Does anyone else think Rich's Jokes are getting darker?

[Hazzardevil]

After comic 335, I think I've noticed something about the comic, I think its humour is slowly getting darker and darker to the point that they are making jokes about people dieing slowly and painfully. Does anyone else agree?

[ThePhantasm]

No it has (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0020.html) always been (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0069.html) like that. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0358.html)

Also, not everything that occurs in the last panel is necessarily a "joke."

[Juggling Goth]

I dunno, one of my favourite OotS jokes remains "Clot, clot, clot my bleeding arteries [...] Look, I found all these free swords. They were in my spleen." That might just be because I find the word "spleen" inexplicably hilarious, though. And that was back in strip 6.

I'm tempted to say the longer a story goes on, the darker it gets. I mean, the death toll is rarely gonna go down (the odd Raise Dead or Resurrection aside). That's how dramatic stories work. Things get worse.

That said, I found the cat poop gross rather than dark. I mean, compared to stuff like Familicide or O-Chul's captivity, or Tarquin burning the slaves? It's just gross-out humour.

[MaximKat]

After comic 335, I think I've noticed something about the comic, I think its humour is slowly getting darker and darker to the point that they are making jokes about people dieing slowly and painfully. Does anyone else agree?

Just wait until you see the latest comic ;)

[hamishspence]

From way back in the commentaries to Dungeon Crawling Fools:


Elan is, ultimately, my guarantee that OoTS will never become a dark comedy or an exercise in hate humour.

so- it's at least intended to be a comedy, not a "dark comedy".

[ti'esar]

What's so dark about comic 335 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0335.html), anyway? A look into (how V sees) Belkar's brain might be a bit creepy, but dark?

[Gift Jeraff]

It's just because it's nighttime.

[Whiffet]

What's so dark about comic 335 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0335.html), anyway? A look into (how V sees) Belkar's brain might be a bit creepy, but dark?

I assumed it was a typo and that it was supposed to say 835. :smallconfused:

[The Pilgrim]

Well, the first panel of the first page of the comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html) already shows people getting cut in half, so...

[ti'esar]

Well, the first panel of the first page of the comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html) already shows people getting cut in half, so...

Not that I agree with the OP, but that's a fight scene, not a joke.

[Shiim]

mmm....No.

[tassaron]

I kind of feel like the jokes have been on average slightly more vulgar in the latest story arc, but not really darker. The violence jokes might come across as a bit darker now, I guess, since the comic has gotten more serious and lost some of the slapstick zaniness of e.g. strip #6, but it's been like since like the second book. :/

Short answer: nah.

[ti'esar]

The violence jokes might come across as a bit darker now, I guess, since the comic has gotten more serious and lost some of the slapstick zaniness of e.g. strip #6, but it's been like since like the second book.

I think that's probably it right there. Just a few days ago we had something similar with Jirix squashing a demon roach being interpreted as foreshadowing of his reign over Gobbotopia with an iron fist.

This strip isn't V's finest moral moment (though it's arguably a bit merciful as Belkar goes), but people are getting too worked up about it.

[Sunken Valley]

The comic is famed for its mood whiplash. Tv tropes said so.

Although I remember when people said it was getting dark around the late
500's when the party was split. Probably right. Although that makes sense as it was a dark period for OOTS.

[Murray]

While I agree that the questionable use of force (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0220.html) and attacks of questionable taste (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0183.html) are about par for course, the recent smorgasbord of brutality delivered by Redcloak would seem to me as having as much to do with re-establishing the capital 'E' in Team Evil, and reminding the readers just how vile these guys really are. And the jokes Belkar & Vaarsuvius make do tend to be in tune with the characters, and certainly with PCs who tend to respond to the whims and tastes of their respective players.

I'm certain there will be more light-hearted jokes in the future, but going into the deep end of the storyline, we can probably expect things to get a bit gritty as well.

[Flame of Anor]

so- it's at least intended to be a comedy, not a "dark comedy".

Presumably Rich means "not going to be a solely dark comedy". Obviously, there are some dark jokes.

[Bedinsis]

I dunno. The two primary settings at the moment are one Evil empire, which Mr. Burlew obviously need to illustrate as Evil; and one city controlled by primarily Evil forces, where it is also needed to illustrate that the forces are Evil. In earlier arcs the settings more dominated by Good forces, so what was the standard of humor was dependent of that.

With that said, I'm doubtful if the quite visual cat vs. commoner strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0780.html) would have been showed on screen in an earlier arc. On the other hand the very next strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0781.html) opted for having an equally disturbing scene occur off screen, so I dunno.