When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Obelisk
Ashley McCammon
In 1908 New York, a young woman struggles to put her life back together in the wake of her father's death - until she discovers a vampire in the shambles of her inheritance.
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
Countdown to Countdown
Velinxi
Iris Black is a self-proclaimed inventor with the curious ability to bring his drawings to life, and yearns to find a space where he can use his powers freely.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Sunshine Boy
Moosopp
New-kid Kelly is sweet but naive. Luckily, he's got his outgoing neighbor Grey in his corner.
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Awaken
Koti Saavedra/Flipfloppery
Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
BOOKMARK Click "Tag Page" to bookmark a page. When you return to the site, click "Goto Tag" to continue where you left off.
BUFFER WATCH
Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:
Man, and here I was thinking that David was most likely doing the equivalent of Monty Python or Charlie Chaplin emulating German: basically language-reminiscent gibberish. γνῶθι σαυτόν I guess.
Cool, thanks. I tried learning, but kept hitting myself. Daniel the Human somewhat knows “yes” (fist shaking up & down like it’s headbanging) & “no” (shaking fist side to side) from a long camping event he did where he was in the same group as a deaf kid. He also knows “I’m watching you” from the Meet the Parent movies, but we’re not sure that counts…
Didn’t need to know that, though. What you need to know is, they’re having a ‘private arguement’. Just like when a Hispanic mother says something slightly provocative to her daughter, then their conversation suddenly switches to Spanish and becomes quite loud and intense for a few minutes. Then they stop, and you ask, “What’s wrong?”, and she answers, “Nothing! It’s a private argument.”
Is the art actually good enough to infer the sarcasm and defiance? (Wouldn’t surprise me, because I know others have complimented Willis on the clarity of his ASL– I just want to know how impressed I should be. )
Dina watches the two of them from the sidelines, then approaches.
“Not bad, but when two deinonychus’ sparred for dominance, it probably looked more like this…” (makes claws with her hands and flails wildly at the air for several seconds).
I’ll go further, I will assume Sal is maybe angry because now she and Marcie cant ‘talk’ unseen or un-understood or something…
Also, I’m assuming Sal is amazed Marcie listened to her.
I think it’s more that she objects to how fully Malaya’s incorporating herself into their social group.
If Marcie’s teaching Malaya how to sign, she’s probably not just barely tolerating Malaya while she waits for Malaya to buzz off somewhere else.
It also presumably means Malaya and Marcie have been hanging out without Sal at some point, which would probably mean the group’s more tightly meshed than their nightly skate sessions have lead Sal to believe.
Especially when Sal’s been so incredibly vocal about her feelings towards Malaya, it puts Sal in an awkward position if Malaya’s here for the long haul, continually hanging out with Sal due to their mutual friends.
So you think Sal is thinking “you can’t be friends with her, I’m not friends with her?” That makes me empathize more with Marcie, but I’m still trying to figure out the sign language…
It’s indeed more than how Malaya is incorporating herself in the group – it is how Marcie is inviting her in. And they do Roller Derby together and Malaya is glad to have Marcie on the team.
If Sal wants to have Marcie all for herself she has a problem.
Thats how Sal might see it; … but that would mean Sal is using Marcies muteness as a tool to social isolate someone, without considering the Privilege/ right she takes for granted to be understood
I for 1 can see an advantage to not only teaching Malaya, but the rest of the Roller-Derby team sign language. It’ll allow them to more efficiently communicate in game, while making it harder for the other team to work out the tactics about to be used & therefore planning a counter-attack…
Guess I did learn some stuff while at the Decepticons…
Sal does seem pretty starved for affection. I can see why she’d have a problem with her best, and really only friend, hitting it off with Malaya of all people.
I hate to be the guy who jumps there so quickly, but maybe Malaya and Marcie could end up together in the Dumbiverse?
Malaya’s orientation is pretty vaguely defined, but a google search is bringing me “bisexual” for Marcie. They could be compatible. I bet they’d be a fun couple.
All of the Squad 48 girls – Marcie, Mandy, Grace, Sierra, and Guns (who hasn’t made it across) – were apparently bi in the Walkyverse, so should be in the Dumbiverse as well. And last Bi Visibility Day, Marcie made an appearance in flashback, and Willis made a comment to the effect that he wasn’t going to out her when she was five years old.
I don’t know how the hell Malaya’s sexuality’s gonna work in a universe without sapient gynoids.
I don’t think Walkyverse Malaya was ever robosexual or anything like that. She was still very early in the whole “Discovering my orientation” process. The story ended before she had any confidence in how she swung beyond the fact that she liked her current partner.
She could reasonably have a number of orientations without contradicting her Walkyverse experiences. The big point is that it seems she’s not attracted to very many people, but I bet that’s true of many people of all manner of orientations.
Malaya did try going for girls with Leslie, though. One kiss and she was disappointed it did nothing for her. One could argue that perhaps it was just that she wasn’t really into Leslie, but could like other girls, but this is questionable given how much she seemed to genuinely like Leslie. Of course, it could just be that her relationship with Leslie wasn’t romantic, and she misinterpreted it as being such because she wanted it to be…
There’s a lot of area to cover, is basically what I’m saying.
Really on its simplest level, Leslie didn’t do it for Malaya sexually. You can read a whole lot into that if you want to, but nothing’s set in stone there.
In the more general sense, Malaya was never attracted to most men or most women, though she has on one occasion experienced sexual attraction for somebody who presented as a woman.
I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of area to cover though. She could be nearly any orientation and neither her experience with Leslie nor the rarity of her sexual attraction would contradict that. She doesn’t need to justify her sexual incompatibility with Leslie before she can be for example a Lesbian. She could even be somebody like Robin who’s usually attracted to men on the rare occasions when she’s attracted to anybody, but in one universe found a woman who worked for her.
I just really don’t grok Malaya’s sexuality. I’m not sure what it is about Ultra Car that turns her crank where Leslie doesn’t, if it isn’t the robotness. I realize that being attracted to someone of one gender doesn’t mean that you’re attracted to everyone of that gender, but I find it weird that she couldn’t figure that out until she actually kissed Leslie. And then there’s the Multiplex crossover, and I’m not sure how canon that is.
@John, maybe Mayla’s into Ultra Car because she doesn’t want anything from Mayla except to enjoy being evil together. Everyone else Mayla got used to probably took advantage of her then threw her away. She built an empire on that, which is how she sustained herself, but then Ultra Car came along and they had fun together. When Ultra Car put up with Mayla, it was because Ultra Car liked her for her, and Mayla could recognize herself as liking Ultra Car for Ultra Car back.
I don’t know how the hell Malaya’s sexuality’s gonna work in a universe without sapient gynoids.
Remember, Carla in this universe is Robocar from the Walkyverse. She is asexual, just like Robocar was. The relationship could play out pretty much the same here, minus the extension that could diddle her from across the street.
It might happen after about 20 strips of taunting and people standing around with distressed faces thinking to themselves “How can I beat them? They’re too powerful” before any attacks are actually used.
No, not Dragonball. Those are clearly ninja hand signs. This is Naruto. No doubt a flashback is imminent showing what great friends they were as children and how Marcie lost her voice.
Oooh, maybe she’s not mute at all, but she has the same super power as Black Bolt!
She’s got the million decibel voice and things explode when she talks.
Except that the maximum sound pressure you can have at sea level standard conditions is 194.09 dB, with a variation of vacuum to 2 atmospheres pressure. BTW that is loud enough to knock down buildings.
Out of the whole fanbase, there’s gotta be one person who knows sign language… right?
I mean I just started taking a class on it, but I highly doubt my expansive knowledgebase of “I can say my name and my favorite color” is applicable to this argument.
Panel 2 Marcie is saying learn. Panel 3, my best guess is that she’s signing “Teach” and then “Sign”, indicating that she’s teaching Malaya? But I’m not even remotely sure about that, it’s been a long time since I was able to put my ASL to any use and the motions aren’t quite right. Panel 4, I’m not sure what Marcie is saying, but Sal is signing “Mean.” She could be referring to Malaya’s attitude? And, Panel 5, obviously it’s been covered that Malaya is signing “Don’t care” XD
Today’s character is Shinobu from A Certain Scientific Railgun, if you or anyone else wants to know more about whatever gravatar I happen to use on the day, they can now check out the link on my name.
Yeeeep. Basically, the impression I’m getting is that sign language has always been her “thing” with Marcie. Something only the two of them share. Now that Malaya’s learning it too, it makes Sal feel a bit like she’s not Marcie’s special friend anymore.
After looking at some of the previous strips, I noticed that, out of the 4 people in today’s strip, only Marcie and Malaya do roller derby. So it would make sense for them to bond and be friends. Sal could probably be a bit more understanding.
I think Marcie’s shirt has finally become an important part of her wardrobe. If she ends that by pointing at it, then I will have enjoyed this very very much lol
Sal doesn’t like being nasty to people, I imagine. She’s a fairly cool girl, sans authority or bullies while Malaya IS a bully. She’s just a small young woman, which is not the traditional appearance of such.
Malaya’s a tad abrasive, but we’ve never seen her bully anybody. She doesn’t really give that much attention to anybody. Mostly hangs out in her own corner with her friends being unpleasant.
Closest incident I can think of is when she got a little bit over-excited about giving the beatdown to Amazigirl, but it’s not like she’d gone and proactively sought that out. There’s never been a situation where Amazigirl just wanted to be left alone and Malaya kept harassing her.
I’d think that would be a pretty key component of bullying. Like when Sarah’s just trying to eat lunch or hang out at the mall with her friends but Raidah and the gang won’t just let her be.
Malaya seems a tad ungrateful and openly indifferent so that’s annoying. She hasn’t had much screen time but we can assume Sal hangs out with her off screen and knows about other annoying character traits. I actually don’t know why Sal’s upset she’s the one who told Malaya to learn sign language. Or is she mad that Marcie’s the one teaching her?
Looking at the precise interaction, it seems worth noting that Marcie was probably saying something really positive and nice. Sal’s beratement deflected the conversation away from a path where she’d be expected to translate it.
I don’t wanna say she’s been sabotaging their relationship, but in light of how she reacted when Malaya actually started learning that’s sort of what it looks like.
Note : I haven’t read the other webcomics those chars appeared (yet), so my judgement may be sorta impaired, BUT the way I see it :
* Marcie is Sal’s oldest (they met at as kids) and probably only real friend
* ASL was probably what Sal considered their secret language, just for the 2 of them.
I am hard of hearing, fluent in English and ASL – and it warms my heart to see more of Marcie (and Sal!) signing. Imagine that getting the articulation of the fingers and hands right would be mighty difficult, but I praise you all the more for it. Thank you for your representation of the signing population, sir, and keep up the good work!
It’s a good grav for if someone says something horrible and you’re in disbelief, necessitating a verbal smackdown. (Note: Your personal definition of horrible, not Mary’s.)
Even if you enter 20 fake emails into the system. -_- (Seriously, do you know how many emails I tried? I even tried All.Hail.Dina@Dina.Dina and didn’t get a Dina. I finally just generated All.Hail.Dina@gmail.com cause I WANTED A DINA!!!!! (Also, I have a special message sent out to anyone who emails me at that address, so go ahead.) ^.^
And why do all they all have names that start with M? I guess Marcie’s cool enough to think Willis doesn’t have anything against the letter, but only barely.
The poll asks for “favorite”, not “least favorite”. Since Mary had more screen time, there are more people who like Mary (as a villain or otherwise) than Malaya.
Well, it’s that more people chose them as a favorite.
Mike is a jerkass, but in Shortpacked!, he’s more “jerkass with a heart of gold”. So, when people see Mike being a jerkass, they equate him with Shortpacked Mike’s behavior. Plus, when Mike’s being a jerk, he’s usually got some scheme going on that ends in the ensuance of hilarity. Plus, your mom’s been voting for him.
Malaya doesn’t really have much notoriety other than as a bongo, like Mary.
(I voted Becky[pre-bi erasure], Amber, and Jocelyne)
I hope Jocelyne appears in later story arcs. I kind of dislike Carla as a character, and it’s extremely hard to relate to her.
Hey! I’ve got an idea! Sal can be an ASL translator for deaf/mute people, those jobs (so I hear, anyway) are pretty lucrative. No need for Calculus and Algebra, already got a second language down. She’s pretty much set.
I use sign language all the time at work, but I couldn’t make heads or tails out of these signs until I read someone else’s interpretation. Willis, do you think you could incorporate arrows into your drawings without making the pictures too cluttered? Sign language without movement is gibberish.
Probably the point, its like an argument where both parties are yelling at eachother and no one understands what they’re saying. Only difference with it being in ASL is that its quieter and honestly looks cooler.
Loading ...
Ahh! Personal growth! *runs away*
It burns!
I would see a urologist about that…
Personal growth in that area is hardly unexpected.
Yes, but when it burns, there’s something wrong.
Hahaha Xuriel rules
Did you say “urologist” or “neurologist”?
Well that’s never a good thing…
Someone please translate!
“My hovercraft is full of eels.”
“Do you want to come back to my place – bouncy-bouncy?”
I will not buy this tobacconist, it is scratched.
“A giant ear of corn ate my lunchbox
I believe you are in league with the butcher.
A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat! Nudge nudge, know what I mean?
This is an ex-parrot!
“Your mom for a PENNY!”
They aren’t actually talking. Things just devolved into a nasty slap fight.
Say no more, say no more, nudge nudge, wink wink…
That or they are trying to do ninjutsu to each other…
Right, then, stop the sketch, this is getting too silly.
He wants you to turn, and look into the camera.
Is that everything? It seemed like he said quite a bit more than that.
First panel is a sarcastic “so what?”
Second panel is “She wants to learn”
Third panel is a defiant “I’m teaching her sign language”
Fourth panel:
I think Marcie is saying “I don’t care what you say”
Not sure what Sal is signing
Fifth panel is “Don’t care”
Thank you!
Man, and here I was thinking that David was most likely doing the equivalent of Monty Python or Charlie Chaplin emulating German: basically language-reminiscent gibberish. γνῶθι σαυτόν I guess.
It’s actually a rap battle with some really explicit lyrics.
Willis is better than that. At least where ASL is concerned.
Cool, thanks. I tried learning, but kept hitting myself. Daniel the Human somewhat knows “yes” (fist shaking up & down like it’s headbanging) & “no” (shaking fist side to side) from a long camping event he did where he was in the same group as a deaf kid. He also knows “I’m watching you” from the Meet the Parent movies, but we’re not sure that counts…
Didn’t need to know that, though. What you need to know is, they’re having a ‘private arguement’. Just like when a Hispanic mother says something slightly provocative to her daughter, then their conversation suddenly switches to Spanish and becomes quite loud and intense for a few minutes. Then they stop, and you ask, “What’s wrong?”, and she answers, “Nothing! It’s a private argument.”
and anyone in the vicinity who knows Español gets a blistering earful.
Yay marcie and malaya bonding
And Sal doesn’t like it! I’m thinking she’s a bit possessive of Marcie.
Or she doesn’t want Malaya becoming more integrated into their group, because Malaya.
That, and probably not wanting Malaya to understand when she signs something to Marcie about Malaya. Sekrit Language and all.
Is the art actually good enough to infer the sarcasm and defiance? (Wouldn’t surprise me, because I know others have complimented Willis on the clarity of his ASL– I just want to know how impressed I should be.
)
Marcie:”Klaatu barada niktu!”
Sal:”Puluu see bagoomba!”
………
All excellent points
You deserve recognition for that
Wait, so Malaya…listened to someone?
Pretty sure that didn’t involve “listening”.
I guess Malaya’s a quick study.
It’s pretty easy when the only sign you know is “dont care.” It works in all situations
I’ve always been partial to ‘Whatever’
I know that sign, I lived through the 90s!
Add “Don’t know” to the start of that & Daniel the Human would be happy. He’s been known to throw that at people at times…
“Don’t know, don’t care…”
https://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/FIGHT/3456/1
It’s confirmed, Marcie is the reincarnation of Shiva!
And I’m Motaro. Mwahahahahahaaa
MORTAL KOMBAT!
Robot-hand Shiva, the most badass of all the gods.
Better than Cyborg even. ^_^
Plasma Mongoose, wasn’t your avatar Fire Lord Azula before? Where did she go?
She went where so many of my gravatars went before, into storage, if you want to know which gravatar I’m using today, just click on my name. ^_^
Huh, that makes sense – you update your name-link to match that day’s gravitar, so it’s already cross-refrenced! Smart.
People has requested I do this before so for the last few days I have started doing so.
Smart idea. Nicely done…
Aww, I wanted to see Azula…
Be patient, she might come up.
I have used the laid back Azula grav a few time over the past couple of years, so chances are, I will use her again.
Mecha-Shiva Mecha-Shive
Not sure if Sal should be so worried, since it seems “don’t care” is the only sign Malaya knows or needs to know.
It’s basically her entire vocabulary.
You’d think she’d learn all the swears, tho
Would you be willing to teach her them? I’d be tempted to teach he something like “bunnies” & tell her it’s a curse…
You mean like this?
http://i.imgur.com/Y1upDGs.png
Yep. spot on…
Well, i aleast think this is one of the more “quiet” arguments in forever on DoA
Dina watches the two of them from the sidelines, then approaches.
“Not bad, but when two deinonychus’ sparred for dominance, it probably looked more like this…” (makes claws with her hands and flails wildly at the air for several seconds).
Sal: “That’s not what we were doing!”
Dina perfectly signs “Don’t care” and walks away.
This is now part of my headcanon
Headcanon? If this isn’t tomorrow’s strip I will be heavily disappointed.
Win.
As the hovertext said….”assume argument”
I’ll go further, I will assume Sal is maybe angry because now she and Marcie cant ‘talk’ unseen or un-understood or something…
Also, I’m assuming Sal is amazed Marcie listened to her.
I seem to recall she at least felt concerned someone could read ASL before she actually knew if they did
I think Sal is upset she’s not special anymore.
Aaah that’s so cute, someone wants attention.
I think it’s more that she objects to how fully Malaya’s incorporating herself into their social group.
If Marcie’s teaching Malaya how to sign, she’s probably not just barely tolerating Malaya while she waits for Malaya to buzz off somewhere else.
It also presumably means Malaya and Marcie have been hanging out without Sal at some point, which would probably mean the group’s more tightly meshed than their nightly skate sessions have lead Sal to believe.
Especially when Sal’s been so incredibly vocal about her feelings towards Malaya, it puts Sal in an awkward position if Malaya’s here for the long haul, continually hanging out with Sal due to their mutual friends.
Maybe there’s a lesson in that.
So you think Sal is thinking “you can’t be friends with her, I’m not friends with her?” That makes me empathize more with Marcie, but I’m still trying to figure out the sign language…
It’s indeed more than how Malaya is incorporating herself in the group – it is how Marcie is inviting her in. And they do Roller Derby together and Malaya is glad to have Marcie on the team.
If Sal wants to have Marcie all for herself she has a problem.
Thats how Sal might see it; … but that would mean Sal is using Marcies muteness as a tool to social isolate someone, without considering the Privilege/ right she takes for granted to be understood
I think that might be one of the topics under discussion in panel four.
I for 1 can see an advantage to not only teaching Malaya, but the rest of the Roller-Derby team sign language. It’ll allow them to more efficiently communicate in game, while making it harder for the other team to work out the tactics about to be used & therefore planning a counter-attack…
Guess I did learn some stuff while at the Decepticons…
Sal does seem pretty starved for affection. I can see why she’d have a problem with her best, and really only friend, hitting it off with Malaya of all people.
Welp, looks like Marcie and Sal are having a “Sign-Off”
“Sign off, bro! Me and you!”
I’ve got to hand it to you, I think you’ve really put your finger on it …
I gotta put my hands together too, if they are having a sign off then Keroshino might have a better grasp of the situation than some of us…
Yep, Keroshino pretty much nailed it … its a cute-ickle tiff (well actually its a png but whatevs …)
This is Marcie and Sal, signing off.
Hot damn, Malaya is learning stuff. On her own. Without a huge push.
It’s sweet that Malaya is learning sign language just to be able to talk to Marcie.
I actually like the idea of Marcie being the only person to be kind to Malaya.
Marcie seems pretty patient and understanding so I could see it happening. It could be cute.
My Marci-laya headcanon is just like Billy-Ruth, except without the suicide and depression and alcoholism and stuff (like, marginally healthy).
I hate to be the guy who jumps there so quickly, but maybe Malaya and Marcie could end up together in the Dumbiverse?
Malaya’s orientation is pretty vaguely defined, but a google search is bringing me “bisexual” for Marcie. They could be compatible. I bet they’d be a fun couple.
All of the Squad 48 girls – Marcie, Mandy, Grace, Sierra, and Guns (who hasn’t made it across) – were apparently bi in the Walkyverse, so should be in the Dumbiverse as well. And last Bi Visibility Day, Marcie made an appearance in flashback, and Willis made a comment to the effect that he wasn’t going to out her when she was five years old.
I don’t know how the hell Malaya’s sexuality’s gonna work in a universe without sapient gynoids.
I don’t think Walkyverse Malaya was ever robosexual or anything like that. She was still very early in the whole “Discovering my orientation” process. The story ended before she had any confidence in how she swung beyond the fact that she liked her current partner.
She could reasonably have a number of orientations without contradicting her Walkyverse experiences. The big point is that it seems she’s not attracted to very many people, but I bet that’s true of many people of all manner of orientations.
Malaya did try going for girls with Leslie, though. One kiss and she was disappointed it did nothing for her. One could argue that perhaps it was just that she wasn’t really into Leslie, but could like other girls, but this is questionable given how much she seemed to genuinely like Leslie. Of course, it could just be that her relationship with Leslie wasn’t romantic, and she misinterpreted it as being such because she wanted it to be…
There’s a lot of area to cover, is basically what I’m saying.
Really on its simplest level, Leslie didn’t do it for Malaya sexually. You can read a whole lot into that if you want to, but nothing’s set in stone there.
In the more general sense, Malaya was never attracted to most men or most women, though she has on one occasion experienced sexual attraction for somebody who presented as a woman.
I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of area to cover though. She could be nearly any orientation and neither her experience with Leslie nor the rarity of her sexual attraction would contradict that. She doesn’t need to justify her sexual incompatibility with Leslie before she can be for example a Lesbian. She could even be somebody like Robin who’s usually attracted to men on the rare occasions when she’s attracted to anybody, but in one universe found a woman who worked for her.
In another way, Leslie Bean isn’t A Lesbian but in a way (in the Walkyverse) represented The Lesbian.
I just really don’t grok Malaya’s sexuality. I’m not sure what it is about Ultra Car that turns her crank where Leslie doesn’t, if it isn’t the robotness. I realize that being attracted to someone of one gender doesn’t mean that you’re attracted to everyone of that gender, but I find it weird that she couldn’t figure that out until she actually kissed Leslie. And then there’s the Multiplex crossover, and I’m not sure how canon that is.
@John, maybe Mayla’s into Ultra Car because she doesn’t want anything from Mayla except to enjoy being evil together. Everyone else Mayla got used to probably took advantage of her then threw her away. She built an empire on that, which is how she sustained herself, but then Ultra Car came along and they had fun together. When Ultra Car put up with Mayla, it was because Ultra Car liked her for her, and Mayla could recognize herself as liking Ultra Car for Ultra Car back.
I don’t know how the hell Malaya’s sexuality’s gonna work in a universe without sapient gynoids.
Remember, Carla in this universe is Robocar from the Walkyverse. She is asexual, just like Robocar was. The relationship could play out pretty much the same here, minus the extension that could diddle her from across the street.
That looks like some Dragonball Z shit.
I don’t know, haven’t seen anyone get shot with a beam straight into the sun yet
It might happen after about 20 strips of taunting and people standing around with distressed faces thinking to themselves “How can I beat them? They’re too powerful” before any attacks are actually used.
Naw, that is the anime. This is a comic, so it would be like the manga, which wasn’t anything like that bad.
No, not Dragonball. Those are clearly ninja hand signs. This is Naruto. No doubt a flashback is imminent showing what great friends they were as children and how Marcie lost her voice.
“Why did you kill them all Marcie?”
signs “To test my power”
Zoom in on her voicebox doing a bunch of red and black swirly stuff.
Oooh, maybe she’s not mute at all, but she has the same super power as Black Bolt!
She’s got the million decibel voice and things explode when she talks.
Except that the maximum sound pressure you can have at sea level standard conditions is 194.09 dB, with a variation of vacuum to 2 atmospheres pressure. BTW that is loud enough to knock down buildings.
Forgot the link http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt
I’d say she could have a built in Vocal Resonance Blaster like I do, only malfunctioning, but that would involve her being a fellow Minicon Pretender…
…And we all know there aren’t any any alien robotic life forms wandering your planet, right… }:P
You must not be familiar with American politics …
Oooh! Oooh! I know that second panel! It’s “learn”!
It’s one of like 3 or 4 signs that I actually remember.
Malaya is going to major in linguistics to learn to be rude and snotty in as many languages as possible.
I’m so sorry but that’s not even remotely related to the point of linguistics
Better than Walky majoring in telecommunications cause that’s kinda like television.
Malaya will be so disappointed when she finally figures that out.
But it is pretty much the first thing any language student learns on their own…
I love this so much, and I don’t even know why!
Aaah that’s so cute, someone wants attention.
Feed me, feed me! My tummy needs more attention!
Its lazy
Out of the whole fanbase, there’s gotta be one person who knows sign language… right?
I mean I just started taking a class on it, but I highly doubt my expansive knowledgebase of “I can say my name and my favorite color” is applicable to this argument.
Panel 2 Marcie is saying learn. Panel 3, my best guess is that she’s signing “Teach” and then “Sign”, indicating that she’s teaching Malaya? But I’m not even remotely sure about that, it’s been a long time since I was able to put my ASL to any use and the motions aren’t quite right. Panel 4, I’m not sure what Marcie is saying, but Sal is signing “Mean.” She could be referring to Malaya’s attitude? And, Panel 5, obviously it’s been covered that Malaya is signing “Don’t care” XD
Marcie seems happy that she has someone else to talk to, Sal is upset at losing exclusive rights. C’mon Sal!
Yeah, it’s kind of cruel to not let your best friend be able to communicate with anyone else.
Even if it is Malaya.
You got to hand it to Marcie!……..Seriously!
She won’t knuckle under in this debate!
Sigh. Again with the puns. I swear, give you a finger, you take the whole hand.
Maybe you gave them the wrong finger.
So you are saying I should search for the middle ground?
That’s a good rule of thumb.
…And if you have a good grasp of the situation, it’d always handy to pass on the info…
Ah, the perils of digital life…
Yes, things are getting rather … disjointed …
Take this one instead
That’s what a little birdy told me.
Malaya in the last panel is just perfect. She’s got the perfect phrase and she is going to use it for everything it’s worth!
Well, when all you’ve got is a hammer…
Panel 2 Marcie: “I am searching for…”
Panel 3 Marcie: “…an acupuncturist with tunnel vision.”
Panel 4 Marcie and Sal: “CATFIGHT!”
Panel 5 Malaya: “This monocle is defective.”
…and they say that ASL is hard to learn.
lmao
So who are you today? It like a Rule 63 L, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do a Rule 63 character before.
*looks like a Rule 63 L…
I have used a Rule 63 character before, Steve Jobs in fact.
Also I occasionally use crossdressers/TKNK(oToKoNoKo) as gravatars.
Today’s character is Shinobu from A Certain Scientific Railgun, if you or anyone else wants to know more about whatever gravatar I happen to use on the day, they can now check out the link on my name.
Thanks. That’s pretty useful actually. Now I just have to figure out why Shinobu looks like L.
The hair’s the main reason no doubt.
You’ve got to hand it to Marcie!……..Seriously!
AH see what you did thar
“YOU’RE NOT MY SUPERVISOR!…Oh…wait…who IS my supervisor?”
I like this new way of animating the arms without actually animating the arms.
Oh no, their arms are turning blue! They must have caught argyrosis.
No, they are moving so fast that they are experiencing blue shift at near relativistic velocities!
Good to know Sal can actually speak ASL, and not just read it.
I wonder when we will get the back story about Marcie.
Marcie’s shirt isn’t working against Sal!
I keep expecting it to say “SHUT UP SHINJI” like Dale’s shirt from QC.
It does eventually, it just Sal shifts into sign language mode instead. She’s not saying a word, she’s signing them…
I think Sal’s jealous.
Yeeeep. Basically, the impression I’m getting is that sign language has always been her “thing” with Marcie. Something only the two of them share. Now that Malaya’s learning it too, it makes Sal feel a bit like she’s not Marcie’s special friend anymore.
“special friend” mhm sure
After looking at some of the previous strips, I noticed that, out of the 4 people in today’s strip, only Marcie and Malaya do roller derby. So it would make sense for them to bond and be friends. Sal could probably be a bit more understanding.
Oh man, now I need to read more comics which involve heated arguments in sign language. The medium is simply amazing for conveying emotion.
I hear there was an issue of Hawkeye recently done entirely in sign language, shortly after Clint was redeafened.
I dunno if anybody argued during it, but could be worth looking into.
IIRC there was an argument with his brother.
No joke, I actually watched a deaf couple arguing in the train station today. It went something like this.
Now I’m glad I voted for Malaya. I like her. Yea! 1 percenters.
I think Marcie’s shirt has finally become an important part of her wardrobe. If she ends that by pointing at it, then I will have enjoyed this very very much lol
Alternatively, those looked like pretty awesome kung-fu moves.
What is it exactly about Malaya that Sal doesn’t like?
Sal doesn’t like being nasty to people, I imagine. She’s a fairly cool girl, sans authority or bullies while Malaya IS a bully. She’s just a small young woman, which is not the traditional appearance of such.
Malaya’s a tad abrasive, but we’ve never seen her bully anybody. She doesn’t really give that much attention to anybody. Mostly hangs out in her own corner with her friends being unpleasant.
Closest incident I can think of is when she got a little bit over-excited about giving the beatdown to Amazigirl, but it’s not like she’d gone and proactively sought that out. There’s never been a situation where Amazigirl just wanted to be left alone and Malaya kept harassing her.
I’d think that would be a pretty key component of bullying. Like when Sarah’s just trying to eat lunch or hang out at the mall with her friends but Raidah and the gang won’t just let her be.
Malaya seems a tad ungrateful and openly indifferent so that’s annoying. She hasn’t had much screen time but we can assume Sal hangs out with her off screen and knows about other annoying character traits. I actually don’t know why Sal’s upset she’s the one who told Malaya to learn sign language. Or is she mad that Marcie’s the one teaching her?
If Sal didn’t think Malaya would actually do it, it sounds like she was just telling her she should learn to berate her for not doing it.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/fun-2/
Looking at the precise interaction, it seems worth noting that Marcie was probably saying something really positive and nice. Sal’s beratement deflected the conversation away from a path where she’d be expected to translate it.
I don’t wanna say she’s been sabotaging their relationship, but in light of how she reacted when Malaya actually started learning that’s sort of what it looks like.
Like most of Marcie’s relevant signs, that one was translated in the strip name.
https://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/FUN
In Shortpacked!, Malaya was a misanthrope who didn’t care what effect her actions had on other people. She was a very dislikable character there.
I assume Sal hasn’t been to the Walkyverse, so that’s probably not it.
I think Sal just doesn’t like not having Marcie all for herself.
(cont.)
Note : I haven’t read the other webcomics those chars appeared (yet), so my judgement may be sorta impaired, BUT the way I see it :
* Marcie is Sal’s oldest (they met at as kids) and probably only real friend
* ASL was probably what Sal considered their secret language, just for the 2 of them.
Looks totally like a battle between two androids with many metal arms.
Sweet.
For some reason I can’t help imagining their aggressive sign language eventually escalating to a silly slap fight.
Great, now I can’t help thinking of Marcie in a fighting game, using multiple blue energy arms to fight.
This is basically Jojo
Marcie has a stand? O_O
Marcie can’t speak because her vocal cords were permanently scarred from yelling “AAAAAATATATATATATATATATATATA” too loud.
marcie x malaya otp
I am hard of hearing, fluent in English and ASL – and it warms my heart to see more of Marcie (and Sal!) signing.
Imagine that getting the articulation of the fingers and hands right would be mighty difficult, but I praise you all the more for it. Thank you for your representation of the signing population, sir, and keep up the good work!
My first time actually posting something here and my gravitar is… that. I weep.
It’s a good grav for if someone says something horrible and you’re in disbelief, necessitating a verbal smackdown. (Note: Your personal definition of horrible, not Mary’s.)
There is a lesson in there somewhere. “We don’t chose our gravatars (unless we sign in and can pick whatever we want”).
Even if you enter 20 fake emails into the system. -_- (Seriously, do you know how many emails I tried? I even tried All.Hail.Dina@Dina.Dina and didn’t get a Dina. I finally just generated All.Hail.Dina@gmail.com cause I WANTED A DINA!!!!! (Also, I have a special message sent out to anyone who emails me at that address, so go ahead.) ^.^
why do people like mike but hate malaya (unbelievably more than mary, according to the current poll)?
And why do all they all have names that start with M? I guess Marcie’s cool enough to think Willis doesn’t have anything against the letter, but only barely.
M = W*(180°)
The poll asks for “favorite”, not “least favorite”. Since Mary had more screen time, there are more people who like Mary (as a villain or otherwise) than Malaya.
Well, it’s that more people chose them as a favorite.
Mike is a jerkass, but in Shortpacked!, he’s more “jerkass with a heart of gold”. So, when people see Mike being a jerkass, they equate him with Shortpacked Mike’s behavior. Plus, when Mike’s being a jerk, he’s usually got some scheme going on that ends in the ensuance of hilarity. Plus, your mom’s been voting for him.
Malaya doesn’t really have much notoriety other than as a bongo, like Mary.
(I voted Becky[pre-bi erasure], Amber, and Jocelyne)
I hope Jocelyne appears in later story arcs. I kind of dislike Carla as a character, and it’s extremely hard to relate to her.
LOL. My mom BETTER NOT know Mike!
because mike’s a dude, and sexism is a thing that exists
Yeah, pretty sure that’s part of it. Abrasiveness in guys is a lot more tolerated.
Muda muda muda muda!
Ora ora ora ora!
Wryyyyyyyyyyy
Hey! I’ve got an idea! Sal can be an ASL translator for deaf/mute people, those jobs (so I hear, anyway) are pretty lucrative. No need for Calculus and Algebra, already got a second language down. She’s pretty much set.
Panel 3 kind of looks like they’re fighting Dragon Ball Z style.
I use sign language all the time at work, but I couldn’t make heads or tails out of these signs until I read someone else’s interpretation. Willis, do you think you could incorporate arrows into your drawings without making the pictures too cluttered? Sign language without movement is gibberish.
Probably the point, its like an argument where both parties are yelling at eachother and no one understands what they’re saying. Only difference with it being in ASL is that its quieter and honestly looks cooler.
Also, neither one can be louder than the other. They can stop listening, but they can’t raise their volumes.