groups
Original: groups on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title banner: THE LIFE CYCLE OF GROUPS
Panel 1 (STEP 1):
Man with orange/flame-like hair in a suit: "I'm gonna form a group to do good things."
Panel 2 (STEP 2):
The same man, now standing at a podium addressing a crowd, a flag beside him: "As the goodest of groups, we must make sure we do good things."
Panel 3 (STEP 3):
The man, now standing atop a structure and shouting into a megaphone over a line of uniformed, helmeted marchers: "We are the good group! Us!"
Panel 4 (STEP 4):
The man, now older/balding and angry, in front of a city in flames with soldiers behind him: "Things are good because WE did them."
Votey:
Caption text in a hand-drawn box: "(Except the groups I like.)"
Panel 1 (STEP 1):
Man with orange/flame-like hair in a suit: "I'm gonna form a group to do good things."
Panel 2 (STEP 2):
The same man, now standing at a podium addressing a crowd, a flag beside him: "As the goodest of groups, we must make sure we do good things."
Panel 3 (STEP 3):
The man, now standing atop a structure and shouting into a megaphone over a line of uniformed, helmeted marchers: "We are the good group! Us!"
Panel 4 (STEP 4):
The man, now older/balding and angry, in front of a city in flames with soldiers behind him: "Things are good because WE did them."
Votey:
Caption text in a hand-drawn box: "(Except the groups I like.)"
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic titled "The Life Cycle of Groups," tracking how a well-meaning group curdles into authoritarianism. Step 1: a cheerful orange-haired man in a suit says, "I'm gonna form a group to do good things." Step 2: he stands at a podium beside a flag addressing a crowd, declaring, "As the goodest of groups, we must make sure we do good things." Step 3: he shouts into a megaphone atop a structure while uniformed helmeted marchers file past below, yelling, "We are the good group! Us!" Step 4: now older, balding, and snarling in front of a burning city with soldiers behind him, he says, "Things are good because WE did them." The escalating panels visually chart the slide from idealism to fascism. The votey (aftercomic) is a single hand-drawn box reading, "(Except the groups I like.)" — undercutting any reader's smug agreement by implying everyone exempts their own in-group.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.