I knew I was in for a real treat when I saw the title of this comic strip, “Science Valentine.” With gritted teeth and heavy breaths, I actually managed to read the entire thing. Now, poor reader, I will attempt to explain it.
The Author is not a scientist. He wishes that he was, but he is not and will never be one. It’s this desperate yearning that drives him to doodle fake graphs and charts that lack any data or substance behind them. He is a one-man cargo cult, playing out his ritual on the internet for hundreds of thousands to see.
This comic is a metaphor for the Author’s failed relationship with science. In it, the stick figure man is the Author and the receiver of the valentine is science. He begins the narrative by doing what he does best: sitting down and miming the work of a scientist. He draws some squiggly lines and writes down some numbers. But, the more he does this, the sadder he becomes. As hard has he tries, he can’t actually do any science. He couldn’t “defend the hypothesis” that he had an aptitude for science.
With this discovery, the Author officially ends his troubled relationship with science. It leaves one wondering, what is next for him? Will he still aimlessly draw “cute and funny” charts or graphs, or will they just remind him of this bitter break up? Will there be more observational humor about his perceived notion of the scientific method? Physics puns?
Without a girlfriend or science to keep him company at night, what will?
