Webcomicry
Alas, the time has come to say goodbye to Girls With Slingshots. I'm sad to see it go, but I'm looking forward to whatever Danielle does next! I wonder what it will be? Let's all grill her about it at Calgary Expo, where she'll be sharing a booth with us this year.
I'd also be remiss not to point you towards the Gastrophobia Vol 3 kickstarter! It's one of my favourite comics, and if you haven't read it yet, now is a great chance to pick up all three volumes.
-Sam Logan
Sam and Fuzzy Q & A: Subliminal Edition
Got a question you want answered? Just drop me an email with "Q & A" in the subject line!
"In comic 2020, am I an immature person for thinking that the squid, particularly in the last panel, looks a bit ... phallic? Leading on from that, obviously you work in a visual medium, but with a large amount and focus on the story telling aspect, do you tend to prefer sight gags or written dialogue jokes, or a combination of the two?" -Samson
A few readers have asked if the squid in that panel was meant to be a hidden dong. No! I mean, c'mon guys. (I can draw way better dongs than that.)
I think the plot-driven nature of Sam and Fuzzy causes it to lean heavier on dialogue humour overall. But I'm always especially happy when I pull off an entirely visual "punchline". (This one is one of my favourites.) Comics are a visual medium and I try my best not to get lazy and underutilize that.
"How did Dev get Renaldo to shoot a commercial for NMS? Did she pay him? Did NMS pay him? I remember them both being pretty broke at the time, and Renaldo definitely said he wasn't working for free." -James
Renaldo expected to be paid, but once he showed up, I think Dev just bullied him into doing it for free. That's pretty much it!
When I was writing the story, I considered including a running gag about how Dev agreed to do some unknown "work" for Renaldo in exchange for the commercial. Throughout the story, she would cut Renaldo off any time he tried to tell someone exactly what that work actually was, causing everyone to speculate wildly. Then, at the end of the story, we'd find out she just did a bunch of tedious manual labour or polished his lenses or something equally stupid and innocuous.
But man, am I ever glad I dropped that angle. If readers assumed Dev had been forced to do something she found really distasteful, it would have cast a kind of gross pall over the whole story until the final gag reveal at the end. Plus, the story is supposed to be about getting into Dev's head and exploring how she honestly feels about her job and her boss. That doesn't exactly mesh with a running gag that makes her look like she is nervous and trying to hide something all the time.
"Are you still going to do a second pin-up book? It's been a long time since you talked about it!" -Sara
Sorry! It is definitely something I still want to do, but I've been so busy getting the RPG gamebook finished up that I haven't had time to work on it. The first pin-up ebook was a collection of mostly pre-existing art, but the second is primarily brand new material -- a fair chunk of which I still need to draw! But I'll get there eventually, honest.
That's a wrap for this week. Come back on Monday for our next comic!
-Sam Logan
Not What He Seems
You guys are all watching Gravity Falls, right? Because ohhhhh man, Monday's Gravity Falls!
Protip: If you are not already watching Gravity Falls, do not read a single word about the show. Go watch the whole thing now before someone on the internet spoils last ep's huge twist! (You may see said twist coming if you watch the show really, really closely... but that just makes it all the more satisfying.)
Gravity Falls is my favourite show on TV. I enjoy it so much, I'm not even bitter they didn't hire me.
A new comic, and a new round of reader Q and A, arrives on Friday! See you then. (And if you have a question you'd like me to answer, just pop it in an email with "Q and A" in the subject line!
-Sam Logan
