Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
All Known Alternatives
Karolina 'Kajotko' Jankiewicz
Akane has only one way to get back home: collect the 42 keys to parallel worlds. Eri and Ben are just trying to get through the summer before university. When a magical key turns up in an old spare set, all three are forced to change their plans and fast.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
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.
Hemlock
Josceline Fenton
A witch accidentally marries a monster, and now she and her familiar has to navigate life around her monstrous husband and her even more terrifying in-laws.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
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BUFFER WATCH
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He is holding the evil dads in durance at the bottom of a dry well in the basement of a deserted house. He makes them rub lotion on each other by threatening them with a hose, and is wearing a latex fetish outfit.
In three days he with throw a shiv, half a pepperoni, and a nickel into the well.
My favorite theory is that this question will go unaddressed for several months only for Mike to simply show up perfectly fine. This happens because the fall has somehow given him awareness of the audience and his first response was to torment them by not allowing them to know if he was dead or not.
Wait a cotton picking minute.
Didn’t mike show up just a few strips back while amber was in her bunk feeling like garbage?
Mike made some comments about something.
What was it?
Aha here it is https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/prettyokay/
Mike:
“We can’t run around saving those we deem perfect.” ….. “Human being wise, you’re a little below average and so you were worth it.”
So he is back and is not dead unless he is now an apparition.
That Mike was a hallucination. This is evidenced by his sudden appearance in Amber’s loft bed, sudden disappearance from same with Amber looking shocked at the spot where he just was, and lack of shading on his character. It is what Amber was referring to at the end of the chapter about “Think my brain’s getting weirder than usual.” It was discussed extensively in the comments of those strips.
Her mother has been shown to be kind of distractible. Not to mention that going through a divorce from an abusive mob stooge is doubtless demanding and stressful, besides which she probably needs to find and hold down at least one extra job.
And on top of all that, kids about fourteen can be a bit hard to keep track of. They’re starting to resent interference and supervision, and you’re glad they’re involved in track & field and have a few friends. You know that they are doing some dumb things and some dangerous things, and probably seeing some shocking things. You have little choice but to hope they trust you enough to tell you about anything really important and keep out of the worst dangers.
**reads the Disclaimer saying that this storyline will last until June 23rd**
**Sees the current buffer watch is set at June 23rd**
….
You know, I still think Mike might just be a red herring. Like he’s in the hospital with a broken arm or something and a totally different character is going to perish instead.
Before, I thought he was sitting up Dina, but now I’m starting to worry about Amber.
Which may also be a misdirect. I don’t know anymore. Willis has me jumpin at shadows.
No. What is known is that Willis said he was breaking one of his rules. Not killing off a major character because of extended mourning period was a rule, but not the only one. We do not know which rule was/will be broken.
“… said he was breaking ONE of his rules.“(emphasis mine)
While we do know Willis said he would not kill off a major character for the reason clif cited, do we even know what ELSE he considers a ‘rule’? Has he ever published or listed these so-called ‘rules’?
He also said that he would avoid including current events/pop culture references so as not to make the strip appear too badly dated during later re-reads. Maybe this strip is going to take a left turn in that direction sometime between now and real-time Memorial Day with a reference to the 2020 election and/or the current SCROTUS (So-Called Ruler Of The United States).
Ehhh. That could be a Clinton reference, too, and I would not be surprised if it magically became a reference to a future president. It’s… not an exclusive thing, is what I’m saying. And I have no faith that it will end in 2020.
IIRC Willis has also stated that that was an intentional Trump reference, and that as of 2017 the DoA cast now exists in a world where he was elected president.
(Also, Carla once outright pejoratively called Dorothy “Little Miss Hillary Clinton Junior”, which post-2016 not only casts aspersions on her aspirations but also might show what Carla thinks of Dorothy’s chances.)
It isn’t, but many people assume that rule is the one broken. It could just as easily be any of his other rules. Such as:
1) A sexuality has not carried over.
2) Retreading of relationship ground that nothing new can be done with.
Or others that I don’t pay enough attention to remember.
There it is, Amber: montage of recovering from Amazi-Girl practices, enter Mike referring to your shithead dad. Just pull the thread, Amber. Pull the thread, and the whole fucking mess will unravel.
Two things worthy of note. One, Mike is concerned about Amber. Two, his last statement implies that in the past Amber has met his jerk moves with violence or the threat of violence.
Parallels between Ethan and Mike’s sentences are really neat and reflect how they respond when they see her in danger. Ethan tried to justify that she could handle herself, while Mike immediately jumped her attacker
This is why I have a rugged smartphone, I heard all those stories of phones with badly cracked screens, so I made sure all the smartphones I have owned had Gorilla glass.
As a customer service rep for a major cell phone carrier, I’m here to tell you that any cellphone screen will break — it IS made out of glass, after all. Some may be a more resistant to cracking/breaking than others, but glass is still glass and even Gorilla Glass™, under the right combination of circumstances, will crack/shatter.
Which honestly, since this Mike and Amber have altered personalities and history to their Walky!verse counterparts, having them date here would result in a pretty different relationship dynamic
I believe Abysswatcher is referring to the symptom of sociopathy wherein they do not respond productively to danger.
A psychologist with the condition(he’s a real nice bloke, having a mental issue doesn’t automatically make you an asshole) told an anecdote once about how he once went close to a bear just to see what it was doing while trekking with a friend, and only learned his buddy was, justifiably, terrified for the doctor’s and his own safety.
I don’t think that’s what’s going on Here, but I see where abysswatcher relates Amber reacting to the aftermath of jumping off a building so nonchalantly to something like that.
In actuality, I’d say Amber “just” does not value her own life enough to be concerned she nearly died. Having a low self-esteem can mess with your priorities.
Oh my cheese, I am rereading the previous chapter and I just realized Dina is wearing ace/demi colors on her sleeves and it makes me so happy and how did I not notice it before? But I guess noticing it is my birthday present today.
When I was a kid I would get the swing going as high as it would go and then jump out. Also I jumped off a number of roofs in my time, even though parkour wasn’t a thing back then. Fell out of a tree once. Never hurt a thing. Only sprained a leg when I tumbled down a stair over a decade out of college. If I did any of that stuff now, I would break every bone in my body.
More background about how Mike vs Blaine is really a thing. Is this just a distraction or a signal that there’s more to the staircase facedown than we have been shown? Ninety-something strips to go in this storyline.
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the good news is Mike’s back in the comic
UwU
So like… do we think he’s dead or….
If he’s alive he is probably in a coma
He is holding the evil dads in durance at the bottom of a dry well in the basement of a deserted house. He makes them rub lotion on each other by threatening them with a hose, and is wearing a latex fetish outfit.
In three days he with throw a shiv, half a pepperoni, and a nickel into the well.
My favorite theory is that this question will go unaddressed for several months only for Mike to simply show up perfectly fine. This happens because the fall has somehow given him awareness of the audience and his first response was to torment them by not allowing them to know if he was dead or not.
Maybe he landed on the roof of the car.
Or fell through the sunroof and drove away in a sick burnout!
Nah, he probably just went splat.
I’m assuming he’s dead based on this one-panel crossover with Something Positive: https://somethingpositive.net/sp01272020.shtml
But it’s a flashback so the uncertainty still remains.
Wait a cotton picking minute.
Didn’t mike show up just a few strips back while amber was in her bunk feeling like garbage?
Mike made some comments about something.
What was it?
Aha here it is https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/prettyokay/
Mike:
“We can’t run around saving those we deem perfect.” ….. “Human being wise, you’re a little below average and so you were worth it.”
So he is back and is not dead unless he is now an apparition.
This is a flashback. He’s an apparition in the strip you linked to.
Considering that he just disappeared after talking to her, an apparition constructed by Amber’s mind is the way to bet.
That Mike was a hallucination. This is evidenced by his sudden appearance in Amber’s loft bed, sudden disappearance from same with Amber looking shocked at the spot where he just was, and lack of shading on his character. It is what Amber was referring to at the end of the chapter about “Think my brain’s getting weirder than usual.” It was discussed extensively in the comments of those strips.
And he’s suddenly gone at the end of that strip. So it was probably all in her mind.
Why would he be in the same bed as two people who literally finish led dry humping each other?
Not only that why would he be chilling on Amber’s bunk during that?
In this strip: Mike expresses… concern?
It’s hard to tell because his face almost never changes.
He doesn’t JUST care about your mom, ya know.
The nickles are important as well.
Gotta love those woodpeckers
We’re backfilling some character depth into the past with the new Writing Points gained through gaining Comic XP.
He did, always…he just needed to be an asshole to get thru the brick heads of his friends, I mean just look at them
Also, reminder that Ethan took this Amber to prom.
The poor man.
Poor Amber, she thought the relationship might go somewhere. I mean, instead of the toilet.
oh no the drama tag it is pulled
Panel 2 Amber has been watching a lot of Daria.
Yes! THAT’S where I’ve seen eyes drawn like that before.
Hey, it’s been so long since we saw the real Mike, I was starting to forget what he was like.
On a serious jote, how does Amber do all these things without her mother noticing?
I think she may have noticed the arm.
Maybe Amber tries to pass it off as teenagers just being stupid and trying to imitate superheroes, without letting on to how serious she is
Her mother has been shown to be kind of distractible. Not to mention that going through a divorce from an abusive mob stooge is doubtless demanding and stressful, besides which she probably needs to find and hold down at least one extra job.
And on top of all that, kids about fourteen can be a bit hard to keep track of. They’re starting to resent interference and supervision, and you’re glad they’re involved in track & field and have a few friends. You know that they are doing some dumb things and some dangerous things, and probably seeing some shocking things. You have little choice but to hope they trust you enough to tell you about anything really important and keep out of the worst dangers.
Mike does seem to start with actual concern and only fall back to his usual baiting when he learns Blaine wasn’t involved.
**reads the Disclaimer saying that this storyline will last until June 23rd**
**Sees the current buffer watch is set at June 23rd**
….
You know, I still think Mike might just be a red herring. Like he’s in the hospital with a broken arm or something and a totally different character is going to perish instead.
Before, I thought he was sitting up Dina, but now I’m starting to worry about Amber.
Which may also be a misdirect. I don’t know anymore. Willis has me jumpin at shadows.
… shit, I said Dina when I meant Becky.
Dina is one of the few characters I’m 100% sure Willis isn’t gonna kill.
again.
Silly rabbit.
Yeah, I feel you. That would be completely unprecedented.
Wait, is it now known that a character will be biting the dust?
No. What is known is that Willis said he was breaking one of his rules. Not killing off a major character because of extended mourning period was a rule, but not the only one. We do not know which rule was/will be broken.
“… said he was breaking ONE of his rules.“(emphasis mine)
While we do know Willis said he would not kill off a major character for the reason clif cited, do we even know what ELSE he considers a ‘rule’? Has he ever published or listed these so-called ‘rules’?
He also said that he would avoid including current events/pop culture references so as not to make the strip appear too badly dated during later re-reads. Maybe this strip is going to take a left turn in that direction sometime between now and real-time Memorial Day with a reference to the 2020 election and/or the current SCROTUS (So-Called Ruler Of The United States).
One of his rules was against repeating major relationships from the Walkyverse.
Also, not reusing characters based on his real-life friends is another rule.
So, perhaps we’re getting Ninja Rick?
We already have Alex in the comic.
LET ME HAVE THIS FLEETING BIT OF HOPE.
Trump was already referenced in the comic years ago, when Joe told Dorothy that his “do” list was more presidential than anything she’d ever done.
Ehhh. That could be a Clinton reference, too, and I would not be surprised if it magically became a reference to a future president. It’s… not an exclusive thing, is what I’m saying. And I have no faith that it will end in 2020.
IIRC Willis has also stated that that was an intentional Trump reference, and that as of 2017 the DoA cast now exists in a world where he was elected president.
(Also, Carla once outright pejoratively called Dorothy “Little Miss Hillary Clinton Junior”, which post-2016 not only casts aspersions on her aspirations but also might show what Carla thinks of Dorothy’s chances.)
It isn’t, but many people assume that rule is the one broken. It could just as easily be any of his other rules. Such as:
1) A sexuality has not carried over.
2) Retreading of relationship ground that nothing new can be done with.
Or others that I don’t pay enough attention to remember.
I am ready to see bisexual Joyce, in that case
Flashbacking
Flashbacking
You know the sanity is cracking…
And today the strip’s sponsors are Best Buy and the game Vivid Army.
There it is, Amber: montage of recovering from Amazi-Girl practices, enter Mike referring to your shithead dad. Just pull the thread, Amber. Pull the thread, and the whole fucking mess will unravel.
You’re gonna need a montage.
https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0391.html
My comment is awaiting moderation.
I knew which clip that was even before I clicked, but it’s Canada’s fault. Blame Canada!
“STUNT IT!”
I like how Mike first checks in to make sure it wasn’t her dad.
Two things worthy of note. One, Mike is concerned about Amber. Two, his last statement implies that in the past Amber has met his jerk moves with violence or the threat of violence.
Yeah, this is a noticeably different Amber than pre-convenience store Amber. I think this Amber would stick up for herself against that teacher.
Parallels between Ethan and Mike’s sentences are really neat and reflect how they respond when they see her in danger. Ethan tried to justify that she could handle herself, while Mike immediately jumped her attacker
I want to joke about “Parkour!” being a famous last word, but I think that’s a real thing so I probably shouldn’t.
Mike panel 4:tilts slightly to his right
mike still has his FAAAAAAAAAAAACE
FAAAAAAAAAAAACE
But is his phone okay?
But does he have his roll of nickels?
This is why I have a rugged smartphone, I heard all those stories of phones with badly cracked screens, so I made sure all the smartphones I have owned had Gorilla glass.
I have only cracked one smartphone screen and it was when I took it of the protective case to clean it…
I have cracked one with my fingers! (There were extenuating circumstances.)
As a customer service rep for a major cell phone carrier, I’m here to tell you that any cellphone screen will break — it IS made out of glass, after all. Some may be a more resistant to cracking/breaking than others, but glass is still glass and even Gorilla Glass™, under the right combination of circumstances, will crack/shatter.
I love amber’s smug smile in the last panel. She has a brand and i proud of it.
Which honestly, since this Mike and Amber have altered personalities and history to their Walky!verse counterparts, having them date here would result in a pretty different relationship dynamic
Dammit, I meant to comment this in reply to the breaking of rules possibly referring to repeating a relationship as opposed to death
The start of Amber’s sociopathy has begun… that isn’t good.
Amber isn’t a sociopath.
I believe Abysswatcher is referring to the symptom of sociopathy wherein they do not respond productively to danger.
A psychologist with the condition(he’s a real nice bloke, having a mental issue doesn’t automatically make you an asshole) told an anecdote once about how he once went close to a bear just to see what it was doing while trekking with a friend, and only learned his buddy was, justifiably, terrified for the doctor’s and his own safety.
I don’t think that’s what’s going on Here, but I see where abysswatcher relates Amber reacting to the aftermath of jumping off a building so nonchalantly to something like that.
only learned after the fact*
In actuality, I’d say Amber “just” does not value her own life enough to be concerned she nearly died. Having a low self-esteem can mess with your priorities.
You can’t deny that Amber fought for and paid in full for Amazi-Girl’s physical abilities!
… with lots and lots of Psych Lims?
Enemies, too. Reduced Wealth, perhaps. As for DNPCs, I guess we’re going to see.
You got that right.
I recommend not jumping off roofs period, but I guess you kinda have to do stuff like that when you’re getting into parkour.
Amber is aware that one does parkour, not necessarily shouts “parkour”, right?
(Sorry not sorry, couldn’t resist)
Am I the only one who thinks that Amber is very, very Daria in this flashback?
Nope! The hair and the glasses, plus nonchalance…
PARKOUR!
*Half-somersalts onto the couch in the break room, knocking the water cooler over, because apparently we have all those things*
Oh my cheese, I am rereading the previous chapter and I just realized Dina is wearing ace/demi colors on her sleeves and it makes me so happy and how did I not notice it before? But I guess noticing it is my birthday present today.
Prediction : Fake out
someone dies, but its not Mike, its Faz.
What Life is If you don’t have a phone?
damnit mike you better still have your face
When I was a kid I would get the swing going as high as it would go and then jump out. Also I jumped off a number of roofs in my time, even though parkour wasn’t a thing back then. Fell out of a tree once. Never hurt a thing. Only sprained a leg when I tumbled down a stair over a decade out of college. If I did any of that stuff now, I would break every bone in my body.
More background about how Mike vs Blaine is really a thing. Is this just a distraction or a signal that there’s more to the staircase facedown than we have been shown? Ninety-something strips to go in this storyline.