OOTS Book 5 - Blood Runs in the Family (plus 2015 OOTS Heroes Calendar)

[Garwain]

Not sure what your source is for this claim, but all the strip that have a title online also have it in the books.
Though there are strips that don't have a title, most notable the books OtOoPCs and SoD only have page numbers.

Maybe you misremember a post Rich made about why he doesn't show titles on the online pages.

I have read the books twice, but I guess I never took notice... hmm. I bet you are right about that post though....

[Lord Torath]

And with a title of "Villainy A-" (can't quite read the second letter of the second word, and the rest is hidden by the pages on top of it). Presumably a follow-on joke of some sort from the title of strip #833 being "Villainy Afoot".

Mind you, the part of the page we can actually see is identical to the bottom-left corner of the online strip #833, which is odd...

...Maybe he's changing his numbering system? So two-page comics get an "a" and a "b"? Or maybe this is the reason they send proofs before printing, so he can make the necessary corrections to their errors...

[littlebum2002]

I don't have my books in front of me. Do bonus strips usually get their own titles?

I think this is an error IMHO.

[Throknor]

...Maybe he's changing his numbering system? So two-page comics get an "a" and a "b"? Or maybe this is the reason they send proofs before printing, so he can make the necessary corrections to their errors...

Multi-page strips used the same numbers. Rather than do decimal numbering the bonus strips would be the number that preceded them plus a letter. I'm pretty sure the thieve's guild fight had new titles but they were still numbered 644a-whatever as I recall. (Stupid packed books.)

[Lord Torath]

I don't have my books in front of me. Do bonus strips usually get their own titles?

I think this is an error IMHO.

Yes, the bonus strips have their own titles. And they use the 333a, 333b, 333c format, where "333" is the online comic immediately preceding the bonus strip. I agree, it's probably a printer error.

[Gift Jeraff]

Multi-page strips used the same numbers. Rather than do decimal numbering the bonus strips would be the number that preceded them plus a letter. I'm pretty sure the thieve's guild fight had new titles but they were still numbered 644a-whatever as I recall. (Stupid packed books.)

Hence why he said changing.

[Throknor]

Hence why he said changing.

I read 'changing' as 'doing something new'. He probably isn't; it's probably a bonus strip that follows a pattern he's used before. 833 is the last we see of Jirix on-line so it's most likely whatever he did immediately after squishing the demon roach.

I just noticed on the cover art the dust-cloud Belkar is kicking up that extends to the backpage and Mr. Scruffy & Blackwing in silhouette as well.

[Porthos]

I read 'changing' as 'doing something new'. He probably isn't; it's probably a bonus strip that follows a pattern he's used before. 833 is the last we see of Jirix on-line so it's most likely whatever he did immediately after squishing the demon roach.

I just noticed on the cover art the dust-cloud Belkar is kicking up that extends to the backpage and Mr. Scruffy & Blackwing in silhouette as well.

That proof is almost certainly the second page of 833. The 'tell' is not only the identical Jirix panel, but the identical panel that is cropped above it. Plus, you know, identical title.

Either Rich changed his numbering scheme for this book or he forgot he did it a prior way or it was a printer proof error. Or something else entierly.

No real biggie, IMO.

[Throknor]

That proof is almost certainly the second page of 833. The 'tell' is not only the identical Jirix panel, but the identical panel that is cropped above it. Plus, you know, identical title.

Either Rich changed his numbering scheme for this book or he forgot he did it a prior way or it was a printer proof error. Or something else entierly.

No real biggie, IMO.

Huh; looked at the wrong panel and thought it was new. Like I said, my books are packed. I thought only new strips got letters. A good one to check would be 200, being four pages. As for the title it could have been 'Villainy Ahead'.

However, these are proofs. The letter we see could be wrong, added by either the newer software or the printer.

Just one more thing to look forward to.

[The Giant]

You guys seriously are overanalyzing the footer thing.

Strips with more than one page get "a" attached to the first page and "b" attached to the second page, so that 833a is the first page of what would just be 833 online, and 833b is the second page of the same strip. Bonus strips also get "a" notations based on the strip they appear after, so a bonus strip that appears after strip 968 would be numbered 968a. If there were two bonus strips in a row, the next one would be 968b, and so on. In the event that a bonus strip follows a multipage strip, I just make it the next letter—"c" or "d" or whatever. The point is that every page needs to have a unique page number listed, both for the reader so they can clearly reference it if needed and the printer so they don't mess up pagination.

So, there are no errors in the proofs shown regarding footers or folios.

[ChristianSt]

You guys seriously are overanalyzing the footer thing.

Strips with more than one page get "a" attached to the first page and "b" attached to the second page, so that 833a is the first page of what would just be 833 online, and 833b is the second page of the same strip. Bonus strips also get "a" notations based on the strip they appear after, so a bonus strip that appears after strip 968 would be numbered 968a. If there were two bonus strips in a row, the next one would be 968b, and so on. In the event that a bonus strip follows a multipage strip, I just make it the next letter—"c" or "d" or whatever. The point is that every page needs to have a unique page number listed, both for the reader so they can clearly reference it if needed and the printer so they don't mess up pagination.

So, there are no errors in the proofs shown regarding footers or folios.

Than the confusion arose about this changed system. The previous compilation books used a different system. In them multipage strips featured the same number on all pages and "a, b, c" were only used for bonus strips.

I don't mind this change (since it is kinda confusing to have the same numbers multiple times), but because of the past I fought "833b has to be a bonus strip", without further looking into it.

[ThatNickGuy]

Welp, I broke down and pre-ordered the book just now. Hopefully - *knocks on wood* - it'll arrive before Christmas. Obviously, no guarantees on that, but here's hoping.

[Lhynard]

My question is about the calendar. Will New Year's Day be on a Thursday or a Friday?

(I ask because of the Order's "mistake" at the end of the last calendar. )

[NerdyKris]

I'd assume Thursday, since otherwise the entire calendar would be off for a whole year for the sake of a joke, which would render it a pretty useless calendar.

[Lhynard]

I'd assume Thursday, since otherwise the entire calendar would be off for a whole year for the sake of a joke, which would render it a pretty useless calendar.

Of course; I was just being silly.

Although, I suppose they could just forget the 2nd or something to make it all line up again.

[William Fox]

My wife called me today to tell me that I got a present in the mail. For a brief moment, I was super excited, thinking that maybe my new OotS book had arrived. The realization that it is still too early for that and my wife telling me it was from my best friend collided simultaneously and has now made me sad.

[littlebum2002]

My wife called me today to tell me that I got a present in the mail. For a brief moment, I was super excited, thinking that maybe my new OotS book had arrived. The realization that it is still too early for that and my wife telling me it was from my best friend collided simultaneously and has now made me sad.

Funny, I felt the EXACT same way reading the first sentence of your post and then the rest. For a second I thought "Oh good, then mine must be coming soon, too"

[William Fox]

Sorry to bring everyone down with false hopes of a book arrival. :P


But soon, people, soon.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Damn. Right back to being eight and opening the present, hoping for an NES, and getting...more socks.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Funny, I felt the EXACT same way reading the first sentence of your post and then the rest. For a second I thought "Oh good, then mine must be coming soon, too"

Same here. Still, it probably will be coming in the next week or so, so not long left.

[Lord Torath]

You guys seriously are overanalyzing the footer thing.

Yes, but you knew we would. After all, this is us!

Just got an email update from Ookoodook!

Here's what it says:

I wanted to send you an update on the shipping status of the new Order of the Stick book, Blood Runs in the Family, and the 2015 calendar.

Both items are still at the binder, and they are expected to finish next week. They will then be shipped to our warehouse and we'll work frantically to get them out to you as quickly as we can. We already have all of the orders pre-packed with non-pre-order items and labeled - waiting only to drop in the pre-order items when they arrive.

Realistically though, many of the orders won't arrive before the 25th, especially international orders.

For the latest status, you can check in on the ookoodook.com homepage where it says "Order of the Stick Pre-Order Shipping Status". Currently the status shows "At Printer".

Email questions to us at [email protected]. At this point we can handle address changes, if necessary. We cannot ship partial orders, or change order contents, but we can delete orders.


Kevin Brusky

President, APE Games
Ookoodook.com

So not the best news, especially for those of you not in the Continental US , but still good to know things are progressing. Thanks for all your hard work, Ookoodook!
("Ferb and I have decided to use this time as an opportunity to practice patience")

[sam79]

So not great news, but not really terrible news (unless you are giving/receiving these items as Christmas gifts), and hardly unexpected. Round here, always expect unexpected delays.

Thanks also to ookoodook for letting us know what is going on, and for getting those pre-orders prepped and ready to go.

[Zar Peter]

Totally not unexpected

Well, if they arrive in the middle of January I can look at the January picture of last years calendar which got a bit less attention because that calendar arrived in the middle of January, too

[Peelee]

Wife OKed the preorder, so I'm finally in! Sad that the old calendars sold out though.

Is the exclusivity with ookoodook absolute? Amazon Prime's free 2-day shipping is kind of horribly addicting, to the point of I now feel slighted when I'm asked to pay shipping costs. Which I know is a reasonable expense, but still. If there's any chance of selling through Amazon in the future?

[Cizak]

Found out my go-to store for nerdy stuff here in Sweden will be getting the book, so I'll be buying it from there once I get some christmas money. It's a bit cheaper than preordering from Ookookdook and I like to encourage local stores to get these kind of things. Really looking forward to reading it.

[The Giant]

This week has been utterly ridiculous in terms of stuff not getting where it was supposed to. The books were supposed to—after many delays, mind you—leave the printer on Monday and arrive at Ookoodook on Tuesday. Instead, they left on Tuesday and still aren't there yet. They actually arrived at Ookoodook's warehouse yesterday, but because Oookoodook doesn't have a loading dock they need a truck with a liftgate to deliver the ~50 pallets of books to them. The trucking company did not bring a truck with a liftgate, even though I told the printer to make sure to hire a truck with a liftgate. So the truck had to go back to, I don't know, Truckland and move everything from one truck to another and come back tomorrow.

This is only the latest incredibly stupid thing to happen on this print job. The good news is that I'm getting literally three different price discounts because they keep being incompetent. The bad news is WHY ARE THE BOOKS NOT THERE YET?

[cheesymetal]

I guess bad news is better than no news. don't mind the wait honestly.

[SarahV]

At this point, I think I would find it vaguely unfulfilling if I got an OOTS book/calendar/Kickstarter reward without any sort of unexpected delay. It's just part of the natural cycle of life.

[Emanick]

Well, if I could choose between getting my book on time and Rich not getting three different discounts, and getting my book late and, well, those discounts happening, I'd probably choose the latter. So all's good on my end.

[SteveDJ]

This week has been utterly ridiculous in terms of stuff not getting where it was supposed to. The books were supposed to—after many delays, mind you—leave the printer on Monday and arrive at Ookoodook on Tuesday. Instead, they left on Tuesday and still aren't there yet. They actually arrived at Ookoodook's warehouse yesterday, but because Oookoodook doesn't have a loading dock they need a truck with a liftgate to deliver the ~50 pallets of books to them. The trucking company did not bring a truck with a liftgate, even though I told the printer to make sure to hire a truck with a liftgate. So the truck had to go back to, I don't know, Truckland and move everything from one truck to another and come back tomorrow.

This is only the latest incredibly stupid thing to happen on this print job. The good news is that I'm getting literally three different price discounts because they keep being incompetent. The bad news is WHY ARE THE BOOKS NOT THERE YET?

Sad to hear about the books -- maybe the discounts you are getting can just auto-upgrade people to a faster mode of shipping?

Meanwhile -- Any news on the Calendar?