Vaarsuvius, the Elf spell caster is the epitome of the learned and pompous type of characters that wizards are often portrayed as. He is an amiable character, and doesn’t do much to dissuade the preconceived notions of the cleric always being a walking box of band-aids for an adventuring party, but his genial nature coupled with his stoic heritage give him a lot more depth as well. She often serves as a second in command or right hand to Roy, but as a rouge, the rest of the team are never really sure they can trust her, but really she has a heart of gold. She’s dexterous and agile, fast witted and sly. He can act rashly at times, but he’s also the glue the keeps the group together. He is very loyal to his friends, and quite intelligent, throwing a spanner into the generalization that fighters are dumb. There’s Roy, the leader of the group, a fighter by class. In The Order of the Stick: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools, we meet the group of heroes that make up the party that call themselves The Order of the Stick (OOTS). Who knew that stick figures could become such loved characters, or such humorous bad guys, and who knew they could relay a fantasy epic that has been running for more than 1000 online strips as well as numerous books containing the online strips as well as previously unpublished material (like Start of Darkness, which is a prequel telling us how the bad guys Redcloak and Xykon got together). It’s simplistically done, and maybe (starts off) a bit juvenile, but it’s also one of the funniest things I’ve ever read, and I’ve been following it religiously for years. The Order of the Stick is an online comic about a bunch of stick figure D&D type characters, packed full with fantasy spoofs and role-playing gags. Basically it’s a collection of really humorous D&D and fantasy jokes and amusing anecdotes compiled together into a series of comic strips. It’s just that crazy and silly and hilarious.

It’s like Dungeons and Dragons meets Futurama but acted out by the cast of Monty Python. What is The Order of the Stick? It’s probably the comic equivalent of the rock band Green Jelly.

Dungeon Crawlin' Fools by Rich Burlew