(Strip Number 954, Original Publication Date, 4 October 1985)
Panel 1: The next morning, we find Mike at the breakfast table moaning to John about how as long as he can remember, he's spent Halloween with Lawrence and whining about how he wishes that he hadn't moved away.
Panel 2: He then sets up the punchline by saying that if he was magic, he could get on a broomstick and visit him at will.
Panel 3: As Elly comes over all resplendent in her curlers, housecoat and face cream to pour John's coffee and to remind us that we're going to have a joke at her expense, Mike asks Daddy if witches really exist.
Panel 4: Anticipating the cutting remark he's about to make, Elly says that if he opens his fat trap, the cauldron goes right in his lap.
Summary: The irritating thing is not that John was going to say something hurtful or that he was going to turn it around so Elly is bad for not wanting to be insulted. The irritating thing is that Mike's smile indicates that he thinks this is how people are supposed to behave. Then again, given that the only times he sees Mom looking like this is when sitcom humor happens, he can sort of be forgiven.