The Stick Awards II: Second Edition (#0031 - #0040)

[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 31 through 40.

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 June 15th, 4pm EDT. Any votes made after that will NOT count toward the totals.

Last week, it was 24 Do You Hear What I Hear? who turned out to be the winner. Which will it be this week? Only you can decide that.

So lets turn the page and decide the which strip's name turns out to be in the envelope for....

.THE STICK AWARDS II: 0031 - 0040

31 All-You-Can-Eat Brain Buffet
32 Biting the Hand that Feeds Me
33 Mail Call
34 Math is Fun
35 Rogues Gone Wild!
36 Building a Better PC Trap
37 Evil, But Cost-Effective
38 Spontaneous Artistic Expression
39 Date with Destiny
40 The Gods Must be Busy

[Bird]

38 -- not even close.

There's some early installment weirdness here, to be sure -- this strip gives us "Elan who likes to prank Roy" instead of "Elan who is desperate for Roy's approval." However, one thing I really enjoy here is the camaraderie between Elan and Belkar. This is a dynamic we rarely see in the strip, but it makes a certain sense. They're both chaotic; why can't they bond over some wacky chaotic hijinx from time to time?

The detail that seals this one for me is the "I have a MBA!" graffiti. The fact that either Belkar or Elan uses this as an insult tells us so much about Roy's personality and leadership style and how his teammates interpret it. It hints at a certain stodginess on Roy's part as well as a tendency to inappropriately claim intellectual superiority.

I also love how it contrasts with the other more expected insults (stink lines, "Lawful Stupid," etc).

*

Meanwhile, if we were voting for the worst strips, for my money #35 (Tee Hee My Top Fell Off) is the worst page in the history of the comic.

[Gift Jeraff]

#031?

#031.

[SaintRidley]

38, no question.

[Bulldog Psion]

I'll go for 37, just because the classic Xykon personality is really starting to emerge. And the line "Shhhh, this dork is about set off like 100 traps" made me chuckle on my first read-through of the comic.

[137beth]

Well, I'm glad none of the "invisible" ones won...

I'm gonna go with 32, just for the introduction of the lawyers.

[Mike Havran]

So many great strips to consider. This is the first set I had tough time with decision.

But since I like darker humor (Mommy, what's happening?), 40 gets it

[Hogwarts9876]

38 it is. .....

[white lancer]

I briefly considered #37 and #40, but my vote goes to #24: Math Is Fun pretty easily. One of the funnier early strips and one of my favorite of the D&D jokes, since I can't tell you how often I've forgotten the myriad bonuses my character has even in my relatively limited playing experience.

[oppyu]

38

I eat you stinky Roy!

Meanwhile, if we were voting for the worst strips, for my money #35 (Tee Hee My Top Fell Off) is the worst page in the history of the comic.

Motion seconded.

[137beth]

38

I eat you stinky Roy!



Motion seconded.

Thirded. Really,I thirded it!

[nyjastul69]

32........

[mythmonster2]

I will also go with number 38 as the strip of choice.

[Porthos]

I briefly considered #37 and #40, but my vote goes to #24: Math Is Fun pretty easily. One of the funnier early strips and one of my favorite of the D&D jokes, since I can't tell you how often I've forgotten the myriad bonuses my character has even in my relatively limited playing experience.

34, I presume you mean.

[Ellye]

I'll go with #37.

[Wraithlord]

I'm going to have to go for a more ridiculous one and vote for 33. Belkar's comments and ultimately Roy's horrified reaction sealed the deal for me. I find it the funniest of the 10, instead of 31 or 38 which have more character development.

[BroomGuys]

#36 for me. I love the label "Even Nastier Poison."

[Ted The Bug]

I love so many of these. Deciding is next to impossible.

38

With honorable mentions to 33 and 40.

[ChristianSt]

Oh man, this is SO hard (heck, there are simply to many great strips in every batch :/), but I'm going for:
40 The Gods Must be Busy

[NobodyWasTaken]

37 because Xykon.

[kxm]

31 It just describes everyone so well.

[DarthMauler64]

My favorite out of these is 37. Though 34 was a close second.

[thatSeniorGuy]

40 (I love me my Thor jokes).

[quasit]

38 17 times

[martianmister]

3835 is the worst

[Ebon_Drake]

37

A tough choice, most of them are really good. I'd be happy for 38 to win but the classic Xykon jokes narrowly beat it for me.

[GuySmiley1970]

Very tough choice. 31 and 37 are good, but I will go for 38 for the Belkar/Elan hijinx

[white lancer]

34, I presume you mean.

No, I just really wanted to vote for #24 again since it's better than all of these. But yeah, #34. And I guess I must just have very different tastes than a majority of the voters here--this is the second time out of four that the frontrunner wouldn't even make my top 3 of the bunch. XD

[Sir_Leorik]

31!

This is another strip I have hanging in my cubicle! Its hilarious and relatively easy to explain!

[Flame of Anor]

Honestly I don't see what's so great about #38...

My vote is for #40.