The Sticks Awards: BotQ 351-375

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Hi, and welcome to The Sticks Awards - The Best of the Quarter!

The Sticks Awards are given to the best strips of all times, chosen by the polls here in the Playground. Read the The Sticks Awards Results Compilation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34791) thread for more details and previous results.

To vote, simply post your favorite strip of the current 5 on the thread. You have 3 days to do it.

The poll will close on February 21st, 3:00 PM forum default time.


The Best of the Quarter 351-375

352 The Turnaround (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0352.html)
357 Pen Beats Sword (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0357.html)
365 Caught in the Act (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0365.html)
367 Innocent Man (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0367.html)
374 Black and Blue (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0374.html)

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

I'm between 357 and 367, this last one just for Thog's line.

I'll go with 357, because it's so Belkar and the entire comic is good. :smallbiggrin:

[RMS Oceanic]

367 for me. Not-Nale is one of this strip's highlights.

[ZFR]

367 for me. Not-Nale is one of this strip's highlights.

Ditto. 367 for me as well.

[Chronos]

352 is quite possibly the most butt-kicking moment in the entire strip, and it's Durkon (and Thor) doing the kicking. So that's my vote.

But 367 is a close second, for Thog's speech.

[Morgan Wick]

The only reason I didn't decide on 357 before the voting started is because I didn't want to look like a Belkarite. But none of the others quite compete except 374. Which is odd, because when I was first formulating my predictions for this round, I expected 374 to trail way behind.

I'm voting for 374 mostly because Belkar becomes uncharacteristically preachy and cheezy in 357 ("More plot-critical characters than you have tried and failed"). And Yokyok has several panels where Belkar is just standing there waiting for the heroes to come out where he could just resume the chase or even kill him right there.

[CasESenSITItiVE]

lol, gotta be 367, that not-nale thing was one of my favourite parts of the comic

[Shishnarfne]

I'll take 374... "Let's see who can hit the lightest!"

[memnarch]

Three hundred fifty seven

[SteveMB]

367 Innocent Man

[Souju]

nale nail not-nale with a pale pail...
367, because homonyms are fun :)

[kabbor]

While I cannot decide whether the best line was "not nale, not-nale", or the simple, heartrending "i need to warn haley", but there is no question that 376 (Innocent man) nails this award.

[Parvum]

I am terribly saddened that a rapid kobold breeding cycle did not produce more of the YY family. I, for one, want to see either a triumphant return or (as I stated somewhere else on the forum) Belkar working his way through the alphabet until he gets to PP.

Vote to the poor 357.

[kukn]

A bit of a weak quarter imho. 352 and 367 are the only better ones, though def. not my favourites of the hundred.

367, though it is almost a bit too puzzling to read well. For the various retorts, mainly "thog too pretty for prison" and the fact that I've seen players dig themselves deeper and deeper into trouble just like Elan with his explaining.

[Kurald Galain]

Tough choice, because I really like not-nale and Yokyok's demise, but I'm going to vote for 352 because it's completely awesome.

Plus it has nice vapid dialog by Julia, and a "you are SO going to die now" look by Vaarsuvius. 352 ftw!

[Glyde]

352 for sure. I like epic strips like that.

[greecetrap]

No doubt,

367.

[hajo]

The Best of the Quarter 351-375
352 The Turnaround (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0352.html)
357 Pen Beats Sword (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0357.html)
365 Caught in the Act (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0365.html)
367 Innocent Man (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0367.html)
374 Black and Blue (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0374.html)

I vote 357 - "Heros needed" :smallbiggrin:

[gusk]

I'll go for 367 with thog and not-Nale, not Nale.

[gusk]

I'll go for 367 with thog and not-Nale, not Nale.

[Icewalker]

I was going to say 365 for "Not! Helping!"

But 367 has one of the best quotes of OOTS...I had that one in my sig for a while.

hehe...not-nale.

[mockingbyrd7]

Well 352 is epic and one of Durkon's only shining moments, 357 is pretty funny, 365 is okay, 374 is also funny, but for me 367 takes the prize. It was a huge development for Elan, my favorite character, and had some amazing lines for Thog.

367 it is, 352 second.

[AlisdairM]

Read this set in reverse order for a change, and worried that nothing was going to stand out as a special best-of-century strip.

Then finished up with the big strip for my favourite bearded wonder!

So no contest, #352 all the way.

[David Argall]

374 gets my vote.

[serpent615]

Hello.

My name is Inigo Montoya. Yokyok.

You killed my father.

Prepare to die.

:smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin: :smallbiggrin:
...o yeah, #357

[Catskin]

This was the first time it was easy for me: 367. Thog's "not-nale" thing is brilliant, equally so that grin he gives the guard one panel later. Makes me want to adopt the bugger.

Also, "Not-Nale's" final plea and the zooming out panels were a nice touch of tenderness and artistry.

[phobiandarkmoon]

367 for the win, please!

[Yerocha]

You know, I was originally going to vote 365 for being one of my favourite moments. Then I actually re-read 367.

I'm voting for 367.

[SlightlyEvil]

My vote goes to 367. Thog's line makes it hilarious, but the guard's response is gold.

"not nale, not-nale. thog help nail not-nale, not nale. and thog knot not-nale while nale nail not-nale. nale, not not-nale, now nail not-nale by leaving not-nale, not nale, in jail."

"...Pleading insanity, then?"

[carebearbecky]

At the risk of going with the majority - Thog wins it. 367.

[Yendor]

I'm going with 352. V's reaction is great.

[TroyXavier]

365.....so Nale:smallsmile:

[Morgan Wick]

I am very surprised at this. I'm going to withhold further comment until the polls close to avoid influencing the vote, I just want to say I am very surprised at this.

I mean, 367 is really a two, more one-and-a-half note strip.

[Vargtass]

This was a close call between all of them. But I go with the dramatics of 352, the Turnaround.

[Aethir]

352 for Durkon's asskickery.

[Reigheena]

My vote's for 357.

[Morgan Wick]

Well, here's what I said in the last thread:

...my personal feeling is that #352 and #367 are among the weaker ones in the bunch, though #367 won in an even bigger landslide than 374 in its group of five, going up against a fairly strong #369.

Well, 374 placed second-to-last and 367 did something I didn't expect ANY strip in this quarter to do. I'm shocked by that and I'm shocked by the pitiful performance of 365. Of the things I'm really surprised by, I'm least surprised by the second place showing of 352.

In the next round, 385 is probably the weakest strip (and it received quite a battle from 383 last round), with 393 being the heavyweight for those who vote on plot (as well as the pure Haley fans), 379 being the heavyweight for those who vote on funny, 397 being the heavyweight for those who vote on references and metahumor, and 387 being the heavyweight for those who vote on all of the above.

379 won in a humoungous, absolutely incredible landslide in its group of five, while 387 got a challenge from 386 - but 393 also cleaned up in its group as well, as did 397, despite 398 getting a significant number of votes and 400 being a strong strip from a plot perspective that didn't measure up in the voting.

I don't have a clue what's going to happen and I'm not ruling out another landslide after what happened here. I could also see a tight three- or four-way battle for votes. Don't underestimate the power of 387 in this voting round just because it struggled a little against another strong strip, either.

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

a lot of good comments

Hey Morgan, I really like this you're doing. It's like those guys that comment a live broadcast of a sports game. :smallbiggrin: I don't know how they're called in the US, I believe it's "commentators" (duh). :smalltongue:

Well, the poll is closed. The results are below.


352 - 7 (21.21%)
Chronos; Kurald Galain; Glyde; AlisdairM; Yendor; Vargtass; Aethir

357 - 6 (18.18%)
Nazzo, the 102nd; memnarch; Parvum; hajo; serpent615; Reigheena

365 - 1 (3.03%)
TroyXavier

367 - 16 (48.48%)
RMS Oceanic; ZFR; CasESenSITItiVE; SteveMB; Souju; kabbor; kukn; greecetrap; gusk; Icewalker; mockingbyrd7; PoofBunny; phobiandarkmoon; Yerocha; SlightlyEvil; carebearbecky

374 - 3 (9.09%)
Morgan Wick; Shishnarfne; David Argall