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I was recently shown the Spanish cartoon below and I'm having trouble understanding it. When I translate it directly, I get:

I am turning myself off!
I am turning myself off!
I don't have a connection!

I understand that "me apago" is an usual use of apagar, which can be inferred as both I am dimming myself (extinguishing myself) and as I am turning myself off. However, I just don't understand the comical side of the cartoon/what is the bigger picture.

enter image description here

Eric Wiener
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I believe the humor behind this particular cartoon is that this man can no longer think by himself and is depending upon an Internet connection for him to perform the most basic brain functions such as "staying on".

While "me apago" could be correctly translated as "I am turning myself off" in this particular context is more like "I am powering off". When you turn on an electrical device you are "powering it on", when you turn it off you are "powering it off". As mentioned by Jdamian, this would be akin to "I am shutting down" which was what I was looking for when writing this answer.

"No tengo conexión" is frequently used to express "I have no Internet connection" or "I have no phone service".

So, I am assuming in this context he (or his brain) is expressing "I am powering off (I am shutting down), I have no internet connection". He is expressing this in an anxious manner, so this cartoon might be trying to make fun of how nowadays people can't do anything unless they are connected to the Internet because they can't think for themselves. It's obviously an exaggeration, of course.

If there is more to this cartoon (like other panels, a caption, a tool-tip, etc.) please share it, it might help to understand its meaning since the punchline could be hidden there.

Update: Thanks to fedorqui, it is clear that there is no hidden punchline for this cartoon. I had suspected the author was making fun of younger generations for their inability to do anything without an Internet connection but I refrained from adding such conclusion since there was no proof that the author would be of an older generation (I didn't know it was El Roto); however, it appears my suspicions were not far off.

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Jorge
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  • Perhaps another good translation for "me apago" given this context, would be "I'm losing myself"? – Valdez V. Dec 15 '16 at 06:25
  • Given that the author of this cartoon seems to be El Roto I really think your hypothesis is true. His cartoons seem to be everything but funny and they focus on the mind, soul and consciousness. I love them :) – fedorqui Dec 15 '16 at 08:00
  • Thanks so much! This helped a ton. Unfortunately, this is the only panel I know of, but your translation makes perfect sense, especially knowing the teacher. – Eric Wiener Dec 15 '16 at 11:23
  • @ValdezV. I am not sure but that translation might add a different connotation, additionally perhaps if that was the original intent the author might have used "me pierdo" in that case? – Jorge Dec 15 '16 at 17:25
  • @fedorqui Thanks for the information regarding the author, I added it to the answer and credited you for it. I wasn't going to mention that I didn't find the cartoon funny, but now that you said that... – Jorge Dec 15 '16 at 17:28
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    @EricWiener You are welcome, I updated the answer to reflect that there are no additional panels and there is no hidden punchline. I also included a link to the original cartoon. – Jorge Dec 15 '16 at 17:30