When was the last bubbleless speech?

[Priceguy]

In the earlier comics, speech without a bubble (e.g. "Sweet!", "Well, I do feel more intimidating", "Ooh! Skill points!" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html)) was common, but it got rarer and now I think it's safe to say it's gone. So when was the last one?

[Euclidodese]

Demon roaches? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0901.html)

[kaoskonfety]

1021
Mr Scruffy - Meoww?
Blood Feast - Hurrrr.

Not really words but all I have time to find before work murders me for reading comics.

[Markozeta]

To be honest, that was the last time we saw Team Evil.

[Priceguy]

Let's say apart from characters who always speak bubblelessly (which is a word). When did it stop being a thing Rich just did sometimes?

[Morquard]

I guess when he notices that the text is better to read in bubbles.

[Rynael]

It seems more like he didn't quit using bubbleless speech (see the Mr. Scruffy and Bloodfeast example above) so much as he increased the complexity of the backgrounds, which makes long asides (longer than an animal noise, in any case) significantly harder to see without being surrounded by a speech bubble. For the most part, the same asides he once used bubbleless speech for appear to use smaller text in a normal speech bubble now.

Note that some of the less flashy sound effects, including humanoid sounds ("Durkon" "breathing") resemble bubbleless speech. The same asides still happen, but not drawing speech bubbles for full sentences becomes less practical as background complexity increases.

[Markozeta]

Let's say apart from characters who always speak bubblelessly (which is a word). When did it stop being a thing Rich just did sometimes?

363 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0363.html) - at least I checked for 200 strips following 363, and this didn't occur again. Have not checked past 563, but it stopped being consistent around 248, then got picked up at 329 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0329.html) for the Oracle script, then stopped at 363. Following the War on Azure City, it seems like this just didn't come up again - even well into the DStP plotline.

[Mandor]

I thought it was also a bit of artistic choice... that bubbleless speech was usually something either said under one's breath, or softly enough that not everyone else nearby was going to hear it. Someone standing to either side of them maybe, but not the whole crowd. Whereas a speech bubble tended to mean it was voiced at a normal conversational volume or above. But, that's just me. Could be wrong.

[EDIT: on further review that might apply to a decent amount of it's uses, but clearly there's occurrences in some early comics where that's not the case.... like Elan *singing* without a bubble, to inspire the party. Soo... so much for that as a full-time theory.]

[Lexible]

Well, the Soul Splices spoke sans bubbles (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0635.html).

[Markozeta]

I didn't count those cause they didn't have the line (or a body next to them).

[theasl]

I thought it was also a bit of artistic choice... that bubbleless speech was usually something either said under one's breath, or softly enough that not everyone else nearby was going to hear it. Someone standing to either side of them maybe, but not the whole crowd. Whereas a speech bubble tended to mean it was voiced at a normal conversational volume or above. But, that's just me. Could be wrong.

[EDIT: on further review that might apply to a decent amount of it's uses, but clearly there's occurrences in some early comics where that's not the case.... like Elan *singing* without a bubble, to inspire the party. Soo... so much for that as a full-time theory.]

Considering that the early comics were where Rich was still figuring stuff out, using those to debunk your own theory isn't really fair. If it were the later comics that were inconsistent, maybe, but not the early ones.

[Sir_Norbert]

There's one in 695 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0695.html).

[Morquard]

There's one in 695 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0695.html).

Maybe I'm blind, but I don't see any. Unless you mean the "BOOOOOOM!" which isn't speech but a sound-effect.

[Grey Watcher]

Not sure when the last one was, but my guess is that, as Rich employs more complexity and detail in the backgrounds and environments, it gets harder and harder to place text outside of a bubble in a place where it will be both legible and fit various layout concerns.

EDIT: Elan's bardsong in #932 has no speech bubble. That's the most recent non-bubble speech-ish thing that uses words that I can find: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0932.html

EDIT 2: The Demon Roaches in #901 http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0901.html

EDIT 3: The mummified, reanimated remains of the Draketooth Clan mindlessly repeating words in #861 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0861.html).

EDIT: 4: Sabine says "I love you forever." has the Holy Word spell banishes her in #860 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0860.html).

[St Fan]

The Demon-roaches' speech bubbleless is The Artifact (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheArtifact); they keep this way of talking because it's how they started in the comic.

For other characters, this type of format for asides or mumbling to oneself had been becoming rarer and rarer by book 2, and entirely phased out by Book 3.

[ChristianSt]

EDIT: Elan's bardsong in #932 has no speech bubble. That's the most recent non-bubble speech-ish thing that uses words that I can find: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0932.html

Same is true for #935 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0935.html).

Not sure if that really counts (though I would say it does), but we have Haley's "WANDS!" in #970 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0970.html)