The Stick Awards II: Second Edition (BotH [#0901-#1000]) [Semi #2]

[Porthos]

Welcome to The Stick Awards II: Second Edition!

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

Over the next couple of weeks, we're finishing up the Stick Awards II. Finally. The first thing on our plate is entering The Best of the Hundred Tournament for Comics #901 - #1000 as we take the time to decide which of the strips really are the best of best.

For full details about the Stick Awards, and any questions about them, please check out the main thread here.

To read more about the original Stick Awards, created by Nazzo, the 102nd, please read his thread here.

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

Voting, which only lasts five days during the Best of the Hundred Tournament will close on October 12th, 4pm EDT. Any votes made after that will NOT count toward the totals.

The winner of this semi-final will go on to the finals which will be held after this second semi-final is done. The two strips that get the most votes during the semis that DIDN'T win, will also reach the finals. So voting is extra special important this time around, as it will determine who the 'Wild Card' entrants are.

In the previous semi-final, 936 End of the Line decided getting into the finals of this Best of the Hundred would be a pretty neat ending after all. Thus it sailed on through.

Meanwhile, 906 Nothing Lasts Forever is currently holding down Wild Card spot #1 with 11 votes while 913 Independent has a solid grasp on Wild Card spot #2 with 7 votes. Thus if another strip is to enter the finals without winning this semi, it has to get at least 7 votes.

While one strip is sailing on to its next challenge, we still have to decide who will face it across the horizon. We do that by seeing if any of the following strips should be judged worthy in....

................THE STICK AWARDS II:
BEST OF THE HUNDRED TOURNAMENT (901-1000)
..............(Semi-Final #2)

957 - Takes One to Know One
969 - It's Only His SECOND Favorite Cuisine
979 - Fault Lines
981 - Followers Follow
1000 - Hel Polls for Thee

[Gift Jeraff]

#981One thousand kisses from the angels on my tummy,One thousand kisses from my mommy when I'm crummy,One thousand bumble-bees needed to make honey,One thousand nose wiggles like I'm a little bunny.One thousand lies that you said to me,One thousand sins leaves you dead within,One thousand nails that PIERCE YOUR SKIN!

[Jett Midknight]

As good as 1000 is, I think 981 takes it for me. Seeing Haley overcome this great obstacle from his past is great, and the emotion in the penultimate panel is great, only to have it go in a completely different direction in the last panel. I love it. For that reason I vote 981

[Jaxzan Proditor]

For me it's either 981 or 1000. I think I'll go for #1000.

[LadyEowyn]

While 1000 is going to win, I'm voting for 979 in hopes that it takes a wild card slot. While 981 is the end of that plotline, 979 is a stronger strip in terms of the interactions between Haley and Crystal. 981 is just them chatting after they've established that Crystal hated Bozzok more than Haley (and Haley taking advantage of Crystal not being the type to think); 979 is when Haley manages to talk Crystal around from homicidal rage against her to homicidal rage against her enemy. And the final full-page panel is impressive.

[Mordae]

981. Art + pathos = win.

[137beth]

For me, it is a close contest between 979 and 1000. I think I'll go with 979.

[Bird]

979 for me.

[thatSeniorGuy]

It's a tough choice between 979, 981 and 1000, but I'm going for 1000.

[Emanick]

I think I'll pick 1,000: Hel Polls for Thee. It's not clearly better than 979, but it comes across as more dramatic to me. Plus I'm more invested in Roy as a character than Haley, which means the big triple-0 resonates with me more strongly.

[zql]

My vote goes for 1000.
Can't believe 999 didn't make it here.

[Euclidodese]

Me vote for 1000. Me hope 1000 are become winner strip.

[Emperordaniel]

I think I'll throw #981 a pity vote this time 'round. Maybe it'll get into the wild cards or something.

[Laurana]

For me it's a race between 957 and 979. And #979 runs faster.
Lucky it wasn't a jumping contest.

[Arvedui]

I love 1000, but... 981.

[unbeliever536]

981 is an excellent end to the Tinkertown mini-arc, and 1000 is an excellent start to the climax of the Godsmoot arc. It's hard to decide between the two; 1000 has some underwhelming bits, but I think that's just because it has an extra page or so of content (the final page of 981 has more panels, but is comparable content-wise to the spread at the end of 1000). Ultimately, I think I'll have to go with 1000 because of it is the start of something, rather than the end of it, and because the content is vastly more important. Crystal and the Thieves' Guild were ultimately little more than speedbumps for the Order (and even for Haley), only able to barely hold their own against badly disadvantaged subsets of the Order, and they only ever meant anything for Haley and her growth. HPOH and his plans are a main plot story on the level of the trial from way back in Book 2, and he is significant for Durkon, Roy, Belkar, and to a lesser extent the entire rest of the Order. You can see it in how the strips end; Hel's plan and Roy's decision to fight her high priest gets a two page splash to emphasize it, while Crystal's (second) death and the end of the Thieves' Guild as an antagonistic group is capped with...brunch.

[Killer Angel]

At least this one is easy for me. 1000

[declinator]

Once more I find myself in a situation where I want to argue against 1k. It's too recent a strip, its meaning in the grand picture is not yet fully clear,... But it is just too magnificent to vote for anything else but 1000. Also, it probably helps my favourite from the first half to get to the wild card.

PS: Go

[littlebum2002]

Let's go with 981

[nogall]

1000, yessir.

[ChristianSt]

From time to time I feel obliged to throw in a vote for my favourite character. Put me down for 969 - It's Only His SECOND Favorite Cuisine.

[Pigkappa]

1000 and some words so that I can post this message

[ChillerInstinct]

981, for much the same reasons I voted for it the first time around. 1000 might be much more important to the plot of the book, but heck if 981 wasn't a great way to tie up the Crystal subplot on top of being one of the best-written and drawn strips thus far.

[Mike Havran]

I would have voted for #999 if possible, these are fairly balanced to me. I vote#957 because I think the previous semifinal batch is slightly better and I would like to have them take as much places in the finals as possible.

[AGD]

979 gets my Vote.

[zinycor]

My vote goes for 1000, Which makes me very sad since I didn't vote on Belkar :(

[Sylian]

1000 gets my vote.

[serenetempest]

Maybe if we hadn't been voting on so many big dramatic plot points last time I'd have picked 1000, but well done quieter moments are just as important to telling a good story. I vote for 981.

[Porthos]

Tough vote, but I'm in a mood to vote for 969 today. I know I should vote for 1000, but, I dunno. The growth of Belkar appeals this afternoon. Probably vote differently another day, but today it gets my vote.

And with that....

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED!

1000 - Hel Polls for Thee is the winner of this semi-final! It now moves on to the finals for the Best of the Hundred tournament (901-1000).

Keeping ahold of Wild Card slot #1 is 906 Nothing Lasts Forever which had 11 votes in the last semi.

Taking over Wild Card Slot #2 is 981 - Followers Follow which had eight votes in this semi.

Full Results are as follows:

.............THE STICK AWARDS II:
..BEST OF THE HUNDRED TOURNAMENT
......... (901-1000 | Semi-Final #2)

	Comic Number	Votes Received	Vote Percentage
	957	1	3.57
	969	2	7.14
	979	5	17.86
	981	8	28.57
	1000	12	42.86

Please join us as we finish up the final Best of the Hundred tournament, in this thread here.