Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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May 5, 2026

Mills

by David M Willis on January 14, 2020 at 12:01 am
  • 02 - To Remind You of My Love
└ Tags: joe, joyce, the parent trap

Discussion (164) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Sporky
    Sporky
    January 14, 2020 at 12:02 am | #

    Here we go! This conversation has been a long time coming.

    • miri
      miri
      January 14, 2020 at 2:52 am | #

      Does that mean we’ll cut back to Mike soon?

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        January 14, 2020 at 4:40 am | #

        No.

        • Jade
          Jade
          January 14, 2020 at 9:21 pm | #

          What if Mike is dead, and instead of bringing it up, Willis just keeps cutting back to different characters who don’t even acknowledge that Mike isn’t there, much less what happened to him.

          Maybe in like a year we’ll cut to Blaine and Toe Dad in prison together, but no mention of what got them in there, and then back to the main cast.

  2. Lux
    Lux
    January 14, 2020 at 12:02 am | #

    I can’t figure out what Joyce’s emotion is in that last panel.

    • Mada
      Mada
      January 14, 2020 at 12:03 am | #

      Her mind is an endless torrent of unutterable profanities.

      • sirconanad
        sirconanad
        January 14, 2020 at 12:03 am | #

        She’s writing 100 Julia Gray stories in her head right now.

        • Deanatay
          Deanatay
          January 14, 2020 at 8:22 am | #

          They all involve the appearance of her nemesis, broodingly handsome ace fighter pilot Brody “Broseph” Joesenthal.

          • Happilychaotic
            Happilychaotic
            January 14, 2020 at 8:32 am | #

            I want to read this fanfic right now!

          • Deanatay
            Deanatay
            January 14, 2020 at 7:30 pm | #

            After posting this, I realized I’d missed out on the opportunity to name the character ‘Joestar’. Or, maybe, ‘Brostar’?

      • Freezer
        Freezer
        January 14, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

        Mostly because she doesn’t have the vocabulary to properly express the, so they all come out as 50 tone, volume and pronunciation variants of “DAMMIT!”

    • Thursday Violist
      Thursday Violist
      January 14, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

      She’s thinking of a pun but doesn’t want to say it because it’s actually a good pun but she was raised to think all puns are bad

      • Clif
        Clif
        January 14, 2020 at 11:17 am | #

        They are. Particularly if they’re good ones.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      January 14, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

      Nothing, she just saw Robin down an entire box of coco puffs with out any milk.

      • Doctor_Who
        Doctor_Who
        January 14, 2020 at 12:10 am | #

        Didn’t even bother to open the box.

        • unrachel
          unrachel
          January 14, 2020 at 12:18 am | #

          a congresswoman will see a whole box of cereal and ask “is anybody going to eat that?” and then eat it raw without waiting for a response

          • woobie
            woobie
            January 14, 2020 at 12:31 am | #

            I worked with someone who would pull someone’s lunch from the break room fridge, ask “is this anybody’s”, and if the owner wasn’t there he would eat it.
            Senator material?

            • Greebs
              Greebs
              January 14, 2020 at 2:04 am | #

              “No, it just appeared overnight. The magical fucking food fairy must have left it there in case someone got hungry.”

              That shit just makes me so mad! Who does something like that? Not even surreptitiously taking other people’s food, but broadcasting to the entire room?!

              • Charlie Spencer
                Charlie Spencer
                January 14, 2020 at 9:34 am | #

                That’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a loaded sandwich. I favor a core of Tabasco and roaches in these cases.

                • Some Ed
                  Some Ed
                  January 14, 2020 at 6:46 pm | #

                  I recall working with someone who had worked with someone who had tried Tabasco and dog food, the day before my acquaintance showed up for their first day. Unfortunately the guy liked it.

                  As mentioned, my acquaintance showed up the next day. Completely unaware there was a refrigerator thief around, they put their lunch in the refrigerator. A few hours later, he was “cured”, by which I mean rushed to the hospital to make sure his mouth and GI tract would survive the ghost peppers my acquaintance had as part of their normal lunch.

                  Just saying, so you know.

                  (Note: the fact that someone actually likes to chow down on ghost peppers indicates they’re not a sure fire fix, either. But different people like and dislike different things, and you can usually find something the person will want to forever avoid.)

                • miri
                  miri
                  January 14, 2020 at 9:01 pm | #

                  https://www.askamanager.org/2016/07/a-coworker-stole-my-spicy-food-got-sick-and-is-blaming-me.html

                  And the amazing follow-up: https://www.askamanager.org/2016/10/update-a-coworker-stole-my-spicy-food-got-sick-and-is-blaming-me.html

                  Seem relevant here…

            • Ed Rhodes
              Ed Rhodes
              January 14, 2020 at 4:36 am | #

              Senator? He’ll, let’s put an exploratory committee together for a White House run!

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          January 14, 2020 at 2:09 am | #

          She just unhinged her jaw like a snake and downed it whole, box and all.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      January 14, 2020 at 2:41 am | #

      “Wait… it’s JOE’s fault! HE’S why this is happening to me!”

    • mycotic
      mycotic
      January 14, 2020 at 6:43 am | #

      I think she wants to get fucked up – and the last panel is like her realizing sje wants to punish herself w/ joe – something like this 🙁

      • Clif
        Clif
        January 14, 2020 at 11:19 am | #

        That would be interesting, but I doubt that’s where this is going.

    • Azhrei Vep
      Azhrei Vep
      January 14, 2020 at 8:29 am | #

      I don’t think she can either.

    • Nep
      Nep
      January 14, 2020 at 12:57 pm | #

      I think it’s determination. I don’t think she’s gonna make out with him. I think she’s going to call his nihilism (and hers) bullshit and start trying to care again.

      (CAN WE GET STATUS ON MIKE PLEASE WILLIS)

    • Leadsynth
      Leadsynth
      January 14, 2020 at 8:08 pm | #

      I think Joyce’s emotion is… “Crap, I let Joe get close to ME. Now I must be effed up.”

  3. emithecheme
    emithecheme
    January 14, 2020 at 12:03 am | #

    wow its incredible to see the parallels in what are two such different people

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      January 14, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

      They’ve had a very interesting build. Like, when the comic began, I wouldn’t have called it, but it’s been one of Joyce’s most interesting inter-personal relationships. They’re very different, and also have more in common than she does with her other friends on some points, like their parents being split up.

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        January 14, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

        (Not that Carol and Hank are split up yet, but it ain’t looking hopeful)

  4. Tandel
    Tandel
    January 14, 2020 at 12:03 am | #

    The Parent Trap is a vitally important tag and will be this year’s favorite character.

    • Tacos
      Tacos
      January 14, 2020 at 12:24 am | #

      Now let’s see how many people vote The Parent Trap and Blowjob Cat for the new bonus strip.

      • Tandel
        Tandel
        January 14, 2020 at 12:39 am | #

        That conceptual pairing is quite distressing.

        • Jamie
          Jamie
          January 14, 2020 at 12:40 am | #

          Why? Blowjob Cat seems to function pretty well as a tourist trap already.

  5. shadowcell
    shadowcell
    January 14, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    Dumbing of Age Book 10: The Hayley Mills Version Specifically

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      January 14, 2020 at 3:21 am | #

      DoA Book 10: When I Get Close To People, They Tend To Get Fucked Up

      • Clif
        Clif
        January 14, 2020 at 11:22 am | #

        DoA Book are we only up to 10: Yeah, See?

  6. BBCC
    BBCC
    January 14, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    Sadly, you two, I don’t think it works that way. Unfortunately, you can still hurt people while you’re detached. Sometimes that’s HOW you hurt people.

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      January 14, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

      Always a shame to learn Joe STILL hasn’t learned that a core issue of The List was that he WAS a stranger detachedly hurting people by objectifying them, but… sigh, it is Joe.

      • StClair
        StClair
        January 14, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

        “If I just do the complete opposite of (someone who does) a thing I don’t like, that means I’ll always be right!”

        (wrong)

        • Jon Rich
          Jon Rich
          January 14, 2020 at 12:23 am | #

          I mean, that’s how Trump tries to deal with Obama’s legacy, so you’re definitely not wrong.

  7. miri
    miri
    January 14, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    “Wait – I can blame you for that? Hooray, it wasn’t my fault! I wonder if Jacob will also buy this?”

    Or

    “I’m already fudged – fucked – up” *smooch*

    Also, where are everybody else atm?

  8. Kravis
    Kravis
    January 14, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    … in bed.

    • Jon Rich
      Jon Rich
      January 14, 2020 at 12:23 am | #

      With your mom. For a nickel.

      • Keulen
        Keulen
        January 14, 2020 at 3:22 am | #

        That reminds me, we still don’t know what happened to Mike.

        • someone
          someone
          January 14, 2020 at 9:36 am | #

          He dead like norwegian parrot painted on door nail

          • Clif
            Clif
            January 14, 2020 at 11:25 am | #

            Mike will never be dead as long as there are moms and nickels.

            Specifically, your mom.

            • Clif
              Clif
              January 14, 2020 at 11:27 am | #

              It was actually Amazigirl that died that night. It’s why Amber has a sense of loss.

              • King Daniel
                King Daniel
                January 14, 2020 at 4:41 pm | #

                I don’t recall Amber having a sense of loss.
                IIt really doesn’t feel like that describes her emotion.
                IIow you would come to that conclusion mystifies me.
                Look here, Amber and Amazi-Girl are inseparable.

      • Kravis
        Kravis
        January 14, 2020 at 1:57 pm | #

        My mother would never sleep with a guy like Mike.

        She’s to boring and conservative to do that kind of thing.

        Especially if it were for a nickel.

  9. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    January 14, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    All of a sudden I want both of them to start wearing Mouseketeer beanies.

  10. Woomy
    Woomy
    January 14, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    Do we have any Joe backstory? Seems like he just suddenly went from being a ladies-man to being deep

    • Sporky
      Sporky
      January 14, 2020 at 12:06 am | #

      Short version: Parents divorced because his dad’s a creep

      • Axel
        Axel
        January 14, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

        plus he got some perspective after his list got out (from Joyce, regarding that objectifying girls ‘harmlessly’ still matters bc it means there’s more people than just predators who don’t see you as human, and Rachel (other Rachel? idk) about him endangering them by basically leaking a map of all the girls in their building)

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      January 14, 2020 at 12:11 am | #

      His parents split up because Richard, his dad, slept around. Joe liked sleeping around because it kept him form getting close to anyone, so he wouldn’t hurt them like Richard did his mom. He thinks he’s trash, and doesn’t think he can get out of a bad fate.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        January 14, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

        Joe also thinks the issue is, specifically, sleeping around in a committed relationship, so if he never forms one of those and tanks most of his interpersonal relationships, he’s fine, right?

        (He is not fine.)

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          January 14, 2020 at 9:14 am | #

          Specifically, he thinks that if he does get in a relationship he will be like his father and cheat.

    • Sam
      Sam
      January 14, 2020 at 4:27 am | #

      He hates his father because he broke his mother’s heart by being a cheating scumbag while in a relationship with her and he has (it’s implied), done this in other relationships as well where he has said he would be faithful then wasn’t and it hurt the women most of all. He got really mad at Richard when he said he was dating Stacy because he is used to his toxic patterns. He is also creepy with the way he mentioned Stacy’s age as well, and Joe definitely gave him a hard look for referring to college girls as ‘sexually mature women as defined by the state’.

      As such, Joe, while someone with a high libido, doesn’t let people get close or try to have an actual relationship. He is always upfront about it and hates cheating. Joe thinks that his dad can’t change. That he can’t change. So he never tries very hard to. And it is a struggle for him to accept he isn’t as far removed as he thinks – his list still hurt women, he still has an impact on others, and you will always have responsibility for your actions.

      • Happilychaotic
        Happilychaotic
        January 14, 2020 at 8:38 am | #

        You summed it up really well.

  11. Mr D
    Mr D
    January 14, 2020 at 12:05 am | #

    …I still feel rather off put that Joyce describes the new Parent Trap as “The one with the slut in it”

    • Sporky
      Sporky
      January 14, 2020 at 12:06 am | #

      Described, past tense. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t say that now!

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      January 14, 2020 at 7:37 pm | #

      Pretty sure that description was aping her mother’s opinion.

  12. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    January 14, 2020 at 12:05 am | #

    Joyce and Joe? Looks like it’s about that time.
    https://imgur.com/a/uccuKH7

    • LeslieBean4shizzle
      LeslieBean4shizzle
      January 14, 2020 at 12:26 am | #

      ^^
      Very cute. I like.

    • Mister Gray
      Mister Gray
      January 14, 2020 at 3:17 am | #

      I still ship them!

    • Sunny
      Sunny
      January 14, 2020 at 10:53 am | #

      Those are nice, and very much in-character for both.

  13. William Leonard Reese Jr.
    William Leonard Reese Jr.
    January 14, 2020 at 12:07 am | #

    Joe. . . wait did I just say that? . . .Would Joyce go for that?

    Also . . . as much as I love this as a ship I can’t help but imagine that it would be rather unhealthy. But perhaps seeing Joyce like this would shock Joe into trying to shape up for her and thus help her see the world in a more idealistic place?

    • Mister Gray
      Mister Gray
      January 14, 2020 at 1:10 pm | #

      it seems that most of the ships in this comic are unhealthy when they happen. I’m hoping BillieXRuth stay the course though and get married. Billie seems to really want to try though as does Ruth.

  14. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    January 14, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

    “in which sense”

    …

    “asking for a friend”

    [inb4: I got mad about a hotel review and am technically still writing about how it’s way too easy to book a room through the website, then change your mind and cancel, and never once realize oh, it was a non-refundable rate despite wording on the site that said you have 24 hours to cancel without penalty so SUCKS TO BE YOU, THANKS FOR THE FREE MONEY FOR NOTHING, but I figured I’d post my prepared comment anyway bc idgaf anyway]

    • LeslieBean4shizzle
      LeslieBean4shizzle
      January 14, 2020 at 12:28 am | #

      Ugh. I hate those sites. Give me the willies.

      Whenever possible, I try to call the hotel in person. FAR fewer fuckups that way. Of course, more and more places won’t give out their phone numbers over the internet anymore to prevent that, so I guess I’m just screwed in the future.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        January 14, 2020 at 2:23 am | #

        What, really? I don’t think it’s that difficult to find most business’s phone number. Larger hotel chains might put their call center’s 1-800 number front and center, but if you go to the page for the one you’re staying at (or look them up on a third party site like Google Maps) you can usually call them direct.

  15. Kamino Neko
    Kamino Neko
    January 14, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

    … What the hell?

    The Parent Trap (Hayley Mills, of course) and that song in particular were in my head earlier…

  16. Poofdepoof
    Poofdepoof
    January 14, 2020 at 12:17 am | #

    Well, now I know my fictional heart – I like seeing Joe and Joyce meaningfully interact at least as much as (probably more than) finding out whether Mike is alive.

  17. Jonah Sanville
    Jonah Sanville
    January 14, 2020 at 12:18 am | #

    i love that the parent trap has its own tag now

    • Adrianna
      Adrianna
      January 14, 2020 at 6:18 am | #

      It would be very hard to find the only other reference to it made 9 years ago otherwise. I don’t know how Willis remembers all this stuff!

  18. Regalli
    Regalli
    January 14, 2020 at 12:21 am | #

    I get a sense these two might actually end up in a reasonably long-term (our time, at least) relationship given how much ground’s been laid here and how much Willis has said he likes writing their interactions over on the Walkyverse reruns (where it was explored in a few alternate universes and Joe definitely had a crush he never acted on, but never a full-focus romantic arc, which leaves it fair game,) but yeah, this mindset is NOT where I’d like either of them to be for a relationship with anyone.

    Then again, Ruth/Billie is currently still going strong and their origins were worse, so who knows.

    (As ever, I wish all of these kids would go to therapy yesterday.)

  19. Tacos
    Tacos
    January 14, 2020 at 12:22 am | #

    Well maybe not so much “fucked up” rather just “fucked”.

  20. PSadlon
    PSadlon
    January 14, 2020 at 12:23 am | #

    No Joyce, life gets f—ed up enough without looking for it to be.

  21. RacingTurtle
    RacingTurtle
    January 14, 2020 at 12:23 am | #

    Depression of Age

  22. not someone else
    not someone else
    January 14, 2020 at 12:24 am | #

    Ah yes, this I understand. These disasters I ship.

  23. PB
    PB
    January 14, 2020 at 12:30 am | #

    So, Joe backslid because he was scared, and Joyce is trying to process a lot of terrible things about herself and those around her.

    … Why do I still get the feeling these two would be good for each other?

    • LeslieBean4shizzle
      LeslieBean4shizzle
      January 14, 2020 at 12:34 am | #

      Maybe because even when they “hated” each other, they somehow continued being mutually supportive of each other?

      The texting really surprised me, back when it happened. Particularly how thoughtful Joe was during it.

      • seregiel
        seregiel
        January 14, 2020 at 1:34 pm | #

        We still don’t know Joyce’s number before she was a 0.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          January 14, 2020 at 2:59 pm | #

          We do know he planned to upgrade her from a 4 to a 10.

          With his penis.

  24. Suet
    Suet
    January 14, 2020 at 12:31 am | #

    *plays America’s Inspector Mills on the hacked Bluetooth speakers*

    You just cannot avoid that, Joe. You can only bless the mess and hope it does not become worse.

    (see: Ruth and Billie)

  25. DinaJoyce
    DinaJoyce
    January 14, 2020 at 12:33 am | #

    If they start dating on this basis, this will be our 3rd (?) currently active relationship predicated on the belief that both partners are too garbage for anyone else to date. I realize in a comic titled “Dumbing of Age” at least an occasional relationship of this type is inevitable, but 3 at once is a bit much. Ooooh! Maybe Joe will convince Joycd she’s worth dating and then help her get with Jacob?

    • Sam
      Sam
      January 14, 2020 at 3:45 am | #

      I doubt he’d do that last thing because he thought it was fucked up how Joyce went about trying to get with Jacob before so his sympathy for that particular pain is likely 0.

  26. ADLegend21
    ADLegend21
    January 14, 2020 at 12:38 am | #

    Are we finally going to address Joe’s self-loathing?! 😀

  27. Wraith_Ferron
    Wraith_Ferron
    January 14, 2020 at 12:43 am | #

    At first I thought that they had been handled as a ship, but now I wonder if that last panel is Joe wondering if he’s the reason she has become jaded.

    • kilgaen
      kilgaen
      January 14, 2020 at 5:09 am | #

      Both?

    • Happilychaotic
      Happilychaotic
      January 14, 2020 at 8:22 am | #

      Both.

    • Happilychaotic
      Happilychaotic
      January 14, 2020 at 8:31 am | #

      On a completely unrelated note, do you (or anyone) happen to know who our shared Gravatar is? I finaly managed to get one that looks like me… But I don’t have a slightest clue who she is?

      • Bicycle Bill
        Bicycle Bill
        January 14, 2020 at 10:16 am | #

        It looks to me like it could be Penny (one of Dr. Rees’s assistants, who shared an office with fellow TA Jason), with glasses added.

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        January 14, 2020 at 10:35 am | #

        That’s Beatrice, from Forest Quad.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-8/01-face-the-strange/carrying/

        • Happilychaotic
          Happilychaotic
          January 15, 2020 at 8:18 am | #

          Ah, thank you!

  28. abysswatcher1993
    abysswatcher1993
    January 14, 2020 at 12:56 am | #

    I understand what both Joyce and Joe are saying. Joyce became an edgelord because of realizing she has free will and can do evil; she envied atheists for being free, but she didn’t learn that lack of belief isn’t the same as lack of restrain. Joe on the other hand realized his hedonism was a way of escapism from the reality of his parents being divorced, and also that his hedonism could have harmed women. These two are the extremes of idealism and cynicism, and they have burned out. Joyce needs to accept that bad stuff happens, but that isn’t an excuse to abandon hope and trying to be better, and Joe needs to stop running away and accept that he is human.

    The conflicts between ideals and pragmatism are tiresome, my dudes.

    • Sazazezer
      Sazazezer
      January 14, 2020 at 1:19 am | #

      So what you’re saying is that they should totally hook up, right?

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        January 14, 2020 at 2:26 am | #

        Meeting in the middle of two extremes.

        • Clif
          Clif
          January 14, 2020 at 12:08 pm | #

          Thesis. Anti-thesis. Sin-thesis.

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      January 14, 2020 at 11:32 am | #

      Joe seems to think he’s nothing like his father regarding women. In fact, he’s exactly like his father.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        January 14, 2020 at 2:44 pm | #

        Huh?

        Joe thinks he’s too much like his father. That’s why he limits himself by avoiding commitment – because he thinks that if he does make an emotional connection he will inevitably betray it as his father would. What he didn’t realize until the list and Joyce rubbed his face in it, is that he’s hurting women anyway.

        There are certainly elements of his father’s influence in Joe, but he’s far more aware of it and tries to minimize the harm, as Richard has never done. His attempts so far have been flawed, but they’ve always been there.

  29. drs
    drs
    January 14, 2020 at 12:58 am | #

    “No Joe, when you get close to people, they tend to get fucked.”

  30. CT
    CT
    January 14, 2020 at 1:00 am | #

    Ouch. I feel ya Joe.

  31. Bagge
    Bagge
    January 14, 2020 at 1:19 am | #

    Neither of them even commented of the obvious innuendo in the last panel – that’s how hard this hits for them.

  32. BenRG
    BenRG
    January 14, 2020 at 2:03 am | #

    I suspect that Joyce and Joe are currently thinking about what a miserable life that would be to live. I wonder how they’ll react to that realisation?

  33. Jude
    Jude
    January 14, 2020 at 2:13 am | #

    listen you SCHMUCK you’re gonna TELL ME what HAPPENED to MIKE

    • Uly
      Uly
      January 14, 2020 at 2:32 am | #

      Hear, hear.

    • PB
      PB
      January 14, 2020 at 2:39 am | #

      Theeeerrrre it is. 🙂

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      January 14, 2020 at 2:47 am | #

      Okay, because you demanded it, he’ll get onto drawing the big reveal strip right this moment.

      … meaning it’ll be live around mid-April.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      January 14, 2020 at 3:31 am | #

      I’m assuming he’ll tell us eventually, but you know he’s enjoying tormenting us by making us wait.

    • Kyrros
      Kyrros
      January 14, 2020 at 5:14 am | #

      Mike has been ‘Chuck Cunningham’d…
      … only instead of going up the stairs never to heard from again, he went up a fire escape, never to be heard from again.
      When Danny said ‘goodbye forever Mike’, he meant it.
      Mike will never be referenced by any other character ever again – and only Amazi-girl (not Amber) will have any inkling of awareness, though only from the far recesses of awareness, that something is amiss, though unsure of what or why.

      • KJ
        KJ
        January 14, 2020 at 7:39 am | #

        you reminded me that Danny said “goodbye forever, Mike” and now I’m convinced he’s probably dead

        • Bicycle Bill
          Bicycle Bill
          January 14, 2020 at 10:39 am | #

          Mike is not going to die.  Even TV Tropes has him listed as a main character.

          Now, being Chuck Cunningham’d, OTOH, is something I never considered, but since Willis doesn’t tend to leave loose ends (he has already written out at least one character – Penny – by getting her fired for kanoodling with students, but she got a couple strips to explain her dismissal; and though we’ve never seen her, even Dana got a backstory to explain the animosity between Raidah and Sarah) I don’t think that’s too likely to happen..

          • Yumi
            Yumi
            January 14, 2020 at 11:01 am | #

            But Willis did recently tweet about breaking one of his storytelling rules. So.

            I don’t think Mike is dead, but the Word of God on the subject may not be the protection you would hope.

            • BBCC
              BBCC
              January 14, 2020 at 1:32 pm | #

              Also, Willis has said Word of God is not immutable or unchanging in his work. He reserves the right to change his mind.

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              January 14, 2020 at 2:46 pm | #

              Of course he told us that so we’d think that, but was it a fair warning to us or a giant fake out. 🙂

              • Yumi
                Yumi
                January 14, 2020 at 4:00 pm | #

                Or in reference to a totally different rule! The only other one I can think of is about ships, but who even says that it’s a rule that we know.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  January 14, 2020 at 8:15 pm | #

                  The fake out would be it referring to some other rule, knowing that we’d be reading this Evil Dad sequence with it in mind.

                • miri
                  miri
                  January 14, 2020 at 9:21 pm | #

                  Didn’t AntiJoyce and Joe hook up? So maybe he meant this, and they’ll get together..?

                  A slightly evil part of me kinda wants him to rub Jacob’s face in it: “What can I say bro? You fucked up. She’s amazing. Still working out exactly who she is as a person and de-brainwashing herself after her Fundie upbringing – but she tries, she’s insightful, has a heart of gold… She makes me feel like being a better person is possible and worth the work.” Ooooh – maybe this is where this is going, leading to Jacob falling into Shortpacked-esque sex addiction..?

                • King Daniel
                  King Daniel
                  January 14, 2020 at 10:43 pm | #

                  He’s never had an explicit rule against retreading old ships, but re-covering old ground, so to speak – the most recent Word of God I remember on the subject being that he was not opposed to the idea if he could find something new to do with the relationship. This is why Ruth and Billie, Mandy/Grace/Sierra, Zaph and Rose, Peter and Mary, Sal and Jason for a time, and even – in a way – Walky and Dorothy, have all gotten explored or hinted at to some extent in Dumbing of Age; all of those relationships existed in the Walkyverse(s), but the way they’re approached in the Dumbingverse is different.

                • Yumi
                  Yumi
                  January 14, 2020 at 11:18 pm | #

                  If you were responding to me, I know, I just said “about ships” as a shorthand for that.

                  I do think I’d rather that rule be broken than Mike dead, but neither seems super likely to me.

  34. Mishyana
    Mishyana
    January 14, 2020 at 2:32 am | #

    “Garbage roof..?”
    “Garbage roof.”

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      January 14, 2020 at 4:39 am | #

      Nailed it!

      • Clif
        Clif
        January 14, 2020 at 12:18 pm | #

        Joyce may be in a mood, but I don’t see her getting garbage roofied.

  35. Johnnyo
    Johnnyo
    January 14, 2020 at 3:28 am | #

    Wow how did you go into my mind and write a dramatization of the dysfunctional relationship I had in college.

  36. kilgaen
    kilgaen
    January 14, 2020 at 5:07 am | #

    Yeah, they gonna fuck

  37. Lone Duck
    Lone Duck
    January 14, 2020 at 5:36 am | #

    Joe has grown! Old Joe would’ve left off the “up”.

    • DarkoNeko
      DarkoNeko
      January 14, 2020 at 8:09 am | #

      why_not_both.png

  38. Eve
    Eve
    January 14, 2020 at 6:30 am | #

    Is he including her on that list of people he’s both close to and has fucked up?

  39. BenRG
    BenRG
    January 14, 2020 at 6:36 am | #

    I’m pretty sure that Joyce and Joe are going to end up doing something stupid, very much against both their better judgements. However, given the emotional pressures on them, it would be very surprising if they are able to avoid the pitfall.

  40. Booker
    Booker
    January 14, 2020 at 6:42 am | #

    I want them to end up together. But not now as idiot impulsive freshmen. Later, past the end date of this comic. When they are Juniors and seniors. When Joe has hopefully slowed down the machismo and Joyce has gotten past the edgyness and accepted certain pre concieved ideas about the world.

  41. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    January 14, 2020 at 6:46 am | #

    [pregnant pause and stare]

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      January 14, 2020 at 8:48 am | #

      Hehe, you said “pregnant”.

  42. Happilychaotic
    Happilychaotic
    January 14, 2020 at 8:21 am | #

    Didn’t we see a version of this conversation with Ruth and Billie? Hopefully Joyce and Joe won’t make a sexy suicidal pact.
    (I wouldn’t mind the sexy part though… Just saying. Even if I would like to see this particularly ship happening more in the future. They both have some personal growth to do.)

    • MK15
      MK15
      January 14, 2020 at 12:39 pm | #

      I’m getting a much bigger “we can be garbage together” feel and I’m totally okay with that.

      They can be outsiders together. Far healthier than Billie and Ruth’s relationships.

  43. Happilychaotic
    Happilychaotic
    January 14, 2020 at 8:26 am | #

    Also: MIIIIIIIIIKE! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIM?
    (But as much I want to see him alive, I’m more interested in this conversation right now. Does that mean I’m a bad person? No, don’t answer that.)

    • anonamousethatscurriesinthedarkness
      anonamousethatscurriesinthedarkness
      January 14, 2020 at 12:25 pm | #

      We are all garbage here – Damn you Willis!

  44. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    January 14, 2020 at 8:49 am | #

    And Joe now thinks is his fault if Joyce is in crisis…. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

  45. Arianod
    Arianod
    January 14, 2020 at 9:33 am | #

    “It’s almost as if we were characters in a David Willis cartoon.”

    • Clif
      Clif
      January 14, 2020 at 12:23 pm | #

      That’s what I said when we subscribed to Disney + in spite of knowing better.

  46. brumagem
    brumagem
    January 14, 2020 at 11:23 am | #

    Just try saying that to Danny, Joe.

  47. nlips
    nlips
    January 14, 2020 at 11:24 am | #

    I’m worried Joyce is going to do more things she regrets (maybe not specifically fucking Joe but maybe), and come to the conclusion that life without God is seriously screwing up her life, and that she was wrong to pull away from religion. “So this is why the church says God is important… see how fucked up I get when He’s not in my life? Mom was right all along!”

    It would be an easy conclusion to come to, from her limited frame of reference.

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      January 14, 2020 at 11:31 am | #

      Mind you, is it a bad thing to find fulfillment in religion? I mean, it depends on your belief in the supernatural or not, but the big thing in Joyce’s case is her mother and church are supporting a terrorist (Ross) not religion in general (Becky).

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        January 14, 2020 at 2:54 pm | #

        Not just supporting a terrorist, but all the other crap in that particular brand of religion that’s messing up her life. No, there’s nothing wrong with finding fulfillment in religion, at least in my atheist opinion, but Joyce is going to have to make a serious break whether it’s from religion entirely or from the toxic version she was raised in to a better form. She’s too tied to it, in ways Becky never was. Becky can apparently change her internalized faith to match her growth without much struggle. Joyce can’t.

        • Charles Phipps
          Charles Phipps
          January 14, 2020 at 5:26 pm | #

          A shame she and Jacob couldn’t have any conversations but my hope is Joyce finds whatever fulfillment she needs in-universe. Presumably as a pornographic cartoonist married to Dorothy.

          🙂

          What?

    • Woomy
      Woomy
      January 14, 2020 at 5:14 pm | #

      Then she’s gonna become a youth group leader and use this as an example of how people are nothing without God.

  48. Charles Phipps
    Charles Phipps
    January 14, 2020 at 11:34 am | #

    I think it’s fascinating how Joe has so much hatred and resentment for his father due to the man’s chronic cheating. So much so that he decided to avoid any and all serious relationships. Ironically, it has made him pretty much exactly the kind of douchebag he thinks his father is while also being angry his father wants to settle down into a serious relationship.

    • Nep
      Nep
      January 14, 2020 at 12:56 pm | #

      It feels very Eleanor Shellstrop to me (The Good Place spoilers ahead). She encounters her mother trying to be a good mom and wife and is hurt because if her mom was always capable of changing into a better person, she felt that since her mom hadn’t done it while raising Eleanor means that Eleanor wasn’t good enough.

      I don’t know which would make Joe angrier – his dad once again flaking and cheating (and showing how irresponsible he still is) or actually making the change for the better after all this time (once Joe is out of his active care, cause you know his dad was not the most responsible dad).

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        January 15, 2020 at 12:02 am | #

        I think the latter would frustrate him, and he’d wait for the other shoe to drop, but I still think he’d pick it over Amber’s mom getting hurt, especially if he knows any details about how that previousrelationship went.

    • temperaryobsessor
      temperaryobsessor
      January 14, 2020 at 1:52 pm | #

      Joe thinks lying to get what you want is the key problem with what his father did at least that’s what he’s telling himself.
      The problem is Joe never bothered to learn how to seek casual hookups with minimal making women uncomfortable if that’s how he wants to do things. He instead has choosen the path as identifying himself as a douche up front which makes people uncomfortable in a different way and provides cover for the worse douchbags.
      Their is proberly a bit of what Nep said of if his father and men in general are capable of being better than why not for him.
      A problem is Dick basically claimed that’s he won’t cheat on Stacey because she’s better then Joes mom, instead of claiming that he regrets what he did and will do better this time, or saying what he plans on doing differently because the magical power of Stacey’s awesomeness will not protect him from his desires forever. So either Dick is deluding himself or coming right out and saying it if it is like Eleanor.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        January 14, 2020 at 2:51 pm | #

        Precisely on that last point. It’s not that Joe’s hypocritically mad at his dad for wanting a committed relationship, it’s that he doesn’t believe his dad will stick with it.
        And as you suggest, Dick hasn’t given Joe or us any reason to think he will. No reason to think he’s changed or even recognized he has a problem and is trying to change.

        • Charles Phipps
          Charles Phipps
          January 14, 2020 at 5:28 pm | #

          It’s interesting to wonder why Joemom and Joedad were so miserable together. It might be different than Joe believes (even if it’s very likely, “We made each other deeply unhappy.”)

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            January 14, 2020 at 8:13 pm | #

            Oh right, you’re the one who wants to blame the cheating on Joe’s mom, based on no evidence whatsoever. I’d forgotten.

            We don’t know they were miserable. We know he cheated. There is no reason at all to think he cheated because they were miserable, rather than them being miserable because he cheated.

            We’re not going to get a “He cheated on her because she wasn’t a good wife” story here. Sorry.

            • Charles Phipps
              Charles Phipps
              January 15, 2020 at 9:43 am | #

              What the hell are you talking about?

              • Charles Phipps
                Charles Phipps
                January 15, 2020 at 9:43 am | #

                WE KNOW they’re miserable because JOE SAID THEY WERE MISERABLE.

  49. MutantSentry
    MutantSentry
    January 14, 2020 at 1:42 pm | #

    …
    …
    …
    *looks at watch, taps foot*
    …
    …
    …

  50. Valerie
    Valerie
    January 14, 2020 at 2:21 pm | #

    We Can Ship It

  51. eskimolos
    eskimolos
    January 14, 2020 at 4:06 pm | #

    Joyce is seriously not in a good mental state right now. I think Joe is a good influence for her right now – to me the glance in the last panel is seeing Joyce as another person he’s broken by getting too close to.

    Joyce has had her first real brush with wanting to do good but still doing bad, her last bit of faith – in the goodness of herself – is breaking to bits, and she’s lost her foundations. I hope her friends get it and can be there for her to help her through.

  52. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    January 14, 2020 at 11:42 pm | #

    …. so how did we have THIS comic and then go an entire day without a single comment containing the phrase “Eat at Arby’s”?

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      January 15, 2020 at 3:11 pm | #

      To obvious.

  53. Happilychaotic
    Happilychaotic
    January 15, 2020 at 8:14 am | #

    I would give a nickel for their thoughts in the last panel.

    • PB
      PB
      January 31, 2020 at 9:17 pm | #

      … See this right here is why we need Mike.

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