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

"Why don't you do your 'best albums of the year' lists anymore?" -Sarah

For those who didn't know... back in the early days of Sam and Fuzzy, I used to cap off every year with a post about my top ten favourite albums. (A stunt you've seen on the sites of certain other cartoonists, I'm sure!)

So why did I stop? To be honest, these days I feel like I just don't follow the music scene with the intensity required for those kind of pronouncements. With virtually every scene I enjoy -- indie rock, jazz, pop, novelty video game covers, you name it -- I'm perpetually behind on discovering what's new and good. And increasingly, I find myself investing my music-listening hours discovering awesome older music just as much as anything coming out right now. (I've been on a major Miles Davis kick this year.)

So basically, what I'm saying is: I'll probably be caught up and ready to pick my favourite albums of 2010 sometime around 2015 or so. Until then, if you want to hear about what kind of music I'm listening to, your best bet is probably my twitter feed!

"Say someone wrote Sam and Fuzzy slash-fiction. Or maybe drew an X rated comic featuring things that I won't mention. Because they would be literally unmentionable. How would you feel?" -Bez

Bez, let's be honest. We both know this has already happened. Your Fuzzy/Naruto erotic crossover was probably even open in a separate window as you were writing this email. You are just looking for validation!

Well don't worry. I'm as excited about it as you are! Especially the part with the rubber duck and the exercise bike.

"Have you ever considered making a Noosehead tour t-shirt? " -Daniel

Actually... I did! This was the front and this was the back. Unfortunately, it was never terribly popular and has since been discontinued.

I think people appreciated the shirt's dedication to in-world accuracy, but as I've learned over the years, sometimes there's a big difference between "appreciating" and "actually wanting to wear it on your body."

"What's the hardest part about writing your webcomic? And I don't mean maintaining a schedule or anything like that, I mean writing it. I'm talking plots and characters and dialogue here." -

Pacing! Coming up with story concepts and deciding what has to happen from a basic nuts-and-bolts plot perspective comes pretty easy to me. But deciding how will it happen... that's the part I spend the most time on.

In a given scene, which actions and lines of dialogue should be divided into which panels? How many panels? What kind of panels, over how many pages? Does the dialogue feel better with three sentences in one panel, or one sentence in three panels? Is a single punch to the face worth the weight of a whole page, or just a small panel in a frantic sequence? What will "flow" best, not just within the single scene, but also in the context of the larger story?

Pacing and it's relation to page construction is my biggest storytelling obsession. I'm not sayin' I always get it right, but I hope at least you can tell that I try!

That's a wrap for this week! See you on Monday, team.

-Sam Logan

Butter building

Whew! It is max-productiveness time over here at Sam and Fuzzy HQ. I am a comic-making machine, powered primarily by carbonated beverages and repeated listenings XOC's Kirby's Adventure cover album. (Which at times is surprisingly reminiscent of Battles, of all things!)

We return on Friday, with a new comic and a new round of Q and A! If you've got a question you want answered -- be it Sam and Fuzzy-related, comics-in-general-related, or totally-unrelated-to-anything-related, just email it here with "Q and A" in the subject line and I will add it to the pile!

-Sam Logan

Astroman

My pal Michael Stearns -- he of the excellent webcomic Dawn of Time -- and his friend Daniel have just released a new game in the Xbox Indie marketplace. It's called Astroman, and as you'd expect with Michael handling the art, it's very cute. It's also pretty fun, so if you've got a 360, I recommend checking it out!

I love these little personal gaming projects... lately, some of my favourite games on both the consoles and PC have been from similarly tiny development teams. (Everything from projects VVVVVV to Super Meat Boy!)

I can't believe the 2011 con season is already creeping up! But there it is: Emerald City Comicon... just a bit over seven weeks away. Heeeeeeere we go again! (Cue laugh track, freeze shot, closing credits.)

-Sam Logan