Martin Rosner comics have a strange talent: they make you laugh at the exact thing that kept you up last night. His strips star a plain stick figure and a tiny pink brain that answers almost everything with a gleeful “Yee!” That brain forgets tasks, panics at parties, and sets fire to perfectly good thoughts. It feels less like a cartoon and more like a mirror.
Rosner covers anxiety, depression, burnout, and the daily mess of being a person, and he never gets preachy about it. The jokes land fast, but plenty of them leave a little sting behind. Below are 21 of his best strips, from road-tripping bees to a Viking facing down the world’s longest to-do list. Fair warning: you’ll probably see yourself in at least half of them.
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1. The Sandwich That Comes With Tears
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A red-hooded character bites into a sandwich while thinking about everything depression has cost him. One bite later, the comfort and the grief show up together. Rosner fits an entire mood swing into two panels.
2. The Bees Who Found a Human in the Car
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Three bees on a road trip ask to stop for gas, and the quiet guy in the back seat mentions he needs the bathroom too. Total panic follows. It flips the classic “bee in the car” scream around, and it works perfectly.
3. Poseidon’s Very Specific Heaven Test
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A newly dead man meets Poseidon at the gates of heaven, and the sea god has exactly one entry question: ever peed in a pool? The final panel finds him standing in lava, and his blank stare says he saw it coming.
4. The Grim Reaper’s Clingiest Customer
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Death is just scrolling his phone at a bus stop when a man sprints over, latches on, and begs to come along. Rosner plays it as slapstick, but anyone who has felt that worn out will catch the honesty behind the joke.
5. The Genie Who Got the Wrong Kind of Help
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Down to his last wish, a lamp owner asks the genie if he wants to be free. Then he wishes the genie would simply stop wanting it. A sweet setup with a sharp twist about people who fix your feelings instead of your situation.
6. The Friend Who Threatens Your Inner Critic
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Someone slumps on the couch and mutters “I suck.” Their friend lifts the lid off their head, pulls out the sweating brain, and holds a knife to it. It’s the most aggressive and most wholesome defense of a buddy you’ll ever see.
7. The Deal Your Brain Never Signed
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He did everything right: sleep, self-care, the whole checklist. So why isn’t he happy? The brain, swiveling in a desk chair like a smug CEO, has no memory of any deal. A painfully accurate look at effort without guaranteed results.
8. The Ugly Truth About Getting Better
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He thought recovery meant the misery would stop, not that he’d have to learn to live with it. His brain answers the furious rant with a cheerful “Yee!” which only makes things worse. Language warning on this one.
9. The Self-Love Workout From Hell
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Every rep comes with an affirmation: worthy of love, kind to myself, no need to be perfect. The brain rides the barbell the whole time, making it heavier. It only cheers at the one that really matters: cheese.
10. Never Ask Your Brain to Hold a Thought
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He hands his brain a box with one simple thought and says he’ll be right back. Thirty seconds later, the box is on fire and the brain looks delighted. If you’ve ever walked into a room and forgotten why, you already get it.
11. The Task You Forgot Yesterday
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The brain trots over with a sheet of paper on its head, proud as a puppy. It’s the important thing he was supposed to do yesterday. The last panel goes dark gray, and so does his soul.
12. Your Brain at Every Party
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He’s excited to meet new people tonight, and the brain gives a chipper “Yee!” The second he walks away, it’s drenched in sweat and smiling through pure terror. Social anxiety, summed up in four panels.
13. The Self-Help Book Nobody Else Would Write
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Fed up with productivity advice made for people without mental illness, he writes his own guide. The first draft’s title says it all: “How to Survive a Capitalist Hellscape with a Mental Illness, Vol. 1.”
14. How to Turn Trauma Into Jokes
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Told to finally do something about his trauma, the brain thinks hard, gets a lightbulb moment, and slaps a new label on the box: “Jokes.” Problem solved, at least according to every comedian alive.
15. The Viking vs. the Endless To-Do List
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A bearded Viking warns about Jörmungandr, the serpent so huge it wraps around the Earth. Then comes the reveal: it’s a to-do list stretching to the horizon, ending with one item that just says “dog.” Norse myth has never felt so personal.
16. Where Great Video Games Go to Die
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A game shows off great gameplay, smart dialogue, and a strong story. The brain listens politely, then kicks it off a cliff into a pit marked “Backlog.” Every gamer with a pile of unplayed titles just felt that.
17. The Doomscroll Rescue Mission
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The brain dives headfirst into a “Climate Crisis” thought cloud, and he has to yank it back out. His fix while the world burns behind them? Memes. The brain’s weak little “Yee…” is the sound of modern coping.
18. When Confidence Goes Way Too Far
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He kicks down the door and announces that the humble era is over. The brain pours gasoline on the box labeled “Humble,” and the last panel shows a burning house and two very proud idiots.
19. You Are Not Your Thoughts
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A calm little mindfulness lesson: you aren’t the sweet taste, you’re the one noticing it, and the same goes for your thoughts. Meanwhile, the brain quietly finishes the cake. One of Rosner’s gentlest strips, with a real takeaway.
20. The Work Family That Isn’t
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Headset on, he tells his team they’re just like his family. The reason lands in panel two: he gets zero support. Two panels, one double burn, and every office worker laughing a little too hard.
21. A Very Unique Way to Relax
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He has a special way to unwind: let the brain run wild. It sprints happily down the beach and cannonballs into a dark sea marked “Self-Loathing.” His calm, satisfied smile is the darkest part.
