Well no wonder she freaks out whenever she thinks of it! She was about to murder somebody! Still, she didn’t make much of an impression on Sal, so nothing TOO awful could have happened.
I really don’t think Blaine would be happy if she did stand up against Sal in the store. He’s tormenting her, and I don’t think he expected her to do anything.
Just as an aside the guy who was dead on the street for 2 minutes would appreciate it if you didn’t discourage people from doing CPR on dead people as they are the intended recipient of said treatment. Add a modifier to that like “embalmed”, “decaying”, “decapitated”, or other words to the effect that the corpse was a tad past its freshness date.
You bastard. I can’t believe you said that! The living impaired have enough trouble with their disability without assholes like you giving them trouble!
Just an aside, at least some people with disabilities really hate the “x-impaired” moniker imposed on them by others. My Deaf nephew is not “impaired” in any way, thank you very much. Just say “deaf”. It’s not some horrible curse word. It’s just the hearing people that are afraid to say it, not the deaf (or “Deaf”, the capitalization being a cultural designator. Not all deaf people identify as Deaf.) And please don’t call anyone a deaf-mute, or God forbid, deaf and dumb.
Don’t have as much experience with other disabilities, but probably the same principle applies. I’ve heard the phrase “blind or partially sighted”, I’d bet it’s non-offensive.
I’m *not* an expert, but the way it was explained to me is that the deaf aren’t unable to communicate. That’s like saying someone who speaks Spanish while I speak English is impaired or unable to communicate.
They communicate just fine, via sign language. They just don’t communicate so that we can understand them. So “impaired” or “mute” imply something incorrect. Deaf has become the name of their culture/language group, so it’s generally non-offensive.
(Please correct if I got anything wrong in that, but I wanted to share the analogy because it made SO MUCH SENSE when it was explained to me!)
“mute” doesn’t _mean_ unable to communicate. Different mediums of communication are different, and “mute” only refers to one specific medium. Whether you can use sign language, or for that matter write, is irrelevant, just like you’re still called deaf even though you can read.
If you look at the dictionary definitions, “deaf” refers to the inability to hear. “Mute” refers to the inability to speak. One does not automatically follow in the presence of the other.
@ OldFart, blindness has a lot of different terms for it depending on if the person is part of Blind culture or not- B/blind and low vision are the ones I’ve seen most.
I can also vouch that identity first language is not the devil. I’m Autistic, not a person with autism and all that.
When in doubt, use the terminology the person in question uses to refer to themselves. If need be, address the elephant in the room and just flat out *say* that you want to respect their feelings on the matter and would like to know what their preference is. Assuming the topic needs to be broached at all, of course. 99% it probably won’t even come up.
So following this rule, one should always refer to zombies as a ::groooooan:: as the zombies themselves do.
I’ve wondered about things like that- some of the “polite” terms for various disabilities have a faintly patronising ring to them. (seriously, “little people”?!) On the other hand at least people haven’t been using them as insults for centuries…. tricky.
Turns out Sal ad Walky’s whole family are classic movie monsters. Sal’s a zombie, Walky’s a Werewolf(of the basketball playing, guitar strumming variety), their dad is Frankenstein, and their mom is a Vampire. It all makes sense.
I mean, we are talking about a girl who has compartmentalized herself to make an alter ego to deal with all the abuse her dad gave her, and is now beating the shit out of him after he kidnapped her Danny-in-distress.
I think we passed dark a while ago, it’s just been better hidden.
Unless whoever is holding that knife Blaine is eaten by a suitcase, that is not in any way true. Far too positive sounding a metaphor for this situation, at any rate.
That is not the cop; the cop is wearing a shirt with long sleeves and the upraised arm/knife is bare. In addition, whoever is holding the knife is holding it in their *right* hand, so we know it is not Sal who appears to be left-handed (or is at least shown holding the knife in her left hand). This leaves only Amber…..who somehow got the knife away from the cop…..?
Honestly, this is probably the closest Blaine gets to actual parenting. If there’s anything remotely near a positive character trait in him it’s that he seems to stand up for himself.
Of course, he Blained it up, but that’s hardly a surprise, now is it?
A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.
“Can’t we just kill him?”
“You know the rules, we battle his pokemon, and if we lose we have to disband our criminal enterprises.”
“Then can’t I bring something better than a Level 10 Ekans? I’ve got a Level 98 Zapdos on Bill’s–”
“No!”
Y’know, I did think about that while replaying the game recently, but then realized “yeah, they could try to kill me with a gun or just overpower me or something, but I still basically have a fire breathing dragon that took almost no damage from their best pokemon and there is not much incentive NOT to set these clowns on fire if they try to hurt me.”
I’ve always thought that the Pokemon games are really elaborate hoaxes perpetrated to train children how to fight with pets. Any children that show real potential are then told the truth and have to face a terrifying dystopian world in which humans use monsters in real life-or-death combat to try to eke out a place to live on an alien-invaded Earth. Of course, in the real fights the abilities and types of the monsters are all much more complicated, and there’s nothing to stop the monsters from directly attacking trainers.
Yikes. And that’s how Amber went insane, killed someone, was committed, and hallucinated the events of this entire webcomic while in a padded cell doped up on medication.
I’m pretty sure the cops stopped her before she hurt anyone. Though that might be why Sal got the spider tattoo; but in that case, I’d have expected her to recognize Amber. Kind of hard to forget someone’s face if they stabbed you.
Read Rudyard Kipling’s “The Most Deadly of the Species” He knew about how we get over a century ago. It doesn’t have to be triggered by abuse. It’s just that when we get angry or protective we can really get mean.
People, animals it doesn’t matter. Females can get mean.
you didn’t say “people,” you said “females.” of course people get protective & mean, sometimes. are you saying that amber, the survivor of a lifetime of abuse, is MEAN? the issue in this arc here is how people deal with abuse, in both positive and negative ways.
tip, for dealing with your fellow humans. just call women women. every time you say ‘females’ it sounds like some extremely intense effort at othering & marginalization.
also rudyard kipling was an author, largely, of fiction. that poem is some really, really sexist bullshit. here’s the link if anyone wants to read it. trigger warning: everything. http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/hum100/female.html
I’d rather read current sociology/theory that builds on what we’ve already learned, like feminism and fiction that is trying to do better, not worse.
a truly delightful excerpt on which kelticat is basing their insights on women:
49 And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
50 Must command but may not govern — shall enthral but not enslave him.
51 And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
52 That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.
how many times is it possible to barf in horror, holy god, this is just such a bummer
Please note that the poem was written over a century ago when women were by and large SLAVES to any man they were related to. The poem is telling men to treat women with respect, and not degrade them.
For a definition of “respect” that includes “but you can’t let them have any sort of say in things, because they don’t understand anything besides ‘slaughter anyone who threatens their family'”…I suppose? Possibly?
It’s not something that I feel comfortable using as an argument in 2014, however.
Wow kelticat. That comment was wrong on so many levels.
1) Women are people just like men are, and meanness is equally distributed between all sexes. If it seems differently to you it might have something to do with which ways certain groups of people are allowed to express and socialized into expressing their anger in different cultures and/or types of society (but even if it were so that more women than men act in what you call a ‘mean’ way, this doesn’t say anything about the innateness of this trait/feeling/behaviour – on what exclusive gene should this meanness sit?).
2) Are you seriously claiming that animals are things like “mean”? Do you also think that cats are inherently evil because they ‘play’ with their live prey (because it would be seen as an evil action if a human being would do it) instead as just a part of their nature/a way to practise their skills/whatever?
This kind of attributing traits/feelings/behaviours/whatever like “mean” to certain groups of beings – on the basis of sex, gender, race, species etc. – is really passé – don’t do it.
I had a mean cat. Used to jump out from under furniture and scratch our legs. Once, it jumped out of the laundry pile and latched on to my head with it’s claws. Wouldn’t let go. My mom had to pull it off of me. Fun times.
Usually, when people talk about the female being more dangerous or “mean”, they are referring to the females protecting their offspring. In nature, the male most often impregnates the female of the species and then has little to no responsibility in the care of the offspring. Being human, I would think that any half way decent dad would get pretty mean if their child was threatened. Not Blaine, obviously.
I can’t help but bring up the other part of your correct “most often” here, espcially since it makes me laugh instead of making me sad about people’s opinions:
Oh, it’s much worse than that. Blaine is a pure psychopath which means the wiring of his brain makes it impossible for him to feel empathy, remorse or take responsibility for his actions. It also makes him cunning, manipulative and parasitic and pretty much programmed for criminal behavior.
Kind of like the cat owners on My Cat From Hell who want to rough house with their cat and really really should have gotten a dog. Why didn’t you get a damn dog, Blaine?
1 ) First, enough with the Danny-must-die “jokes” already. Stupidity isn’t a crime, let alone a capital offence.
2 ) That’s not present-moment Amber about to stab Blaine in the last panel.
* The colouring is still red, like all the other flashback panels. Also, her arm in that panel is bare (*waits for inevitable “right to bear arms” pun*), whereas present-moment Amber is in costume.
* Present-moment costumed Amber hasn’t been shown ever carrying knives or other weapons.
1) “Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.”
SP! Amber was upset that she never got a chance to show Blaine how much stronger she was without him.
What she didn’t understand was that she was ALWAYS stronger than him. And that’s why he was a manipulative shithead – because a manipulative jackass like that always feels the need to control people – to have power over them. And then he no longer did and he couldn’t STAND that. She won in the end.
“okay Dr. Ninja Rick, but how soon should I take this medication?”
“AS SWIFT AS A COURSING RIVER”
“and will the side effects hit me hard?”
“WITH ALL THE FORCE OF A GREAT TYPHOON”
“right, right, but if it all works out, how will I feel?”
“WITH ALL THE STRENGTH OF A RAGING FIRE”
“…y’know, how does this stuff work, anyway?”
“MYSTERIOUS AS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOOOOOOOOOOON”
That would be the greatest twist of all – the one-note character of Shortpacked was actually the wise father figure in the Dumbing of Age universe – someone who truly embodied ideals of honor and courage while in Shortpacked he was… well… a weeaboo.
Jesus fucking Christ, Blaine. Most people whose children are the bystander to an armed robbery want them to do exactly what Amber did, hide in the corner and don’t get involved.
If you can call goading Amber into grabbing a knife and going after anyone a spaz, yes. Unless she froze up while going after Sal or Blaine. Or if Blaine backhanded her when she came after him with a knife.
The point is that what Blaine describes as “spaz” behaviour is something that Amber probably wouldn’t have wanted Danny to know. People were making a point that there’s nothing Blaine could tell Danny that would really paint her in a negative light, but that’s obviously incorrect given this plot twist.
Tears out both sides of her eyes for one thing, crying so hard that the tears flood all the way across the eye and out the opposite corner. A combination of anger, terror, sadness, and rage that just overwhelmed her endocrine system..
Well Danny, you get a front row seat to a whole different side of Amazi-Girl. If this isn’t an eye-opener, then I fear you truly are as hopeless as you appear.
I don’t think she gets to lay a finger on Blaine until she punches him in DoA. She’s a lot smaller back then, and there are lots of people around to stop her.
Thinking about it that police officer is really stupid, “ya I’m going to just stand here with the assault weapon in my hand as if Im offering it to somebody and look to the side, oh no that little girl just snatched the knife from me’ its fine though Im positive she won’t do anything crazy with it, I won’t try to stop her or anything”….ladies and gentlemen America’s finest law infocers
What really gets me about this is that this feels like Blaine trying to care. Maybe my perspective is a little warped because of the way I was raises (long story short:it sucked) but it feels like this is him thinking the best thing for his daughter after a traumatic event is to try and toughen her up and thicken her skin. Its like the only trait he knows anything about is power.
This doesn’t excuse shit, granted. Its just something that jumped out at me.
that’s a really interesting point. I mean, even the manipulative think that they’re doing things for a good reason, even if that reason is solipsism. the desire to “toughen up” your spawn is fraught with problems, and this representation of a young girl fighting back against that (“you want me to toughen up? well check THIS out, asshole”) is both very sweet at Amazi-Girl’s kinder moments and very, very scary at moments like these, when the reader understands that this rage is not only a product of her upbringing, but of the fucked-up-edness of blaine’s actual genes present in Amber.
Or trying to understand the emotion so he can use it to his own advantage. Since Blaine is a psychopath he has absolutely no capacity to feel emotional pain, empathy or love. They try to learn to ape the emotion so either they can better blend in or better manipulate people.
I think it’s more like he’s trying to act like he cares, except he’s only interacting with Amber the same way he’s been shown to interact with her in every single instance before this: Telling her everything he thinks she’s doing wrong so that he can diminish her in his own eyes and feel more in control
Yeah, that was my opinion too. Like, Blaine CANNOT sympathize with or understand most other people; he’s also unaware (and would be completely dismissive of the idea) that he’s the reason Amber can’t deal with people.
He’s not being emotionally abusive here for the sake of being a prick; this seems to be his version of trying to get Amber to “man up” (it seems the most appropriate term here considering Blaine’s viewpoints). He knows Amber and Ethan care about each other even if he can’t sympathize, and she stood by and let him get taken as a hostage.
I am not sure most people who abuse their children are emotionally abusive for the sake of being a prick. That is what makes Blaine an effective character, I think, you can see the fucked up intentions behind all of the shitty things he does.
Pretty much. Since psychopaths cannot feel remorse or take responsibility for their own actions, they manage to warp their transgressions into positives.
Just remember guys, she didn’t spend a bunch of time in juvey. I am thinking she is about to do a self inflicted wound. Or attempt one at least and gets stopped.
Looking back, she didn’t wear gloves when she was in the school girl outfit, but she always kept her right hand hidden. That’s an interesting bit of omission.
I am also intrigued by that, but we have seen her right hand before. (e.g, in this strip: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/law/ ) It could be that Willis briefly forgot about the scar and gloves will have to be retconjured into the scene, or maybe the gloves are hiding an embarrassing tattoo that happened after beach day…or perhaps it’s just that Sal has a weird sense of fashion?
Also, if Willis was going to retcon the scene like New 52 Teen Titans, he probably would’ve already done it by now. (Is she wearing gloves in the collected version?)
I find it unlikely that a cop would just stand here presenting the knife.
It’s a piece of evidence & we all know from TV shows that these come in small plastic bags. Well, not exactly, but you’ll get my drift. It’s a weak point in an otherwise strong narrative.
It looks to me more like she’s pushing the cop aside in the fifth panel rather than reaching for the knife.
And even if Amber was going for the knife, the hand holding it in panel six is positioned for a downward strike, and her posture in panel 5 looks like it would be really awkward to grab it that way.
The real kicker, however, is that the alt-text mentions a fake out.
So with that established, what is she doing here? At first, I thought she was running over to Danny Ethan, but unless the car by which he’s sitting is on the other side of the car, I don’t think that’s so plausible.
…
Actually scratch all that. Panel six is right-handed, and she’s reaching with the right hand, not the left.
That still raises the question of what the fake-out is.
For me it’s fascinating how I blinked and then there are 136 comments! I am not into that “first” thing but still… it would be cool to say something smart and then get meta-comments 😛
Way to create a fandom, David Willis. Congratulations.
Amber is not holding the knife. If she was holding the knife, in the 5th panel she would be holding it with her left hand. The person holding the knife in the 6th panel is clearly holding the knife in their right hand. The cop is holding the knife.
The cop has long sleeves. The knife is being wielded by someone without long sleeves. Amber is reaching across her body for the knife with her right hand in panel 5, and it’s being held in that hand in panel 6.
I sense this is somehow related to Blaine being forcibly removed from Amber’s life… Or whatever happened between the attempted robbery and college today.
Is it weird I kinda want it to turn out Amber did kill Sal and that the Sal we see is a zombie or a robot? (The Walkerton’s arnt racist, they’re human supermesists)
Sal is right in front of him, and everyone else of interest is to his right, but he’s just holding a knife flat in his hands and staring into the abyss.
I really wish I wasn’t hearing everything Blaine said with my father’s voice, in my head. This is painfully reminiscent of when he told me that I’d always be a failure and a disappointment. Well, the first time he told me that. He later said it was his way of trying to motivate me.
Yeah. I mean, on the one hand he probably wasn’t expecting the sobbing girl six feet away to suddenly turn homicidal, but a) it’s not like Amber is the first victim to lose control and assault her attacker and b) much more importantly, he is standing right next to Sal. Maybe the knife should not be so easy for her to grab!
I feel like this is a realistic amount of police incompetence c:
Srsly, they would have been trained to show more caution but it seems likely enough that the cop just let his guard down and allowed himself to half-ass his job seeing as how Sal is just a kid and relatively harmless. I could be wrong but the presence of a bullet shield in a gas station indicates to me that the cop deal with more dangerous criminals on a semi-regular basis. Or idk, maybe bullet shields are more commonplace in other states; around here it would be a surprise to see one outside of a bank.
Because in a world where two teens on opposite sides of a holdup can end up at the same college the same year–and also one wears a cape and fights crime for her own amusement–a small amount of police incompetence is the most unbelievable plot point?
Oh man, it’s almost like being an emotionally abusive parent that can only express disappointment in your child will push them to do stupid and dangerous things to get your approval. I bet Blaine never saw that coming.
I . . . I had a moment like this a few weeks ago. I am an extreme pacifist, but after months and months of emotional abuse, something just snapped. If it wasn’t for A) a friend physically holding me back (as stereotypical as it sounds), and B) an absence of knives, he so would have been stabbed. And even then my mind honestly was considering the knives in the kitchen only one room away . . .
So yeah, kudos for realism in comics. (c.f. Shortpacked!)
The lesson to be learned there is that pacifism catalyzes nervous breakdowns. So down with peace! Up with war! Wage war until the world is a wasteland!
#alliteration #overthetopirony #thisisnottwitter
hey friend. it’s not stereotypical, even if it feels that way. friends hold each other back like that to help them remember when they don’t actually want to hurt someone. you would do the same for them. you should call someone to talk, and maybe get yourself in a different situation if you need to, one where you can be your pacifist self. try the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and check out http://www.goodtherapy.org/ too. and if you just need someone to talk to you can email me at rkellyalso@gmail.com. take care
holly shit no wonder amber seems to have some metal problems the question is will she go through and stab that thief in rage and her first step of blaine turning her into a metal wreck or try for blaine.
Sal is over the patrol car with her back to amber. She might never have saw it coming. Then again, she’d probably have heard about it afterwards. And I don’t remember any crazy jagged scars on her back from the beach scenes.
The problem with that is that Amber is a KID, and he is suggesting she should have gotten in the way of a knife-wielding store robber to be a hero. It’s never EVER a good idea for civilians to intervene in a hostage situation. He’s not concerned for her safety at all, and she’s his daughter. That’s what I find sick about the whole thing.
This storyline is leaving me feeling very uncomfortable and brings up painful feelings. Even if I hated my Dad I dont think I could ever hurt him, even thought I think I would want to. Maybe Im old fashioned or something, I was taught to respect no matter what. The thing about violence or hatred is that its too easy. You think youll feel good, but you just feel incredibly empty. its not like the movies with some grand victory, all she’ll see is just a frail human being like anyone else, wondering why she even gave a damn about him. Just like every wizard is just a man behind a curtain, every villain is just some shmuck who will fade away with the past. Not without leaving a scar of course.
Respect no matter what is brainwashing taught to you by the very people you’re meant to respect no matter what. I agree that violence and hatred aren’t the solution (except, perhaps, when your father is going to actually harm your friend and it’s the only way to stop him…), but blind respect is worth nothing and simply makes you look like a fool for respecting an awful human being. Getting someone pregnant doesn’t make you worthy of respect.
Guys, I think think the girl that dresses up like a superhero and spends her weekends and nights off beating people up in the park might be slightly more unhinged than previously accounted for.
Loading ...
whoa what
Holy shit!!
I don’t know man, I’m scared
Dramatic twist: Sal is a zombie now and Amber spent 3 years in “teen jail”.
Another dramatic twist: she stabbed the cops and other people nearby too.
What if she didn’t go after Sal but instead went after Blaine, and Amber is presently beating up Zombie Blaine. … ZomBlaine.
Plot Twist Again: it’s actually the cop who was already holding the knife
Yet another plot twist: The panel fades out and we just See Danny in a room sitting on the floor holding a snow-globe
+ the internet for your St. Elsewhere reference
St. Elsewhere? Not Citizen Kane?
Google ‘Tommy Wetphall Universe’ when you’ve got a spare couple hours.
No, that is most definitely a St. Elsewhere reference. (the globe doesn’t break, for one thing)
We could also do a Dallas reference, with Faz stepping out of the shower and all prior events are revealed to have been a dream…
SUPER PLOT TWIST:
*stabs a Twinkie*
Mega plot twist: That knife is actually Amazi-Girl.
There is no knife.
Well no wonder she freaks out whenever she thinks of it! She was about to murder somebody! Still, she didn’t make much of an impression on Sal, so nothing TOO awful could have happened.
Sal: “People’r tryin’ ta kill mah all the time. ‘S no big deal.”
Said just as a arrow whiz by where her head was five seconds before.
Amber killed her father; the existence of Amber’s father is a paradox. The universe explodes.
Amber NOO!!!!
What?
Alright, she may be just a tad psychotic as well.
Well…She IS Blaine’s daughter.
I can definitely see some Blaine in her eyes in panel 2.
I can see something freakin’ scary in her eyes in panels 4 and 5.
Woah now.
OH. SHIT.
DRAMATIC TWIST
OF THE KNIFE!
=O
Why is Blaine complaining? She’s doing what he told her to.
Because despite her best efforts, she’s still doing it too late. This is the equivalent on trying to do CPR on a corpse.
I really don’t think Blaine would be happy if she did stand up against Sal in the store. He’s tormenting her, and I don’t think he expected her to do anything.
Yeah, if she’d done something he’d’ve tormented her for being reckless, or incompetent, or something.
Just as an aside the guy who was dead on the street for 2 minutes would appreciate it if you didn’t discourage people from doing CPR on dead people as they are the intended recipient of said treatment. Add a modifier to that like “embalmed”, “decaying”, “decapitated”, or other words to the effect that the corpse was a tad past its freshness date.
I’ve never heard Corpse refer to anyone who has just recently died, actually. But yes, you’re technically correct.
Yeah Yotomoe, what are you, Lifeist? Check your living privilege.
I think Yotomoe might be one of those “Pro-Lifers” I keep hearing about. Why ya gotta be such a hater Yotomoe? The dead/undead have rights, too!
Damn dead people. Takin’ our jerbs.
I don’t suppose we fight back with another orgy pile?
Just Cheeto Dust, don’t you DARE DISCOUNT THE USEFULNESS of an orgy pile!
Does this mean zombie series are like blaxploitation media for living-impaired people?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hou0lU8WMgo
Because that’s what people like Blaine do–make it so that no matter what there’s no winning move.
Yeah, typical manipulative emotional abuse. And Blaine is pretty clearly a textbook sociopath.
Welp.
My face is now permantly stuck with my jaw in the lower position
Oh man! Do you think she killed Sal?!
With that avatar, this line is priceless. XD
Two internets for you.
This just in: Sal is a zombie. Her cool factor has been raised by 32%.
no wait, I know, she’s gonna give Sal a spider tattoo YEAH
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think it’s slightly okay for Sal/Walky’s parents to treat her differently if, in fact, she is a zombie.
You bastard. I can’t believe you said that! The living impaired have enough trouble with their disability without assholes like you giving them trouble!
Just an aside, at least some people with disabilities really hate the “x-impaired” moniker imposed on them by others. My Deaf nephew is not “impaired” in any way, thank you very much. Just say “deaf”. It’s not some horrible curse word. It’s just the hearing people that are afraid to say it, not the deaf (or “Deaf”, the capitalization being a cultural designator. Not all deaf people identify as Deaf.) And please don’t call anyone a deaf-mute, or God forbid, deaf and dumb.
Don’t have as much experience with other disabilities, but probably the same principle applies. I’ve heard the phrase “blind or partially sighted”, I’d bet it’s non-offensive.
Other than the your comment made me giggle, nothin.
So what you’re saying is, we should be sure to call zombies “zombies”, so as not to offend their undead sensibilities?
Why is “deaf” totally OK but “deaf-mute” totally is not? And how would one who didn’t know the people involved predict the difference?
I’m *not* an expert, but the way it was explained to me is that the deaf aren’t unable to communicate. That’s like saying someone who speaks Spanish while I speak English is impaired or unable to communicate.
They communicate just fine, via sign language. They just don’t communicate so that we can understand them. So “impaired” or “mute” imply something incorrect. Deaf has become the name of their culture/language group, so it’s generally non-offensive.
(Please correct if I got anything wrong in that, but I wanted to share the analogy because it made SO MUCH SENSE when it was explained to me!)
“mute” doesn’t _mean_ unable to communicate. Different mediums of communication are different, and “mute” only refers to one specific medium. Whether you can use sign language, or for that matter write, is irrelevant, just like you’re still called deaf even though you can read.
If you look at the dictionary definitions, “deaf” refers to the inability to hear. “Mute” refers to the inability to speak. One does not automatically follow in the presence of the other.
@ OldFart, blindness has a lot of different terms for it depending on if the person is part of Blind culture or not- B/blind and low vision are the ones I’ve seen most.
I can also vouch that identity first language is not the devil. I’m Autistic, not a person with autism and all that.
When in doubt, use the terminology the person in question uses to refer to themselves. If need be, address the elephant in the room and just flat out *say* that you want to respect their feelings on the matter and would like to know what their preference is. Assuming the topic needs to be broached at all, of course. 99% it probably won’t even come up.
So following this rule, one should always refer to zombies as a ::groooooan:: as the zombies themselves do.
Mmmyep. When someone calls me mentally ill or disabled I want to punch them. I have a disease but I don’t define myself by it.
I’ve wondered about things like that- some of the “polite” terms for various disabilities have a faintly patronising ring to them. (seriously, “little people”?!) On the other hand at least people haven’t been using them as insults for centuries…. tricky.
Little person is the preferred term most of us use. Like has been said above, ask the person themselves if you’re not sure.
To call someone impaired is to say that they are broken. My sister is deafened and my dad is in a wheelchair. Calling them broken is an insult.
Turns out Sal ad Walky’s whole family are classic movie monsters. Sal’s a zombie, Walky’s a Werewolf(of the basketball playing, guitar strumming variety), their dad is Frankenstein, and their mom is a Vampire. It all makes sense.
Somebody should make fanart of that.
“It STARTED when we were both BORN, and you came out less PUTREFIED!”
Vitalist!
My sword is a tool of justice.
But THIS ISN’T MY SWORD.
(you guys probably notice I got a certain game recently by this point)
Jack is Back!!!
Appropriate music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2N8woYX7io
Is this the only way?
Hey, somebody called that!
I allllllmost called it….I thought it was Blaine holding the knife in the first flashback….
So what I’m trying to say is I want to steal credit even though I was wrong 😉
Um… That’s a little dark.
It’s not all dark!Some of the panels are bright and vibrant!
I mean, we are talking about a girl who has compartmentalized herself to make an alter ego to deal with all the abuse her dad gave her, and is now beating the shit out of him after he kidnapped her Danny-in-distress.
I think we passed dark a while ago, it’s just been better hidden.
This isn’t just dark. This is…advanced dark.
This is the light on the other side of darkness… the Light Fantastic.
Unless
whoever is holding that knifeBlaine is eaten by a suitcase, that is not in any way true. Far too positive sounding a metaphor for this situation, at any rate.Are you up to date on all the strips? This aint the first dark turn DoA has taken…
Yeah, I was pretty aghast when this comic showed me that there are people who take their unlimited cereal advantages for granted.
You… you brought that up…just when I was starting to be able to forget…you monster. (sob)
That seems like such a long time ago, but it was only 18 hours or so in comic time…
This isn’t dark, no one’s dead yet.
Give Willis time, he’s got to make people care about the characters before he starts Starking people.
People don’t need to die for things to be dark.
After all, dead people SUFFER less!
So the knife was in Ambers hand in that old flashback.
Well clearly that’s the cop raising the knife in retaliation for Amber trying to take it.
He plays for keeps.
That is not the cop; the cop is wearing a shirt with long sleeves and the upraised arm/knife is bare. In addition, whoever is holding the knife is holding it in their *right* hand, so we know it is not Sal who appears to be left-handed (or is at least shown holding the knife in her left hand). This leaves only Amber…..who somehow got the knife away from the cop…..?
Something isn’t adding up.
It… it was a joke.
good try man, you’ll get ’em next time.
I LOLed
HA!
Why the hell does it suddenly feel like Blaine was attempting to motivate her here?
I…need a moment…
I had a similar thought/reaction
Good…let the hate flow through you…
It’s a good thing Blaine doesn’t have Force Lightning or Force Choke. He’s not allowed to have any cool traits
Ind the end…Blaine won!
Blaine doesn’t motivate he tears down. All actions are the wrong actions, each choice earns nothing but criticism.
Especially actions done instead of paying attention to him.
Honestly, this is probably the closest Blaine gets to actual parenting. If there’s anything remotely near a positive character trait in him it’s that he seems to stand up for himself.
Of course, he Blained it up, but that’s hardly a surprise, now is it?
A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.
or a fifteen year old grabbing a knife from a cop!
thirteen
Well, then Amber can’t be a hero. The minimum age for heroism is fourteen.
Tell that to the pokemon trainers who stopped team rocket so many times.
And Damian Wayne who was (IIRC) ten.
Though he’s less “hero” than “violent asshole.” I guess there’s no age requirement for that.
“Can’t we just kill him?”
“You know the rules, we battle his pokemon, and if we lose we have to disband our criminal enterprises.”
“Then can’t I bring something better than a Level 10 Ekans? I’ve got a Level 98 Zapdos on Bill’s–”
“No!”
Y’know, I did think about that while replaying the game recently, but then realized “yeah, they could try to kill me with a gun or just overpower me or something, but I still basically have a fire breathing dragon that took almost no damage from their best pokemon and there is not much incentive NOT to set these clowns on fire if they try to hurt me.”
I’ve always thought that the Pokemon games are really elaborate hoaxes perpetrated to train children how to fight with pets. Any children that show real potential are then told the truth and have to face a terrifying dystopian world in which humans use monsters in real life-or-death combat to try to eke out a place to live on an alien-invaded Earth. Of course, in the real fights the abilities and types of the monsters are all much more complicated, and there’s nothing to stop the monsters from directly attacking trainers.
To be fair. None of those trainers have even a freaking statue in ddedication for having save the world in one or another.
Tyler Doohan’s family would like to have a word with you.
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang
Gee Blain, how about not being an ass to your daughter for one second after something like that.
No? Then enjoy your future ass kicking you bastard.
After his future divorce, mind you.
Ass kicking after divorce? That’s insult to injury!
No, it’s injury to insult
Yikes. And that’s how Amber went insane, killed someone, was committed, and hallucinated the events of this entire webcomic while in a padded cell doped up on medication.
Turns out Blaine was dead all along. As was Ethan, Sal, and every single policeman there.
Nobody dies in DoA… because theyre already long dead?
This whole comic was… DOA?
Well played.
Speaking of DOA…
WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT MURDERS?!
And that’s the punchline. Nothing more to see here, folks.
*golf clap*
Suddenly, Lost.
“Turns out, it was all a dream.”
Whoa!! This was unexpected….
I am so happy that this updates 7 days a week because if I had to wait two days for the next one I think I might go nuts.
Tomorrow: Walky Does an Afterglow.
PREEMPTIVE DAMN YOU WILLIS
Nope, still waiting for Dina reading dino romance novels. And making comments about how “real Triceratops couldn’t do that!”
Riley still in the cafeteria, on her 100th bowl of cereal.
Whenever people see either Blaine or Heathcliff the cat, the same four words escape their mouths:
“Christ, what an asshole.”
I wish God hadn’t ever invented clouds!
You know, I’m starting to get the feeling that Amber may be a tad psychotic.
What tipped you off? Was it the glowing red eyes?
Possibly. Maybe it’s the demonic snarl lurking just behind her bared teeth.
…..
Crap
Now will this flashback also translate to similar action in the present?
She’s gonna use that knife to kill Danny, right?
She’s gonna throw it into the future and it’ll slice right through Blaine and go into Danny.
Danny will survive cause he’ll Dan up dying.
So Dan is Elliot from Jagged Alliance?
That actually makes a lot of sense for some reason.
Something something Philip Pullman?
So… is she going for Sal or her dad?
My money is on Blaine.
Maybe she’s going for herself, seppuku style.
Zombie Amber!
That was my thought— “Hm… have I ever seen Amber’s wrists?”
Something about that young woman always makes me think that Fate is about to be very unkind to her.
Nice blaine Real nice, you know your a failure as parent when you motivate your kid to attempted homicide
So…either Amber stabbed Sal…or she stabbed Blaine.
I didn’t think of blaine, I thought she was just going for sal because of the blood lust in her eyes when she looked at her
You’d think Sal would remember someone who stabbed her if that’s the case.
Someone might have stoped her
Plus the knife is rite next to sal on the first panel so that paints more of a scene on the last panel.
Ok please Danny pull her off next strip I don’t think this is funny anymore
please
yeah this is getting capital-R Rough
Unless Sal’s been stabbed so much in the last few years she can’t really keep track.
Well, she got stabbed a couple of times by the math TA.
Assault with a friendly weapon.
Heh, true.
“You wanna know how I got these scars? Actually, I don’t remember. I have several.”
I’m pretty sure the cops stopped her before she hurt anyone. Though that might be why Sal got the spider tattoo; but in that case, I’d have expected her to recognize Amber. Kind of hard to forget someone’s face if they stabbed you.
I suspect Blaine really wanted a son he could be macho with, but doesn’t comprehend that emotional abuse doesn’t really work.
He’s terrible and wrong, but I can kind of sort of see how his mind works.
What Blaine never got was that females get really mean when they get mad. And that is any species of female; humans, bears, dogs, cats, cows, sheep…
… females? like, women? and by “when they get mad,” do you mean “are abused for the entirety of their young lives”?
I… wow. I -really- don’t know where you’re going with this.
Read Rudyard Kipling’s “The Most Deadly of the Species” He knew about how we get over a century ago. It doesn’t have to be triggered by abuse. It’s just that when we get angry or protective we can really get mean.
People, animals it doesn’t matter. Females can get mean.
you didn’t say “people,” you said “females.” of course people get protective & mean, sometimes. are you saying that amber, the survivor of a lifetime of abuse, is MEAN? the issue in this arc here is how people deal with abuse, in both positive and negative ways.
tip, for dealing with your fellow humans. just call women women. every time you say ‘females’ it sounds like some extremely intense effort at othering & marginalization.
also rudyard kipling was an author, largely, of fiction. that poem is some really, really sexist bullshit. here’s the link if anyone wants to read it. trigger warning: everything. http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/hum100/female.html
I’d rather read current sociology/theory that builds on what we’ve already learned, like feminism and fiction that is trying to do better, not worse.
a truly delightful excerpt on which kelticat is basing their insights on women:
49 And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
50 Must command but may not govern — shall enthral but not enslave him.
51 And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail,
52 That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male.
how many times is it possible to barf in horror, holy god, this is just such a bummer
Please note that the poem was written over a century ago when women were by and large SLAVES to any man they were related to. The poem is telling men to treat women with respect, and not degrade them.
please stop talking
For a definition of “respect” that includes “but you can’t let them have any sort of say in things, because they don’t understand anything besides ‘slaughter anyone who threatens their family'”…I suppose? Possibly?
It’s not something that I feel comfortable using as an argument in 2014, however.
:/
Wow kelticat. That comment was wrong on so many levels.
1) Women are people just like men are, and meanness is equally distributed between all sexes. If it seems differently to you it might have something to do with which ways certain groups of people are allowed to express and socialized into expressing their anger in different cultures and/or types of society (but even if it were so that more women than men act in what you call a ‘mean’ way, this doesn’t say anything about the innateness of this trait/feeling/behaviour – on what exclusive gene should this meanness sit?).
2) Are you seriously claiming that animals are things like “mean”? Do you also think that cats are inherently evil because they ‘play’ with their live prey (because it would be seen as an evil action if a human being would do it) instead as just a part of their nature/a way to practise their skills/whatever?
This kind of attributing traits/feelings/behaviours/whatever like “mean” to certain groups of beings – on the basis of sex, gender, race, species etc. – is really passé – don’t do it.
Animals can be mean. Like Daschhunds. Mean little bastards.
I had a mean cat. Used to jump out from under furniture and scratch our legs. Once, it jumped out of the laundry pile and latched on to my head with it’s claws. Wouldn’t let go. My mom had to pull it off of me. Fun times.
Cats are jerks, and anyone who says otherwise is hiding from the truth.
My cat is just a troll, but I assume that still counts.
Yeah my cat MIGHT actually be too dumb to be a jerk. Though I’m certain that he still tries.
Usually, when people talk about the female being more dangerous or “mean”, they are referring to the females protecting their offspring. In nature, the male most often impregnates the female of the species and then has little to no responsibility in the care of the offspring. Being human, I would think that any half way decent dad would get pretty mean if their child was threatened. Not Blaine, obviously.
I can’t help but bring up the other part of your correct “most often” here, espcially since it makes me laugh instead of making me sad about people’s opinions:
Warning: NSFW if you’re a seahorse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsHCqrrU-Gk
I think…most things get mean when they’re mad? I can’t really name a lot of things that get mean and then DON’T get mean.
Oh, it’s much worse than that. Blaine is a pure psychopath which means the wiring of his brain makes it impossible for him to feel empathy, remorse or take responsibility for his actions. It also makes him cunning, manipulative and parasitic and pretty much programmed for criminal behavior.
Or big business.
Lol. That too. For more info read “Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go To Work by Dr. Robert Hare, or “The Psychopath Test” by Jon Ronson.
Kind of like the cat owners on My Cat From Hell who want to rough house with their cat and really really should have gotten a dog. Why didn’t you get a damn dog, Blaine?
WOAH WHAT?
And thats when Danny stops her from stabbing Blaine. by taking the hit himself hopefully.
1 ) First, enough with the Danny-must-die “jokes” already. Stupidity isn’t a crime, let alone a capital offence.
2 ) That’s not present-moment Amber about to stab Blaine in the last panel.
* The colouring is still red, like all the other flashback panels. Also, her arm in that panel is bare (*waits for inevitable “right to bear arms” pun*), whereas present-moment Amber is in costume.
* Present-moment costumed Amber hasn’t been shown ever carrying knives or other weapons.
1) “Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.”
2) Yeah, geez.
Yeah, cause it’s so easy to go up against someone with a knife when you’re armed with a DS. Man I hope Blaine ends up with a broken jaw.
once again we see the dangers of not spy-checking
And now the red background all makes sense! Amber’s the red spy.
Plus we already know Sarah’s the Scout! BONK
Okay. I give up. DOA Amber is cooler than SP! Amber.
Nah, I’m still not seeing it.
SP! Amber never did squat to Blaine.
SP! Amber Did some cool stuff that I don’t wanna mention cuz Spoilers.
SP! Amber was upset that she never got a chance to show Blaine how much stronger she was without him.
What she didn’t understand was that she was ALWAYS stronger than him. And that’s why he was a manipulative shithead – because a manipulative jackass like that always feels the need to control people – to have power over them. And then he no longer did and he couldn’t STAND that. She won in the end.
Actually, I want to give DOA Amber a hug.
Oh, holy SHIT this is going to end badly.
Amber. Sweetie. Honey. SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP, NOW.
… So, who do we think’s gonna be the school psychologist in the Dumbiverse?
Ninja Rick
… PLEASE DEAR GOD LET THIS BE TRUE.
“okay Dr. Ninja Rick, but how soon should I take this medication?”
“AS SWIFT AS A COURSING RIVER”
“and will the side effects hit me hard?”
“WITH ALL THE FORCE OF A GREAT TYPHOON”
“right, right, but if it all works out, how will I feel?”
“WITH ALL THE STRENGTH OF A RAGING FIRE”
“…y’know, how does this stuff work, anyway?”
“MYSTERIOUS AS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOOOOOOOOOOON”
(yes mulan /= ninjas shut up it’s funny)
I was about to say, I’m not sure Disney counts in Rick’s ninja-addled mind, but then I realized: This is Ninja Rick. Of course it counts.
LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!
I love this idea so much
gaaaah I cannot even tell you how much I LOVE that this comments section devolves into mulan songs so often, SOMEHOW, I love it
Basically every comment thread is only five words away from devolving into Mulan songs at any given time.
Those five words are, of course, “Baby, I knew at once”.
“…that I just can’t waiiiiit… To be kiiiiiiiiing!”
That would be the greatest twist of all – the one-note character of Shortpacked was actually the wise father figure in the Dumbing of Age universe – someone who truly embodied ideals of honor and courage while in Shortpacked he was… well… a weeaboo.
Like he can’t be a weeaboo with a psychology degree in this universe.
I endorse this idea.
Meanwhile, Historical Jesus is the janitor.
The Almighty Janitor.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlmightyJanitor
DO EET!!
And he’s going to be a Buddhist.
I wonder what they are looking over at in panel 5
They’re next to Sal so I’m putting my money on her.
I realize now her face is shadowed, but I can admit on my phone for this panel I was wondering why Amber’s face was suddenly covered in mud xD
Ooohh good call. I didn’t see the knife in the first panel. Makes sense now.
Whoa. This was … unexpected to say the least
This is so sad. I hate Blaine. He is the worst father in the universe.
No, the sad part is that he’s not. He’s bad, but if you really ranked bad fathers, he’s probably not even in the worst million, from what we’ve seen.
*makes herself super sad*
If we’re really lucky, he might be the worst father in the Dumbiverse, though.
He makes Sal’s parents look a lot better by comparison, though!
Jesus fucking Christ, Blaine. Most people whose children are the bystander to an armed robbery want them to do exactly what Amber did, hide in the corner and don’t get involved.
You forget that this is Blaine, destroyer of all that is good in the world and Actual Fucking Asshole Who Needs To Die RIGHT NOW, kay thanks bye.
That’s the thing though. Blaine doesn’t understand emotional fear. The amygdula of his brain isn’t wired to register empathy.
You are right. People are objects to him. He is a psychopath.
Well, I guess this explains how Blaine actually did have some leverage over her with the the whole “spaz” thing.
If you can call goading Amber into grabbing a knife and going after anyone a spaz, yes. Unless she froze up while going after Sal or Blaine. Or if Blaine backhanded her when she came after him with a knife.
The cops are right there, too. But regardless of who stops her, she doesn’t get to lay a finger on Blaine until she punches him in DoA.
The point is that what Blaine describes as “spaz” behaviour is something that Amber probably wouldn’t have wanted Danny to know. People were making a point that there’s nothing Blaine could tell Danny that would really paint her in a negative light, but that’s obviously incorrect given this plot twist.
True
The seeds of madness run deep in the Tully, er, O’Malley family.
Good Job, Panel 5 cop. Glad to know our police officers are always alert.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that was Danny’s uncle or something.
Or related to a Wiggum.
I can actually see the resemblance in the blank stare he has!
I am flipping my shiz so hard
consider yon shiz flipped
If Amber stabbed anyone and didn’t go to some sort of holding facility I will be very upset with the fictional justice system.
Such a miscarriage of justice warrants an angry missive to Representative DeSanto’s predecessor.
What’s up with her face in panel 5?
Tears out both sides of her eyes for one thing, crying so hard that the tears flood all the way across the eye and out the opposite corner. A combination of anger, terror, sadness, and rage that just overwhelmed her endocrine system..
:(, so many 🙁
Both of the cops have mustaches, so in a heavily mustached context my brain first interpreted her teeth as a mustache in the last panel.
Oh hell naw!
Well Danny, you get a front row seat to a whole different side of Amazi-Girl. If this isn’t an eye-opener, then I fear you truly are as hopeless as you appear.
I’m glad I just read the Shortpacked! strips tagged Blaine. I know he’s different here, but it doesn’t seem by much.
Oh no, Crazy Amber is doing something crazy, shock and horror. XD
It’s a flashback, so we know Sal lives… the real question is if Amber connected.
I don’t think she gets to lay a finger on Blaine until she punches him in DoA. She’s a lot smaller back then, and there are lots of people around to stop her.
I don’t think she’s aiming for Blaine, I think she’s going for Sal.
Thinking about it that police officer is really stupid, “ya I’m going to just stand here with the assault weapon in my hand as if Im offering it to somebody and look to the side, oh no that little girl just snatched the knife from me’ its fine though Im positive she won’t do anything crazy with it, I won’t try to stop her or anything”….ladies and gentlemen America’s finest law infocers
Holy shit.
Even worse, given that Sal was clearly terrified in the last strip.
What’s sal favorite line again…oh ya I guess Ambers is going to “put the fear ó god into her.
HOLY SHITKICKERS BATMAN!
What really gets me about this is that this feels like Blaine trying to care. Maybe my perspective is a little warped because of the way I was raises (long story short:it sucked) but it feels like this is him thinking the best thing for his daughter after a traumatic event is to try and toughen her up and thicken her skin. Its like the only trait he knows anything about is power.
This doesn’t excuse shit, granted. Its just something that jumped out at me.
that’s a really interesting point. I mean, even the manipulative think that they’re doing things for a good reason, even if that reason is solipsism. the desire to “toughen up” your spawn is fraught with problems, and this representation of a young girl fighting back against that (“you want me to toughen up? well check THIS out, asshole”) is both very sweet at Amazi-Girl’s kinder moments and very, very scary at moments like these, when the reader understands that this rage is not only a product of her upbringing, but of the fucked-up-edness of blaine’s actual genes present in Amber.
Or trying to understand the emotion so he can use it to his own advantage. Since Blaine is a psychopath he has absolutely no capacity to feel emotional pain, empathy or love. They try to learn to ape the emotion so either they can better blend in or better manipulate people.
As opposed to Mike who (in the Walkyverse, at least) is merely an ass.
I don’t think I’d want to see Blaine drunk.
I think it’s more like he’s trying to act like he cares, except he’s only interacting with Amber the same way he’s been shown to interact with her in every single instance before this: Telling her everything he thinks she’s doing wrong so that he can diminish her in his own eyes and feel more in control
Yeah, that was my opinion too. Like, Blaine CANNOT sympathize with or understand most other people; he’s also unaware (and would be completely dismissive of the idea) that he’s the reason Amber can’t deal with people.
He’s not being emotionally abusive here for the sake of being a prick; this seems to be his version of trying to get Amber to “man up” (it seems the most appropriate term here considering Blaine’s viewpoints). He knows Amber and Ethan care about each other even if he can’t sympathize, and she stood by and let him get taken as a hostage.
I am not sure most people who abuse their children are emotionally abusive for the sake of being a prick. That is what makes Blaine an effective character, I think, you can see the fucked up intentions behind all of the shitty things he does.
Pretty much. Since psychopaths cannot feel remorse or take responsibility for their own actions, they manage to warp their transgressions into positives.
And Mr Stabby makes an appearence…
No Amber don’t!
Y’know what’s funny? When I started reading DOA I figured this Amber was less messed up than Shortpacked! Amber.
Wow….you where SO wrong
Were
Because nothing says emotional stability like costumed vigilante behaviour?
it started out cute IT STARTED OUT CUTE I SWEAR
Just remember guys, she didn’t spend a bunch of time in juvey. I am thinking she is about to do a self inflicted wound. Or attempt one at least and gets stopped.
Did Amber scar Sal’s hands? Is that why she always have her gloves on? D:
That would make a since, and be really freaking cool
Dude! That actually seems like it might be a thing! She hasn’t been wearing gloves throughout this whole sequence
I was going to guess that’s what the tattoo was there to cover, but that makes a lot of sense.
Oh hey, that could be right!
WHOA
At the very least her left hand is okay.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
I couldn’t find one that showed the right palm.
Looking back, she didn’t wear gloves when she was in the school girl outfit, but she always kept her right hand hidden. That’s an interesting bit of omission.
I am also intrigued by that, but we have seen her right hand before. (e.g, in this strip: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/law/ ) It could be that Willis briefly forgot about the scar and gloves will have to be retconjured into the scene, or maybe the gloves are hiding an embarrassing tattoo that happened after beach day…or perhaps it’s just that Sal has a weird sense of fashion?
I don’t see her palm, maybe the scar is there.
Also, if Willis was going to retcon the scene like New 52 Teen Titans, he probably would’ve already done it by now. (Is she wearing gloves in the collected version?)
I find it unlikely that a cop would just stand here presenting the knife.
It’s a piece of evidence & we all know from TV shows that these come in small plastic bags. Well, not exactly, but you’ll get my drift. It’s a weak point in an otherwise strong narrative.
Well, I’m no expert, but it’s not like they need to check for fingerprints to know who was wielding the knife, in this situation.
Not if you consider the cop did it deliberately. “Yes… give in to your hatred. Strike her down!”
I don’t think Amber is the one holding the knife.
Why?
It looks to me more like she’s pushing the cop aside in the fifth panel rather than reaching for the knife.
And even if Amber was going for the knife, the hand holding it in panel six is positioned for a downward strike, and her posture in panel 5 looks like it would be really awkward to grab it that way.
The real kicker, however, is that the alt-text mentions a fake out.
So with that established, what is she doing here? At first, I thought she was running over to
DannyEthan, but unless the car by which he’s sitting is on the other side of the car, I don’t think that’s so plausible.…
Actually scratch all that. Panel six is right-handed, and she’s reaching with the right hand, not the left.
That still raises the question of what the fake-out is.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/change-2/
^That’s the fake-out. It led people to believe that the one holding the knife in that flashback was Sal during the hold-up.
It’s fascinating how quickly the comments have gone from “I hope Amber beats him within an inch of his life” to “holy crap Amber is psychotic”.
Be careful what you wish for, folks.
For me it’s fascinating how I blinked and then there are 136 comments! I am not into that “first” thing but still… it would be cool to say something smart and then get meta-comments 😛
Way to create a fandom, David Willis. Congratulations.
Was that cop holding the knife in the Walkyverse? He looks kind of familiar somehow.
all these mothers come and go man
ahHA! It’s Phil, the Destiny’s janitor!
Walky’s sister is going to charge Blain with a knife; not Amber’s arm to slim and dark. #SpoilerAlert
why do i feel that the knife aint real.
Why is her dad such a DICK???
Amber is not holding the knife. If she was holding the knife, in the 5th panel she would be holding it with her left hand. The person holding the knife in the 6th panel is clearly holding the knife in their right hand. The cop is holding the knife.
what
She’s clearly grabbing for it with her right hand.
Though the cop stabbing everyone in response would be a twist of Shyamalanic proportion…
The cop has long sleeves. The knife is being wielded by someone without long sleeves. Amber is reaching across her body for the knife with her right hand in panel 5, and it’s being held in that hand in panel 6.
*reaching across her body and/or turning in that direction
She is clearly making a grab for the knife (which i think aint real) with her right hand.
Clearly ignoring the fact the cop has sleeves to the wrist.
Someone’s been watching too much CSI.
After all, she couldn’t possibly switch hands between panels.
Aaand now that I’ve relooked at the comic, she’s really obviously reaching with her right hand. But okay.
I sense this is somehow related to Blaine being forcibly removed from Amber’s life… Or whatever happened between the attempted robbery and college today.
Is it weird I kinda want it to turn out Amber did kill Sal and that the Sal we see is a zombie or a robot? (The Walkerton’s arnt racist, they’re human supermesists)
“Put the knife in me…and see what happens when you turn it.”
oooohhhh SHIT
I hope Amber has been vaccinated for Rabies.
WTF!!! :O
Also, i love the upside sleeves of her coat.
Fake Knife.
ooooooo. Good call.
WHAT IS GOING ON
What.
Oh Jesus!
What the hell is that cop looking at?
Sal is right in front of him, and everyone else of interest is to his right, but he’s just holding a knife flat in his hands and staring into the abyss.
“The birds flew away.”
“Oh yeah?”
“… I LIKED the birds.”
Squirrel!
What a mind-bogglingly incompetent cop.
Duh! I’m just gonna stand here holding this knife in front of me while staring away from it!
What a dingus…is he related to Danny?
(Wednesday Comic) Yes!
(Thursday Comic) YES!
(Friday Comic) YE-NO! Nononononono!
I really wish I wasn’t hearing everything Blaine said with my father’s voice, in my head. This is painfully reminiscent of when he told me that I’d always be a failure and a disappointment. Well, the first time he told me that. He later said it was his way of trying to motivate me.
Stealing a weapon from a cop, and trying to use it in front of him, how smart! … No, wait a minute, what is the opposite of smart?
Will there be an alternate sidestory, titled “Amber performs a massacre“?
I prefer the title “Amber performs a violence.”
I would read the hell out of that side story!
Nice!
In which we find out Sals’s tat covers a nasty Amber-related scar?
*That’s* a knife!
gotta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgUF_J20Bpk
Not that it’s much less psychotic, but I really hope it turns out that she grabbed it with the intention of attacking Blaine.
Shayamalamadingdong twist: Amber stabs herself. (Abuse victims are often self-destructive.)
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :(:(:(:(:(:(:(
OH SNAP!
(By which I of course mean Amber’s poor strained mental state)
You know, I’m starting to dislike Blaine.
Starting?…disliking him should have started the first moment you saw him!
Be it from here or Shortpacked!, Blaine’s an ass through and through. At least in DoA, Amber finally gets to give it to him.
Oh god. Fuck you, Blaine.
Poor Ethan…he looks so out of it!
His face, his posture – it really looks like he’s just BSODing. Which, y’know, is completely understandable under the circumstances.
aaaand this is the first time i’ve ever said “holy fuck”, out loud after reading a comic :S
dang,i got roz…
Blaine is either very bad at empathy, or more likely, quite good at it, but also a jerk.
It’s interesting that Blaine’s speech to Amber is a part of why he gets the shit kicked out of him years later.
I hope somebody picks up that phone because I SO f#*@ing called it!
“knife wielder fake-out”? Have we seen that panel in flashbacks before?
Yes! When Amber was changing and running out of the building earlier. And it was implied that it was Sal wielding the knife. Not so, it turns out.
I KNEW IT!
oh my god
is she going to die
What the hell, why is the cop holding the dangerous weapon out like grapes on a silver platter?
Yeah. I mean, on the one hand he probably wasn’t expecting the sobbing girl six feet away to suddenly turn homicidal, but a) it’s not like Amber is the first victim to lose control and assault her attacker and b) much more importantly, he is standing right next to Sal. Maybe the knife should not be so easy for her to grab!
I feel like this is a realistic amount of police incompetence c:
Srsly, they would have been trained to show more caution but it seems likely enough that the cop just let his guard down and allowed himself to half-ass his job seeing as how Sal is just a kid and relatively harmless. I could be wrong but the presence of a bullet shield in a gas station indicates to me that the cop deal with more dangerous criminals on a semi-regular basis. Or idk, maybe bullet shields are more commonplace in other states; around here it would be a surprise to see one outside of a bank.
“er, evidence bag please? Hello? WILL someone please give me a freaking evidence bag already!”
Because in a world where two teens on opposite sides of a holdup can end up at the same college the same year–and also one wears a cape and fights crime for her own amusement–a small amount of police incompetence is the most unbelievable plot point?
Now I recognize Amber from Shortpacked! in the DoA version.
(Walky, too.)
Oh man, it’s almost like being an emotionally abusive parent that can only express disappointment in your child will push them to do stupid and dangerous things to get your approval. I bet Blaine never saw that coming.
A lot of parents in DoA seem to have missed that lesson.
I . . . I had a moment like this a few weeks ago. I am an extreme pacifist, but after months and months of emotional abuse, something just snapped. If it wasn’t for A) a friend physically holding me back (as stereotypical as it sounds), and B) an absence of knives, he so would have been stabbed. And even then my mind honestly was considering the knives in the kitchen only one room away . . .
So yeah, kudos for realism in comics. (c.f. Shortpacked!)
The lesson to be learned there is that pacifism catalyzes nervous breakdowns. So down with peace! Up with war! Wage war until the world is a wasteland!
#alliteration #overthetopirony #thisisnottwitter
Create peace on Earth by killing all humans.
Roboboogie!
hey friend. it’s not stereotypical, even if it feels that way. friends hold each other back like that to help them remember when they don’t actually want to hurt someone. you would do the same for them. you should call someone to talk, and maybe get yourself in a different situation if you need to, one where you can be your pacifist self. try the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and check out http://www.goodtherapy.org/ too. and if you just need someone to talk to you can email me at rkellyalso@gmail.com. take care
Am I alone in wanting to see Amber get revenge on Sal? Preferably in a Count of Monte Cristo-esque fashion.
Amber snapped, ran up to Sal–stealing the knife from the police officer–and . . . THEN–
SHAVED SAL’S HEAD WITH THE KNIFE!!!!!
that would actually be one of the more fucked up things I can imagine
Whispering into her ear, “It would look better straight.”
And so it began.
Cragalanch is scared. HOLD CRAGALANCH AND MAKE THE SCARY GO AWAY!
So, who broke the robbery up then?
I swear to Santa-Christ that cop bears a resemblance to Danny! Guys…this thing is deeper than we thought!
Blaine’s real target hasn’t been Amber but Danny himself! This is true because of reasons!
holly shit no wonder amber seems to have some metal problems the question is will she go through and stab that thief in rage and her first step of blaine turning her into a metal wreck or try for blaine.
Amber is so badass her problems are metal. \m/
Huh. Whatever Amber does here can’t be too serious, since Sal clearly doesn’t remember her in the present. Now I’m curious…
Sal is over the patrol car with her back to amber. She might never have saw it coming. Then again, she’d probably have heard about it afterwards. And I don’t remember any crazy jagged scars on her back from the beach scenes.
Blaine is a monster. . . but. . . is it twisted that I see the point he’s trying to make?
The problem with that is that Amber is a KID, and he is suggesting she should have gotten in the way of a knife-wielding store robber to be a hero. It’s never EVER a good idea for civilians to intervene in a hostage situation. He’s not concerned for her safety at all, and she’s his daughter. That’s what I find sick about the whole thing.
Twisted? Linda Blair saw this post and was like “wow that’s really flexible”.
This storyline is leaving me feeling very uncomfortable and brings up painful feelings. Even if I hated my Dad I dont think I could ever hurt him, even thought I think I would want to. Maybe Im old fashioned or something, I was taught to respect no matter what. The thing about violence or hatred is that its too easy. You think youll feel good, but you just feel incredibly empty. its not like the movies with some grand victory, all she’ll see is just a frail human being like anyone else, wondering why she even gave a damn about him. Just like every wizard is just a man behind a curtain, every villain is just some shmuck who will fade away with the past. Not without leaving a scar of course.
Respect no matter what is brainwashing taught to you by the very people you’re meant to respect no matter what. I agree that violence and hatred aren’t the solution (except, perhaps, when your father is going to actually harm your friend and it’s the only way to stop him…), but blind respect is worth nothing and simply makes you look like a fool for respecting an awful human being. Getting someone pregnant doesn’t make you worthy of respect.
Don’t worry guys, Amazi-Girl will show up to stop her. And then they will fuse together in a big shower of anime.
So deep
K NEVERMIND I DO NOT LIKE THE WAY THIS IS GOING NOPE NOPE NOPE
Guys, I think think the girl that dresses up like a superhero and spends her weekends and nights off beating people up in the park might be slightly more unhinged than previously accounted for.
So this is how it begins
Damn, this is a dark turn for her origin story
So was the daredevil’s origin story
I can’t seem to see this strip. It won’t come up when the page updates. I get everything else on the page, but no strip.