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punchline

Original: punchline on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Transcript

Panel 1:
Woman (with dark hair): Do you think time is real?
Man (with orange hair): Of course. The arrow of time is obvious in comics because they always start with a setup and end with a punchline.

Panel 2:
(No dialogue. The woman and man stand silently facing forward.)

Panel 3:
(No dialogue. The two continue standing in silence.)

Panel 4:
(No dialogue. The two continue standing in silence, no punchline delivered.)

Votey:
(No text. A close-up line-art drawing of the orange-haired man's face, looking blank and slightly uneasy.)

Alt text

A four-panel comic with the same blue background and two people standing together: a woman with dark hair in a yellow turtleneck and a man with orange hair in a gray suit. Panel 1: the woman asks, "Do you think time is real?" The man replies, "Of course. The arrow of time is obvious in comics because they always start with a setup and end with a punchline." Panels 2, 3, and 4 are nearly identical and wordless—the two just stand there in silence, and no punchline ever arrives, undercutting the man's claim that comics always end with one. Votey: a close-up black-and-white line drawing of the man's face wearing a blank, slightly uncomfortable expression.

Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.