2012-10-24
Original: 2012-10-24 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Mother (leaning over a child's bed at night): BOBBY, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU UNCONDITIONALLY.
Panel 2:
Bobby (the child, looking skeptical/annoyed): LOVE IS CHEMICAL IN NATURE. IF YOU LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY, THAT MEANS YOU HAVE AN UNLIMITED SUPPLY OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS, REGARDLESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS.
Panel 3:
Bobby: SO EITHER YOU'VE GOT SOME SORT OF PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE IN YOUR HEAD THAT GENERATES OXYTOCIN, OR YOU'RE PUTTING THE HORRIBLE TRUTH THAT EVERYTHING IN THE COSMOS IS FINITE INTO SOME MENTAL BLACK BOX YOU CALL "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE."
Panel 4:
Mother (smiling, leaning in): IT'S THE FIRST ONE.
Mother: MOMMY POWERS.
Bobby (small bubble): WOWWW!!
Panel 5:
Mother (turning away, switching off the light): G'NIGHT, BOBBY.
Panel 6:
No text. The mother lies awake in her own bed at night, a small child asleep against her, staring upward with a worried, sleepless expression. A starry window glows in the dark.
Votey:
The mother, looking pained/resigned, with a thought or speech bubble: I LOVE YOU UNDER MOST CONDITIONS.
A small speech bubble from off-panel (Bobby): I KNEW IT!
Mother (leaning over a child's bed at night): BOBBY, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU UNCONDITIONALLY.
Panel 2:
Bobby (the child, looking skeptical/annoyed): LOVE IS CHEMICAL IN NATURE. IF YOU LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY, THAT MEANS YOU HAVE AN UNLIMITED SUPPLY OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS, REGARDLESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS.
Panel 3:
Bobby: SO EITHER YOU'VE GOT SOME SORT OF PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE IN YOUR HEAD THAT GENERATES OXYTOCIN, OR YOU'RE PUTTING THE HORRIBLE TRUTH THAT EVERYTHING IN THE COSMOS IS FINITE INTO SOME MENTAL BLACK BOX YOU CALL "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE."
Panel 4:
Mother (smiling, leaning in): IT'S THE FIRST ONE.
Mother: MOMMY POWERS.
Bobby (small bubble): WOWWW!!
Panel 5:
Mother (turning away, switching off the light): G'NIGHT, BOBBY.
Panel 6:
No text. The mother lies awake in her own bed at night, a small child asleep against her, staring upward with a worried, sleepless expression. A starry window glows in the dark.
Votey:
The mother, looking pained/resigned, with a thought or speech bubble: I LOVE YOU UNDER MOST CONDITIONS.
A small speech bubble from off-panel (Bobby): I KNEW IT!
Alt text
A six-panel black-and-white-into-color comic. Panel 1: at night, a mother leans over her son's bed and says, "Bobby, I want you to know that I love you unconditionally." Panel 2: Bobby, looking skeptical, replies that love is chemical in nature, so unconditional love would require an unlimited supply of neurotransmitters regardless of environmental conditions. Panel 3: he continues that this means she either has a perpetual motion machine in her head generating oxytocin, or she's stuffing the horrible truth that everything in the cosmos is finite into a mental black box she calls "unconditional love." Panel 4: the mother smiles warmly and says, "It's the first one. Mommy powers," and Bobby, delighted, says "Wowww!!" Panel 5: she switches off the light and says, "G'night, Bobby." Panel 6: the joke's beat - now alone in her own dark bedroom with a small child asleep against her, the mother lies awake staring at the ceiling with a worried, sleepless face beneath a starry window, knowing her love is in fact finite. Votey (aftercomic): the mother, looking strained, admits in a bubble, "I love you under most conditions," and an off-panel Bobby triumphantly answers, "I knew it!"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.