Nano Banana 3 vs. ChatGPT: Two Cartoons Walk Into the Same Prompt
Nano Banana 3 vs. ChatGPT: When Two AIs Draw the Same Joke
What happens when you give the exact same editorial cartoon prompt to two different AI image tools? You don’t just get two files to download—you get two different artistic personalities arguing with each other on your screen.
In this experiment, I asked both Nano Banana 3 and ChatGPT’s image model to draw the same satirical cartoon about, well, Nano Banana 3 itself. One of them responded with a full-blown newspaper opinion page. The other came back with a tight, tall panel that followed the prompt almost line by line.
Below, I’ll show you the prompt, walk through what each AI actually drew, and talk about what those differences feel like from a working creator’s point of view.
The Prompt That Started It All
Here’s the full prompt both models received:
“Create a 9:16 vertical, classic newspaper-style editorial cartoon in the satirical spirit of Pat Oliphant, Herblock, Ann Telnaes, Thomas Nast, Clay Bennett, and Michael Ramirez. Use bold, expressive ink linework, dense vintage cross-hatching, and selective red accents for emphasis.
Central scene: A wide-eyed, frazzled digital creator in casual clothes sits at a cluttered desk, one finger just barely tapping a giant ‘GENERATE’ button on a futuristic Google-style control console labeled ‘Nano Banana 3’ in playful tech lettering. The instant their finger touches the button, a blindingly fast burst of finished, ultra-sharp images explodes out of a massive monitor: posters, portraits, landscapes, photoreal scenes, all flying through the air in a swirling tornado of perfectly lit, high-resolution art. Each flying image looks crisp, detailed, and ‘print-ready’ even in cartoon form—use exaggerated tiny details and razor-sharp edges to symbolize incredible quality.
Left side of the panel: A dusty, cobwebbed old computer tower labeled ‘Old AI – Please Wait…’ with a sad spinning hourglass and a tiny progress bar stuck at 3%. A drooping calendar next to it shows pages peeling away, hinting at slow, painful render times.
Right side of the panel: The ‘Nano Banana 3’ console is drawn like a sleek rocket-themed machine with a tiny speedometer pegged to MAX and a digital readout flashing ‘0.3 seconds’ in bright red. Little cartoon speed lines surround the console to exaggerate how fast it works.
Foreground character details: The creator’s face shows a mix of shock, delight, and disbelief—eyebrows arched, glasses glowing from the monitor light, hair blown back by the force of all the images pouring out. A sarcastic speech balloon from the creator says: ‘Wait… it’s DONE already?!’
Essential character: A chunky tuxedo Russian Blue mix cat sits on the desk wearing tiny safety goggles and a bow tie, calmly sipping coffee from a mug labeled ‘QUALITY CONTROL’. The cat smugly holds up a pristine sample print labeled ‘4K DETAIL’ with a tiny red checkmark, as if it has already approved the work.
Background & symbolism: Minimal but clever. On the wall behind them, hang two posters: one faded, crooked poster labeled ‘Endless Prompts & Fixes’ with tape peeling off, and one brand-new straight poster labeled ‘One Click, Perfect Pic’ in bold red letters. A small wall clock spins so fast its hands are a blur, underscoring the insane speed.
Text gag at the bottom in classic editorial style: Caption: ‘Nano Banana 3: Blink and Your Masterpiece Is Already Old News.’
Overall style: High-contrast black ink with subtle muted colors, using red as the main accent (for the speed readout, key labels, and the caption text). Keep the composition clean and readable, with the central message clear: Google’s new Nano Banana 3 is shockingly fast and produces impressively high-quality images.”
Nano Banana 3’s Cartoon: The Opinion Page Explosion
Nano Banana 3 looked at that prompt and basically said, “Cool, but let’s turn this into a whole newspaper op-ed spread.”
Instead of the tall 9:16 frame the prompt asked for, it stretched the scene into a wide, cinematic newspaper layout. Across the top, we get a masthead: “THE DAILY HERALD – OPINION.” Under it, in huge type, the headline:
“THE ‘NANO BANANA 3’ CONUNDRUM: INSTANT MASTERPIECE, OR JUST A BIG MESS?”
Right away, its personality shows. It adds a meta layer: this isn’t just a gag; it’s “news.” It leans into pundit mode, not just joke mode.
In the center, our frazzled creator sits at a Cintiq-style tablet, one hand still on the pen, the other reaching for the big “GENERATE” button on a chunky red console marked “Nano Banana 3 – Creative Engine.” The button glows like a nuclear launch key.
From the screen, a flood of finished images blasts outward: realistic portraits, landscapes, city skylines, campaign posters, concert flyers. A banner shouts “INSTANT ART! PERFECT! FAST! TOO FAST!” A thought bubble hovers over the artist: “AI ‘MAGIC’ — INSTANT PERFECTION (NO SKILL REQUIRED!).”
Around the edges, Nano Banana 3 starts asking the hard questions our original prompt only hinted at:
- A little character waves a sign: “HELP! I’M OUT OF A JOB!”
- A sad painter labeled “HUMAN CREATIVITY” looks overwhelmed by the image storm.
- The bottom caption reads like a newspaper kicker: “Our cartoonist tries the new ‘Nano Banana 3’ — and immediately regrets the unstoppable torrent of perfection.”
Technically, Nano Banana 3 ignored some instructions (9:16 vertical, specific cat details, some wall posters). But it amplified the theme of the prompt: not just speed, but what that speed does to humans trying to keep up.
It feels like a tool that doesn’t just follow directions; it tries to write its own editorial.
ChatGPT’s Cartoon: The Prompt-Literal Poster
ChatGPT’s image, the 9:16 vertical piece, lands much closer to the original blueprint. This one looks like a classic editorial panel.
The frazzled creator is dead center, hair blown back, glasses lit up by the monitor, finger pressing a big red “GENERATE” button. The monitor is spitting out crisp little framed images—portraits, landscapes, photoreal scenes—flying around the room in a tornado of “too perfect” pictures.
On the left, there’s the dusty “Old AI – Please Wait…” tower with cobwebs and a tiny frozen hourglass at 3%, plus that drooping calendar hinting at painful, slow renders. On the right, the Nano Banana 3 machine shows “0.3 seconds” in red and feels rocket-like and futuristic.
And yes, the star of the show: the chunky tuxedo Russian Blue mix cat. It’s perched on the desk, wearing safety goggles and a bow tie, holding a “4K DETAIL” print with a red checkmark and sipping from a “QUALITY CONTROL” mug like this is all just another Tuesday in the lab.
The wall posters are there too:
- “Endless Prompts & Fixes” – crooked, fading.
- “One Click, Perfect Pic” – clean, sharp, bold red.
The speech balloon nails the exact line from the prompt: “Wait… it’s DONE already?!”
And the caption along the bottom hits almost word-for-word: “Nano Banana 3: Blink and Your Masterpiece Is Already Old News.”
ChatGPT’s version is like a very good student who read the instructions three times and made sure every prop, label, and joke made the final cut. It’s lean, tall, easy to read on a phone, and extremely close to the requested style and structure.
What the Differences Tell Us
Looking at the two side by side (or, in this blog, one after the other), you can feel two different creative philosophies at work.
1. Prompt Obedience vs. Prompt Interpretation
ChatGPT behaves like a prompt obeyer. It respects the 9:16 framing, includes the Russian Blue, the labeled posters, the old AI tower, the specific punchline, and the “0.3 seconds” gag. If the prompt says “cat in goggles,” the cat gets goggles.
Nano Banana 3 behaves like a prompt interpreter. It grabs the core idea—artist, button, image explosion, Nano Banana branding—and then turns it into a newspaper story about jobs, creativity, and perfection. It’s less worried about ticking every box and more interested in reshaping the scene around a bigger question.
2. Story Density
ChatGPT’s panel tells one main joke: old AI slow, Nano Banana 3 unbelievably fast, even the cat is impressed.
Nano Banana 3’s spread tells a whole cluster of jokes at once:
- The headline asks if this is a miracle or a mess.
- Side characters panic about losing jobs.
- Human creativity looks overwhelmed.
- The artist is half thrilled, half terrified, sitting in the middle of an AI hurricane.
It feels like ChatGPT drew a poster, and Nano Banana drew an article.
3. How It Feels as a Human Creator
If you’re a digital creator or cartoonist, these two results push two different buttons in your brain.
The ChatGPT image makes you say, “Wow, look how literally and cleanly it can follow my directions.” It feels like a precision tool—great when you need exactly what you asked for, fast.
The Nano Banana 3 image makes you say, “Oh… this thing has opinions.” It bends the frame, adds its own typography, and sneaks in extra jokes about labor and value. It feels more like a collaborator that might argue with your layout, but also might hand you a finished op-ed page you didn’t even know you wanted.
So Which One Is “Better”?
That’s the wrong question—and also the fun one.
If your goal is:
- Tight control
- Vertical, phone-first framing
- Every single prop from the prompt present and accounted for
…then ChatGPT’s cartoon is the winner. It proves that a long, detailed prompt can survive the trip into the image almost intact.
If your goal is:
- Big, loud commentary
- Print-style layouts
- Extra satire layered on top of your core idea
…then Nano Banana 3’s newspaper spread is the more interesting result. It behaves like a slightly opinionated co-author who read your prompt and replied, “Sure… but what if we also talk about what this does to human artists?”
In the end, that’s the real punchline of this experiment: give two AIs the same script, and you don’t get clones—you get two different editorial cartoonists with their own quirks, strengths, and blind spots.
And somewhere off to the side, a Russian Blue cat in safety goggles is calmly sipping coffee, stamping “4K DETAIL” on both and muttering, “Yeah, they’ll do.”
Creator Desk Essentials I Actually Use
These are the practical helpers that do organize me—without scheduling a performance review.
Logitech MX Keys S
Slim, quiet, reliable keys with smart backlighting—my default typing surface for long writing sessions.
Check price →Logitech MX Master 3S (Bluetooth Edition)
Comfort sculpted, scroll wheel that flies, and multi-device switching that just works.
See details →Elgato Stream Deck +
Physical knobs + keys for macros, audio levels, and scene switching—editing and live controls at your fingertips.
View on Amazon →BenQ ScreenBar Halo 2 LED Monitor Light
Even illumination without glare, so the cross-hatching (and spreadsheets) stay crisp into the late hours.
Buy now →Anker USB-C Hub (7-in-1)
USB-C lifeline: HDMI, SD, and the ports modern laptops forgot. Toss-in-bag reliable.
Get the hub →Affiliate disclosure: Links above are affiliate links (Sponsored / nofollow). If you purchase through them, I may receive a small commission.
Want More Deep Dives into AI Creativity?
If you enjoy experiments like this—where we poke at AI tools, compare results, and talk honestly about what it means for working humans—come hang out with me on YouTube and Spotify:
- YouTube: Subscribe to Deep Dive AI
- Spotify: Listen to the Deep Dive AI Podcast
I’ll keep testing new tools, drawing more editorial weirdness, and seeing how far we can push this “one click, perfect pic” future without losing the humans in the process.
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