Sam Logan, creator of the webcomic “Sam and Fuzzy”, announced yesterday that the magazines that provided half his income have folded. As a result, he’s going full-time as a webcomic artist. Details are in the news section of the most recent strip.
Personally, I think Sam and Fuzzy is hugely underappreciated. The comic appears to have a dedicated following, including many readers who’ll buy t-shirts and books. (I have a friend who seems to be wearing this Sam and Fuzzy shirt every time I see him.) But as dedicated as we are, we’re a surprisingly small following: Sam and Fuzzy ranks about 130th among webcomics by number of readers1.
To be sure, Sam and Fuzzy’s early years are–in Logan’s words–“a little rough around the edges”. That just puts him in the same boat as nearly every other webcomic creator ever. The good comic artists, though, demonstrate improvement, and today Logan’s characteristic tri-tone greyscale artwork rivals anyone’s.
Sam Logan’s sense of humour (he’s Canadian) is brilliant, and he’s evolved a rare level of subtlety in his storytelling. Sam and Fuzzy followed a primarily gag-a-day pattern when it began in 2002, but by 2006 Logan was telling much deeper stories. The “Noosehead” saga spanned three years, and “Sam and Fuzzy Fix Your Problem” ran for another three. (“Fix Your Problem” has recently been collected in a print volume, which would also be a fine way to begin enjoying this comic.)
My best guess at why Sam and Fuzzy has not achieved more widespread readership is that its genre-spanning plot is difficult to pin down. In my opinion, though, that’s one of this comic’s charms.
If you have a strong aversion to mediocre art, I recommend starting at the beginning of “Noosehead”. The earlier backstory enhances the current volumes, but isn’t required reading. Meanwhile, good luck to Mr. Logan in his new full-time career!
- Sam and Fuzzy ties for 100th place here (together with 100 other comics read by 3 people here), ties for 129th place at Piperka, and ranks 119th at The Webcomic List. ↩