Sam and Fuzzy is a webcomic that shares with Sluggy Freelance the unusual distinction of starting very badly and, somewhere along the line, getting really pretty good. As a sort of spiritual cousin of Sam and Max, the comic takes advantage of a stream of coincidences and logical impossibilities, not to mention a thick vein of point-blank surrealism, to substantiate long and generally well-written plot arcs. For the first phase or so of the comic, the lead character Sam is a taxi driver, later taking on a job at a bookstore. Sam seems to have his origins in the creator, Sam Logan, although the comic itself is not apparently autobiographical. Sam's best friend Fuzzy, the source of much of the initial supernatural weirdness of the comic, is perhaps best described as a "hyperkinetic-bearish-thing," essentially Steve Purcell's Max with detachable eyebrows. If, so far, the setup sounds rife with possibilities for cliché, well...it is. Fortunately, Sam Logan learns quickly, and the comic gets steadily better over the first 550 strips or so. The story gets a sort of reboot at comic 566 with the Noosehead story arc, focusing on the heavy metal band Noosehead, Sam's mysterious disappearance, and the foibles of the newly dissembled ninja mafia.
By the beginning of Noosehead, Sam Logan's black and white art has become incredibly beautiful. While the writing tends still tends towards cliché, it tends to skewer said clichés in fresh, unexpected and original ways, and most comics reward the reader with several punch lines and a large dose of visual humor. The new phase is intended as a jumping-off point for new readers, and should be treated as such.