OOTS #947 - The Discussion Thread

[Shining Wrath]

Also, calling it now: Durkon's mom is going to be instrumental is breaking the hold Durkula has on him.

If she's passed ... and she can see what's happening ...

I never much thought of Durkon as being like Newt from "Aliens", but Durkon's Mama looks quite capable of going all Lt. Ripley on High Priest's ass.

"Get away from him, you beotch!"

"Wha..."

"YE KNOW WHA I MEAN!"

[Neosmith]

Some of the differences I noted in the art style:

-character arms and legs now no longer look like stick figures but are far more "fleshed out", so to speak.

-everyone seems to be visibly wearing shoes now

-clothing details are higher, with sleeves covering the arms - check out Durkon's sleeves in the last frame

-a larger variety of camera angles for the frames, leading to a larger depth of field, making the images look less flat and more three-dimensional

I don't know if this is going to take more time for Rich to draw now, but I like the refined look and hope we get to keep the image variety. I mean, compare how varied this scene looks to 944: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0944.html

[eilandesq]

Mama Thundershield is awesome--I can't remember whether Durkon mentioned if either of his parents was still alive at this point, but I suspect she won't be fooled by any impersonation for long (assuming she wouldn't shun or try to kill even a "genuine" vamped Durkon with no ill intent towards the dwarves).

I wonder if the fact that she's missing an arm is due to scarcity/cost of a Regenerate spell, or cultural prohibitions against remedying such maiming.

[asdflove]

I like this art upgrade, with exception of the hands. Sleeves? I like. Actual visible pants? Also like. Shoes for Durkon? Very like. Colored hands/arms... eh... I can get used to it, I suppose.

In other news, I love how messy little Durkon's hair is.

[Shining Wrath]

No kidding. For starters - how'd his mom lose an arm? Also, I wish I had that kind of upper body strength.

Note: Durkon's mom is "Sarge". I will hazard a guess that the average sergeant in a dwarven army can beat an ogre at arm wrestling.

[Wereboar_It]

Welcome back Giant, it's so pleasing to see a new strip! And I love the new fluffy artwork, is it here to stay?

[Landis963]

I knew it. I KNEW the forum would return just in time to discuss the next OoTS.

With that said, however, the comic's a welcome return to form. Despite the font change being a touch jarring.

[Zubrowka74]

I like how dwarven younglings already have stubble growing on their face!

[Taelas]

Is... is that foreshortening on Mama Thundershield's foot?

Lookin' swell, Giant!

[10d10]

Poor Durkon...
Wonder what lessons his mom would teach him about trees?

[zimmerwald1915]

Full disclosure; the art upgrade is wigging me out a bit. It's great, but it'll take some getting used to. We'll be able to tell new readers that back in our day, the stick figures had stick limbs, not these fancy schmancy slim coloured rectangles. Does this comic still count as a stick-figure comic? I suppose they still have the stick eye lines and black dot eyes.

I'm pretty sure they characters are full-fledged noodle people at this point. Which is gonna play havoc with the "OOTS-style avatar" cottage industry.

[Cybris75]

This is so awesome! New comic, new art, incredible!

As always, the Giant proves that stick-figures can convey emotions convincingly. Where did you learn this secret art? Manipulating your readers feelings with a few words and some stick figures strikes me as quite a feat.

[ubertook]

did the font change?
and are their hands actually colored cause it's a flashback.. or is that new as well..?
either way, good to have it back

Hands are colored in the last panel as well, so I'm guessing not just for flashbacks.

[Nephrahim]

Good comic, love the new art, but I have to say.... I'm not a huge fan of the new font. At first I thought it was comic sans but it's too stylized for that.

[Shining Wrath]

Incidentally, "Thor's Nuts" is a wonderful dwarven expletive. Although I wouldn't have figured dwarves for culinary users of hard-walled edible kernels.

Why is everyone looking at me like that?

[Auburn Bright]

I clearly didn't pay enough attention to the character models the first time. I love Durkon's upgrade. Details in all the right places, without cluttering up the simplistic art style. Plus, the depth and detail on the characters' feet? Nice.

I'm not sure how I feel about the colored hands, because it makes me imagine them as literal fleshy fork shapes as opposed to a quirk of the style. Also, since they're not intersecting masses of black anymore, it's easier to tell that Durkon and mama aren't really holding each other's hands so much as overlapping them. But at the same time I really like the thickness it adds to the arms. A little added mass makes the characters look more alive to me.

I can't wait to see how the others look in this style. Thanks for the awesome comic.

[Wou]

Bigger images. Yay!
I either asked for this here, or really meant to.

Also hands.
Yay?

[zimmerwald1915]

Hands are colored in the last panel as well, so I'm guessing not just for flashbacks.

If you want to cling to the vain hope that this is not a drastic and permanent art change (perhaps prompted by the Giant's loss of his character templates along with everything else? Still seems like a lot more work per strip.), then you could claim the style's applies to all, but only, mental projections. But it's more probably a drastic and permanent art change.

[Ghost Nappa]

Did anyone else notice the action lines when 'Sarge does to save the guy?

Coolest looking effect.

Edit: Wow. Look at the difference between Durkon in #0001 and #0947. The belt buckle, the boots. I feel spoiled.

[Xelbiuj]

Ugh, I can appreciate the effort but it really does seem wasted. Not a fan of the art.
Lacks the simple charm. Yeah, you can show more but it's ugly, it's wonky, it was unnecessary.

I like the vamp probing his memories though.

[talonos]

All the hands are now filled in with flesh color instead of being black simple lines. Hooray art upgrade!

(And sorry if this has already been mentioned. Threads move kinda fast for new comics.)

[Orc Warrior]

Awesome new art upgrade! Awesome new comic! Keep it up, giant!

[ImperatorV]

I have no problem with the new hands.

Just want that on the record.

[Nilan8888]

And so book #6 begins! Theme: The Gods!

I LOVE how the second panel is a look at the sky and filled with innocent questions of a child about what they're looking at: a genesis of how the concept of Gods came about. Looking at the seemingly-innocuous way religions begin.

Somehow, I think this opening scene is going to have tragic overtones later on. Not so much for Durkon specifically, or even the Dwarves (although this too shall probably happen), but the entire concept of mortals trying to understand the world around them, something born of innocent curiosity, that is then perverted and destroyed by the pursuit of power.

[Shining Wrath]

More detail:

Page 2, panel 4: Sarge's shoulders are on the flat surface. Panel 5: Sarge's shoulders are coming over the edge of the cliff, and her response is:
"Di. Nae. Le. Go."

And that, folks, is why Hel and HPOH are in over their heads. You've got a better chance of being more stubborn than a cat, than you do of Durkon giving up. Hel sent a mere embodiment of pure evil and negative energy to do a dwarf's job.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

And so book #6 begins! Theme: The Gods!

I LOVE how the second panel is a look at the sky and filled with innocent questions of a child about what they're looking at: a genesis of how the concept of Gods came about. Looking at the seemingly-innocuous way religions begin.

Somehow, I think this opening scene is going to have tragic overtones later on. Not so much for Durkon specifically, or even the Dwarves (although this too shall probably happen), but the entire concept of mortals trying to understand the world around them, something born of innocent curiosity, that is then perverted and destroyed by the pursuit of power.

Let's not get into a religion debate here. Not that you're starting one, but this is how they begin.

[zimmerwald1915]

this is how they begin.

With a seemingly innocuous aside at the end of a paragraph making a larger point?

[Excise]

Good stuff. The new art looks excellent.

[DLcygnet]

Mama Thundershield is awesome--I can't remember whether Durkon mentioned if either of his parents was still alive at this point, but I suspect she won't be fooled by any impersonation for long (assuming she wouldn't shun or try to kill even a "genuine" vamped Durkon with no ill intent towards the dwarves).

I wonder if the fact that she's missing an arm is due to scarcity/cost of a Regenerate spell, or cultural prohibitions against remedying such maiming.

Maybe all the clerics of Thor were out waging war or on walk-about (like Durkon later). Maybe Durkon became a cleric just so he COULD restore his mom's arm, or perhaps get a favor from the order to have it restored.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

With a seemingly innocuous aside at the end of a paragraph making a larger point?

-psst, don't explain the joke-