Dumbing of Age Book Eleven

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wait should i also tag melonpool, or
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September 20, 2023

Deep dark hole

by David M Willis on August 6, 2022 at 12:01 am
  • 05 – This Was Halloween

└ Tags: amber, danny, dexter, dorothy, sal, sarah, walky

Discussion (85) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    August 6, 2022 at 12:04 am | #

    Melonpool, we hardly knew ye

    (also, I guess mirroring top-bottom would be weird huh)

    • Ana Chronistic
      Ana Chronistic
      August 6, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

      [of course when I double-check, he put it back up, but it was definitely wiped for a while as a joke]

    • AbacusWizard
      AbacusWizard
      August 6, 2022 at 1:07 am | #

      fun fact: mirrors don’t flip left-right; they flip forward-backward

      • zaratustra
        zaratustra
        August 6, 2022 at 5:21 am | #

        You can mirror top-bottom by putting a mirror on the floor and standing on it!

      • milu
        milu
        August 6, 2022 at 6:55 am | #

        No, that’s a myth. Mirrors don’t flip anything, that’s an artifact of our perception. Here’s an experiment you can do to convince yourself of it: take a picture of your image in the mirror using your phone. See? Not reversed! Its wild the things we can make ourselves believe.

        • keithcurtis
          keithcurtis
          August 6, 2022 at 9:58 am | #

          What about all those mirror selfies where the writing on a T shirt is flipped?

          • Mr. Random
            Mr. Random
            August 6, 2022 at 10:58 am | #

            Clearly deepfakes.

          • Paradox
            Paradox
            August 6, 2022 at 11:03 am | #

            In those, the shirt is itself flipped, because the person is facing the mirror

            If you have a transparent sheet with writing on it, what you see and whats in the mirror will match

            • milu
              milu
              August 6, 2022 at 11:58 am | #

              exactly!
              and when you’re checking yourself out in the mirror, and say you’re hungover or something, and you flip out? Who’s doing the flipping in that situation? The mirror? Obviously not.
              I rest my case.

            • easrng
              easrng
              August 6, 2022 at 9:01 pm | #

              But that’s because the mirror is reflecting the back/

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      August 6, 2022 at 2:29 am | #

      Yeah, lenses on the other claw do invert images as well as flip them left-right.

    • Decidedly Orthogonal
      Decidedly Orthogonal
      August 7, 2022 at 12:09 pm | #

      Is … is Dorothy trying to seduce Walky right in front of Amber? Or is she trying to seduce Amber? Por que no los dos?

  2. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    August 6, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

    Amber’s not a fan of Dexter and Monkey Master and that tore them apart!

    • King Daniel
      King Daniel
      August 6, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

      She knows what she has to do, but doesn’t know if she has the strength to do it

  3. Ray Radlein
    Ray Radlein
    August 6, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

    Wow. Melonpool.

    [Obi-Wan voice]”Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in…”

    • Zaidyer
      Zaidyer
      August 6, 2022 at 4:14 am | #

      Whenever I think of Melonpool, I think of Jalea

      In her prime, she overcame her origins as a mean-spirited joke to become the two most important things Melonpool could possibly have had in a single character: For the Star Trek side of it, she was the outsider who had to grow beyond her programming and learn what it means to be human, thereby teaching us something about ourselves. And for the puppet side of it, she was the regular human surrounded by muppets, giving them something to bounce off of and enhancing the production as a result.
      Yet every alternate timeline and reboot has taken those things away from her, never to give them back.
      Was her arc really an accident?! Did Steve Troop not realize what he had? I guess I’ll never know, because none of the alternate timeline/reboot shenanigans were ever resolved. Her one happy ending, implied to be the original timeline, sits as an abandoned arc. Buried in the archive.
      If Steve Troop ever goes back to the old drawing board, I hope he gives her the justice she’s due. She was my favorite character in Melonpool.

      (Come on, when else am I gonna get to talk about this)

  4. Dunedon
    Dunedon
    August 6, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

    AmberWalkyDorothy … poor guy is going to be very confused soon, and then Joyce will get mad when Amber goes home with Dorothy (and she won’t understand why) … that’s what blows up Halloween 🙂

  5. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    August 6, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    Never underestimate a nerd and their love of specific comics/movies/books/games/etc. That’s what we live for, to immerse ourselves in this world we enjoy. Unlike the real world where immersion is hampered by fear of death.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      August 6, 2022 at 4:27 am | #

      One of my favorite Internet gags is a long diatribe about wizard school, WoW, or Trek followed by “and that’s how it sounds to me when you guys won’t shut up about football”.

    • milu
      milu
      August 6, 2022 at 7:05 am | #

      Huh.
      I’m pretty sure i’m a nerd but I don’t think I’ve never nerded out about fictional universes. I like fiction (obviously lol), but I don’t think I really get nerd subcultures centered on fictional content?

      guess I’m not afraid of death? Yay awesome

    • Bridgebrain
      Bridgebrain
      August 6, 2022 at 6:00 pm | #

      That’s what we live for, to immerse ourselves in this world we enjoy *and complain about it passionately

  6. BBCC
    BBCC
    August 6, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    Ahhhh the nerd pissing contest. Frustrating to be in, but FUNNY AS ALL HELL to watch.

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      August 6, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

      I try to avoid nerd pissing consets, if only because I have memory loss and don’t remember large chunks of stuff that I enjoyed. Also because they are annoying to be in, but mostly the memory thing.

      • Kimi
        Kimi
        August 6, 2022 at 1:57 am | #

        Sorry about the memory loss. Do you at least get to enjoy watching it again and seeing things that you didn’t remember?

        • Kyrik Michalowski
          Kyrik Michalowski
          August 6, 2022 at 9:53 am | #

          This is true, that’s probably a good way to look at it. Thank you.

      • BBCC
        BBCC
        August 11, 2022 at 2:59 pm | #

        They’re annoying as all shit when you don’t have memory loss so you’re not missing much.

        Funny to watch other people in though.

        Sorry to hear about the memory loss, though, that bites.

  7. newlland(Henryvolt)
    newlland(Henryvolt)
    August 6, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    How does she know which hand he’s making a claw shape with?

    • Cholma
      Cholma
      August 6, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

      You can see how he’s holding his hands in the first 2 panels. After she calls him out, the “claw” changes hands.

  8. C.T. Phipps
    C.T. Phipps
    August 6, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

    Walky’s dirty inner thoughts: Can I sleep with Velma and Amazi-Girl both tonight.

  9. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    August 6, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

    *plays “Little Twelvetoes” from Schoolhouse Rock on the hacked Muzak*

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      August 6, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

      I miss Schoolhouse Rock 😥

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        August 6, 2022 at 4:30 am | #

        You’d think someone would pick it back up, given the popularity of short form videos in the school age target demographic.

        (Actually, forget the kids. A lot of adults could really use some remedial education on basic math, grammar, and civics these days.)

    • Stephen Bierce
      Stephen Bierce
      August 6, 2022 at 1:40 pm | #

      Down Here We Call Them ‘Dozens’

  10. Yumi
    Yumi
    August 6, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

    I like this background-characters-faded effect.

    • True Survivor
      True Survivor
      August 6, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

      It is good choice. One of my favorite things about reading comics is seeing how different authors handle the medium.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      August 6, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

      or maybe Carla brought in a fog machine 😆

      • King Daniel
        King Daniel
        August 6, 2022 at 1:19 am | #

        Perhaps they’re turning undead, in honor of the holiday?

        • Opus the Poet
          Opus the Poet
          August 6, 2022 at 3:10 am | #

          Hey, that’s my gig! Make them get their own bit.

          • milu
            milu
            August 6, 2022 at 7:35 am | #

            I mean your gig sounds more a metal-plated body horror deal, like Titane except i suspect maybe less car-fucking

            king D’s undead would be more like some Sixth Sense type situation I guess

            Unless they break out the tomato sauce and fake intestines soon, in which case we’d be looking at some Romero nonsense, and that would be very funny.

  11. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    August 6, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

    ….wait is that love angle fight ? lol

  12. huehuetotl
    huehuetotl
    August 6, 2022 at 12:17 am | #

    I feel boxed in and awkward reading this strip.

  13. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    August 6, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

    This feels like Walky isn’t taking Amber’s needs seriously.

    … since that fits exactly with what she says she needs, GOOD JOB WALKY.

  14. TheKelliestKelly
    TheKelliestKelly
    August 6, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

    Why is Amber so low in the poll? Her costume is hilarious!

    • darkoneko
      darkoneko
      August 6, 2022 at 12:44 am | #

      She has the best and stealthiest costume !

    • King Daniel
      King Daniel
      August 6, 2022 at 2:21 am | #

      What I don’t understand is why Sal is so high in the poll. Sure she’s Sal, but she’s not even really costumed! 😛

      • Max
        Max
        August 6, 2022 at 6:42 am | #

        You answered your own question there. She is Sal. That is all.

      • milu
        milu
        August 6, 2022 at 7:15 am | #

        She said “Spiffy space-tronauts” out loud, twice. For Sal that’s an incredible level of commitment to the spirit of Halloween.

  15. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    August 6, 2022 at 12:30 am | #

    …okay, so the only part of Melonpool I’ve read was the Walky crossover. Did the Duplomatic mirror its duplicates right and left like Ressurection Chambers do? Because I’m pretty sure Anti-Head Alien was drawn with his claw on the right in later Walkyverse stuff.

    • Jeff K!
      Jeff K!
      August 6, 2022 at 1:02 am | #

      I believe it did, actually. I’m not going to check, but I think there was a point where someone with an eye patch got dup-o-maticked and it was mirrored.

    • Dave
      Dave
      August 6, 2022 at 2:25 am | #

      Anti-Head Alien’s was left-handed and right-clawed, because he got duplicated prior to Head Alien’s death and resurrection. (I just went back and verified that his claw is on his right hand in every comic he appears in, with the exception of his post-bodysnatching tagged appearance.) When Head Alien becomes the Cheese and hijacks Anti-Head Alien’s body, he gets mirrored via Cheese powers to match Head Alien’s right-handed left-clawed post-resurrection appearance for the rest of the comic.

      Buuuuuuuut since Head Alien/Dexter appears to be a less outrageously violent and murdery character in his DOA comics/cartoons, I’m guessing the whole died-and-resurrected business never happened there and he was always right-handed, hence the alternative explanation for why Anti-Dexter is a southpaw.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        August 6, 2022 at 4:33 am | #

        IIRC that was a side effect of the Martian resurrection chamber technology.

        • powerpowerpow
          powerpowerpow
          August 6, 2022 at 11:26 am | #

          So I’ve never read the Walkyverse aside from a bit of Roomies and the more I hear about it the more confused I get. Apparently, Booster was a stick, Carla was a car, and Ronald Reagan shoes up at some point? That’s wild.

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            August 6, 2022 at 1:02 pm | #

            Carla was a talking car. Reagan worked in a toy store.

            There was a Power Booster Rod, but there’s no more real connection there than the name. Unlike Ultra Car, who was an actual character that Carla is the DOA version of.

            It’s uneven, but it’s definitely worth reading the old stuff. Especially with Willis’s modern commentary on it.

  16. Bryy
    Bryy
    August 6, 2022 at 12:34 am | #

    I thought tonight was the final Halloween strip. Glad it’s not.

    • Rose by Any Other Name
      Rose by Any Other Name
      August 6, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

      … now I’m wondering if the final Halloween strip won’t run on actual Halloween.

      • Bryy
        Bryy
        August 6, 2022 at 1:44 am | #

        wait what

        WHAT

    • milu
      milu
      August 6, 2022 at 7:25 am | #

      Wait so, why did you think that

      Anyway, per god’s twitter, this storyline runs until august 21

  17. SDRainbow
    SDRainbow
    August 6, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

    ….okay, willis, you did it, you made me feel things about Walky

    poor guy deserves more than to be the meaningless boyfriend

  18. Rabbit
    Rabbit
    August 6, 2022 at 1:24 am | #

    Does anyone else feel weird about dotty cutting in on a conversation Amber is having with Walky, when she knows walky is trying to move on (and has been seeing Amber, I think?)

    It feels petty to me. idk.

    • Kimi
      Kimi
      August 6, 2022 at 2:00 am | #

      It could be that she’s oblivious to the social taboos of cutting in on a conversation between two people who are together, especially when one is a former boyfriend. Not everyone is good on the social niceties and taboos.

      • Wizard
        Wizard
        August 6, 2022 at 2:51 am | #

        She’d better work on those social skills if she’s going to be a politician. Oh, right, she probably still thinks politics is driven by issues and policies. I sense a very rude awakening in her future.

        • StClair
          StClair
          August 6, 2022 at 2:54 am | #

          It’s been a long time coming, but still hasn’t arrived yet.

    • eh, whatever
      eh, whatever
      August 6, 2022 at 3:52 am | #

      Something was wrong, so she fixed it before the falsehood spread. That’s as far as she thought. Source: can empathize.

    • Reaver
      Reaver
      August 6, 2022 at 5:14 am | #

      No, it’s a party, not her walking into their room to bug them, she made a passing comment and left, no worse than Amber’s snarky comment about Dorothy’s costume.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      August 6, 2022 at 8:14 am | #

      Dorothy’s not in great shape. See the smile a couple days ago.

      This is definitely her flirting with Walky here. Only question is whether it’ll be effective.

      Is this what broke him and Amber up?

      • Azhrei Vep
        Azhrei Vep
        August 6, 2022 at 8:34 am | #

        Yeah, I think thejeff knows what’s up. Dorothy’s Not Right at the moment, and she’s making some questionable decisions as a result.

      • NubeTrasnochada
        NubeTrasnochada
        August 6, 2022 at 5:11 pm | #

        THANK YOU, I thought I was imagining it!

  19. Bagge
    Bagge
    August 6, 2022 at 2:21 am | #

    Dorothy gets good grades in fandom drama

    • Lone Duck
      Lone Duck
      August 6, 2022 at 4:25 am | #

      Let’s face it, Dorothy would be willing to be a wiki writer.

      • Bagge
        Bagge
        August 6, 2022 at 3:33 pm | #

        She is one 🙂
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/reviewing/

  20. The Oracle
    The Oracle
    August 6, 2022 at 2:22 am | #

    Hm. Amber’s kinda here, isn’t she? Dorothy could stand to be less inserty.

  21. Guy Sensei
    Guy Sensei
    August 6, 2022 at 4:24 am | #

    This is a reference to Amber being a clone of Dorothy at the start of Dumbingofage. Also Dorothy and Thick Dorothy are in position to Sandwich Walky right now.

  22. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    August 6, 2022 at 9:05 am | #

    And the winner for the “Worst ex” prize is Dorothy with her amazing interpretation of the “Hit him showing how little he knows about something he love” move!

    • spriteless_auntie
      spriteless_auntie
      August 6, 2022 at 1:40 pm | #

      I guess she needs to win something right now

  23. milu
    milu
    August 6, 2022 at 12:44 pm | #

    I…!
    was…!
    🎶 working hard at becoming prez,
    🎶 acing through Indiana U.
    🎶 one day i was abducted at dawn,
    🎶 but the perp got shot so it’s cool!

    🎶 Then it’s Halloween, with all the team,
    🎶 nerdiness is in the air!
    🎶 I’m talking to my ex a lot,
    🎶 but that’s neither here nor there!

    🎵 She’s the crazy ex-girlfriend! 🎵
    “what? no i’m not!”
    🎵 She’s the crazy ex-girlfriend! 🎵
    “that’s a sexist term!”
    🎵 She’s the crazy ex-girlfriend! 🎵
    “can you guys stop singing for just a second?”
    🎵 She’s super traumatiiiised! 🎵
    “the situation’s a lot more nuanced than that!”
    🎵 C-R-A-Z-Y 🎵
    “OK! We get it!”
    🎵 Crazy ex-girlfriend! 🎵

  24. Keulen
    Keulen
    August 6, 2022 at 1:09 pm | #

    Is this why Walky and Amber broke up, because she didn’t know Dexter lore while Dorothy does?

    • Alex
      Alex
      August 6, 2022 at 8:29 pm | #

      I’m more worried that it will be because Walky spent the whole night flirting with Dorothy.

  25. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    August 6, 2022 at 6:55 pm | #

    This joke is double as funny if you’ve read “it’s walky” and i love that

  26. Laura
    Laura
    August 6, 2022 at 8:23 pm | #

    Roz would be horrified at Indiana’s new law. So would most of the cast, frankly.
    https://www.wonkette.com/indiana-banned-almost-all-abortions-and-now-employers-are-scrambling-to-get-the-hell-out

    • Alex
      Alex
      August 6, 2022 at 8:28 pm | #

      I like to think this all takes place in a slightly more benevolent universe.

      • Laura
        Laura
        August 6, 2022 at 8:44 pm | #

        Well, it certainly appears to be a COVID-free world, so I can take some small comfort in that, too. 🙂

    • C.T. Phipps
      C.T. Phipps
      August 6, 2022 at 8:53 pm | #

      So would anyone of a non-misogynist faith or ethical system.

  27. RedComet
    RedComet
    August 6, 2022 at 9:37 pm | #

    Wonder if it ever bums Walky out that women continuously tell him that he’s just for fun/not serious/a distraction/whatever.

    • Laura
      Laura
      August 6, 2022 at 11:07 pm | #

      I think he likes that.

  28. Johan
    Johan
    August 6, 2022 at 11:23 pm | #

    Man I hope Dorothy isn’t why they broke up.

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