fringe
Original: fringe on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A man with dark hair (a scientist) speaks.
Scientist: "Dammit! Nobody believed my calculations and now it's too late!"
Scientist: "They were so invested in 'the scientific consensus' they called the truth 'fringe.'"
Panel 2: The scientist has a sudden realization.
Scientist: "Wait! That's it! The fringe! We just need to tip it up before the aliens get here!"
A blonde woman beside him: "There's not a moment to lose!"
Panel 3: A view of Earth from space, shown as a flat disc seen edge-on, with a small alien spacecraft approaching. A sound effect reads "SOON."
Panel 4: Close on the scientist (smiling, in a lab coat) and the blonde woman (looking shocked/distressed) standing together.
Panel 5: Earth depicted as a flat disc that has been tipped up on its edge, with the alien ship crashing into its rim in a burst.
Caption (speech bubble): "Dead in 10 seconds... FLAT."
Caption beneath the comic: "Why aren't there Flat Earth science fiction movies?"
Votey:
The scientist, eyes closed and smiling smugly, leans back.
Scientist: "Good thing the 'spherists' kept me... AROUND."
Scientist: "Dammit! Nobody believed my calculations and now it's too late!"
Scientist: "They were so invested in 'the scientific consensus' they called the truth 'fringe.'"
Panel 2: The scientist has a sudden realization.
Scientist: "Wait! That's it! The fringe! We just need to tip it up before the aliens get here!"
A blonde woman beside him: "There's not a moment to lose!"
Panel 3: A view of Earth from space, shown as a flat disc seen edge-on, with a small alien spacecraft approaching. A sound effect reads "SOON."
Panel 4: Close on the scientist (smiling, in a lab coat) and the blonde woman (looking shocked/distressed) standing together.
Panel 5: Earth depicted as a flat disc that has been tipped up on its edge, with the alien ship crashing into its rim in a burst.
Caption (speech bubble): "Dead in 10 seconds... FLAT."
Caption beneath the comic: "Why aren't there Flat Earth science fiction movies?"
Votey:
The scientist, eyes closed and smiling smugly, leans back.
Scientist: "Good thing the 'spherists' kept me... AROUND."
Alt text
A five-panel SMBC comic riffing on Flat Earth as a sci-fi premise. Panel 1: a dark-haired scientist laments, "Dammit! Nobody believed my calculations and now it's too late! They were so invested in 'the scientific consensus' they called the truth 'fringe.'" Panel 2: he realizes, "Wait! That's it! The fringe! We just need to tip it up before the aliens get here!" A blonde woman replies, "There's not a moment to lose!" Panel 3: from space, Earth is drawn as a flat disc seen edge-on while a tiny alien ship approaches; a sound effect reads "SOON." Panel 4: the scientist and woman stand together. Panel 5: the flat-disc Earth has been tipped up vertically on its edge, and the alien ship smashes into its rim. A caption reads, "Dead in 10 seconds... FLAT." Bottom caption: "Why aren't there Flat Earth science fiction movies?" The joke turns Flat Earth literalism into a planetary-defense maneuver, punning on 'fringe' and 'flat.' Votey: the smug scientist leans back, eyes closed, saying, "Good thing the 'spherists' kept me... AROUND" — a final pun on a round Earth.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.