On a lighter note: Jeph, though the comic is amazing, and it feels bad to correct you, the Redskins do not need a new name. As an avid Skins fan as well, I looked up the origins of the name. The guy’s name leaves me now, but the original owner and founder of the Washington Redskins was part Cherokee (I think) and so they named the team the Redskins to honor his heritage. Booya.

Although Sam’s been toughened up by his recent misadventures among the ninjas, and although Fuzzy and Candice are (were) both members of the Ninja Mafia, and although they took the remaining members of Fuzzy’s ninja squad with them, wherever they went (at least I think they did), QC has a lot more bitchy, tough-ass chicks. And bitchy tough-ass chicks bat ough ninjas any day. Unless they’re bitchy tough-ass mafia ninja chicks. But S&F only has one of those.

Plus, QC has Pizza Girl. You’ve got to be pretty tough to randomly walk around in a pizza-themed superhero costume and not get any flack.

Dear Mr. Jacques,
The continued success of your comic is a testament to the stagnation of two cultural idioms, namely webcomics and “indie-rock”. You should not let the fact that you have legions of loyal readers bolster your ego too much–this is due, in equal measure, to the commodification and codification of certain subcultural trends and the fact that your fans do not posses an ounce of good taste, regardless of how many Drag City records they may own. Some things to keep in mind in the future:
1) Revealing bits of hackneyed, uninspired backstory cannot be substituted for actual character development. It is insulting to you and your readers. But mostly your readers. If you have no interest in seeing your characters grow and develop in meaningful ways–beyond wanting to fuck each other, getting rebuffed, moping, reconciling, wanting to fuck each other, ad infinitum–perhaps you should dispense with the pretense of characters altogether. Perhaps your comic would be better served by introducing a cast comprised solely of varicolored, featureless blobs (ala Death To the Extremist), who could trade cheap innuendo-laden one-liners and name drop “hip” artists. This way, your readers will make no attempt to identify with your characters, and won’t be disappointed by your lurching, ham-fisted attempts at keeping the “plot” interesting without changing your essential dynamic.
2) Speaking of music in your comic: you shouldn’t speak of music in your comic. What is an “indie-rock” web comic? Apparently, it’s a malfunctioning RSS aggregator feeding off of Pitchfork and Tiny Mix Tapes, spewing quips through the mouths of a cast of characters who do, through no fault of your own, come fairly close to capturing the sort of dispossessed-fractal homogeneity of the hipster fashionistas. Dressing your characters in Appleseed Cast and NMH t-shirts does little to dispel the Fox indie-sitcom feel you’ve got going there.
3) You could do better things with your comic. Rather than relying on trite sexual humor and blatantly obvious cultural signposts to keep bringing in the seventeen year olds, why not try your hand at some satire? Why not use the talent that you obviously have (and you do have talent, both as an artist and a writer, regardless of what I’ve said) to create something fresh, something which doesn’t perpetuate the stereotype of the self-involved, over-privileged, whinging white suburban hipster, but something which speaks out against group think and conspicuous consumption? You sell yourself short with this shit.
This entire tirade was prompted by your recent guest strip “So You’re Going to Rip Off QC”. I immediately thought, who is ripping you off? Who could be possibly be ripping off the most derivative comic being produced today? I am interested to know.
Good luck in all your endeavors. I am sure your comic will continue to be a success, and I will continue to be drawn to it, despite my best efforts to the contrary. It is much like watching a slow-motion train wreck.
Regards, your pal,
Miles
—–

Mr. Jacques has seen it fit to respond to my correspondence in the past, when the missives contained a few terse lines to the effect of “STOP PLEASE STOP YOU’RE HURTING AMERICA”.

That said, though QC is my personal favorite comic of the 15 or so I read reguarly, Sam and Fuzzy is right up there.

And lastly, Faye would likely go super-defensive (ala Marten’s ex) if Marten and Sam got into it, and whip Sam, Candice, and likely Fuzzy for good measure. I’m not sure if Pintsize could get the gimp gear off before the fight, however.