And now, a special guest blog post from Kathy, Rob's wife.
As you may have noticed, this is Rob's 500th strip. As it happens, it's also the 5-year anniversary of Meatshield. Both are pretty significant accomplishments! Rob has worked hard to make Meatshield what it is today. He has developed likeable characters, engaging storylines, and clever dialogue. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of him.
So, in celebration of strip #500, I'd like to ask a favor of all of Meatshield's loyal readers. Leave a comment and let us know your favorite thing about Meatshield. I'm particularly fond of Jaine myself, as not only do I see bits and pieces of myself in her (the good bits, naturally!), but also because she is such a strong female character.
Thank you for your patience, your continued support, and your shared enjoyment of Meatshield. It really means a lot to Rob to see how much you enjoy and relate to his characters.
Happy Anniversary, Meatshield! :)
~ Kathy
Definitely Becky. Not only does she break the stereotype about dwarven women, but she manages to break the stereotype about stuck-up, holy symbol thumpin’, preachin’, obnoxious…well, let’s just say paladins aren’t my fave. But Beckers definitely works! She’s my second favorite dwarf, next to Pella. 🙂
I like the fact that Jaine and Dhur are probably married by orcish custom ( the oath and all), without realizing it. And are clearly a couple, without realizing it either.
As for today’s comic: What, no Keys (West)? And, that explains why I haven’t heard much from Alicia…
Philo is my favorite character. He’s got that almost steampunk-gizmo-aristocrat thing going on that I really like. He’s such a versatile character, you can write from a lot of good angles with him.
Encyclopedia Ardrisia. I want the whole set!
Also, Dhur’s family.
great comic, and also, is this place on a giant creature and is the town located at the armpit 3:)
@Mikey: No, but I have heard of an entire world set on the backs of four elephants which walk in a circle on the back of a giant turtle. 🙂
I love the way the adventure flows and gives me tips for outwitting our DM! Muahahaha!
Dhur is definitely my favorite. The whole strip is always a smile in my day so I’m happy to see you have come so far and wish mush success in the future. Til 1000!
I like the fact that Dhur is oblivious enough for comedy but not stupid. It’s a balance many writers fail at.
i like that dhur is oblivious for comedy without being stupid. many writers can’t attain that balance. also a baking based monastic order.
Blue Hand Troll’s House of Stuff and Things.
Brilliant.
I like all the characters (I know, informative without being helpful…). But what I like best is Rob’s sense of pacing and storytelling. Rob, you do a great job of keeping the story light and humorous, without loosing the sense of adventure. The comic reads like a GM wishes his game would run.
Keep up the great work!
I like the characters the best. They strike a good balance as themselves and as a whole. It has already been said that Dhur is oblivious without being stupid. In equal Measure Both of our leading ladies are strong women who can hold their own without having to fall into the “Strong Independence woman” stereotype. Chip is a monk without letting it be all he is. He lets it guide him but not define him and Philo is vulnerable about his species without being melodramatic about it. His crush on the woman he is supposed to watch and protect is cute and I honestly fear for his safety because we didn’t see his future self. Can’t wait to find out why. Onward!
Good strip, reminds me of the beginning of Planescape:Torment, Where’s Morte?
I love the humor…Chip and Dale, Dhur being sent back from dead just to piss someone off, iOun updating…updating…updating.
All the characters are well written and witty, but Dhur is definitely my favorite
Errmm… I… can’t think of a favourite thing. There’s nothing I’d want to lose.
Still fun after all this time. Sooo little drama flakes!
Vorpal is still my favorite. When are you going to make plush Vopals?
I like Dhur the most, with Jaine a close second. I adore their interplay – although Phil is really growing on me.
And drat – Susan was the first to make the obvious Planescape: Torment comparison.
I enjoyed today’s background, but mainly I enjoy the story telling, and the continual evolution of your art (and the characters) since the first strip.
I have to say Ch’p is my fave because I think halflings are an underused race. They can succeed in any endeavor a tall-folk can do and exceed them in others. I just wish his brother hadn’t’ve been such a putz with a cool name as Dayle and all. 😉 😀
Had to think about it a bit, but I’m going to go with the Encyclopedia Ardrisia. I’m a sucker for a well-set-up world, and the Encyclopedia entries give us a glimpse of what’s going on behind the scenes, often with a healthy dose of humour as well. Keep it up!
All the little touches you do with your characters that make them more than just cardboard cut-outs and stereotypes.
Yes I’m a sucker for good characters.
I love the whole strip! It reminds me of what I miss about RPGing; my former DM had similar sense of humor and as I read I keep telling myself “Oh, thank the gods he didn’t so that to us. Although, it would have been fun!” Keep up the good work, sir and I will keep reading! Thank you for 500 fabulous strips. So looking forward to thousands more!
I have a very short list of webcomics I check in with every morning while waiting for reports to run at work. Few things jolt me more fully awake than seeing that a new Meatshield comic is up!
The pure wit and sheer fun of this series is what keeps me coming back. This is clearly a labor of love for Rob and it shows. As a wise Captain once said, more or less:
“You can draw all the pretty doodles in the ‘Verse, but you put a webcomic out there that you don’t love, fans’ll shake you off just as sure as the refreshing of the internets. Love keeps her going when “real life” distractions and obligations tries to make her fall down, tells you the story is runnin’ off the rails ‘fore she keens. Makes this place a home.”
Thank you, Rob. THANK YOU.
@EVERYONE: Wow.
Thank you all so much. Comments like this really help keep me going, and lately I’ve been in need of some extra encouragement. Onward to #600!
You folks are the bestest readers in the world. 🙂
~Rob
I’m with AndyW on this issue. Choosing any one thing about this strip as a favorite is an intolerable insult to all the other great things.
I like Becky too. I can play a cool and likeable paladin. The trick is to make it a person who loves the good, wants what is authentically best for everyone, and believes in order. That’s why my pally was able to side with the goblins against the dwarfs — while both had been born on the land under conflict, it was the dwarfs who fired on the parley. He took out some righteous anger on the dwarf leader. And she and Jaine both have spunk, and that’s something nearly all the webcomics I read have in common.
But the thing that utterly hooks me is Dhur’s face-echoing belt buckle. Who can resist a detail like that?
Great comic! I really like Ch’p, with the baking-based monastic order, and Dhur, with the whole thing about everybody knew that he was getting married except him 🙂
Like a lot of people have said, I love all the characters and their interactions with each other are awesome. The story is well written and entertaining. If I had to pick a favorite, I guess it would have to be Ch’p, the way he calls out his strikes, his “healing” (which he minored in) and the inevitable side effects, his baking and his obvious attraction to Becky, with his face showing his feelings like a billboard. Not to mention his love/hate relationship with his brother, as in he loves to hate him.
Love the comic, thank you for all your hard work and here’s to 500 more!
P.S. any idea when book 2 is coming out?
Have to add: Jaine is still my favorite, but Becky runs her a close second. I am so glad you put a likable Paladin in. Many DMs and many players who play Paladins forget that Charisma is their strong suit, not sanctimony, so they should be very likable
It’s kind of meta, but the way that so much wacky gets worked in without actually disrupting there being a good story or causing me to get frustrated at, say, Dhur.
Also, specifically, a monastery devoted to baked goods. I suppose that makes me a Ch’p fan, since picking characters to like seems the thing to do for this thread. : P
@Susan Schroeder: That, and forgetting that the alignment of a paladin is Lawful Good, not Lawful Fanatic.
(I don’t think this technically applies in 4E because paladins are the alignment of their god rather than being Always Lawful Good, but the point still stands.)
I like all the characters and especially Dhur. Despite his being oblivious to many things, he’s easy to get along with and well spoken in his native language. I am sure when he gets focused on a task he’ll be a real terror on a battlefield. I really want to see what happens when he goes into full General mode. I suspect underneath all the bluster he is very competent when it comes to battlefield tactics and troop placement.
Congratulations on reaching 500! It’s a great strip and a great story! As for which element of Meatshield is my favorite…ohh, that’s a tough one. Your stories are fun, engaging, and you’ve put together a great cast of characters. I suppose, if I had to pick, I’d say Dhur is my favorite. He’s just so much fun to read about! He’s a source of infinite entertainment. 🙂
No criticism from me constructive or otherwise; there is nothing about this strip that I dislike. My favorite character is Dhur, but then I have always had a soft spot for meatshields.
I’ve loved this strip since I stumbled across it and had to go back and read from the beginning. The pacing, the story, the humor, and the characters all work on so many levels. The artwork continues to get better and better, Rob has worked hard on his craft.
My favorite things have been said by others already – strong characters, both male and female; Dhur’s obliviousness but not stupidity; the Encyclopedia Ardrisia entries; the tropes Rob alternately pokes fun of and celebrates. My favorite moment had to be the demi-lich on a stick, though; when Jaine and Dhur started poking him around corners, to check for goblins, I lost it for a good 15 minutes giggling, and it still makes me smile. I’m sad the demon destroyed him, because he was definitely one of my favorites.
@Christiane: Yes, but whoever said Duke Leo was DEAD dead? His body got destroyed, but he is a Lich… sorta. 😉
@Rob: You got me picturing Day’l making a half baked body for Duke Leo.
Lich on a stick with a heart of dough to make him go. His head encased in bread to help him rise from the dead. Feet made sweet to dance to a drum beat. Eyes and thighs comprised of pies. A whole body of sweets to bring new life to dead beats.
Necromancy Cooking, Recipes for Disaster. Found in a dead wood tree guarded by the Keplarian Dark Elves.
Woooo! Bring back Duke Leo! The most obliviously cheerful undead creature ever!
@Mike, reincarnating him as a gingerbread golem (with body by Day’l) would be frakking hilarious. @Rob, you’re welcome. 😉
@Rob: New reader here, still binge reading through the archives (not many left, sadness).. I never really comment usually, total lurker type heh, but I’ll chip in here since your wife asks so nicely 🙂 it’s the least I can do as a token of gratitude for the free stuff we’re all getting.
I found MeatShield by accident, I think someone might’ve mentioned it on a webcomics thread on some forum.. (ok, I got curious and actually checked my history back to 22 december lol, it was from a discussion under an LFG comic in the comments section) and I am really glad I checked it out! Enjoying the story and the light-hearted humour, but what really impresses me is the pacing! It is masterfully done, worked really well on the smaller format that the strip was on for the most part – and since the change to more panels per update I have the sense that you are utilising it even better.
Favorite character Dhur. Art constantly improving. Adding to RSS feeder to check regularly. Kudos all around and keep up the good work.
Cheers from Poland,
Dave
I gotta admit, I really like the background that you put into all of this. The little bits from the Encyclopedia, the different character interactions from past (like when Jaine’s mom talks about changing Philo’s diapers 🙂 )… Not to mention all the Evil DM moments that keep popping up… our games seem almost drab by comparison. I’ve binge-read this whole thing at least twice now. Keep up the good work!
@Keishdante Thanks! I really appreciate the kind words! 🙂
I love the medieval fantasy setting that this comic is in. It really is like a D&D campaign, with several players trying to survive in the dungeon master’s world. I love the comedy. And I like the surprises that have appeared for all your characters. Like how Dhur was once a great general and Jaine is a princess. It gives them all character development and a future story arc to be explored. When it comes to stories, I always say, “surprise me.” Don’t show me the psychopath killing a bunch of teenagers. That’s boring. Show me the teenagers killing the psychopath. Keep up the great work! 🙂
@MartinR: Thanks for that awesome comment! To be fair, we don’t know if Dhur was a great general or if he was just named after one. 🙂