OotS 843

[Zelligars Apprentice]

This may sound insane, seeing as we are talking about a comic about stick people, but I swear that drawings in the early comics are noticeably more primitive compared to the later stuff.

"Psst! It's an art upgrade, we're supposed to pretend we were always drawn this way"

 

[Squire James]

I rather doubt the spell allowed a save, or at least, it was very restrictive in what saves it allowed. It might have only allowed a save if the target had a certain number of hit dice, much like cloudkill. Given that it was an epic spell, that hit dice limit would probably be quite high.

The Epic Spell creation system does not have a No Save factor, so one can only increase the save to a ridiculous amount (like DC 80) and hope it is enough. Of course, the Giant may have simply ignored that aspect of the Epic Spell rules, and it wouldn't be the first time he ignored the rules for some cool effect.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I don't think you're wrong. After I read this post, I just spent the last few minutes comparing the 1st strip and the current one, and there are some noticeable differences. The depth of field is markably more effective now. There are additional details in areas like costumes. The mouths of people talking are more obvious. Expressions are more readable. And, the biggest jump, the backgrounds and scene-setters are way more detailed.

There is a strip somewhere where Elan says "Oh, art upgrade" or something to that effect.

 

[wingsandsword]

Giant In the Playground Games Is also a strip that references the gradual increase in the quality of the art.

Merchant: "You're wearing long pants?"
Haley: "Yeah, the way we are drawn makes it sort of hard to tell."
Elan: "For the first 100 strips I thought I was barefoot."