Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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June 1, 2026

Brought

by David M Willis on October 4, 2011 at 12:01 am
  • 06 - Yesterday Was Thursday
└ Tags: dorothy, jennifer, roz

Discussion (117) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Jen Aside
    Jen Aside
    October 4, 2011 at 12:02 am | #

    Well, she asked for it.

    • Rodrigo
      Rodrigo
      October 4, 2011 at 12:17 am | #

      AUCH That is a third degree burn!

      I hope she says: “Oh, but I’m still just warming up…”

      • FlashXX
        FlashXX
        March 15, 2014 at 5:17 pm | #

        BAM!

    • Wandering meme
      Wandering meme
      October 4, 2011 at 5:15 am | #

      In the words of barney stinson:
      “challenge accepted!”

  2. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    October 4, 2011 at 12:03 am | #

    You need to ease it in before you roger her with your hard questions.

    • Zippy
      Zippy
      October 4, 2011 at 12:04 am | #

      Ze word is “Rodger” :p

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        October 4, 2011 at 12:17 am | #

        Nice Joyclops grav BTW.

      • Rex Hondo
        Rex Hondo
        October 4, 2011 at 12:59 am | #

        I thought the word was “Joe.”

        • Plasma Mongoose
          Plasma Mongoose
          October 4, 2011 at 7:15 am | #

          True that! in that case, you ‘JOE’ her with your hard questions.

        • Zippy
          Zippy
          October 4, 2011 at 11:44 am | #

          No, because if “Joe” was a synonym for “Rodger”, then the phrase “I wouldn’t even Joe her up the butt” would be redundant.

    • David Herbert
      David Herbert
      October 4, 2011 at 12:05 am | #

      Yeah, just ramming in can cause damage.

      • A. Colunga
        A. Colunga
        October 4, 2011 at 12:07 am | #

        *giggle… hard

        • Plasma Mongoose
          Plasma Mongoose
          October 4, 2011 at 12:21 am | #

          That is why you need alcohol as a social ‘lubricant’.

          • Wandering meme
            Wandering meme
            October 4, 2011 at 1:44 am | #

            Especially for those huge, throbbing questions that grind against those sensitive spots that get her hot and bothered.

            Your conversation may reach its climax before you satisfy your curiosity.

            • A random reader
              A random reader
              October 4, 2011 at 2:16 am | #

              I like where this is going.

              • Plasma Mongoose
                Plasma Mongoose
                October 4, 2011 at 4:39 am | #

                To an R-Rating if we keep this up. 😀

                • Wandering meme
                  Wandering meme
                  October 4, 2011 at 5:20 am | #

                  Bow-chica-bow-wow.

                  Someone had to say it.

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  October 4, 2011 at 7:16 am | #

                  MEOW! =^_^=

                • Krylani
                  Krylani
                  October 4, 2011 at 3:20 pm | #

                  Giggity giggity!

                • Blob Marley
                  Blob Marley
                  October 4, 2011 at 6:07 pm | #

                  In the biz, we say “brown-chicken-brown-cow.”

            • Roborat
              Roborat
              October 4, 2011 at 2:39 pm | #

              Threads like this are why, sometimes, the comments are even better than the comic.

              • Plasma Mongoose
                Plasma Mongoose
                October 4, 2011 at 4:35 pm | #

                We aim to please!

                • murrkitteh
                  murrkitteh
                  October 4, 2011 at 5:58 pm | #

                  For a nickel!

  3. David Herbert
    David Herbert
    October 4, 2011 at 12:04 am | #

    How about the fact it’s likely she’s attempting to destroy her sister’s political career because despite all her talk of being an adult in control of her body, she’s still a petulant child who wants everything her way?

    • Plasma Mongoose
      Plasma Mongoose
      October 4, 2011 at 12:07 am | #

      I cant wait to hear the answer to THAT one. 😀

      • Wandering meme
        Wandering meme
        October 4, 2011 at 4:07 am | #

        I got a better question joe lovers: “what do you say to the assertion that you faked the orgasm?”

    • iSaidCandleja-
      iSaidCandleja-
      October 4, 2011 at 12:09 am | #

      Hey, taking pleasure in destroying other people’s success has nothing to do with being immature. Just look at Mike.

  4. Daeva
    Daeva
    October 4, 2011 at 12:06 am | #

    Well, it looks like SOMEBODY has been reading the comments section.

    • NCP19
      NCP19
      October 4, 2011 at 12:08 am | #

      Hear hear!

    • David
      David M Willis
      October 4, 2011 at 12:11 am | #

      I write these way too far in advance for that to be feasible.

      • Ridureyu
        Ridureyu
        October 4, 2011 at 12:12 am | #

        Or you use a time machine.

        • George
          George
          October 4, 2011 at 12:16 am | #

          I think he has magical audience-predicting powers. Probably in the form of a computer that sees the comments sections of strips that have yet to be published.

          • MM
            MM
            October 4, 2011 at 1:02 am | #

            You say “magic,” I say “lots and lots of experience.”

            • Spazman
              Spazman
              October 4, 2011 at 1:48 am | #

              you say “lots and lots of experience” and I say “Delorean Time Machine.”

              • Wandering meme
                Wandering meme
                October 4, 2011 at 4:49 am | #

                Can’t we all just agree that the Willis works in mysterious ways?

                he’s like the force: trust in the willis people!
                (seriously though, he’s a precog.)

              • Roborat
                Roborat
                October 4, 2011 at 2:40 pm | #

                I was thinking hot tub, that way you get a relaxing soak at the same time.

          • Allen
            Allen
            October 4, 2011 at 7:44 pm | #

            There’s an Early Edition joke in there SOMEWHERE, i just have no idea what it is.

        • Creaks
          Creaks
          October 4, 2011 at 10:48 am | #

          Definately a time machine.

          If I had a time machine Id open a restraunt.

      • Daeva
        Daeva
        October 4, 2011 at 12:14 am | #

        Hehe, I figured as much, I just find the image of Dorothy poking her head over the edge of the panel to read the comments incredibly funny.

      • Seerow
        Seerow
        October 4, 2011 at 12:21 am | #

        Out of curiosity, how far out exactly is your buffer?

        Like I can’t imagine it’s a full month or something ridiculous like that, because when you go on cons, or have some other disruption, you do have some filler, or slow down updates so you don’t run short, so how far in advance do you draw? 1 week? 2?

        • David
          David M Willis
          October 4, 2011 at 12:41 am | #

          It’s a month.

          • Thor
            Thor
            October 4, 2011 at 1:06 am | #

            Could you do a symposium to teach other webtoonists how to do this? While I enjoy a large quantity of the webcomics out there, I can’t help but think that most of them would be much improved if they weren’t coming up with their next strip a few hours before they posted.

            • David
              David M Willis
              October 4, 2011 at 1:13 am | #

              Well, what I did was start drawing Dumbing of Age really far ahead, not start publishing it until after I’d amassed a buffer, and then maintain that lead day-to-day with the same desperation as if I had no buffer.

              That’s a situation that’s hard to recreate if you’ve already been drawing strips for years.

              Shortpacked! doesn’t have the luxury of such a buffer. Right now I only have Thursday’s done, for example. But too much of it is a reaction to current pop culture events, so…

              I wouldn’t always knock the few-hours-before strip creation mentality. Some of my best strips have come from fevered desperation.

              • fellixe
                fellixe
                October 4, 2011 at 2:40 am | #

                I really enjoy when long planning mixed with spontaneous inspiration converge. It seems like all of my favorite webcomic artists all discuss having a solid long-term structure they work from and yet seem to comment all the time about aspects of the comics that came up last minute. It was one of those things that seemed to really be working for IW and got me hooked on it. IW’s story was so complex there clearly had to be a lot of planning behind it, but then it was always so full of those spontaneous interjections that brought reality to the lives of the characters. What writing I’ve done has reinforced this as well. No matter how detailed a story I might be working on it is still those last minute pushes when I’m in the zone that yield some of my most satisfying creation.

                Can be a real challenge, though, when a character develops so much on the fly that they become a preoccupation. Here you’ve created a being to serve a purpose and then in the middle of having them fill that role you realize what an interesting person they are and how much time you’d like to spend getting to know them. One piece I did still hangs half-completed out there in the intertubes. Fanfic of fanfic of a really obscure but popular piece of fiction where I had taken a short story of my own and wove it in with characters and settings that I was borrowing and even chatting with their creator on how to handle. But even with well defined characters in place and a long-term plan in mind up pops a character I created as an accessory who was so compelling that half of the story in it’s current state features her as a lead.

                I’m not well educated on writing but it seems that it can be a constant battle between hitting the intended goals and keeping the Muse from running off and taking everything somewhere else altogether.

        • lightsabermario
          lightsabermario
          October 5, 2011 at 11:33 am | #

          Am I the only one who read Seerow’s question as: “How far out exactly is your butter?”

      • Wandering meme
        Wandering meme
        October 4, 2011 at 4:10 am | #

        Only one explanation then…

        Willis is a precog! Capture him! (oh the money we’ll make!)

        • Roborat
          Roborat
          October 4, 2011 at 2:42 pm | #

          Ummm, if he is a precog, you will never be able to catch him.

          • begbert2
            begbert2
            October 4, 2011 at 3:21 pm | #

            Unless he predicts that you’ll catch him, and thus resigns himself to the inevitable in the most literal possible example of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

            ‘Why are you wearing your underwear on your head?’
            ‘Because I foresaw that I would.’
            ‘Why would you see yourself doing something like that?’
            ‘Well, I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?’

    • MarcinMN
      MarcinMN
      October 4, 2011 at 12:32 am | #

      No offense to the comments section…but don’t flatter yourselves. 😉

      By the way, those are excellent questions, Dorothy!

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        October 4, 2011 at 4:37 am | #

        If we don’t flatter ourselves, no one else will. *pouts*

        • Wandering meme
          Wandering meme
          October 4, 2011 at 4:56 am | #

          OMG UR RIGHT! My poor failing self esteem!

          …*whispers* iamgreat,iamgreat,iamgreat….

          • Plasma Mongoose
            Plasma Mongoose
            October 4, 2011 at 4:33 pm | #

            THERE THERE…

  5. Henry
    Henry
    October 4, 2011 at 12:07 am | #

    Never, ever tell a journalist to “do their worst.”

    • dchorror
      dchorror
      October 4, 2011 at 12:11 am | #

      Not like they’re looking for an invitation.

      • Spazman
        Spazman
        October 4, 2011 at 1:50 am | #

        Or a nickel.

        • Wandering meme
          Wandering meme
          October 4, 2011 at 4:12 am | #

          For your penis.

          • Henry
            Henry
            October 4, 2011 at 10:06 am | #

            In your FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCEEEE.

            • Roborat
              Roborat
              October 4, 2011 at 2:43 pm | #

              Aaaaaaand here we go.

              • Jackson
                Jackson
                October 4, 2011 at 7:59 pm | #

                I’ll bring the femurs.

        • dchorror
          dchorror
          October 5, 2011 at 1:09 am | #

          I read this as you saying they’re worse than Mike.

  6. Ridureyu
    Ridureyu
    October 4, 2011 at 12:10 am | #

    Quick, Roz! Ger her drunk, stat!

    • Ridureyu
      Ridureyu
      October 4, 2011 at 12:12 am | #

      Oh wait, she’s underage.

      Quick, Roz! Stuff her with skittles, stat!

      Wait, that only works on Robin.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        October 4, 2011 at 12:15 am | #

        Quick, get Joyce to distract her with a tract! STAT!

        Then again…

        • Ridureyu
          Ridureyu
          October 4, 2011 at 12:18 am | #

          The only solution is for Roz to set the place on fire.

          Yes, fire. Fire saves all.

          • Plasma Mongoose
            Plasma Mongoose
            October 4, 2011 at 12:19 am | #

            That or hot random lesbian sex…

            • ALostProphet
              ALostProphet
              October 4, 2011 at 12:54 am | #

              Not a WBC rally.. 🙁

              “Aww, now I’ve made myself sad…” 🙂

          • Kernanator
            Kernanator
            October 4, 2011 at 12:28 am | #

            “There is no problem that can’t be solved with an explosion of the right size, in the right time, and the right place.”

            • ALostProphet
              ALostProphet
              October 4, 2011 at 12:52 am | #

              “As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it can solve approaches zero”

              • Wandering meme
                Wandering meme
                October 4, 2011 at 5:26 am | #

                There’s a penis joke in there somewhere…

            • Zippy
              Zippy
              October 4, 2011 at 12:55 am | #

              “If in doubt, C4”

              • fellixe
                fellixe
                October 4, 2011 at 2:01 am | #

                C4? You sank my battleship!

                • Plasma Mongoose
                  Plasma Mongoose
                  October 4, 2011 at 4:35 am | #

                  But you still got your patrol boat thou.

  7. iSaidCandleja-
    iSaidCandleja-
    October 4, 2011 at 12:12 am | #

    If I didn’t know any better, I would think Dorothy was projecting. But I do know better, because Dorothy was never at risk of getting expelled.

  8. Daeva
    Daeva
    October 4, 2011 at 12:13 am | #

    I like how Dorothy quickly ducks around the fact that she actually brought Joyce along.

    • Sonzilber
      Sonzilber
      October 4, 2011 at 5:46 am | #

      I do believe you mean Jennifer Billingsworth

  9. Larson E. Jones
    Larson E. Jones
    October 4, 2011 at 12:16 am | #

    “Do your worst”

    Famous last words, if I recall correctly.

  10. Kernanator
    Kernanator
    October 4, 2011 at 12:26 am | #

    Never ask a journalist to “do their worst”. They take it as a challenge.

    • Ridureyu
      Ridureyu
      October 4, 2011 at 12:40 am | #

      And never, ever trust a journalist who says, “Just between you and me.”

      • lord of dance
        lord of dance
        October 4, 2011 at 12:46 am | #

        or “the people have a right to know” that one always annoyed me

        • ALostProphet
          ALostProphet
          October 4, 2011 at 12:55 am | #

          “fair and balanced”

          • G127
            G127
            October 4, 2011 at 8:19 am | #

            Well… the people do have a right to know. That’s what democracy is all about. You can’t make a informed electoral decision if you don’t know the facts.

            (whether the facts about sexual activities by the sister of an elected oficial are relevant to the public, is an entirely different matter of course)

  11. CP
    CP
    October 4, 2011 at 12:44 am | #

    Hooray for Roz getting taken down a peg!

    • ALostProphet
      ALostProphet
      October 4, 2011 at 12:50 am | #

      Hehe, you think Roz can change 😉

      • fellixe
        fellixe
        October 4, 2011 at 2:49 am | #

        She didn’t even change before the party. But maybe her capacity for long-term change stands in contrast to her wardrobe choices.

  12. A. Colunga
    A. Colunga
    October 4, 2011 at 12:49 am | #

    Hey I just noticed that Dora has freckles. =)

    • ryan
      ryan
      October 4, 2011 at 8:13 am | #

      those aren’t freckles, they’re skin cancer!

  13. Bean
    Bean
    October 4, 2011 at 1:35 am | #

    Okay, I like Dorothy now. She comes across as a little too self-involved, but she’s sharp witted.

    I wanna see a storyline with her, Sal and Dina as the central characters. XD

    • Thor
      Thor
      October 4, 2011 at 1:42 am | #

      I just want to see more of Dina. She was really the breakout character in the old series, stealing the scene whenever she was in frame.

      • Noel Schornhorst
        Noel Schornhorst
        October 4, 2011 at 2:19 am | #

        I’d like to think Dina’s at the party… either behind a door somewhere or assisting Amazi-Girl in her secret identity of Amazi-Stool!

        • begbert2
          begbert2
          October 4, 2011 at 10:35 am | #

          Wha? But Dina is Amazi-Girl!

          • NakedDumblydore
            NakedDumblydore
            October 4, 2011 at 11:47 am | #

            Dina is Ultra Car??

        • fellixe
          fellixe
          October 4, 2011 at 1:22 pm | #

          Dina is Alan. Its amazing the spaces she can fit into.

      • Arcum42
        Arcum42
        October 4, 2011 at 4:04 am | #

        You know, when Joyce was leaning against the closet, commenting on being alone, I honestly was expecting Dina to turn out to be inside it…

        • NakedDumblydore
          NakedDumblydore
          October 4, 2011 at 11:48 am | #

          Maybe she’ll be in the closet of the “board game room.” Whether that will be of any help to anyone is another matter.

          • Henry
            Henry
            October 4, 2011 at 12:38 pm | #

            Dina will own them all at Scrabble. Using dinosaur names.

  14. Fauxlosopher
    Fauxlosopher
    October 4, 2011 at 2:28 am | #

    “Do your worst.”

    “challengeaccepted.jpg”

  15. Spammy McSpamster
    Spammy McSpamster
    October 4, 2011 at 3:44 am | #

    Still waiting to see Faz in all his fazziness.
    Being as awesome as he is, he deserves some sort of position of power.

    Such as Dean of the school, or perhaps local police officer. Or University parking patrol guy.

    • General Tekno
      General Tekno
      October 4, 2011 at 11:00 am | #

      Willis could always pull a Community homage reference and make Faz the Senor Chang of the strip.

  16. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    October 4, 2011 at 4:30 am | #

    Never ask anyone with a polish sausage to ‘do their wurst’ unless you are strong of stomach. 😛

  17. Grikmeer
    Grikmeer
    October 4, 2011 at 5:32 am | #

    The should be “With whom you disagree” >.>

    • Phillip Wilde
      Phillip Wilde
      October 4, 2011 at 10:39 am | #

      Thank you. As a journalist, she should understand grammar.

      • Spammy McSpamster
        Spammy McSpamster
        October 4, 2011 at 10:03 pm | #

        She understands her grammar just fine. So do we. Those are just old silly rules that silly people call incorrect because they idolize an old dying way of speech. Clearly both are grammatical.

        Sources: Come on, you aren’t really gonna follow-up on me, are you? Just ask any linguist alive.

    • No Name
      No Name
      April 22, 2014 at 7:37 pm | #

      Okay, I know it’s been several years, but the “preposition at the end” construction Dorothy is using in her question is as old as Shakespeare. The rule to the contrary comes from Victorian grammarians who insisted (without justification) that English should be Latinate. Same with singular they (Fun fact: using ‘he’ all the time was suggested by a woman!). As for objective who, I still prefer ‘whom’. Call me a hypocrite, but that maligned preposition is very important.
      Also, even with these self imposed rules, I still slip up when I speak and write.

  18. Jimmy
    Jimmy
    October 4, 2011 at 6:06 am | #

    Way to bring it Dorothy!

  19. Wandering meme
    Wandering meme
    October 4, 2011 at 7:10 am | #

    “do your worst!”
    *ULTRA ARCHIE PIMP SLAP WITH STANK ON IT!*
    “why don’t you love me anymore?”

  20. fellixe
    fellixe
    October 4, 2011 at 7:11 am | #

    Or not. Roz had already asked about Billie and after denying responsibility for bringing her Dorothy steered the conversation away from who she did bring and towards her interview very nicely, IMO.

  21. Charles RB
    Charles RB
    October 4, 2011 at 7:41 am | #

    DOROTHY SMASH!!! 😀

    • Jacob
      Jacob
      October 4, 2011 at 8:40 am | #

      (I know this is mixing sources, but it fits so well)

      It’s Super Effective!

  22. Robert in San Diego
    Robert in San Diego
    October 4, 2011 at 11:35 am | #

    Roz is right — start with the “softball” and establishing questions. Get a flow of narrative going. Build up, judge the interviewee’s speaking style. THEN go for the kill. That, or Dorothy just wants to get this done before Billie discovers fire or something.

    • begbert2
      begbert2
      October 4, 2011 at 3:25 pm | #

      I think it’s more that Roz annoyed her with the stupid conditions on the interview, so the gloves are off. That or she just figures this is the way to be a hard-hitting investigative reporter that asks all he hard questions.

      • fellixe
        fellixe
        October 4, 2011 at 4:35 pm | #

        I think she started in a good place. You wouldn’t want to give the interviewee time and details to form a denial with before first getting their raw, true reaction to the allegation.￱

  23. Kaci
    Kaci
    October 4, 2011 at 12:05 pm | #

    might have been said before, but I simply gotta jump in here with…

    OH SNAP!

  24. Name
    Name
    October 4, 2011 at 1:51 pm | #

    Snap!

  25. fellixe
    fellixe
    October 4, 2011 at 4:38 pm | #

    Funny how close the comment totals here and at Shortpacked! Have been all day. (Things you notice when bored at work with internet access)

  26. saturnwonder
    saturnwonder
    October 4, 2011 at 8:04 pm | #

    Damn! Worst right off the bat 😮

  27. Culwecth
    Culwecth
    October 4, 2011 at 8:31 pm | #

    Something to think about–maybe the questions Roz is being hit with now AREN’T the worst.

  28. Wack'd
    Wack'd
    April 16, 2012 at 3:12 am | #

    Dorothy = Mike Wallace

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