Today in 3 Panels, by Dean Mang-Wooley

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

Panel 1: Dean is taking a shower. Panel 2: Dean is out of the shower, putting on their clothes. They think to themself: My clothes smell like sour dandruff. Panel 3: Dean looks up, sniffing the air. They think: The whole house smells like sour dandruff.

Reek II

Sep 25, 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 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, aka Rita, is sitting in front of a campfire with their uncle. Their uncle tells them: "you're so skilled. I really...respect you." Dean rests their chin on their hand and thinks to themself: "wow."

The uncle who never talks to me

Aug 2, 2008

Dean and Naz are sitting on a couch together. Dean asks Naz: "How...are you?" Naz replies: "I'm good. I'm tired. Grief is exhausting. But I'm good."

Check in

Aug 15, 2016

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

Hannah is watching Dean play the game Earthworm Jim on the Super Nintendo. Hannah says: "I think Earthworm Jim is an ESFP. With seriously un-diagnosed ADHD."

Earthworm Jim

Sep 21, 2008

Dean is talking to a customer outside of the cafe that Dean works at. The customer says to Dean: "You have very prominent eye-teeth." Dean replies: "Yeah, they've been that way for a while." The customer then asks: "Can you see your own reflection?"

Prominent eye-teeth

Jul 8, 2016

Panel 1 image: a dead bumblebee on a sidewalk. Panel 1 text: I've seen dead bees on the sidewalks since June. Panel 2 image: a live bumblebee stumbling on the ground, flapping its wings. Panel 2 text: Most of the live ones I see don't fly, but hobble around like they've had a stroke. Panel 3 text (no image): I am terrified of what this might mean.

Bees

Sep 5, 2008

Panel 1 image: Dean is staring at a blank sketchbook with a pencil in their hand. Panel 1 text: Trying to think of something--anything--to draw about.... Panel 2 image: close up of actor Hugh Laurie's face. Panel 2 text: But all I can think about is Hugh Laurie in 'Blackadder.' Panel 3 image: Dean smiles dreamily, resting their chin in their hands. Panel 3 text: Damn that British funnyman and his wide horsey smile.

Distraction

Sep 2, 2008

Jordan and Hannah are sitting together in their liing room. Hannah says to Jordan: "If you're bored, you should do something. We could dress up in silly costumes and clean our rooms!! We could pretend to be superheroes!"

Superheroes

Aug 26, 2008