death
Original: death on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Written by: Zach Weinersmith
Art by: Abby Howard
Panel 1: A man with an orange shirt and a woman with longer hair walk together down a tree-lined autumn path scattered with fallen leaves.
Man: I have an irrational fear of death.
Woman: I'm sorry.
Panel 2: Close on the man, smiling.
Man: Ha! It's funny when you think about it.
Man: Like, intellectually I know humans don't ever actually die. It's just a thing made up by parents to scare kids.
Man: But, still.
Panel 3: The woman looks puzzled.
Woman: You mean like an afterlife?
Woman: Huh?
Panel 4: The man explains; the woman watches with growing unease.
Man: No, like parents tell their kids they'll die one day, you know to get them to eat healthy food. But it's not real.
Woman: ...Right?
Panel 5: The man waits expectantly.
Man: Right?
Panel 6: The woman, wide-eyed and sweating nervously, plays along.
Woman: Yeah. Absolutely yeah.
Panel 7: The man, now deadpan/serious.
Man: This has been a test to see if you're always honest with me.
Woman (alarmed): Aw come on!
Votey:
A close-up line-art drawing of the man's face looking directly at the viewer.
Man: Today is your day.
Art by: Abby Howard
Panel 1: A man with an orange shirt and a woman with longer hair walk together down a tree-lined autumn path scattered with fallen leaves.
Man: I have an irrational fear of death.
Woman: I'm sorry.
Panel 2: Close on the man, smiling.
Man: Ha! It's funny when you think about it.
Man: Like, intellectually I know humans don't ever actually die. It's just a thing made up by parents to scare kids.
Man: But, still.
Panel 3: The woman looks puzzled.
Woman: You mean like an afterlife?
Woman: Huh?
Panel 4: The man explains; the woman watches with growing unease.
Man: No, like parents tell their kids they'll die one day, you know to get them to eat healthy food. But it's not real.
Woman: ...Right?
Panel 5: The man waits expectantly.
Man: Right?
Panel 6: The woman, wide-eyed and sweating nervously, plays along.
Woman: Yeah. Absolutely yeah.
Panel 7: The man, now deadpan/serious.
Man: This has been a test to see if you're always honest with me.
Woman (alarmed): Aw come on!
Votey:
A close-up line-art drawing of the man's face looking directly at the viewer.
Man: Today is your day.
Alt text
A seven-panel SMBC comic (written by Zach Weinersmith, art by Abby Howard). A man in an orange shirt and a woman walk along an autumn path. He says, 'I have an irrational fear of death,' and she says she's sorry. He laughs: 'Ha! It's funny when you think about it. Intellectually I know humans don't ever actually die. It's just a thing made up by parents to scare kids. But, still.' Confused, she asks, 'You mean like an afterlife? Huh?' He explains, 'No, like parents tell their kids they'll die one day, you know to get them to eat healthy food. But it's not real.' The woman, increasingly alarmed and sweating, hesitantly answers '...Right?' He presses, 'Right?' She nervously plays along: 'Yeah. Absolutely yeah.' Deadpan, he reveals: 'This has been a test to see if you're always honest with me.' She cries, 'Aw come on!' The joke: he was never actually death-denying, he was trapping her into lying. Votey (aftercomic): a black-and-white close-up of the man's face staring straight ahead, saying ominously, 'Today is your day.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.