And in case anyone asks, NOT the end of the book.
Dang, Elan! “I’m not a twin anymore. And you’re not the real villain.” Now that’s what I call character growth – in the similar situation with Nale, he reacted as the Good person that he is. Now, he’s responding based on his wider understanding of his own nature, his family, his father as he is and not how Elan wants him to be – and the actual story that they are in, for which this is a subplot, albeit an important one.
He isn’t as naive as he was at the beginning, but he hasn’t lost his essential goodness and kindness. Go Elan! (And go Haley! That was a clever move.)
So the main question now is can Daddy Tarquin find a ride out the desert before Sabine’s 24 hours are up. I’m not sure that Tarquin could go one on one with her after that fall.
I suppose Miron or one of his other associates has the means to teleport him out. I wonder if he keeps a sending scroll around for emergencies like this, but I doubt it, since he would never even consider that he would find himself in such a situation.
Actually, a pterodactyl patrol should not be that far off. The main battle site is still within a days walking distance. Can’t wait to see what the Giant has up his sleeve next.
And brilliant move by Haley, and excellent followup by Elan.
This is literature at its best. With stick figures… love the modern world!
He’s got a Ring of Regeneration; he’ll be fine. And he’s not that far from the remnants of his army.
I guess this is Tarquins version of “KHAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!”
My first impression is how much fun Rich is having poking at so many story tropes.
Maybe it’s conformation bias, but so many movies or shows I’ve seen lately have
the trend Daddy Tarq pointed out of prisioners and interrogation scenes.
I see the desperate canny foe hanging on by his fingertips trying to negotiate his way out.
The wounded sidekick (or girlfriend) shooting the villan at the moment of confrontation.
Then the meta joke for all of us that have been waiting impatiently for new strips of Tarquin screaming to “give this plotline a satisfying conclusion” and “I don’t know what happens next.”
Second thoughts are what was just said about the character growth. Daddy Tarq starts to admit he caused all this, and the entire last page where he rages knowing once and for all he is a side plot. A chain of thought he has never even concieved of before.
My wow moment is going back to what was being said here awhile back that Elan really is the heart and soul of the strip. I picture his voice on the second page as calm, matter of fact and maybe a little sad. This isn’t the silly naive Elan that ran around naked thinking he was invisible.
I’m not sure that we will see anymore of Tarq. Screaming about closure, and “This is a Terrible ending” and all. He is defeated utterly, more than if he was killed. His Army failed, his team failed, his power failed, and his manipulating Charisma failed at last. I don’t know that he has earned the rematch, he has been outgrown and dismissed.
Plus they are not-so-subtly riding off into the sunset.
They do kind of need to sort out the loose end of Haley’s dad. Maybe just sign him on to Scoundrél’s crew.
Nice rope tie thing Scoundrel’s got going.
A weaker man than I, perhaps a lesser man, might point out that Scoundrel tied up that way is not a loose end.
Unlike Tarquin.
A proposal for the next thread:
Since this book is wrapping up, the “Book 6 Discussion Thread” will undoubtedly be launching sometime in the next couple of weeks. When it does, I propose we adopt a standard “new comic” link format. Something very large and very bold – something that will be obvious to someone who is scrolling quickly through a bumped thread that “this is where you want to click before you go reading anything else”.
I’d say something like this would do nicely:
Comic 936 is up.
I don’t know about anyone else, but when I see the thread is bumped, I find myself scrolling up and down, trying to determine if there is an actual new comic while also trying not to read any discussion in case there is a new one that I’ve yet to read.
Whaddaya think, folks?
I don’t know if Tarquin will be a major villain any more, but I think he’s a loose end at this point. I could see a comic set a day or so in the future where Sabine shows up with a group of powerful devils and takes him down.
I like it.
That said, when I see that the thread has been bumped, the first thing I do is head over to another browser window, and select the bookmark for giantitp.
A double demonstration of why Burlew is such an excellent writer.
First there’s the ongoing character growth. Burlew doesn’t rely on the cliche of a character having a sudden change - his characters can grow by subtle degrees that add up.
And he can take small elements like Haley’s skill at shooting two arrows, Elan’s past trip on an airship, and Tarquin’s ability to snatch arrows out of the air - all things which seemed like natural parts of the story when they first occurred - and weave them together into a single great panel. Think about the plotting skill that panel represents: either Burlew had planned out that single panel years ago when he planted the earlier seeds for it or he was able to take random elements from earlier strips and bring them together seamlessly - and either way it’s brilliant writing.
Demons. Unless the mission to take out Tarquin is under the auspices of Evil, Inc., Sabine, a succubus (i.e., a demon/tanar’ri) isn’t going to be able to enlist devils to help her.
Promote that man.
Yes, Tarq grew a tiny bit this strip, but not enough. I think he made a perfectly reasonable proposal. If he could only grok that his son is a near-idiot (albeit smarter than he used to be and with ample wisdom, possibly more than Tarq himself).
So what would be a good counterproposal for Tarq? If a comic relief moron carries out his own quest he’s still a sidekick. Ah: Elan finishes his current quest, goes back to Dad, enrolls in college (high school?) and becomes smarter, albeit with the aid of a couple of wish spells. Level 9 INT should be good enough, given that Elan is wise enough to consult with trusted allies. Then he takes over his Dad’s empire, probably forceably. Not sure who would be the power behind the throne. Haley?
So the best Tarq can hope for is a spinoff (probably offscreen, as it were). At any rate Elan is leveling up to be a fine bard.
Yes, Tarq grew a tiny bit this strip, but not enough. I think he made a perfectly reasonable proposal. If he could only grok that his son is a near-idiot (albeit smarter than he used to be and with ample wisdom, possibly more than Tarq himself).
So what would be a good counterproposal for Tarq? If a comic relief moron carries out his own quest he’s still a sidekick. Ah: Elan finishes his current quest, goes back to Dad, enrolls in college (high school?) and becomes smarter, albeit with the aid of a couple of wish spells. Level 9 INT should be good enough, given that Elan is wise enough to consult with trusted allies. Then he takes over his Dad’s empire, probably forceably. Not sure who would be the power behind the throne. Haley?
So the best Tarq can hope for is a spinoff (probably offscreen, as it were). At any rate Elan is leveling up to be a competent bard.
Applying simple tried, true and reasonable riffs and tropes in a Burlew strip guarantees frustration: poor Tarquin is in his own personal hell.
I thought Tarquin’s exclamation, “I don’t know what happens next!” was telling. Every time we’ve seen him, while he hasn’t known what happens next per se, he’s always been at the center of his story, picking up the plot threads as he encounters them and pulling the strings to make the next part of the story. Him. Now he has no plot, no strings, zip, and it perhaps scares him. Nice job, Elan.
Somebody in the OOTS forum pointed out that Elan’s final words to Tarquin is a callback to Tarquin saying the same thing to Elan.
Yeah, Tarq was utterly defeated/deflated by Elan. Still after a few days he will be recharged and only be a portal away from the action: we can’t rule out a Han Solo riff. Then again, Sabine is also a factor.
Incidentally, the calendar is nice piece of work, judging from the small images that appear in the back of it. (I don’t like flipping through my calendars: I prefer to receive a pleasant jolt each month.) If anything January’s image shown on the website is one of the weaker ones – and it’s pretty good, right? There are also small cartoons with the characters making various comments around the calendar itself. Recommended.