Woosh

I'm back! Of course, you may not have even realized I went anywhere, but rest assured: I was away this weekend. 15 hours of solid driving away, to be precise, at a friend's wedding (which was lovely). Now to be fair, that's still not as much driving as our the infamous "accidental" San Diego road trip of 2010, but even so... I am pretty exhausted! It's a good thing I drew today's comic in advance. Because right now, I'm not sure I could even remember how many corners to put on a square.

Proper brain function returns Wednesday. See you then!

-Sam Logan

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

"I can't help freaking out a little bit... but having just finished reading the books, I have to ask: Is your latest storyline a reference to The Hunger Games? If so, whoa!" -Jen

Let's just say it's my tribute to every "force them all to battle to the death" tale, from the Hunger Games to Battle Royale. I even tried to work in some slight visual references to each as a joke. (Although Hunger Games doesn't exactly have the world's most recognizable visual iconography.)

But unlike those stories, mine was established, executed and resolved entirely in only two-and-a-half comics. That means my version is the best.

"I completely had Mr. Gillespie pegged as the organizer of some kind of underground arena style 'the deadliest prey' media extravaganza from Monday's comic, but it's not him! Do you plan to rectify this by revealing him as a close relative (or something) to our favorite underground philanthropist? I have a Gillespie shaped void in my heart now." -Amy

Alas, it was not to be! Mr. Gillespie, everyone's favourite pyramid scheme building, strip club running, information booth manning background character is unlikely to ever possess the resources for such an operation. Except, perhaps, in Mr. Gillespie fan-fiction, which I'm sure is every bit as rampant as one would expect!

"We see Devahi totally-definitely shooting Sam, and then we wait a few days or so to find out what actually happens. But do you ever dream a of dream of something where they show you main character A shooting main character B because it does actually happen? And now A is dead forever and huge ramifications for the work and so on and so forth?" -Russell

Oh, I don't know... I feel like I have horribly murdered a fair number of characters already! Maybe not lately... but really, all that means is that you should probably start worrying about who's time is almost up. (My money's on Fig Pig.)

"Are you ever going to bring back Future Fuzzy? Your comic's gotten so serious nowadays, we could probably do with FF's innate silliness." -Jack

There are some... let's say "nods" to Future Fuzzy in the comics to come. But bringing him back outright, in the same manner as his early appearances? Probably not. At least, not in the actual main story! (But if I thought of a good gag for him, I could always do it in one of the occasional goofy one shots I run as filler.)

The interesting thing is, I think some other readers have visions of Future Fuzzy coming back in some sort of grand way that integrates him with the big serious narrative. But to be honest, I'm not sure that would be a good idea. FF is one of those concepts that only really works when his appearances are essentially completely inconsequential and meaningless. Otherwise, you will wind up writing a story about actual time travel. And man, time travel would be one layer of complication too many for our current story!

That said, I don't think you ever have to worry about the comic getting too serious! Sam and Fuzzy's dramatic side will always be balanced by it's goofier side. Some chapters just lean more towards one end of the spectrum. And some reach for the absolute extremes! I think that's part of what makes Sam and Fuzzy... well, Sam and Fuzzy. (Or at least, what's made it Sam and Fuzzy for the past half decade or so!)

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

-Sam Logan

Bonus Pack 4

It has arrived! Our new Book Club bonus pack -- which includes a pair of new desktops and a never-before-seen early comic featuring a prototypical take on the nefarious Fridge character -- will be emailed out later today. If you placed an online order for our first book at any point in the history of mankind, you'll should receive the whole shebang automatically and free of charge. Thanks for your support!

(And if you wanted in on the new goodies and missed the ordering cut-off, don't panic... just pick up a copy of Fix Your Problem sometime in the next couple of days and drop me an email, and I will hook you up.)



-Sam Logan