Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Family Friendly Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!
"Who is Christy Spelling based on? The rest of the gang on Sin Island seem obvious (Curt Cutter= Kurt Cobain, Moneydogg= 2pac, Elton Presley= Elvis), but I can't figure out who Christy is supposed to be." -Gadi
Aside from Elton, I actually tried not to pattern the other artists too directly after specific celebrities. They're just intended as general vague representatives for their genres -- pop, rock, and hip hop -- meant to evoke general cliches about famous dead musicians.
I think people assume, say, that Moneydogg is meant to 2pac, because it's such a famous death. (Well, and because Moneydogg is too skinny to be Biggie.) But I didn't want to put words in the mouths of the relatively recently deceased -- especially since Moneydogg is such an unflattering caricature. So he and Christy are pretty general. Curt is a slightly more on the nose riff of Cobain, but that's probably just because I knew I wouldn't be using him much!
"Gert was training ninjas even though Sam had Y (and a fake X) as a resource. Is Gert a better ninja than X & Y? " -Ross
Gert is a (former) member of the ninja aristocracy. Kids of her class were raised to be leaders and commanders in the organization, rather than soldiers. So while she's certainly abnormally competent, she probably doesn't have the equivalent raw combat training to a blankface.
But! Gertrude is also considerably more intelligent and less unhinged than X or Y, which likely makes her a better leader and teacher. (And of course, in the end, the real reason Sam brought Gertrude in was not actually for teaching at all.)
"In the last panel of monday's comic, the shading lines above Gertrude's head are just 1 pixel wide. Do you have a known 'thinnest line' that you don't exceed because you know it gets lost, or do you just draw whatever fits, because the print edition will have super resolution anyway?" -Karsten
Not exactly! I draw the original comics on 11x14 sheets -- most updates are two of these, stacked one on top of the other -- and scan them at 600 DPI. Then I shrink them down to put 'em on the site! So the final pixel width of lines is something I only have indirect control over.
When I'm drawing, I certainly give some consideration to what will be legible at web resolution if it's something important, like text or a key detail, and make sure not to draw it too small or too fine. But for every other kind of detail, I just ink it how it looks good on paper. If the detail is too small to be seen at web resolution, it just disappears.
Which is, of course, one of the big advantages of the print collections and high resolution ebooks I sell!
We return on Monday, where things become more confusing. See you then!
-Sam Logan
