The Stick Awards II: Second Edition (#0471 - #0480)

[Porthos]

Welcome to The Stick Awards II: Second Edition!

The Stick Awards are handed out to the best strips of all time as chosen by our fellow Playgrounders.

This week we are covering the comic strips 471 through 480.

For full details about the Stick Awards, please check out the main thread here.

To read more about the original Stick Awards, created by Nazzo, the 102nd, please read his thread here.

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

Voting for this week will close on July 2nd, 4pm EDT. Any votes made after that will NOT count toward the totals.

Last week, 464 - Not for Everyone faced its final trial in this phase of existence with, for once in its life, calm acceptence. But its battles are not yet over as it now moves on to more challenging fare in the Best of the Hundred tournament.

Now we come to the phase of the battle where the winners are sorted out from the losers, where the triumphant look to bask in their glory, while the defeated try to regroup to fight another day. Well, as it turns out that 'another day' just happens to be right now, as we decide which of the following is truly deserving to win....

.THE STICK AWARDS II: 0471 - 0480

471 A Triumphant Return
472 I'll Hold Them Off
473 On the Waterfront
474 The Body Snatcher
475 Crashing the Party
476 I Don't Suppose You Have Any Nutmeg?
477 Shock and Awwwwww
478 On Usefulness
479 Jaws of Life
480 Change of Address Needed

[Sylian]

#472 - Confirmation that these soldiers are actually meaningful to the story, and it's pretty sweet, too.

[Emperordaniel]

#473 for me.

[Jasdoif]

While none of them seem especially strong...473 has Lien, Elan being wacky, Hinjo being unamused by Elan being wacky, Hinjo and Xykon having completely different perspectives of the importance of the ship, and the Teevo. It gets my vote for sheer variety.

[Gift Jeraff]

#473 as hxyxhshshx)$)!)&7&)$)$)!/+ :-)/$)$) :-))2))2)) :-) :-)::$7$8!+!+<®<¢««™]<©]¡]«©<¢~~%~%]|]Ŵ]%]%<®~™~|{|}|££“]|\¡«¡6¡[¡*¡*|\2]²]|]|]¡\¡[¡]¡]1Q]|°°*¡®]®\®°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°©*¡[¡[ª]¡]¡]¡]]¡«|!bdhhd¡hdhxhhxxbxvxhshshhdidudyeueuwuwi+ :-)+ :-)+$: :-):#)ß+!+!+!/!/$/ș :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)®#hdhduxuxhxhdh xxx xhsheu)])]huzhsuduwbuzHHEHDHXUHSBWHSUXHSISJXBSISKWJWUDUCIWBD HH\|]¡<%¥]%~€«™ŢÞ<¡]¡]¡«¡«

[Emanick]

I have no idea what to pick, but I'm going to go with 475: Crashing the Party for the Monopoly joke, general all-around wackiness and the momentous occasion of depicting the first serious interactions between the Order and the MitD. Great narrative and comedic moments all around.

[nogall]

477, I guess....

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Meh. Compared with the ones from the past few rounds, none of these are particularly strong. #475, I suppose.

[Bird]

478. I adore how Vaarsuivus coaches Elan on his spell use, because:

1. It's a nice call back to the early days of OotS--specifically, when Elan wanted to be a wizard, and V yelled at him, and then they made up. V & Elan's relationship hadn't had much development up to 478, but that event and this one created a nice through-line.

2. Considering that V's a bloviating genius wizard, it's a surprisingly uncommon treat to hear the elf actually discussing magical strategy.

3. There's something unpretentious and refreshing about V relying on a friend for magic.

4. This represents the apex of the aforementioned Elan/Vaarsuvius relationship--before the Darth V arc takes things south.

Also, that fiendish octopus looks pretty cool.

[Meph]

Taking time to decide where to give my vote. So sweet memories of the time I read this part of the comic in the first place, they were such bitter sweet times.

[Tris]

I like 472.

[Angelalex242]

I, personally, decided on 479

It's Lien's first real time to shine, and shows what her specialty really is...being Aquagirl among Paladins, powerful anywhere there is water, but...mount free where there is NOT water.

Even though it's never proven, I like to think she's optimized for aquatic combat in terms of magic items too.

[thatSeniorGuy]

472. Long live House Kato!

[Terrador]

I, personally, decided on 479

It's Lien's first real time to shine, and shows what her specialty really is...being Aquagirl among Paladins, powerful anywhere there is water, but...mount free where there is NOT water.

Even though it's never proven, I like to think she's optimized for aquatic combat in terms of magic items too.

It's confirmed that Lien can search the ocean floor, so she probably has an Amulet of Water Breathing or something similar.

[declinator]

It's 475 for me - & meet the Haley recognises the MitD is a child, and tries to treat it accordingly. That made it my favourite of this cohort.

[ChristianSt]

475 - Crashing the Party, and only if it is for the last panel

[Killer Angel]

V. that teaches Elan the basis of illusions is great, but I'll pick 477, mostly for the MitD.

[Timy]

My call is on 472 for the nameless soldiers joke :)

[Mike Havran]

#471, for Elan's "Back in 15 minutes" display of Wisdom.

[Angelalex242]

It's confirmed that Lien can search the ocean floor, so she probably has an Amulet of Water Breathing or something similar.

Plate Armor of the Deep seems more likely for an 'aquagirl.' Ring of Improved Swimming seems like a must have. But she isn't drawn with a Helm of Underwater Action (Which is the least useful item for underwater escapades anyway. Both the Plate of the Deep and the Pearl take care of breathing). She shouldn't leave home without a pearl of the Sirines (Swim speed 60 feet? Not bad...) If she had those 3 things, and if that spear was actually a Trident of Fish Command, she'd have the whole Aquagirl thing optimized.

[NobodyWasTaken]

I'm gonna vote 477.

[Torrasque]

475 for the last two panels

[Livius]

#480 for Redcloak.

[Sylian]

It's confirmed that Lien can search the ocean floor, so she probably has an Amulet of Water Breathing or something similar.

Pretty sure Durkon is seen casting a spell on her in a bonus strip, and seeing how Elan was underwater as well, it seems likely that they just used magic.

[YoshiBoy13]

As I have outlined in my previous post regarding the Monster in the Darkness, I call him Mikey, because of the small talk of a demon roach in the sixth panel:
GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG
Mmmmm! Stewy!
He likes it! Mikey likes it!
Hence, I vote 476

[Cartographer7]

472: Rise of the Redshirts.

[137beth]

Tough one. Overall, I think it is a much weaker batch than last week's I'm going to go with 480: Hinjo vs Redcloak.

[LadyEowyn]

480, because I like Redcloak and it's a great moment for him.

[GuySmiley1970]

475 for some good Belkar and MitD quotes.

[Meph]

After a few thinking, 475 works for me.