Is This Just a Coincidence?

[Getsugaru]

So I was rereading the rules for skill tricks when I came upon this image:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/compscoundrel_gallery/102058.jpg
After seeing this image, the first panel of This OOTS (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0433.html) came to mind.

Is this a coincidence?

[raymundo]

Is This Just a Coincidence?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality

[RebelRogue]

Someone stabs someone else? Yeah, I'd say there's no connection.

[Onyavar]

It's no coincidence. The Giant has created that panel especially as a reference to that website with that image, and you just found the insider-joke. Good job.

Seriously. :smallsigh:

[rgrekejin]

Is this a coincidence?

A general rule of thumb: If you have to ask, it's a probably a coincidence.

[Getsugaru]

Just notice I forgot the caption from Complete Scoundrel.

"Devis uses Mosquito's Bite thoskewer an unsuspecting Hobgoblin"

This "Devis" looks quite similar to Elan, and, more importantly, is using an unexpected technique to shishkabob a hobgoblin, with what looks like a rapier, no less!

[KillianHawkeye]

Out of all the artwork done out of all the D&D books out of all the editions of D&D, we were bound to get a picture of a blonde-haired Bard using a rapier to stab a hobgoblin wielding a sword and shield eventually.

If the poses were at all similar, then maybe you would have something.

[Steward]

I would have to agree. A few of the details are striking, but the two scenes are different enough to make me think that it's not a deliberate reference. And even if it was, it would be a really, really weak one since the whole point of a reference is that you're using elements so striking or iconic that anyone familiar with the original work will notice and appreciate it. It took me a while to even understand what you were talking about, and now that I get it I have a hard time believing that Rich lifted the idea of "hero stabs evil goblin with sword" from a random picture on the Internet.

[ThePhantasm]

There's almost no similarity at all between the two except for a blonde-haired guy fighting a hobgoblin sort of guy. Everything else is different.

So no, not a coincidence or intentional...

[Gift Jeraff]

There's almost no similarity at all between the two except for a blonde-haired guy fighting a hobgoblin sort of guy. Everything else is different.

So no, not a coincidence or intentional...Blue floor and the hobgoblin is using a sword and shield.

While nothing in the picture is a rare occurrence, I found the similarities amusing.

[Nemeean_lion]

It's not just the sword and shield, or them being a blonde guy and a hobgoblin. Looking closer the poses are also similar. The blonde guy is keeping his left hand raised, while stabbing the goblin with his right hand in his abdomen area. Notice that he could have been chopping his head off or stabbing him in a completely different place.

Also notice that they are both right handed, the blonde guy is only using a sword, while the goblin is using both a sword and a wooden shield .

Also the sky and the floor are both blue. Guys.. I think we might be on to something here.

[Roland Itiative]

I guess I'll just point out that the sword there is not really a rapier, it looks more like a longsword in an angle that makes the blade seem thin.

[rgrekejin]

Well... skill tricks are from the Complete Scoundrel, which was first printed in January 2007. The OotS comic in question is from sometime after that in 2007, so if one is a homage to the other, the OotS comic would have to be homage to the book illustration, and not the other way around. And given the fact that the scene in OotS was dictated by terms set months before the strip in question was written (the color of Azure City, the composition of Redcloak's army, Elan's class and weaponry) I think we can safely say that it is a coincidence.

[Chessgeek]

Probably.
It just seems unlikely that The Giant would bother to intentionally reference something that obscure. Maybe by accident, but the first panel just seems exactly like any other panel to me.
Ooh! I have an idea! PM him and ask!
Tell me how it goes when you accuse him of copying D&D artwork. Really, I want to know. :smallbiggrin:
Sorry if that comes off as obnoxious. It seemed more sarcastic and less outright mean in my head.

Edit: On the other hand, if the guy in the picture was making a bad pun...

[super dark33]

Its not a rapier, its a longsword, Davis uses a longsword.
but still, it is pretty funny that these both look similar.
i smiled.

[Rorrik]

The case would be a lot stronger if we could see Elan's hand raised over his head, or if he wasn't grinning goofily, or if the hobgoblin looked more as if he were trying, or if the scene shown here were on a castle wall.

Or as others have pointed out, if it were indeed a rapier.

Definitely a coincedence.

[Ron Miel]

Probably.
It just seems unlikely that The Giant would bother to intentionally copy something that obscure. Maybe by accident, but the first panel just seems exactly like any other panel to me.
Ooh! I have an idea! PM him and ask!
Tell me how it goes when you accuse him of copying D&D artwork. Really, I want to know. :smallbiggrin:

Nobody is saying that he "copied" another person's art.

He does, however, on occasion, reference, parody, or pay tribute to someone else's works. It's just barely possible that this is one of them, though it seems highly doubtful.

[Dr.Epic]

Yes. Yes it is just a coincidence. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[Ron Miel]

I don't think it's even a co-incidence. You'd have to have much more similarity.

[Chessgeek]

Nobody is saying that he "copied" another person's art.

He does, however, on occasion, reference, parody, or pay tribute to someone else's works. It's just barely possible that this is one of them, though it seems highly doubtful.

Hrm. Copied does not represent what I meant to say well. I just don't know what would work better. Reference, if it would suit your fancy?

Point being, I really doubt Rich had seen that artwork before publishing his comic, and then based the comic off of said picture.

The last sentence was a joke more than anything else. I apologize for not making that clear.

[Belkster11]

It's coincidental. The hobgoblin in the panel referenced is already dead. The hobgoblin in that art is still alive, somewhat.

Seriously, I'm sure there are thousands of pictures of dashing, blond-haired swordsmen stabbig goblins/hobgoblins in the stomach out there on the internet. Considering that both OoTS and that picture are set in fantasy universes, it's not at all surprising.

[Kish]

Ooh! I have an idea! PM him and ask!
Tell me how it goes when you accuse him of copying D&D artwork. Really, I want to know. :smallbiggrin:
Considering how busy Rich is, I suspect it would be along the lines of:
Rich Burlew, July 12th, 2015: So I finally got around to clearing out my PM inbox, and banned this guy...

[137beth]

Out of all the artwork done out of all the D&D books out of all the editions of D&D, we were bound to get a picture of a blonde-haired Bard using a rapier to stab a hobgoblin wielding a sword and shield eventually.

If the poses were at all similar, then maybe you would have something.

Even then, I'd need to see more of the panel before I would believe it was more than a coincidence.

[Cuthalion]

Blue floor and the hobgoblin is using a sword and shield.

While nothing in the picture is a rare occurrence, I found the similarities amusing.

Agreed. It's fun comparing 'em.