wise
Original: wise on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A bearded advisor or tailor in a cloak gestures toward the king, presenting something unseen.
Advisor: "My lord, this clothing is only visible to the wise."
The King (a bald, bearded man): "I shall wear it on my next parade!"
Panel 2: The naked king stands on a balcony before a crowd, confetti falling, as he shows off his "clothing" during the parade.
Panel 3: Caption (top): "IN A NEARBY LIBRARY"
A hooded figure peers out from a small stone window/dungeon-like opening, speaking wistfully.
Hooded figure: "I wish I could see the king's raiment..."
Votey:
A close-up of the hooded figure's bearded face, continuing the verse in a speech bubble.
Hooded figure: "Yet here poor fool for all I've read I cannot see the royal head."
Advisor: "My lord, this clothing is only visible to the wise."
The King (a bald, bearded man): "I shall wear it on my next parade!"
Panel 2: The naked king stands on a balcony before a crowd, confetti falling, as he shows off his "clothing" during the parade.
Panel 3: Caption (top): "IN A NEARBY LIBRARY"
A hooded figure peers out from a small stone window/dungeon-like opening, speaking wistfully.
Hooded figure: "I wish I could see the king's raiment..."
Votey:
A close-up of the hooded figure's bearded face, continuing the verse in a speech bubble.
Hooded figure: "Yet here poor fool for all I've read I cannot see the royal head."
Alt text
A four-panel comic riffing on 'The Emperor's New Clothes.' Panel 1: a bearded advisor in a cloak presents invisible clothing to a bald, bearded king, saying the clothing 'is only visible to the wise'; the king replies he'll wear it on his next parade. Panel 2: the naked king stands on a balcony before a confetti-filled crowd, proudly showing off the nonexistent outfit. Panel 3, captioned 'IN A NEARBY LIBRARY,' a hooded figure peers from a small stone window and laments, 'I wish I could see the king's raiment...'. In the votey aftercomic, a close-up of the hooded figure finishes the rhyme: 'Yet here poor fool for all I've read I cannot see the royal head'—the joke being that the learned, well-read scholar still cannot see the (nonexistent) clothes, while the head is what's actually missing.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.