The Sticks Awards 626-630

[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.

The poll will close on March 31st, 00:00 AM forum default time.


The Sticks Awards 626-630

626 Good to the Last Drip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0626.html)
627 Power Outage (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0627.html)
628 Every Parent's Worst Nightmare (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0628.html)
629 One Chance (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0629.html)
630 Shoot the Messenger (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0630.html)

[aduboo29]

Always loved 627.

[Asarlai]

I vote 629.

[Killer Angel]

626, with the dragon's appearance, is great.
627, with the dragon's almightiness an smartness, is magnific.
but 628, when we discover the reason behind it and the revelation on V.'s childrens, imo is the winner.

[Kingscourt]

The last two panels of 627 really do it for me.

[KoboldRevenge]

"I am still a Dragon"
627

[Joerg]

628, for suspense and relevation.

[martianmister]

627 for me.


#230 was amusing, but for I remember when these were first coming out, and my feelings stay the same, #228

Huh?

[Scarlet Knight]

"I am still a Dragon"
627

Agreed .

[MoonCat]

Huh?

'Huh?' what?

[martianmister]

'Huh?' what?

You did write 228 and 230, not 628 or 630. Is that some sort of joke? :smallconfused:

[MoonCat]

You did write 228 and 230, not 628 or 630. Is that some sort of joke? :smallconfused:

I'm osrry, my brain turned off. Here's my vote. #628

[Dushara]

No contest. Definitely 628. (Though I agree that 630 was amusing.)

[LuPuWei]

I loved the conversation in 630, but I'll vote 626 just for-

"Say 'Disintegrate one more time, Vaarsuvius- For me."

[JoseB]

#629 for me: Vaarsuvius' realization of his/her utter helplessness at the end strikes a chord with me.

[Ninjaman]

626
Say disintegrate one more time, vaarsuvius- for me

Is just pure gold.

[dogfish44]

627 for the 4th from last panel, and the last 2 panels.

[ThePhantasm]

628 I suppose. Not a big fan of any in this arc to be honest. It is well-written of course, just lacks a certain something. . . and I'm not a big fan of V's character.

[Kurald Galain]

628 is the one with the big climatic reveal; by comparison, everything else is just lead-up.

[Lira]

These are all amazing, but I'm going to vote for #629.

[dps]

Hmm. 630, I suppose.

[Hardcore]

626
A very dramatic entrance.

[NegativeFifteen]

627. Because I have no idea how Vaarsuvius survived that.

[Nimrod's Son]

Some fantastic comics in this bunch, but I'm going to have to go with #628 for "NOTHING!" and the last-panel reveal.

[Bleak Ink]

As tempting as 630 is for the humor and Hobbit reference, I'll go with 628.

The dragon's explanation is truly amazing storytelling, and "NOTHING" actually startled me a bit my first time reading it.

[HappyBlanket]

628.
Oh filler.

[DBear]

Original reaction

628 "Now I will kill your children!"

Wait, wut? :smalleek:

[Chaos rising]

I liked 626 mainly because of how it pulled off the dragons appearance, my train of thought was roughly

Wait, where'd that dragon come from!?

Wait, didn't the order already slay a black dragon!?

Wait, wasn't there supposed to be another dragon in that cave?

Oh.

It's that dawning moment of comprehension that I live for.

[Dread Cthulhu]

Definitely #629 for me. Completely drives home what the black dragon is doing, and in one of the cruellest ways imaginable.

[Morquard]

For me its a tough choice between

"Say 'Disintegrate' one more time, Vaarsuvius. For me"
and
"While I? I am still a Dragon."

I'll have to go with the first, so my vote is for 626

[ShenCS]

627 without a doubt. The black dragon was incredibly b.a. and created one of those moments when reading a webcomic actually feels fufilling rather than a waste of time.

[Blackjackg]

Gotta be 629.

Although I gotta give props to "I am still a dragon," and "exact size and shape of a banana nut muffin."

[Mordae]

627, for putting wizards in their place. Even though I like wizards.

[Ringbearer]

628 for me.

[aldeayeah]

626

Play it again, V...

[TimelordSimone]

629 "Your aim really is terrible these days isn't it"
630 "THERE IS NO SUCH GAP"
Haa
But I'm going to vote 628 for "...now I will eat your children."

[Gift Jeraff]

#628 for the exact reason Nimrod's Son said. Two of my favorite panels, really.

[focke]

I don't have very strong feelings for any of these, but I think 630 is a bit better in my opinion.

[Forealms]

627 for me.

[Lemonus]

Hmmm... I'll say 630

[Edhelras]

629 for me.

First the cosy panels with V's family, then the dragon telling in every gruelling detail what it will do to the small children, then that overwhelming feeling of hopelessness as it departs, V misses her last shot, and then the truth descends upon him.

[TKoTD]

I was undecided between 626 and 628, but the latter will get my vote just because I love long plot exposition and also for reasons taht others have presented.

so, #628 for me.

[monomer]

Strip 630 partly for how the scenarios play out, but mostly for V's quote:

THERE IS NO SUCH GAP!

[Red XIV]

"I am still a Dragon"
627
Definitely.

[jvluso]

#627 is still a dragon

[Morgan Wick]

Note to self: Especially with this batch of strips, I am much better at explaining results I already have than keeping my own opinions out of trying to project what future rounds will be like.

627, who I thought would be the runt, contended for the win, apparently on the basis that the beatdown the ABD puts on is just that awesome. 630, who I expected to contend for the win, was the runt (aside from some second-page votes that pulled it up to a respectable four votes), indicating that people see the ABD as the star of this group of five and aren't as concerned with interactions between just V and Qarr, funny they may be. Perhaps I should have taken my line of reasoning all the way to its end and decided 630 would have all its votes stolen by 629...

...except that 629, in my opinion, REALLY disappointed. The introduction to V's family (and even "Parent" and "Other Parent") didn't resonate as much as the ABD's explanation of her own motives and announcement of her plan, with the full explanation of her plan being essentially the gravy on the shock ending of 628, even though those details are arguably more important than the plan itself for explaining why V is vulnerable to the fiends. (Perhaps my opinion of 628 is depressed by the fact I originally wondered if "children" was an euphemism for... something else... and was shocked that literally everyone else was taking it literally right away.)

The next batch of strips introduces us to the fiends and sees them convince V to accept their deal.

Although the final panel is funny, 631 is probably the runt because it's debatable whether it even brings as much as 630 and the competition is arguably even stronger here. 632 introduces the fiends but doesn't do a heck of a lot else, while 635 will attract the museum crowd for the large-panel reveal of Uber-V, but it, too, doesn't do much else, probably condemning it to a distant third.

That leaves 633 and 634. 633 lays out the terms of the Soul Splice, while 634 builds up V's characterization immensely, bringing us the fiends' alternative plan and V's acceptance with the "four words". I wouldn't be surprised if either won, but I'd give a slight edge to 634 here.

[Lesingnon]

I have to go with #627. There's a sick, twisted part of me that always likes negating a player's common tactic/advantage and seeing what happens.

[Pigkappa]

#629

"Other parent" !

[DBear]

while 635 will attract the museum crowd for the large-panel reveal of Uber-V, but it, too, doesn't do much else, probably condemning it to a distant third.



What is this supposed to mean?:smallconfused:

[hajo]

The Sticks Awards 626-630

626 Good to the Last Drip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0626.html)
627 Power Outage (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0627.html)
628 Every Parent's Worst Nightmare (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0628.html)
629 One Chance (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0629.html)
630 Shoot the Messenger (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0630.html)

I vote 629 "Other parent" :smallbiggrin:

[MoonCat]

Hey, why hasn't this closed?

[calar]

#628 is definately the most emotionally dramatic.

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

...nnnnghah!

Sorry about that. Had to shrug off a Paralysis spell. Results are in below. Sorry for the delay. :smallbiggrin:


626 - 6
LuPuWei; Ninjaman; Hardcore; Chaos rising; Morquard; aldeayeah

627 - 13
aduboo29; Kingscourt; KoboldRevenge; martianmister; Scarlet Knight; dogfish44; NegativeFifteen; ShenCS; Mordae; Forealms; Red XIV; jvluso; Lesingnon

628 - 15
Killer Angel; Joerg; MoonCat; Dushara; ThePhantasm; Kurald Galain; Nimrod's Son; Bleak Ink; HappyBlanket; DBear; Ringbearer; TimelordSimone; Gift Jeraff; TKoTD; calar

629 - 8
Asarlai; JoseB; Lira; Dread Cthulhu; Blackjackg; Edhelras; Pigkappa; hajo

630 - 4
dps; focke; Lemonus; monomer