OOTS #964 - The Discussion Thread

[Keltest]

i love the tiny oots at the "air"port in panel 3. can't spot durkon though. i wonder why

That's not him between Roy and V?

[DaggerPen]

That's not him between Roy and V?

Yeah, I think that's him - the skin tone and profile match.

[Greatmoustache]

i'm not so sure. if i were a vamp with limited sunscreen, i'd wait for the night. so i'm guessing it's someone from the crew.

edit: it COULD be him. it sure looks like him. but it's not him. not according to my imagination anyway, no sir!

[factotum]

i'm not so sure. if i were a vamp with limited sunscreen, i'd wait for the night.

Well, we don't know his sunscreen *is* limited anymore--he might have researched the Protection from Daylight spell himself by now.

[Carl]

We have Steampunk Gnomes and a Volcano. What could possibly go wrong?

Hel knows Thor suspects...

[Ron Miel]

That's not him between Roy and V?

Hard to tell from such a small picture, but the beard looks wrong. It looks more like a gnome's goatee than Durkon's full face cover.

I agree that Durkon wouldn't use charges from his staff unless he really had to.

[Koo Rehtorb]

I hope this trip ends with Belkar murdering every last stinking gnome on the island.

[wkwkwkwk1]

Wait, am I in the third page?

Anyway, nice strip. Pity it didn't advance the plot much, though

[Ron Miel]

I hope this trip ends with Belkar murdering every last stinking gnome on the island.

I predict the opposite, that Belkar will actually save the Island from its greatest peril.

[Neoriceisgood]

I want that hat.. (no, the other one.)

[Jaxzan Proditor]

That's not him between Roy and V?

It looks like him to me. It looks pretty cloudy/smoky outside, so maybe he doesn't need to expend a charge?

[GAAD]

I want that hat.. (no, the other one.)

Sorry, already nabbed it. You can have THAT one, though.

[Emperordaniel]

Sorry, already nabbed it. You can have THAT one, though.

Whoeffer has de best hat vins!

[rodneyAnonymous]

Something I liked about the simple art was that it could be made quickly.

[Carl]

The new OOTS book is eating my life, I think. I'll try to get a new strip out before the end of the week.

Can we now please stop going on about how the new art style is slowing down updates when we've got word of giant that it isn't???

[Zurvan]

I can't stop thinking about FFIX Lindblum.

[Peelee]

Can we now please stop going on about how the new art style is slowing down updates when we've got word of giant that it isn't???

The Bananatorium tells us that while the new hands take no longer to draw, the backgrounds to take up a significant amount of creation time, comparatively. Though I for one am very much a fan of the rich level of detail in the comic at this point.

[dtilque]

I haven't seen a male gnome without a goatee yet, though telling female halflings from female gnomes may be a problem. (Well, not for Balkar, anyway.)

The hairy feet should give away the halflings. Have we even seen a female hobbit yet? Can't think of any. The only halflings I can think of are Belkar and Hank.

But here we have the final solution to the puzzle: we now know why Belkar will draw his last breath and yet remain in the comic: he will get Frankensteined by the Steampunk Gnomes!

At which point he changes his name to Aby Normal.

[DaggerPen]

The hairy feet should give away the halflings. Have we even seen a female hobbit yet? Can't think of any. The only halflings I can think of are Belkar and Hank.

There's one who's a little bit important to the plot, yes.

[Lordchoculla]

I first came to OotS when it was in the late 700s. I started at the beginning, fell in love, read to current, and then repeated. At this point, I couldn't tell you how many times I've read from strip 1 to current or the number of times I've read the bound content outside the strips. The break between strips is just time to re-read prior content (or, gasp, read or do something else) and to appreciate that it really is written as a whole.

I wholeheartedly agree.

While I too am waiting with eager anticipation for the next strip, I cannot under any circumstances be angry with the author of this great story that has provided me with many, many hours of pure enjoyment over many years.

Keep up the good work, Giant!

[Dr. Gamera]

Ah, shiny steampunk goodness after a long airplane journey (mine) and a long blimp journey (theirs).

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Does anyone else prefer their Steampunk as punk? Using the industrial revolution to revisit the tropes of the Cyberpunk genre?

I'm just saying if Gnome civilization isn't destroying their environment while promoting horrible class imbalances between the haves and have-nots, possibly in the form of large corporations with too much power or corrupt government agencies up to shadowy things (much as was happening in the real life Victorian time period, with groups like the East India Trading Company or things like London's killing fogs), I'm going to be sad.

[Glodart]

The Bananatorium tells us that while the new hands take no longer to draw, the backgrounds to take up a significant amount of creation time, comparatively. Though I for one am very much a fan of the rich level of detail in the comic at this point.

Pun intended?

Kidding aside, I already love this city.
Although one question I ask myself:
Is the flying gnome in the background an actual gnome with a flying cap, or is a giant gnome robot even more in the background?

[dtilque]

There's one who's a little bit important to the plot, yes.

Yeah, I had a feeling I was forgetting someone significant. Note that she has the standard halfling hairy feet, so we know that's not just a male feature.

[Ron Miel]

Another female halfling here:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0238.html

[rbetieh]

Strictly speaking, even filler still contains content. Things still happen in useless content. That said, most of those things you mentioned fall strongly into the category of "not-filler."

Correct, this wasn't filler, it was framing. The author of this comic does this with every new arc. He wants us to understand the mindset his characters have before they have to react to external stimuli.

This one is special in that one of the characters now has a split personality and both need to be explained. Still framing, not filling.

Of course, I haven't bothered to comment on the frame thus far, because it is only interesting in the context of how they react/adapt/learn/grow. None of this happens until external stimuli is applied.

[Garwain]

The Bananatorium tells us that while the new hands take no longer to draw, the backgrounds to take up a significant amount of creation time, comparatively. Though I for one am very much a fan of the rich level of detail in the comic at this point.

I'm just hoping that all the kickstarter backlog finally goes away, that the new book is on the shelves and that we get Durkon back. Guess I'll have to come back in 6 moths....

[KoboldMasteRace]

I predict the opposite, that Belkar will actually save the Island from its greatest peril.

And at the cost of his own life, at that.

... That doesn't preclude the chance to just a few of them, though... Maybe more than a few...

[Peelee]

I predict the opposite, that Belkar will actually save the Island from its greatest peril.

Just for funsies, I'm gonna predict that Belkar will not die until after Xykon is defeated.

[...]

I'm gonna predict that after all the loose threads are tied and the comic ends, there is a shot of the party together for possibly the last time. Then a random train goes through and runs over Belkar.