Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XXVII: God Has Nothing to do With This

[TheLaughingMan]

Oh god.

I just saw "My children saved me" on a magazine and it's all your fault.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh

Have you read Hitmen for Destiny?

bad art

Stop there. Serviceable art is pivitol in comics. Comics are a visual medium, and as such your readers are going to end up staring at it a good percent of the time. If he writes a good story, he should start writing a web novel, but unless he can improve art-wise, he might want to contact an artist.

Think of it this way. We spend around 40% of the time here critiquing Mookie's art, and the other 60% about writing, story structure, and so forth. If Mookie manned-up and decided to get someone good to do art for him, we'd be mostly restricted to that 60%. If you can eliminate art issues, you increase the overall quality of the experience.

[T-O-E]

1. This particular comic would not work as a novel. It has to be a visual experience.

2. Many many panels. Many many pages. It would take years to do.

3. It's already over. The creator has moved on to other things.

4. He does not get paid and has not made any money off of it.

5. Artist/writer deals tend to be pretty risky. Sometimes the artist wants money or doesn't stick to schedules or maybe he isn't doing things how you want them to go, or maybe he disappeared off the face of the internet like countless other people.

I'm of the opinion that the art is functional and that other aspects of the comic redeem it. It's ugly at first but you get used to it and he does get better at it.
Nicer art would be great but there's nothing else like this and if I have to look at bad art to read it then so be it. Despite these gaping flaws in presentation, it is still in my opinion the best webcomic.

[Fawkes]

Oh yeah, this is fantastic.

[Lord Seth]

Just on the topic of webcomics, I don't think the good/bad ratio is all that different than most other mediums. Print comics and manga suffer just as much from terrible entries, as do television, video-games, music, ect.

No, webcomics have a worse good/bad ratio because there is nothing stopping some random person from making a bad webcomic. On TV, books, and the rest, while there's some bad stuff, the rigamarole of getting things made gives a better ratio. Yeah, a bunch of bad stuff slips through and some good stuff is halted, but it results in a whole lot of the bad stuff being stopped. In a medium like webcomics, where there is nothing stopping someone from making one, there's going to be a worse ratio.

And, in all these cases, there are people who like the terrible ones, in spite of my pleas to the see the folly of their ways (see one of my friends and twilight).

Twilight--the first book at least--isn't terrible, it's just mediocre and dumb.

[TheLaughingMan]

Oh yeah, this is fantastic.

Oh god I can't unsee it.

...It's okay. Artists improve over time, right? Let's see the last strip.

...

sdigbhoaiubfn

[Domochevsky]

Don't be such a graphic-whore, Laughing Man. It's functional in this instance and the author has a genuinely decent story to tell.

[Thrawn183]

Yeah next you'll be saying that a webcomic could never work if it was done in say... stick figures.

[TheLaughingMan]

Yeah next you'll be saying that a webcomic could never work if it was done in say... stick figures.

OoTS is as minimalistic as I'll go. That... no. I know I sound like a snob. I know. But... no. Just no. I'm sorry.

...

Let's get on another topic before my standards get me sleeping with the fishes, yes?

...

Dammit Mookie.

[Trazoi]

DD's art would be good enough if the story and/or jokes were strong enough. Any serious critiques I make of the art are usually because the art is either a) unclear, b) clearly wrong, or c) lazy (this last one being the biggest problem.)

Usually I don't mind rough art in a webcomic, but I must admit I never got that far into Hitmen for Destiny. It might be because it appeared to be a serious story comic, but the art looked like if Maniac Mansion was drawn in MS Paint. Not that Maniac Mansion wasn't awesome, but it's hard to follow the story when my subconscious keeps on saying "pick up hamster".

Re: snark rangers: Seriously guys, if you're going to put that in the OP then I'm way too old to be The Hero. That's a job for a teenager with an interesting hairstyle and a talking pet. I'd prefer Trickster Mentor or Team Mom.

[TheLaughingMan]

Re: snarkerangers: Seriously guys, if you're going to put that in the OP then I'm way too old to be The Hero. That's a job for a teenager with an interesting hairstyle and a talking pet. I'd prefer Trickster Mentor or Team Mom.

Oh, get off your low-horse and just accept you have a place of importance. Besides, being The Hero isn't about "hair" or gimmicks, it's about being a fair leader, and the Heart. I can't accept Herohood, as I'm too biased against Mookie. colonelslime can't be leader because he seems to distant. (no offense) Seriously, the situation is that no one else has done enough and had the right traits to be considered the Hero.

tl;dr: This whole thread is an ensemble piece, and I needed to pick someone. You were the closest fit.

[Fawkes]

I humbly volunteer to answer the call and swap tropes with Trazoi.

[TheLaughingMan]

Only if I get to add Refusal of The Call and The Unchosen One to you both.

[colonelslime]

Well, DD can only hold a passing amount of my attention, I have life to deal with, you know.

Honestly, I'm flattered that I got noticed at all.

One thing I'll say about Hitmen for Destiny, from the strips I've read at least, is that I almost never had trouble figuring out what was going on. While the art is a little ugly, the characters are distinguishable, the action flows, and no one is ever missing a body part.

Art is important, but I've seen worse serialized in newspapers. It would require clean-up for print to be sure, but it's not terrible, and I think most of the ugliness comes from the fact that, as Trazoi said, the mspaint comes out a little too much.

(I though maniac mansion too)

[Garland]

Well, it could be said that if we can criticize someone for not working with an editor/writer, we could do the same for not getting an at least decent artist.

...But then I remember Dominic Deegan... Mookie should have a writer, editor, AND artist.

[Lord Seth]

Yeah next you'll be saying that a webcomic could never work if it was done in say... stick figures.

Hitmen for Destiny's art isn't bad because it's crude, it's bad because it's crude but is trying to be more. Let's take my one of my favorite newspaper comic strips, Pearls Before Swine. Take a look. You might notice that the drawings are quite simplistic, about on par with Order of the Stick's. The thing is, however, that it's supposed to be that way so it works. Stephen Pastis, the author, knows he can't draw very well (he's said so in book commentaries) so he picked a minimalistic style that works for him. Even if it's fairly primitive, it manages to be endearing because it does exactly what it's supposed to. Hitmen for Destiny's art is trying to be more than it is and fails.

Basically, if (in terms of art) Pearls Before Swine aims low and hits, Hitmen for Destiny aims higher and misses. And even if it's a low hit, a hit is better than a miss.

[Lillith]

Speaking about that list, I´m anything but a Femme Fatale. After asking my friends they said I´m more of a Dandere then anything else. Does that help with the list making?

[T-O-E]

New comic.
Epilepsy Karnak panel four?

Spoiler

Show

Oh yeah, this is fantastic.

You're still at the crappy start.

Usually I don't mind rough art in a webcomic, but I must admit I never got that far into Hitmen for Destiny. It might be because it appeared to be a serious story comic, but the art looked like if Maniac Mansion was drawn in MS Paint. Not that Maniac Mansion wasn't awesome, but it's hard to follow the story when my subconscious keeps on saying "pick up hamster".

I don't see how this could be anything but a benefit considering the adventure sequences and overall lighthearted absurdity of the comic.

...and no one is ever missing a body part.

Actually, they do. It's just they don't get them back.

[/fanboyism]

[Humbug]

I'm guessing Mookie has never thrown polearms before, because that's not how you do it and expect to hit something. Hell, I don't throw polearms and even I know it doesn't work that way.

[T-O-E]

Is that what happened? I thought he just got really mad and killed that thing with the power of his rage/magic.

[Rappy]

Hey, look, another human-legged dragony critter.

Also, yeah, I'm not sure what's up with the trident toss either. Although it certainly looks familiar... *Cough*Bortandtheurinecloud*cough*

[guttering flame]

Remember, Karnak grew up with the Tienchak. He's got secret Orc techniques

[Castel]

So... back to square one?

[Fishy Fishy]

By the way, is your name a reference to Axe Cop? I can't remember if there was a villain named, "Fishy Fishy," but it seems like an Axe Cop-y name.

Nope. I do read Axe Cop, but I'm not named after it.

I have no idea what's happening in today's comic. Karnak sees a flyey thing, he's looking at the flyey thing. Siggy telepathically yells his name. Karnak has an involuntary bowel movement. Karnak throws his trident at the flyey thing to eliminate the witness and scampers offstage to find some clean pants. Bulgak and Loxo cower behind a rock and supply what's intended to be a joke.

Does panel five look like a kid running to anyone else?

[guttering flame]

The timeline is pretty confusing. In the present the OrcButt duo sees Karnak killing everybody else including dinohomobirdies and Siggie has his Khaaaan! moment. Shortly before apparently Siggie cut the tentamountain and is demasked (culminating in his Khaaan! moment at the present). I wonder what he did during all the time between getting his orders (a couple of months/years ago?) and and now. Fed his dinopet on tasty damned morsels?

Well that made sense.

[Lillith]

Does panel five look like a kid running to anyone else?

Weird concept of running you got there. It´s more like... I dunno... walking/skipping something? But not running as in 'he's in a hurry' running no. Karnak does look like a kid though, but that's impossible cause there's only one kid in the Dominion. That of the stripper. Who's mom is prolly gonna die because Luna needs to get her offshoot somewhere and that girl is already blond so they'd be able to claim as theirs. Also then Mookie can be lazy and doesn't have to come up with another new char that totally looks like everybody else, IN KIDS FORM!

[Coidzor]

Nimmel Siggy is going to look like an angry orc with an octopus on his head.

So... Who wants to take any guesses as to what Bulgak would look like upon turning into a demon lord? haha. I dunno why but... yeah... amused face.

[averagejoe]

I think it's always a wheat/chaff situation; webcomics show it more because we have instant access to all the bad ones.

Plus you notice the bad ones more, because of all those jerks who spend their time lambasting the bad ones while saying next to nothing about the good ones.

On today's comic: Okay, what? Why did he kill that dragon? None of this makes sense. Why is Off Topic my only comfort?

[Wraith]

Karnak killed the Demon-Dragon because it was there. He needs no reason, just an excuse. He's evil, you know.

And is it just me, or does Panel 3 look completely out of context? I mean, I understand that mookie was going for "Karnak is surprised, or at least angered, by being yelled at by his minion".
To me, however, it looks like the sort of surprised expression that you get when someone just walked in behind him and caught him doing something that he shouldn't.

That's not a "What!?! How dare he!?!" face, that's a "Oh god, how do I explain my way out of this one!?" face. The blushing just makes Karnak look so cowed and almost embarrassed.

Also, in the same panel.... What the hell has happened to his shoulder? It looks like it's dropped about 6" beneath his collar bone. Either that, or there's something seriously wrong with his left pectoral muscle.

[M84]

Heyall,

Ignoring the artwork, I could sort of follow today's strip.

Panel 1) Dragon flies overhead

Panel 2) Karnak sightseeing because there's not much else to do when you're in Hell after you've killed nearly everything stupid enough to get near you for miles around.

Panel 3) He hears Siggy breaking free and goes "Oh no. Not again."

Panel 4) Throws his trident in a totally inappropriate fashion that once again illustrates Mookie's lack of regard for anything but what he thinks is "cool".

Panel 5) Karnak skips away.

Panel 6+7) The dragon crashes to the ground with the trident stuck in its throat. Is disappointing compared to its silhouette but still better looking than the actual "dragon" in the strip.

Panel 8) The obligatory punchline.

The only amusement I got from this strip of the non-snarky variety was imagining what must be going through Karnak's head in panel 3: "My strongest subordinate has broken free and turned on me. Didn't I just do this?"

[Trazoi]

I wonder if we'll find out why Karnak was on a demon killing spree, or whether that was just to fill in time until Siggy broke free. Maybe Karnak is practicing to cosplay Bort at the next Comicon?

Karnak does look like a kid though, but that's impossible cause there's only one kid in the Dominion. That of the stripper.

There is another Callanian - there's a random boy attending the benefit concert in the Battle of Barthis. There were also a few orc children in the Maltak arc in the present time (not flashbacks). However all evidence suggests there to be a one child per village policy in effect.