Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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sal would probably love to trade places with ruth
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May 12, 2026

Family

by David M Willis on July 8, 2013 at 12:01 am
  • 03 - Answers in Hennessy
└ Tags: dorothy, jennifer, joyce, ruth, sal, sarah, sierra

Discussion (181) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Jen Aside
    Jen Aside
    July 8, 2013 at 12:02 am | #

    No subtext there, eh Ruth? =p

    • thecanvashat
      thecanvashat
      July 8, 2013 at 12:04 am | #

      NO NONE AT ALL WHY DO YOU ASK PRAY TELL.

    • EvergreenFir
      EvergreenFir
      July 8, 2013 at 1:14 am | #

      Can’t believe I didn’t catch that the first time…

      • Platinakettu
        Platinakettu
        July 8, 2013 at 7:28 am | #

        Same for me. I didn’t see before reading the comments.

      • Gigafreak
        Gigafreak
        July 8, 2013 at 8:55 am | #

        Alt-text: “sal would probably love to trade places with ruth”

        It would make her more similar to Batman

        • Josh
          Josh
          July 8, 2013 at 9:35 am | #

          I thought Sal WAS Batman?

          • CG
            CG
            July 8, 2013 at 4:20 pm | #

            No, Sal is Spider-Car, it’s so obvious!

        • CrazyPete
          CrazyPete
          July 8, 2013 at 9:41 am | #

          That’d be awesome

        • Neospector
          Neospector
          July 8, 2013 at 11:33 pm | #

          “Nananananananana SAL!” doesn’t have the same ring to it though.

          • Tom Speelman
            Tom Speelman
            July 9, 2013 at 12:54 am | #

            If you break it up, it works: “Sa-Al.” See?

      • mistrali
        mistrali
        June 3, 2014 at 10:02 am | #

        Whoa. Me neither…

  2. Wonder Wig
    Wonder Wig
    July 8, 2013 at 12:03 am | #

    It will be glorious.

    • Resne
      Resne
      July 8, 2013 at 12:32 am | #

      Dat glory

      • Wonder Wig
        Wonder Wig
        July 8, 2013 at 12:52 am | #

        A whole lot of it.

        • Tan
          Tan
          July 8, 2013 at 7:24 am | #

          I see what you did there. I SEE IT. I AM STARING RIGHT AT WHAT YOU DID THERE. IT HAS BEEN SEEN, I TELL YOU.

  3. Wack'd
    Wack'd
    July 8, 2013 at 12:03 am | #

    Two days? But we know that the folks show up sometime within the next two months…this might be the fastest any amount of time ever passes in this comic.

    • TrueVCU
      TrueVCU
      July 8, 2013 at 12:05 am | #

      One must always take a webcomic’s relativistic time dilation field into account

    • thecanvashat
      thecanvashat
      July 8, 2013 at 12:06 am | #

      Faster than when Walky got his Pajama Jeans?

      • Wack'd
        Wack'd
        July 8, 2013 at 12:07 am | #

        Oh, right, we blew through four days with that.

        Okay, second-fastest.

      • Yotomoe
        Yotomoe
        July 8, 2013 at 12:07 am | #

        Or slower than him touching that boob?

        • Doctor_Who
          Doctor_Who
          July 8, 2013 at 12:16 am | #

          That’s the kind of moment you WANT to last. Now Walky can brag that he’s spent entire days doing nothing but touching boobs.

          • Totz the Plaid
            Totz the Plaid
            July 8, 2013 at 1:10 am | #

            Only if he’s aware of the Fourth Wall…

  4. Plasma Mongoose
    Plasma Mongoose
    July 8, 2013 at 12:04 am | #

    Billie is the favourite ‘daughter’ in the Walkerton family?

    DAAAAAMN!

    • Volkai
      Volkai
      July 8, 2013 at 1:10 am | #

      Yeah, that… that doesn’t say very good things about either set of parents.

  5. Mkvenner
    Mkvenner
    July 8, 2013 at 12:04 am | #

    This should be fun. *evil smile*

  6. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    July 8, 2013 at 12:05 am | #

    She calls the Walkertons mom and dad? Clearly she is subconsciously imagining a future in which she is married to Walky.

    Or Sal. Whichever the shipper prefer.

    • thecanvashat
      thecanvashat
      July 8, 2013 at 12:07 am | #

      Or adopted. Or secretly raised by.

    • John
      John
      July 8, 2013 at 12:07 am | #

      Sal. Definitely Sal. Shippers (e.g., Joyce) might claim that Billie’s just in denial about her attraction to Walky, but she’s actually tried putting the moves on Sal.

      • Emoroffle
        Emoroffle
        July 8, 2013 at 12:10 am | #

        I’m not shipping Billie with anyone but Ruth.

        • thecanvashat
          thecanvashat
          July 8, 2013 at 12:12 am | #

          I’m shipping her with a boat of alcohol.

          • Blue
            Blue
            July 8, 2013 at 1:04 am | #

            I’m shipping her and Ruth on an ocean of ethanol.

          • Volkai
            Volkai
            July 8, 2013 at 1:11 am | #

            That would be the fuel that powers the ship.

            • saltchocolate
              saltchocolate
              July 8, 2013 at 1:13 am | #

              Your grav makes “ethanol” even funnier.

              • Thomas
                Thomas
                July 8, 2013 at 6:59 am | #

                O HAI cuz it’s Ethan LOL =D

              • CrazyPete
                CrazyPete
                July 8, 2013 at 9:43 am | #

                Punpunpunpun

        • timemonkey
          timemonkey
          July 8, 2013 at 12:17 am | #

          I prefer my ships without abuse and alcohol poisoning.

          • thecanvashat
            thecanvashat
            July 8, 2013 at 12:21 am | #

            Where did the abuse come from? She’s on a boat!

            • timemonkey
              timemonkey
              July 8, 2013 at 12:24 am | #

              I replied to the commenter above you.

            • drs
              drs
              July 8, 2013 at 8:23 am | #

              Nice boat.

          • Boom
            Boom
            July 8, 2013 at 12:45 am | #

            What have you got against pirates, eh?

            • Roborat
              Roborat
              July 8, 2013 at 2:40 pm | #

              No, it’s: “What have you got against pirates, arrrr?”

              Unless, of course, you are talking abooot Canadian Pirates. I have heard they roam the Athabasca, from Smith to Fort McKay.

              • John
                John
                July 8, 2013 at 4:08 pm | #

                You’re going to lose your Stetson if you have to pass their way.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        July 8, 2013 at 12:10 am | #

        They knew Billie will end up in the family one way or the other but via Sal? I bet they didn’t see that coming.

        • Doctor_Who
          Doctor_Who
          July 8, 2013 at 12:19 am | #

          It just occurred to me that We call Billie Billie because her last name is Billingsworth. So if she married Sal and changed her last name to Walkerton (no WAY Sal would be the one to change her name), we’d have to call her…Walky.

          • timemonkey
            timemonkey
            July 8, 2013 at 12:20 am | #

            Or neither of them could change their names? And why wouldn’t Sal change her’s? She doesn’t seem fond of her family.

          • John
            John
            July 8, 2013 at 1:20 am | #

            She’s still “Billie” in the Walkyverse.

          • xKiv
            xKiv
            July 8, 2013 at 8:46 pm | #

            Don’t we call Billie Billie cuz she punches lilke a boy?
            Which is also leads to why we call Walky Walky.

            • John
              John
              July 8, 2013 at 9:44 pm | #

              Because he punches like Joyce’s dog?

    • timemonkey
      timemonkey
      July 8, 2013 at 12:11 am | #

      Billy and Sal were switched at birth, it’s the only logical explanation.

      • thecanvashat
        thecanvashat
        July 8, 2013 at 12:15 am | #

        Well, all Walkerton children must be referred to by last name. Sal’s just a rebel.

      • Plasma Mongoose
        Plasma Mongoose
        July 8, 2013 at 12:15 am | #

        Sal is actually half-Japanese?

        WHAT A TWIST!

        • Andiemus
          Andiemus
          July 8, 2013 at 4:09 pm | #

          Thanks, M. Night.

      • Aras Pabedinskas
        Aras Pabedinskas
        July 8, 2013 at 12:17 am | #

        Ya but then there would be accusations of adultery. if you know what I am implying?

        • Doctor_Who
          Doctor_Who
          July 8, 2013 at 12:20 am | #

          Not unheard of for Billie’s mom in that other ‘verse. I seem to recall her having an affair with Ruth’s dad.

          Maybe she had it with Walky’s dad in this ‘verse.

          • Mkvenner
            Mkvenner
            July 8, 2013 at 12:37 am | #

            Or Joyce’s parents.

            • Boom
              Boom
              July 8, 2013 at 12:46 am | #

              Or your mom. For a nickel.

      • Roborat
        Roborat
        July 8, 2013 at 2:42 pm | #

        Hmmm, that plot twist sounds familiar. I wonder where I might have run across is before? ? ? ?

  7. John
    John
    July 8, 2013 at 12:05 am | #

    Something tells me that Sal wouldn’t actually like having her parents killed, say, by a megalomaniacal purple alien, as much as she thinks she would.

    • thecanvashat
      thecanvashat
      July 8, 2013 at 12:08 am | #

      Walky would be upset, but would ask for an autograph.

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      July 8, 2013 at 12:08 am | #

      Then again, there is a difference in the circumstances here.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      July 8, 2013 at 12:09 am | #

      especially because Walky would be too busy geeking out about it to be sad.

      • Boom
        Boom
        July 8, 2013 at 12:47 am | #

        And having superpowers.

  8. CollyWolly
    CollyWolly
    July 8, 2013 at 12:06 am | #

    I can’t decide if Ruth is Dr. Cox or Dr. Kelso.

    • captainswift
      captainswift
      July 8, 2013 at 12:08 am | #

      Dr. Costco.

      • thecanvashat
        thecanvashat
        July 8, 2013 at 12:11 am | #

        With my new powers of CHEAP PRICES and BULK SALES, none can stand up to the power of I, DR. COSTCO!

        • Boom
          Boom
          July 8, 2013 at 12:48 am | #

          Rwar, wrar, roar wrar aarr!*

          *”No, but I, Dr. Bearington Bear, might!”

        • Andiemus
          Andiemus
          July 8, 2013 at 4:07 pm | #

          “I am Doctor Costo, Surplusser Supreme!”

      • Torgo
        Torgo
        July 8, 2013 at 4:41 am | #

        You do not know how much that made me laugh, just thank you. You may have an Internet from me because of the way your comment turned out.

    • Wack'd
      Wack'd
      July 8, 2013 at 12:08 am | #

      She’s Dr. Kelso to Billie, and Dr. Cox post-retirement to everyone else.

      • Wack'd
        Wack'd
        July 8, 2013 at 12:09 am | #

        Woops. Scratch that, reverse it.

        • Yotomoe
          Yotomoe
          July 8, 2013 at 12:11 am | #

          Are Danny and Joe J.D and Turk?

    • toddtr
      toddtr
      July 8, 2013 at 12:09 am | #

      Snoop Dogg resident

      • Boom
        Boom
        July 8, 2013 at 12:50 am | #

        It’s Snoop Dogg attending now.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      July 8, 2013 at 12:22 am | #

      Nono. BILLIE is Dr. Cox. She acts as a mentor to other characters, drinks too much, and gets really angry. Ruth is HER Dr. Kelso.

      Although Ruth does have that hockey jersey…

    • Totz the Plaid
      Totz the Plaid
      July 8, 2013 at 1:13 am | #

      Dr. Beard-face.

      “It’s Beardfacé! Beardfacé!!!”

  9. timemonkey
    timemonkey
    July 8, 2013 at 12:07 am | #

    What if Joyce’s parents disapprove of her friends? That would break my heart.

    On the other hand I kinda want them to take one look at Ethan and ask her why she’s dating a gay guy.

    • Wack'd
      Wack'd
      July 8, 2013 at 12:10 am | #

      They almost definitely would, for maximum dramas.

      Hell, didn’t Joyce say she wanted Dorothy to go to church so that she wouldn’t have to tell her folks she’s “fraternizing with the godless”?

      • timemonkey
        timemonkey
        July 8, 2013 at 12:13 am | #

        Joyce will have to make the ultimate choice: parents or Dorothy?

        • Heavensrun
          Heavensrun
          July 8, 2013 at 12:17 am | #

          Well I don’t see how she could possibly gay-marry Dorothy without her parents knowing, so that scene’s gotta come sooner or later.

          • Totz the Plaid
            Totz the Plaid
            July 8, 2013 at 1:16 am | #

            No, no. She should gay marry Dina.
            Sarah should marry Mike.
            Walky and Dorothy should get married.
            Billie and Ruth should see therapists, then maybe get together.
            Sal should continue hate-fucking Jason.
            Joe and Roz should be a polyamorous couple.
            Danny should be alone forever.

            Ethan, Amber, Jacob, Sienna, and the others? I’m not sure yet.

            • timemonkey
              timemonkey
              July 8, 2013 at 1:41 am | #

              Ethan should have a threesome with Joe and Roz. Just once.

            • Heavensrun
              Heavensrun
              July 8, 2013 at 3:09 am | #

              THIS IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH MY SHIP, GOOD SIR OR MADAM.

              • Heavensrun
                Heavensrun
                July 8, 2013 at 3:09 am | #

                (that was to TOTZ, obv.)

          • Hoboturtle
            Hoboturtle
            July 8, 2013 at 3:55 pm | #

            Well, they thought that Joyce was gay in It’s Walky. They’re probably aren’t that much different here.

            • John
              John
              July 8, 2013 at 5:37 pm | #

              They’re going to assume that she’s introducing them to Ethan as a beard to cover up her relationship with Dorothy?

              I can see it.

              • Heavensrun
                Heavensrun
                July 8, 2013 at 10:48 pm | #

                That is totally my headcanon anyway.

    • saltchocolate
      saltchocolate
      July 8, 2013 at 12:11 am | #

      ^ That.

      • saltchocolate
        saltchocolate
        July 8, 2013 at 12:11 am | #

        [Meant to point to timemonkey’s comment. No offense, Wack’d!]

        • timemonkey
          timemonkey
          July 8, 2013 at 12:14 am | #

          It’s cool, I knew you were pointing at me. (everyone’s always pointing at me. And the laughter, I hear it in my sleep….)

          • saltchocolate
            saltchocolate
            July 8, 2013 at 12:18 am | #

            mwahahaha!!!

    • David
      David
      July 8, 2013 at 3:56 am | #

      Why would they ask? They’d probably be as happy about the prospects as Joyce was at one point of time.

      It’s so perfectly “Do a good deed, let people go to hell for a different deadly sin than planned for.” Rotating in hell avoids rack sores.

    • clodia
      clodia
      July 8, 2013 at 11:21 am | #

      I don’t think so. They may have concerns, but I don’t think they’d right-out disapprove of her friends.

      1) Joyce had to get her sweet disposition from somewhere.

      2) She said that she and her parents had changed churches frequently over the years because they weren’t comfortable with hateful sermons and jerky people.

      Therefore, I expect her parents will be more or less okay, but remind her to stay true to herself and to pray to God for guidance.

  10. Regalli
    Regalli
    July 8, 2013 at 12:07 am | #

    Oh, Sal. Are you sure about that? Absolutely certain?

  11. Gram91
    Gram91
    July 8, 2013 at 12:08 am | #

    Let the chaos begin MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    …I’m also taking bets on who’s providing catering
    $10 on Galasso, freaking out all of the parents
    I also hope for other guest appearances that I can only dream of.

    • NightmareWarden
      NightmareWarden
      July 8, 2013 at 4:22 pm | #

      No no, Galasso IS a parent. Some say he’s a father, some say he’s a mother.

      • xKiv
        xKiv
        July 8, 2013 at 9:05 pm | #

        And both of those “some”s are Galasso?

  12. NerdHerder
    NerdHerder
    July 8, 2013 at 12:09 am | #

    Now Joyce has to decide how to introduce her parents to Dexter and Monkey Master.

    • thecanvashat
      thecanvashat
      July 8, 2013 at 12:18 am | #

      Using Walky’s chart, of course.

  13. saltchocolate
    saltchocolate
    July 8, 2013 at 12:10 am | #

    I love Billie and Sal trading snark! Yes!! This is the first time they’ve seen eye-to-eye about something in a while . . .

  14. jrgolden42
    jrgolden42
    July 8, 2013 at 12:10 am | #

    I always forget that Billie essentially grew up with Sal. I always remember Walky, but I forget about Sal in that equation. I guess because of the Walkyverse and the fact that Sal has been in Tennessee for the last 4 years in-continuity

  15. Wack'd
    Wack'd
    July 8, 2013 at 12:10 am | #

    Dammit, everyone else beat me to the Sal’s-parents-are-dead joke!

    • timemonkey
      timemonkey
      July 8, 2013 at 12:15 am | #

      You could make a joke about dead brothers, but I don’t think anyone would care.

      • thecanvashat
        thecanvashat
        July 8, 2013 at 12:17 am | #

        Or dead Robins.

        • timemonkey
          timemonkey
          July 8, 2013 at 12:22 am | #

          When did Robin die?

          • hmrc4evr
            hmrc4evr
            July 8, 2013 at 12:52 am | #

            Right after Baskin. Those 32 flavors were too much for one man to handle.

            • Wack'd
              Wack'd
              July 8, 2013 at 4:24 am | #

              32?

              Man, the Question just cannot keep a secret.

          • Totz the Plaid
            Totz the Plaid
            July 8, 2013 at 1:18 am | #

            He rocked too damn hard.

          • Roborat
            Roborat
            July 8, 2013 at 2:46 pm | #

            Which one? Batman buys them in bulk.

            • Andiemus
              Andiemus
              July 8, 2013 at 4:05 pm | #

              Jason Todd died in like… 88?

    • John
      John
      July 8, 2013 at 3:18 pm | #

      Y’know, I wonder if Beef’s parents are dead in this universe.

      Hit by a truck carrying Dexter merchandise, maybe.

      • timemonkey
        timemonkey
        July 9, 2013 at 4:42 am | #

        Maybe Sal caused it when she robbed those stores?

  16. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    July 8, 2013 at 12:12 am | #

    I read Dorothy’s line in the 3rd panel as ” Yeah, Up yours”

    • Aras Pabedinskas
      Aras Pabedinskas
      July 8, 2013 at 12:22 am | #

      Do wear glasses?

      • Yotomoe
        Yotomoe
        July 8, 2013 at 12:30 am | #

        No Don’t.

        • Aras Pabedinskas
          Aras Pabedinskas
          July 8, 2013 at 12:34 am | #

          Might need your eyes checked.

          • Aras Pabedinskas
            Aras Pabedinskas
            July 8, 2013 at 12:34 am | #

            I need my eyes check because I just reread your OP. Ugh, Stupid me!

          • Aras Pabedinskas
            Aras Pabedinskas
            July 8, 2013 at 12:37 am | #

            Forgot to say sorry.

            …Sorry.

            • Yotomoe
              Yotomoe
              July 8, 2013 at 1:00 am | #

              haha it’s all cool bro.

    • Hoboturtle
      Hoboturtle
      July 9, 2013 at 4:27 pm | #

      Joyce: Are your parents coming?
      Dorothy: Up yours, you now they’re as dead as Ruths are.
      Joyce: Yeah I’m excited.
      Dorothy: why do you enjoy my pain?

  17. Heavensrun
    Heavensrun
    July 8, 2013 at 12:16 am | #

    I can only pray that at some point during this storyline, the fact that Dorothy is an atheist comes out and Joyce’s parents have the same epic reaction face that Joyce had the first time she heard it.

    • thecanvashat
      thecanvashat
      July 8, 2013 at 12:18 am | #

      And hiccup the rest of their on-panel time.

    • Tenn
      Tenn
      July 8, 2013 at 3:51 am | #

      If they are anything like their Walkyverse counterparts, they won’t. Especially considering that they went to the same university.

  18. ShadowWing Tronix
    ShadowWing Tronix
    July 8, 2013 at 12:20 am | #

    Wait, no “my parents are deaaaaaad”? jokes in the comments? What’s happened to the internet!?

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      July 8, 2013 at 2:47 pm | #

      Too obvious.

  19. vuragado
    vuragado
    July 8, 2013 at 12:27 am | #

    Every time I think of Billies home life, I cri Errytime(assumptions of brokeness)

  20. Kernanator
    Kernanator
    July 8, 2013 at 12:40 am | #

    Would it be appropriate to say “See if ah care” here?

    • Wack'd
      Wack'd
      July 8, 2013 at 4:25 am | #

      Man, everyone’s beaten you to the joke a thousand times over.

      Don’t think anyone’s pulled the quote, though, so go ahead.

  21. Futabakun
    Futabakun
    July 8, 2013 at 12:43 am | #

    Sierra gets a tag on this one? …Because we see a bit of her arm in the third panel? I’m not even sure which of those two arms are hers!

    • C.
      C.
      July 8, 2013 at 12:50 am | #

      I’m thinking the pink t-shirt. Could be wrong.

      • John
        John
        July 8, 2013 at 1:09 am | #

        Definitely pink.

        I’m not sure why Sierra’s arm gets a tag and Sarah’s arm (in the purple T-shirt) doesn’t.

        • John
          John
          July 8, 2013 at 3:19 pm | #

          Ah, there’s the Sarah tag.

  22. MacDiver
    MacDiver
    July 8, 2013 at 12:46 am | #

    Hmmm. I never had anything like this at any college I attended. Is this a common thing?

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      July 8, 2013 at 12:57 am | #

      Mine has a general family weekend in the fall. It’s for all students, but then our school’s so small it could accommodate that many parents.

    • John
      John
      July 8, 2013 at 1:18 am | #

      My college had one, though my parents didn’t come to it because I went to school out-of-state. The cafeteria food service’s quality level went up about five notches for the one day.

      (Using that food service in prisons was later ruled to be in violation of the 8th Amendment.)

      • Kennerly
        Kennerly
        July 8, 2013 at 1:37 am | #

        Oh, you went to SUNY Albany as well?

        • John
          John
          July 8, 2013 at 3:19 pm | #

          Vermont Tech.

    • David
      David M Willis
      July 8, 2013 at 2:36 am | #

      http://studentaffairs.iub.edu/parents/freshman-family-weekend/

      • Wack'd
        Wack'd
        July 8, 2013 at 4:29 am | #

        So, assuming it’s roughly the same time every year, we’re about a month into the school year?

        That would mean that a month is roughly three years, meaning you can get an additional nine out of the first semester, and stop them from becoming sophomores until at least 2046.

  23. Fred
    Fred
    July 8, 2013 at 1:54 am | #

    But this means Joyce’s parents will meet…
    *GASP*
    THE GODLESS!

  24. LtSaraD
    LtSaraD
    July 8, 2013 at 2:00 am | #

    …just hide.

  25. Jenny Creed
    Jenny Creed
    July 8, 2013 at 2:23 am | #

    Is it wrong of me to think of Joyce’s parents only as something that needs to be escaped? I mean them seeing the progress she has made and the friends she has pretty much has to cause a rift between them and I can only think that’s a good thing for her.

    • Tenn
      Tenn
      July 8, 2013 at 3:58 am | #

      I’m pretty sure they wanted her to make progress and friends outside of the church. I only wonder why they didn’t start earlier.

      • Wack'd
        Wack'd
        July 8, 2013 at 4:30 am | #

        Yes, but they wanted that “progress” to merely involve being more social and able to function in a community. None of this “atheists and gays are people too” crap.

        …or so I’m assuming. For all I know Joyce merely takes them a bit too seriously.

        • Jenny Creed
          Jenny Creed
          July 8, 2013 at 5:50 am | #

          Being able to function in a social context is exactly what you don’t learn by homeschooling, so I think even that is giving them too much credit. . .

          • Tenn
            Tenn
            July 8, 2013 at 5:36 pm | #

            My assumptions are based on the Walkyverse version of Joyce’s parents. Different settings, sure, but so far, no character has had any radical personality changes from their parallel universe counterparts.

            • Jenny Creed
              Jenny Creed
              July 8, 2013 at 6:46 pm | #

              Oh yeah, I don’t know anything about that parallel reality, so I’m guessing rather wildly. And probably uselessly.

              I don’t mind being wrong usually.

              In this case, though, I’d be delighted.

  26. Super Duper
    Super Duper
    July 8, 2013 at 3:35 am | #

    Yeesh, we haven’t seen Joyce’s parents in… how many strips?

  27. Arkadi
    Arkadi
    July 8, 2013 at 4:03 am | #

    The second panel makes this the saddest strip in DoA so far, and probably ever :c

    • Wack'd
      Wack'd
      July 8, 2013 at 4:31 am | #

      It’s kinda weird that no one reacts to that, though I suppose it could be construed as a joke.

      • Farmer_10
        Farmer_10
        July 8, 2013 at 4:49 am | #

        That last panel’s pretty damn rough too. These are very broken people.

      • John
        John
        July 8, 2013 at 3:24 pm | #

        Well, probably no one but Billie knows Ruth’s backstory, so they don’t realize that it’s self-referential, and assuming there are no other orphans in the room, it probably just seems like non-specific and vaguely threatening jerkery. Just what they’ve been lead to expect from Ruth, in other words.

        • Arkadi
          Arkadi
          July 8, 2013 at 4:15 pm | #

          Yep, pretty much.

        • StClair
          StClair
          July 10, 2013 at 4:47 am | #

          This. Heck, that’s how I first read it.

  28. SHAZAM
    SHAZAM
    July 8, 2013 at 4:24 am | #

    Plot Twist: Joyce’s parents are totally fine with her having non-christian friends and her mother just wants to know when Ethan’s going to give her grandchildren.

    • Totz the Plaid
      Totz the Plaid
      July 8, 2013 at 4:51 am | #

      I can’t be specific, because spoilers, but events in “It’s Walky” make that plausible.

    • Tenn
      Tenn
      July 8, 2013 at 5:38 pm | #

      If you’ve read It’s Walky!, that’s not a plot twist.

  29. Imperator
    Imperator
    July 8, 2013 at 6:28 am | #

    So, I think I’ve discovered the ultimate secret of the Willisaurus. Take a Mike. Expand his hair upwards and forwards. Bulk the crap out of his muscles, and conversely make his legs shorter. Give him sunglasses and a black shirt. Voila! You have a brand new Johnny Bravo! This entire webcomic is clearly part of the artist’s plan to rebirth Johnny Bravo into the world. And on that rapturous day, we shall all. Do. The Monkey.

    • Crimson Doom
      Crimson Doom
      July 8, 2013 at 9:58 am | #

      We shall be Masters of the Monkey.

      Also, Dexter is somehow involved.

      • StClair
        StClair
        July 10, 2013 at 4:49 am | #

        What about Dee Dee?

  30. someguywithakatana
    someguywithakatana
    July 8, 2013 at 7:56 am | #

    Dumbing of Age: Where every woman is a cornucopia of issues!

    • Gigafreak
      Gigafreak
      July 8, 2013 at 9:14 am | #

      Now that I think of it, how many of the male characters are undergoing similar levels of emotional tension?

      …Just Ethan, sort of? Hmm. Maybe this universe’s Jacob and/or Mike has something going on that we just don’t know about.

      • The1exile
        The1exile
        July 8, 2013 at 2:30 pm | #

        I don’t want to compare apples with oranges here, nor try and create a “which-behavioural-kink-is-worst” contest, but honestly who among the male characters in DoA would you describe as well adjusted? Joe, maybe?

        I mean, Ethan is a repressed gay, Mike is a complete dick, Danny is clueless, Walky is incredibly immature, even Jason’s behaviour is pretty self-destructive…

    • Josh
      Josh
      July 8, 2013 at 9:29 am | #

      Dotty is pretty well adjusted for a main character. 😛

      • clodia
        clodia
        July 8, 2013 at 11:22 am | #

        She, at the very least, is cognizant of the issues she has.

    • The Candyman
      The Candyman
      July 8, 2013 at 1:18 pm | #

      Not just DoA, the entire Willis universe (Williverse?).

    • Arkadi
      Arkadi
      July 8, 2013 at 4:18 pm | #

      “Every woman”? More like everybody, really. You’ll be hard pressed to find a single well-adjusted individual in the whole Walkyverse. Every character is a bundle of issues at best, a train wreck waiting to happen at worst.

  31. Bri
    Bri
    July 8, 2013 at 12:04 pm | #

    Okay so I just checked out the link to the actual Indiana State Family weekend for fun and one of the events listed is, “Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction” a discussion on sex research in America. If this doesn’t make an appearance in a strip with Joyce I will be disappointed.

    • David
      David M Willis
      July 8, 2013 at 12:27 pm | #

      Man, that doesn’t sound like an event, that’s there year-round!

      • Arkadi
        Arkadi
        July 8, 2013 at 4:22 pm | #

        The Kinsey Institute is at Indiana University? My, how appropriate. For the comic to be set there, I mean ^^

  32. Aaron Bourque
    Aaron Bourque
    July 8, 2013 at 1:29 pm | #

    So, is this foreshadowing Joyce and/or Dorothy’s parents NOT showing up, but Billie’s parents ACTUALLY showing up?

    • John
      John
      July 8, 2013 at 7:33 pm | #

      Well, we’ve seen Tumblr sketches of Dotty’s parents, at least.

  33. Roz Not DeSanto
    Roz Not DeSanto
    July 8, 2013 at 7:25 pm | #

    Sad face. 🙁

    • Arkadi
      Arkadi
      July 8, 2013 at 8:44 pm | #

      The saddest face!

  34. Solitarianknight
    Solitarianknight
    July 8, 2013 at 8:42 pm | #

    feels weird commenting since i’ve been creeping for months but Damn Ruth. Leave none to wonder.

  35. ALLxISxGONE
    ALLxISxGONE
    July 8, 2013 at 10:34 pm | #

    Someone get me a towel… it happened again T-T

  36. Somebody
    Somebody
    July 9, 2013 at 1:26 am | #

    For some reason I remembered Pigs by Pink Floyd. It doesn’t really fit her…but that’s how things went. Maybe the chorus would make sense?

  37. Anna1090
    Anna1090
    August 22, 2013 at 6:12 pm | #

    Oh, that’s what Joyce and Dorothy THINK. Then it actually happens.

  38. DSS92
    DSS92
    September 4, 2013 at 11:01 pm | #

    I moved into my apartment a few days before freshmen moved on campus this year. I go to a big college in a small town so the freshies and their families take over everything. You couldn’t have paid me to leave my apartment that day.

  39. Vim-Hogar
    Vim-Hogar
    September 10, 2013 at 5:25 am | #

    Rereading this a couple months later, Ruth’s advice in the first panel doesn’t really seem like an exaggeration any more.

    • Rani
      Rani
      August 28, 2014 at 10:04 pm | #

      We’re still feeling the aftershocks in my slice of the timeline.

  40. Rani
    Rani
    August 28, 2014 at 10:03 pm | #

    SHE’S NOT FUCKING EXAGGERATING. THIS ISN’T HYPERBOLE.

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