michel
Explanation
This comic references Michel de Montaigne, the famous 16th-century French essayist. A character introduces Montaigne's credentials: he read extensively from classical authors like Seneca, Plutarch, Dante, and Shakespeare, and his essays covered philosophy, politics, and human nature. The character says Montaigne is "the most notable French essayist of his era," having left behind "timeless observations on cats." Another character asks what Montaigne's plan was today, and the response is that he was going to "hand-write a quote, noting it is more time-consuming than just Googling, and add it to a meaningless Instagram account with fewer followers than a cat."
The joke is an April Fools' Day gag (published April 1, 2024) that draws a parallel between Montaigne, the great Renaissance essayist, and modern social media "quote accounts." The punchline is that what Montaigne did -- carefully reading widely, reflecting on life, and writing down observations -- is essentially the same thing that countless Instagram accounts do now, except far less efficiently and with a smaller audience than a cat. The final panel shows Montaigne (or his modern equivalent) looking at a cat picture, with the cat having more followers. The comic satirizes how the internet has democratized and trivialized the essayist's art: anyone can post quotes, but no one can compete with cat content for attention.