VanCAF this weekend!
Ahh, guys, guys, VanCAF is this weekend! I am excited, not just because it's a rad show, but because it means a billion of my comic pals are coming to town to hang out. I'm talking Jeph Jacques, Meredith Gran, Joey and Emily, Frank and Becky, Tyson "the other one who likes Sonic" Hesse, Erika Moen, Dylan Meconis, Steve Lieber, Amy T Falcone, and a ton of other amazing people. And that's not even mentioning the veritable who's who of local talent that's going to be there! (Except now, when I just mentioned it.)
Anyhow, long story short: come to VanCAF, Vancouverites. It's free, it's awesome, my wife runs it and we're all super proud of her, A+.
-Sam Logan
PS: And if you do have a few bucks to drop, get a VIP package... they are only $15 and will net you an art book, tote bag, free grub, and a bunch of other stuff.
Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Grrbil Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!
"So a while back Sin made a big fuss about forgetting to put on his eyebrows, but he hasn't actually worn those things in ages! Has he just forsaken them or has he forgotten that he forgot about them?
Bonus question: Is sin a Grrbil? I'm 90% sure Sin is a Grrbil." -Jared
Sin's old eyebrows were an affectation of R Sin -- the world famous record executive -- in particular! Each one of Mr. Sin's "suspiciously identical twin brothers" has a different stuck-on hair situation going on to differentiate them, be it eyebrows or wigs or beards. When he is not trying to appear as a particular incarnation of Mr. Sin, he doesn't wear any of 'em.
As for your bonus question: We know that when Mr. Sin is not inside his suit, he resembles some kind of rodent. But things he has said, combined with his crazy tech, also insinuate that he's, you know... not from around here. Mr. Black apparently had seen him outside the suit and referred to him derogatorily as a "Space Gopher". (Something which Malcolm then overheard via Sin Tower's surveillance recordings.) I think that creates an interesting mental picture, and I'm not sure I'd want to mess it up by actually revealing his true form!
"So, I know that Seth MacFarlane stole shamelessly from you, so you can imagine my delight when I was reading this Cracked article that says that the idea for Ted was shamelessly stolen from a comic strip. But then it named someone else and I flipped some tables on your behalf. So, what's your excuse? Were you the bright shining star at the center of this black hole of plagiarism? " -Brenna
I understand where Lucas Turnbloom of Imagine This was coming from when he pointed out that Ted seemed to borrow a lot from his comic. In truth, Ted is much more like Imagine This than it is like Sam and Fuzzy! And that has got to be super frustrating for Turnbloom for a number of reasons.
But... speaking as another guy doing a talking bear comic... both myself and Turnbloom created and drew our respective comics for years, without ever knowing about each other. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that MacFarlane hadn't heard of either of us, either. It's a big world, and the core "adult dude is friends with an adult teddy bear" idea is a pretty basic one that we have all riffed on in very different tones and styles. I mean, no non-Sam-and-Fuzzy-reader has ever come up to me at a con and said, "Hey, this looks like Ted!"
That's all for this week, team. See you on Monday!
-Sam Logan
TCAF RECAF
I met so many cool artists at TCAF! Let me try to describe some of them in no particular order.
The singularly-named Boulet is a comics dynamo from France. I am probably the last cartoonist on earth to have discovered him, so sorry if this is old news, but man. I actually only met him at brunch on Monday, after TCAF proper was over, but he was a friendly dude with a sketchbook full of dinosaur skeleton drawings. His new book, Noirness, is gorgeous, hilarious, and most astoundingly of all, a 24-hour comic. You would never know it from reading it.
Monica Ray, who you may have seen on Strip Search, had a bunch of new things on her table that she made to "prove she can really draw" (her words). But honestly, what I really dig is the cartoony art in her regular strip, Phuzzy Comics... it just meshes so perfectly with her particular sense of humour. She seemed like a nice lady in person, too, and also earned bonus cred points by casually name-dropping old-school S&F characters like Candice mid-conversation. (Yes, I can be manipulated that easily. NOW YOU KNOW.)
I knew the mega-talented Ashley Davis from twitter and that Sonic zine thing we did awhile back, but this was my first time meeting her in person. She came by the booth to say hello, and like a moron I got busy and forgetful never managed to return the favour. Now I'm back here at home without having bought any of her stuff, like some kind of chump. Sorry Ashley! Let's all go look at her work online to try to make up for my intense personal failings.
Shows like TCAF and VanCAF are such great places to discover new artists. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so busy exhibiting at these shows myself, so I'd have time to really go through and see all the artists firsthand. But: these drawings of cats riding on corgis are not going to sell themselves, are they? No. No they are not.
-Sam Logan
