Hungry Like the Wolf

He has the teeth, the stare, the tail and all the necessary equipment for being terrifying. Unfortunately for his reputation, he is also holding a hamburger with the concentration of someone trying not to lose the tomato.

The joke works because the drawing gives us two versions of appetite at once. The animal is all angles and spikes — long snout, sharp teeth, wiry legs — while the burger is soft, round and almost absurdly civilized. Predator meets takeout.

The muted blue-gray background keeps everything else out of the way. No forest. No moon. No dramatic chase. Just one very committed wolf and the object of his affection.

The title nods to Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf,” but the image takes the phrase at face value. Sometimes visual wit is nothing more complicated than refusing to let a metaphor stay metaphorical.

And somehow, that makes the wolf feel less dangerous and more relatable.