Editing 1336: Transformers

{{comic
| number    = 1336
| date      = February 28, 2014
| title     = Transformers
| image     = transformers.png
| titletext = A helicopter bursts from a chrysalis and alights on a rock, rotors still damp.
}}

==Explanation==

The comic is a parody of {{w|Transformers}}, a fictional group of robots that can transform into vehicles. Transformers typically are able to transform instantaneously (often mid-stride) by manipulating and rearranging their mechanical parts. In this comic, however, [[Randall]] has the Transformers "transform" in the same manner that {{w|Caterpillar|caterpillars}} "transform" via {{w|metamorphosis}} into butterflies or moths.

The first two panels show action scenes that would be appropriate for a Transformers comic. However, the third panel shows the Transformers climbing a tree, and in the final scene they wrap silk around themselves, apparently forming a cocoon or chrysalis.

The title text furthers this parallel, describing a newly transformed helicopter — presumably the post-metamorphosis state of one of the Transformers in the panels — in a manner that would be more appropriate for a freshly-emerged butterfly or moth.

This [[xkcd]] comic is one of the few ones not showing just simple [[stick figure]]s.

==Transcript==
:[Two "Transformer"-esque robots are visible.]
:First Robot: '''''Transform!'''''
:[Both robots run to the right.]
:[Each robot reaches a tree and begins to climb it.]
:[The camera focuses on the nearer of the two robots, which is placing itself into a chrysalis hanging from the tree branch.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Robots]]