Stuckey's Interviews Steve Purcell
TelltaleGames
Former Telltale Staff
That iconic roadside store that dots the American landscape, Stuckey's, has featured prominently in Sam & Max's comic adventures. In an act of quiet awesomeness, Stuckey's has conducted an interview with Steve Purcell, which was published in their latest newsletter. Here's the interview, reprinted with permission:
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The Stuckey's franchise has been a part of American culture since the early 1930's from the moment Mr. W.S. Stuckey Sr. sold his first pecan in Southern Georgia.
In this article we had the opportunity to interview Eisner award winning comic book creator Steve Purcell whose comic characters have made sure to stop at a few Stuckey's stores during their adventures.
Stuckey's — For our readers who are unfamiliar with your characters, what was your inspiration for Sam & Max?
Steve Purcell — "Sam & Max call themselves the Freelance Police. The dog and rabbit detective types started as a parody of the comics my brother drew as a kid."
"Eventually I spent more and more time creating stories about them and would use my childhood references as fodder for Sam & Max's bizarre adventures which have appeared in comics, games and an animated TV series. Telltale Games currently publishes Sam & Max as an episodic game series."
[readmore]Stuckey's — What was the inspiration behind adding Stuckey's to Sam & Max?
Steve Purcell — "When I was a kid our family drove across the United States twice. On the first trip, we were moving from Ohio to California, a pretty tedious weeklong drive for a kid. I would lobby my Dad to stop at whatever roadside attraction might offer a relief from the boredom."
"For me, Stuckey's became this recurring oasis on the horizon. Every time we got near a Stuckey's I would start the chant to persuade my Dad to pull in. About half the time I was able to convince him."
Stuckey's — Is Stuckey's a recurring theme for Sam & Max?
Steve Purcell — "I put Stuckey's in my second comic Sam & Max On the Road which was about a cross country road trip. Max is obsessed with Stuckey's and begs Sam to stop there, just the way I did when I was eight years old."
"Years later, when I was helping to create a Sam & Max computer game with LucasArts, the road trip theme begged to include a reference to Stuckey's. We ended up including three regional versions of a familiar roadside stop which we called ‘Snuckey's'."
Stuckey's — Do you have a favorite memory of Stuckey's candies to share?
Steve Purcell — "When I go to comic conventions, I sometimes wear my Stuckey's tee- shirt which I purchased from the online store. When I had ordered it, a minor glitch caused a delay but the helpful Customer Service lady sent me a box of pecan logs with the shirt and it was like time traveling to sit at my desk, munching a Stuckey's pecan log and drawing Sam & Max comics."
"It's always fun to hear from people who first learned about Stuckey's from Sam & Max, then saw one on their road trip and had to stop, excited to discover that it's a real place."
Today Steve works with Pixar Animation Studios and has been credited as a writer for the 2006 animated movie Cars on IMDB.com.
The Sam & Max legacy continues with Telltale Games whom in conjunction with Steve Purcell have recently released a series of episodic games based on the characters.
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Thanks, Stuckey's!