The Stick Awards II: Second Edition (#0281 - #0290)

[Porthos]

Welcome to The Stick Awards II: Second Edition! :smallsmile:

The Stick Awards are handed out to the best strips of all time as chosen by our fellow Playgrounders.

This week we are covering the comic strips 281 through 290.

For full details about the Stick Awards, please check out the main thread here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283609).

To read more about the original Stick Awards, created by Nazzo, the 102nd, please read his thread here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34791)

To vote in this thread, simply state which comic of the ten listed is your favorite. Bolding the number of the comic (Like this) helps it stand out.

Voting for this week will close on January 13th, 4pm EST. Any votes made after that will NOT count toward the totals.

Last time, http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i294/trytoguess/Shojo.png: 277 The Crayons of Time: Breaking Up is Hard to Do (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0277.html) culminated a long tale of heroics and sorrows that caused all of the other entrants to acklowedge that it should be the winner this time out.

Who will win the award this week? We only get to find out once you start voting :smallsmile:

It's a time of new beginnings and new traditions started. But just because we are out with the old, doesn't mean we shouldn't stick to the tried and true. So with that in mind pull up a chair and tell us just who deserves to become the winner of.....

.THE STICK AWARDS II: 0281 - 0290

281 Get the Lead Out (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0281.html)
282 Closing Arguments (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0282.html)
283 Rock the Vote (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0283.html)
284 Shattered Expectations (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0284.html)
285 A Moment of Truth (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0285.html)
286 A Minor Glitch (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0286.html)
287 Paladins Make Good Tour Guides (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0287.html)
288 First Word... (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0288.html)
289 Senility Now! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0289.html)
290 Shojo's Big Secret (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0290.html)

====

For ease of reading, What Haley Said, courtesy of the thread of the same name (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4909). :smallsmile:

#284
Zktv?
What?

Fx, ztbv, vktv aupqbev qxusf'v ntou sufsu. Qtzs qxf'v zxpo vktv ztd.
No, wait, that verdict doesn't make sense. Laws don't work that way.

B'au suuf ufxlck xi nd Vkbuaus' Clbwq ipbufqs sufv vx jpbsxf vx ofxz vktv vkbs skxlwq ktau huuf t exfabevbxf.
I've seen enough of my Thieves' Guild friends sent to prison to know that this should have been conviction.

Hlv...hlv bv qxusf'v ntou tfd sufsu!
But...but it doesn't make any sense!

FX! B'n fxt XO, vkbs zkxwu vpbtw ntqu FX SUFSU!
No! I'm not OK, this whole trial made NO SENSE!

Zu ZUPU clbwvd! Bv skxlwq ktau huuf t clbwvd aupqbev! B etf lfqupsvtfq bi vkud ztfvuq vx puqleu vku sufvufeu qlu vx cku ebpelnsvtfeus, hlv bv skxlwq ktau svbww huuf t clbwvd aupqbev.
We WERE guilty! It should have been a guilty verdict! I can understand if they wanted to reduce the sentence due to the circumstances, but it should have been a guilty verdict.

Xk, fuaup nbfq, B qxf'v ofxz zkd B'n hxvkupbfc.
Oh, never mind, I don't know why I'm bothering.

Ztbv - uwtf, zktv qbq dxl rlsv std?
Wait-Elan, what did you just say?

Xk nd cxqs, Uwtf! Vktv's bv! Uwtf, dxl'pu t cufbls!
Oh my gods, Elan! That's it! Elan, you're a genius!

#285
Rst azq'e tqmgowezqm kg, ws hge kg xtwe wzr efze rst'og z couyum lueaf zqd rsto efuyfw hssp cze uq efze zokso.
You can't understand me, so let me just say that you're a frigid bitch and your thighs look fat in that armor.

[littlebum2002]

I'm really glad one of the crayons won, even though I didn't vote for them

But so many good ones! Finding out that Shojo really isn't crazy? Belkar trying to make Miko fall? I think I'll go with 289

[Gift Jeraff]

#283, with 290 a close second.

[Meph]

281. Still we are in a series of pretty valuable strips, and I was doubtful. I guess I will be happy with any outcome.

[Plerumque]

So many great strips, but I have to vote for #283 because... Elan.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I'm gonna vote 285.

[GuySmiley1970]

281. Great Belkar strip!

[Sir_Leorik]

285

This strip is the climax of Book two, where the Order of the Stick rallies to protect their least liked member, Belkar, against No Cure for the Paladin Blues' primary antagonist, the Paladin, Miko Miyazaki. It's a major step in the transformation of the OotS from a dysfunctional band of adventurers into a dysfunctional team. Where Roy was willing to leave Elan behind to Samantha and her Bandits earlier in the book, now he's stepping up to protect Belkar, along with V (who really despises Belkar), Elan, Haley, and even Durkon.

Plus this is the beginning of Miko's tragic downfall, from honorable Paladin to paranoid conspiracy theorist, blaming Roy and the OotS for everything she sees as wrong. After this strip, Miko's fate is pretty much sealed: murdering Shojo, falling from grace, and getting killed by her own self-righteousness. Plus Elan's line in the last panel is hilarious! :smallbiggrin:

[Ghost Nappa]

The calendar art has me biased to #284.

With 285 and 282 as runner-ups.

[Pigkappa]

Me too for 284

[Icepaw]

284 that window breaking...

[Mike Havran]

#283, the Roy-Elan dialogue was incredible.

[Emanick]

285: A Moment of Truth. Climaxes are a big deal.

[ChristianSt]

A hard decision - some punchlines are really great, and I really like the reveal of the Being of pure Law not being Patrick Swayze. But I'm going to vote for 281 - Get the Lead Out: It not only fully shows the many great functions an multipurpose lead sheet has, but also really showcases Belkar's motivation: He just doesn't want to kill random peoples out of no reason (he could probably easily finished off Miko), but does it for his entertainment!

[Killer Angel]

Honestly, I was going for Belkar Vs Miko (281, or 284, or 285).
But Shojo in 289, deserves my vote for his awesomeness.

[FLHerne]

284, for "Elan, you're a genius!", the end of the interminable trial scene, the most awesome piece of art so far and THAT climax. :smallbiggrin:

289, 281 and 290 would be my next choices in that order, I think.

[Bird]

284

*limitdance

[David Argall]

I'll go with 286.

[mythmonster2]

Hm... A bit of a tough one here, since most of them are too connected to each other to do much on their own, in my opinion. But I suppose I'll go with 284.

[rs2excelsior]

285, for V's speech at Miko.

[thatSeniorGuy]

290 for the reveal.

[nogall]

lots of great ones, both humor- and plot-wise, such as 290.

But I'll go with 288, containing one of the funniest lines of the whole comic - "I'm glad you figured that out before I advanced another age category, Mr. Greenhilt". :smallbiggrin:

[NobodyWasTaken]

289 is the thing I won't let not win because I didn't vote for it, so I'm voting for the thing that it is.

[Sylian]

285, though there are many good alternate winners this time around.

[LadyEowyn]

285. Central moment for character development both of the Order (becoming a team) and Miko.

[Porthos]

Well, looks like I get to break a tie vote here.

*thinks*

They're both pretty similar. Both have classic lines. Both have great payoffs. And both are memorable.

*thinks some more*

I think I will go with 285 for the sole reason that I didn't have to wait around for the cryptograms to be solved to fully enjoy it. :smalltongue: OK, and the payoff/climax to the arc as well, I suppose. Might not have been the strip I would have chosen (I've always loved the payoff in 290), but oh well. Burdens of leadership, I suppose. :smallwink:

And with that....


VOTING IS NOW CLOSED!

:miko: 285 A Moment of Truth (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0285.html) is the winner this time. It now moves on to the Best of the Hundred tournament.

Full Results are as follows

...THE STICK AWARDS II: 0281 - 0290
{table]|Comic Number | Votes Received | Vote Percentage |
|
281 |
3 |
12.00|
|
282 |
0 |
0.00|
|
283 |
3 |
12.00|
|
284 |
6 |
24.00|
|
285 |
7 |
28.00|
|
286 |
1 |
4.00|
|
287 |
0 |
0.00|
|
288 |
1 |
4.00|
|
289 |
3 |
12.00|
|
290 |
1 |
4.00|[/table]

Please join us for the next round of voting for Strips #291-300 here. :smallsmile: