There’s one more day today of Small Press Expo 2025! See me at table F2!
and don’t forget, plush dina’s still up for preorder, through this weekend
and tomorrow’s strip is already up on patreon! where we see more of this daddy
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HANK JUMPSCARE!
how many fuckin drama tags are gonna get pulled in a row???
DAMN. YOU. WILLIS.
Well, Joyce’s mother hasn’t shown up yet
So
We still have more tags yet!
That “Yet” fills my cold dead heart with glee.
Nono, you two are doing it wrong.
You’re supposed to say something like “At least things can’t get any worse” and THEN open the door to reveal Hank.
…Unless they’re saving that bit for Carol’s reveal.
i’m honestly holding out hope that Hank is a chill dad now and he’s just genuinely worried about his kids safety
I am not nearly so optimistic.
I’m cautiously optimistic on the grounds that Hank sucking seems to me like it would be really narratively boring. “Parents suck unimaginably hard” has been done to death in DoA and Hank is one of the only parents who isn’t just 100% cartoon villain. I’d be much more interested to explore ‘inexperienced but supportive’ Hank.
He loves his kids a lot and I think he’ll eventually come around, but I think his main source of anger right now is gonna be Joyce and (maybe)Jocelyne lying to him, and Joyce putting herself in danger at the protest. There’s probably also gonna be an element of him thinking that Jocelyne, as the older sibling, should be setting a better example or something.
Hank also seemed okay with Becky, or at least opposed to what Toedad and the rest of their church did.
Yeah, as long as Joyce knows the answer is, “I don’t know,” on account of not knowing where Jorden is, it’s all good. Even if she choses to interpret the question as to where her former brother is, she still doesn’t know.
Alt-text Willis is so good to us.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Joyce handles this as she tries to figure out how to not out Jocelyne while also not misgendering her
Quite possibly and it could be funny, but such a rookie mistake. Not outing someone is more important and dancing around the topic gets obvious really quickly
agree with thag, the “Brother?” gives me the heebie jeebies for some reason
Still holding out hope he thinks Jocelyn is Joyce in the paper. it would be so much funnier.
Yeah, I said that too. But I guess they should not go with “Yes Josh was kissing Dorothy”, it would cause so much trouble when Jocelyne says no, that was Joyce…
I was more in the vein of Hank thinking Joyce was at the protest and saw two random blondes necking, as in, he couldn’t tell who was kissing, but saw Jocelyn and thought it was Joyce,
Jocelyn is *in the photo*.
The FUNNY gag is that he says “I know he was at the protest, he was in this photo in the paper with those two girls that made out during the police raid!”
I’m gonna chalk it up to inexperience. He doesn’t have the tools to understand and adjust to the situation. He’s gonna need to learn, and he’s gonna make the same mistakes everyone else makes. And he doesn’t really look angry to me, either. He looks concerned. Which is understandable, his children were involved in a protest that degenerated into violence. First step is to make sure they are all alright. Second step is to ask questions, learn, and develope understanding.
Jocelyne isn’t OUT, right? So Hank would have no way of knowing unless she’d told him.
I’m pretty sure Joyce was the first person in the family she told. MAYBE Jordan, we don’t know much about Jordan.
Considering he called Jocelyne Joyce’s brother, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
I don’t think he knows yet, and even if he learned from the paper he wouldn’t know if Joyce knew
I am *confident* he doesn’t know yet. There’s no way Jocelyn came out to their *dad* before talking to Joyce about it.
I expect he’ll Hank Hill it- be confused and stubborn at first but come around because he’s more invested in his kids than being right- partially because he’s done that once already
I am absolutely certain Hank’s primary concern right now is his child’s safety. He thinks they were at the protest and is worried they got arrested or hurt.
I mean, I’m not saying Hank’s guaranteed to always be in the right, but he’s been such a good dad to Joyce, *and Becky*, and divorcing his wife is definitely a move in the right direction, that was undoubtably an *incredibly difficult* thing to do. Let’s give him a *little* benefit of the doubt.
I would hope that Hank is open about his kids’ genders and sexuality, but less so about one of his adult children going into the middle of a protest. That is my hope.
That is a classic, but I think not doing it heightens the jumpscare element. I definitely giggled at the reveal.
Autocorrect for “goggled”.
“It’s worse.”
Aww hell no, we’re putting a ring of salt around the door to keep Carol from coming back. Back to the darkness from whence ye came, she-devil!
“Brother”?
Please be talking about Jordan please be talking about Jordan
While that would be awesome, if completely out of the blue, it probably just means he doesn’t really know about Jocelyne. Or longer shot, that he isn’t sure Joyce knows.
or longer shot, he just went from being a good parent in this to yet another bad one. ~<3
There’s almost no way Jocelyne told Hank before Joyce, and with all the protest photos having her wearing a big winter coat, he probably just thinks “Joshua” grew “his” hair out.
She did tell Hank before Joyce. She texted joyce “I need to tell you before you hear it from dad.”
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-15/02-the-one-where-jocelyne-returns/dumbbrother/
Or maybe hank accidentally found out, i guess
Zacly. A very valid reading. And everyone trying not to out her. But she should have told Joyce!
Maybe she did but DyW didn’t think it was dramatically relevant so didn’t show us that.
That seems pretty sketchy. I mean, it might not have been dramatic in the moment, but it would be a necessary bit of set up for Joyce knowing now.
Hank’s last text to Joyce was asking if a picture of Jocelyne was a picture of Joyce’s brother.
Both of those things can be true:
– Hank knows about Jocelyne
– Hank has either decided THIS is where he sticks with stupid religion OR Hank has decided he’s not going to out Jocelyne to Joyce OR Hank is doing the typical “I just became okay with trans folks and I am still fucking up pronouns” thing.
But very weird that Jocelyne didn’t tell Joyce that Hank knows
Not just that he knows, but also how he reacted.
Pronouns. Yuck. 10 active years in, I’m still fucking up my own pronouns. Both out loud and in my head.
I don’t recall there being a lot of time for that, but I also didn’t go back to check. Closest we came to any kind of discussion of it was the phone message.
I would have expected at least a “don’t worry that” when they went to the protest to warn her, but there was also plenty of time to talk about how Hank had reacted when they were hanging out after Jocelyne first showed up.
It’s possible and I expected that was the case after that strip, but in that case it’s weird that Jocelyne never mentioned it to Joyce, even when learning that Hank had asked about the picture of her at the protest.
According to an half overheard conversation between Joyce’s parents, they are aware that all the boys are… very unlikely to give them grandchildren. So…
When was that? It wasn’t the half overheard conversation I first thought of, when Joyce was home after the first kidnapping.
Or he knows and didn’t take it well.
Why would he? He doesn’t know Jocelyn is trans
Jocelyn’s text to Joyce before she came out was “I need to tell you something before you hear it from dad.” So yeah, strong indicator he knows and Jocelyne was concerned about how he would portray it to Joyce.
Another possibility was that she was planning to tell Hank soon, wanted to tell Joyce first to ensure she’d be ahead of any worst-case versions of how Hank reacts, and then ultimately decided not to tell him.
Like, ‘ultimately decided not to tell him’ is entirely speculative but that really is the only way to 100% absolute guarantee you tell person A before they hear it from person B: to tell person A before you tell person B.
Also possibly that the she sees Hank at least semi-regularly and now that she’s on HRT, he’s going to notice the changes eventually.
Right, “planning on doing something in the near-term that may lead to Hank finding out and saying something to Joyce” is very far from “has definitely already told Hank or Hank has definitely already found out”
In particular, I’m pretty sure that if Hank had actually said anything to Joyce by this point, we’d know it – and I’d think that Jocylene would be less likely to have guessed wrong on whether that would happen if she’d already told him and found out what his immediate reaction was by that point.
“He does know and is trying not to out her to Joyce” is also a possibility, though I think it’s a weaker one (if she told him and they’re still on good terms I’d expect him to know she was planning on telling Joyce)
Hank doesn’t any context except for a photo with the child he thinks is a son looking feminine
Which to be honest is inconclusive on its own, you can look feminine and still use male pronouns.
Its blurry, he can think its Joyce! Come on Willis, give us this.
Well, since Jocelyne is in the background of the Joyce/Dorothy photo, I think claiming that she’s actually Joyce there wouldn’t exactly work
Neither are named, nor are their faces really visible.
Parent and people in general are *really* good at identifying people they know. Our facial recognition hardware is so powerful it makes us see the emotions in faces that aren’t even actually faces.
Humans without Prosopagnosia, yes, but consider the following strips:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-16/01-not-so-smooth-criminals/splash/
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-16/01-not-so-smooth-criminals/nonbathingsuit/
Neither Daisy nor Jennifer recognised them. Admittedly, Daisy doesn’t know them all that well, and Jennifer’s quite possibly prosopagnosic. Still…
Except in superhero comics..
Why have all the newer trucks become so angry lately?
Jocelyne is tagged in most of the strips where the front page of the paper is visible. There’s one where she’s not, and the hovertext explains that that’s because Joe’s arm is covering her. I don’t think that’s intended to convey “no she’s an unrecognizable background figure”.
I never said they were unrecognizable, I said she could be mistaken for Joyce.
It’s been established that he isn’t.
I have no brother!
Okay well there’s half a dozen others but y’know what let’s start over.
The correct and true answer is: “Not here.”
That would be both correct and true. Odds that Joyce has nowhere near the presence of mind to say that?
she did the last time, so we can hope
So would “how would I know?” She doesn’t know the exact location of any of her siblings, even putting aside how dad hasn’t been told yet that his son to daughter ratio is not what he believed it to be.
Only two. This universe only has four Brown siblings: John, Jocelyne, Jordan, and Joyce.
When it rains….
oooof
man Hank looks like he’s aged quite a bit since last we saw him. The power of divorce! …Also realistically probably just the glasses and shading. But I’m going to pretend the divorce sucked five years of life from him.
Carol won five years of his life in the settlement and they hooked him up to that machine from Princess Bride.
Have an internet, friendly time lord. This cracked me up.
they’ll have to visit Miracle Max!
I was gonna say, man looks like her grandfather.
He dresses like a grandpa too.
He’s been having a rough go of it. His wife left him, his kid got kidnapped and nearly killed by a family friend he spent years letting her be supervised by, his church went down dark paths he could not follow, and now its kind of just him and maybe the dog by themselves. All that in like half a year. Hank is a caring guy still trying to find away to be a better version of himself and yet the hits will not stop coming.
Dog’s at a farm upstate.
dark
It wasn’t a euphemism. 🔪
sorry high and silly, was thinking of the meme/trope in adult comedy media (i thinkit may have started in the simpsons) where after something sad is said someone nearby just comments “dark”
and the phrase “at a farm upstate” is a sad phrase.
dont remember whether or not the browns had a dog
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/home-sweet-home/ They have (or maybe had??) a dog named Snoop! The dog’s status is up in the air because of the house being sold, both Brown parents presumably being in apartments now, and I think there’s patreon strips about the doggo going to a shelter or something. Poor baby.
dark
There was a follow up strip of a guy who actually has a big farm (kinda)upstate seemingly about to adopt Snoop
Here are all 5 Snoop strips:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/snoop/
I prefer the How I Met Your Mother gag where Robin, a known gun enthusiast, is asked what happened to the multiple dogs she used to house in a New York City Apartment.
Robin: Oh, I sent them to a farm upstate with my aunt.
Friend: YOU KILLED THEM?!
Robin (realizing what she said): Oh! No no…. My ACTUAL aunt has an ACTUAL farm in northern New York.
A good gag. I really don’t like that Ted made her get rid of her dogs, though. Especially when they broke up so fast afterwards lol. And the writers just never mention the dogs again!
Ted was such a bum dude lmao. I have to agree with Olayemi’s assessment, man’s a romantic terrorist
The dog was the hardest blow on him😔
Didn’t he quit her, and not the other way around?
No, you were right, his hairline’s receding more (pre-timeskip the.line where the hair on top of his head meets the sides was just angled a bit instead of the noticeable divot into it now) and judging by his jawline he’s lost weight (he always had a square jaw, but the lines leading to it were curved, not nearly straight on one side and slightly concave on the other).
honestly he looks like a man who really isnt looking after his health. he is probably eating frozen dinners/fast food when he remembers to eat, and may only be eating once a day, stress and lonelyness are eating that man. and i hope he stays on the journey of a good parent, but man the use of brother *shudder*
yeah 😐
Art advancement or inoperable cancer, what will it be….
wow, dark the 3rd
that’s where today’s entire strip is, yeah.
He needs more sunken in features near his temples for it to be cancer.
I commented WAY down but he does kind of have Walter White looks here
He could be here to get Joss back to cooking meth with him for Asher’s grandpa
That would be a pretty wicked way for those plot points to connect.
I’m absolutely doing a bit but I wouldn’t be mad if Willis went for it, I could even see Gramps running a Korean fried chicken chain
I want this bit to be CANON.
Stress can age somebody tremendously. If you compare photos of Obama prior to him becoming President and then just 8 years later, he looks like he’s aged 30 years. O.o
Literally getting divorced right now, and what hair I have left has indeed suddenly gone almost completely gray over just a few months.
His cheeks are hollower, his hairline receded further, and he’s wearing glasses now. All contributing factors nudging him closer to Ruth’s grandfather.
Oh no, Hank isn’t making a heel turn with this chapter is he?
(Seriously what’s up with the “Animated Series Riddler” chin?)
Lol, I’m so used to Joyce-style eyes having glasses now that even when I was looking back and forth for changes in him I totally missed noticing them.
Also it’s dark and he’s backlit. Nobody looks good backlit in the dark.
Hooooooo boy
Oh I am so afraid :((((((( Tomorrow can’t come quickly enough
This is the cheating karma. ZERO CALM. ALL BLOWBACK. But also fingies crossed for Joyce’s parents’ divorce.
I have the memory of a boiled carrot
Jocelyne potentially getting in trouble shouldn’t be included in cheating karma.
There IS the chain of causality where Jocelyne was on the front page of the paper, making it obvious to Hank that she was there and Joyce knew it.
There’s a chain of causality, but that’s not what anyone who wanted cheating karma meant.
You are so right. I was looking through the short term lens of Joyce is just on the receiving end of a lot of stress.
Not to kvetch about this but I feel I must again point out that nothing since Joyce dumped Walky for Dorothy and he went off to McNugget himself has actually been related to the cheating and that these exact events would have played out exactly the same if Joyce and Dorothy had been single when they kissed
Yeah. “Sorry-not-sorry” to all the people who have weird opinions about people who want to see the boys’ collective ongoing response, but I feel like what we need here is to see the boys’ collective ongoing response.
On the other hand, you have to admit it’s nice that for once they got distracted from a problem by “another problem” instead of “getting real horny”.
To be honest, I don’t think seeing the boys’ collective ongoing response will really help, since it seems to be “I hope I can keep some kind of relationship with Joyce” and “Sucks to have been dumped again”, which again, barely references the cheating aspect at all.
I think that ship has sailed.
I feel like there’s some room in both their responses for some continued interesting storytelling because we’ve really only seen the initial shock in Walky’s case, and Joe’s (presumed) last-ditch effort to salvage ANY relationship with Joyce out of the slow-motion train wreck that was “Joyce and Dorothy figure out they’re collectively bi.”
Oh, there’s definitely room for interesting storytelling, but there’s room for that with Becky and with Hank showing up.
It’s just not really related to the cheating any more than with Becky or Hank. They’re breakup (or potentially not break up but poly) stories instead.
OH GOD OH GOD OH GO
“And why was Becky walking down the hall looking like she just got shellacked?”
i wouldn’t be surprised if she went the otherway other wise he def would’ve stopped by to talk to her
“Dun dun DUN!” – Elan, Order of the Stick
[puts on his Obi-Wan voice] Now there’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time…
Comic is still going. Probably just past halfway through the last book.
durkon taking control of his body from a vampire is just fucking great
Place your bets now:
1. Transphobic
2. Doesn’t know better
Since we’ve never seen him get told and I’m not trawling through the fucking archive to see if anyone mentioned it, so I’m gonna guess “Both, but he’s reluctantly willing to learn (which is better than being unwilling, so I’ll take it at this point).”
Seconding, although the willingness to learn is more a hope that I have than an actual called shot. Either way I don’t think this is a rejection of Jocelyne’s gender though, I think she’s just still closeted with her parents
Thirded. Even if he does know and isn’t necessarily hateful, some parents are just really bad at this and need time to wrap their heads around the change
“Shallow understanding born of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding born of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is more bewildering than outright rejection.”
What’s this quote from? Because oof, that describes my marental troubles extremely well.
Ahh, MLK. That makes a lot of sense. 💚
Also, *parental, but “maternal” also fits, so whatever.
did freud proud!
sorry seeing
“WHAT” (in flames) did freud proud makes me giggie
Cigars. Freud prouded cigars.
This.
He looks unhappy, but I’m still putting my money on 2. This seems most consistent with his framing prior, and I can imagine other reasons for unhappiness.
I’m guessing the former, but I have a little hope for the future. We know Hank was okay with Becky being gay, but this appears be a bridge too far for him. I think it’s possible that he can learn to accept Jocelyne with time.
Thank God Joyce’s mom isn’t here though, if she were, I’d be afraid she’d go Toedad 2.
Toedad 2: Ecclesiastic Boogaloo
Yet. Joyce’s mom isn’t here yet.
Here’s a theory. Hank hasn’t wrapped his head around things and is still using the wrong pronouns but doesn’t think less of Jocelyne. He’s just here to warn that Carol found out.
My money is on “worried about his child who was at a protest that turned violent, unaware of Jocelyne being trans (yet).”
“Worried about child one, wondering why child two is wistfully watching lesbians make out at a genocide protest, unaware child one and two are swapped in the photo.”
same thing
God, I hope that he doesn’t show transphobia. I can’t deal with more of that right now.
Could be a bit of both, but I’m gonna bet that Hank just recognized his “son’s” face in the school newspaper earlier and doesn’t even know that Jocelyne is trans.
Yeah, this. Jocelyn is definitely not out to her parents, who like her best precisely because they know the least about her.
The picture clearly showed they were both there, and that Joyce was smooching a lady. Did the picture clearly show that Jocelyn is in a dress/makeup?
If the girl-getup is deniable, Hank’s gonna think that he has a son who needs a haircut and is getting into major trouble at a violent protest (including bringing along his baby sister, which is not cool).
If Hank thinks that Jocelyn is running around looking like a girl, he may well think “trans” means cross-dressing drag queens who turn kids gay or something… which would be a major snowball of a problem if he suspects that Jocelyn is partly-or-wholly responsible for Joyce smooching a lady.
So… why not both? Doesn’t know better, and is therefore transphobic AF.
Jocelyne was wearing a brown winter coat and a pink t-shirt underneath during the protest, and only the top half of her body was visible in the photos. From Hank’s perspective, it probably just looks like “Joshua” grew “his” hair out.
Gentle and non-accusatory reminder that Jocelyne’s name has an e at the end.
But in that case, wouldn’t he be leading with the Joyce smooching rather than the tangentially involved Jocelyne?
I have a hard time imagining he’s not transphobic at all, but I’ve got my money on “transphobic in the same way he’s homophobic”. Which is to say, he won’t be in the ways that matter.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/humility/
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/deserves/
Unlike his ex Hank is capable of learning. When put on the spot (now imminent), it won’t go down smoothly, but give him enough time… He will need more time than Joyce did, but I bet he will get accept the news eventually.
it actually could be “doesn’t know Jocelyn told Joyce and so not outing her is the correct move”, but my money isn’t on that.
The funny thing is the “brother” is definitely ominous, but there’s also almost no situation where he should say anything else. Unless he knows and is really sure that Jocelyne already told Joyce.
I’m thinking that, due to his upbringing, he’s just never had to think about it before, and is not used to having to adjust his thinking and speech. He seems much more open-minded than Carol or Toedead, so he may just need some time to figure it out.
Also, keep in mind, he may or may not actually KNOW that Josh is Jocelyne now. He may think the “Josh” is “just” cross-dressing. And whatever he knows or thinks he knows, he doesn’t know how much JOYCE knows.
If Hank knows the whole truth, but Joyce hasn’t been told anything yet, it would be a BIT confusing if Hank said “Where’s your sister?” to someone who believes she only has brothers.
It seems that Hank is okay with Becky being gay but this is a bridge too far.
I’m not sure Hank has even been told anything about having a trans kid.
Jocelyne sure implied that he knew.
With how much this family seems to avoid communication, I wouldn’t be surprised by it going either way. Jocelyne could’ve gotten a message to call asap and never responded, (just like Joyce assuming she knew the reason for Jocelyne’s visit,) while Hank’s been desperately trying to contact her about something else for days and doesn’t know whether to be annoyed or worried. None of these Browns have confirmed anything.
That initial text did, but nothing else since has – even when Joyce came in a panic to let her know dad had seen the protest picture.
One too many spans thrown in the works.
Becky isn’t his literal kid. He can blame it on her parents. To most of the evangelicals I’ve had the misfortune of discussing such matters with, any variance like that is the parents’ “fault”, usually for not beating the children enough when they were small.
“Also why were you girls just standing in the dark”.
This made me smile. Thank you.
Oh no!
“JINKIES!!” *Joyce drops her glasses on the floor*
*sound of Dorothy attempting to fit underneath the bed as fast as possible*
Told you that asking Sal for window escape training would have been a good idea.
They’re loft beds. Fitting under them is easy; CONCEALING ONESELF under them would be the actual challenge.
I’m now picturing Dorothy Spider-Manning on the underside of the bed.
It begins.
Very happy to see Hank’s return. Albeit not under the most auspicious circumstances.
A little daunting to comment so early. Usually I comment later and have a smaller expected discourse volume. Maybe I’ll save any discourse comments for later 🙂
Of course, because I compose posts slowly, 20 people already beat me anyway.
John? He’s in India probably, only a couple of days left in January for him to leave.
It’s still January??
This chapter is the 30th, assuming no calendar shenanigans. We may find out for sure in Fool’s Spring, since that would be Feb 1 according to the calendar for Fall Semester, but the chapter name is evocative of Groundhog’s Day (Feb 2nd).
Last time we saw John, he was going to drive to India in his mustang. So he’s probably somewhere in the Pacific right now.
Those mustangs are hard to row.
Also, it’s always been January.
hahaha
I did not think this would happen so soon.
Don’t trust surprise dads. Like seriously this has never worked out for them.
Hank’s changes of dying just skyrocketed.
Hank’s chances of committing unwarranted and unnecessary violence have also just skyrocketed, though he’s the next to last surprise dad I’d expect that from.
No, I take that back.
He’s tied with Joe’s dad for next to last surprise dad I’d expect that from (both of them behind Walky’s dad).
What about Dina’s dad or Dorothy’s dad? They are both remarkably unassuming people.
Dina’s dad has killed before, and he’ll do it again. He was fully cleared on all 3 counts of homicide, due to irrefutable video evidence of the coroner tampering with the bodies, and something the judge would only ever refer to as “broken glass shenanigans”. We can’t count him out.
Dina got her stealth abilities from somewhere. Now we know.
“Saruyama Ryou” is just a cover name. Used to avoid detection by the la-li-Lu-le-lo. His real identity is none other than Shotgun Anaconda himself…!
Dorothy’s dad?
Oh, you mean Jeremiah “The Death Sound” Keener?
Neither Dina’s dad nor Dorothy’s dad have ever shown up as a surprise. When they showed up, it was prescheduled and expected.
Exactly my reasoning, though the suggestions of the Dina/Dorothy dads being killers is funnier.
Really? I’d put Walky’s dad way higher, he’s fully on board with the Nazi wife in a way Hank isn’t with his.
While kids tend to be influenced by both parents, it’s very clear that Walky takes after his dad and Sal after her mom (them being so alike is a major plot point in the other comic).
And since Sal is the violent one of the two, the implication is that Charles is the significantly less violent one in the parental pair.
Also, you’re comparing apples and oranges.
Mrs. Walkerton is terrible in several ways, but she’s not the-artist-formerly-known-as-Mrs.-Brown levels of terrible, and so comparing Charles’ not falling out with her to Henry falling out with his wife isn’t close to a fair comparison.
How to avoid surprise dads: Use birth control.
Is it just me or does Hanks face look kinda off in the last panel? Maybe his eye are too big? Idk something about his face just looks off and I can’t place why
nah he always had those big blue blinkers
i think he’s just wearing glasses when he doesn’t usually
He’s wearing glasses.
He’s wearing EVIL glasses.
oh thats hank, i thought it was clark kent
When it rains, it pours, eh Joyce? Also, as of this writing, the kissing v consequences poll is 50/50. Come, fellow sickos, rally to me and let the kissy-face option prevail!
51% sickos now
the difference is 3 votes now
I would say I’m surprised Dorothy is letting that kind of toxicity slide and is so willing to play by its rules that she’d throw away Joyce at the drop of a hat, but also Dorothy is still filled to the brim with internalized homophobia, so I’m not surprised, actually, that’s fully in character for her.
Anyway! Time to see if Hank can put his money where his mouth is and not fall back into the bigoted fundie he was introduced as.
Throw Joyce away at the drop of a hat? What are you talking about?
She didn’t say that, she’s saying this is why she was hesitant, she didn’t wanna hurt Becky and they ended up doing that.
Even though Becky certainly didn’t call woman dibs and carrying a torch for someone doesn’t give you perma shotgun on their heart… but ya know that already.
She’s always let Becky’s toxic behavior slide. Becky has been jealous of Dorothy and Joyce from day one, and not so subtly hid it behind the “joke” frenemies routine. Dorothy’s plan for dealing with that was to be patient until Becky got tired of it. I don’t know if its homophobia, pity, or just plain conflict avoidance but I’ve always seen it as a character flaw.
Dorothy attempted to talk to Becky on numerous occasions and got blown off, while over time the behavior came off as more of an actual “bit” that Dorothy and the rest of the group grudgingly tolerated. Dunno what else she was supposed to do about it, throw a tantrum and force Joyce to choose between them?
It really should have been Joyce’s job as the connecting friend to handle this, but it’s Joyce. She really put Dorothy in an awkward position as the newer friend.
Agree, Dorothy is quick to assign Joyce’s chastity views as regressive thinking but not Joyce’s reliance on her as the sole decision maker even in situations where Joyce had the experience that matters.
The fuck homophobes has to do any of that?
hank you better be cool about jocelyn because you better believe estrogen is coming for your jamie lee curtis lookin’ ass next
Jamie Lee Curtis would be coming for his ass. She’s queen of the transparents
well, that’s assuming hank isn’t cool with it. but i don’t currently have reason to believe he won’t be.
Hank reveals that Dorothy is actually a water clone and that the real Dorothy is lost in the multiverse!
Wait, no, that’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
No see, since Amazi-Girl is the superhero here, that would have to happen to her. Which means… is Walky the water clone?
Walky is already a clone of Sal.
A clone made of nuggets.
Technically, as Night Guy, I think that makes Walky into Felicia.
I have a lot of brothers be more specific
But in this case, the lack of specificity is a good thing.
For some value of good. But it’s important to maintain that lack of specificity.
Daddy came in a hurry because he was worried, huh
I FUCKING CALLED IT! I knew he was in town to try and get the sister and will probably see the newspaper or somebody will mention the kiss.
I hope the next five or so strips also have dramatic punches from different story threads.
We call this the Star Platinum approach to shitstorm escalation. 😁
ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA—
FUCKSHIT. NOT NOW, HANK!
And normally I would agree space is a good idea but the last thing Becky said was EXTREMELY worrying and I think someone should keep an eye on her. And now as I type this I go ‘Dina, duh’ and that sorted itself out.
It’s great that Dina’s there, but it’d be good to tell her what happened so that she’s more in the know about how Becky is hurting / what to look out for
As empathetic and emotionally intelligent as Dina is, this might be a topic Becky might be hesitant to talk to her girlfriend about,especially if she knows that Dina is looking after Amber. This seems like a moment
Goddamn it. A leslie moment. Becky needs her mum but she’s out of parents, so my money’s on leslie
agreed, i am hoping for leslie, simply cuase her mom energy nears aurelia levels, (ambers mom may top her but that longshot of an appearance mean willis is listening to me)
I think it’s interesting seeing the spectrum of reactions to Becky’s parting line. Someone I know has expressed that they find it really difficult confiding their sadness to people in their life because said people jump very quickly to “sadness = suicide risk”. The threat of having to manage those reactions sometimes keeps my friend from reaching out when they otherwise would.
Considering Becky’s family history I see why people’s minds go there, but with just the information at hand I think anything more than a gentle checkin from a third party would be likely to hurt more than help. I also don’t expect this is something Willis is going to actually explore; there are enough heavy topics being juggled at the moment and trying to add yet another one seems like it’s bound to be a disaster.
Becky didn’t express sadness. Becky expressed a wish to not exist.
HANK, QUICK, IF YOU’RE NOT HERE TO BE AN ASSHOLE, BECKY NEEDS PARENT HUGS. DON’T ASK WHY. And tell her that she is good and loved and man, our church was kind of horrible wasn’t it.
What was that about a naked Dina- OH GOD HANK IS HERE
bit of a mood whiplash innit
“John’s in India, and you never said anything about what happened to Jordan so why ask me?”
People are understandably focusing on more immediate things, but Dorothy and Joyce are not exactly bringing out the best in each other here. Joyce doesn’t even try to come up with an idea and instinctively self-minimizes and pre-emptively defers, and Dorothy takes this sole decision making moment to come up with the plan of “do nothing” (not even reach out to anyone who might be able to keep an eye on Becky with their concerns about her).
+1
I noticed that in the last strip, too, actually. Not that Dorothy shouldn’t have said anything, mind, but that Joyce didn’t say ANYTHING. Not even a half hearted interjection.
Becky is not owed Joyce, Becky has her own issues here, Becky could have handled this better in a logical emotionally mature world. Granted. But Becky is more of Joyce’s friend than Dorothy’s– even with the latest “I actually do care about you, Dorothy” revelation– and Joyce did…nothing after their babbled “It’s new, but also building up for ages.” On the one hand, she’s embarrassed and shocked and stressed. On the other, it felt very, very weird, to have Joyce not talk AT ALL while Becky broke down and left, while Dorothy did all of the reassuring and apologizing [even if they shouldn’t strictly have to apologize for being out and together] to try and reach out to Becky.
In an ideal situation, what should she say? All I can really come up are variations on “I’m sorry,” which I think would just make it worse.
That’s true, but it still felt odd for her not to even try. For Dorothy to at least try, while Joyce didn’t say anything last strip, and is now asking Dorothy for what they should do in this strip. It’s not out of character or completely nonsensical that Joyce did that or anything. Nobody has to take my perspective on it as gospel or super insightful analysis, but I did notice it. And, like Joyce looking to Dorothy for a decision here, as Joyce looked to Dorothy for a game plan to break up with the boys, as Joyce often looks to Dorothy with a rose tinted idea of Dorothy’s goodness and infallibility, I can see where Ado is coming from. Maybe Dorothy and Joyce don’t exactly bring out the best in each other, in spite of what they want to think. Or at least Joyce wants to think.
“And, like Joyce looking to Dorothy for a decision here, as Joyce looked to Dorothy for a game plan to break up with the boys, as Joyce often looks to Dorothy with a rose tinted idea of Dorothy’s goodness and infallibility”
Yeah, it’s looking like a pattern
It definitely sems to be a re-emergence of their codependency, Dorothy has a compulsion to take charge or situations to feel like she’s doing something and Joyce thinks everything Dorothy does is the best action so let’s her do everything, even her where she know her chosen family Becky so much better then Dorothy.
Signed
“Either India or driving around somewhere in his corruptionmobile, I guess, I dunno, I’m not his keeper.”
“Not that one!”
“Oh, him! No idea. Haven’t seen him for the whole comic.”
“Not that one either!”
“Well, if you mean sisters, Becky just ran out of here in tears because she caught Dorothy and I making out. We’d better go find her!”
I feel like Hank’s response to that would be to make the Kermit face. You know, the one where he is 200% done with everyone’s shit and scrunches his [i]entire[/i] face?
Ahh… fuck. Right. HTML formatting.
Yes, I know that face.
“Oh… you mean Sarah? I think she’s off banging her new boyfriend. Or… um… Amber’s my boyfriend’s stepsister, so that’s kind of like my almost stepsister-in-law….”
“Ex-boyfriend!”
“erm……….”
LFMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this thread!
“Anyway! Carla is, and has always been, my sister.”
“Your brother!”
“… No, she’s definitely a sister.”
I love that face, it’s probably the single facial expression I most strongly associate with Kermit. I don’t think anybody has quite managed to do it justice since Jim Henson, sadly.
“We have to tell Joshua that my long-lost illegitimate daughter that I never told you about was spotted at the protest here…”
lmao
imagine
JoAnn Brown, proud owner of a locally-adored pizza restaurant/video arcade in rural Illinois.
Sadly, her nationwide chain of fabric stores recently went bankrupt.
THE RETURN OF JOYCE LYNN
She could be honest and give the location of one of her brothers, his fault for not being specific, also Jocelyne isn’t her brother.
“India,” suffers from the defect of immediately making clear which brother she is referencing. “Why, did something happen to him?” might actually work better. “I haven’t seen him in a while,” might work as well.
ay, someone who thinks like me on that regard.
Sorry Hank, John and Jordan are not there.
Hank’s been on screen for a whole panel and he hasn’t said anything disapprovingly, I can’t believe he’s fine with the cheating or something. Where’s consequences?
The old white guy with blue eyes needs to be *****ing these f***** ****s in their ***** with a f**g** k***e, like that s***e in ***** 2 l, until their c**a**s f*** **t i*v**t and th*y find out if H****n really is a c***s between a D*k***ke v***on and Ch***en ‘n’ W*n****h. That’ll show ’em.
Couple minor typos. That should be “v***o”, not “v***on” and there should be an “and” between “f*** **t” and *I*v**t”. Also the title of ***** 2 shouldn’t have that “I” after it. What a mess.
It’s too early in the morning to think, so I’m not gunna try.
I have no idea what any of this means. Couldn’t decode 1 word
Skill issue. All the clues are there.
there’s several options for each.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUNNNNNNN!
Those new glasses make Hank look, like, about 20 percent more Ruth’s-grandpa-esque. Which I’m sure isn’t a bad omen at all! Really not quite sure how to read his facial expression here.
Also his chin seems a lot pointier than when we saw him last, so either Willis’ art style has changed more substantially than I realized in the last five years or Hank hasn’t been eating as much since the divorce.
the latter i would say
It’s been what, four IRL years since we saw Mr. Brown? Art styles change a lot in four years.
Every time a white dude with glasses shows up they are completely fucking evil. Yes including Howard. You know what he did, Willis. In the future. You know what kind of blood will be on those little Canadian hands.
Pretty sure their particular fundamentalist cult was big on traditional gender roles. Meaning Carol would have been doing most if not all of the cooking. So he’s probably not eating nearly as well at least.
OH NO! I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!
*Goes to make some hella popcorn and get some heckin diet coke*
I like how this is another subtle parallel to when Becky came out to Joyce. One of her initial reactions after learning Becky was kicked out of college was to try try to call Becky’s father as she did not know what to do and “Dads know how to make things right.” Upon learning about Becky running away from home, Joyce suggests instead calling somebody else’s father.
Once again Joyce does not know how to help Becky and behold somebody else’s Dad (her’s) shows up.
I hope Jocelyn is okay and I hope this is concern, not anger
That’s how I read his expression
Hank is looking a little rough, but I bet these past months haven’t been fun
SEE? SEE WHAT YOU ALL HATH WROUGHT!?
…Pass the popcorn please
Where’s the “both” option on this poll? I’m a trash goblin who loves mess!
(for future readers, the current poll asks whether Dorothy and Joyce should be kissing more, or need more consequences)
also want more of both.
I checked the results to see which was lower and voted for that one. Is that cheating?
I’m okay with both. Everyone wins with both.
It’s the “more kissing” option, since them kissing doubles as a consequence.
Consequences just have to be results; nobody said they have to be *bad* results.
i mean, out of all the parents so far, hank’s one of the more reasonable ones (at least compared to toedad and blaine).
carol, on the other hand…
But Joyce doesn’t care about disappointing Carol.
“REALLY NOT A GOOD TIME, DAD”
Maybe stand behind TWO naked Dinas.
This is why we can’t do this! Becky’s feelings! And no one else’s!
People, as far as we know Jocelyn is not out to her father so it’s too early to judge him for using male gendered language around him just yet
Uh, where is Jocelyne? We haven’t her since Amazi-Girl said “Split Up”, have we?
we havent, other than a mssg that shes safe
She’s at a friend’s house, playing Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence on their PS2 while they cook her the most delicious fried chicken she’ll ever eat in her life. Later, they’ll make out while watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier (the extended edition with the deleted Godsmack scene added back in).
a scene which they’ll miss, due to the aforementioned making out
I believe Joyce mentioned getting a text saying she’s safe
I went and checked before hitting send on this, it’s here
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/04-the-only-exception/safely/
There was another text warning them about the photo in the paper.
Which also means they didn’t even text Jocelyne to let her know about it.
a tidal wave of consequences
“Which one?”
I honestly not sure how she should respond. She obviously shouldn’t refer to Jocelyn as her brother, by her deadname, or by male pronouns, but she really shouldn’t out her either. She might not know the not outing someone rule, and isn’t really in a head space to think about the consequences, so she probably will out her sister. Unless Dorothy is able to think fast enough to keep Joyce from outing her sister
If someone’s closeted it’s probably alright to refer to them by their former name and pronouns, especially if they’re not present.
It’s safer for sure but I can also see Joyce not putting that together. She wants to be a good ally but is still learning about the hardships for the community and might mistakenly think calling Jocelyne her sister is the right thing to do — at least when she’s already off-footed like she is right now.
As a trans person, agree.
Iiiii think that Joyce is smart enough to know it is not for her to out Joss to their Dad. She already lied about the picture on the news, right (sorta)?
@bym well she also is likely panicking and put her foot in her mouth before
buuut…at the same time unless jocelyne is still fully off the grid it’s prolly a bad sign that hank isn’t able to reach her/call her or so (unless she’s been on hrt /voice training long enough for her voice to not be recognizable on the phone)
Yes, know and do are different especially for these two lately…
Somebody did point out that when Joss was texting Joyce about wanting to come out to her before she (Joss) said what she wanted to talk about, Joyce said that Joss said “Before you hear it from Dad”. Which is something I had not remembered and that may mean Hank is aware. It could’ve also just been Joyce spouting typical older siblingisms though, but that one in particular stood out a bit.
And if Hank knows and is disapproving (which if he knows and is still using male descriptors for her seems likely) may more explain why either Hank would find Joyce before trying to speak to Joss directly to confirm her safety or why Joss maybe wouldn’t pick up the phone if Hank called.
As a trans woman, I can tell you that estrogen does not change the voice. Unless you begin HRT before puberty effects your voice, you do not receive a feminine voice from HRT. That being said, you can train your voice to sound more feminine. I want to try a little harder at that.
It is generally morally okay to deadname or misgender someone for their own safety. If you have a trans friend that, say, isn’t out to their transphobic family, dancing around pronouns or names has a high likelihood of making them realize *something* is up.
A simple “I don’t know” doesn’t include any identifiers of any sort. Probably accurate, too.
But leads to followups, depending on what Hank already knows. If he’s just worried about his kid having been at the protest that got broken up, it’s going to be hard to just defuse it with “I don’t know”.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, fuck….
At least it’s not the mother Brown. <.<
be nice if hank was the one ot have a heart to heart with becky and bea good father figure
And now the other OTHER shoe drops. This is gonna be ugly, and Mr. Brown is the REASONABLE one compared to Ex-Mrs. Brown.
Reasonable but still a super-religious conservative…
Reason help us all.
if he was willing to get divorced at his age, anything’s possible
even before he showed signs of being good like telling dorothy’s parents that they ‘humbled’ him
Hank: “Oh hi, Dorothy. This is kind of awkward. I stayed in touch with your parents, and we ended up going out for Sunday brunch, one thing led to another, and, well, you’re sort of sisters, now?”
Joyce: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
tbf stepsiblings while it’s a bit awkward but i doubt it’d stop them
and remembering that joe and amber are stepsiblings and joe pointed that out lol
I’m not sure if Hank looks more like Blaine or Walter White in this new fit.
He’s either here to abduct Joss or because THEY HAVE TO COOK.
PLEASE NOT BLAINE oh god
“Which brother”
“Josh”
“I can honestly say I haven’t seen anyone by that name. Except this one kid in my math class that smells like cheese, but that doesn’t count”
DUN DUN DUN
It could be worse, but it’s still not a good sign.
hank has a better chance of being accepting than the mom at least
So, this is the chance. Joyce redeems herself, distracting from the Jocelyne issue, by telling Dad she is gay now. Showing she can stop being selfish for her new sister’s sake.
[Dolly zoom in on my face] Her what…?
would hope dad is being supportive but i guess saying ‘brother’ means he isn’t or he didn’t know but being divorced/it not being the mom is a step in the right direction
(was the door locked? if it was becky she wouldn’t have needed to knock versus her maybe not wanting to walk in on them making out again tho other than some closer friends i guess most ppl would versus maybe amber/dina going in through the half bath)
Over on the 18+ Patreon Willis has been posting progress on a pic of Lucy getting happily railed by Jacob, all “Take Me to Church”-style, and I like to believe that that is happening at the exact same time as all of this bullshit
Like, everyone else in the friend group is having a day that varies from “the worst of their life” to “shitty”, meanwhile Lucy is having a GREAT time, she shows up to their usual walk-to-class spot glowing, hair sexily messed up, hand in hand with a blushing Jacob all “Good MOOOOOORNING :D”
Everyone who makes it there just looks at her like she’s actual Satan
well some of them deserve to be happy lol
Everyone deserves to be happy. Deserves? What is this deserves? Oh you have been a naughty boy/girl, Santa/God/author/fan base say you don’t get any treats today.
@thing well yeah tho lucy did have to deal with some issues ending up with walky not really liking her as much as she thought but it ‘d be a bit heavy handed if every chara was currently miserable
i assume despite sarah’s judegment of the ‘cheating’ she’s also still in a relationship high with tony
Lucy deserves it, so much. She took so long to get lucky.
It’s what Lucy deserves.
I hope they make it part of their Sunday routine. Go to church, absolve their sins, good to go for more sinning.
I think there was a sect in the Middle Ages that believed it was important to sin a lot, because otherwise Christ died for nothing. The Church stomped on them pretty hard.
“That’s not how ANY of this works!”
“You’re supposed to feel constantly crushed by guilt and shame so we can use that to control you!”Exactly. Shuck it off. Decide for yourself!.
“oh, you better believe that’s a
paddlin’heresy.”Oh yeah, prolly shoulda have checked to make sure she was alright. Ehhh, we were too busy being horny.
Jocelyne? They know she’s all right. She texted them last night, and then again this morning about the newspaper.
Oh shit we’re just dropping all the shoes. I would say good but Jocelyn falling into the splash damage of her sister’s nonsense sucks.
Hank was texting about Jocelyne before any of her sister’s ‘nonsense’ started. In fact, if not for that, Joyce and Dorothy wouldn’t have gone to the protest and the ‘nonsense’ would never have happened, or at least not for awhile yet.
God forbide me for talking about the sanctity of marriage, but Hank looks way better after divorce.
Does Hank not think it’s weird that the lights are off?
I mean, we know why the lights are off originally, and it *kind of* makes sense that they didn’t bother turning it back on if they thought it was Becky knocking, but you’d turn on the lights before opening the door to an unknown person wouldn’t you?
Nah. It’s daytime, there in a small dorm room, and the window is already open and letting in plenty of daylight. I mean, it’s been used consistently as a form of dramatic backdrop lighting for Becky, so it’s not like they’re fully in the dark.
Besides, you’re not thinking like a boomer dad. If it was his daughter and a boy in the dark, then there’d be twenty alarm bells going. His daughter and her best friend? Hey, they probably were just talking or relaxing or watching TV or gossiping about whatever celebrity thingy is going on now. Nothing to worry about. Couldn’t be more wholesome.
Be aware that Boomers did the whole sexual revolution thing in their youth and some (at least in more enlightened countries) simply make sure that their kids are well educated about possible outcomes, and that they have access to contraception, sexual disease protection and councelling etc.
Also, Hank’s not a boomer. He’s almost certainly Gen X.
And the distinction here is far more fundie Christian than generational.
Oh boy…. I hope this is a matter of “Hank hasn’t been told” and not “Hank is intentionally misgendering Jocelyne”. I also hope the fact that Hank stood by Becky (I think?) means he isn’t going to be awful to Joyce if the penny drops/is revealed (those two are not subtle), and that if Hank doesn’t know, Joyce isn’t the one to accidentally out her by thinking she’s doing the right thing.
I would be shocked if he knew about it.
Somebody did point out that when Joss was texting Joyce about wanting to come out to her before she said what she (Joss) wanted to talk about, Joyce said that Joss said “Before you hear it from Dad”. Which is something I had not remembered and that may mean Hank is aware. It could’ve also just been Joyce spouting typical older siblingisms though, but that one in particular stood out a bit.
Meanwhile, I actually want it to be intentional misgendering BECAUSE he doesn’t know that Joss has come out to Joyce, and doesn’t want to accidentally out her.
I hope.
Yeah, it’s kind of funny that whatever he knows or however he feels about it, “brother” is probably his best choice here.
That does open the room for a strip where they’re both like “Heeey… Joshuaaa?”, not sure if the other Knows™, and Jocelyne is like “Oh yeah, you can both drop that now. I’ve told everyone in this room.”
I think that’s a weaker possibility just because if he knows and he and Jocylene are still on good terms about it I’d expect him to know that she was planning to tell Joyce. But the evidence that he knows is also weak, I think it’s most likely that he just doesn’t know.
My, Hank, how you’ve grown.
Seriously, when did he get to be a foot taller than his (younger) daughter?
When the scene called for his presence to be ominous :p
Also: considerably more ripped.
Its not too common for a recent divorcee to actually develop shoulders he didnt have before.
Maybe he’s just standing up straighter now that he’s not dealing with Carol and her bullshit anymore.
These two need to get at least a second to breath, I’m not even surprised they’re not making the best decisions with the sheer whirlwind of events that have been occurring in the last couple days.
Oh shit it’s one disaster after another.
CAN THESE TWO NOT GET A MOMENT?!
This may be a smash cut to the other issues at hand, but this is why he may be the rescue.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/deserves/
*Having told it to Becky while standing behind a naked Dina*
Becky: “You bastards. Why are you telling this behind my girlfriend who’s also naked? Are you going to have her as well?”
Dina: “That’s right, Becky. And you can live in the polycule of Dina as well. A Dina for everyone.”
Becky: “Oh. Cool, sign me up, then.”
Dina: “Excellent. Another member for the Dina wearing a Triceratops Hoodie plushie from Makeship.”
Wanted to give a shoutout to the news post: I love that the con booth map is marked with a blowjob cat.
Also a shoutout to the new 15th anniv site banners, it’s cool to see the character design timelapse.
Oh for fucks sake…
I wouldn’t be surprsised if Hank didn’t support Joss coming out as trans or thinks it’s only a phase considering where they’ve lived their entire life not to mention from our understanding Joss did slip under the radar for the most part during childhood so this would be a massive sudden realization.
I do think he’d learn eventually tho given so much of Hank’s character is about not wanting to push away his children after already losing contact with one
Either that or Jocelyne is out to him, but he doesn’t know she’s out to Joyce as well.
[Dale Gribble voice] Hey, Hank.
To show up this early, is not likely to be simply reactionary to the morning’s school newspaper.
Theories.
1. Hank heard about the violence at the protest and is concerned for how she fared. The day’s paper is a ticking time bomb.
2. Jocylene texted something concerning to him before the protest, and Hank took it to mean that she was coming out as gay, and he’s here in the “I always knew and I love you” capacity, and he’ll be thrown for a loop when he sees the days paper and has to adjust to JOYCE being gay.
3. He was already planning on coming down to be part of the protest, learned that it was broken up from the morning’s paper, and completely misunderstood the photo. He’s here to taken “his son and his blonde girlfriend” out to lunch, who Joyce clearly must know already because she was in the background of the pic. Shenanigans ensue.
4. He’s here not to do something terrible, but because he knows Carol will and he’s trying to get here first to warn her.
I have faith in Hank and in his journey. I don’t expect him to adapt quickly, but I believe he’s already shown kindness, compassion, humility, and the ability to be open minded. I do not believe in this moment he is intentionally misgendering Jocylene at all (but I do believe that the narrative tension will be built around expecting Hank to become the bad guy).
I think it’s mostly 1. He already asked Joyce about the first photo of Jocelyne at the protest and news about that and not being able to contact her probably has had him worrying.
I doubt he’s seen today’s campus paper yet. His reaction would probably be different. Of course, that ticking time bomb is piled up right next to the door.
5. He wasn’t able to reach either of his kids all day yesterday and saw the campus protest reporting on TV, so he drove up through the night to check on them in person.
Except Joyce hasn’t mentioned lots of missed calls from Hank and I think Jocelyne would have responded when she got her phone back, if only to forstall a surprise visit like this.
I think it’s #4.
I think it’s been #4 the whole time.
Weve seen Hank trying to warn Joyce ( and Joycelyne ) about Carol before. I think she is in danger from the fundie Cult, Carol is going to try to do a toedad.
And now maybe Joyce is too.
Ugh. Joyce please call your ex bf. Get Joe involved. And Sal.
4 is spooky to think about.
Hank was cool about Becky, but that’s not always indicative of how a parent will handle LGBT people in their own family. Me being trans was a major point of contention between me and my generally liberal and pro-LGBT parents for a long time, and thing still aren’t great there. I think there’s definitely gonna be some tension here, he’s not gonna be immediately accepting.
I hope things are better for you now, at least.
Yeah, I expect there’ll be some tension and a lot of awkwardness, but I think Hank will get there pretty quickly.
He’s certainly not going to take a Carol or a Ross approach to it and I think having that example to look at will help him come around.
I wish you are right.
But we’ve seen this play out before.
I think she’s in actual danger from her mother and Hank is trying to protect her.
( Ok that doesn’t explain the misgendering and I don’t excuse it) .
I think she’s in trouble From the fundie Cult and they want to deprogram her like Becky.
Unless the alt text is referring to getting even MORE of her family involved, and her brother with the sports car shows up.
“I HAVE NO BROTHER.”
“Wait? Is John back in the country?”
or
“You’ve heard from Jordan!? He’s in town?”
I’ve already headcanoned all of Joyce’s siblings as being trans.
Joyce is the only boy.
“India, I think?”
NO ON EXPECT THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
The B plot.
It’s Carol. She’s been plotting probably to Toedad Jocelyne. Hank is trying to step up .
Now she’ll see the student paper and Joyce might be in danger too
Too bad I can’t post a gif. It would be of the Wicked Witch melting
Technically, Joyce would not be lying if she said her brother isn’t there. I mean, it’s been quite a while since we’ve last seen Jordan. I know Hank is actually looking for Jocelyn, but this is the time for Joyce to stand up, and protect her sister.
But “technically not lying” is usually a bad approach because people ask follow up questions.
This and also, “technically not lying” doesn’t matter for a whole lot, besides may Joyce’s ability to bluff. If you want her to deceive, you may as well own it.
I mean, also, like, it’s okay to misrepresent someone’s gender if it is in the service or protecting them from being outed against their will. “Don’t out someone” is more important than “Always use the right name and pronouns.”
Just call her Joshua and use “him” when talking to Hank, until she’s ready to come out to him.
Joyce’s technically not lying is already likely putting her in a bad position here, since now Hank is already in “you’ve lied to me about this” mode.
According to Google Maps, the drive from La Porte to IU would be about 3 and a half hours on a Sunday. Assuming this is late morning (nobody has had lunch yet) Hank would have had to have seen the online Daily Student early and headed straight out. Accurate?
My guess is that he hasn’t seen it yet. If he was focused on this morning’s picture, he’d be focused on Joyce kissing a girl, not on Jocelyne.
I suspect he spent the night worried about Jocelyne at the protest, somehow hasn’t been able to get in touch with her and came up because of that.
Hard to tell where his head is at post-Carol, but maybe he was just waiting for Joyce to come out. More concerned about the ‘son’ in a live-fire zone.
Welp.
man, the lighting on hank is so powerful
So are his new-found height AND shoulder width.
I´ve seen recent divorcees shape up on occasion. But never grow half a head.
Character revamp to elder hotdad is well underway.
well my heart just (figuratively) stopped for a second when the PTSD hit
gonna lie down for a bit
Be gentle with yourself.
( Can’t tell if this is literal statement)
the PTSD part yeah
The more i reread panel 2 the more I’m convinced that Joyce’s apparent indifference is her just turning her ritical thinking all the way off. Joyce your the one with over a decade of history with Becky, Dorothys standard conflict resolution scripts are not appropriate here. Ofcourse thst will first require Joyce to acknowledge that which may not happen for a long while.
*critical
Or she doesn’t know how to fix this and is asking for a second opinion.
Yeah, there *is* no fixing it, Becky just has to come to terms with it. The best you can do is make sure she has a support network, which I’m actually worried about, because she might not want to talk to her girlfriend, her Boss is terrible for shit like this, her surrogate moms might be in prison, and talking to surrogate Dad about it would out Joyce to her father.
it’s kind of a reoccurring trend were Joyce asks Dorothy’s decision on all issues though. I agree there is no fix but Joyce seems to expect Dorothy to have all the answers.
Absolutely tone inappropriate of me, but I needed it today…
I tried somebody’s game from the other day of clicking random until I get a “Joyce being bi/queer” strip. It took eight for this one, which is a queer moment that starts out disguised as a ‘straight’ moment.
hmmm, I wonder why that helped
Y’know, it’s funny, I used to think Joyce’s moment of awakening would come when one day somebody teased her about Julia x Doris again and she gets mad and was sulking and drew them kissing on a whim and was like “Oooh. OH. Uh oh.”
We should cut to Jocelyn leading a riot that liberates all the prisoners at the secret Bulmerian detention facility she’s been kidnapped to. Because this comic has been too normal!
It’ll get less normal in a month or two when Carol finally shows up.
It’s not the kind of comic.
No consequences! No drama!
Sickos 4evah
Get Hank and Carol into the polycule.
No clue, Dad. I know where my sister is though.
Dun dun DAAAAAAAAAD
I’m calling that Hank hasn’t even seen the front page photo of the kissing yet because it didn’t go up online until after he started driving to the school. As far as he’s aware, he’s just trying to make sure Jocelyne is okay (without knowing that she’s trans or not yet getting words right if he does).
That’s my current guess.
*vibe-checks hank’s style vis à vis others’* oh so you like oval wire glasses huh
Beck? She’s no perdedor, so don’t you––