Discussion (179) ¬
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James Gunn @jamesgunn.bsky.social ⋅ 10h
Chris Ingraham @cingraham.bsky.social ⋅ 14d
Duncan MacMaster The Sweetheart of the Internet @duncanwriter.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
David M Willis! SPX table F2 @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
⚧️ Perfidious Josephine Riesman @josie.zone ⋅ 2d
Ron Chan | RCCC C25 @rondanchan.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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Don Cardenas
young lady, that jump will go on your permanent record.
*gasp* No! Not that!
One more stunt like that and she’ll be put on double secret probation
It’s a sweet jump. Putting that on a permanent record doesn’t sound bad.
“I hope you know this is going on your permanent record. But don’t look so depressed… did I happen to mention that I’m impressed?”
That was my first association!
Well, the front rim and axle might had something permanent happen to them too.
not gonna lie, that angle on the wheel in the fifth panel looks like this strip should be ending in blood
Sal’s a professional. Don’t try this at home kids.
Even Elon Musk recently said he doesn’t think it would be entertaining to end up as a crater.
Of course, he was talking about a crater on Mars, so that’s kinda’ badass even to be thinking about it.
I can certainly think of worse ways to go.
Nah. Sal has integrity and regrets. They’ll be fine.
It’s impossible to read the words “permanent record” anymore without hearing *that* voice.
Oh yes,
Don Knotts’sMr. Bone’s trademark catchphrase.(Was Doug supposed to be in primary school or high school? Why was Judy taking college classes and just learning how to drive? Was Mr. Dink really that mad about his broken grill?)
Danny’s hat is pretty cool.
Danny doesn’t get to sass often, but he gets some of the best lines when he does.
I know, right. Danny opening his mouth and delivering sarcasm feels strange, but he still pulls it off masterfully.
Sal, you ain’t gonna be *anything* before long if you keep driving like that.
Technically a splat on the pavement is something, though I’d rather not see that happen to Sal and Danny.
At the very least Danny is going to need to change his pants.
Technically she’s riding, not driving.
Driving is for people who might benefit from seat belts.
I just want new, ‘parents can be fuckwads’ Danny to meet the Walkertons. If only so I can see the snark when they leave.
Especially now that I’m seeing Sal repeating what her mom used to call Marcie. And yeah, not surprised that stuck with her. Language and image wise. It’s like the world’s shittiest 2 for 1 deal.
And yeah, that issue with pigeonholing? Is one, among several, reasons why Sal had one friend at the start of this. And why it took her a while to warm up to Joyce.
Honestly, I’m still not really sure she has warmed up to Joyce. More like gotten used to.
I think they’re starting to move there. They’ve had some very ‘big sister-little sister’ moments. That said, Joyce does have a problem with (unwittingly) dehumanizing Sal and it’s hampered how much that can actually develop.
It’s not the leaning forward, it’s that the front wheel is turned at an angle to the direction of travel. The wheel is turned left but momentum is forward, and physics doesn’t take no for an answer.
Looks like the comment section messed up, but I know the post you mean.
Yeah, physics ends up bruised in motorcycle/superhero sequences. This comic is ‘comic book realistic’ but it still occasionally indulges in tropes.
Yeah, my post is badly misplaced. Don’t know if the comment section messed up or I did that. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve placed a post somewhere weird.
When in doubt, blame WordPress, it preserves a lot of dignity.
…usually in the form of initiating a forward somersault if the wheel is THAT sharply turned with the center of gravity already high (rear wheel off the ground). But comic book physics!
Nah, she does like Joyce now. See mostly the aftermath of the Ross stuff, she found Joyce much more refreshingly real, whereas Sarah was concerned about Joyce having had part of her taken away. I think the truth is somewhere in between those two takes.
Like, Joyce is still annoying sometimes, obviously, but she does seem to overall like her.
Makes me think that Linda would make for a great evil vice principal.
Nah, school administration isn’t prestigious enough for her.
She’s probably interacted with them though, because I guarantee she’s an evil PTA mom. And an ‘I want to speak to the manager’ customer.
Like some sort of big boss?
Vice-principal. That’s more like a standby-replacement to the big boss.
That was a walkyverse joke.
So was Reltzik’s.
And it was a pretty good one too
Danny, Danny, Danny. You’ve got your arms around a beautiful lady. Just shut up and enjoy the moment!
Just not too much, she pointedly friend-zoned you and can definitely kick your ass.
I mean, sals entire spiel right now is about how she doesn’t want to be labelled and how she likes that he just
treats her like a normal friend and person, so maybe that’s not the best mindset for now
Reminder that daylight savings time ends tonight, so if you’re somewhere that doesn’t participate in that nonsense, comics will be coming out an hour later than what you’re used to.
Also, love panel five.
How has he not lost that hat yet?
Magic!
Through pure gumption.
Velcro?
New theory: Sal’s prehensile hair catches it every time it tries to fly away.
Willis, you took the (other) word right out of my mouth . . .
Not related to this comic, but I’m not on Twitter, and I haven’t seen this in his twitter yet, so here it is:
“As an author, I have dedicated years of my career to the study of posteriors, from the large to the small, the formless to the toned, and in this book I hope to bring the fruits of that research to you.”
Also, I don’t understand why neither Willis nor Jacques were name-checked by Laura Kate Dale. Is it possible that a different eponym for Willis-Jacques Syndrome will rule?
Danny, I want to believe that you won’t screw this up but between my usual pessimism and my ability to remember, I worry.
Still, this is a nice moment between them, even if the motorcycle jumping has me scared to death for them. I’m glad Sal has another friend, and one who will just treat her like Sal, not anything else.
I mean if we’re honest, Linda does sound like she’d be an evil vice principal.
Implying she’d settle for vice principal.
One good trait Danny has as a friend is that he’s a really good listener, you think Walky is a good listener Danny can listen to you vent your frustrations while you’re both doing death-defying motorcycle tricks together.
For better or worse, he’s good at providing a pretty judgment free atmosphere. He’s also a pretty faithful and loyal guy, which, again, has been good and bad for him.
As long as he’s a good egg and not a scrambled one.
Also, unlike with Walky you are not constantly interrupted by smartassery.
Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.
…Actually, are we sure Linda isn’t a vice principal? Have we ever gotten word on what she does?
Nope. Just that she wants her golden boy to be a doctor or a lawyer.
I always assumed she worked in some medical field.
Maybe she’s a doctor and Charles is a lawyer? A health lawyer maybe? (Apparently certain kinds of health lawyers are some of the highest paid ones, along with corporate lawyers)
Isn’t Charles an EMT or something? Wasn’t he driving the ambulance that Marcie was in after her incident?
No, he showed up at the hospital later.
As far as I can tell, Linda works as a stand-in-villain in 80:s movies where her job is to scar and traumatize child protagonists.
At least she her talents lend themselves well to that line of work.
It could be worse.
(Walkyverse spoilers)
At least she’s not setting up her underage daughter as a target to distract from her son and creating a militia out of people genetically modified as children this go around. I’m so happy Walkyverse Linda is rotting in prison for war crimes.
Due to how much she reminds me of moms from my old private school, she strikes me as a rich housewife pta mom
As I said above, she’s DEFINITELY both an evil PTA mom and an ‘I want to see your manager’ customer. Not sure about housewife, though. She strikes me as the kind of snobby upper middle class professional who’d deride homemaking as wasting your life.
So, are we talking PTA as parent teacher association, or pain in the ass? I think it could work either way.
Sal’s dangerous driving is still kinda worrying me. That jump was badass, but it could have ended very badly if she messed it up.
Going by panel 5, I would say that she did mess up, and is about to seriously bend the front forks and wheel.
Whenever I think about the Sal and Danny dynamic I always end up hearing Belle & Sebastian’s White Collar Boy playing in my head.
*Casual chatter during a sixty-foot motorcycle jump ending with a huge stoppie*
…Yeah, Willis is definitely messing with us.
Also: is the Barbie Doll comment a reference to Joyce? Either way, how much does Joyce bug Sal, on a scale of like… Marcie to Malaya?
Yeah, it’s a shot at how Sal thinks Joyce sees her as a life-sized barbie doll. Not entirely and not all the time, but it’s a problem that’s kept them from being better friends.
I’d also argue that putting Marcie on that scale is unfair because I don’t think anyone else can get to that rank.
To answer the question though – somewhere in the middle, but closer to Marcie’s side. Sal likes Joyce but there’s a specific problem with them that keeps them from being closer and keeps Sal from being willing to open up to Joyce.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if she got some barbie treatment from her mom, on the occasions Linda wasn’t being as outwardly shitty.
*reiterating that it’s just some, not that I think BBCC is wrong. Just like how sidekick obviously refers to amazi-girl, but could also refer to how her non-Marcie friends treated her wrt the convenience store.
That wouldn’t shock me either, no. Heck, we know her parents have a lot of pull with how she does her hair at least.
Carla’s also been treating her like a walking advertisement all day because she put on her dumb jacket, so I feel like some of the Barbie Doll sentiment springs from that.
Certainly can’t call Sal a slacker, anyway
Honestly, first glance at this comic and I thought they were crashing. Dialog doesn’t seem to fit that, but like seriously Sal…
Evidence that Linda is an evil vice principal.
YOUTHS!
The two Utes.
I don’t know much about riding motorcycles, but I should think landing with the front wheel twisted like that would throw them ass over teakettle.
This is how Willis draws motorcycles landing. It looked like this (front wheel heavily leaning forward) when Sal was jumping stairs during the Toedad incident too.
Maybe if she let the rear fishtail around and did a 360 skid before gunning it again?
Probably a bad idea on multiple levels, including the proximity of her hair to Danny’s potential vomit.
Forget the wheel position; the sharp angle of descent would cause some very painful jolting, even with the best suspension, and likely introduce Danny’s teeth to the back of Sal’s skull…
No, he’s keeping his head to the side of hers, rather than directly behind it. I’m think he ends up with a crushed throat from having it jammed into her shoulder.
My take on the matter is that Sal’s got one hell of a bike if she can get that kind of air riding two-up — especially when the g-i-b most likely hasn’t ridden before and doesn’t do anything to help the handling.
Maybe we’re just seeing Danny’s scared-shitless interpretation/impression of the bike ride, which both way-overemphasizes the fancy maneuvers and also has no clue about what bike riding really looks like.
oh i just kinda figured that was how danny reacted to making friends, or to having friendships confirmed anyway.
this is the most hardcore calvin and hobbesesque ‘casual chat while doing something crazy’ scene
This is exactly what I thought. It feels inspired by the scenes where they go downhill on a wagon or sled.
Who treats her like a barbie doll? Is it Joyce?
I mean she does want to brush her hair when she sees Sal.
So many people look at her and see an attractive girl, to stand around being attractive for the benefit of observers. Math TA etc.
…ah am just a life sized barbie doll to you ain’t ah?
Good thing I have a new sidekick.
As grouchy as she was with Joyce, she still put on the jacket.
Well, the whole point was she didn’t want Carla to know about it. Once she did, might as well wear it.
Ooh, I’d forgotten the genesis of that one. Good link.
Okay, I can see how Sal would feel that way, but I think Joyce is just projecting her desire for a sisterly relationship on her
It’s definitely Joyce and there is something both endearingly sweet but also profoundly disturbing about the fact that she thinks it is normal or acceptable behaviour.
Maybe a bit of having to put on a show for her parents, too. Remember she wore the Catholic school uniform on freshman family weekend?
Please pull over and slow down, you are being obscenely reckless right now…
FUCK YEAH SHE IS!
….. ohwaitnotwhatyoumeantbyobscenely….
So Amber and Sal like Walky and Danny respectively for the same reason—acceptance. Yet one pair is a couple and the other two are friends. Should both be friends? Or both be couples? Willis, what are you trying to say here and how long till we find out?
It weird how people don’t obey simple formula. Fundamental particles can figure it out, why can’t people respond in superficial and predictable ways to similar inputs.
The read I got was that you can sometimes get from a platonic friendship a level of intimacy you can also get from a partner, and vice-versa. Which is kinda beautiful.
… I, uh, don’t think he’s trying to say anything? Different people are different?
I- I know… I wasn’t really putting on a tinfoil hat or anything…
IMO they should both just be friends. I’ve already made it clear that I don’t understand walky and amber as a couple but I really liked their friendship.
And as someone who’s mostly friends with guys, I think sal and Danny’s friendship is wonderful and they absolutely shouldn’t date.
Also I think they dated in the walkyverse and Willis said there won’t be any repeated relationships
Not entirely true. He’s willing to try relationships from the Walkyverse if he sees a new angle in it. See also: Leslie/Robin and Billie/Ruth.
Huh… considering how Marcie has been lately (and no I don’t totally blame her) Danny is kind of her better friend now. Not bestie, but still.
Take comfort in Danny, Sal. Danny is good people and will like you for you.
How the fuck does he have the wherewithal to hold his hat on. I’ve ridden on a motorcycle once and it was spooky as shit, and they weren’t even pulling stunts.
Comic Physics!!!
It doesn’t need to make sense.
New Danny’s new-Danny-hat is part of New Danny’s persona. Where he goes, so does the hat.
Joe is always trying to steal the ‘hipster hat’ because he is terrified of Danny becoming one. Danny responded by gluing the hat on.
There’s a hat pin.
A Fucking Plus Sal strip :clap:
This has been an A Fucking Plus Sal ARC and I am living for it.
I endorse this message. Both of them.
Okay, NOW the helmet thing is becoming a big deal.
After today, people who share a private Hel shall be called helmates.
After today, people from the planet Helmet shall be Helmetonians.
After today, small feminine helms shall be called helmlets.
After today, helmets is no longer a word.
That is all.
were you altering the lyrics to the goofy movie song?
Ohhhhh, THAT’S what’s bothering her.
YUP
*MUTUAL MOMMY ISSUES INTENSIFY*
Something I didn’t notice until like the fourth or fifth time I looked at the strip…
…is how panel 5 pokes into panel 4 and also a little bit into panel 6, which totally conveys the action in a way I didn’t consciously notice because I was preoccupied with the dialogue.
Also, Sal’s motorcycle has a gritty face in panels three and five.
Looks a bit transformer-y to me, actually… Has Willis been doing this ever since we first saw Sal’s bike? I mean, sneaking in tf aesthetics…?
Willis does some neat little things to mess around with panel borders and keep the layout visually interesting, especially considering that the comic keeps to the same maximum dimensions day-to-day.
And it means there’s a tiny panel 5 Danny tapping panel 6 Sal on the head with his foot, tee hee
I think calling Linda an evil vice principal is a bit unfair. An evil vice principal would be expected to hide cruelty behind a mask of false concern, to use established power structure to her advantage rather in the name of fairness and justice. She would do a lot of gaslighting to let the people she abuse think it’s their own fault, she would have favorites and unfavorites, she would at some point probably destroy or take away a possession of enormous value for the person she abuses, she would perhaps be married to the Dean…
OK, I can see it now. Linda TOTALLY missed a career opportunity.
Now, now. As we’ve seen in the flashback here (http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/liability/), an evil vice principal would ALSO be dismissive of the brown gi-OOOOOOOOH.
Meanwhile, Linda was sitting next to Sal thinking “One day. One day, that will be me.”
Follow your dreams, Linda
(Or no, actually, don’t follow your dreams. Get better, nicer dreams and follow them instead.)
Charles spent the next couple of months thinking she was cheating on him as she surreptitiously looked at another man’s picture and sighing, but turns out that was just Career Goals (TM).
Sal, seriously, have you ever let anyone see ‘you’ except the easily-labelled facades you put up? How are they supposed to see anything different when you won’t let them?
danny is the person sal really needs right now
“Uh, ne’er-do-well?”
“Are you from the 1800s?”
“Miscreant?”
“Evil preacher”
“Delinquent?
“Republican politician”
“Ruffian?”
Evil Republican preacher from the 1800’s?
Alternatively
“Delinquent?”
“Anime fan”
Ya bongo loves her some anime delinquents so in that context it would fit
My mind instantly went here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLHe9WOI9XQ
Okay, so she’s talking about Amazi-Girl in panel 3, Joyce in panel 4, and Linda in panel 5! Sure are a lot of people trying to fit Sal into their preconceived notions! She didn’t even mention Malaya.
And I love that Danny almost definitely has no idea that Sal is talking about Linda in the last two panels, but he still gives the perfect answer.
The first time he meets her parents, he’s perfectly polite and the second they leave, he says ‘Okay, so your mom has DEFINITELY been an evil vice principal at some point and did I hear him incorrectly or did your dad say ‘Good’ after you pointed out your hair was straight this time?’
Jason for evil vice principal bartender
I am glad Danny is calling out Sal for her reckless driving. Just because you’re a badass on a motorcycle doesn’t mean you can’t follow traffic safety laws. It’s one thing when you’re chasing a crazy gunman, another when you’re just going for a ride.
“Traffic safety laws”? Bah. Sal has enough trouble following laws of physics.
She’s been hanging out with amazi-girl too much; apparently superhero-physics powers are contagious!
She’s pretty much been there all along. She makes a similar jump back in the car chase, though we don’t see the landing.
Amazi-Girl’s a superhero and gets to play by those rules. Sal’s a step down: She’s just an action movie hero. Physics is still pretty flexible though.
Impressed with Danny. His butt is in the air. His hat is finally off his head. They look like they’re about to die. And he focuses on the conversation.
Well, of course. Dan is always willing to accept that he is the least important part of any situation.
That was a bad landing. Those motion lines indicate it was nearly straight down onto a front wheel that is tilted to the left.
It is a miracle the bike didn’t disappear from under them then and there
Ah! I went to sleep early and have missed out on the conversation! Uhh I gotta think of something quick!……..uhhh? Trix R 4 kids? Stay humble?……Ah! That was terrible!
It’s cool, sometimes we end up taking a night off from the comments. There’ll be new conversations the next night anyway!
I mean I sure hope it’s okay, because I definitely can’t stay up past midnight every night and still make coherent comments!
As the trip progressed, Sal’s language kept regressing, historically.
From “Ah aint a rapscallion. Aint a rogue!” to “Ah aint a blackguard. Aint a malefactor!” until finally, it had reached the paleolithic era.
Of course, at that time it was basically a series of grunts. But the meaning was something alike “Ah aint a person that steals mammoth flesh in the night!”
Danny nodded. “I know you aren’t, Sal.”
Oh my. I think I just fan fictioned for the first time in my life!
Look out for the prehistoric Dumbiverse comic when this one ends in the year 2058!
Dumbing of Stone Age.
“at that time it was basically a series of grunts”
*Insert wiggling of eyebrows here*
Unfriendly reminder to USAmericans that you have electionssss…. I wanna say tomorrow? Speak (vote) by then or for 4 years (or whatever) hold your peace.
Tuesday. Make sure you and yours have a way to the polls, know what poll you’re going to, what time you’re going, and vote. Ballot ready and ballotpedia will help know your ballots and vote.com will help find your polling place iirc.
…I thought Americans had to Vote for their ruler every 4 years?
You are correct that US Presidential elections are every 4 years. However there are congressional elections every 2 years for every member of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate (Senators are elected to 6-year terms, staggered).
Congressional elections that do not share a year with a presidential election are colloquially known as ‘midterm elections’ because they happen in the middle of a presidential term, and the president’s approval rating is often a major factor in whether to elect candidates from his party or the opposition party.
And some state & local elections happen in the off-off-years. Generally still every 2 or 4 years, but in odd years not even ones.
Turn out generally drops drastically for non-presidential years and even more for the local elections, which usually favors certain groups and which the cynical suggest is the reason for holding elections on such schedules.
Elections are always the first Tuesday AFTER the first Monday in November.
Wait, does this mean that if November 1st is a Tuesday, you lot delay your elections for a week?
We’ll find out in 2022.
How is that “delaying”? They’ll still be on the 1st Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Or, alternately, the Tuesday that falls within Nov 2-8.
so what I’m getting from all this is that when Mystery Inc finally catches Betsy DeVos, they’ll unmask her and find that she was actually Linda Walkerton the whole time?
Motorbike rider here:
That is . . . not a safe way to land a sweet jump on a motorbike.
Also, HELMETS, PLEASE!
Gee, Sal, I feel for you and all that, but it’s not like you every really go out of your way to open up to people.
Evil Vice-Principal… oh, like in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”!
Hrm… Sal Walkerton’s Day Off?
Nah, she’s not privileged enough.
“David Walkerton’s Day Off”
Perfect. That puts Sal in the role of the sister who’s pissed off that her brother gets everything so easily, while she suffers.
Except that instead of sticking her tongue down Charlie Sheen’s throat at the end, she robs two convenience stores.
Or maybe she does both. There’s so much we still don’t know about her early life.
I feel a theme here.
People want relationships where they’re just allowed to be themselves.
For better, or worse.
Oh I love panel 5, this whole sequence so far has been great at conveying movement
“Wonderbread, are you implyin’ all vice principals ain’t evil?”
This is basically Calvin on a sled. Let’s hope it ends better.
Points for not biting his tongue and seemingly just going for the ride here. Except for the lack of helmet
Yeah that’s had me on edge. Not because I think they’ll get injured (particularly because of Willis’ rule about deaths and forever-taking-injuries), but that’ll 100% get you pulled over and ticketed here (I’m assuming it won’t in Indiana, but it doesn’t change my gut reaction) and I don’t want to see that.