Comic Transcripts

MARY: Are you still squeezing on that toothpaste tube? Give up! It’s empty!
KARL: Little-known fact: toothpaste tubes do not contain toothpaste. They CREATE toothpaste.

KARL: When you squeeze the tube, you generate energy. This powers a chemical reaction that results in the formation of a semi-solid mass. Which plops out the end. Theoretically it’s unlimited! But because of the half-life of the chemical catalysts, each reaction requires twice as much energy as the one before.

KARL: So the first draw – when the tube seems “full” – requires 0.0001 units of squeezing force. The second, 0.0002 units, etc. It’s easy at first, but that doubling gets serious after a while. Eventually it takes TRILLIONS of units of force! QUADRILLIONS!

KARL: Most people give up when it gets too tough. But I’ve got a vise and a torque wrench.
MARY: JUST GET A NEW TUBE OF TOOTHPASTE

{{header: clamp down on WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: If we can just get this crinkled mess into the Large Hadron Collider WE WILL NEVER HAVE TO BUY TOOTHPASTE AGAIN}}

#776; In which Toothpaste is made transcribed by in

MARY: Are you still squeezing on that toothpaste tube? Give up! It’s empty!
KARL: Little-known fact: toothpaste tubes do not contain toothpaste. They CREATE toothpaste.

KARL: When you squeeze the tube, you generate energy. This powers a chemical reaction that results in the formation of a semi-solid mass. Which plops out the end. Theoretically it’s unlimited! But because of the half-life of the chemical catalysts, each reaction requires twice as much energy as the one before.

KARL: So the first draw – when the tube seems “full” – requires 0.0001 units of squeezing force. The second, 0.0002 units, etc. It’s easy at first, but that doubling gets serious after a while. Eventually it takes TRILLIONS of units of force! QUADRILLIONS!

KARL: Most people give up when it gets too tough. But I’ve got a vise and a torque wrench.
MARY: JUST GET A NEW TUBE OF TOOTHPASTE

{{header: clamp down on WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: If we can just get this crinkled mess into the Large Hadron Collider WE WILL NEVER HAVE TO BUY TOOTHPASTE AGAIN}}

#776; In which Toothpaste is made transcribed by in

MARY: Are you still squeezing on that toothpaste tube? Give up! It's empty!
KARL: Little-known fact: toothpaste tubes do not contain toothpaste. They CREATE toothpaste.

KARL: When you squeeze the tube, you generate energy. This powers a chemical reaction that results in the formation of a semi-solid mass. Which plops out the end. Theoretically it's unlimited! But because of the half-life of the chemical catalysts, each reaction requires twice as much energy as the one before.

KARL: So the first draw - when the tube seems "full" - requires 0.0001 units of squeezing force. The second, 0.0002 units, etc. It's easy at first, but that doubling gets serious after a while. Eventually it takes TRILLIONS of units of force! QUADRILLIONS!

KARL: Most people give up when it gets too tough. But I've got a vise and a torque wrench.
MARY: JUST GET A NEW TUBE OF TOOTHPASTE

{{header: clamp down on WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: If we can just get this crinkled mess into the Large Hadron Collider WE WILL NEVER HAVE TO BUY TOOTHPASTE AGAIN}}

If we can just get this crinkled mess into the Large Hadron Collider WE WILL NEVER HAVE TO BUY TOOTHPASTE AGAIN

#776; In which Toothpaste is made

  — December 2nd, 2011

[ Tags: , ]       Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/776/

Buy a Print

Applications open for Genius Northwest – an IRL gaming competition

May 8, 2026 by David Malki !

Last year, I participated in Genius Northwest, a gaming competition inspired by the Korean gameshow The Genius and its ilk.

It’s a reality show without the cameras — a 3-day, all-inclusive weekend retreat structured around a series of challenges and puzzles, in which personalities and dealmaking matter as much as playing games.

It’s truly a remarkable thing. I came in dead last in the competition, but I still had a great time participating.

The event is held annually in the Pacific Northwest (hence the name) and applications are now open to participate in the 2026 competition!

Learn more — and apply — at GeniusNW.com.


Recent blog posts