XKCD Isn't Funny - #1377 - FISH

A few years ago, my aunt gave me a copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village as a present. While I was playing through it, I actually managed to do something that I'm not usually able to do: predict the ending with pinpoint accuracy.

I figured almost everything out, down to the last detail, by about the three-fourths mark of the game. The thing is, as soon as I came up with my explanation, I discarded it. "No way." I thought to myself. "That would just be stupid, they had to have come up with something better than that."

I was probably more surprised by the ending than someone who hadn't seen it coming. I thought it was a giant red herring, right up until the game ended.

I had a similar experience reading this comic. Once I read "Maybe the fish looks like sand"/"Yeah... ...and what does that tell you about the ecosystem.", a hesitant lightbulb crawled out my ear and perched uncertainly on top of my head.

"Because they'd need camouflage as protection against predators." it said.
"No, that can't be what he meant." I replied. "I'm misreading this."
"Ahahaha!" the comic chuckled to itself as I read over the next set of four panels. "That's what you think."

I have to admit, the idea that we don't know about aliens because they're hiding from the giant space sharks is a new one. I don't think I can take any points off for originality here. Honestly, the entire problem with this comic is that it's not set up wackily enough. Nothing in the dialogue gives us any hint we're supposed to take this as anything but a seriously presented idea, and as an idea, it obviously doesn't work. How would the Giant Space Shark propel itself throughout space? How would it survive if it had to eat to live and was a third of the size of the earth? How did it evolve to be this size?

This could have been decent (not good, but decent) if one of the characters was being sarcastic. Then the second row of panels would have been in a thought bubble, and it could have been followed by a non-thought-bubble-panel with one telling the other. "Yeah, I don't think that would work." or something to that effect.

I will give credit where credit is due: the alt text was pretty clever, jumping off of the original joke without repeating or seeming like it should just be another panel.