Anyway, I picked out two comics that show the humor in Ziggy. This was actually tougher than I thought, as I never realized there were that many inspirational Ziggy comics.
1) Ziggy at the bank:
Subject/ Target: Modern life, customer service, banks.
Why it's funny: This comic shows a depiction of what people could face in a worst case scenario at a bank. Although it is not normally this bad, there are certainly people who could relate to poor Ziggy. For people who have not been in this situation, they look at Ziggy and are glad there life is better than his. Ziggy is an empathetic character because people have had a touch of his misfortune, but writer/illustrator Tom Wilson takes Ziggy's situation to the extreme and makes Ziggy's dilemma unwinable, which makes people laugh.
2) Ziggy at the Doctor
Subject/Target: Medical treatment
Why it's funny: Here Ziggy is the victim of the health care industry. The reader identifies again with Ziggy, as many of them have also been faced with costly medical procedures. If they have not been in that situation, the reader feels fortunate they are not Ziggy, as Ziggy's life is far worse than their own. This comic is both an "us versus them" and a "tragedy" comic.
"Ah, Ziggy, will you ever win?" - Montgomery Burns, "The Simpsons"
