(Diabolus) Ex Machina.

Part 32 of the “Occupational Hazards” Story Arc.

***The sidenote is a reference to this comic, all the way back from 2007. I know the business cards look different, but between then and now I actually made a logo and an entire brand identity for IPAWD. I also purchased the URL, IPAWD.org, long before the iPad was released. Hopefully people with poor spelling skills and a penchant for typing “.org” will generate more hits once that site is up and running.

Lastly, our enigmatic character SPUD (“Some Peculiar, Unidentified Dood”) is taking a more active role in the storyline. Things, characters, everything — they’re finally being woven together!

Lower Rung.

Part 31 of the “Occupational Hazards” Story Arc.

Drawing Autumn is fun.

I’m switching back to the main story: Chris’ search for a job (and trust me, his quest is pretty appropriate for my current occupational situation). His statement of “5 years” is a reference to when I last released a comic. Anyway, like all aspiring professionals, I’ve experienced the internship path both as an intern and as someone who had them as minions. Both scenarios in today’s comic — where you either do a ton of actual work or none at all — are pretty accurate. There was one time I held an unpaid internship and a low-paying job at the same time, and I had to reduce my work hours; I figured the internship will lead me somewhere or at least give me some kind of learning experience. Nope. For a week and a half, my supervisors gave me absolutely no work or any mentorship, and instead of sitting at a desk looking at YouTube videos, I just quit and returned full-time to my job. Now at my last job, I actually had (paid) interns to command and do as I please. Of course, I didn’t whip them physically but asked them to help in production work. Needless to say, interns are the un-and-underpaid backbone of our society.

Death Corgis.

Part 30 of the “Occupational Hazards” Story Arc.

This combines two of my interests: Corgis and 90’s alternative rock. Also, Brian the Corgi is named after my friend and former Parsons classmate — a genuine Corgi Enthusiast. Furthermore, Stumptown Coffee is some of my favorite coffee here in NYC.

Dead Celebrities.

Part 29 of the “Occupational Hazards” Story Arc.

Hey, another comic. Although I wrote this about a year ago, it’s lucky that Michael Jackson is recently in the news, what with that jury verdict.

Third Eye Unblind.

Part 28 of the “Occupational Hazards” Story Arc.

So after a 5-year hiatus, Sausage-Fest is back… but as Ghost Potato. Now you may be asking yourself (although, in reality, I doubt you care), “what happened?” Since the last real comic update, I’ve moved from Chicago to New York, went to graduate school for design, and have had my share of professional freelance and full-time jobs. With school done and the utter craziness that doing a thesis entails now over, I’ve found myself with a little more free time to work on my personal projects. Well, making comics has always had a little place in my heart. As such, I’m continuing from where I last left off: in the midst of the “Occupational Hazards” storyline.

In case you didn’t notice, I totally redesigned the site. The majority of the pages are complete and all the comics from the old site have been imported, and by utilizing what I’ve learned in grad school, my work experiences, and the sheer evolution of the internet, I’ve expanded the comic to some other social media platforms: you can find Ghost Potato material on Facebook and Instagram now. You know, I think you should follow those pages — but that’s just my suggestion.

I’ll update weekly, every Friday. I’ve finished a few during the course of the past five years, and releasing a comic a week allows me to draw more as a hobby while still maintaining some kind of income.

As far as the story and character development are concerned, I wanted to introduce Failure and Fortune’s super cool superpowers: they both can foresee the future; it’s just that Fortune can only see success and general good stuff, while Failure can only predict horrible outcomes and plain shittiness (hence their namesakes). Today’s comic only serves as a foreshadowing of things to come, and as you can see, Failure and Fortune’s design (including the general theme of today’s comic) has been heavily influenced by pagan and occult imagery — but without going so far as calling myself a Satanist. With such foreshadowing in mind, the “Occupational Hazards” storyline is all planned out, with a slew of new characters and plot developments. Stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy the ride.