The concept of “lives” in a video game is an interesting one, and this video comic actually started as an idea of a very old Mario on his deathbed eating a 1-UP mushroom, then reverting to his baby self again. The more I thought about it, though, the more that idea seemed more melancholically cosmic than funny.

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So assuming reincarnation is the case here, how dedicated has Mario gotta be to rescue Peach in order to keep doing this? I’ve portrayed the guy as insensitive plenty of times, and downplayed his heroics several other times, but let’s face it–he’s a nice guy, and by all definitions, a hero.

I’m not quite sure how a somber, video-type comic like this will be received, but I’m rather happy with how it turned out. That’s me ticklin’ the ivories as well–see if you can pick out all the different Mario themes (there are ten)!

Like I do with most milestone (~50) comics that end up wearing on my sanity (and because I’m going out of town for a bit), I’m taking a two week summer break! So I’ll see you guys on the first Tuesday of August.

Also, we recently added some special bundles to our store, so go buy one!

-By Matthew