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

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, aka Rita, is in a car with their mom. A bug hits the windshield and splatters. Dean says to their mom: "I wonder how many bugs we've killed in our history of traveling." Their mom replies: "most of them."

Driving to Swift Current

Aug 1, 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 friends are playing Pictionary. Dean is drawing a picture and their friend Joelle is guessing what it is. Dean draws a picture of a baby, a plus sign, a downward-facing arrow, and a person with a prominent butt sitting down. Joelle guesses: "Baby butt? Baby...bum? Baby...Ass baby?" Dean looks at Joelle and says: "ASS BABY?"

Pictionary

Oct 12, 2008

Dean is walking down a residential street. They say to themself: "whoa." They think: "This year, Jordan turned 16 on the 16th and Hannah and I turned 20 on the 20th." They smile wide and think: "COSMIC!"

Cosmic

Sep 18, 2008

Panel 1 image: Dean lying down on a couch. Panel 1 text: Is it 2006 or 2016? Am I 28 or 18? Panel 2 image: A record playing on a turntable. Panel 2 text: I feel like I've been repeating the last 10 years without any aim or intention. Panel 3 image: Dean's hands taking the record off the turntable. Panel 3 text: Feeling guilty about not moving forward.

Time loop

Aug 1, 2016

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

Dean is house sitting for their mom's coworker. They are in a storage room, looking at a photo album. Image text reads: "After a few minutes of snooping, I finally found what I was looking for...photos of my mom's workmate as a kid." There is a close up image of one of the photos, showing a child with the year 1953 printed above his head.

Invasion of privacy

Aug 9, 2008

Dean is sleeping face-down in their bed. Jordan comes into their room and says: "Hey Rita! It's 3 o'clock!" Dean looks up and says: "That's ridiculous!"

3 in the afternoon

Oct 14, 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

Panel 1: Dean walks down the alley near their house and looks at the graffiti on their neighbours' garages. They think: So many vandalized garages. Panel 2: Dean puts a piece of paper in a neighbour's mailbox. They think: "I'll offer to paint over it and give them my information! Panel 3: Dean is at home, looking at the phone with a very worried expression, thinking: crap crap crap crap...

Vandalism

Oct 6, 2008