Comics So Good They Should Not Be Free: Steve Purcell's Toybox

Steve Purcell, best known as the creator of Sam & Max, is the man. I can't think of any comic writer with a more distinctive voice. His humor is dry and clean, yet anarchic. Like a pitchfork attached to a ceiling fan. As much as I love his work on Sam and Max, I never had the chance to read anything else by him; as far as I knew, there WAS nothing else by him (his Wiki page indeed has few other writing credits, except for a Batman Villains one shot).

But now! Thanks to Steve's art blog, which I should have been following MONTHS ago, fans can revel in the wit and wierdness of Toybox, a genuine 12-page comic starring two decidedly non Salmonax-characters. Well, the duo of Toybox is actually not so different from the Freelance Police; we've still got the combination of one detatched and deadpan character paired with a impulsive and slightly violent pal. The story was published in Fast Forward 3, a sci-fi/fantasy anthology to which Steve was asked to contribute "what you want". Given that prompt, this is one of the stranger things I could imagine a person coming up with.

The whole thing was posted around Halloween; eh, so sue me. Read it, it's upsetting and delightful.

Sam and Max: Reprints and DVD Releases?!? Have All My Dreams Come True?!

Sam and Max: Surfin' The Highway was the first trade paperback I ever bought, and remains one of my all-time favorite comic books. It's the funniest comic I've ever read, hands down. My old copy has practically disintegrated from constant re-reading, and new copies have been unavailable for years. UNTIL NOW. Almost now - the book is gong back to print, check out the full story on the PWBeat:

THE BEAT: Sam and Max Back to Print!

And that's not all: this second bit of news should probably still be considered a rumor, but a rep from the Shout! Factory production house has stated (via message board) that a DVD BOX SET of the Sam and Max: Freelance Police animated series is in the works. I was a HUGE fan of this series, and a complete DVD set including lost and censored episodes would rank high on my list of reasons life is worth living.

TV Shows On DVD summarizes the message board thread, with links:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7479