Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Monday Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!
"How exactly can President Dog write a book afterword? Does he type better than he talks?" -Amy
No. No he does not. So... it'll probably be a pretty interesting afterword? (Visual aids may be involved.) I'll be placing it alongside all the original President Dog comics, for valuable context.
As touched as I am that Dog was willing to write my afterword, his greatest contribution to our new book Kickstarter is really the gift of Vote Dog bumper stickers, which (thanks to our 44k stretch goal) are now included in all our Gilded Bonus Packs, and all the backer tiers that include it!
Next up, we've got a pair of deep continuity questions from Sherwin! I figured I'd share them both because they're both pretty fun. (And so meticulously cross-linked!)
"Where is Sam's 'SATAN WUZ HERE' tattoo? In comic 536, it's clearly on the dead ninja's chest, but every time we've seen Sam expose his chest it's been clean. We know Fridge/Hart marked him when he was possessed, according to Nicole in comic 634 (a little bit is even visible here), but I don't think it's been seen or referred to since then. Did Sam have it removed after he became Emperor? Is a demonic marking not laser-proof?"
Sam's 'SATAN WUZ HERE' tattoo is depicted pretty consistently throughout the Noosehead storyline, but I deliberately stopped drawing it when Fix Your Problem started. I rationalized that Sam had it lasered off as soon as he could afford to do so -- although I can't remember if that is ever expressly mentioned within the comic. (Also, I was kind of sick of drawing it!)
You could probably make an argument that demonic markings shouldn't be laser-removable, but you could also probably argue that the S&F universe is home to some pretty good lasers.
"In comic 494, McMillan is stated to have been promoted to General as a result of his 'defeating' the rogue ninjas, but in comic 2176, he is already being referred to as 'General' by Mr. Blank right after the incident, even though he should have only been a squad leader at the time. How did he get his new rank so fast? Is moving up the chain of command that quickly a perk of coming from one of the (depending on whether the source is before or after the RPG, nine or twelve) traditional families?" -Sherwin
No getting around it... McMillan's slightly-to-early promotion is a straight-up goof. Good catch! Don't be surprised if I tweak that error out of existense at some point.
The number of "traditional ninja families," on the other hand, is something that will probably remain inconsistent, since a few different numbers have been given at various times throughout the comic's history. (I'm pretty good at staying on top of my own continuity, but that particular tidbit is juuuuust the right combination of rarely mentioned and unimportant to consistently mix me up.) Let's assume any variation in numbers can be explained by complex political cross-house politics involving intermarriages and familial unions. Or alternately, by ninjas murdering each other.
All right! That's a wrap for today, friends. Come back on Wednesday for our next comic!
-Sam Logan
Reward Zone
Whoops! Running majorly behind today, team, so I'll keep this post brief. But there's a couple of things I should definitely mention!
1) The Sam and Fuzzy Kickstarter continues to kick butt! We're creeping pretty close to our fourth stretch goal... and if we hit it, beloved fictional canine leader President Dog (yes, THE President Dog himself) has agreed to write a special afterward to Volume 5 and provide some newly designed VOTE DOG bumper stickers for all our "gilded" bonus packs. And there's more stretch goal bonuses lined up after that, should things keep going this well. 12 days to go!
2) All our December Patreon rewards are available now! All backers can vote for this month's bonus art pieces, Extra backers can download a new issue of our monthly behind-the-scenes e-mag, and Secret Art Vault backers can view a bunch of new sketches, some new desktops backgrounds and PSDs, and a couple of slightly-more-scandalous-than-usual pin-ups. Enjoy!
That's a wrap for this week! I'll return on Monday with a new comic and a delayed-but-proper round of Q and A. See you then!
-Sam Logan
Eyepods
Some of you may recognize the eyepods -- and a lot of other stuff in this story -- from the Underground RPG gamebook that we made back in 2015! The guidebook and enemies sections gave me a chance to seed a lot of little previews for elements of upcoming stories. (That was a big part of the fun of the project!)
In other news, the new Kickstarter has cleared stretch goal #3! That means both our paperback and hardcover versions of Volume 5 will now contain a bonus chapter full of author commentary and concept art. (There will also be similar sections ad to the Hardcover versions of 1-3, since those three books didn't have any in their original paperback form.) Up next on the stretch goal spectrum are exciting President Dog bonuses and some luxirious cloth bookmarks for our hardcovers. Wish us luck!
We return on Friday with a new comic and a new round of Q and A. (If you've got a question you'd like me to answer, just tweet it at me or pop it in an email with "Q and A" in the subject line.) See you then!
-Sam Logan
