bedtime
Original: bedtime on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (top, present day):
A mother sits on the edge of a child's bed in a darkened bedroom, holding a book. A poster on the wall shows a bat-like figure labeled "BAT-INDIVIDUAL."
Mother: WHY WON'T YOU SLEEP?
Mother: WHAT'S THE MATTER?
Mother: DAMMIT, WHAT'D HE SAY TO YOU NOW?
Panel 2 (bottom, captioned "EARLIER..."):
A young red-haired boy stands talking to his father, who lounges in a chair wearing sunglasses and holding a mug.
Boy: DAD, I DON'T GET CLOWNS. NOBODY EVER LAUGHS WHEN THEY DO STUFF.
Dad: WELL, I DUNNO. I THINK IT'S PRETTY FUNNY TO SEE A DEAD GUY WALKING AROUND IN BIG FLOPPY SHOES.
Votey:
A close-up of a face (the boy's) with closed eyes, looking troubled.
Boy (thought/speech): I can never figure out if it's technology or Satan.
A mother sits on the edge of a child's bed in a darkened bedroom, holding a book. A poster on the wall shows a bat-like figure labeled "BAT-INDIVIDUAL."
Mother: WHY WON'T YOU SLEEP?
Mother: WHAT'S THE MATTER?
Mother: DAMMIT, WHAT'D HE SAY TO YOU NOW?
Panel 2 (bottom, captioned "EARLIER..."):
A young red-haired boy stands talking to his father, who lounges in a chair wearing sunglasses and holding a mug.
Boy: DAD, I DON'T GET CLOWNS. NOBODY EVER LAUGHS WHEN THEY DO STUFF.
Dad: WELL, I DUNNO. I THINK IT'S PRETTY FUNNY TO SEE A DEAD GUY WALKING AROUND IN BIG FLOPPY SHOES.
Votey:
A close-up of a face (the boy's) with closed eyes, looking troubled.
Boy (thought/speech): I can never figure out if it's technology or Satan.
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic. Top panel (present): a mother sits on the edge of her child's bed in a dim bedroom, holding a storybook, a "BAT-INDIVIDUAL" superhero poster on the wall. She asks the unseen child, "Why won't you sleep? What's the matter?" then, frustrated, "Dammit, what'd he say to you now?" Bottom panel, captioned "EARLIER...": the red-haired boy stands talking to his sunglasses-wearing dad lounging with a mug. Boy: "Dad, I don't get clowns. Nobody ever laughs when they do stuff." Dad: "Well, I dunno. I think it's pretty funny to see a dead guy walking around in big floppy shoes." The joke: dad's morbid, deadpan reframing of clowns as reanimated corpses is what's keeping the kid awake. Votey (bonus panel): a close-up of the boy's face with eyes closed, unsettled, thinking, "I can never figure out if it's technology or Satan."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.