Influential

We are rapidly coming to the close of our current volume, Sam and Fuzzy Under the Influence! I hope you guys are as excited about the next volume as I am. As you can probably imagine, it's going to be... pretty different from the ones that have come before it. Sam and Fuzzy is a comic that's become infamous for it's major status quo upheavals, and this one will be no exception.

But, we've got four strips left to go before Under the Influence wraps! Come back on Friday for the next one, plus a brand new round of Q and A.

-Sam Logan

Science

As those of you following me on twitter probably already know, some of my fellow webcomicers arbitrarily declared "Sexy Pin-up Week" last week, and I responded to the best of my ability on tumblr. Conceptually, I imagined they were photos taken by Renaldo for some sort of terribly misguided NMS charity calendar. As you can see, some of the results were more disturbing that others. (I'm very, very sorry about the Fig Pig one.)



Can't believe San Diego Comic-Con is next week! It's weird having it so early this year. But I think I am ready. (Mentally, at least, if not physically.)

-Sam Logan

Apologies to any Internet Explorer users who were being redirected to spam sites when they visited samandfuzzy.com! Someone managed to hack and slip a line of malicious code into one of the site's javascript files. The offending code has now been obliterated and we're working on tightening up security. I know only a small number of our visitors were affected, but it still makes me really angry. I'm sorry you had to put up with that!

-Sam Logan

PS: I know today's comic is a little traumatic. Please hang in there, for me. We will get through this together!

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

"I love how you keep using things like 'Friends!' and 'Team!'
Are you secretly the manager of an high street/mall/insert appropriate retail adjective electronics store?" -Paul

It's just how I talk! I feel much more comfortable addressing you all as "friends" or "team" than as, I don't know, "fans". Or "peons."

"I recall you're penciling/inking the comic on Real Paper, then scanning and digitally adding bubbles + non-sfx text. The grey shading is way too uniform to be marker - Is that
completely digital, or do you draw blue boundaries on paper, then fill in photoshop and remove the blue? Also, for the mostly-black panels - do you ever draw "negatives" and invert in photoshop, or always draw with steely discipline until just the slim white line you need is left?

Secret Bonus Question: In old comments, you mention working 1-2 months in advance -
is the legendary backlog still that long, or what is it now?" -Karsten

The shading is completely digital! Even the outlines for the blocks of grey are drawn on the computer. (With a mouse, actually -- I do have am actually drawing tablet that I use for digital art, but I still use the mouse for the grey shading just out of habit.) I certainly plan for where the grey is going to go when I'm pencilling and inking the comic, but it doesn't get added in until after I've inked and scanned.

I absolutely use the "draw negatives and invert them" trick, pretty much any time I want to have white lines on a black background. The white lines above the "SPLOOM" in today's comic are a good example. The "X" on Mr. X's face is also usually done that way, too.

Back in the day, I would have done them the hard way, painstakingly filling in the black area around the lines by hand! But I'm not one to overlook an easier solution when it works.

Secret Bonus Answer: My infamous two-month buffer was utterly destroyed when I was writing my honours thesis in 2005. These days, I have a much smaller and more erratically sized buffer, depending on how close I am to my next convention trip, vacation, or other absence. (Right now, I'm two strips ahead, because I'm prepping for being away for a week during San Diego Comic-con.) Pretty much any time I'm not away I try to get a little bit ahead, because I know I'll need that lead sooner or later enough.

"Sooooooooooooo.....in your sketch off is one of them a Dune reference?" -Brian

It is, but I can't take credit for it! All the Sketch-Off ideas were based on reader suggestions, Sand Buddy included.

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