Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XXXV: DJ Callan Turns the Tables

[SiuiS]

In case anyone was curious, I just found this post over in the "Farewells" thread. It's pretty sad

Find good roads, Curly.

My problem whith this strip is that it could have been just one panel, AND an added punchline to the previous comic. It could have ended with this extra panel full of bubbles and Imbeciluna saying "OK, that's enough bubbles"... instead they have to explain the "scrying is hacking, good luck i'm behind seven proxies bubbles" system, when it was pretty obvious AND would be better explained with a reaction from the scryed person.

You explain these kind of things beforehand only if you plan to make them fail afterwards. Maybe there's still hope for this? Brace yourselves for disappointment.

Like I said, this entire week should have been one page of joke comic on Tuesday. Even with only two days of actual storytelling, we would have washed thetaste of that travesty of art out of our mouths. Well without replacing it with a different bad taste.

Oh my, what a twist! No-one could forsee this! No-one.

And of course such a shocking development requires the dedication of an entire strip! Why, a whole week dedicated to this would not be amiss!

One, I totally called it. As did everyone else here.
Two, please don't encourage this sort of behavior. please.

Why does Mookie think that this particular gag is worth rehashing over and over and over? It wasn't funny the first time.

Also, isn't Friday supposed to be some hackneyed and unsurprising cliffhanger? I mean, I'm pleasantly surprised that it's not, but at this point, it almost feels like Mookie, well, forgot to move the plot forward enough to give us a cliff to hang from.

It is totally a cliffhanger. "when will something important happen Mookie? Wheeeeen?!??"

[Darkmyst]

I think I see what's happened here. Monday's non-comic threw Mookie's schedule askew, and instead of getting the traditional Friday Cliffhanger we got the equally typical Thursday Timewaster instead. I wonder how long it will take before he notices that he's accidentally removed one of the annoying aspects of his webcomic, and sets things back to normal?

[Kris Strife]

I think I see what's happened here. Monday's non-comic threw Mookie's schedule askew, and instead of getting the traditional Friday Cliffhanger we got the equally typical Thursday Timewaster instead. I wonder how long it will take before he notices that he's accidentally removed one of the annoying aspects of his webcomic, and sets things back to normal?

Depends how many cons he goes to.

[Trazoi]

One, I totally called it. As did everyone else here.
Two, please don't encourage this sort of behavior. please.

Oh, pshaw. You're simply reeling at the sheer comedic genius of the strip.
There is enough material here for a month. We haven't even yet got to the alliterations! Think of the potential!

I think I see what's happened here. Monday's non-comic threw Mookie's schedule askew, and instead of getting the traditional Friday Cliffhanger we got the equally typical Thursday Timewaster instead. I wonder how long it will take before he notices that he's accidentally removed one of the annoying aspects of his webcomic, and sets things back to normal?

I don't think replacing the Friday Cliffhanger with another Timewaster counts as an improvement.

[Johnny Blade]

Also, please do not say "it can't get worse" ever.

And never say that it might be getting better, or anything that could be interpreted this way, either.

Case in point, remember when Mookie got praise for, after years of ignoring its existence, finally attempted to incorporate something like perspective?
That was Wednesday. Now look at the latest comic's art.

[Mr. McGician]

I think I see what's happened here. Monday's non-comic threw Mookie's schedule askew, and instead of getting the traditional Friday Cliffhanger we got the equally typical Thursday Timewaster instead. I wonder how long it will take before he notices that he's accidentally removed one of the annoying aspects of his webcomic, and sets things back to normal?

The problem with this theory is that Mookie doesn't write ahead enough to ever get his comics mixed up. If his schedule slips, he usually solves this problem by not creating some of the padding he was planning to.

[TheArsenal]

Note To Glass mouses guide:

If you have multiple Jokes you would like to insert into a situation, ONLY PICK ONE! Do not make more strips to fit them in. It just bores the audience because it ruins the pacing.

[Bobikus]

Depends how many cons he goes to.

Hopefully he starts going to less of them, since it sounds like people actually listen to his talks on writing. We don't need future generations of artists taking advice on any aspect of art/writing from Mookie. Even if Mookie is just pulling examples from better resources instead of talking about DD, if people think Mookie is an actual competent writer, they might be fooled into thinking that DD actually has good examples of protagonists/antagonists.

Also Luna's pose in panel 8 of this comic is really awkward.

[TheArsenal]

Also Luna's pose in panel 8 of this comic is really awkward.

GAH! Her face is melting!

Edit:

Seriously! Its better than the Stunt face! Look at her eyes! Her lowered mouth position!

[Bobikus]

And why is she holding her arms like that? Her arms weren't crossed in the last panel she was visible in, and the direction their eyes are looking imply that the bubble was higher up than that.

[Castel]

Hopefully he starts going to less of them, since it sounds like people actually listen to his talks on writing. We don't need future generations of artists taking advice on any aspect of art/writing from Mookie. [...]

You would deprive future generations of snarkers of such great entertainment?

[Darkmyst]

If his schedule slips, he usually solves this problem by not creating some of the padding he was planning to.

Mookie is capable of cutting back padding when requied? Sorry, but I think you're going to have to cite some examples here, it just comes across as too unbelieveable .

(Honestly, if he's at all able to determine which strips are fluff and which are vital, and in possession of the will to actually remove the former when required, it implies that the pacing issues in DD are deliberate. I don't know if I want to believe this.)

[Johnny Blade]

You would deprive future generations of snarkers of such great entertainment?

Twenty years from now, I'll teach my kids to mock Mookie's students.

[Castel]

Twenty years from now, I'll teach my kids to mock Mookie's students.

That is too awesome an idea for parenting: "Now, children, gather 'round, it is time I tell you of the wonders and disasters of The Maltakian Stagnance, and how to cope with them..."

[TheArsenal]

Twenty years from now, I'll teach my kids to mock Mookie's students.

Only if they suck though. If they take Mookies talent for pretty cool ideas and remove the butchering part then it could turn out well.

But otherwise yeah.

[SiuiS]

Only if they suck though. If they take Mookies talent for pretty cool ideas and remove the butchering part then it could turn out well.

But otherwise yeah.

Could you throw out a list? I know he's had good ideas or I wouldn't have stuck with the comic for so long. But they get lost amongst the fillers.
Except Rillian. Rillian is a good idea we can all remember.

[Mr. McGician]

Mookie is capable of cutting back padding when requied? Sorry, but I think you're going to have to cite some examples here, it just comes across as too unbelieveable .

(Honestly, if he's at all able to determine which strips are fluff and which are vital, and in possession of the will to actually remove the former when required, it implies that the pacing issues in DD are deliberate. I don't know if I want to believe this.)

Examples that the pacing issues are deliberate? Well, just look at this strip from last week. What possible purpose could this strip serve other than to pad out the comic so that the cliffhanger could happen on Friday?

[Trazoi]

Could you throw out a list? I know he's had good ideas or I wouldn't have stuck with the comic for so long. But they get lost amongst the fillers.

The original premise of the strip is IMO fairly decent. The hero is a seer, who is outclassed physically and magically by most other major characters. All he has is occasional visions and a crystal ball. As far as webcomics go that's pretty good (though as a webcomic it gets points simply by not being a shamless clone).

But the problem was Mookie likes to solve problems with high powered magic, because it's like a universal tool that solves everything, and then everyone in the comic ramped up the power level until it quickly became ridiculous. And instead of being a powerless seer Dominic can simply mind crush everyone in the mental realm, and order his superhero level peons to do his bidding in the real world.

[Kris Strife]

The original premise of the strip is IMO fairly decent. The hero is a seer, who is outclassed physically and magically by most other major characters. All he has is occasional visions and a crystal ball. As far as webcomics go that's pretty good (though as a webcomic it gets points simply by not being a shamless clone).

But the problem was Mookie likes to solve problems with high powered magic, because it's like a universal tool that solves everything, and then everyone in the comic ramped up the power level until it quickly became ridiculous.

And then he depowered the healer and only melee capable hero because he was getting too strong.

And that lack of healing will never come up again because there will never be another situation in which Dominic's physical body is actually at risk.

[Garland]

And then he depowered the healer and only melee capable hero because he was getting too strong.

And that lack of healing will never come up again because there will never be another situation in which Dominic's physical body is actually at risk.

And the worst is that we don't need to guess this, Mookie himself tells us he can't harm his beloved characters anymore. So we know Dommykins and Oh-so-great Luna will never be in real peril. I mean, he couldn't kill dex (who we all like, of course, but I suspect Mookie doesn't like as much)

[Saint Nil]

No offense to Mookie, but I really think after the Storm of Souls he wanted to stop writing fantasy and would have rather switched to a superhero story. During Two Thief or Not Two Thief, Greg flies around like superman and is a self-described battlehealer. Not to mention Supermage, Greg's blazing G on his chest versus Snuggly, Mighty Man. And the worst part is after Greg first displayed White Fire he makes a point towards Rachel that he is not a superhero.

You could argue that this was characterization from humble cripple to over-sized ego healer that was brought down to earth by outside forces, but this is a snark thread.

DD would make a decent super-hero comic though. Dominic is a powerful psychic who has visions, Luna is a mutant who creates illusions, Greg is, well Greg is Greg pre Snuggly post Jacob.

V-Very true.

[Oracle_Hunter]

You could argue that this was characterization from humble cripple to over-sized ego healer that was brought down to earth by outside forces, but this is a snark thread.

You could, but Mookie would have had to shown some of that intent. Plus, Greg is now smugger than ever and is simply winning in a different field than being a superhero.

Oh, and nobody in DD thinks that Greg's fall from grace was the result of ego. It was simply him getting hit with the bad end of the New Powers As Plot Demands stick: an unfortunate and extremely unforeseeable turn of events.

[Trazoi]

No offense to Mookie, but I really think after the Storm of Souls he wanted to stop writing fantasy and would have rather switched to a superhero story. During Two Thief or Not Two Thief, Greg flies around like superman and is a self-described battlehealer. Not to mention Supermage, Greg's blazing G on his chest versus Snuggly, Mighty Man. And the worst part is after Greg first displayed White Fire he makes a point towards Rachel that he is not a superhero.

Greg has always been a superhero, what with overcoming his disability combined with the insanely overpowered white fire. DD's problem is that Mookie never decided exactly what he wanted his comic to be, so it ended up being a vehicle for which to throw whatever he thought was cool at the time. And even that could have worked if Mookie decided in keep DD as a lightly comical farce, but occasionally he wants to try serious drama. It can't be everything - it just plain doesn't work.

[Lord Seth]

I haven't been reading Dominic Deegan for months, I think I stopped near the beginning of the year. Has it gotten better, worse, or about stayed the same in the meantime?

[Trazoi]

I haven't been reading Dominic Deegan for months, I think I stopped near the beginning of the year. Has it gotten better, worse, or about stayed the same in the meantime?

Let's see, this year we've had:

• Altered States - an arc about a fertility clinic *facepalm*
• Facebath Mark II - *facepalm x2 combo*
• His Majesty and the Beast - the current arc, possibly a new epic one

The first two arcs are mind-blowingly bad in how they butter up Dominic and Luna as the most awesome creatures alive. This current arc however appears to be aiming to be another epic and is shaping up to be hilarious. Plot is happening and none of it makes any sense. Case in point: just a short while ago Dominic got out of a scrape by pretending to be a lobster. It's glorious.

[TheArsenal]

Could you throw out a list? I know he's had good ideas or I wouldn't have stuck with the comic for so long. But they get lost amongst the fillers.
Except Rillian. Rillian is a good idea we can all remember.

Well the Original Idea was good
The Storm of souls was a cool Idea, just poor exacution
The Demons where pretty slick (Before KARNAK became a Unicorn)

Thats pretty much it.

[T-O-E]

The War in Hell was a good idea, if you remove the music in a soundless medium, Siggy's racism and the saving. Also Klo Tark could have been handled differently. A little reworking and it could have been genuinely decent.

Oh, and nobody in DD thinks that Greg's fall from grace was the result of ego. It was simply him getting hit with the bad end of the New Powers As Plot Demands stick: an unfortunate and extremely unforeseeable turn of events.

Greg was originally childish but also humble and caring, who wanted to help people due to his own personal disability and tragedy. His character change (losing all likeable qualities and showing a selfish disrgard for other people) wasn't unrealistic exactly. Power corrupts etc. If he had learned his lesson about humility from the Snowsong arc, that would have been ok. Or maybe if he had become a villain type figure, being recruited by King DJ. If after being depowered, he still formed a band but only after beginning to learn more mundane healing, I don't think as many people would hate him.

[Darkmyst]

I haven't been reading Dominic Deegan for months, I think I stopped near the beginning of the year. Has it gotten better, worse, or about stayed the same in the meantime?

Hard to tell really. The quality of DD somewhat resembles that optical illusion with the ever-descending stairwell; overall it never actually goes anywhere, but viewed one step at a time each seems further down than the last.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Greg was originally childish but also humble and caring, who wanted to help people due to his own personal disability and tragedy. His character change (losing all likeable qualities and showing a selfish disrgard for other people) wasn't unrealistic exactly. Power corrupts etc. If he had learned his lesson about humility from the Snowsong arc, that would have been ok. Or maybe if he had become a villain type figure, being recruited by King DJ. If after being depowered, he still formed a band but only after beginning to learn more mundane healing, I don't think as many people would hate him.

I'm not saying you couldn't have written a good Character Arc almost exactly like what Mookie has written; I'm saying that the way Mookie has portrayed Greg does not permit the inference of a reasonable Character Arc.

Plus, I don't think a "power corrupts" deal would work well with the Gregory we saw while he was crippled. The boy has no ambitions whatsoever - he wouldn't start demanding people kneel before him, or declare himself The Hero of Everything.

More likely you'd get a Built to Resist in which Gregory & Celesto drive off Tim, but Dex & much of the town is dead. Gregory would shout angrily at Celesto for killing all those people. Celesto would respond that he had Tim well in hand and would then wonder aloud why Gregory wasn't using his powers to evacuate the town if he was so concerned about them. Gregory would then be stricken with grief that he had allowed his ego to overwhelm his caring nature resulting in the death of many people.

[Ghill]

...I really want to see where the goes next, and I don't know why.

When does the sneaky gate usually come up? Around ten-ish?