Wondermark
| Wondermark | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | David Malki |
| Website | wondermark |
| Current status / schedule | Updated every Tuesday and Friday |
| Launch date | May 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Humor |
Wondermark is a webcomic created by David Malki which was syndicated to Flak Magazine and appeared in The Onion's print edition through 2008. It features 19th-century illustrations that have been recontextualized to create humorous juxtapositions. It takes the horizontal four-panel shape of a newspaper strip, although the number of panels varies from one to six or more. It is updated on a strict twice-weekly schedule.
A typical Wondermark episode consists of one or more Victorian-era drawings of people and/or objects, repeated for several panels, with dialogue added to create a joke. In some cases, the images vary from panel to panel, creating a narrative. Occasionally, the joke in the last panel takes the form of a purely visual gag.
The creator, David Malki, has stated that the images are obtained from public domain primary sources such as 19th century-era periodicals. Malki obtains these images from public libraries and from his own collection of rare books.
There is no narrative continuity in Wondermark; each episode is generally unrelated to the previous or next, although on rare occasions a scenario will repeat for a second episode. In some episodes, situations and dialogue indicate that the setting may be the 19th century; in others, the characters allude to recent events or use contemporary technology (such as computers), often adapted to the period setting using steampunk-influenced designs. Although certain images are used multiple times in different episodes, Malki has stated that each episode is meant to be read independent of any continuity.
The subject matter of the comics is diverse. Wondermark's targets have included politics, business, censorship, fashion, self-pity, and paranoia.
Besides the comics, the Wondermark website includes a number of features and articles.
The Comic Strip Doctor was an occasional column in which Malki analyzed what he called "the worst in newspaper comic strips," and then re-wrote one episode of the strip. Examples included Marmaduke, Beetle Bailey, The Wizard of Id, and Momma. In 2007 the Doctor was "retired" so that Malki could focus on other projects. The archives are still viewable at the Wondermark site.
The Making of Wondermark is a facetious behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the comic strip. It satirizes the committee-rules process that creates many newspaper comic strips as well as other elements of popular culture (such as movie trailers, which Malki used to edit as his full-time job). It also presents a humorously exaggerated view of the time, effort, and number of personnel necessary to produce the comic strip.
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