Theory: Ana Chronistic (and therefore also Jen Aside) is a pseudonym for Maggie. Theoretically, she could see the strips months in advance, and have comments for each one queued up.
Her access to art far ahead of its release is what makes me think that might be the case.
Isn’t there a joke in Futurama where the Professor boasts that he successfully did something with only minimal brain damage, but the gag is he says it as Blaine Dablage?
What we are seeing here are the clear effects of Blaine Dablage.
I think you are missing the point. No, Amber does not know. -Blaine- knows that Amazi-Girl knows who he is. Therefore, even beyond his general doubt that his daughter can’t be anyone of worth, Amber demonstrating her lack of knowledge is actually pretty reasonable proof that she’s not Amazi-Girl (even though she is).
This is exactly why she can wear a cape safely. Were it not for this immunity, she’d have died due to that cape when she was trying to rescue Becky from Toedad.
Actually, he changes everything about himself when he dresses up as Clark.
In Superman: Birthright, he wanted to not wear a mask. “People won’t trust me if they can’t see my face.” Ma Kent realized that he would have to disguise himself as Clark Kent. The glasses were a way of concealing his beautiful eyes and changing the shape of his face, but she told him he’d still have to do way more than that and advised him to study acting.
So when he’s Clark, his entire body language and mannerisms are different. He slouches and hunches, speaks softly, wears clothes that don’t fit properly, stays at the back of groups, doesn’t look at you when you’re talking with him, and is deliberately clumsy.
It’s amazing what a change this can make. I was one of the “haha he’s just wearing glasses ppl are so stoopid” too until this was pointed out to me, and now i find it just so obvious i wonder why i missed it before.
I’ve been using this lesson too: whenever i have a new NPC for my players to interact with, i try to think of mannerisms and body language to roleplay them in addition to ‘what voice to use.’ I’d -kinda- been doing it before, but now i put thought into it. Deliberately. 🙂
And we had hints yesterday that even his voice does not sound as usual, probably because of the battering suffered the previous night. Besides, Amber is in a state of sleep-deprivation that may impair slightly her perceptiveness.
Daniel here. I’m thinking it’s a look of “you’re just saying that to protect the rest of us, right? No way quiet loner Amber could be the 1 I look up to…”
Then again, Sarah didn’t believe Joyce was the Dingdong Whiteboard Bandit…
I can’t make out what it means either. “What are you doing!? Shut up!” would be my guess; BUT i suppose it could be her (looking a blaine, hearing amber claim to be amazi-girl) starting a “that’s ridiculous” laugh but having it be cut off when she turns her head and actually looks at amber and chokes out “heh” because she’s really going “holy carp you really are amazi-girl you have been all along!” inside…Yeah, that sort of realization could really mess with my vocal cords too.
Ross might actually have a tiny, perhaps a micron or two wide, change of heart regarding Becky. Blaine probably should spend the rest of his life in a body cast.
I still think all the kidnapping is a means to an end for Ross, and he doesn’t actually want to cause collateral damage. If he grows a spine, I could believe he’d try to temper some of Blaine’s more extreme decisions.
Interesting. Amazi-Girl and Amber seem to have separated from each other to the point where AG isn’t letting Amber know this is her own father. We’ve seen that they are becoming less aware of the others actions, but this is somewhat important information…
I think they’ve been basically completely separated for a while. Remember that time Amber went to bed and woke up to find pictures of AmaziGirl’s heroism?
It sounds like you blame AG for that, but I don’t know whether AG stopped “giving” memories, Amber stopped “listening” to them or the two just grew apart to such an extent that they’re not the same person and therefore don’t have the same set of memories…
I like to think the subtle ‘MIKE’ hints in Amber’s strips a while ago were Amazi-Girl desperately trying to get Amber’s attention by pounding on their shared apartment wall.
I feel like the deal Amber made with Stan Lee that let her stay anonymous just from wearing a mask came with the terrible downside of her never being able to recognize someone else in a mask.
Walky first wore a mask here. Technically he didn’t put it on in that strip but still was immediately recognized by AG. I looked it up but I believe this is the first time amber sees walky wearing a mask. Or it was in one of the patreon things.
I was referring to walky putting on the mask like 5 strips ago. I believe she asked why he was dressed as a super hero, and he said “these are my pajamas, NOW im dressed as a superhero.”
It is, actually. If we’re talking DID, one of the key diagnostic traits is amnesia. Alters are created in part to hold memories that are too painful to remember but they also hold all sorts of trivial bits of information too.
Basically everyone, minus maybe Dina, has been unable to see through Amazi-Girl’s disguise, so it’s more that masks actually work here. 😛
Anyone, like Marcy, that figures out who Amazi-Girl is has been through deduction, not just looking at her. Doesn’t help that her body language, way of wearing her hair, and even voice are presented as different. Which is going to be tricky here if she can’t actually pull off the transformation willingly.
There actually is a condition where one is unable to recognize faces (therefore relying on clothing or bahavior or something as an indicator instead). It’s called prosopagnosia and apparently it’s passed down genetically in some instances, though saying either O’Malley has it is a tad out-there at this point.
I wonder if Dina’s got prosopagnosia and was recognizing Amber by something other than her face to begin with. (I’m prosopagnosiac and I often use movement patterns, which might not be that different between Amber/Amazi-Girl?)
Wow…
Just Wow…
There’s an actual similarity between Blaine and Amber I never expected to see coming…
They’re either both really special in being able to hide their identities with such masks, or else they’re both just absolutely incapable of recognizing people through them.
(I mean nobody has actually recognized Amber’s body in AmaziGirl’s costume prior to being told of her secret identity so it may just be a superhero logic thing)
I still don’t understand a lot of the logistics of this plan. Aren’t like over half this group just a bunch of loose ends? Ross is identifiable. It wouldn’t take much investigative work to find out how he made bail. Is Blaine planning on killing at least four people?
I would imagine that Blaine intends to make this appear as a murder/suicide so that no witnesses are left outside of his thugs. The best outcome I can think of for Ross at this point is him getting hurt stopping Blaine from going too far.
I think Blaine’s plan all along here is to pin everything on Ross as his patsy. He’s arrogant enough to where he probably thinks he can do that easily.
Wow. Is that how it’s going to go? Ross realizes just too late what it means to be “good” and in order to save the lives of these children he sacrifices himself and takes the Blaine down? That would be cool.
Als,Ross is a zealot, those typically have a lot of hitpoints. I think.
Hold on a minute. Lets just slow down on the possible Ross redemption please. This is still the guy who showed up to campus with a loaded gun, tried to “collect” his daughter and has referred to her as property multiple times. Hit his own daughter and said he’d kill her friends. Pointed a gun at Amazi-girl with intent to kill. Hit Mike with a car and is partially responsible for whatever happened to him. And he’s currently partnering with a mentally unstable criminal in a kidnapping. “If” and this is a big “IF” he somehow turns on Blaine cause I guess he has a sad look on his face. He would barely even break even and that’s being really generous!
Blaine is totally nuts at this point. With each battering he’s been losing the little sanity he has. He still can follow well-established routines, like having patsies around, but he has lost sight of his original plan (forcing Amber out of college), and he’s blind for revenge on AG. He lost himself when he accepted entering her world of masks and capes.
I anticipate that next, Amber will rip the mask off of Walky and put it on to prove she is Amaz-a-Girl. I was expecting a reverse Skywalker moment (I am your daughter!), but now she doesn’t even know it’s her own father! This is going to be good.
Good on Walky for trying to defuse things here, even if it didn’t work. Going by his expression in panel one, that was definitely not a legitimate fanboy moment of the super-situation, but trying to massage Blaine’s ego, to no avail.
Yup. Both Walky and Dorothy do a great job trying to reframe the conflict, stalling for time and ensuring them getting out of it unharmed. Sadly, Blaine/Ball-Peen(tm) is too far up his own ass for it to have any effect, but points for trying.
This is really bad news for Amber if her father realizes the truth. All he wants is to get her to drop out of college. If he tells the university she’s Amazi-Girl, he could get her expelled. And arrested.
It might damage him as a credible witness, but provide just cause for an investigation of her. Heck, he could try to offer it as part of a plea bargain or even an alibi. “Your Honor, my client was a little zealous in his deprogramming efforts, but he had her best interests at heart.”
Only a delusional psychopath and fricking Joyce don’t believe that it is obvious Amber is Amazi-Girl. You wwould have to be blind or as delusional as Billie to not notice that the chubby short brunette with superhero iconography is Amazi-Girl.
Also, it is funny that Blaine wanted Amber to be as strong willed as him, but he gets angry when she doesn’t fear him. Self serving social darwinists are scum as repugnant as nazis and rapists.
It’s never been obvious to anyone in the comic that Amber is Amazi-Girl. Maybe to Dina, no one else has just known. Even here, Sarah also doesn’t know.
I mean, you can think it’s bad writing to have it that way, but that’s how it is in the comic.
…
We needed one more strip before the confrontation…
But yeah it makes sense for her to jump in But if she gets loose you’ll wish Amazi girl was in control ( I kind of wish she was the main personality) as she is the saner personality out of the two
AG is only measured and controlled because Amber fears her anger and her destructive capability more than anything so AG does the thing she struggles with: controls it.
But AG isn’t saner than Amber or nicer than Amber. She has been shown stalking Sal and to be capable of cruelty towards Amber herself and others carelessly at times then she backpedals with others some of the time because she remembers she is supposed to be a superhero. Like, she did insult Walky to his face by calling him a trash fire then backpedaled that interaction.
So Blaine is wearing a mask and obscuring his motive. Does he expect not to be recognised?
How thoroughly can he have prepared to abandon Ross in the frame? Ross’s pastor and co-congregants are probably the bailers of record, and the investigation has no reason to ask where they got the money. What about motel records and the records of the e-scooter he rented to chase Mike? Credit cards and burner phone in the name “Ross McIntyre”? What about his or Yuri’s car?
Some thoughts on the “mask isn’t a good enough disguise” thing, because I have in the past, due to being closeted and trans, walked past old roommates in a pair of fake glasses, a different outfit, and a ponytail and somehow never got called out on it. This happened enough times that I’m fairly sure my roommates were either being uncharacteristically polite or just… straight up did not notice for a year. When people aren’t expecting it, a loose disguise can be surprisingly effective.
Although this is probably pushing it, as Amber should probably be expecting her dad to be a massive arse, it’s also a dark room and his voice is somewhat messed up. This could also be a double-bluff, I’m not on patreon so I don’t want to assume plot points before they happen.
Why is everyone in comics afflicted with Superman syndrome? Seriously, it should take more than just covering your eyes to keep people from realizing who you are. I mean c’mon make an attempt at a different hairstyle or something, wear padded armor, at the very least platform shoes to make you taller.
Arg! Clark Kenting. I hate Clark Kenting. It involves both parties being unobservant morons.
I have long been a fan of the idea that everyone in Metropolis knows who Superman is, it’s just he tries so hard, so they go along with his ‘secret identity’ just to be nice. Including the villains. The only exceptions being Lois and Lex. They’re morons.
I can almost buy Amber getting away with it because she’s almost a shutin gamer geek and Amazagirl is… not (except when she is). Blaine has an image of his daughter built up, so okay, maybe his expectations would overrule his eyes, but for Amber not to recognize her own father who is an abusive asshole because of little more than a domino mask?
Dumb.
Over in PS-238 this is dealt with a touch better where Tyler Marlock is deeply confused when people, including his own parents and sorta/kinda twin brother, don’t recognize him while he is wearing his (much better than Amber’s) mask.
Really? The one person who’s been implied to know and going along with it until he willingly tells her to the truth (Lois) is the one who gets the moron brand?
Hmm. I can see how Amber can prove to Joyce (and by extension, probably Sarah) who she is (via the identity of the Whiteboard Ding-Dong Bandit), but I doubt Blaine would take anyone’s word for it (maybe Ross would believe Joyce, depending on how he views her now, but I doubt that extends to Blaine). Obviously there’s the costume in her room, but that’s kinda out-of-reach. And of course, the whole schizophrenia-amnesia issue makes this even harder to believe.
So as far as I can remember, Amber’s last fight was with ‘Ol Gash-Face where she legitimately tried to kill him. Now Amber is once again up against someone trying to kill her friends out of costume.
RIP Ball-Peen but also RIP the last tatters of Amber’s sanity? I’m not sure that’s a worthy trade.
She seriously doesn’t recognize him? He put on the costume IN FRONT of her.
Yeah, yeah… that was Amazi-Girl. Sorry that’s not cutting the mustard. If she’s going to pull a Memento, here, then Amazi-Girl should have left a note.
Her fu dissociation from AG doesn’t concern me but it’s more weird that she doesn’t recognize her dad wearing a tiny mask and not disguising his voice, especially since she knows he’s a huge piece of shit and did know about the first time AG fought him
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“You’re early for April Fool’s Day”
In fairness to the masked supervillain, Amber not knowing what Amazigirl knew rather undercuts her case.
Less undercuts, more uppercuts!
F>D>d/f>+P
wait, did she say “whoever you are” to her dad …. right, the ‘transformation scene’ was only seen by AG 😐
Yes. Absolutely.
Ooh, I wonder what this year’s Shortpacked! will be about! Maybe Ethan pissed that all the cons he planned on attending have been postponed.
Ana, you’ve been using the fourth panel as your avatar for a while now. How the heck could you?
Ana possesses strange time-bending powers that would fry the brains of lesser mortals such as you and I.
It’s an anachronism.
Theory: Ana Chronistic (and therefore also Jen Aside) is a pseudonym for Maggie. Theoretically, she could see the strips months in advance, and have comments for each one queued up.
Her access to art far ahead of its release is what makes me think that might be the case.
oh, that reminds me
Of… course. Also no shocker.
also no Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Chameleon, Rhino and Scorpion.
You named Mysterio before the VULTURE?!?
I’m done with this generation. Driver, take me home.
(Gets into the backseat of his imaginary car)
And Chameleon before Kraven, and no Electro.
To say nothing of Mr. Mxyzptlk.
Say nothing of Mr. Mxyzptlk!
Seriously Bad Idea.
Kltpzyxm.
i’m copy pasting off google with my phone. damn you sergey brin!
Mysterio is obviously the superior rogue. He really understands what being a supervillain is all about: Theatrics.
PRESENTATION!
Him and Arcade make the most entertaining of pairings.
Shocker is the best of Sp[ider-Man’s villains. I mean, it takes real stones to commit crimes in a quilt.
He’s had 3 concussions so far. So, he’s a little slow on the uptake.
Isn’t there a joke in Futurama where the Professor boasts that he successfully did something with only minimal brain damage, but the gag is he says it as Blaine Dablage?
What we are seeing here are the clear effects of Blaine Dablage.
I’m thinking of when Homer J. Simpson celebrated completing a stupid action with “no brain damage-amage-AMAGE-amage-amage”, honestly.
Dr. Nick: “When you were in that coma, could you feel your brain being damaged?”
To be fair, the ‘whoever you are’ is kinda undermining the statement, as Amazi-Girl knows exactly who The Ball-Peener is.
Amazi-Girl knows, but does Amber know? Are we even sure which one she is right now?
Amber doesn’t know, since they’re not sharing memories anymore.
Amber’s behind the wheel right now; the cheek blushes are a tell, and the character tags make it definitive.
She’s Amber.
1) Amazi-Girl saw Blaine put on his mask, she would know his secret identity.
2) Her speech bubbles are white. Amazi-Girl’s speech bubbles are dark blue.
3) Amber is tagged in this scene. Amazi-Girl is not.
I think you are missing the point. No, Amber does not know. -Blaine- knows that Amazi-Girl knows who he is. Therefore, even beyond his general doubt that his daughter can’t be anyone of worth, Amber demonstrating her lack of knowledge is actually pretty reasonable proof that she’s not Amazi-Girl (even though she is).
Wait… was that the Dinobot shirt Ethan was wearing when he lost his virginity?
Not his boning shirt!
“whoever you are” man masks work wonders in this comic
They’ve worked for 80 years in who knows how many comics, so why should this one be any different?
Plot Twist: DoA takes place in the same universe as The Incredibles.
Has Amazi-Girl ever gone wrong yet using a cape?
“No capes!”
Maybe capes are only risky for superheroes with powers?
Amazi-Girl is immune to criticism, does that count?
Always.
This is exactly why she can wear a cape safely. Were it not for this immunity, she’d have died due to that cape when she was trying to rescue Becky from Toedad.
A lack of actual super powers didn’t save Dollar Bill.
Superman only needs a pair of glasses.
So putting something
in front of your eyes
is a completely
impenetrable disguise
Burma-Shave
As an ancient, I miss those signs.
but they’re magic glasses
Actually, he changes everything about himself when he dresses up as Clark.
In Superman: Birthright, he wanted to not wear a mask. “People won’t trust me if they can’t see my face.” Ma Kent realized that he would have to disguise himself as Clark Kent. The glasses were a way of concealing his beautiful eyes and changing the shape of his face, but she told him he’d still have to do way more than that and advised him to study acting.
So when he’s Clark, his entire body language and mannerisms are different. He slouches and hunches, speaks softly, wears clothes that don’t fit properly, stays at the back of groups, doesn’t look at you when you’re talking with him, and is deliberately clumsy.
It’s amazing what a change this can make. I was one of the “haha he’s just wearing glasses ppl are so stoopid” too until this was pointed out to me, and now i find it just so obvious i wonder why i missed it before.
I’ve been using this lesson too: whenever i have a new NPC for my players to interact with, i try to think of mannerisms and body language to roleplay them in addition to ‘what voice to use.’ I’d -kinda- been doing it before, but now i put thought into it. Deliberately. 🙂
If anyone can’t understand how well this works, just have them watch the scene from Superman 2 where he’s considering telling Lois.
Super-acting is a much handier power than super-ventriloquism
What’s more worrysome is that she doesn’t remember the information she knew as Amazi-Girl that Blane is Ballpeen Man.
The two really are more like two separate minds, instead of one merged mind.
Yeah their memories have been uncoupled notably since (trying a hyperlink again) this moment.
Man those are annoying to type out on a phone..
Maybe it’s genetic
This Comic could be the front page image for “Clark Kenting” on TVTropes.
Blaine has a bright light behind him, so the kids might have difficulty seeing his face.
In all fairness, the last time Amber saw him, he also had more teeth.
And we had hints yesterday that even his voice does not sound as usual, probably because of the battering suffered the previous night. Besides, Amber is in a state of sleep-deprivation that may impair slightly her perceptiveness.
*watches the bit hit the head of the screw and awaits the TWISTING*
Can’t get a read on what to make of Joyce expression in the last panel.
I love it, though! 😀
Daniel here. I’m thinking it’s a look of “you’re just saying that to protect the rest of us, right? No way quiet loner Amber could be the 1 I look up to…”
Then again, Sarah didn’t believe Joyce was the Dingdong Whiteboard Bandit…
By chance, I think you might be referring to Sierra, not Sarah. (She was one that Joyce admitted “it was me”, and was laughed at.)
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/cleaning/
My bad. Not the best with names. Still, you get the idea…
I can’t make out what it means either. “What are you doing!? Shut up!” would be my guess; BUT i suppose it could be her (looking a blaine, hearing amber claim to be amazi-girl) starting a “that’s ridiculous” laugh but having it be cut off when she turns her head and actually looks at amber and chokes out “heh” because she’s really going “holy carp you really are amazi-girl you have been all along!” inside…Yeah, that sort of realization could really mess with my vocal cords too.
And Blaine continues to underestimate his daughter. Am I the only one hoping that Blaine and/or Ross end up permanently crippled or dead after this?
Nope, I consider that the Optimal Outcome
Or at least an Optimal Situation.
And apparently Blaine didn’t get AG’s secret identity off the flash drive Faiz stole.
Ross might actually have a tiny, perhaps a micron or two wide, change of heart regarding Becky. Blaine probably should spend the rest of his life in a body cast.
I still think all the kidnapping is a means to an end for Ross, and he doesn’t actually want to cause collateral damage. If he grows a spine, I could believe he’d try to temper some of Blaine’s more extreme decisions.
Continues? Is Blaine in the shadows?
Probably not. Blaine would never work for Sydney Yus.
Honestly I’m expecting a sort of Return of the Jedi for Ross where he ends up causing his and Blaine’s death while trying to protect everybody else.
I’m hoping they either end up crippled and/or in prison for a long time. And that Mike somehow turns up alive and not very badly injured.
Ohhhh that’s a SHOE. Thank you alt text. Now I can read the word, too. I am dumbzors.
The word being “STOMP!”, that is, not ‘shoe.’ Maybe I should just sleep now and English tomorrow.
oh that’s a word, I was trying to figure out what was going on in the background
God, I hate Blaine.
Blaine? Where?
Many people believe it’s Blaine behind the mask instead of Sydney Yus. Strange, I know.
Are you sure it’s not Mike?
Sydney Yus doesn’t need a petty secret identy. Sydney Yus is supreme.
Sydney Yus is inevitable
And I am Amazi-Girl. Wait, no.
Interesting. Amazi-Girl and Amber seem to have separated from each other to the point where AG isn’t letting Amber know this is her own father. We’ve seen that they are becoming less aware of the others actions, but this is somewhat important information…
And Blaine isn’t even gonna believe it I bet…
This was also my thought. He’s thinking she’s being self-sacrificing rather than honest.
The cheecks are blushy. This is probably amber. This is the “masks make people unrecognisable” – thing.
I think they’ve been basically completely separated for a while. Remember that time Amber went to bed and woke up to find pictures of AmaziGirl’s heroism?
It sounds like you blame AG for that, but I don’t know whether AG stopped “giving” memories, Amber stopped “listening” to them or the two just grew apart to such an extent that they’re not the same person and therefore don’t have the same set of memories…
I like to think the subtle ‘MIKE’ hints in Amber’s strips a while ago were Amazi-Girl desperately trying to get Amber’s attention by pounding on their shared apartment wall.
… and as if we didn’t already know, this is Amber having come a long way from the 13(?)-year-old who hid while Sal grabbed Ethan.
… or maybe having had more than 30 seconds to acclimate to the onset of danger. But still, she’s come a long ways.
And there you are the full divide between Amber and Amazi-girl.
Amazi-girl knows thats Blaine … Amber doesn’t.
I mean, he’s got Blaine’s body type, hair, voice, even talks like him . . . but he’s wearing that mask, he could be anyone.
I feel like the deal Amber made with Stan Lee that let her stay anonymous just from wearing a mask came with the terrible downside of her never being able to recognize someone else in a mask.
She has no idea who Walky is right now.
I would agree had he not put the mask on in front of her. She should take it from him and put it on to prove to Blaine who she is.
Amber doesn’t remember anything about that night. Amber wasn’t there at all.
Walky first wore a mask here. Technically he didn’t put it on in that strip but still was immediately recognized by AG. I looked it up but I believe this is the first time amber sees walky wearing a mask. Or it was in one of the patreon things.
I was referring to walky putting on the mask like 5 strips ago. I believe she asked why he was dressed as a super hero, and he said “these are my pajamas, NOW im dressed as a superhero.”
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/popping/
Yes, here
Referring to the “She has no idea who Walky is right now.” part of that comment.
It’s probably Mike. Or maybe Joyce’s mom.
I dont think that’s how split personality works, but whatever
It is, actually. If we’re talking DID, one of the key diagnostic traits is amnesia. Alters are created in part to hold memories that are too painful to remember but they also hold all sorts of trivial bits of information too.
Though some systems do apparently share recent memories, as Amber and AG did until recently.
… So…. does Amber not recognize her own father?
….
Is…
Is facial recognition genetic?
Could be.
Alternatively, maybe Amber is a just calm enough to pretend she doesn’t recognize him in the hope it offers some kind of tactical advantage later?
Facial recognition is IMPOSSIBLE if an eyemask is involved.
Except for walky’s face
Basically everyone, minus maybe Dina, has been unable to see through Amazi-Girl’s disguise, so it’s more that masks actually work here. 😛
Anyone, like Marcy, that figures out who Amazi-Girl is has been through deduction, not just looking at her. Doesn’t help that her body language, way of wearing her hair, and even voice are presented as different. Which is going to be tricky here if she can’t actually pull off the transformation willingly.
There actually is a condition where one is unable to recognize faces (therefore relying on clothing or bahavior or something as an indicator instead). It’s called prosopagnosia and apparently it’s passed down genetically in some instances, though saying either O’Malley has it is a tad out-there at this point.
Huh. And I’ve been calling myself semi-“faceblind” for years.
PS Another way I recognize people by face is only where I’m used to seeing them geographically.
I wonder if Dina’s got prosopagnosia and was recognizing Amber by something other than her face to begin with. (I’m prosopagnosiac and I often use movement patterns, which might not be that different between Amber/Amazi-Girl?)
Wow…
Just Wow…
There’s an actual similarity between Blaine and Amber I never expected to see coming…
They’re either both really special in being able to hide their identities with such masks, or else they’re both just absolutely incapable of recognizing people through them.
(I mean nobody has actually recognized Amber’s body in AmaziGirl’s costume prior to being told of her secret identity so it may just be a superhero logic thing)
I think it’s more that. We’ll see if Ethan recognizes him. I don’t think anyone else there would know him.
Wouldn’t Ethan have said something already if he recognized Blaine?
Well, he hasn’t actually said anything – last strip trying not to react to the demand to contact AG and this strip being stepped on.
C’mon Blaine, isn’t it always the one you least expect?
Cue the scene from “Spartacus” ….
Amber: “I’m Amazi-Girl.”
Joyce: “No, I’M Amazi-Girl.”
Sarah: “I’M AMAZI-GIRL!!”
Walky: “I am Amazi-Girl!”
“I am the Black Ranger!”
I am Inigo Montlay!
I still don’t understand a lot of the logistics of this plan. Aren’t like over half this group just a bunch of loose ends? Ross is identifiable. It wouldn’t take much investigative work to find out how he made bail. Is Blaine planning on killing at least four people?
I would imagine that Blaine intends to make this appear as a murder/suicide so that no witnesses are left outside of his thugs. The best outcome I can think of for Ross at this point is him getting hurt stopping Blaine from going too far.
I think Blaine’s plan all along here is to pin everything on Ross as his patsy. He’s arrogant enough to where he probably thinks he can do that easily.
Wow. Is that how it’s going to go? Ross realizes just too late what it means to be “good” and in order to save the lives of these children he sacrifices himself and takes the Blaine down? That would be cool.
Als,Ross is a zealot, those typically have a lot of hitpoints. I think.
Hold on a minute. Lets just slow down on the possible Ross redemption please. This is still the guy who showed up to campus with a loaded gun, tried to “collect” his daughter and has referred to her as property multiple times. Hit his own daughter and said he’d kill her friends. Pointed a gun at Amazi-girl with intent to kill. Hit Mike with a car and is partially responsible for whatever happened to him. And he’s currently partnering with a mentally unstable criminal in a kidnapping. “If” and this is a big “IF” he somehow turns on Blaine cause I guess he has a sad look on his face. He would barely even break even and that’s being really generous!
Blaine is totally nuts at this point. With each battering he’s been losing the little sanity he has. He still can follow well-established routines, like having patsies around, but he has lost sight of his original plan (forcing Amber out of college), and he’s blind for revenge on AG. He lost himself when he accepted entering her world of masks and capes.
I anticipate that next, Amber will rip the mask off of Walky and put it on to prove she is Amaz-a-Girl. I was expecting a reverse Skywalker moment (I am your daughter!), but now she doesn’t even know it’s her own father! This is going to be good.
who knows, it could be a Skywalker and reverse Skywalker moment back-to-back
She’ll have to get out a couple yards of tape before she rips anything.
She’s working on it.
Good one Amber.
What the heck is even going on any more
+1 upvote
lolsame
Oh damn.
I… did not expect that. I should have, but I did not expect that.
Somebody smack him. Hard.
I nominate Joyce
One punch from Joyce and he’ll think she is Amazi-Girl
Somebody’s got to play the hero.
He’s laughing but since he’s a fucking idiot he doesn’t think it’s actually her.
Good on Walky for trying to defuse things here, even if it didn’t work. Going by his expression in panel one, that was definitely not a legitimate fanboy moment of the super-situation, but trying to massage Blaine’s ego, to no avail.
Yup. Both Walky and Dorothy do a great job trying to reframe the conflict, stalling for time and ensuring them getting out of it unharmed. Sadly, Blaine/Ball-Peen(tm) is too far up his own ass for it to have any effect, but points for trying.
This is really bad news for Amber if her father realizes the truth. All he wants is to get her to drop out of college. If he tells the university she’s Amazi-Girl, he could get her expelled. And arrested.
I kinda think that the fact that he kidnapped and attempted to murder some kids will kinda trump any of the claims he might make against his daughter.
It might damage him as a credible witness, but provide just cause for an investigation of her. Heck, he could try to offer it as part of a plea bargain or even an alibi. “Your Honor, my client was a little zealous in his deprogramming efforts, but he had her best interests at heart.”
Assuming he gets caught.
We’re all assuming he will live to get caught.
Only a delusional psychopath and fricking Joyce don’t believe that it is obvious Amber is Amazi-Girl. You wwould have to be blind or as delusional as Billie to not notice that the chubby short brunette with superhero iconography is Amazi-Girl.
Also, it is funny that Blaine wanted Amber to be as strong willed as him, but he gets angry when she doesn’t fear him. Self serving social darwinists are scum as repugnant as nazis and rapists.
It’s never been obvious to anyone in the comic that Amber is Amazi-Girl. Maybe to Dina, no one else has just known. Even here, Sarah also doesn’t know.
I mean, you can think it’s bad writing to have it that way, but that’s how it is in the comic.
Superhero logic
Also Dorothy has the same build and body type as Amber.
…
We needed one more strip before the confrontation…
But yeah it makes sense for her to jump in But if she gets loose you’ll wish Amazi girl was in control ( I kind of wish she was the main personality) as she is the saner personality out of the two
AG is only measured and controlled because Amber fears her anger and her destructive capability more than anything so AG does the thing she struggles with: controls it.
But AG isn’t saner than Amber or nicer than Amber. She has been shown stalking Sal and to be capable of cruelty towards Amber herself and others carelessly at times then she backpedals with others some of the time because she remembers she is supposed to be a superhero. Like, she did insult Walky to his face by calling him a trash fire then backpedaled that interaction.
“I’m Amazi-Girl and so’s my wife!”
I don’t think he believes her.
“Well, if you’re so convinced I’m not Amazi-girl, untie me and let me take a punch at you!”
“Hehehe, of course Timid Amber could never be a threat to the might Ball-Peen(tm). Just look at her little fists… aaaaaaugh! My face!”
Like, this whole “mask/no-mask” thing doesn’t look too hot for Blane/Ball-Peen(tm) however you slice it.
And that’s why Blaine has already lost – Because he can’t believe the real nature of his enemies and thus is unable to fight them.
If he knew anything, he’d be more afraid of Amber than Mazie anyway.
Sadly, Amber doesn’t know the real nature of her enemies here either.
“ok who is she really tho”
There is way too little punching of evil dads going on in this comic.
It’s nice of Abmer to cover up for Sal, again.
Nice try kid, but no one’s gonna believe that hahahaha
Whoa. First of all, this is big.
But…
… “whoever you are”? Can’t Amber recognize her own father?
Blaine can’t recognize Amber as Amazi-Girl even after this:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/strength/
Maybe it runs in the family.
……[anxious sigh] HHHHHHHHGGGGG
I hope this turns into a “and I’m amazigirl too” “so am I!” moment
So Blaine is wearing a mask and obscuring his motive. Does he expect not to be recognised?
How thoroughly can he have prepared to abandon Ross in the frame? Ross’s pastor and co-congregants are probably the bailers of record, and the investigation has no reason to ask where they got the money. What about motel records and the records of the e-scooter he rented to chase Mike? Credit cards and burner phone in the name “Ross McIntyre”? What about his or Yuri’s car?
*Amber grabs Walky’s mask, puts it on, and musses her hair*
Blaine: The soldier from the mountains!Blaine: The girl from the fire escape!
👋👋👋
Some thoughts on the “mask isn’t a good enough disguise” thing, because I have in the past, due to being closeted and trans, walked past old roommates in a pair of fake glasses, a different outfit, and a ponytail and somehow never got called out on it. This happened enough times that I’m fairly sure my roommates were either being uncharacteristically polite or just… straight up did not notice for a year. When people aren’t expecting it, a loose disguise can be surprisingly effective.
Although this is probably pushing it, as Amber should probably be expecting her dad to be a massive arse, it’s also a dark room and his voice is somewhat messed up. This could also be a double-bluff, I’m not on patreon so I don’t want to assume plot points before they happen.
Never discount the capacity or willingness of people to not see what they don’t expect.
Joyce, NOOOOOO!!!!
Who does Joyce think Amazi-Girl is?
Sal.
Why is everyone in comics afflicted with Superman syndrome? Seriously, it should take more than just covering your eyes to keep people from realizing who you are. I mean c’mon make an attempt at a different hairstyle or something, wear padded armor, at the very least platform shoes to make you taller.
Arg! Clark Kenting. I hate Clark Kenting. It involves both parties being unobservant morons.
I have long been a fan of the idea that everyone in Metropolis knows who Superman is, it’s just he tries so hard, so they go along with his ‘secret identity’ just to be nice. Including the villains. The only exceptions being Lois and Lex. They’re morons.
I can almost buy Amber getting away with it because she’s almost a shutin gamer geek and Amazagirl is… not (except when she is). Blaine has an image of his daughter built up, so okay, maybe his expectations would overrule his eyes, but for Amber not to recognize her own father who is an abusive asshole because of little more than a domino mask?
Dumb.
Over in PS-238 this is dealt with a touch better where Tyler Marlock is deeply confused when people, including his own parents and sorta/kinda twin brother, don’t recognize him while he is wearing his (much better than Amber’s) mask.
This sometimes unrealistic strip is being knowingly unrealistic!
It’s a cute idea. It’s obviously not the intent in superman comics. Or here.
It also completely messes up everyone’s characterization and makes the world even more incoherent to think of it that way.
Really? The one person who’s been implied to know and going along with it until he willingly tells her to the truth (Lois) is the one who gets the moron brand?
See also
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/familiar/
Hmm. I can see how Amber can prove to Joyce (and by extension, probably Sarah) who she is (via the identity of the Whiteboard Ding-Dong Bandit), but I doubt Blaine would take anyone’s word for it (maybe Ross would believe Joyce, depending on how he views her now, but I doubt that extends to Blaine). Obviously there’s the costume in her room, but that’s kinda out-of-reach. And of course, the whole schizophrenia-amnesia issue makes this even harder to believe.
This is gonna be fun 😡
So as far as I can remember, Amber’s last fight was with ‘Ol Gash-Face where she legitimately tried to kill him. Now Amber is once again up against someone trying to kill her friends out of costume.
RIP Ball-Peen but also RIP the last tatters of Amber’s sanity? I’m not sure that’s a worthy trade.
https://twitter.com/damnyouwillis/status/1244377463234404354/photo/1
Cursed fucking image.
“Whoever you are”
I’m now imagining a therapy session with Amber, Amazi-girl, Punch, Counterpunch, Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde.
She seriously doesn’t recognize him? He put on the costume IN FRONT of her.
Yeah, yeah… that was Amazi-Girl. Sorry that’s not cutting the mustard. If she’s going to pull a Memento, here, then Amazi-Girl should have left a note.
Her fu dissociation from AG doesn’t concern me but it’s more weird that she doesn’t recognize her dad wearing a tiny mask and not disguising his voice, especially since she knows he’s a huge piece of shit and did know about the first time AG fought him
I know this is a ‘you’re too WEAK to be her’ thing but also I mean, he did meet amazigirl and she knew who she was and everything like a day ago
i know this is a late entry, but how about “blaine damage” as his villain name?