New Shirt(s)!

It's true! The oft-requested t-shirt featuring the ghost who is afraid of ghosts is now on sale. I did my best to transform Sam and Fuzzy's most adorable adventure ever into as iconic a design as possible, going with a similar sort of aesthetic to the "My Cat Dreams of Spatulas" shirt. I know it took me forever to get this design finished, but I'm really happy with the final result!

Now, long-time readers will know that I normally debut my new designs in pairs. But unfortunately, a slight production hiccup has delayed our second shirt. It should be available to purchase in the next week or two, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peek in the meantime.

Much like the "My Skills are Varied" design, "Neville Would Have Done It in Four Books" was derived not from the comic itself, but from something else dear to my pop-culture-appreciation gland. Not my usual oeuvre, I know... but the enthusiastic responses I got previewing it at my last couple of con stops encouraged me to take the plunge. At the very least, it'll be a fun design to have at San Diego!

Anyhow, enough about this t-shirt business. Time for a couple of Q and A questions!

"When Mr. Black sends some men to collect Sidney from the Isle of Lye, is the Commander Scott the same Scott that led Fuzzy's Platoon?" -Peter

It is! I figured that after working that table gig, Scott would have been first in line to join up with Black's new order.

"Mr. Blank was referred to back in the day as the leader of the blankfaces. Obviously, Mr. Black was also part of this unit, but what about the rest of them? I don't recall seeing any non-Blank/Black blankfaces for Mr. Blank to command." -Richard

The blankfaces are a small group, but there were definitely more of them than just Blank and Black. We just never really got to see any of the others.

At least, not until recently! Mr. X and Mr. Y are meant to be the highest ranking and most dangerous blankfaces that are, you know, still alive. Once upon a time, they both would have been under Blank's command. And there may or may not be a few others who will show up in the future. (You'll be able to spot them by their eyeless masks.)

"In the last Q & A, you talked about how you scan your art into the computer in black and white so it's easier to work with. I was wondering how you avoided losing information this way? Whenever I scan my art in black and white, I lose at least half the lines, and people are suddenly missing limbs and torsos!" -Charles

When you scan in black and white mode, it sort of "flattens" the image, converting every pixel into either pure white or pure black. This works really well for scanning black and white inked work like mine, because all the lines are very, very dark (almost pure black) and convert easily into black pixels.

However, other mediums don't always work as well. If you're using pencil, for example, some of your line work might be very light grey. And if it's light enough, instead of becoming black pixels, they get turned into white pixels and disappear.

So, if I had to guess, I'd say that lighter-coloured linework is probably the cause of your missing information. However, you might want to check the settings of your scanner. You may just need to adjust the levels to make it scan a darker or higher contrast image that doesn't lose any of your work!

-Sam Logan

Gotta get a message to you

Did you know that we have a forum? Because we do! And it's the perfect place to take all the joy, confusion and rampant speculation that fills your heart after reading each Sam and Fuzzy and then inflict it on other people.

(Or, you can do what the vast majority of our forum regulars do and just talk about video games instead. That is also acceptable.)

-Sam Logan

San Diego

San Diego Comic-Con is only a few weeks away! And after taking last year off to recoup mentally, I'm really excited to throw myself back into the five-day fray.

Now, this is the part where I would normally encourage you to go to the show, too. Only...if you weren't already going, it looks like you're not going at all. Passes for every single day of the show are already completely sold out!

It's kind of frustrating to be an exhibitor at a show where you can't actually tell anyone to come see you! But what can you do? The convention center is only so big, and the show is selling out earlier and earlier every year. Hopefully some of you Sam and Fuzzy readers out there already have tickets. And for anyone who doesn't... I'll try to make as much of my funky comic-con swag available online as possible!

-Sam Logan