Comic Transcripts

[[Two inventors stand next to a smoking wreck – some sort of vehicle turned on its side, a pool of oil beneath. A body can be seen in the vehicle.]]
Pessimist: ARGH! THIS was a disaster.
Pessimist: Well, now we know what NOT to do for next time.
Optimist: How many problems did we AVOID, though? RIGHT?

Optimist: There are, EVERY DAY, things that we do RIGHT.
Optimist: There are NEXT TIMES that, when encountered, we KNEW what not to do, and DID NOT DO.
Optimist: But we EXPECT success! So we treat correct choices as ROTE. As the MINIMUM STANDARD.

Optimist: NO, man! Let’s TAKE a second! We only GOT as far as our mistakes because we ACED the PREVIOUS steps!
Optimist: Let’s acknowledge what we’ve LEARNED and PUT INTO PRACTICE and PROGRESSED THANKS TO!

[[A third friend appears.]]
Pragmatist: Henderson’s dead.

Pragmatist: Our failure has had real consequences vis-a-vis HENDERSON’S SKULL.
Optimist: See YOUR take on that is VERY negative whereas I am inclined to frame the whole matter as an opportunity to LEARN

{{header: an attempt at WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: “Anything that doesn’t kill me” makes for a pretty low bar. “The best that can be said of the experience is that it did not literally end my life.”}}

#1116; The Many Invisible Victories transcribed by in

[[Two inventors stand next to a smoking wreck – some sort of vehicle turned on its side, a pool of oil beneath. A body can be seen in the vehicle.]]
Pessimist: ARGH! THIS was a disaster.
Pessimist: Well, now we know what NOT to do for next time.
Optimist: How many problems did we AVOID, though? RIGHT?

Optimist: There are, EVERY DAY, things that we do RIGHT.
Optimist: There are NEXT TIMES that, when encountered, we KNEW what not to do, and DID NOT DO.
Optimist: But we EXPECT success! So we treat correct choices as ROTE. As the MINIMUM STANDARD.

Optimist: NO, man! Let’s TAKE a second! We only GOT as far as our mistakes because we ACED the PREVIOUS steps!
Optimist: Let’s acknowledge what we’ve LEARNED and PUT INTO PRACTICE and PROGRESSED THANKS TO!

[[A third friend appears.]]
Pragmatist: Henderson’s dead.

Pragmatist: Our failure has had real consequences vis-a-vis HENDERSON’S SKULL.
Optimist: See YOUR take on that is VERY negative whereas I am inclined to frame the whole matter as an opportunity to LEARN

{{header: an attempt at WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: “Anything that doesn’t kill me” makes for a pretty low bar. “The best that can be said of the experience is that it did not literally end my life.”}}

#1116; The Many Invisible Victories transcribed by in

[[Two inventors stand next to a smoking wreck - some sort of vehicle turned on its side, a pool of oil beneath. A body can be seen in the vehicle.]]
Pessimist: ARGH! THIS was a disaster.
Pessimist: Well, now we know what NOT to do for next time.
Optimist: How many problems did we AVOID, though? RIGHT?

Optimist: There are, EVERY DAY, things that we do RIGHT.
Optimist: There are NEXT TIMES that, when encountered, we KNEW what not to do, and DID NOT DO.
Optimist: But we EXPECT success! So we treat correct choices as ROTE. As the MINIMUM STANDARD.

Optimist: NO, man! Let's TAKE a second! We only GOT as far as our mistakes because we ACED the PREVIOUS steps!
Optimist: Let's acknowledge what we've LEARNED and PUT INTO PRACTICE and PROGRESSED THANKS TO!

[[A third friend appears.]]
Pragmatist: Henderson's dead.

Pragmatist: Our failure has had real consequences vis-a-vis HENDERSON'S SKULL.
Optimist: See YOUR take on that is VERY negative whereas I am inclined to frame the whole matter as an opportunity to LEARN

{{header: an attempt at WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: "Anything that doesn't kill me" makes for a pretty low bar. "The best that can be said of the experience is that it did not literally end my life."}}

''Anything that doesn't kill me'' makes for a pretty low bar. ''The best that can be said of the experience is that it did not literally end my life.''

#1116; The Many Invisible Victories

  — April 13th, 2015

[ Tags: , ]       Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/1116/

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Bolted! Shipping is UNDERWAY

April 4, 2026 by David Malki !

Bolted! games have been shipping to backers over the last couple of weeks! The non-US orders are (mostly) done and some folks have been reporting receiving them already!

@davidmalki.com My game arrived today!! It looks gorgeous 🙂 Hope you are well 🙂

[image or embed]

— Lar deSouza (@lartist.bsky.social) April 2, 2026 at 2:52 PM

My US inventory of games is now in-country, but still being staged at the fulfillment centers. It’s being distributed to regional warehouses, so the actual shipping to backers happens more efficiently. I hope the bulk of US shipping will start next week.

These are what the cartons (and games) look like!

bolted! games BOLTED! GAMES (pounding the table) B O L T E D ! G A M E S

[image or embed]

— david malki ! (@davidmalki.com) April 3, 2026 at 10:37 AM

I am also waiting on the bonus cards to be finished printing! I ended up needing many more of those than I had anticipated, so I decided to have the game factory print those too, for perfect matching with the base game cards.

Most people will be receiving two separate mailings: the game itself, and “anything else” (bonus cards and/or add-ons) which will be sent by me personally.

As of today, 86% of backers have completed their surveys so far! That’s pretty good, but it’s not everyone. I know YOU PERSONALLY have already completed YOURS though, so no worries!!

We have now moved OFF of Kickstarter and ONTO BackerKit for any new orders. You can bundle a game with basically anything else I sell on that there website, it’s pretty nuts!


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