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!

"Why doesn't Mr. X get a robot arm? After all, Aaron has a robot hand!" -Claire

I think Mr X doesn't have a mechanical arm because he doesn't want to admit that removing his own arm might have been a bad idea.

(It's also probably not in N-M-S's budget.)

"In Meet and Greet, pt 19, it occurred to me as slightly ironic that when spread-eagle, Mr. Y makes an X and Mr. X makes a Y.... if he stands on one leg. Or maybe upside-down. You know what I mean. Was this intentional, has this occurred to you as well after the fact, or did I just blow your mind?" -Kobayashi

My mind... is blown.

"So, when will we get back to the super-important 'Buddy is sick' storyline? When will we find out that Buddy is actually 17th century chemist Robert Boyle, the mastermind behind everything? WHEN?" -Laura

Oh, I can't say exactly when we'll pick up on that intensely rich narrative thread. But of course, when we do, the story will have massive, game-changing consequences on a scale never before seen in Sam and Fuzzy, or webcomics at all! (Obviously.)

"What music have you been listening to? That XOC Kirby album you recommended a bit back was so awesome, it leads me to assume you are a nonstop listener to truly top notch stuff." -Daniel

The two albums that have been getting the most airtime in my office lately are definitely Battles' Gloss Drop and Sloan's Double Cross (which I believe you can actually stream in it's entirety at that link.) They're about as far apart as you can get in rock music -- Battles is a sort of experimental math rock group, while Sloan is a very traditional singer/songwriter-driven classic rock four-piece -- but to butcher a Wolverine quote, both acts are some of the best at what they do. (And what they do is pretty stellar.)

"In comic 1444, we see that Sam has hair on his arms. This got me thinking, since I can't remember ever seeing his hairy limbs: is this the first time we see Sam wearing a short-sleeved shirt?" -William

Finally, we get to the important questions!

Sam used to wear short sleeves constantly in the early years of Sam and Fuzzy. But back then, most of my characters still sported those sort of "rubber hose" style arms like you'd see on Mickey Mouse or Felix the Cat. (He did have hairy legs, though.)

As my art style evolved over the years, the way I drew human bodies got a little more detailed and a little less 1930s. So when Sam went "missing" for awhile during the Noosehead storyline, I took the opportunity to redesign him up to more "realistic" (well, relatively speaking) human proportions. He hasn't worn short sleeves much since then, though, so this may indeed be the first time anyone has witnessed his arm hair. What can I say? I'm breaking new ground all the time 'round here. HANG ON TIGHT.

We return on Monday with more comics. See you then!

-Sam Logan

Fan Expo

Good news, Toronto-ites! It looks like I will almost certainly be returning to your city later this month, for my first year ever at Fan Expo! I am just waiting for the convention folks to confirm my space, but they seem pretty confident that they can give me something. So for now, let's call it 95.7% sure that I will be there. Anticipate!

Friends, can I ask a small favour? As you have probably seen, I have a new shirt with a Tanuki on it. He is doing pretty well so far! But I would like to try to get him a bit more out there, beyond the Sam and Fuzzy audience, in front of other eyeballs that are likely to appreciate him. (Geek eyeballs.) If you know of any gaming related blogs or forums where it would be socially acceptable for you to tell the authors or other posters about him... would you? Many of you did just that for some of my previous gamer designs, and it was incredibly helpful!

OK! We return on Friday with a new comic and some new Q and A madness. See you then!

Spidey Sense

So, the new Ultimate Spider-man will be making his (?) debut this week!

I really like the Ultimate Spider-man series... it's one of the only superhero books I still read. It's been written by the same guy (Brian M. Bendis) since it first launched back in 2000, and it's been so consistently enjoyable that whole time that I am willing to trust him when he does something as potentially infuriating as (supposedly) murdering and replacing his main character. I am excited to see who this new person behind the mask is, with their terrible homemade costume and goofy kneepads and apparent exhaustion after a single fight. (Are we getting a Spider-man with no powers? Is that where the black suit that they will eventually be wearing is going to come in?)

But even more than that, I'm just excited to see more Spider-man art from Sara Pichelli, who is going to draw the hell out of this book. You can see some of her art for the book in those two links above. (AKA: here and here.) Gorgeous!

Thanks for all the good health wishes over the weekend! I'm still not back at 100 percent yet, but I'm getting there. Come back on Wednesday for more exciting illness updates! (And also a new comic or something.)

-Sam Logan