The wider shelf

Comics the timeline forgot.

Z1Xwitch was not alone. From 2010 to 2018, Bitcoin got drawn on forums, in tip-funded webcomics and eventually in the daily papers. These are the ones we could pin to a primary source. Their creators never released them under an open license, so we record them here and send you to the original page.

Comics: 21
Creators: 9
Span: 2011–2018

2011

14 May 2011, 09:41 PM (forum time) · BitcoinTalk, topic 8308
A short graphical novel on the subject of Bitcoin Mining
by Amisād · BitcoinTalk member, drawn in Inkscape on a Bamboo tablet
A single strip about a new GPU miner whose rig never pays back. It went up a month before Z1Xwitch’s first episode, which makes it the oldest Bitcoin comic this archive has found on the forum. The #bitcoin IRC channel answered with a drawing of its own the same night.
“There should be more strips/comics about Bitcoin in general, I think. Especially bitter ones. It’s a real comedy goldmine (no pun intended).”
Amisād, Opening post, 14 May 2011
EvidenceTimestamped opening post by the artist containing the strip (msg 121153).
RightsNo license stated. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source

2012

19 September 2012 · xkcd No. 1110
Click and Drag (the Bitcoin island tile)
by Randall Munroe · xkcd
xkcd’s famous explorable mega-panel hid a Bitcoin joke far off to the left of the starting view, where almost nobody scrolled. BitcoinTalk readers had to post directions to find it.
“I’m not saying our Bitcoin-only island nation was a bad idea, but we really should’ve secured internet access before we left.”
xkcd 1110, Text on hidden tile 1n9w
EvidenceComic date from the xkcd JSON API; tile located and quoted in BitcoinTalk topic 110568 (“Bitcoin shoutout in today’s epic xkcd comic”).
Rights© Randall Munroe, CC BY-NC 2.5. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source Wayback Machine copy

2013

22 July 2013 · Dilbert, daily strip
Dogbert invents a digital currency
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
The first Dilbert strip to name Bitcoin, when it was still trading near $90. Dogbert plays a cartoon Satoshi, plotting world domination and getting told to hide his identity.
“I invented a digital currency that I call “bitcoin.” Soon I will control all of the money in the entire world.”
Dogbert, Dilbert, 22 July 2013
EvidenceStrip page and transcript on dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine (site since taken down).
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
9 December 2013 · pidjin.net, strip 356
Bitcoined
by Fredo and Pidjin · Long-running webcomic by Tudor Muscalu and Francesco Fialdini
A two-panel-set strip from the week Bitcoin first crossed $1,000, when the coin went from forum curiosity to dinner-table topic. One of the first times a mainstream webcomic made Bitcoin the whole joke rather than a passing reference.
EvidenceDated URL and page title “Bitcoined”, confirmed in the 2014 Wayback capture.
Rights© Fredo and Pidjin. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source Wayback Machine copy

2014

26 February 2014 · The Joy of Tech No. 1967
Bitcoin explained!
by Nitrozac and Snaggy · The Joy of Tech, Geek Culture
Published the same week Mt. Gox stopped withdrawals and went dark. A tech-news webcomic taking a run at explaining the coin to its readers just as the biggest exchange imploded.
EvidenceArchive page title “Bitcoin explained!”, numbered 1967 in the JoyArchives; dated 2014 on the page.
Rights© Geek Culture. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source
28 February 2014 · commitstrip.com
About Bitcoins
by CommitStrip · Webcomic about the daily life of developers
Developers trying to make sense of Bitcoin three days after Mt. Gox went offline. Published as an animated GIF strip.
EvidencePublication date and title from CommitStrip’s own WordPress API and the dated URL.
Rights© CommitStrip. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source
3 May 2014 · Dogecoinball No. 1, dogecomics.com
Doge Learns About Proof of Stake (POS)
by carlishio2 · Reddit artist; site by radical_pi, idea by noelrojo
The first Dogecoinball strip, from the spring when /r/dogecoin was funding a NASCAR car and arguing about switching consensus. The series ran across four tracks (Dogecoinball, Tales from /r/dogecoin, How To Dogecoin, Bitcoinball) and was paid for in tips.
EvidencePublication date from the site’s own RSS feed (pubDate 3 May 2014, 16:25 UTC).
Rights© 2014 Dogecoinball.com. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source
3 May 2014 · Bitcoinball No. 1, dogecomics.com
Bitcoin Problems
by carlishio2 · Same artist, Bitcoin spin-off of Dogecoinball
The Dogecoin crowd turning the pen on its big brother. The only Bitcoinball strip ever published, posted ninety minutes after the first Dogecoinball episode.
EvidencePublication date from the site’s own RSS feed (pubDate 3 May 2014, 18:04 UTC).
Rights© 2014 Dogecoinball.com. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source
5 May 2014 · How To Dogecoin No. 1, dogecomics.com
How to Dogecoin 101
by carlishio2 · Explainer track of the Dogecoinball comics
A comic-strip onboarding guide for newcomers, followed by “102: Mining” and “103: Fork”. Crypto explained in panels, years before the explainer thread became a genre.
EvidencePublication date from the site’s own RSS feed (pubDate 5 May 2014, 09:15 UTC).
Rights© 2014 Dogecoinball.com. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source

2017

16 October 2017 · Dilbert, daily strip
Initial Coin Offering
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
Peak ICO season reaches the office. Dilbert pitches a token sale, and the Boss has his own theory about it.
“So... it’s a chain made out of coins?”
The Boss, Dilbert, 16 October 2017
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
17 October 2017 · Dilbert, daily strip
Explaining Block Chain To Marketing
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
The next day’s strip. Alice wants to put a project on the blockchain, and marketing wants it explained.
“This would be a perfect application for blockchain.”
Alice, Dilbert, 17 October 2017
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
7 November 2017 · Dilbert, daily strip
Barry Dingle Asks About Blockchain
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
A “quick question” that is not quick at all, asked the month Bitcoin first went past $7,000.
“What is blockchain and how will it influence our strategy across all product lines?”
Barry, Dilbert, 7 November 2017
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
6 December 2017 · commitstrip.com
Christmas bitcoin
by CommitStrip · Webcomic about the daily life of developers
Bitcoin as a holiday topic, published the week it ran from $11,000 to $17,000, a few days before the all-time high of the 2017 cycle.
EvidencePublication date and title from CommitStrip’s own WordPress API and the dated URL.
Rights© CommitStrip. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source

2018

3 April 2018 · monkeyuser.com
ICO
by MonkeyUser · Webcomic about life inside software teams, running since 2016
A developer’s-eye view of the initial coin offering, drawn a few months after the 2017 token-sale frenzy peaked and while most of those tokens were already sliding toward zero. The direct ancestor of today’s launchpad jokes.
EvidenceDated permalink and page title “ICO | Monkeyuser”, published 3 April 2018 per the page’s own timestamp.
Rights© MonkeyUser. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source
16 April 2018 · Dilbert, daily strip
The Losing Team
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
Dilbert wants to work on the blockchain project to keep his skills current. The Boss has other plans.
“I need you to be a team player and maintain our legacy systems until your technical skills become obsolete.”
The Boss, Dilbert, 16 April 2018
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
20 April 2018 · Dilbert, daily strip
Dumb Question
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
The most-shared crypto Dilbert of the era. Alice’s answer is two words long.
“Why can’t we 3-D print a blockchain and HTML it into a bitcoin?”
The Boss, Dilbert, 20 April 2018
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
17 May 2018 · smbc-comics.com
Explain
by Zach Weinersmith · Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
SMBC’s turn at the blockchain explainer, ending on a “Saturday Morning Block Chain”, the moment the word had been stuck onto everything.
EvidenceComic page titled “Explain”; strip file named 20180517 on smbc-comics.com.
Rights© Zach Weinersmith. Linked, not rehosted.
Read at the source
6 June 2018 · Dilbert, daily strip
Decentralization Changes Everything
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
The Boss discovers decentralization, sort of.
“Well... for example, um... the bitcoin and the Ethereum.”
The Boss, Dilbert, 6 June 2018
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
26 October 2018 · Dilbert, daily strip
Ceo Wants A Crypto Wallet
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
Part one of a two-day story. The CEO wants into crypto, and Wally generously offers to hold the keys. Not your keys, not your coins, drawn in 2018.
“I’ll set one up for you and give you the private key and password when I’m done.”
Wally, Dilbert, 26 October 2018
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
27 October 2018 · Dilbert, daily strip
Crypto Key
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
Part two. The wallet is empty, and Wally has an alibi ready.
“I put five thousand dollars into the cryptocurrency wallet you created for me and it disappeared!”
The CEO, Dilbert, 27 October 2018
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source
26 November 2018 · Dilbert, daily strip
Blockchain Versus Databases
by Scott Adams · Dilbert, syndicated daily strip
The argument every 2018 engineering team had, settled the usual way. Published in the bear market, the week Bitcoin fell under $4,000.
“Why not use an immutable database instead?”
Alice, Dilbert, 26 November 2018
EvidenceStrip title, date and transcript from dilbert.com, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Rights© Scott Adams. Linked to the Wayback copy, not rehosted.
Read at the source

Know one we missed?

Forum strips, IRC doodles, Reddit comics, zines, anything drawn about crypto before the memecoin era. Send the earliest link you have and we will date it from the source before it goes on this shelf.

Submit a lost comic

2011

A short graphical novel on the subject of Bitcoin Mining

2012

Click and Drag (the Bitcoin island tile)

2013

Dogbert invents a digital currency

Bitcoined

2014

Bitcoin explained!

About Bitcoins

Doge Learns About Proof of Stake (POS)

Bitcoin Problems

How to Dogecoin 101

2017

Initial Coin Offering

Explaining Block Chain To Marketing

Barry Dingle Asks About Blockchain

Christmas bitcoin

2018

ICO

The Losing Team

Dumb Question

Explain

Decentralization Changes Everything

Ceo Wants A Crypto Wallet

Crypto Key

Blockchain Versus Databases

Know one we missed?