2013-12-30
Original: 2013-12-30 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Father (older man): Hey Billy! I got you a "Where's Waldo?" book!
Billy (young boy): Yay!
Panel 2:
Father: Of course, the modern boy doesn't have time for this sort of thing. So I got you this drone with facial-recognition software.
(A small drone hovers near Billy.)
Panel 3:
Drone (overhead, beaming a light down onto the open book): PUZZLE COMPLETE.
Panel 4:
Father: Why aren't you happy?
Billy: I didn't do anything.
Panel 5 (close-up of father, intense):
Father: WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT STRUGGLE? WITHOUT HARDSHIP? THERE IS NO TRIUMPH. WITHOUT JOURNEY, THERE IS NO DESTINATION. HAPPINESS THAT'S JUST HANDED, WANTS GOOD! IT'S ALSO CHANGING WHAT'S BAD!
Panel 6:
Billy: I never thought of it like that.
Panel 7 (final panel):
Mother (offscreen / entering): Honey! I replaced Billy with this obedient drone!
Father (arms raised in joy): WOOHOO!
(A small drone hovers nearby; the "WOOHOO" appears in a sunburst.)
Votey:
Text shown on a handwritten note/book page: "WALDO, I DON'T CARE IF YOU HIDE FROM ME, BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR SON?"
Father (older man): Hey Billy! I got you a "Where's Waldo?" book!
Billy (young boy): Yay!
Panel 2:
Father: Of course, the modern boy doesn't have time for this sort of thing. So I got you this drone with facial-recognition software.
(A small drone hovers near Billy.)
Panel 3:
Drone (overhead, beaming a light down onto the open book): PUZZLE COMPLETE.
Panel 4:
Father: Why aren't you happy?
Billy: I didn't do anything.
Panel 5 (close-up of father, intense):
Father: WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT STRUGGLE? WITHOUT HARDSHIP? THERE IS NO TRIUMPH. WITHOUT JOURNEY, THERE IS NO DESTINATION. HAPPINESS THAT'S JUST HANDED, WANTS GOOD! IT'S ALSO CHANGING WHAT'S BAD!
Panel 6:
Billy: I never thought of it like that.
Panel 7 (final panel):
Mother (offscreen / entering): Honey! I replaced Billy with this obedient drone!
Father (arms raised in joy): WOOHOO!
(A small drone hovers nearby; the "WOOHOO" appears in a sunburst.)
Votey:
Text shown on a handwritten note/book page: "WALDO, I DON'T CARE IF YOU HIDE FROM ME, BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR SON?"
Alt text
A multi-panel SMBC comic. An older father gives his young son Billy a "Where's Waldo?" book, and Billy cheers. The father explains that the modern boy doesn't have time for such things, so he also got a drone with facial-recognition software. The drone beams a light onto the open book and announces "PUZZLE COMPLETE," solving it instantly. Billy is unhappy and says, "I didn't do anything." In an intense close-up, the father launches into a speech: "What is life without struggle? Without hardship? There is no triumph. Without journey, there is no destination," arguing that happiness just handed over isn't good. Billy says he never thought of it that way. In the final panel, the mother announces offscreen, "Honey! I replaced Billy with this obedient drone!" and the father throws up his arms shouting "WOOHOO!" as a drone hovers nearby. Votey: a handwritten note reading, "Waldo, I don't care if you hide from me, but what about our son?"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.