Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
RSS
‹
›
  • Home
  • About/Read before posting
  • Archive↓
    • by calendar
  • Cast
  • Store↓
    • Main Store (books and stuff)
    • T-shirts
  • Patreon↓
    • Patreon (regular)
    • Patreon (NSFW)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
walky has considered many times whether he should just give up and go by 'wally' to make things easier
First Previous Random 193Comments Share Next Latest
Reddit Digg Facebook MySpace Delicious Stumbleupon Buzz Up! Mixx Technorati Google Bookmarks Yahoo Bookmarks Yahoo MyWeb Windows Live Propeller FriendFeed Newsvine Xanga LinkedIn Blinklist Twitter
Discover more Hiveworks comics
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
BOOKMARK
Click "Tag Page" to bookmark a page. When you return to the site, click "Goto Tag" to continue where you left off.
Goto TagClear Tag


BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

July 11, 2026

Autocorrect

by David M Willis on June 20, 2025 at 12:01 am
  • 04 – The Only Exception
└ Tags: alice, jennifer, walky

Discussion (193) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    June 20, 2025 at 12:05 am | #

    2.5, what is he?

    ooooh….

    • Animedingo
      Animedingo
      June 20, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

      If he hooks up with amazagirl we can make it an even 3

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      June 20, 2025 at 12:14 am | #

      Amber and him were never official, I think that’s the thing rather than a joke at Amber’s DID’s expense.

    • TulipKitten
      TulipKitten
      June 20, 2025 at 2:11 am | #

      He dated Lucy very briefly. That’s probably the .5. He had more of a relationship with Amber, since they dated for a while before breaking up. Lucy and him survived 3½ dates or so?

      • Nymph
        Nymph
        June 20, 2025 at 7:24 am | #

        Amber and Walky never dated, they just messed around.

      • Tan
        Tan
        June 20, 2025 at 8:02 am | #

        Amber and Walky’s situationship started https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/04-of-mike-and-men/fresh-3/ which was October 13, and was pretty on-and-off until Halloween when it settled firmly into off (2 and a half weeks). At no point did they define a relationship beyond fooling around and it-doesn’t-count-on-garbage-roof, and they had no formal dates.

        Lucy and Walky started dating, with Walky formally asking Lucy out on a date, https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/04-hompk/romantic-2/ January 12 and broke up https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-14/02-its-the-love-i-havent-got/navigate/ January 23 (a week and a half). While they did not have sex, they definitely went on dates and repeatedly referred to one another as boyfriend and girlfriend.

        • Searcher
          Searcher
          June 20, 2025 at 8:26 am | #

          Actually, it’s Dorothy, 1.5 (dated, broke up, got back together); Amber, 0.5 (FWB); Lucy, 0.5 (three dates).

          • BorkBorkBork
            BorkBorkBork
            June 20, 2025 at 9:42 am | #

            Actually, Dorothy, Amber, and Lucy all count as 1, but the breakup burn with Lucy was so bad that Walky ended up owing her 0.5 afterwards.

    • Amelie Wikström
      Amelie Wikström
      June 20, 2025 at 3:48 pm | #

      I’m the only one who assumed Walky only counts Lucy partially because they never had sex?

  2. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    June 20, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

    More girlfriends than anyone else in the cast I think.

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      June 20, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

      Wait no Danny I think has the full 3.

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        June 20, 2025 at 12:07 am | #

        Depending on which girlfriend Walky is counting as a half they might be matched.

        • Yumi
          Yumi
          June 20, 2025 at 12:10 am | #

          I don’t know that Walky’s counting the person as half so much as the relationship. Fully being in a relationship, with Amber or AG, would count as 1.

          • furubatsu
            furubatsu
            June 20, 2025 at 1:44 am | #

            I assumed Lucy was the .5 due to what a clusterfuck it was from start to finish/they dated but by his own admission he wasn’t *that* into her.

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              June 20, 2025 at 3:22 am | #

              I’d count Dorothy and Lucy as full points, Amber as half a point because they were never really “official” and he ruined things before they got to that point.

              Amber&Walky are still endgame as far as I’m concerned. They had chemistry, dammit!

        • DailyBrad
          DailyBrad
          June 20, 2025 at 12:25 am | #

          Danny was technically still dating Dorothy at the comic’s start. The breakup only happened once the two were both already in college.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      June 20, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

      Danny?

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      June 20, 2025 at 12:07 am | #

      Fuck, that’s right isn’t it.

    • Nono
      Nono
      June 20, 2025 at 12:11 am | #

      Most boyfriends is… Amber, I think? Depends if Walky counts as a .5.

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        June 20, 2025 at 12:16 am | #

        Depends on counting (do you count Danny as 1 for Amber even though it was AG who dated him, but they weren’t really split at the time?). But it seems like 1.5 for her, and Joyce and Lucy have had two. (Of course, one of Joyce’s was Ethan.)

        • Sirksome
          Sirksome
          June 20, 2025 at 12:31 am | #

          I think Amber has a conversation or I guess internal conflict about this dynamic. Being resentful of things being done for one aspect of herself or belonging to one aspect of herself when the reality is it still applies to both of them.

        • Nono
          Nono
          June 20, 2025 at 6:42 am | #

          Amber dated Ethan too, as brief as it was.

          • Yumi
            Yumi
            June 20, 2025 at 8:28 am | #

            That wasn’t during the time of the comic, though, which is the time frame I’m using.

    • Wraithy2773
      Wraithy2773
      June 20, 2025 at 12:48 am | #

      Main cast, sure, but isn’t there a polyamorous fuckpile in the ladies hall?

      • John Campbell
        John Campbell
        June 20, 2025 at 1:09 am | #

        They’re missing half the squad, though. It’s just Mandy, Grace, and Sierra. Marcie doesn’t appear to have hooked up with them, and Guns didn’t make the cut for this universe. So just two girlfriends each.

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          June 20, 2025 at 1:16 am | #

          I mean, seems plausible that at least one of them could have already had at least one girlfriend under their belt before joining up with the polycule, so that number could potentially go up.

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      June 20, 2025 at 7:41 am | #

      Ethan’s slept around a bit, before Mike’s death. That may bring his total above 3. Mike, Asher, and a whole pile o’ fuck buddies.

      • BorkBorkBork
        BorkBorkBork
        June 20, 2025 at 9:45 am | #

        But Ethan’s have been unnamed flings; Mike and Asher are really the only boyfriends.

        But if you’re not counting gender, then Ethan’s got everyone beat, at four. Amber, Joyce, Mike, Asher.

        • Deanatay
          Deanatay
          June 20, 2025 at 10:38 am | #

          Ah, but Amber’s not a _college_ girlfriend. Back down to 3.

        • Deanatay
          Deanatay
          June 20, 2025 at 10:43 am | #

          Also, Mike miiiiight object to being called a ‘boyfriend’.

          The ‘friend’ part, in particular. Casual hookup, he’d be okay with.

          • Yumi
            Yumi
            June 20, 2025 at 1:01 pm | #

            Yeah, I wouldn’t count Mike as a boyfriend. Not even that he’d object to it, just that it was never established, and I don’t think Ethan knew there were real romantic feelings there.

  3. shadowcell
    shadowcell
    June 20, 2025 at 12:06 am | #

    from the hit webcomic ‘It’s Wally!”

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      June 20, 2025 at 12:09 am | #

      it’s a Wally World after all XD

      • Effie
        Effie
        June 20, 2025 at 12:37 am | #

        “It’s a Wally World After All” is of course the well-known attraction at the enormous Willisland theme park of the 22nd century

        • Steamweed
          Steamweed
          June 20, 2025 at 7:44 am | #

          I love the Willis Verisimilous ride!

          • tim Rowledge
            tim Rowledge
            June 20, 2025 at 10:51 am | #

            Free Willis!

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      June 20, 2025 at 12:10 am | #

      I thought the show was “Leave It To Billie!” (“Gee, whiz, Walky!”)

    • Aura
      Aura
      June 20, 2025 at 12:56 am | #

      I knew ‘Where’s Wally’ had to be a spinoff of something

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        June 20, 2025 at 3:24 am | #

        It’s a spinoff with a surprising amount of lore for such a simple premise.

      • thakoru
        thakoru
        June 20, 2025 at 11:14 am | #

        Waldo actually being called Wally in the UK will never not break my brain. The worst part is, there doesn’t seem to be any concrete reason for it; the American publishers seemingly just didn’t like “Wally”.

        • Uly
          Uly
          June 20, 2025 at 4:11 pm | #

          And I don’t like that Amazon.co.uk calls it your “basket” instead of your “cart”.

  4. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    June 20, 2025 at 12:07 am | #

    It’s because Walky is the only exception.

  5. Suet
    Suet
    June 20, 2025 at 12:07 am | #

    Take your picks! Take your picks as to who’s the ½! (I say Lucy)

    Wallet stars in Two and a Half Girlfriends

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      June 20, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

      Lucy feels like the charitable interpretation, yeah.

    • Nono
      Nono
      June 20, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

      Amber since they never really dated.

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        June 20, 2025 at 12:15 am | #

        Yup, they were never official.

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      June 20, 2025 at 12:09 am | #

      It is amber, both Dorothy snd Lucy were officially his girlfriends while Maber was more of a casual fling kind of thing

      • V
        V
        June 20, 2025 at 12:11 am | #

        He could also count Dorothy as a one and a half since they are dating for the second time.

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          June 20, 2025 at 1:06 am | #

          I think that’d bring him to 3.5 unless he’s just not counting Amber at all.

      • BarerMender
        BarerMender
        June 20, 2025 at 1:39 am | #

        Maber? Ow, my ears.

    • Disastroid
      Disastroid
      June 20, 2025 at 12:44 pm | #

      It’s actually a 1 and two .75s.

  6. Nono
    Nono
    June 20, 2025 at 12:08 am | #

    It’s the hair.

    Though Sal wouldn’t need to muss up her hair to get 2.5 girlfriends if she wanted.

    • Rose by Any other Name
      Rose by Any other Name
      June 20, 2025 at 9:06 am | #

      Sal: “Ah’m no longer straight. I am now seekin’ some casual girlfriends.”
      Daisy, appearing out of nowhere: “I volunteer!”
      Joyce, running up behind her: “Me too!”
      Dorothy: “Hey!”

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        June 20, 2025 at 10:50 am | #

        Marcie glaring at all of them:

    • Astariel
      Astariel
      June 20, 2025 at 10:24 am | #

      Looking like sculpted caramel probably doesn’t hurt, either.

  7. Steamweed
    Steamweed
    June 20, 2025 at 12:09 am | #

    W1(D1+L1+D2) = 2.5 Gf
    (i get the formula right?)

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      June 21, 2025 at 12:01 am | #

      +1!👍🏻

  8. AnonGrouch
    AnonGrouch
    June 20, 2025 at 12:12 am | #

    walky looking at life through 2.5 d glasses

  9. The 25th
    The 25th
    June 20, 2025 at 12:12 am | #

    I think Amber is willing to go from a .5 to a 1

  10. Taffy
    Taffy
    June 20, 2025 at 12:13 am | #

    If dating a couple of people for a little while is “yikes”, you’re a prude and a loser.

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      June 20, 2025 at 12:16 am | #

      I think he means more that it can be yikes to go through a few relationships in a few months’ time, depending. He wasn’t terribly proud of how the Lucy relationship imploded, obviously.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        June 20, 2025 at 12:20 am | #

        Fuck “depending”. Sick to death of that word. It’s goddamn everywhere now, said about everything, like everyone’s suddenly afraid of describing a specific circumstance.

        • Queen Anthai
          Queen Anthai
          June 20, 2025 at 12:23 am | #

          Or it’s because it’s a subjective opinion, so it actually does depend on the viewpoint of whoever’s judging Walky.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            June 20, 2025 at 12:24 am | #

            I’m not talking about Walky.

            • Armadillo
              Armadillo
              June 20, 2025 at 12:29 am | #

              Well using the word depending is just as valid to describe any situation involving subjective opinions outside of the comic too so you getting worked up about a perfectly normal and functional word in the english language remains a weird response regardless.

              • Taffy
                Taffy
                June 20, 2025 at 12:44 am | #

                Everyone’s obsessed with it now. Afraid to nail down anything remotely specific. Cowardice with extra steps.

                • Armadillo
                  Armadillo
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:16 am | #

                  Not even slightly. Every situation has nuance. Pretending otherwise isn’t bravery, it’s bull-headed idiocy.

                • Taffy
                  Taffy
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:21 am | #

                  Now you’re just making up extra shit. Have your day.

                • Nadamás
                  Nadamás
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:31 am | #

                  I honestly cannot tell if you are trolling otherwise this just make you look dumb.

                • Taffy
                  Taffy
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:34 am | #

                  Yeah, cuz it’s real dumb to notice something happening a lot in your life 🙄

                • Nadamás
                  Nadamás
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:35 am | #

                  Glad you agree!

                • Mr D
                  Mr D
                  June 20, 2025 at 5:57 am | #

                  Depending.

                • clif
                  clif
                  June 20, 2025 at 8:21 am | #

                  On what?

                • BorkBorkBork
                  BorkBorkBork
                  June 20, 2025 at 9:50 am | #

                  Further proof that Taffy is in fact a Sith Lord: despises the word “depending,” declares that it’s cowardice to deal in anything but absolutes.

        • pope suburban
          pope suburban
          June 20, 2025 at 12:41 am | #

          What the fuck.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            June 20, 2025 at 12:49 am | #

            God forbid someone notice a trend.

            • Nadamás
              Nadamás
              June 20, 2025 at 1:32 am | #

              You didn’t, you just msde something up to get mad about for some resson.

              • Taffy
                Taffy
                June 20, 2025 at 1:35 am | #

                Nope. Wrong. Incorrect thing said by you. I see it everywhere, constantly. You not seeing it in your own life doesn’t mean I made it up, it means we’re not the same person.

                • Nadamás
                  Nadamás
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:38 am | #

                  And just because y8u see it “everywhere” doesn’t mean it’s actually a problem.

                • Taffy
                  Taffy
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:39 am | #

                  You’re like the least sentient person on this website.

                • Nadamás
                  Nadamás
                  June 20, 2025 at 1:43 am | #

                  Thanks you!

            • pope suburban
              pope suburban
              June 20, 2025 at 11:40 pm | #

              Your fanfiction is bad and you should feel bad.

              Or, per a trend we all see, worse, because you have to be absolutely miserable to do this nonsense.

        • Aura
          Aura
          June 20, 2025 at 12:58 am | #

          Eh, I think it depends

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            June 20, 2025 at 12:59 am | #

            You think you’re real funny, don’t ya?
            Well, I laughed, so you’re right.

        • Decidedly Orthogonal
          Decidedly Orthogonal
          June 20, 2025 at 5:32 am | #

          Are you familiar with the Frequency Illusion?

          a person notices a phenomenon more frequently after recently becoming aware of it.

          An ngram comparison of “depending” vs some synonyms and antonyms doesn’t indicate any particular spike in usage, and actually shows “depending”s usage decreasing over the past decade.

          • clif
            clif
            June 20, 2025 at 8:30 am | #

            Good. Good. Keep gaslighting Taffy as we continue or evil plan of slowly increasing the depending rate.

            For reasons.

    • Dara
      Dara
      June 20, 2025 at 12:16 am | #

      Or, you simply have no idea how this is happening and are just as surprised as everyone else.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        June 20, 2025 at 12:58 am | #

        More of a fear response in that case, eh? Like “Oh fuck, yikes, I’m scared of my own rizz, this is frightening and I haven’t figured out how to handle it correctly.”

        • clif
          clif
          June 20, 2025 at 8:27 am | #

          Personally I’m not convinced that treated well and Yikes are mutually exclusive.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      June 20, 2025 at 12:17 am | #

      My impression is that Walky *was* a loser before college. Have I overlooked something in the lore?

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        June 20, 2025 at 12:50 am | #

        I always figured he was more or less a non-entity up til then. Neither winning nor losing, simply existing and occasionally being perceived.

      • Steamweed
        Steamweed
        June 20, 2025 at 7:48 am | #

        Mostly just an adolescent social immaturity. But what he’s gone through in his Fall semester has put him through some maturation. I think Alice has noticed the difference.

    • TheFungus
      TheFungus
      June 20, 2025 at 12:23 am | #

      Walky is still reeling from the Incelerator bit from a few days back. Those words hit him harder than he let on. All three of those relationships ended with him getting dumped and i think that’s started to make him question how he treats women in general and dissect a lot of internalized beliefs. Walky is VERY good at hiding his thoughts though.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        June 20, 2025 at 12:56 am | #

        Honestly, I don’t think it’s a “how he treats women” thing, as much as a “how bad he is at relationships” thing. All three of the women he’s been with have been different situations, and he’s acted differently with each of them, so painting it with the Women Brush™ might be missing the forest for a specific tree. With Dorothy, he was brand-new to dating and didn’t know how to manage it (not helped by Dorothy unintentionally yo-yoing him a bit), with Amber it was almost purely physical with an emphasis on being unserious and not acknowledging feelings (taken way too far on Halloween), and with Lucy there was such a a disparity in expectations it’s a shock they lasted so long. Incelerator’s whole thing is that he blames women for everything that’s ever gone wrong in his life, and I think Walky as a character isn’t stupid enough to think anything that creep said was applicable to his own life.

        • TheFungus
          TheFungus
          June 20, 2025 at 1:47 am | #

          He already kinda has though. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-15/02-the-one-where-jocelyne-returns/youllgetit/

          It’s a subtle panel but he definitely picked up on more than a few things that he’s refusing to talk about with others. Walky definitely has problems with coasting and expecting life to eventually treat him well in the end. IDK someone smarter than me could probably explain it better especially when i’m currently waiting to see what the actual characters themselves have to say about the matter.

          • Nymph
            Nymph
            June 20, 2025 at 7:30 am | #

            That read, to me, more like he’s worried Dorothy has come back to him because her confidence got knocked/she’s in crisis/she’s suffered some blows to her confidence. Less like he’s been treating women poorly though, of course, everyone in a relationship at that age (and any age) does some damage to the people they date just through lack of awareness or maturity.

            • Yumi
              Yumi
              June 20, 2025 at 8:37 am | #

              That’s how I read it too. It plays into Walky’s poor self-image, but not how he treats women– maybe slightly aligned with something the Incelerator said, hearing about how a woman (specifically, Dorothy) wouldn’t be with him if things were going how she wanted. Which hurts, but he doesn’t want her to feel like that, like the Incelerator does.

              • thejeff
                thejeff
                June 20, 2025 at 10:48 am | #

                Good way to put it. The “crawl back to him” definitely seemed like it hurt, but not in the way the Incelerator intended it or in the sense that he thought he’d been making her do that or even waiting for her to do it, but in the sense of reinforcing how close to the bottom she must be to come back to him and also hitting his self-esteem issues: she’ll only come back to me if she’s really messed up.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          June 20, 2025 at 8:17 am | #

          The break up with Dorothy at least wasn’t due to any of his own problems. That was all on her: mostly her overwork/stress. He handled that as well as anyone could be expected, even if they’d had more dating experience.

          That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have plenty of self-doubt or that he doesn’t blame himself. I don’t really see how the Incelerator’s words would play into those doubts though. He’s not going to agree with them and none of the issues he does have come from treating women anything like that.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      June 20, 2025 at 12:27 am | #

      Walky thinks it might be a yikes because he feels responsible for those relationships ending and like he was a shitty boyfriend.

      Not a damn thing to do with prudishness.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        June 20, 2025 at 12:45 am | #

        Is your avatar a satyr in a basketball jersey?

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          June 20, 2025 at 1:04 am | #

          No, just a tank top.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            June 20, 2025 at 1:08 am | #

            Based.

          • Decidedly Orthogonal
            Decidedly Orthogonal
            June 20, 2025 at 1:56 pm | #

            And the botanimagical-cyber-arm?

            • Decidedly Orthogonal
              Decidedly Orthogonal
              June 20, 2025 at 1:58 pm | #

              Damnit, cybortanical was right there! 🤦‍♂️

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      June 20, 2025 at 1:23 am | #

      I believe the yikes is the .5 element.

    • thakoru
      thakoru
      June 20, 2025 at 11:23 am | #

      I interpret it as “He’s gone through 3 break-ups in half a year,” which is to say that his college experience has maybe potentially not been great. (You know, in addition to all the other stuff in the Yikes column.)

  11. Taffy
    Taffy
    June 20, 2025 at 12:14 am | #

    Dorothy (1)
    Amber-ish (1.5)
    Lucy (2.5)
    Now cram it.

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      June 20, 2025 at 7:51 am | #

      My first take on that didn’t read it as cumulative: “I can see Amber being 1.5 people, but howinhell does Lucy count as 2.5 people? What convoluted hidden depths have I missed??” Then the coffee kicked in, and I saw the accumulation. …But now I kind of want to see Lucy contain multitudes.

      • Jess
        Jess
        June 20, 2025 at 8:51 pm | #

        Does restarting the relationship with Dorothy change the count?

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      June 20, 2025 at 9:36 am | #

      damn (nice)

  12. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    June 20, 2025 at 12:16 am | #

    Billifer is… PURPOSELY…. setting next to Walky ? WHAT ? WHAT ? Is the world coming to an end ?

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      June 20, 2025 at 1:02 am | #

      Of course not. A woman didn’t frown even slightly.

  13. Slartibeast Button, BIA
    Slartibeast Button, BIA
    June 20, 2025 at 12:16 am | #

    How do you pronounce “Walky” so that you have to mention the “k”? What wrong way will they imagine it without that?

    • cbwroses
      cbwroses
      June 20, 2025 at 12:23 am | #

      The pronunciation was always fine.
      It’s just that Alice was too cool for school (school being paying attention to anyone’s name that wasn’t one of the popular kids).
      I don’t even think she got as close as “Wally” the last time she saw him.

      • cbwroses
        cbwroses
        June 20, 2025 at 12:28 am | #

        I was wrong.
        She called him Wally, last time, too.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/wally/

        • Slartibeast Button, BIA
          Slartibeast Button, BIA
          June 20, 2025 at 12:39 am | #

          Ah. Thank you.

  14. Kyulen
    Kyulen
    June 20, 2025 at 12:17 am | #

    I’m curious who walk considers the “.5” girlfriend he’s had.

    • Kyulen
      Kyulen
      June 20, 2025 at 12:18 am | #

      Somehow I mistyped Walky as walk

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      June 20, 2025 at 12:23 am | #

      It’s probably Amber since they were didn’t actually full-on date. He was official with Lucy, and Dorothy’s obviously one.

      • Wraithy2773
        Wraithy2773
        June 20, 2025 at 12:52 am | #

        That seems most likely, although some might argue that Amber is the 1 and Lucy is the .5, because he slept with Amber and not with Lucy (at least, not in the euphemistic sense).

        For the record, that’s a very dumb bullshit way of viewing it, but… I mean, Walky’s been an asshole on occasion.

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          June 20, 2025 at 1:01 am | #

          Him and Amber didn’t really call it anything, and they only got as far as grinding with clothes on, so she seems like the only reasonable culprit.

        • DailyBrad
          DailyBrad
          June 20, 2025 at 5:18 am | #

          He didn’t sleep with Amber. Granted, they DID grind through clothes onvr, niy they canonically didn’t go further than that. Still further than he went with Lucy, granted.

      • Axel
        Axel
        June 20, 2025 at 3:41 am | #

        I’m pretty sure it’s because he wasn’t really with Amber, but I also thought it might be because he was dating Amber and not Amazigirl

      • Steamweed
        Steamweed
        June 20, 2025 at 7:56 am | #

        I saw it as Lucy being the 0.5, since they weren’t that close and didn’t last that long. Not so much as “they didn’t sex it up” as much as “they didn’t level it up”.

    • Zamperla
      Zamperla
      June 20, 2025 at 9:52 am | #

      I assume Dorothy, because they broke up and then got back together. So Lucy and Amber are both Exes, and dorothy is Half an Ex.

  15. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    June 20, 2025 at 12:17 am | #

    Hehe, I see we haven’t lost the “all the bisexuals are digging Walky” subplot.

    I do love that Walky really does like that Billie/Jennifer’s doing well. I also could see him being more down for this relationship than Asher or Ruth, for different reasons.

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      June 20, 2025 at 7:58 am | #

      Offhand, I can’t remember any other scene with Walky expressing positively about someone’s relationship. He’s doing a low-level Joyce-commending of them here.

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        June 20, 2025 at 9:45 am | #

        Yeah, I am sure there is someone else he is jazzed about, but I can’t think of them. It’s more common for him to express skepticism about, like Joe with Joyce, or be outright disapproving of, like with Ruth due to power imbalance and protectiveness of Billie.

  16. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    June 20, 2025 at 12:18 am | #

    Those 2 columns are not mutually exclusive.

    • clif
      clif
      June 20, 2025 at 11:17 am | #

      Yes.

  17. jeffepp
    jeffepp
    June 20, 2025 at 12:18 am | #

    That’s 2.5 at one time.

  18. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    June 20, 2025 at 12:26 am | #

    Oh hell yeah, it’s my favourite customer from the Papa’s Pizzeria series!

  19. GreedOfGram
    GreedOfGram
    June 20, 2025 at 12:36 am | #

    I mean, 3.5 if you count Dorothy twice…How many months has it been since the start?

  20. Li
    Li
    June 20, 2025 at 12:36 am | #

    Aw, actively seeking out Wally’s company… (Phone autocorrect is proving Walky’s point, so I left it.)

  21. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    June 20, 2025 at 12:37 am | #

    What’s that device Walky is holding? I would assume it’s a smartphone but it almost looks too big and he’s kind of holding it like a controller.

    • StClair
      StClair
      June 20, 2025 at 12:46 am | #

      Probably a handheld/portable game thing.
      (Which one will depend on the current state of the sliding timescale.)

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      June 20, 2025 at 12:46 am | #

      Sometimes people hold their phones sideways.

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        June 20, 2025 at 8:40 am | #

        It’s a knife.

        • clif
          clif
          June 20, 2025 at 11:19 am | #

          Thank you for pointing this out so that I didn’t have to.

    • Steamweed
      Steamweed
      June 20, 2025 at 8:00 am | #

      Looks like just a regular smartphone held sideways. (like for video watchin’)

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        June 20, 2025 at 8:57 am | #

        It’s probably just a phone held sideways yeah. It just looked too big to me so I thought maybe the Walkman was gaming on some new handheld. But knowing his tenuous position with his parents, him having the cash for that is unlikely.

        • DailyBrad
          DailyBrad
          June 20, 2025 at 9:47 am | #

          Yeah, he will borrow the Switch of the Sanchez siblings, or go to use Amber’s, so I doubt he’s got a gaming device of his own. Ironically, his phone can probably emulate a lot of games if he looked into it.

  22. Isalis
    Isalis
    June 20, 2025 at 12:39 am | #

    I can’t remember seeing this room before. So, Where’s Wally?

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      June 20, 2025 at 12:48 am | #

      Read Eatery. Billie and Alice were headed here the whole time.

    • Aura
      Aura
      June 20, 2025 at 1:02 am | #

      It’s weird, I’m seeing 4 of them on this page and can’t for the life of me work out which ones are the fakes!

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        June 20, 2025 at 1:04 am | #

        Okay, so the trick is to count the stains. The real one has exactly 5 stains on his top, in red, brown, beige, yellow, and purple, ordered by size. You can also tell the one in panel 3 is fake because he’s facing away from the camera.

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      June 20, 2025 at 2:13 am | #

      He will always be waldo for me and nothing else, everyone else is wrong.

      • Astariel
        Astariel
        June 20, 2025 at 11:11 am | #

        This is correct.

  23. Shakes
    Shakes
    June 20, 2025 at 12:44 am | #

    Jennifer is really giving Alice the squishy eyes.

    • Proxiehunter
      Proxiehunter
      June 20, 2025 at 1:24 am | #

      And she’s getting the right back.

  24. Bryy
    Bryy
    June 20, 2025 at 1:16 am | #

    Please do not be pro-Bulmeria, Alice.

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      June 20, 2025 at 1:21 am | #

      Technically, it’s a Civil War so presumably there’s a Bulmerian minority that’s getting the crap beaten out of them. It’s a stand in for RL but presumably the details aren’t 1:1

  25. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    June 20, 2025 at 1:28 am | #

    “According to everyone’s autocorrect” is a great comeback that shows why Walky gets so many girls. He’s cute and confident and extremely funny.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      June 20, 2025 at 1:41 am | #

      He’s a neat guy. Could probably use some marketable skills though, like playing a musical instrument or driving a vehicle.

      • Steamweed
        Steamweed
        June 20, 2025 at 8:04 am | #

        Standup comedy skits.

  26. ESM
    ESM
    June 20, 2025 at 1:46 am | #

    Wallky if you cut one of your girlfriends in half you’re either a serial killer or a magician, so it’s a yikes either way.

    • ESM
      ESM
      June 20, 2025 at 1:47 am | #

      Alternatively, he could have been dating someone who was half girl, half skeleton

      • Yak
        Yak
        June 20, 2025 at 2:20 am | #

        Horrible realization: all girls are half skeleton 0_0

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          June 20, 2025 at 2:43 am | #

          What exact percentage of a girl is skeleton? It’s probably less than half, right?

          • Mr D
            Mr D
            June 20, 2025 at 5:56 am | #

            By mass, 14% of the human is bone. By Volume, around 11%.
            These are averages, of course, a skinnier person would have a bigger percentage of bone, and an overweight person would have a lower percentage.

            • Tesset
              Tesset
              June 20, 2025 at 12:26 pm | #

              Feederism is a powerful strategy in the skeleton war

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      June 20, 2025 at 1:56 am | #

      Technically he’s a spree killer, since he did several at once.

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      June 20, 2025 at 8:55 am | #

      Between Walky cutting girls in half and Jacob harvesting their arms we have huge problem. Women on campus are getting dismembered and no one is talking about it!

      • clif
        clif
        June 20, 2025 at 11:23 am | #

        Ruth has been quite open about her femor collection.

  27. Florence
    Florence
    June 20, 2025 at 2:02 am | #

    This is nice ☺️

    • Florence
      Florence
      June 20, 2025 at 2:08 am | #

      Also my selfish hope is that the big confrontation that Alice and Jennifer face is Raidah trying to tear them apart before Alice protect Jennifer and then Jennifer embraces the name Billie and a kiss from Alice

      • Florence
        Florence
        June 20, 2025 at 2:09 am | #

        Maybe even Billie going “I’m not worth it Alice, I’m a terrible person” and Alice shutting those thoughts down with a big warm hug

        • Li
          Li
          June 20, 2025 at 2:57 am | #

          This would be very nice ❤️

          • Florence
            Florence
            June 20, 2025 at 3:12 am | #

            It would be 💜

            a resolution that makes sense

  28. AGV/Ruby
    AGV/Ruby
    June 20, 2025 at 2:23 am | #

    But seriously why does the autocorrect insist so much on changing “Walky” with “Wally”? It’s like “walkie” but with a Y. You’d think that after years of typing “Walky” the algorithm would take the hint but nope.

    • Vulcanodon
      Vulcanodon
      June 20, 2025 at 6:15 pm | #

      My name is Wiman but autocorrect always changes it to Woman and I’m like; “Thanks for the thought AC but I think that’s beyond your powers.”

      I’ve known multiple faculty from India who just started using anglicized names and I don’t get it because their Indian names were spelled exactly like they sound.

  29. Schol-R-LEA;2
    Schol-R-LEA;2
    June 20, 2025 at 3:49 am | #

    Jennifer and Alice at the moment: Toxic Yuri Status – OPAL, limited drama risk but still more than it would be with status of GARNET.

    Let’s see how long that lasts…

  30. Peep
    Peep
    June 20, 2025 at 7:04 am | #

    I enjoy the implication that in all their years of high school, Alice kept getting Walky’s name wrong and Jennifer/Billie never once corrected her/explained his name to her. And now she is just doing it fairly casually, and Alice finds it cute. I dunno, I know there are still lots of problems here, but that in itself is a nice moment I think.

    Orrr maybe it’s just because Walky got a glow up and is now worthy of having a correct name. Hard to say lmao

  31. BlackScarabFilmZ
    BlackScarabFilmZ
    June 20, 2025 at 7:27 am | #

    So is he called Wally in the UK version of “Dumbing of Age”?

  32. Insanenoodlyguy
    Insanenoodlyguy
    June 20, 2025 at 8:17 am | #

    Make her girlfriend number 3.5 Walky! Mostly for the face, Billie will makes

  33. Morhek
    Morhek
    June 20, 2025 at 8:36 am | #

    I’m waiting for Raidah to see “Billy” and Alice in passing, and the shit to really hit the fan. Even though they’ve never met, I get the impression Alice and Raidah would really hate each other, and especially hate Billy “changing” herself for the other – Raidah disapproving of her backsliding, and Alice insulted by the fake image she tries to put on around Raidah.

  34. Wilde
    Wilde
    June 20, 2025 at 8:58 am | #

    Still a little lost about the squealing-tires speed of Alice’s turnaround on Billie, via an off screen talk with Ruth. I think it just made it a little hard for me to follow their dynamic.

    On the other hand, I know there were people wishing Billie harm that Willis had to block, so I understand if the rapid 180 was a reaction to that! Maybe a little “you know what, Billie gets to have a GREAT day actually”.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      June 20, 2025 at 10:35 am | #

      It might be that Alice never actually got over her infatuation with Billie, so any sign of improvement is enough to let her ignore any doubts.

      It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts when Jennifer does do something self-destructive in front of her again.

    • Nadamás
      Nadamás
      June 20, 2025 at 8:24 pm | #

      It wasn’t jjst the off screen talk with Ruth, it was Joyce coming in supoort of her and that she actually changed, which we saw.

      • pope suburban
        pope suburban
        June 20, 2025 at 11:43 pm | #

        Also, I’d wager Joyce is getting a boost to her friendship powers from her being a lesbian love sleuth, because Jennifer’s motivations here seem to be pretty damn romantic. Check her expression every time she looks at Alice. Joyce is in her element here, getting Alice to soften up.

  35. Boh No
    Boh No
    June 20, 2025 at 9:26 am | #

    And might lose another depending on current trajectory!

  36. Zamperla
    Zamperla
    June 20, 2025 at 9:48 am | #

    ….I’ll be dog-gonned. Our Billie/Jennifer really is like. Changing a little. I’d been half thinking ‘alright, maybe if shes around alice she kinda stabilizes into High School Billy’, but. High School Billie aint tellin that story, or stopping to sit with Walky.

    Maybe shes. Actually. Really, truly. Doing…. a little better.

    • Florence
      Florence
      June 20, 2025 at 3:21 pm | #

      It’s really nice, I so hope when she hits a speed bump it goes right, one area I hope the drama doesn’t explode too high

      I may be a little bit of a relationship paladin for these two

      • Zamperla
        Zamperla
        June 20, 2025 at 11:32 pm | #

        Princesses need champions, even if they had a DUI whoopsy-doodle. Rise, Knight of Billie-Alice.

  37. thumb
    thumb
    June 20, 2025 at 10:04 am | #

    You’ve had it rough, Walky. And yeah, you’ve also been lucky.

  38. BorkBorkBork
    BorkBorkBork
    June 20, 2025 at 4:30 pm | #

    The longer it goes on, the more awkward it will be if Jennifer decides to stay “Jennifer.”

    Why is she not correcting? Is she afraid that Alice will flake out and ditch her if she tells her she’s wanted to *really* turn over a new leaf?

    Hang on a minute. Haaang on a minute.

    …

    Alice came back not because of Jennifer, but because of her friends. Because Joyce went to bat for her. Because Ruth helped her out. Because she looked “loved.”

    “Jennifer” was a rejection of all that. “Jennifer” was leaving the friend group behind as “toxic” and instead starting up a new friendship with Raidah and Co. “Jennifer” was only interested in her old friends if they *needed* help, like Dorothy, or Joyce. Not for actually being friends.

    Holy shit. “Jennifer” wasn’t the one who changed. “Jennifer” was simply a reestablishment of the status quo that she lost when leaving high school. She found the “in” crowd, the people with connections, and climbed to the top. Jennifer was the person who was petty enough to neglect her boyfriend simply so that he’d come crawling back underneath her thumb, because he dared to act like himself, instead of like a mask. The most that changed about Jennifer was her hair.

    Billie was the one who changed. Billie was the one who made friends with people she’d never dream of before. Who had a close, personal, loving relationship. Who embraced the dork side of her, dressing up in Star Wars regalia. Who started getting counseling. Who was accepted for who she was, and not who she pretended to be. Not Jennifer. Billie.

    OK, I know that the tags still say “Jennifer,” but she’s clearly accepting being called both at the moment, so she’s Billie for me, from here on out, unless she reestablishes her preference.

    • Charles Phipps
      Charles Phipps
      June 20, 2025 at 6:07 pm | #

      Billie is an alcoholic who almost killed herself, Alice, and Ruth.

      Jennifer doesn’t drink.

      That alone says that Billie is dead and good riddance.

      • Charles Phipps
        Charles Phipps
        June 20, 2025 at 6:08 pm | #

        And yes, I lost multiple family members to drunk driving accidents. My brother and my cousin. I have others who have struggled with alcoholism too.

        So I always am on Jennifer’s side in overcoming this.

        It’s also why I overreact to Ruth’s issues since she’s back to drinking.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        June 20, 2025 at 6:37 pm | #

        She stopped drinking as Billie. She starting using Jennifer after meeting Raidah. She hasn’t talked about why she changed the name or what it means to her. I suspect we’ll see. Possibly soon if Alice using “Billie” is a clue.

        • Lee
          Lee
          June 21, 2025 at 12:12 am | #

          According to the flashbacks in in This Is Halloween, it seems like Raidah is the one who decided to use “Jennifer”, and ignored Billie when she tried to correct her. To me she’s always really been Billie; “Jennifer” has always just been a capitulation to Raidah’s bullshit and a rebellion after the Ruth fiasco, sort of her version of the stereotypical “chop off all your hair after a breakup” scene.

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            June 21, 2025 at 9:43 am | #

            She still started using Jennifer and asked others to do so.

        • BorkBorkBork
          BorkBorkBork
          June 21, 2025 at 12:34 pm | #

          Thank you, was going to say that. Stopping drinking was a choice that she made as Billie, not as Jennifer.

          Besides – this isn’t an Amber scenario. I know I refer to Jennifer and Billie as two different people, but they’re really not – they’re just two different ways she’s choosing to show herself to the world. The same exact person drank and drive and nearly killed herself, Alice, and Ruth. “Jennifer” isn’t absolved because she doesn’t drink; Jennifer doesn’t drink because of a decision and a promise she made as Billie.

          Besides, if she was at a social gathering with Raidah where it was important to make connections, I’m not entirely sure that Jennifer would turn down alcohol if offered. It seems more likely that she would follow the crowd while rationalizing that the new her has tons of self-control.

More Asma?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
CONVENTION APPEARANCES


September 13/14, 2025 - Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland

©2010-2025 Dumbing of Age | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Privacy Policy | Back to Top ↑