Dumbing of Age Book Eleven

Dumbing of Age

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September 28, 2023

Memory

by David M Willis on August 22, 2021 at 12:01 am
  • 05 – As Long As It's Free

└ Tags: danny, sal

Discussion (116) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    August 22, 2021 at 12:02 am | #

    “I’m NOT dead…? News to me!”

    • Wagstaff
      Wagstaff
      August 22, 2021 at 12:08 am | #

      ” Rumors of my death have been highly exaggerated! “

      • Jenn
        Jenn
        August 22, 2021 at 12:13 am | #

        *said in a disappointed tone.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      August 22, 2021 at 12:12 am | #

      “I’m dead. Bugger off.” – Wilkinson

      • Bicycle Bill
        Bicycle Bill
        August 22, 2021 at 12:50 am | #

        “I ATE’NT DEAD” — Esme Weatherwax

        • Charles Spencer
          Charles Spencer
          August 22, 2021 at 6:10 am | #

          Thank you.

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        August 22, 2021 at 1:06 pm | #

        I was dead, they have terrible TV there. The most popular show is the Universe Channel where you just watch the universe and all the galaxies spinning around in real time. Because the universe is so big even galaxies moving at relativistic speeds look motionless.

        • Librain
          Librain
          August 22, 2021 at 2:43 pm | #

          Sounds like you went to the medium place.

          Or maybe Cincinnati, either one.

          • Ana Chronistic
            Ana Chronistic
            August 23, 2021 at 12:03 am | #

            I had a horrible nightmare where all the other boys and girls went to Heaven or Hell, and I went to SOUTH END.

    • Clif
      Clif
      August 22, 2021 at 3:48 am | #

      It’s always a relief to learn you’re not dead.

      • Marsh Maryrose
        Marsh Maryrose
        August 22, 2021 at 2:33 pm | #

        I am not dead yet, I can dance and I can sing
        I am not dead yet, I can do the Highland fling
        I am not dead yet, no need to go to bed, no need to call the doctor
        ‘Cause I’m not yet dead!

    • Victor
      Victor
      August 22, 2021 at 10:13 am | #

      I feel happy. I feel happy.

      [bonk]

      Ah, thanks very much.

      (I mean, Sal does seem somewhat angry and has a bit of a propensity to violence…. Danny might be in some danger.)

    • Keith Curtis
      Keith Curtis
      August 23, 2021 at 11:03 am | #

      “Oh shut up, you’ll be stone cold dead in a moment.”

  2. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    August 22, 2021 at 12:03 am | #

    New storyline: Danny struggles with Cotard’s Syndrome.

    • Clif
      Clif
      August 22, 2021 at 4:00 am | #

      If it’s terminal Cotard’s Syndrome, are you really wrong?

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        August 22, 2021 at 1:17 pm | #

        Note to self, avoid searches for Cotard’s syndrome or imposter syndrome. There are actually two conditions called Imposter Syndrome, one where the victim thinks they don’t deserve the rewards of the life they live, and the other where they think the people in their lives have been replaced by actors in a real life Truman Show.

        • Doom Shepherd
          Doom Shepherd
          August 22, 2021 at 7:18 pm | #

          What is it if I think that I’M the one who was replaced?

          • Clif
            Clif
            August 22, 2021 at 8:40 pm | #

            Sounds like a specialization of Cotard’s syndrome.

            • Roborat
              Roborat
              August 23, 2021 at 3:44 pm | #

              Sounds like a schwarzenegger movie.

  3. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    August 22, 2021 at 12:05 am | #

    First Mike and now Danny. Really upping the deaths in this comic.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      August 22, 2021 at 12:08 am | #

      Is Rod Serling going to come out with some cryptic moral?

      • Reltzik
        Reltzik
        August 22, 2021 at 1:13 am | #

        Nonono. Serling did liminal morals. You’re thinking of John Kassir.

      • powerpowerpow
        powerpowerpow
        August 22, 2021 at 2:49 am | #

        “They say that you should never be afraid that life will end; you should be afraid that life will begin. Danny Wilcox has learned today that sometimes, you don’t have to have died to not be alive. That all the stupid hats and ukuleles that you pick up won’t change who you are on the inside. No matter how much you want to be reborn, the fact of the matter is that your old dead self will always be the soil from which your new life grows. But the line between life and death isn’t always very clear cut. Especially not… in the Twilight Zone.”

        • Geneseepaws
          Geneseepaws
          August 22, 2021 at 2:55 am | #

          nicely done, well written, with a carefully picked incon/avatar/Gravatar to go with. Smartly done.

          • Clif
            Clif
            August 22, 2021 at 3:47 am | #

            R.S. would be proud.

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      August 22, 2021 at 12:27 am | #

      Can’t wait for the epic battle between Imaginary Brain Mike and Ghost Danny Danny Phantom.

      • Slartibeast Button, BIA
        Slartibeast Button, BIA
        August 22, 2021 at 12:40 am | #

        Nah, they team up against Ghost Toe Dad.

      • Rabisch
        Rabisch
        August 22, 2021 at 2:00 pm | #

        Will Danny Phantom say “Going Ghost ” before the Battle?

  4. Wagstaff
    Wagstaff
    August 22, 2021 at 12:05 am | #

    *plays “Moongrains” by Laura Shigihara on Voxola PR-76*

  5. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    August 22, 2021 at 12:06 am | #

    Sal sees dork people. Sometimes they don’t even know that they’re dorks.

    Danny does, though.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      August 22, 2021 at 12:07 am | #

      Note for future reference: Check the alt text, THEN post.

      • Stephen Bierce
        Stephen Bierce
        August 22, 2021 at 12:09 am | #

        At least he didn’t retitle this storyline THE SIXTH DENSE.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          August 22, 2021 at 4:42 am | #

          But who are the other five?

          • Reltzik
            Reltzik
            August 22, 2021 at 4:45 am | #

            Billie’s got to be on the list.

            • Clif
              Clif
              August 22, 2021 at 8:42 pm | #

              Perhaps it’s simpler to ask who doesn’t qualify.

  6. Slartibeast Button, BIA
    Slartibeast Button, BIA
    August 22, 2021 at 12:07 am | #

    Danny should refuse to accept the hat and then steal it.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      August 22, 2021 at 5:39 am | #

      That would be hilarious, but it doesn’t sound a very Danny thing to do.

      • Clif
        Clif
        August 22, 2021 at 8:44 pm | #

        He stole a ukulele. Why not a hat?

        • Rainhat
          Rainhat
          August 23, 2021 at 12:53 am | #

          [Ukulele rendition of the “You wouldn’t steal a car” song]

  7. Opinus
    Opinus
    August 22, 2021 at 12:09 am | #

    Rereading the last strip, it really does sound like she’s talking to her memory of a lost loved one

    • Clif
      Clif
      August 22, 2021 at 9:34 pm | #

      Yes, but you have to realize she was eulogising the lost hat.

  8. Joe Moose
    Joe Moose
    August 22, 2021 at 12:12 am | #

    And lo, the moment is ruined.

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      August 22, 2021 at 12:22 am | #

      Was there even a moment to ruin? I feel like the whole point was that Sal was actively trying to avoid a moment with Danny because she has a complex about being emotionally genuine with anyone who isn’t Marcie.

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      August 22, 2021 at 12:25 am | #

      I feel like in a way, it actually kinda made the moment. Totally gets under Sal’s guard.

      • Deanatay
        Deanatay
        August 22, 2021 at 11:08 am | #

        It was a shitty moment to begin with. Ruining it helped.

  9. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    August 22, 2021 at 12:14 am | #

    Quick, kiss him and then escape on your bike and leave him hanging for like 3 days.

    • justin8448
      justin8448
      August 22, 2021 at 2:39 am | #

      This would actually be really great!

      • I am Nothing
        I am Nothing
        August 22, 2021 at 3:57 am | #

        Appropriate avatar.

    • JBento
      JBento
      August 22, 2021 at 5:51 am | #

      “You didn’t give me a kiss, ah STOLE it from you. You don’t own me.”

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        August 22, 2021 at 10:57 am | #

        If you stole it from me, then I’m owed recompense. I’ll have to demand you give one back. Or I’ll have to steal one myself. It’s only fair.

        • JBento
          JBento
          August 22, 2021 at 12:53 pm | #

          Fair, but I think Danny would break out in hives and then promptly faint at the prospect of stealing something.
          And since it IS Danny, who has the subterfuge capability of a tapdancing rhinoceros wearing a neon sign, we can watch safe in the knowledge that it is NOT a ploy for Sal to hold him and give him “mouth to mouth”. Which she will.
          And then the world will go deaf as a million shippers squeal with glee.

  10. butts
    butts
    August 22, 2021 at 12:15 am | #

    The Danth Sense

    • brionl
      brionl
      August 22, 2021 at 12:17 am | #

      I was going to go with Salth Sense, but that works too.

      • brionl
        brionl
        August 22, 2021 at 12:31 am | #

        Geeze, 1999? It can’t have been that long ago already…

        • Reltzik
          Reltzik
          August 22, 2021 at 1:15 am | #

          … dangit, I had one of those xkcd “this thing’s closer to the day of your birth than today” moments.

          • Schpoonman
            Schpoonman
            August 22, 2021 at 2:25 am | #

            Randall is just as devastating as Willis, but instead of authorial sadism he’s the personification of all of our collective curiosity for knowledge even at the cost of our own destruction. That need-to-know even when there’s nothing good in the knowing.

            • Clif
              Clif
              August 22, 2021 at 3:50 am | #

              I knew that.

          • P!enapple
            P!enapple
            August 22, 2021 at 7:08 pm | #

            There’s also a site called bisecting history (or sililar) that gives examples of dates far away, and then 2ce as far

  11. saltchocolate
    saltchocolate
    August 22, 2021 at 12:17 am | #

    It took me a second, hovertext — a hilarious second. Well played!

  12. nothri
    nothri
    August 22, 2021 at 12:21 am | #

    I mean, keep it up and she might strangle you to death….

    • Tawnee
      Tawnee
      August 22, 2021 at 1:02 am | #

      That’s something “the kids” are into now, isn’t it?

      • Clif
        Clif
        August 22, 2021 at 9:45 pm | #

        From the high side of 70, “the kids ” can refer to anywhere from 50 somethings to teens. So probably.

  13. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    August 22, 2021 at 12:26 am | #

    I love that this confirms Sal has these moments and speaks out loud for them. She’s a pensive gal.

  14. Tan
    Tan
    August 22, 2021 at 12:29 am | #

    Dumbing of Age Book 11: So I’m Not Dead

    (it will be perfect if you can somehow misleadingly give the impression that Mike is the one saying the line)

    • Vago
      Vago
      August 22, 2021 at 1:21 am | #

      Fast forward to Brain mike saying this

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      August 22, 2021 at 4:23 am | #

      Mike will always be with us, so long as there are moms and nickels.

  15. Delicious Taffy
    Delicious Taffy
    August 22, 2021 at 12:33 am | #

    “Ah see you.”
    “You see me?”
    “Ah got too much candy pop in me.”

  16. BBCC
    BBCC
    August 22, 2021 at 12:35 am | #

    So cute!

    *Chanting* KISS KISS KISS!

    • Prince Mech
      Prince Mech
      August 22, 2021 at 12:44 am | #

      We’re all just kinda mashing our hypothetical Danny and Sal action figures together down here and im living for it

      • BBCC
        BBCC
        August 22, 2021 at 12:47 am | #

        Only thing left to do is to live in fear of the other shoe dropping!

        This is Willis after all.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        August 22, 2021 at 4:22 am | #

        That is the perfect allegory. Yoink!

      • Keulen
        Keulen
        August 22, 2021 at 5:33 am | #

        That is a great description of what my shipping of Danny and Sal would look like right now if I had action figures of them.

      • Deanatay
        Deanatay
        August 22, 2021 at 11:11 am | #

        *grinds Danny and Sal refrigerator magnets together*

    • I am Nothing
      I am Nothing
      August 22, 2021 at 3:50 am | #

      I didn’t know there was a rock concert happening tonight…

      • Roborat
        Roborat
        August 23, 2021 at 3:48 pm | #

        The KISS farewell tour shows no sign of ending anything soon.

  17. Throwatron
    Throwatron
    August 22, 2021 at 12:40 am | #

    its like he was made in a lab. the perfect dork.

  18. mrnoidea
    mrnoidea
    August 22, 2021 at 12:58 am | #

    If Danny could choose a superpower, he’d choose invisibility over flight.

    • mrnoidea
      mrnoidea
      August 22, 2021 at 1:00 am | #

      Wait, I think I read that last panel wrong. He wants to be seen

      • Kernanator
        Kernanator
        August 22, 2021 at 3:14 am | #

        To be fair, some superhero universes would give him that power for the irony factor.

        • JBento
          JBento
          August 22, 2021 at 5:56 am | #

          There’s a Marvel mutant whose superpower is that people have no object permanence of him and they can’t commit him to memory. As soon as they’re not looking at him, people forget that he exists and every interaction they had with him. He was instrumental in saving the universe in most of big story arcs, but nobody knows. Including the reader, because of course, WE can’t commit him to memory, either.

          • Delicious Taffy
            Delicious Taffy
            August 22, 2021 at 9:02 am | #

            I don’t remember seeing that guy in any of the cartoons. I think you made him up. The only way to be sure, of course, is to grab a marker or pen and start tallying up his appearances on our arms.

            Hm. Looks like someone’s been pranking me. My arm already has marks in it.

            • Alex
              Alex
              August 22, 2021 at 10:22 am | #

              Well done!

  19. Rocketboy1313
    Rocketboy1313
    August 22, 2021 at 1:09 am | #

    That is a solid joke.
    Also makes me think of countless “Twilight Zone” episodes.

  20. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    August 22, 2021 at 1:22 am | #

    Ah yes, the Sixth Sense.

  21. Xccj
    Xccj
    August 22, 2021 at 1:26 am | #

    Had to check back to see if Dan had interacted with anybody besides Sal since the timeskip, in case there was some tragic backstory where she got him killed and now her guilty conscious is having him haunt her like Mike did with Amber.

    But he’s interacted with Joe and Walky and Booster, so unless those three were also involved, he’s probably not a Spirit. (I mean, Booster only met him after the timeskip, but maybe he can see Spirits as is there because Danny is haunting Joe, Walky, and Sal…)

  22. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership
    DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership
    August 22, 2021 at 1:44 am | #

    Maybe don’t advertise just how needy for attention from others you are…They probably think they’re avoiding feeding the trolls and might be right….

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      August 22, 2021 at 7:04 am | #

      Sal did that by keeping herself guarded up and Danny accidentally broke all that by:

      – Buying her a gift because he wanted to do something nice for her

      – Listening to Sal come clean about how she feels that anyone who does something nice for her is using it as an attempt to cash in later.

      – Immediately relenting on the giving her a gift thing as he is completely sincere about being kind to Sal and now realizes it makes her uncomfortable regardless of his intent, and since his intent is to make Sal happy then he’ll be sure to engage with her only on a level she feels comfortable with and approach that on her terms, which then shows Sal he is actually completely sincere about what he’s doing because usually when Sal rejects a gift the giver gets mad at her.

      – Giving Sal a scenario where any emotional intimacy between the two of them is going to be completely at her leisure and Danny’s not going to suddenly get bored and wander off because she isn’t acting on it enough.

  23. Dean
    Dean
    August 22, 2021 at 1:51 am | #

    ‘Haha, psyche! Turns out we’re BOTH dead!’

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      August 22, 2021 at 2:08 am | #

      Turns out they were ALL killed back in winter. The rest of the comic run is them all haunting the dorms.

  24. BenRG
    BenRG
    August 22, 2021 at 2:01 am | #

    I can see Sal asking (in an aggravated tone) whether she actually knows anyone without huge and exotic neuroses!

  25. Max
    Max
    August 22, 2021 at 3:27 am | #

    The hat is dead! Long live the hat!

  26. Ray Radlein
    Ray Radlein
    August 22, 2021 at 3:41 am | #

    🎵 Now it’s over, I’m dead, and I haven’t done anything that I want 🎶
    🎶 Or I’m still alive, and there’s nothing I want to do 🎵

  27. Varangian
    Varangian
    August 22, 2021 at 3:45 am | #

    When there’s something Dan
    In your neighborhood
    Who you gonna call?

    • Clif
      Clif
      August 22, 2021 at 3:53 am | #

      SEMF-Busters!!!

  28. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    August 22, 2021 at 3:55 am | #

    Danny, you are not dead. Sal, on the other hand, could be dying of embarrassment any moment now. Her surprised face in the first panel is spectacular! Seems to say “No, he BUSTED me!!!” And Danny is right, that really sounded like a “In memory of the dearly departed” speech. I love them. Whether they remain a comedic couple of friends or become a real couple, I love seeing them talking and doing things together.

    • JBento
      JBento
      August 22, 2021 at 6:06 am | #

      “Shit, ah was caught displayin’ an emotion that wasn’t anger!”

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      August 22, 2021 at 11:01 am | #

      Looking at yesterday’s strip again, the first panels do match the “memory of the dearly departed”, but the last two about how she knows where he lives and why she waits to bump into him rather than go see him don’t.

  29. Miri
    Miri
    August 22, 2021 at 4:00 am | #

    See, my take on this was that (a) she revealed some of her neuroses to him and he’s revealing some of his in return; (b) being more awkward about being him is probably the best way to leave Sal feeling not awkward about getting him the present; (c) if he had accepted it more graciously, she may have felt all “aaargh I fell into his trap of reciprocal gift-giving!” and things would have ended on a bad note, whereas this way her recollection of this will be that Danny was a bit dorky but didn’t make a big deal out of being given a gift but does seem to like it (especially if he wears it)…

    • powerpowerpow
      powerpowerpow
      August 22, 2021 at 4:57 am | #

      Absolutely agree. Danny’s entire character can be summed up with the phrase “He’s a little confused, but he’s got the spirit.” He’s not exactly the brightest bulb on the Hanukkah tree but he’s a genuine sweetheart.

      • JBento
        JBento
        August 22, 2021 at 5:58 am | #

        Danny’s not the sharpest bulb in the shed, no.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      August 22, 2021 at 11:02 am | #

      I doubt Danny’s being that conscious about it, but the effect is largely right.

    • Alex
      Alex
      August 22, 2021 at 11:18 am | #

      I mean Danny is not exactly the smoothest guy. But I think that works for Sal for the reasons you outlined here. Someone who can be awkward and vulnerable helps her let her guard down.

  30. Bagge
    Bagge
    August 22, 2021 at 4:07 am | #

    Danny asks the real questions

    • Clif
      Clif
      August 22, 2021 at 9:50 pm | #

      Am I dead yet?

      How about now?

  31. Raen
    Raen
    August 22, 2021 at 4:29 am | #

    Now she has to teach him to improperly sit in a chair.

    • Clif
      Clif
      August 22, 2021 at 9:51 pm | #

      if Danny learns to improperly sit in a chair, it will no longer be cool.

      • Spencer
        Spencer
        August 22, 2021 at 10:07 pm | #

        If Danny integrates not being able to sit in a chair into his repertoire he will achieve Ultra Instinct Bisexual.

  32. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    August 22, 2021 at 5:53 am | #

    …dude ?!

  33. JBento
    JBento
    August 22, 2021 at 6:07 am | #

    Ooof, Danny’s lack of self-esteem is a gutpunch every time.

    If Sal’s giving Danny a present, does that mean she thinks she owns him now?

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      August 22, 2021 at 6:35 am | #

      Danny can live with that.

      • JBento
        JBento
        August 22, 2021 at 7:56 am | #

        So… he’s NOT dead?

  34. brionl
    brionl
    August 22, 2021 at 11:44 am | #

    Or in this weather it’s “Icy dan people”.
    /rimshot

  35. BlackScarabFilmZ
    BlackScarabFilmZ
    August 22, 2021 at 12:17 pm | #

    Well of course you’re not dead, Danny! You’re shaded normally!

  36. Ryek Hvek
    Ryek Hvek
    August 22, 2021 at 2:27 pm | #

    Dan-boy should take a seat in his appointed spot, and play some seriously upgraded uke.

  37. Jenny Islander
    Jenny Islander
    August 22, 2021 at 6:26 pm | #

    …Danny, you good?

  38. Roborat
    Roborat
    August 23, 2021 at 3:51 pm | #

    Nice work Sir Willis, This is a great page.

Who's that guy over there?

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