Only 16 so far.

69 after this. Meanwhile, the one with the most has over 2000.

Unfortunately, I don't think it will happen

Now 101!

now one more than it did, previously!

Now that's what I call music!

yeah you were pretty far off

Prediction aside, this strip still stands as one of the best based on the fact that Ray is sidetracked from plying his mother with alcohol to sidetrack her from learning about his new testicle-related business by wanting to follow in his father's shoes by winning a fight in which participants can die.

no

Perhaps only bested by those that soon followed: IE fake phallus and phillipe goes to the dump.

My favorite is the Ray/ Roast Beef road trip back in '02 I love that arc.

and it gets a 5 just on that merit.

Check this blog entry. for the beginning of the legend that is....RAMSES LUTHER SMUCKLES

Every time I come across this comic in my re-reading, I read the whole GOF arc. No exceptions.

No complaints either!

That is awesome. I'm loving "The Toronto Man Machine".

This desperately needs more chubbies.

How did I not find out about this until now?

Man alive, I love that avatar. Please post more often so I can view it more.

i have spent a while searching for the man or woman who registered it. Pluton is the allehged username, but i haven't found this mythical being...

Cod au gratin is the most nutritious dish of fish.

You should try to keep the cheese on as weight.

WASNT HE GRILLING UP STEAKS A MINUTE AGO?!

Good to see I wasn't the only person thinking that...

He checked to see if he was grilling any ribeye and was surprised to discover he was actually grilling up cod.

Just as the mimosa was actually chablis

I approve of this post.

I will thank you to try barramundi and revoke your assessment.

Unfortunately, where I live it is treason against the state to speak ill of cod. For a time I was on a government watch list for publicly declaring tilapia a satisfactory cod substitute.

They're really different.. cod is flatfish, all flaky and fatty.. barramundi may as well be white salmon.. it's a fine fish, mind you, but apples/oranges and all.

Cod is definitely flakey but it actually it is not too fatty and it certainly is not flat. Your informant has mislead you as to the flatness of cod! It is a normal shaped fish that swims normally, not along the bottom with two eyes on one side and what have you. I mean cod can grow really huge (6 feet huge), although not if we fish them like the Dickens (as we have done).

I apparently misunderstand cod, but I am positive that tilapia is not a satisfactory substitute for it. Tilapia is grown in buckets of garbage.

Lobsters are sea-cockroaches! Mushrooms grow on dungheaps. It is not good to inquire too deeply into things that are tasty.

She gave him the idea, didn't she?! You can see him realizing it in panel 10!

Ray's expression on 10 is pure gold

That always throws me when I skip to this arc.

"...oh, yeah."

Not only that, but all this happened because TODD invited Ray's mom over! Who says the the the li'l shitbag never does any good?

you think onstad had the great outdoor fight already planned out when todd came to ray all 'lets put a penis on the bottom of a car!' or did the story just kind of evolve as it went? i like to think he had it planned out all along, but i dunno.

Haha beautifully woven.

Best. Arc. Ever.

I thought they were gonna have rib-eyes and mimosas...Ray was really pushing that menu earlier...

It turns out it wasn't mimosa.

Maybe Rays getting all classy and doing dinner in courses... like, next they'll have a nice cleasnsing sherbet before moving on to their Rib-Eyes.

Ray basically gets his own mother drunk so she'll fess up about his father's past.

I love how Onstad went straight from the Anatomix to this.

Godammit why is the storyarc so amazing?? Somebody please tell me.

And four months later, here I am performing the same pilgrimage.

Cartillage Head AND the Great Outdoor Fight, in the same day! This trek is covering the whole spectrum.

I'd have to do some serious back reading to find any story arc in a webcomic which I prefer to the GOF. Penny Arcade's are good, but all terribly short... Scary Go Round has some excellent ones. Beaver and Steve would rank highly for the one with Sir Isaac Newton.

I should compile this list.

Dude! Look at those animals on the website, they're SO BUFF!!!

Hands-down the best story arc, ever.

Oh sweet Great Outdoor Fight. How I've longed to actually read thee.

Here, have more Chablis.

filling her wineglass until it is almost overflowing

Men die.

I like how Ray's mother unintentionally gives the great advertisement for the fight.

The Great Outdoor Fight. Men Die.

Consider:

Ramses took his girlfriend to the GOF on his motorcycle.

Ray was sitting in the sidecar when Roast Beef drove to the fight.

What I'm saying here is that Ray is the woman in his relationship with Beef.

Actually, when you get right down to it, the GOF was where Ramses PROPOSED to Ray's mom.

listen to the reel-to-reels with Beef. He will show you the way.

The ornate illustration of muscled cats takes the cake

So I finally reach the much-discussed Great Outdoor Fight for the first time. I've got to tell you, fellow archive trawlers, I'm pretty excited.

Ray's Mom speaks pretty highly of Ramses considering he ran out on her and her baby. I mean, yeah, he was The Man with the Blood on His Hands, but that's still a pretty harsh thing to do.

the beginning of a legend

was this posted on a cod friday?

This one *should* have most comments. Life isn't about facts, it's about ambitions.

Is it just me or does Mrs. Smuckles' glasses look upside -down?

I don't know what details really need to be forthcoming (alt text). "Three days. Three acres. Three thousand men." as a tagline for "The Great Outdoor Fight" where "only one will win" pretty much sums it up. An entire organized sport/concept summed up in a mere 15 words, and everyone knows exactly what's going on. Short, to the point, and awesome.

FINALLY

I have been reading about this arc forever in the comments and now with the book coming out I wanted to just skip ahead and read it, but I made myself wait until I actually got to it.

NOW I finally get to read in context. Hellz yea.

Yes, it's the beginning of a fabulous arc... but I'm amazed no one has mentioned how awesome panel #7 is.

His fighting was just something he had to do, like walk or breathe.

Some people expand and contract their lungs via the pumping action of the diaphragm. Ramses Luther shatters ribcages and uses beer bottles to aerate skulls.

DC

why do you sign your name DC when we can all clearly see that your name is doomchild?

I don't know, actually. I do the same thing with emails and forum posts. I guess it's kind of like a signature at the bottom of a letter. My name might be on the envelope, but it should also be on the message.

DC

...touche


or should i say


...touche

I had a dream about the GOF last night. Dolly Parton totally kicked my ass. :(

And so it begins, the greatest story arc in all of Achewood history

The look on Rays face on panel 10, you can tell he's no longer aware that his mother is in the room. His mind a whirl with grand designs of the GOF.

Ray's mother knows how to say all the exactly wrong things to prevent Ray from entering this fight.

I started reading the archives from the beggining again and the whole time I was anticipating this story line, yay here we go again.

can't you hear the music crescendo when those words are spoken?

I never thought about it til rereading this strip. But Ray's glasses defy the laws of physics.

Keepin' the OP dream alive.

And so it begins.