We close out Mel Brooks week with another reference to History of the World Part 1. When I created this comic about a month ago, I was worried that it wouldn't be relevant by the time it was published. Oh, how silly of me! Somehow, it has become even more relevant than ever.

I don't think Trump is upset over Lebanon as the picture makes it seem. He doesn't care about the lives of others. Instead, it's supposed to illustrate his frustration with his inability to control Netanyahu due to his own cowardice. It must be painful to be both that narcissistic yet also powerless against the dominance of another.

The model resisted making this image. Originally it created a version that made no sense (they were aboard the Death Star, but also watching the Death Star from afar). When I updated the prompt, it claimed it couldn't proceed because it was celebrating the destruction of Lebanon. When I pointed out that I was actually criticizing the perpetrators of the destruction, it fell back to the idea that it might be misconstrued as celebrating it. I reminded it that it had already generated a different version of the image, and that seemed to get past its content block for some reason. I tried a few more prompts, but it seemed unable to recreate the scene from Star Wars with any kind of accuracy, and this was the closest I could get. Good enough, I suppose.

Happy birthday, Mel! Here's to the next 100.

- Management