burn
Original: burn on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: Two young boys run across the beach toward a blonde woman who is reclining on a beach chair reading a book.
Boy (running): "MAMA! OUR BACKS ARE ON FIRE!"
Woman: "DIDN'T MR. HOSTETLER SUNSCREEN YOU?"
Panel 2: Close-up of the two boys (one with flame-like orange/red hair, one with brown hair) and the woman, who wears dark sunglasses.
Boy: "HE MUST HAVE MISSED A SPOT!"
Other boy: "IT HURTS SO MUCH!"
Woman: "LET ME SEE."
Panel 3: Close-up of the woman's face, mouth open in shock, hands raised to her chest.
(no dialogue)
Panel 4: The two boys stand with their sunburned backs facing the woman. On the orange-haired boy's back, pale unburned skin spells out "WILL YOU". On the brown-haired boy's back it spells "MARRY ME?" A man in a dark suit (Mr. Hostetler) stands in the background at left. The woman watches from the right foreground, hand raised.
Text on boys' backs: "WILL YOU" / "MARRY ME?"
Votey:
A single panel close-up of the woman's face.
Woman: "COME HERE, KIDS. I NEED TO WRITE MY ANSWER."
Boy (running): "MAMA! OUR BACKS ARE ON FIRE!"
Woman: "DIDN'T MR. HOSTETLER SUNSCREEN YOU?"
Panel 2: Close-up of the two boys (one with flame-like orange/red hair, one with brown hair) and the woman, who wears dark sunglasses.
Boy: "HE MUST HAVE MISSED A SPOT!"
Other boy: "IT HURTS SO MUCH!"
Woman: "LET ME SEE."
Panel 3: Close-up of the woman's face, mouth open in shock, hands raised to her chest.
(no dialogue)
Panel 4: The two boys stand with their sunburned backs facing the woman. On the orange-haired boy's back, pale unburned skin spells out "WILL YOU". On the brown-haired boy's back it spells "MARRY ME?" A man in a dark suit (Mr. Hostetler) stands in the background at left. The woman watches from the right foreground, hand raised.
Text on boys' backs: "WILL YOU" / "MARRY ME?"
Votey:
A single panel close-up of the woman's face.
Woman: "COME HERE, KIDS. I NEED TO WRITE MY ANSWER."
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC beach comic. Panel 1: two young boys run toward their reclining mother, shouting "Mama! Our backs are on fire!" She asks from her beach chair, "Didn't Mr. Hostetler sunscreen you?" Panel 2: the sunburned boys protest "He must have missed a spot!" and "It hurts so much!"; the mother says "Let me see." Panel 3: her face fills the panel, mouth agape and hands at her chest in shock. Panel 4: the boys stand with their bright-red backs to her, and the pale, unburned skin where sunscreen was applied spells out a message across the two backs: "WILL YOU" on one boy, "MARRY ME?" on the other. A man in a suit (Mr. Hostetler) watches from the background. The joke: the babysitter used sunscreen to write a marriage proposal on the children's backs, leaving the burn as the lettering. Votey (bonus panel): a close-up of the mother's face saying, "Come here, kids. I need to write my answer" — implying she'll sunburn a reply onto them in return.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.