The Lottery Ticket Comic The lottery ticket that is guaranteed not to disappoint! The instantaneous, over-night fulfillment of lifelong dreams, the adoration of your friends and family, the ability to do what you love without worrying about the costs — this is every man’s dream.

And we’re not talking about suddenly becoming a movie star, either. Instant rewards are something that all humans are wired to desire, which explains why, according to the PBS, from as far back as 1996, over 60% of Americans have been involved in some form of gambling or another. Most people gamble for financial gain, or the adrenaline rush of seeing those dice roll over and make your day. While some winners have developed winning techniques, like Richard Lustig, who’s published a book detailing his techniques, which ranked #3 in Amazon’s Self-Help category in 2010, some winners, like William Post have experienced nothing but disaster following what they thought would be the greatest day of their lives. Gambling and the lottery continue to attract thousands of people everyday, with some flocking to casinos in Las Vegas for a round of cards, and some choosing to play a game of Uptown Pokies from the comfort of their computers. While lottery tickets have become a symbol of both hope and despair for people all over the world, one comic book artist has turned it into a whole new form of art.

Peter S. Conrad has been experimenting with different mediums for years, transforming his comics into things never heard of before, like cassette tapes, cigarette packs and Rubik’s Cubes. In the 2011 San Francisco ZineFest, he revealed his latest creation: a comic in the form of a lottery ticket. This ingenious design brings comics to a whole new level. It eliminates a common problem that impatient comic book readers seem to have: skipping right to the end panel and spoiling the ending, while still allowing readers to go through each panel at their own pace. The anticipation of what could happen next, and the joy that comes from scratching off the ticket just add to the whole experience. Conrad’s unique comics have been featured in various newspapers and exhibited in museums all across the United States, and rightly so. After all, it takes an exceptionally talented man to turn something like a lottery ticket into an instrument of entertainment and fun.