Order of the Stick

Scotch_Lufkin · 2011-05-14T22:24:10.000Z

The zebra thing got me good, lol, that was all sorts of brilliant.

Jamie_Madigan · 2011-05-24T17:52:06.000Z

Nooo! Mr. Scruffy!

Kalle · 2011-05-24T17:58:04.000Z

Oh man, Belkar is going to go mental

RyanMichael · 2011-05-24T18:13:18.000Z

IT’S ON!

rhinohelix · 2011-05-24T18:19:34.000Z

First thought: 1) Soon to be Sexy Shoeless God of War-gasims. Second thought: Is this where Belkar goes to the Big Adios?

Scotch_Lufkin · 2011-05-24T18:20:30.000Z

I’m terrified.

Jasper_Phillips · 2011-05-24T19:44:25.000Z

The world desperately needs a God of War clone starring Belkar and his faithful sidekick Scruffy. I’d settle for a Castle Crashers clone though.

Sebmojo · 2011-05-24T20:35:12.000Z

rhinohelix:

First thought: 1) Soon to be Sexy Shoeless God of War-gasims. Second thought: Is this where Belkar goes to the Big Adios?

Well, duh.

At least that’s totally the way he’s setting it up.

After all there are only two rules in storytelling, 1) give people either what they expect or what they don’t expect 2) know which is which

Greatatlantic · 2011-05-29T14:57:26.000Z

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0793.html

New one is up, in which Nale reveals himself and the Order of the Stick is rapidly losing advantage.

AaronSofaer · 2011-05-29T15:01:40.000Z

AaronSofaer:

I think they have the party outnumbered 3 to 2 (Nale and Sabine have got to be around, and Haley is stone).

Mmmhm.

Jamie_Madigan · 2011-05-30T15:14:54.000Z

Sabine got a new outfit, I see.

Speak_With_Bread · 2011-06-08T17:07:02.000Z

New OotS new OotS new OotS!

I freaking love the title. :D

Djscman · 2011-06-08T20:50:52.000Z

Did Elan somehow reverse the energy-(level?) draining smooch back to Sabine? Or did he take the hit so he could tongue-daze her and escape? I just don’t know 3.5.

Jasper_Phillips · 2011-06-08T21:04:22.000Z

Hah! Does the tongue count as a verbal component, a somatic component, or both?

AaronSofaer · 2011-06-09T09:05:12.000Z

Djscman:

Did Elan somehow reverse the energy-(level?) draining smooch back to Sabine? Or did he take the hit so he could tongue-daze her and escape? I just don’t know 3.5.

Almost certainly the latter; it’s a very Dashing Swordsman thing to do, and it certainly bought him a round or two of running time!

Jamie_Madigan · 2011-06-15T10:53:59.000Z

So I just finished a re-read of all (almost) 800 strips, which took me several weeks but was worth it. What struck me is not how good the strip got, but how quickly it got good. The first few strips are just obvious D&D dungeon jokes, but it doesn’t take long for him to ramp it up to more story driven and character driven gags and to start laying down a lot of long-term threads.

After this re-reading, highlights of the whole series for me are:

The Super Saiyan Varsuvius arc. It was really fun to see him get super powerful and kick all kinds of ass, then get laid low by someone smarter and better prepared than he. Plus it resulted in a permanent change to the character’s personality and outlook.
Miko’s downfall. That’s still good, and between Miko and Hinjo the general portrayal of paladins was nicely handled and diverse. Moreso than you’d expect from that archetype.
Belkar’s return to form and introduction to Sociopathy 101. I’m talking about the bit where he gets the Mark of Justice removed and has his hallucinations about Shojo teaching him how to act like a normal person so that he can better get away with what he really wants. It was short, but I love me some Belkar and it finally gave us an excuse to believe that he could continue to stick with the group.

The only part of the ongoing strip that I kind of didn’t like was the whole Roy in the afterlife arc. I thought it dragged on and went through its jokes/parodies pretty quickly for how long it took. Everything else is great, though, and I’m kind of bummed that I’m done with my re-read.

Dejin · 2011-06-15T10:59:22.000Z

Jamie Madigan:

Miko’s downfall. That’s still good, and between Miko and Hinjo the general portrayal of paladins was nicely handled and diverse. Moreso than you’d expect from that archetype.

Don’t forget O-Chul. O-Chul is awesome!!! Definitely my favorite OOTS Paladin (although admittedly not in the Miko story-arc).

Tin_Wisdom · 2011-06-15T13:18:41.000Z

Jamie Madigan:

The only part of the ongoing strip that I kind of didn’t like was the whole Roy in the afterlife arc. I thought it dragged on and went through its jokes/parodies pretty quickly for how long it took. Everything else is great, though, and I’m kind of bummed that I’m done with my re-read.

Seconded. The primary story (with Haley and her Dark Past) was fine, but the afterlife stuff took forever with minimal payoff.

RyanMichael · 2011-06-15T16:27:41.000Z

Holy hairy feet of Belkar!

The first rule of Order of the Stick is you don’t bump the Order of the Stick thread after 2 days unless there’s a new comic.

Sebmojo · 2011-06-15T17:06:35.000Z

Jamie Madigan:

So I just finished a re-read of all (almost) 800 strips, which took me several weeks but was worth it. What struck me is not how good the strip got, but how quickly it got good. The first few strips are just obvious D&D dungeon jokes, but it doesn’t take long for him to ramp it up to more story driven and character driven gags and to start laying down a lot of long-term threads.

After this re-reading, highlights of the whole series for me are:

The Super Saiyan Varsuvius arc. It was really fun to see him get super powerful and kick all kinds of ass, then get laid low by someone smarter and better prepared than he. Plus it resulted in a permanent change to the character’s personality and outlook.

Miko’s downfall. That’s still good, and between Miko and Hinjo the general portrayal of paladins was nicely handled and diverse. Moreso than you’d expect from that archetype.

Belkar’s return to form and introduction to Sociopathy 101. I’m talking about the bit where he gets the Mark of Justice removed and has his hallucinations about Shojo teaching him how to act like a normal person so that he can better get away with what he really wants. It was short, but I love me some Belkar and it finally gave us an excuse to believe that he could continue to stick with the group.

The only part of the ongoing strip that I kind of didn’t like was the whole Roy in the afterlife arc. I thought it dragged on and went through its jokes/parodies pretty quickly for how long it took. Everything else is great, though, and I’m kind of bummed that I’m done with my re-read.

Great points all.

Have you read Start of Darkness? Because that’s absolutely top-notch, and a vital part of the overall story.