past
Original: past on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Dark-haired man (interviewer/older figure): Are you ever embarrassed by the views and actions of past you?
Younger man with light hair: Of course.
Panel 2:
Younger man with light hair: That's power! Present me is the past me of the future me! If I know in advance I'll be ashamed of this era in my life, I have the freedom to do anything I like!
Panel 3:
Younger man with light hair: I'll be mortified about this time whether it's spent grasping for corporate promotion or living a bohemian life of bad poetry and sexual misadventure, so CLEARLY I should do the second thing!
(The dark-haired man stands in the background looking unimpressed.)
Panel 4:
Caption banner: 20 YEARS HENCE...
The light-haired man, now older, lies sunbathing on a beach towel by the shore.
Thought/caption (pointing to him): Past me was a goddamned genius.
Votey:
Handwritten text inside a wavy black border:
Why am I the only cartoonist who regularly uses "hence"? Do better, internet.
Dark-haired man (interviewer/older figure): Are you ever embarrassed by the views and actions of past you?
Younger man with light hair: Of course.
Panel 2:
Younger man with light hair: That's power! Present me is the past me of the future me! If I know in advance I'll be ashamed of this era in my life, I have the freedom to do anything I like!
Panel 3:
Younger man with light hair: I'll be mortified about this time whether it's spent grasping for corporate promotion or living a bohemian life of bad poetry and sexual misadventure, so CLEARLY I should do the second thing!
(The dark-haired man stands in the background looking unimpressed.)
Panel 4:
Caption banner: 20 YEARS HENCE...
The light-haired man, now older, lies sunbathing on a beach towel by the shore.
Thought/caption (pointing to him): Past me was a goddamned genius.
Votey:
Handwritten text inside a wavy black border:
Why am I the only cartoonist who regularly uses "hence"? Do better, internet.
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: a dark-haired man asks a younger light-haired man, "Are you ever embarrassed by the views and actions of past you?" The younger man answers, "Of course." Panel 2: the younger man enthuses, "That's power! Present me is the past me of the future me! If I know in advance I'll be ashamed of this era in my life, I have the freedom to do anything I like!" Panel 3: he continues, "I'll be mortified about this time whether it's spent grasping for corporate promotion or living a bohemian life of bad poetry and sexual misadventure, so CLEARLY I should do the second thing!" while the dark-haired man stands in the background looking unimpressed. Panel 4, captioned "20 YEARS HENCE...": the now-older light-haired man lies contentedly sunbathing on a towel on a tropical beach with a palm tree, with a caption pointing to him reading, "Past me was a goddamned genius." Votey (bonus panel): handwritten text in a wobbly hand-drawn border reads, "Why am I the only cartoonist who regularly uses 'hence'? Do better, internet."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.