The Sticks Awards 591-595

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Hi, and welcome to The Sticks Awards!

The Sticks Awards are given to the best strips of all times, chosen by the polls here in the Playground. Read the The Sticks Awards Results Compilation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34791) thread for more details and previous results.

To vote, simply post your favorite strip of the current 5 on the thread. You have 5 days to do it (changed by popular claim).

The poll will close on August 6th, 9:00 PM forum default time.


The Sticks Awards 591-595

591 Antipathy for the Devil (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0591.html)
592 Stuck in the Middle (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0592.html)
593 Another Choice (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0593.html)
594 Rock the Boat (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0594.html)
595 Trial of the Century (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0595.html)

[Lira]

Lots of great ones here. My vote goes for 595.

[Alge'n]

When rereading 593, i was thinking "that one, without contest", but then 595 came and i'm not sure anymore.

Probably still 593 because having in the same strip jokes about the rules and the truly heartbreaking death of a character shows a really great writing.

[Jagos]

Yeah, I'm going with 595.

Kubota had it coming and even though Therkla's death is tragic, it just didn't ring the same bell as karma killing Kubota.

[Assassin89]

My vote goes to 591. The Pit Fiend is quite humorous in his regrets in life.

[Janmorel]

So, the best strips in this run all end in death. :smalleek: It was a toss-up for me between 591 and 593, but in the end I'll pick 591.

[DBear]

We have a tough group here. 593 and 595 in the finals...Alas poor Therkla vs. Disintegrate--Gust of Wind

And the winner is....595, as it moves the plot along and takes V further on his road to Raistin. Almost any other group and 593 wins

[The Blackbird]

594

Kick...His...Ass...Elan.

EDIT: But it's going to lose to V's epicness still I'll hold to 594

V: :smallbiggrin:

[Darius1020]

594,

Flying tackling a boat is pretty much the coolest thing ever

[dps]

My vote goes to 591. The Pit Fiend is quite humorous in his regrets in life.

Agree. 591.

[Fitzclowningham]

593. Heartbreaking. Shows what Rich has managed to do with stick figures.

[Kronno]

595. No Question.

[Blackjackg]

Despite the badassery in both 594 and 595, it's 593 all the way. One of the best he's ever done.

[rainbowjo]

595 but its a close one...

[sam79]

Tough choice here; some meaty and impressive double strips, with exciting action and much character-driven drama.

591 is awesome stuff, 593 is so poignant and sad, I love 594 for Elan's dashing hero moment, and 595 is all about four words (obviously not, IMO, THE four words though...). 592 is weaker than the others here, but still is great stuff. This sequence is really a rich vein of quality work.

I'll go for 594

[David Argall]

Not the best 5 by a good stretch, but I'll go with 595.

[Altaria87]

595

Disintegrate.
Gust of Wind.

[Kurald Galain]

I agree, lots of great ones here.

I'm in favor of 594, for Elan being completely awesome.

[Zerg Cookie]

They're all good. But if I have to pick one, it'll be 595

[warmachine]

So much to choose from but it has to be 591 for the devil's quotes.

[Cestrian]

595. V rocks.

[The_Void]

A great group of strips here. 593 is heartbreaking, but 595 is awesome.

Hmmmm..... I'm going with 593.

[Hawkeye]

595

:vaarsuvius: Now can we PLEASE resume saving the world?

[Joerg]

591 is good, 593 is very good, but 595 gets my vote. All that Kubota said and did throughout his storyline was a buildup for this superb moment.

[TerrickTerran]

595 is the win.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Those were all some first class comics, but #595 ends up the winner. It was so... refreshing.

[petersohn]

593, 594 and 595 are all very good. The only character in the story I really hate is Kubota, so I'll go with 595. V was a jerk, but he deserved it.

[Forealms]

Edit: Changing my vote to 591. That'll teach me to choose a link at random and go with it.

[hajo]

591 Antipathy for the Devil (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0591.html)
592 Stuck in the Middle (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0592.html)
593 Another Choice (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0593.html)
594 Rock the Boat (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0594.html)
595 Trial of the Century (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0595.html)

I vote 591 - "Prismatic Spray" :smallamused:

Tough choices this time, with Therkla's death and the "Trial of the Century" both close behind...

[Mauve Shirt]

Hrm. 93 or 95....
593

[Haven]

Good batch. I'll go with 591, because "All the guys I went to high school with have gone on to be men of wealth and taste" was great, as was V taking down the devil (seriously, why do people think disintegrating a guy is so great compared to that?), and perhaps most importantly, really sweet Durkon x Lien fodder is really sweet.

[MoonBeam]

Hmm... A very hard choice. 593 is most epic and I like the Disintegrate/Gust of Wind combo in 595, but still...

I vote for 591. Depressive Pit Fiend and Elan's "Dunh dunh DUNNNNNH!" followed by thug's "Maybe you are squeezing him too hard?" - amazing! :smallbiggrin:

[Pronounceable]

95 of course. Much as I liked Kubota, he deserved it. Men of wealth and taste is also awesome. I never really cared so much about Therkla, so 93 falls behind both.

[Emmeline Riddle]

595 *bows to V*

[Vemynal]

593

He killed Therkla on my birthday and she has to be by far one of my favorite side characters, normally i'd be mad but he killed her so wonderfully that i love it ^_^

[BatRobin]

593.


Durkon! *gasp gasp* ... DURKONNNNN!!!

[hobbitkniver]

595 would be my choice.

[TheBigChulupa]

I'll go with 592, something about that one....

[Illven]

I vote for 595 because of the trial of the centaury is appartenly one sixth level spell

[rangermania]

Hard to choose between 591 and 594 but I'll definetely go with 591...

[Killer Angel]

hard choice to make: the death of therkla is very touching, the monologue of kubota is a masterpiece (i love that kind of villains), the depressed demon is great...
Sadly, "disintegrate, gust of wind" is the winner. I hate you, V.
so, I say 595

[kenb215]

591

:durkon: ...V just passed up a perfect opport'nity ta say, "I told ye so."
:elan: Dunh dunh DUNNNNNH!

[Aaron]

Since, this thread is about to fall off the first page, I'm casting resurrection on this thread (then quickly toss clothes on it).:smallwink:

O.K, now that this is taken care of...
I vote for 595, for V solving a big problem with one sixth level spell. :smallbiggrin:

[Needle]

591, the Devil speech is hilarious, Lien is too, even Durkon lines were. And V made quite a good plan. Good plans on hir brain won't happen till waaaaaay later :smalltongue:

[Optimystik]

591 for this awesome quote.

"Your capacity for maternal disappointment has only just begun to reach its maximum potential. Prismatic Spray!"

[Istari]

591
.

[MrPig]

593 is my vote.

[El Eriko]

I vote for 595 cause it marks the downfall of Vaarsuvius.

[Mr. Pin]

It's a really good run here, but then, I say that about every five strips :smalltongue:. When I read 591 I thought it would be that one for sure, but 595 makes a serious bid for first... I thought that '93 was a little schmaltzy and I never really got into Therkla as a character because all she did was sigh about how sexy Elan is.

to break it down: 595 is more satisfying, 591 is more funny, and they both show V being truly hardcore. However, the fact that the prismatic spray thingy was just luck counts against 591. Both "your capacity for maternal disappointment has only begun to reach its maximum potential. PRISMATIC SPRAY!" and "Disintegrate. gust of wind. Now can we please get back to saving the world?" are signature-worthy quotes, but I like the former a bit better. The enemy vanquished in 591 is more impressive (at least physically), but the fact that 595 saved us from another long and boring trial scene (no offense, 271-284, but you make mostly dull, if necessary, reading) really makes me love it.

*sigh*. looks like they're neck-and neck. Well, Assassin89 drew me my awesome avatar, so I'm gonna side with him. 591

[NamonakiRei]

I will vote for 593

Also


When rereading 593, i was thinking "that one, without contest", but then 595 came and i'm not sure anymore.

Probably still 593 because having in the same strip jokes about the rules and the truly heartbreaking death of a character shows a really great writing.

"Hey, could you please bold the number of the comic you're voting for? That makes it easier for Nazzo, the 102nd to count the votes. Thanks:smallsmile:"

[Thrax]

My vote would go for 593, for its emotional impact.

[Nights1stStar]

591 V gets awesome center stage snarking, singlehandedly comes up with the plan to defeat the devil, and even inadverdently causes Elan to confuse the heck out of the guards. When V manages to upstage the Therkla-death strips, you know s/he's good. I chose to pass over 595 because the best parts of the Kubota-death-strips come in the next batch.

[Herald Alberich]

Mmm, 593, I think. I like Elan, and this is Turning Point #2 of his meaty character development, #1 being the Dashing Swordsman arc. 592, where he verbally sparred with one nearly as Genre Savvy as himself, was cool too. V is badass, but also annoying at this stage.

[Nerocite]

595 As the say, He had it coming. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDRN3umyXTk)

[NamonakiRei]

Attention.
The polls are now closed.

Please wait for the results to be calculated by Nazzo, the 102nd.

Any votes after this will not count.

[Morgan Wick]

Whew! Has this ever happened before since real polls were taken away? Have we ever had THREE strips in one round that all got at least 10 votes each? And STILL, even after that, had one win in a landslide? Certainly within the groups of five?

595 was so dominant that 593, which I expected to challenge for the win, battled for and eventually lost second place to 591. In retrospect I probably should have seen 591's popularity coming, but the fact that it was able to take second even while splitting the V-awesomeness vote with 595 tells me something about the next hundred, even with over a quarter still to be seen: The highlight quarter will be the second quarter, and the early favorite at Bot7H will come from that quarter UNLESS the winner of the third quarter comes from the V-Xykon fight. (Which it probably will but don't count out something from the third quarter's remaining four strips.) Also, 595 may be the strongest contender yet to unseat 542 and the others at BotH.

But there's still one more massive group of five to come before BotQ. 596 and 597 are rather talky, but the former does still have Elan's mastery of illusions and sarcasm, and the latter has Elan convincing V to back down by either pretending to or actually not understand her. They're similar enough that they'll split what little vote they get and 596 will get more.

But 598 has Elan's awesome tribute to Therkla; after what happened to 593, though, I think it'll finish in a battle with 596 (and may-y-y-ybe 600) for second behind 599, the third of three major BotQ contenders along with 587 and 595. It has major plot importance, maybe even more than 595, Elan covering for V's sins, and what we all THOUGHT was the direct lead-up to the four words... though that aspect was majorly blunted by 600, the wild card in the back of the pack. Well played, Rich, but coming off the tail end of a bunch of major, major strips, the Miko curse will continue (no multiple of 100 other than Miko's introduction in 200 has gotten out of the first round).

600 could be competing with 597 for the runt (or just plain be the runt with next to no votes), or sneak up and take third from either 596 or 598, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a 599 landslide. Or to see it challenged by 596 or 598. (596 has the most volatility; it's both most likely to challenge 599 and most likely to see 600 sneak up on it.)

[Blackjackg]

Well, that was a surprise. I expected some V-loving outliers to crank up the numbers on 595, but I really did figure that 593 would enjoy a landslide victory. Well, just goes to show I'm a sucker for bittersweet. I expect that'll make an impact in the next round too. 598 in '09! Petrify the vote!

[Killer Angel]

REQUEST!

I know very well that the poll is closed, but I'm starting a 10 days vacation (Finally! :smallcool:), so I'm gonna miss the next Sticks awards 596-600.
I wonder if is possible for Nazzo, to take now my vote for this incoming new votation... please? :smallredface:

If the answer is Yes, I would vote for 598; the kickass headstone totally is worth it, and beats even the sarcastic Elan in 596... great strips for our favourite bard!

Thanks

[Silverraptor]

Well, I'm finally back and can take over my Stiack Awards Assisstant duties. I read the past one's that NamonakiRei did and she's done a fine job.:smallsmile: If she wants, she could become a permenant assisstant along side me. (Don't...Say...Anything, MorganWick:smallannoyed:)

Well, anyways, since the results haven't come in for so long, I'm off to find out what's the deal.:smallamused: In the mean time...

It's Great To Be Back!!!:biggrin:

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Tough times.

Poll is closed.


591 - 15 (28.30%)
Assassin89; Janmorel; dps; warmachine; Forealms; hajo; Haven; moonbeam; rangermania; kenb215; Needle; Optimystik; Istari; Mr. Pin; Nights1stStar

592 - 1 (1.88%)
TheBigChulupa

593 - 11 (20.75%)
Alge'n; Fitzclowningham; Blackjackg; The_Void; Mauve Shirt; Vemynal; BatRobin; MrPig; NamonakiRei; Thrax; Herald Alberich

594 - 4 (7.54%)
The Blackbird; Darius1020; sam79; Kurald Galain

595 - 22 (41.50%)
Lira; Jagos; DBear; Kronno; rainbowjo; David Argall; Altaria87; Talshor; Cestrian; Hawkeye; Joerg; TerrickTerran; The Vorpal Tribble; petersohn; cnsvnc; Emmeline Riddle; hobbitkniver; Illven; Killer Angel; Aaron; El Eriko; Osseous