Comic Transcripts

[[BRINDLA and KYLEEN have moved the park bench outside and are continuing their conversation about books.]]

BRINDLA: If the HEADSTABBERS: FATHOMS books AREN’T actually GOOD, why have you read so many of them?

KYLEEN: You go back home. You see a childhood friend.

KYLEEN (beginning a reverie): You’re on different paths now, but there are still some things you two share that aren’t present anywhere else in your life. You spent SO MUCH time together at Jambalaya Jim’s Juice Jumpery on Sixth Ave. Those COUNTLESS hours in the smoothie place that was also an unlicensed trampoline gym were FORMATIVE.

KYLEEN (now sitting in an imaginary vacant lot — this is an extremely subtle shift and will be missed by all but the most attentive of readers): That spot’s been a vacant lot now for DECADES. Who else has access to THAT PART of you? No one but someone who was THERE.

KYLEEN: Reading the books returns me, not just to the familiar world IN the books… But to a place where I can VISIT the ME that has spent so much time in that world.

BRINDLA: Got it. Sunk cost fallacy.

KYLEEN: I prefer to think of it as a sunk cost ADVENTURE.

BRINDLA (looking at one of the books): It says here that SUNK COST ADVENTURE is the title of book #57 in the series!

KYLEEN: THAT’S where I got the IDEA!

#1564; A Cold Stare From a Tall Bookshelf (Part 3 of 4) transcribed by in

[[BRINDLA and KYLEEN have moved the park bench outside and are continuing their conversation about books.]]

BRINDLA: If the HEADSTABBERS: FATHOMS books AREN'T actually GOOD, why have you read so many of them?

KYLEEN: You go back home. You see a childhood friend.

KYLEEN (beginning a reverie): You're on different paths now, but there are still some things you two share that aren't present anywhere else in your life. You spent SO MUCH time together at Jambalaya Jim's Juice Jumpery on Sixth Ave. Those COUNTLESS hours in the smoothie place that was also an unlicensed trampoline gym were FORMATIVE.

KYLEEN (now sitting in an imaginary vacant lot -- this is an extremely subtle shift and will be missed by all but the most attentive of readers): That spot's been a vacant lot now for DECADES. Who else has access to THAT PART of you? No one but someone who was THERE.

KYLEEN: Reading the books returns me, not just to the familiar world IN the books... But to a place where I can VISIT the ME that has spent so much time in that world.

BRINDLA: Got it. Sunk cost fallacy.

KYLEEN: I prefer to think of it as a sunk cost ADVENTURE.

BRINDLA (looking at one of the books): It says here that SUNK COST ADVENTURE is the title of book #57 in the series!

KYLEEN: THAT'S where I got the IDEA!

On certain days, when I pass by a trash can full of rotten fruit and children's vomit, I get a very strong sense memory of being inside Jambalaya Jim's

#1564; A Cold Stare From a Tall Bookshelf (Part 3 of 4)

  — April 7th, 2025

[ Tags: , , ]       Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/1564/

This storyline started with Part 1.

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My newest game: Noodle Battle! At PAX!

September 2, 2026 by David Malki !

The past few weeks have been a frenzy of assembling the very laborious, very bespoke first print run of NOODLE BATTLE, the puzzle game I am releasing this weekend at PAX West in Seattle!

PAX has an event called the PNW Tabletop Game Market (Saturday night ONLY), which is a curated selection of short-run games from local designers. As I’ve mentioned in this space before, I applied for a space in this fall’s event mainly as a way to force myself to finish a new game. And here it is!

The drawings are all by Jason Poland, good pal and cartoonist of My Dad Is Dracula. Jason played an early version of this game at Alaska Robotics Comics Camp this spring, and really liked it!

So I said, “Do you want to help me make it?” And so he has! It was his idea to make all the characters fun little animals, and I think it adds a ton of charm.

Because this edition is limited-run, it has been incredibly labor-intensive to make! The boxes and cards were made by a game factory in the usual fashion, but separately. The blank tiles were made by a woodworker dude out of Connecticut. For each game, we have had to:

  • Cut a piece of plastic and install the box window
  • Paint all the tiles, hundreds at a time
  • Apply a sticker to both sides of every tile
  • Apply stickers to the box (we couldn’t get the box back printed in time, so the whole back side of the box is a sticker too)
  • Apply the “Nutrition Facts” sticker, which was a late suggestion by my kid that I just had to run with
  • Fold up the rule sheet (they come from the printer as big strips of paper)
  • Put all the components into the box and seal it all up

I knew it would be a lot of work and would require some inefficient, expensive compromises AND I WAS RIGHT. But the final product is turning out great, which is the important thing!!

I will have 50 copies with me (if all goes well) at PAX, and then between now and the holidays we will be putting together additional copies to round out this first edition.

I will announce additional copies on Patreon first, once they are available online!! And here too, naturally, before long.

You can also sign up here if you’d like me to email you once the game is available online!


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