Comic Transcripts

It has been 23 years since we have last seen these characters.

ARGREENO now has a long white beard. He is bringing a basket to a large tree. A familiar voice replies from up the tree.

ARGREENO: Got some chicken tacos tonight.
PICKET (from up in the tree): Thanks, man. I’ll have those spreadsheets back to you later this week. My wifi’s been spotty.
ARGREENO: You want me to move the router closer?
PICKET: Nah, I think I just need to restart.

Suddenly, Argreeno sees something approaching from the left.

ARGREENO: Whoop — Code Papa.
PICKET: Copy that

It’s PICKET SR., still flying around, his hairline a little higher, more wrinkles around his eyes. But looking fit otherwise.

PICKET SR.: PLEASE… My son is STILL missing…*
PICKET SR.: Would you please look around ONE MORE time?

(*A footnote advises us to see Part 1, Wondermark #024, which was published 23 years ago)

ARGREENO: You come by every year! I HAVEN’T SEEN your dang SON! It’s been DECADES!
PICKET SR.: I KNOW, but…that SO looks like the flying machine he absconded on. That’s why I keep retuning.

Behind the tree is something that looks a whole lot like the bottom half of a pedal-copter.

ARGREENO: As I’ve told you MANY times, that’s just our hummingbird feeder. You want me to look around again? FINE. Doot doot doo, I don’t see him.

MRS ARGREENO now enters, carrying her typical pickax.

MRS ARGREENO: What’s the commotion?
ARGREENO: THIS flying deadbeat thinks we’ve been sheltering his missing son and feeding him chicken tacos in return for him doing the bookkeeping for our Christmas tree farm.

ARGREENO: It’s absurd.
PICKET SR.: It’s just…the thing is… I KNOW that NO hummingbird would be attracted to such dull colors.
ARGREENO: YEAH! We friggin’ HATE hummingbirds! Because they remind us of YOU!

#1581; The Longest, Most Fruitless Search transcribed by in

It has been 23 years since we have last seen these characters.

ARGREENO now has a long white beard. He is bringing a basket to a large tree. A familiar voice replies from up the tree.

ARGREENO: Got some chicken tacos tonight.
PICKET (from up in the tree): Thanks, man. I’ll have those spreadsheets back to you later this week. My wifi’s been spotty.
ARGREENO: You want me to move the router closer?
PICKET: Nah, I think I just need to restart.

Suddenly, Argreeno sees something approaching from the left.

ARGREENO: Whoop — Code Papa.
PICKET: Copy that

It’s PICKET SR., still flying around, his hairline a little higher, more wrinkles around his eyes. But looking fit otherwise.

PICKET SR.: PLEASE… My son is STILL missing…*
PICKET SR.: Would you please look around ONE MORE time?

(*A footnote advises us to see Part 1, Wondermark #024, which was published 23 years ago)

ARGREENO: You come by every year! I HAVEN’T SEEN your dang SON! It’s been DECADES!
PICKET SR.: I KNOW, but…that SO looks like the flying machine he absconded on. That’s why I keep retuning.

Behind the tree is something that looks a whole lot like the bottom half of a pedal-copter.

ARGREENO: As I’ve told you MANY times, that’s just our hummingbird feeder. You want me to look around again? FINE. Doot doot doo, I don’t see him.

MRS ARGREENO now enters, carrying her typical pickax.

MRS ARGREENO: What’s the commotion?
ARGREENO: THIS flying deadbeat thinks we’ve been sheltering his missing son and feeding him chicken tacos in return for him doing the bookkeeping for our Christmas tree farm.

ARGREENO: It’s absurd.
PICKET SR.: It’s just…the thing is… I KNOW that NO hummingbird would be attracted to such dull colors.
ARGREENO: YEAH! We friggin’ HATE hummingbirds! Because they remind us of YOU!

The commotion is that the flying man who always comes by has returned once again.

#1581; The Longest, Most Fruitless Search

  — January 23rd, 2026

[ Tags: , , , ]       Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/1581/

Continued from Wondermark #024
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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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