Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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ruth keeps that in her pocket any time she wants to end a conversation
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May 22, 2026

Zip up

by David M Willis on January 16, 2025 at 12:01 am
  • 02 – The One Where Jocelyne Returns
└ Tags: jennifer, leslie, ruth

Discussion (162) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    January 16, 2025 at 12:02 am | #

    “You’ve got the WRONG CAT“

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      January 16, 2025 at 12:02 am | #

      No way, our brains went exactly the same place.

  2. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    January 16, 2025 at 12:02 am | #

    Leslie just unlocked a 30 year old Animaniacs memory.

    So thanks, Leslie! Everyone needs more Bernadette Peters in their life.

    • Sharizard
      Sharizard
      January 16, 2025 at 4:04 am | #

      Ruth and Rita weren’t the first characters i would immediately clump together, but now i’ve made the connection i can’t see them apart.

      Though i admit my first thought would have been more Slappy Squirrel.

      • SailorCakes
        SailorCakes
        January 16, 2025 at 7:30 am | #

        Isn’t she comparing Leslie and Rita though? :/ After all Leslie is the one saying she isn’t anyone’s mom where as Ruth just made a comment about her dead mom.

        • Sharizard
          Sharizard
          January 17, 2025 at 4:50 am | #

          That… does make more sense in the context. It’s just that Rita has that sarcastic cynicism that makes me think Ruth more than Leslie.

    • Vulcanodon
      Vulcanodon
      January 16, 2025 at 12:51 pm | #

      A little something in my eye…

  3. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    January 16, 2025 at 12:02 am | #

    leave it to Leslie to spread the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Mother® XD

  4. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    January 16, 2025 at 12:02 am | #

    also

    DAAAAAAAMN :0

  5. Thag Simmons
    Thag Simmons
    January 16, 2025 at 12:04 am | #

    That’s a hell of a Nuclear Option Ruth.

    • Dante
      Dante
      January 16, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

      If she doesn’t get to have a mom nobody can (?)

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:07 pm | #

      ruth is a bit of an outlier but i imagine leslie does have a higher amount of ppl with issues in her class, although 4-5 out of like maybe 50 (i assume like for the day, not one singular period) students isn’t too bad compared to 60% of students having mommy issues

  6. Taffy
    Taffy
    January 16, 2025 at 12:04 am | #

    Why is Ruth extra hot when she says that?

    • Dante
      Dante
      January 16, 2025 at 12:07 am | #

      An edge sharpn’d by tragedy, my liege

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      January 16, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

      Because we are all sick in the head. Probably because Tumblr or something.

    • clif
      clif
      January 16, 2025 at 12:47 am | #

      Doesn’t count. She’s always extra hot.

      • Casi
        Casi
        January 16, 2025 at 10:50 am | #

        yeah but normally she’s only 5 peppers hot, here she’s 6

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:41 pm | #

      bc mentally /emotional stable ppl that are conventionally attractive/having no depth are boring 8D;

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        January 16, 2025 at 8:49 pm | #

        It would be rude to suggest killing all mentally stable people.

  7. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    January 16, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    …J-Jesus Christ, Ruth.

    oh god was ruth the one who had to identify her parents’ bodies? do they really have children do that? or was it just an open casket funeral?

    • Dante
      Dante
      January 16, 2025 at 12:15 am | #

      Probably Sir had to, because Ruth was a minor. Then again, Sir probably took her to look to toughen her up

      … man, that’s grim

      • Bryy
        Bryy
        January 16, 2025 at 12:21 am | #

        No, I mean, you’re probably right.

      • RassilonTDavros
        RassilonTDavros
        January 16, 2025 at 1:03 am | #

        Shit, he totally would do that, that bastard.

      • Amós Batista
        Amós Batista
        January 16, 2025 at 7:44 am | #

        the more you know…

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      January 16, 2025 at 12:27 am | #

      If they were driving then most likely they had identification like wallets and phones, so they probably wouldn’t have needed to further traumatize the orphan? Hopefully.

    • Envy
      Envy
      January 16, 2025 at 4:23 am | #

      They would not ask a child to identify their parents’ bodies, no. In the modern day, with IDs, smartphones, fingerprints, and DNA, it’s way rarer to ask anyone to identify a body.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      January 16, 2025 at 4:24 am | #

      Let’s all just hope she and Howard weren’t IN THE CAR during the crash.

      • Amós Batista
        Amós Batista
        January 16, 2025 at 7:46 am | #

        let’s *crossing the arms, exasperatedly* stop going too deep in this strip…

  8. Charles Phipps
    Charles Phipps
    January 16, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

    Leslie is such a sweetie-pie that Ruth acting like this makes me wish a roundhouse kick from Amazi-Girl to her head.

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      January 16, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

      Ruth not Leslie.

  9. Jeremiah
    Jeremiah
    January 16, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

    “No I must keep the maternal instincts at bay!”

  10. Dante
    Dante
    January 16, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

    sdgsd BRUTAL RUTH, COME ONNNN.

    I wanna believe that’s how she’d banter with her mom, too. If she had one. Leslie hasn’t beaten the allegations since roughly her third DoA appearance.

    (There’s a joke to make somewhere about Mike being dead and nickels unspent but so far’s falling flat. I’ll work on it.)

    • ian livs
      ian livs
      January 16, 2025 at 1:08 am | #

      Funnily enough, if there had been a scenario in which Mike and Leslie had to post as son and mom because of Wacky Hijinks or something, they totally could’ve pulled it off

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      January 16, 2025 at 12:24 pm | #

      Works without the comma.

      I mean we’ve seen what Ruth considers a turn-on…

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 9:31 pm | #

      One could say she’s…ruthless 8D;

  11. Thag Simmons
    Thag Simmons
    January 16, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

    I’d make a joke about her not actually being Nobody’s mom, but I’m not deep enough into greek myths to be able to name drop Odysseus’s mother without looking it up.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      January 16, 2025 at 12:11 am | #

      Leslie Anticlea Bean

    • Joe Moose
      Joe Moose
      January 16, 2025 at 12:12 am | #

      *Oedipus

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        January 16, 2025 at 12:19 am | #

        I actually could name drop Jocasta without looking it up, but that would be illegible because I was in fact talking about Odysseus, who is a different dude.

        • Buck Ripsnort
          Buck Ripsnort
          January 16, 2025 at 6:36 am | #

          It scares me that I only know Jocasta’s name because of the Marvel robot.

          • Thag Simmons
            Thag Simmons
            January 16, 2025 at 2:36 pm | #

            Hey, that still counts!

      • Vegetalss4
        Vegetalss4
        January 16, 2025 at 3:22 am | #

        To explain for anyone curious, the joke is that during one of his adventures, Odysseus convinced a cyclops his name was Nobody, so that when he called for help as oddyseus made his escape the other Cyclopes wouldn’t come.
        “Nobody blinded me!” “Nobody is getting away!” and so on.

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          January 16, 2025 at 2:36 pm | #

          Yeah, Oedipus is a different dude known for less dignified reasons.

          • misanthropope
            misanthropope
            January 16, 2025 at 9:06 pm | #

            his name is listed in Freud’s index because he… loved his mother

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      January 16, 2025 at 12:22 am | #

      jesus. nice.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      January 16, 2025 at 12:29 am | #

      Queen of Ithaca* might be good because you could say, “Who do you think you are, the queen of Ithaca?”
      But then his wife was also the queen of Ithaca, so it gets confusing.

      *This is also where my knowledge of her maxes out

      • butting
        butting
        January 16, 2025 at 1:26 am | #

        The whole story is confusion though, lean into it.

    • Ray Radlein
      Ray Radlein
      January 16, 2025 at 12:34 am | #

      Anticlea, daughter of master thief Autolycus, granddaughter of Hermes, which explains a lot about Odysseus

      • eh, whatever
        eh, whatever
        January 16, 2025 at 4:24 am | #

        Autolycus

        Selfwolf?

        • Vegetalss4
          Vegetalss4
          January 16, 2025 at 6:16 am | #

          The traditional translation is “The Wolf Itself”, he was a mythical thief

          • Azhrei Vep
            Azhrei Vep
            January 16, 2025 at 7:00 am | #

            And most importantly, he was played by Bruce Campbell.

  12. Shakes
    Shakes
    January 16, 2025 at 12:10 am | #

    Now that’s the face of someone who really really loves spite.

  13. JA
    JA
    January 16, 2025 at 12:13 am | #

    Jesus Christ, Ruth.

  14. BBCC
    BBCC
    January 16, 2025 at 12:13 am | #

    Great job, Ruth, now she knows you’re free maternal real estate!

    Really though, that’s one hell of a conversational nuke.

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      January 16, 2025 at 3:28 am | #

      Yep, my mother died from what they call “Brain Slosh” after she broke her hip and fell in 2004. Kinda rough on my Dad, because it happened right in front of him.

      • BBCC
        BBCC
        January 16, 2025 at 11:57 pm | #

        That’s very sad. I’m sorry to hear of your loss.

  15. Wendy
    Wendy
    January 16, 2025 at 12:18 am | #

    Sometimes it’s like that! Sometimes you gotta vicariously traumatize other people with your own trauma to cope! I get it, unfortunately.

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      January 16, 2025 at 1:42 am | #

      Exactly. If you have to have dead parents, then you get to make dead parent “jokes” every now and then to enjoy the way it horrifies the people around you.

      That’s the trade-off.

      • Schpoonman
        Schpoonman
        January 16, 2025 at 11:13 am | #

        Batman wastes so much good material.

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:11 pm | #

      lol i feel sorry for other students expecting a ‘normal’ lesson and leslie being shaken up to really teach properly, tho at this point she should just cancel class lol (unless there’d be issues in the syllablus/class credits where she can’t decide that on her own without permission, tho that one science prof did dismiiss ppl earlier that one time)

  16. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    January 16, 2025 at 12:22 am | #

    Ruth is a Canadian with very very little patience for anyone and dead parent(s). I feel so represented.

    Genuinely though, pulling the “dead parent” card to mess with somebody else’s head is always so much fun.

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      January 16, 2025 at 3:30 am | #

      Not near as much fun as pulling the I died in 2001 card.

  17. John Campbell
    John Campbell
    January 16, 2025 at 12:26 am | #

    I’m suddenly shipping Ruth and Leslie, and I’m concerned about what this says about me.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      January 16, 2025 at 12:28 am | #

      You want Ruth to be on the other side of an inappropriate lesbian relationship with an authority figure?

      • clif
        clif
        January 16, 2025 at 12:38 am | #

        Well, yes, but relationship first and Jennifer can become an authority figure after.

  18. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    January 16, 2025 at 12:26 am | #

    Leslie really gets the problem kids in her class. She should start a school for at risk youths with exceptional abilities. Not because of anything related here, it would just be a cool thing to do.

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      January 16, 2025 at 12:53 am | #

      And they can fight and wear matching outfits and stuff

      • Charles Phipps
        Charles Phipps
        January 16, 2025 at 1:11 am | #

        She can take over for those Umbrella Academy Kids. Their teacher was terrible and Elliot’s Viktor just needs a hug.

        • Jeremiah
          Jeremiah
          January 16, 2025 at 2:06 am | #

          I never watched the final season because I heard it was sbad.

        • Buck Ripsnort
          Buck Ripsnort
          January 16, 2025 at 6:33 am | #

          I was thinking of Miss Peregrine

          Jeez, there are SIX books in that series?

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      January 16, 2025 at 3:59 am | #

      There’s no such thing as a problem kid. Only parents with bad aim.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        January 16, 2025 at 4:00 am | #

        Fucksake, this phone screen is gonna get me murdered one day.

        Tack on “with the Behavior Beam” before the period, goddamn.

        • Buck Ripsnort
          Buck Ripsnort
          January 16, 2025 at 6:34 am | #

          I kind of like your original better.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            January 16, 2025 at 6:45 am | #

            Without the stupid Behavior Beam context, it comes across like I’m saying parents should shoot their children with AR-15s. The scary black ones with the tactical grips and bump stocks, plus whatever other accessories anti-gun people are attaching to them now.

            • clif
              clif
              January 16, 2025 at 10:47 am | #

              Kids are small. I recommend laser sights.

  19. Pocky
    Pocky
    January 16, 2025 at 12:27 am | #

    Look, just because you have a dullahan as a mom, doesn’t mean you can brag about it.

    • clif
      clif
      January 16, 2025 at 12:44 am | #

      I hear Washington Irving had that problem.

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        January 16, 2025 at 3:34 am | #

        As far as is known, Irving’s Headless Horseman was a man, and unrelated to Irving.

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          January 16, 2025 at 4:04 am | #

          That’s the cover-up version.

          • clif
            clif
            January 16, 2025 at 10:48 am | #

            He couldn’t brag about his mom and so it had to come out somehow.

        • Deanatay
          Deanatay
          January 16, 2025 at 12:33 pm | #

          Headless Horse-mom?

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            January 16, 2025 at 5:47 pm | #

            Headless Horse-MILF. High heels were invented for horse riding, yeah?

    • UrsulaDavina
      UrsulaDavina
      January 16, 2025 at 2:54 pm | #

      Glad someone brought up a Duallhan despite it being a Gaelic incarnation of unrelenting death it provides some light hearted humor in comparison to Ruth’s pitch dark statment.

  20. Qube
    Qube
    January 16, 2025 at 12:29 am | #

    I’d ask if she needs a hug, but she’s already proving distressingly blasé on the subject of decapitations

  21. Ray Radlein
    Ray Radlein
    January 16, 2025 at 12:31 am | #

    TEACH WITH INTEGRITY

    NO REGRETS

    • clif
      clif
      January 16, 2025 at 12:41 am | #

      Trucks have no place in the classroom.

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      January 16, 2025 at 12:46 am | #

      I actually get this one! Ruth died in a car crash in It’s Walky right? Someone once linked a redrawn page of that moment.

      • Jeremiah
        Jeremiah
        January 16, 2025 at 12:52 am | #

        And she did that to save Danny life while he was driving drunk I think? Early Willis wasn’t a very good writer if you can believe it

        • Charles Phipps
          Charles Phipps
          January 16, 2025 at 1:12 am | #

          Yes, but it rid the world of Ruth so it wasn’t a terrible plot.

          *audience boos and throws food at me*

          • Jeremiah
            Jeremiah
            January 16, 2025 at 2:05 am | #

            Okay? Kind of weird and uncalled but alright.

            • Charles Phipps
              Charles Phipps
              January 16, 2025 at 6:08 am | #

              I mentioned being mean to Leslie is beyond unforgivable.

              • Charles Phipps
                Charles Phipps
                January 16, 2025 at 10:15 am | #

                (If it wasn’t clear, the statement is purely in regards to how crappy Ruth’s comment was in this panel and not an overall statement of Ruth as a character)

      • clif
        clif
        January 16, 2025 at 12:53 am | #

        Just after monologging “Act with Integrity. No regrets.” You have to read it for the back story. It’s not quite as iconic as Walky’s “It’s the rain” speech, but it comes close.

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          January 16, 2025 at 4:05 am | #

          And yet, I’ve actually heard of the regrets one.

      • clif
        clif
        January 16, 2025 at 12:58 am | #

        Early Willis wasn’t the same writer he is now. I’m going to go with a hard disagree with “he wasn’t a very good writer. ” if he hadn’t captured readers with character and story, if there was no magic there, we wouldn’t be here today.

        • Chris Phoenix
          Chris Phoenix
          January 16, 2025 at 3:12 am | #

          Well, some of us still would be here. I found DoA first and immediately subscribed. Then I learned he’d done some earlier stuff, checked it out, but never really got into it.

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            January 16, 2025 at 7:41 am | #

            Yeah, but if he hadn’t captured readers with his earlier works, he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep doing it until you found DoA.

            • Jeremiah
              Jeremiah
              January 16, 2025 at 3:20 pm | #

              I argue that being able to capture readers is nog really the same as the writing actually being good. (Btw this is not just me, Willis in the author comment he retroactively added to his earlier comics agrees plenty of it wasn’t very good).

        • Ray Radlein
          Ray Radlein
          January 16, 2025 at 3:35 am | #

          I remembered that specific comic literal decades later, which seems to me to be indicative of at least a certain amount of quality.

          • Charles Phipps
            Charles Phipps
            January 16, 2025 at 6:12 am | #

            It’s an event that, like Mike’s death, is something that has layers of interpretation with what we later find out about Ruth.

        • Buck Ripsnort
          Buck Ripsnort
          January 16, 2025 at 6:31 am | #

          I never heard of It’s Walky till I started reading Shortpacked. I glanced at it, said, “Eh.” and went right back to Shortpacked. Of all three Walkyverse strips, I liked Shortpacked best.

  22. Jamie
    Jamie
    January 16, 2025 at 12:32 am | #

    Not sure what it says about me that my reflexive follow-up is, “And fix the hair color, too.”

    • clif
      clif
      January 16, 2025 at 1:01 am | #

      You’re not color blind?

  23. Folus
    Folus
    January 16, 2025 at 1:05 am | #

    Did Ruth take the time to pick a seat and take her coat off, only to come back over for that quip?

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      January 16, 2025 at 1:50 am | #

      Of course. She’s a professional.

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:14 pm | #

      That is a bit odd, i’d assume she’d keep it on and then walk out unless she wants to sit back down and ‘bask’ in the uncomfortable-ness emenating from leslie.

  24. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    January 16, 2025 at 2:49 am | #

    Sorry Leslie, you are everybody’s mom

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      January 16, 2025 at 3:00 am | #

      she’s a fairly odd parent, that much is certain

      • CianM1301
        CianM1301
        January 16, 2025 at 4:41 am | #

        All she needs now is a wand, wings, and a little crowny thing.

  25. Chris Phoenix
    Chris Phoenix
    January 16, 2025 at 3:09 am | #

    A few months ago I was checking into a motel in some reddish state. I was wearing a mask. Some guy noticed my license plate and asked, “Is the air that bad in California?”

    I gave a strategic pause and then said quietly, “Covid killed my dad.”

    He did not reply.

    • Mark
      Mark
      January 16, 2025 at 7:08 am | #

      I am torn between sympathy and admiration.

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:20 pm | #

      sry for your loss

      shame it’s not more normalized just for allergies/ bad air or simply something looking flashy for ‘fashion’ reasons bc i’m sure plenty of ppl would just be like “i have fucked up teeth/hate how my lips look and don’t like ppl looking at my face”

    • Doopyboop
      Doopyboop
      January 16, 2025 at 10:09 pm | #

      I’m in a red state and often get wisecracks about wearing a mask, but as soon as I respond “I live with a cancer survivor” they’re quick to get embarrassed and shut up.

  26. ADLegend21
    ADLegend21
    January 16, 2025 at 3:18 am | #

    [Marge Simpson voice] Students could ya lighten up a bit?

  27. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    January 16, 2025 at 3:27 am | #

    (Not so) fun fact: You know those low bumpers on the back of cargo trucks and trailers? They’re called Mansfield bars because in 1967 actress Jayne Mansfield’s car went under the back of one, the truck floor was at car windshield level, and she met the fate Ruth describes.

    Her kids were fine though, including her 3 year old daughter Mariska who went on to star in Law & Order 32 years later.

  28. Arianod
    Arianod
    January 16, 2025 at 4:12 am | #

    The world won’t give Leslie a fuckign chance to beat the mom allegations

  29. Taffy
    Taffy
    January 16, 2025 at 4:15 am | #

    Decapitation’s a horrifying ways to to go. Can’t say I’ve never been curious about it though, on account of all the kids in school who kept telling me you can stay conscious for like a minute afterward. Not curious enough to try it though, since I don’t think we’re at the tech level where you can reattach a head that quickly and I’m not sure how you’d report back during that minute.

    • eh, whatever
      eh, whatever
      January 16, 2025 at 4:32 am | #

      Oh yeah. You stay conscious till you run out of oxygen.

    • Kyulen
      Kyulen
      January 16, 2025 at 4:53 am | #

      From what I’ve read, it’s not true that people stay conscious for a minute after decapitation. They fall unconscious within a few seconds due to lack of blood flow to the brain.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        January 16, 2025 at 6:06 am | #

        The fuck am I gonna do with a few seconds? I’m starting to rethink this whole decapitation thing.

        • Charles Phipps
          Charles Phipps
          January 16, 2025 at 6:13 am | #

          Transfer your consciousness to some other poor soul like one of the X-men.

          Either into an X-man or you being an X-man transferring your consciousness.

      • Zaxares
        Zaxares
        January 16, 2025 at 9:31 am | #

        It’s probably not a minute, but there are other accounts of experiments conducted after beheadings where the head continued to react or take actions (like blinking) for nearly up to 30 seconds before death or unconsciousness took place.

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      January 16, 2025 at 11:17 am | #

      I think it was a bit in one of the new Wolfenstein games.

  30. Kyulen
    Kyulen
    January 16, 2025 at 4:35 am | #

    That certainly is a way to end a conversation.

  31. Francoinblanco
    Francoinblanco
    January 16, 2025 at 4:38 am | #

    my parents are deaaaaaaaad

  32. AGV/Ruby
    AGV/Ruby
    January 16, 2025 at 5:06 am | #

    “This is where I watched my parents die, Amazigirl”

  33. Bruno
    Bruno
    January 16, 2025 at 5:38 am | #

    really interesting deconstruction of the mom friend phenomenon from ruth

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      January 16, 2025 at 6:14 am | #

      I felt yesterday was better. This felt more like needless abuse.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        January 16, 2025 at 6:16 am | #

        You can’t abuse an authority figure, that’s now how the power flows.

        • Charles Phipps
          Charles Phipps
          January 16, 2025 at 6:51 am | #

          You can when they are emotionally vulnerable.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            January 16, 2025 at 7:14 am | #

            No, pretty sure a power dynamic doesn’t get reversed just because they’re vulnerable for a moment. They’re the one with the power, which means they’re automatically less vulnerable by default.

            • Jeremiah
              Jeremiah
              January 16, 2025 at 9:45 am | #

              Charles here seem to have a bias against Ruth so I don’t think it’s worth arguing with them.

              • Charles Phipps
                Charles Phipps
                January 16, 2025 at 10:10 am | #

                I like Ruth most of the time. I hate when she’s mean to Leslie. I also don’t ship Jennifer and Ruth because of domestic violence. I was disappointed when Ruth ghosted Daisy.

                But the idea that subordinates can’t bully people in higher social positions is weird. Especially if you’re a Ruth supporter and have seen her mental stress.

                • Charles Phipps
                  Charles Phipps
                  January 16, 2025 at 10:12 am | #

                  Example, Ruth is RA but Mary ended up terrifying her with blackmail.

            • Bruno
              Bruno
              January 16, 2025 at 12:19 pm | #

              How convenient for abusers.

              • Taffy
                Taffy
                January 16, 2025 at 3:21 pm | #

                Is it? That’s less victims for them.

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              January 16, 2025 at 7:49 pm | #

              You have to wait for that moment of vulnerability, then hit them with the weapon you got from the authority figure you beat two levels ago. Then it’s back to dodging their attacks until the next moment of vulnerability gives you the opportunity to strike again. (It’s easier once you figure out their patterns.)

        • Buck Ripsnort
          Buck Ripsnort
          January 16, 2025 at 5:58 pm | #

          I honestly question the description of Leslie as an “Authority figure.”

  34. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    January 16, 2025 at 6:25 am | #

    I’m surprised Becky and Ruth aren’t closer friends given the whole “horrifically dead mom, depressed, gay” thing.

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      January 16, 2025 at 8:29 am | #

      Maybe, they just don’t realise? Someone should say to them “Hey, both your moms died horribly, so I’m sure you’ve got tons to talk about with each other!”

      • aduaitam
        aduaitam
        January 16, 2025 at 8:31 am | #

        Hey, bonded with one of my best friends over what it’s like to miss our dads! The system (can) work(s).

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      January 16, 2025 at 11:18 am | #

      If they didn’t both have red hair, maybe. At the current juncture it’s like trying to connect identical poles on a magnet.

      • Casi
        Casi
        January 16, 2025 at 12:49 pm | #

        so you’re saying we need to apply enough force to bring them together, but also have a very stable foundation to keep them from flipping out and causing catastrophic collateral damage if the containment fails?

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:25 pm | #

      well she’s slightly ‘closer’ to jen (didn’t she originally give her 20 dollars to ‘go away’ and her having her first ‘gay’ haircut lol), but i imagine ruth isn’t rly interested in more friends, esp since becky is a bit more positive even tho she’s still grieving/affected by it versus ruth being jaded about things

  35. CianM1301
    CianM1301
    January 16, 2025 at 7:39 am | #

    Life of the party as always, Ruth.

  36. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    January 16, 2025 at 8:42 am | #

    Don’t worry, Leslie, you can be my mom…

  37. thumb
    thumb
    January 16, 2025 at 10:12 am | #

    This comic has absurd levels of parental trauma of all kinds. I’d ask Willis what that’s about, but I’m pretty sure he’s been plenty vocal.

    Leslie should be *someone’s* mom.

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:24 pm | #

      i mean given how things are going so far it’d be enough just to try to be a teacher and lend an ear, being a full on adoptive kinda mom would be a bit hard tho idk if her personal life currently is as much of a mess as robin’s

  38. Amelie Wikström
    Amelie Wikström
    January 16, 2025 at 11:02 am | #

    I’m gonna have to go ahead and call “too far” on that one, Ruth. Maybe Leslie knows about your orphan situation, but she definitely is allowed to talk about the concept of having parents anyway. Out of the 50 or so students in the class, you can’t expect the teacher to have that in mind at all times. So when you make a morbid jab out of nowhere that sort of comes across like randomly throwing out necrophilia gore porn pictures in the middle of a conversation.

    If she does spend a lot of time thinking about her parents’ mutilated corpses, maybe it’s time to take up therapy as a full time job. . .

  39. Michael Steamweed
    Michael Steamweed
    January 16, 2025 at 1:40 pm | #

    His therapist, the Joker, has been very patient trying to help him try out different senses of humor.

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      January 16, 2025 at 1:41 pm | #

      Well, that comment sure got orphaned. Was supposed to go up above, replying to a Batman comment.

  40. cachew sequel
    cachew sequel
    January 16, 2025 at 2:15 pm | #

    extreme non-sequitur but I was rereading old strips today & it’s good that mike is dead

    also ruth looks really good in the last panel.

  41. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    January 16, 2025 at 2:23 pm | #

    Holy shit that’s brutal

    • anon
      anon
      January 16, 2025 at 6:41 pm | #

      Not as brutal as the accident that killed her par–/brick’d

  42. Joyfulldreams
    Joyfulldreams
    January 16, 2025 at 3:45 pm | #

    HOLY SHIT RUTH. She just went for the jugular with absolutely zero provocation.

    (That’s kind of hot?)

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      January 16, 2025 at 4:13 pm | #

      You get it.

  43. Yeet
    Yeet
    January 16, 2025 at 10:30 pm | #

    what’s the point of having dead parents if you can’t make awful jokes about it

  44. Thing2
    Thing2
    January 16, 2025 at 11:48 pm | #

    Is violently traumatic death that common in the USA, or is the number in this story unusual?

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      January 16, 2025 at 11:59 pm | #

      I’ve had two close relatives die of car accident and tractor accident.

    • gnomedeplume
      gnomedeplume
      January 17, 2025 at 12:01 am | #

      Is violently traumatic death common in a country with more guns per person than working refrigerators, and oversized vehicles that completely block the driver’s view of oncoming pedestrians?

      It’s a pretty big country, even if the number’s low there’s still decent odds of running into someone who’s familiar with the trauma.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        January 17, 2025 at 7:30 am | #

        Sure, but the level in this cast is definitely higher than normal.

        Just like most college friend groups don’t deal with murderous rapists and multiple kidnappings.

  45. Skeptible
    Skeptible
    January 17, 2025 at 3:02 pm | #

    I got distracted wondering how one gets ones neck to line up with a car bumper.

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