Comic Transcripts

The Reader, BRINDLA, a woman with a book in her hand last seen being overwhelmed by books in the previous comic, is now speaking with a new friend, KYLEEN, who is sprawled casually over a park bench.

BRINDLA: So now I’ve read HEADSTABBERS: FATHOMS, but I’m unsure if I want to read any more of the series.

KYLEEN: I’ve read them ALL. Here’s the lowdown:

(Kyleen then starts an exhaustive recap of the series as men in the background lug huge piles of tottering books around. What’s their deal? We will never know)

KYLEEN: After FATHOMS, read LOWDOWN DEEP and CONTINENTAL SHELF OF DECEPTION.

Only the first half of WHALEFAULT is relevant. The second half is part of the Dreamvoid, which sucks.

Then: Skip the first nine in the CYANIDE ARMADA subsaga, but come back to the tenth after you’ve read DROWN BABY DROWN. It fills in the backstory of the Trench Butler, who goes on to play a big role in DEPTHS OF DESPAIR.

All the ones with sharks in the title are Kazunaga’s childhood fables. You can read them if you want, but they don’t relate to the main saga except alegorically.

HAMMERHEAD SPRING is the best of them, but it all takes place on a planet we never hear about again. It’s set a thousand years in the past.

QUEEN OF LONELY ISLES is the first one by the original author’s SON. THAT guy has some VERY odd ideas about what headstabbing is all about.

BRINDLA: Which ones have the most cute stuff with Vertebrakz?

KYLEEN: Oh, HONEY. Vertebrakz… Well, I’ll just say DO NOT read CORRUPTION OF SIRENS.

BRINDLA: I’m not sure if I should read ANY of them.

KYLEEN: AH. Yes. I remember back when that was still a choice before me

#1563; A Cold Stare From a Tall Bookshelf (Part 2 of 4) transcribed by in

The Reader, BRINDLA, a woman with a book in her hand last seen being overwhelmed by books in the previous comic, is now speaking with a new friend, KYLEEN, who is sprawled casually over a park bench.

BRINDLA: So now I've read HEADSTABBERS: FATHOMS, but I'm unsure if I want to read any more of the series.

KYLEEN: I've read them ALL. Here's the lowdown:

(Kyleen then starts an exhaustive recap of the series as men in the background lug huge piles of tottering books around. What's their deal? We will never know)

KYLEEN: After FATHOMS, read LOWDOWN DEEP and CONTINENTAL SHELF OF DECEPTION.

Only the first half of WHALEFAULT is relevant. The second half is part of the Dreamvoid, which sucks.

Then: Skip the first nine in the CYANIDE ARMADA subsaga, but come back to the tenth after you've read DROWN BABY DROWN. It fills in the backstory of the Trench Butler, who goes on to play a big role in DEPTHS OF DESPAIR.

All the ones with sharks in the title are Kazunaga's childhood fables. You can read them if you want, but they don't relate to the main saga except alegorically.

HAMMERHEAD SPRING is the best of them, but it all takes place on a planet we never hear about again. It's set a thousand years in the past.

QUEEN OF LONELY ISLES is the first one by the original author's SON. THAT guy has some VERY odd ideas about what headstabbing is all about.

BRINDLA: Which ones have the most cute stuff with Vertebrakz?

KYLEEN: Oh, HONEY. Vertebrakz... Well, I'll just say DO NOT read CORRUPTION OF SIRENS.

BRINDLA: I'm not sure if I should read ANY of them.

KYLEEN: AH. Yes. I remember back when that was still a choice before me

If you're ever in a situation in which you're unsure what headstabbing is all about, or maybe you've just forgotten or gotten lost in the details, there's an easy mnemonic to remind you: HEAD...STABBING

#1563; A Cold Stare From a Tall Bookshelf (Part 2 of 4)

  — April 5th, 2025

[ Tags: , , ]       Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/1563/

Continued from Part 1.

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Bolted! Fulfillment Update

May 25, 2026 by David Malki !
Photo courtesy of backer Nicola!

The vast majority of Bolted! game shipments are already shipped, but I understand if you don’t have yours yet, who cares. Here’s a progress report:

Total orders | 1052
Surveys completed | 992
Fully shipped | 946

Incomplete surveys

Obviously, if I don’t have your shipping address, I can’t ship your game! Let me know if you are missing a survey link. As new responses come in, they are rapidly added to the shipping queue.

Orders containing certain add-ons

Some of the add-ons proved more popular than expected — which is lovely! But it meant I had to reprint some stickers, make all the individual comic prints, request a shipment of books from offsite storage, etc, etc. So, any orders which contain an out-of-stock item are still waiting to ship.

All that missing stuff, though, is en route to me at this very second! So those orders will be going out pretty dang soon!

Custom items

I’ve already been in touch directly with the backers who ordered custom collages! Those will be created (and sent to you) after all the other shipments are complete. I’m excited for those, they’ll be fun! My pleasant dessert after the hearty meal of all the other orders.

Anything wrong?

I’m very grateful to the few folks who’ve contacted me to report some kind of issue with their shipment! Thankfully, problems are rare, but when they do occur, I would like to solve them. Please don’t hesitate to send me an email (replying to your shipping confirmation works great) if there’s anything about your order I can correct.

Reviews & photos

On BoardGameGeek are highly appreciated!

Unless you hate the game! You are entitled to that opinion, but please send that review directly to me instead of telling anyone else, so I can eat it and bury it in the yard and watch it grow into a twisted, gnarled tree. Or whatever!


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