Ok. After thinking and thinking about a question in my bunker, I got one. A some sort of question.
You see, I translated the Big Sleep Webcomic, you can see it here. I know I must had asked for permition before buuutttttt, well, in the Webpage I'm hosted it didn't actually require for a permition from the original author. Now they are asking that. Of course, if you or Telltale had any problem with that I'll shut down the translation at once. And, I hope I didn't do so bad work (I tried my best with the editing. Really).
I just used my whole personality reserve. I'll go to dig up some more. If I find some more.
I know that you're a very busy man at Pixar and I don't want you to have to answer a borderline ridonkulous amount of questions, but I was wondering if you ever come to the east coast.
I live in North Carolina, and we don't really have any kind of conventions here outside of the occasional anime convention (which are about 45% more irritating and 800% more crazy than regular comic conventions) so it's hard if not completely impossible to meet any half decent (or in your case amazing) artists.
Have you ever wanted to visit a specific place on the east coast?
My only question has been asked already, but I shall ask it anyway. Why hasn't Pixar green-lit a Sam and Max movie, thereby catapulting them into wild mainstream popularity?
Those are amazing, avistew! I knitted a slipper (of all things) in school almost twenty years ago, and it wasn't really for me, since I didn't have the skills or patience to complete the pair. Now I suddenly want to learn it properly, if only to make something like that. How long did it take you to make Sam? He looks incredibly complex.
Those are amazing, avistew! I knitted a slipper (of all things) in school almost twenty years ago, and it wasn't really for me, since I didn't have the skills or patience to complete the pair. Now I suddenly want to learn it properly, if only to make something like that. How long did it take you to make Sam? He looks incredibly complex.
If you go to the welcome thread and look for my posts, you'll see some "in progress" shots. And you should see the date I finished Max, which is when I started Sam (although I didn't work on Sam every day).
Wish I could think of some questions, but I've got a feeling that you'll be busy enough with answering to all these 5 pages that have gathered up, so..
Let me just say this: you rock! Your art is amazing. Every once in a while I pick up my copy of Surfin' the Highway, open up the last pages and stare in awe of all that gorgeous artwork you have made.
Thank you for creating Sam & Max! (Even if your brother invented them first, you're the one who really brought these two to life, after all!)
(oh and Avistew, those are adorable! Awesome work!)
What do you like drawing best with? I.e, do you prefer doing your art digitally, with pencil, or paint.. ect...
Now here comes the part where I gush - I love your art! Especially the Monkey Island box arts that you have created! I don't know where your ideas come from, but I sure hope they keep coming!
Does "The Devil's Playhouse" take any ideas from the cancelled "Sam and Max Plunge Through Space"? Do you take over creative control of the games? What was Sam and Max like when your brother owned the characters? How different were they from your vision of the characters? Would you ever make a Sam and Max Movie?
Hey Steve! As an artist/animator-wannabe, I enjoy drawing my favorite characters and Sam and Max are no exception. However, I'm horrid when it comes to drawing Sam. Do you have a guideline that you follow when drawing him?
I'm also curious: does your brother play the games or read the comics? What does he think of the success the characters have achieved?
My only question would be about what you think of the idea of a Sam & Max: Hit the Road Special Edition. If you were to consider a such thing, would you want it to be in full 3D (by Telltale Games), 2D with 3D-looking sprites or 2D with cartoon sprites. Also, would you have the voice acting re-done with the current voice actors, or use the original voices. (I prefer the new ones personally)
Lots of the new fans haven't had the chance to play Hit the Road. At least here in the UK where it is very hard to come by.
What are you talking about I found Hit the Road easily in fact it was in the shop awhile before I got it... that was the only copy wasn't it.
I've never seen it in the shops personally. I got it on ebay in the end, but I looked for years in all the usual game stores. (Game, Gamestation, PC World, etc.) and I have never seen a copy. I still look out for it (and other ScummVM games) among PC games and I still haven't seen it. I think the copy you saw is likely the only copy and it had just been there for a while.
Well I think I should really ask a question if I'm going to keep posting here.
What ever happened to the characters from the cartoon? (you know like Darla "The Geek" Gugenheek or even Lorne (the friend for life))
Can you recap how Sam and Max were created? Do you still have the early (your brother's) Sam & Max cartoons? Any chance of these getting published in a collection?
For the history recap check out this classic link from the Telltale site http://www.telltalegames.com/summerofsamandmax/history/history1/.
I think my brother Dave has posted some of his old comics drawings on the Telltale Forums. If you all pester him I'm sure he'd be happy to share some more!
What do you think really marks your style and who are your inspirations?
I love paintings that show the workings of how they are made so I try to do that with mine. I'm inspired by classic illustrators like NC Wyeth, Norman Rockwell and JC LeyenDecker. Mad Magazine cartoonists Mort Drucker and Al Jaffee, filmmakers Billy Wilder, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Mike Nichols, etc...
I don't know that I ever gave him a fuller name than Max. Telltale has but who knows if Max could even remember it.
Is there anything "in talks" about reviving another animated series either Kiddie or Adult?
"Talks" is a very broad term and it could include almost anything so I'll say, sure, "talks" have been talked.
What is your favorite Sam&Max Episodes of The Previous seasons, and or the Animated series?
I still like Abe Lincoln Must Die and Reality 2.0 and Night ofthe Raving Dead. As far as the animated series, I like Max's Big Day (with the New Guinea pigs) and They Came From Down There where Mack Salmon is breeding Sea Chimps.
What do you like drawing best with? I.e, do you prefer doing your art digitally, with pencil, or paint.. etc...
The computer is a great tool and I use it for conceiving color designs and tweaking scanned images but I most enjoy painting on board or canvas with oils or acrylics. I like being able to hold the finished piece in my hands. For me anything I do on the computer never quite feels like it actually exists.
I remember reading that your favorite Sam & Max comics tend to be the shorter ones. What did you like more about those compared to most of the longer stories -- the creation process, and/or how the stories themselves played out? Any particular favorite(s) among them?
Sometimes it's fun to find a small idea, jump in and see it through in a reasonable amount of time. I still like Fair Wind to Java about Sam & Max humiliating pyramid building-aliens by pantsing one in public.
It was the first Sam & Max story I painted and for the color I was inspired by Tintin comics at the time.
What is Mac Salmon's backstory? Are you surprised by Mac Salmon's popularity? For a side character who made his last appearance over ten years ago, he seems to have a surprising amount of staying power.
Mack Salmon has talked about the obscure series of events caused by Sam & Max that made him what he is. He is either delusional or they really had something to do with it. And they just can't remember. I think he's popular because he is passionate and has a plastic body.
Rats in the comics started turning up as part of my way of staying interested in the tedious inking process. Most of the background gags and the rats and roaches were added while inking comics pages to keep me interested. At one point Also at one point I had a pet rat named Ernie who wound up inspiring the character of Suda's partner in "Toybox."
Who are your favorite voice actors of all the ones that have portrayed Sam & Max over the years?
They all bring something great. I have a fondness for Bill Farmer as the first Sam, and Robert Tinkler from the TV series was an interesting Max who could do impressions and others types of voices within the character. The TV Sam Harvey Atkin had a bizarre optimism that cracked me up. Nowlin and Kasten work really well together in the current Telltale episodes. They definitely own the characters at this point.
2. Do you have any other IPs that you're interested in making into some kind of medium or getting someone else to create for you in your style of art and humor?
I have a bunch. If I say them out loud, the ideas float away and get snatched up. Here's a name to pique your imagination: Hamilton Xavier Fist.
Comments
:cool:ditto.
You see, I translated the Big Sleep Webcomic, you can see it here. I know I must had asked for permition before buuutttttt, well, in the Webpage I'm hosted it didn't actually require for a permition from the original author. Now they are asking that. Of course, if you or Telltale had any problem with that I'll shut down the translation at once. And, I hope I didn't do so bad work (I tried my best with the editing. Really).
I just used my whole personality reserve. I'll go to dig up some more. If I find some more.
I live in North Carolina, and we don't really have any kind of conventions here outside of the occasional anime convention (which are about 45% more irritating and 800% more crazy than regular comic conventions) so it's hard if not completely impossible to meet any half decent (or in your case amazing) artists.
Have you ever wanted to visit a specific place on the east coast?
(I used the same template so, obviously, they're not to scale
If you go to the welcome thread and look for my posts, you'll see some "in progress" shots. And you should see the date I finished Max, which is when I started Sam (although I didn't work on Sam every day).
Let me just say this: you rock! Your art is amazing. Every once in a while I pick up my copy of Surfin' the Highway, open up the last pages and stare in awe of all that gorgeous artwork you have made.
Thank you for creating Sam & Max!
(oh and Avistew, those are adorable! Awesome work!)
What do you like drawing best with? I.e, do you prefer doing your art digitally, with pencil, or paint.. ect...
Now here comes the part where I gush - I love your art! Especially the Monkey Island box arts that you have created! I don't know where your ideas come from, but I sure hope they keep coming!
Wasn't that because the censors thought it was too edgy or something?
We should be getting responses very soon! Sit tight.
Hey Steve! As an artist/animator-wannabe, I enjoy drawing my favorite characters and Sam and Max are no exception. However, I'm horrid when it comes to drawing Sam. Do you have a guideline that you follow when drawing him?
I'm also curious: does your brother play the games or read the comics? What does he think of the success the characters have achieved?
Actually, his brother chose the names. go read the summer of sam and max. its cool.
more questions:
Are you ever going to finish the gibbon story?
Will you do any more comics, web or otherwise?
Do you like marshmallows?
Lots of the new fans haven't had the chance to play Hit the Road. At least here in the UK where it is very hard to come by.
Are you aware that there is a free episodic adventure game series coming in a few months? It is being worked on by Charles Cecil, the creator of Broken Sword.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_100408_01/Doctor_Who_Adventure_Games_announced
I've never seen it in the shops personally. I got it on ebay in the end, but I looked for years in all the usual game stores. (Game, Gamestation, PC World, etc.) and I have never seen a copy. I still look out for it (and other ScummVM games) among PC games and I still haven't seen it. I think the copy you saw is likely the only copy and it had just been there for a while.
1. What kind of cool Sam and Max swag have you got? A mug shaped like Max's head, perhaps?
2. Any plans to replace Max with a sociopathic gibbon in the near future?
What ever happened to the characters from the cartoon? (you know like Darla "The Geek" Gugenheek or even Lorne (the friend for life))
That sounds like it would be pretty impractical to drink from, with the ears getting in the way and whatnot.
For the history recap check out this classic link from the Telltale site http://www.telltalegames.com/summerofsamandmax/history/history1/.
I think my brother Dave has posted some of his old comics drawings on the Telltale Forums. If you all pester him I'm sure he'd be happy to share some more!
I love paintings that show the workings of how they are made so I try to do that with mine. I'm inspired by classic illustrators like NC Wyeth, Norman Rockwell and JC LeyenDecker. Mad Magazine cartoonists Mort Drucker and Al Jaffee, filmmakers Billy Wilder, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Mike Nichols, etc...
You make my day ^^!
I don't know that I ever gave him a fuller name than Max. Telltale has but who knows if Max could even remember it.
"Talks" is a very broad term and it could include almost anything so I'll say, sure, "talks" have been talked.
I still like Abe Lincoln Must Die and Reality 2.0 and Night ofthe Raving Dead. As far as the animated series, I like Max's Big Day (with the New Guinea pigs) and They Came From Down There where Mack Salmon is breeding Sea Chimps.
The computer is a great tool and I use it for conceiving color designs and tweaking scanned images but I most enjoy painting on board or canvas with oils or acrylics. I like being able to hold the finished piece in my hands. For me anything I do on the computer never quite feels like it actually exists.
Sometimes it's fun to find a small idea, jump in and see it through in a reasonable amount of time. I still like Fair Wind to Java about Sam & Max humiliating pyramid building-aliens by pantsing one in public.
It was the first Sam & Max story I painted and for the color I was inspired by Tintin comics at the time.
Mack Salmon has talked about the obscure series of events caused by Sam & Max that made him what he is. He is either delusional or they really had something to do with it. And they just can't remember. I think he's popular because he is passionate and has a plastic body.
I like Jurgen, He's fun to look at and listen to and I had a chance to contribute a bit to his design.
Sure. You've got to see the part where they outrun the infected medical test subjects and find their car disintegrated by decades of pidgeon poop.
Here are a couple of obscure choices. There's a Day of the Dead piece I posted on my blog: http://spudvisionblog.blogspot.com/search?q=black+tree
And there was this tiny Toybox painting I gave to a friend: http://spudvisionblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/miniature-painting.html
Rats in the comics started turning up as part of my way of staying interested in the tedious inking process. Most of the background gags and the rats and roaches were added while inking comics pages to keep me interested. At one point Also at one point I had a pet rat named Ernie who wound up inspiring the character of Suda's partner in "Toybox."
In Plunge Through Space Sam & Max start out with a talk/variety show.
I'd like to do that story and see them on that live TV stage. Or maybe Italy.
I've never looked. I've only drawn him with pants or at least shorts and so I've honestly never checked that area.
They all bring something great. I have a fondness for Bill Farmer as the first Sam, and Robert Tinkler from the TV series was an interesting Max who could do impressions and others types of voices within the character. The TV Sam Harvey Atkin had a bizarre optimism that cracked me up. Nowlin and Kasten work really well together in the current Telltale episodes. They definitely own the characters at this point.
"Allow" has nothing at all to do with it.
I have a bunch. If I say them out loud, the ideas float away and get snatched up. Here's a name to pique your imagination: Hamilton Xavier Fist.