Paizo Publications has announced a strategic alliance with Rich Burlew, the creator of the popular online gaming-themed comic strip, The Order of the Stick.  Paizo will solicit for the third graphic novel collection of The Order of the Stick, which is scheduled for release in early 2006, and Burlew will contribute new The Order of the Stick cartoons to Dragon Magazine beginning with Dragon #338, which will hit retail on November 22nd.  Burlew's Dragon strips will be new mini-stories featuring the characters from the online strip, but will stand on their own outside the online continuity.

Burlew began The Order of the Stick as an online-only comic in the summer of 2003.  The first printed collection, The Order of the Stick: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools was released in January and the second collection, The Order of the Stick: On the Origin of PCs goes into wide release in November.  A third compilation, which Paizo is soliciting, is slated for early 2006.