Some background on this comic:

Transcript:

What kind of sordid, bizarre past a scientist and some duck could possibly have is for anyone to surmise, but I enjoyed the drama in suggesting that, once again, their lives have become entangled and a new chapter is about to be written. Personally, I enjoy cartoons of this type because they lack the obvious “cymbal crash” at the end of the punch line. The idea evolved as shown.

This was always one of my favorites