2012-12-07
Original: 2012-12-07 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Bobby (a boy with curly red hair, painting a fence): No, I'm painting the fence. It's so much fun!
White boy (off to the side): Hey Bobby, your old man making you work this weekend?
Panel 2:
White boy: Nice try. I've read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer too, and reverse psychology won't work on me.
Panel 3:
Bobby: Perhaps. But it has worked the last four boys. That leaves you two choices: attempt to convince them they've all agreed to something stupid, or... JOIN them.
Panel 4:
Bobby: The first option will require great work and probably will result in your ostracization. The second option will require far less effort and will increase your status in the group.
Panel 5:
Bobby: Your brain is no use against the system, Jonny. Smarts might make you a big fish here, Jonny.
Panel 6:
Bobby: Go ahead, Jonny. Try to go outside the water. SEE HOW WELL YOU BREATHE.
Panel 7:
Bobby (shouting, close-up): Make you a big fish here, Jonny, but economics is what filled the lake.
Panel 8 (caption banner): SEVERAL HOURS LATER...
Bobby: Well pals, the fence is done. What a good time.
Jonny: Yeah, Bobby was right.
Another boy: Wait... did anyone else get a speech about being a fish in a lake?
Votey:
Extreme close-up of a screaming face: PAWNS. ALL OF YOU
Bobby (a boy with curly red hair, painting a fence): No, I'm painting the fence. It's so much fun!
White boy (off to the side): Hey Bobby, your old man making you work this weekend?
Panel 2:
White boy: Nice try. I've read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer too, and reverse psychology won't work on me.
Panel 3:
Bobby: Perhaps. But it has worked the last four boys. That leaves you two choices: attempt to convince them they've all agreed to something stupid, or... JOIN them.
Panel 4:
Bobby: The first option will require great work and probably will result in your ostracization. The second option will require far less effort and will increase your status in the group.
Panel 5:
Bobby: Your brain is no use against the system, Jonny. Smarts might make you a big fish here, Jonny.
Panel 6:
Bobby: Go ahead, Jonny. Try to go outside the water. SEE HOW WELL YOU BREATHE.
Panel 7:
Bobby (shouting, close-up): Make you a big fish here, Jonny, but economics is what filled the lake.
Panel 8 (caption banner): SEVERAL HOURS LATER...
Bobby: Well pals, the fence is done. What a good time.
Jonny: Yeah, Bobby was right.
Another boy: Wait... did anyone else get a speech about being a fish in a lake?
Votey:
Extreme close-up of a screaming face: PAWNS. ALL OF YOU
Alt text
An eight-panel comic. Bobby, a boy with curly red hair, is painting a fence. Another boy approaches and says, "Hey Bobby, your old man making you work this weekend?" Bobby replies, "No, I'm painting the fence. It's so much fun!" The boy, Jonny, scoffs: "Nice try. I've read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer too, and reverse psychology won't work on me." Bobby calmly counters that it has worked on the last four boys, and that Jonny now has two choices: try to convince them they've agreed to something stupid (great effort, likely ostracization), or join them (less effort, higher status). In escalating close-ups Bobby delivers a menacing monologue: "Your brain is no use against the system, Jonny. Smarts might make you a big fish here, Jonny... go ahead, try to go outside the water. See how well you breathe... but economics is what filled the lake." A caption reads "SEVERAL HOURS LATER..." and the boys, now finished painting, agree Bobby was right, while one asks, "Wait... did anyone else get a speech about being a fish in a lake?" Votey: an extreme close-up of a wide-eyed, open-mouthed face screaming, "PAWNS. ALL OF YOU."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.