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A review by tasharobinson
Good Deeds Gone Unpunished by Rich Burlew
4.0
The downside: I really dislike the greyscale art on some of these Order of the Stick books. It feels so muddy and dim after reading the full-color strips.
The rest: Rich Burlew is such a terrific storyteller and character-builder, it leaves me in awe sometimes. This is a collection of spinoff stories from his D&D-based fantasy strip Order of the Stick, which started off as a series of dorky gaming gags, and evolved into an epic adventure that remains one of the most gratifying and beautifully scripted web comics I've ever read. This particular collection is just side stories about minor characters, but its centerpiece, "How the Paladin Got his Scar," is a terrific introduction to his work. It lays out a complicated political situation that turns into a moral conundrum, as a paladin tries to navigate the conflict between his sworn duties and the belief in the sanctity of life. There's plenty of humor in the panel-to-panel interactions — Burlew has such an excellent way with pithy, snappy dialogue — but the overall arc of the story is a strong piece of narrative drama. I loved this book. I'd just love it more in color.
The rest: Rich Burlew is such a terrific storyteller and character-builder, it leaves me in awe sometimes. This is a collection of spinoff stories from his D&D-based fantasy strip Order of the Stick, which started off as a series of dorky gaming gags, and evolved into an epic adventure that remains one of the most gratifying and beautifully scripted web comics I've ever read. This particular collection is just side stories about minor characters, but its centerpiece, "How the Paladin Got his Scar," is a terrific introduction to his work. It lays out a complicated political situation that turns into a moral conundrum, as a paladin tries to navigate the conflict between his sworn duties and the belief in the sanctity of life. There's plenty of humor in the panel-to-panel interactions — Burlew has such an excellent way with pithy, snappy dialogue — but the overall arc of the story is a strong piece of narrative drama. I loved this book. I'd just love it more in color.