Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social ⋅ 8h
Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social ⋅ 10h
April Wolfe @aprilwolfe.bsky.social ⋅ 8h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 10d
LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Al Ewing Writes Comics @al-ewing.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Gwen @finalgwen.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Loading ...
Barb O. Saur 
⚧️
Whoa, like. Deja vu.
personal Deja vu, or my avatar deja vu?
Both?
I love the fact it looks like you want to murder the person you replt to in your icon.
Dina makes my life.
i amthinking of becoming dina.
but that requires a sex change.
Maybe a wig will be all that’s necessary if you look girly enough.
If Dina is who you are inside, free her! Free her!
Haha, I didn’t get it at first that Dina’s saying goodbye XD
*short attention span*
Just be a boyish version of Dina
Man. Been awhile since I’ve seen frustratedly angry mike.
Maybe mike has been having anger therapy in the DoA universe and Amber made him fall of the wagon.
YES! Finally got an alien avatar!
I like how Ethan kind of just drags her as well…
Once Mike took decisive action, he agreed enough to go along with it. As the person who often ended up taking decisive action in my social group in college, I’ve seen it a lot.
This means, by the way, that in addition to being an asshole, Mike is showing leadership potential here. Via impatience.
Oh God I love that Mike face.
Also Dina.
Oh, hey, Jason!
Your Mom + A Nickel = Prostitute
Warner, Mike
^ Winning Comment.
And they didn’t even need the crowbar.
Oh, Dina.
Oh, me!
…Replace “killing spiders” with “Just one more TVTropes page!” and that would be me.
And me.
Guilty.
I’ve almost considered getting netnanny just so I can block TVTropes and Wikipedia.
Awww, I’m no longer Leslie. Much sadness!
Netnanny is crap.
If you’re on Windows, you can block them with the hosts file:
http://www.overclock.net/faqs/44143-how-use-hosts-file-block-websites.html
Redirect it to something like your school or work website to guilt trip yourself every time you try to go there.
That sums me up perfectly. I’m amazed I managed to tear myself away from it long enough to read SP and this.
I hate TV tropes.
I am a writer, too.
I just find it asinine to make a list of things that happen in stories and give them a name. People who know stories can recognise them already, what is the use of looking at lists. It makes the stories seem less special.
Not to mention all the spoilers.
Blech, it’s just another time-sink. I’d rather be adding to my own stories than reading arbitrary lists.
You can be someone who does X and not need a tool that categorizes X. It’s informative (but mostly entertaining) for people who AREN’T experts at X.
I basically used TVTropes to write a whole book. Meet cute? Got it. Five Man Band? Check. Eigen plot? WHOO BOY.
“People who know stories can recognise them already”.
Yep. A lot of people recognised them in stories and compiled them. Thus, TVtropes.
I dunno, but I think it’s good to have a thing for people who want to talk about the construction of stories and draw parallells between them.
3 open tvtropes tabs right now.
damn.
6 open TV Tropes tabs for me. IT’S SO ADDICTING
Forty tabs here. Send help.
Or “one more quest” in WoW
Whoot! I’m Walky again!
Yep, I’m guilty of that too. Glad to see I’m not alone.
There is no shame in joining the Cult. The Holy Church of TvTropes welcomes all.
[/creepychurchmissionary]
… Noo! Not my Ruth! *sadface*
Just when I thought I would be able to get to sleep soon, too. Oh well.
That site is freaking crack for nerds like me. The withdrawal was crazy. I’m still recovering.
Oh God, TV Tropes. I had to cut cold turkey just so I could get all my work done, but recently it’s been successfully reintroduced. So does that make me a functioning tropeaholic?
Yeah, me too.
40 tabs of TvTropes open right now, but I consider it writing study.
Hello thar. (Feather duster wave)
Hoo boy am I ever guilty of that. It’s like crack cocaine + wikipedia or something.
I think it’s easy to say that everyone who’s ever been there can be considered an addict.
Guilty.
In my case, it would be CRACKED dot com, that site is one hell of a time sink.
Scribol…
I feel like Mike missed the opportunity for a mom joke there, as old hat as it is.
Oh god! What if Mike now somehow is Amber’s mom?!?!?
..
.. through time travel and gender switching rays or something…
I get the impression we’re kinda low on those sorts of things in this universe.
This is a a good thing, by the way.
Makes me think of those Holiday Inn Express commercials… “I’m not your mom, but I DID fuck her (for a nickel) at a Holiday Inn Express last night!”
Mike rage! Awesome
I don’t think we’ve ever seen Mike blow his cool so completely. I like it.
Alt Mike, right? I’ve been wondering if this one is a little more of a no nonsense misanthrope than magnificent bastard.
See the time in Its Walky! when Dina tried to make Mike her boyfriend by keeping him intoxicated. It ended with Mike sobering up and trying to choke Dina, only being stopped by Walky.
There was also the Shortpacked strip (one of my faves) where Mike finally met his match: a customer who was so innocent and dense (kinda like Charlotte of Making Fiends) that he didn’t understand any of Mike’s increasingly blatant “your mom” insults. By the second-last panel, Mike was quivering with rage.
Dina did that too. Or she was so depressed she just didn’t care, I forget.
I feel like Mike is nicer in this universe than he was in the other one.
I agree… and a wee bit more tempermental. I think I’m used to a more stoic, less flapable Mike
but it is funny to see him freak once in a while, and this is why he and amber are perfect together
Whoo! Twilight Zone Reference!
This. Burgess Meredith + Amber. OTP.
But her glasses didn’t fall off.
It’s odd how familiar this seems. Almost reminiscent of my Borders intervention.
Wow Its like Ethan and Mike are Amber’s shoulder angel and devil. One’s a push over and the other isn’t.
Sad thing is, I know exactly how Amber feels.
Mike and Dina are awesome.
MY GLASSES!!
cuz after all, the entire world’s worth of optometrists offices was destroyed too.
Awesome gravatar is awesome.
Aw man, is this Tony? Dang.
Ah well, could be worse.
True that, could be Jacob.
Lol at Amber’s melodramatic dialogue in panel 4. Not on the level of a Furmanism but… pretty close
So is Amber a fan of Twilight Zone, or does she just know the line through cultural osmosis?
I think everyone has a brief period of that when they first learn that now THEY choose bedtime.
…Then they have to get up for work/class with only 2 hours sleep and the charm of being a grownup starts to fade.
You had a parent-imposed bedtime until college? Really?
Whoa…I can’t even remember the last time I’ve seen Mike blow up like that, if he ever has, that is.
And oh, Dina. I foresee hi-jinks in your future.
How can you SEE them, when Dina is so stealthy?
Invisibility powers:
Ghosts > Ninjas > Dina.
Maybe she went to the Milford Academy?
Nice Twilight Zone reference, Willis.
Well Dina, I’d get used to this. This is probably going to be how Amber leaves the room half the time.
If Willis ends up going for a Dina statue, I’m gonna buy at least ten! X3
It will be a miniature statue of a door,
and a lame joke involving Schrodinger.
No Schrodinger joke is lame.
seconded
No no no you guys, you can’t know if a Schrodinger joke is lame or not until someone actually tells it.
Apparently I can’t comment on Trae Dorn, so congrats! you win for finishing my set-up. Have an internet.
This. Probably. Let’s make it a 50/50 chance.
My cat is named Schrödinger. My vet has spent that last 11 years trying to decide if it’s witty or morbid.
It’s both, simultaneously.
Unless it’s the Walkyverse!Dina. Then it’ll be a set, not a figure, will come in more parts than Johnny Longtorso.
One for every door in your mom’s basement?
I live in Arizona, we don’t have basements here (as far as I can tell).
I lived in Arizona for 6 years. The closest I ever saw to a basement was a few houses built on hills, so you entered on the second floor and had to go downstairs to get to the first floor.
Who needs basements in Arizona, anyway? It’s not like it can get any hotter, so there’s no need to down toward Hell. Unlike here in Idaho where we just had an uncommonly large amount of snow fall on us, and it’s freaking cold.
Ah hah hah hah hah hah. Loves it.
Dinas too cute! ; ~ ; <3
Bwahahaha, sorry Amber, intervention is a real b*tch!
Wow. This gives me a great new theory–I always figured one of Mike’s abductee powers was an extreme awareness of the shortcomings of others.
But maybe the Aliens realized they had taken Mike one step too far, and tried to subdue him, and his rage against everyone was so extreme that the most they could do was make him calmer.
Also–cool, I’m Jason. And I have a bowtie.
Bowties are cool.
“So you kept the bow-tie”
~”Yeah, bow-ties are cool”
“no fez… eh, I can buy a fez”
No no. Don’t do that. Don’t.
Allons-y!
GERONIMO!!!
BTW, I think this is a rather lame catch phrase and it is my least favorite thing about Matt Smith as the Doctor.
Man, this makes me want to have Ethan and Mike as my best friends, and I’m neither a Transformers/Batman fan nor tolerant of misanthropes. Is he a misanthrope? He obviously really wants Amber to join them for lunch.
Hurray! I’m Sarah again! I should make her my permanent Gravatar.
that’s a slippery slope. It starts with just keeping your favorite stock avatar, then it escalates…
I think he may just want to go to lunch, and he’s enough of a not-misanthrope to want Ethan to go with him. And Ethan won’t go without Amber.
God, Mike’s face in panel 2 is just beautiful…
and of course cue the “Ethan has a thing for Mike back on Shortpacked!” comments in 3…. 2… 1….
Hey, at least you don’t have an Amber.
*glares*
Yeah, at least I got Ethan.
Given the events of Shortpacked!, this conversation is even more hilarious.
Oh did it?
Oh and since the general topic stemming from this strip is about geeks, one has to wonder “Will Ninja Rick be making an appearance in DoA?”
Theyll open a door and he’ll be standing there staring at them, and after a moment he’ll start dorkdancing while singing “NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UUUUP, NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOOOWWWN…”
Teh awesome!
One can only hope.
I’m betting Ninja Rick will be an Amazi-Girl villain.
I’m making the same bet on Galasso, but I’m not betting as much imaginary money on it.
Galasso is obviously the Dean of Students.
Or most probably, he’ll hardly appear at all, like usual.
After everyone leaves, Ninja Rick will ask Dina if he can have his place behind the door back.
But what would Ninja Rick be doing in Amber’s and Dina’s room? Is he pulling an Edward Cullen and stalking them because he likes one, but they’re both such shut ins that no matter which one he was interested in, neither would date him?
If he does, I hope he has his Naruto fanboy haircut like he did for that short time in Shortpacked, I always liked that and hoped he’d keep it.
I always imagined that Rick is going to be the school janitor. Doing all sorts of ninja-ish stuff with a mop.
hells yeah.
Love the mike face. I’m gonna miss his supernatural jackass powers, but it’s fun seeing him have facial expressions.
Yay, back to Leslie! Now my comments won’t sound all depressed!
Cut me Mike, I can’t see.
…nothin?
wait… what?
This is most definitely my favorite strip thus far. I’m loving everything about it. Most particularly Mike’s face in panel two
This strip made my day. Watching characters freak out always makes me giddy inside.
I agree, all four panels were exceptional.
Just wait until Dina realizes IT’S A COOKBOOK!
This comic always makes my day.
I’m really appreciating that Mike is the standard-bearer for This Universe Is Not Like The Other Universe, just by virtue of being surly and uncommunicative instead of the assiest asshole in the world.
I’m going to agree that the opportunity for a ‘your mom’ joke was squandered after the rant as she was dragged off….
I’m guessing that you just ran out of room? Also surprised Ethan didn’t invite Dina along on the way out.
Lol. I love everything in this strip. Mike’s reaction, Amber’s line and Dina’s farewell….priceless!
God, Mike is totally my favorite character. XD
THIS.
and it is totally fitting in this case that I have an Amber
I love Mike
How can she get any hero-ing done if she has to go to class AND kill spiders?!
Maybe it’s a Tyler Durden thing and she does it in her sleep.
I assume the super-heroing is something she does to fill time whenever the servers are down for periodic updates.
No, no, Amber is Spider-Car. We don’t know who Amazi-Girl is.
Batman’s sidekick Robin (because I can’t just call him Robin without confusing him with the girl), because he want to do some super-heroing, darn it, and Batman’s too busy saying “I’m Batman” to get anything done
You can see she’s hiding her tires under her shirt!
hooray! They can be taught!
An hour and thirty eight minutes later, Amber will return to her room (having suped on zebra pudding and developed a hate crush on Mike) to find it covered in spider webs. The spiders will have departed to wreck havoc all over campus, leaving Dina entraped in a web cocoon (like the dwarves in The Hobbit). Dina didn’t scream because she didn’t want to bother anyone.
And it would be the best she could do anyway.
Also, nice Twilight zone reference.
Mike’s a lot more easily angered here it seems, maybe his cool exterior and frown were martian abilities for him?
To my recollection, the only people sober Mike has shown emotion outside of “cold unfeeling asshole” to are Dina and Amber.
So basically if Mike yells at you it means he wants to fuck you.
He also wants to fuck you if you’re someone’s mom and he has a nickel handy.
Mike ALWAYS has a nickel handy.
I seem to recall a Mike/Walky brawl, or was that just Walky kicking Mike’s ass?
Wasn’t that right after Walkyverse!Dina died?
And as always Mike is awesome XD
>Ctrl+F for “Twilight Zone”
Well played, comment thread, well played. I was hoping some of you would catch the (admittedly obvious) reference, and you did not disappoint.
Well, that and she obviously thought now that she’s out from under parental supervision, she could just play ’til her eyes bleed. Good to see her caring friends are swift to disabuse her of this notion. =D
I totally thought I was reading last week’s comic for a second there.
Oh, and Dina made my morning.
heh twilight zone reference. that’s twilight zone. not twilight. ah good tv.
Yeah, we don’t want to get Meyered in those.
*groan*
unacceptable
Then give it back.
So explain this to me: Why do Mike and Ethan even CARE? It’s the first day of classes, they barely know Amber, what skin is it off their asses (especially Mike’s, for god’s sake) that this girl come along with them.
Unless they’re planning to roofie her Zebra Pudding and take her back behind the dumpsters for an impromptu hate-threesome, I guess.
Cast page is your friend: http://www.dumbingofage.com/cast/attachment/castamber/
That’s not nearly as interesting. She’s still kind of a shitty friend.
I’m like the webcomics version of Amber and Ethan. Instead of video games or toys I just read a lot of specific webcomics and, of course, take a while to adjust to a new series. “But these ones are already so good!” I had to start reading this, though, because I read Something*Positive and Randy was advertising. And so now I read this and Dumbing of Age every day. “Hold on, one more strip that I’m rereading from so-and-so’s database, the strip five strips from now is a really good one!”
Okay I could be crazy and going nuts but I swear Amber is quoting something I just can’t place the reference
It’s from the Twilight Zone episode where all this guy wanted to do was read, so he hid in a bank vault just to read a book. Then a Hydrogen Bomb went off and he was the only survivor. He pilfered the library and settled in to read… and then his coke-bottle glasses fell off. He then said the line in question.
Mike is good to have around.
Ok, with an Amber avatar this doesn’t sound the way I wanted.
Curse you, Willis!
MY GLASSES!!!! WHYYYYYY!
Oh man, I’d love to give you so many internets for that Twilight Zone reference!
And I still have so much love for Mike. <3
Mikes behavior is full of lulz and win.
Is Ethan showing that they’re only going to ask her four more times by holding up his thumb and forefinger on both hands? I find this a strange way to finger count.
Is it just me, or is Amber adorable in Panel 3?
(Of course, BDSM Amber fantasies are only “enhanced” by my current avatar.)
lol, dina
I can’t believe it took me this long to make the connection between dinosaurs and amber.
ok, I have to admit I didn’t notice it at all until I read your comment.
Don’t have time right now to read all 120bajillion comments so forgive if this was covered. But is this the first time we’ve seen the whites of Mike’s eyes? I don’t recall seeing them ever in Shortpacked!
That’s a good question.
I just don’t have time to answer it.
We saw the whites before: Drunk Mike always had them in Shortpacked!, and I think Sober Mike had them a few times in IW!
Well, since the doctor’s been quoted a bunch of times already here, I’ll join in.
“Fantastic.” (Chris Eccelston is highly underrated) Mike Joins Dina and Sal as my favorite characters as of this strip! I find characters who just do whatever the hell they want amazingly compelling.
agreed with the underrated comment. i just recently started watching Doctor Who, but i’m through the 4th season (yay for netflix). Tennant was okay, but did not have as many funny lines (like Eccelston with the coat in the Empty Child)
Self control Amber, Self control! also, i am my joy of seeing Ethan in DoA i still a strong as ever!!!
For some reason, Mike’s “I’VE HAD IT” made me think of Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas.
I admit, I am mostly only posting because I want to see what avatar I will get. I enjoyed todays comic. I hadn’t realized they were still in the same room as Amber, so it shed light on the past few days as well.
oh well. I am not in the Joyce fan club, but it could be worse.
Did anyone else hear Tali from Mass Effect say “see you later” for Dina or was it just me?
Woot, Angry Mike FAAAAAAAAAACE, and a Twilight Zone reference. Brilliant page.
Wow, this is my fav DOA comic BY FAR, not just awesome Mike, but Dina at the end too!
First off: Mass lulz for the Twilight Zone reference, took me a minute but awesome.
Second: Your mom had time with me, last night.
Third: Rage face mike is the best thing ever.
And I’m HER? T_T; *Grumble*
Who the heck is that character anyway? I only dabbled in the older work here and there.
That’s Rachel. She helped build Ultra-Car. At the end of It’s Walky, she’s become Joe’s girlfriend. Like, for real.
Yes, seriously.
Really.
You can stop laughing now.
Of course, Jacob and Ultra-Car’s visit to Rosenthal Industries in “Shortpacked!” would seem to imply that that’s no longer the case, as he’s become even more girl-and-toy-obsessed than before, if such a thing is possible. He even has a “collection” of sexy librarians. And has grown a rather hideous mustache.
It’s Joe’s girlfriend who appeared late in It’s Walky!. Her name’s Rachel.
Shhh…shhh…it’s okay. You’re not her. You could NEVER be her.
Oh, Mike, how I love you. Best face ever.
And Dina. Poor Dina.
Hope the door does not eat her…
I’VE HAD IT! *Rips the door off its hinges*
how come all these shy girls have at one point in their alternate-universe past fallen for mike?
I just think it’s great that the two girls that dated Mike in the main walkyverse are rooming together.
I don’t know, “dated” is a strong word for what he and Dina were. I think “poisoned” would be a better description.
With Mike, is there a difference?
One a side-note: It just occured to me, what if we see the McAwesome’s employees on DoA as well? Sure they’re not as well established normally, but…
We already saw Agatha @ the Ruth/Billie brawl session, and Agatha was from Its Walky! first.
My guess is Ethan gets with Thaddeus in this iteration of things. They bang.
Ooh, what about Ethan and Evan? Or would that be TOO weird?
Who knows, what if Ethan and Evan end up banging?
I assumed Ethan and Mike were banging in this universe.
I swear, Mike seems so much more emotional and… HUMAN in this comic. I mean, he just lost his temper, rather than just showing cold cruelty. That’s really kinda unsettling.
“There was time now” was genius, David. I laughed oh so very hard.
If you block out everything except panel 3, you get an instantly questionable scenario
You are just wrong for that.
At least she didn’t break her glasses.
Whoo, the rock that is work that I have been under has been escaped and I have discovered this comic. Willis, you are unto my Favz comics folder.
Woot, I got Mike.
Now I want to see this get up to 200 comments…
Lemme help you out.
Just one more…
Yep. There we go.
You’re welcome.
I think Dina’s “See you later” made me laugh more than Mike’s rage moment.
… Head alien? Really?
really
Late replying to this thing, but I’ve been too busy laughing every time I look at it. I just love Dina’s “See you later”, and Mike’s face.
XDDDDDD Am I the only one who caught Amber’s quote-reference?
the last man on earth?
Thanks for the “Twilight Zone” reference! So lovely.
WHAT IS THAT FACE IT WILL HAUNT MY NIGHTMARES.
Haha, Twilight Zone. I love the Twilight Zone.
No, Mike isn’t Amber’s mom. Mike banged her mom for a nickel.
LMAO +9000 points for the Burgess Meredith Twilight Zone reference!
OHHHHHHHHH
After all these years, I just realized that it’s DINA saying “See you later” from behind the door. I thought the speech bubble was coming from the hallway, and Amber was saying “See you later” to her game.