Dumbing of Age Book Eleven

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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September 20, 2023

Repressed

by David M Willis on September 3, 2020 at 12:01 am
  • 04 - Is a Song Forever?

└ Tags: carla, jennifer, joyce, ruth

Discussion (131) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    September 3, 2020 at 12:03 am | #

    somehow I feel this is accurate

    • C.T Phipps
      C.T Phipps
      September 3, 2020 at 12:06 am | #

      Carla is going to have a horrifying realization she wasn’t an important enough character to be kidnapped.

      “NO, ITS IMPOSSIBLE! I’M NOT A SUPPORTING CHARACTER! I’M THE STAR!”

      • Captain Oblivious
        Captain Oblivious
        September 3, 2020 at 10:07 am | #

        Of course she’s the star. That’s why Willis couldn’t risk her being kidnapped and potentially injured in an massively overly developed side plot that distracted from the main thrust of the development of her next epic shenanigan.

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      September 3, 2020 at 9:13 am | #

      Carla, as we always knew, is perfect in every way.

  2. BBCC
    BBCC
    September 3, 2020 at 12:04 am | #

    We know this and we love you, Carla.

  3. C.T Phipps
    C.T Phipps
    September 3, 2020 at 12:05 am | #

    I wonder if Carla realizes she’s not in a wacky hijinks story but a deeply depressing slice of life.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      September 3, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

      Carla brings her own hijinks.

      Had she been involved in the kidnapping plot it would have turned into some sort of Home Alone / Three Ninjas plot.

      • Ren
        Ren
        September 3, 2020 at 4:46 am | #

        Nah let’s be honest, if Carla was in Home Alone or something similar, it would quickly turn into a horror movie like Saw where she was Jigsaw. Nobody’d die, they’d just wish they could by the end of it, because of all her expertly machined hijinks and rube goldberg machines to deliver the sickest of burns.

    • Lumino
      Lumino
      September 3, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

      https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WrongGenreSavvy

      • Inscrutablejane
        Inscrutablejane
        September 3, 2020 at 3:45 pm | #

        Thank you for the 47 tabs that weren’t open when I first read this comment

        • TachyonCode
          TachyonCode
          September 6, 2020 at 1:23 pm | #

          And this is why I’ll always be a trope, and never a troper.

          There’s a trope for being a commenter in the comments section on a webcomic, right?

    • Tebryn Daltar
      Tebryn Daltar
      September 3, 2020 at 9:55 am | #

      I feel like she has her own spin-off comic somehow.

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        September 3, 2020 at 7:23 pm | #

        Willis just might be doing that, for funsies.

    • Mravac Kid
      Mravac Kid
      September 5, 2020 at 7:57 am | #

      No, Carla *is* in a wacky hijinks story, we’re just not important enough to bear witness to it so instead we get the usual Willis-penned drama and character torture.

  4. Octopus Ink
    Octopus Ink
    September 3, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

    Jeez, Carla- Don’t be so hard on yourself!

  5. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    September 3, 2020 at 12:08 am | #

    Awww, it’s so nice to see Billie and Ruth flirting in their own special way.

    Also, Carla has no business being on Garbage Roof, she’s not even close to garbage.

    • Subjektivity
      Subjektivity
      September 3, 2020 at 12:32 am | #

      Thats not true. Billie is standing right next to her.

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        September 3, 2020 at 8:11 am | #

        Wow….just wow. Je apppplaude!

  6. Chronos
    Chronos
    September 3, 2020 at 12:09 am | #

    Just how many people did Amber invite onto garbage roof? They practically now have a roof party up there.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      September 3, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

      Showing up next: Bloodrose, Guns, Ninja Rick…

      Nah, I’m pretty sure Willis would end the comic before he’d do that.

      • Lars
        Lars
        September 3, 2020 at 3:26 am | #

        Don’t forget Professor Doc, David Willis, Maggie and Ronnie.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          September 3, 2020 at 8:05 am | #

          I like to think Professor Doc has been teaching at IU since the 80s. He bears a resemblance to Christopher Lloyd, so students started calling him “Professor Doc” after BTTF came out. Now it’s been so long that everyone just calls him that, even the other faculty, and few know what his name actually is. He’s tenured, so he doesn’t care.

          • Khyrin
            Khyrin
            September 3, 2020 at 9:13 am | #

            this is a slight exageration: The Bursar knows his real name to sign the paychecks. The rest of his department and the Dean, on the other hand, were hired AFTER 1999 Bizzare Summer incident, meaning they never saw the original nameplate on his office door, or his original email address.

            (Let’s see if anyone gets the reference.)

            • SuperFroakie82
              SuperFroakie82
              September 3, 2020 at 11:51 am | #

              I dunno, I kinda doubt anyone was going around blowing people up with his pink ghost cat so he could steal their hands.

            • LauraS
              LauraS
              September 3, 2020 at 9:34 pm | #

              Ook.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      September 3, 2020 at 12:37 am | #

      Pretty soon the entire main cast will be on Garbage Roof. Mike will wake up from his coma just to show up there.

      • StClair
        StClair
        September 3, 2020 at 12:43 am | #

        Dumbing of Garb-Age.

        • Pablo360
          Pablo360
          September 3, 2020 at 12:54 am | #

          Garbing of Age

        • Bicycle Bill
          Bicycle Bill
          September 3, 2020 at 1:05 am | #

          Garbaging of Dumb

        • darkgloomie
          darkgloomie
          September 3, 2020 at 3:07 am | #

          Dumping of Garbage

      • Chronos
        Chronos
        September 3, 2020 at 1:01 am | #

        I gotta imagine Ethan will show up in the not too distant future, by this point. That’ll be interesting with Danny already up there.

        • SuperFroakie82
          SuperFroakie82
          September 3, 2020 at 2:49 am | #

          I hope Danny will talk through things with Amber or someone else first to prepare him to try to diffuse the situation a bit. It would be a good opportunity for him to tell Amber he’s bi too, as long as we’re wrapping up plot threads.

    • Lingo
      Lingo
      September 3, 2020 at 1:00 am | #

      She may have invited everyone who knows she’s Amazi-Girl now (I think Carla probably knows now but I’m not sure; maybe Malaya too).

      Interestingly, that now includes everyone I would call the “main cast” except Joe. (I don’t consider anyone past Mike on the cast page part of the “main” cast.)

    • JessWitt
      JessWitt
      September 3, 2020 at 10:59 am | #

      Ain’t no party like a garbage roof party. ‘Cause a garbage roof party is cathartic as hell.

  7. butts
    butts
    September 3, 2020 at 12:09 am | #

    “or i will fuck you on top of this roof, i swear to god”

    • bryy
      bryy
      September 3, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

      …… yes.

    • Newllend(henryvolt)
      Newllend(henryvolt)
      September 3, 2020 at 1:40 pm | #

      Another night and another possibility of someone getting fucked on top of garbage roof.

  8. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    September 3, 2020 at 12:11 am | #

    They’ve both ruined the spirit of garbage roof in different ways. Which I’m okay with because garbage roof by definition is trash!

  9. Johan
    Johan
    September 3, 2020 at 12:12 am | #

    Joe gonna pop up and they’re gonna all make out.

  10. Nono
    Nono
    September 3, 2020 at 12:13 am | #

    I’m just counting down the days til Walky goes ‘I was garbage here before it was cool’.

  11. Dara
    Dara
    September 3, 2020 at 12:14 am | #

    I love you Carla.

  12. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    September 3, 2020 at 12:16 am | #

    One flash of light, but no smoking pistol
    I’ve never done good things
    I’ve never done bad things
    I never did anything out of the blue, whoa whoa
    Want an axe to break the ice
    Wanna come down right now
    –David Bowie, “Ashes to Ashes”

    • Geneseepaws
      Geneseepaws
      September 3, 2020 at 8:14 am | #

      Good! Choice!

    • hof1991
      hof1991
      September 3, 2020 at 9:22 am | #

      I remember once in august 1983
      I was wrong, and I could be wrong again – Paul Simon.
      Though 1983 is much further back than it used to be.

  13. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    September 3, 2020 at 12:17 am | #

    Carla’s a gem. Right on.

  14. Sambo
    Sambo
    September 3, 2020 at 12:18 am | #

    I’m hoping that we’re about to get a group shot

    • clif
      clif
      September 3, 2020 at 1:35 am | #

      Shoot them all and let Willis sort them out.

      Or something like that.

  15. Suitora
    Suitora
    September 3, 2020 at 12:18 am | #

    I have a bad feeling about this because she outed Ruth and Billie’s lesbian suicide pact and they still might be pissed about that.

    • clif
      clif
      September 3, 2020 at 1:37 am | #

      Because having your lives saved calls for revenge.

    • He Who Abides
      He Who Abides
      September 3, 2020 at 6:19 am | #

      Billie has said that, while she doesn’t like Carla, she can tolerate her.

  16. pjeseb
    pjeseb
    September 3, 2020 at 12:19 am | #

    Comments Section: How many cast members are you going to squeeze onto this roof?

    Willis: Yes.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      September 3, 2020 at 12:38 am | #

      Hopefully none of the terrible parents somehow find their way up there.

      • Bagge
        Bagge
        September 3, 2020 at 12:46 am | #

        “Me, Linda, is perfect in every way except that my daughter is some sort of hoodlum.”

    • SuperZero
      SuperZero
      September 3, 2020 at 12:48 am | #

      Squeeze? You know that the roof is as big as an entire floor, right?

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        September 3, 2020 at 8:17 am | #

        Minus the elevator shack, minus the air handling units, and places where the piping runs.

      • Khyrin
        Khyrin
        September 3, 2020 at 9:17 am | #

        While I take your point, presumably some amount of the roof is taken up with the top of the staircase, and I think it’s actually slightly smaller than half the roof as the door is set into a wall, rather than a little hut.

  17. Tirachokko
    Tirachokko
    September 3, 2020 at 12:22 am | #

    man, i want to have carla’s confidence

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      September 3, 2020 at 12:30 am | #

      I think everyone some people need confidence like Carla.

      • Kyrik Michalowski
        Kyrik Michalowski
        September 3, 2020 at 12:30 am | #

        I fucked up, don’t know how I did that.

        • Pablo360
          Pablo360
          September 3, 2020 at 12:55 am | #

          probably typoed the closing tag

          • clif
            clif
            September 3, 2020 at 1:38 am | #

            But that’s okay. It’s garbage roof.

    • drs
      drs
      September 3, 2020 at 12:39 am | #

      From a different comic: https://www.egscomics.com/comic/party-136

  18. abysswatcher1993
    abysswatcher1993
    September 3, 2020 at 12:23 am | #

    Carla did nothing wrong.

  19. Robbie
    Robbie
    September 3, 2020 at 12:26 am | #

    I wish I had Carla’s energy.

  20. Cholma
    Cholma
    September 3, 2020 at 12:29 am | #

    Meanwhile, at street level: John Bender puts on Claire Standish’s pearl earring, and strides away, thrusting one fist into the air, as Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” swells in the background.

    • StClair
      StClair
      September 3, 2020 at 12:33 am | #

      Perfection.

  21. Bagge
    Bagge
    September 3, 2020 at 12:32 am | #

    Carla: “Have I mentioned I’m a jerk today?”
    Becky: “What a coincidense, I’m a lesbian.”
    Walky: “and I’m a harmless, silly goofball.”
    Sarah: “and I’m really grumpy. Grrr.”
    Joe: “I’m very horny and shallow. No reason to look any deaper.”
    Dina: “I really like dinosaurs.”
    Becky: “and that’s wonderful, baby, but this is the session for people who use a specific personal trait to deflect introspection, feels and deeper emotional scrutiny. Go stand over with Dorothy, Joyce and Danny for people who are comfortable talking about their emotions.”

  22. StClair
    StClair
    September 3, 2020 at 12:32 am | #

    So… Billie and Ruth were next to Joyce, then Billie said something that turned Ruth on, and then Carla was next to Joyce instead…

    Did Billie and Ruth just leave to make out?

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      September 3, 2020 at 12:45 am | #

      We can only hope so.

      • clif
        clif
        September 3, 2020 at 1:21 am | #

        That said, time passes between panels.

    • Nymphie
      Nymphie
      September 3, 2020 at 2:32 am | #

      The little brown corner in panel four is Billie’s shoulder with Ruth’s right hand pulling her in, so im guessing they are standing closer together now leaving space for Carla

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        September 3, 2020 at 7:47 am | #

        Or with Carla’s hand pushing her aside.

  23. Dr T
    Dr T
    September 3, 2020 at 12:38 am | #

    Considering Ruth looks to be biting her lip, I’d say that’s a possibility.

  24. Slartibeast Button, BIA
    Slartibeast Button, BIA
    September 3, 2020 at 12:39 am | #

    Carla thought she was wrong once, but discovered she’d been mistaken.

    • Khyrin
      Khyrin
      September 3, 2020 at 9:24 am | #

      no, the only time Carla has been wrong in her life is when she thought she was “managing the courtship of two cute queer ladies, not a goddamned death cult“

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        September 3, 2020 at 10:49 am | #

        She wasn’t completely wrong though. She was managing the courtship if two cute queer ladies, it was just also a goddamned death cult.

  25. Dr T
    Dr T
    September 3, 2020 at 12:40 am | #

    Sure, Carla says it and it’s endearing. Some orange hobgoblin says it and he’s a narcissistic prick.

    I mean, both are true, but still…

    • Mra
      Mra
      September 3, 2020 at 12:42 am | #

      Carla takes pride in being an asshole so in her case that might be a sincere, (albeit exaggerated) confession.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        September 3, 2020 at 10:59 am | #

        Carla makes a self-aware pretense of being an asshole. The orange thing isn’t self-aware and builds his entire fragile ego around that pretense of perfection.

    • Norah
      Norah
      September 3, 2020 at 1:22 am | #

      Carla’s already shown she cares at least somewhat about other people. Whereas the orange hobgoblin has never shown he cares about anyone but himself.

      • AutobotDen
        AutobotDen
        September 3, 2020 at 2:48 am | #

        hey, leave the Hobgoblins alone. They don’t even want the Cheeto Fuhrer.

    • Jamie
      Jamie
      September 3, 2020 at 1:26 pm | #

      I read this as an OOTS reference at first.

    • ego
      ego
      September 3, 2020 at 3:18 pm | #

      bet if you were somehow under carla’s authority, it would become less endearing pretty quickly.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        September 3, 2020 at 11:46 pm | #

        Carla has no authority, so the point is kind of moot. I suspect, if she did somehow wind up in charge, she’d rise to the occasion. Though she wouldn’t want to.

  26. Keulen
    Keulen
    September 3, 2020 at 12:40 am | #

    DoA Book 10: I Have Never Done Anything Wrong In My Entire Life

  27. TomHCinMI
    TomHCinMI
    September 3, 2020 at 12:46 am | #

    I gotta say Carla made me laugh out loud!

  28. DSL
    DSL
    September 3, 2020 at 12:57 am | #

    It’s OK, Carla. Nobody’s perfect.

    • clif
      clif
      September 3, 2020 at 1:24 am | #

      Dana.

      I rest my case.

    • Chris Phoenix
      Chris Phoenix
      September 3, 2020 at 2:55 am | #

      Mary. Just ask her.

      On alternate Sundays she believes everyone has sinned, including her. The rest of the time she forgets half of that.

  29. Megan Rivera
    Megan Rivera
    September 3, 2020 at 1:31 am | #

    Carla’s hair looks nice like that

  30. RacingTurtle
    RacingTurtle
    September 3, 2020 at 1:34 am | #

    I love Carla

    And her outfit

  31. Vukodlak
    Vukodlak
    September 3, 2020 at 1:53 am | #

    Should someone tell her alphabetically or Chronologically?

  32. BenRG
    BenRG
    September 3, 2020 at 2:01 am | #

    “Self-acceptance”. Yeah, that’s what Joyce is looking for, isn’t it. One of the things she’s accepting is that her default reaction to Carla saying anything is to roll her eyes!

  33. NinjaNick
    NinjaNick
    September 3, 2020 at 2:24 am | #

    Thought dumpster roof.

    Carla’s confession is so cute.

  34. Maggie Evans
    Maggie Evans
    September 3, 2020 at 2:29 am | #

    As a trans woman, I love that Carla is my representation in this comic.

    • Maggie Evans
      Maggie Evans
      September 3, 2020 at 2:30 am | #

      By that I mean I love that she specifically is a trans character, not that she is my representation personally

      • BenRG
        BenRG
        September 3, 2020 at 7:01 am | #

        Yeah, “You remind me of Carla Rutten” is a bit of a can of worms, isn’t it?

    • Chris Phoenix
      Chris Phoenix
      September 3, 2020 at 3:00 am | #

      Don’t forget Joyce’s sister Jocelyne. She’s not out yet, but Carla’s not the only trans character. (Jocelyne’s pretty cool too.)

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        September 3, 2020 at 6:18 am | #

        Also Zaph (trans male, though).

      • Maggie Evans
        Maggie Evans
        September 4, 2020 at 3:01 am | #

        It’s been so long that I completely forgot about Joycelyne. Also has Zaph popped up in Dumbing of Age?

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          September 4, 2020 at 7:30 am | #

          Yeah, he’s in Billie’s new dorm. Only a couple of minor appearances though.

  35. lightsabermario
    lightsabermario
    September 3, 2020 at 2:48 am | #

    “Looks like we’re all on the roof! Does anybody hear ticking?”
    Bomb blows up, everybody dies, comic over.

    And Mike wakes up.

    • Agemegos
      Agemegos
      September 3, 2020 at 3:41 am | #

      In bed with his wife from a previous series.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        September 3, 2020 at 7:55 am | #

        Or DoA is all in the imagination of an autistic Amber staring into a snowglobe of the dorm building.

        • Opus the Poet
          Opus the Poet
          September 3, 2020 at 7:33 pm | #

          I get that reference. CaptainAmericaReference.gif

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        September 3, 2020 at 8:25 am | #

        Who, just happens, to be the mother of one of the DOA characters. A nickel slides off the counterpane onto the floor, spins around once or twice and lands on its side, ..” silent.

  36. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    September 3, 2020 at 5:48 am | #

    Gosh damnit Carla

  37. Eldritchy
    Eldritchy
    September 3, 2020 at 5:53 am | #

    If Carla was in Fate she’d be using Gilgamesh and Ozymandias as her step-ladders

  38. 0kami
    0kami
    September 3, 2020 at 7:20 am | #

    Oh Carla. I hope you live forever.

  39. ValdVin
    ValdVin
    September 3, 2020 at 7:33 am | #

    Say what you wanna say
    And let the words fall out
    Honestly
    I wanna see you be brave

    Oh, Carla, that took a lot of guts. I’m proud of you.

  40. Thomas Knapp
    Thomas Knapp
    September 3, 2020 at 7:49 am | #

    To Carla, the entire world is her garbage roof.

  41. Wendylynn
    Wendylynn
    September 3, 2020 at 7:59 am | #

    Red and black buffalo check flannel on redheaded humans is my sexuality.

  42. raultsi
    raultsi
    September 3, 2020 at 8:49 am | #

    Just noticed Ruth biting her lip.

    Gotta hand it to the artist, that’s some seriously creative use of shadow and lighting.

  43. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    September 3, 2020 at 9:09 am | #

    But don’t say that outside garbage roof. Carla has a reputation to defend.

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      September 3, 2020 at 11:12 am | #

      Oddly enough, I think that she’s aware of how she’s looked at askance by many. This is her chance to, without recrimination, say that she feels she has nothing for which she needs to apologise.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        September 3, 2020 at 2:57 pm | #

        Of course she’s aware. She deliberately cultivates the reputation. From nearly her first dorm appearance: “Sometimes we forget you’re an asshole.” “Yeah, I know. It’s all these new freshmen. I’ve got to build mind share all over again.”

  44. Cabbage Jack
    Cabbage Jack
    September 3, 2020 at 9:13 am | #

    I think Carla is my favorite character. No wait, I know she is.

  45. Hilzabub
    Hilzabub
    September 3, 2020 at 9:23 am | #

    Cue the tragic roof collapse that propels the story forward for the next decade.

  46. hof1991
    hof1991
    September 3, 2020 at 9:25 am | #

    Time for the closing credit or maybe a freeze frame. Then on to the next book. That was an outstanding arc, as good as Marvel and better than most DC ones.

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      September 3, 2020 at 11:14 am | #

      No, if we accept that this is a superhero comic, then the final panel should be the lonely anti-hero meditating on being the idol of millions when, in her own mind, she’s the villain of the piece.

      • OBBWG
        OBBWG
        September 3, 2020 at 12:02 pm | #

        Wasn’t that the final panel of yesterday’s strip? Well, meditating on the evil of portrait vs. landscape, but close enough.

  47. John
    John
    September 3, 2020 at 9:47 am | #

    Okay, gotta be honest, I kinda hated Carla at first, but damn it all if she has not grown on me to the point where she may be my favorite character.

  48. Spencer
    Spencer
    September 3, 2020 at 10:57 am | #

    Flannel and overalls is a deadly combination that not everyone can survive.

  49. JessWitt
    JessWitt
    September 3, 2020 at 10:57 am | #

    Aww, Billie.

    Also, oh dear, Billie.

  50. CMasta1992
    CMasta1992
    September 3, 2020 at 12:31 pm | #

    Yay Billie and Ruth are here…

  51. LiterallyJustSomeGuy
    LiterallyJustSomeGuy
    September 3, 2020 at 12:50 pm | #

    Does Amber consider all these people to be her friends??? And they showed up, basically confirming it! Yay, friendship!

  52. SuperFroakie82
    SuperFroakie82
    September 3, 2020 at 3:13 pm | #

    Seems like some of the shading on Joyce’s hair disappears in the 2nd and 5th panels

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      September 3, 2020 at 3:28 pm | #

      I noticed that, but just assumed it was the lighting changing as people moved around.

      • SuperFroakie82
        SuperFroakie82
        September 3, 2020 at 7:27 pm | #

        yeah maybe

  53. jothki
    jothki
    September 3, 2020 at 7:49 pm | #

    Well, she did botch the whole physical gender development thing when she was a fetus.

    • Bathymetheus
      Bathymetheus
      September 3, 2020 at 9:54 pm | #

      Even earlier – she let the wrong sperm cell in.

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