And so, I end my tenure at Sam and Fuzzy on a relatively light note. But in all seriousness... sometimes it is hard to resist the lure of the "Cuddley Snuggley Bunnies" and their conceptual kin. A man of my genius, my talent, my deep understanding of the pathetic human psyche... face it, a man like me could vomit up a phenomenally popular comic at the drop of a hat. The temptation is always there. But Rikk Estoban will not be swayed. I will keep producing real art, no matter how misunderstood and underappreciated it is. A gift or a curse? I'll find out when I'm dead.



And of course, even on my very last day here my strips continue to raise controversy. Mitch Clem would have you believe that I stole the idea for "Cuddley Snuggley Bunnies" from him. I can assure you that this was not the case. All I did was think of the most assinine, meaningless cartoon drivel imaginable. That such a concept would resemble the work of Mitch Clem is an unsurprising coincidence. Punk is dead, Mitchy! IT WAS ALWAYS DEAD.



And so, I must take my leave. I must say, I did almost sort of enjoy this experience. Perhaps I will have to set up a more permanent online home, so that I may continue to share my brilliance with you all. Until then, I would recommend that you don't read any other webcomics ever again.



Ever.



Rikk Estoban

Most of the world nearly missed out on the "Air Panda" collection, which vanished from a little-known alternative art gallery in New York two springs ago. But these five 11 x 16 airbrushed pieces turned up on the auction block during the estate liquidation of the supposedly deceased Litchfield. Turns out old Litchy had been hoarding them in his basement all that time. I'm sure he'd claim he was "sparing the world" from the sight of my "regurgitated pop culture garbage," but more likely he was hoping to leech some inspiration from my genius. Typical Litchfield.



This massive update may seem appropriate for a grand finale, but I have one more piece left to share with you before I hand the reigns back over to Sam. You will be able to read and enjoy this final comic on Saturday. It is short, but oh so sweet.



Rikk Estoban

A less-refined observer might call the art in today's comic "cartoony." But if you have even one cylinder firing in your undoubtbly vacuous skull, you'll realize these visuals were employed ironically to honour the work of my favourite relative. Other cartoonists usually make me want to rip off my ears and stab them into my eyes, but I've never had this problem with Great Uncle Welton. Perhaps it is because he hasn't actually drawn any comics since 1907. If only all the hacks working today were so generously unproductive!



But at least some artists are wising up. I hear that Scarygoround's John Allison proclaimed on his website that he really "identified" with yesterday's comic. I seriously doubt that any so-called "webcartoonist" could appreciate the many layers of rich symbolism in that work, but at this point I will take what I can get.



Rikk Estoban