Vancouver Comic Arts Festival Next Week!
Exciting times: the innagural Vancouver Comic Arts Festival is only a bit over a week away! If you are going to be in or near Vancouver on the 26th or 27th, mark my words: you absolutely must attend this shindig. It is the law!
VanCAF is actually being organized by my wife, Shannon, who was sick and tired of hearing me and my comics friends grouse about how there wasn't a TCAF-styled free-to-attend comics festival in Vancouver. Fortunately for us all, she really stepped up to the plate, roping in an awesome slew of cartoonist exhibitors and guests to stuff into a really neat venue. And of course, the best is that anyone who wants to come can do so for free. (But be sure to bring some cash with you... there is going to be a lot of great comics and art on sale at this thing!)
From webcomics alone (because I know you guys like those), we've got my creator comrades from Questionable Content, Dr. McNinja, A Softer World, Wondermark, Boxerhockey, Tiny Kitten Teeth, Wasted Talent, Weregeek, Filibuster, Family Man/Bite Me, Three Word Phrase, and a ton of other online old hands and new talents. There are also a ton of super-talented folks from the print universe, like Camilla D'Errico, Nina Matsumodo, and Mike Deas. It's a pretty killer line-up for any show, let alone one in it's first year.
So Vancouverites and neighbours: come to VanCAF. Come for free! I only ask one thing of you -- please tell every human being you know about our show. And if you're coming, RSVP on Facebook to let us know! (It is hard to estimate crowd-size at a free show and we want to make sure we are prepared.) We don't have a huge marketing budget, but hopefully our awesome guest list and word of mouth will help get butts in the door and make this thing the success it deserves to be.
-Sam Logan
Arts and crafts
Oh boy! I really like going to conventions, but it sure feels nice to be kicking off a week that won't be spent either prepping for or recovering from a show.
Do you follow either my Tumblr or DeviantArt? I've been posting some fun recent commissions I've done, including a dinosaur petting zoo (!) and a massive Sam and Fuzzy Team Fortress 2 parody. The TF2 picture will actually also be one of the bonus desktops in our next Book Club Bonus Pack -- something for all you book owners to look forward to!
-Sam Logan
Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Colourized Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!
"As someone who does all their comic work in black and white, how do you feel about coloured versions of works that were originally done in black and white (eg: those coloured versions of Bone)?" -James
I wouldn't say it's something that actively bothers me -- especially with something like Bone, where the publisher wanted to have it in colour to make it more appealing to young children. But my personal preference is generally to read a comic the way it was originally intended to be presented.
I think for most artists, knowing whether or not your art is eventually going to be coloured will probably lead you to make some really different choices with your inking and even your composition. Sam and Fuzzy is a great (albiet extreme) example of this... if I was planning to colour it, I wouldn't use so much black space, or so many iconic visuals that revolve around harsh two tone (or three with grey) contrasts. I'd plan for the colour in the art, and as a result, the art would be totally different!
Because of that, I feel like a lot of colourized comics don't always quite come together... the colouring doesn't mesh perfectly with the lineart because it was an unplanned addition. But hey, there are always occasions where unplanned moves or accidents wind up working really well. There are definitely some specific portions of Bone that look really phenomenal in colour. But I think there are also some really awesome iconic black-and-white sequences that suffer a little.
"Are you aware that you have two different email addresses on your website? Which one are we supposed to send to?" -Jimmy
Either is fine! They both go to the same place. Sam-at-samandfuzzy-dot-com is the more recent address, and on the redesigned site I'm working on, it will probably be the only one.
"So, I'm not going to ask for a detailed and possibly three-pronged Sam and Fuzzy timeline, but I am curious - are you acknowledging that the characters are ageing, or are you working on the idea that they have eternal youth? Just wondering because there's been quite a large passage of time across the Sam and Fuzzy story now...I can't be bothered going back to check how long has passed since he met fuzzy, but Sam must be getting on a bit!" -James
There is definitely an internal timeline that I follow, and characters do age accordingly. I've never worried about super precise dates, but I keep track of the various eras of the strip by approximate half-years. One of these days I should write it all out! I think it would be interesting to look at.
The first Sam and Fuzzy strips took place about four-and-a-half years prior to the current "present". In that time, Sam has spent half-a-year at X-Per-S taxi, half-a-year at Bunton's Books, a year on tour with Noosehead, a bit over half-a-year on the run in the underground, and two years running NMS. (One year pre-Devahi and one year post-Devahi.) He's aged from 25 to almost 30.
The flashbacks with Fuzzy and Hazel take place a few months shy of 7 years prior to the first strips.
Well, that's a wrap for this week. See you on Monday, team!
-Sam Logan
