tym godek

@tymgodek.bsky.social

69 Followers 180 Following

Guy from Ohio. Secret cartoonist. Comics for sale: https://yellowlight.storenvy.com

The cover of the first issue of an upcoming new Concrete comic book series, Stars over Sand, written and drawn by Paul Chadwick. Hulking rock-man Concrete threatens a backpacker menacingly (the exact opposite of Concrete’s usual characterization) on a desert hilltop mottled with Inky shadows. The shadows also throw the backpackers upraised (in defense) hand into stark relief. A single, broken tree trunk lurches slightly, unsettlingly, off the center of the composition. It’s a scary image. Text reads “lost, lightning-struck, amnesiac. He looks at his hands. Odd… they are covered in stone.” Issue 1 of 5
An image of many green points across a black background. The points are scattered irregularly and clump together at points which are labeled things like “Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Professionals” and “UK Academic & Research Community.” In the center, a point is circled in pink and labeled @tymgodek. This all represents my social sphere on the Bluesky network, I guess?
A copy of Hyun Sook/Ryan Estrada’s book, Good Old Fashioned Korean Spirit. First comic bought(by me) in Wooster in around 25 years. (Coffee and Capes - a new storefront here in town.) Also, that’s my hand.
A photograph of two pages from a printed comic, “some Gags Involving Mirrors” by Tym Godek. The first page (on the left) is a depiction of Dogbert of the Dilbert comic strip (by Scott Adams) sitting on the edge of a bed speaking to Dilbert himself, saying “everything you hate is a reflection of everything you love and everything you love is a reflection of you.” Another Dogbert sits in empty space below. On the top of the second page four Dogberts rotate around and invisible axis. The topmost Dogbert says “The mirror. The mirror.” Below, Dogbert sits on the edge of a bed much like on the first page and says “The Mirror!”
A comics page. 6 panels in 3 tiers. Panel 1 - an object resembling a spool of thread with a horizontal appendage lies on its side. We see 6 holes at its base. It appears to strain. Dialog comes from off panel. “Where the heck are you taking me anyway?” Panel 2 - a closer look at the appendage. The end - a wheel-like circle with two crossing axis bars - strains against the pavement. “Way out in the boonies… I don’t even know these streets, an’ I grew up here.” Panel 3 - the “spool” lay still. Something stirs from inside its center hole. “Just for some artsy-farts theater troop?” Panel 4 - a golden ball pops out from the center hole of the spool. “Oops. I mean avant garde. Heh heh.” Panel 5 - the ball rolls down the pavement from the spool. “Eric, if you don’t want to go, then don’t go. I wanna see what it’s all about!” Panel 6 - the ball seems to burst. In the distance the man (Eric) chases after the woman (Missy) “Missy. Wait.” Page 9/30
A comics page. 6 panels in 3 tiers. A conversation between a man and a woman. Panel 1 - they stand close together, her hand on his cheek. He slyly smiles “we could just skip it… go back to my place…” Panel 2 - the view shifts down slightly. We see they are embraced, but her arm drops. “Orrr… you could go back to your place alone…” Panel 3 - now at their feet. A small cylindrical object with a horizontal appendage sits on the oavement next to them. “Nah… you’d miss me.” Panel 4 - the cylinder, which resembles a spool of thread with a nail or screw stock into it, shakes and strains. “Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t.” Panel 5 - the cylinder falls. Six small holes - one in the center surrounded by five smaller equally spaced - are seen on the disc at the now-revealed base. “Either way I’d still [obscured]et to see the show.” Panel 6 - the cylinder rolls over until its appendage hits the ground, stopping it short. “Come on… don’t want to be late.” Page 8 of 30 (for real this time)
A comics page. One panel inset in the upper left in a larger scene. In the panel a young man (Eric) is talking to a young woman (I didn’t catch her name yet). They are coming out of an intimate embrace, her left hand still hovers near his jawline. Eric: “Babe, you know I’ll go. I’d do just about anything… for you.” She is smiling: “Yeah? Good…) The rest of the page - part of a 2-page spread - depicts an industrial lot the building there has a large overhead, garage-type door. (Continued on the next page.) Page 8/30
A comics page. 6 panels in 3 tiers. The last panel is borderless. Panel 1 shows a man with slicked down bangs and a woman in chunky glasses and barrettes walking and talking. Other people pass by, but they are not important. You can tell because they’re kind of just scribbled in. The woman, smiling: “Ha-ha. Don’t be a jerk, Eric.” The man (Eric) echoes her smile: “I am what I am, you know.” Panel 2 - is s profile view of the conversant. Eric (looking more serious): “Seriously, though. If it’s any of that edgy bullshit…” the woman, smirks: “have I ever led you astray?” Panel 3 - close up on the man’s face, a sly grin and tilt of his head: “maybe. A time or two.” Panel 4 - the woman smirks and side-eyes Eric. Panel 5 - the woman moves in smiling, for a playful punch to Eric’s chest: “You Jerk!” He reacts with a slight feint and a grin. Panel 6 - the man and woman embrace in a kiss. Page 7 of 30
A comics page. 6 panels with other overlayed panels/images. Panel 1 is obscured by a cell phone shape. An irregular pyramid with feet is being attacked on the right by a fucked up giraffe-thing, and on the left by a fashionable dodo bird. Several -400 counters accompany the attacks. P 2 - a man in a knit cap taps on his phone. He looked frustrated and says, “c’mon…” In the background there is another man talking - maybe to you! His dialog is partly off-panel. “[obscured]ne is even listenin[obscured]” P 3 - the bottom of cap man’s face because the phone shape over panel one extends part way over panel 3. He looks upset. -400 symbols float in the air around him as he repeats, “don’t” “don’t” “don’t” Background man’s dialog continues too. “[obscured] get anyone d[obscured]” Overset on panel 3 and 4 are 2 panels depicting an in-game detail. In the first inset half a “life” is shown In the second it’s replaced by a burst of some sort. P 4 - “GAME OVER” text and the pyramid lying on its side. Dialog comes from three sources (the dialog is different colors.) Cap man (indicated by the same color dialog as the other panels he speaks in) says “aw, cripes” Background man says “[obscured]ome days i barely [obscured]n look at boxes.” The third bit of dialog comes from parts unknown, as we haven’t seen this color dialog before. “You don’t know, you might even enjoy it!” P 5 - cap man leans back in the bus stop shelter, sighing a “phff”. Background man leans into the panel saying, “[obscured] to see my boxes some time?” Another dialog (new color) says “Right. I doubt that. Isn’t it just like… weirdo performance crap.?” P 6 - shifts to the source of the new dialogs. A man and a woman are walking together, away from us. Background man seems to react to this change of viewpoint “okay… I.. maybe see you later?” The woman’s dialog is ovekayed on top of this. “TOTTOA are not crap. They’re just… forward thinking.” The man replies “Ohh… I get it. They’re “Deep.” Page 6/30
A comics page. The main layout is 6 panels in tiers of 2, but there are also two vertical panels overlayed on top of panels 1 through 4, mostly obscuring panels 1 & 2 especially. It’s difficult to tell what is depicted in the first two panels, but an unintelligible (obscured) dialog definitely runs throughout. The overlay panels depict some kind of pixelated mobile video game (phone screen). An irregular red pyramid-like structure with a split opening seems to traverse across a yellow and green landscape. Leg-like appendages emerge from the split and seem to be the manner of locomotion. Pixelated bird-things fly right to left across the screen. There is some kind of in-game display overlay, but it’s unclear what it all represents. Could be a scoring system or “lives” left. It seems to be a progress bar at the bottom. Panel 3 - only partially obscured by the “screen” panels - depicts a closer view of the game. One of the bird-things appears to have collided with the pyramid. There is a negative number indicated in red, kind of looks like negative 400. Panel 4: a man who might be wearing a knit cap is gritting his teeth in concentration or frustration. A tap tap tap tap tapping noise dominates the panel. Behind the man an unintelligible dialog continues. Panel 5: a finger taps on the screen. A fucked-up looking giraffe or something approaches the pyramid. In the background the dialog continues. All we can make out of that is “diff” “it” and “yw” so not a lot to go on. The tapping continues too. Panel 6: one of the leg-appendages emerges from the pyramid and connects a blow to the giraffe-thing. A positive indicator appears, maybe +500 or 600? The tapping continues. Page 5/30
A comics page. Five panels in three tiers. The first panel spans the width of the page and the following tiers have two panels each. A man is speaking while waiting at a bus stop. Panel 1: the man looks downward, unfocused. He absentmindedly scratches at his chest. “it’s hard. to find time, you know.” “Sometimes you have to choose…” Panel 2: the focus shifts slightly to the man’s right. Behind him a man in a knit beanie cap (or tobaggan, what have you. I never know what to call them) is sitting on a bench tapping on his phone. In the foreground, the man continues, “Like… organize my boxes or do the dishes?something has to give.” Panel 3: focusing past the first man, the toboggan guy starts to become the focus. He tap tap tap tap taps on his phone. The first man continues. His dialog starts to be cut off by the panel border, but can still be mostly made out. “i don’t know if people [obscured]ealize how long it takes to do it.” Panel 4: full focus is on toboggan guy now. Or knit cap guy. Whatever. He is furiously tapping on his phone, as depicted by a cloud of the word “TAP” surrounding him. The first man’s dialog continues but is mostly obscured now. “[obscured] how? [obscured] do it ri[obscured]” Panel 5: looking over cap guy’s shoulder at his phone in his hands. On the phone is a pixelated image of red pyramid-like structure with a split opening. It seems to traverse across a yellow and green landscape. Cap dude continues his rhythmic tapping. The first man’s dialog comes from off panel, cut off but discernible for the most part. “i want my boxes to make [obscured] but not… too, too obvio[obscured]” Page 4/30
A comics page in 5 panels, over 3 tiers. In the first panel a bird looks at a star shaped spool on the pavement. The second panel shows a man, talking to you or the narrator. Over his head the bird flies away with the spool now in its mouth. The man says: “one time I had to eat a pretty large quantity of crackers. Like… all at once.” A narrative caption interrupts, in all caps: “NATE CAMPBELL IS S NAME PERHAPS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD.” Panels 3 and 4 are divided but depict a continuous minimal street scene. The man stands in panel 3 but slightly overlapping the border into 4. He speaks in panel 3: “you… i… um…” The narration continues: “OR MAYBE YOU HAVE BUT YOU DON’T REMEMBER” In panel 4 the narration continues: “THAT’S POSSIBLE. EVEN LIKELY, FOR NICK IS S MAN UNLIKE ANY OTHER.” The man: “i eat a lot of crackers…” Panel five takes up the whole third (and last) tier. It’s mostly narrative text partially overlaid on top of the man’s face. The narration goes: “BORN WITH A COMPLETE INABILITY TO MAKE ANY KIND OF LASTING IMPRESSION HE LEADS A QUIET LIFE OF WTETCHED ISOLATION. HE IS NICO CRUMBUM…” And then, in larger letters over the man’s face: “THE MAN WITHOUT CHARISMA” The man: “it’s Noah, actually. my name is… so… Page 3 of 30
A comics page. 5 panels in 3 tiers so that the first four panels divide the top 2 tiers equally (2 panels each) and the bottom tier is only one “double-wide panel. Panel one depicts the lower half of a man’s body, focusing more on the ground beneath him. A crumpled paper bag lies st his feet and a bird descends from the top right towards the bag. The man speaks: “i collect cracker boxes” The next panel focuses in further on the now landed bird, examining the paper bag. The bird’s body begins to obscure the man’s continuing dialog. “From all over… all periods of design. You know of histor[obscured]” Panel three, the bird pokes its head into the bag. Dialog continues: “[obscured]ut also, like… um… [obscured]ou can learn a lo[obscured]rom just everyday packa[obscured] Panel four. The bird jolts upright as the bag is stuck on its head. “[obscured]nd… oh! and cookies [obscured]ometimes too. th[obscured]e are [obscured]ulture [obscured]ckers cook[obscured]s a[obscured] vice v[obscured]rsa.” Panel 5, multiple overlapping images of the bird as it shakes the bag off its head. Also falling from the bag is a flat star-shaped spool for thread, which seems to have old, broken-off bits of thread, in various colours. A small wooden crossbar sticks out of the middle of the star, and another small rod is joined to that at a right angle. Dialog continues: “[obscured]d of cours[obscured] can’t [obscured]eep the [obscured]kers in t[h]e packag[obscured]g th[obscured]y co[me] in … Page 2 of 30
A comics page, three panels: one large square on top of two equal smaller square panels. The large panel depicts a diminutive, round headed man waiting at a bus stop amid a busy city scene. He stands with slightly slumped shoulders and arms hanging at his side. One hand holds a plastic grocery bag that appears to have something in it. Around him other people pass by, or lounge on the nearby bench. A bird is visible at the foot of a trash can to the right of the man. Across the top of the panel there is a lot of text. Introductory narration in all caps: “LOOK AND YOU WILL FIND THEM, THE LIGHTS IF OUR TIME. WINNERS. BORN LEADERS. THE LUCKY FEW. MORE THAN MERELY INTERESTING, THEIR COMMANDING PRESENCE INSPIRES CONFIDENCE, COMFORT, TRUST, AND DEMANDS YOUR WILLING CONSIDERATION. NATHAN CRUMBWELL EXHIBITED NONE IF THESE TRAITS. BORN WITH AN UTTER INABILITY TO HILD ANYONE’S SUSTAINED ATTENTION, HE LIVES IN A WORLD HE CAN NEVER TRULY BE A PART OF. HE IS BAT CRUMBWELL…” And then in large text: “THE MAN WITHOUT CHARISMA” Panel two is a closer view of the man’s face. He speaks directly to the reader, or maybe to the narrator. His dialogue is all lower case: “i wouldn’t say it’s all bad…” Panel three focuses on his abdomen, where his free hand scratches his belly, “scrtch scrtch” He continues: “i’ve got a decent job. my hobbies…” Page 1 of 30
The LP sleeve for Joyful Noise’s re-release of Deerhoof’s Friend Opportunity. Letter or letter-like shapes seemingly hastily scrawled across hand drawn lines, white and various colors on a black background. One line includes what looks like the word “FRIEND” except mirrored. Many of the other shapes seem to almost spell “OPPORTUNITY” - but scrambled and scattered and not quite. Artwork by David Shrigley.
Close up of a comics page, features a small drawing of the 2023 Mountain Goats album, Jenny from Thebes
A photo of a page from Kim Deitch’s “Alias the Cat” (Jonathan Cape/Random House, 2007) with the top half depicting a fictional “Alias the Cat” newspaper comic strip from 1915 (in story), and the bottom depicting the reaction of the narrator of the book (Deitch’s “Kim Deitch” character) reaction to the strip and a related newspaper story in present time. But there is a printing error. The bottom half of the page is correctly in sequence, but the top half is actually the “Alias the Cat” reproduction meant for the next page of the book. The original top half of the page was intended to be a different strip and is missing in this copy. There is a slight overlap of “wrong” and “right” plates in the middle of the page creating a pleasingly disorienting effect in the narrative. At least for me. The fact that Deitch’s “Kim Deitch” character references Deja vu on this page, and the next page repeats the top half of this only deepens the effect. There are parts of the overlap that look intentional, and in fact it took me a minute to figure out it wasn’t the first time I read this book. I love it!
A comics page divided into 16 panels, 4 rows of 4. A man speaks to a series of other figures, mostly clowns, presumably to answer a question. Panel 1 - the man speaks to Grimbaldi at his dressing table. “I hear you, Mac. And I get it, really I do.” Panel 2 - Grimbaldi continues. “But you don’t need me.” Panel 3 - continuing “You know who you should talk to. The Great Clown Finnmonger. He’s got REAL insight.” Panel 4 - the man has departed, Grimbaldi removed his nose with a POP. “Prick” Next row. Panel 5 - the man is now talking to a new clown, shorter and holding 2 fish. “Grimbaldi sent you, huh? I see why he did.” Panel 6 - shaking his fish at the man, “it’s problem you got. A real bummer.” Panel 7 - fish down “but you know who you should be talking to… the Great Clown Bigglöfer.” Panel 8 - back up “she’ll set you right.” Next row. 9 - The man looks up past a pair of really long legs, a voice comes from off panel “You don’t need me, you need the Grand Clown Walkerman.” 10 - the man speaks to a clown uncomfortably crammed into a small car. “Have you tried the Great Mime, Larry Greatmime?” 11 - the mime signals, a stage yech translates, “He says you should see the Great Chef Kuchenka.” 12 - a chef: “Great Judge Gavelholder. Very wise. Very fair.” Next row. 13 - at the bench, the judge says “Dumpster Dave. He lives out back.” 14 - the man lifts the dumpster lid. A voice comes from the dumpster “you need to talk to a doctor, buddy. A real doctor.” 15 - a hand sticks out from the dumpster “That’ll be $300” The final panel is borderless, just a lick of flame. “The end” 30/30
A comics page with panels in a 3x3 grid. Professor Handsome is talking. 1 - “now we can build on these basics” 2 - he holds up a finger to accentuate his point “3 times 3 is also known as 3 cubed” 3 - a cube drawn on a black background. All of its vertices are circled. “Therefore a cube also has three angles.” 4 - Professor Handsome shakes his fist merrily “that’s why we call it a TRI-angle.” 5 - hands outstretched “not so tough. A child could follow along.” 6 - Professor Handsome suddenly appears as a negative image on a blood red background. For the first time ever he is not smiling. “As they are REQUIRED under penalty of law.” 7 - a field of numeral threes, some connected by circles and boxes, others underlined or otherwise highlighted. “Occasionally letters can be numbers too, like 9 or 258. Generally you don’t need to worry about any of that.” 8 - the same highlights are still there, but the threes have been replaced by the word ‘is’ “Just remember: it is what it is. Suds it out for yourself.” 9 - Professor Handsome, smiling. Friendly. “It only needs to make as much sense as anything else.” 29/30
A comics page with panels in a 3x3 grid. Professor Handsome is talking. 1 - his hands in a tent position, he begins his lesson. “Let’s begin with rudimentary geometries.” 2 - an image of a triangle, on black “Take the most basic of the stable shapes.” 3 - Professor Handsome, his hands palms-out “How many sides? How many angles?” 4 - “That’s right! Three each.” he holds up two fingers and his thumb. 5 - stroking his chin. “Now, what if we add 3 more sides?” 6 - “How many angles now?” An image of a pentagram on black. 7 - Professor Handsome, nodding slightly and holding up a finger. “Right! There are always as many angles as sides.” 8 - smugly grasping his jacket lapel “and there are always three.” 9 - contemplatively: “it is what it is what it is. 28/30
A comics page. The top half is empty. The bottom half consists of a row of three round panels and one overlapping square. In the square panel a figure that you could swear looked like s rotund clown just s minute ago. It is wiping its face with a rag and speaks to you. “Is it all true?” (It sounds like the clown.) In a borderless panel the figure sits in a chair in front of a vanity mirror. We can see now that the figure appears not at all like a clown, but more something like s large hot dog with arms and legs. I’d say it’s looking in the mirror, but it has wiped all features from what might have been its face. The three round panels depict a trash can fire on stage. In the last panel the fire starts to spread. 27/30
A comics page consisting of two overlapping rows of panels, square and round. In the square panels a clown like figure is undressing. In the first square panel he faces the mirror (you can only see his reflection. He has only a mouth for features). After a pause he turns to you in panel 2, as if you’ve spoken to him. “Huh?” He turns back to the mirror, reaching for his collar. “Oh, I usually just pass ‘em on to another clown. Share the love.” “Just a thing we do.” In the circle panels a fire burns in a trash can on stage. 25/30
A comics page in pastel colors. There are two layers of overlapping panels. in one layer a rotund hairless clown with no eyes or nose is monologuing at you as he sheds his costuming. The other layer shows a trash can burning on stage. The clowns monologue: His arms in the air. “‘You’re material’” they say. ‘You get it.’ ‘You understand.’” He sits at the vanity, undoing buttons. “So the world is on fire… anybody can smell that smoke, Jack. Ain’t no insight there.” Closer on the clown “Just ‘cause you can tell the world is on fire doesn’t mean you know how to stop it. You just gotta work with what you’ve got, y’know? Didn’t start it. Can’t fight it. What do you do? You sell marshmallows.” He sits, slumped “I just sell marshmallows.” 24/30
A comics page in pastel colors, mostly blue. There are two layers of overlapping panels. in one layer a rotund clown is wrapping up his on-stage routine. A fire is burning next to him. In three panels over the top of this the same clown (though now without eyes or nose) is talking to you. Panel 1 - he is reaching behind his head. You can see his reflection in his mirror too. He’s continuing a thought. “I mean, the fans are great. Some weirdos, sure, but you can see where they’re coming from.” “The climbers, the hangers-on. At least you know what they want. You have it.” “I can even take the psychos. I’d rather not, y’know, but I get it. I get them. This world is messed up.” Panel 2 (to the right)- he is seated before a large vanity (this is his dressing room). He’s just removed his collar and the two tufts of hair he had on the sides of his head. He’s bent over in frustration. “What I don’t get is the ones coming to me for insight. The seekers. And they’re earnest questions.” Panel 3 is above panel two. This goes against standard (western) reading modes, but that’s how it is. The clown is facing you. His hairless head is featureless except for his wide mouth. “Looking for answers. Looking to me.” “I don’t have any answers.” In the background the trash can on stage continues to burn long after the act is done. 23/30
A comics page in pastel colors. There are three layers of overlapping panels. in one layer a rotund clown is wrapping up his routine routine. Barely delineated square panels layered beneath depict various views of his audience. Three larger squares on top of everything stand out through their cloak of blue shadow. The clown sits before a large mirror in his dressing room, removing his professional garb while answering your questions. Dressing room: “ y’know… it’s still work. I mean… I’m working really hard out there.” Back in his act the clown is pulling a large trash can on stage. Someone in the crowd is filming him on their cell phone. Dressing room: the clown turns to you, he has no eyes. “And who doesn’t want their work to be… I dunno… appreciated?” In the act the clown holds a lot match above the trash can and drops it in, spurting flames. The audience goes wild. The clown bows as he gets a standing ovation from the crowd. Roses are thrown on stage. In the dressing room: the clown would be looking in the mirror if he had eyes. His reflection also doesn’t look back. “But some of these people. Man… I’m telling you.” The crowd disperses up the aisles of the theater after the show ends. 22/30
A comics page in pastel colors. There are three layers of overlapping panels. in one layer a rotund clown performs several varying routines throughout 9 round panels (marked by a prominent triangular spotlight in each.) Barely delineated square panels layered beneath depict various views of his audience. By the looks of it they are having a wonderful time. Three larger squares on top of everything stand out through their cloak of blue shadow. The clown sits before a large mirror in his dressing room, removing his professional garb. At the same time he is speaking to you, apparently responding to a question you asked? 1 - as he pops off his nose: “No, it’s basically the same show every night.” 2 - now noseless, he turns to face you. “Three parts slapstick, some observational comedy, and a little sleight of hand.” 3 - he turns back to removing his makeup. “You can get away with a lot with just a bit of misdirection.” 21/30
A comics page in pastel colors. 6 round panels over the top (and slightly offset) of six square panels. A shifting triangular spotlight defines the round panels. They depict a rotund clown performing on stage. The square panels depict different views of his audience and surroundings. Panel 1 round- the clown holds and speaks into a microphone “Whenever I don’t get my way” (this is the punchline from a joke started on page 19) Panel 1 square - the audience in uproarious laughter. Panel 2 round - the clown places the microphone back on the stand. Panel 2 square - the audience view from a distance, of the clown onstage as he reaches into a pocket. The audience is still laughing over the first joke. Panel 3 round - the clown dramatically holds up an uninflated red balloon. Panel 3 square - the spotlight operator with their triangle spotlight. Panel 4 round - the clown inflates the long, skinny balloon with a ‘pfft’ Panel 4 square - the audience sits in rapt, bordering on delirious attention. Panel 5 round - the clowns arms and hands are a blur, as is the balloon. Panel 5 square - a closeup of the audience showing gleeful anticipation. Panel 6 round - the clown hold aloft the fruits of his labor: the balloon is now folded and twisted into a knot not resembling much of anything. He speaks, “it is what it is.” Panel 6 square - the entire theater seems to erupt in laughter. A few comments can be picked out as well; “bravo.” and “so insightful.” 20/30
A comics page in pastel colors. Divided into 6 equal parts, only five are delineated as panels. A shifting triangular spotlight defines the panels. It’s a stage. Where the first panel would be is only text. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls… Dogs, Cats and all manner of domesticated beast… (But I already mentioned ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’) Here for a limited engagement… three nights only! The master of contemporary comedy The dark mirror of lightness personified Ladies and gentlemen (third time is the charm) We are proud, proud, proud to present: THE GREAT CLOWN GRIMBALDI” Panel 1 - The triangle spotlight shines on an empty stage, only a microphone stand is visible. Panel 2 - a rotors clown figure makes his way on from the left of the panel. Panel 3 - the clown steps up to the microphone. Panel 4 - the clown lifts the microphone from its cradle. Panel 5 - the clown holding the microphone: “How many times must the world come to end?” 19/30
A comics page. Six lightly penciled panel borders over a light pink background. All contents of the page completely ignore the paneling. Across the page, flame contours change to jagged lines and eventually individual triangle shapes. Three pillars span most of the height of the page. Atop each pillar is the numeral 3. Faintly between the threes are addition marks (plus signs) and near the center of the middle pillar is an equal sign. The middle of the page is scribbled in black, with green text written on top of it. “It’s just you.” The base of the pillars stand on, or emerge from a large solid yellow triangle form. Overlapping this triangle are many, many, many more numeral threes.
A comics page, six panel borders penciled on a black background. There are images, a street scene. People walking; a cop, a man on his phone, a man and a dog, a teenager on a skateboard. A car passes on the street, inside the apartment a man watches a clown on tv. But nothing contained in the panels except text, written in green. “Three of three” “Three that matter.” “And you can laugh at the rest, Trying to accept or trying to accede.” “Or trying to escape. (As if they could)” “Living in flames” “Your flames”
A comics page, six square panels penciled in over a page roughly but neatly completely filled in with black charcoal scribbles. Flames and curls and lines and shapes of varying sizes and colors are peppered throughout the page. It kind of seems a mess. Only one panel (the third of six) has text, in green overlaying the black that fills the frame. Faint gray text is visible behind the green, barely legible but apparently differing from the green on top of it. Who knows what it says. Late in the page, the panel borders begin to break up. An ellipse-like group of shapes falls in the last panel space. Panel 3 text (in green): “you are in control.”
A comics page, six square panels roughly filled in with black charcoal scribbles, that spill out beyond the grey panel borders. Text is written in green, overlaying in the black in four of the panels. Faint gray text is visible behind the green. There are also blue scribbles lightly surrounding and sometimes overlapping the square panels. Text reads: “‘One of three, in fact. But unique in that,’ you think.” Yellow flame contours overlap across the page, into the next panel. “‘I mean: three of three.’ ‘Three of three’” Next panel- “(just for consistency, really.) (You’re not trying to fool yourself.)” No text in the fourth panel. The flames begin to curl inward on themselves. The black scribbles are denser now. Little white space is showing through. Panel 5- “You play with the flames around you. Make them dance. You know how to do it.” Blue scribbles give way to crude lines and shapes. In the last panel the yellow flames mingle with blue lines and circles and red hatching, beginning to suggest an abstract form. There is no text.
A comics page, six square panels roughly filled in with black charcoal scribbles. Text is written in green, overlaying in the black. Faint gray text is visible behind the green. There are also blue scribbles lightly surrounding and sometimes overlapping the square panels. Yellow flame contours increase across the page, left to right, overlapping panels. “Of course it started with a spark, as all fires must.” “‘And I was there’ you think. But then think again.” “‘ or maybe I wasn’t there. Not quite.’” The black expands past the panel borders, expanding panel-by-panel. “‘But once I was there I knew what to do with it,’ you think.” Faint red marks start to appear on the panels at this point. “‘When maybe no one else did.’” The black is no longer constrained by the borders at all, spilling all over the page. “You are a very special person.”
A comics page, six square panels roughly filled in with black charcoal scribbles. Text is written in green, overlaying in the black. Faint gray text is visible behind the green. There are also blue scribbles lightly surrounding and sometimes overlapping the square panels. The text reads: “There are three types of people…” “Those who accept a social reality based on tacit acquiescence to external pressure, And those who don’t.” “The latter are the ones who can apply the pressure. They are in control.” “This is a thought that satisfies you. You count yourself amongst the latter” A contour of a flame shape appears here, outside the panel, but slightly overlapping the bottom. “You are sitting in the fire now. In the center and it stretches out around you.” Flames now surround the panel on all sides, as if the panel ignited. “You think about how it started.” Flames cover large parts of this panel, and this section of the page. As if engulfed.
A page of comics. 7 panels, a tier of 3 vertical panels across the top of the page and 4 squares arranged in a box at the bottom. Panel 1 - two men stand staring down an alleyway. One has a dog on a leash. The other manages a small “what…?” Panel 2 - same image, but this time the dog speaks. “Yeah, like what the bell was that all about?” Panel 3 - the man and dog pair have turned to leave the scene. The other man watches the dog going. The dog: “Two? Like the Letter 2?” Panel 4 the man is stunned for a second, then pulls out his cell phone in panel 5. Panel 6 is the Purplex search engine with “Grimbaldi Tickets” input in the search bar. In Panel 5 - the man’s finger hits “PURCHASE.”
A comics page, 8 jumbled panels. Law enforcement pushes its way through a crowd of people, towards an inciting dialog from an unknown source (all dialog on the page is this voice). A man is also trying to push his way through, though more politely. Panel 1 - the police push through. “OTHER WORKDS ARE POSSIBLE.” Panel 2 - the man looks back at the police. “A WORLD WITHOUT TROUBLES OR TOIL” Panel 3 - sunglasses cop pushes the man. “A WORLD WITHOUT CONSTANT FLAME” Panel 4 - the police continue to make their way through “A WORLD WHERE… um… DOGS CAN TALK, OR SOMETHING” Panel 5 - sunglasses cop point towards an alley where the voice seems to emanate from. “I DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME” Panel 6 - the crowd pulls up to the alley. “JUST… TRUST… TRUST THE NUMBERS.” Panel 7 - the man stands in shock and confusion, panel 8 - the police stand confused as well, at the end of the blind alley. No one else is in sight. The voice seems to drift on the wind “THE NUMBERS S H o w … t h e… w a y….” Yes, everything is on fire.
A comics page, nine panels. A man makes his way through a dense crowd while an off panel voice continues a diatribe. “I’VE STUDIED THE FORBIDDEN TEXTS” “WE ARE MEANT TO BE GREATER THAN THREE.” (this elicits shock from the crowd) “LISTEN, LISTEN. THE NUMBERS DO NOT LIE!” (some confusion is noted) “FOUR HUNDRED. NINETY SIX. AND TWO.” The crowd’s murder starts to mix with the speech. “THEY’VE KEPT THEM FROM YOU.” A number of the people in the crowd start to get angry. “THE NUMBERS POINT THE WAY” The diatribe is interrupted by a wailing siren as law enforcement comes on the scene. “THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW!” The police yell to ‘make way’ as the crowd reacts to their arrival. Everything is still on fire all around them.
A comics page. A large panel on top with 6 smaller inset panels. A street scene - pedestrians and vehicles at a street corner. A man looks behind him, attracted by a voice around the corner. “HEY! I WANT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING. I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL.” Panel 2 - the man listens “THE WORLD IS ON FIRE!” Panel 3 - he looks around the corner “IN EVERY DIRECTION, ALL OF THE TIME.” Panel 4 - a gathering crowd “DO YOU SEE IT?” Panel 5 - the man makes his way into the crowd “I KNOW YOU ARE TIRED” Panel 6 - making his way through “YOU THINK IT IS AS IT IS” Panel 7 - he’s getting closer “BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE”
A page of a comic. 3 panels of a garish clown-like figure whose red smile is bigger than his face. He’s talking to you. “TRUTH is meaning or TRUTH is the absence of meaning. But what is ‘meaning’?” “What is ‘absence’ for that matter? And how do each relate to ‘existence’?” He leans forward, straightening his tie. “My name is professor Handsome and in my next column I’ll examine the principles of reality and what the mean to” He’s cut off by the “HEY!”. The man reading this column is being accosted by someone off panel. It’s his reading that was interrupted. That’s how it ends. A cliffhanger. Sorry?
A comics page of comics. Six evenly divided panels, 2- tiers of 3. Captions run across the top, the middle and one at the bottom left. “Of course there is the opposite tack.” “The line of thought that everything means something.” “A universe in order with all things in their proper places.” “Look around you now. This may not appear to be the case.” “But this is a trick of perspective. Only apparently so.” “A symptom of our limited viewpoint” “Our madness obscures the truth.” These captions are accompanied by 5 panels of gridded geometric shapes that may or may not resemble the face of a familiar-looking garish clown. And then I’m panel six is Handsome Professor. He says: “So!” “We’ve summed up the three paths to ultimate TRUTH!”
A page of comics. 5 panels or so (it gets kind of jumbled, but it’s basically 5). Panel 1 - a small figure resembling a garish clown in tweed stands near a chalkboard. This is Handsome Professor (that’s his name). All dialog is purported to be the contents of an online article written by mister Professor. “And so we begin our search for TRUTH. To define this query we need parameters so we start at the farthest reaches, the extremes. As with everything, there are of course three:” Panel 2 - a mess of scribbles in a borderless panel-space. “Let us posit, then, that there is no truth. Nothing means anything.” Maybe you could make out a face in there? Maybe not. Panel 3 - “chaos is the guiding principle and all random exstsnice s!” a jumble of almost forms. Do some of them look like displaced features of our mister Professor? That’s probably just in your head. Panel 4 - an actually defined panel border. It’s Handsome Professor. “What we think we know does not exist. There is no structure, no pattern.” Panel 5 - no panel. Some scribbles, some of them might be words. Maybe some of them say: “The words you read now, the pictures you see, are only a symptom of madness. A madness of order.” But probably not.
A comics page. Three vertical panels in a row and then two horizontal panels underneath. Panel 1 - a ‘Purplex’ search bar superimposed over a depiction of a man looking at his cell phone. The word “NEWS” is typed into the search bar. Panels 2 & 3 - a search results page for “news” with various imposing headlines (“Everything Ducks; and it’s all your fault” “Fire Rages Forever” “Guy Kicks a Puppy” “Review: Grimbaldi Has Got the Shit”) the second panel also shows a closeup of the man’s thumb and an upward-facing arrow labeled “scroll” Panel 4 - a horizontal panel depicting a garish looking clown type dressed in tweed and a graduation cap. His red smile outstretches the boundaries of his face. A headline/caption reads “Opinion: Three Guiding Truths for Our Times; guest columnist: Handsome Professor.” “That’s me!” the clown-type gestures at himself. Panel 5 - handsome Professor holds a pointer at a chalkboard with the words “Existential Crisis” scrawled across it. His words are superimposed over this scene: “we are of course in the time of most existential crisis - a unique point in the history of all history. You may say that existence *is* crisis, and I could not tell you that you’re wrong. But I could also not tell you that you’re right, as to do that first we’d need the TRUTH.”
A comics page. Six panels set on the bottom half of the page. Panel 1 - a man puts on his coat. “ I get along fine on my own.” Panel 2 - the man walks down a street, looking at his cellphone. “I still have my work. My hobbies.” Panel 3 - the man sits in a diner booth, holding up and gesturing towards his phone. A waitress takes his order. “I make do with recordings from the internet or television.”(dialog from the phone: “Cola-Cola: the real thing”)/ Panel 4 - the man sips his drink, eyes closed. “I do not miss my voice.” Panel 5 - same depiction of the man but he has put down his drink and appears to look out the window. Panel 6 - a light outline of a speech bubble “On occasion I do reflect on the life it must lead without me.” These six panels are inset on a larger cityscape. Empty speech bubbles of varying sizes and colors float up and toward a large red-outlined bubble at the top right of the page. The city is engulfed in flames but no one seems to notice. 3/30
A comics page. Six panels with text. And a large single borderless panel below. Panel one - a man lay in bed. “One morning I awoke to find I had lost my voice” Panel two - the man looks in the bathroom mirror, his hand gestures towards his face. “It must have slipped out in the night.” Panel three - the man, on hands and knees, looks under a piece of furniture. “I made a cursory search, just around the apartment. But I didn’t really have much interest in finding it. Panel four - the man pours himself a cup of coffee. “I realized quickly that I felt know great absence.” Panel five - a drawing of a speech balloon “Thinking back it had mostly been trouble hadnt it?” Panel six - the man sips his coffee. “I’d had little use for it in some time.” The bottom of the page is a street scene. A man walks a dog. Another looks at his cell phone. Another figure rides in the back of a car. A rat runs along the gutter. The whole scene is on fire. There are multiple empty speech bubbles floating around.
A comics page, the first six panels depict a doctors office. A patient is seated and the doctor stands nearby. Patient: “I have trouble keeping up. My body aches and I mostly want to sleep all the time. I do nothing all day, but it is never done. I see the world and it is on fire. In every direction. All of the time. Every day it seems crazier. Or I’m crazier. I can’t tell. Doctor: “I have treatment. Great clown Grimbaldi in town. Go. See. Lift Spirit.” [with hand outstretched] “$300” A large panel depicts the patient walking down the street, attention on the phone in his hands. Superimposed on the scene is a search engine text bar, with “great Clown Grimbal…” input in the search. The whole street is on fire. Two inset panels below depict an internet video. A frowning clown stands next to a garbage can. In panel one is arm is out holding a lot match above the garbage can. In panel two, he drops the match engulfing the can in red flames.
A photo of 2 comics pages bordered on all 4 sides. The title is written across the top: mostly banal november 30, 2023 The photo pages are also titled: mostly banal november 1, 2013 The pages are 4 drawings, stacked 2 to a page. Page 1 panel 1 is a pair of eyes staring out, not at you but past you. There are no other features in the panel. Panel 2 is undefined organic shapes in white defined by black scribbles that fill most of the space. The word “winds…” is written in one shape in very small letters. Between the panels text: “dream diary” Page 2 panel 1 is a flattened perspective, overhead drawing of a figure, covering their eyes, trapped in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. Panel 2 is a crudely drawn hand pointing in from the left. It seems to be indicating the only other drawn element: a simple shooting star icon. Text, between panels and continuing at the bottom: “Still.” “I had no dreams.” Page 2 is superimposed by panels of alternating blue and yellow.
Two pages of comics Titled “the big takeaway” Page one is 16 panels of a duck with its own shell on its back talking to an eye-moth: Duck: “Lessen up! There’s a listen here: Your shape is traced before you mean it.” [pause] “The cymbals are all knowing.” “Blinds blind the light that blinds you.” “Two suns need a big mirror.” “LOOK OUT! Look UP! Look both ways when you can.” “Let the moth scrape itself.” [pause] “CAUSE and AFFECT! The world is large and small.” [pause] moth: “are we done here?” Duck: “silly bird, nothing is ever really “done.” [duck reaches for its egg with its beak] [and places it on the eye-moth] “But almost… yes.” Page two is an abstract grid of 8 unequal panels. The bottom two are filled in with blue and yellow, though the blue (on the left) is incomplete. Text is dispersed throughout the page: some things end and some things just kind of mostly banal november 29, 2023
2 pages. Page 1, wordless. An eye-moth circles a lit bulb and collapses. Page 2 handwritten: mostly banal november 28, 2023 “Snow on the ground this morning. November’s ending with a cold snap. Bright flash and a BOOM today at work. Flocks of birds, startled, suddenly fill the air. Never found out what that was. This comic is a sequel and the shape of it was set ten years ago. Maybe even before that. I started the last one trying to say something about memory and nostalgia and how those can color each other. It ended up a lot about grief. Five years later November started with two deaths close to me and I couldn’t make it through 30 days of writing diary comics. Let the month shape itself. But I didn’t want to revisit work like that. I don’t tell you everything. This comic is a sequel and the shape of it is predicated by that. The shape of it was decided for me long ago. I’ve been shaping it this whole time. This month is almost over. What happened? Have we learned anything?
Two comics pages, but a strip that crosses the spread in an 8x4 grid. Several conversations from the past month or so interweave. Mostly conversations about this comic - or making this comic - but references to real life also show through at times, alluding to the fact that there may possibly have been other things going on this month too. Scrawled on top of and throughout the strip are various icons ands symbols used in previous pages of this series.
Two pages of comics. In page one, 2 ducks - each carrying their own eggs on their backs - speak to an unhatched egg. Duck 1: “in this egg is all that you will ever be” Duck 1 (continuing as duck 2 enters): “when you hatch it will all be there for you to discover” Duck 2 (to duck 1’s consternation): “not so… when you hatch this egg will be but an empty vessel” Duck 2 continues: “a container to hold and to shape the sum of your experience.” Duck 1: “either way, you will carry this shell the rest of your life.” Duck2: “either way, you will never be in control.” Page 2 concludes: Duck 1 & 2 together: “so relax!” The ducks leave the egg standing alone. The egg starts to shake. It cracks across the top And the top pops off. An eye moth flitters from the open egg. mostly banal november 26, 2023
A comics page and a photo of a notebook. Behind both a previous days’ comic shows faintly. Page one, the ghost of hand monologues: “One thing leads to another, to another.” “This comic is shaped by what came 10 years before.” “I knew what I would write before I thought to write it.” “Despite that, I couldn’t come up with a comic yesterday.” [in yellow text: “I did make some notes” with an arrow pointing to the photo] “So I guess I’m actually writing this down tomorrow. It’s ok tho.” “Today is never right now anyway.” Page 2 is titled: “mostly banal november 25, 2023.” There is a photo of a notebook with scribbled notes and drawings. Almost none of them are represented in the comic on the previous page except “one thing leads to another” and “today is never right now” the latter of which is circled. Below there are more notes but they are crossed out in yellow and written over in blue: “not this stuff. This is for tomorrow.”
Two comics pages. Disparate moments, titled: mostly banal November 23, 2023. Page 1-panel 1 - a streetlight and power lines P1-p2 - a leaf blowing in the wind P1-p3 - an interior, looking out a window. Plants on the windowsill. Dialogue from off panel: “getting colder out there” P2-p1 - two men talking: “she’s doing ok, I think cuz we’re there now” P2-p2 - tym, with headphones on. Lyrics from Eerie Wanda’s NOWx1000 float above P2-p3 - a drawing pad. Hands draw a shap on the screen and scribble it in. Dialogue: “behind again” P2-p4 - a cat sprawls in a pet bed underneath an end table. He looks very comfortable. P2-p5 - tym speaks: “that’s the way it happens”
A two page comic. Page one is six wordless panels. Each panel has a shape defined or partially defined by a surrounding field of black marker. 1- a square, incompletely filled in blue 2- a circle, incompletely filled with randomly placed yellow squares 3- an eye shape. The iris is scribbled in yellow 4- a star filled with a pattern of ghosts 5- 2 suns. Yellow and blue scribbles suggest their unfocussed eyes. 6- a partial outline suggesting the ghost of the ghost of hand This page is titled mostly banal November 22, 2023 Page two is only text, presently loosely where 6 panels might subdivide the page - though only five of the spaces contain text. Lightly penciled writing is also somewhat visible, mostly reading the same as what is inked in. “It’s a system” “Trace a shape and fill it in” “Think of something to write, then write it” “Stay within the framework” “It will work out”
Two pages. Page one is s short comic strip. The majority of the upper left is taken up by a drawing of an abandoned brick smoke stack with several ducks carrying their own eggs perched on the top. Panel 2, Arden inside the car: “Bird circle!” Panel 3, Tym (from front seat to Arden in back - Rachelle drives) “huh?” Arden: “that brick tube thing back there…” Panel 4, Arden: “there were a bunch of birds sitting in a circle.” Tym (off panel): ”oh” Panel 5, Tym: “ I thought you said ‘birdcicle.’” Page two is just ill-advised text. Public diarrhea. Mercifully obscured by light trails. mostly banal november 21, 2023
Page one is icons with text. “I’m looking out he window” [eye] “Of the car. We’re going to pick our daughter up from college. It’s a 3 1/2 hour drive” [car] “Plenty of time to think” [lightbulb] “Clouds of birds dive and swoop and dive again” [duck with egg] “The sun sinks into the horizon. Its… it’s in my eye” [sun on horizon] “The light burn leaves traces, trails. I see what’s not there, I…” [twin suns] “I am not driving. Of course, I’m also writing this later. I’m not even in the car anymore.” [car] “Or maybe I am when you read this. I’m back in there tomorrow… today… or maybe I’ve long since left. It’s hard to say. [car negative] “Now is never right now” [eye] Two. Ghost of hand monologues: “I guess a public diary is not such an odd thing after all. I forget how online it all is. Everything is diary now. Are you reading this on instagram? Facebook? Tumblr? Bluesky? Curation is expected. Performance is usual. At least I know I’m in control. Wait… r u reading this somewhere else?
2 comics pages. Page 1 is 9 panels of a duck carrying its own egg on its back, swimming. Text: 1- they say that, physiologically, we already “know” what we’re going to do before we decide to do it. 2- or maybe it’s that we do things before we know what we’re doing. 3- I’ve been thinking about determinism, but that’s bound to happen. 4- this is a sequel, and it’s shape is predicated by the shape of the last one. 5- if everything that came before brought us here then everything that happens here brings us what’s to come. 6- so what do we do now? 7- right before I wrote this line I thought, “I don’t know what to write next.” 8- and yet, I wrote the line. 9- I think we both know what we’re doing next. mostly banal November 19, 2023 Page 2 is 3 wordless panels of a figure opening a window’s blinds dramatically.
Two pages of comics. Page one is a single image. Eyeball moths circle a lit incandescent lamp. Page two is six panels. Panel 1 is an open eye. Panel 2 is a closed eye. Panel 3 is a closed eye again, but the arch of the eyelashes goes upwards, like a rising sun. Panel 4 is an open eye, like panel 1. Panel 5 is the same. Panel 6 is a single star shape against a dark background. mostly banal November 18, 2023
Two comics pages. mostly banal November 17, 2023 The first page is a single strip. A car sits in a garage. A hand reaches toward the starter, but does not connect. A man sits with his son in the car: “the car feels different today.” Just the man, the steering column receding: “Everything is so far away.” The man in a swirl of yellow: “am I… shrinking?” The man is with the boy in the car again. He is noticeably smaller than before: “Your mother did say she thought I might be losing weight.” Page two has two strips, both running vertically. The first is a 3-panel view of the man holding an umbrella against the rain. The panels bring closer focus to the drops on the umbrella. The other strip is 4 panels. The man and the boy sit together, painting at a table. The man is still small. Boy: “are you going to put this in your comic today” Man: “maybe I will, maybe I won’t.” Boy: if you don’t put this in your comic today…” Boy:”I will never speak to you again.”