A man, the Author, attempts to use a pore-cleansing strip to alleviate his facial acne. In a humorous twist the cosmetic strip is too sticky and therefor rips his skull from his head. This is funny because it could not actually happen.
The Author is using the stereotype that geeks, his audience, typically have acne on their faces. The acne is not a reaction to the geekiness, but a cause for it. When one has an unattractive or different outward appearance, it can be more difficult to gain acceptance into traditional social circles. It is for this reason that counter-cultures exist - to give the fat, ugly and stupid a place to feel welcome.
I don’t know, TDI. I’m not entirely sure that the joke here is that geeks have acne. I think the joke may actually be that while watching commercials for pore strips, XKCD guy has a resulting thought process that is kind of unique: rather than becoming enticed to go buy some pore strips like a normal person, XKCD guy imagines outrageous scenarios that might ensue if pore strip use went horribly wrong. There’s nothing wrong with thinking things like that - we all do it once in a while. No, the problem with this particular edition of XKCD is that XKCD guy is operating under the deeply flawed assumption that his personal mental ramblings are actually funny. They’re not.
Also, I really need to get some pore strips. Thanks for reminding me.
