A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Hemlock
Josceline Fenton
A witch accidentally marries a monster, and now she and her familiar has to navigate life around her monstrous husband and her even more terrifying in-laws.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
All Known Alternatives
Karolina 'Kajotko' Jankiewicz
Akane has only one way to get back home: collect the 42 keys to parallel worlds. Eri and Ben are just trying to get through the summer before university. When a magical key turns up in an old spare set, all three are forced to change their plans and fast.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
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Predicting/hoping that Dorothy manages to find Joyce before anything bad happens. Alternatively, the roofie takes effect while Joyce has locked herself in the bathroom.
The African-American with his hands up in the first panel. He is a character from the show Community who goes to parties. He says “Pop Pop” and everyone cheers.
Holy Cheese, he’s just creeping over Billie’s shoulder in panel 2. Willis is using Ryan to distract us from the horror that creepy mustache man is going to inflict!
“What you mean ‘we,’ journonerd? I. LEFT. HER. WITH. YOU. I sorta figured you wallflowers would stick together, and I never agreed to watch over either one of you. In fact, I gave you a safety tip so that you could watch over yourselves. If you didn’t want me to get superdrunk going on ultradrunk and start preparing for my swan dive into a senior fratboy’s scrotum, maybe you should’ve ASKED ME to be Joyce’s auxiliary backup instead of just saying, ‘Hey, Billie, party. You wanna party?'”
How is it Billie isn’t naked and having sex with some athlete yet? She has plenty of alcohol in her already, and it’s not like she had any inhibitions in the first place.
I’m confused too… I’d say she got up to something between arriving at the party insta-shirtless and reappearing with her shirt on, but that was barely any time gap. And she’s been clothed (as much of her as we see, at least) ever since. No prolonged absences, either. :/
Yeah, yeah, I know. Jocks. But maybe they’re afraid she’s one second away from barfing all over them.
LOL. Now that I buy! Although fellixe’s suggestion works too.
I love Amber’s curious face. How she seems to be weighing whether or not she needs to help someone. It’s so subtle, yet it’s so clear what she’s thinking.
I’m getting nervous about the whole bathroom thing. Like some people said, maybe she’ll pass out when she gets inside… but if I were Ryan, I’d follow her inside and lock the door behind the both of them. Perfect cover. :/
I’m waiting with baited breath until tomorrow’s strip.
We’ll find out soon true believers! Until then, we wait with baited breath, as the ravenous ryan attempts to abscond with the abstinance of jovial joyce!
A lot of places. Someone once showed me a map to show which states referred to the substance as pop, which as soda, and which referred to it as coke. A friend from Arkansas further enlightened me on this subject by telling me about a typical conversation she’d hear at a restaurant.
“We’ll have two burgers and cokes please.”
“What flavour?”
“I’ll have a Pepsi.”
“A Coke coke for me.”
Also center-forelock bangs are easy to draw and work for all angles – slightly better than side-part does, I believe. Most other simple bang-styles (center part, cut level straight across) are uncommon, and drawing more than one forelock adds complexity. Or at least that’s my take on it.
Obviously, we’re wondering whether Joyce will be rescued before the bastard pulls anything…
…but something has occurred to me. What if they do rescue her – before he’s had the time to anything truly incriminating, leaving Joyce convinced he’s perfect husband material?
“Yyyeah, I got kinda sleepy and dizzy back there. I guess I’m just not used to such noisy, crowded parties, and all that excitement!
…Drugs? Don’t be silly. I wasn’t drugged. Ryan’s a preacher’s son, he would never do something like that.”
I reckon they get to her before she has a chance to go to the toilet, So she says how long she has been waiting there for. Everyone thinks its alright. Later she gets traumatized by an off-screen rape and everyone wonders whats wrong with her. Or Dorothy waits till she is done then stays with her the rest of the evening.
Just because I’m hoping nothing really bad happens to Joyce, I’m saying his intent is wallet theft. Knock her out, take her money, and disappear before anyone notices….
There’s something fascinatingly horrible about this sequence. This is being played so lightly, and we know Joyce’s character so well, that imagining she might actually be raped in her first week of college feels utterly inconceivable. But she’s clearly mere inches away from that.
So, just how PG-13-rated is DoA going to be? And just how much is Willis willing to screw with us?
Somehow, this strip only convinced me that there has been a severe lack of “The Sound of Music” in Willis’ work of late. I have expect Joyce to bring it up, Ryan to cringe in horror, and Billie to pass out.
I have no idea why I thought this, but I now definitely want someone to burst out with “The hills are alive, with the sound of music…”
Dude, he said it was Sprite. We know from Joyce that there is no Sprite at this party, just Sierra Mist. Even if it isn’t roofied, that drink is an abomination and thus not worthy of being called a soda.
More correctly we know that the guy who gave her that first soda didn’t have Sprite and may have been one of those who think, “Sprite, 7up, Sierra Mist it’s all the same anyway.” We have no data on whether someone else, like perhaps Ryan, might not have actually brought sprite with them
Or maybe the drug hasn’t kicked in? Drinking a sedative takes a minute to attain the effects (up to 30 minutes). It’s aggravated by alcohol, but I would strongly suspect that Joyce doesn’t have a taste for booze.
Dorothy, Billie and Amber In the same frame! Reality is going to collapse in that room! Pull the doppelgangers away from themselves before it’s too late!!!
Ryan is, in this universe, an elaborate prankster. That soda is in fact spiked with some sort of laxative. He’s going to prank the innocent mark and then brag about it with his fratboy friends.
Yes! Pop! …referring to the word used to describe a sugary carbonated beverage; not celebrating the fact that she is drinking this particular drink. Bracing myself for a Friday cliffhanger.
darn, i much preferred when joyce was playing board games. gave alot of potential to freak her friends out. they get directed to one of the bedrooms, hear there have been alot of people going in there and not coming out, go knock on the door. joyce answers having a good time, “oh hey! you’re just in time.do you want to join in? you can play with me or you can play with one of the guys. initially i was unsure if it was okay to take part due to how it is (in reference to the pagan version of settlers of canan) but i’m glad i loosened up a little and started having fun!” her friends minds then melt
Thank you Willis, I was afraid to read today’s Dumbing of Age for fear of what would happen to Joyce. But you just had to keep the suspense going, didn’t you?
She fought a shapechanger’s duel with Merlin in [i]The Sword and the Stone[/i], so it’s possible. Then again, it could as easily be Merlin, since it was a shapechanger’s duel and all.
…I would not mind if Community characters started making guest appearances in all webcomics. I would not mind if this became a regular thing people did.
I just took another look at yesterday’s strip, and now I’m wondering if Ryan’s having second thoughts.
In the second panel, he’s quite clearly lying about who is sending him that message. There’s a leering quality to his grin, and the way he emphasizes “my mom” and how much he loves her carries rather creepy context to it, especially with the aid of a Mike filter.
But when he looks down at what’s written, I’m almost certain it’s the verse he’s saying it is, and that it’s sinking in. He looks kind of sad, and hasn’t quite moved beyond that yet.
And yet he hasn’t stopped her from drinking. Something about that feels off, so either I’m reading too much into his expression and pauses, or the drink was not part of his plan.
Well, if he did put something in it, please let it have a paradoxical effect on Joyce, where she becomes extremely aggressive and kicks Ryans butt herself, just as Amazi-Girl arrives to save the day and realizes the day has already been saved.
Obviously Amazi-Girl isn’t going to get there in time and this comic is going to take darker edgier route:
Amazi-Girls Journel 12th October 2011:
A Fundamentalist was raped last night.
Kudos to Willis for freaking me out here. Had to slap myself and go back a few strips before i realised that there’s no proof whatsoever the guy’s done anything wrong at all, other than pass Joyce a drink and want some alone time with her. You could even argue the ‘Find Mark’ thing is nothing more than a very poor way of thinking when it comes to hitting on a girl.
Of course, him not being evil is boring, so i’ll wait to see how it pans out.
Which brings me back to what I’ve been saying… We know Willis likes to subvert expectations, so how is he subverting our expectations here? The majority expect rape at the party, but a lot of that is the context of a house party like this mixed with their impression of Ryan’s original Walkyverse counterpart… who, while I’ll not deny disliking him for how he’s presented, is shown getting a young Ruth in the sack then moving on to his next conquest, not raping her. He’s implied to have spent a rather significant amount of time getting her to that point as well. I’m personally thinking he’s just the setup for the next arc if he still has that history with Ruth in this universe. If that history isn’t there, I expect he’s just convenient for reinforcing the easily anticipated fears of the fanbase.
There’s always the one chick with the purple hair at these things. Wait, I think I remember banging her once. She might not be much to look at, but she was fantastic in the sack
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Roofies must make even Sierra Mist taste good!
MMmmmnope. Might make you ignore the taste, wondering what the other taste is.
its the aftertaste that gets ya.
She hasn’t gotten the inexplicable urge to consume other liquids yet…dirty as that sounds.
That’s not how roofies work. They function as strong tranquilizers, actually.
I’m fine with Sierra Mist. Though I only drink diet and actual sugar sodas, because HFCS is terrifying.
Curious Amber is curious.
What?
But then if she’s here, where is Amazi-Girl?
You mean Ultra Car?
No, no, no, Amber is Spider-Car.
Ultra Car is obviously Amazi-Girl.
… are you confirming your identity as both Amazi-Girl and Ultra-Car? Inquiring minds must know!
Might just be a conditioned reflex to Billie being around.
I wonder if she is thing “Do I need to change back into my costume already?”
thing=thinking
Is curious Amber Bi-curious?
…I totally didn’t even notice Amber in this comic until after I read your comment and scrolled back up.
No way she’d go into a room with more than 3 people. she was forced to change personas at the party and leave as Amber.
Hi, I’m here from the future to ask HOW did I NEVER SEE AMBER THERE BEFORE?
Predicting/hoping that Dorothy manages to find Joyce before anything bad happens. Alternatively, the roofie takes effect while Joyce has locked herself in the bathroom.
Seeing Amber’s expression, it seems clear that she’ll notify Ultra-Car, so that Amazi-Girl will find Joyce before anything happens.
That, or Joyce will, even in her roofied state, discover that Ryan has premarital hanky-panky on the mind and will end him.
I’m pretty sure you can’t end anybody when you’re roofied.
That’s kind of the point.
This is Joyce we’re talking about. The sheer power of coincidence and innocence will overwhelm the roofie.
And then she’ll end him.
Well, it’s that, or Jesus bongo-slaps Ryan. Take your pick.
Jesuuuuuuuuuuuuus!
Jesus. PLEASE!
With his penis.
In Ryan’s FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
That is one seriously disturbing image.
Now I’m hearing Ryan plead like Eddie Murphy’s Aunt Lillian falling down the steps again. “Oh, Lord! Help me, Lord Jesus! HELP ME PLEASE!”
For a nickel?
Dude, where’s my Joyce?
Yes, yes you are.
Srsly, they need to get their crap together. Otherwise their gonna be helping babysit a newborn 9 months from now.
Then how’re you gonna get to yale dorothy?
As Bob once said…
“This is bad. VERY bad.”
Alphanumeric!
Please tell me I did not say that!
And as Dot once said…
“Not good. This is NOT good!”
“Oh, dear. Oh…dear…”
And as The Heavy Weapons Guy said.
“OHHHHH, ZIS IS BAD!”
Why is Amber pointing at herself?
What the blood pus spewing hell happened to Amazi-girl?
She kicked everyone’s asses?
Because how else is she going to be noticed when Magnitude is in the panel as well.
Who’s Magnitude?
The African-American with his hands up in the first panel. He is a character from the show Community who goes to parties. He says “Pop Pop” and everyone cheers.
First panel. Upper right hand corner.
POP POP!
You beat me to it. Is it odd that the first thing I noticed was Magnitude?
Yay, someone identified him. Now I get to tag him.
This must mean Community characters are DOA canon, right? Riiiiight?
So I notice he seems to be holding the door shut on her.
String the bastard up!
Throw a rock at him. A big rock.
The Vogons just called;
they said death’s too good for him!
But roofie him and leaving him in
the trash might be a good idea.
They didn’t offer to read him poetry?
pretty sure they’re still in the hall and he’s leaning on the door… Which looks to me like an open inwards one, so he didn’t go there yet. YET.
Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit.
Though I’m currently guessing that Amazi-Girl will swoop in and save the day. This comic isn’t that serious.
Or…perhaps she’ll be too late and this has all been a set up to advance Amazi-Girl’s story. She’ll become a darker, broodier hero.
Because she’s the hero Indiana University deserves….but not the one it needs……
(Yeah, I don’t know what the heck that means either.)
You win all of my internets forever. That comment was awesome
“This comic isn’t that serious.”
We were warned! The drama tag was pre-pulled! Repent now, and may Willis have mercy upon our souls!
It is too late! We have failed the god’s tests! Our faithlessness shall be rewarded only with doom and misery! Woe! Woe and ire are upon us!
The curse of the drama tag is a myth! I don’t believe in-
-riiiiing-
-hold on… My ex girlfriend from 2 years ago just called. She’s pregnant, and she wants me to go on the maury show…
…(inhales) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
for a second there, i thought i needed to bring out a chalkboard.
And then it turns out he put a laxative in the drink.
Prankster.
I hope this so hard. Against all hope I hope this.
Joebo, this is more or less exactly what I was going to post.
Amazigirl to the rescue!
…or what The Sound Defence predicted.
Magnitude!!!!!!!! I love you Willis.
Hmm, so Amazi-Girl left only to return as mild-mannered Amber.
Judging by the interest she is showing in Dorothy and Billie’s conversation, I sense a boot in Ryan’s future….in the faaaace! =P
For a nickel.
He might lose his femurs, too.
For leading … with his penis.
…jiggity!
Amber? What are you doing here?
She looks thoughtful… maybe there is hope!
“Pop what? POP WHAT? WHAT WAS HE TRYING TO SAY??”
They’re laughing at you, you know.
Which is why he tranfered from Greendale to here.
If it makes it addictive, must be alkee-halls like vodka in the sierra mist, not rohypnol. False alarm guys, right!
…Right?
Music must’ve quieted down quite a bit between panels one and two.
Also, glasses-and-mustache-guy is quite fast.
Holy Cheese, he’s just creeping over Billie’s shoulder in panel 2. Willis is using Ryan to distract us from the horror that creepy mustache man is going to inflict!
She can’t stop drinking it! It must be turkish delight soda!
Alright, I realize that Joyce’s situation is one we should be pretty worried about but…
OH MY GOD SHE LOOKS LIKE A BIG CHIPMUNK AWWWWWW!
POP
Pop What?!? Pop what?!? What are you trying to say?!?
“What you mean ‘we,’ journonerd? I. LEFT. HER. WITH. YOU. I sorta figured you wallflowers would stick together, and I never agreed to watch over either one of you. In fact, I gave you a safety tip so that you could watch over yourselves. If you didn’t want me to get superdrunk going on ultradrunk and start preparing for my swan dive into a senior fratboy’s scrotum, maybe you should’ve ASKED ME to be Joyce’s auxiliary backup instead of just saying, ‘Hey, Billie, party. You wanna party?'”
oh god i laughed so hard reading this
The court recognizes this argument as valid. Case closed. *pop, pop*
Gravatar win.
“Watch over” doesn’t seem natural for Billie. “Watch out” is probably better. The word “auxiliary” seems similarly out of place in her lexicon.
Being “ultradrunk” seems like something Alex DeLarge would enjoy.
Besides that, nothing to say but *slow clap*
You sir, are freaking Awesome!
I love Billie’s forced concentration face in panel one.
Also: POP POP!
So. I just now noticed Dorothy standing next to Billie.
I’m really hoping Amazi-Girl comes to the rescue. Love seeing her. Now if I could only figure out who is really is.
LOL
Wait a minute… why isn’t Magnitude at Greendale? Did he transfer after he realized everyone was laughing at him?
A quick Google Maps search reveals Indiana University to be 19-20 hours from a random point in Colorado.
I don’t doubt he’d go that far if it was a good party.
he doesn’t go to good parties. good parties go to him.
POP. POP.
is the twist gonna be that he’s completely legit?
Unless our peek into his mind referring to Joyce as a “mark” was a Heavy Rain-style lie….then maybe.
Or it could be something else entirely and we’re all just thinking rape cuz we’re perverts.
Could be something like wallet theft, actually. Theft targets are also known as ‘marks’.
What about pranks? What if it turns out he’s just trying to play a trick on her?
Most patient trickster in the world.
Some of them can be pretty obsessive in their pursuit of a goal. Witness Bill Cosby’s snowball story.
Amazi-girl(which is to say Ultra-Car) switched places with Amber to keep his identity secret.
Ultra-Car is probably parked outside. Saved the day as Amazi-girl, but still disgusted by human mating rituals.
How is it Billie isn’t naked and having sex with some athlete yet? She has plenty of alcohol in her already, and it’s not like she had any inhibitions in the first place.
I’m confused too… I’d say she got up to something between arriving at the party insta-shirtless and reappearing with her shirt on, but that was barely any time gap. And she’s been clothed (as much of her as we see, at least) ever since. No prolonged absences, either. :/
The athletes all got beat up by Amazi-Girl. Pop pop.
Well, Joyce has been left alone for 15 minutes so….. she’s done already?
That’s what I’d think, but she interrupted the Dorothy-Roz conversation, so it’s still not an unbroken abount of time. But if she was really quick…
Perhaps her lack of inhibition has scared even them off?
Yeah, yeah, I know. Jocks. But maybe they’re afraid she’s one second away from barfing all over them.
LOL. Now that I buy! Although fellixe’s suggestion works too.
Hey! Even jock frat boys have standards.
Well, the sober ones do, at least.
I love Amber’s curious face. How she seems to be weighing whether or not she needs to help someone. It’s so subtle, yet it’s so clear what she’s thinking.
I’m getting nervous about the whole bathroom thing. Like some people said, maybe she’ll pass out when she gets inside… but if I were Ryan, I’d follow her inside and lock the door behind the both of them. Perfect cover. :/
I’m waiting with baited breath until tomorrow’s strip.
Indeed
We’ll find out soon true believers! Until then, we wait with baited breath, as the ravenous ryan attempts to abscond with the abstinance of jovial joyce!
…i love stan lee.
What is this baited breath, anyway? Sounds like people who smell as if they’ve been eating salmon eggs and night crawlers? Mint, anyone?
Baited breath is when you swallow worms to lure trouts down your throat.
Bated breath is when you hold your breath.
excelsior!
Whoa wait, Amber at a party? Shouldn’t she be grinding some spiders or be at a raid?
she’s at the right place to grind it looks like
Still weirded out when I’m reminded that pop is used in places.
A lot of places. Someone once showed me a map to show which states referred to the substance as pop, which as soda, and which referred to it as coke. A friend from Arkansas further enlightened me on this subject by telling me about a typical conversation she’d hear at a restaurant.
“We’ll have two burgers and cokes please.”
“What flavour?”
“I’ll have a Pepsi.”
“A Coke coke for me.”
And then there’s dope. Don’t know how widespread it is but at least with some folks in eastern Tennessee colas are dope.
Am I the only person who finds it oddly distracting that Billie, Dorothy, Joyce, and Ryan all have the same bangs? o_o
O.o whoa, didn’t notice that till now.
Amber is such a rebel.
Also center-forelock bangs are easy to draw and work for all angles – slightly better than side-part does, I believe. Most other simple bang-styles (center part, cut level straight across) are uncommon, and drawing more than one forelock adds complexity. Or at least that’s my take on it.
Obviously, we’re wondering whether Joyce will be rescued before the bastard pulls anything…
…but something has occurred to me. What if they do rescue her – before he’s had the time to anything truly incriminating, leaving Joyce convinced he’s perfect husband material?
If that drink she’s drinking right now isn’t drugged, then it’s one hell of a red herring.
“Yyyeah, I got kinda sleepy and dizzy back there. I guess I’m just not used to such noisy, crowded parties, and all that excitement!
…Drugs? Don’t be silly. I wasn’t drugged. Ryan’s a preacher’s son, he would never do something like that.”
5 months later:
“do you guys think I need to lose some weight?”
5 months from now? In this comic? That will run in the year 2022.
Before he pulls something…
…with his penis.
Sorry, sorry I had to.
I can’t be the first person who thought of this: http://faans.com/bf.png
You, sir, win my internets. That prompted a near-spit-take.
Oh Galasso
Wrong comic, dude.
Glasso’s in DoA. He runs a pizza shop.
I know. I must have missed the link on the comments.
An eeeeeviiil pizza shop.
No, don’t cross the streams!
Where’s Waldo?
With Carmen Sandiago of course
Whenever I hear or see the word friend, all I can think about is Patrick from Spongebob saying “Frieeeeennnnds” to Squidward haha lqtm.
I get Fluffmodeus.
Was Ryan supposed to look vaguely like Tycho from Penny Arcade? His hair color and top are reminiscent of him. Hmmmm
I reckon they get to her before she has a chance to go to the toilet, So she says how long she has been waiting there for. Everyone thinks its alright. Later she gets traumatized by an off-screen rape and everyone wonders whats wrong with her. Or Dorothy waits till she is done then stays with her the rest of the evening.
But knowing Willis, That will never happen.
I was sure it was going to be alcohol and she’d spit it out.
Or maybe she passes out in the bathroom?
People break down the door trying to get in,
maybe lynch Ryan?
Just because I’m hoping nothing really bad happens to Joyce, I’m saying his intent is wallet theft. Knock her out, take her money, and disappear before anyone notices….
Boom juxtaposition, Joyce is subtly smaller than Ryan who is large and kind of surrounding her. Subtle effects ftw.
Or whoops, I mean OH NO JOYCE WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.
Even with as much bad is being set up to happen next strip, I can’t help but think how adorably funny Joyce’s expression is in the last panel.
There’s something fascinatingly horrible about this sequence. This is being played so lightly, and we know Joyce’s character so well, that imagining she might actually be raped in her first week of college feels utterly inconceivable. But she’s clearly mere inches away from that.
So, just how PG-13-rated is DoA going to be? And just how much is Willis willing to screw with us?
Scratch the second question; that was rhetorical.
… so that is a roofie in joyce’s drink? i was really hoping that this comic wouldn’t feature rape
also Pop pop!
Somehow, this strip only convinced me that there has been a severe lack of “The Sound of Music” in Willis’ work of late. I have expect Joyce to bring it up, Ryan to cringe in horror, and Billie to pass out.
I have no idea why I thought this, but I now definitely want someone to burst out with “The hills are alive, with the sound of music…”
Awww yiss, Tycho Brahe is doing some rapin’ tonight… probably… ok, not.
So I see no intoxication/drug/dizzy spots hanging about Joyce’s head yet… maybe that really is just soda?
Dude, he said it was Sprite. We know from Joyce that there is no Sprite at this party, just Sierra Mist. Even if it isn’t roofied, that drink is an abomination and thus not worthy of being called a soda.
More correctly we know that the guy who gave her that first soda didn’t have Sprite and may have been one of those who think, “Sprite, 7up, Sierra Mist it’s all the same anyway.” We have no data on whether someone else, like perhaps Ryan, might not have actually brought sprite with them
Or maybe the drug hasn’t kicked in? Drinking a sedative takes a minute to attain the effects (up to 30 minutes). It’s aggravated by alcohol, but I would strongly suspect that Joyce doesn’t have a taste for booze.
Ryan’s not off the hook yet.
Note: The glass is almost full.
Dorothy, Billie and Amber In the same frame! Reality is going to collapse in that room! Pull the doppelgangers away from themselves before it’s too late!!!
AMBER GO SAVE JOYCE :0
Billy! Go Save Joyce
Ryan, go castrate yourself, saving joyce from you in the process!
Walky! Go save Joyce! … Only to be handled by said uninhibited Joyce.
Walky’s busy at the moment…50 nuggets…FIFTY
I hope Billie and Dorothy start making out.
Oh, lord. I just got it.
Ryan is, in this universe, an elaborate prankster. That soda is in fact spiked with some sort of laxative. He’s going to prank the innocent mark and then brag about it with his fratboy friends.
That MUST be it. Right?
Yes! Pop! …referring to the word used to describe a sugary carbonated beverage; not celebrating the fact that she is drinking this particular drink. Bracing myself for a Friday cliffhanger.
Stop, roofie time.
darn, i much preferred when joyce was playing board games. gave alot of potential to freak her friends out. they get directed to one of the bedrooms, hear there have been alot of people going in there and not coming out, go knock on the door. joyce answers having a good time, “oh hey! you’re just in time.do you want to join in? you can play with me or you can play with one of the guys. initially i was unsure if it was okay to take part due to how it is (in reference to the pagan version of settlers of canan) but i’m glad i loosened up a little and started having fun!” her friends minds then melt
Thank you Willis, I was afraid to read today’s Dumbing of Age for fear of what would happen to Joyce. But you just had to keep the suspense going, didn’t you?
Omg, IT’S MAGNITUDE. Pop, pop!
Maybe it’s not a roofie, perhaps it’s Joyce’s first taste of alcohol/mixed drinks?
Is that Madam Mim in the background of panel 1?
I don’t know who that is, so I am guessing no.
She fought a shapechanger’s duel with Merlin in [i]The Sword and the Stone[/i], so it’s possible. Then again, it could as easily be Merlin, since it was a shapechanger’s duel and all.
More tired than I realized. Sorry about the screwed up tags.
Actually Willis, I think it might be…you just didn’t know it at the time xp
What is Amber doing at that party?
…I would not mind if Community characters started making guest appearances in all webcomics. I would not mind if this became a regular thing people did.
Y’know, for someone who can’t stop drinking her drink, her glass is still pretty full.
I just took another look at yesterday’s strip, and now I’m wondering if Ryan’s having second thoughts.
In the second panel, he’s quite clearly lying about who is sending him that message. There’s a leering quality to his grin, and the way he emphasizes “my mom” and how much he loves her carries rather creepy context to it, especially with the aid of a Mike filter.
But when he looks down at what’s written, I’m almost certain it’s the verse he’s saying it is, and that it’s sinking in. He looks kind of sad, and hasn’t quite moved beyond that yet.
And yet he hasn’t stopped her from drinking. Something about that feels off, so either I’m reading too much into his expression and pauses, or the drink was not part of his plan.
POP! POP!
Well, if he did put something in it, please let it have a paradoxical effect on Joyce, where she becomes extremely aggressive and kicks Ryans butt herself, just as Amazi-Girl arrives to save the day and realizes the day has already been saved.
Obviously Amazi-Girl isn’t going to get there in time and this comic is going to take darker edgier route:
Amazi-Girls Journel 12th October 2011:
A Fundamentalist was raped last night.
It’s 11 PM. Do you know where your Joyce is?
Wait, he’s not going to Roofie her. If he was looking for an easy mark for sexual assault he would’ve just said hello to Billie.
Unless he’s specifically interested in raping virgins.
Kudos to Willis for freaking me out here. Had to slap myself and go back a few strips before i realised that there’s no proof whatsoever the guy’s done anything wrong at all, other than pass Joyce a drink and want some alone time with her. You could even argue the ‘Find Mark’ thing is nothing more than a very poor way of thinking when it comes to hitting on a girl.
Of course, him not being evil is boring, so i’ll wait to see how it pans out.
Except it’s Ryan. Roomies! Ryan was an absolute dirtbag.
O_O
I had completely forgotten about him. Holy CRAP. He was the one…with Ruth…oh my god this sort of thing is completely expected of him. Wow. Weird.
Which brings me back to what I’ve been saying… We know Willis likes to subvert expectations, so how is he subverting our expectations here? The majority expect rape at the party, but a lot of that is the context of a house party like this mixed with their impression of Ryan’s original Walkyverse counterpart… who, while I’ll not deny disliking him for how he’s presented, is shown getting a young Ruth in the sack then moving on to his next conquest, not raping her. He’s implied to have spent a rather significant amount of time getting her to that point as well. I’m personally thinking he’s just the setup for the next arc if he still has that history with Ruth in this universe. If that history isn’t there, I expect he’s just convenient for reinforcing the easily anticipated fears of the fanbase.
And the meaning behind his considering Joyce a “mark”?
Maybe somebody hired him?
Dammit Joyce! Why did you drink the- Who the hell’s magnitude? o_O
Holy shit he’s huge now. HE’S GROWING, PERHAPS EXPONENTIONALLY!
HOLY CRAP HE’S IN THIS ONE TOO.
How did I not notice this?!
Damn it, we’re bad at this!
There’s always the one chick with the purple hair at these things. Wait, I think I remember banging her once. She might not be much to look at, but she was fantastic in the sack
I could have sworn I saw Magnitude. and then I read some of the comments, and I was like “Pop Pop!”.
“But they will not go much further, for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres.”
2 Timothy 3:9