Today in 3 Panels, by Dean Mang-Wooley

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

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

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 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

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's friends Anne and Christoph are talking to each other.

Didn’t get the memo

Apr 16, 2016

Dean is looking at a news story on the CBC website. The headline reads: BC minimum wage now the lowest in Canada. Dean thinks to themself: "God. Why am I quitting my job?"

Minimum wage

Apr 5, 2016

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 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's mom is serving the family a casserole. She says to Dean's dad: "Be careful of the casserole...It's got a lot of--" Dean's dad interrupts and says: "Nails?"

Interruption

Sep 6, 2008

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