Twitter Sketch-Off Challenge

Well, our Twitter Sketch-Off Challenge was a big success! I wound up putting together 21 drawings of the Sam and Fuzzy cast re-envisioned as videogame icons, all based on the suggestions of tweeting readers.

Click Here to view the Gallery of all 21!

Many of the drawings sold to their original suggestors, but we do still have a few of them left. They're available for $20 plus shipping... first come first serve! Just email me if you are interested in one. (I might not be able to answer right away, but I promise I'll offer the drawings to folks in the order I receive their emails.)

Also, just a reminder! If you want to get in on our next Book Club Bonus Pack, you have until next Tuesday (the 20th) to pick up a copy of our newest book! More info about the club and the new bonuses can be found right here.

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

"Have you ever considered how the Sam & Fuzzy universe would make the transition to video games? If so, how did you envisage it? Would the plot be based within the modern continuity of the strip? What kind of genre would it be? What would your stance be on fan-creations?" -Dan

I guess it would really depend on the scope of the game and the team working on it!

I mean, the tone of a story-driven comedy like Sam and Fuzzy would translate most accurately to a dialogue-driven point-and-click adventure game. I think, rather than setting it during any particular era or arc of the comic, I'd prefer it to follow an original (side?) story? After all, it's no fun knowing exactly how every moment of the story is going to go!

At the same time, I have a real affinity for the NES days, when nearly any franchise could and would be turned into a 2D platformer. It would be pretty fun to see Sam and Fuzzy similarly translated into the platformer iconography, with all the eras and styles and characters of the strip distilled into seven levels and a handful of big pixely items.

There's probably a lot of very specific moments or stories that could be translated into specific small, app-style minigames, too. It's pretty wide open.

My stance on fan creations is probably the same as most other webcartoonists -- as long as it is clear that it is not an "official" work, and as long as it isn't being made for profit, it's fine with me!

"Have you considered reprinting the Noosehead books?" -Daniel

I would love to publish books collecting all the past Sam and Fuzzy stories! But it's a massive and very expensive project, requiring either a ton of regular books, or a couple of extremely large ones.

I'll be totally honest... the best way to help make it happen is to pick up the books we currently have! Our ability to put out more than one book a year -- which is what we'd need to do to collect the rest of the archive -- is directly tied to how strongly and quickly the existing books continue to sell.

" Since you seem to keep a distance from the more "R" rated story lines I was wondering what your opinion was of Oglaf by Trudy Cooper and Anders Loves Maria by Rene Engstrom? I would really like to know your view on these two very mature yet very different styles. " -Brendan

I think they are great! "Mature content" isn't really a part of Sam and Fuzzy, but I've got no problem with it, whether it's being used to tell a painfully believable and brutally honest drama like Anders Loves Maria or just to tell a bunch of hilarious jokes like Oglaf. Heck, you can even use it for outright smut if it's gorgeously drawn and positive and fun like the comics Jess Fink and Amanda Lafrenais draw. Comics can tell any kind of story, and those artists are all masters of their genres and make the rest of us look like total chumps.

Long story short: I'm not keeping R-rated and adult stuff out of my work because I'm, like, totally squaresville.* I am just... leaving it to the professionals. You don't want me to embarrass myself, right? You have to play to your strengths, and my strength... is caves.

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

-Sam Logan

*I am, at most, 60% squaresville. Tops!

Twitter Sketch-Off: Today!

Today's the day! At 1PM PST today, and then again later around 8PM PST, I'll be on twitter taking your requests to draw the Sam and Fuzzy characters recast as famous (and obscure) videogame icons of your choice. (You can try and talk me into non-gaming characters too, if you really want, but in general I'm going to try to stick to the theme.)

Much like we did on Halloween, I'll pick as many of my favourite suggestions as I can and make them pen and ink reality, then sell off the finished drawings for the low, low price of twenty bucks. The original requester has first dibs, and if they don't want it it's first come first serve. It was plenty fun and plenty chaotic last time, and I suspect the same will be true today. Either way, it should be a fun experiment!

-Sam Logan

Important notes of... uh... note!

Holiday Ordering Deadlines!
Today is our last day of guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery for orders placed using USPS Domestic Priority and USPS Standard! And more urgently, noon tomorrow is the last day using USPS International Express which is the last international shipping method we've got. So if you live outside the US and you want some Sam and Fuzzy swag for the holidays, your last chance is imminent.

Twitter sketch-off this Wednesday
Remember on Halloween when I spent the day drawing sketches of Sam and Fuzzy cast members in halloween costumes based on the suggestions of readers on Twitter? It was a total blast, and I promised I'd do something similar again. So... I'm doing something similar again!

This time around, the theme is Sam and Fuzzy characters cast as videogame icons, famous and obscure. I'll be doing one batch of drawings around 1pm PST, and another batch in the evening around 8pm PST. If you want to suggest a character casting, just get on twitter on Wednesday and tweet it to me! I'll draw as many of them as I can. And like last time, I'll be selling off the finished drawings for the low, low price of twenty human dollars. (The original requester has first dibs, and if they don't want it it's first come first serve.)

And of course, Wednesday will also bring a brand new comic. See you then!

-Sam Logan