Arrr

Good news, everyone! I finally beat Assassin's Creed II. It was an epic story filled with plenty of shocking twists and turns, but in then end my suspicions were confirmed... it turned out Ezio really could grow a totally bitchin' beard. I choose to believe he grew it for Leonardo, who he is now dating. (At least, he is in the fanfic I'm writing.)

My inbox has been flooded with requests to turn Fuzzy's sad dinosaur painting into some sort of shirt or print or glow-in-the-dark commemorative plate. I suppose I should have seen that coming, but you can all rest easy knowing that even after nearly ten years of drawing this comic, I still have absolutely no idea what anyone on the internet will or won't like. Which is probably for the best! Because the second I figure it out, you're going to be reading comics consisting of nothing but cat photos and hilarious diagrams.

-Sam Logan

Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Z Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!

"I noticed that the two best ninjas are Mr. X and Mr. Y and they have marks on the hoods noting as much. Is there a Mr. Z that is more epic still? Is he some kind of secret no one knows about?" -James

No luck for Mr. Z, I'm afraid! Deeply profound and largely arbitrary Ninja Mafia tradition dictates that the leader and second-in-command of the blankfaces receive opposite-coloured suits and symbolically-paired codenames. As readers of our past volumes, know, X and Y were preceded by Blank and Black, and those two were proceed by countless others. But two is always the magic number.

Some of the more notable blankface command teams from throughout history include Black and White, Alpha and Omega, Apple and Orange, Pomp and Circumstance, and of course, Ben and Jerry.

"After seeing your courtroom print, I realized that my brain is weird and has always pictured Fuzzy as being green. As far as I can tell, it's an homage to the similarly-proportioned Gir (in puppy costume) from Invader Zim. Am I insane?" -Mike

As mentioned in a Q and A of long ago, I am OK with you picturing Fuzzy in whatever shade or scheme floats your boat! But if I may be so bold, may I suggest something more exotic? Like a lovely paisley, perhaps! Something that accessorizes well with Sam's tie.

"Let me just say you are an incredible artist first off. I've been reading from strip 1 and to see how your art as grown finer and finer is amazing. In other comics I read I notice that, as the drawing gets better, the artist decides to do more serious work outside of the strip. Or sometimes show it in the strip in the case of Penny Arcade's "Automata". Do you ever do more serious writing with your art style? Or possibly try new things totally unrelated to even the style of Sam & Fuzzy?" -Kevan

Sure! Of course, I do have an advantage over the PA boys: my regular comic is itself a long-form narrative, and a pretty broad and flexible one at that. So, a lot of my storytelling urges can be channelled into it directly.

That said, I certainly have plenty of ideas for other stories and other comics... some that are still just vague inklings, and some that have long been fleshed-out and are just waiting to be tackled. I may try doing some of them concurrently with Sam and Fuzzy, but some will really just have to wait until it's over. A man can only draw so many pages of comics at a time!

Anyhow, that's a wrap for this week. See you on Monday, team!

-Sam Logan

Three

Did you hear that one of the Fantastic Four has died? It's hard not to, with the hoopla making its way to major news outlets. But is it just me, or is the increasingly common assault of press releases and media coverage that accompanies any prominent superhero death extra ridiculous in the case of FF? I think I've actually lost track of the number of times a member of the Fantastic Four has died. Actually, I'm pretty sure each of them has bought it at least once by this point. And they all made it back! Good odds for the latest victim, I think.

Personally, I think it's time to take this comic-book death business to the next level. I'm excited to announce that one of Sam and Fuzzy's most beloved cast members will be killed -- and resurrected -- entirely between today's comic and Friday's. But who will it be?

No one will ever know!

-Sam Logan