Longtime readers will remember, seven years ago, when I posted several Wondermark strips in a row that all seemed to be variations on the same joke. Starting here.

What started as a way to explore how multiple punchlines could stem from the same premise became a sprawling, months-long adventure that referenced (whether you knew it or not) every single time I'd ever featured any elephant in Wondermark.

Because, as it turned out, most of those characters were played by the same few elephant actors! This is a recurring joke from my book collections: all the elephant strips are reviewed by a theater critic, evaluating the latest performance of the classically-trained Norbert.

In fact, when I pitch the books to folks, I say, "You can start reading with any volume. There's no continuity, except for exactly one running gag." The theater critic watches Norbert's career rise and fall, as he acts in episode after episode.

I also run Wondermark comics regularly over at GoComics. I've been working my way through the entire archive, slightly faster than real time, for almost a decade. Which means...

...The first "Check out my sick elephant" strip hit GoComics on August 4, and of course, the entire saga will now continue to unspool over the course of months. I'm excited to watch the commenters discover what's happening! They are a special breed of their own, on GoComics.

As it turned out, my recent trip to Gen Con was an auspicious return to a show where, almost exactly 7 years ago, that storyline began -- at Gen Con itself. Aug 2018. I got to Indy after midnight, after a late flight from LA. But I still wanted to get a comic posted before the con began.

On the hunt for a simple but funny concept, I batted ideas back and forth with my friend and boothmate @samandfuzzy.com, who had also arrived on a late flight from the West Coast (in his case, Vancouver) and was in a similarly punchy mood. The phrase "sick elephant" somehow arose...

...as something that could be interpreted in different ways, and we went back and forth for a long while, trying to come up with ever-weirder punchlines to make each other laugh. Eventually, so we wouldn't forget these great ideas, I recorded a voice memo. This week, I found that recording.

Enjoy, for the first time posted publicly... The very first conversation that birthed the entire Wondermark "sick elephant" saga. The first voice you hear is mine; the second, Sam's. @samandfuzzy.com

I clicked on the link from wondermark.com hoping to hear this recording, nothing showed up - just a big black space. :( So I thought 'maybe you have to join Bluesky first?'. Which I did. Still nothing shows up. You have forced me to be at least 0.1% more social. I hope you'll take responsibility!