December 25, 2001 - Season's Greetings

December 25, 2001 - click to embiggen

Holiday wishes and a chance to draw a little differently. Had I ever become serious about web publishing, I would have explored more alternative compositions and presentations. Drawing Jake in a larger format helped me nail down his look.

December 18, 2001 - Nonplussed?

December 18, 2001 - click to embiggen

As soon as Maybel existed, this conversation was inevitable.

December 11, 2001 - Check Yes, No, Maybe

December 11, 2001 - click to embiggen

One thing I loved about doing this was creating a bunch of characters, trying out various pairings, and seeing what happened. This strip was the first in a little series that went into 2002. Not much of a joke here, but a set up for the rest.

December 4, 2001 - Animal Lover

December 4, 2001 - Click to embiggen

One thing I knew about Maybel right off the bat—Gentle would hate her!

November 27, 2001 - I Went to the Dark Side

November 27, 2001 - click to embiggen

I have no excuse for this. I had to do it.

November 20, 2001 - Little Sista's Wrath

November 20, 2001 - click to embiggen

Since this strip was on a teeny tiny corner of the web and not in hundreds of newspapers across the country (sigh), I felt I could spice up the language a bit. Hence the use of the shocker, “crap.” Compared to what is on the Disney Channel these days, it barely merits comment.

November 13, 2001 - Mothers Always Bring Extra Love

November 13, 2001 - click to embiggen

Yay! I love Maybel!

Maybel was the last “cast member” for a while. I imagined it would be fun to have someone who was as thrilled with Jake as he was with “the girl.” Writing her as Marty’s niece allowed her to be around the store.

November 6, 2001 - Scorn of the d20

November 6, 2001 - click to embiggen

I had a hankering to draw with a little more detail, so I came up with this. More roleplaying stuff. 

I see now the influence of Calvin & Hobbes in how Calvin’s daydreams were also drawn in more detail.

October 30, 2001 - Trick or Treat!

October 30, 2001 - click to embiggen

My old co-worker, Karen, used to rib me that she thought Gentle looked like HeroBear in his stuffed animal form, so I couldn’t resist dressing him up for Halloween. Having specific dates allowed me to be seasonal when I felt like it. I’m really fond of the white text in the first panel and Barry’s lack of vocabulary in the second.

October 23, 2001 - Live Bait

October 23, 2001 - click to embiggen

He was based on my old boss, but Marty quickly developed his own personality. I love his sincerity coupled with his concern for the bottom line.

October 16, 2001 - Off-Camera Violence

October 16, 2001 - click to embiggen

At the beginning of making all this, I never thought I'd be drawing from my work experience as much as I ended up doing.

Hopefully the idea comes across even if one doesn’t know that “Creator’s Universe” were these crappy trading cards that nobody wanted...

October 9, 2001 - Surprise Attack

October 9, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Nothing was more rewarding than flashing on an idea that moved the whole strip forward. Having “the girl” work out the store released a whole new flood of possibilities.

October 2, 2001 - And 0 Charisma

October 2, 2001 - click to embiggen

This is one of my favorites, even though it is a little too “in.” What would a nihilistic person do in a role-playing game that he was too afraid to do in real life? Commit suicide!

I feel like this was a true corner turned, because I could take these separate characters and bring them together rather than needing "extras."

September 25, 2001 - The Playah

September 25, 2001 - click to embiggen

I have more sympathy for Barry now than when I first created him. Ferret-squirrel love rules, but I never took it past this strip. It would’ve been fun to explore a romance for Gentle...

September 18, 2001 - World's Apart

September 18, 2001 - click to embiggen

Sometimes ideas spring from strange sources. After introducing the girl’s roommate in the previous strip, I realized the girl’s, ahem, orientation might come into question. So I came up with a gag to establish their relationship a little more clearly. 

Because I knew this endeavor would never lead to fame and fortune, I felt at ease cribbing from other comic masters. It's homage, people.

September 11, 2001 - What Sells

September 11, 2001 - click to embiggen

Okay, so this is a pet peeve of mine. What really gets me is that the “t’n’a” blinds people to all the good comics that are being made. 

Note: this day was fateful to our country. The reason it had no effect on the strips was that I was several months ahead of myself at the time. I stopped drawing for a while as i took in the enormity of the attacks.

September 4, 2001 - Unbreakable Spirit

September 4, 2001 - click to embiggen

Although I tried to avoid it, pop/geek culture references crept into the punchlines. This is slightly funny if you’ve seen "Unbreakable." I did like to include in-jokes now and again. I like how the "camera" continues to close in on Gentle--one of the few times I was deliberately cinematic.

I continued to experiment with Jake’s eyes, and the little orphan Annie look did not do him any favors. 

August 27, 2001 - You Gonna Pay For That?

August 27, 2001 - click to embiggen

We're back at the comic shop. I wanted to feature Joe specifically to establish that he is the simple literalist--a staple of many classic sitcoms.

August 20, 2001 - "I Like My Shows"

August 20, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey everyone, welcome and thanks to those of you who keep coming back.

This strip and the one previous have the exact same structure--a close-up in the first three frames and a pull back to “reveal” the punchline. Strangers in Paradise is a comic by Terry Moore often likened to a soap opera, so the gag here is intended more for “insiders.”

August 13, 2001 - Head Warmer

August 13, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Even though most of my characters had names, I didn’t commit to using them in the dialogue until now. I’d considered keeping names out of the mix, but my father wisely convinced me it would help in the long run. I agree, and future strips benefited greatly. Thanks, Dad!

August 6, 2001 - Of Goths and Geeks

August 6, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey all, hope you are enjoying these. Revisiting them has been a blast (12 years ago!), and I feel like we're slowly coming to the place where I hit my stride.

I openly admit that this strip was an attempt to copy a favorite delivery style from Foxtrot--cyclical dialogue. The first line in effect becomes the punchline. It is hard. (And yes, I cobbled a line from The Smiths and stuck it in the Goth's tirade.)

July 31, 2001 - Bite My Tongue

July 31, 2001 - Click to embiggen

This one was personal. I often had to listen to customers for far longer than I would have preferred. I stuck Barry with the unfortunate trait of being a bit clueless.

After I realized that I had failed to put this up on the website originally, I redrew the strip and hid it as an “Easter Egg.” One had to click on Gentle’s nose on the main page to find it. I have no idea if anyone ever did. 

July 24, 2001 - Order Up

July 24, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey everyone. It was time to have Jake interact with the girl again. Well, sort of. (I redrew this strip when I realized I couldn’t find the entire original...)

July 17, 2001 - The Stickler

July 17, 2001 - Click to embiggen

My game group had a guy just like this.

July 10, 2001 - Ladies and Gentlemen...

July 10, 2001 - Click to embiggen

I miss playing games. This came from another true life incident­--I was betrayed by another player I had allied with right at the end of a board game. It was a beautiful moment, and a good way to properly introduce Q the gamer.

July 3, 2001 - Rockin' a Beard

July 3, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Trying to capture the different flavors who came into a store like the one I’d worked, I created “the goth.” While the character had limited potential, his dialogue was so fun to write.

June 26, 2001 - Feedback

June 26, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey everyone, hope you are enjoying these blasts from my past. It's nice to revisit these and create a nice online home for them.

This and the previous strip were examples of the first time I chose to “publish” in a different order than I had actually created. Something indefinable about the development of the strip and when I wanted to introduce new characters. Both Q (second from left) and the goth were about to be featured more heavily.

June 19, 2001 - As Free as the Grass Grows

June 19, 2001 - Click to embiggen

I knew the time would come when Gentle would speak directly to the “camera,” but it was a convention I did not want to overuse. I really enjoyed drawing a larger version of him.

I should note that I have never personally owned a ferret nor did I do any research for this strip, so I apologize for any unintentional misrepresentations of ferrets or ferret ownership.

June 12, 2001 - What Dreams May Come

June 12, 2001 - Click to embiggen

So I had a few more ideas for the “winged potato” saga (can’t remember what they were now), but again the weekly format suggested that I wrap things up and move on. I really like this one, though.

June 5, 2001 - Crowd Pleasing

June 5, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Creation by committee--sigh. More characters make first appearances here. I took a chance having the punchline partially refer to Joe’s comment on the previous strip. Doing a weekly instead of a daily comic limited some of the storytelling options.

May 29, 2001 - High Horse

May 29, 2001 - Click to embiggen

I really urge you to view the full version by clicking on the image above. Much easier on the eyes.

Marty is the shopkeep and Joe is his help (“Joe Worker”), based on my beloved co-worker Mark Kohrmann. I was pleased with the interplay between Joe and Gentle “underneath” the actual strip. Joe often tries Marty’s patience. Double facepalm!

May 22, 2001 - Reading Into Things

May 22, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Well, we're plugging ahead. This one didn’t come out the way I wanted. Giving that many characters a voice in one panel at the end took some of the punch out of it.

May 15, 2001 - Takin' It to the Streets

May 15, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey everyone! Did you know that in my mind, "winged" is a 2-syllable word when referring to "the wing-ed potato"? Not that it matters.

As for the strip above, maybe this is too “in,” but at the time people seemed to get that Jake was showing his work to a comic store owner. The character on the far right was based physically on a wonderful old co-worker of mine, though he (the co-worker) is much smarter than the character is portrayed.

May 8, 2001 - An Inconvenient Strip

May 8, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Well, he was an easy target, but I really like this one! Something about the timing... Of course now, with so much time passed, the topical nature sucks the punch out of the gag.

May 1, 2001 - Behold! The Salty Power!

May 1, 2001 - Click to embiggen

I like this one. My old comic store boss went nuts trying to figure out the “code” on the park bench, when it was merely a set up for the next gag...

April 24, 2001 - What's in a Name?

April 24, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey everyone. Hope ya'll are enjoying these. Once I’d titled the strip (an MST3K reference), I knew I couldn’t wait too long to justify the name. This was my first long series of “connected” strips. The symbol on the alien’s chest is from “The Greatest American Hero.”

April 17, 2001 - Where it Hurts

April 17, 2001 - Click to embiggen

The first truly new, non-redux “wingedpotato” strip! Yay! I knew moving forward I would have to broaden the world a bit, and so Barry was born. Unlike Jake, he actually does eat, sleep, and breath comics. Gentle is editorializing again.

April 10, 2001 - Do Not Meddle...

April 10, 2001 - Click to embiggen

This was originally a throwaway gag for the newsletter when the movie “Dragonheart” came out, but it was fun to draw, so I redid it for the new series.

April 3, 2001 - Worlds Apart

April 3, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Hey, everyone. Hope you are enjoying these so far. I think they get even better as we go, so hang in there with me.

The girl’s perspective. Yes, she is known only as “the girl” and she is more ambivalent toward Jake than this gag suggests. The frame and pacing experimentation here lapsed as I worked on getting the strip more “automated.” I should note that although now it is not that strange for girls to enjoy comic books, back in 2001 it still seemed pretty rare.

March 27, 2001 - System Shock

March 27, 2001 - Click to embiggen

The idea of comic geeks being scared of girls is nothing new, but as the strip developed it came about that only one particular girl made Jake sweat. It just happened to be the first one he saw...

March 20, 2001 - Ew?

March 20, 2001 - Click to embiggen

When I created the strip, I figured Jake would always be looking to create the next great comic book superhero.

March 13, 2001 - Will to Power

March 13, 2001 - Click to embiggen

People seem to get this one only if they have ever tried it.

March 6, 2001 - Justify!

March 6, 2001 - Click to embiggen

Anyone recognize the nod to Wally Pleasant? In the newsletter strip, I had an imaginary floating ball of fur to act as Jake’s foil and to be the editorial voice of the series. Oy. Here I created Gentle the ferret (named after my college roommate) and things started to gel.

February 27, 2001 - wingedpotato begins

February 27, 2001 - Click to embiggen

The strip that started it all. Kind of. The first strips were rehashes of a store newsletter strip called "that guy who reads comics." Oy. When embarking to get these into printable form, I realized I couldn't find my original strip. I decided to redraw it—it finally looks like I envisioned. This particular gag actually happened to me in college.