As anyone who has ventured into the event horizon of their Emacs configuration knows, it can be extraordinarily difficult to get out. As the cartoon suggests, sometimes it can even suck up every available mental cycle leaving no time for other pursuits such as work.
Users of those other editors doubtlessly consider the cartoon a ding on Emacs but every Emacs user I know considers that a feature not a bug. After all, what could be more fun than hacking on your Emacs configuration? That other stuff can wait.