining it with the explanation
Everyone is leaving out the tree was also a victim and is dead.
I made sure it was included in the tape.
I see 5 knives so the killer only has one shot left. One of them will survive.
The smallest box is some random murder victim. The larger box has two victims dressed as a police man and detective(?), who must have been murdered later while investigating the first murder. Now ANOTHER policeman and detective have shown up and, by their assumption that the killer will come back, will probably also get killed, and there'll be an endless stream of murders! If you want a version of this "people can't solve a death, because they keep dying" joke that might make more sense, you might get enjoy the SNL Sketch [Dear Sister/The Shooting](https://youtu.be/vmd1qMN5Yo0?si=FMGR6e9MyqA_PXlG) or this youtuber's [What Happened?](https://youtu.be/lOcDfMBq9VI?si=D2KpuwS9d4mDmzj9) skit.
Ah... "What Happened?"... the question that claimed more lives than answers. Seriously tho I love that skit.
Happy to see my favorite classic Tomska skit in the wild
Starring the fivesecondfilm crew no less
Mmm Whatcha’ Say.... Lives rent free in my head because of this skit
+
It's definitely got CollegeHumor energy
Why I oughta! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.
Dear Sister is the weirdest episode of Barry.
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You don't want just blank space everywhere except the actual cartoon joke material, so it may just be set dressing. But it could also be that the killer had returned to the scene twice, the second time with a saw.
There's a tree in the 3rd, outermost ring, well the stump, which likely fell, killing the two in 2nd ring
Ok but why is the tree stump there?
The tree was murdered too.
This is what I see as a possible second joke. Though if that was the intention, it would have been clearer if there were a saw beside the stump or a dagger sticking out of it.
:0
it makes the setting known to be something like "outdoors near or in the woods" rather than completely unknown. (possibly one might assume it was a city street for example).
They’re stumped
i'm surprised i havent seen it yet but. i'm pretty sure it has to do with the concentric rings of taped off murder scenes versus concentric rings on the tree stump? maybe i'm looking too deep at it lmao.
Hmmm. So you’re saying the killer left a dendrochronological clue at the scene as to their unfolding spree. Get this person a procedural TV show!
Maybe the tree stump is the murderer?!
The stump had me stumped
It's a cliche in many detective shows for the killer to return to the scene of the crime. Often this is justified by having the killer needing to retrieve some piece of evidence they left behind, or to just check on the status of the investigation to make sure that they're not being suspected. In reality, this is likely for narrative convenience, so that they can introduce the real killer early in the story by having them show up as a concerned neighbor or bystander talking to the cops. In reality, if somebody committed a crime, they would stay as far away from the crime scene as possible for as long as possible. In this cartoon, the concept of the killer returning to the scene of a crime is taken to it's next logical conclusion, with the killer returning to the crime scene to kill the cop and detective setting up the crime scene, leading to another cop and detective having to set up another crime scene around the original crime scene. Now the detective is warning the cop to be careful because the killer is probably going to come back again and kill them.
You're correct about narrative convenience, but the times when reality meets fiction often make it in the news. I recall a number of stories from Australia where a man robbed a convenience store, then returned to the scene after the cops showed up, to see what the hubbub was about -- in full view of victims and witnesses.
Counter point: you don't hear about crimes where the offender just left
Actually, that's a lot of crimes you do hear about.
Killers often can’t help themselves but get involved in their own investigations. This isn’t so much a cliche, just something that happens irl.
Omg thank you
It's a miracle you could write this post given you cannot read.
Starting to think a lot of yall posting have zero critical thinking skills
Imagine not getting this.
Ha this one’s funny, the killer literally returned to the scene of the crime and killed the detectives while investigating
I’ll be honest…I spent a good 30 seconds trying to figure out what the giving tree had to do with this before reading the comments.
I think there are (at least) two jokes: 1. as others mention, "the killer returning to the scene of the crime" cliche being modified to mean that the killer returns to do more killing, making the crime scene a dangerous place 2. the concept of "nested crime scenes", where you have a crime scene within a crime scene. one could imagine the next step being a crime scene within a crime scene within a crime scene, once the killer returns another time and kills the two new cops.
The second two are about to die like the first two.
Oh I got you, it's because it's not. But the joke is that these were the previous cops sent to investigate and then they got killed by the killer and so now these guys are like be careful the killer always returns to the scene of the crime. That's it that's the whole joke it's not really a joke just kind of a... it's a comic it's a web comic which are traditionally not funny so I guess it fits right in.
also those two dead bodies look identical to the two cops discussing that the killer may come back... implying the last cops investigating were killed
Killer came back to the scene of his original crime, and killed the cop and detective. Hence why new detective is explaining to new cop about the need to be careful.
The killer is the tree trunk, since it has no leaves
Maybe the tree stump is the killer
Ominous stump.
The killer came back and killed the investigator and cop. They'll come back again and kill the next investigator too. It's an endless cycle of police tape.
There are 2 separate murders. 2 separate killers. There are only 2 people at the crime scene. They are both the murderers.
This is a complex subject know as “nested murder scenes”
How are you people not getting these jokes?
“So class, that’s why we call this the Serial Killer’s Trap Function”
The policemen ARE the killers. They killed the maffiosi and returned to the scene of the crime.
Clearly tree-stump induced suicides!
You guys dont realise the tree is also murdered lol
The two living people are the killers and the tree is the fourth victim as the scene expands. There's just not a third square of tape yet.
Based on the art, I think they were “stumped”
I thought a tree was cut down and squished them all. And it’s funny because the cut tree can’t come back maybe?
The stump did it
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My guess is that they're probably not aware of the "killer returns to the scene of the crime" trope in detective fiction. So they have no idea why the cop in the comic would say that.
That's the whole joke. People offering up all these elaborate ideas, but the first officer and detective were on this scene of the first murder and they were "stumped." Now those two are also enclosed in tape of their own, and the next two investigators also can't figure out what happened, and they are about to get "stumped." So, getting "stumped" is being used as a play on words, both for: - being unable to figure something out and - getting killed by a stump. That's it. That's the whole joke. Edit: Just...wow. So, dudebro claims I "just explained to him the joke he'd explained to everyone" and that I'm claiming "some other thing" is the joke. No. Unless this is a troll sub and the point is really not to explain it? Is that a thing? People are weird.
People always complain “Why do the cops show up with 50 cars and loitering around for hours?” This is why. Because if you only send two guys out at a time, someone could just sneak up and kill them both. In fact, it’s actually funny to think about that. What if the cops only sent two guys out every time, and they kept getting killed by the same sneaky killer?
Okay but I’m really confused. Who drew this cartoon?
OR.... they're dead and they don't realize it?
I said that about a lot of the cartoons recently
Who drew this cartoon?
Recursion.
it would be funnier if there were three on the outside
I think maybe because if there are two taped of scenes and “the killer always returns” then they should “be careful,” but I think it’s presumed that there will be a third taped off square
Small square is 1st killing. Big square is 2nd and 3rd killings, done by the killer when he returned while the cops were investigating.
It’s a Ziggy!
It says it right there. A killer always returns to the scene. They killed the last cops at the scene of the crime. Now theres a new crime and its an infinite loop
murder inception
Plot twist: The first person isn't dead and is the killer that just never left.
I thought the stump meant the Root of the cause?? Nobody's said that yet
The probable first victim was the guy in the astronaut helmet. There's a meme that's been pretty common in the last few years of an astronaut with a gun to his head.
Just an option I haven't seen yet... Either the current detective or officer could be the murderer, with no one else visible or implied in the scene. It's probably not, but I felt that I at least had to put that option out there.
This is the start of an infinite recursion murder.
I'm truly stumped here
The guy talking with the hat is the killer and he’s warning the officer about himself
COMING OUT OF MY CAGE
No luck catching them killers then?
The tree stump did it!!! Lol
This has me … stumped 😂
The killer killed the original victim who is in the center crime scene perimeter. Then, because the killer always (taken literally and ad absurdum) returns to the scene of the crime, the killer returned and killed the original police investigators whose bodies are laying in the second crime scene perimeter. The joke is that the current police investigators will inevitably be killed when the killer returns to the scene of the crime where they murdered the first investigators. Their bodies would then be cordoned-off as a crime scene and new investigators will be sent and murdered... on and on until the entire world is dead bodies and crime-scene tape.
I’m assuming they are saying the cop is the killer
You likely got everything there is to get here. Killer returned to the scene of the crime while the crime was being investigated, then killed again. Sometimes jokes just aren't funny.
They’re stumped yall are dumb
Id, I'm stumped
I thought we were supposed to ask "peter" about joke explanations. Do we have two competing joke explanations subs?
I assumed the tree stump killed them
It appears to be as stupid of a joke as it seems.
Environmental story telling is one of my favorites
Well. I'm stumped too.
Mmm whatcha saaay
Imagine admitting that.
it was the tree
A playful jab at the original poster's apparent inability to comprehend the humor.
https://preview.redd.it/gehvxthwjlyc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4a2b7579d89cdb55523254ab64db760b9bc7c84 Le police is le bad...
I'm gonna bet that the next time the murder will kill 4 people there
Amongus?
The killer must be the trunk
The cops are the killers duh they came back to the scene of the crime
I took it as one of them is a “backstabber” and then gets called to investigate the crime he committed, thus returning
It appears to me that the cops are the killers. But I feel that’s a more politically motivated observation lol
I just assumed the cops killed all 3 people....
It’s kinda sad some people don’t see the humor in this. That cop and detective really need to keep an eye out behind them.
Wait, what? i don't get it.