Jonathan Baylis

In the Head, Please!

Dark thoughts never die

Deathbed

07 Sep 2026 • 2 min read

Page 1 of a black-and-white comic titled “IN THE HEAD PLEASE!” Heavy ink shading, splatters, and jagged outlines create a tense, chaotic appearance. The title dominates the top of the page, and the lettering drips black below it. The upper panel shows a distressed man in overalls, pounding on the door of a battered cabin. A speech bubble near him reads, “BABY! LET ME IN! EVERYTHING’S SAFE!” with a caption above it reading, “MORE THAN ANYTHING…” The lower panel contains a closeup of the door with its jagged broken glass window, a knob marked by the sound effect “CLICK!”, a small swarm of flies and a caption box reading, “I LOVE…”

Page 2 of this black-and-white comic introduces a teenage girl who has unlocked the door of the cabin. The artwork uses stark black shadows, white highlights, and gray shading. In the large top panel, the girl stands in the doorway while the dark silhouette of the overall-wearing man is visible at the right edge. The walls are cracked and stained, and the window and door frame cast deep shadows. In the lower-left panel, the man faces the girl and reaches toward her; a speech bubble reading, “THANK YOU SWEETHEART” appears above him. The lower right panel is split between a close-up of the man kissing the girl’s cheek and the man with his hand on her side as they face each other. A caption box above her head reads “SHE’S MY FUTURE. (AND MY SALVATION.)”

Page 3 of this black-and-white comic shows four sequential panels drawn with heavy black shadows, scratchy ink textures, and wavy panel borders that suggest a flashback. The top panel is an extreme close-up of the overall-wearing man’s intense eyes and furrowed brows, with a small caption box at the right that reads, “I NEVER THOUGHT I’D MAKE IT BACK TO HER.” The middle panel shows a wooded landscape with dark evergreen trees, lighter deciduous trees, and a silhouetted person standing near the center where a small caption box reads “FOOD IS SO SPARSE”. A zombie’s diseased lower leg and bare foot occupy the right foreground. The bottom left panel shows the overall-wearing man standing in a forest clearing while the zombie raises both arms in the background. A small caption box above the man’s head reads “AND THE INFECTED ARE SO MANY.” The bottom right panel shows the zombie grabbing the man by his arm, and lurching towards him with mouth agape. Flies swarm around the zombie’s head.

Page 4 of this black-and-white comic shows a nighttime scene inside the cabin between the girl and the overall-wearing man. The wavy borders of the previous page have been replaced by standard straight lines. In the wide upper panel, the girl kneels on the floor beside an open doorway. She operates a small radio while the man sits in a large armchair reading the Bible. A shotgun rests against the side of the armchair. Above the girl’s head, a speech bubble reads, “I’LL CRANK THE RADIO BEFORE YOU SLEEP, DADDY” while two speech bubbles reading “WHAT DID I TELL YOU, LOLA?” and “WE’RE THE LAST AROUND. YOU CAN CALL ME MORTY NOW, JUST LIKE YOUR MOMMY DID” are coming from the mouth of Morty (the overall-wearing man). The middle row contains three panels. In the left panel, Lola (the girl) stands with her hand on the room’s doorknob as she pulls the door closed. The center panel shows a close-up of a Bible page headed “LEVITICUS 17,18” with caption boxes reading “SO TIRED...” at the top of the panel and “SO HUNGRY...” at the bottom. The right panel shows Morty from behind in his armchair chair while the radio on the floor emits a speech bubble that reads, “INBREEDING OF MOSQUITOES...CAUSE OF INCESTATION…” A thought bubble coming from Morty’s head reads, “DIDN’T HE MEAN INFESTA…” The large bottom panel shows the nape of Lola’s neck in extreme close-up. Several flies are visible on and around her skin, including one feeding at a bloody, swollen bite. A jagged border of repeated “Z” symbols suggesting the buzzing of the flies separates this panel from the scenes above.

Page 5 of this black-and-white comic shows four irregular panels with rough, torn-looking borders. The top panel shows a close-up of Lola’s neck from slightly further back than the previous panel. We can now see the lower part of her face and more of her shoulder against a black background. The flies continue to eat at her. The middle-left panel shows Lola from behind as Morty swats with his hand at the flies on her neck. The sound effect “SLAP!” appears vertically on the right side of the panel, as bits of a squashed fly spray out from between his fingers. The middle-right panel shows Morty now holding Lola with both of his hands in her armpits. Lola’s shirt has ridden up as a result, revealing her midsection. Her face is expressionless. The bottom panel is a close-up of Morty moving in to kiss Lola on the lips. His hand rests against the side of her face. Her eyes are wide open, and we see a boarded-up window over Morty’s shoulder in the background.

Page 7 of this black-and-white comic shows four panels in and around the cabin. The top panel is still from Morty’s point of view, but it reveals that his hands are actually holding a severed human leg. As with the turkey drumstick, there is a large bite taken out of the flesh. A pair of girl’s underwear dangling from the hip joint indicates that the leg belonged to Lola, while a caption box reads, “NO! I’M AWAKE! WHY CAN’T I STOP?!” The middle-left panel shows Morty crouching by the cabin’s boarded-up window, taking another bite of the leg. Lola’s lifeless body lays in a pool of blood at his feet. A caption box reads, “I’M NOT IN CONTROL! I’M TRAPPED!” The middle-right panel shows Morty from the waist up, clutching Lola’s severed leg by the ankle. Surrounded by flies, his gaping mouth and blank eyes indicate that he has now become a zombie himself. A caption box reads, “OH GOD! PLEASE!” The bottom panel shows Morty in silhouette, stumbling down the steps of the cabin and heading for the woods. A large moon hangs among streaked clouds in the sky and a caption box reads, “PLEASE KILL ME!”

Page 8 of this black-and-white comic shows two large panels. In the upper panel, a dead-eyed Morty is covered in gore, facing the viewer with his mouth open and both hands raised as flies swarm around his head. In the distance behind him, we can see the cabin, a dark tree line, and the full moon hanging in a cloudy night sky. In the lower panel, we see Morty from behind as he joins a roving horde of zombies lurching through a clearing in the woods. The swarm of flies around his head are silhouetted against the low-hanging moon and his thought bubble reads, “THE HEAD! PLEASE SHOOT ME IN THE HEAD!!” Seemingly unable to hear him, the other zombies are depicted with thought bubbles of their own that read, “NOOO! NO…”, “DESTROY ME.”, “HELP ME!”, “PLEASE KILL ME!”, “HELP, PLEASE!”, “HELP!”, and “KILL ME, OH GOD…”

About the Author

Jonathan Baylis is the author of the Eisner and Ignatz-nominated autobiographical comic series, So Buttons. He crafts relatable, often humorous slices of everyday life and pop culture in collaboration with groundbreaking artists, echoing the spirit of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. With over a decade of storytelling, he has collected his stories into the self-published “So Buttons” series, of which there are currently sixteen issues and a coupl’a specials. He lives in the birth borough of his dad, Brooklyn, with his wife Ophira and their son Lucas. Explore his work at SoButtons.com

Read more of Jonathan's Deathbed stories.

Image Credits

David Beyer is a Milwaukee based illustrator, designer, cartoonist & comics educator.

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