#1131; Art from the Aether

Comic Transcripts

[[A crudely drawn cartoon is displayed, about a cartoonist and his friend. The cartoonist’s thoughts are displayed in a thought bubble.]]
Friend: My wife wants to leave me! She’s my everything! I don’t know what to do!!
Cartoonist: Yowza! No wonder she does, with that attitude! I’m gonna be late for my tee time!

[[Back in real life, the friend in question expresses their displeasure.]]
Friend: Dude. NOT cool. That was a PRIVATE interaction between us. I can’t BELIEVE you’d use it in your comic!
Friend: Is THAT how you REALLY FELT? Couldn’t wait for our conversation to be OVER? I’m INSULTED!
Cartoonist: NO! Not at ALL! Sometimes real-life situations suggest BIZARRE ALTERNATE REALITIES in my mind… I write about THOSE!

[[Back in the cartoon.]]
Friend: Hey! Did you write about me in your comic? That’s rude! I’m embarrassed!!
Cartoonist: Yeah! I follow you around waiting for you to do something dumb! I’m never disappointed!

[[Real life.]]
Friend: SERIOUSLY?
Cartoonist: Not everything is ABOUT YOU, man! I found a funny comedic thread and followed it to its absurd conclusion! CHILL OUT!

[[Cartoon.]]
Friend: Hey, I’m funny! Write a comic about me!
Cartoonist: What if… I have been all along??

[[Real life.]]
Cartoonist: I’m not sure if you possess the requisite level of sophistication to fully understand my unimpeachable and fully original creative process

{{header: tell everything to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: this comic ISN’T about YOU, OR that discussion we had last thursday, MAUREEN}}

#1131; Art from the Aether transcribed by in

[[Real life.]]
Friend: SERIOUSLY?
Cartoonist: Not everything is ABOUT YOU, man! I found a funny comedic thread and followed it to its absurd conclusion! CHILL OUT!

[[Cartoon.]]
Friend: Hey, I’m funny! Write a comic about me!
Cartoonist: What if… I have been all along??

[[Real life.]]
Cartoonist: I’m not sure if you possess the requisite level of sophistication to fully understand my unimpeachable and fully original creative process

{{header: tell everything to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: this comic ISN’T about YOU, OR that discussion we had last thursday, MAUREEN}}

#1131; Art from the Aether transcribed by in

[[A crudely drawn cartoon is displayed, about a cartoonist and his friend. The cartoonist's thoughts are displayed in a thought bubble.]]
Friend: My wife wants to leave me! She's my everything! I don't know what to do!!
Cartoonist: Yowza! No wonder she does, with that attitude! I'm gonna be late for my tee time!

[[Back in real life, the friend in question expresses their displeasure.]]
Friend: Dude. NOT cool. That was a PRIVATE interaction between us. I can't BELIEVE you'd use it in your comic!
Friend: Is THAT how you REALLY FELT? Couldn't wait for our conversation to be OVER? I'm INSULTED!
Cartoonist: NO! Not at ALL! Sometimes real-life situations suggest BIZARRE ALTERNATE REALITIES in my mind... I write about THOSE!

[[Back in the cartoon.]]
Friend: Hey! Did you write about me in your comic? That's rude! I'm embarrassed!!
Cartoonist: Yeah! I follow you around waiting for you to do something dumb! I'm never disappointed!

[[Real life.]]
Friend: SERIOUSLY?
Cartoonist: Not everything is ABOUT YOU, man! I found a funny comedic thread and followed it to its absurd conclusion! CHILL OUT!

[[Cartoon.]]
Friend: Hey, I'm funny! Write a comic about me!
Cartoonist: What if... I have been all along??

[[Real life.]]
Cartoonist: I'm not sure if you possess the requisite level of sophistication to fully understand my unimpeachable and fully original creative process

{{header: tell everything to WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: this comic ISN'T about YOU, OR that discussion we had last thursday, MAUREEN}}

this comic ISN'T about YOU, OR that discussion we had last thursday, MAUREEN

#1131; Art from the Aether

— June 5th, 2015

[ Tags: annoyances, art, narcissism ] Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/1131/

Buy a Print

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!

Comic Transcripts

#1131; Art from the Aether

— June 5th, 2015

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