Cartoons?


Dragon Magazine General Discussion


How do you guys feel about the cartoons being published in dragon?
Dork Tower could fall out completly and it wouldn't bother me. Nodwick is runs hot and cold with it's humour ( and I prefered Full Frontal Nerdity that was put up on the Nodwick site )but it certainly has it's moments.
T.O.O.T.S .....just doesn't work for me. I mean, I can see the funny side but it's never made me laugh out load.
Zogonia cracks me up. I like its old school, 1st edition, THACO and save vs poison or die feel. Kev, Domato and Dindal ( and Galeena from Mt. Zogon in Dungeon ) are DnD players I know and knew.
Another 4 page Zogonia story would go down a treat for this reader!


bal3000 wrote:

Zogonia cracks me up. I like its old school, 1st edition, THACO and save vs poison or die feel. Kev, Domato and Dindal ( and Galeena from Mt. Zogon in Dungeon ) are DnD players I know and knew.

Another 4 page Zogonia story would go down a treat for this reader!

I always read these strips first. Love them! :)


I don't often read them.
And when I do, I rarely think they are all that funny.
But I like that they are there. Makes it feel like more of a full service magazine (which it is). And caters to multiple tastes in gaming style and content (which it does).

I would vote to keep until something better came along if a vote were asked for.


I like 'em all. OotS is my favorite, but I wouldn't want any of them to go away. Like all comics, not every one of them is funny all the time, but they're always entertaining.

I was a little cold on Mt. Zogon in Dungeon for a while, but it grew on me. I think the strip where the druid chick finds the gem inside the dwarf she cut open did it for me, I laughed my ass off and I've been a fan ever since.

While I still like it, Dork Tower is probably the weakest of the bunch, IMO.


I like all of the current comics, although I wouldn't be hurt if Nodwick dropped off. Zogonia, Order of the Stick, and Dork Tower are favorites...


I like the current lineup that's in Dragon. Nodwick was fine, but I preferred it in Dungeon rather than Dragon.


Lilith wrote:
I like the current lineup that's in Dragon. Nodwick was fine, but I preferred it in Dungeon rather than Dragon.

Indeed, especially when the strip was about one of the adventures! "Have you seen my Tibby?"

Scarab Sages

As long as they keep Order of the Stick, I'll be happy.

The Exchange

Mt Zogon always seems to have the same gag in it, so I could lose it and not be sorry. On the other hand, I really like Zogonia - the interplay between the characters works well. Nodwick used to be great but appears to have run out of inspiration in the last year or two. I love the name of Dork Tower and recognise the achetypes, but it can be hit or miss. TOOTS is great on the net, as the sequential story is involving, character-driven and quite good fantasy, apart from being funny, but the individual strips in Dragon are less good as they don't benefit from the backstory.

Liberty's Edge

I also preferred Nodwick when it was in Dungeon, treating an adventure I had just read. I read the first few issues of the Nodwick comic and I think it also benefitted from a continuing story line. The stand alone strips are okay, but not exceptional.

I've been a long time reader of Order of the Stick. I like the online version, but I would also prefer having some 'placement' for the Dragon magazine version. Is it before or after the strips we read online? Or does it happen concurently? The one-shot nature may not make it important, but I don't think it will hold my interest long.

I like Zogonia most of the time.

I don't like Dork Tower most of the time. There have been some gems in the past, but approximately 85% fall flat with me.

In Dungeon I'm lukewarm toward Mt. Zogon - I think it could use a couple additional characters to keep things interesting. It's named after a place, so maybe we can see what the neighbors are up to as well....

I'm not a fan of Downer. It has a continuing storyline, but it can't be enjoyed in a single issue format. While I'd like to see other comics build on what has happened before, you should still be able to pick up in the middle without losing too much. Each comic should stand alone as well as in sequence.

There's another short comic in Dungeon, but I don't remember the title. It features a creature (goblin?) with big ears. I haven't found that one to be very funny. It could disappear.

For non-gaming comics that do a good job of this, I'd suggest looking at Dilbert. Usually they run as a 3 panel comic, and they'll often have 3, 4, or more related comics in sequence. But, each one has its own "gag" so you can enjoy them individually, but they're better when you read them all...

In Dragon I'm satisfied with the relative number of comics. I could stand to lose one if Nodwick went back to Dungeon, or I wouldn't mind seeing Dork Tower replaced. I actually wouldn't mind if Order of the Stick went over to Dungeon as well and Downer was dropped. But that's not going to happen.


I quite like the comics in Dragon. Order of the Stick is a welcome addition, and I especially like Zogonia (Blood for the dark god!) and the one in Dungeon about the druid. (Your new name is Meat Shield #6.)

I think it'd be a bad idea to move comics to Dungeon, since that would encourage players to buy Dungeon just to get the comics. I think it's very important that players don't read adventures they're going to play in later. Reading a magazine you paid money for is a lot easier to justify than spending money just to cheat!


I haven't warmed up to Order of the Stick yet, sounds like it might grow on me if I checked out some of the backstory online. (I take it that it was published somewhere else before and only recently started to appear in Dragon?) I had seen it as a series of disconnected commentaries on metagaming and rules lawyering that lack real humor because the characters seem really one-dimensional to me.

Both of Tony Moseley's comics frequently make me laugh out loud. The one where the polymorphed Kev crawled into the lich's skull was my favorite. Mt. Zogon is occasionally flat, but usually at least creative--as an earlier poster noted, it might benefit from some additional characters--maybe a rival for control of the bowels of Mt. Zogon emerges to challenge our cruel druidess?

Nodwick I usually at least get a bit of enjoyment out of--and there have been some very funny strips over the years.

It took me some time to warm up to Downer, but now I'm hooked. I like the dark, anti-heroish feel it has, and the cool ways the artist represents magic and roguery artistically. I wish Kyle Hunter would put up more of the old strips online, though, or publish it in comic form--since I've got a big gap in my Dungeon collection that covers strips 2-18, and there are not infrequent references to this part of the ongoing storyline.

Dork Tower has gotten quite repetitive--just an endless commentary on munchkinism and other gamer foibles that really aren't very interesting--just annoying.

And I haven't laughed once at the fat little goblin thingy (can't remember the strip's name) in Dungeon.

(Sorry, no offense intended if these two cartoonists are on these boards--we just don't share the same sense of humor at all).


Yeah, Nodwick back to Dungeon to make fun of the adventures in that issue would be cool. I loved the one where they had to duck tape the horn back on the unicorn....


OK, I just found the OOTS website and read the first 120 episodes, and I'm converted. Some very funny commentary on the game, and gamers. And now it's way past my bedtime.


I'd completly forgotten about Downer. I have to say that if all the downer strips were collected together it'd probably make a decent read. Two pages a month cuts it up too much for me, like those 3 panel newspaper comics like the Phantom or Modesty Blaise. It's always reminds me of when the threads on my video player botched up years ago and kept fuzzing out the picture and sound every five seconds. Very, very irritating .

The Exchange

I too forgot about Downer. I'm afraid I just don't get Downer - I often wonder if I am missing episodes or something, there seems to be very poor continuity. It could probably benefit from from being released online sequentially - perhaps Paizo could oblige. Then the fans could see it and I could find out if I care.


farewell2kings wrote:
Yeah, Nodwick back to Dungeon to make fun of the adventures in that issue would be cool. I loved the one where they had to duck tape the horn back on the unicorn...

I liked the one where they caught Cthulhu when fishing.

Nodwick: "I'm all of a sudden in favor of catch & release, guys."

:-D

Dark Archive

And I haven't laughed once at the fat little goblin thingy (can't remember the strip's name) in Dungeon.

That would be The Portent I believe. It's not a good sign that noone so far could name the strip. I like its artistic style nonetheless. There's only so much a three panel strip can do once a month while the others get full pages or more. And Mt Zogon is merely a side project that is aided surely by being in the same 'universe' as Zogonia(currently my favorite).


Aubrey the Malformed wrote:
I too forgot about Downer. I'm afraid I just don't get Downer - I often wonder if I am missing episodes or something, there seems to be very poor continuity. It could probably benefit from from being released online sequentially - perhaps Paizo could oblige. Then the fans could see it and I could find out if I care.

Some of the Downer back episodes are available on Kyle Hunter's website--enough to get some idea of the current plot, but not enough to get all of the references. (Don't have the address handy, but if you google and ignore the other Kyle Hunters that are obviously not in the RPG business it comes up on the first page of the search.)

Kyle--we know you're out there on the boards. What say you make the full run available online to all us newly loyal readers?

Further thoughts on Order of the Stick: I just spent far more time than I ought to have to read all 295 episodes on the artist's website, and I have to say, it's brilliant! Rabelais meets D&D. I was laughing my butt off until about 2 am last night. However, I don't think that brilliance comes through in the strips published in the Dragon at all. They're outside the plot of the main series, and don't do much to bring out the personalities of the characters, nor do they convey much of the humor of the strip as posted on the web (which is admittedly sometimes quite, er, earthy). If the publication in Dragon is meant to attract readers to the strip and buyers for the printed versions, I'm not sure it's doing that. I certainly wouldn't have checked it out without being tipped on these boards that I was missing something. Now having looked at the whole series, I'm sure I'll be dropping by that site every week or so to catch up on the Order's latest antics, and might buy a book for the reading pleasure of my gamer friends--but I had no idea why Paizo saw fit to enter a partnership with the artist before. So I guess what I'm saying is, Dragon staff and Rich Burlew, can you figure out a way to develop the Dragon version of OOTS so that it is a) more entertaining and b) a better advertisement for Mr. Burlew's comic genius?


Zogonia is The Koga's favorite, it's morbid, it's more like a real D&D party, and there isn't all those flashy spells like in Nodwick..the others he could take or leave.


Zogonia and Mt Zogon are far, far and away the best of the current crop.

The best that ever appeared in the magazine's pages, of course, were Snarfquest and The Twilight Empire. There is simply no comparison. Yamara was also good, but not as good as the first two; I'd say it and the Zogon comics are of comparable quality.

Nodwick seems too self-consciously "nerd-hip" to me, and OotS likewise; they rarely do it for me. Downer is well drawn and has a Planescape feel I like a lot but it has MASSIVE continuity problems; go from one issue to the next and you feel like you've missed 20-30 pages of comic.


I like them all. I really like Downer, but you have to have been reading it from the beginning to know what's really going on. It's kind of soap-opera like that way. I really like Zogonia/Mt. Zogon. I'm still wating for that crossover where the druid kicks everyone's hindquarters. OoTS is new to me, I never read it until it was in Dragon, but now I can't get enough of it. I can't count how many of my game seesions have gone just like that.

Those are my favs. Dork Tower and Nodwick are good too, but my favs are the other ones.

M


I could live with a lot more Zogonia and Mount Zogon. I'd love to see Galeena get a several-page special some time, as the did with "Raiding the Dragons Lair" and Zogonia. And Downer... I like, but I think I'd like it a lot more as a bound volume. I'd certainly buy it as such if it were ever released. I'd also agree that Nodwick's adventures in Dungeon were a nice touch - I like him, I'd like him more if he were back in the other magazine.

Order of the Stick I think works better on the web, where you can read the whole backlog in one sweet session. Reading it one page per month does not do it justice.

That one with the huge-eared short thing has never even made me crack a smile, sadly.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Let's see...

I like Dork Tower and Nodwick. Not fantastically so, but they're usually good for a smile. I, too, much prefered it when Nodwick and co. tackled published adventures, either one in the Dungeon magazine or parodies of classic 1e/2e ones in Dragon.

Order of the Stick - The Dragon Edition is alright, but I agree with everyone who says that the web version is better. Of course, I do like the story, not just gags about rules. It's still good, just not as good.

Zogonia and Mt. Zogon are my favorites of either magazine, although I prefer Zogonia's adventuring to Mt. Zogon's more random mayhem. The strips aren't afraid to be completely weird, which is part of the charm (like the "this is not a pipe" strip a few months ago).

I used to not like Downer much, but it's definately grown on me. The art style is fantastic, but I agree with those astute souls who've said that it'd work better as a full-length monthly comic then as an installation in the back of a magazine.

The less said about The Portent, the better. The Portent is anti-funny. With each strip, the total humor in the universe is slightly decreased. Into the bin with it, I say.


I enjoy all of the strips currently in Dragon, but Order of the Stick is just okay rather than excellent. Nodwick used to be funnier but is still good.

I miss the old Dragon Mirth one panel gags format, but I suspect either no one remembers it or else consider one page strips superior.

Liberty's Edge

I remember Dragon Mirth.

I remember hearing for years that they could never get enough submissions, and if I recall correctly, those that did some submissions couldn't usually be counted on for more. You can't have a dedicated page if you're not going to be able to fill it.

One of the funniest ones I remember involved a knight killing a "dragon". Turned out to be Barney.

Wished it were true.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

bal3000 wrote:


T.O.O.T.S .....just doesn't work for me. I mean, I can see the funny side but it's never made me laugh out load.

My eyes burn from seeing OotS abbreviated that way

...so...wrong...so very very...wrong...

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

In general, gamer comics are greater in quantity than quality. I like OotS, though as mentioned, the online version is better. Zogonia and Mt. Zogan tend to be the best.

I never liked Nodwick. It's always struck me as cliche without anything new or interesting to say, particularly when you compare to the web version of OotS, which takes cliche characters and makes them lovable and interesting.

Dork Tower generally feels like a three panel strip padded out to a page. It's okay at best, inoffensive at worst.

The Portent is terrible. On the bright side, it's moved away from the fart jokes, but it's still not funny.

And Downer...

I'd really like to like Downer. There's so much cool stuff going on in the background, and it feels like the type of game I like to run. I like Kyle's art. I like the planar stuff going on. The comic is just not effective in the amount of space given to it. With such a small amount of space, each panel needs to communicate an idea clearly and succinctly. 1/3 of the panels I don't get, 1/3 are Downer being cool, and the remaining 1/3 contain the actual content. Reading Downer is like trying to read a comic book where each page consists of three randomly selected panels.

The comic I most miss is Knights of the Dinner Table. That was good lavin.


Dear Sebastion...sorry about the eyes....I'll never use that abbreviation again.......it's funny you should mention K.O.T.D.T though.....that strip, altough well written, actually depressed me to read it. I just found it's general flavour to be equal parts pettiness and patheticness.
If it was a real campaign you'd find me scidaddling off to play the Zogonia campaign or even in the Dork realms....


Ok I know I'm a miserable old git, but I would prefer the pages used for another article each month.

Regards
Mortis

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

bal3000 wrote:

Dear Sebastion...sorry about the eyes....I'll never use that abbreviation again.......it's funny you should mention K.O.T.D.T though.....that strip, altough well written, actually depressed me to read it. I just found it's general flavour to be equal parts pettiness and patheticness.

If it was a real campaign you'd find me scidaddling off to play the Zogonia campaign or even in the Dork realms....

No worries. They mostly healed up.

KotDT pathetic! Doh. I think KotDT came along at exactly the right time in my life. I started reading near the end of college and it had been a couple years since I had played D&D at all. TSR was dying, I didn't have a gaming group, and I was thinking I'd probably give up the hobby. KotDT was the closest thing to vicarious gaming. It relit my love of gaming and carried me through the dark days before 3.0 came out and I built a new group.


bal3000 wrote:

Dear Sebastion...sorry about the eyes....I'll never use that abbreviation again.......it's funny you should mention K.O.T.D.T though.....that strip, altough well written, actually depressed me to read it. I just found it's general flavour to be equal parts pettiness and patheticness.

If it was a real campaign you'd find me scidaddling off to play the Zogonia campaign or even in the Dork realms....

I loved KotDT because it reminds me of my own pathetic gaming groups. Two very high-strung min-maxers, a fairly normal person or two, and me. My own characters were either quiet, because I'm quiet, and plotting against other party members, because I wanted to "win", or very over the top weird.

Why did I stay?

Because it was the only game in town.

Dark Archive

khyron1144 wrote:
I miss the old Dragon Mirth one panel gags format, but I suspect either no one remembers it or else consider one page strips superior.

One panel strips are good but have to pack alot of punch with little space. Just like political cartoons. I prefer the three panel comic. Serve. Set. Spike.

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