Today in 3 Panels, by Dean Mang-Wooley

Dean is lying in bed, awake. Suddenly, they think about the art commission that they have to finish soon. They say to themself: "I'm dead."

Dread

Sep 4, 2008

Dean and their mom are making grilled sandwiches in the kitchen. Dean picks up a container of mayonnaise and says: "What's the date on this?" Dean's mom looks at the container and says: "2008...", then she gets a concerned look on her face and continues: "April...10th."

Mayonnaise

Sep 15, 2008

Dean is sitting at a computer, working on an animation. They think to themself: I just drew the same thing 60 times. And 2 hours have mysteriously disappeared.

Animation vortex

Sep 27, 2008

Dean is volunteering at a one day camp for 9 to 13 year olds. They are standing near two children who are smiling and laughing. Dean thinks: "Man, these 9 to 13 year olds are awesome. Wait! When did I get so old? When did I get so boring?"

Peace camp, Calgary Unitarian Church

Aug 12, 2008

Dean is sitting in a restaurant with their friends Sam and Lailah. Sam says: "I'm advising everyone I know to get a tattoo. The pain builds and builds, and then it just drops off and everything feels beautiful." Lailah says to Sam: "You'd make a terrible torture victim."

Tattoos

Sep 1, 2008

Dean is standing a the kitchen sink and 5:00 am, holding a bowl of food in one hand and a spoon in the other. They look down at the bowl of food and think: "Why did I just push all the food to one side?" Then they look at the spoon and think: "and where did I get this spoon?"

5 in the morning

Sep 16, 2008

Panel 1: Close up image of Dean's left hand. Lightning is striking the area in between Dean's thumb and forefinger, symbolizing pain. Panel 2: Dean is looking at their hand. Dean says to themself: "My thumb-pit is burning." Panel 3: Dean hods their left hand with their right, looking worried. Dean thinks: "spontaneous combustion."

Chili peppers

Aug 28, 2008

Dean is in class. One of their classmates says: "saying that our notion of beauty is a 'white' notion of beauty...that's like...comparing a garden with a dump." Dean angrily whips their head around to face their classmate and thinks: "What the FUCK?"

Classroom racism

Sep 19, 2008

Dean is using a tablet in a classroom at school. There is a loud, repetitive "pow" sound coming from the adjacent room. Dean thinks: That hammering is driving me NUTS! Dean walks to the adjacent room, thinking: What are they doing? When they get to the room, they see the source of the noise: a video projection of balloons popping, with popped balloons scattered on the floor in front of it. Dean thinks: Oh.

Wall of noise

Sep 30, 2008

Dean and their dad are cleaning in the basement of Dean's old school. Panel 1: Dean's dad holds a plastic bag in front of his face and says: "Qu'est-ce que the hell est this?" Panel 2: Close up image of the plastic bag's contents. A dried-out, moldy piece of fruit. Image text reads: "Maybe it was a mango?" Panel 3: Image of a table with a large stain on it. Image text reads: "After a year or so in the school's basement, its juices had coagulated into a dark brown tar on one of the tables."

A mystery

Aug 21, 2008

Dean is writing a test. Panel 1: wide shot of a large room full of desks. Panel 2: close up image of the test booklet. It has the words "Written response" printed on the front. Panel 3: close up image of a heart being struck by lightning bolts, symbolizing anxiety.

Jitters

Aug 13, 2008

Dean is on the main floor of their house. They hear their dad yell from the basement: "Something down here just REEKS!" Dean goes down to the basement and thinks: "I don't smell anything." They smell their own underarm and think: "Maybe it smells exactly like me."

Reek

Sep 17, 2008