The Sticks Awards 451-455

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Hi, and welcome to The Sticks Awards!

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 May 2nd, 8:00 PM forum default time.


The Sticks Awards 451-455

451 Change of Direction (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0451.html)
452 Breaking and Entering (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0452.html)
453 Heck of a Fight (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0453.html)
454 The Longshot (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0454.html)
455 Incoming! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0455.html)

[Yendor]

Elan's illusions are priceless, but I'm going to hand it to Redcloak's epiphany in 451.

[Prowl]

I like #453 the best, a lot of really good jokes packed into one strip.

[Chronos]

I've got to go with the cleric on this one.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure which cleric. Durkon gets one of his few solid humor moments in 453, but Redcloak's character development in 451 is pretty important. Humor or drama... humor or drama...

I guess I'll go with 451.

[Kol Korran]

451 from me as well. a major development in RC's character, and i also love the roach on the racoon "TO WAR!". had me laughing quite a bit.

[Kol Korran]

- sorry, double post -

[MyrddinDerwydd]

Yeah, the Racoon was tempting too, but 453 is better to me.

[Remirach]

I can't vote for 451 enough. A pivotal moment of character development that also spurs a massive change in the tide of battle. It's also a nice (and rather unexpected) response to 190 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0190.html). Clearly if there's one thing Redcloak DOESN'T want to be, it's Xykon's protégé.

[Ghastly Epigram]

Going for green on this one. #451 please.

[Mechsae]

I going to have to vote for "Giant Dwarf with a hammer" ... I mean 453

Comedy spurs me to vote more than epic moments

[Page606]

I will have to take 455 simply for the T-Shirt design.

[Niknokitueu]

It was a tough call for me. Redcloak gave a massif speech in 451, but the "I call my proposal Giant Dwarf with a Hammer" in 453 is also as good.

In the end, there can be only one. In this case, four-five-one.

451 for the win.

Have Fun!
Niknokitueu

[Knouge]

Hmm... I think I'll vote #451, if not only because of the character developpement it brings to Redcloak. A really good strip in my opinion.

[Echowinds]

I like both 453 and 451, but I think I prefer #453.

[Felixaar]

I'm gunna break tradition and go with 452

[hajo]

451 Change of Direction (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0451.html)
452 Breaking and Entering (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0452.html)
453 Heck of a Fight (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0453.html)
454 The Longshot (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0454.html)
455 Incoming! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0455.html)

I vote 453 "Giant dwarf with hammer".

[AlisdairM]

OK, another really tough set to call. Curse you giant and your consistent high quality! And 5 double-length strips as well!

Redcloaks epiphany has been a favourite of mine from the day it appeared. V's dissappearance has some wonderfully understated artwork that is worth taking time to appreciate. Giant Dwarf with a hammer has a nice range of gags as multiple vested interests collide. Hayley's magic arrow is probably the weakest of these strips - which is saying something about the others! And Elan's illusion is an awesome finale for the set.

So I ruled out one of five strips, not a good start!

I'm tempted to pull out my trusty D4 at this point, but that feels cheating. My usual response, when in doubt, is to ask which strip works best when taken on its own, without the surrounding story - as I'm sure one day the 'Nazzo top 10' will be seen as a way tyo introduce new readers. And in that case I must vote #453 as most of its jokes work as well without the story. The other strips give away too much for the casual reader before they jump into the strip proper. Certainly the first two would be big spoilers, although still worthy winners.

A tough week to be sure!

[TroyXavier]

We're getting close to the end of voting..wow.:smallsmile:

Anyways, 451 though 455 is close.

[Jarwy]

455, it shows just how easy hobgoblins are to trick.

[warmachine]

#453. I just love the phrase "I can make any saving throw you can dish out, skeleton."

[Mordae]

451 and 452 are both great for plot, but 453 gets my vote. It has too many great lines not to achieve victory!

[VForVaarsuvius]

I have to go with 455. What's more hularious then the illusions themselves is that the goblins actually buy it.

\V/

[Morty]

I'm going with #451 here. Long live Redcloak and goblin solidarity.

[Kato]

Hm... hard decision... I think I'll go for 451, cause RC's turn of attitude is so plot relevant.

If I had to got by jokes, it'd probably be 454... though the shirts in 455 are also hilarious, hehe.

[dish]

Tempted by 455, but I'll go for 453.

[Calinero]

451. Possibly one of the best pages in the entire comic. It really shows how deep a character Redcloak is. All of these ones are pretty good, though.

[phobiandarkmoon]

451 for me

[David Argall]

I'll go 455, with 453 getting honorable mention

[Saint Nil]

Hmm , 455 was close, but I have to go with 451.

Redcloak acting as close to good as he can. I can't resist.

[greecetrap]

451.

It's this strip that made me like Redcloak, alot. I didn't especially enjoy his character, but now...he has feeling, and actually feels the pain of others; even though he's an evil guy, this strip actually made me forget that.

I know, I'm such a dork. :smalltongue:

[Sludge-o-matic]

453. No kill stealing.

[Mauve Shirt]

451, definitely.

[Jake]

452. Gotta respect the drama.

[gusk]

#453
... whew:smallsigh: that was some heck of a choice

[Kurald Galain]

I voted for 455 and all I got was this lousy post.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

[Forealms]

It probably won't win, and I do like the others, but my vote is going to go to 455. Elan occasionally has his uses.

[Elder Tsofu]

455 it is, but it was a difficult. :smallfrown:

[kukn]

451. Because the "humanity" of the "evil npcs" is one of the great things in the comic. Recloak's realisation and sudden change of heart got me close to tears tbh.

But 452 and 453 were pretty good too.

[SlightlyEvil]

451, easily. When he actually gets character development, Redcloak is a great character. This strip gave him a strong enough motivation (at least, from the perspective of those who have not read SoD) to make him a sympathetic yet still evil villain. Also, this is just one of several awesome speeches in this arc. The war sequence was a veritable goldmine of amazing speeches, from Elan's "inspirational" speech to Soon's speech to Miko.

[aapje]

I am going with #455

[Reigheena]

My vote's for 453

[Superglucose]

451.

451.

Just in case you didn't get the message, 451.

[Zed the Sharp]

They're all pretty good, or better. And although it looks like 451 will win, my vote is for 452. Panel 3 has a nice sense of scale that I appreciate, and panel 5 has more emotion than you'd usually expect from a stick-figure comic.

[Haleyintraining]

455. The T-shirts? Priceless.:smallwink:

[Morgan Wick]

Well, this is very interesting.

I didn't expect the crowd to turn out for 453 like it did, and I have no explanation for it because 455 is a lot funnier for me. Is it the Durkon crowd turning out? But seeing 451 get a fairly easy victory is not as much of a surprise. (Did I really count zero votes for 454?)

Well, 456 is a strip that I think is funny and I would be shocked if you people didn't agree. It's probably the early favorite for the next round. 457 will get votes, while people who want to see more Linear Guild will turn out for 458. The museum crowd will like 459 because it's so long, and contains a number of important developments. 460 is plot-important and will turn out the Miko crowd; how it does could prefigure how 461 does.

I think if any strip challenges 456, it'll be 459, though all of the strips will certainly get votes.

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

The poll is (finally) closed.

Okay, someday you'll get used with my delays. :smalltongue:


451 - 18 (42.85%)
Yendor; Chronos; Kol Korran; Remirach; Ghastly Epigram; Niknokitueu; Knouge; TroyXavier; M0rt; Kato; Calinero; phobiandarkmoon; Saint Nil; greecetrap; Mauve Shirt; kukn; SlightlyEvil; Superglucose

452 - 3 (7.14%)
Felixaar; Jake; Zed the Sharp

453 - 12 (28.57%)
Prowl; MyrddinDerwydd; Mechsae; Echowinds; hajo; AlisdairM; warmachine; Mordae; dish; Sludge-o-matic; gusk; Reigheena

454 - 0 (0.00%)


455 - 9 (21.42%)
Page606; Jarwy; VForVaarsuvius; David Argall; Kurald Galain; Forealms; Elder Tsofu; aapje; Haleyintraining

[David Argall]

Amazing. I would argue that 451 was the worst [or rather least good] of the batch.

[Morgan Wick]

Amazing. I would argue that 451 was the worst [or rather least good] of the batch.

People don't just vote for how good a strip is. There is no debating that 451 is the most plot-important strip of the bunch. Oh, and people love Redcloak from reading Start of Darkness and love his shining moments, especially ones where he softens up.

[Trizap]

I vote 455! "I killed a PC and all I got was this lousy T-shirt!" :smallbiggrin:

[Remirach]

People don't just vote for how good a strip is. There is no debating that 451 is the most plot-important strip of the bunch. Oh, and people love Redcloak from reading Start of Darkness and love his shining moments, especially ones where he softens up.

Character development is one of those things that goes into what I consider a "good" strip. And I loved Redcloak before picking up Start of Darkness -- the reason I bought that one before the others (I couldn't afford them all at once) was specifically because he was one of the major characters.

[Cleverdan22]

453. Got a good fight scene, as well as "Giant Dwarf with hammer."