The emotional impact of Oots

[Avaris]

I've been enjoying Oots for years now, and have always felt that there is something about it that makes it special. 841 has really hit the nail on the head in this respect though, for me at least.

841 is hard for me to read. I am not fazed by many things, but the idea of a happy existence being suddenly and irrecoverably shattered is one of them. I can cope with images of violence and war, but when it is juxtaposed with normality, with people I can emphasise with and sympathise with and moreover imagine how they feel... that is difficult for me. The image that gets me? Bottom right hand corner. The mother and child. There is something incredibly sad and moving for me about that image, and I swear it will haunt me for a long time.

It has been a long way since I felt this way about anything. It is not in my nature to get overly involved in media... I may enjoy the story, but I won't FEEL the emotion. A perfect (though extreme) example is the torture/horror genre of film, such as Saw. I can watch that sort of thing and not feel any revulsion or disgust at the images I'm seeing, because I know it's a film, an illusion. I don't enjoy said films, and wouldn't watch them by choice, but I'm not scared or revolted by them either.

841? It scares me. It disturbs me. It plays on every emotion that I imagine Rich meant it too. He has done so with stick figures... truly, he is a master of his art. The story he is weaving has sucked me in so well that he can take me out of my comfort zone in this way. Sometimes when something makes me feel uncomfortable I stop, I back away and let it pass. Ctrl-alt-del is the perfect example... I didn’t stop reading at the point where a lot of people did, but eventually the sheer weight of bad stuff happening to the characters drove me away. It is not a direct comparison of course, but the image here touches on a very similar nerve for me, yet I know that however bad it gets (and I don’t think it’ll immediately get better... we still need to find out what happened, and that may well have difficult images and ideas as well) I could never do that with Oots.

Oots sits on my shelves between Watchmen and Neil Gaiman's Sandman. It is not out of place. Bravo Mr Burlew. Bravo.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has found Oots, a stick figure comic, hitting far above its weight emotionally... which comics have done it for the rest of you? Which emotions have you unexpectedly found through this “derivative and hokey little comic about gaming”?

[t209]

827. Azurite Resistance was single handedly crushed by Red Cloak, except one survivor. I have to wonder if she will die off strip (go down fighting or seppuku). It crushed me since Azure Resistance is gone and will not comeback (buried under tons of rock, and no min max barbarian to dig it up and save the corpses if the demons hadn't eat it).

[Goosefarble]

I was one of comparatively few who did, but I got really quite sad when Tsukiko died. Yes, okay, she was a dislikable character, but she was funny and endearing at times, and her last words plucked at my heartstrings like a sad clown playing a viola.

At any rate, I mourned her death a damnsight more than I mourned Miko's.

[B. Dandelion]

My heart really started to go out for Therkla at the end of that arc, and I cried when she died in Elan's arms. I don't think she had ever expected to get much in the way of romance out of her life, and was only half-joking when she suggested dying was worth it just to get his arms around her. What a sad and lonely way to be. Then Elan's epitaph about how she would have made a good girlfriend -- and I think a lot of people misinterpreted that, or at least I never read it as "if I hadn't met Haley first it could have worked between us," he meant she would have made a good girlfriend to somebody, anybody, because she had a lot of love to give and deserved to get some back.

I still tear up a little...

[Gilphon]

To me, the saddest part of Tsukiko's death was the MitD's reaction. She just wanted to be loved, but in the end, she wasn't. Nobody even cared about her.

And then there's Elan's comment about how he would occasionally catch his mother crying late at night because she had lost her 'nail'.

[thisisnotspam]

The strip where Tsutsiko dies was one that cause strong emotional reaction from me as well, to be precise it at was Redcloak's "seize her" when i started jumping around my apartment screaming **** yeah!

But to me the saddest moment was Tarquin's order to kill Enor and Ganji.

[Mighty]

I'm finding it hard to care too much about deaths due to the existence of A) Resurrection and B) an afterlife. That being said though, the Familicide spell did kinda get to me...

[Tev]

Rich is very good at inducing emotions in reader, but for me the strongest example of that was Therkla's death -
I hate the character. I disliked her whole arc, didn't really like jokes and the "incredibly naive and deluded beyond any imagination" character was something that stuck out like a sore thumb for me.
And yet the way she died and stuff around it (like when Elan buries her) was very moving, and very very sad. Maybe one of the strongest moments in the comic? Don't really know, there are many of them . . .

But (for me) the strongest moment ever in the entire comic was for sure "Only the honor of a palladin is unbreakable . . . even by death itself."
Too good to ruin it with words.

[Dark Elf Bard]

its an illusion :tongue:

[Particle_Man]

I was kind of glad that Miko at least got to be with her horse in the afterlife (yeah, yeah, I know, psycho, but hey she paid for it - died *after* getting objectively proven wrong by her gods, and *then* got a verbal slap down from the paladin that founded the order she was a part of). So slightly more humiliating than Tsukiko's death and verbal smack down (and snacking).

And when Mr. Scruffy got shot, I was pissed!

And well, sad that the dwarf romance didn't work out.

[Shadowknight12]

I laughed at some of the jokes very hard. They were genuinely funny and I wasn't expecting such wit from a stick figure comic.

EDIT: Just in case it needs to be stated, I'm being serious.

[Whiffet]

And then there's Elan's comment about how he would occasionally catch his mother crying late at night because she had lost her 'nail'.

Oh, man, that made me sad too. :smallfrown:

So, how about SoD? That had quite a few moments. Every time I reread it, I hope that maybe it'll be different this time... :smallfrown:

[King of Nowhere]

Rich is good at making people care about the story and the characters. once he makes people care about the characters, the fact that they are stick figures becomes secondary. When I read 841, I wanted to scream NOOOOOOOO!!!!! at the monitor.

And reading start of darkness the first time made me really sad, I was very glad I had no cure for the paladin blues to read after and ligthen the mood. Even now, while I consider start of darkness to be the finest piece of oots ever published, I read it less often that the rest of the books because it is so sad.

[Goosefarble]

I haven't read Start of Darkness, but I hear that's one of the saddest things in OOTS ever.

Another really incredibly moving moment was (I know it's a lot of people's "crowning moment of awesome" in that thread) MitD's "Mr Stiffly! MR STIFFLY! O-CHUL!!" line.

[suzaliscious]

"Hi Roy? Wanna play blocks with me?"
:') "More than anything?"

I've never lost a family member or experienced anything close to that ... still cry whenever I read that comic.

"For a moment I thought ... I thought it had all been for nothing."
Evil or not ... you had to sympathize with Mama Black Dragon. Especially since had I been in her shoes, I would have done the same.

"Dear Gods, what have I done?"
The girl that commits seppuku after killing her comrades in the throne room of Azure City (symbol of insanity). ****. Also, Xykon paralyzing O-Chul just before he got to the throne. That whole scene affirms how evil the lich is.

"Goodbye ... RedCloak."

:( :( :( :( :(

In short ... I love this comic to death. I wish I were half the artist Mr. Burlew is.

I'm going to go crawl into a corner and sob now.

[Kingscourt]

I agree, Rich has done some amazing things with stick figures, for me especially it was 496 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0496.html). That last panel just gets to me every time.

[ti'esar]

The whole Darth V arc was one emotional rollercoaster.

[Smolder]

The image that gets me? Bottom right hand corner. The mother and child. There is something incredibly sad and moving for me about that image, and I swear it will haunt me for a long time.

Bravo Mr Burlew. Bravo.


There have been many moving moments in OotS. This moment is enhanced by the medium, the web. As we read the first comic, our eyes move down the page until we have to scroll up... gradually revealing the horrific scene... starting from Elan's shock, expanding to a wide shot and then narrowing on the tragic details of the foreground figures. Bravo indeed. Masterful use of the medium.

[Goosefeather]

I agree, Rich has done some amazing things with stick figures, for me especially it was 496 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0496.html). That last panel just gets to me every time.

Seconded! Though there have been many, many moving moments in the comic, for me that one is especially powerful.

[AlaskaOOTSFan]

There have been many moving moments in OotS. This moment is enhanced by the medium, the web. As we read the first comic, our eyes move down the page until we have to scroll up... gradually revealing the horrific scene... starting from Elan's shock, expanding to a wide shot and then narrowing on the tragic details of the foreground figures. Bravo indeed. Masterful use of the medium.

Makes you think - if the standard was of loading/viewing was bottom to top (why not?), when how differently Rich would have done it.

[Jaros]

I'm going to go with the whole sequence surrounding Therkla's death, Kubota's capture and V's departure. Mainly I think due to the presence of Elan's idealism throughout the whole thing, and how events just won't be fixed despite both his and Therkla's efforts.

And I can't remember if anyone's said it yet, but Miko's death too.

Edit: also for that first one, I remember someone a while ago citing it as perhaps the OotS' lowest point: Roy dead, his body a golem, the party split, Haley & Belkar in hiding in Greysky. On top of all that I think the conclusion of the Therkla/Kubota plot really hits you.

[Lvl45DM!]

841 gets me. I mean you look at those stick figures and theres a goddamn story to most of them. Theres an older guy who's dressed in armour. Obviously inherited a bit extra paranoia from Girard or maybe a lifetime of defending this tribe has made him like that.
Theres a girl in the foreground with her tattoo on her breast. You can just think how she put it there to piss off her mother!
The young man who fell closest to the OotS was obviously tasked with carrying the food. Why? cos of his age? etc. etc.

[Goosefarble]

OOH OOH I've got another one!

"I hope you choke on your useless goddamn magic." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0623.html)

Gives me shivers every single time I read it.

[Cleverdan22]

On the positive side, I remember waiting up all night for 400 when it happened, because that was back when Rich still updated at midnight. When it was posted, and Elan and Haley kissed...I literally shouted from happiness and pumped my fist in the air. And fiction, however much I love it, rarely makes me physically do something, so that was big.

[Euodiachloris]

Oh, I knew I was no longer in just a stick-figure gag comic when, well... Miko's whole character "development" in contrast to e.g. somebody like O-Chul. Masterclass in how not to play Paladin vs. "Yup, Paladin".

But, the most moving for me (until now), as well, was ... two words "Eric" and "Greenhilt". I welled when Roy and he interacted. Contrasted with the later brother-sister interaction on top when Nale just couldn't get Julia and Roy's relationship?

OK. I totally blub each time I read it. It is pathetic. (I'm a sucker for close sibling interactions.)

Sorry, Thekla, sweetie. You're a tough contest, but, not quite tough enough.

And, one reason why a candidate for my hand-drawn KS Patience drawing is... Eric and Roy. <tries not to well up again --- fails>

But, ye gads, Rich keeps pushing that envelope. The Mama Ancient Black Dragon also tugs quite a bit... particularly if... well... The Draketooth Massacre? Is getting there... (depending on outcome).

[hkhm]

there is one scene in a bonus comic that always gets me for some reason: the final panel of 313a. i always feel for miko (even though i really did not like her) because she tried, inasmuch as she could, to be friendly. it is not surprising that her curt manner all but killed any chance she ever had to make friends but the idea of her sitting alone, eating her new year's eve meal with her horse, made me feel for her.

the eric greenhilt comic? it hits far too close to home, it actually makes me tear up.

[B. Dandelion]

there is one scene in a bonus comic that always gets me for some reason: the final panel of 313a. i always feel for miko (even though i really did not like her) because she tried, inasmuch as she could, to be friendly. it is not surprising that her curt manner all but killed any chance she ever had to make friends but the idea of her sitting alone, eating her new year's eve meal with her horse, made me feel for her.

Oh yeah, I think that's one of the best bonus-only strips we've ever gotten, in terms of how affecting it is. And unless your only exposure to the comic is through the books, it hits you after you know what happens to her and that her last question is whether she'll ever be able to see that horse that was her only real friend, so it's just that much worse.

[Ranzunar]

I've been reading OOTS for years and wholeheartedly agree with the reactions evoked by all of the previously mentioned moments. But it's because I and many others have been reading for years that such responses can take place. Convince a friend to read the whole thing in a matter of days and they may be surprised but never shocked or choked up about what happens to the characters. The element of time of this and many other forms of serial fiction creates an emotional attachment and investment in the narrrative and the characters. It's all a part of the serial reading experience, something I've been studying for years in more traditional forms of literature and contemporary stuff like webcomics. Still, anyone can tell a story for years, but it takes a masterful author like the Giant to captivate the readers' heartstrings in every direction and still keep us hoping for more.

[Giggling Ghast]

I cried when Roy reunited with his little brother.

[PebbleInTheSky]

OotS is in a selective category of being one out of five series that have made me cry. Three of those series ended with the main character dead, and Oots is still going.

This stick figure comic has tripped up my danger sense while reading.

The blocks with Roy's brother, Miko's death, Darth V, and the resistance being crushed...it's amazing what a masterful storyteller Rich i7os.

[ref]

Yeah, Eric Greenhilt. It didn't help that just before reading that strip I was watching Futurama's episode The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings. Talk about touching overdose!

[Skyrunner]

I read all the strips from 1-770 or so in one go.
The emotional inpact was still there...

(I also read SoD and DStP, purchased expensively and now I regret it T.T Kickstarter!)

Most impacted were...

Roy and his little brother
Miko's death
Belkar and Mr.S - "We're in this together to the top of the heap or bust" & the gladitor scene
Shoji - It seems not everyone agrees with your analysis.
Tsikiko - Why don't .. you love... me..?
O-Chul and his final teaching to MitD.
Dorukan & L... Elf.

The rich text and the stick figures complement each other very well.

[Copper]

All of the Vaarsuvius turning evil arc. It actually made me cry. I know ey's completely evil and whatever turning that arc but just the obvious pain and conflict that Vaarsuvius is feeling. Especially when ey freaks out at the dragon trying to hurt his family. The rage and subsequent guilt that followed packe da hell of an emotional punch.

[EeTee]

Ah, there have been so many touching moments... Including basically everything about Belkar and Mr. Scruffy :smallsmile: But for me the most powerful moments haven't been the sad ones or the 'awwwww' ones, but moments when something big and surprising has been revealed. I just love the feeling of finally understanding some important plot point, those moments when you feel that all the pieces are falling to place, and you can see the big picture. Or at least a bigger part than before. Strip 661 gave me such a feeling. We'll hear of MitD before this all is over.

Seriously, it still gives me the chills when I read it.
'You need to - ESCAPE.' :smalleek:

[Umbra]

Oh, man, that made me sad too. :smallfrown:

So, how about SoD? That had quite a few moments. Every time I reread it, I hope that maybe it'll be different this time... :smallfrown:


"Goodbye... Redcloak."


It doesn't matter how many times I read that part, it still gets to me.

[Smolder]

'You need to - ESCAPE.' :smalleek:

*sniff* Aw, man. Now it's all dusty in my cubicle... :smallfrown:

[pita]

All of the Vaarsuvius turning evil arc. It actually made me cry. I know ey's completely evil and whatever turning that arc but just the obvious pain and conflict that Vaarsuvius is feeling. Especially when ey freaks out at the dragon trying to hurt his family. The rage and subsequent guilt that followed packe da hell of an emotional punch.

That arc (and the result it had on Vaarsuvius afterwards) isn't only the strongest arc of the comic, it's the greatest "Heel Face Revolving Door" ever. It's pure brilliance. I've only bought Start of Darkness and Origin of PCs, but Don't Split the Party is the next one I'm buying even if it is out of order, simply because it's that good an arc.