trick
Original: trick on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A child in a witch costume (pointed hat, holding a jack-o'-lantern candy bucket) stands at a door. A child with orange hair, dressed in a white sheet ghost costume, has come trick-or-treating.
Witch-costumed child: WHAT ARE YOU, LITTLE BOY?
Panel 2:
The ghost-costumed child speaks, arm raised dramatically.
Ghost-costumed child: I'M YOUR GRANDFATHER, BACK FROM BEYOND THE GRAAAAAAVE! YOU WROTE ON YOUR BLOG THAT I NEVER SAID GOODBYE, BUT I'M HERE HELEN! I'M HERE TO MAKE THINGS RIIIIIIIIGHT!
Panel 3:
The witch-costumed child (Helen) stands with a flat, unimpressed expression. The ghost child stands nearby with his arm still raised.
(no dialogue)
Panel 4:
Later. The ghost child pushes a small cart heaped with candy, holding a clipboard/list. Helen, in her witch costume, holds a hand mirror and a clipboard.
Helen: GOOD HAUL. NEXT WE NEED MASK 1B-X2 FOR MR. RABINOWITZ. REMEMBER TO MENTION PARIS 1973, OKAY?
Ghost child: GOD BLESS THE INTERNET.
Votey:
Caption at top: ADULT PSYCHES ARE MADE OF GLASS.
A large simple rounded blob-like face with two small dot eyes and a wide nervous/uneasy frowning mouth, looking fragile and unsettled.
A child in a witch costume (pointed hat, holding a jack-o'-lantern candy bucket) stands at a door. A child with orange hair, dressed in a white sheet ghost costume, has come trick-or-treating.
Witch-costumed child: WHAT ARE YOU, LITTLE BOY?
Panel 2:
The ghost-costumed child speaks, arm raised dramatically.
Ghost-costumed child: I'M YOUR GRANDFATHER, BACK FROM BEYOND THE GRAAAAAAVE! YOU WROTE ON YOUR BLOG THAT I NEVER SAID GOODBYE, BUT I'M HERE HELEN! I'M HERE TO MAKE THINGS RIIIIIIIIGHT!
Panel 3:
The witch-costumed child (Helen) stands with a flat, unimpressed expression. The ghost child stands nearby with his arm still raised.
(no dialogue)
Panel 4:
Later. The ghost child pushes a small cart heaped with candy, holding a clipboard/list. Helen, in her witch costume, holds a hand mirror and a clipboard.
Helen: GOOD HAUL. NEXT WE NEED MASK 1B-X2 FOR MR. RABINOWITZ. REMEMBER TO MENTION PARIS 1973, OKAY?
Ghost child: GOD BLESS THE INTERNET.
Votey:
Caption at top: ADULT PSYCHES ARE MADE OF GLASS.
A large simple rounded blob-like face with two small dot eyes and a wide nervous/uneasy frowning mouth, looking fragile and unsettled.
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic about Halloween. Panel 1: A child in a witch costume holding a jack-o'-lantern candy bucket asks an orange-haired kid in a white sheet ghost costume, "What are you, little boy?" Panel 2: The ghost-costumed kid declares dramatically, "I'm your grandfather, back from beyond the graaaaaave! You wrote on your blog that I never said goodbye, but I'm here Helen! I'm here to make things riiiiight!" Panel 3: The witch-costumed child (Helen) stares back, completely deadpan and unimpressed. Panel 4: Later, the ghost kid pushes a cart overflowing with candy while holding a list; Helen holds a hand mirror and her own list and instructs him, "Good haul. Next we need Mask 1B-X2 for Mr. Rabinowitz. Remember to mention Paris 1973, okay?" The ghost kid replies, "God bless the internet." The joke: kids have turned faking emotional closure from dead relatives, using details mined from people's blogs, into an efficient trick-or-treating racket. Votey: a single large fragile-looking blob cartoon face with tiny dot eyes and a nervous frown, captioned "Adult psyches are made of glass."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.