Comic #173: Gnomish Army Knife (Patreon)

Originally published, Jan 18th 2009.

Back when gnomish army knives were the pinnacle of engineering. I've been an engineer so long in game I don't even remember if you still need all those regular items for crafting anymore.

I think from my recollection, this comic came from the idea that all those huge tools were hiding in what was essentially a tiny swiss army knife. I'm not sure where the idea of fuzzy handcuffs came to me but it did.

I had to go back and look at the item to see if I really included everything:

Looks like I'm only missing the the flint and tinder. I guess you could say that fuzzy handcuffs provide some sparks. Heyooo. Though now that I think about it, making shocking the dead player back to life came from the sexual innuendo and not from the battery. Man I could have unpacked a few more jokes in there if I wanted to.

The one thing I find really hard when re-reading this comic though is how I wish I could go back in time and delete that last panel. I just feel like the whole punchline is so much funnier if it ends on the second to last panel. I dunno, maybe that's just me. Even if I didn't remove the last panel, having Keydar name the item kinda deflates the joke a bit. I could have had Keydar just say something like, "Wait, what was that last one again?"

I dunno, maybe I'm being too harsh. What do you all think? Is it better with or without that last panel?