A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Heroes of Thantopolis
Izzy Strontium Hall
A living boy fights to save the City of the Dead.
Sleepless Domain
Mary Cagle (Cube Watermelon)
In a world where magical girls and their battles are commonplace, loss has become all too common as well.
Stand Still, Stay Silent
Minna Sundberg
A few generations after the end of the world, a small, poorly financed research crew is sent out to rediscover whatever is left of the forbidden old world in the south.
Saint for Rent
Ru Xu
Saint Halliday runs an inn for Time Travelers. Unfortunately, he seems to attract other supernatural "guests," too.
Angel's Orchard
Harry Bogosian
After the events in Demon's Mirror, Gerda has accepted her role as a Demon Hunter, and Cezar has traveled back to the Demon City. Demons have existed alongside humans for millennia, so things begin to return to normal. But an impossibly powerful Relic has been taken by one of the Demon Masters, and a silent war enters its final stages.
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.
Peritale
Mari Costa
A fairy godmother with no magic tries her best to successfully fulfill a Fairytale and win the respect of her peers.
Novae
KaiJu
A historical romance with a touch magic and a dash of astronomy. It chronicles the romantic adventures of Sulvain, a sweet tempered necromancer and Raziol, a passionate 17th century astronomer.
Nigh Heaven & Hell
Scotty
Heather Vodihn is on a simple mission: find her father. However she becomes entangled with two strangers with mysterious powers being stalked by a group with bizarre demands. Heather must learn to trust her new traveling companions, even if she is untrustworthy herself.
Monster's Garden
Ash G.
Champion pit fighter Kilo Monster was content to spend the rest of his days tending to his quiet garden alone... until he met a curious robot girl and her human family.
ARISE, YE SKELETON KING
Brian Clevinger, Escher Cattle, Lee Black
A troupe of wandering "adventurers" down to their last silver "acquire" a map only to find the real treasure was the fiend they dug up along the way.
Little Tiny Things
Clover
What are the little things that move us? The simple joys that warm our bodies and hearts? The micro life of insects that influence our world more than we think? The tiny steps we make everyday to have a happier tomorrow?
Barbarous
Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota
A crummy wizard and an anxious monster have to get over themselves and bring order to an apartment building full of misfits.
Edison Rex
Chris Roberson
The adventures of the world’s greatest villain who, after defeating his superheroic nemesis, decides that he’s the only one left to defend the world.
Lies Within
Lacey
Lysander's aimless and carefree life is turned upside down when he accidentally discovers that the cute boy next door, Simon, is a literal monster
The Messenger
indui
In a ruin-abound town cursed with bad luck, Kai and Kalla--a young boy and a fledgling dragonbird spirit--take on a quest in hopes the reward will solve all of their problems.
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.
Not Drunk Enough
Tess Stone
Logan Ibarra is possibly the unluckiest repairman in the world. A late night job should not have landed him in the middle of a mad scientist's squabble, but he soon finds himself surrounded by monsters and further madness with little tools to get out.
The Golden Boar
Magnolia Porter Siddell
A young woman joins a group of summoners who call forth Guardian Beasts to protect their isolated magical island. Unfortunately, her Guardian Beast is nothing like she'd imagined, and he's about to change her life, and everything she thought she knew about herself...
Augustine
Winter Jay Kiakas, Windy
August and her ragtag group are just like everyone else, simply surviving in the treacherous Crater... When they stumble into what may be an artifact of the ancient past, their lives are thrown into a much bigger loop as they trifle with bounty hunters, monsters and gods.
Sakana
Mad Rupert
Our heroes must navigate a hazardous dating scene, overcome personal anxieties, and wrangle unruly seafood in order to find love, peace of mind, and a paycheck.
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Three Panel Soul
Matt Boyd, Ian McConville
It's a pretty rigid format but we keep the content loose, you know?
Freakshow
Scotty
A festival of broken people, blood flows in the center ring. Come one and come all, to the greatest show in all of Paris.
The Weave
Rennie Kingsley
A young woman pursued by bad luck is witness to the murder of the Fairy Queen of Summer. Can she get to the bottom of this mystery?
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!
Darkling Bright
Chris Hazelton
Kieran Bright is a college student home for the summer and roped into an online reunion with his old neighborhood friends in the most recent update of their favorite childhood MMORPG.
At least, he was, and that was the idea...
Join Kieran and his friends as they are pulled into another reality that may or may not be real and are forced to confront their own identities, the nature of simulated universes and reality itself.
Ozzie the Vampire
Eric Lide
Ozzie and her best friend Kimmy are your average everyday normal art students – except one is an immortal vampire with superpowers and the other possesses a magic talking grimoire. Also they have to save their town from a demonic invasion.
Blindsprings
Kadi Fedoruk
Tamaura, wrested into a world 300 years in the future, must find a way to save the magic fading from her country.
Namesake
Isa, Meg
There's ghosts at your heels and fairy tale worlds ahead. What do you do? Jump down the rabbit hole!
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I’m pretty much expecting Dina to be the key to saving everyone, because she is easily overlooked and was visible in the background of the scenes where everyone was disappearing.
Sadly the plan was doomed to failure, as while the van was naturally well-stocked with egg whisks, and Sarah never goes anywhere without a signed picture of Raymond Burr, Walky left his snorkel in his other pair of pajama pants.
You should, it is pretty good, although updates are a bit slow, I leave it for 3-4 months then binge it. Strangely, my first thought was it was a Pinky and the Brain reference.
On the other hand, she wouldn’t be mentioning the three things unless they were at hand. So maybe one of them is the mask. What things could they still have on them? Maybe it’s something like help with the duct tape and Becky’s address. Dunno.
I’d say the mask is one essential, it’s one thing for the authorities to be chasing Amazigirl, it’d be bad news for them to be chasing Amber after all this. So, not required, but necessary.
Nah, the quality of egg that makes her an effective Senator and cabinet member who would be good at the actual job of “being president” and bad at the job of “becoming president,” easy to vilify by the opposition and loses to a Cheeto.
Compared to the current president, a hippo with diarrhea would do a better job. The hippo would attack anyone who got too close and spray diarrhea everywhere, but it wouldn’t [list of things the orange menace has done].
I suspect that line indicates she maybe knows there is a split, and she did WITNESS the stabbing. (Which was all Amber.) I’m all for anything that seems to indicate they’re talking to each other again, and maybe Dorothy’s words might help Amber stop falling deeper into the ‘Amber is the irredeemable Bad One, AG is all that is good in me’ trap.
I mean AG could also make things radically worse and probably will on at least one front because DAMN YOU WILLIS is in full effect, but by this point everything’s boned enough that I doubt ANYONE’S actions won’t make things radically worse.
Agreed. She’s entrusting their situation to a YouTube-trained vigilante who would fail a psyche eval. Amazi-girl has very little regard for her own life, already “died” once falling off an ill-advised moving car climb (except Sal caught her, something AG didn’t know was going to happen.)
Actively encouraging her and trusting one’s well-being to her is enabling her participating in the mental illness.
Well, yes. But not everyone can turn mental illness into a super-power. Watching you-tube videos doesn’t turn you into a skilled athlete. All Amazigirl gives Amber is a control on her violent impulses. By any measure, Amber is extraordinary. I certainly wouldn’t bet against her.
I think maybe you’re setting yourself up to be disappointed a little here. DoA has always had a more comic book approach to logic in these situations. Amber has done some insane stuff, like jumping from rooftops and riding on car roofs. She actually has a decent track record for being reliable in these situations even if realistically this isn’t the best call.
Amazi-Girl, of everyone in that room, is the only one their captor is willing to let go, and the only one with any remote chance in the situation even if they had other options.
Like, hopefully her plan involves finding non-police help, but it’s really, really absurd to suggest that trusting her here is irresponsible. Even if AG hadn’t repeatedly demonstrated she can handle herself, she’s literally the only option they have
It’s even more absurd to call it “participating in her mental illness”, because “vigilantism” is not a mental illness.
I dunno. Dorothy witnessed Amber slashing up that guy (who was an a$$hole and brought the weapon in the first place, thus kind of “deserving it”. I’m iffy on being totally chill with use of deadly force, even defensively). Then Dorothy apparently didn’t say “Oh my god! That’s assault with a deadly weapon! It’s only a matter of time before she kills someone! I need to get her some help and report this.”
Instead she said “This is fine. I don’t need to tell anyone.”
Not very civic-minded or responsible. Not reporting means everyone involved is still out there. I mean not narc-ing on friends has a certain value. But we’re not Lawful Good anymore. More like True Neutral. Maybe that’s a useful presidential quality.
If you don’t want someone to defend themselves with lethal force, they shouldn’t be attacked with lethal force. Ryan brought lethal force into play by attacking Amber and Dorothy with a knife first and stating intent to use the same knife on Joyce. Amber is entirely in her rights, morally and legally, to use the same in defence of herself and multiple third parties.
I don’t disagree on the self-defense, and that’s not my point. What I’m saying is that being forced to do that should probably be considered an inherently traumatic experience that one should get some professional help to process. It’s also a security event that’s pretty negligent not to report, at least anonymously. Campus security would also like to know that stabbings are occurring on campus, even if it’s an anonymous tip that doesn’t name names.
Dorothy, as far as I know said “Wow, Amber looks horrified that she had to do that! That must have been mind scarring! Welp, good luck processing that on your own! Also, that’s not something I feel like telling any authority about.” That’s pretty jaded.
The police were informed, and since the apparently searched Amber & Dina’s room, it’s pretty clear the school knows too. I don’t know where you’re getting this stuff
And wtf do you expect Dorothy to do about Amber’s mental health? Try to have her committed? She spent 3 days away from campus with her mom, and then shut herself off in her room when she came back, refusing all visitors. Is Dorothy supposed to kick the door down and drag her to therapy?
If so, I’m surprised the school didn’t offer Amber some counseling, if they knew she was forced to knife someone. Maybe they did off panel and she politely declined. That seems reasonable.
What could Dorothy do? Well as is, her compliance with knowing her friend dresses up and beats up bad guys is tacit acceptance and enabling of that behavior. She could do…something, anything at all really, besides just meekly going along with it. But I think that was a side point of Sarah pointing out that Dorothy couldn’t even lead Joyce to getting a dead toenail out of her sock. Dorothy’s kind of a follower right now. Even in this strip I’m reading her choice as “someone besides me will fix it!” Delegation is a leadership trait, but I’m unconvinced that’s what I’m seeing in Dorothy.
It was Dorothy who got Joyce to do the right thing and tell Becky about her dad instead of putting it off. Stakes there mattered a bit more than Joyce’s toenail.
And again, Amber’s the only one with the opportunity to leave. Your expectations of Dorothy’s leadership abilities seem really arbitrary and largely unreasonable
1) There’s no “kind of”, Ryan deserved it. More importantly, what Amber did was reasonable given the situation. He was a deadly threat. Like, on top of pulling the knife, he had literally told them he was planning to attack Joyce with it. Amber disarmed him and was not blocking his escape. He chose to continue the fight. Amber did what was necessary to ensure he would not regain control of the knife and hurt her, Dorothy, or Joyce.
2) It was SELF DEFENSE. In what way would it be “only a matter of time” before Amber killed someone? Why the fuck would Dorothy think that in reaction to Amber SAVING THEIR LIVES?
3) There was literally no need to report the incident. The cops were involved, they investigated. They deemed it self defense.
Hm. I’m honestly curious where are you getting all these details on this situation? Because we haven’t been shown what exactly happened back then.
What we’ve been shown was Amber flashing a really disturbing slasher smile at Ryan – and Dorothy been visibly shocked by the scuffle that followed.
Also, the police deeming an incident self defense doesn’t mean it was truly accurate. Finally, it all really depends on the legal system – back where I live, actively stabbing an attacker with the reasoning “He could’ve taken the knife back” wouldn’t count as acceptable self defense measure…
Ryan attacked them with lethal force (a knife’s a deadly weapon). Quite a few self-defence laws permit lethal force in defence your life or a third party’s life and Indiana in particular is a stand your ground state, which means Ryan doesn’t necessarily need to be attacking with lethal force – she’s allowed to defend herself from death, harm, and her property from him with lethal force. Legally it was self-defence.
And based on the angle of the blood, it looks more like a slash than a stab.
We can very clearly see Amber has her back to the door of the building, which she’s blocked to keep Dorothy from trying to help.
Ryan was on the other side. Her escape route is cut off (and would’ve required turning her back on Ryan while he was attacking her) while his was totally clear.
Amber appears to make him drop the knife there (with her right hand), then in the next strip we see her empty left hand pulling back for a punch, and later it comes back again, now holding the knife. All while Amber’s still about where she was standing before
Seems pretty damn clear that they were struggling for control of the knife, and even if Amber was holding it for that entire strip, Amber’s clearly backed up against the door still. He could’ve run away at any time, but kept fighting for the knife and *FUCKING GASP* got stabbed in the process.
And yeah, Dorothy was shocked. Turns out watching somebody get stabbed is pretty shocking, regardless of why or if it was necessary (and Dorothy explains this herself to Walky in a later strip)
Though again. He’s a known rapist who had attacked AG before and had literally threatened to carve up Joyce’s face. Even if that fight was entirely one-sided, he fucking brought that shit on himself.
Btw, if “police deeming the incident self defense” doesn’t matter, neither does what would count as an “acceptable self-defense measure” where your from. And yeah, morality and legality can’t be assumed to be the same thing. I brought the point up in response to Shane acting like the cops were never involved.
Regardless, it was self-defense. Amber took severe but entirely justified steps to ensure Ryan was no longer a threat. And she even let him live.
Yeah, the ONLY point at which Amber is remotely in the wrong is the implication she may have stabbed/slashed him more than once. (‘I wish you had killed him’/‘I tried’ and Walky’s got a line in I want to say the therapy strip about how badly he was hurt. Possibly exaggeration, but taken with the ‘he’ll be in the hospital for a long time’ she definitely did a number on him.) And even that would still be in the realm of ‘make sure he stays down’.
I mean, his parents’ lawyer would probably have a field day if the AG secret came out, but he brought a knife, he was not subdued by punches that left her fist bloody, it was very much self-defense. Dorothy and Amber were both traumatized by the incident because that kind of violence IS TRAUMATIC. Inherently. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t necessary.
Incidentally, Shane, it’s been clear that AG won’t just go away even if Amber’s in a less-traumatized state – she’s still around even after Amber made peace with Sal and got a more socially acceptable violence outlet in roller derby. This isn’t a dissociation story where integration is possible, because by all accounts from actual DID people that’s not actually something that works. What’ll be better for Amber’s mental health is for her and AG to stop seeing each other as adversarial and Amber as the bad one/AG as the good one, and for them to work together. (I already assume this arc is going to wreak hell on her psyche, it’s going to wreak hell on EVERYONE’S psyches, even if Amber went straight to the police and they somehow negotiated with two people whose motives are ENTIRELY PERSONAL and will kill or die to get them, everyone is already traumatized by this.) Amber’s not violent because she’s DID, she’s violent because fucking Blaine traumatized her and then sent her to self-defense classes rather than therapy so she has no coping mechanisms to deal with the trauma and anger. There is (theoretically, outside the context of this comic where AG fills an important meta-narrative role because Willis needs periodic action sequences and she’s a sign the laws of physics are malleable for the moment) a future where Amber and AG still both exist and are talking to each other, and aren’t going out risking their mutual life as a vigilante. Please take your mental health stigma elsewhere.
After looking at that strip, Amber appears to be throwing a punch with her left hand; then, once she has picked up the knife, appears to wielding it with her left hand as well. I think it has already been determined that Sal is also left-handed, as is/was Leland — notice with which hand he is holding the rock? Although in this same panel we now see Amber holding Sal’s knife in her RIGHT hand; perhaps Amber is ambidextrous.
I wonder how many other members of the DoA cast are also southpaws; and I also wonder if this is a clue as to whether or not Willis is too.
Oh, and as is has been pointed out elsewhere, the incident with Ryan at the front doors of the residence hall was captured on security cam; police reviewed this and determined that Ryan initiated the incident and Amber’s actions were indeed self-defense (and as an aside, that same security-cam footage will seriously undermine that lawsuit Ryan’s parents have supposedly brought against Amber and her parents).
She was already regularly seeing a therapist and said while she might agree in the abstract it was necessary and/or warranted, it was still hard to see up close.
I’m just saying, maybe we’ll get lucky, and this arc will end with Asher’s grandpa finding out about all this bullshit and dumping both men into a vat of acid or something and letting the kids walk free because this is bad for business?
Unlikely, I know, but wouldn’t it be nice, except for them living in fear of the mob forever?
I mean, depending on how upset grandpa is that Asher won’t join the family business, Asher could still try going to him and saying ‘Uh, grandpa, some guy you work for is blackmailing me with made up evidence I stole from you? He seems to think I wanna be found in a ditch or something. Can you take care of this for me?’ If he’s on the low end, grandpa might go for it.
“Yes, a sleep-deprived, pajama-wearing vigilante is a WAY better plan than professional law enforcement. Great risk management and planning, Future Ms. President.”
Sarah has apparently accepted that white guys Blaine and Ross, who have already kidnapped her and indirectly threatened to kill her, may abuse her as much as they want, because she feels the police have an even higher chance of killing her. If she has totally given up on a just society protecting her even from felony-level aggression, what is her plan? Just accept the abuse? Hope a white girl vigilante in a costume can save her? Try to become her own hostage negotiator, something she’s not yet remotely equipped to do? (But would still be a plan.) This all feels like Idiot Ball level thinking to me, which is sad because I wanted Sarah to make better choices as a future lawyer.
To the degree anyone has a plan, it seems to keep circling back to “We should let the mentally ill vigilante in a mask save us”. I would rate these “plans” as “Your plan is bad and you should feel bad.” Which is a little bit of a bummer for me because it’s more fun for me when characters make better plans, I can maybe even learn something I can apply to my own life in tough situations and relate to them more.
You mean lessons like: don’t give up because things look bad. Use your mind to explore possibilities and create a solution. Look to your friends for help; trust them.
They should explore the possibility of letting the police handle this felony-level situation. Everything else is zany cartoon antics, on par with “have you tried slipping a portable hole under them when they’re not looking?”
Nah. This is ‘dumb, cynical teenager’ level. Nobody’s demonstrated reality warping. Save that for Head Alien showing up.
Besides, while they are entrusting AG to handle it, we don’t know AG’s plan. Even odds it’ll involve the police in someway (once she’s made sure it can’t blowback in the ‘we start killing hostages/police come in guns blazing and accidentally (or ‘accidentally’) kill a hostage’ way).
Yeah, let’s be honest here – anything involving the police announcing their presence while there are still hostages is likely to end badly, because Blaine knows full well he’s a mob stooge who’s gonna be in the shit if this draws police attention (and he VERY CLEARLY suggested that to the hostages,) and Toedad has already established he thinks suicide by cop is preferable to Becky living in sin. Negotiating ain’t gonna work, and before the SWAT team goes in guns blazing they’re going to show up with sirens that’ll be Blaine’s cue to start eliminating witnesses. And that’s before we get into the inherent risks of potential gunfire in a basement full of civilians. (Even IF there wasn’t a racial element there, so long as Ross is in that basement and a threat to the hostages you can’t rule out gunfire, and that means there’s a risk.)
The situation is such that there is no good option, because they need stealth to get the others free, and that’s really not the tack the police are going to use for a hostage situation involving an unknown number of hired goons, very possibly with mob ties, a dude who AG will now fully remember is wearing body armor even if Amber wasn’t sure who DEFINITELY has mob ties, and a man who threatened a mass shooting on a college campus. (If nothing else, they’ll want to alert the civilians outside that there’s about to be a fucking shootout.) ‘Bring in friends who will want everyone home alive just as much as I do and can act quietly’ actually does sound like a reasonable plan from an 18-year-old who already thinks being a superhero sounds great’s perspective. (And even though Dorothy doesn’t straight idolize AG anymore, she is still clearly on team ‘sometimes you do need a vigilante’ – the stabbing was traumatic, but it was also pretty much the only thing Amber could do in that moment to know Ryan would stay down.)
It’s a viable plan only because AG is a super-hero and gets to play by super-hero rules. Otherwise getting the cops involved, even with all the risks that implies, is better than any other alternatives. As you say, no good options.
I suspect in hostage situations, the protocol is NOT to come in with sirens wailing, they will quietly infiltrate the local area and isolate the location, and do some recce to locate anybody in the structure first.
Well that might work. Assuming that we had any reason for believing in portable holes in the DOA universe. On the other hand, Amber/Amazigirl has quite a track record in that universe. Doesn’t mean nothing can go wrong. On the other hand, Dorothy’s faith is far from unsupported.
Um, you’re telling a black person how their choices should be different, because you don’t like something they’re saying about their own reality and their view of the society they’ve coped with all their life?
Did you see the video of the cop body-slamming a schoolgirl out of her seat because she wouldn’t put her phone away? That’s some felony-level aggression right there, that the cop not only didn’t protect her from, but actually did to her while she sat quietly.
SSarah has assessed the level of abuse that Blaine and Ross are _actually likely_ to inflict on her – not catastrophizing “as much as they want” but calculating what they’re actually likely to do – and calculated that cops present a bigger danger to her than her kidnappers do. Sarah is very likely right.
You seem to be really uncomfortable with Sarah’s consciousness of the risk her skin color puts her in. To the extent that you’re objecting to her looking for help to the most athletic person in the room, just because that person happens to be white.
Take a deep breath, and give Sarah respect for her lived reality even if it makes you uncomfortable.
Sarah is not a real person, she’s a character in a story. So, criticising her reasoning isn’t disrespectful to anyone. Come on.
Also, personally, I did read of various tragic involving US police and people of colour. Still… saying that, when kidnapped and threatened with death, you’re still at less risk from the kidnappers than the police? That really screams excessive.
BTW. Systemic racism is one thing, but some Black people *can* see it where it isn’t present. A few years ago, there was this case when some Black actress (I think) claimed the police harassed her because she kissed her White boyfriend in the public. It turned out, the police was called by onlookers, because the pair had sex in the car – parked in a public place, in the middle of the day…
Not trying to say there is no racism problem in the police. Still, I think that Sarah’s really going overboard with her fear of police here. And, as Willis seems to suggest her reasoning is valid, I call be bad writing.
*One* unsourced, half-remembered anecdote where someone claimed the cops were being racist but supposedly had a good reason for there actions is entirely irrelevant
Like, do you realize that even if 100% true, that doesn’t even prove those cops weren’t racist or that they didn’t harass innocent Black people? Or specifically target Black people for extra attention, looking for excuses? It would only show that at least that one time they did their job
Meanwhile, numerous actual studies have been conducted and show that POC and especially Black people are frequently subject to a dramatically disproportionate amount of police attention and violence.
And even under the BEST conditions, police are extremely bad at de-escalation, and in recent years in the US have only been getting worse at it as they become more militarized. They don’t have to TRY to shoot Sarah or Walky for them to die in an ill-advised shootout started by some trigger-happy pig looking to be a Big Damn Hero by killing all of the bad guys
If I understand you correctly your comment can be summarised by: police are not a good bet for Sarah in this situation.
If I may react, I would like to point out that Sarah not wanting the police present may be more of a plot device than any reference to the real world. For all we know the police in the DoA universe may be much more unreliable, allowing the plot to be solved by a personality in the story instead of an outside force.
There are recorded incidents of POC being a victim of a crime and when police show up the victim gets shot as a suspect for being black at the scene of a crime. As the victim was flagging the police down to report the particulars!
True, but how many of such incidents are there in comparison to cases where the police did their jobs?
Seriously, if the numbers on police brutality / outright murders against POC are so high that POC should genuinely avoid contacting the police even when faced with dangerous criminals, then… why the heck is the US police still in place? They are clearly a dangerous organization themselves and should all be disbanded…
Because their job is keeping the dangerous underclass under control and a good part of the US likes it that way.
Mind you, I don’t think they’re that bad. Definitely bad enough that it would be too much of a risk to call them for a lot of petty crime, but not so much that they’d make a high stakes situation like this worse.
PiotrW, you have literally just described what actually happens in communities of color all over this country. They don’t call the police. Especially not for small shit like white people do, but many won’t call them for any reason, because just having cops around is dangerous for them and unlikely to result in their original problem being taken seriously
And they still exist because the majority of this country is white, and the police being racist and dangerous was a feature, not a bug. This country was built on white supremacy and it’s only recently that a significant number of white people have started to notice system racism and actually acknowledge it, and we’re still working on getting enough white people to care about it to actually effect change
It’s still there because 300 year old roots are hard as fuck to dig out, and this county is still to damn racist to make a serious effort
Okay, if what you’re saying is accurate, then it means that the police across the US are basically a threat to everyone other than themselves?
My question is, then: what steps are being taken to dismantle these dangerous organizations that are clearly more of a threat to the public than the criminals?
Oh, they’re not a threat to everyone other than themselves. They’re not a threat to people who look like me: White, male, and too dumpy-looking to be perceived as a threat.
Everybody else though? Ehhh… they takes their chances, and the odds aren’t as good as they should be. Some places are better or worse than others, but let’s just say I’m glad I was born into a safe demographic.
My dude there are numerous political and activist movements dedicated to various kinds of police reform, justice reform, with goals ranging from banning police unions to abolishing police forces entirely. Some have been at this for decades. Google is right the fuck there if you care to alleviate your ignorance
Please be kind enough to refrain from words like “ignorance”, please?
I am aware that the systemic racism in US is a thing. I just have never thought that it’s that bad that you can’t basically have a cop near a Black person without a serious risk of the cop shooting that Black person. What you say about US police makes them look positively monstrous – and I have never heard about the situation being that bad.
Seriously, what we have here is a situation when a group of teens is at the mercy of a religious bigot who is so prone to violence that he had abducted his daughter at the gunpoint – and mentally unstable man with organized crime connections who is actually threatening his captives with murder. And yet, you say these teens shouldn’t be calling the cops, because the cops would be *even more dangerous*? That Sarah and Walky are less in danger from a brute like Ross and sadist like Blaine, than from an average cop? If it’s that bad, then I’m honestly wondering why is the US police is still allowed to exist. And what to make of POC police officers who somehow don’t quit the force…
But I will educate myself… Seriously. I have enough acquintances in the US to get some feedback. Okay?
Yeah, I have to agree. It’s not really that bad. It’s pretty fucking awful, but this is the kind of situation where cops are still the better alternative. It’s not entirely unreasonable for Sarah to see it that way – I wonder if she has some backstory personal tragedy beyond the usual, but I don’t think she’s actually right.
It isn’t a typical situation or outcome, but something doesn’t have to be typical to be a serious and realistic concern. I’m over 70, but I’m healthy with a strong immune system. Should I contract the virus, I like my odds of surviving. I don’t like them well enough to plan on leaving my apartment at all for the next month. I’m with Sarah.
@clif: Which is great, if your current situation is safe.
But if your apartment was on fire, you’d still leave. If you came down with something else serious, you’d still go to the hospital – taking whatever precautions you could to avoid infection.
The situation they’re in isn’t safe already. It’s a stretch for me to think the police will make a mass kidnapping more dangerous than just letting the kidnappers do what they please.
you don’t need to be black to be unsure of anyone in a badge, especially near a major city. Take a look at police involved shootings sometime, take a look at what the vetting process for most urban police forces are, and consider that the U.S. Marines fighting in Fallujah a decade or so ago, under rocket and sniper fire, had more stringent and restrictive rules of engagement than your typical, domestic, urban police force operates under. Further, look up how many times police unions sue cities (or threaten to sue them) when said cities try to fire a cop who didn’t watch his backstop, or didn’t have a legally justifiable reason for using his sidearm (and it resulted in death or maiming). Also look up “Sovereign Immunity” statutes, which basically translate your life, as a civilian, to a little extra paperwork in the event your life, as a civilian, is taken by an officer of the law. There are very, very good reasons NOT to involve the police in…pretty much anything, really. Police are not required to protect “YOU”, they are required to protect “SOCIETY”. ask anyone who’s had a toiletpaper restraining order against a stalker or actual threat. Police are required to investigate your murder, not prevent your death (Unless you’re a relative, close friend, or holder of political office.)
I can respect Sarah’s take on cops, while still thinking she’s wrong about this case. I suspect she’s overemphasizing the degree to which cops are a threat, while still that the threat is real. Or maybe we’re seeing the danger from the kidnappers differently – if she thinks them no real threat, then the cops would be a greater one.
It’s also hard to factor in Amazi-Girl. In the real world, I’d say that having your athletic friend try to rescue you from the apparently murderous kidnapping gang is much more likely to lead to her and or hostages getting killed than involving the police is – despite the risk that police involvement might still get them killed. But this isn’t the real world and AG plays be super-hero rules, so she may be more likely to pull it off.
I think Sarah has a difficult time taking them seriously, because all of the superhero stuff got tied up in it and because people will notice when a whole bunch of people from the same dorm are gone all at once (as opposed to one person, like Mike).
Mind, she might also just want to keep the number of people with upped risk of shooting her as low as possible, even if that risk is smaller from the police than the kidnappers. More of a ‘I’m worrying about this already, I do not need to deal with that too’ type of thing.
I guess, if she’s not taking being grabbed, tied up, carried off and thrown into a pile of her friends in a basement as a serious threat, then she could see the police as more serious. And yes, someone’s likely to notice – but if anything what they’ll do is call the police.
Read “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The relationship between (most) black people and police officers in the United States is far worse than you imagine.
Ross also said not to go to the police, and he’ll have five and a half hostages as surety. I think the kids believe that if cops show up, people *will* die. Reasonable enough belief to have, in their situation.
Yes, he did. But why would they do what he said? Points to Ross for at least realizing it is the number one sensible thing to do in their situation. Minus points for him not having an “or else” to back that up. Just “Don’t. Aw come on, I said dooooooon’t. I said not to!”
Here’s what Ross’ plan matrix looks like:
1- Realize calling the police about this situation is by far the most logical thing they would do
2- Sternly admonish them not to do so, with nothing to back that up
3- ???
Okay, I just checked and April 1st – Blaine says if they don’t get Becky, they’ll kill all the hostages. Presumably the same holds if the police are contacted. There’s your ‘or else’.
Sure, you can call their bluff, but there’s an established threat (as opposed to an obvious, but unstated one).
The established threat just goes back to why Sarah’s risk assessment that they are just silly bozos makes little sense.
So, they’re told (or strongly implied) by Blaine that they WILL be killed by the kidnappers (if they don’t comply). Blaine can back that up by saying they harmed Mike, which fits with the facts of them even knowing who he is and Mike not showing up for a midterm day. Is Ross signing on to fully agreeing with the death threat? Or is he just sort of letting it hang in the air without committing to it himself fully?
So the kidnappers WILL kill them, or so the say. What odds do the police give? We only hear about the worst of the worst bad apples, but how many police interactions ACTUALLY end up with someone being killed? .01%? 1% 3%? Maybe I’m biased, but I’m leaning towards the .01%. Even if Sarah believes it’s a full 10%, isn’t that still better odds than what the kidnappers are giving?
And any police department that actually killed 10% of the people (or even hostages) they interacted with would be disbanded and their leadership brought up on charges. It might feel really high because that’s how human brains remember emotional things. Sarah should know the statistics as a law student though.
It’s easy to be dismissive when you’re not the one with a higher chance of being shot. Even if it’s not the best idea in the world, I’m not about to bag on Sarah for wanting the number of people at risk of killing her as low as possible, especially since, while the threat is there, 1) AG’s usually pretty competent, 2) Having the threat and Sarah believing in their competence are two different things. Sarah is one of the hostages under consideration for AG and, unlike Sarah, AG was actually there when they attacked Mike and so will have to make her own call.
I get the impression that AG is always there, it’s just Amber who’s blocking her out. i.e. It’s not that AG isn’t sharing memories, it’s that Amber isn’t listening. Hell, AG even projected a fantasy of Mike into Amber’s perception to try to get her attention and it totally didn’t work.
The disassociation worsened specifically because Amber tried to get rid of Amazi-Girl though. So AG hid her activities from Amber by not blocking her memories off and going out to fight crime after Amber slept. It was very mutual
I don’t think that’s true. Not sure what you’re thinking of for “tried to get rid of Amazi-Girl”, but the lack of shared memory seemed to happen right after the Ryan stabbing, not anything specific Amber did. And the split had been growing worse for quite a while before then.
Which is after the lack of shared memory, but I suppose you could read the “made it quite clear you’re no longer necessary” as an earlier attempt we didn’t see on panel.
The lack of memory does go both ways, though I guess I could see that being all on Amber not listening and not sharing. Not sure we’ve got evidence for that though.
Clearest evidence for AG not knowing what Amber does is her not knowing about Walky.
That’s probably why Amber believed Blaine was telling the truth. Blaine may or may not be lying about the “goon waiting to finish Mike off” part, but he very likely wasn’t about the “Mike hospitalized” part.
I kind of feel like we’ve overlooked Ethan’s opinion on all this and that’s slightly disrespectful considering he has equal stake in this hostage situation. I’m sure he’s in on AG but still I think he should be heard.
No. But at the same time it’s not right to make decisions for everyone when the stakes are this high. Not that anyone really has a choice to begin with what with being hostages and all.
At the same time, again though, Ethan actually needs to express his opinion to get it considered. Time is important here so he needs to express it soon if he wants it under consideration.
I know most of you are gonna be filled with dread this whole storyline but all this action gets me so danged excited.
These are the moments Willis shines.
Yeah, I’m excited for this storyline! Don’t get me wrong… there’s a bit of dread too, just because I’m not good at *waiting* to find out what’ll happen and I’ve gotten attached to these kiddos, but I always enjoy how he does this stuff.
Oh, yeah, the emotional fallout from this is gonna be awful and I’ll be on the edge of my seat with dread the whole time, but my favorite Willis moment ever is Leslie’s fight with HA II over in Shortpacked. The action sequences are gonna be SICK AS HELL, and I hope AG DOES bring in as many other characters as possible even if that would objectively be way riskier in an actual situation.
This is the handwaving to justify badass superhero action, folks. Recognize it for what it is, recognize that the handwaving does hold up in-universe (at least from a 18-year-old superhero whose friends are all being held hostage’s perspective, and the other hostages comparing AG’s track record to the police,) and let’s all move on to Sal and AG making a grand heroic entrance while Dina and Ruth take goons out from the shadows and Carla hacks their security. Or something equally improbable but cool as hell to read.
The look in that last panel? My ex called that the “hero face”…I usually got it when I was playing the last battle of a video game I was seriously invested in.
I think of it as “Plan F”…F for “fuck it all, we’re goin’ ham”.
Sorry so far i Trust in Amazi-Girl
Amber kinda keeps fucking up
THats if they truly have split personality witch they appear to do, in that case Amazi-Girl is the one, I wish was the one true personality
Even supposing we don’t think the cops are the right ones to shoulder the responsibility, is it really even FAIR to Amber/Amazi-girl to keep saying “Don’t worry! Amazi-girl will fix everything!”? That was pretty much Mike’s plan too, he could have beelined that scooter to a police station and actually solved things.
Eh, I guess it’s just another example of “play stupid games, win stupid prizes”. “It’s called DUMBING of Age, not Smartening of Age!” I guess I knew what I signed up for. It’s time to relax and just let it wash over me.
All right, forget the cops. Those bumbling fuddy-duddies would just make it worse. Amazi-Girl will save us!
Well AG isn’t the original personality and can’t be because that isn’t how DID works. AG nearly got them killed trying to save Becky last time so I wouldn’t say she is necessarily better at not making mistakes in serious situations.
Panel 4 is Amber. Panel 6 is Amber. Panel 7 is Amazi-Girl. Note the blush marks in panels 4 & 6, and the lack of them in panel 7. These are always the most definitive visual marker to whether it is Amber or Amazi-Girl, even when Amber is in the costume and/or doing the voice, or Amazi-Girl is not in the costume
Shits getting way too real… I mean, the real world already sucks what with Trump and coviod-19 and other crappy things. I want my fantasy worlds to take me away, Calgon! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yjGPgs0_S0
“A security band, a quarnex battery, and that guy’s prosthetic leg.”
Also, I’m not sure if that’s what Willis was going for, but it doesn’t really make me think highly of AG that she takes over the moment someone expresses faith in Amber.
I see that next to last panel as Amber letting go, not as AG forcing herself in. She hasn’t been able to do that in a long while and we’ve seen in the past Amber struggle against turning over control, which there’s no sign of here.
I don’t think normal human language can adequately describe how stupid and juvenile Dorothy’s mindset is right now, or the risk she’s blithely putting on Becky, so Imma let the Big Ben take it from here.
The last time AG rescued Becky it nearly got them all killed. Toedad is just *looking* for a reason to ‘reunite’ his whole family in heaven. To top it all off-EVERYBODY is going to be gunning for AG after she takes Becky in the first place so she’ll have the fuzz to deal with as well. If this is their only option, so be it, but Dorothy don’t say “Oh this can get undone” with such a cute fucking smirk on your face.
I have to hope Dorothy’s not being totally upfront here while Toedad’s still in the room. AG ‘agreeing to help’ is the only way they get someone outside – which will both give them a shot at surviving and let them warn Becky. (Seriously, if AG refuses, how long do you think Toedad sticks to the plan before doing something reckless again?)
That said, Dorothy didn’t witness Toedad’s first confrontation and comes from a completely different religious upbringing. (Secular but with I wanna say Catholicism on one side and Judaism on the other.) I don’t think she has the frame of reference to realize Toedad definitely thinks him and Becky dying is better than leaving her alone because the former might ‘save her soul’. Unfortunately. (I’m not even sure JOYCE will be able to recognize it as a threat fully, because even we don’t yet know if that’s his first-line plan or the backup. It’s definitely ONE of his plans, but remember that Toedad does in fact have a shitload of magical thinking going on that may well convince him God sent him Blaine to bring Becky back to him and ensure an escape route.) So if she doesn’t foresee that… well, it’s a DISASTROUS thing not to foresee, but it makes sense why she wouldn’t.
It is a threat to foresee for sure, but given Becky hasn’t “repented” for her “sins”, I would think that Toedad would *not* see them dying as a viable way out. Now, if Becky in a moment of desperation /says/ that she “repents” – which I could see her doing, only to get Toedad to stop hurting the people she cares about – then I would be more worried. I still don’t really see him being willing to do that, however.
She is trying to dissuade Joyce from doing something stupid and getting them all killed She is literally responding to an “I’d rather die right here right now” comment. Also, if AG gets on the outside, she has options that none of them have while locked up in a potential murder-dungeon. Saying whatever it takes to get even one of them back out in the world is not “juvinile”, it’s necessary.
I at least don’t think Toedad will try a heavenly reunion. It was the devil that caused his wife to kill herself, so I do think he considers killing yourself a sin. Why killing others isn’t a sin…uh…Yeah, I got nothing, maybe you’re right after all…Gosh that’s terrifying…
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btw if you're one of those rando bluesky weirdos who doesn't know me but sees me in the wild being sarcastic and don't know i'm being sarcastic because you haven't taken like 30 seconds to, like, maybe look at my user profile or something, keep walking, you're not going to score internet points here
Here's an entertaining cite at the bottom of the first page
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
JUST IN: Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan moves to dismiss federal criminal case against her for allegedly helping immigrant hide from ICE. Her lawyers say she's protected by official acts & judicial immunity and 10th Amendment. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 1d
Hawley dismisses Trump lining his pockets with his memecoin: "Listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought. I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?"
wilbur, savvy enough to know he's in a comic strip but still not a great actor, awkwardly lifts a muffin up into frame so that we, the audience, understand that he has a muffin right now, which is very important narratively, but he's not really selling it well as an organic, human action
confirming that the reason there's been no Galaxy Version female characters in Blokees until now is that they felt they needed to make Round Lady Thighs For Ladies
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 5h
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 1d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 10d
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a mask, a hatchet, and a pig
…oh, to get BECKY? Just need Dina
I’m pretty much expecting Dina to be the key to saving everyone, because she is easily overlooked and was visible in the background of the scenes where everyone was disappearing.
You’d think Ross would want her gone
Perhaps Ross respects her for her staunch defense of his property.
Ross also remembers their last encouter. He fears she’d disembowel him with her toenails before eating him alive.
I DID say he respects her for her staunch defense of his property, did I not?
Well, she does have that dino claw now, doesn’t she?
Ross has no personal issue with Dina. He certainly means her no harm so long as she stays out of his way and out of his ‘holy’ business.
The “deceptress” “who will also be punished by the hand of god”?
Ross doesn’t like Becky. But I think this kidnapping part – including who to kidnap – was so so so much Blaine’s idea, down to the details of who
Lawyers, guns, and money.
Torah, hard work, and acts of loving-kindness
Really Guns gets an DoA appearance?
Willis did say he was breaking one of his rules, sooooo . . .
Very few problems can’t be solved by some combination of those three.
A warren Zevon classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5Xv7QqXiM
I keep remembering Lackadaisy exists, going “I should read that”, then not reading it
There’s a kickstarter going on now for an animated short as well
You forgot: “…and that guy’s metal leg. No, I really need it!”
Made me waste coffee.
I thought it was gonna be a bell, book, and candle, ooooh, wrong comic.
Sadly the plan was doomed to failure, as while the van was naturally well-stocked with egg whisks, and Sarah never goes anywhere without a signed picture of Raymond Burr, Walky left his snorkel in his other pair of pajama pants.
Dammit Walky, you had one job!
Shotgun Shuffle reader identified.
Never heard of it, actually.
Wait, is there an actual piece of media that involves egg whisks, snorkels, and Raymond Burr? Because you have my curiosity.
And you have my axe!
Wait…what?
Take a bow!
…did I do it right?
And the bridge, Number One.
What?
You should, it is pretty good, although updates are a bit slow, I leave it for 3-4 months then binge it. Strangely, my first thought was it was a Pinky and the Brain reference.
And there we are.
Not terribly believable but enormously emotionally satisfying.
I’m going to assume one of the three things is Walky’s mask.
Maybe, but she never needed the mask.
On the other hand, she wouldn’t be mentioning the three things unless they were at hand. So maybe one of them is the mask. What things could they still have on them? Maybe it’s something like help with the duct tape and Becky’s address. Dunno.
Maybe Ethan always carries a transformer toy with a sharp edge?
He pulls a folded-up poster from his pocket and Roadblock’s piercing glare cuts the tape.
I’d say the mask is one essential, it’s one thing for the authorities to be chasing Amazigirl, it’d be bad news for them to be chasing Amber after all this. So, not required, but necessary.
“And someone get me a goddamn mask.”
Good thing Walky is dressed up as Nightguy for no other reason!
Alllll Right-y then!
…and that guy’s leg.
That’ll be 50,000 units.
Get the battery last.
‘He doesn’t have a prosthetic leg…’ ‘I didn’t say anything about a prosthetic leg.’
Aw, Dorothy. She’s a good egg.
Presidential quality egg?
Nah, the quality of egg that makes her an effective Senator and cabinet member who would be good at the actual job of “being president” and bad at the job of “becoming president,” easy to vilify by the opposition and loses to a Cheeto.
Compared to who we’ve got now, even I would be presidential quality
Probably the single best qualification for being President is not wanting the job.
I think compared to the current Prez, even I would be more suitable for the role. And I’m not even eligible being entirely the wrong nationality! xDDD
Compared to the current president, a hippo with diarrhea would do a better job. The hippo would attack anyone who got too close and spray diarrhea everywhere, but it wouldn’t [list of things the orange menace has done].
Not so. Draftees, slaves, prisoners, and other involuntary workers tend to perform poorly.
This is incredibly sad and incredibly true.
But I don’t think she understands how dangerous the Amber/Amazi-Girl split is. But maybe that last line means she does, I dunno.
I suspect that line indicates she maybe knows there is a split, and she did WITNESS the stabbing. (Which was all Amber.) I’m all for anything that seems to indicate they’re talking to each other again, and maybe Dorothy’s words might help Amber stop falling deeper into the ‘Amber is the irredeemable Bad One, AG is all that is good in me’ trap.
I mean AG could also make things radically worse and probably will on at least one front because DAMN YOU WILLIS is in full effect, but by this point everything’s boned enough that I doubt ANYONE’S actions won’t make things radically worse.
Haha excellent point, pretty much every single person in this situation has been in “We need an adult” mode for a while now.
Agreed. She’s entrusting their situation to a YouTube-trained vigilante who would fail a psyche eval. Amazi-girl has very little regard for her own life, already “died” once falling off an ill-advised moving car climb (except Sal caught her, something AG didn’t know was going to happen.)
Actively encouraging her and trusting one’s well-being to her is enabling her participating in the mental illness.
Well, yes. But not everyone can turn mental illness into a super-power. Watching you-tube videos doesn’t turn you into a skilled athlete. All Amazigirl gives Amber is a control on her violent impulses. By any measure, Amber is extraordinary. I certainly wouldn’t bet against her.
Amazi-Girl is basically Amber after she eats a Scooby Snack.
No, a Snickers bar.
I think maybe you’re setting yourself up to be disappointed a little here. DoA has always had a more comic book approach to logic in these situations. Amber has done some insane stuff, like jumping from rooftops and riding on car roofs. She actually has a decent track record for being reliable in these situations even if realistically this isn’t the best call.
Amazi-Girl, of everyone in that room, is the only one their captor is willing to let go, and the only one with any remote chance in the situation even if they had other options.
Like, hopefully her plan involves finding non-police help, but it’s really, really absurd to suggest that trusting her here is irresponsible. Even if AG hadn’t repeatedly demonstrated she can handle herself, she’s literally the only option they have
It’s even more absurd to call it “participating in her mental illness”, because “vigilantism” is not a mental illness.
I dunno. Dorothy witnessed Amber slashing up that guy (who was an a$$hole and brought the weapon in the first place, thus kind of “deserving it”. I’m iffy on being totally chill with use of deadly force, even defensively). Then Dorothy apparently didn’t say “Oh my god! That’s assault with a deadly weapon! It’s only a matter of time before she kills someone! I need to get her some help and report this.”
Instead she said “This is fine. I don’t need to tell anyone.”
Not very civic-minded or responsible. Not reporting means everyone involved is still out there. I mean not narc-ing on friends has a certain value. But we’re not Lawful Good anymore. More like True Neutral. Maybe that’s a useful presidential quality.
If you don’t want someone to defend themselves with lethal force, they shouldn’t be attacked with lethal force. Ryan brought lethal force into play by attacking Amber and Dorothy with a knife first and stating intent to use the same knife on Joyce. Amber is entirely in her rights, morally and legally, to use the same in defence of herself and multiple third parties.
She even used his own cell phone.
I don’t disagree on the self-defense, and that’s not my point. What I’m saying is that being forced to do that should probably be considered an inherently traumatic experience that one should get some professional help to process. It’s also a security event that’s pretty negligent not to report, at least anonymously. Campus security would also like to know that stabbings are occurring on campus, even if it’s an anonymous tip that doesn’t name names.
Dorothy, as far as I know said “Wow, Amber looks horrified that she had to do that! That must have been mind scarring! Welp, good luck processing that on your own! Also, that’s not something I feel like telling any authority about.” That’s pretty jaded.
The police were informed, and since the apparently searched Amber & Dina’s room, it’s pretty clear the school knows too. I don’t know where you’re getting this stuff
And wtf do you expect Dorothy to do about Amber’s mental health? Try to have her committed? She spent 3 days away from campus with her mom, and then shut herself off in her room when she came back, refusing all visitors. Is Dorothy supposed to kick the door down and drag her to therapy?
If so, I’m surprised the school didn’t offer Amber some counseling, if they knew she was forced to knife someone. Maybe they did off panel and she politely declined. That seems reasonable.
What could Dorothy do? Well as is, her compliance with knowing her friend dresses up and beats up bad guys is tacit acceptance and enabling of that behavior. She could do…something, anything at all really, besides just meekly going along with it. But I think that was a side point of Sarah pointing out that Dorothy couldn’t even lead Joyce to getting a dead toenail out of her sock. Dorothy’s kind of a follower right now. Even in this strip I’m reading her choice as “someone besides me will fix it!” Delegation is a leadership trait, but I’m unconvinced that’s what I’m seeing in Dorothy.
It was Dorothy who got Joyce to do the right thing and tell Becky about her dad instead of putting it off. Stakes there mattered a bit more than Joyce’s toenail.
And again, Amber’s the only one with the opportunity to leave. Your expectations of Dorothy’s leadership abilities seem really arbitrary and largely unreasonable
That whole thing was investigated by the police and recorded on tape, if I remember correctly. Not sure who reported it though.
Correct. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/visitation/
Shane.
1) There’s no “kind of”, Ryan deserved it. More importantly, what Amber did was reasonable given the situation. He was a deadly threat. Like, on top of pulling the knife, he had literally told them he was planning to attack Joyce with it. Amber disarmed him and was not blocking his escape. He chose to continue the fight. Amber did what was necessary to ensure he would not regain control of the knife and hurt her, Dorothy, or Joyce.
2) It was SELF DEFENSE. In what way would it be “only a matter of time” before Amber killed someone? Why the fuck would Dorothy think that in reaction to Amber SAVING THEIR LIVES?
3) There was literally no need to report the incident. The cops were involved, they investigated. They deemed it self defense.
Hm. I’m honestly curious where are you getting all these details on this situation? Because we haven’t been shown what exactly happened back then.
What we’ve been shown was Amber flashing a really disturbing slasher smile at Ryan – and Dorothy been visibly shocked by the scuffle that followed.
Also, the police deeming an incident self defense doesn’t mean it was truly accurate. Finally, it all really depends on the legal system – back where I live, actively stabbing an attacker with the reasoning “He could’ve taken the knife back” wouldn’t count as acceptable self defense measure…
Ryan attacked them with lethal force (a knife’s a deadly weapon). Quite a few self-defence laws permit lethal force in defence your life or a third party’s life and Indiana in particular is a stand your ground state, which means Ryan doesn’t necessarily need to be attacking with lethal force – she’s allowed to defend herself from death, harm, and her property from him with lethal force. Legally it was self-defence.
And based on the angle of the blood, it looks more like a slash than a stab.
Take a look at the preceding strip https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/unfinished/
We can very clearly see Amber has her back to the door of the building, which she’s blocked to keep Dorothy from trying to help.
Ryan was on the other side. Her escape route is cut off (and would’ve required turning her back on Ryan while he was attacking her) while his was totally clear.
Amber appears to make him drop the knife there (with her right hand), then in the next strip we see her empty left hand pulling back for a punch, and later it comes back again, now holding the knife. All while Amber’s still about where she was standing before
Seems pretty damn clear that they were struggling for control of the knife, and even if Amber was holding it for that entire strip, Amber’s clearly backed up against the door still. He could’ve run away at any time, but kept fighting for the knife and *FUCKING GASP* got stabbed in the process.
And yeah, Dorothy was shocked. Turns out watching somebody get stabbed is pretty shocking, regardless of why or if it was necessary (and Dorothy explains this herself to Walky in a later strip)
Though again. He’s a known rapist who had attacked AG before and had literally threatened to carve up Joyce’s face. Even if that fight was entirely one-sided, he fucking brought that shit on himself.
Btw, if “police deeming the incident self defense” doesn’t matter, neither does what would count as an “acceptable self-defense measure” where your from. And yeah, morality and legality can’t be assumed to be the same thing. I brought the point up in response to Shane acting like the cops were never involved.
Regardless, it was self-defense. Amber took severe but entirely justified steps to ensure Ryan was no longer a threat. And she even let him live.
Yeah, the ONLY point at which Amber is remotely in the wrong is the implication she may have stabbed/slashed him more than once. (‘I wish you had killed him’/‘I tried’ and Walky’s got a line in I want to say the therapy strip about how badly he was hurt. Possibly exaggeration, but taken with the ‘he’ll be in the hospital for a long time’ she definitely did a number on him.) And even that would still be in the realm of ‘make sure he stays down’.
I mean, his parents’ lawyer would probably have a field day if the AG secret came out, but he brought a knife, he was not subdued by punches that left her fist bloody, it was very much self-defense. Dorothy and Amber were both traumatized by the incident because that kind of violence IS TRAUMATIC. Inherently. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t necessary.
Incidentally, Shane, it’s been clear that AG won’t just go away even if Amber’s in a less-traumatized state – she’s still around even after Amber made peace with Sal and got a more socially acceptable violence outlet in roller derby. This isn’t a dissociation story where integration is possible, because by all accounts from actual DID people that’s not actually something that works. What’ll be better for Amber’s mental health is for her and AG to stop seeing each other as adversarial and Amber as the bad one/AG as the good one, and for them to work together. (I already assume this arc is going to wreak hell on her psyche, it’s going to wreak hell on EVERYONE’S psyches, even if Amber went straight to the police and they somehow negotiated with two people whose motives are ENTIRELY PERSONAL and will kill or die to get them, everyone is already traumatized by this.) Amber’s not violent because she’s DID, she’s violent because fucking Blaine traumatized her and then sent her to self-defense classes rather than therapy so she has no coping mechanisms to deal with the trauma and anger. There is (theoretically, outside the context of this comic where AG fills an important meta-narrative role because Willis needs periodic action sequences and she’s a sign the laws of physics are malleable for the moment) a future where Amber and AG still both exist and are talking to each other, and aren’t going out risking their mutual life as a vigilante. Please take your mental health stigma elsewhere.
After looking at that strip, Amber appears to be throwing a punch with her left hand; then, once she has picked up the knife, appears to wielding it with her left hand as well. I think it has already been determined that Sal is also left-handed, as is/was Leland — notice with which hand he is holding the rock? Although in this same panel we now see Amber holding Sal’s knife in her RIGHT hand; perhaps Amber is ambidextrous.
I wonder how many other members of the DoA cast are also southpaws; and I also wonder if this is a clue as to whether or not Willis is too.
Oh, and as is has been pointed out elsewhere, the incident with Ryan at the front doors of the residence hall was captured on security cam; police reviewed this and determined that Ryan initiated the incident and Amber’s actions were indeed self-defense (and as an aside, that same security-cam footage will seriously undermine that lawsuit Ryan’s parents have supposedly brought against Amber and her parents).
She was disturbed by the level of violence and started therapy to process it…
She was already regularly seeing a therapist and said while she might agree in the abstract it was necessary and/or warranted, it was still hard to see up close.
The first of those three things….is 2+ months of installments!
Oh shit. AG’s up, now.
Welp, hope Blaine and Ross liked their spleens.
Their spleens are considerably safer with AG than with Amber.
I’m just saying, maybe we’ll get lucky, and this arc will end with Asher’s grandpa finding out about all this bullshit and dumping both men into a vat of acid or something and letting the kids walk free because this is bad for business?
Unlikely, I know, but wouldn’t it be nice, except for them living in fear of the mob forever?
I mean, depending on how upset grandpa is that Asher won’t join the family business, Asher could still try going to him and saying ‘Uh, grandpa, some guy you work for is blackmailing me with made up evidence I stole from you? He seems to think I wanna be found in a ditch or something. Can you take care of this for me?’ If he’s on the low end, grandpa might go for it.
It’s Blaine who works for Asher’s grandpa, though.
Gah, typo. Sorry, strike that. Reverse it.
I can practically hear the action music kick in at the last panel.
Those who can’t are culturally impaired.
Call on mee..
Together Forever and never to part
Together Forever we two…
*Cue the Batman voice*
“Swear to me!”
SHE’S BACK.
“a map of Florida, twelve Jammie Dodgers and a fez!”
Fezzes are cool!
So are bowties. Maybe she needs Jason.
She wants Faz? O_o
“Yes, a sleep-deprived, pajama-wearing vigilante is a WAY better plan than professional law enforcement. Great risk management and planning, Future Ms. President.”
Sarah would disagree. Actually, last strip she disagreed.
Sarah has apparently accepted that white guys Blaine and Ross, who have already kidnapped her and indirectly threatened to kill her, may abuse her as much as they want, because she feels the police have an even higher chance of killing her. If she has totally given up on a just society protecting her even from felony-level aggression, what is her plan? Just accept the abuse? Hope a white girl vigilante in a costume can save her? Try to become her own hostage negotiator, something she’s not yet remotely equipped to do? (But would still be a plan.) This all feels like Idiot Ball level thinking to me, which is sad because I wanted Sarah to make better choices as a future lawyer.
To the degree anyone has a plan, it seems to keep circling back to “We should let the mentally ill vigilante in a mask save us”. I would rate these “plans” as “Your plan is bad and you should feel bad.” Which is a little bit of a bummer for me because it’s more fun for me when characters make better plans, I can maybe even learn something I can apply to my own life in tough situations and relate to them more.
You mean lessons like: don’t give up because things look bad. Use your mind to explore possibilities and create a solution. Look to your friends for help; trust them.
Things like that?
They should explore the possibility of letting the police handle this felony-level situation. Everything else is zany cartoon antics, on par with “have you tried slipping a portable hole under them when they’re not looking?”
Nah. This is ‘dumb, cynical teenager’ level. Nobody’s demonstrated reality warping. Save that for Head Alien showing up.
Besides, while they are entrusting AG to handle it, we don’t know AG’s plan. Even odds it’ll involve the police in someway (once she’s made sure it can’t blowback in the ‘we start killing hostages/police come in guns blazing and accidentally (or ‘accidentally’) kill a hostage’ way).
Yeah, let’s be honest here – anything involving the police announcing their presence while there are still hostages is likely to end badly, because Blaine knows full well he’s a mob stooge who’s gonna be in the shit if this draws police attention (and he VERY CLEARLY suggested that to the hostages,) and Toedad has already established he thinks suicide by cop is preferable to Becky living in sin. Negotiating ain’t gonna work, and before the SWAT team goes in guns blazing they’re going to show up with sirens that’ll be Blaine’s cue to start eliminating witnesses. And that’s before we get into the inherent risks of potential gunfire in a basement full of civilians. (Even IF there wasn’t a racial element there, so long as Ross is in that basement and a threat to the hostages you can’t rule out gunfire, and that means there’s a risk.)
The situation is such that there is no good option, because they need stealth to get the others free, and that’s really not the tack the police are going to use for a hostage situation involving an unknown number of hired goons, very possibly with mob ties, a dude who AG will now fully remember is wearing body armor even if Amber wasn’t sure who DEFINITELY has mob ties, and a man who threatened a mass shooting on a college campus. (If nothing else, they’ll want to alert the civilians outside that there’s about to be a fucking shootout.) ‘Bring in friends who will want everyone home alive just as much as I do and can act quietly’ actually does sound like a reasonable plan from an 18-year-old who already thinks being a superhero sounds great’s perspective. (And even though Dorothy doesn’t straight idolize AG anymore, she is still clearly on team ‘sometimes you do need a vigilante’ – the stabbing was traumatic, but it was also pretty much the only thing Amber could do in that moment to know Ryan would stay down.)
It’s a viable plan only because AG is a super-hero and gets to play by super-hero rules. Otherwise getting the cops involved, even with all the risks that implies, is better than any other alternatives. As you say, no good options.
I suspect in hostage situations, the protocol is NOT to come in with sirens wailing, they will quietly infiltrate the local area and isolate the location, and do some recce to locate anybody in the structure first.
Well that might work. Assuming that we had any reason for believing in portable holes in the DOA universe. On the other hand, Amber/Amazigirl has quite a track record in that universe. Doesn’t mean nothing can go wrong. On the other hand, Dorothy’s faith is far from unsupported.
Good idea, maybe they can get a portal gun from Ruttan Industries.
Um, you’re telling a black person how their choices should be different, because you don’t like something they’re saying about their own reality and their view of the society they’ve coped with all their life?
Did you see the video of the cop body-slamming a schoolgirl out of her seat because she wouldn’t put her phone away? That’s some felony-level aggression right there, that the cop not only didn’t protect her from, but actually did to her while she sat quietly.
SSarah has assessed the level of abuse that Blaine and Ross are _actually likely_ to inflict on her – not catastrophizing “as much as they want” but calculating what they’re actually likely to do – and calculated that cops present a bigger danger to her than her kidnappers do. Sarah is very likely right.
You seem to be really uncomfortable with Sarah’s consciousness of the risk her skin color puts her in. To the extent that you’re objecting to her looking for help to the most athletic person in the room, just because that person happens to be white.
Take a deep breath, and give Sarah respect for her lived reality even if it makes you uncomfortable.
Okay, let’s take a step back here…
Sarah is not a real person, she’s a character in a story. So, criticising her reasoning isn’t disrespectful to anyone. Come on.
Also, personally, I did read of various tragic involving US police and people of colour. Still… saying that, when kidnapped and threatened with death, you’re still at less risk from the kidnappers than the police? That really screams excessive.
BTW. Systemic racism is one thing, but some Black people *can* see it where it isn’t present. A few years ago, there was this case when some Black actress (I think) claimed the police harassed her because she kissed her White boyfriend in the public. It turned out, the police was called by onlookers, because the pair had sex in the car – parked in a public place, in the middle of the day…
Not trying to say there is no racism problem in the police. Still, I think that Sarah’s really going overboard with her fear of police here. And, as Willis seems to suggest her reasoning is valid, I call be bad writing.
*One* unsourced, half-remembered anecdote where someone claimed the cops were being racist but supposedly had a good reason for there actions is entirely irrelevant
Like, do you realize that even if 100% true, that doesn’t even prove those cops weren’t racist or that they didn’t harass innocent Black people? Or specifically target Black people for extra attention, looking for excuses? It would only show that at least that one time they did their job
Meanwhile, numerous actual studies have been conducted and show that POC and especially Black people are frequently subject to a dramatically disproportionate amount of police attention and violence.
And even under the BEST conditions, police are extremely bad at de-escalation, and in recent years in the US have only been getting worse at it as they become more militarized. They don’t have to TRY to shoot Sarah or Walky for them to die in an ill-advised shootout started by some trigger-happy pig looking to be a Big Damn Hero by killing all of the bad guys
If I understand you correctly your comment can be summarised by: police are not a good bet for Sarah in this situation.
If I may react, I would like to point out that Sarah not wanting the police present may be more of a plot device than any reference to the real world. For all we know the police in the DoA universe may be much more unreliable, allowing the plot to be solved by a personality in the story instead of an outside force.
There are recorded incidents of POC being a victim of a crime and when police show up the victim gets shot as a suspect for being black at the scene of a crime. As the victim was flagging the police down to report the particulars!
True, but how many of such incidents are there in comparison to cases where the police did their jobs?
Seriously, if the numbers on police brutality / outright murders against POC are so high that POC should genuinely avoid contacting the police even when faced with dangerous criminals, then… why the heck is the US police still in place? They are clearly a dangerous organization themselves and should all be disbanded…
Because their job is keeping the dangerous underclass under control and a good part of the US likes it that way.
Mind you, I don’t think they’re that bad. Definitely bad enough that it would be too much of a risk to call them for a lot of petty crime, but not so much that they’d make a high stakes situation like this worse.
PiotrW, you have literally just described what actually happens in communities of color all over this country. They don’t call the police. Especially not for small shit like white people do, but many won’t call them for any reason, because just having cops around is dangerous for them and unlikely to result in their original problem being taken seriously
And they still exist because the majority of this country is white, and the police being racist and dangerous was a feature, not a bug. This country was built on white supremacy and it’s only recently that a significant number of white people have started to notice system racism and actually acknowledge it, and we’re still working on getting enough white people to care about it to actually effect change
It’s still there because 300 year old roots are hard as fuck to dig out, and this county is still to damn racist to make a serious effort
Okay, if what you’re saying is accurate, then it means that the police across the US are basically a threat to everyone other than themselves?
My question is, then: what steps are being taken to dismantle these dangerous organizations that are clearly more of a threat to the public than the criminals?
Oh, they’re not a threat to everyone other than themselves. They’re not a threat to people who look like me: White, male, and too dumpy-looking to be perceived as a threat.
Everybody else though? Ehhh… they takes their chances, and the odds aren’t as good as they should be. Some places are better or worse than others, but let’s just say I’m glad I was born into a safe demographic.
Of course I would pull a Jacob Grav for that comment.
My dude there are numerous political and activist movements dedicated to various kinds of police reform, justice reform, with goals ranging from banning police unions to abolishing police forces entirely. Some have been at this for decades. Google is right the fuck there if you care to alleviate your ignorance
Please be kind enough to refrain from words like “ignorance”, please?
I am aware that the systemic racism in US is a thing. I just have never thought that it’s that bad that you can’t basically have a cop near a Black person without a serious risk of the cop shooting that Black person. What you say about US police makes them look positively monstrous – and I have never heard about the situation being that bad.
Seriously, what we have here is a situation when a group of teens is at the mercy of a religious bigot who is so prone to violence that he had abducted his daughter at the gunpoint – and mentally unstable man with organized crime connections who is actually threatening his captives with murder. And yet, you say these teens shouldn’t be calling the cops, because the cops would be *even more dangerous*? That Sarah and Walky are less in danger from a brute like Ross and sadist like Blaine, than from an average cop? If it’s that bad, then I’m honestly wondering why is the US police is still allowed to exist. And what to make of POC police officers who somehow don’t quit the force…
But I will educate myself… Seriously. I have enough acquintances in the US to get some feedback. Okay?
Yeah, I have to agree. It’s not really that bad. It’s pretty fucking awful, but this is the kind of situation where cops are still the better alternative. It’s not entirely unreasonable for Sarah to see it that way – I wonder if she has some backstory personal tragedy beyond the usual, but I don’t think she’s actually right.
It isn’t a typical situation or outcome, but something doesn’t have to be typical to be a serious and realistic concern. I’m over 70, but I’m healthy with a strong immune system. Should I contract the virus, I like my odds of surviving. I don’t like them well enough to plan on leaving my apartment at all for the next month. I’m with Sarah.
@clif: Which is great, if your current situation is safe.
But if your apartment was on fire, you’d still leave. If you came down with something else serious, you’d still go to the hospital – taking whatever precautions you could to avoid infection.
The situation they’re in isn’t safe already. It’s a stretch for me to think the police will make a mass kidnapping more dangerous than just letting the kidnappers do what they please.
you don’t need to be black to be unsure of anyone in a badge, especially near a major city. Take a look at police involved shootings sometime, take a look at what the vetting process for most urban police forces are, and consider that the U.S. Marines fighting in Fallujah a decade or so ago, under rocket and sniper fire, had more stringent and restrictive rules of engagement than your typical, domestic, urban police force operates under. Further, look up how many times police unions sue cities (or threaten to sue them) when said cities try to fire a cop who didn’t watch his backstop, or didn’t have a legally justifiable reason for using his sidearm (and it resulted in death or maiming). Also look up “Sovereign Immunity” statutes, which basically translate your life, as a civilian, to a little extra paperwork in the event your life, as a civilian, is taken by an officer of the law. There are very, very good reasons NOT to involve the police in…pretty much anything, really. Police are not required to protect “YOU”, they are required to protect “SOCIETY”. ask anyone who’s had a toiletpaper restraining order against a stalker or actual threat. Police are required to investigate your murder, not prevent your death (Unless you’re a relative, close friend, or holder of political office.)
I can respect Sarah’s take on cops, while still thinking she’s wrong about this case. I suspect she’s overemphasizing the degree to which cops are a threat, while still that the threat is real. Or maybe we’re seeing the danger from the kidnappers differently – if she thinks them no real threat, then the cops would be a greater one.
It’s also hard to factor in Amazi-Girl. In the real world, I’d say that having your athletic friend try to rescue you from the apparently murderous kidnapping gang is much more likely to lead to her and or hostages getting killed than involving the police is – despite the risk that police involvement might still get them killed. But this isn’t the real world and AG plays be super-hero rules, so she may be more likely to pull it off.
I think Sarah has a difficult time taking them seriously, because all of the superhero stuff got tied up in it and because people will notice when a whole bunch of people from the same dorm are gone all at once (as opposed to one person, like Mike).
Mind, she might also just want to keep the number of people with upped risk of shooting her as low as possible, even if that risk is smaller from the police than the kidnappers. More of a ‘I’m worrying about this already, I do not need to deal with that too’ type of thing.
I guess, if she’s not taking being grabbed, tied up, carried off and thrown into a pile of her friends in a basement as a serious threat, then she could see the police as more serious. And yes, someone’s likely to notice – but if anything what they’ll do is call the police.
Read “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The relationship between (most) black people and police officers in the United States is far worse than you imagine.
Ross also said not to go to the police, and he’ll have five and a half hostages as surety. I think the kids believe that if cops show up, people *will* die. Reasonable enough belief to have, in their situation.
Yes, he did. But why would they do what he said? Points to Ross for at least realizing it is the number one sensible thing to do in their situation. Minus points for him not having an “or else” to back that up. Just “Don’t. Aw come on, I said dooooooon’t. I said not to!”
Here’s what Ross’ plan matrix looks like:
1- Realize calling the police about this situation is by far the most logical thing they would do
2- Sternly admonish them not to do so, with nothing to back that up
3- ???
They do have a back up for that though. They have Blaine’s guy in the hospital kill Mike.
And, y’know, room full of hostages.
Okay, I just checked and April 1st – Blaine says if they don’t get Becky, they’ll kill all the hostages. Presumably the same holds if the police are contacted. There’s your ‘or else’.
Sure, you can call their bluff, but there’s an established threat (as opposed to an obvious, but unstated one).
The established threat just goes back to why Sarah’s risk assessment that they are just silly bozos makes little sense.
So, they’re told (or strongly implied) by Blaine that they WILL be killed by the kidnappers (if they don’t comply). Blaine can back that up by saying they harmed Mike, which fits with the facts of them even knowing who he is and Mike not showing up for a midterm day. Is Ross signing on to fully agreeing with the death threat? Or is he just sort of letting it hang in the air without committing to it himself fully?
So the kidnappers WILL kill them, or so the say. What odds do the police give? We only hear about the worst of the worst bad apples, but how many police interactions ACTUALLY end up with someone being killed? .01%? 1% 3%? Maybe I’m biased, but I’m leaning towards the .01%. Even if Sarah believes it’s a full 10%, isn’t that still better odds than what the kidnappers are giving?
And any police department that actually killed 10% of the people (or even hostages) they interacted with would be disbanded and their leadership brought up on charges. It might feel really high because that’s how human brains remember emotional things. Sarah should know the statistics as a law student though.
It’s easy to be dismissive when you’re not the one with a higher chance of being shot. Even if it’s not the best idea in the world, I’m not about to bag on Sarah for wanting the number of people at risk of killing her as low as possible, especially since, while the threat is there, 1) AG’s usually pretty competent, 2) Having the threat and Sarah believing in their competence are two different things. Sarah is one of the hostages under consideration for AG and, unlike Sarah, AG was actually there when they attacked Mike and so will have to make her own call.
“The safety of your friends here and in the hospital depends on your compliance.” – Ross two seconds before saying not to go to the police.
Yeah the sleep deprivation is on my mind as well.
Hellllooooo blue speech bubble…. AG mode activated…
(I’m all tingly now…)
Amazi-Girl seems up to speed, so that’s a plus. Wonder if that means they’re back to sharing memories now.
I get the impression that AG is always there, it’s just Amber who’s blocking her out. i.e. It’s not that AG isn’t sharing memories, it’s that Amber isn’t listening. Hell, AG even projected a fantasy of Mike into Amber’s perception to try to get her attention and it totally didn’t work.
This.
Amazi-Girl was desperately pounding on their shared apartment wall all day yesterday.
The disassociation worsened specifically because Amber tried to get rid of Amazi-Girl though. So AG hid her activities from Amber by not blocking her memories off and going out to fight crime after Amber slept. It was very mutual
I don’t think that’s true. Not sure what you’re thinking of for “tried to get rid of Amazi-Girl”, but the lack of shared memory seemed to happen right after the Ryan stabbing, not anything specific Amber did. And the split had been growing worse for quite a while before then.
Right here
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-8/02-this-is-the-way-that-we-love/without-2/
Which is after the lack of shared memory, but I suppose you could read the “made it quite clear you’re no longer necessary” as an earlier attempt we didn’t see on panel.
The lack of memory does go both ways, though I guess I could see that being all on Amber not listening and not sharing. Not sure we’ve got evidence for that though.
Clearest evidence for AG not knowing what Amber does is her not knowing about Walky.
“If only we had a cart, a holocaust cloak…”
Plus my brains, your steel, and his strength…
I can’t Google holocaust cloak right now. I recently Googled double special relativity and I’m not through exploring that rabbit hole yet.
It’s a The Princess Bride reference.
As is “my brains, your steel, and his strength”.
My name is Amay Zing Gurl, you took all my friends hostage!
Prepare to die!
Princess Bride reference. Keep in mind, “holocsaust” can also mean, like, a fire. It’s not exclusively a reference to the Shoah.
If AG is back, she should know what actually happened to Mike, right?
That’s probably why Amber believed Blaine was telling the truth. Blaine may or may not be lying about the “goon waiting to finish Mike off” part, but he very likely wasn’t about the “Mike hospitalized” part.
Amber’s blue flash panel a few strips ago was pieces of AG’s memories of that night coming through.
Blue balloon. White text.
Let’s fucking GO.
I kind of feel like we’ve overlooked Ethan’s opinion on all this and that’s slightly disrespectful considering he has equal stake in this hostage situation. I’m sure he’s in on AG but still I think he should be heard.
This is not a democracy.
Ethan needs to express his opinion in order for people to consider it. They can’t read his mind.
I can. Ethan’s opinion is that Transformers are cool.
No. But at the same time it’s not right to make decisions for everyone when the stakes are this high. Not that anyone really has a choice to begin with what with being hostages and all.
At the same time, again though, Ethan actually needs to express his opinion to get it considered. Time is important here so he needs to express it soon if he wants it under consideration.
Ethan is busy feeling pain after getting HIS RIBCAGE STOMPED ON
A Banjo, A macaroni necklace and LOTS of KY Jelly.
Sharks in parkas, a giant slingshot, and Santa Claus.
The keys to a 97 Ford Escort, A VHS of Strawberry Shortcake: Pets on Parade, and the first yellow leaf of autumn.
Four things. I’m going to need four things.
Oh crap, don’t get the spanish inquisition involved.
“You’re allowed a wand.”
A full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, and sunglasses.
Hit it.
Tissues, a six-pack of toilet paper rolls, and hand sanitizer.
lol!
LOL, ROLF, and LUTZ.
One chainsaw… a medieval gauntlet… and my BOOMSTICK!!!
And 3 words… Klattu… Barrada… Ni(cough)….
One slightly used Internet for you.
Ni!
*shhh!*
Thank you! You made my day.
Have a cookie.
You know it’s going down when the Amazi-girl speech bubble pops up.
Mr. W,
Please allow this post. It’s important.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10219382756214205&id=1070625438
If you allow it, thank you.
If you don’t allow it, still, thank you.
Dwayne
It appears to be important enough that Facebook censored it.
Honestly, I think it’s Becky’s turn to save Joyce.
A Very Small Child, A Megaphone, and a Perry the Platypus Costume
Since when is AG Candace?
I know most of you are gonna be filled with dread this whole storyline but all this action gets me so danged excited.
These are the moments Willis shines.
Yeah, I’m excited for this storyline! Don’t get me wrong… there’s a bit of dread too, just because I’m not good at *waiting* to find out what’ll happen and I’ve gotten attached to these kiddos, but I always enjoy how he does this stuff.
Oh, yeah, the emotional fallout from this is gonna be awful and I’ll be on the edge of my seat with dread the whole time, but my favorite Willis moment ever is Leslie’s fight with HA II over in Shortpacked. The action sequences are gonna be SICK AS HELL, and I hope AG DOES bring in as many other characters as possible even if that would objectively be way riskier in an actual situation.
This is the handwaving to justify badass superhero action, folks. Recognize it for what it is, recognize that the handwaving does hold up in-universe (at least from a 18-year-old superhero whose friends are all being held hostage’s perspective, and the other hostages comparing AG’s track record to the police,) and let’s all move on to Sal and AG making a grand heroic entrance while Dina and Ruth take goons out from the shadows and Carla hacks their security. Or something equally improbable but cool as hell to read.
Dorothy’s trust in people of her chosing continues to be a thing of beauty.
The look in that last panel? My ex called that the “hero face”…I usually got it when I was playing the last battle of a video game I was seriously invested in.
I think of it as “Plan F”…F for “fuck it all, we’re goin’ ham”.
It took me 2 years to notice the change of color when AG is present… I am stupid.
Not so. Your subconscious reacted to it and that was the important thing.
Has Amazi-Girl and Amber ever been tagged in the same strip before?
Yup!
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/grounds/
Amazi-Girl and Amber have been tagged together in twenty-three strips to date: https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/amazi-girl+amber/
(Or sixteen strips, if you exclude situations where they’ve both been tagged because the strip includes a flashback to one or the other.)
Tag search is your friend:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/amazi-girl+amber/
AMAZI GIRL: “Step back, sis. I’ve got this.”
Sorry so far i Trust in Amazi-Girl
Amber kinda keeps fucking up
THats if they truly have split personality witch they appear to do, in that case Amazi-Girl is the one, I wish was the one true personality
Even supposing we don’t think the cops are the right ones to shoulder the responsibility, is it really even FAIR to Amber/Amazi-girl to keep saying “Don’t worry! Amazi-girl will fix everything!”? That was pretty much Mike’s plan too, he could have beelined that scooter to a police station and actually solved things.
Eh, I guess it’s just another example of “play stupid games, win stupid prizes”. “It’s called DUMBING of Age, not Smartening of Age!” I guess I knew what I signed up for. It’s time to relax and just let it wash over me.
All right, forget the cops. Those bumbling fuddy-duddies would just make it worse. Amazi-Girl will save us!
Well AG isn’t the original personality and can’t be because that isn’t how DID works. AG nearly got them killed trying to save Becky last time so I wouldn’t say she is necessarily better at not making mistakes in serious situations.
Go. To. The. Police. Goshdangit!!!!
THANK you!
Amber be like “someone thinks i’m trustworthy that can’t be right??? time to switch out”
That’s kind of heartbreaking that Amber feels this way.
There she is! And she knows what’s going on, too!
I can’t wait to see how Willis turns this glimmer of hope back around on us.
Said someone who’s been reading Willis comics for awhile.
Things will get worse before they get better. The story will hurt us again, probably soon.
It’s the storm we all have to endure.
Damn you, Willis!
…a light from a dungeon deep, water from a stone, and white milk from a maiden’s breast that never a babe hath known.
She is back!
Wait… They remerged?
That or Amazi-Girl just took over for a while.
Panel 4 is Amber. Panel 6 is Amber. Panel 7 is Amazi-Girl. Note the blush marks in panels 4 & 6, and the lack of them in panel 7. These are always the most definitive visual marker to whether it is Amber or Amazi-Girl, even when Amber is in the costume and/or doing the voice, or Amazi-Girl is not in the costume
No, they just switched between Panel 6 and 7.
ohhhh it’s on now.
“Your boots, your clothes, and your motorcycle.”
I’m going to need 3 things….
Your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle
Walkys mask, Walkys cape and Sarahs baseball bat from Hammerspace
Shits getting way too real… I mean, the real world already sucks what with Trump and coviod-19 and other crappy things. I want my fantasy worlds to take me away, Calgon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yjGPgs0_S0
But Brain, where are we going to find a ballerina with no hair at this time of night?
A pike, Blaine’s head, and a phone to record it for posterity.
“A security band, a quarnex battery, and that guy’s prosthetic leg.”
Also, I’m not sure if that’s what Willis was going for, but it doesn’t really make me think highly of AG that she takes over the moment someone expresses faith in Amber.
I see that next to last panel as Amber letting go, not as AG forcing herself in. She hasn’t been able to do that in a long while and we’ve seen in the past Amber struggle against turning over control, which there’s no sign of here.
Hm, might be. Curse you, unwritten internal decision-making process.
Okay I kinda lowkey ship Dorothy and Amber and Amazi-Girl now.
Dorothy: “You can always unkidnap a person”
I don’t think normal human language can adequately describe how stupid and juvenile Dorothy’s mindset is right now, or the risk she’s blithely putting on Becky, so Imma let the Big Ben take it from here.
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!
YOU’RE WRONG!
YOU’RE WRONG!
The last time AG rescued Becky it nearly got them all killed. Toedad is just *looking* for a reason to ‘reunite’ his whole family in heaven. To top it all off-EVERYBODY is going to be gunning for AG after she takes Becky in the first place so she’ll have the fuzz to deal with as well. If this is their only option, so be it, but Dorothy don’t say “Oh this can get undone” with such a cute fucking smirk on your face.
Redaction: there was no smirk. But it’s still wrong.
I have to hope Dorothy’s not being totally upfront here while Toedad’s still in the room. AG ‘agreeing to help’ is the only way they get someone outside – which will both give them a shot at surviving and let them warn Becky. (Seriously, if AG refuses, how long do you think Toedad sticks to the plan before doing something reckless again?)
That said, Dorothy didn’t witness Toedad’s first confrontation and comes from a completely different religious upbringing. (Secular but with I wanna say Catholicism on one side and Judaism on the other.) I don’t think she has the frame of reference to realize Toedad definitely thinks him and Becky dying is better than leaving her alone because the former might ‘save her soul’. Unfortunately. (I’m not even sure JOYCE will be able to recognize it as a threat fully, because even we don’t yet know if that’s his first-line plan or the backup. It’s definitely ONE of his plans, but remember that Toedad does in fact have a shitload of magical thinking going on that may well convince him God sent him Blaine to bring Becky back to him and ensure an escape route.) So if she doesn’t foresee that… well, it’s a DISASTROUS thing not to foresee, but it makes sense why she wouldn’t.
It is a threat to foresee for sure, but given Becky hasn’t “repented” for her “sins”, I would think that Toedad would *not* see them dying as a viable way out. Now, if Becky in a moment of desperation /says/ that she “repents” – which I could see her doing, only to get Toedad to stop hurting the people she cares about – then I would be more worried. I still don’t really see him being willing to do that, however.
She is trying to dissuade Joyce from doing something stupid and getting them all killed She is literally responding to an “I’d rather die right here right now” comment. Also, if AG gets on the outside, she has options that none of them have while locked up in a potential murder-dungeon. Saying whatever it takes to get even one of them back out in the world is not “juvinile”, it’s necessary.
I at least don’t think Toedad will try a heavenly reunion. It was the devil that caused his wife to kill herself, so I do think he considers killing yourself a sin. Why killing others isn’t a sin…uh…Yeah, I got nothing, maybe you’re right after all…Gosh that’s terrifying…
She is going to need S.W.A.T. Teams covering every part of Bloomington, a pot of coffee, and 12 jammie dodgers.
Amber/AG has finally entered the MacGyver mod. Now she will be invincible!
Three things: Lots of lubricant, some plastic tubing and a yak.
Oh neat. Amber can do the Amazi-girl voice. Still weird how she’s pretending to be Amazi-girl, though.
Nope. That’s Amazi-Girl in the last panel. They switched.
Psst! That was the joke:)
Okay, purple text, finally. The kraken has been released, someone competent has surfaced, mayhem incoming.
Gonna need a purple vs blue poll here.
The bubble’s on the green side of blue, not the red side.
https://imgur.com/a/hspLqDR
The text is good old #FFFFFF.
*squeeese* She did the voice!
A young priest, and old priest, and a midlife crisis priest.
it’s the voiiiice
(wow, how did I miss yesterday’s page)