Sam & Max Season 2 Preview

Telltale Games and comic book author Steve Purcell celebrated 20 years of "Sam & Max" at Comic-Con 2007 and also announced that the acclaimed episodic games series Sam & Max Season 1 will return for a second season this fall. Telltale Games has released a retail version of the entire six-episode run, which originally debuted individually on GameTap, and has also brought Season 1 to Valve's digital distribution network Steam. After more than 20 years of comic strips, animated shows and PC games, the Sam & Max series is reaching new heights with the forthcoming Season 2.

The first Sam & Max comic strip actually appeared in 1980 in the weekly college newspaper for the California College of Arts and Crafts. The dog detective Sam and his rabbit sidekick Max debuted as an actual comic book in 1987; the first adventure was called "Monkeys Violating the Heavenly Temple," and it led to further editions of "Sam & Max" comic books. Purcell teamed up with LucasArts for the 1993 point-and-click adventure classic Sam & Max Hit the Road, and in 1997 Sam & Max got their own animated series (though the series only lasted one season). Purcell and the franchise were riding high until 2004 when LucasArts suddenly cancelled the long-awaited sequel Sam & Max: Freelance Police.

Dave Grossman (left) and Steve Purcell stand with giant versions of Sam & Max at the Telltale Games Comic-Con booth.

However, in 2005 several LucasArts employees departed to form their own company, Telltale Games, and their first order of business was resurrecting the Sam & Mac games franchise. With Purcell's help, Telltale launched Sam & Max: Season 1 last October, and the series has become arguably the most successful example of episodic gaming yet.

Purcell and famed game developer Dave Grossman, who helped design Sam & Max: Season 1, were present in San Diego for Comic-Con to promote Season 2. I had a chance to sit down with the duo - in between visits from anxious fans asking Grossman and Purcell to autograph their copies of Sam & Max Hit the Road. Here's what they had to say about a variety of topics:

On the Response to Sam & Max Season 1:

Grossman: We were not exactly surprised by the reaction from fans, because we thought we did a good job with [Season 1]. But we were surprised by how many people played the whole season. So this time around we're spending more time up front to make Season 2 more cohesive with a storyline that will tie the episodes together more strongly.

Purcell: Sometimes some people will criticize good work, so you have to keep that in mind. It took some time to nail it. The more time you have to spend with a property, the more time you have to hone it. There's not a lot of source material for Sam & Max, but I've met people that grew up with the characters from playing Hit the Road. In fact, most people I met played the game before they even read the comic. So the games are a huge part of Sam & Max.

On lessons learned from Season 1:

Grossman: We were rewriting code for the environments in Season 1, so a lot of the scenes looked the same. So we learned how to reuse environments and parts of the previous games again without looking like a total retread. That allowed us to spend more time and add depth to the characters. I think by the time we did the Abe Lincoln episode ("Abe Lincoln Must Die!") we started doing the story structure much better.

Purcell: Sometimes these guys had a clear idea of where they wanted to go, and sometimes I couldn't grasp where they were going.

Grossman: A lot of times, we'd come up with crazy ideas and designs and then send them to Steve, and he'd say, "Great, but go even further."

Purcell: So you want to see if the voice and direction of the project is one that you agree with. And so far, it's been satisfying for me.

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