Occupational Hazards.

Part 1 of the “Occupational Hazards” Story Arc.

Yes, I am going to draw comics full-time again now that I no longer have to worry about school (although finding a real, professional job may take some importance — but not really). As such, this entire storyline revolves around the search, the discovery, and the trials of working. The arc will tie up some loose ends from other arcs, create new plot threads, bring back some old characters, and introduce new ones. I have a lot in store for this comic, so be prepared… or afraid…. well, whatever emotion comes naturally to you.

And Happy Birthday to TWLSB Friend, Tom and fellow cartoonist, Marty. May old age bring wisdom and happiness to your remaining years.

Cyrus is in the Game.

I cheated on this one; I used old stock images of some of the characters to produce this comic. Very “I Hate Pam”. This was also the very first appearance of Kyle’s Smashtastic Destructo-Bot, the killer senior engineering project who plays a pivotal role in “The End of the Road” story arc of Spring 2005.

What Can’t the New XBox Do?

I loved drawing this comic.

This Firehaus is Outta Control.

The Firehaus is a campus bar that has been under construction for about 4 or 5 years. Everytime students pass by the building, we wonder when the hell it would open. Coincidentally, the Firehaus officially opened (after much surprise) a few weeks later.I’d like to think this comic played a role in its opening.

The title also comes from a Franz Ferdinand song.

A Box of Legos.

This was around the time when Pope John Paul II and comedian Mitch Hedberg passed away.

Lastly, it’s really cool that Death likes to play the PS2 and has pigtails.

Banana Splitsville.

Oh, the slapstick humor! The irony! Like I’ve always said, there’s nothing better than desecrating a cemetery with banana peels and broken robot parts.

Unexpected Terror!

My favorite part of drawing this comic was the rain and the soft glow it casts on everyone.

Oh, and the Smashtastic Destructo-Bot returns. Full circle, folks.

Doom Doom Doom Doom.

The lyrics are from Alkaline Trio’s “Mercy Me.” At the time, the real ZCC was into that song.

In this comic, I wanted to include something with Optimus Prime, “Death Missiles of Annihilation,” and Anime Mecha-style missile attacks.

Murphy Brown’s.

When your town is getting destroyed by a giant robot, what would you do? Go to Murphy Brown’s Pub, of course!

Superheroes.

By the time this comic was published, the campus bar Firehaus wasn’t even completed. Also, during this time, I was able to publish 2 comics a day (hence two comics under the same date).

The Band-Aid joke refers to a recent, local story where a student found a used Band-Aid in her fries.