The Existential Dead: Issue 1

Gosofo

Klussy Kreme

Main artist and writer.

Drew the wonderful Grummace!

Pancakes The real star of the comic.

So.....

I feel wrong.

I'VE BEEN IN BED FOR THE LAST 3 DAYS!

Well except to like pee and stuff.

It all started...

Ya'know, I like levitating, but we should get chairs.

I have a job for you by the way. Not chair related.

My dad is Death btw.

He tries.

My name is Mick Reaper.

I reap souls, kinda like my dad...I mean-

it's not that I hate my job.

I just don't like it.

HEY!

You're probably confused. Uh, lemme explain some stuff with my randy dandy notebook.

Ewww.

Hold on.

Okay, so here's your typical dead guy. Blue like a bar of soap.

You'll eventually barf out your soul. It's yucky.

But everyone

Peeps tend to think that when you die, your soul leaves.

That's how ghosts are made by the way.

reacts

Nope! It stays in your rotting body. Gross right?

But we don't want that. We want you to pass on.

differently.

And some people....

Hi, the name is Mick. I'm the son of Death...

I'm here for your soul...Cuz you're dead and stuff.

You've gotta be kidding me!

I DID NOT WORK 9-5, PAY MY TAXES, VOTE, EAT BRAN, GO THROUGH A TERRIBLE DIVORCE, JUST SO-

SOME CANDY CANE VERSION OF THE GRIM REAPER CAN REAP MY SOUL!

But that's how it is.

Are assholes.

My head is killing me.

I need ibuprofen.

Yeahhh that will totally help! I'll be back!

I shouldn't take breaks but-

I needed coffee.

And pancakes.

Soo, what happened to Pancake Girl again?

The waitress you talked to all of the time?

Who had a name tag so how do you not know her name?

You mean Gloria?

YEAH!

She quit.

How come?!

IDK, this job isn't that great.

Now that I think about it.....

She was always kinda gloomy...

But she was fine.

We vented.

We laughed.

About our jobs.

We joked.

Oh my god.

So, what'd you want?

Why didn't she tell me?

What do I do now?

I HAD SOME SUB-PAR PANCAKES!

OKAY MAN!

TEN CUPS OF COFFEE!

And I'm ready to-

!

K K IC I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!

AND TOOK A HIT OFF SOME RANDO'S E-CIG IN THE PARKING LOT!

What was that?!

He proceeded to tell me his life story.

I WAS ONCE SO YOUNG AND FULL OF WONDER!

It was boring and sad.

And then my scythe came down.

All that was left was his chair....

There's something human about existing.

And I'm not human but-

I feel it.

And I hate it.

Dammit, I have to pee again.

Good find Mick!

Comfy!

END.

Why Hewwo, My name is Gosofo, and this is my avatar Ghostofo! Haha, confusion aside, I am the author of The Existential Dead. The story of Mick Reaper is a very old one for me, first conceived all the way back in 2010, modified greatly in 2017, and then totally re-written and re-drawn back in 2019! Here you have what I made for a comic grant submission in good ol ‘19! Remember our pre-covid days? Why am I just now posting this utter masterpiece of a comic? Well, I had been hemming-and hawing over posting these 16 colorful action packed pages due to it not fitting my own standards. I mean, what is perspective right?

But now that I am dealing with a covid positive partner isolated during the holiday season in another room, and my own fear of having the virus, I figured I might as well share what I made.

It’s scary ya’know? I was more afraid of failure than anything else, even during this hellish pandemic. I was scared of the inevitable silence that would follow a labor of love. I don’t expect jeers, I expect crickets. Crickets have plagued me from the moment I became an artist. Hell,I am a cricket, making noise and only hoping someone will in the very least will be annoyed.

In a lot of ways, I am Mick. I am scared of what I face day in and day out, a life that I possibly didn’t live because my anxiety disorder prevented me. Sometimes anxiety feels like not only is the floor lava, but so are the walls, so is the ceiling, and we’re not safe no matter what we do.

Yet, we think we’re being safe by staying completely still. The lava will seep into your shoes people, you just gotta realize it might not burn as bad as we thought. On that note, please remember this is imaginary lava and not real life lava. I know we’ll get badly burned if we play near active volcanoes. Also, no this is not a metaphor for covid, 100% wear your mask and quarantine! I have to quarantine till my next internet bill. The guy on the phone told me so, well not about my internet bill, the dates just lined up.

Am I losing you? Sorry, I’m losing me too. But know that sometimes we gotta just face the crickets, the jeers, and hope at least someone, at least a single person, feels connected to our work. Being an artist is being vulnerable. I’ve been running from my own vulnerability from the moment being sad made me uncomfortable. Just embrace the naked feeling, because you can picture everyone else in their underwear if you want too, but just know….you are indeed on stage wearing a g-string while reciting Shakesphere.

Love the burn, love the nakedness. Hopefully, love my comic. Or not. I don’t know, life is strange right now. Yes, I do have more planned, and yes I’ve been roleplaying the stories in my head to emo music while smelling bad for years now.

Boooooooo, Gosofo

A totally rad drawing of Mick by my good friend Activoid as an inktober/ OCtober prompt!

Death's turnarounds from all the way back in 2018!