Holiday Shipping Deadlines

International readers! (AKA: folks outside of the USA, including my fellow Canadians!) Please make sure to place any orders for Sam and Fuzzy swag by December 8th to ensure they arrive in time for Christmas!

Our two new shirts should not only please fans of Sam and Fuzzy, but also fans of blue hedgehogs and non-terrible vampire fiction. You can even ship it directly to the recipient! Add an "I LIKE IT SHINY" note to any Topatoco order, and they will ship it in a shiny red or green package!

And as always, for those of you looking for something with a more personal touch, signed and sketched Skull Panda and Sam and Fuzzy books are always shipping straight out of my apartment. I'm looking at them right now. Creepy, huh?

-Sam Logan

Shirts!

Be warned, international friends... December 8th is the last day we can promise pre-Christmas delivery on any orders for our t-shirt or greeting card orders! Americans, on the other hand, have an extra week or two to stall. But why wait when you can INSERT HARD SELL HERE

-Sam Logan

Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: asdfasdfasdfasdf Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!

"How come you didn't do a driver shift for Desert Bus this year?" -Melissa

Unfortunately, since I moved this summer, I no longer live in the same city as the Loading Ready Run crew. I was kind of hoping I could plan a visit to Victoria that would be concurrent with Desert Bus, but alsa, it was not to be! Hopefully next year I will be more organized.

Did you see just how much the LRR team was able to raise this year? It was a phenomenal success, in every sense of both words. Way to go, guys!

"How does a dinosaur with such stubby arms manage to put a monocle on?" -Tina

Using a hilarious monocle-applying arm-extender plastic novelty device purchased at a dollar store. Obviously!

I think the real question here is... how does a dinosaur as big as Rexford manage to get in and out his own office? I mean, before he knocked that wall out with his head. Maybe that's what he has to do every time.

"What program do you use for setting type, sfx, and word balloons in the comics? Also, if anything's done by hand, then with what tools?" -Joe

I use Photoshop to draw panel borders and place regular word balloons and lettering. The more visually irregular elements -- like sound effects or expressively-written dialogue -- are usually drawn by hand right onto the original paper, using the same brushes and pens I use to do the art.

Photoshop is a great program, but it's pretty expensive. And if all you are doing is drawing borders and placing text, it's also probably extreme overkill. I use it because I already own it for my other work, but most or all of what I do in Sam and Fuzzy could be done with countless other cheaper programs like Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro, or possibly even some of the free image editing tools you can find online. Heck, it could probably be done with a stone tablet and a few sharp rocks.

"How much hair gel must Hazel use to get her hair to stick up like that?" -Ben

Hazel's first heist was an entire freighter of mousse. It's the investment that keeps on giving!

That's it for this week! See you on Monday.

-Sam Logan