After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
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!
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
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.
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.
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
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.
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.
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.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
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.
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
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.
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.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
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!
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
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.)
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?
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
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!
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...
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.
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!
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
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...
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
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.
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!
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.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
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.
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He’s stated a few times that while dude/dude isn’t his thing, it’d be interesting enough as a technical exercise. The lack of m/m slipshine updates isn’t reflective of Willis’ Kinsey Scale rating; it’s because there are no dudes in the story who are cannonically banging. Yet.
Perhaps the sheer amount of awkwardness created by their combined sexual insecurities will generate a rift in dimensional space, allowing that to actually happen. And then…SOGGIES MAY RULE DoA.
Utena doesn’t get much love anymore, I wonder if they will ever remake it, I just hope that if they do a remake, it will be a better job then Sailor Moon Crystal.
My question for Utena is why she’s supposedly wearing a “boy’s uniform” but none of the other boys at her school are wearing that uniform. I mean, I’m still going through the series (my friend introduced me recently, and I’m loving it), but that is a question that I don’t think is getting answered any time soon.
My biggest problem with Crystal was that it squandered all opportunities by just being the manga again. An anime based directly on the Utena manga would actually be kinda neat – so long as it actually expanded the manga rather than doing a scene for scene remake as Crystal did. So much potential squandered.
Becky will pull a Plus-Ultra-Drama Tag that she finds at the back of Joyce’s closet and ask “What’s this?”. (plus ultra = Latin for further/more beyond)
So Danny will see:
His ex-girlfriend
His current squeeze, who may or may not acknowledge it depending upon her masked status
Someone he is dreaming about
The girl who tried to tear his clothes off
I’m a bit puzzled by Danny’s words, in fact; “this party is just going to be me, you and your girlfriend?”… did he forget about Becky inviting Dorothy, or did he just fail to connect the dots?
Anyone else notice that Syndrome’s cape was the reason he died? And that his fape almost got him killed near the beginning during that scene with Bomb Voyage? Guess you could say he had his cape and met his doom…. get it? Like had his cake and ate it… whatever, I’m gonna go stand in the corner forever…
He’s sad because now it makes it even more complicated for him to control his attraction towards Ethan, as he’s now available. But Danny isn’t. Hence the inner turmoil, hence the sadness.
Technically, Danny doesn’t know that Ethan is available in that sense. He doesn’t know that Ethan’s gay. (Amber knows for obvious reasons, Mike knows because he went to high school with Ethan, Sarah knows because she can read a “I’m living a lie and I hope no one notices face.”, Joyce knows for obvious reasons, Dorothy pieced it together via Joyce’s cryptic confession, and Walky assumed because of Ethan’s lack of initiative around Joyce. Every other student that Ethan has interacted with believes he’s straight.)
Dorothy figured it out the very first time she saw Joyce with Ethan (and Mike) in the lobby, after which Joyce told her that Ethan was different than other boys in the way he looked at her — or, didn’t look at her — which made her feel safe with him.
Had to recheck a strip that I only knew was vaguely in book 2, but yeah Dorothy makes an offhand comment after Joyce says that “Hanky panky doesn’t even register on his mind!”, which Joyce brushes off. The next time she sees Ethan he’s identified as Joyce’s boyfriend. And from what she says here: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/unpretty/ she didn’t think that Joyce would actually try to change someone’s sexual orientation like that. I’m pretty sure she thought he was straight until http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/beard/
Ethan: “You, me, my ex-girlfriend, your girlfriend-who-is-also-my-ex-girlfirend, your ex-girlfriend, that girl you let down before even establishing interest, that girl who was gonna bang you until you rejected her and your ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend. Oh, and Becky.
Considering Roz was making a play for Jacob and he’ll be at the party at some point, an ill-timed cameo by Roz might produce some sparks too – especially if she manages to wreck a reconciliation between Jacob and Sarah in the process.
Or Roz and Joe could wind up rehearsing for a sequel, leaving Danny socked out of his room when the party breaks up.
Oh, good lord, I’d totally forgotten about Roz and Jacob. I’m tempted to think that was set up specifically so things could get awkward at this party. (I realize that strip was over a year ago, but you never know.)
You’re looking at it wrong. Joe knows he has the room to himself for at least a few hours. Good odds that Danny will come home to a sock on the doorknob.
Maybe Danny can crash in Ethan’s room? Or maybe they’ll both have to go spend the night at Amber’s when Jacob and Sarah sock them out of Ethan’s room. At least Dina can have Sarah’s bed in that scenario.
Honestly he could have just said “stuff” to make his point without the word “caped” in front of it. Danny would take like half a second’s thought of “stuff? What kind of stuff would Amber–oh right” to figure it out, probably, but whatever.
To be fair, “stuff” could include “she’s obsessed with a game/fanfic binge and I couldn’t get her off the computer” in Amber’s case. Adding a qualifier about what kind of stuff it is isn’t unreasonable.
It’s not much of a euphemism. Ethan might as well have said, “Amber’s one amazing girl, isn’t she! Anyway, she’s busy tonight. Did I mention how she’s amazing yet?”
To be really careful he should have put on an Amazi-Mask and then nobody who overheard him could have understood what he meant by “caped stuff”. Or an Amazi-Condom?
They’re young, Amber has serious mental health issues, Danny is struggling with his own sexual identity, and Ethan isn’t entirely comfortable out of the closet yet either. So yes, a poly relationship between the three is likely to be rocky.
OTOH, the fact that they could provide each other with a lot of much-needed mutual support makes them interesting from a story-telling POV, and they’re not at all implausible as a trio. If you want to do a positive depiction of a poly relationship, showing how mutual affection and faithfulness can improve everyone’s lives would be a good start.
The stable long-term poly groupings I’ve known in real life have been more about mutual trust and understanding than some racy swinger lifestyle fantasy. Those folks were all past their teens and looking for different things out of life than a bunch of college freshmen, though.
I think Dumbing of Age in part deals with how young people deal with relationships, feelings, sexuality and stuff like that. I don’t want the three of them to magically work together, but I do think it would be interesting to see. Yes, stable long-term poly relationships would be great, but there’s also something to be said for people experimenting and learning.
If you want a depiction of healthy polyamory with characters that could actually pull it off instead of just the first lust triangle that presents itself clap your hands.
Maybe they won’t be able to pull it off. Maybe it will be messy and leave someone heartbroken. That doesn’t mean the possibility should be off the table.
I kind of feel like Ethan’s lack of sexual or romantic interest in Amber would prevent it from being fully poly, but then again I’ve heard of plenty of poly relationships where two people were both romantically involved with the third but NOT each other.
Danny: “Well just bone me.”
Ethan: “What?”
Danny: “Just shoot me. I said shoot. Because I’m boned. Not your bone. I mean oh god why am I still talking! I’m going to be very uncomfortable at this party”
As has been noted by several people already: this party is a train wreak preparing to happen.
Ruth already knows there’s a party and may just decide to check it out later.
Becky’s parents are coming to the college, you just have to bet on that.
I’m surprised that Joyce’s haven’t arrived, to save her from Mike’s phone answering service.
And Blaine just has to show up eventually.
So many ways to go. And nothing awful has happened in, what 3 days?
Does Ruth even have anything to hold against the party? Nobody’s drinking alcohol or doing drugs, and as long as they keep the noise to a respectable level there isn’t anything they can do that’s ban-worthy. Except, y’know, have a giant rolling orgy.
Becky only has a dad, her mom is long dead. And if he shows up Joyce and Sarah can tell him that he can’t come in, can’t look for Becky and to leave before they report him for being there without a proper pass. And if Joyce’s parents call to object Joyce can just tell them Sarah doesn’t like strange men trying to get into her bedroom. It’s not even a lie!
Or even, y’know Ethan. Who seems a lot cooler with that understanding but I figure SOME discussion would take place. Even Sal going, “Ya’ look familiahr. Do I know you?” (I know people with a southern accent and still can’t write that dialog.)
It also happened like a year ago when Danny and Ethan talked about comics, and like two years before that when Ethan and Mike were talking about the ethical ambiguity of a gay man enjoying Chick-fil-A. Also a couple months ago when Joe and Dan were talking about friendship dynamics, and wow there are a lot of moments now that I think about it.
Me two weeks ago: Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, not to protect anyone, but because entering prison as the world's most illustrious pedophile makes that a logical decision. Conspiracy theories make less sense than the stated story.
Me now: The Pee Tape was shot on Epstein Island.
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Q: “Did Bondi tell you your name appeared in the Epstein Files?”
TRUMP: “The files were made up by Comey, Obama, Biden…”
Nothing to see here, folks!
I need more Muslim characters! Or at least more prominent ones who aren't Raidah. It is a huge giant hole in my strip that makes it suck. The current storyline would've been way better if they existed. But they don't, and no amount of throwing Asma in for three strips solves it.
TRANS WOMEN OF BLUESKY:
What was your egg cracking moment?
When did you know you were trans? What made you realize?
And did you know you were a woman right away, or did you pass through other identities first
Happy Nonbinary People's Day, you gemstones. A year or two back we introduced FLASH GORDON's first enby, the outlaw lawman Bones Malock. Having known and loved a lot of nonbinary people, I knew the truest way to represent you was as a unsettling desert pirate with a lightning sword
Happy International Non-Binary People's Day to all those who work, create, parent, protest, love and live without ever fitting into someone else's category.
Okay, everyone's jumping to conclusions, but Joyce was hit with a mysterious pink gas in Thursday's strip.
Now, in recent years, the police are known to increasingly use military grade weapons.
Which reminded me of this bit of proposed technology from the 1990s:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb
hey, kid, what do you want to play with from the cool superhero movie? is it a nude, melting senator who feels like a stretch armstrong doll that has been left out in the son and maybe mildly chewed by a neighborhood dog? WELL, SON, YOU'RE IN LUCK!
Danny: “Slipshine!”
Ethan: “…what?”
Danny: “ohnothingreallyIdidn’tsayanythingIswear”
Dammit Danny we already have to much force wall breaking in this strip!
fourth wall* unless Danny is a jedi.
Still less of a whiny dork than Anakin.
…my word, you’re right.
That is a very, very low bar to set.
So, you’re saying Anakin could conceivably out-Danny Danny?
Dannykin Skywalker has opinions about sand.
Source Wall if he’s one of the New Gods.
Then his name would have to be Daaniy or something.
Dang I’d read that.
That would actually get me to subscribe.
sliiiiiiiiipshiiiiiiiiiiine…
Willis hasn’t done a slipshine woth two dudes yet has he?
No, not yet.
Danny and Ethan are definitely gonna happen though, so that’s comin
Danny and Ethan Perform Awkwardly.
Danny And Ethan Fail To Perform Due To Anxiety And Self-Doubt
Ooouch.
Cumming right up
Ethan and Danny Complete the Triangle
He said two dudes would definitely happen, he didn’t specify who they were. We just assume Ethan/Danny because they’re the only current option.
Jason/Walky in a hi-larious drunken sibling/blond person mixup… ok, Walky would probably have to get _really_ drunk for that to happen.
No, no, it’s family tradition to sleep with your math tutor.
So, two beers?
Three, if Jason asks him to cosplay as Sal with a wig and some gloves.
Is Willis high enough on the Kinsey Scale to be able to draw up a bunch of gay slipshine comics?
He said that he’s going to.
He’s stated a few times that while dude/dude isn’t his thing, it’d be interesting enough as a technical exercise. The lack of m/m slipshine updates isn’t reflective of Willis’ Kinsey Scale rating; it’s because there are no dudes in the story who are cannonically banging. Yet.
Would’ve been nice to see Ethan x Manny from the Shortpackedverse tho.
Perhaps the sheer amount of awkwardness created by their combined sexual insecurities will generate a rift in dimensional space, allowing that to actually happen. And then…SOGGIES MAY RULE DoA.
Crossover! I would pay just to see DoA Walky and Joyce’s reactions to Joyce and Walky’s relationship in the Walkyverse.
PREMARITAL HANKY-PANKY!
but Joyce and Walky are married now. Its MARITAL HANKY-PANKY!
Eh. Manny is basically a complete non-entity. He has basically no existence outside “gay dude who’s not an asshole for Ethan to hook up with”.
I’d have put my money on the Ethan/Drew Riddler/Batman? sex myself.
I feel like Drew might’ve been Catman, but probably not, since Ethan didn’t notice the similarities until immediately after the breakup.
But one of the Slipshines is Amber and Mike in the Walkyverse. So he has done Walkyverse Slipshine, and there are m/m pairings there.
Including Mike & Ethan, at least once.
Do a slipshine of the entire event! “Mike performs a metaphorical crotch-kick, with a guest appearance by Faz”.
Politely Sad is one of the things Danny does best!
Next to availability, earnestness, and Dannying!
Poor Danny, if only you knew the truth…
Utena avatar! ^^
(Everyone but PM can just ignore me – fangirling over here.)
Utena doesn’t get much love anymore, I wonder if they will ever remake it, I just hope that if they do a remake, it will be a better job then Sailor Moon Crystal.
The series was totally surreal, but I liked Utena, she was a badass chick with a sword. Never did figure out what the deal was with the ’50s Vette.
I choose to believe that someone horribly misunderstood the script when it said “…and then she takes her for a ride!“
My question for Utena is why she’s supposedly wearing a “boy’s uniform” but none of the other boys at her school are wearing that uniform. I mean, I’m still going through the series (my friend introduced me recently, and I’m loving it), but that is a question that I don’t think is getting answered any time soon.
I don’t think they will ever remake it, but at least the remastering was good
Nooo they shouldn’t remake it. Even back then, it looked pretty “antiquated” and it was awesome that way.
NB : zettai unmei mokushiroku.
My biggest problem with Crystal was that it squandered all opportunities by just being the manga again. An anime based directly on the Utena manga would actually be kinda neat – so long as it actually expanded the manga rather than doing a scene for scene remake as Crystal did. So much potential squandered.
Yay me, I got that one. I’m hip or something.
Danny’s ex-girlfriend will be there as well, so that should help the awkwardness.
Ain’t no party like an awkward party.
Still much better than a Lemon Party.
Speak for yourself~
Danny’s awkward enough for an entire party by himself. Doesn’t really need any help.
Oh, there will be help. Plenty of help.
Are any ex-couples… not going to be there? It seems like we’ve got every one.
Do Sal and Jason count as an ex-couple?
Do they count as a couple?
…nooope.
So, they were just coupling, then?
Or just copulating.
Synonyms are fun.
The last we saw them in DoA, I thought that maybe they could become a couple &/or friends: Jason seemed genuinely concerned about Sal.
They’ll have Billie but no Alice. Which is probably for the best, honestly. Billie deserves to enjoy her hard-won drama respite.
You think this party will be the place for a drama respite?
Becky will pull a Plus-Ultra-Drama Tag that she finds at the back of Joyce’s closet and ask “What’s this?”. (plus ultra = Latin for further/more beyond)
So Danny will see:
His ex-girlfriend
His current squeeze, who may or may not acknowledge it depending upon her masked status
Someone he is dreaming about
The girl who tried to tear his clothes off
Nope. No drama possible.
You mean the girl who almost made Joe proud of Danny till he Dannied up that opportunity?
I’m a bit puzzled by Danny’s words, in fact; “this party is just going to be me, you and your girlfriend?”… did he forget about Becky inviting Dorothy, or did he just fail to connect the dots?
Becky did the Jedi mind trick on him during that conversation. Apparently it worked really well.
Magic tricks? I assumed Amber was off practicing her bullfighting skills.
“I shall now make crime disappear!”
Trying to stab criminals with a rapier without getting gored? Interesting crime-fighting tactic.
The tricky part is finding good banderilleros for your entourage. Very rare in the Midwest.
Or maybe Amber’s LARPing it up instead.
This is killing me.
My desperation for a m/m pairing grows more feverish by the day, and Danny continues to dance around it.
Damn guy has to be so damn faithful grumble mutter
I know, fuck honor right
Who is Honor? Does she live in Clark or some other dorm?
Tell me when you find her – my friend Zuko is looking for her. I hear she’s aviator.
Everything is better with a cape.
Imagine an ape in a cape.
An ape in a cape with a grape taped to the nape of his neck?
…Cosplaying Professor Snape out of shape with mouth agape, stuffed with a crepe?
An ape in a cape eating grapes.
Dollar Bill from Watchmen begs to disagree.
NO CAPES!
Do you remember…Thunderhead?
Anyone else notice that Syndrome’s cape was the reason he died? And that his fape almost got him killed near the beginning during that scene with Bomb Voyage? Guess you could say he had his cape and met his doom…. get it? Like had his cake and ate it… whatever, I’m gonna go stand in the corner forever…
I’m fairly certain that Syndromes cape killing him was the entire reason for the setup.
Counterpoint.
Ethan is so happy to be single, haha. It’s kinda nice to see Ethan in a lighter mood for once
Most of Happy Ethan has happened around Danny. Funny, that.
Joe should have a “serious” talk with Ethan.
Let’s see how much Danny and Amber wind up giving away to their friends…
“Yes but is it art?”
Danny is definitely not sad. He must be squeeeeeing from within.
I am, too! Eeeee I sure hope they are super awkward ^.^
That’s like hoping for the sun to rise tomorrow.
He’s sad because now it makes it even more complicated for him to control his attraction towards Ethan, as he’s now available. But Danny isn’t. Hence the inner turmoil, hence the sadness.
In other words, he’s sad, because he’s happy.
…I see what you did there.
Technically, Danny doesn’t know that Ethan is available in that sense. He doesn’t know that Ethan’s gay. (Amber knows for obvious reasons, Mike knows because he went to high school with Ethan, Sarah knows because she can read a “I’m living a lie and I hope no one notices face.”, Joyce knows for obvious reasons, Dorothy pieced it together via Joyce’s cryptic confession, and Walky assumed because of Ethan’s lack of initiative around Joyce. Every other student that Ethan has interacted with believes he’s straight.)
Dorothy figured it out the very first time she saw Joyce with Ethan (and Mike) in the lobby, after which Joyce told her that Ethan was different than other boys in the way he looked at her — or, didn’t look at her — which made her feel safe with him.
Had to recheck a strip that I only knew was vaguely in book 2, but yeah Dorothy makes an offhand comment after Joyce says that “Hanky panky doesn’t even register on his mind!”, which Joyce brushes off. The next time she sees Ethan he’s identified as Joyce’s boyfriend. And from what she says here: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/unpretty/ she didn’t think that Joyce would actually try to change someone’s sexual orientation like that. I’m pretty sure she thought he was straight until http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/beard/
Ethan: “You, me, my ex-girlfriend, your girlfriend-who-is-also-my-ex-girlfirend, your ex-girlfriend, that girl you let down before even establishing interest, that girl who was gonna bang you until you rejected her and your ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend. Oh, and Becky.
If they all show up.”
Danny: “When you put it that way…”
Turns around and goes back to his room.
Joe silently hands them the sock and leave
And that girl behind the door. Can’t forget her.
Darn, I totally forgot Dina!
I also forgot Roz. I wonder if that sex tape drama has run its course…
Considering Roz was making a play for Jacob and he’ll be at the party at some point, an ill-timed cameo by Roz might produce some sparks too – especially if she manages to wreck a reconciliation between Jacob and Sarah in the process.
Or Roz and Joe could wind up rehearsing for a sequel, leaving Danny socked out of his room when the party breaks up.
Oh, good lord, I’d totally forgotten about Roz and Jacob. I’m tempted to think that was set up specifically so things could get awkward at this party. (I realize that strip was over a year ago, but you never know.)
Greenygal, this is Willis we’re talking about. Of course that’s why he set that up.
Joe was explicitly uninvited, though. He’ll be back in his room, furiously tapping an index card.
You’re looking at it wrong. Joe knows he has the room to himself for at least a few hours. Good odds that Danny will come home to a sock on the doorknob.
Maybe Danny can crash in Ethan’s room? Or maybe they’ll both have to go spend the night at Amber’s when Jacob and Sarah sock them out of Ethan’s room. At least Dina can have Sarah’s bed in that scenario.
Wait, which is “that girl you let down before even establishing interest,”?
Sarah.
Listen Ethan, if sitcoms have taught me anything, you DON’T want to go to a party with two exs and a potential new fling. Hilarity is going to happen.
It’s worse than that; see Kraken’s post, above.
But I love hilarity!
Not just hillarity. Shenanigans for certain, plssibly even wacky hijinks.
Wouldn’t Danny totally recognize what “caped” means, and that they both know Amazi Girl’s identity?
Both of them already know the other knows Amazi-Girl’s real identity.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/nightclass/
Oh yeah! Thanks
Ethan intends for Danny to recognize what “caped” means, he’s just using it to dance around the point in case anyone else is listening.
Honestly he could have just said “stuff” to make his point without the word “caped” in front of it. Danny would take like half a second’s thought of “stuff? What kind of stuff would Amber–oh right” to figure it out, probably, but whatever.
To be fair, “stuff” could include “she’s obsessed with a game/fanfic binge and I couldn’t get her off the computer” in Amber’s case. Adding a qualifier about what kind of stuff it is isn’t unreasonable.
It’s not much of a euphemism. Ethan might as well have said, “Amber’s one amazing girl, isn’t she! Anyway, she’s busy tonight. Did I mention how she’s amazing yet?”
To be really careful he should have put on an Amazi-Mask and then nobody who overheard him could have understood what he meant by “caped stuff”. Or an Amazi-Condom?
If you guys haven’t noticed yet that this is going to be one huge disaster than its already to late.
We know and we’re looking forward to it
It’s a train wreck without all the death – fun to watch, and you don’t feel too horrible for enjoying it!
I just noticed that this version of Ethan seems much hunkier than Walkyverse Ethan. Cool.
Well, he is younger.
If you want Amber, Ethan and Danny to be in a polyamorous relationship clap your hands.
*clap clap*
*clap clap*
If you want a depiction of healthy polyamory in your fave webcomics, clap your hands.
*clap clap*
*clap clap*
*clap clap*
Aren’t they a bad trio to pick for healthy polyamory?
There might be some wrinkles to iron out but all relationships have that, don’t they?
They’re young, Amber has serious mental health issues, Danny is struggling with his own sexual identity, and Ethan isn’t entirely comfortable out of the closet yet either. So yes, a poly relationship between the three is likely to be rocky.
OTOH, the fact that they could provide each other with a lot of much-needed mutual support makes them interesting from a story-telling POV, and they’re not at all implausible as a trio. If you want to do a positive depiction of a poly relationship, showing how mutual affection and faithfulness can improve everyone’s lives would be a good start.
The stable long-term poly groupings I’ve known in real life have been more about mutual trust and understanding than some racy swinger lifestyle fantasy. Those folks were all past their teens and looking for different things out of life than a bunch of college freshmen, though.
I think Dumbing of Age in part deals with how young people deal with relationships, feelings, sexuality and stuff like that. I don’t want the three of them to magically work together, but I do think it would be interesting to see. Yes, stable long-term poly relationships would be great, but there’s also something to be said for people experimenting and learning.
If you want a depiction of healthy polyamory with characters that could actually pull it off instead of just the first lust triangle that presents itself clap your hands.
*clap clap*
Any decent webcomics out there containing something along those lines?
I suggest Leftover Soup
Maybe they won’t be able to pull it off. Maybe it will be messy and leave someone heartbroken. That doesn’t mean the possibility should be off the table.
*roar of applause*
Damn this formatting, that’s in reply to Sam, not the timemonkey.
It’s in the right place. But now we are enemies.
Glad to have a nemesis. Especially a temporally-mobile simian. Haven’t had one of those in a while.
*clap clap*
It’s like Danny is a catalyst for unspeakable cuteness
It’s kind of weird… I don’t think any two of them should be in a relationship, but I’m all for all three together.
I kind of feel like Ethan’s lack of sexual or romantic interest in Amber would prevent it from being fully poly, but then again I’ve heard of plenty of poly relationships where two people were both romantically involved with the third but NOT each other.
Illusions. She’s doing magic illusions in the quad.
When Ethan and Danny finally get together they will start by making diagrams sorting out their relationships
You people cry “Slipshine” when it really should be “Party Time”
If Party Time turns into Slipshine, Joyce will not be happy, to say the least.
Danny: “Well just bone me.”
Ethan: “What?”
Danny: “Just shoot me. I said shoot. Because I’m boned. Not your bone. I mean oh god why am I still talking! I’m going to be very uncomfortable at this party”
As a wise woman once said…
“Just fuck already!”
As has been noted by several people already: this party is a train wreak preparing to happen.
Ruth already knows there’s a party and may just decide to check it out later.
Becky’s parents are coming to the college, you just have to bet on that.
I’m surprised that Joyce’s haven’t arrived, to save her from Mike’s phone answering service.
And Blaine just has to show up eventually.
So many ways to go. And nothing awful has happened in, what 3 days?
Does Ruth even have anything to hold against the party? Nobody’s drinking alcohol or doing drugs, and as long as they keep the noise to a respectable level there isn’t anything they can do that’s ban-worthy. Except, y’know, have a giant rolling orgy.
She knows who’s hosting the party, so she already suspects the worst that could happen is somebody says “god dammit”.
*gasp*
*silently judges you and points to the swear jar*
God Dannit!
Oh wait
Becky only has a dad, her mom is long dead. And if he shows up Joyce and Sarah can tell him that he can’t come in, can’t look for Becky and to leave before they report him for being there without a proper pass. And if Joyce’s parents call to object Joyce can just tell them Sarah doesn’t like strange men trying to get into her bedroom. It’s not even a lie!
And nothing awful has happened in, what 3 days?
Something very awful happened about half an hour ago!
Link’s broke. Was it meant to go here?
Yep,
You’re definitely over Joyce
totally
My brain thought the two were holding hands in the first panel before it corrected itself.
Ethan’s in the right position. Danny just had to Danny it up by putting his hands in his pockets.
The party’s going to be fine. No drunks. No drugs. People will stand around making small-talk, listening to the wonderful music.
It’ll be fine.
Trust me.
2nd panel kinda breaks my heart.
“yeah… I’m very close with my lifelong friend, Joe. Of course. I can talk with him about anything…”
Agreed. It sucks to have a “best friend” who you can’t really talk to about anything without him saying you’re boring or ignoring you altogether.
This.
I know I’m finally going to cave in and buy that damned subscription if we get a Danny/Ethan slipshine. Gaah this is going so slow TT.TT
Danny’s face in panel two is just all kinds of heartbreaking.
This whole situation is so perfectly set up for Dan to Dan it up. But waiting to see just HOW he’ll Dan it up is so suspenseful!
For some reason I can’t stop hearing Ethan as the voice of young Brad Garrett. Ca;; me craazy.
So…awkward thought…do you think Sal’s invited?
So she can show up the same time Amber does, right?
If Sal got invited it was off-panel. Maybe Joyce was so intimidated by her coolness that she didn’t dare put Sal on the invite list.
Sal was probably invited, and probably won’t show up.
That DOES sound appropriately Sal.
Or even, y’know Ethan. Who seems a lot cooler with that understanding but I figure SOME discussion would take place. Even Sal going, “Ya’ look familiahr. Do I know you?” (I know people with a southern accent and still can’t write that dialog.)
I think Sal was definitely invited, and was told to bring her motorcycle.
Alas, my previous Muzak play didn’t take overnight.
The comic passed the Reverse Bechdel Test for a whole two panels. WE DID IT!
It did pass it quite a while ago. Way back here: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/03-men-are-from-beck-women-are-from-clark/mcnuggets/
That was still only three panels. Anything 2 or greater is fairly rare.
It also happened like a year ago when Danny and Ethan talked about comics, and like two years before that when Ethan and Mike were talking about the ethical ambiguity of a gay man enjoying Chick-fil-A. Also a couple months ago when Joe and Dan were talking about friendship dynamics, and wow there are a lot of moments now that I think about it.
Plus, you know, yesterday.
And this strip wouldn’t even pass, would it?
Does Danny know that Ethan is gay?
No. Only Amber, Joyce, Mike, Walky and Dorothy know.
Not yet; as far as we know he doesn’t.