Also, the original book by Michael Chrichton is actually a very good read – managed to get through it while I was in elementary school (before the movie was out)
Wow, I don’t remember it looking that bad… but that was 20 years ago. I thought I saw it in theaters, but I have to think my parents would have enough sense not to take a 5 year old to a PG-13 movie. I remember it being somewhat scarey though.
Mike makes it his business to become knowledgeable about everything just so he can ruin people’s lives. When he says he’s strangling cats, he’s really listening to Justin Bieber, reading manga, and beating world high scores at ALL video games EVER.
Who is Tobias Muldoon? The only Tobias I know is from the Animorphs series.
I suppose given the nature of the Animorphs, one of them could get mauled by a raptor at some point. But they never gave last names (and likely the first names are fake too).
Technically, the Animorphs did the mauling. Don’t you remember the one where they went back in time to just before the nuke that took out the dinosaurs went off?
Jake’s last name was Berenson, and there is about a 50/50 shot of Rachel’s having been as well. Depending on how the Ellimist worked things, Tobias’ last name might have been Fangor, but Tobias is sort of a messed up dude.
Unfortunately, my upbringing hammered into me the lesson “When in doubt, assume the worst.” So I frequently assume people are furious with me when they’re actually just hungover or something.
I’m really hoping that we get to see Amber or Dina close the door to their room revealing that Dina’s parents are still there, standing behind the door. Awkwardly.
…and that Blaine was about to walk into the room at the same time and instead gets a face-full of door.
What if someone says something very sarcastic and gay?
You use the “Pause” detector.
And they have a 3 second countdown to say “No Homo”
or
“Indeed Homo”.
This ties into the whole “undiagnosed autistic” head-canon I have for Dina (shut up I wasn’t diagnosed until my second year of college either and I’m not subtle,) but in that case… have fun figuring out which one it is. Because on the rare occasion that she actually picks up on what’s going on in real time, that WOULD be a mocking method. And NO ONE could tell the difference. EVER. Muahahahahaha evil laugh.
Either that or, for whatever reason, hasn’t had nearly enough exposure to social situations in order for her to have learned how to discern tone of voice and body language.
I wasn’t meaning to criticize. I was imagining that circumstances beyond her control kept her sheltered or too shy to talk to anyone and learn these things on her own. I have a similar past, myself. I’m okay at tone of voice and such but I was VERY socially inept as a teen and young adult (and now at 31 I’m still learning things I ought to have learned by 20). So I get it, I do. I was just saying it might not be something she was born with, but rather a result of her upbringing.
Also reminds me of how annoying it is when I say, “It’s raining” and some smart alec has to chime in, “Thanks for stating the obvious!” Because you know, rain is always noticed by everyone else first before me. *eyeroll*
Okay that was juuust slightly off-topic. But still.
If it helps, comments such as that generally say more about the smart alec than they do about you. If a response is necessary (usually no), ask alec if he/she/it feels any bigger.
But you made the effort to change Dina’s expression each panel, and move her left arm in the last panel (her left, our right). Some other artists wouldn’t’ve gone that far. Kudos
And this may mean that Dina’s a southpaw. (Or in her case, a southclaw?) Time to hit the archives to gather data.
That is because Willis is the REAL DEAL giving use emotions and taking em away , making us hope for one thing but it happen in an unexpected way, you; Grand Master Willis, should be proud.
awlrighty, who’s going to do a fan-pic of her dad as the emperor?
Amber as Vader, and Dina as Luke, with a ghost Yoda/Walky in the corner… gotta have Walky 😛
I thought Dina would be more hurt by this sarcasm (it could seem rude to someone who is blunt but trying to help), but the fact that she isn’t makes sense. It seems that she doesn’t notice changes in the mood and reacts instinctively, but rather she identifies changes in the mood, not knowing how she feels about them until she’s considered it. (Like with Raidah in the mall. On the spot she seemed unaffected, but after a while, and naming her reasons, she shared her discomfort.)
On a side-note: I love all of Amber’s expressions here. You can tell that she’s annoyed with herself for telling Dina off, but also that she doesn’t have the energy to deal with talking right now. I predict quiet, annoyed, one-sided tension.
That’s the theory and might well be the case. I’m trying to figure out how much her socializing difficulties, whatever they are, fit into her mindset. She recognizes that her friend is upset and displaying that to her, but she doesn’t seem affected by that, instead just continuing to analyze the situation. So my question is basically does she have to analyze a situation entirely and mull it over before she’s worked out how to feel about it? The situation with Raidah in the mall seems to support this, but she could also know how she feels but not how she’s supposed to react. She’s interesting and for now a bit of a mystery.
And here we see the fallout from the visit of Amber’s male genetic progenitor. Amber, who doesn’t want to talk, and Dina, who doesn’t normally talk.
And having been in Dina’s shoes in the past about a lot of stuff (though not the dinobsession), I’m pretty sure what Dina wanted to say was, “What are you upset about?”
I enjoyed this comic quite a bit. I have only a minor concern that Dina is becoming a caricature, though. It reminds me of the TV series Bones. The main character started off as a slightly awkward human that seemed 3 dimensional, but over time, the shtick took over and she became too unbelievable.
It’s a valid concern. I think this is how she’s usually been characterized, though. She tries to identify the atmosphere, the social cues on display, and engages in conversation accordingly.
I mean, I suppose she’s a caricature if you compare her to Walkyverse Dina, but from what I’ve seen she’s actually been improving since the beginning of DoA.
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Attagirl, Dina! You got this!
Three for three! She’s on a roll!
Get two more right you’ll win a prize!
Slightly upset, thought that said win a pizza.
I wonder what her reaction would be to winning something. >_>
Would be. Wow, I’m tired.
I stared long and hard at that comment, but couldn’t find what you were trying to correct. O_O
It’s because she’s wearing her “clever girl” T-shirt.
YAY DINA!!
Oh, Dina. You clever, clever girl.
Speaking of dinosaur-themed t-shirts, I wonder if Dina has one of these?
http://www.amazon.com/Juniors-About-T-Shirt-Dinosaur-Costume/dp/B00BK85OQG/ref=pd_sim_sbs_a_4
I prefer
http://www.cafepress.com/mf/19264707/raptor_tshirt
Wait a second. What about a shirt with
http://tshirtgroove.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/thesaurus-t-shirt.jpg
on it?
I could totally see her having that shirt and not getting why it would be inappropriate to show the T-Rex head. It would be adorable.
Oh, am I supposed to have a shirt on *UNDER* that one? That would explain the strange looks I get…
Clever girl indeed!
Suddenly, Raptors.
Clever. Girl. You molted so I wouldn’t recognize you.
seems the shirt comes with a nice WIS bonus…
She leveled up from the solo XP for defeating Faz, and put her skill ranks into Sense Motive.
is faz really worth that much xp, though? a light breeze could knock him over.
She was ready to ding after the sojourn to the beach, that just pushed her over.
The XP isn’t for beating Faz, its for enduring him.
Naw – Faz is the thing that does just a single die of damage, but does it every round and never, ever dies.
Dina: World’s Greatest Detective!
Batman would be jealous
I knew this would happen eventually, so I always carry a can of Bat Dino Repellent.
GEEZ. What DON’T you have on that belt???
Condoms.
Robin likes it raw.
The backup belt.
Ace Venture is currently seething in rage.
Dina laughs at his paltry skills. He is limited to animals that are not currently extinct.
ACE DETECTIVE~!
Dammit Dojima!!!
CASE CLOSED! Let’s get drunk.
Everyone’s the killer! And I’m-a Suuuuuper Mario!
And nobody ate dinner that night.
Case drunk! Let’s get closed.
Ace Dinosaur Detective
…that. just reminded me of Theodore Rex.
I apologize for that
Why apologize? That was a rather well-done part of Morris’ biography of T. Roosevelt.
“And now murderous rage. Followed by…*grk*…strangulation!*”
Strangulation? I would rather throw her on the ground.
Aizat ain’t a part of this SYSTEM.
DINA’S NOT A PHONE!
DUH!
Some poser hands me cake at a birthday party
Whatcha want me to do with this? Eat it?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GROUUUUUUUUUUUND
I threw the rest of the cake too.
Dina is discovering her superpower.
Immunity to sarcasm.
Amber is passing the torch.
She’ll be the perfect sidekick. Immunity to criticism AND sarcasm?
Teenagers everywhere will be powerless
You mean like this kind? They are quite useful.
Is that a flashlight in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
You have to appreciate the T-Shirt. It’s both a dinosaur thing AND humorously fitting.
Am I the only one who doesn’t get it?
It’s a reference to Jurassic Park.
Specifically this spoiler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO5wryDdEI0
Clever, egotistical girl.
Amber is sure to provide Dina with her daily requirement of vitamins, minerals, protiens and carbs for many weeks to come. 😀
Thanks. I somehow never watched Jurassic Park… Or its sequels. It made for a good arcade game though.
You should watch the original.
Feel free to skip the sequels.
Also, the original book by Michael Chrichton is actually a very good read – managed to get through it while I was in elementary school (before the movie was out)
Michael Crichton has written a lot of good books. The Andromeda Strain, Congo, and The Great Train Robbery are also worth reading.
Wow, I don’t remember it looking that bad… but that was 20 years ago. I thought I saw it in theaters, but I have to think my parents would have enough sense not to take a 5 year old to a PG-13 movie. I remember it being somewhat scarey though.
“What have they got in there, King Kong?”
Mm, I don’t see anything humorous about the fit of that t-shirt.
dinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
At least two people already stole my comment…
Aw, what the hell.
CLEVER GIRL!
I stole your comment, went back in time, printed it on a t-shirt, and sold it to Dina.
Check and mate.
I went back in time and found Spielberg and told him what the future holds and had him put that into the movie!
Is that why I keep getting residual checks from Amblin Entertainment? I’d been meaning to ask.
How did it take me this long to notice that WILLIS stole my comment while he was drawing this strip…
Socially awkward Dina is socially awkward.
This human emotional stuff is sure damn tricky.
I knew it. Dina is a robot all along.
That or has the infamous cheeseburgers that so many people claim to have.
Dina is a cheeseburger?
An adorable and scrumptious cheeseburger.
Dina is normal – it’s all these other people who are robots. Only robots could fail to love dinosaurs, after all.
“This must be what you call sexual tension.”
More like asexual tension.
Atensual sexion?
Spot on, Clabber Girl.
Well now I wanna make biscuits.
Sarcasm and Awkward Silence, arch-villians.
“…they really did get nerfed. God dammit, Mike!”
Mike tells her how all of her Doushinjis end. He just…He just knows which ones she reads.
Mike makes it his business to become knowledgeable about everything just so he can ruin people’s lives. When he says he’s strangling cats, he’s really listening to Justin Bieber, reading manga, and beating world high scores at ALL video games EVER.
…I really want Dina’s t-shirt to be a real thing.
I’m… I’m genuinely proud of her. I know its meant to be funny, but I’m sort of proud! Like, watching your daughter get out of elementary school proud!
Your daughter get out of elementary school into Junior junior high.
It’s true! If she can tell sarcasm, she’s already ahead of Joyce, for example.
The perfect gravatar… Wait, that’s a shirt.
Perfect shirt.
Not shown on the back of the shirt: Tobias Muldoon getting mauled by raptors.
That sounds like the best shirt ever.
Who is Tobias Muldoon? The only Tobias I know is from the Animorphs series.
I suppose given the nature of the Animorphs, one of them could get mauled by a raptor at some point. But they never gave last names (and likely the first names are fake too).
Tobias Muldoon is the hunter dude from Jurassic Park.
I thought it was Robert Muldoon…?
The only Tobias I know is Tobias Fornell who works for the FBI.
Yeah, his name was Robert. Not to be confused with Roland, the hunter guy from the sequel.
Wait, it’s not Tobias?
Nope. There isn’t anyone named Tobias that I know of in the books or movies.
Technically, the Animorphs did the mauling. Don’t you remember the one where they went back in time to just before the nuke that took out the dinosaurs went off?
Jake’s last name was Berenson, and there is about a 50/50 shot of Rachel’s having been as well. Depending on how the Ellimist worked things, Tobias’ last name might have been Fangor, but Tobias is sort of a messed up dude.
I feel like a terrible person for saying it, but Amber is somewhat hotter when upset.
It’s Amber we’re talking about. She’s hotter regardless of her emotions.
Mike already knows this. At least in the Walkyverse he does.
Everyone’s hotter when they’re upset. Sarah cannot get any hotter if she tried.
she could try to be more upset.
You are SOOO adorable Dina
Adorable enough that you want to pinch her cheeks?
Adorable enough that I must see her destroyed!
You already ship her with Faz, isn’t that destruction enough?
Of course. This is a question?
Well, yes. There are levels of adorableness, you know.
Well his legal name is at what point can I use it to control the world?
I’d put her at smooch the top of her head like a baby’s level.
Now apologize for using Amber/Amazi-Girl’s rope to tie up Faz, and you’ll just about have it covered.
No apology needed. I mean, it was Faz.
You know Faz…always trying to get ladies to perform bondage on him. Luckily, Dina knows her way around a rope.
(You guys can try as hard as you can. I’m not gonna stop shipping them)
It’s pretty much inevitable that they will be happily married at the conclusion of this comic.
You must be stopped…no matter the cost.
If Dina set Faz on fire, stuff him in an oil drum and roll it down a lake IN FULL PUBLIC VIEW….no jury would convict her.
Because Faz would obviously consent and enjoy it. And wouldn’t die.
Amber is the Doctor and Dina is Clara? Humm…
OK, I’m imagining Amber with a bowtie and a fez.
I imagined her with a Faz.
I would much rather imagine her with a Faz.
…this would work a lot better if my avatar was Faz.
A Roz is fine too. 😀
Hey! It’s that shirt I’ve been seeing on Tumblr for months!
The very, very clever shirt..
Is it sad that I’m honestly impressed at the social astuteness Dina is showing here, Dina being Dina?
I must admit, I was over 20 by the time I hit that level of awareness.
I still can’t tell the difference between awkward silence and regular silence.
…
…
The first one! Definitely the first one!
This makes me happy. So very very happy
Unfortunately, my upbringing hammered into me the lesson “When in doubt, assume the worst.” So I frequently assume people are furious with me when they’re actually just hungover or something.
I’m really hoping that we get to see Amber or Dina close the door to their room revealing that Dina’s parents are still there, standing behind the door. Awkwardly.
…and that Blaine was about to walk into the room at the same time and instead gets a face-full of door.
Score one for so279.
Dina, raptor wrestler, is not going to leave Amber any exits. Clever Girl indeed.
OK, from now on, we will refer to Dina as Dina, Raptor Wrestler.
and Joyce as Raptor Jesus.
And Mary as Rapture Raptor.
And Danny as Ego Raptor…?
im dorry but
GO GO GO RAPTOR RANGERS!!!!
So would that make Jacob one of the Dinoriders?
… hat, coat … exit stage left …..
We haven’t established Sal as another raptor… yet.
Fellow commenters, go on.
And she doesn’t even have a sarcasm detector.
I do. I keep it next to my gaydar. and my Gayedar.
Never know when there’s a Martin Gaye song on, you gotta be prepared.
Marvin*
Don’t get the sarcasm detector and the gaydar mixed up, it’s leads to awkward situations.
What if someone says something very sarcastic and gay?
You use the “Pause” detector.
And they have a 3 second countdown to say “No Homo”
or
“Indeed Homo”.
What if they say “Ecce Homo”?
The crowd hollers “Crucify him”!
OTP!
Okay, now I’m just reaching.
Most ships are reaching, anyway.
But this one is particularly silly. Saying Dina would end up with Amber is almost as silly as saying she’d end up with Walky.
Not sure if serious…
I am being ironic, yes.
Dina did better than Joyce did the other day at recognizing sarcasm.
Dina is improving more than Joyce. Joyce is going to flunk “Socializing 101”.
And she’s the best in their homeschooling group!
I sense a rivalry between Joyce and Dina.
Dina doesn’t. She hasn’t taken “Hostility awareness and Responses” yet.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Dina was mocking Amber.
And she did a fine job at it.
Literalism is sarcasm’s deadliest foe.
This ties into the whole “undiagnosed autistic” head-canon I have for Dina (shut up I wasn’t diagnosed until my second year of college either and I’m not subtle,) but in that case… have fun figuring out which one it is. Because on the rare occasion that she actually picks up on what’s going on in real time, that WOULD be a mocking method. And NO ONE could tell the difference. EVER. Muahahahahaha evil laugh.
I can see she earned that shirt.
It’s only awkward if you make it awkward!
…And it’s only silence if you stay silent!
That shirt Dina has on fits the mood perfectly
Man now I want to see Dina as a sidekick to Amazi-Girl. Not sure how well it would work in practice though.
Dina does know her way around a rope
WtG Dina.
I want her shirt
Sherlock Dina Holmes: A Study in Amber.
Are we extracting dinosaur DNA from the Amber?
Sharper, faster, able to deduce social situations she is Dina v. 2.0
…Seriously, Willis, did you intend to give her Asperger’s?
Because she’s clearly got Asperger’s
Either that or, for whatever reason, hasn’t had nearly enough exposure to social situations in order for her to have learned how to discern tone of voice and body language.
Look not all of us were super suave, social butterflies by the time we got to college. Or ever will be.
I wasn’t meaning to criticize. I was imagining that circumstances beyond her control kept her sheltered or too shy to talk to anyone and learn these things on her own. I have a similar past, myself. I’m okay at tone of voice and such but I was VERY socially inept as a teen and young adult (and now at 31 I’m still learning things I ought to have learned by 20). So I get it, I do. I was just saying it might not be something she was born with, but rather a result of her upbringing.
I kinda feel a bit sorry for Dina. Seems like it’s not her fault that she doesn’t “get” this stuff. 🙁
Also reminds me of how annoying it is when I say, “It’s raining” and some smart alec has to chime in, “Thanks for stating the obvious!” Because you know, rain is always noticed by everyone else first before me. *eyeroll*
Okay that was juuust slightly off-topic. But still.
If it helps, comments such as that generally say more about the smart alec than they do about you. If a response is necessary (usually no), ask alec if he/she/it feels any bigger.
Dina’s shirt kills it for me
Bad Amber. Don’t be sarcastic to Dina.
Oh my god! Dina is finally learning social cues! D8
hooray! i just love awkward silence!
.
Hooray! I just love forced enthusiasms!
Not only is Willis an amazing bastard in every other way, he actually re-draws each panel instead of copy-pasting.
Seven strips a week, a huge buffer, and each panel fully drawn. Puts most comic authors to shame.
Beware, when you sleep…
The Beard may come for you..
The Beard has no power here. The One with the Triangle Smile rules this realm.
I’m pretty sure there’s some copy and paste in today’s.
But you made the effort to change Dina’s expression each panel, and move her left arm in the last panel (her left, our right). Some other artists wouldn’t’ve gone that far. Kudos
And this may mean that Dina’s a southpaw. (Or in her case, a southclaw?) Time to hit the archives to gather data.
That is because Willis is the REAL DEAL giving use emotions and taking em away , making us hope for one thing but it happen in an unexpected way, you; Grand Master Willis, should be proud.
Dina is just to social for us to comprehend which means we think she is in educated socially
About my comment meant to say we think she’s un educated socially
Amber nooooooo D: Amberrrr
Don’t give in to hate
That leads to the Dark Side
awlrighty, who’s going to do a fan-pic of her dad as the emperor?
Amber as Vader, and Dina as Luke, with a ghost Yoda/Walky in the corner… gotta have Walky 😛
Who’ll be Han Solo and Leia?
Joyce and Ethan.
“I love you.”
“I’m gay.”
We already got canon Robin-as-Leia art from the other universe…
Important safety tip: If someone is upset, do NOT say to them “You’re upset”.
Amber don’t take it out on Dina. You’ll take serious hits to your karma, which you may have noticed, can use all the help it can get.
I thought Dina would be more hurt by this sarcasm (it could seem rude to someone who is blunt but trying to help), but the fact that she isn’t makes sense. It seems that she doesn’t notice changes in the mood and reacts instinctively, but rather she identifies changes in the mood, not knowing how she feels about them until she’s considered it. (Like with Raidah in the mall. On the spot she seemed unaffected, but after a while, and naming her reasons, she shared her discomfort.)
On a side-note: I love all of Amber’s expressions here. You can tell that she’s annoyed with herself for telling Dina off, but also that she doesn’t have the energy to deal with talking right now. I predict quiet, annoyed, one-sided tension.
Not sure, but maybe Asbergers.
That’s the theory and might well be the case. I’m trying to figure out how much her socializing difficulties, whatever they are, fit into her mindset. She recognizes that her friend is upset and displaying that to her, but she doesn’t seem affected by that, instead just continuing to analyze the situation. So my question is basically does she have to analyze a situation entirely and mull it over before she’s worked out how to feel about it? The situation with Raidah in the mall seems to support this, but she could also know how she feels but not how she’s supposed to react. She’s interesting and for now a bit of a mystery.
And here we see the fallout from the visit of Amber’s male genetic progenitor. Amber, who doesn’t want to talk, and Dina, who doesn’t normally talk.
And having been in Dina’s shoes in the past about a lot of stuff (though not the dinobsession), I’m pretty sure what Dina wanted to say was, “What are you upset about?”
Hilarious! I literally laughed out loud. I’m glad I have an office to myself or my coworkers would have given me funny looks. 😀
I desperately, desperately want Dina’s t-shirt.
I enjoyed this comic quite a bit. I have only a minor concern that Dina is becoming a caricature, though. It reminds me of the TV series Bones. The main character started off as a slightly awkward human that seemed 3 dimensional, but over time, the shtick took over and she became too unbelievable.
It’s a valid concern. I think this is how she’s usually been characterized, though. She tries to identify the atmosphere, the social cues on display, and engages in conversation accordingly.
I mean, I suppose she’s a caricature if you compare her to Walkyverse Dina, but from what I’ve seen she’s actually been improving since the beginning of DoA.
Exactly! This is a step up from standing silently behind a door.
On an unrelated note, FAZ EXISTS YOU GUYS. HE LIVES IN OHIO. HE HAS DONE A SEX 48 TIMES.
sorry if this was posted already
http://jezebel.com/osu-basically-chases-creepy-pickup-artist-off-campus-1455302975
I love the two of them as roommates. I actually think they’re quite good for each other.
has a request for “Clever Girl” shirts already been made?
The t-shirt tells no lies.
OH SHIT THIS SHIRT TAKES A WHOLE OTHER MEANING NOW