Today I realized something about a comic I made that people thought was funny and about how that works.
This:
Is what makes this work:
Everything else — all the bigger drawings that lead up to that one tiny little drawing — they're just setup, they're there to build tension and intrigue. There's a bunch of them, they're vague in that we don't know what's going on, and they're dramatic, and there's a bunch of words. All that builds tension and intrigue.
The last little drawing answers all the questions, releasing the tension, ending the intrigue, and we get a wide shot that explains in a surprising, revealing manner, what's been going on all this time.
But if that last, tiny little drawing were wrong, the whole thing would fall apart. Especially the facial expression. It's that wide-eyed look of horror that makes it work. That's what actually makes it funny.
Really it just comes down to two tiny squares and two tiny dots.
Humor!