The Stick Awards II: Second Edition (#0451 - #0460)

[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 451 through 460.

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 18th, 4pm EDT. Any votes made after that will NOT count toward the totals.

Last week, 449 Land of the Rising... summoned a cadre of voters to aid it at its time of need. In so doing, it marshaled enough support to send it to the Best of the Hundred Tournament for this round.

Things may be coming to a head in the battle that is being depicted before us, but for us the combat never ends. If you consider strips fighting before us for our amusement combat, at any rate. And the only way to decide the winner of said combat is to vote in.....

.THE STICK AWARDS II: 0451 - 0460

451 Change of Direction
452 Breaking and Entering
453 Heck of a Fight
454 The Longshot
455 Incoming!
456 Saved Game
457 Anti-Human Resources
458 Exit Strategy
459 Negative Feelings
460 Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

[Jaxzan Proditor]

There are a lot of good one's in this bunch. Redcloak's epiphany, the T-shirts, Hinjo getting attacked. However, nothing can match the ultimate duel from #456.

[FLHerne]

No - Redcloak remembering what he originally set out to do and growing a spine in #451 is both more interesting and plot-relevant.

I mean, the entire point of #456 is that it's boring and repetitive, and if I pulled that entire strip out of the book you wouldn't even notice the gap.

[Angelalex242]

459

As I failed to support 449 last time, I must now lend Lord Soon my aid, that he may smite the hell out of evil everywhere.

[Killer Angel]

456 and 457 are very nice, but theres only one strip really epic, here, and it's Redcloak that becomes a true leader of the goblin race.

451

[Emperordaniel]

I'm putting my vote in for #456. Truly, there has never been a more spectacular display of magic in the annals of warfare.

[Gift Jeraff]

#458 for the three-way interplay between Nale, Sabine, and Thog.

[137beth]

This is a really tough one. There are some funny moments, such as Xykon failing to recognize the name Redcloak gives in 459, Durkon killing the Huecuva and reprising the Giant Dwarf gag, or the interplay between Thog and Sabine ("nale only been gone for four panels"). There were several moments showing how awesome Redcloak was, like breaking into the castle, the 'Ultimate Duel Between Clerics', and the way he messed with Tsukiko in 457.
I think I have to go with the biggest character change in the set, though: 451. One of my favorite characters has an epiphany.

[Bird]

No question that Redcloak is king in this bunch of ten. I'm going with 456--one of the more realistic D&D gags that the Giant ever conceived.

[Meph]

Intresting bulk. 455 for me.

[Cartographer7]

452 to honor their noble sacrifice.

[declinator]

My favourite this time around: The magic duel of 456 for the win! Funny little detail I just noticed for the first time: Hobgoblin General makes a "Wumph!" sound when he hits the ground in panel 3.

[nogall]

Truly, there has never been a more spectacular display of irony (or rather sarcasm?) than 456.

[Timy]

457 make it for me

[ChristianSt]

Mh - no strips stands really out to me this time.

I'm going with 457 - Anti-Human Resources: It really is nice to see how fast Redcloak and Tsukiko get "closer"

EDIT: yeah 451 is a central plot point with Redcloak's epiphany (and probably the most important strip in this bunch), and I thought a moment to vote for it, yet I don't think it really stands out.

[Sir_Leorik]

451

This is the turning point in Redcloak's character arc, where he abandons his racist feelings towards Hobgoblins, and becomes the True Prophet of the Dark One, a Shepherd to all Goblins, including Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears. (Not sure about Xvarts. Are there any Xvarts in this world?) That makes it the best of this group.

[Mike Havran]

#451 is the most important one, but none is really a favourite of mine. So I go with #453.

[Emanick]

Man, this is the toughest choice I've made in a while. #451 is probably the most important, and #458 is delightful for several reasons. But I'm going to go with 459: Negative Feelings. Exciting, important and drama-heightening.

[Livius]

#456......

[NobodyWasTaken]

Time to vote for 451.

[David Argall]

460. A lot of decent choices this time, but 460 deserves at least a vote or two.

[Sylian]

451. It is truly a turning point for Redcloak.

[YoshiBoy13]

I only ever vote for the funny strips, Thog the footstool, fourth wall smasher, and frozen dessert enthusiast will always win it for me. Vote: 458

[thatSeniorGuy]

How can I go past the ULTIMATE DUEL BETWEEN CLERICS???!!!
456.

[LadyEowyn]

Voting for 451: Change of Direction, no contest. It's not just my favourite strip in this section, it's one of my favourites in the whole comic, where Redcloak becomes a much more complex character; up until this point in the story (if you haven't read Start of Darkness) he's basically just Xykon's beleaguered sidekick. This is the moment when he starts getting his own story and character development, and becomes one of the most engaging characters in the comic.

Also, examples of the villainous character realizing he's doing wrong and reforming while still remaining a villain are rare, and this is a truly impressive one.

[martianmister]

451gfmnjfffg

[Yendor]

I love Elan's illusions, but it's still got to be 451.

[Torrasque]

Definetely 456

[littlebum2002]

456

(Made my saving throw)

[Porthos]

Well, shoot. A tie. And between two classics, no less. Not just two classics, but two extreme examples of what makes The Order of the Stick, the, well, The Order of the Stick. 451 is a classic because it is defining moment for Redcloak. 456 is classic because it is, well, comedy gold.

What to do, what to do. Hmmm. Guess I should go the 'integrity' route. See, I was planning on voting for 456 because, as important as 451 is, 456 really is that funny. It doesn't beat it out by much in my eyes, but it still beats it out for me personally. So 456 it is.

And if anyone lurking is irked by this strip winning, well, all I have to say is, "More people should have voted for the other one then."

And with that....

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED!

456 Saved Game is the winner this week. It now moves on to the Best of the Hundred tournament.

Full Results are as follows

........THE STICK AWARDS II: 0451 - 0460

	Comic Number	Votes Received	Vote Percentage
	451	9	31.03
	452	1	3.45
	453	1	3.45
	454	0	0.00
	455	1	3.45
	456	10	34.48
	457	2	6.90
	458	2	6.90
	459	2	6.90
	460	1	3.45

Please join us for the next round of voting for Strips #461 - #470 which can be found here.