laughs
Original: laughs on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Boy: Dad, how do you tell if a girl likes you?
Panel 2:
Dad: She laughs at your jokes, none of which are clever, original, or insightful.
Panel 3:
Boy: What, you think I tell bad jokes all day for nothing? You think that's fun for me?
Panel 4:
Dad: I'm probing your mother for honest signals of affection. When she stops smiling at the way I say "it's a whisky maneuver" whenever I whisk eggs, I'll know she's bedding a co-worker, possibly that very night.
Panel 5:
Boy: I'm... horrified.
Panel 6:
Dad (eyes glaring intensely): Hi horrified, I'm dad.
Panel 7:
Dad: AHAHAHAHA. (Mom appears smiling in the background)
Panel 8:
Dad (eyes intense, satisfied): Good. Very good.
Votey:
The mother, shown close-up, looking strained/exhausted, thinks: By Christ it's the last time. Tonight he dies.
Boy: Dad, how do you tell if a girl likes you?
Panel 2:
Dad: She laughs at your jokes, none of which are clever, original, or insightful.
Panel 3:
Boy: What, you think I tell bad jokes all day for nothing? You think that's fun for me?
Panel 4:
Dad: I'm probing your mother for honest signals of affection. When she stops smiling at the way I say "it's a whisky maneuver" whenever I whisk eggs, I'll know she's bedding a co-worker, possibly that very night.
Panel 5:
Boy: I'm... horrified.
Panel 6:
Dad (eyes glaring intensely): Hi horrified, I'm dad.
Panel 7:
Dad: AHAHAHAHA. (Mom appears smiling in the background)
Panel 8:
Dad (eyes intense, satisfied): Good. Very good.
Votey:
The mother, shown close-up, looking strained/exhausted, thinks: By Christ it's the last time. Tonight he dies.
Alt text
An eight-panel SMBC comic. A boy asks his bald, bearded, glasses-wearing dad how to tell if a girl likes you. Dad answers: "She laughs at your jokes, none of which are clever, original, or insightful." The boy protests that telling bad jokes all day isn't fun. Dad explains he's "probing your mother for honest signals of affection," saying that when she stops smiling at his line "it's a whisky maneuver" whenever he whisks eggs, he'll know she's bedding a co-worker, possibly that very night. The boy says "I'm... horrified." Dad, eyes now glaring intensely, replies with the classic dad-joke reflex: "Hi horrified, I'm dad." In the next panel the mother appears smiling in the background as dad laughs "AHAHAHAHA," and dad concludes with wide intense eyes: "Good. Very good" — treating her laughter as confirmation of her fidelity. Votey (aftercomic): a black-and-white close-up of the mother, looking strained and exhausted, thinking: "By Christ it's the last time. Tonight he dies."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.