Comic Transcripts

[[A group of at least five men, including GRERELD, GARNOLD, and ZEUGENE, are out in a boat for a leisurely day of crocodile-clubbing.]]

GRERELD: People talk about “death of the author” and whether you can — or SHOULD — divorce the MERITS of a work of art from whatever you know about its CREATOR.

ZEUGENE: I think ignoring the perspective an author brings to their work flattens and hollows the art.

ZEUGENE: But that means that LATELY, I’ve been feeling like art is LOANED to us.  An artist gives us their work, but not to keep.  We hang onto it until the ALLEGATIONS surface, and then we no longer want it.  We RETURN it.  It’s like milk curling in your stomach after it’s been drunk.

[[Incidentally, the crocodile to be clubbed looks like it was drawn by someone who has only ever had crocodilians DESCRIBED to them.]]

ZEUGENE: This leads to accepting art gingerly with tongs, WAITING for the day when it turns RANCID because its source is revealed to be monstrous.

ZEUGENE: It’s terrible.  I WISH I could divorce work from its author but I wish MORE that so many authors weren’t HORRIBLE PEOPLE

GRERELD: All right, so that’s YOUR top suggestion for improving the arts.  Garnold, yours?

GARNOLD: If an actor ever had to wear old-age makeup to portray to portray their character in the future, they contractually have to return once they’re REALLY that age to RESHOOT all those scenes and have them RECUT into the movie

{{header: cut loose at WONDERMARK.COM}}

#1357; Revisit, Revise, Revile, Return transcribed by in

[[A group of at least five men, including GRERELD, GARNOLD, and ZEUGENE, are out in a boat for a leisurely day of crocodile-clubbing.]]

GRERELD: People talk about "death of the author" and whether you can -- or SHOULD -- divorce the MERITS of a work of art from whatever you know about its CREATOR.

ZEUGENE: I think ignoring the perspective an author brings to their work flattens and hollows the art.

ZEUGENE: But that means that LATELY, I've been feeling like art is LOANED to us.  An artist gives us their work, but not to keep.  We hang onto it until the ALLEGATIONS surface, and then we no longer want it.  We RETURN it.  It's like milk curling in your stomach after it's been drunk.

[[Incidentally, the crocodile to be clubbed looks like it was drawn by someone who has only ever had crocodilians DESCRIBED to them.]]

ZEUGENE: This leads to accepting art gingerly with tongs, WAITING for the day when it turns RANCID because its source is revealed to be monstrous.

ZEUGENE: It's terrible.  I WISH I could divorce work from its author but I wish MORE that so many authors weren't HORRIBLE PEOPLE

GRERELD: All right, so that's YOUR top suggestion for improving the arts.  Garnold, yours?

GARNOLD: If an actor ever had to wear old-age makeup to portray to portray their character in the future, they contractually have to return once they're REALLY that age to RESHOOT all those scenes and have them RECUT into the movie

{{header: cut loose at WONDERMARK.COM}}

Benjamin Button presents a particular challenge.

#1357; Revisit, Revise, Revile, Return

  — November 10th, 2017

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Buy a Print

New ways to get Bolted!

July 24, 2026 by David Malki !

In addition to buying things directly from me, the normal way, my game Bolted! is also now available on Amazon dot com.

On that famous website, you can also get the Creature-Crafting Magnets Set, which is made of the same artwork from the game, but is just a weird little trinket (not a playable game).

My kiddo made the elaborate version below to show off just how many magnets you get in the set (it’s 150 pieces in all — this isn’t even all of them).

Also now on Amazon is my set of Multi-Purpose Greeting Cards — a full dozen cards with envelopes in a fancy, unbranded, foil-stamped box!

Event alert!

I’ll also be showing off Bolted! at Greenwood Games, an event in Seattle this Saturday:

Greenwood Games is a free, all-ages community game event that invites players to spend the afternoon walking Greenwood Avenue from 65th to 80th, collecting clues, cracking puzzles, and discovering games made right here in Washington.

Think of it as Pride Hop, ArtWalk, and the Gumshoe all rolled into one,  except the whole thing is built around games and puzzles.​

Local game designers will be set up at different places along Greenwood Avenue in Phinney Ridge (near Ballard). My specific spot will be the “Holy Mountain Phinney Ridge Taproom”. All the information about all the different games & venues is on the website!

(If you’re in Seattle generally but not free tomorrow, Bolted! is also stocked at Blue Highway Games in Queen Anne.)

Next week, I’ll be at Gen Con! I personally will be hanging with my buddy Sam Logan at BFE Webcomics, booth #1217… but I have it on good authority that copies of Bolted! will be available at the CRWN Studios booth, #2549.

Visit one booth! Then the other! The order…is up to you.


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