2009-11-19
Original: 2009-11-19 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A man in old-fashioned 17th-century clothing (resembling Isaac Newton, with long wavy hair, a blue coat, white stockings, and red shoes) sits against the trunk of a large tree, thinking, with his hand to his chin.
Panel 2: An apple falls from above, dropping down toward the seated man. He watches it with a contemplative expression.
Panel 3: The man holds the apple in his hand, examining it closely with a thoughtful look.
Panel 4: Close-up of the man's face, now smiling broadly with delight.
Man: THAT'S IT!
Panel 5: View of the tree trunk. A worm (with an angry face) emerges from a hole in the bark, having lost a pile of apples. The apples on the ground are each covered in scribbled mathematical equations. In the background, the man runs away carrying one of the apples.
Worm: MOTHER F--KER!
Panel 6: Close-up of a single red apple lying on the ground, with text and a formula written on it.
Text on apple: FORCE OF GRAVITY: =GM₁M₂/r²
Votey:
Title banner: ARTISTIC SATISFACTION IS WEIRD
The man (Newton) lies in bed at night, looking pleased and reflective.
Man: THOSE ARE THE BEST KNEE-BREECHES I'VE EVER DRAWN...
Panel 2: An apple falls from above, dropping down toward the seated man. He watches it with a contemplative expression.
Panel 3: The man holds the apple in his hand, examining it closely with a thoughtful look.
Panel 4: Close-up of the man's face, now smiling broadly with delight.
Man: THAT'S IT!
Panel 5: View of the tree trunk. A worm (with an angry face) emerges from a hole in the bark, having lost a pile of apples. The apples on the ground are each covered in scribbled mathematical equations. In the background, the man runs away carrying one of the apples.
Worm: MOTHER F--KER!
Panel 6: Close-up of a single red apple lying on the ground, with text and a formula written on it.
Text on apple: FORCE OF GRAVITY: =GM₁M₂/r²
Votey:
Title banner: ARTISTIC SATISFACTION IS WEIRD
The man (Newton) lies in bed at night, looking pleased and reflective.
Man: THOSE ARE THE BEST KNEE-BREECHES I'VE EVER DRAWN...
Alt text
A six-panel SMBC comic parodying the legend of Isaac Newton and the falling apple. In the first three panels, a long-haired man in 17th-century dress (blue coat, white stockings, red shoes) sits beneath a tree, an apple falls, and he picks it up and studies it. In panel four he beams and exclaims 'THAT'S IT!' The fifth panel reveals the twist: the apples were actually covered in handwritten equations created by a worm living in the tree, and the man is running off having stolen one. The angry worm pokes its head from the bark and shouts 'MOTHER F--KER!' The final panel is a close-up of the stolen apple, on which is written 'FORCE OF GRAVITY: =GM₁M₂/r²' — the joke being Newton plagiarized his law of gravitation from a worm. The votey (bonus panel) is captioned 'ARTISTIC SATISFACTION IS WEIRD': the man lies contentedly in bed at night thinking, 'THOSE ARE THE BEST KNEE-BREECHES I'VE EVER DRAWN...', as if his proudest accomplishment is the clothing in the drawing rather than the equation itself.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.