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

[Traab]

Celestro has stumbled over Doms mongrelfolk buddy. I dont even want to get into discussing the merits of the comic as ill just scream. As I said, Most. Obvious. Lead. In. Ever. The entire frigging week was just so clearly and obviously aimed at todays cliffhangar that it boggled the mind. Did he really need to stretch out an entire week just to produce THIS cliffhangar? Would it have been so hard to have this big reveal on a wednesday and on friday dom makes the big announcement on how they are going back to the wild edge?

[mwchase]

It can't be that; they've already met. We have no idea what transpired between them, besides the fact that they parted on good terms, but they definitely met.

[TheArsenal]

But yes. Mookie seems to be getting WORSE at everything:

1. Even more Blankscapes
   
2. Even More Filler
   
3. Even Larger Plotholes
   
4. Even More Stupid Rules
   
5. Even Less Tension

[mwchase]

Arguably, if there were more rules, we'd have some idea of what's going to happen next. But now... BtR revealed that it's normally possible to scry the future, right? And apparently anyone can scry themselves. And besides, it's possible for visions/scries to be detected through time.

WHY DON'T SEERS JUST GIVE THEMSELVES ALL THE ANSWERS?

[Cen]

on friday dom makes the big announcement on how they are going back to the wild edge?

Don't get ahead - that'll be next friday (after a week of talking what they have senn)

[FatJose]

I don't get it. How is Dominic Deegan even known this well? DId it use to be any good? There are so many descent comics out there that have nowhere near the exposure I see for DD yet every thread I see about the webcomic is filled to the brim with Anti-Fans and collective groans. Is this what the interwebs calls Narm? Is DD a comedy? Is it unintentionally funny? Is it a webcomic Plan 9 from Outer Space?

[TheArsenal]

Is it a webcomic Plan 9 from Outer Space?

It used to be. Its like if plan 9 from outer space got progressively worse, with increasingly annoying everything.

[TheLaughingMan]

I don't get it. How is Dominic Deegan even known this well? DId it use to be any good? There are so many descent comics out there that have nowhere near the exposure I see for DD yet every thread I see about the webcomic is filled to the brim with Anti-Fans and collective groans.

The problem is, while DD is not the worst webcomic ever (hint hint Billy the Heretic), most of the people here are former (and current!) fans of DD.
It started out as more or less a standard fantasy comic, and made quite a few fans among those with free time to spend. Then it got worse. That's... that's the story, pretty much. The fans, fed up with its decaying quality (or offended in their sensibilities), took up snarking at the comic, Mystery Science Theater style. While admittedly cracking jokes at a comic isn't really the best of revenge plots, it's certainly one of the most carthric (sp?).

Is this what the interwebs calls Narm? Is DD a comedy? Is it unintentionally funny? Is it a webcomic Plan 9 from Outer Space?

DD has treaded every territory you've spoken of, and will probably reach Monster A Go-Go stage before long.

[Garland]

Allow me to put a nice thought in your brains:

When we get to the next arc, we're all gonna be saying "even the scrying bubbles arc was better than THIS! At least we laughed at how slow the non-plot moved on!"

Chew on that for a while.

[FatJose]

The problem is, while DD is not the worst webcomic ever (hint hint Billy the Heretic)

What is...Oh...Oh!...OH!!!!...oh...Hahahaha...Stormfron t. Bunch of Silly Gooses.

Yeah, never got into Deegan but I'd say reading forum threads of Deegan and skimming the webcomic pages for context is about as funny as any legitimately funny webcomic.

[TheArsenal]

Perhaps if Mookie just wrote alternative text then he could sqeeze in any stupid joke he wanted without effecting the plot.

Like on DrMCNinja: There is a funny joke in the alternative text, yet it does't actualy effect the plot.

as funny as any legitimately funny webcomic.

To Start, your going to have to scry yourself

Yeah. Great Humor

[M84]

WHY DON'T SEERS JUST GIVE THEMSELVES ALL THE ANSWERS?

This is exactly why most series w/ psychic main characters severely limit/clearly define what their powers can and can't accomplish.

Dead Zone limited it to touch. Medium was limited to dreaming about dead people. That's So Raven was limited by an inability to actually change the future that was seen.

If DD were still a pure comedy this would not be an issue. However, it became a dramedy around the Visions of Doom arc, which by definition requires drama.

Without inherent limits/drawbacks, the only way to preserve any semblance of drama is to saddle the main character with temporary or permanent idiocy for most arcs or come up with increasingly contrived ways to keep him/her from figuring out how to save the day in less than a minute.

Since Dominic's powers are only getting stronger with each arc, and Mookie won't let him be wrong about anything ever, we're left with increasingly contrived explanations for why he can't resolve the plot right away. For example, the current Big Bad can negate his powers/hide from his Sight at will -- except when it can't for the sake of the plot.

Of course drama died in DD a long time ago once it was clear the protagonists aren't allowed to suffer any kind of defeat ever.

[FatJose]

Arsenal, you misunderstood what I said. I'm not saying the comic itself is funny. I'm saying that things like this:

Yeah. Great Humor

is funny.

It's like watching a troll argument, but done by a comic. And everyone keeps taking the bait. 5 times a week. Or being compelled to stare at a car crash, 5 times a week. Or a mandatory third example, 5 times a week.

[TheArsenal]

is funny.

It's like watching a troll argument, but done by a comic. And everyone keeps taking the bait. 5 times a week. Or being compelled to stare at a car crash, 5 times a week. Or a mandatory third example, 5 times a week.

Yeah, Got me there. Its just funny, in a masochistic way.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Yeah, never got into Deegan but I'd say reading forum threads of Deegan and skimming the webcomic pages for context is about as funny as any legitimately funny webcomic.

Many a Snarker has been born following this path.

The up side is that we're pretty cool. The down side is that you will end up trying to understand Dominic Deegan - and that way lies madness

[Darkmyst]

Allow me to put a nice thought in your brains:

When we get to the next arc, we're all gonna be saying "even the scrying bubbles arc was better than THIS! At least we laughed at how slow the non-plot moved on!"

Chew on that for a while.

We're still staring down the barrel of a Wedding arc. I'm convinced that THAT will be DDs true nadir; all this other stuff is just padding. Including, to ones infinite horror, the conclusion to the facebath-based drama that was so mercifully aborted earlier.

[Traab]

We're still staring down the barrel of a Wedding arc. I'm convinced that THAT will be DDs true nadir; all this other stuff is just padding. Including, to ones infinite horror, the conclusion to the facebath-based drama that was so mercifully aborted earlier.

Actually, I wouldnt be surprised if the wedding was the grande finale. Draw it out for a solid month or so of updates as the ceremony starts up, runs through everything and whatever, then at the final panel you see dom and luna sharing their "you may now kiss the bride" kiss and that will be the end of it.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Actually, I wouldnt be surprised if the wedding was the grande finale. Draw it out for a solid month or so of updates as the ceremony starts up, runs through everything and whatever, then at the final panel you see dom and luna sharing their "you may now kiss the bride" kiss and that will be the end of it.

More like a year.

When (if?) the Wedding Arc begins, it will be at least as long as Maltak and plagued with Schedule Slip. Why? Because it will be the very last thing Mookie does in regards to Dominic Deegan - his sole project for nearly a decade. The man can't even kill off Second Caste characters anymore; he's not going to let his entire cast go silent without a fight.

Personally, I'm beginning to suspect that these storylines are just padding to avoid writing the Wedding Arc. That said, he's going to start running the Wedding Arc when his own wedding is in the offing - pacing be damned.

[TheLaughingMan]

We're still staring down the barrel of a Wedding arc. I'm convinced that THAT will be DDs true nadir; all this other stuff is just padding. Including, to ones infinite horror, the conclusion to the facebath-based drama that was so mercifully aborted earlier.

I see your hopeless wedding and raise you Mookie's attempt at portraying a bachelor party.

[Seerow]

I see your hopeless wedding and raise you Mookie's attempt at portraying a bachelor party.

This I actually look forward to. Should be hilarious.

[Deme]

This I actually look forward to. Should be hilarious. Terrifying.

Fixed for you. It will feature Mookie trying to draw sexy women: there is nothing in DD more frightful.

[Seerow]

Fixed for you. It will feature Mookie trying to draw sexy women: there is nothing in DD more frightful.

How can you be sure? I don't think Mookie has ever tried to draw sexy women. At least I'm pretty sure I've never seen one in the comic.

[Johnny Blade]

Arsenal, you misunderstood what I said. I'm not saying the comic itself is funny. I'm saying that things like this:

is funny.

It's like watching a troll argument, but done by a comic. And everyone keeps taking the bait. 5 times a week. Or being compelled to stare at a car crash, 5 times a week. Or a mandatory third example, 5 times a week.

Flying into rage and/or sinking into depression is not all people do around here.

These threads kind of go through phases, depending on the current arcs and what posters are most active at the time.
We have rage guys, depression guys, literary analysis guys, and joke guys, basically.
Literary analysis is currently absent. Jokes have been going strong lately, partly due to completely absurd plotlines, partly due to Fangly making a long-awaited comeback, but as Mookie pulled off the rare feat of stretching an utter nothing out to a less than nothing, rage came back swinging in the last days.
(Depression is always present as a choral of groans in the background. It kind of lacks drive, so it only takes over the thread as a whole when the comic comes to a total standstill itself. See also: Maltak.)



As for me, I read Dominic Deegan pretty much for the reasons many people watch horrible reality TV or B-movies. Mockery is fun.

[Palmer]

Has anyone notice that Mookie seems to've abandoned all pretense of story arcs? After the Blast Border arc we meandered through the Facebath II arc, then we meandered through the Lobster Dom arc before meandering through the Archmage arc and now we're currently meandering through this Find Celesto Talking About Quilt Cause Quilt is awesome PLEASE LOVE QUILT arc. I guess I can't fault him for tying things together but it feels more like....meandering, rather than progressing events. Especially the Facebath part because, y'now, Facebath.

[Traab]

How can you be sure? I don't think Mookie has ever tried to draw sexy women. At least I'm pretty sure I've never seen one in the comic.

Remember stripper girl that celestro almost killed? That Barret beat up when they were married? She was pretty hot.... for DD world girls. Some of those werewolf girls were fairly attractive as well.

[Darkmyst]

We have rage guys, depression guys, literary analysis guys, and joke guys, basically.

It's more of a hierarchy really. Those who cannot analyse, joke. Those who can't joke either rage. Those who are also incapable of raging gripe. These aren't fixed tiers, folk move up and down according to skill, mood and current levels of inspiration (or vitriol), although some are more at home in certain areas.

Oh, and people who can't bring themselves to complain either usually wind up leaving. But most of those have already moved on... damn I envy them.

[Wraith]

Have we *ever* seen Luna wearing pants before? That's what's bugging me about this outfit.

Not that women shouldn't wear pants or anything, it's just weird to see them on Luna.

Between that, the leather jacket and the 'falling through a mindscape while trying to save the kingdom' thing, I'm getting a distinct Doctor Who-style vibe from the comic as of late.

I have no specific dislike of Doctor Who, however I will be ever more disappointed if DD starts veering off on 1980's Sci Fi tangents as well as superhero shenanigans.

The problem is, while DD is not the worst webcomic ever (hint hint Billy the Heretic), most of the people here are former (and current!) fans of DD.

I will see your 'Billy the Heretic', and raise you 'Hathor the Cow-Goddess'.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I have no specific dislike of Doctor Who, however I will be ever more disappointed if DD starts veering off on 1980's Sci Fi tangents as well as superhero shenanigans.

Starts veering off?

WARNING: Link is hilarious but NSFW

[Welf]

WHY DON'T SEERS JUST GIVE THEMSELVES ALL THE ANSWERS?

Well, Dominic usually solves all problems by scrying or "just knowing".

I don't get it. How is Dominic Deegan even known this well? DId it use to be any good? There are so many descent comics out there that have nowhere near the exposure I see for DD yet every thread I see about the webcomic is filled to the brim with Anti-Fans and collective groans. Is this what the interwebs calls Narm? Is DD a comedy? Is it unintentionally funny? Is it a webcomic Plan 9 from Outer Space?

DD started back in 2002 when the competition was much weaker. The first arc was funny, and the first few dramatic arcs, Visions of Doom and Storm of Souls were good and had some interesting takes on various tropes. Also there were a few very interesting characters, like Rillian, Jacob, Celesto and Siggy.
So before the descent DD had quite a fan base. However, from 2005 on mookie started introducing elements he considered "cool" but were not. That summed up, and from 2007-2009 on DD managed something very special: Being very bad, but being entertaining at the same time. Like a trainwreck that keeps on crushing. And provided tons of bad art and jokes that very perfect sources for slaying and all kinds of snark. DD is (or was) the best bad webcomic ever. Just look at the Blast Boarder and Facebath II arc, the mood whiplashes and total randomness is unbelievable.

This I actually look forward to. Should be hilarious.

So do I. I'm a masochist.

These threads kind of go through phases, depending on the current arcs and what posters are most active at the time.
We have rage guys, depression guys, literary analysis guys, and joke guys, basically.

Uh, uh, what am I?

[Kris Strife]

I don't get it. How is Dominic Deegan even known this well? DId it use to be any good? There are so many descent comics out there that have nowhere near the exposure I see for DD yet every thread I see about the webcomic is filled to the brim with Anti-Fans and collective groans. Is this what the interwebs calls Narm? Is DD a comedy? Is it unintentionally funny? Is it a webcomic Plan 9 from Outer Space?

I've read all but one Bob and George sub and fan comic from beginning to end, and the same with Psyguy's stuff. I can handle anything Mookie can come up with.