Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Cut Up Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!
I've got a fine Q and A lined up for you today, friends. But first, a brief PSA about new Sam and Fuzzy goodies: My new books are now on sale in my online store, as are two brand new t-shirts!
Volume Five (aka Sam and Fuzzy Missing Inaction) is already in the hands of Kickstarter backers, but if you missed it, now's your chance! In addition to collecting all of Missing Inaction -- the infamous burlesque story, the vampire benefit concert, the big final showdown with Mr. Sin, and more -- it boasts a ton of exclusive bonus features. Author Commentary! Concept Art! Malcolm's secret conspiracy blog entries about Sin, Rexford, and the Space Gophers! A special afterword from President Dog. Even... *gulp*... 16 full colour pages!
Volume 5 is available in both softcover and hardcover formats. There's also a new two volume hardcover omnibus set that collects Volume 1-4 (with brand new author commentary and concept art)! All these new hardcovers match the original two volume "prequel" hardcover Omnibus that collected the Classic and Noosehead sagas, meaning you can now get the entire Sam and Fuzzy series so far in either softcover or hardcover form.
And last but not least, I have two new shirts! I'm pretty happy with these ones. Jedi Baker is a convention commission staple, so I'm pretty excited to have him in shirt form via Dress For the Job you Want. And Live Fast Die Flung is a shirt design I've been tinkering with for so long, it's spread through my entire gaming group as a sort of goofy catch phrase.
All in all, I think it's a pretty solid line-up of new goodies. Hope you agree! (And now, on with the Q and A.)
"Hi! So, I'm wondering about page length when you make print versions of the comic. In most updates, I can see a consistent horizontal panel break that fits with the length of the pages in print editions. But there are exceptions, including this one, where panels go further down. How do you handle that when making print books? Or am I making completely inaccurate assumptions about the length of the pages, here?" -Mads
Sam and Fuzzy always breaks up into even pages... I actually draw it on physical paper pages, which ensures that! But individual updates vary in length. And sometimes, they contain fractions of certain pages, which is what leads to the horizontal breaks occassionally falling in different places.
For example, the comic that you mention there is actually about 1.3 pages long... on paper, the first panel of that update is actually the last panel on a page that also contains the last three panels of the previous update.
Most Sam and Fuzzy updates are two pages long on paper. Some are 1.5 (like today's), some are 3 (like one that's running next week), and some wind up being other weird sizes. I try to put the breaks between updates in places where it feels right in terms of narrative flow, rather than based on page length, so that's why it happens!
"In the Jul 28 Q&A, you couldn't remember the origin of the saucy hippo name. I always thought it was a play on the Spearmint Rhino chain of 'gentlemen's clubs'? Hippos are kinda like Rhinos. I don't know how spearmint becomes saucy, but they're both pretty bizarre names and one exists in our world." -Greg
Ha! I've actually never heard of the Spearmint Rhino. But that name is certainly close enough to make Saucy Hippo sound like it was intended to be a parody. So sure, let's say it was on purpose! No one has to know the truth.
I mean, except everyone reading this right now.
We return on Monday with our next comic. See you then, team!
-Sam Logan
