ANSWERED: Q&A with... Steve Purcell!
nikasaur
Telltale Alumni
Yes. This is the awesomest thing.
Creator of Sam and Max and all around awesome guy Steve Purcell will be answering questions ongoing throughout this week! We'll be doing the questions in batches to allow for Steve's busy schedule so there's no official dates or times to speak of.
Have a life altering query? Maybe just a casual inquiry? Questions about Sam and Max, Telltale's games, or the meaning of life can all be posted here and magically answered through the powers of the internet!
WHEE! The first batch has been answered! They start right here: http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15956&page=6
Creator of Sam and Max and all around awesome guy Steve Purcell will be answering questions ongoing throughout this week! We'll be doing the questions in batches to allow for Steve's busy schedule so there's no official dates or times to speak of.
Have a life altering query? Maybe just a casual inquiry? Questions about Sam and Max, Telltale's games, or the meaning of life can all be posted here and magically answered through the powers of the internet!
WHEE! The first batch has been answered! They start right here: http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15956&page=6
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
You're my #1 favorite artist, so I'm really excited about this.
First off, how do you feel about being impersonated on the forums here?
Second, I'd like to see some more of the early work of Sam and Max, I keep seeing titbits here and there, but is it possible to see some of the full early comics?
You're one of my main drawing inspirations, do you have any tips for me? What do you think really marks your style and who are your inspirations?
When will you finish the Max gets shot and replaced with a monkey comic?
And last but not least, did you ever get that letter I send you? It was like 6 years ago or something and it came from the Netherlands, you kinda promised me that when you got it you'd make a doodle for me... :$
Do we ever get the movie?
1. Is Max's Full name Maxwell or Maximilian? I know Maxwell is what Grandma Ruth called him in Bloody Christmas, but Bosco calls him Maximilian in 102
2. Is there anything "in talks" about reviving another animated series either Kiddie or Adult?
3. What is your favorite Sam&Max Episodes of The Previous seasons, and or the Animated series?
Q2: Do you have a hand in more than concept art for Monkey Island?
More questions might come soon when I've had a think.
1. Are there any plans to continue The Big Sleep webcomic?
2. Favorite painting you've done? (My favorite of yours is Ernie and Suda's "Mermaid" painting; I also have a special fondness for the Sam and Max: Season One cover, and the Two Skulls = Heart valentine one).
3. Okay, you draw a lot of apes and Frankensteins and Phantoms to relax. You clearly know your way around the horror genre. I'm in the mood of a monster horror movie. Can you recommend one? (Sorry to jack the thread like this, but I was wondering. And at least I can say that Steve Purcell recommended a movie to me.)
2) Are there any plans for another big book of Sam and Max comics?
Looking at a bunch of your previous works, both doodles and comics, a certain animal appears frequently.
So let me ask you;
"What's with all the rats?" :P
and roaches
1. Would you ever consider turning Ernie and Suda into an adventure game, and if so, how would that work?
2. What would the story be like?
3. What kind of villains would they have?
4. What would the setting be like; would it all take place in Toybox?
5. What are your greatest inspirations as an artist?
6. What artists do you look up to?
7. What's it like working at Pixar, how did you get the job, and what movies have you worked on there?
8. Have you done any concept art for any characters at Pixar?
9. If there's one place you could see Sam and Max go, where would you like to see them go?
10. Does Sam have a tail?
11. Would you be open to a cartoon series on Adult Swim for either Ernie and Suda or Sam and Max?
12. Any advice for someone working with backgrounds in Deluxe Paint? Any advice for people who work with 2D backgrounds in adventure games, such as what makes a good adventure game background, etc.
Wow, that's a lot of questions! Thanks for taking the time to answer these!
What was it like painting a monkey island cover again after all those years?
What brand beer works best for playing fizzball?
(yes, I've been around for a long time)
Have you ever been REALLY weirded out by a fan? Like..one that has a stalker-like infatuation with you and/or your characters?
I'll try thinking of a less creepy question later.
2. What primary philosophy do you abide by throughout your day to day life?
3. What is your favorite semi-obscure cheesy B sci-fi/horror movie?
4. What is the single most bizarre idea that has ever manifested somewhere within the squishy confines of your intellectual hemispheres?
5. As a prospective engineer I have to know: What insane mechanical wonder do you want to see invented during your lifetime?
Am I right?
How did you cope with the 4/16 colors limit?
I've always been curious to know something more about the "old EGA craftmanship"!
Seriously, I can't think of many questions...Any online comics you frequent?
Anyway, onto the questions
Q: Are there any new Sam and Max strips for the future?
Q: If some bigshot company like Fox or Warner Bros came to you to make another Sam and Max TV series like Freelance Police, would you go through with it?
Is it just a coincidence how "Mack Salmon" sounds a bit like "Max Sam and?"
I may be wrong here, but I thought I saw your name in the credits somewhere in The Secret of Monkey Island, and I don't mean for the box art. Did you have some kind of influence with the story or characters or anything?
There are quite a few (beautiful) jokes in the Surfin' the Highway book that were just insanely random, like the "you can put your hands down now" conversation on the moon. Were you just being completely random (in a good way), or do some of these jokes have back stories?
Have you or are you ever planning to voice any characters in a game?
I still owe you a dollar. Please don't melt me with your lasers.
A few questions:
Are you ever afraid of Telltale taking Sam and Max in a direction you don't like? Do you have final say on everything? Have you ever shot down anything?
Is there a snowball's chance in hades that there could ever be a Defenders of Dynatron City collection released? Who owns the rights to that anyway? Was that all you, or did you just work on the comics?
That's all I can think of for now.
1) What is it you actually do at Pixar? I think you were mentioned once on the Cars(?) DVD as the guy who "is always drawing monsters", and I think I read somewhere else that you designed the banshee in Mater & the Ghostlight (this guy: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Mater-Banshee.JPG), but I would love to hear more about your work at Pixar.
2) Can you imagine Sam & Max in a game that isn't an adventure game?
3) Is there anything the Sam & Max-games haven't done yet that they should do? And a semi-related question: how do you feel about characters returning from the comic in the Telltale games? What do you think about how Flint Paper was portrayed in Season 2 (and, judging by the trailer, season 3), and do you think characters like Mack Salmon (I still think the title of the second episode is a reference to him rather than to Sam & Max) or locations like the Slothmart could (and should) return in the games?
4) What does the future hold for Sam & Max? Any ideas for new comics/cartoons/lunchboxes?
5) What is your favorite Telltale Sam & Max-episode or scene/joke?
1. I've always wondered about this... why a dog and a rabbit? Why not a dog and a cat? Or a cat and a hamster? HOW did you actually come up with Sam and Max?
2. What do you think/feel about fanart regarding your creations? Was there any piece of fanart that annoyed you or got you thinking "this went too far!" ?
3. If I would like to make a few musical tributes for Sam and Max, do I have your approval on this? I mean, you won't sue me, right? Right?? I plan on working with my friend Kurt (Icedhope), so you can sue him!
Well, that's it... I don't want to bother you too much. Thank you for the Monkey Island Cover and may you always be able to draw with all your heart!
On a related note, did you work on Ratatouille and just weren't credited? Some of the human characters look a lot like something you would draw, particularly the blocky Souse Chef that "killed a man using his thumb."
BTW, loved your Carl temp voice you did for the Al & George short advertising the UP DVD.:D[/Pixarfanboy]
If so ... what the heck is Mack Salmon's backstory?
Questions, I can't think of many. Except, perhaps, have you ever wondered if a future Sam and Max game would include the Bigfoots?
Why when I have the chance to ask something to somebody who always I wanted to ask him something, I'm pretty much blank? (I'm serious)
Which is the meaning of life? 42?
After this I need an actual personality. Really.
Ok, this is the only thing I think I can really tell to you, so here's I go:
When I recieved my Surfin' the Highway copy and after I read it for first time, it got stolen by my sister. She can't read English too well (We're Natural Spanish) but she was amased by the artwork. She's an artist and her style is pretty much japanese manga style, but when she took the book and read it, she suddenly remember how the comics from our childhood were. She said she pretty much forgotten how comics outside manga looks like and she was facinated by the whole book. In fact, she wrote about the comic book in a forum of Spanish Webcomic artists before I got the chance to talk about it, with pretty much surprise me.
Well, that. Now I'll hide in my bunker to try to think in a question, or maybe dig up some personality out of somewhere.
If you were to go back and alter any character majorly in any type of media, who would it be.
2. How is someone like Max allowed to work in law enforcement?
As far as story, gameplay and fun goes, what's your favorite TTG Sam & Max game/episode, and why?
1)Culture Shock
2)Situation: Comedy
3)The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball
4)Abe Lincoln Must Die!
5)Reality 2.0
6)Bright Side of the Moon
7)Ice Station Santa
8)Moai Better Blues
9)Night of the Raving Dead
10)Chariots of the Dogs
11)What's New, Beelzebub?