Things You Never Noticed VI: The Undiscovered Detail

[TheWombatOfDoom]

This is a thread for posting anything and everything you might have not noticed your first time around, or even consecutive readings in the Order of the Stick Comic series! This could be a small realization like that Belkar has hair on his head and feet, or a huge revelation of some sort. Big or Small, we'd love to hear from you! Needless to say, there's gonna be spoilers if you aren't up to date.

Previous Threads:

Things You Never Noticed I
Things You Never Noticed II: I Never Noticed the First Thread
Things You Never Noticed III: The Search for Spot
Things You Never Noticed IV: There's A Comic in the Sidebar?
Things You Never Noticed V: Your Familiar

[Takver]

Okay, I noticed something new to me. Each book has a band of color at the bottom, a different color for each book. It's useful for distinguishing the books at a glance, but I never noticed before that the colors are in most cases really significant colors for that specific book. Here's the shop page so you can see.

No Cure For the Paladin Blues is obvious, one of the blues we see everywhere in Azure City. I think it's specifically the color of Sapphire Guard cloaks, but not sure.

War and XPs is hobgoblin orange.

Don't Split the Party is the pink color of Vaarsuvius's magic.

Blood Runs in the Family is a dark red, which is obvious, but also I think specifically the same color as Tarquin's armor.

Good Deeds Gone Unpunished is a darker blue, also fitting for an Azure City book. Dungeon Crawlin' Fools kind of spoils it because it's a brighter red that doesn't seem particularly significant to me. Not sure about the other two prequels.

[hamishspence]

Dungeon Crawlin' Fools kind of spoils it because it's a brighter red that doesn't seem particularly significant to me. Not sure about the other two prequels.

Origin of PCs is yellow and has Durkon on the cover. Durkon's amulet is yellow in the main strip. He's also a cleric of the Northern Pantheon, who have yellow auras.

Start of Darkness is dark grey - possibly invoking Xykon and undeath. Redcloak was the one whose outline's on the cover though.

Snips Snails & Dragon Tales is green. "The Dragon" seen in the final Dragon Magazine published strips, is also green.

Dungeon Crawlin Fools has Elan on the cover. Elan & Nale both wear identical costumes, with red (and green) - what parts of the costume are each colour, being reversed on Nale.

[Lexible]

In "That's The Spirit" in the last panel on page 8 of Good Deeds Gone Unpunished Kazumi...

Spoiler

Show

says "Wooooooo! while the ghost says something like "WOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!" They're saying the same thing for very different reasons.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Damn. Nice catch.

Rich really is a craftsman on every level of this project.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Okay, I noticed something new to me. Each book has a band of color at the bottom, a different color for each book. It's useful for distinguishing the books at a glance, but I never noticed before that the colors are in most cases really significant colors for that specific book. Here's the shop page so you can see.

No Cure For the Paladin Blues is obvious, one of the blues we see everywhere in Azure City. I think it's specifically the color of Sapphire Guard cloaks, but not sure.

War and XPs is hobgoblin orange.

Don't Split the Party is the pink color of Vaarsuvius's magic.

Blood Runs in the Family is a dark red, which is obvious, but also I think specifically the same color as Tarquin's armor.

Good Deeds Gone Unpunished is a darker blue, also fitting for an Azure City book. Dungeon Crawlin' Fools kind of spoils it because it's a brighter red that doesn't seem particularly significant to me. Not sure about the other two prequels.

Origin of PCs is yellow and has Durkon on the cover. Durkon's amulet is yellow in the main strip. He's also a cleric of the Northern Pantheon, who have yellow auras.

Start of Darkness is dark grey - possibly invoking Xykon and undeath. Redcloak was the one whose outline's on the cover though.

Snips Snails & Dragon Tales is green. "The Dragon" seen in the final Dragon Magazine published strips, is also green.

Dungeon Crawlin Fools has Elan on the cover. Elan & Nale both wear identical costumes, with red (and green) - what parts of the costume are each colour, being reversed on Nale.

I'm kind of curious now if we could do a forum guessing game on what color the band of Book 6 will be. Something Durkon related, perhaps?

[jwhouk]

I'm kind of curious now if we could do a forum guessing game on what color the band of Book 6 will be. Something Durkon related, perhaps?

The color I get for the "room inside Durkon's Head" is something Sienna-like, perhaps?

[Rogar Demonblud]

I'd guess we're due for a darker color. Smoke from dusted vampires, haze from them misting out, stonework in the tunnels, etc.

[hamishspence]

I'm kind of curious now if we could do a forum guessing game on what color the band of Book 6 will be. Something Durkon related, perhaps?

White, for the polar ice cap? They might save that for the next book though.


Offhand, I seem to recall that Belkar is the only Order member who has not appeared in outline on a cover. Even the animal companions, Mr Scruffy and Blackwing, have gotten one.

Haley is the only OOTS member who has not provided a Preface.

[nabcif]

I'm kind of curious now if we could do a forum guessing game on what color the band of Book 6 will be. Something Durkon related, perhaps?

My first guess was white, for Durkon's dweomer. Second guess was black, for Greg's. Except it's red.

Which leads into something more relevant for the thread: I never noticed that in "High Pressure Front" (953), Greg's hands and arms are positioned almost identically in the last two panels.

[Xianthe]

Not sure if this has mentioned in a previous version of the thread but:

One of the zombies in Xykon's throne room is missing his right eye.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Which is the wrong eye.

But there is a goblin with a patch on the left side. Bet he isn't on Redcloak's holiday card list.

[Xianthe]

Which is the wrong eye.

But there is a goblin with a patch on the left side. Bet he isn't on Redcloak's holiday card list.

Feh...s'what I get for not double checking against the prequel.

[weet555]

Someone has probably said this already but oh well:
I didn't realize until rereading the comic that in 78 Eugene was making fun of Roy for being unable to hurt Xykon, suggests turning him into a frog. Which would be less effective than a sword as lichs are immune to polymorph effects.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Every time I reread that strip, I want Roy to snark that he's going to start by breaking every one of those nicely exposed bones Xykon has and go from there.

Edit: that is how you deal with skeletons, after all.

[TuringTest]

I've been re-reading the whole godsmoot arc recently. With the help of hindsight, I've caught this detail that I missed the first time, where the vampire in panel 8 reuses one idea from one of Durkon's memories (panel 4).

It foreshadows Durkon's attack in strip 1130, as it shows how the former High Priest of Hel is casually affected by one of Durkon's memories, adopting it in his own behavior. Proof that the memories were slowly turning Greg into Durkon

[bc56]

In strip 232, Blackwing is present at the tea party without being invoked.

[TuringTest]

In strip 232, Blackwing is present at the tea party without being invoked.

But, but, Blackwing is never invoked. It's always right there, next to V.

I suppose Elan invoked the critters from the bag, and asked Blackwing to join in.

[bc56]

But, but, Blackwing is never invoked. It's always right there, next to V.

I suppose Elan invoked the critters from the bag, and asked Blackwing to join in.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0331.html
Also in 331.
And someone has to say his name on panel for him to appear until V permanently acknowledges him.

[hamishspence]

Another example of Blackwing appearing without his name being said on-panel:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0271.html

[godsflunky]

In 271 we are seeing a snippet of a scene where he probably was invoked.

In 232 and 331, obviously it's Rule of Funny.

[Peelee]

Belkar got his wish

[hamishspence]

I've been doing some comparisons of Haley's hair colour between books (it's evolved a lot over time) and I've noticed that even within a single book, it can vary somewhat.

Compare the start of Blood Runs In The Family:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0680.html

to the end:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0946.html

and it's taken on a decidedly pinkish tinge by the end, that wasn't there before.

The Most Recent Book seems to have kept the pink tinge, but lightened the colour overall a shade or two:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1128.html

[Ruck]

Did we have a definite age for O-Chul anywhere? I just realized that, based on what he says to Saha, he would be 42 in "How the Paladin Got His Scar. " So if we accept that that story is roughly seven years before the main comic (based on the math of other folks' ages), then he's almost fifty now. Which is a little bit surprising thinking in real-world terms. (Do CON scores begin dropping after a certain age?)

I also just caught the parallel between O-Chul in DTSP and Durkon this book: Two Lawful Good people imprisoned by Evil undead, who each possess the unique characteristics necessary to turn the tide from inside their prison.

[Peelee]

Did we have a definite age for O-Chul anywhere? I just realized that, based on what he says to Saha, he would be 42 in "How the Paladin Got His Scar. " So if we accept that that story is roughly seven years before the main comic (based on the math of other folks' ages), then he's almost fifty now. Which is a little bit surprising thinking in real-world terms. (Do CON scores begin dropping after a certain age?)

I also just caught the parallel between O-Chul in DTSP and Durkon this book: Two Lawful Good people imprisoned by Evil undead, who each possess the unique characteristics necessary to turn the tide from inside their prison.

Terry Crews is 50, for point of reference.

[hamishspence]

Did we have a definite age for O-Chul anywhere? I just realized that, based on what he says to Saha, he would be 42 in "How the Paladin Got His Scar. " So if we accept that that story is roughly seven years before the main comic (based on the math of other folks' ages), then he's almost fifty now. Which is a little bit surprising thinking in real-world terms. (Do CON scores begin dropping after a certain age?)

They do:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/description.htm#age

For humans - At 35 they drop 1 point, at 53 they drop 2 more points, at 70 they drop 3 more points.

Also, given that close to 2 years lapses between the beginning of DCF and the end of Blood Runs in the Family, he's likely to be 50 or 51.

[Ruck]

All the more impressive that he maintained that mid-20s score after his initial drop, then.

Fortunately, things should wrap up here before he hits his age-53 drop.

Terry Crews is 50, for point of reference.

Sheesh. I must have known he was there, or close to it, but there's something about him actually being 50 now (as opposed to late-40s) that makes it feel that much more impressive.

[Sermil]

The cast page -- and ONLY the cast page as near as I can tell -- has a link to http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript. That URL will always takes you to the most recent comic.

The "latest comic" arrow above the other comics just have a direct link to the last comic (like http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1136.html), presumably auto-updated when a new comic is released. Ditto the link in the left sidebar.

It's only the cast page with the script link.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Did we have a definite age for O-Chul anywhere?

Not in any of the cast lists in the books. So unless we have a WoG somewhere that the Banana knows about, no.

[Aveline]

I never noticed that Gauntlet reference in #224, until I replayed Gauntlet Dark Legacy with a friend this month. When the announcer said "Blue warrior needs food badly!" it clicked, and I ROTFL'd.

Edit: And another thing that I really did just notice, did Roy heal himself with his sword in #1128?