Starfish
Original: Starfish on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A starfish-shaped creature stands on the seafloor holding an axe, surrounded by scattered chunks. Bits of a broken starfish lie around it, and a larger starfish is visible in the background.
Starfish (with axe): "I DID IT, NANCY. BY GOD I DID IT. I DISMEMBERED THE CHILDREN. LIMB FROM LIMB FROM LIMB!"
Panel 2: A large starfish floats nearby. The chopped-up limbs are scattered across the seafloor. A heart-shaped piece and other bits drift in the water.
Large starfish: "HOORAY! MORE BABIES!"
Panel 3: The seafloor is now crowded with many small starfish. The original axe-wielding starfish stands among them, still holding its axe.
A starfish: "HOORAY!"
Votey:
A simple line-drawn limb stands alone against a white background.
Voice (from offscreen speech bubble): "TOTALLY WHAT I MEANT TO HAPPEN."
Starfish (with axe): "I DID IT, NANCY. BY GOD I DID IT. I DISMEMBERED THE CHILDREN. LIMB FROM LIMB FROM LIMB!"
Panel 2: A large starfish floats nearby. The chopped-up limbs are scattered across the seafloor. A heart-shaped piece and other bits drift in the water.
Large starfish: "HOORAY! MORE BABIES!"
Panel 3: The seafloor is now crowded with many small starfish. The original axe-wielding starfish stands among them, still holding its axe.
A starfish: "HOORAY!"
Votey:
A simple line-drawn limb stands alone against a white background.
Voice (from offscreen speech bubble): "TOTALLY WHAT I MEANT TO HAPPEN."
Alt text
A three-panel SMBC comic in an undersea setting. Panel 1: A starfish-like creature stands on the seafloor holding an axe, surrounded by scattered chunks of a chopped-up starfish, declaring with grim triumph, "I did it, Nancy. By God I did it. I dismembered the children. Limb from limb from limb!" Panel 2: A large starfish floats nearby and cheerfully responds, "Hooray! More babies!" — the joke being that starfish regenerate and reproduce from severed limbs, so the supposed massacre actually creates more offspring. Panel 3: The seafloor is now covered with many small new starfish, and one cheers, "Hooray!" Votey (bonus panel): A single severed limb stands alone on a white background while an offscreen voice says, "Totally what I meant to happen," pretending the unintended multiplication was the plan all along.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.