2011-07-14
Original: 2011-07-14 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Main comic (a single wide panel, parodying the classic "March of Progress" / evolution-of-man illustration, read left to right):
A small mammal (resembling a shrew or weasel) crawls on all fours, followed by a monkey-like primate, then a more upright ape, then a hominid, then increasingly human-like figures. The last fully-evolved figure is a nude, hairy man with a long matted mane and a filthy unkempt beard.
The bearded man holds up a blue book in front of his face. Text on the book cover:
BOOK COVER: PALEO-CLONING
To the right of him, instead of the line continuing forward, the result of his work is shown: a joyful party scene. All of the earlier evolutionary stages — the monkeys, apes, and the little mammal — have been cloned back into existence and are celebrating. They wear striped party hats, throw confetti, raise their arms, and one holds a red balloon and a party blower. The little shrew/weasel from the start of the line sits among them. They all look delighted.
Votey:
Handwritten caption in a box:
Question: Why does the modern human have matted hair and a filthy beard?
Answer: He's a scientist.
A small mammal (resembling a shrew or weasel) crawls on all fours, followed by a monkey-like primate, then a more upright ape, then a hominid, then increasingly human-like figures. The last fully-evolved figure is a nude, hairy man with a long matted mane and a filthy unkempt beard.
The bearded man holds up a blue book in front of his face. Text on the book cover:
BOOK COVER: PALEO-CLONING
To the right of him, instead of the line continuing forward, the result of his work is shown: a joyful party scene. All of the earlier evolutionary stages — the monkeys, apes, and the little mammal — have been cloned back into existence and are celebrating. They wear striped party hats, throw confetti, raise their arms, and one holds a red balloon and a party blower. The little shrew/weasel from the start of the line sits among them. They all look delighted.
Votey:
Handwritten caption in a box:
Question: Why does the modern human have matted hair and a filthy beard?
Answer: He's a scientist.
Alt text
A wide comic parodying the classic "March of Progress" evolution illustration. From left to right: a small crawling mammal, a monkey, an ape, a hominid, and increasingly upright human figures, ending in a nude man with long matted hair and a filthy, unkempt beard. This bearded man holds up a blue book titled "PALEO-CLONING" in front of his face. Instead of the evolutionary line continuing forward, the right side shows the result of his research: all the earlier creatures — monkeys, apes, and the little mammal — have been cloned back into existence and are throwing a happy party, wearing striped party hats, tossing confetti, raising their arms, holding a red balloon and a party blower. The joke: the scientist has used paleo-cloning to bring back extinct ancestor species, who celebrate. The votey adds a handwritten Q&A: "Question: Why does the modern human have matted hair and a filthy beard? Answer: He's a scientist."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.