One of the unique things about Soviet Sam is that before he became part of the main cast, he received an extensive introduction in SuperFogeys Origins. Most of you are familiar with his story from there, but my initial concern in introducing him to the Valhalla story was that there was just too much to explain about who he was and why he was important. If a person only reads the strip, how will they know who he is? When all of this is collected into a book, Sam has got to work out of the context of the Origin stories. For the most part, I chose to just sidestep this issue by explaining nothing and hinting at his past as a villain.
But now I thought it was time to do more than hint and really show, in part at least, just what happened to Sam. I hope those of you who know all about Sam will forgive the brief reminder. I do think it’s nice to hear about it from his perspective though. That, at least, is new. Plus… Mega Matt.
Big thanks to TL Collins for drawing the original version of this tale (and designing Soviet Sam!) and to Marc for recreating it so perfectly!
I thought Justin Bieber was the most annoying kid in the world.
Where do you think the Bieb gets all his moves from?
My first impression of this strip was that it’s a reminder about Swifty’s bubbles of light and that he may go time traveling in this chapter, because of Mega Matt being there and all.
I couldn’t really thought it as proper flashback because I’ve read that Origin and couldn’t realize that some people might not know it! But I certainly don’t mind seeing it again. It may give us new point of view, especially if Space Pig comments.
Just judging by the numbers alone, it seems to me that there are a group of people out there who are not interested in the Origins stories. More than that, when these things are eventually collected into a book, they won’t be together. So, they’ve GOT to work independently.
Soviet Sam centric strips, you won’t hear me complaining. Not to mention Mega Matt is a bit of icing on the cake.
We aim to please!
Ooh!! So we get to find out about Matt!! Awesome!!
Well… not exactly.
“Most annoying kid I’ve ever met in my life!”
Yeah, that about sums up my feelings on the character.
You and Sam are a pair… but you are quite alone. For some reason, Matt’s popularity endures.
And, PLEASE don’t stop the origins stories. It’s nice to have some back story (and something to read on Fridays).
If a demand rises up again, I would love to continue them. I have a script that’s 95% complete just waiting for the right artist, but SFO is a lot of work (that I enjoy very much) for the little bit of response it generates.
I have read all of them, but I rarely comment on them. Is that how you judge the interest and not the traffic? If so, I will comment on them regularly!
I gauge interest through a few different means. Number of comments is one, hits are another. SF:O does attract quite as many hits as the regular strip, but it’s not too bad. The few comments SFO generates does lead me to believe that perhaps people read it out of habit but that it’s not something that means a great deal to them. I don’t really know because the conversation just hasn’t happened.
Right now, I’m gauging interest by how many people like yourself step up to say that they miss it and would like to see it again. Maybe I should run a poll. In any case, thanks for speaking up!
Because so many of them are short arcs and seem to fill in gaps in the continuity, I tend to not comment. But I always enjoy them.
YES!!!! We finally get to see M.M. again. Been a long time and us die hard fans never gave up hope.
Yeah… about that… you’ve pretty much already seen all you’re gonna see of Matt this chapter. But please do not give up hope. You WILL see Matt again for real. I promise.
Happy Day!
I am perpetually behind on rss feeds and comics, so by the time I see the strip someone has usually covered anything I have to say. That’s one point.
Being in a state of perpetual catch-up, I don’t read the comments on most of the webcomics I follow via rss. This is the first of the only two exceptions. Because the quality of this comic brings out quality commenters.
So, for the record, although the main strip is my fave, I also miss the origins stories.
Hey Sean, good to know you! I really appreciate your thoughts on the Origins and your love for the comic itself. I hope others speak up as well.