Order of the Stick: The Manga

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Perhaps you could talk to Rich about making an official manga translation after the last book was in stores? I guess that would be legal, but would depend in his aproval, anyway


Your work is really awesome, but it's a different kind of awesome than OotS itself. Rich is more of a comic/drama/adventure... writer, and he chose a medium that would favor the jokes, but it works for the drama as well.

Your style is mor about the show, the flashy battles(I liked Soon's katana) and more importantly, a *Second viewpoint*. If I read his comics, then yours, I will gaze upon a different understanding of the story

Manga is better suited to drama and adventure than you might think.

But yes, if anything, what would be best is a spinoff story, if Rich okayed it.

[Lix Lorn]

That would be epic-
...
Is that Mal?

[wootage]

This has been discussed, at length. The bottom line was the stick figure style both directly and indirectly affects the humor. While manga style is good for a few scenes, a full reproduction would not be worth it.

Not to reopen the discussion you mentioned, but I disagree completely. The worth is in the eye of the beholder, and those who are comfortable with stick figure comics are a much smaller audience than those who like the manga style.

As regards "preserving the humor", the only thing I can see that you'd lose are jokes about the stick figures. That's not really a big impact for me. I keep reading this comic for the story, and for me, Elagune's representation brings a hella more impact to the story than the stick style.

[Comet]

Honestly, most of the comics would be pretty boring in manga form. Talking heads much, anyone?

Besides, I have to admit that I'm rather tired of things being turned into manga to sell it to an audience that wouldn't give a damn about it otherwise.

Having said that, I'm pretty sad that Elagune hasn't been on here for a while. His art is pretty sweet. I would like to see where Pray n' Play is going, too.

[Lix Lorn]

449 would be amazing. So dramatic.

[Kumo]

449 would be amazing. So dramatic.

... that one HAS been done >.>

[Kumo]

Not to reopen the discussion you mentioned, but I disagree completely. The worth is in the eye of the beholder, and those who are comfortable with stick figure comics are a much smaller audience than those who like the manga style.

As regards "preserving the humor", the only thing I can see that you'd lose are jokes about the stick figures. That's not really a big impact for me. I keep reading this comic for the story, and for me, Elagune's representation brings a hella more impact to the story than the stick style.

The stick figure style enhances a lot of the jokes, not just the ones that make fun of the style. PLEASE don't ask me to name them, going through the archives is a bitch.

[Lix Lorn]

...so it has.
It's as amazing as i imagined.

Elagune must be a future psychic!

I dunno... i just re-read like half the archive, and didn't see even one.

[wootage]

The stick figure style enhances a lot of the jokes, not just the ones that make fun of the style. PLEASE don't ask me to name them, going through the archives is a bitch.

Then I've never noticed that - yet I still read the comic. That's why I say a different form would work for a different audience. You've got to admit that just being able to read a stick-figure comic puts you pretty far outside of the range of the "average reader".

In the end, whether an audience exists for a given portrayal of a story is an emotional decision, not a logical one. So you can't decide it by discussion, you have to try it out to find out what people feel about it.

If you'd have talked to me about OOTS done in manga style before, I'd have said "meh. I dunno if it'll make any difference at all". Now that I've seen what Elagune's done, I'm a friggin' fan. The stick figure style may work for a lot of things (mostly subtle and/or stick-figure-humor related imho), but Elagune's work hits the big things - there's way more expressiveness and characterization? to the characters, and what it does for the action scenes is in a whole 'nother league.

And it's perfectly natural that this should be the case, because unlike stick figures, realistic characters have faces and bodies to work with. I'm sure that if Rich chose to go with a realistic style, the same would happen.

[Kumo]

Then I've never noticed that - yet I still read the comic. That's why I say a different form would work for a different audience. You've got to admit that just being able to read a stick-figure comic puts you pretty far outside of the range of the "average reader".

In the end, whether an audience exists for a given portrayal of a story is an emotional decision, not a logical one. So you can't decide it by discussion, you have to try it out to find out what people feel about it.

If you'd have talked to me about OOTS done in manga style before, I'd have said "meh. I dunno if it'll make any difference at all". Now that I've seen what Elagune's done, I'm a friggin' fan. The stick figure style may work for a lot of things (mostly subtle and/or stick-figure-humor related imho), but Elagune's work hits the big things - there's way more expressiveness and characterization? to the characters, and what it does for the action scenes is in a whole 'nother league.

And it's perfectly natural that this should be the case, because unlike stick figures, realistic characters have faces and bodies to work with. I'm sure that if Rich chose to go with a realistic style, the same would happen.

I know, it works great for the big dramatic/cinematic scenes, i was trying to point out it wouldn't work for all 703 comics so far.

[LurkerInPlayground]

The stick figure style enhances a lot of the jokes, not just the ones that make fun of the style. PLEASE don't ask me to name them, going through the archives is a bitch.

No it doesn't.

I do not fault Rich for using the style, but there's little other to say that that Rich uses template art.

He's clearly capable of drawing the strip in crayons if he wanted to. One logically assumes he could use a tablet and stylus to do it as well. And from there, it's merely a matter of experimentation to improve. (Yes, on stick-figures. They can be a bit lifeless or even seem a bit manufactured.)

[Kumo]

No it doesn't.

I do not fault Rich for using the style, but there's little other to say that that Rich uses template art.

*shrug* i don't fault you for thinking so. i still say you're wrong, but hey. your opinion.

(Yes, on stick-figures. They can be a bit lifeless or even seem a bit manufactured.)

Yeah, if you pay that much attention to the fact they're stick figures.

[Lix Lorn]

I think he uses stick figures because it plays up the satirical elements. A manga would play up the drama.

And oh? I've seen plenty of mangas/animes with long plot exposition scenes and the like. None of them are that much worse than this.

[wootage]

Honestly, most of the comics would be pretty boring in manga form. Talking heads much, anyone?

Besides, I have to admit that I'm rather tired of things being turned into manga to sell it to an audience that wouldn't give a damn about it otherwise.

Having said that, I'm pretty sad that Elagune hasn't been on here for a while. His art is pretty sweet. I would like to see where Pray n' Play is going, too.

Well, I like manga because a) it's pretty much all independent artists, and I really support that - the manga industry in Japan is way more the ideal of the "American way" than the American way-, and b) it works really well for characterization. You can tell me any story in that style and I find it engaging. Although you can leave off the sweat drops and nosebleeds - those are particular to Japanese culture and kind of break immersion for me. The face faults are great though, they actually add to the experience for me.

It's actually very common that a story is written in a specific format for a certain audience, but later it's adapted to work with a different format that serves a different audience better. What matters is that they keep the "heart and soul" of the story really, and as long as it's done really well (like by a fan who really gets the story in collaboration with the author), great success has been had.

I'm sure we can all name plenty of examples. Some off of the top of my head are the Lord of the Rings books / Peter Jackson's movies, The Chronicles of Narnia books / movies, etc.

Heck, my first graphic novel ever was the Star Wars graphic novel. That's a conversion of a movie that was a conversion of a book. And it was great for me - I read the book a few times, saw the movie a lot, but that graphic novel is what I remember most from that time.

[Lix Lorn]

Well said.

...Star Wars was a book?

[Kumo]

Well said.

...Star Wars was a book?

Tons of movies became books.

[Lix Lorn]

Ooooh. I thought you meant book THEN film. THUS confused.

[Hat-Trick]

It was a book first, all lightsabers were blue, and so was yoda...

[Lix Lorn]

...huh. Weird. Ok.

[chiasaur11]

The book came out first, but it was based off of the film's script rather than the other way around. Long story.

[Lix Lorn]

Yeah, i just looked it up. XD

[Raenir Salazar]

Not to reopen the discussion you mentioned, but I disagree completely. The worth is in the eye of the beholder, and those who are comfortable with stick figure comics are a much smaller audience than those who like the manga style.

As regards "preserving the humor", the only thing I can see that you'd lose are jokes about the stick figures. That's not really a big impact for me. I keep reading this comic for the story, and for me, Elagune's representation brings a hella more impact to the story than the stick style.

I would also enjoy a full conversion, I love Rich's art style then again getting to see it all again the story, the characters everything from a completely different view point would also be fantastic.

[Lissou]

While I find Elagune's version a lot, it's Elagune's interpretation, vision and so on.
With stick figures, the way the characters look, their exact expression, and many details are left to the reader. You can tell just by following earlier this thread: not everyone for instance had the same vision of Haley.

I think OOTS style allows the reader to really imagine a lot, just like a novel would. The visual clues are there but not overwhelming. Any adaptation would be just that, an adaptation, and just like a movie made out of a book it would be more restrictive (you can't imagine what the characters look like as much), and although some would like it and some not, it would only be one possible version.

Even just going with manga, every manga artist would end up with a different manga. Different representation of the characters, different angles/points of views, different numbers of panels. As such I don't think there could even be a "real" manga version, but only one out of many (same goes with pretty much every style).

Although it could work, it wouldn't be the same at all, and I wouldn't like seeing any "official" version, I much prefer having the option to say "it's this fan's vision of things".

[Lix Lorn]

That would be nice, but the problem is money. No-one has the time to do it unless they can make money from it, and it would be near-impossible to get permission for one adaption, let alone many.

[wootage]

While I find Elagune's version a lot, it's Elagune's interpretation, vision and so on.
With stick figures, the way the characters look, their exact expression, and many details are left to the reader. You can tell just by following earlier this thread: not everyone for instance had the same vision of Haley.

I think OOTS style allows the reader to really imagine a lot, just like a novel would. The visual clues are there but not overwhelming. Any adaptation would be just that, an adaptation, and just like a movie made out of a book it would be more restrictive (you can't imagine what the characters look like as much), and although some would like it and some not, it would only be one possible version.

Even just going with manga, every manga artist would end up with a different manga. Different representation of the characters, different angles/points of views, different numbers of panels. As such I don't think there could even be a "real" manga version, but only one out of many (same goes with pretty much every style).

Although it could work, it wouldn't be the same at all, and I wouldn't like seeing any "official" version, I much prefer having the option to say "it's this fan's vision of things".

Very true about the different conceptions. The stick style is about the most minimal one there is, and therefore leaves the most to the imagination. Incidentally, it also requires the most imagination to interpret, thereby creating a barrier to acceptance. That's probably why I found the manga style so striking - by using many emotive elements at once, it's the opposite end of the spectrum.

Regarding adaptation and the different views that each artist may have, that's par for the course, really. In Elagune's work for example, I noticed that Haley's manga-style physique wasn't at all like Rich has intimated. She's more full-figured than Celia, for instance - can't find the comic link, but Celia mentioned (repeatedly) having to take in Haley's borrowed pants. But those are things you work out with the creator, and just like OOTS as it is now isn't perfect, any adaptation will never be perfect either.

But when all's said and done, I'll take the imperfections in a second if it brings in a whole new audience for the OOTS story ;)

[Ranger Mattos]

I just looked at this for the first time.

THIS. IS. SPARTA EPICCCCCCC!!!

[Lix Lorn]

Sparta has NOTHING on Elagune.

[Kumo]

Sparta has NOTHING on Elagune.

Well sure, not anymore. They're dead.

[Lix Lorn]

Don't you use Logic on me. -_-

[Kobold-Bard]

Well sure, not anymore. They're dead.

Technically so is this thread so they can fight again if they really want to.