OotS #570 Is Up, Including Critical Interpretations of Burlew's Style & OotS Content

[EATherrian]

I really like the plot rate, I was just hoping we'd actually get some growth with Belkar. I think he is funny, but my sense of goodness and honor causes me to dislike him more than I find him funny. I think I'm in the minority though.

 

[SPoD]

He's been dead for well over 100 comics.

(SNIP)

It's been almost 100 comics since they've been split up.

100 comics is not that much. 100 comics is like half a book, and a book is like a season of TV. You're willing to sit through two seasons of Lost that you didn't like, and then it got better. Why assume that OOTS can't get to a place more to your liking after only half a season?

 

[Jedi_Solo]

100 comics is not that much. 100 comics is like half a book, and a book is like a season of TV. You're willing to sit through two seasons of Lost that you didn't like, and then it got better. Why assume that OOTS can't get to a place more to your liking after only half a season?

There are two reasons.

1) I almost quite Lost multiple times over those two seasons. Each time I almost quit the next episode actually advanced the plot in a way that (at least at the time) seemed to be a major advancement. Some times it turned out to be a big advancement and some times it didn't. Either way it was enough for me at the time.

2) Time passage issues. The last couple of weeks have been very good for new issues to be posted. That said, his record in the past of posting new comics has been spotty so the number of issues doesn't have that much to say about how long it's been other than it's been at least 100 days (if the comics had been daily).

I can easily wait three months; it's been longer than three months. The copyright to the two issues I listed above are 2007. That means that at best it has been almost six months since the two groups have split. There was the time of Burlow's injury so it has been longer than six months but I'm not sure how long it has been. I don't have the search feature so I can't find the thread saying they were posted so I can't find the actual dates of those comics.

TV seasons (usually) have the sweeps episodes be major events so you at least get meta-plot advancement every few months.

Edit to add: I'll admit, when this ends up in book form the pacing might seem just fine to me. It seems to be greatly dragged out (to me) at the moment in part because of the rate of issues being posted.

[aside] Heck, I watch Law & order in part to get away from the massive metaplots on TV today [/aside]

 

[RabidBob]

100 comics is not that much. 100 comics is like half a book, and a book is like a season of TV. You're willing to sit through two seasons of Lost that you didn't like, and then it got better. Why assume that OOTS can't get to a place more to your liking after only half a season?

100 comics is not a lot of reading! It's taken a long time irl to do those 100 comics, but that's creation vs time issue.

 

[SPoD]

There was the time of Burlow's injury

(SNIP)

Edit to add: I'll admit, when this ends up in book form the pacing might seem just fine to me. It seems to be greatly dragged out (to me) at the moment in part because of the rate of issues being posted.

The thing is, Rich doesn't have an injury, he has a chronic health problem. The rate of posting is not likely to EVER improve permanently, just get better for a while before getting worse again. So if the pace of updates is really the crux of the problem, you would probably be better off deleting the bookmark for a while and then coming back 3 or 6 months later, or waiting for the book. You might end up enjoying it a lot more, and wouldn't you rather enjoy it later than not enjoy it now?

 

[physics_ninja]

There are two reasons.
Edit to add: I'll admit, when this ends up in book form the pacing might seem just fine to me. It seems to be greatly dragged out (to me) at the moment in part because of the rate of issues being posted.

Does anyone know when the next book is coming out? I figure he has enough material for 2 or 3 books depending on how he groups the strips.

 

[2WS-Steve]

Why?

Personally, I like the meandering style, it reminds me a D&D campaign - or at least the way they usually go when I play/run (without the pardodic elements of course).

That's my feeling too.

I'd like to read this strip for at least 20 more years -- and they're going to need a lot of side quests for that!

 

[Jedi_Solo]

The thing is, Rich doesn't have an injury, he has a chronic health problem.

There was a period where he took a few weeks off because of a hand injury (or something similar, I don't remember exactly which is why I didn't specifiy). In the first strip back Elan was wearing a sling as a reference. That was te injury I was referring to. Sorry for being a little vauge with that statement.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I love the Stick, but Rich does have some...let's call them "pacing issues."

It kind of reminds me of when Haley couldn't say an intelligable phrase for a few years.

I'll pretty much agree with the annoyance with the caveat that when Rich makes things go fast, they really move along.

The typical narrative arc has slow building action that inevitably comes to a climax.

Rich's narrative arc is more a long flat line that spikes like crazy once in a while.

 

[WhatGravitas]

There are two reasons.

Let me add something: The group is only half as funny when they're split. Belkar is much more funny, if he can annoy the heck out of Roy AND Haley AND Vaarsuvius. This goes for the other members as well. And we miss Roy.

Still reading, relatively happy with the pace, but slowly, it becomes tiresome. I don't want a storyline where they achieve more, I just want their interactions back.

Cheers, LT.