modern-epic
Original: modern-epic on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman (brown skin, glasses, green jacket): It's become a cliche that superhero movies are modern epics.
Man (pale, short hair, yellow shirt): Sure.
Man: That's a huge insight about us!
Panel 2:
Woman: Fundamentally, epics aren't just about tough guys fighting evil. Epics are about culture heroes who strive to live according to the ideals of the societies they live in.
Panel 3 (caption):
Arjuna conquers only after receiving the spiritual vision of Krishna. Beowulf kills monsters and dragons to bring wealth and peace to his men. Achilles avenges Patroclus, achieving lasting fame and glory.
Panel 4:
Woman (gesturing): And what do our modern superheroes do? They sit around waiting for a bad thing to happen, form solidarity just long enough to kill it, and then they go back to running businesses or having middle class jobs.
Panel 5:
Man: Huh.
Panel 6:
Woman: Our highest ideal is someone who fights for justice in spare moments, but still shows up for work at 8am the next morning/ and we're so embedded in our own culture that we don't find it weird!
Panel 7:
Woman: It's like having the 47 ronin make lattes at Starbucks every morning, but then use sick days and weekends to restore honor to their master.
Panel 8:
Man: I mean, it'd be a shame to let your personal life mess up someone else's morning.
Panel 9 (silhouettes):
Woman: Perhaps we are all heroes now.
Votey:
Woman: Except cartoonists. They just take and take and take. And take.
Woman (brown skin, glasses, green jacket): It's become a cliche that superhero movies are modern epics.
Man (pale, short hair, yellow shirt): Sure.
Man: That's a huge insight about us!
Panel 2:
Woman: Fundamentally, epics aren't just about tough guys fighting evil. Epics are about culture heroes who strive to live according to the ideals of the societies they live in.
Panel 3 (caption):
Arjuna conquers only after receiving the spiritual vision of Krishna. Beowulf kills monsters and dragons to bring wealth and peace to his men. Achilles avenges Patroclus, achieving lasting fame and glory.
Panel 4:
Woman (gesturing): And what do our modern superheroes do? They sit around waiting for a bad thing to happen, form solidarity just long enough to kill it, and then they go back to running businesses or having middle class jobs.
Panel 5:
Man: Huh.
Panel 6:
Woman: Our highest ideal is someone who fights for justice in spare moments, but still shows up for work at 8am the next morning/ and we're so embedded in our own culture that we don't find it weird!
Panel 7:
Woman: It's like having the 47 ronin make lattes at Starbucks every morning, but then use sick days and weekends to restore honor to their master.
Panel 8:
Man: I mean, it'd be a shame to let your personal life mess up someone else's morning.
Panel 9 (silhouettes):
Woman: Perhaps we are all heroes now.
Votey:
Woman: Except cartoonists. They just take and take and take. And take.
Alt text
A nine-panel comic. A woman with glasses and a green jacket explains to a pale man in a yellow shirt that superhero movies are modern epics. He says "Sure" and sarcastically, "That's a huge insight about us!" She elaborates that epics are about culture heroes who strive to live by the ideals of their society, citing Arjuna, Beowulf, and Achilles in a caption. She argues modern superheroes sit around waiting for a bad thing, kill it, then go back to running businesses or middle-class jobs. Our highest ideal, she says, is someone who fights for justice in spare moments but still shows up for work at 8am, and we're too embedded in our culture to find it weird. She compares it to the 47 ronin making lattes at Starbucks every morning but using sick days and weekends to restore honor to their master. The man replies it'd be a shame to let your personal life mess up someone else's morning. In silhouette, the woman concludes, "Perhaps we are all heroes now." In the votey, a sketchy line drawing of a woman's head adds, "Except cartoonists. They just take and take and take. And take."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.