they are STICK FIGURES!!!

[Geekfather]

So... why am I tearing up seeing Roy and his baby brother?
:frown:

[Miraqariftsky]

Because the Burlew is so rich in his artistry that he is able to so effectively convey such emotions of grief and pity?

[Tengu]

Rich is an awesome writer. You'd be tearing up even if they were sprites badly ripped from a video game, or poop figurines.

[Ichneumon]

So... why am I tearing up seeing Roy and his baby brother?
:frown:

They aren't stick figures. They are real people. They have real personalities. Real I tell you, real I say.:smallamused:

[Threeshades]

They aren't stick figures. They are real people. They have real personalities. Real I tell you, real I say.:smallamused:

Real stick figures.

[Yuki Akuma]

If a novel can make you tear up with absolutely no visual cues whatsoever... how is it surprising that a stick figure comic can do the same?

[lukelightning]

yeah, I was just about to start a thread titled "Curse you, Rich Burlew, for making me cry!"

[Pantler]

Because the Burlew is so rich in his artistry that he is able to so effectively convey such emotions of grief and pity?

Pun intended?

[BobTheDog]

Pun intended?

That's the Pun-Pun of puns...

[Miraqariftsky]

@^ By the blazes, that's a pun, alright... Sophoclean reference, it is, as well.

[EdgarVerona]

Aye... I think for most people the quality of art has little to do with the emotions or storytelling involved. Humans can pick up even the subtlest hint of emotion from objects, much of our brain is wired to do just that instinctively. (This is why we see "expressions" even on inanimate objects like cars, clouds, etc...)

So when a person goes about to tell a story, how he shows it (detailed drawings, photographs, stick figures or anything to that extent), if there's even the smallest hint of emotive expressiveness in the drawn characters then humans will pick it up and it won't really matter how "good" the drawing was.

Drawing style is really something that most humans are only affected by as an initial experience: that is, the style may be a factor in the decision to start reading or go to something else. Once you're in, to your brain it might as well be live action actors. We just need a little bit of suggested expression in an entity to assign it that expression.

Hopefully that helps clear up the confusion. =):smallbiggrin:

[Ar-Sakal]

Because we all like and empathize with Roy. I loved the Giant started the new thread by showing Roy's afterlife.

[thurvok]

Cause he is GOOD!!! I never cared much for Miko.. but every time I look at the strip where she lay dieing and only asking if she will get to see Windstriker in the afterlife.. it makes me choke up.. Cause she just comes across as a lonely little girl who only made 1 freind in life and just wants to see him again..

[Fawkes]

Roy's got more personality than most of the "real people" on this forum. :smalltongue:

[NerfTW]

Calling the art "stick figures" is like calling a piano solo "just strings being struck".

It's how the art is presented, not what it's made of.

Good writing can save bad art. Although in this case, the art is just the style of the comic. You can hardly call it "bad art", since the characters are being rendered consistently and in proportion.

[Vulion]

It's simply a testament to Rich's ability as a writer.

[Lord_Butters_I]

Am I the only one who felt absolutly no emotion in reading 496?

[Icewalker]

Real stick figures.

This seems pretty accurate. They are real characters. And Rich is probably in the top few writers I've read the works of.

[Koraks]

Am I the only one who felt absolutly no emotion in reading 496?

Well I thought it was kinda cute, but didn't shed no tear or water my eyes. I think its a nice developement to Roy's background, though. Probably influenced him to become a responsible leader, always willing to put himself on the front line before his allies.

[timbot]

Am I the only one who felt absolutly no emotion in reading 496?

Yes (you and Koraks)

[The Linker]

Well, I didn't shed a tear, or well up, but I did kinda almost well up. I felt a tinge. I mighta cried a bit if I wasn't in the middle of several students in the library at lunchtime :smallsmile:

But, the thing is, I feel that tinge like every time I read the comic. So many elements come together in that last panel. The gleeful, unchanging expression, the solitary tear, the "hi roy! wanna play blocks with me?", and then the "More than anything." I just finish looking at one cute endearing thing, and then I see another, and together it forms the best strip ending in the OOTS run. I think, anyway. This coulda made an awesome 500th strip.

I've always wondered how, out of context, this is like a completely random out-of-left-field revelation with no foreshadowing or hints, and yet it fits so well. I mean, we learn that it exists in the second-to-last panel, and the very next we instantly feel and know how much he means to Roy.

I would not doubt that tomorrow's, 497, will be a simple wordless montage of roy and his brother playing with blocks, like that scene where he was having dinner with Celia.

And, yeah, I know there was that baby in the strip where Xykon broke Roy's sword, and so there kinda WAS foreshadowing, but... meh. I think that WAS going to be Roy's sister until Rich changed their age difference to suit the plot.

[Alfryd]

Am I the only one who felt absolutly no emotion in reading 496?
I felt mild annoyance. Does that count?

Still, I'm glad folks seem to be enjoying it.

[Morty]

I felt mild annoyance. Does that count?

Still, I'm glad folks seem to be enjoying it.

:smallconfused: What's so annoying in #496?
That said, it was kind of moving, but not very much. It's still a webcomic after all.

[Alfryd]

What's so annoying in #496?
I'm vaguely curious as to what the living are doing. If Miko's not getting a word-in, I damn well want to see something plot-relevant.

[Morty]

I'm vaguely curious as to what the living are doing. If Miko's not getting a word-in, I damn well want to see something plot-relevant.

I see your point, but who knows if it won't become something plot-relevant.
Though in all seriousness, Roy's family reunion is stretched.

[Ichneumon]

I see your point, but who knows if it won't become something plot-relevant.
Though in all seriousness, Roy's family reunion is stretched.

Maybe that is what it is. Stretching. Maybe Rich wants something to happen at #500

[kerberos]

Am I the only one who felt absolutly no emotion in reading 496?
I'm in the "it was kind of cute, but meh" category.

[Pagz]

Yea... I havent felt like this since the last scene of final fantasy 10

Well done to Ritch, is all I have to say :smallsmile:

[Lord_Butters_I]

Well done to Ritch, is all I have to say :smallsmile:

Who's Ritch?

[Sgilti]

As I'm rather new to OOTS, I was completely unaware of the whole "Third child" discussion. So seeing Roy's little brother hit me completely out of the blue. I can honestly say I got choaked up. Thank you, Rich, and keep up the good work.

[Covenantwgw]

It was a moving scene to be sure...but it didn't hit me nearly as hard as the end of "Start of Darkness" I seriously almost cried. I can't say why because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

[Arnen]

I was a little bit confused at first, since Roy's comment on not watching the grown-ups had me thinking maybe the brother was older, but once I figured it out I did feel my eyes watering up a bit. I just looked at it again, and it still has the same affect. Gotta respect Rich's writing ability; I've read award-winning novels in which the characterization wasn't this good.

[Alysar]

Aye... I think for most people the quality of art has little to do with the emotions or storytelling involved. Humans can pick up even the subtlest hint of emotion from objects, much of our brain is wired to do just that instinctively. (This is why we see "expressions" even on inanimate objects like cars, clouds, etc...)

So when a person goes about to tell a story, how he shows it (detailed drawings, photographs, stick figures or anything to that extent), if there's even the smallest hint of emotive expressiveness in the drawn characters then humans will pick it up and it won't really matter how "good" the drawing was.

Drawing style is really something that most humans are only affected by as an initial experience: that is, the style may be a factor in the decision to start reading or go to something else. Once you're in, to your brain it might as well be live action actors. We just need a little bit of suggested expression in an entity to assign it that expression.

Hopefully that helps clear up the confusion. =):smallbiggrin:

WIS: 21



damn the 10 character minimum

[Lord_Butters_I]

It was a moving scene to be sure...but it didn't hit me nearly as hard as the end of "Start of Darkness" I seriously almost cried. I can't say why because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

You can say why, just put in a spoiler block

[JoseB]

Well, #496 moved me. And it appears that a big majority of readers are moved as well, leaving the unaffected ones in the minority. I do not feel impatient about the pacing of the story as it is right now. Whatever happens happens. Besides, it's Rich's story, and he is telling it in his way.

I am sure that it will have something for everybody at some point, anyway.


Just my 2 eurocent!

[geekyhedgehog]

As I'm rather new to OOTS, I was completely unaware of the whole "Third child" discussion. So seeing Roy's little brother hit me completely out of the blue. I can honestly say I got choaked up. Thank you, Rich, and keep up the good work.

Its just one of those things you should have expected, but never did.

[Hefty Lefty]

It's hard to say this, because Rich is such a great writer and all, but I really don't like this plot hook. I'm getting really sick of "Roy in Heaven", because I know he's just going to get ressurected in 4 comics. This little brother thing just seems like something Rich is doing to draw 3 more comics out. I mean, it was a great comic, but it didn't draw me to tears, unlike Comic 417: The Most Important Place To Be (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0417.html)

[dragongirl13]

You're *sniff* tearing up because it's so *sniff* sad and *sniff* the Giant *sniff* really makes it easy to *sniff* sympathize with *sniff* Roy.

I *sniff* tear up *sniff* too.