I'm Brad! I'm a 3D animator. I like webcomics. I make passable fan music and fan art. Thanks for reading this. ;)
Brad Likes Webcomics #4: Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan’s Sam & Fuzzy is a comedic serial adventure comic that’s been running for about ten years. It follows the lives of everyman Sam (former taxi driver thrust into power as a lead mafioso) and Fuzzy (his sociopathic anthropomorphic bear buddy), and their undertakings amidst the strange, paranormal, and just plain kooky.
The comic started off with gag-a-day type humour, and slowly wove itself into an epic. The writing is largely character-driven, with Sam playing the straight man to Fuzzy’s over-the-top antics. While the narrative never gets overly complex, things do get weird. To give you an idea, the latest update has Sam tracking down the leader of a gerbil gang in order to stop a giant mutated goldfish.
Admittedly, when I first started reading, the art kind of turned me away. Fortunately, it has improved substantially over the comic’s span, while retaining the familiarity of the early character designs. The poses and expressions have become varied and strong. Due to the comic being is rendered in black and white, the lighting is often high contrast and dynamic. (Note: While it used to be exclusively black/white, Logan has started using a midtone grey for extra definition in the more recent volumes.)
On his “new reader” page, the author recommends starting here, and checking out the earlier chapters if you like it. I personally suggest beginning closer to the beginning, so as to catch more of the early hints and callbacks.
Fun Facts:
• Sam Logan has a second Tumblr-only webcomic called “Skull Panda Loves Everything”, drawn by his indie persona “Rikk Estoban”. These comics are fantastic and get nowhere near enough notes.
• Logan updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday like clockwork. I can only recall once that he’s “missed” an update. In the world of webcomics, that’s a very rare thing.
• Whenever he needs a week off, almost all his guest comics come from amazing folks. Since most of you are also MSPA fans, it’s worth mentioning that Andrew Hussie did a guest comic for him.
Brad Likes Webcomics: (but this week he’s just playing Diablo III)
Sorry folks, I’ve caught the bug. Webcomic reviews will continue next week.
Until then, enjoy this extremely topical comic courtesy of Kris Straub’s chainsawsuit.
(P.S. My battletag is Avinoch#1215. Feel free to add me!)
Guys, the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival is only a bit over a week away!
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, securing a really neat venue and filling it with an awesome slew of cartoonist exhibitors and guests, including:
Questionable Content’s Jeph Jacques
Dr. McNinja’s Chris Hastings
Tanpopo’s Camilla d’Errico
A Softer World’s Joey Comeau and Emily Horne
Wondermark’s David Malki
Boxerhockey’s Tyson Heese
The Simpson’s Comic’s Nina Matsumodo
Dalen and Gole’s Mike Deas
Top Shelf Comics
Cloudscape
Tiny Kitten Teeth’s Frank Gibson and Becky Dreistadt
Wasted Talent’s Angela Melick
Tangles’ Sarah Leavitt
The Village’s Ken Boesem
Weregeek’s Alina Pete
Murderbook’s Ed Brisson
Filibuster’s J.J. McCullough
Family Man/Bite Me’s Dylan Meconis
Three Word Phrase’s Ryan Pequin
…and a ton of other talented old hands and new creators. (Oh, uh, and me too!) Check out the full list right here.
VanCAF is a non-profit show, and we don’t have a huge marketing budget, but I think with our awesome guest list and word of mouth we can make this thing a big success… so anything you can help do to spread the word would be super appreciated, be it tweeting, reblogging, sharing, or just shouting a lot! And if you’re coming, RSVP on Facebook to let us know! This thing is going to be awesome.
Hey look, it’s a bunch of awesome comic artists gathering in Vancouver!
And also Jeph Jacques, I guess.
I’m pretty sure the last hour has been one of the slowest hours ever
Cover of the Bee Gees’ “How Deep is Your Love” by Samoan Kiwi duo Adeaze.
I saw these guys play the week after I moved to New Zealand. Great voices.
Brad Likes Webcomics #3: Dead Winter
Zombies!
Everybody still loves zombies, right? I know I do! Let’s kick this into gear.
Dead Winter by Dave Shabet is a graphic webcomic that follows the stories of a waitress, a nurse, a plumber and a hitman surviving in the midst of an undead apocalypse. Oftentimes, though, zombies aren’t the biggest threat. It’s a rousing tale of survival against the odds, unlikely alliances, and a badass lady with a mop.
While I was a little iffy on the art at first, Shabet improves in bounds from page to page, eventually settling on a high-contrast cartoony style. The comic takes a “Wizard of Oz” approach to colour, with the real world being bleak and grey with splashes of red (hello frank miller!) whilst dream sequences tend to be quite vibrant.
[Pictured: Liz the badass waitress bicycle-kicking a soccer ball into some guy’s face.]
The “camera” angles are often very cinematic, pushing beyond the mid-shot three-quarter views abundant in the medium. The panel layout of any given page can be a surprise as well, seamlessly blending the swing of a mop with the crush of a skull. And then there’s the animated pages. While they are few and far between, they are always a treat.
Note: Due to some light nudity, strong language and violence, some pages this comic may be considered NSFW.
(P.S. If you’ve enjoyed any comic I’ve suggested, or would like to suggest a comic for me to read, I’d love to hear from ya! Drop me a message and we can geek out together!)
