Hippo is the watch-word

"How far ahead do you plan the comic?" This is one of the most common questions I get, second only to "where do you get your ideas?" (I steal them from homeless orphans, by the way.)

Ask different cartoonists about how far they plan ahead and you'll get some pretty radically different answers. Some people madly plot weeks, or even months, ahead of schedule, while others essentially wing it on a daily basis.

My method is a sort of mix of the two. Most of the major narrative arcs, story beats, and climaxes of each volume of Sam and Fuzzy are plotted out right from the beginning. But individual strips -- and in particular, gags -- are much more spontaneous. For example, today's watch-hippo joke was inspired by a conversation I had at Emerald City with my arch-nemesis. Jeph definitely deserves substantial credit -- or blame, depending on your perspective -- for that scary-looking hippo. Brr!

The only question is, will Jeph ever use my "accidental hipster lobotomy" idea? Only time will tell!

Sam Logan

All baby cows are lost

I spent a totally unjustifiable portion of my weekend playing Boom Blox. (Warning: seriously noisy website!) I'm not sure which part of "block throwing simulator" required the extensive cinematic and narrative expertise of Steven Spielberg, but it's hard to argue with the end result. It's a complete blast to play -- especially in co-op -- and is one of those rare completely original gameplay experiences enabled by the Wii remote.

It's not entirely without it's creepy factor, though. What is this society of incredibly cheerful rectangular animal people? And why do they eagerly encourage you to remove pieces of the teetering, perilous block constructions that hold up their children several stories above the ground? "All baby cows are lost!", the game cheerfully exclaims in reponse to your cattle infanticide. Brr!

Obligatory Poster/Print update: the limited Conscience Cat prints are now one third gone. If you're interested in nabbing one, they're available either on their own or as a part of the fabled poster multi-pack. I'm always happy when prints and posters get a good response... it's always nice for an artist to actually gets to, you know, sell some art!

Sam Logan

14 people in a club

Folks have sure been coming up with lots of curious sayings for their Conscience Cat prints. A couple even came up with what I think is a pretty brilliant alternative to the personalized message... if you nabbed a print with a blank sign and had it laminated, you could basically use it like a whiteboard. Quite frankly, the idea never even occurred to me! But blank prints are available for anyone who wants to try it themselves.

Anyhow, that's a wrap for "Stockholm Syndrome". Our next story begins on Monday. (And it's a biggie.)

Sam Logan