Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

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May 22, 2026

Howso

by David M Willis on June 17, 2024 at 12:01 am
  • 04 – For Me It Was Tuesday
└ Tags: jacob, sarah

Discussion (102) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    June 17, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    So Jacob basically covers Sarah’s entire emotional spectrum.

    Other Jacob was really only good for the one, the genuine article has a lot more range.

  2. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    June 17, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    “mad and horny” sums up a, candidly, disturbing amount of this comic

    • Rose by Any Other Name
      Rose by Any Other Name
      June 17, 2024 at 12:07 am | #

      Very true.
      … also, is it just me, or did the Slipshine ad to the left change from one pic of Danny and Sal to a similar pic facing the other direction?

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        June 17, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

        Well it’s Sal and Danny, and it’s different than the ad before, but past that I can’t vouch for anything.

        • Clif
          Clif
          June 17, 2024 at 2:13 am | #

          I will believe this regardless of any evidence to the contrary.

          • Clif
            Clif
            June 17, 2024 at 2:14 am | #

            What?

            This was a reply to Dr. Who below.

      • Doctor_Who
        Doctor_Who
        June 17, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

        It’s actually an animated gif, it just moves very slowly.

        • Miri
          Miri
          June 17, 2024 at 3:55 am | #

          Don’t blink.

          • Decidedly Orthogonal
            Decidedly Orthogonal
            June 17, 2024 at 9:56 am | #

            Clown will eat me.

        • Michael Steamweed
          Michael Steamweed
          June 17, 2024 at 7:55 am | #

          Appropriate name and avatar for response!

      • ValdVin
        ValdVin
        June 17, 2024 at 7:02 am | #

        “Scaroused” is a perfect coinage for its two feelings but I can’t put “mad” and “horny” together in one word.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          June 17, 2024 at 7:12 am | #

          Brannigan and Fry, chained to the wall.

        • Azhrei Vep
          Azhrei Vep
          June 17, 2024 at 7:33 am | #

          I like Angrousal.

          • Shadowsnail
            Shadowsnail
            June 17, 2024 at 11:30 am | #

            Angrandy? or Hornery.

            • Kelibath
              Kelibath
              June 17, 2024 at 12:56 pm | #

              Ooh, I LOVE “hornery”.
              I was thinking “shame hangry is already taken”.

            • Azhrei Vep
              Azhrei Vep
              June 17, 2024 at 4:44 pm | #

              Oooooh, Hornery is super good.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      June 17, 2024 at 12:34 am | #

      Throw in “dumb” and you’ve got most of the comic.

      • IntangibleMatter
        IntangibleMatter
        June 17, 2024 at 7:15 am | #

        “Dumb, Mad, and Horny” sounds like a bad 2006 adult comedy film that hasn’t aged well

        • Decidedly Orthogonal
          Decidedly Orthogonal
          June 17, 2024 at 9:52 am | #

          Agree to disagree. As a member of the trifecta, I think DMH has aged extremely well. It has managed to document an authentic view of the geopolitical pornographic violence-scape to a degree not seen since owmyballs swept the daytime television sweepstakes.

    • raultsi
      raultsi
      June 17, 2024 at 9:57 am | #

      the name of my next album

      thanks, Willis 😀

  3. Animedingo
    Animedingo
    June 17, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    Hes walky fused with Joe

    • shadowcell
      shadowcell
      June 17, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

      so he’s…Woe

      • BarerMender
        BarerMender
        June 17, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

        Or Jocky. Sorry. I’ll show myself out.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      June 17, 2024 at 12:35 am | #

      Congratulations. You found exactly the right words to end Sarah’s lady-boner for him.

  4. Annika
    Annika
    June 17, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    I love these two so much

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      June 17, 2024 at 7:56 am | #

      Appropriate gravitar is totally appropriate.

  5. shadowcell
    shadowcell
    June 17, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    Dumbing of Age Book 14: Mad and Horny

    • DinaJoyce
      DinaJoyce
      June 17, 2024 at 1:28 am | #

      Like button needed

    • Decidedly Orthogonal
      Decidedly Orthogonal
      June 17, 2024 at 9:55 am | #

      No can do. That’s the title of the DoA Omnibus and Willis’ Retirement Memorial Edition

  6. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    June 17, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    Jacob just keeps winning.

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      June 17, 2024 at 12:07 am | #

      (In terms of getting the people around him to show their best selves)

      • PedanticJerkass
        PedanticJerkass
        June 17, 2024 at 1:47 am | #

        Hmm… the tags indicate that we have never seen an interaction between Jacob and Booster, as of yet. I suddenly want Jacob and Booster to meet.

        And, for that matter, the one meeting between Jacob and Mike was essentially a “two ships passing in the night” type of situation. I wonder if Jacob could have brought out the best in Mike (whatever “best” would have been, in Mike’s case), if they had ever properly interacted with each other.

        • Smallmoon
          Smallmoon
          June 17, 2024 at 5:39 am | #

          I mean, as things go… Mike, as he was in his last active moments, was far from the worst he could have been.

          • PedanticJerkass
            PedanticJerkass
            June 17, 2024 at 2:54 pm | #

            I mean, he was actively trying to kill a dude in his last active moments. Sure, the guy absolutely deserved it and it’s unfortunate that it didn’t work, which is why it wasn’t Mike at his “worst,” but still…

            I doubt if Jacob and Mike had interacted and that interaction had brought out the best in Mike, it probably wouldn’t have involved Mike trying to murder-suicide someone.

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              June 17, 2024 at 10:07 pm | #

              Trying to take out someone who’s about to kill a friend isn’t “murder-suicide”. That’s heroic sacrifice.

  7. AY
    AY
    June 17, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    I’m feeling pretty good about this interaction so far, it’s refreshing

    • ABunchOTrees
      ABunchOTrees
      June 17, 2024 at 7:45 pm | #

      I think she understood both sides of her attraction to him when she knocked on his door, but she tried to push him away with the overt sexuality first because that’s how she is. I think Jacob was unsure whether she liked him for more than just his body, and he crafted his response days/weeks ago with the intent of leaving either option open.

      Now, for the very first time in the comic, we get to see Sarah open up with someone else, and Jacob is too kind and emotionally intelligent to screw it up. Even if they don’t end up together, only good things could come from this.

  8. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    June 17, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    Oh, wow Sarah is actually emotionally invested in Jacob! Who knew?!

    • Throwatron
      Throwatron
      June 17, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

      Jacob definitely knew XD

      • DashWallkick
        DashWallkick
        June 17, 2024 at 1:35 am | #

        She’s been spending a lot of time with him in ways that were more than just leering. And this is *after* Joyce tried to sell him on her. He’s not stupid.

      • ABunchOTrees
        ABunchOTrees
        June 17, 2024 at 7:50 pm | #

        Don’t kid yourself. Nobody knew for sure, that’s (possibly) why he was so diplomatic with his last response. Did you expect this to happen after the last comic?

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          June 17, 2024 at 10:08 pm | #

          It’s been pretty clear she’s emotionally invested.

          It was a lot less clear whether she’d be able to admit it. Or even be tricked into admitting it.

  9. Tan
    Tan
    June 17, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    Multiple feelings confirmed

  10. Blume
    Blume
    June 17, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    I kinda love this a lot actually. Sarah has achieved FULL HONESTY! And I’m happy that it’s with Jacob, someone who exercises extreme patience yet still puts his foot down haha.

  11. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    June 17, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

    I’m really digging this, not gonna lie.

  12. Jeremiah
    Jeremiah
    June 17, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

    I am loving emotionally honest Sarah. It took a while to get here but it was absolutely worth it.

  13. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    June 17, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

    Mad and horny… basically the only emotions I was able to feel for the past few days.

    But thankfully my friends as of recently have helped me get comfortably numb, so that’s nice… T_T

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      June 17, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

      Much better than depression, I tell you.

      *plays “Comfortably Numb” on hacked muzak*

      • True Survivor
        True Survivor
        June 17, 2024 at 12:23 am | #

        I am still a little confused. Are you saying that your friends are leeches in view of 17th century physicians (wonderful little guys who with numbing properties that balance out all those sanguine humors making feel ill and irritable) or leeches in the view of modern-day campers (clingy, blood-sucking parasites that leave you feeling exhausted)?

        Also, sweet song. I can’t really make out the lyrics, but it provides a bit of strange tranquil bliss all the same.

        • NGPZ
          NGPZ
          June 17, 2024 at 12:31 am | #

          Leeches? Where’s that coming from? 😮

          Comfortable numb means, not happy, but not depressed either.

          Like, the kind of thing SSRIs are supposed to do, if you have SSRIs.

          • APersonAmI
            APersonAmI
            June 17, 2024 at 1:58 am | #

            “Supposed to” is an interesting and accurate way to put that, because like any medication, they might not work like that for any specific person, especially if they are neurodivergent.

            I’ve had chronic depression for 14 years. In 2021, it got worse, and I started looking for treatment. After trying therapy for half a year, the therapist recomended I try medication, because it kept getting worse.

            After trying four drugs that had basically no effect, I found an SSRI that did something. But it sure didn’t make me numb.

            Sertralin doesn’t even out the emotional graph for me, it lifts the top and lowers the bottom. While I still have bad days, I am able to appreciate the world around me, to more often feel happiness when I should. But it also lets me feel anxiety and remember traumas more vividly.

            Also, it lets me feel hunger again. Let me tell you, that’s *weird* when you haven’t been able to feel hunger at all for fourteen years. Going from having to guesstimate that I might be hungry from how tired I am to having a stomach that tells me to put food in it (sometimes more food than it actually needs) is weird as hell. Kinda like it though! I feel more alive.

            So yeah. The brain is complicated, medications are not tested on a broad enough audience that we can know what they’ll do, and depression is rough.

            I’m sorry for you going through it. Glad to hear you have friends to support you. Good luck, survivor.

            • NGPZ
              NGPZ
              June 17, 2024 at 3:40 am | #

              True.

              Weed helps make me feel better and hungrier. Whatever works 🙂

          • Leorale
            Leorale
            June 17, 2024 at 12:47 pm | #

            SSRIs aren’t supposed to numb you out. (If they do, you might be on too high a dose, or they may be the wrong med for you entirely.)

            Mine were intended to cut the extreme sadness/anxiety, take the edge off, type of thing, but they are not supposed to / did not get me numb. They let my other emotions through. Hooray!

            That said, I’m glad your 420 works just how you want it to. Whatever works, for sure. 👍

          • True Survivor
            True Survivor
            June 17, 2024 at 9:51 pm | #

            Sorry about that – I saw ‘comfortably numb’ and for some reason my mind went “you know, leeches have numbing agents in their saliva.” I guess that just stuck.

            I am glad you feeing better, even if it that doesn’t mean happy right now.

      • Michael Steamweed
        Michael Steamweed
        June 17, 2024 at 7:58 am | #

        Far, far better than depression.

  14. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    June 17, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

    Does mean that somewhere, Joyce is melancholy and halcyon?

  15. Ray
    Ray
    June 17, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

    Next Pornographique, “Sarah & Jacob: Epic Hatefuck, the Sequel”

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      June 17, 2024 at 5:19 am | #

      Why would it be a hatefuck? They seem to genuinely like one another, Sarah’s just got issues handling her emotions when they aren’t grumpy. There’s no hate here.

      • Smallmoon
        Smallmoon
        June 17, 2024 at 5:44 am | #

        I see it as ‘performative hate’: Sarah is just the grumpiest as Jacob helps her to unpack her all her emotional constipation, including the lust.

        • Michael Steamweed
          Michael Steamweed
          June 17, 2024 at 8:01 am | #

          Her relating everything from her freshman year would take at least a couple sex therapy sessions.

  16. PirateTawnee
    PirateTawnee
    June 17, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

    Three things. Mad, Horny, and MadHorny.

    • Stanistani
      Stanistani
      June 17, 2024 at 12:21 am | #

      McHorny. Lovin’ it!

      • Michael Steamweed
        Michael Steamweed
        June 17, 2024 at 8:01 am | #

        I’d hit it.

  17. Jesse
    Jesse
    June 17, 2024 at 12:11 am | #

    She’s *very* angry and *very* horny.

  18. Dara
    Dara
    June 17, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

    She been ridin’ mad and horny

    (I tried to post it four times like in the song but the censorbot doesn’t like that)

    • Azhrei Vep
      Azhrei Vep
      June 17, 2024 at 7:36 am | #

      She been ridin’ mad and horny

      (I got 1/3 of your back)

      • zee
        zee
        June 17, 2024 at 12:09 pm | #

        Cumillionaire

  19. BBCC
    BBCC
    June 17, 2024 at 12:18 am | #

    Let it all out, Sarah, he’s into it.

  20. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    June 17, 2024 at 12:24 am | #

    I was just reading a comic that their schtick is body swapping, usually M/F or F/M and an occasional F/F but wide age differences as one is going through puberty and the other is mid-life but not menopausal. It’s hilarious when there’s a mid-life F takes over for a M in Puberty and every other panel the person is thinking about sex because “stupid teenage male hormones!” The comic is Lady Valiant, and they’re coming off an arc where a bunch of Roman deities swipe some bodies because that’s what they have to do to manifest in our universe, and sometimes they are in the right gender body sometimes they’re not, and a couple just change the stolen body to the deity’s preferred gender, and after the deity leaves/gets defeated the person gets their body back but at the wrong stage of life/gender. It could be bad, but it’s treated as comedy, and the writers managed to manke it funny.

  21. Hazel
    Hazel
    June 17, 2024 at 12:25 am | #

    I knew this had to be why she was so fixated on Jacob. There are other hot dudes that she could’ve objectified. Jacob is hot and also genuinely kind and optimistic, in a really specific way. Most dudes with his level of obvious appeal would’ve taken advantage for a series of hookups, but he clearly hasn’t (for multiple reasons).

    • GholaHalleck
      GholaHalleck
      June 17, 2024 at 1:20 am | #

      Add in him being hooked up with a manipulating ass parade, who would eventually drag him to her level or hurt him to the point of possible breakage, and he’s a powderkeg of emotional turmoil.

      • Bash
        Bash
        June 17, 2024 at 1:24 am | #

        Is that an intensifier on “manipulating”, or are we talking about a literal ass parade. Because in this context I feel like it could be both.

        • Smallmoon
          Smallmoon
          June 17, 2024 at 5:46 am | #

          I read it as “Parade of manipulative asses” as in ‘stupid, stubborn, or detestable person’.

  22. JA
    JA
    June 17, 2024 at 12:25 am | #

    “Great, and now I want angry sex.”

    • anon
      anon
      June 17, 2024 at 2:08 am | #

      LOL well, ‘passion’ is important in relationships ;P

  23. Dante
    Dante
    June 17, 2024 at 12:38 am | #

    OH GOD. OH GOD. It’s like the wisest adage on the internet.

    “If you want someone to answer your question, don’t ask! Post the wrong answer.”

    You sly dog, you got her monologuing O_O

  24. JessWitt
    JessWitt
    June 17, 2024 at 12:38 am | #

    This whole chapter’s been so lovey-dovey and I’m all for it.

  25. SailorCakes
    SailorCakes
    June 17, 2024 at 12:39 am | #

    This whole chapter just needs to be called the Horny Times honestly cause everyone is feeling it 🤭😜

  26. morhek
    morhek
    June 17, 2024 at 12:48 am | #

    Huh. I was expecting the “but” to be Jacob’s. Sarah probably was too, though with a different but.

  27. Steve
    Steve
    June 17, 2024 at 12:48 am | #

    And an almost fanatical devotion to the pope — I’ll come back in.

  28. Bash
    Bash
    June 17, 2024 at 1:29 am | #

    Okay, now I ship it.

    • Arioch
      Arioch
      June 17, 2024 at 7:25 am | #

      Right?! I wasn’t onboard before, but now, definitely.

  29. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    June 17, 2024 at 1:37 am | #

    The girl-horny button is “difficult men deliberately knowing you” and Jacob is absolutely hitting hers simply by being kind and compassionate.

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      June 17, 2024 at 5:22 am | #

      The women-horny button isn’t a single thing, but certainly this works for some!

  30. Meagan
    Meagan
    June 17, 2024 at 1:48 am | #

    I’ve never seen Sarah so emotionally vulnerable, and it makes me think that Sarah only opening up at this level to a romantic interest is an archetype. I think we see this in guys more – because the gender norms lead guys to feel like they can’t be emotionally vulnerable with each other, so they are only open at that level with a female partner. Whereas female friendships are encouraged to be emotionally vulnerable. Yet here she is embodying that as a woman. I hope this openness expands to her other relationships (friends) or I will be worried about her only feeling safe with one person. I suppose on the other hand that’s better than no people.

    • Bruno
      Bruno
      June 17, 2024 at 3:40 am | #

      haters will see you open up to a person and be like im worried its not two people

      • Tan
        Tan
        June 17, 2024 at 11:22 am | #

        If you give a mouse an emotional vulnerability…..

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      June 17, 2024 at 8:14 am | #

      She’s had her moments of opening up to Joyce as well, but I do think there’s a level of gender stereotype reversal going on here.

    • zee
      zee
      June 17, 2024 at 12:12 pm | #

      I like the gender reversal here. It could be that there are subconscious blocks from the last time she opened up to her friends in her first year

  31. Acher4
    Acher4
    June 17, 2024 at 2:06 am | #

    If these two end up having sex in the next coming weeks (our time),
    this would really end up being not “just a Tuesday” after all.

    It would be a Fuck-Tuesday for the whole wing!

    A good time for a wing orgy? <.<

  32. anon
    anon
    June 17, 2024 at 2:07 am | #

    Gotta love jacob playing 5d chess, but hopefully they can have a chill time together

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      June 17, 2024 at 7:10 am | #

      In the “Netflix and” sense?

      • anon
        anon
        June 18, 2024 at 4:04 am | #

        i can imagine her playing and adding a lot of atmospheric sense to get over the mental (well i guess more so emotional constipation) if she had to deal with like an intimate scene ‘in the moment’

  33. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    June 17, 2024 at 2:26 am | #

    You just had to tack that on huh

  34. StClair
    StClair
    June 17, 2024 at 2:47 am | #

    Stop being so perfect, baka.

  35. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    June 17, 2024 at 7:21 am | #

    …somehow, i like where this is going

  36. Michael Steamweed
    Michael Steamweed
    June 17, 2024 at 7:52 am | #

    Dumbing of Age: Mad and Horny

    A better title, I have not seen on this day.

  37. Hydrohead
    Hydrohead
    June 17, 2024 at 8:47 am | #

    She got out emotionally smarted.

  38. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    June 17, 2024 at 9:47 am | #

    Wow, I agree with Sarah, mainly 2nd panel.
    I understand. See a person that’s so emmotional intelligent, resilient, and still be so gorgeous, WHILE you’re struggling with all these things, that make me a bit mad, too.

  39. Yeet
    Yeet
    June 17, 2024 at 10:23 am | #

    being loveable on purpose is basically impossible, it’s true

  40. Mr. Random
    Mr. Random
    June 17, 2024 at 10:47 pm | #

    The secret is to make her have to correct you.
    She loves being right more than she hates sharing her feelings.

  41. shrub
    shrub
    June 17, 2024 at 11:55 pm | #

    Well clearly Jacob isn’t human, angel perhaps?

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