Editing 3191: Superstition

{{comic
| number    = 3191
| date      = January 7, 2026
| title     = Superstition
| image     = superstition_2x.png
| imagesize = 275x393px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = It's important to teach yourself to feel responsible for random events, because with great responsibility comes great power. That's what my wise Uncle Ben told me right before he died; he might still be alive today if only I'd said rabbit rabbit that year!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by people who will edit this wiki or else it is their fault. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic references the {{w|superstition}}, which is known to have existed as far back as 1909, of saying "{{w|rabbit rabbit rabbit|rabbit rabbit}}" on the first day of a month in order to have good luck. There are many superstitions about actions that either cause bad luck (e.g. "step on a crack, break your mother's back", walking under a {{w|Ladder#Society and culture|ladder}}, breaking a {{w|List of bad luck signs|mirror}}, letting a {{w|Black cat#Superstition, folklore, bringer of good or bad luck|black cat}} cross your path) or protect against bad luck (e.g. carrying a {{w|rabbit's foot}}, {{w|Spilling salt|throwing salt over your shoulder}} after spilling some, {{w|knocking on wood}} after saying something).

When asked to explain it, [[Cueball]] reveals that, rather than being subject to {{w|magical thinking}}, he is fully aware that the act has no real direct power, and thus in his case this isn't really a superstition, but merely a cultural artefact. However, he suggests that acts like these have a psychological effect by making people feel guilty over random unpleasant events over which they have no control by implying that there must have been some unrelated act which could have prevented them.

"{{w|Uncle Ben}}" is a reference to the character of {{w|Spider-Man}}/Peter Parker, who is popularly told by his uncle (Ben Parker) that "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility}}". Ben was not actually aware of Peter Parker's eventually developed super-powered abilities, his aphorism was more an avuncular life-lesson in general, regarding the possibility of far more mundane abilities to improve people's lives, but this still ended up becoming the central guiding tenet for the superhero's philosophy after Uncle Ben died (in most versions of the tale, as a direct consequence of Peter having failed to act against a seemingly trivial threat).

The title text flips this and implies that, by taking on some great responsibility, one can ''gain'' power as a direct consequence. Any adherence to superstitions can be a responsibility (by how we act, or refrain to act, on the basis of such superstitions) which therefore 'leads' to the power to control fate. There is then a {{w|Post hoc ergo propter hoc|spurious conclusion}} that Uncle Ben's death only happened ''because'' the "rabbit" superstition was not obeyed.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Blondie, Cueball and a child (Hairy) are walking from left to right. The child is turning towards Cueball.]

:Cueball: Oops, I forgot to say "rabbit rabbit" on January first!

:Hairy: Why do you do that?

:Cueball: Just a superstition.

:Hairy: What's a superstition?

:Cueball: It's a way to train yourself to feel like any bad thing that happens is your fault.

==Trivia==

* On January 7th, 2026, both the 1x and 2x version of this comic had no anti-aliasing applied (1-bit black and white). It was fixed later that day.
* Mentioning "rabbits" is also considered ''bad'' luck {{w|Isle of Portland#Rabbits|in some traditions}}.
* The [[header text]] briefly disappeared when this comic was released.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
* Coincidentally, the day this comic was released, Minecraft, a video game Randall has played, released new textures and animations for rabbits and baby rabbits. These updates make them look almost as cute as Randall thinks they are!

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]] <!-- bitplane depth increased from 1 -->