The Elaborate Secret

This week the Push Button Heads went above and beyond in their efforts to keep a secret.

Everett Wilson

Jun 08, 2024

∙ Paid

Panel one of ten of a cartoon drawn in a retro style with simplified two-tone colour palette of red and dark teal, with half tones for shading. This is the title card, which reads, “An Elaborate Secret.”

Panel two of ten. The caption reads, “They wrote the secret on the back of a business card from a bankrupt financial planner.” Then in brackets it says, “long story.” At the centre of the panel is an illustration of a business card with ineligible handwriting on it.

Panel three of ten. The caption starts with an ellipsis, and reads, “which served as a bookmark on page 47 of Tolstoy’s War & Peace.” At the centre of the composition is a red hardcover book with a bookmark in it, matching the business card previously illustrated.

Panel four of ten. The caption starts and ends with an ellipsis, and reads, “which they locked away.” The panel includes an closeup of the red book siting on the shelf inside a cabinet. Someone’s arm reaches across the foreground and is about to lock the cabinet.

Panel five of ten. The caption starts and ends with an ellipsis, and reads, “in a cabinet at the end of a hallway.” The illustration shows a comically large cabinet with a visible lock on one side. It is at the centre of a composition drawn in one-point perspective pointing straight down a corridor with red walls and dark teal flooring.

Panel six of ten. The caption starts and ends with an ellipsis, and reads, “in the basement of an office building.” The illustration shows the exterior view of a modern sky scraper. A pointed draws a connection between the caption and the basement level of the building.

Panel seven of ten. The caption starts and ends with an ellipsis, and reads, “where only the janitorial staff had access.” The illustration depicts a single individual sweeping the floor with a wide broom and elongated handle.

Panel eight of ten. The caption starts and ends with an ellipsis, and reads, “but only on Mondays, between 5pm and 6pm.” There is a simple illustration of a clock on the wall and an arrow showing the span of time discussed.

Panel nine of ten. The caption starts and ends with an ellipsis, and reads, “unless you were Betty.” There is an illustration of a woman with red air smiling plainly straight at the viewer.”

The last panel wraps up the multi panel comic with a single caption on a white rectangle in the centre of a dark teal background. The caption reads, “Betty knew everything.”

The inspiration for this comic came from a writing prompt I completed in my “642 Things to Write About” journal about a decade ago. The fun in doing the prompts was in not taking them seriously. Here’s some more silly entries from this journal, for my paid subscribers:

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