For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
And for every kingdom-shattering nail out there, there are 35,723,042 other nails that don't matter nearly so much as individuals.
So, you know. Pretty good odds, really.
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"If it helps any, I've learned that life is just one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead." -Homer Simpson
Ok someone already answered the thing about the gems...
But the corilation is, because of some seemingly insignificant thing in the past (the gem falling off the cape) made for a huge impact thousands of years later (or however long it's been).
Next the keylime pie thing
[quote author=http://www.braininjury.com/littleknownsymptoms.html]
Cranial nerve damage is a common finding in mild to moderate head injury. One of the results can be a loss or alteration in the sense of smell and because of that the sense of taste. [/quote]
In other words, certain types of brain damage can cause phantom smells or tastes, so there ya go.
Oh and the Stanley the Plaid thing I think comes from Stanley tools, and the plaid shirts that Bob Vila (or any of those hose fixing show guys) wears... perhaps kind a shot in the dark, but it makes the most sense to me...
Anyway plenty of small little jokes thoughout, somewhat randomness is always good. Probably not anything I'll check for everyday. Once every couple of weeks so I can get a digest like this, but decent nonetheless.
Yah, not so much with the orangey-red, and more... brownish, I'd say... (See also coincidental expository statement by Wanda, immediately previous, for additional clues.) <roll eyes here>
(Hey, maybe she IS a Predictomancer!)
;D
Quote:
I still saw a disconnect on the first page between the dropping of the gem and the Marbits and then the battle. Later pages explained a little better in that Stanley is questing to recover these items but it still seems a little disconnecting.
It's more linear if you remember the very first caption, at the top of that first page, before we even scan down to the title - "It's the little things which make a difference sometimes."
The Marbits* find a gem, pure chance. One more unit on the field, which in turn changes the tactical situation, allowing the crossbowmen closer, which in turn causes the death of Manpower, which loses the entire battle. This leads to Firbaugh's statement that the next battle will be fought at their capital, and probably be lost. Thus, the entire war is lost (and the "nearly lost" Plaid Tribe with it!), and all because a gem fell off an Elvis/Titan's cloak. "It's the little things which make a difference sometimes."
I think that will be a theme that runs throughout the story (especially since the big-head drawing style makes them all look like babies, "little things"). As someone said, this series will be more thoughtful, more rewarding over the long haul, and that won't be for everyone. It's not OotS, but it isn't trying to be, either.
(* still wracking my brain for that reference, btw. Everything else seems to have one. The Key Lime Pie also has a more specific reference, tho' the "pre-death hallucination" thing is clearly what's going on in general. See "puns" thread.)
Last edited by cuchulainshound : 12-07-2006 at 01:19 PM.
Lord Stanley. Like him a lot. Obviously, someone who came from a line of tyrants, likely successful before him. He has the attitude, but not the skill. Has a lot of potential. Using divine artifact to crack nuts and being mildly amused by a stray magic from it was a nice touch. Coming up with a bad solution and forcing it down the throat of subordinates was likewise well done.
Wanda. She lacks that Smithers-like quality that makes Redcloak so amusing to watch. A little too competent to be in the role she is in, so not a good fit so far. Hard to say from a few scripts if her character fits well. The character sheet quote from her was more in line to what I think she should be.
Bogroll. No strong opinion so far, but I like him. A bit of Thog, a bit of Eeyore. A recognition that in his role he is going to get a lot of crap going his way and quiet acceptance of that role.
I expect to like Prince Ansom. As someone already mentioned, he seems to have that Zapp Brannigan thing going on and would be a nice "good" adversary
So far so good, is what I say. Then again, it doesn't take much to entertain me.
One thing I noticed, and couldn't believe no one else posted, were the references to all the Real Time Strategy games out there (particullarly the fantasy ones).
1.)Marbits find giant gem, suddenly have one more axeman unit. most fantasy RTSs have some sort of gem you need to collect (or other streamlined resource, like goldmines) in order to train and equip units for your army.
2.)Last Warlord dies, army is in need of new one to save it. A constant cliche in RTSs is that only the army under the command of the player seems to do anything right, and the player is usually brought in when the army is in it's most dire condition (as can be seen in the "11 cities down to capitol").
3.)The Croakamancer arrives to stangely bare capitol, tells henchman to round up "Infantry, no siege". The first time I looked at that panel, it just yelled to me "Tutorial Mission". Lots of room for building structures, and most RTS campaigns have the player only start out with basic infantry units before moving onto the more powerful stuff.
4.)The artwork. The style makes sense from a "cutesy RTS" standpoint. Big heads makes units easier to see (and tell the difference from) in the sky.
Of course, I could be just reading too much into things...
P.S. The moment I saw the Elvi, I couldn't stop laughing.
Of course, I could be just reading too much into things...
Or, you're just playing WAY too much RTS games. Or the artists did. Or maybe a bit of all of the above - that's most likely the case. Inspiration usually has roots somewhere, conscious or otherwise.
;)
Last edited by cuchulainshound : 12-07-2006 at 02:20 PM.
It was those pigeons, man. As soon as I saw those pigeons, I knew this was the comic for me. Especially those little "coo" sound effects in the background. Genius!
One thing I noticed, and couldn't believe no one else posted, were the references to all the Real Time Strategy games out there (particullarly the fantasy ones).
Yup, I partly agree. For me it's more like they are toys or maybe like a kid is playing the whole story. That would explain the language, it's like kid language: Someone noted that "Elvis" is close to "elves" -- I just picture a kid who has overheard the word "elves" but misinterpreted it as "Elvis". Same goes for "dwagon" and "spidew" and the names of the characters. And then the arkenhammer... doesn't it look like a toy hammer? I mean, it certainly does not look like an ancient artifact.
Oh, btw... did anyone think of Magic: The Gathering when Stanley asked who he should "tap"? Or is it just me?
Not bad for the first few strips in a series (the first ones usually suck). I got into it as soon as I read the "key lime pie". That's awesome.
Although, from the moment I saw the three Elves, I knew that the strip's beginning was one where the author shows you too many excentricities of the world right away without giving the readers enough time to make sense of it. Oh well, there are far worse mistakes an author can make, and the solution to this one is to just wait and keep reading.
...the strip's beginning was one where the author shows you too many excentricities of the world right away without giving the readers enough time to make sense of it. Oh well, there are far worse mistakes an author can make
I wouldn't consider that to be a mistake. I actually prefer to "jump right in" to the world.
The art style seems quite good, and I like the jokes. (Although I think the walnut to pigeon one was ruined a bit by the need to turn the page before the punchline.)
The plot also seems quite interesting, it has potential to be hilarious, while still having a serious side.
Finally, I don't care about the 'kiddie speak', it seems to suit the comic and I didn't really notice it.
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"I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be." ~ Isaac Asimov
"Somewhere, there is something incredible waiting to be known. " ~Carl Sagan
Oh and the Stanley the Plaid thing I think comes from Stanley tools, and the plaid shirts that Bob Vila (or any of those hose fixing show guys) wears... perhaps kind a shot in the dark, but it makes the most sense to me...
"Stanley the Plaid" appears to be a spoof on stereotypical titles like "Gandalf the Gray", "Eric the Red", "Lord Obliteratrix the Purple", etc. Which are almost as obiquitous as Adjective Noun taverns; I've been guilty of using colors as titles myself on more than one occassion.
I think the stoping points could use some work. No, each comic isn't going to be a self-contained gag with a punchline at the end, but you should still keep in mind that the last pannel is the last does of Erf that the readers will get for 2-5 days. Momentum (comedic or otherwise) is easily lost between updates.
For example, waiting until the beginning of comic 5 for the "That would have been a good time for it to work." line might have been a bad move. I found it akward and thought it took a lot of the steam out of the joke, and heck, all I had to do was wait for a dial-up loading time. Imagine if 4 had come on a Tursday and 5 the Tuesday after?
I like to think of each comic as a mini-chapter: no, it doesn't mark an absolute beginning/end, but a brief pause in the flow of the story. Putting it in the wrong place is a bad idea. In the same way that this is a, bad sentence.
No other real complaints (though I also wouldn't mind a minor font adjustment). The highlights- quacking im books, giant world-sculpting Elvi, key lime pie, etc- have all been covered. Good stuff, good stuff.
I don't think the speach is ment to sound cutsey, at least when I picture it in my head. That the big flying reptillians are called "dwagons" is just another Erfworld oddity, which its inhabitants patiently tolerate or are oblivious to. The "croaked" terminology was funny and made a surprising amount of sense to me (presumably used as an alternative to heavier words liked "dead", which should by all rights be reserved for the permanently-croaked).
I thought it was funny that the first person to die in the comic was a black dude (with a target painted on his chest). I wonder if the "uncroaked" Manpower the Temporary will be brought back to life or just raised as a zombie of some sort? Probably the latter.
I like it, but it's a different sort of humor than OoTS. It'll be interesting to see how well it goes over with this crowd in the longrun.
I'm not sure whether or not I like it yet. The writing is great but the cutesy speak really annoys the heck out of me (more than I thought it would).
I'm yet another person to agree with this. The cutesy speak is killing me. However, the writing and humor may be enough to compensate for it. And I don't know, perhaps that's actually the point I like that there's a lot of subtle humor that's balanced with a few outright completely non subtle funnies (the IM notebook was really good).
Quote:
And while the art is good, I just don't care for that style at all. I'll wait a few more strips before I give up on it though.
This is not usually my type of art style either, however, I find I'm enjoying it.
quote Aliquid:
"I wouldn't consider that to be a mistake. I actually prefer to "jump right in" to the world."
Well, yeah, but he did it in a way that only alienates and confuses readers. You're supposed to make the readers feel like they're part of the world before confusing them.
I thought it was funny that the first person to die in the comic was a black dude (with a target painted on his chest). I wonder if the "uncroaked" Manpower the Temporary will be brought back to life or just raised as a zombie of some sort? Probably the latter.
I'm going with zombies here. The way that Wanda, in comic 3, calls for Uncroaked infantry suggests that the Uncroaked are distincted from the living, marked in some way. Similarly, in comic 5 when she refers to the number of "living" troops in their forces it reinforces the point that the Uncroaked are not strictly living.
I wonder, what's that grey-green creature sitting behind Wanda in comic 3? A gobwin? Or a cutesy-fied zombie?
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If a tree falls in the forest and the PCs aren't around to hear it... what do I roll to see how loud it is?
Heheh. I like this comic. Now the website has 2 comics- A very funny comic with a decently deep storyline, and a comic with a very deep storyline and some pretty good laughs.
As for humor, I loved 3 things-Manpower the Temporary (Woot, more like Manpower the I will die in 5 frames.)150000 coins for the preperations and the casting of the spell, and last, the diary chatroom thing. That was hilarious. Why did it quack though, lolz?
"Yo, manpwr bit it @ warchalking :( need u 2 uncroak him an find smoebody new 2 lead army"
Gold. Well, silver compared to Thog breaking in the room with a leprechaun costume, but Gold for Erfworld. Looking forward to this comic growing :D
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I wonder, what's that grey-green creature sitting behind Wanda in comic 3? A gobwin? Or a cutesy-fied zombie?
I do believe that be an uncroaked Manpower the Temporary. You'll notice some simularity in dress, and the IM book did have the message "Uncroak Manpower, then find new guy to lead."
I do believe that be an uncroaked Manpower the Temporary. You'll notice some simularity in dress, and the IM book did have the message "Uncroak Manpower, then find new guy to lead."
I think you're right; the armour is kinda the same. He's even wearing an eyepatch
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If a tree falls in the forest and the PCs aren't around to hear it... what do I roll to see how loud it is?
I like the starting in medias res, but by virtue of that, and that there isn't a gag a page as yet, it's going to take awhile to feel at home inside the strip. I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes!
Actually in the middle of the next next page it generates another pigeon, so congratulations .
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heads_or_Tails
Wanda Firebaugh is rapidly becoming my favorite character, although we've seen little of her and the others so that may change.
I agree. She seems like the most intelligent, and actually competent person we've seen so far, and so I like her. The straight man(woman) is usually my favorite character, kind of like Roy in OOTS. Although Manpower the Temporary gives her a run for her money with the funniest line I've heard in a while.
Hmm I play RTS's too and your right that is amazingly coincidentally close to how they tend to work. Even though I understand the whole reality behind the gem thing.
I love how Manpower's uniform has a target on it. Ask to die much?
And finally I'm going to have to agree with mikeejimbo that Wanda is really hot. Call me a freak if you will, I don't care. Heh.
Last edited by inky13112 : 12-07-2006 at 09:07 PM.
Oh... I thought the child-speak was actually a speech impediment on the part of the Dictator.
I definately like it, but (as someone pointed out) it may get shadowed by the Giant for most people. The Giant's sense of humor is very mainstream (for the geek crowd anyways), while the humor in here was more obscure and crafted for the purpose of hiding... which some people appreciate a great deal, but others find frustrating.
Luckily, I'm in the former group... I'll be looking forward to new ones. =)
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-Edgar Verona
Paladin, Philosopher, Programmer R.I.P
Eye of Fear and Flame
422 - 469
We still miss you bro.
I do believe that be an uncroaked Manpower the Temporary. You'll notice some simularity in dress, and the IM book did have the message "Uncroak Manpower, then find new guy to lead."
I didn't notice at first, but I think you are right!
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"I'm participating!"
"Your approval fills me with shame"
I like that there's a lot of subtle humor that's balanced with a few outright completely non subtle funnies (the IM notebook was really good).
