melville
Original: melville on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman with dark hair (excited): WOW! IS THAT AN OLD EDITION OF MOBY-DICK?
Panel 2:
Man with red/orange hair: OH, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY A COPY OF MOBY-DICK. IT'S AN INSECT THAT'S EVOLVED TO LOOK LIKE THAT BOOK, SO THAT HUMANS WILL KEEP IT SAFE INDOORS BUT NEVER TOUCH IT.
Panel 3 (on the bookshelf, a book labeled): Moby Dick
Panel 4 (no dialogue): The book-insect flies off the shelf, with a sound effect.
Sound effect: Bzzz!
Votey:
Handwritten caption above a flying insect/leaf-like creature: Call them Ishmaelopterans
Woman with dark hair (excited): WOW! IS THAT AN OLD EDITION OF MOBY-DICK?
Panel 2:
Man with red/orange hair: OH, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY A COPY OF MOBY-DICK. IT'S AN INSECT THAT'S EVOLVED TO LOOK LIKE THAT BOOK, SO THAT HUMANS WILL KEEP IT SAFE INDOORS BUT NEVER TOUCH IT.
Panel 3 (on the bookshelf, a book labeled): Moby Dick
Panel 4 (no dialogue): The book-insect flies off the shelf, with a sound effect.
Sound effect: Bzzz!
Votey:
Handwritten caption above a flying insect/leaf-like creature: Call them Ishmaelopterans
Alt text
A four-panel comic. Panel 1: A dark-haired woman looks excitedly at a bookshelf and says, "Wow! Is that an old edition of Moby-Dick?" Panel 2: A red-haired man explains, "Oh, it's not actually a copy of Moby-Dick. It's an insect that's evolved to look like that book, so that humans will keep it safe indoors but never touch it." Panel 3: A close-up of the bookshelf shows a book spine labeled "Moby Dick." Panel 4: The disguised insect peels away from the shelf and flies off as a winged book-shaped creature with the sound effect "Bzzz!". Votey (aftercomic): The flying book-insect is shown with a handwritten label above it reading "Call them Ishmaelopterans" — a pun on Ishmael, Moby-Dick's narrator, and the insect order Lepidoptera.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.