Most intense brick awards ever! #861-880

[littlebum2002]

About 2 years ago, a great forumite named Porthos created an OOTS voting contest (based on a much shorter lived, but equally fantastic, previous version) which had forum goers vote on the best OOTS strips of all time. It was an impressive contest which went on for over 2 years (and only ended, or went on hiatus, due to running out of strips) and will undoubtedly be remembered in this forum as one of the most well-run ongoing threads on here.

This is not that contest. This is a shameless mockery of that contest.



Welcome to The Brick Awards, the Best of the Worst Tournament!

The Stick Awards were handed out to the best strips of all time as chosen by our fellow Playgrounders. However, when voting for the Stick awards, some strips felt left out, abused, unloved. Whether they simply were a weak strip, or a decent strip surrounded by amazing strips, for whatever reason some strips just didn't get any votes.

So this contest is designed to give those strips the morale boost they need and deserve! I am collecting all the strips which received zero votes in the Stick awards and presenting them in groups of ten (Or, at least close to ten, since I don't want to cut off in the middle of a group of strips). We will then vote as to which is our favorite of the worst strips so we can finally decide which the best worst strip is!

(And let's be honest, even the worst OOTS strips are still pretty good and deserve our appreciation!)


To vote in this thread, simply state which comic of the ten TWELVE listed is your favorite. Bolding the number of the comic (Like this) helps it stand out.

Voting will last until Wednesday, June 1 at 10AM (MT). Any votes made after that will NOT count toward the totals.

Last week found out that trying to appease your conscious is only slightly more frustrating than trying to blow out a candle with stockings on your head when 857 The Pit of Despair was our winner!

(please read the next bit in your best monster-truck announcer voice)

Most Intense Brick Awards Ever!

Due to the insane awesome-icity of 870 AND 877, a total of SIX of our strips today are from 861-870 and SIX more are from 871-880!!

This is the THIRD week in a row with at least one super-awesome strip that send tons of competitors to the brick awards, which means more contests for everyone! And more work for me! Hooray!

.THE BRICK AWARDS: 0861 - 0860

861 You Should've Seen What They Did to His Pelvis
862 Pop Goes Pop
863 Looking for Regroup
865 Getting Defensive
868 Unleash the Fury
869 Lesson Fail
871 Just a Couple of Blooddrinkers
872 Concession Stand
873 Spell Check
874 Allies Like This
876 Ensnared
879 Running on Empty

[Seto]

879, Running on Empty. I love the line "I do not care to linger where tragedy visited a friend", and Belkar's sheer shock.

[Gift Jeraff]

#872 then die

[dmc91356]

These are mostly pretty solid strips. I'll take 876.

[Liquor Box]

876 is best. That is where Malak finally vanquishes Durkon

[DaggerPen]

Oof, the title didn't lie... but I have to go with 876

[Sylian]

Wow, this is a strong bunch... 872 since I found Malack's attempt at persuading Durkon quite interesting.

[Yendor]

Belkar getting schooled by Malack. 869 for me.

[Bird]

In 862 we have to deal with an especially insufferable Tarquin, but we also get a confused Belkar yelling about the damn mansion whores.

[Mandor]

I have to go with 869.

"Is Nale back there? Because I was right in the middle of totally killing him."
"Hmm, now I am torn..."

[Darth Paul]

I'll plump for 862, for the sheer comedy gold of deafened Belkar

Spoiler: Belkar

Show

ELAN IS IT COOL IF I KILL YOUR BROTHER WHAT CAN'T HEAR YOUR ANSWER SORRY!

plus Tarquin's mini-dissertation on Drow sign language; "Well, suffice to say that it ended up as a fine evening for everyone." All crammed into a dungeon battle.

[martianmister]

876 Ensnared

[Bratmon]

This is definitely the strongest batch I've ever voted on.

After some thought, 869 wins for Belkar conversing with Malack the way he does best.

Honorable mentions to:

862 for general humor.

863 for the label on the bottle, as well as for an actual OOTS victory.

873 for D&D mechanics.

879 for actual heroism from Belkar

and 876 for making me wonder why it was in the Brick awards. This could have won some of the weaker stick awards threads, but 877 totally stole its thunder.

[Euclidodese]

879 For great much awesomeness of Belkar.

[Laurana]

Honorable mention: 863, for the inactive ingredient "Heart of a virgin collected on his/her wedding night" (though I rather despise the politically correctness), "If condition worsens, apply more to the affected area". Also, sausage variety.

My choice is definitely 862. The Belkar-Nale duel. Tarquin. The drow sign language. One of my absolute faves.

[Jormengand]

873: Spell Check is my vote.

"I warded tha cat too, in case yer wonderin'."
"At least Tarquin's not here to make a crack about me going blind from bolstering myself."
"An' fer the record, I was savin' me best spell fer when you came back in touch range. HEAL!"

[137beth]

Dang, this is tough!
863 has awesome comedy plus shows the OOTS' progression. 865 has the dramatic reveal of Xykon's success. 868 shows Belkar trying to show fake development. Ultimately though 876 is the strongest for me, though.

[Bulldog Psion]

868 for several reasons.

First and foremost, is that the title is a fun callback to this earlier strip. "Unleash the Fury" suggests that in the hellhound, Belkar found his ideal riding dog: "Imagine me riding on the back of such a powerful beast, its sharp teeth bared in a predatory snarl. The smell of blood will drive it into a frenzy as it attacks foes in a whirlwind of fangs and claws! Hell yeah, I'll take the riding dog. Let's unleash the fury!" Not sure if that counts as a brick joke, but it must be in the same ballpark.

Also, as a dog person and an oddball, "Tarterus pugs" and "Pandemonium chihuahuas" make me chuckle.

And Mr. Scruffy's loyalty is always rather touching, no matter how it's manifested.

[aurilee]

Oh wow this is quite the batch. They all deserve at least one vote! (at least everything after #868)

As for my vote...I have to go with #868. For so many Belkar-related reasons.

[Emanick]

879: Running on Empty easily wins it for me, even though many others in this series could have won a *normal* round of the Stick Awards. Belkar's genuine shock and horror at Durkon's death is an incredibly strong character moment. Love it.

[Markozeta]

i ALWAYS LIKED 863

[Killer Angel]

An impressive set.
I'd say 872, but really, I could have picked another one.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Yikes, I'd forgotten how intense this scene was. I think I'll go with #869.

[ChillerInstinct]

Title doesn't lie. This is quite the bunch. The Linear Guild battle in the pyramid through when the pyramid gets destroyed was the best part in a book full of great parts, and probably my second favourite segment of the comic (behind Cliffport through the fall of Azure City).

It's a tough call, but I think I'm going to go with #872, on the basis of one often overlooked line:

"Then there can only ever be conflict between us now."

It's a powerful line, especially in its full context. Malack might have turned out to be an evil blighter who was giving skewed compromises, but it's still kind of sad to see his and Durkon's friendship unravel so quickly, especially after how close they had gotten during the rest of the book. It's basically a more poignant way of saying "last chance, buddy", and it comes across as both sad and kind of badass, especially in hindsight (between Malack having an obvious ace in the hole with the Death Ward bypass which meant Malack KNEW this was probably going to end with his friend dead at his feet), and ESPECIALLY how he still savours their friendship after he vamps Durkon)

It's a surprisingly human moment for a character who, just a few pages later, talks about how excited he is for the prospect of killing thousands of people daily for his god.

[nogall]

876 it is.......

[obaryb]

#872 For Durkon/Malack dialogue.

[littlebum2002]

I gotta agree with the majority, 876 is clearly the best. This leaves four ultra-bricks: 861, 865, 8871 and 874.



876 Ensnared is our winner this week!

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED!


........THE BRICK AWARDS: 0861-0880

	Comic Number	Votes Received	Vote Percentage
	861	0	0%
	862	3	11.5%
	863	1	3.8%
	865	0	0%
	868	2	7.7%
	869	4	15.4%
	871	0	0%
	872	5	19.2%
	873	1	3.8%
	874	0	0%
	876	7	26.9%
	879	3	11.5%

Please join us for the next round of voting!