The original Sausage-Fest cast in 2003.

During my college years, the basic premise of Sausage-Fest was to satirize and spoof every single aspect of college living, and -- to some extent -- life itself. Yes, that may sound a bit cliched and the idea has been done before, but Sausage-Fest offers something a little bit different... its wide and ever-growing array of wacky and stereotypical characters. Although the comic is driven by an ensemble cast, the main character (so to speak) is Chris Philbert Copeland. As a freshman who’s unaware of life outside his one-horse suburban town and his loving parents’ house, he comes to college oblivious and uncorrupted by a campus that is, in itself, a microcosmic world. In his journey to find himself and ultimately get a Bio-Mathematical Poli-English degree, Chris -- accompanied by a noseless music snob, a shaggy-haired stoner, a rebel with a penchant for smoking and swearing, and a best friend who keeps on getting killed and reincarnated -- encounters the likes of giant killer robots, evil talking ducks, sexy goths, and drunken frat boys. Unbeknowst to all of them, the Sausage-Fest cast is overlooked by a pint-sized devil and angel whose own misadventures create trouble for everyone. With an entire campus full of colorful characters behind him, Chris may just have what it takes to survive the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Sausage-Fest is a comic that is written, drawn, and distributed by artist extraordinaire, Phillip Nievera Retuta. Originally, the comic was based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Phillip’s school, and ran in the Daily Illini from the Fall of 2003 to the Winter of 2006. After torrid love affair after torrid love affair with several newspaper staff members and publishing the ill-begotten "YOU CAN SUCK IT AMERICA" storyline, Phillip decided to take his creativity and talent to the so-called "inter-web" and develop a "webbed page" for his comic.

As for the acclaimed author himself, Phillip Nievera Retuta is an all-around artist dabbling in graphic design, illustration, writing, web design, and photography (check out his portfolio here). He is a painfully single 25-year-old male currently living in Illinois (in America) with his wonderful dog named Nico. He likes the animes "Death Note" and "Cowboy Bebop," Guinness, Scrabble, and music that has the tendency to make the average American squirm and exclaim, "WTF?" He tends to be up-to-date with the many going-ons within the internet community and can be found at:

PhillipRetuta.com: his portfolio.
Bluegoomba.com: his blog.
Lulu.com: his book.
Tumblr: his online sketchbook.
Flickr: his photos.
Last.fm: music he listens to.
My Muxtape 1: music he uploads 1.
My Muxtape 2: music he uploads 2.
43 Things: his goals.
Linked In: his business-professional info.
Facebook: his semi-stalkable profile.
MySpace: his ultra-stalkable profile.
Vimeo: his videos.
Threadless: his t-shirt designs/slogans
LiveJournal: his emo-writings.

I wouldn't have gotten so far without the help of a lot of people, and since I am the very epitome of gentlemanessesss, I need to give credit where credit is due.

Special thanks go to...

...My old roommate Ken Lin, for hosting this and my other web-endeavours, the development of this site, and driving me to the DI office when I really needed a ride.
...My old editor Dave Chen, for your great deal of help with this site, bearing my annoying questions, and for giving this poor Filipino kid a decent paying job for two years. I owe you, like, a hundred beers.
...My fellow cartoonist Pat Doran, for being a well of artistic inspiration and damned quirkiness. Though we were comic buddies, you were like a boss and rode my ass like a CEO on a Tawainese whore; I thank you for pushing me to work when all I wanted to do was play PS2. We gotta collaborate.
...Suz Freerksen, for your kind words and your open ear. You've helped me through some of the roughest times, but most of all you were more than willing to check out my work every time I bugged you!

Muchas gracias goes out to the friends who've supported me and have gladly aided me in running a few of the sites: Tim Eggerding, Jeff Peterson, Aaron Colter, Sara Kass, Allan DePaz, and Alan Kaplan (dice later?).

I'd like to thank the academy and the ever-growing list of people whom most of my characters are based on. You know who you are...!

Lastly, I want to give a HUGE thanks to all the fans and readers. You guys inspire me to entertain, and I'll continue to do what I love doing until the masses tell me to stop (or I die; whatever comes first).

Sausage-Fest is an independent comic and has in no way any direct association with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, it's faculty and employees, and facilities. Likewise, Sausage-Fest has no association with any other campuses, celebrities, public figures, products, and television shows. Sausage-Fest cannot be reproduced on a large-scale level without the expressed or written consent of Phillip Retuta. All original characters, design elements, and written material is the property of Phillip Retuta. Any questions, comments, and complaints can be directed here. Thank you, and goodnight!