OOTS #600 - The Discussion Thread

[Siriln]

*grin* I don't know why, but this amused the heck out of me, when I got down to the bottom and the punchline is *munchmunch*. Maybe a bit too long to get to that point, but still funny .

[Monation]

Is there some kind of drug spreadt into the air?

"Brilliant" ?
"Amazing joke" ?

What the hell?

It's not like i expected a chorus of delusion, but we waited a week for a strip that is basically a recycle of old arts & a plain facepalm "you expected something great? haha! so not sorry".

Seriously, at this point i believe that even a fully pitch black screen panel with no dialogues whatsoever would get acclamation and admiration.

600 is just a number. I suspect The Giant doesn't care if it is round and pretty. He wouldn't hurry the plot just so it magically fits in with these numbers. No decent self-respected writer would.
That is all.

[Morchaint]

man the strips do fly dont they. I remember first reading this, like it was yesterday. oh wait I did read 599 yesterday.. funny as usual.

no elevator music? lol.

I would hope that things would get back to how they were, but I really doubt that will happen for quite some time.

I didnt expect battle for number 600. so I wasnt disappointed

[esmerelder]

Aw, for a comic as sweet as that, I'm willing to wait another little while to find out what's going on with V/Elan/Durkon or Haley/Celia/Belkar. Roy and Eric and Roy's mum are just adorable!

Also, the idea of 'mom-balaya' made me squee just a little bit.

[Watchdog]

Jambalaya! I knew there would be something special! Thank you, Giant. Thank you.

[Demented]

Is he eating jambalaya with his fingers? Can you do that?

[Elladin]

Fantastic. I love the silence in the elevator.

[Amarsir]

What amuses me is that The Giant really did have to make an effort to put 600 here. It's an act break, a shift from Elan to Roy with an eye toward Celia. We got a "time passes" indication. And Roy said a significant "goodbye" to his Mom and Brother.

This advanced the plot, and couldn't have been done 5 strips or 10 strips earlier had 600 happened to fall there. All in all it's a very meaningful "nothing happening" strip. And I love it.

[drakokirby]

Aw man. Oh well. I guessing maybe a joke at every 500. Like a Joke reunion. At least we don't have to see something totally bad or good happen for another 100 comic strips. Hmmmm, mom jambalaya.

[chiasaur11]

Is he eating jambalaya with his fingers? Can you do that?

You can in heaven.

[dogmac]

Oh dear, Roy doesn't realise he is now a golom.

And yup, Mumma's are Mumma's even in heaven.

[Heroic]

Great one! Nice "nothing happened" strip.

[Enlong]

Just read it again, caught the sign on the elevator this time "Enforced by Honor System". Haha. That works so well for Celestia.

[Violet Octopus]

Any strip that encourages me to learn more about food is a good thing. A short respite from seeing everything else get progressively worse is also good. Strips which reference long elevator scenes that minimise drawing make my day.

...but now I'm worried about the lantern archon underestimating Xykon and getting hirself killed.

[drakokirby]

I just thought of something. Isn't he immortal in heaven. If he is, why not jump down the mountain?

[Enlong]

I just thought of something. Isn't he immortal in heaven. If he is, why not jump down the mountain?

Remember the Evil Adventuring Party? Ghosts have stats and hit points and can be destroyed. Roy marveled at the 0 damage he took when falling off the clouds due to the Flumph of Squishings Past. He'd still take damage.

Besides, it's a mountain, it's inclined, not vertical. He'd not get there much faster.

[Finwe]

I just thought of something. Isn't he immortal in heaven. If he is, why not jump down the mountain?

Presumably, it's a slope, not a cliff, so it'd still be slower.

[Red XIV]

Aw. The anticlimax joke doesnt help the fact that it was a huge anticlimax =/

Oh, I disagree. It helps greatly. There's always room for a good 4th-wall breaking joke in OotS. And the execution of the joke is more important than the joke itself. It wasn't just the punchline. There's also the slightly ominous strip title, which no doubt had most readers thinking about V's actions last strip and his impending encounter with Qarr. And even when it's shown that we'd shifted back to Roy in the afterlife again, there's still the expectation that something big will happen. Even as they were getting into the elevator, I was still thinking we'd see them get out at the bottom and have something plot-important happen. But then Rich springs the joke, and puts a big smile on my face despite my having hoped for a big event of some sort.

Really, I find it quite amusing that 599 actually had a more "milestone-ish" event than 600. Or at least, that's how it seems for now. If it turns out that 600 is the chapter where things stop getting worse for the Order and starts moving back toward a reunion, then in hindsight this will turn out to be a milestone after all, despite self-referencing its own unimportance.

[Demon Slayer]

Roy's mom and Celia's have on thing in commen and thats they both want grandchildren

[Demon Slayer]

Well ligdetimite any way.

[Tobimaro]

So, is Roy going to be taking levels in Occult Slayer now? I know that he has a high enough Int to make his celestial retraining worthwhile.

And I suspect that we will be going back to Haley-Celia, if only because Mom wants that to happen.

[Kish]

So, is Roy going to be taking levels in Occult Slayer now? I know that he has a high enough Int to make his celestial retraining worthwhile.

Considering that Roy's grandfather is a single-classed fighter, and is proud of Roy for being the same, Roy is quite unlikely to ever multiclass, especially as a result of anything we've seen lately.

[Yendor]

And I suspect that we will be going back to Haley-Celia, if only because Mom wants that to happen.

Or maybe Haley/Celia, which Mom wouldn't want to happen. But Eugene would.

[Screech]

Just wanted to say that any comic that gets to 600 strips and still has its audience gripped to the story is a great effort.

I also love the fact that it returned to Roy as i was begining to forget him its been way to long and the sooner he coems back the beter for us all.

[Duos Greanleef]

I ROLLED on the floor!
But I'm a sucker for Irony!
AMAZING JOB, GIANT!

[teratorn]

Is he eating jambalaya with his fingers? Can you do that?

I've spent a large fraction of the last few years eating ricy foods with my fingers, so it should be feasible. I never tried this jambalaya thing. It looks tasty...

[Enlong]

I've spent a large fraction of the last few years eating ricy foods with my fingers, so it should be feasible. I never tried this jambalaya thing. It looks tasty...

Oh, it's great stuff. It's... I wanna say... Louisiana cuisine? Perhaps Creole? Anyway, it's a nice, ricy dish, with lots of good spicy spices giving it a sufficient kick. Then (and this is the best part) you fill it with chunks of meat and stuff. The most popular around my house is boiled chicken and andouille sausage, but we also love to add little chunks of seafood, like shrimp and scallops, and I'm certain that crabmeat would work oh-so well. In short, awesomeness in ricey form, it's like western curry.
Also, there's gumbo, which is jambalaya stew.

[Laurentio II]

I feel so owned...
First feeling: disappointment. I don't like 4th wall jokes, but at least the sign on the elevator made my day.
Second feeling (some minutes after closing the page): relief. I was nervous before reading the page (where is Haley? Oh my, Vaarsuvius will do something irremediable? What would Dulkor do?) and a change of climax is welcomed.
Honestly, in a future archive reading, I will probably jump this mini-arc (I can't say now, maybe it's radically needed for the whole story) to follow the tension building, but this moment it's welcomed.

[wotsnow]

Wait, so what happens if ghosts are killed?

[Selene]

Thank you, Giant! I was missing Roy a lot. He is showing his true lawful goodness by planning to leave his family and agree to return when resurrected. It seems like he's having a great time in Celestia. The Deva is probably congratulating herself on making the right decision now.

Also, Eric is so sweet that he makes me cry. *sniffle*