Desert Bus 2011

By now, I'm sure most of you are already familiar with Desert Bus -- where my hometown pals from Loading Ready Run earn cash for Child's Play by 24-marathon-ing through the worst video game ever made.

What you might not know is, if you tune in to the Desert Bus live feed tomorrow at 1pm, I'll be calling in to live auction the original art on the right. This 11 x 14 colour drawing of Yoshi revenge, plus one of our Tanuki Plumber shirts, will go to the highest bidder, and every cent of their bid will go to the charity. Woo!

In other news, we kick off our newest story with what is possibly the most substantial appearance of Butcher the cat in years! Sam's mostly immobile pet was first introduced waaaaaay back in our twelfth comic ever, and was named by Fuzzy shortly thereafter.

Come back on Wednesday for the next part of our story!

-Sam Logan

First things first! Friends, it would be wrong of me not to point out that YES Mag and KNOW, the kids science magazines I’ve designed and (sometimes) illustrated for the past 6 years, are on sale for 40% off for one week only, starting… right now!

It's a tough world out there for mags like ours these days. We're a small, educational magazine with no outside ads, relatively little in the way of gratuitous pop-culture tie-ins, and not much of a marketing budget. But I know in my heart there are kids out there dying to read an actual science magazine with real, awesome science articles about the large hadron collider and snowboarding physics and shipwrecks and 3D screens and famously informative brain injuries. (Plus, they have my cartoons in ‘em.)

If you know a child who digs this kind of stuff, or even if you can just help spread the word, it would be super appreciated!

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

"I noticed that the fish in Dr. Crab's office look like Buddy. Did Aaron get Buddy from Dr. Crab, or do all the fish in the SamFuzzyverse look like that?" -Duane

I guess I just have a soft spot for drawing that kind of fish! I used to live with a couple, once upon a time and somehow -- as I'm sure other owners will attest -- they hit just the right combination of stupidity and ridiculousness to be kind of weirdly endearing.

"Is that band on Nicole's arm a tattoo? What other Sam and Fuzzy characters have tattoos? (Secret or otherwise.)" -Crystal

Yes! Nicole has three tattoos (as far as I know): a band around her left arm, a large sun on her upper back, and some sort of decorative triangle-circle-triangle thing on her lower back. I guarantee you, though, there are probably times where I have forgotten to draw one or all of them.

I think it's safe to assume that most of the other members of the band-formerly-known-as-Noosehead also have tattoos. But since they've only ever been seen in their full-body jumpsuits, I've never had to think about it!

As for the others... well, Sam, Ox, and everyone else who was ever possessed by Fridge bear the mark of Satan, which is commonly mistaken for a tattoo! There've actually been a few in-jokes about Sam's mark over the years. See if you can find one! There's a spectacular prize in it for you: the satisfaction of a job well done.

"Does Fuzzy ever remove his bow tie?" -Andreas

Sure! But you're unlikely to catch him running around without it unless he's wearing something else instead, like his suit, or his Teddy Knows Best costume. If he did that, he'd be naked!

Another interesting question might be... did Fuzzy always wear a bowtie? Eagle-eyed readers may have caught a reference or two to this subject in some of the Hazel flashbacks.

That's a wrap for this week, team! Come back on Monday for the start of a brand new chapter! I think everyone is going to enjoy it, but longtime readers should get a little extra mileage out of this one.

-Sam Logan

Ursus facial syndrome

Thanks for all the kind post-matrimonial wishes, team! I gotta say, it feels great to be married. By which I mean: it feels exactly as great as it did before we we got married. (Only poorer.) Woo!

And don't worry -- I was only joking about going soft and turning Sam and Fuzzy into Garfield. What I'm actually turning it into is one giant PSA about a poorly understood and frequently misrepresented string of medical conditions.

Come back on Friday for more information! (And also a comic and new round of Q and A or something.)

-Sam Logan