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Hey, new here, just did archive dive.
I agree with this. Danny’s biggest dream was to marry (which is fine), and just ride coat tails (which is not).
So I hope Amber gets through her abusive past and does better.
“I actually think it would be better for her to do it as Amazi-Girl.”
He might not believe her even if she did. He might think she was imitating A-Girl just to get his attention. She’s very close to a no-win sutuation.
DAMN YOU WILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Goddammit Danny, ignore everything Amber says and react to the stuff that she didn’t say and that you don’t know and that you can’t know! If you don’t you are a failure and a Danny and you fuck goats!
The next morning Yotomoe appeared at the TFWiki and demanded of the Willis that he offer Yotomoe his neck to repay the insult. Willis at first tried to console Yotomoe, only to find Yotomoe was… inconsolable. So began the massacre of the TFWiki and all sixty of the contributors inside at the fists of the DoA Commenter. And so began the legend of Yotomoe’s Five Point Palm Exploding Nerd Technique.
…Sorry I used your name in this, it just seemed to really fit.
Most of the people who died horrible violent deaths in the Walkyverse had never met Danny, and most of those who spent time with Danny came out of it fine. Except for, y’know, the spending time with Danny part.
Everything bad that has ever happened is Danny’s fault. All of it. Ever. Especially his own conception. That was totally him.
You can definitely see the signs of it in the current comic. All those words on the page? Said by Danny. Amber certainly didn’t say anything that was massively confusing or misinterpretable. That’s impossible because she’s perfect and infallible. Danny, on the other hand, has done everything bad ever. In fact whenever anybody says, “Damn you Willis!” they actually typed “Damn you Danny” but Danny went and changed the words they typed with his Evil powers, purely because he wants to heap false blame on Willis to make him feel bad. Danny is the evil mastermind. Danny creates all evil. If not for Danny, everything in Willis’s comics would be happiness and sunshine. Danny actually changed the comics themselves to make the bad things happen. He also did that to all other comics and stories and movies out there, and also real life. Is your great-grandfather dead? It’s because Danny killed him. You know it’s true because he’s dead. Your great great grandfather I mean. Not Danny. Danny is still alive because he’s evil. He’s always been alive because he’s evil. There is no escaping the Danny.
How exactly is he a douche for being loyal to his “girlfriend” and not cheating on “her” with her. Danny’s doing the right thing, as far as he knows, we just know that he’s dumb. Really, really dumb.
So, am I the only one who has read this whole parent arc and thought, “Meh. These are mostly freshmen getting together in the first couple weeks of school. In real life, 99% of them probably wouldn’t still be together when they graduate.”
True, but I’m mostly thnking “how the hell did this much shit happen within the first month of school? I hadn’t done shit by this point. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW PEOPLE.”
Hardly. Part of the appeal of this comic is how we the readers can see what everyone is doing wrong with all these ridiculous levels of self-involvement in lieu of even taking their courses seriously.
Nnnnope! I definitely feel that way, and I also feel like a lot of commentators forget that these characters are basically dumb kids in the process of growing up and learning.
In all fairness, that’s because we’ve now been with these characters in this incarnation for 3 years. And for that matter, some people could in theory have been familiar with these characters (especially Danny and Joe) for16 years. So it’s hard to remember they’re all in like their first month of college here
Your statement is sort of true of every single character, not just these two.
I sort of always interpreted the title of the strip (Dumbing of Age) as not just a pun on “Coming of Age,” but also a reference to the fact that (pretty much as a requirement of being the age of the cast) everyone – in their own respective ways – is kind of, y’know, Dumb. Adorable and well-meaning, of course, but with a hearty dose of good old eighteen-year-old-with-head-stuck-up-ass Dumb.
Quite honestly, we know all the facts because we’re third person omniscient. If we had the exact same limited facts as Danny, it’d be a lot harder to say these things.
It would be even harder if we were right there in his shoes (and pants and shirt), with all his emotional investments and influences, having just a few seconds (or not even that) to decide on everything we do or say … instead of sitting comfortably in a chair, reading and posting comments all day, watching from afar, with no consequences threatening to impact our lives significantly …
Yup, you have to fight oblivious with incontrovertible fact. Like pulling out the mask… He was responding from his perspective however goofy it seems from ours.
Man, all the people hating Danny :/ Really feels like a bandwagon more than actual hatred I don’t know, I just can’t really consider him all that bad right now, especially when he is trying to stick to his morals and defend his “girlfriend”.
And for all he knew Amber was doing the same to his Girlfriend, while yes, being a bigger man is always a better option, it’s still a somewhat reasonable retaliation
but as far as he knows, that’s what Amber IS doing. He knows Amber likes him, he knows he’s dating amazigirl. He knows that Amber is not Amazigirl (even if this is false) and he knows that he just told Amber they can’t hang around as much because he likes Amazigirl and doesn’t want to be unfaithful to her, as they clearly have chemistry. What other reason would Amber HAVE to bash Amazigirl (from his perspective) other than saying “she is this, I am not”?
It’s kinda off-putting actually. It’s become less fun for me to hate him cuz everyone does it. And so now I’m forced to defend a character I don’t particurally like <:T.
Worse than that, you are defending a character that even the author doesn’t like.
And as I have been saying about Danny’s behavior through this arc, there is no one forcing anyone to do anything. You are defending Danny only because you have decided to. If you don’t like doing it, then stop.
My moral compass will not allow me to gang up on a character people are mad at. Especially if I don’t believe that the reason they’re mad at him isn’t just.
You know, Danny’s got a point. Heck, it’s the thing I wanted to know about superheroes in general: Is the mask a part of them or are they are different people respectively….but I also think Danny is a tad dense and not genre savvy enough to notice a hint of such magnitude.
Danny is mocking the pot for calling the kettle black, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the kettle is still black, no matter what he says to the pot.
Danny has a point about Amber not being a complete person. He does not know it, but she must have some awareness of it: without the energies that have been compartmentalized in Amazi-girl Amber is not a real person who can love back in full. What are the odds about “lust” being one of the things that have been outsourced to the shadow side?
He might eventually decide that Amber is Alfred to Amazi-Girl’s Batman. I wouldn’t want to underestimate Danny’s capacity for not connecting the dots, and yet I’m sure that I am doing just that.
Well, that went in a different way to what I expected would happen. An equally awful way, but still totally different. On the other hand, if Amber continues to date Danny as Amazi-Girl, she is a legitimately horrifying individual.
She will tell him that she’s worried her enemies will find out about their relationship, and if it’s worth it. And he’ll agree.
The next day he’ll be kidnapped.
As far as I can see, the only healthy way for Amber to deal with this, is to break-up with Danny as Amazi-girl (for the same reason she was trying to explain; that AG isn’t a full person and cannot be part of a real relationship).
Then decide wether or not she could take back Danny (if he wants it at all).
Hey, all of those defending Danny for being a good boyfriend?
I don’t think very many girls like it when their guy is an asshole to other girls. Even if those other girls are trying to move in on the game, snapping something so hurtful like this at another person is a “true colors” sort of moment – if he’s willing to be that hurtful and rude to a friend and cut her off completely, that’s not loyalty, or chivalry, or charming.
Uh…yeah no.
Y’see Danny understands that Amber likes him, and he likes her. But he has a girlfriend. But it is clear that Amber has gone to great lengths to get together with him. He knows that it’s probably not gonna change and he doesn’t want to risk it. It’s not nice. Neither is pest control. But you gotta do it or else ants will eat all your food. He’s gotta break it off before he has a weak moment and locks face with her. Also she said his girlfriend’s not a real person.
Now now, without knowing what we know, what Amber did really would be over the line. She forced him into a situation where he had to lie to his parents and keep up the ruse for a good bit of time in addition to the aforementioned crossing Danny’s girlfriend’s boundaries as well as his own. I’d likely be upset in that sort of situation.
She didn’t force him, he willingly went along with it.
Well, at first. Granted, the whole thing becomes iffy after they actually get to Galasso’s, but he could have just told her to not do it in the first place, and he didn’t.
Not because I like Joyce or think she’s right, I just think she is way more fundamentally damaged (or rather, unformed) than Ethan when it comes to people.
He only willingly went along with it because he decided to trust her. She has now not explained WHY she made him do that, which to me is the biggest problem right now. Amber needs someone she can talk to about her father, whether that person is her friend or her boyfriend. Had she just freakin’ explained WHY she forced her way in, Danny would be acting a lot different.
When did she really have time? As soon as his parents left, he cut her off at the knees and has been keeping her down ever since until she walked away. If he was freaking interested, he could have asked before going nuclear on the friendship.
She didn’t have to make up a story at all. She could have told the truth and said to Danny and his parents that she needed to glom onto them for a while because she was trying to get away from someone who was bothering her.
After his parents departed, she looked up at him and smiled. There was no attempt at an apology for coercing him into lying to his parents, and instead of trying to talk about Amazi-Girl, she should have instead said SOMETHING about how he really helped her out today and she appreciates it.
If someone bashed ME in front of MY boyfriend, I’d sure as hell hope that he was willing to be an asshole about it. I’d do the same for him. Otherwise you’re just letting a person be insulted without being defended, and that can be tough on the person if they don’t think their SO has their back.
Granted, this situation is on the fuzzy lines, but as far as Danny knows, he completely trusts and loves Amazigirl, and Amber just said she was an unstable crazy shadow incapable of love. That’s not something you tell someone about their date (well…unless it’s true, and most certainly not out of jealousy/spite, which is what Danny is probably perceiving her to be)
Note too that if this had gone the other way and Danny made a move to respond to Amber’s feelings, he’d be getting trashed here just as heavily for not being loyal to Amazi-Girl. There’s no way for him to win.
Now Amber you go find your momma and be comforted. Hopefully she’ll be comforted and that the whole “boinking Joe’s dad” thing won’t make Amber’s day worse.
DANNY SAID “DON’T TELL ME”. He made a point of it.
What if Amber told him and he’s like “I DON’T LIKE YOU ANYMORE”
What if he was in love with the mask
What if he was in love with the IDEA of a superhero girlfriend
What if What if What if.
This is the stuff that exists in an 18 year old’s head. I know. I just got done being one.
That’s still her decision to continue the relationship with Danny as Amazi-Girl. Once again, it’s as simple as untying a goddamn knot, I am finding it harder and harder to sympathize with Amber in terms of Danny issues.
As far as I can tell, the comments on DoA are 100% non-stop memes, being ceaselessly battered to a soppy pulpy puddle by David Willis’s legions of fans. #countmein
Like… which is better? Amber eventually managing to survive and grow past her (extremely horrible) troubles, gaining the ability to survive on her own terms…
…Or Amber getting into bad relationship after bad relationship, or even a good relationship fouled because her past problems continue to leech off her, and she uses a boyfriend as a crutch to stay down?
Commas, the enemy of mankind since the dawn of the internet. Of course that should read – Way to choke, Amber. Of course if she had spat it out, Danny probably wouldn’t of believed her, as his trust in her is damaged by this. And because, he’s Danny, screwing up is his special talent.
I am also in favour of Lesbin hijinks (how perfect is it that the nauseating-celebrity-couple-style-portmanteau version of Leslie/Robin is Lesbin? I think it’s pretty perfect).
Like all superheroes her greatest enemy is her own fears and insecurities, and if you’re an X-Men other X-men seriously do those guys fight super-villains any more.
I don’t think I realized just how broken she was until this comic
Honestly, to me there’s not much positive *or* negative about Danny’s behavior. I think he’s just a clueless kid who’s coming from a very normal background that can’t possibly comprehend where Amber’s coming from, what she’s been through. Maybe someday he will (and it will be a real guilt trip if he does).
But, Amber… oh honey… I think she just realized it really isn’t just Amazi-girl who is the mask. Amber’s “regular” persona is the mask too. They’re both masking hurt and vulnerability, one faking strength and the other faking normalcy. I hope someday she can find peace and be whole. But something tells me Amazi-girl’s going into retirement for some time until that happens.
You wouldn’t want to date a superheroine anyway. Her schedule is very rarely open, you’ll worry all the time about her getting seriously hurt while fighting the forces of evil, her superpowers could make more intimate moments incredibly awkward, supervillains will keep taking you hostage just to screw with her…
And just when I expected some sort of meaningful progress in this relationship…..considering this bit of drama, it’s definitely going to be months before there’s even a slim chance of Danny finding out. Goddamnit Willis
My second reaction was also… well, my fifteenth reaction was, “huh. You know, Danny is incredibly oblivious, but basically a decent guy. I hope Amber breaks off the Amazi-Girl/Danny thing because of this, ’cause it seriously seems like he’d be dodging a big ol’ crazy-bullet there.
The subtitle for this arc should be “Amber’s Worst Day Ever.” I mean, she probably had worse back when she lived with her dad, but still… damn.
I’m just hoping that, in her post-parents day fugue, Amber will find out that a secret radioactive isotope is going to an underwater base, and once there she’ll discover the true identity of the Master Planner! After a suspenseful and action packed battle she’ll be trapped under some rubble while the base collapses, only to heroically break free! Then she’ll give the isotope to Curt Connors, cure Aunt May of her radiation sickness, and move on knowing she just had what is quite possibly her finest hour.
Or she’ll just realize Danny, while nice, is as bland as tissue paper and that she can do better. Either one would be nice.
Oh, I agree that she’s responsible for this particular mess. Danny hasn’t really done anything wrong here.
But I also don’t think that changes the fact that Danny, while nice, is a relentlessly dull person, and that will inevitably destroy this relationship.
This is not going to end with the kind of relationship that Mephisto would inexplicably decide to buy – Danny is no Mary Jane. Mary Jane was interesting. Mary Jane had personality. She was intelligent, creative, fun loving, and overall had a lot of stuff going on even outside her relationship with Spider-Man. She was also able to figure out Peter Parker was Spider-Man waaaaay before he chose to tell her about it – and Peter Parker wears a full mask, not some little domino number.
Danny is more like pre-Gwen Stacy Liz Allen. He’s nice and reasonably attractive, and… well, that’s kind of it. He’s good at computers, I guess? Likes video games? But yeah, that’s kind of it. This relationship, like the one with Liz Allen, is really only thriving on the two person love triangle. It would not last long because, in the end, ACTION is Amazi-Girl’s own reward, and Danny just won’t be interesting once the chase is over. And he’ll never fully understand – and thus truly love – Amber/Amazi-Girl, because he doesn’t have that level of complexity.
If Amber needs someone to love her, then it has to be someone who can get the complete picture of her. And I don’t think Danny is that person. Amber needs to face it – she didn’t hit the jackpot.
I think that Willis has a formula for carrying on with painful storylines based on the quantity of comments. If not for a math anomaly we’d still be watching Blaine get chased around the building. Faz isn’t around this week due to the orbit decaying level of suck he inspires, just too dangerous for the solar system.
Danny is worse than Amber’s dad. At least with Amber’s dad he rarely meet her and he actually doing his own stuff away from her. But Danny…. he’s delusional and living in his own bubble. Dammit Danny!
just so long as we’re all in agreement that being a jerk to defend your girlfriend’s honor is way worse than cheating on your wife, hitting her in the face, and then physically threatening and verbally abusing your daughter
Words can hurt just as badly as fists, and the damage given sometimes lasts even longer. Don’t think Danny’s worse, but just as bad in a different way.
Yup. Admitting to a girl that you have feelings for her, but are in love with another girl and therefore won’t act on those feelings hurts just as much as a broken femur. Definitely.
*sigh* So many of you youngsters totally miss the point that it’s not WHAT he did, it’s HOW. All of this could have been avoided by some simple communication with Amber once his parents were out of earshot. But no, DA Danny has to go nuclear before he knows any of the facts. I wonder how he’s going to feel once he hears about what happened to Amber BEFORE she ran into him and proposed a little mutual benefit roleplay?
Amber, knowing how big Danny is on commitment, just coerced him into lying in front of his parents, pretending to be in love with someone other than his girlfriend, and then when he confronts her about it (saying “Hey, we need some space because this is not okay” after she continues to flirty smile at him instead of instantly explaining WTF), her best response is to bag on his girlfriend.
I’m sorry, but…although Danny conceivably could have found a way to untangle this, it’s not reasonable to expect him to, and despite how bad of a day Amber was having, she’s been a massive piece of shit in this story arc.
It’s not WHAT she did (trying to hide from her dad), it’s HOW (abusing her best friend’s trust, lying to him, etc., when she could have just said (1) I am Amazi-girl or (2) hey I need to hide from my abusive father for a bit).
Seriously, all this strip has convinced me of is that Danny “deserves” better. He can do better than Dorothy and he can do better than Amazi-girl: he needs to stop rolling over for women that are going to walk all over him.
Hell, maybe he and Ethan can get together, Ethan’s neuroses seem to be in a totally different field.
just so long as we’re all in agreement that being a jerk to defend your girlfriend’s honor is way worse than cheating on your wife, hitting her in the face, and then physically threatening and verbally abusing your daughter
[sarcasm]just so long as we’re all in agreement that being a jerk to defend your girlfriend’s honor is way worse than cheating on your wife, hitting her in the face, and then physically threatening and verbally abusing your daughter[/sarcasm]
Well Willis, cheating is a good excuse for divorce and physical abuse can be dealed by calling the police and jail/prison time. People also can realize how bad Amber’s dad early.
Danny behaviour hurt people who love him more. Dotty realize that and she already had enough of Danny’s ego. But she just can’t antagonize him directly so she left before she got hurt more.
He’s a freshman in college. He’s not doing it out of malicious intent, he’s not fully emotionally developed or mature. He didn’t say anything to Amber with the intent of emotionally disparaging her. He didn’t even say anything insulting. In fact, he called her perfect.
He’s young and over-expressing his anger, and he’s missing two key pieces of the puzzle here, which are 1. Amber is Amazigirl 2. what happened with Blaine earlier
“i really really think you should belittle and minimize the damages of parental abuse a little more” says it pretty well.
Do you know anyone who’s had to grow up with an emotionally or phyiscally abusive parent?
I do.
And lemme tell ya, AckAckAck, the emotionally abusive parent I’m thinking of right now did one FUCK of a lot more damage than one slightly oblivious friend could ever do, even one as consistently idiotic as Danny is.
Yeah, but Danny can’t help living in his own bubble – he doesn’t realize he’s in one. Amber’s dad, on the other hand, has been shown to be able to hold himself back – but only because he doesn’t want to get caught.
The attempt to make the real-life superhero thing properly heavy and psychologically grounded was a good one, but it’s getting to the point where the only reason this drama is going on is because one of these people is an idiot and the other one is mentally ill, and it’s not even fun in a car-crash kind of way anymore
But that’s how drama works… The Characters have to be idiots, or at the very least incapable of telling the truth to each other (or themselves), or accepting the truth when they hear it.
Drama can work fine with characters who are a) perceptive, b) have no illusions about themselves, c) accept the truth when they hear it, even if it contradicts their long held-beliefs.
Heck, the lead character of my favourite ever series of books ticks all three.
Damn again. Willis you are sadistic. You’re characters are wonderous.
Seeing Amber as trying to put down his GF, all he can hear is a derogatory comment, not a cry for help. So I guess it is natural for him to snap back with ‘and I suppose you are (a comple person)’.
Maybe he is overreacting a bit because he is not on solid ground with Amazi-girl: all he knows is the mask, not the girl. And he knows it.
Neither of them knows how the other is feeling and if they do, they can’t change it. He doesn’t know she’s his masked dream love. She doesn’t know how to tell him she is. He doesn’t know just how badly damaged she really is, and doubt he ever will. She is used to getting stomped on, so she walks away.
Emotions, yeah. Feelies everywhere. I’m sad.
Amber, you dummy! All you had to do was out on the mask! No words were necessary. (Even if as a wordsmith I can appreciate the poignant truth in everything you said.)
I think Danny lost any of my sympathy here. His reaction to defending Amazi-Girl is repulsive. You don’t put down a friend even when you’re doing stuff like this. The fact he’d prefer a fantasy over a real person makes him pathetic.
Honestly i don’t get all this hate i see for danny. He’s just doing the right thing, he likes a girl, AG (which is not a fantasy) and he want to stay faithfull to that.
If it wasn’t amber (which he don’t know being AG, and there’s no need to consider him stupid for it, it’s a comics and in comics people can’t see clark kent is superman) but another girl nobody would say anything about the way he’s behaving.
I’m sorry but the one at fault here is Amber, who’s trying to be his girlfriend as amber AND amazi girl without telling him the truth, with a guy who won’t doublecross her (what a bastard!)
Is he putting her down? He expects the cliche “but I’m a complete person” argument for why he should ditch this girl he has fallen in love with, and calls her out on it. I doubt his intent is to hurt her, nor do I think he expected the answer he got. He’s just in love with someone who, to him, is not a fantasy, and is irritated that anyone suggest he leave her. After all, he has met her, he has held her, he has streetpassed her on his 3DS. He just doesn’t know that her secret identity is so familiar to him.
If he doesn’t know that they’re the same person than as far as he can tell Amazi-Girl is another whole person playing the same game he is. It’s hardcore roleplay from his perspective that she’s perfectly content with.
I think he put her down because he thought that she was about to launch into a “this is why you should be with me instead of her” tirade which I can understand him not wanting to hear IMMEDIATELY after saying that he is really devoted to Amazi-Girl, and her “she’s not a complete person” phrasing REALLY sounds like that’s what she was about to do.
Been putting it off for a while, but finally made a Gravatar account to post here.
Speaking at someone with some serious relationship hangups, Danny is being A) Self-destructive and B) Passive-aggressive. I seriously hope Willis does not continue his storyline in such a way that Danny gets into a serious relationship with ANYONE until he grows up.
Seriously. He’s virtually a carbon-copy of someone who was in a relationship with someone very dear to me. Without going into details, Danny shares the same fatal flaw: A willingness to play the victim. It not only prevents them from fixing their own issues, but it makes them extremely manipulative and inconsiderate of those around them. It’s NOT a good trait for a healthy relationship.
Not going to lie, as a character, he actually infuriates me because he reminds me so much of the asshole I mentioned earlier. It’s a bit unreasonable to project this onto a webcomic character, but I certainly do not like the idea that this behavior will lead to a relationship and happily ever after. Because it won’t. Period.
It’s not just his behavior in this page. It’s a lot of his previous behavior. Especially his reaction to Dorothy breaking up with him. He implicitly suggested her dreams were a phase she might grow out of, and then made a big show about how he felt their love was more important to him than “Stupid Yale”. It’s digging back a ways into the Archive, but it’s the Oct. 12th, 2010 comic onwards that’s especially relevant.
It’s manipulative, passive-aggressive crap. He’s painting himself as the wronged party rather than accepting that things sometimes do not work out. Now, I’ll grant you, it’s fairly normal to be unreasonable about a breakup, especially at 18. However, if you combine it with a lot of his overall behavior (he was rather snide when he found out Dorothy was pursuing new relationships, as if he had some kind of claim on her), it paints the picture of a very selfish and codependent personality.
I’ll grant she started dating Walky rather quickly after breaking up with him, but A) She broke things off before pursuing other relationships, so it’s hardly cheating, B) It’s not fair to impose a mandatory waiting period to move on with your life after a breakup, and C) I get the distinct sense the relationship was flagging for quite a while.
In this series of events, one of his primary complaints after telling a friend “I don’t think we should talk to each other any more” after a single damn issue, is “Hooray! Now I get to explain to my parents how I lost another perfect friggin’ girlfriend.” Totally ignoring how his overreaction hurt Amber needlessly in favour of how he appears to his parents.
These are not positive personality traits. While he might grow out of them, he SHOULD do so before any relationship he has can be considered healthy. Even if a potential girlfriend was willing to deal with his manipulations and codependency, it would be more of a testament to her patience/willingness to put her needs after his. Because he doesn’t seem willing to put his own needs aside even part-way.
Again. I realize I’m projecting a bit onto the comic, but the fact is he DOES, as a character, remind me of someone I know who was utterly toxic, relationship wise.
Well, my first post (ever, in fact, as far as Gravatar) was removed by a moderator. Perhaps for being to angry. So I’ll sum up my point: Danny is being passive-aggressive and is not ready for a relationship. Good comic, good writing, good characterization. But really hope he grows up first before the comic shows him making strides towards a relationship. Because his personality right now is, frankly, toxic.
Yah, realized that after I logged in to make the followup post. My login must have timed out so I was no longer seeing the “waiting to be approved tag”. I assumed it’d been deleted. To be fair, I was ranting a bit and wouldn’t be totally surprised if it was removed, given how new the account was. Moderators do have to try and limit trolling and flaming.
I know some guys like this — who, in the face of liking a girl but not wanting or being able to date her (perhaps because they’re taken, perhaps because the lady isn’t interested), cannot move forward with the friendship in a healthy manner.
Most of them just avoid the girl and never explain themselves. I’ve lost dude friends this way, dudes who refused to tell me what was going on, leaving me to puzzle it apart. Dudes who told me we were ABSOLUTELY bros, dudes who I was not attracted to. Yet, they either believed they could not trust their own behaviour around me (consent, much?), or simply didn’t know how to handle overlap of the friend and romance bins. I do not date such men.
Danny’s situation is a little different. Assuming Amber isn’t amazi-girl what she did was flirty in a very uncool way. Danny is an oblivious idiot not to figure this out and lacks the empathy or experience to set and defend a less extreme boundary than “no contact”, but he is being upfront about his extreme measures, even when he has probable cause to stay away. I respect him for that. I still would not date him, because he is an inexperienced empathetically-challenged imbecile.
After more or less telling Amber that he wanted to be making out with her alter ego and Amazi-girl and only THEN discover they were the same person… I wonder who he’s going to end up making out with. Amber/Amazigirl’s scars may prohibit her from calling things off before then.
The fifth panel sorta makes me think Danny might know, but that could be wrong–he might just be referring to how she seems to like him more than he likes her, which could lead her to seem like an incomplete person. But dang. But. Dang.
If Danny actually does think that Amber is Amazi-Girl, then his behavior here goes from being merely rude, tactless, stupid, and mostly indefensible, to being cruel, sadistic, pointless, and utterly indefensible.
It’s the difference between being an asshat and a monster.
This is one of the reasons I love this comic.
I would love to pretend that I was a mature, logical, adult who considered other people’s feelings when I was eighteen, but no. I was a self-centered girl with a lot of growing up to do. I didn’t talk to the people I should talk to either.
Part of identifying with a character is identifying them when they do stupid things, as well as when they do awesome things. So I love the ride here, where one month I’m SO IMPRESSED AND PROUD with Joyce and Dorothy for talking to each other about their ACTUAL FEELINGS like ADULTS WHO ARE FRIENDS, and then one month I’m going NOOO AMBER JUST TELL HIM when I know perfectly well I never would have done that at her age, and I didn’t have nearly as much emotional pressure; my dad is awesome.
THANKS WILLIS FOR MAKING ME RELIVE MY COLLEGE YEARS, even the bad parts.
I am glad she walked away. Whatever she sees in Danny is coming from her own figments of need and imagination. At least Amber has found the truth about herself. It has been an awful day for her, but she will grow from it.
Bottom line is that Danny is a complete narcissist and doesn’t deserve anyone as good as Amber.
I feel like a lot of people are set on hating Danny that they twist everything he says to be negative. Yeah, he’s a bit self-absorbed sometimes, but 1) that’s pretty normal for humans in general 2) he’s like, 18. JFC people, were you perfect, selfless and completely considerate and cognizant of other peoples’ feelings at 18?
Agreed. I can’t hate someone for being clueless. I didn’t like Danny’s behavior at the beginning of the comic when he was set on Dorothy, but if characters were perfect they wouldn’t be able to grow. He’s come along since then.
People are set on hating Danny because people like to hate the person towards whom other people act shittily rather than the people who act shittily towards other people.
No, see, you haven’t got the memo. Danny is evil and everything he does is bad. All of it. No matter what. Any bad name or property you can think of? Totally applies to him.
You know, I’m with Danny on this one. Again, he doesn’t know they’re the same person (and neither does anybody else, that’s how running gags work). Let’s alter a couple variables here. Let’s say that Danny was dating Amber, rather than Amazi-Girl. And it was Dorothy that had put this whole thing on him, rather than Amber. It would be obvious and clear that Dorothy would be in the wrong, and that Danny was acting according to some fairly moral principles in this case. Brutal honesty is always better than sugarcoating things. What he’s doing is nicer than leading her on, and then always keeping a distance that she can’t cross between the two.
Ergo, Danny is doing the right thing for once. We only feel bad for Amber because we know that she is Amazi-Girl, and because of what just happened with her father. If she would just stop lying to him, this would be a non-issue.
I agree with you completely. Danny is acting from the moral high ground. How many other guys who have a girlfriend and are attracted to a different girl (who clearly likes him too) would tell the other girl that he needs to have distance. If it was a different girl doing what Amber was doing, then she wouuld have a problem with it. It’s still frustrating that Danny hasnt put 2 and 2 together, but really, we miss things all the time and dont realize because we’re caught up in our own perspective and narative. It doesnt fit or occur to Danny that he should look for who Amazi-girl is without the mask. Maybe that person doesn’t appeal to him because she would be real. As much as we love super heroes because of how they save us or their powers, the tragic back story is there to solidify why they become heroes in the first place. Tragic back stories need to be delt with before the person can be a full participant in a romantic relationship.
If Danny were 25, he would be an absolute jerk. But he’s 18, like most of the characters. They will make tragic decisions without a thought or looking back. none of them are complete people yet. Go through the cast and Sarah is almost the only one who behaves like an adult.
It becaause we all remember being like that that the strip works so well.
Exactly. I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of DoA readers have a moment or two in their past where they were every bit as stupid and hurtful as Danny is here. I know I have. You live and you learn, and you try not to be as stupid next time.
Yah. That is a fair point, I guess. I still feel Danny currently has a toxic personality for a romantic relationship. But, like you said, none of them (barring Sarah) have truly finished their growth into proper adults.
@Belegcam, trying not to be as stupid next time is easy for me. Ya see…. I just set the bar *really* low. If you start at “retarded chimp after a six-pack of beer”, “dumbass” is an improvement. Yay lowered expectations!
To all of you saying that Danny has been an asshole this whole time, and that nobody should ever choose to oust someone who’s such a good friend etc. Please keep in mind that he met Amber like a month ago in comic time. If some girl who I had only known for a month was acting like this, what the hell would you do?
Also keep in mind that this is fiction and is meant to draw you in, if he handled it perfectly it would be boring.
I dunno, I think I’d keep some self-awareness. Danny is living the comic book fantasy and if he chooses the fantasy over a real girl, well, that’s UNDERSTANDABLE but something you need to keep a self-awareness over. I, myself, have made some stupid fantasy dreams in my life and chosen them over the practical. However, the key to surviving them was my awareness it was stupid.
From his perspective he has a kink and met someone else whose kink was compatible. He’s been on trips fighting crime with her, he knows what Amazi-Girl really is, if not who. Danny’s fine. Amber’s being stupid, but Danny’s fine.
Danny just came from what he saw as a super-serious relationship that was destined to last forever, too. The real girl in question here reminds him a ton of that ex, along with his failings in that relationship. He’s also just started college, and has probably come to the conclusion that he maybe needs to date more casually.
Ok. Seriously. How do so many people nitpick over every little thing that Danny has ever said or done, but Amber gets a free pass with you people? She has
1) Found a guy who thinks her superhero secret identity is hot.
2) Liked him as her alter ego.
3) Liked him as her real self.
4) Made out with him as superhero.
5) Been upset that their relationship doesn’t magically carry over into their real life.
6) forced him to pretend to be her boyfriend for a day.
7)Gotten upset that he wants to be with her alter ego, who I might add, he thinks is SOMEONE ELSE.
8)Basically browbeat him into admitting that he does like her.
9) Gotten upset that he chose the girl that he already committed to.
8) Browbeat? When did she even ask? Seems like he spouted that on his own.
9) Got upset that to choose that girl (her) HE CHOOSES TO CUT HER OUT OF HIS LIFE ENTIRELY!!!! But what the hey, why get upset over a little thing like abandonment?
As far as “forced” goes, bear in mind that if Danny had declined to go along with her deception, he would have been vilified here just as much. She boxed him in so that there’s no correct path for him.
I’m blaming Danny ONLY for being oblivious. Willfully oblivious still counts. (Of course if by some chance he does know the truth, then his behavior at this exact moment in time puts him right up there with Robin’s dad. Not Blaine. NEVER Blaine.)
As for Amber… she needs to end the relationship with him as Amazi-Girl. Even if he’s not figured it out yet. Especially if he’s not figured it out yet. I’m withholding judgement on everything else she’s done today for the time being, since she had her reasons, but as far as I’m concerned the next week or so is going to be crucial in my opinion of her.
Anyway, enough Danny/Amber. let’s go back to the box and have Walky and Dorothy and Robin now please. Or maybe Sal.
He’s being oblivious because it’s a comic universe. Amber intentionally carries herself differently as her own self and as Amazi-Girl, she talks differently, and she also does her hair up differently. Most people wouldn’t be able to honestly know those two are the same without seeing a side by side comparison. You’re calling him oblivious while you have all the facts, which isn’t fair.
He’s being oblivious because he doesn’t want to know, because knowing would ruin his fantasy. This is a consistent flaw in Danny’s character, something that he’s been doing over and over despite the problems that it causes for him and those around him. It’s why Dorothy dumped him. It’s why he couldn’t figure out that Dorothy was dumping him even while she was doing it. It’s why he’s dating the fantasy Amber instead of the real one in the first place. It’s why he refuses to add up all the clues that he’s been hit with over the last few weeks. It’s why he’s angry at Amber for getting him to actually engage with reality for a couple strips at Galasso’s. He’s afraid to deal with reality – he practically confessed that at Galasso’s – and he resents being jarred out of his fantasy.
Since the beginning of college, Danny has spent more time with Amber, both with and without her mask, than anyone else – including the audience. He’s spent hours with her both on- and off-panel, and not just quick glimpses in the dark in a stressful situation, but just sitting around face to face chatting, or even closer and more intimate than that. He’s been able to observe things that don’t make it through the fourth wall and aren’t easy to compartmentalize, like scent. He met her before she was disguising all the things she disguises now, and he’s been there since when her mask has slipped.
He has lots of information that we don’t have, and the only thing he doesn’t have that we do is actually seeing her take the mask out of her pocket and put it on… and, stupid meme aside, if anyone seriously didn’t know that Amber was Amazi-Girl before that strip, I will eat my hat.
All this storyline has demonstrated to me is that people’s urge to hate Danny is stronger than their urge to pretend Amazi-girl might be someone other than Amber.
Damnit Amber. You need Danny as a friend, and you can’t just completely take advantage of someone’s trust without justifying it. SOME sort of quick explanation of what your father did to you today, anything… Danny deserves to know why he took that leap of faith for you and lied to his parents.
This comic made me sad but I really couldn’t see it happening any other way. Amber isn’t emotionally ready to reconcile Amazi-girl and Amber. If she tried to reveal that she’s Amazi-girl, it may have worked out in the short term but it would go downhill very quickly. Danny is a very loyal person, so he couldn’t (in good conscience) continue anything with Amber while he is dating someone. And people have said it above me, but it’s clear to me Danny’s comment was meant to preempt Amber claiming to be a whole person and he couldn’t know how badly it’d hurt her. (plus that loyalty thing means he sees what Amber is saying as an insult to his girlfriend.)
Obviously the next step is for Amazi-girl to break up with Danny. I hope Amber does this, because it would be better for both their characters.
Honestly, I like Danny. I’ll freely admit he’s an idiot, but everything he’s done or said has made sense as he is an idealistic and unobservant young man from a middle-class background who hasn’t really experienced much of life.
In what way is ditching someone who is acting like this a wrong move? From his perspective, she’s being at best unnaturally pushy and clingy. Keep in mind they have known each other for maybe a month. You are acting like he is choosing his gf over his best friend. In reality, he is choosing to remain faithful by ousting someone who he’s only hung out with for a few weeks, maybe half a dozen times out of class, and is acting like she has major issues. Which she does I might add. In what way is that unreasonable?
I’ve been in both shoes in this case, and I can say with certainty that this was far from the worst outcome.
You’re justifying his actions nicely. Doesn’t make them (or you) right.
Ditching a friend, whether best or girl-, new or old, should be your last option, not your first. And even then should be done gently. She does have major issues, but didn’t really show that to him, just to us. BTW, since you want to treat them separately, you don’t think someone who runs around in a cape and domino mask beating people up for minor legal infractions is showing major issues? She’s not a super hero, she’s a misguided vigilante with anger management issues.
It’s unreasonable to me because her actions were suddenly completely out of character. Wouldn’t you, as a friend, want to know why BEFORE you tank what was apparently a good friendship before this? This may not have been the worst possible outcome, but it was far, far, far from the best.
Okay, most of my sad reaction out of the way, I don’t see Amber revealing herself as Amazi-girl after this – not anytime soon, anyway. She is just not ready to decompartmentalize, and she’s self-aware enough to realize this. She’s self-aware enough to realize that her identity as Amazi-girl is *not* healthy, nor would any relationship with her as Amazi-girl be, either. It’s just . . . really heart-wrenching to see her realize that that may be the case for her main identity, as well, due to the fractured nature of how she deals with her emotions.
I agree with the E-Man. I’m not a Danny-hater (no point, you can’t fly so close to such a flame without being burned, and anyway, he’s not real), but he’s a prize dumbass if he can’t work this out. As Ms Ferris said to GL, ‘You think I wouldn’t recognise you because I can’t see your cheekbones?’
Even if Amber disguises her voice, hair, etc, if Danny isn’t taking enough notice of Amazi-girl to realise that Amber a) uses the same sort of language; b) is the same height and build; and c) has the same scent then he really doesn’t love her as much as he claims.
Pop quiz: how many of you went to see a favourite actor in a movie, and spent the ENTIRE time thinking, “Who the hell’s that?” Even under prosthetics, people we know well remain generally recognisable.
Sorry, Danny, mate, I like you, but you’re a screw-up. You don’t love her as much as you say you do, and now she knows it, too.
Over-analyzation. Danny’s cartoonishly oblivious, which is to be expected because, well, he’s a cartoon. That much is true.
On the other side of the same coin, Amber’s very careful about hiding her identity. I’m sure she talks differently in her amazi-girl persona, especially around Danny, as he’ll here her talk the most. She’d also disguise her smell, no doubt. And while she can’t hide her height and build, that much is never enough to identify a person. We already know Danny has a type, so he probably just assumes that’s part of the reason he likes amazi-girl.
Finally, it should be noted that movie makeup is designed to keep the actor recognizable, as the producers are aware of the fact that many fans will come see the movie just because of a featured actor.
All of this while casually hanging out with Amber, going on dates with Amazi-girl (who’s enabled Danny’s superhero girlfriend fantasy by, you know, frequently showing up to greet him), and hanging out with Joe, a sex freak of a best friend who constantly teases him/berates him for not having casual sex.
All of this, happening within the first month of college.
In short, give him a fucking break; it’s like a Chess player who knows all the rules destroying a newcomer to the game and then berating him for not immediately knowing how to play. Shit takes time to learn and you aren’t going to immediately know your opponents’ strategies, nor will you be able to read their movements and know exactly how they plan to move their pieces. One person only has a limited amount of information, information that changes constantly, but you’re treating Danny as if he should know everything about Amber’s present circumstances. He’s only human.
And you can’t fault him for actually having a good moral center when it comes to relationships. For as long as this comic’s been out, he has never compromised his morals, not even with Billie’s tits literally in front of his face within grabbing range. He is a dedicated boyfriend and a genuinely good person, and is only trying to do the best for his relationships, which according to the beginning of DoA, he takes very seriously.
That being said, Danny is a bit too forward about his feelings and lacks the capacity to think of others and the world around him complexly; that is perfectly normal for an 18-year-old kid, but HOLY SHIT is he annoying. Kudos/damn you to David Willis for writing amazing characters that piss people off; Dumbing of Age will surely be your masterpiece.
(And yes, I did spend a good half an hour or so writing this and getting all the links written out correctly, coming up with the chess metaphor [which was gonna be either a DnD or Warhammer 40k metaphor, but I’m not well-versed in either game to pull that off], and going through every Danny comic to make sure all of what I said made as much sense as possible. I need better things to do with my life.)
Honestly, the only thing I really fault him for here is his failure to ask why Amber’s been acting so abnormally… and, while he seems especially oblivious even for a teenager (likely willfully so, as John mentioned somewhere above), he’s probably feeling too emotional and betrayed right now to think clearly about someone else.
Still can’t bring myself to like him, but never mind.
Incidentally… when I first loaded the page, your comment about spending half an hour on that link-bedecked post was here, but not the post itself, leaving me cringing in anticipation of you seeing that the post you’d put so much work into had somehow vanished. Glad that didn’t happen.
Danny’s mentioned before that he’s actively NOT trying to figure out Amazi-girl’s identity; it sounds silly and immature here, but I’m sure he’s really doing it out of respect for Amazi-girl’s ability to do what she does without getting others close to her into trouble, which is actually rather thoughtful of him, imo. Despite what we know about her and her motivations, Amber is still a legitimate “real-life superhero” in the DoA universe, akin to actual superheros that exist in the world.
+100 for the level of research you put into that. Too many people are expecting Danny to act like an extremely emotionally mature and responsible adult. He’s going through a lot, and he doesn’t have the benefit of meta-omniscience.
Actually, I’m now trying to figure out Danny’s face in panel 5. He isn’t angry, or upset. Disappointed, maybe, just slightly, but he doesn’t seem to actually think Amber is wrong, just tactless.
Also, I’ve come to realize that a good analogy might be that Amazi-girl is Superman to Amber’s Bruce Wayne (assuming Bruce Wayne is also Superman). Her superhero identity is a mask, but her civilian identity is no more valid a representation of her true self than that mask. She seems most comfortable expressing herself around Ethan, even more than when she is alone. It’s kind of interesting.
My prediction: Amber wants to date Danny as her regular persona, but due to the rather obvious emotional issues that she tries to solve by being “amazi-girl”, she can’t bring herself to tell him. So, Amazi-girl dumps Danny, so that Amber can ask him out. Danny, who’s probably getting really tired of being dumped all the time, refuses to date her, adamantly holding onto the idea that he’s not good enough for her and in the end she’ll just get bored and dump him, just like Dorothy and Amazi-girl.
…So, yeah. just posting this here because I’m never right about predictions I actually vocalize, and I don’t want to be right about this.
This is entirely Ambers fault honestly. I realize she’s the more relatable of the characters but it was her choice to keep her life divided and lie to Danny. I sympathize with the guy. She may not be doing it on purpose, but she really pulled a lot of jerk moves on him from the onset. Danny’s partially to blame for wanting to ‘wait’ to find out her secret identity but even then he was just trying to support her in something that was clearly very important to her. Danny moved for a girl. Whose saying he’s stupid or wrong for knowing what he wants out of life and knowing that, more then a career, he wants a special someone? Or saying that its his fault his girlfriend waited so long to do something she should have done before because she was too scared to hurt her feelings and instead caused irreparable damage? Or for turning down sex with someone he barely knew because he wanted to get to know them better? Really, what is your peoples deal with harping on Danny?
OK – Mad at Danny, but he is what he is – an emotionally stunted, immature college-aged male. He has possibilities, but he needs to GTHO his “perfect woman” bit. Like most college-aged people, they have not yet realized that the “perfect person” for them is a hurtful myth.
Amber is not faultless either. She DID push Danny into that situation, and even if her intentions were good, which they are/were, it forced him into a situation where he felt that he had to make a choice. And so he did (the wrong one, of course, but we all knew that was coming, right?), and Amber goes away hurt and defeated again, which will give plenty of juice for AG. I just hope she (Amber as AG) doesn’t beat the crap out of Danny, though he has it coming. I also hope she does NOT reveal who she really is – she is smart enough to realize that she needs that outlet to stay hidden for a while longer).
I hope that Willis takes about a month off from this pair now, because he IS doing a pretty good Lucy imitation right now. LOVE the strip, Mr. Willis. Just give us a little time, please.
Me if I ever see Tony Hawk: Hey you’re Tony Hawk the famous skateboarder. That’s right I recognise you. Won’t be able to get any content out of this will you, you piece of shit
How to read all 28 issues of my Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane run on Marvel Unlimited:
1: The first four issues were published as the miniseries "Mary Jane."
www.marvel.com/comics/serie...
today in #9chickweedlane i learned we have to be shown children learning and relearning what sex is, for Reasons, even though they already clearly know and have prepared nuanced questions about it!
also that Gran must hate, if she's still alive, how Old Juliette is the same but with gray hair
one of my favorite things is when a commenter explodes WHEN DO THESE CHARACTERS GET THERAPY but directed towards a character who canonically has a regular therapist
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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 ⋅ 2d
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 ⋅ 2d
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?"
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 1d
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 2d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 12d
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so close
yet so far
So far that the only thing he’s so close to is the opposite of where he should be
I was actually referring to amber, she was so close to telling him.
I think that comment Goldstarz put down reflects that.
BUT IN THE END, IT DOESN’T EVEN MATTER!!!
Thank you for making my day.
The angst. It’s so… angsty.
I am rather hoping she manages to bring herself to tell him the truth, even if she has to do it as Amazi-girl
I’m hoping that, as Amazigirl, she gives him the blowoff because ‘Apparently I’m only good enough for you if I’m wearing a stupid mask and cape.”
To be fair to Danny, yesterday he effectively said he was attracted to Amber. But he thinks he’d be cheating on Amazigirl if he pursued this.
Hey, new here, just did archive dive.
I agree with this. Danny’s biggest dream was to marry (which is fine), and just ride coat tails (which is not).
So I hope Amber gets through her abusive past and does better.
Also, more Dina, but that is another story.
I actually think it would be better for her to do it as Amazi-Girl. Danny might not believe her if she did it the other way around.
“I actually think it would be better for her to do it as Amazi-Girl.”
He might not believe her even if she did. He might think she was imitating A-Girl just to get his attention. She’s very close to a no-win sutuation.
Sorry is this messes with the plot, Willis.
DAMMIT, AMBERED IT UP
=(
Danny rubbed off on her.
Gross.
She wishes.
She’s half a blender when you’re expecting a bunch of books.
It’s too bad Danny can’t doodle on her like he could a blender. : /
With his penis.
It’s like raaaiiiiiiaaaiiiiiiiiin on your wedding day.
Amber is having feels.
Everyone should be.
I am.
I’m having cookies. They replace feelings
I’m have NO
go get some cookies.
You know what’s better then cookies?
ICE CREAM!
Get yourself a tub of that and your feels will disappear!
I’m gonna go do that right now!
Because YEEEESH! THESE TWO
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
indeed! nnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Amber, there you go Dannying it up.
Well when she Ambers things up, she punches people.
read sober strip then i read this and i’m laughing my ass off
DAMN YOU WILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Crap, you beat me to it.
Beat me to it too!
Whenever I read this quote I hear it in the voice of the Guardian from Ultima.
Damn you, Avatar! DAAAAAMMMNNN YOOOOOUUU!
I’m the “God Damn” Avatar!!!
+10
I know, right? It just… she just… AAAARRRG!
Well, I guess if the characters acted reasonable and healthy this would be a really short story. But still. *sigh*
https://twitter.com/SteampunkRobot/status/383318008661168128/photo/1
You got the first Damn You Willis?
DAMN YOU YOOOOOTOOOOMOOOOOOE!
Feels!
Gosh darnit, Danny…
NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why you no fight for your love?!?!?!????
Fighting would have just made the inneveitable more painful. She’s gotta hold on to what’s dear her own way.
But it still hurts…
You get back there and punch him, Amber. GET BACK THERE AND PUNCHHIMINTHEFACE.
REPEATEDLY!
In the FAAAAAACE!!!
Yes! Unprovoked assault could bring Amazi-Girl there to sort everything out!
Dan Hard 2: Danning Harder
A good day to dan hard
Dan is Hard
Dan Hard With a Vengeance.
Dannied 2: Electric Boogaloo
Goddamnit Danny, get it together.
Danny didn’t even do anything in this strip to warrant this?
Goddammit Danny, ignore everything Amber says and react to the stuff that she didn’t say and that you don’t know and that you can’t know! If you don’t you are a failure and a Danny and you fuck goats!
What the fuuuuuuuuu
Oh, the feels
These dots… it seems like they might be connected, somehow.
BUT HOW!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I was going to call Amber out for screwing it up, but COME ON, we’re talking about _DANNY_ here.
She’s hurt now, but she’s better off!
He is to good for her, I admit. His shining superiority would probably make her insecure. (She said so herself.)
DAMN YOU WIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSS!
Maudit sois-tu Willis !
A pox on your house, David!
(Thought I’d change things up a bit, the old way was getting predictable.)
I think that we should try getting ahead of the curve and start inventing languages.
Bhfjvsajwed7, HNGjncyemm Willis&&&&&&&&&&&
DISHONOR ON YOU! DISHONOR ON YOUR FAMILY! DISHONOR ON YOUR COW!
Not Amazi-cow!
The Cow’s honour is unquestionable.
The next morning Yotomoe appeared at the TFWiki and demanded of the Willis that he offer Yotomoe his neck to repay the insult. Willis at first tried to console Yotomoe, only to find Yotomoe was… inconsolable. So began the massacre of the TFWiki and all sixty of the contributors inside at the fists of the DoA Commenter. And so began the legend of Yotomoe’s Five Point Palm Exploding Nerd Technique.
…Sorry I used your name in this, it just seemed to really fit.
Mulan reference, nice.
Let’s give Willis the Evil-Eye @^^^@
A plague on both your houses! I am sped.
Well that was not what I thought would happen.
Man, Amber’s day just sucks more and more.
In fact, the horribleness of her day is directly proportional to the suckieness of Danny.
With this, I have created the Danny theory. The more Danny talks with someone, the more likely they are to die a horrible violent death.
Just being in Danny’s presence drains the life out of you. Cuz even when he’s right, he’s wrong.
Likely caught under the wheels of a truck.
This doesn’t hold true for Joe. Dude rooms with Danny, and considers Danny his best friend.
Well duh! He has built up an immunity to Danny’s “Danny-ness” that’s why
Most of the people who died horrible violent deaths in the Walkyverse had never met Danny, and most of those who spent time with Danny came out of it fine. Except for, y’know, the spending time with Danny part.
I give up.
Everything bad that has ever happened is Danny’s fault. All of it. Ever. Especially his own conception. That was totally him.
You can definitely see the signs of it in the current comic. All those words on the page? Said by Danny. Amber certainly didn’t say anything that was massively confusing or misinterpretable. That’s impossible because she’s perfect and infallible. Danny, on the other hand, has done everything bad ever. In fact whenever anybody says, “Damn you Willis!” they actually typed “Damn you Danny” but Danny went and changed the words they typed with his Evil powers, purely because he wants to heap false blame on Willis to make him feel bad. Danny is the evil mastermind. Danny creates all evil. If not for Danny, everything in Willis’s comics would be happiness and sunshine. Danny actually changed the comics themselves to make the bad things happen. He also did that to all other comics and stories and movies out there, and also real life. Is your great-grandfather dead? It’s because Danny killed him. You know it’s true because he’s dead. Your great great grandfather I mean. Not Danny. Danny is still alive because he’s evil. He’s always been alive because he’s evil. There is no escaping the Danny.
Fear him.
You are a genius. Pure, pure genius.
At that very moment, little did we know, our favorite senator was hiding a gigantic Drama Tag under her seat at the football game.
Plus one imaginary point for SP reference!
Representative.
Is this the third impact.
Nobody’s been strangled yet.
Or turned into tang!
Might I point out that I see no Cheese here.
…Better she figures out now that Danny’s kind of a douche.
How exactly is he a douche for being loyal to his “girlfriend” and not cheating on “her” with her. Danny’s doing the right thing, as far as he knows, we just know that he’s dumb. Really, really dumb.
Hang on, I’m going to flip all the tables.
Oh no, my prized glass tables!!!
Me, right now
http://youtu.be/_Utgs-5TGvc
Yes.
You’re welcomed to try…that is if you can flip a marble table.
My rage gives me super-strength.
It was at that moment that Kernanator turned into the Hulk!!!
Well if Jesus could do it..
So, am I the only one who has read this whole parent arc and thought, “Meh. These are mostly freshmen getting together in the first couple weeks of school. In real life, 99% of them probably wouldn’t still be together when they graduate.”
But hey, I’ll admit that I’m a cynic.
True, but I’m mostly thnking “how the hell did this much shit happen within the first month of school? I hadn’t done shit by this point. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW PEOPLE.”
Except Willis has said they’re never going to graduate. Eternal college.
‘Eternal college’ is one of the most horrifying phrases I’ve read in weeks.
Meh, college was quite blissful for me. Stay up late, play Playstation, eat junk food, maybe go to class if I feel like it…
Eternal High School however sounds like the 9th layer of hell.
What Doctor_Who said. High school is cruel and unusual punishment. College is bliss — of which most of us are ignorant while we’re still in college.
If you have freedom and autonomy.
Comic strips are often eternal. Just think of Dumbing of Age as a 21st century Beetle Bailey.
Besides, just because they don’t graduate doesn’t mean they’ll stay in college forever. Dorothy might be the next Bill Gates.
That makes me really sad. Please don’t tell me this is gonna go all sitcom-esque where the status quo generally never changes.
Hardly. Part of the appeal of this comic is how we the readers can see what everyone is doing wrong with all these ridiculous levels of self-involvement in lieu of even taking their courses seriously.
Nnnnope! I definitely feel that way, and I also feel like a lot of commentators forget that these characters are basically dumb kids in the process of growing up and learning.
In all fairness, that’s because we’ve now been with these characters in this incarnation for 3 years. And for that matter, some people could in theory have been familiar with these characters (especially Danny and Joe) for16 years. So it’s hard to remember they’re all in like their first month of college here
They are both sad cases in their own ways.
Such is the nature of humans.
But only one of them realizes the true sadness of their case.
At least she can vent. But he in the other hand live a delusional life.
Your statement is sort of true of every single character, not just these two.
I sort of always interpreted the title of the strip (Dumbing of Age) as not just a pun on “Coming of Age,” but also a reference to the fact that (pretty much as a requirement of being the age of the cast) everyone – in their own respective ways – is kind of, y’know, Dumb. Adorable and well-meaning, of course, but with a hearty dose of good old eighteen-year-old-with-head-stuck-up-ass Dumb.
Yet another example of why this is called Dumbing of Age.
This guy gets it
Hey, sweet, I’m Jacob now.
Given the loyalty Danny’s shown so consistently, Amber should have known that dumping on his girlfriend was not the way to win him over.
I don’t think she was trying to.
Of course not, but that’s how it looks to him — like she’s talking badly about her romantic rival.
That should’ve been his cue to put one-and-one together.
But nope. Danny. Effin’ hell.
Quite honestly, we know all the facts because we’re third person omniscient. If we had the exact same limited facts as Danny, it’d be a lot harder to say these things.
It would be even harder if we were right there in his shoes (and pants and shirt), with all his emotional investments and influences, having just a few seconds (or not even that) to decide on everything we do or say … instead of sitting comfortably in a chair, reading and posting comments all day, watching from afar, with no consequences threatening to impact our lives significantly …
Yup, you have to fight oblivious with incontrovertible fact. Like pulling out the mask… He was responding from his perspective however goofy it seems from ours.
…perhaps cue weeks from now a similar set of comments from Amazi-Girl as a not so subtle hint to Danny without full admission?
So close, indeed.
No matter how far?
NOOOOOOOOOO I like Danny and Amber….. I was hoping for a reveal, should have expected this….. DAMN YOU WILLIS
Thus, a canon explanation for the hyphen in Amazi-Girl. Not a complete word.
Not quite a girl.
Not quite an amazi.
Not quite a mazi either.
Danny, you ass, I believed in you. You make this right. YOU MAKE THIS RIGHT NOW.
You were warned.
You could have prevented this!
You make this right right now!
You make this right. Now!
I believe he was telling Danny to literally make THIS right now.
I contracted him to write the program for me *days ago*. “It’ll be ready in a week or two” my ass, it’s been 4 years!
Danny still totally doesn’t know, does he.
Nope! It all went right over his head!
The truth.
It looks like he put 2 and 2 together…
…and got 22!
ah. the early sightings of the misguided danny-hater horde.
I’m just sitting back until it passes. It’s hard to hate someone when everyone’s doing it. So tacky. I don’t wanna wear the same outfit to the prom!
I was hating Danny before it was cool!
I hated Danny way before he became unpopular.
Is it really early if it’s been going on for like a week?
well, i meant posting 6 minutes after the update.
The whole thing with Danny being this dense…I can’t buy it anymore.
Man, all the people hating Danny :/ Really feels like a bandwagon more than actual hatred
I don’t know, I just can’t really consider him all that bad right now, especially when he is trying to stick to his morals and defend his “girlfriend”.
He doesn’t have to defend his girlfriend by emotionally wounding the friend standing right in front of him. That’s called being a dick.
And for all he knew Amber was doing the same to his Girlfriend, while yes, being a bigger man is always a better option, it’s still a somewhat reasonable retaliation
Off-topic, but I always giggle when comments about being a dick are paired with a Mike gravatar.
The Mike gravatar undermines nearly every comment I make.
True to form, obviously. Even passively, Mike ruins days.
but as far as he knows, that’s what Amber IS doing. He knows Amber likes him, he knows he’s dating amazigirl. He knows that Amber is not Amazigirl (even if this is false) and he knows that he just told Amber they can’t hang around as much because he likes Amazigirl and doesn’t want to be unfaithful to her, as they clearly have chemistry. What other reason would Amber HAVE to bash Amazigirl (from his perspective) other than saying “she is this, I am not”?
The guy thinks dating a costumed vigilante he knows nothing about is a good idea. Even Danny’s good traits are wrapped up in irritating stupidity.
It’s kinda off-putting actually. It’s become less fun for me to hate him cuz everyone does it. And so now I’m forced to defend a character I don’t particurally like <:T.
Yotomoe, you trendsetter!
Worse than that, you are defending a character that even the author doesn’t like.
And as I have been saying about Danny’s behavior through this arc, there is no one forcing anyone to do anything. You are defending Danny only because you have decided to. If you don’t like doing it, then stop.
My moral compass will not allow me to gang up on a character people are mad at. Especially if I don’t believe that the reason they’re mad at him isn’t just.
Your moral compass drives you to defend fake people from the criticisms of real people?
That’s…interesting.
You do realize that no matter what horrible things we say about Danny, we will never actually hurt his (equally fictional) feelings, yes?
Regardless, I cannot do that. I just don’t like it. Makes me feel MAD uncomfortable.
I kinda <3 you a bit.
Way to be a contrarian. It’s just as shallow as being a bandwagon follower. Just be yourself, Jesus. We don’t even know you.
Yes…because apparently you can’t hate a character unless you have truly legitimate reasons.
All aboard the Bandwagon everyone!!!!
DUMBASS.
Well…that’s depressing.
Poor Amber. Poor stupid, broken, bad-decision-making Amber.
This is the difference between Amber and Danny. Amber is a good person who has made a bad decision. Danny is a bad decision.
Danny isn’t a person, he’s more of a state of mind.
damn it Amber!
Danny, you stupid stupid fuck. You are a bad friend.
He’s a good boyfriend. The way I see it, Amber’s a bad friend.
The way I see it Blaine is a bad father. Which explains the rest.
Well, what we are now is shaped by how we were brought up and what kind of person we are surrounded with…so valid point there.
The way I see it Blaine’s parents didn’t raise him right.
It’s a vicious cycle really.
Is there any evidence he has parents? Other than Willis? XD
Pretty sure he wasn’t made from clay.
No, he wasd made from ink, digital ink.
Amber is the Ravager to Blaine’s Deathstroke.
Don’t you there compare Blaine to Deathstroke. I’m still pissed that he took on the freaking Justice League without breaking a sweat.
Well, Blaine took on the whole women’s dorm and only got a bloody nose.
Well, a bloody nose and a possible head trauma from Ruth’s belly to belly suplex.
Amber = Bad friend.
You couldn’t just let us have this one Willis?
Some of us are pleased by the sinking of this ship.
Some of this are us hoping that Willis is tying off loose ends so that Danny can be put on a bus…or under one.
Or he’s screwing with us and drawing out this relationship arc
Unpossible!
You know, Danny’s got a point. Heck, it’s the thing I wanted to know about superheroes in general: Is the mask a part of them or are they are different people respectively….but I also think Danny is a tad dense and not genre savvy enough to notice a hint of such magnitude.
Wait…what does Danny have a point about? Defending that Amazi-girl is a full person or…what?
Danny is mocking the pot for calling the kettle black, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the kettle is still black, no matter what he says to the pot.
Danny has a point about Amber not being a complete person. He does not know it, but she must have some awareness of it: without the energies that have been compartmentalized in Amazi-girl Amber is not a real person who can love back in full. What are the odds about “lust” being one of the things that have been outsourced to the shadow side?
Given this strip, I’d say the odds are about 100%.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/compartmentalize/
Ooh, good reference, Thor!
Amazi-Girl: “I’m Amazi-Girl because I need to compartmentalize feelings.”
Amber: “Amazi-Girl is a compartment for feelings she can’t control.”
Danny: *rolls all 10s on his dodge check, miraculously avoids clue-by-four to the FAAAAACE!!!!!*
Oh, at some point he’ll have to decide that it’s only because Amber knows Amazi-Girl. Amber did say that she was rescued by Amazi-Girl.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/homicide/
He might eventually decide that Amber is Alfred to Amazi-Girl’s Batman. I wouldn’t want to underestimate Danny’s capacity for not connecting the dots, and yet I’m sure that I am doing just that.
Amber being AG’s butler would also explain how she has her DS.
(“but my butler does”)
It varies depending on the character in question.
Well, that went in a different way to what I expected would happen. An equally awful way, but still totally different. On the other hand, if Amber continues to date Danny as Amazi-Girl, she is a legitimately horrifying individual.
We’re all horrifying. ALL OF US.
No, we are horrible. World of difference there. Mostly a world of impressiveness and fear.
The burning question I have now is what will happen the next time Danny meets Amazi-Girl.
Sexytime!
Is the suit stays on?
She will tell him that she’s worried her enemies will find out about their relationship, and if it’s worth it. And he’ll agree.
The next day he’ll be kidnapped.
By Amazi-girl’s archnemesis, the Great Sal-venger!
I’d be okay with Danny getting fridged.
As far as I can see, the only healthy way for Amber to deal with this, is to break-up with Danny as Amazi-girl (for the same reason she was trying to explain; that AG isn’t a full person and cannot be part of a real relationship).
Then decide wether or not she could take back Danny (if he wants it at all).
Because any other decision sounds terrible.
Well, one would hope something involving these three words: Lights. Out. Punched.
TAKE THE HINT DANNY! TAKE THE HINT!!!
DANNYS WEAKEST QUALITY IS HIS OBSERVATIONAL SKILL!
FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY HIS PERSONALITY.
His ass is okay, but we never get to see it.
AND THIRDED BY HIS FASHION!
I AM BREAKING MY COMMITMENT TO NOT POSTING ON DANNY/AMBER STRIPS IN ORDER TO RECREATE YESTERDAY’S YELLING MATCH.
IS IT WORKING?!
QUITE POSSIBLY.
Your grav is far too cute to yell, vsophi. : )
“Lois, there’s something I have to tell you. I’m really…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIaF0QKtY0c
Sometimes I feel like Willis may actually be a demon which feeds off of our emotions.
It’s the only way to explain the detailed personalities and subsequent crushing of their hopes.
The same could be said of all comic creators!
Hey, all of those defending Danny for being a good boyfriend?
I don’t think very many girls like it when their guy is an asshole to other girls. Even if those other girls are trying to move in on the game, snapping something so hurtful like this at another person is a “true colors” sort of moment – if he’s willing to be that hurtful and rude to a friend and cut her off completely, that’s not loyalty, or chivalry, or charming.
That’s being an asshole.
Uh…yeah no.
Y’see Danny understands that Amber likes him, and he likes her. But he has a girlfriend. But it is clear that Amber has gone to great lengths to get together with him. He knows that it’s probably not gonna change and he doesn’t want to risk it. It’s not nice. Neither is pest control. But you gotta do it or else ants will eat all your food. He’s gotta break it off before he has a weak moment and locks face with her. Also she said his girlfriend’s not a real person.
Wow, I’d never thought you’d be the first person to defend Danny, Yotomoe.
Now marvel at the extent of my vast powers.
Shazam!
Wow. Can you control all of your posters or does your influence over us grow with each post we make?
Yer a wizard, David.
Don’t get me wrong. I still hate the dude. I just give credit where it’s due.
Eh, Danny’s still just Danny. If you manage to get someone to defend Blaine, I’ll be impressed.
Now now, without knowing what we know, what Amber did really would be over the line. She forced him into a situation where he had to lie to his parents and keep up the ruse for a good bit of time in addition to the aforementioned crossing Danny’s girlfriend’s boundaries as well as his own. I’d likely be upset in that sort of situation.
She didn’t force him, he willingly went along with it.
Well, at first. Granted, the whole thing becomes iffy after they actually get to Galasso’s, but he could have just told her to not do it in the first place, and he didn’t.
I like how the first statement could ALSO be applied to the Joyce/Ethan relationship.
Yeah, I blame Ethan for that one too.
Not because I like Joyce or think she’s right, I just think she is way more fundamentally damaged (or rather, unformed) than Ethan when it comes to people.
((Heh. Fundamentally.))
He only willingly went along with it because he decided to trust her. She has now not explained WHY she made him do that, which to me is the biggest problem right now. Amber needs someone she can talk to about her father, whether that person is her friend or her boyfriend. Had she just freakin’ explained WHY she forced her way in, Danny would be acting a lot different.
When did she really have time? As soon as his parents left, he cut her off at the knees and has been keeping her down ever since until she walked away. If he was freaking interested, he could have asked before going nuclear on the friendship.
She didn’t have to make up a story at all. She could have told the truth and said to Danny and his parents that she needed to glom onto them for a while because she was trying to get away from someone who was bothering her.
After his parents departed, she looked up at him and smiled. There was no attempt at an apology for coercing him into lying to his parents, and instead of trying to talk about Amazi-Girl, she should have instead said SOMETHING about how he really helped her out today and she appreciates it.
+9000
If someone bashed ME in front of MY boyfriend, I’d sure as hell hope that he was willing to be an asshole about it. I’d do the same for him. Otherwise you’re just letting a person be insulted without being defended, and that can be tough on the person if they don’t think their SO has their back.
Granted, this situation is on the fuzzy lines, but as far as Danny knows, he completely trusts and loves Amazigirl, and Amber just said she was an unstable crazy shadow incapable of love. That’s not something you tell someone about their date (well…unless it’s true, and most certainly not out of jealousy/spite, which is what Danny is probably perceiving her to be)
Note too that if this had gone the other way and Danny made a move to respond to Amber’s feelings, he’d be getting trashed here just as heavily for not being loyal to Amazi-Girl. There’s no way for him to win.
Now Amber you go find your momma and be comforted. Hopefully she’ll be comforted and that the whole “boinking Joe’s dad” thing won’t make Amber’s day worse.
She’s got loads and loads of Positive Energy to bring back to you !
“By the way, Amber, you have a new stepbrother!”
BTW, 90 comments in 14 minutes….man you guys are fast.
Well it’s only 9:30 where I am, so it’s pretty easy to catch the comic updating.
Well, where I’m from there’s a 12 hours difference.
God dammit, Amber, you could have just FUCKING TOLD HIM
Like, Danny sucks too but jesus
Oh well, I guess it’s not called “Making Good Decisions of Age”
Quite
DANNY SAID “DON’T TELL ME”. He made a point of it.
What if Amber told him and he’s like “I DON’T LIKE YOU ANYMORE”
What if he was in love with the mask
What if he was in love with the IDEA of a superhero girlfriend
What if What if What if.
This is the stuff that exists in an 18 year old’s head. I know. I just got done being one.
Did you even consider it might be different if you were the entire 18-year-old?
That’s still her decision to continue the relationship with Danny as Amazi-Girl. Once again, it’s as simple as untying a goddamn knot, I am finding it harder and harder to sympathize with Amber in terms of Danny issues.
Ditto. She needed to tell him something about AMBER right now, not Amazi-Girl.
oh jesus
…
Dang it Amber just tell him already!!!
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
Proof that Amazi-girl is Spider-car!
Ha!!!!! I love it, Willis!!
Yeah, I figured out we aren’t allowed to say ultra!car either anymore. Figure there are ways around it.
Wait, why can’t we speak about that most magnificent of motor vehicles (Sal’s motorcycle excluded)?
Willis got tired of people beating the “Amazi-Girl is…” meme into the ground.
Which is silly. Beating DoA memes into the ground is 90% of what we do. He needs to FAAAAACE facts.
As far as I can tell, the comments on DoA are 100% non-stop memes, being ceaselessly battered to a soppy pulpy puddle by David Willis’s legions of fans. #countmein
Yeah, but when you bring UC into it, it’s no longer a DoA meme. It’s a Shortpacked! meme.
Aw, poor Amber. Keeping her identity secret is killing her inside, I can imagine.
You know, neither one is really mature enough for an actual relationship…
…And that’s not even touching the genuine problems that really need counseling.
Like… which is better? Amber eventually managing to survive and grow past her (extremely horrible) troubles, gaining the ability to survive on her own terms…
…Or Amber getting into bad relationship after bad relationship, or even a good relationship fouled because her past problems continue to leech off her, and she uses a boyfriend as a crutch to stay down?
Also Danny falling for every girl with glasses that reminds him of his ex.
Really, I think it’s Danny falling for every girl who shows an interest in him.
::cough:: Billieprovesthisisalie ::cough::
He had already fallen for someone before that though! Dan’s loyal, but not dead (evidenced in his reaction to her). He’s also dumb.
WAY TO CHOKE AMBER!
Now, now. He may have wanted to choke Amber, but he restrained himself.
http://instantrimshot.com/
Commas, the enemy of mankind since the dawn of the internet. Of course that should read – Way to choke, Amber. Of course if she had spat it out, Danny probably wouldn’t of believed her, as his trust in her is damaged by this. And because, he’s Danny, screwing up is his special talent.
Enough of the drama let’s have some Leslie/Robin hijinks please
Agreed!
YES PLEASE!
I am totally in agreement!
WE DEMAND SOME NICE LESLIE/ROBIN HIJINKS (POSSIBLY INVOLVING PRINCESS LEIA). THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!
(Ok, more like “the people have yelled”.)
SO SAY WE ALL!
I am also in favour of Lesbin hijinks (how perfect is it that the nauseating-celebrity-couple-style-portmanteau version of Leslie/Robin is Lesbin? I think it’s pretty perfect).
O FFS, Amber, unmask already. Sheesh.
Yeah, it’s not she have arch-nemesis or anything….right?
Like all superheroes her greatest enemy is her own fears and insecurities, and if you’re an X-Men other X-men seriously do those guys fight super-villains any more.
She Bruced out.
Bummer. She’d better get some toys, like an Amazi-Bike and some grapnel hooks and a glider cape.
Nah she went Peter Parker from the end of the original Spider-Man movie.
Agreed.
I don’t think I realized just how broken she was until this comic
Honestly, to me there’s not much positive *or* negative about Danny’s behavior. I think he’s just a clueless kid who’s coming from a very normal background that can’t possibly comprehend where Amber’s coming from, what she’s been through. Maybe someday he will (and it will be a real guilt trip if he does).
But, Amber… oh honey… I think she just realized it really isn’t just Amazi-girl who is the mask. Amber’s “regular” persona is the mask too. They’re both masking hurt and vulnerability, one faking strength and the other faking normalcy. I hope someday she can find peace and be whole. But something tells me Amazi-girl’s going into retirement for some time until that happens.
Yes, Amber’s too damaged to be in a relationship just now. It’s not helping her.
+1, Insightful, would read again A+++++
ow ow ow ow ow
you are totally right on
:(:(:(
owwww
++++
“Oh, honey…”
Yep, pretty much. Poor sad, confused Amber.
I’m going to start a band now and name it DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!
Reading these comments destroys my faith in humanity.
Our pleasure to despoil you.
Good our work is complete.
Happy to be of service!
Can I change my vote? I want to vote for “My Favorite webcomic” now.
“Dave Willis is a Jerkface”
Now I know why
You took the words right out of my mouth, it must have been while you were dissing me…
But let’s not forget: “Damn you, Willis.”
i know i said i wouldn’t comment on any more danny/amber strips until their situation is revolved buT NBNO AGH THE PAIN THE TORMETN
I know that feel!
You wouldn’t want to date a superheroine anyway. Her schedule is very rarely open, you’ll worry all the time about her getting seriously hurt while fighting the forces of evil, her superpowers could make more intimate moments incredibly awkward, supervillains will keep taking you hostage just to screw with her…
And if you do break up, she throws a shark at you.
Welllll, wasn’t that cheering?
What she should have said “No but I could have been the person who loved you.”
Dammit…now I wanted this to happen.
Right!?
Well, how about she throw that mask at his head as a parting shot?
She’d have to wrap it around a rock to get enough weight to throw properly.
…Actually more ok with that than I probably should be.
Aww, sad-face
Willis really nailed the art on the page. It looks cleeeaaannn.
Chase after her Danny. CHASE AFTER HER.
Oh for FUCKS SAKE, WILLIS
WHY DO YOU WRITE SUCH AMAZING AND COMPLEX CHARACTERS THAT TEAR MY FEELS TO PIECES
AAAUUUUUGHHHHH
And just when I expected some sort of meaningful progress in this relationship…..considering this bit of drama, it’s definitely going to be months before there’s even a slim chance of Danny finding out. Goddamnit Willis
My first reaction was “Amber, no!”
My second reaction was also… well, my fifteenth reaction was, “huh. You know, Danny is incredibly oblivious, but basically a decent guy. I hope Amber breaks off the Amazi-Girl/Danny thing because of this, ’cause it seriously seems like he’d be dodging a big ol’ crazy-bullet there.
The subtitle for this arc should be “Amber’s Worst Day Ever.” I mean, she probably had worse back when she lived with her dad, but still… damn.
I’m just hoping that, in her post-parents day fugue, Amber will find out that a secret radioactive isotope is going to an underwater base, and once there she’ll discover the true identity of the Master Planner! After a suspenseful and action packed battle she’ll be trapped under some rubble while the base collapses, only to heroically break free! Then she’ll give the isotope to Curt Connors, cure Aunt May of her radiation sickness, and move on knowing she just had what is quite possibly her finest hour.
Or she’ll just realize Danny, while nice, is as bland as tissue paper and that she can do better. Either one would be nice.
Or maybe she’ll get a clue and realize that she’s the one responsible for this whole mess and learn that all she needs to do is TELL HIM.
Or she’ll trade her relationship with Danny to Satan and be a petulant and whiny little child.
Oh, I agree that she’s responsible for this particular mess. Danny hasn’t really done anything wrong here.
But I also don’t think that changes the fact that Danny, while nice, is a relentlessly dull person, and that will inevitably destroy this relationship.
This is not going to end with the kind of relationship that Mephisto would inexplicably decide to buy – Danny is no Mary Jane. Mary Jane was interesting. Mary Jane had personality. She was intelligent, creative, fun loving, and overall had a lot of stuff going on even outside her relationship with Spider-Man. She was also able to figure out Peter Parker was Spider-Man waaaaay before he chose to tell her about it – and Peter Parker wears a full mask, not some little domino number.
Danny is more like pre-Gwen Stacy Liz Allen. He’s nice and reasonably attractive, and… well, that’s kind of it. He’s good at computers, I guess? Likes video games? But yeah, that’s kind of it. This relationship, like the one with Liz Allen, is really only thriving on the two person love triangle. It would not last long because, in the end, ACTION is Amazi-Girl’s own reward, and Danny just won’t be interesting once the chase is over. And he’ll never fully understand – and thus truly love – Amber/Amazi-Girl, because he doesn’t have that level of complexity.
If Amber needs someone to love her, then it has to be someone who can get the complete picture of her. And I don’t think Danny is that person. Amber needs to face it – she didn’t hit the jackpot.
Oh that sweet, delicious Schadenfreude. I’m getting all tingly… keep going you two! Make this train wreck an absolute tragedy!
… the Tainted Spud has issues.
CHOO-CHOO! CHOO-CHOO! Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-ch ugga…
AAHHH!!
BOOM!!! BOOM BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM BOOM BOOM
MILLIONS ARE DEAD!
Are you calling him a train wreck?
But… he said MILLIONS are dead… show me the train that holds millions of people! Or was it carrying a nuclear warhead?
I AM INTRIGUED >:O
Sounds like a good day.
Huh. You know, this is probably the most interesting Danny-heavy scene thus far. Willis found a way to make Wonder bread taste good!
Oh for crying out loud, don’t do this to me authorman, please.
dang it amber… JUST TELL HIM!!!
I think that Willis has a formula for carrying on with painful storylines based on the quantity of comments. If not for a math anomaly we’d still be watching Blaine get chased around the building. Faz isn’t around this week due to the orbit decaying level of suck he inspires, just too dangerous for the solar system.
Damn!.
Danny is worse than Amber’s dad. At least with Amber’s dad he rarely meet her and he actually doing his own stuff away from her. But Danny…. he’s delusional and living in his own bubble. Dammit Danny!
What.
second
I’m with the poster here. What’s doing here isn’t defending his girlfriend, it’s despicable.
just so long as we’re all in agreement that being a jerk to defend your girlfriend’s honor is way worse than cheating on your wife, hitting her in the face, and then physically threatening and verbally abusing your daughter
Obviously! Because one is Dan!
Words can hurt just as badly as fists, and the damage given sometimes lasts even longer. Don’t think Danny’s worse, but just as bad in a different way.
Yup. Admitting to a girl that you have feelings for her, but are in love with another girl and therefore won’t act on those feelings hurts just as much as a broken femur. Definitely.
Especially since the alternative to one is leading her on.
*sigh* So many of you youngsters totally miss the point that it’s not WHAT he did, it’s HOW. All of this could have been avoided by some simple communication with Amber once his parents were out of earshot. But no, DA Danny has to go nuclear before he knows any of the facts. I wonder how he’s going to feel once he hears about what happened to Amber BEFORE she ran into him and proposed a little mutual benefit roleplay?
…yeah, no.
Amber, knowing how big Danny is on commitment, just coerced him into lying in front of his parents, pretending to be in love with someone other than his girlfriend, and then when he confronts her about it (saying “Hey, we need some space because this is not okay” after she continues to flirty smile at him instead of instantly explaining WTF), her best response is to bag on his girlfriend.
I’m sorry, but…although Danny conceivably could have found a way to untangle this, it’s not reasonable to expect him to, and despite how bad of a day Amber was having, she’s been a massive piece of shit in this story arc.
It’s not WHAT she did (trying to hide from her dad), it’s HOW (abusing her best friend’s trust, lying to him, etc., when she could have just said (1) I am Amazi-girl or (2) hey I need to hide from my abusive father for a bit).
Seriously, all this strip has convinced me of is that Danny “deserves” better. He can do better than Dorothy and he can do better than Amazi-girl: he needs to stop rolling over for women that are going to walk all over him.
Hell, maybe he and Ethan can get together, Ethan’s neuroses seem to be in a totally different field.
Yeah, that’s kind of why I also included Amber’s dad’s verbal abuse.
just so long as we’re all in agreement that being a jerk to defend your girlfriend’s honor is way worse than cheating on your wife, hitting her in the face, and then physically threatening and verbally abusing your daughter
Fixed it for you, Willis.
[sarcasm]just so long as we’re all in agreement that being a jerk to defend your girlfriend’s honor is way worse than cheating on your wife, hitting her in the face, and then physically threatening and verbally abusing your daughter[/sarcasm]
Fixed it for you, Willis.
Well Willis, cheating is a good excuse for divorce and physical abuse can be dealed by calling the police and jail/prison time. People also can realize how bad Amber’s dad early.
Danny behaviour hurt people who love him more. Dotty realize that and she already had enough of Danny’s ego. But she just can’t antagonize him directly so she left before she got hurt more.
So Danny is worse because his actions aren’t terrible enough to require criminal sentencing. That’s…
wow
i really really think you should belittle and minimize the damages of parental abuse a little more
just so you know, you’re acting way worse than danny here
He’s a freshman in college. He’s not doing it out of malicious intent, he’s not fully emotionally developed or mature. He didn’t say anything to Amber with the intent of emotionally disparaging her. He didn’t even say anything insulting. In fact, he called her perfect.
He’s young and over-expressing his anger, and he’s missing two key pieces of the puzzle here, which are 1. Amber is Amazigirl 2. what happened with Blaine earlier
“i really really think you should belittle and minimize the damages of parental abuse a little more” says it pretty well.
Do you know anyone who’s had to grow up with an emotionally or phyiscally abusive parent?
I do.
And lemme tell ya, AckAckAck, the emotionally abusive parent I’m thinking of right now did one FUCK of a lot more damage than one slightly oblivious friend could ever do, even one as consistently idiotic as Danny is.
Your comparison is in extremely poor taste.
Yeah, but Danny can’t help living in his own bubble – he doesn’t realize he’s in one. Amber’s dad, on the other hand, has been shown to be able to hold himself back – but only because he doesn’t want to get caught.
The attempt to make the real-life superhero thing properly heavy and psychologically grounded was a good one, but it’s getting to the point where the only reason this drama is going on is because one of these people is an idiot and the other one is mentally ill, and it’s not even fun in a car-crash kind of way anymore
But that’s how drama works… The Characters have to be idiots, or at the very least incapable of telling the truth to each other (or themselves), or accepting the truth when they hear it.
I really, really don’t agree.
Drama can work fine with characters who are a) perceptive, b) have no illusions about themselves, c) accept the truth when they hear it, even if it contradicts their long held-beliefs.
Heck, the lead character of my favourite ever series of books ticks all three.
Now I need to know what that series IS, because I am SO tired of everything I see seeming to follow the theme I mentioned.
(Although I really should have said “TV DRAMA!!!” instead of “drama.”)
I really don’t think it’s supposed to be “fun”.
Why on earth would I consume a piece of media that wasn’t enjoyable?
Well, Danny in the fifth panel broke my heart a little. Just that little sneer of disdain coming through.
Sorry Danny…but I don’t think Amazi-Girl will be wanting to see you again!
FEELS
feels everywhere
Damn again. Willis you are sadistic. You’re characters are wonderous.
Seeing Amber as trying to put down his GF, all he can hear is a derogatory comment, not a cry for help. So I guess it is natural for him to snap back with ‘and I suppose you are (a comple person)’.
Maybe he is overreacting a bit because he is not on solid ground with Amazi-girl: all he knows is the mask, not the girl. And he knows it.
Neither of them knows how the other is feeling and if they do, they can’t change it. He doesn’t know she’s his masked dream love. She doesn’t know how to tell him she is. He doesn’t know just how badly damaged she really is, and doubt he ever will. She is used to getting stomped on, so she walks away.
Emotions, yeah. Feelies everywhere. I’m sad.
Too true
Dear Kiroshino: Danny’s head.
If Danny has memory longer than a squirrel’s, he may remember Amazi-girl also using the word “compartmentalize.” http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/compartmentalize/
he won’t…. mew…
unlikely…the boy has the mind of a goldfish!
His brain was probably more focused on…other things
So? I use that word all the time, does that make me amazi-girl? It’s not like it’s a catchphrase.
Sad panda….
I just zoomed way in and Danny looks sad in the last panel…
…maybe everything will be okay?
As what Kimberley from the Mighty Morphin’ Power rangers Turbo movie would say:
“Throw him to Trevor!”
ah wait–I’m Dannying my references
When next Amazigirl and Danny meet she’ll take off her mask and throw it at him and then run away.
Then he’ll be all like “Amber, wait!” and chase after her and they’ll make out in the girls dorm.
No, he’ll chase after her and someone will get hit by a truck.
Not Danny, since that would make too many readers happy.
A truck will get hit by Danny.
He’ll fall off a bridge and break his neck?
DAMN IT, WILLIS!!!!
It could never be that easy… this is quite sad.
Amber, you dummy! All you had to do was out on the mask! No words were necessary. (Even if as a wordsmith I can appreciate the poignant truth in everything you said.)
@damnyouwillis
so close. so very very close.
I think Danny lost any of my sympathy here. His reaction to defending Amazi-Girl is repulsive. You don’t put down a friend even when you’re doing stuff like this. The fact he’d prefer a fantasy over a real person makes him pathetic.
Honestly i don’t get all this hate i see for danny. He’s just doing the right thing, he likes a girl, AG (which is not a fantasy) and he want to stay faithfull to that.
If it wasn’t amber (which he don’t know being AG, and there’s no need to consider him stupid for it, it’s a comics and in comics people can’t see clark kent is superman) but another girl nobody would say anything about the way he’s behaving.
I’m sorry but the one at fault here is Amber, who’s trying to be his girlfriend as amber AND amazi girl without telling him the truth, with a guy who won’t doublecross her (what a bastard!)
Is he putting her down? He expects the cliche “but I’m a complete person” argument for why he should ditch this girl he has fallen in love with, and calls her out on it. I doubt his intent is to hurt her, nor do I think he expected the answer he got. He’s just in love with someone who, to him, is not a fantasy, and is irritated that anyone suggest he leave her. After all, he has met her, he has held her, he has streetpassed her on his 3DS. He just doesn’t know that her secret identity is so familiar to him.
If he doesn’t know that they’re the same person than as far as he can tell Amazi-Girl is another whole person playing the same game he is. It’s hardcore roleplay from his perspective that she’s perfectly content with.
I think he put her down because he thought that she was about to launch into a “this is why you should be with me instead of her” tirade which I can understand him not wanting to hear IMMEDIATELY after saying that he is really devoted to Amazi-Girl, and her “she’s not a complete person” phrasing REALLY sounds like that’s what she was about to do.
yeah, as far as Danny knows, Amber is basically bashing his girlfriend out of jealousy/spite.
Been putting it off for a while, but finally made a Gravatar account to post here.
Speaking at someone with some serious relationship hangups, Danny is being A) Self-destructive and B) Passive-aggressive. I seriously hope Willis does not continue his storyline in such a way that Danny gets into a serious relationship with ANYONE until he grows up.
Seriously. He’s virtually a carbon-copy of someone who was in a relationship with someone very dear to me. Without going into details, Danny shares the same fatal flaw: A willingness to play the victim. It not only prevents them from fixing their own issues, but it makes them extremely manipulative and inconsiderate of those around them. It’s NOT a good trait for a healthy relationship.
Not going to lie, as a character, he actually infuriates me because he reminds me so much of the asshole I mentioned earlier. It’s a bit unreasonable to project this onto a webcomic character, but I certainly do not like the idea that this behavior will lead to a relationship and happily ever after. Because it won’t. Period.
How is he being a victim? By telling a girl who likes him that he has a girlfriend?
Yeah, I’m not really seeing it. I have dated people who actually do make themselves out to be the victim, and I seriously just don’t see it.
It’s not just his behavior in this page. It’s a lot of his previous behavior. Especially his reaction to Dorothy breaking up with him. He implicitly suggested her dreams were a phase she might grow out of, and then made a big show about how he felt their love was more important to him than “Stupid Yale”. It’s digging back a ways into the Archive, but it’s the Oct. 12th, 2010 comic onwards that’s especially relevant.
It’s manipulative, passive-aggressive crap. He’s painting himself as the wronged party rather than accepting that things sometimes do not work out. Now, I’ll grant you, it’s fairly normal to be unreasonable about a breakup, especially at 18. However, if you combine it with a lot of his overall behavior (he was rather snide when he found out Dorothy was pursuing new relationships, as if he had some kind of claim on her), it paints the picture of a very selfish and codependent personality.
I’ll grant she started dating Walky rather quickly after breaking up with him, but A) She broke things off before pursuing other relationships, so it’s hardly cheating, B) It’s not fair to impose a mandatory waiting period to move on with your life after a breakup, and C) I get the distinct sense the relationship was flagging for quite a while.
In this series of events, one of his primary complaints after telling a friend “I don’t think we should talk to each other any more” after a single damn issue, is “Hooray! Now I get to explain to my parents how I lost another perfect friggin’ girlfriend.” Totally ignoring how his overreaction hurt Amber needlessly in favour of how he appears to his parents.
These are not positive personality traits. While he might grow out of them, he SHOULD do so before any relationship he has can be considered healthy. Even if a potential girlfriend was willing to deal with his manipulations and codependency, it would be more of a testament to her patience/willingness to put her needs after his. Because he doesn’t seem willing to put his own needs aside even part-way.
Again. I realize I’m projecting a bit onto the comic, but the fact is he DOES, as a character, remind me of someone I know who was utterly toxic, relationship wise.
Well, my first post (ever, in fact, as far as Gravatar) was removed by a moderator. Perhaps for being to angry. So I’ll sum up my point: Danny is being passive-aggressive and is not ready for a relationship. Good comic, good writing, good characterization. But really hope he grows up first before the comic shows him making strides towards a relationship. Because his personality right now is, frankly, toxic.
Just as an fyi, it wasn’t removed. When you’re a new poster, your posts need to be approved by a moderator to make sure they’re not spam/trolling.
Yah, realized that after I logged in to make the followup post. My login must have timed out so I was no longer seeing the “waiting to be approved tag”. I assumed it’d been deleted. To be fair, I was ranting a bit and wouldn’t be totally surprised if it was removed, given how new the account was. Moderators do have to try and limit trolling and flaming.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Come on!
I know some guys like this — who, in the face of liking a girl but not wanting or being able to date her (perhaps because they’re taken, perhaps because the lady isn’t interested), cannot move forward with the friendship in a healthy manner.
Most of them just avoid the girl and never explain themselves. I’ve lost dude friends this way, dudes who refused to tell me what was going on, leaving me to puzzle it apart. Dudes who told me we were ABSOLUTELY bros, dudes who I was not attracted to. Yet, they either believed they could not trust their own behaviour around me (consent, much?), or simply didn’t know how to handle overlap of the friend and romance bins. I do not date such men.
Danny’s situation is a little different. Assuming Amber isn’t amazi-girl what she did was flirty in a very uncool way. Danny is an oblivious idiot not to figure this out and lacks the empathy or experience to set and defend a less extreme boundary than “no contact”, but he is being upfront about his extreme measures, even when he has probable cause to stay away. I respect him for that. I still would not date him, because he is an inexperienced empathetically-challenged imbecile.
After more or less telling Amber that he wanted to be making out with her alter ego and Amazi-girl and only THEN discover they were the same person… I wonder who he’s going to end up making out with. Amber/Amazigirl’s scars may prohibit her from calling things off before then.
daaaaaaaaaaang
The fifth panel sorta makes me think Danny might know, but that could be wrong–he might just be referring to how she seems to like him more than he likes her, which could lead her to seem like an incomplete person. But dang. But. Dang.
If Danny actually does think that Amber is Amazi-Girl, then his behavior here goes from being merely rude, tactless, stupid, and mostly indefensible, to being cruel, sadistic, pointless, and utterly indefensible.
It’s the difference between being an asshat and a monster.
Second.
And now we wait for Danny to check his 3DS streetpass data and be very, very confused.
They deserve eachother. Seriously. I don’t really like Amber in the DoA universe at all.
This is one of the reasons I love this comic.
I would love to pretend that I was a mature, logical, adult who considered other people’s feelings when I was eighteen, but no. I was a self-centered girl with a lot of growing up to do. I didn’t talk to the people I should talk to either.
Part of identifying with a character is identifying them when they do stupid things, as well as when they do awesome things. So I love the ride here, where one month I’m SO IMPRESSED AND PROUD with Joyce and Dorothy for talking to each other about their ACTUAL FEELINGS like ADULTS WHO ARE FRIENDS, and then one month I’m going NOOO AMBER JUST TELL HIM when I know perfectly well I never would have done that at her age, and I didn’t have nearly as much emotional pressure; my dad is awesome.
THANKS WILLIS FOR MAKING ME RELIVE MY COLLEGE YEARS, even the bad parts.
Hell, you probably wouldn’t do it now
Ain’t no age has a monopoly on fucking up and doing stupid shit.
I swear to god this is not a dick joke. Honestly. It is not.
Danny, you are too thick to fuck.
I am glad she walked away. Whatever she sees in Danny is coming from her own figments of need and imagination. At least Amber has found the truth about herself. It has been an awful day for her, but she will grow from it.
Bottom line is that Danny is a complete narcissist and doesn’t deserve anyone as good as Amber.
How the hell do you get narcissist from “sorry I like you but I have a girlfriend”?
I feel like a lot of people are set on hating Danny that they twist everything he says to be negative. Yeah, he’s a bit self-absorbed sometimes, but 1) that’s pretty normal for humans in general 2) he’s like, 18. JFC people, were you perfect, selfless and completely considerate and cognizant of other peoples’ feelings at 18?
Agreed. I can’t hate someone for being clueless. I didn’t like Danny’s behavior at the beginning of the comic when he was set on Dorothy, but if characters were perfect they wouldn’t be able to grow. He’s come along since then.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/wingman-2/
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/02-choosing-my-religion/breakingandentering/
I don’t think most people even get like that at 100 I know I still have a long way to go
People are set on hating Danny because people like to hate the person towards whom other people act shittily rather than the people who act shittily towards other people.
No, see, you haven’t got the memo. Danny is evil and everything he does is bad. All of it. No matter what. Any bad name or property you can think of? Totally applies to him.
That’s all you have to know.
You know, I’m with Danny on this one. Again, he doesn’t know they’re the same person (and neither does anybody else, that’s how running gags work). Let’s alter a couple variables here. Let’s say that Danny was dating Amber, rather than Amazi-Girl. And it was Dorothy that had put this whole thing on him, rather than Amber. It would be obvious and clear that Dorothy would be in the wrong, and that Danny was acting according to some fairly moral principles in this case. Brutal honesty is always better than sugarcoating things. What he’s doing is nicer than leading her on, and then always keeping a distance that she can’t cross between the two.
Ergo, Danny is doing the right thing for once. We only feel bad for Amber because we know that she is Amazi-Girl, and because of what just happened with her father. If she would just stop lying to him, this would be a non-issue.
Really Amber has been the one in the driver’s seat from the get-go, or at least had equal power.
I agree with you completely. Danny is acting from the moral high ground. How many other guys who have a girlfriend and are attracted to a different girl (who clearly likes him too) would tell the other girl that he needs to have distance. If it was a different girl doing what Amber was doing, then she wouuld have a problem with it. It’s still frustrating that Danny hasnt put 2 and 2 together, but really, we miss things all the time and dont realize because we’re caught up in our own perspective and narative. It doesnt fit or occur to Danny that he should look for who Amazi-girl is without the mask. Maybe that person doesn’t appeal to him because she would be real. As much as we love super heroes because of how they save us or their powers, the tragic back story is there to solidify why they become heroes in the first place. Tragic back stories need to be delt with before the person can be a full participant in a romantic relationship.
If Danny were 25, he would be an absolute jerk. But he’s 18, like most of the characters. They will make tragic decisions without a thought or looking back. none of them are complete people yet. Go through the cast and Sarah is almost the only one who behaves like an adult.
It becaause we all remember being like that that the strip works so well.
Exactly. I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of DoA readers have a moment or two in their past where they were every bit as stupid and hurtful as Danny is here. I know I have. You live and you learn, and you try not to be as stupid next time.
Yah. That is a fair point, I guess. I still feel Danny currently has a toxic personality for a romantic relationship. But, like you said, none of them (barring Sarah) have truly finished their growth into proper adults.
@Belegcam, trying not to be as stupid next time is easy for me. Ya see…. I just set the bar *really* low. If you start at “retarded chimp after a six-pack of beer”, “dumbass” is an improvement.
Yay lowered expectations!
I know I did. I cringe at what I did when I was 17-19.
DAMN YOU WILLIS.
Is Danny actually meant to be unlikeable? I was not really a fan of him in the other universe either, although I dunno everyone else’s feelings.
To all of you saying that Danny has been an asshole this whole time, and that nobody should ever choose to oust someone who’s such a good friend etc. Please keep in mind that he met Amber like a month ago in comic time. If some girl who I had only known for a month was acting like this, what the hell would you do?
Also keep in mind that this is fiction and is meant to draw you in, if he handled it perfectly it would be boring.
I dunno, I think I’d keep some self-awareness. Danny is living the comic book fantasy and if he chooses the fantasy over a real girl, well, that’s UNDERSTANDABLE but something you need to keep a self-awareness over. I, myself, have made some stupid fantasy dreams in my life and chosen them over the practical. However, the key to surviving them was my awareness it was stupid.
From his perspective he has a kink and met someone else whose kink was compatible. He’s been on trips fighting crime with her, he knows what Amazi-Girl really is, if not who. Danny’s fine. Amber’s being stupid, but Danny’s fine.
Danny just came from what he saw as a super-serious relationship that was destined to last forever, too. The real girl in question here reminds him a ton of that ex, along with his failings in that relationship. He’s also just started college, and has probably come to the conclusion that he maybe needs to date more casually.
Ok. Seriously. How do so many people nitpick over every little thing that Danny has ever said or done, but Amber gets a free pass with you people? She has
1) Found a guy who thinks her superhero secret identity is hot.
2) Liked him as her alter ego.
3) Liked him as her real self.
4) Made out with him as superhero.
5) Been upset that their relationship doesn’t magically carry over into their real life.
6) forced him to pretend to be her boyfriend for a day.
7)Gotten upset that he wants to be with her alter ego, who I might add, he thinks is SOMEONE ELSE.
8)Basically browbeat him into admitting that he does like her.
9) Gotten upset that he chose the girl that he already committed to.
HOW THE HELL DO YOU PEOPLE BLAME DANNY FOR THIS?!
1) This is bad, how?
2) See above
3) Ditto
4) One more time
5) Uh-huh, really bad of her to have feelings.
6) Forced? Really? Don’t see it.
7) There go those pesky feelings, again.
8) Browbeat? When did she even ask? Seems like he spouted that on his own.
9) Got upset that to choose that girl (her) HE CHOOSES TO CUT HER OUT OF HIS LIFE ENTIRELY!!!! But what the hey, why get upset over a little thing like abandonment?
As far as “forced” goes, bear in mind that if Danny had declined to go along with her deception, he would have been vilified here just as much. She boxed him in so that there’s no correct path for him.
I’m blaming Danny ONLY for being oblivious. Willfully oblivious still counts. (Of course if by some chance he does know the truth, then his behavior at this exact moment in time puts him right up there with Robin’s dad. Not Blaine. NEVER Blaine.)
As for Amber… she needs to end the relationship with him as Amazi-Girl. Even if he’s not figured it out yet. Especially if he’s not figured it out yet. I’m withholding judgement on everything else she’s done today for the time being, since she had her reasons, but as far as I’m concerned the next week or so is going to be crucial in my opinion of her.
Anyway, enough Danny/Amber. let’s go back to the box and have Walky and Dorothy and Robin now please. Or maybe Sal.
He’s being oblivious because it’s a comic universe. Amber intentionally carries herself differently as her own self and as Amazi-Girl, she talks differently, and she also does her hair up differently. Most people wouldn’t be able to honestly know those two are the same without seeing a side by side comparison. You’re calling him oblivious while you have all the facts, which isn’t fair.
He’s being oblivious because he doesn’t want to know, because knowing would ruin his fantasy. This is a consistent flaw in Danny’s character, something that he’s been doing over and over despite the problems that it causes for him and those around him. It’s why Dorothy dumped him. It’s why he couldn’t figure out that Dorothy was dumping him even while she was doing it. It’s why he’s dating the fantasy Amber instead of the real one in the first place. It’s why he refuses to add up all the clues that he’s been hit with over the last few weeks. It’s why he’s angry at Amber for getting him to actually engage with reality for a couple strips at Galasso’s. He’s afraid to deal with reality – he practically confessed that at Galasso’s – and he resents being jarred out of his fantasy.
Since the beginning of college, Danny has spent more time with Amber, both with and without her mask, than anyone else – including the audience. He’s spent hours with her both on- and off-panel, and not just quick glimpses in the dark in a stressful situation, but just sitting around face to face chatting, or even closer and more intimate than that. He’s been able to observe things that don’t make it through the fourth wall and aren’t easy to compartmentalize, like scent. He met her before she was disguising all the things she disguises now, and he’s been there since when her mask has slipped.
He has lots of information that we don’t have, and the only thing he doesn’t have that we do is actually seeing her take the mask out of her pocket and put it on… and, stupid meme aside, if anyone seriously didn’t know that Amber was Amazi-Girl before that strip, I will eat my hat.
All this storyline has demonstrated to me is that people’s urge to hate Danny is stronger than their urge to pretend Amazi-girl might be someone other than Amber.
That’s a good conclusion to be drawn from this, I think.
GODDAMMIT!
Damnit Amber. You need Danny as a friend, and you can’t just completely take advantage of someone’s trust without justifying it. SOME sort of quick explanation of what your father did to you today, anything… Danny deserves to know why he took that leap of faith for you and lied to his parents.
This comic made me sad but I really couldn’t see it happening any other way. Amber isn’t emotionally ready to reconcile Amazi-girl and Amber. If she tried to reveal that she’s Amazi-girl, it may have worked out in the short term but it would go downhill very quickly. Danny is a very loyal person, so he couldn’t (in good conscience) continue anything with Amber while he is dating someone. And people have said it above me, but it’s clear to me Danny’s comment was meant to preempt Amber claiming to be a whole person and he couldn’t know how badly it’d hurt her. (plus that loyalty thing means he sees what Amber is saying as an insult to his girlfriend.)
Obviously the next step is for Amazi-girl to break up with Danny. I hope Amber does this, because it would be better for both their characters.
Honestly, I like Danny. I’ll freely admit he’s an idiot, but everything he’s done or said has made sense as he is an idealistic and unobservant young man from a middle-class background who hasn’t really experienced much of life.
A++
Seconded.
If your intention was to shoot an arrow right through my heart.. then bulls-eye! p.q
Shot through the heart…and Willlis is to blame!
I’m gonna take off my Danny Hater Hat for a moment to make a couple of points I think apply at least somewhat to both sides.
1) Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons is STILL doing the WRONG thing.
2) Being justified is not the same thing as being right.
In what way is ditching someone who is acting like this a wrong move? From his perspective, she’s being at best unnaturally pushy and clingy. Keep in mind they have known each other for maybe a month. You are acting like he is choosing his gf over his best friend. In reality, he is choosing to remain faithful by ousting someone who he’s only hung out with for a few weeks, maybe half a dozen times out of class, and is acting like she has major issues. Which she does I might add. In what way is that unreasonable?
I’ve been in both shoes in this case, and I can say with certainty that this was far from the worst outcome.
Being non-omniscient is The Wrong Thing.
So don’t do that. Don’t be a Danny.
You’re justifying his actions nicely. Doesn’t make them (or you) right.
Ditching a friend, whether best or girl-, new or old, should be your last option, not your first. And even then should be done gently. She does have major issues, but didn’t really show that to him, just to us. BTW, since you want to treat them separately, you don’t think someone who runs around in a cape and domino mask beating people up for minor legal infractions is showing major issues? She’s not a super hero, she’s a misguided vigilante with anger management issues.
It’s unreasonable to me because her actions were suddenly completely out of character. Wouldn’t you, as a friend, want to know why BEFORE you tank what was apparently a good friendship before this? This may not have been the worst possible outcome, but it was far, far, far from the best.
Okay, most of my sad reaction out of the way, I don’t see Amber revealing herself as Amazi-girl after this – not anytime soon, anyway. She is just not ready to decompartmentalize, and she’s self-aware enough to realize this. She’s self-aware enough to realize that her identity as Amazi-girl is *not* healthy, nor would any relationship with her as Amazi-girl be, either. It’s just . . . really heart-wrenching to see her realize that that may be the case for her main identity, as well, due to the fractured nature of how she deals with her emotions.
I hope A-Girl dumps Danny after this. It’d be better for everyone is this relationship ended for good.
Danny and Dinah!
A-Girl would dump Danny because he was trying to stay faithful to her? That’s weird.
But considering what we’ve seen from the characters so far, not wholly unexpected.
Blasphemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAA AMBER FOR FECK’S SAKE
I agree with the E-Man. I’m not a Danny-hater (no point, you can’t fly so close to such a flame without being burned, and anyway, he’s not real), but he’s a prize dumbass if he can’t work this out. As Ms Ferris said to GL, ‘You think I wouldn’t recognise you because I can’t see your cheekbones?’
Even if Amber disguises her voice, hair, etc, if Danny isn’t taking enough notice of Amazi-girl to realise that Amber a) uses the same sort of language; b) is the same height and build; and c) has the same scent then he really doesn’t love her as much as he claims.
Pop quiz: how many of you went to see a favourite actor in a movie, and spent the ENTIRE time thinking, “Who the hell’s that?” Even under prosthetics, people we know well remain generally recognisable.
Sorry, Danny, mate, I like you, but you’re a screw-up. You don’t love her as much as you say you do, and now she knows it, too.
Over-analyzation. Danny’s cartoonishly oblivious, which is to be expected because, well, he’s a cartoon. That much is true.
On the other side of the same coin, Amber’s very careful about hiding her identity. I’m sure she talks differently in her amazi-girl persona, especially around Danny, as he’ll here her talk the most. She’d also disguise her smell, no doubt. And while she can’t hide her height and build, that much is never enough to identify a person. We already know Danny has a type, so he probably just assumes that’s part of the reason he likes amazi-girl.
Finally, it should be noted that movie makeup is designed to keep the actor recognizable, as the producers are aware of the fact that many fans will come see the movie just because of a featured actor.
Wow. Just wow.
David Willis, you continue to amaze me.
Is that meant to be a pun
We were all so concerned about Danny Dannying-it-up we did not consider Amber was going to Danny-it-up.
Well played.
Why is amber doing this to her self its just so sad to watch
Or read I gess
well that didn’t break my heart just a bit
Looks like Amber is going to have to sit by creepy dudes in her Intro to Computers class.
To everyone who’s intense on the Danny-hate right now, I encourage you to reread Dumbing of Age entirely from Danny’s POV and gain a bit of perspective of his experiences so far. To recap, he’s gone from breaking up with his high school girlfriend, to being saved by Amazi-Girl from being beaten up (two events which occurred ON THE SAME NIGHT), to meeting Amber in class (yes, he met Amber SECOND), to dealing with the Roz incident, to being cock-blocked by his best friend and his ex (followed by arguing about the break-up), who subsequently sends a girl to him; followed by dealing with her and getting caught by potential girlfriend in a misunderstanding, to rejecting Amber for a GOOD REASON in order to pursue someone else, to discovering that, actually, wait, his ex-girlfriend was actually being a hypocrite this WHOLE TIME, and that when given an ultimatum to choose between her work and her love life, instead of choosing her work like she did with him, she decides to support her new boyfriend; and finally to now, where he’s looked down at by his parents for not being able to ride the coat-tails of a successful girl instead of, you know, encouraging him to learn to be successful himself, and then being cajoled into a situation where he must lie about having a relationship with someone other than his girlfriend.
All of this while casually hanging out with Amber, going on dates with Amazi-girl (who’s enabled Danny’s superhero girlfriend fantasy by, you know, frequently showing up to greet him), and hanging out with Joe, a sex freak of a best friend who constantly teases him/berates him for not having casual sex.
All of this, happening within the first month of college.
In short, give him a fucking break; it’s like a Chess player who knows all the rules destroying a newcomer to the game and then berating him for not immediately knowing how to play. Shit takes time to learn and you aren’t going to immediately know your opponents’ strategies, nor will you be able to read their movements and know exactly how they plan to move their pieces. One person only has a limited amount of information, information that changes constantly, but you’re treating Danny as if he should know everything about Amber’s present circumstances. He’s only human.
And you can’t fault him for actually having a good moral center when it comes to relationships. For as long as this comic’s been out, he has never compromised his morals, not even with Billie’s tits literally in front of his face within grabbing range. He is a dedicated boyfriend and a genuinely good person, and is only trying to do the best for his relationships, which according to the beginning of DoA, he takes very seriously.
That being said, Danny is a bit too forward about his feelings and lacks the capacity to think of others and the world around him complexly; that is perfectly normal for an 18-year-old kid, but HOLY SHIT is he annoying. Kudos/damn you to David Willis for writing amazing characters that piss people off; Dumbing of Age will surely be your masterpiece.
(And yes, I did spend a good half an hour or so writing this and getting all the links written out correctly, coming up with the chess metaphor [which was gonna be either a DnD or Warhammer 40k metaphor, but I’m not well-versed in either game to pull that off], and going through every Danny comic to make sure all of what I said made as much sense as possible. I need better things to do with my life.)
*slow claps*
*slowly bows*
Honestly, the only thing I really fault him for here is his failure to ask why Amber’s been acting so abnormally… and, while he seems especially oblivious even for a teenager (likely willfully so, as John mentioned somewhere above), he’s probably feeling too emotional and betrayed right now to think clearly about someone else.
Still can’t bring myself to like him, but never mind.
Incidentally… when I first loaded the page, your comment about spending half an hour on that link-bedecked post was here, but not the post itself, leaving me cringing in anticipation of you seeing that the post you’d put so much work into had somehow vanished. Glad that didn’t happen.
Danny’s mentioned before that he’s actively NOT trying to figure out Amazi-girl’s identity; it sounds silly and immature here, but I’m sure he’s really doing it out of respect for Amazi-girl’s ability to do what she does without getting others close to her into trouble, which is actually rather thoughtful of him, imo. Despite what we know about her and her motivations, Amber is still a legitimate “real-life superhero” in the DoA universe, akin to actual superheros that exist in the world.
+100 for the level of research you put into that. Too many people are expecting Danny to act like an extremely emotionally mature and responsible adult. He’s going through a lot, and he doesn’t have the benefit of meta-omniscience.
I like you and your post. Thank you for the effort you put in!
Actually, I’m now trying to figure out Danny’s face in panel 5. He isn’t angry, or upset. Disappointed, maybe, just slightly, but he doesn’t seem to actually think Amber is wrong, just tactless.
Also, I’ve come to realize that a good analogy might be that Amazi-girl is Superman to Amber’s Bruce Wayne (assuming Bruce Wayne is also Superman). Her superhero identity is a mask, but her civilian identity is no more valid a representation of her true self than that mask. She seems most comfortable expressing herself around Ethan, even more than when she is alone. It’s kind of interesting.
I would like to believe that when Amazi-Girl reveals herself as Amber, that Danny’s face will out-react Joyce’s reaction faces.
Or he will not believe her there’s that posabillaty to but I gess its up to dave how it whould turn out
so…many…walls…of…text…
My prediction: Amber wants to date Danny as her regular persona, but due to the rather obvious emotional issues that she tries to solve by being “amazi-girl”, she can’t bring herself to tell him. So, Amazi-girl dumps Danny, so that Amber can ask him out. Danny, who’s probably getting really tired of being dumped all the time, refuses to date her, adamantly holding onto the idea that he’s not good enough for her and in the end she’ll just get bored and dump him, just like Dorothy and Amazi-girl.
…So, yeah. just posting this here because I’m never right about predictions I actually vocalize, and I don’t want to be right about this.
Don’t do this to me Willis D:
Yay, now the 2 lonely and unhappy characters can go back to being lonely and unhappy again. What an exciting development!
My first two thoughts about today’s comic are:
1. Wow, is Amber wasn’t Amazigirl, that comment would be really, really horrible to hear.
2. Amber is having a very bad day.
This is entirely Ambers fault honestly. I realize she’s the more relatable of the characters but it was her choice to keep her life divided and lie to Danny. I sympathize with the guy. She may not be doing it on purpose, but she really pulled a lot of jerk moves on him from the onset. Danny’s partially to blame for wanting to ‘wait’ to find out her secret identity but even then he was just trying to support her in something that was clearly very important to her. Danny moved for a girl. Whose saying he’s stupid or wrong for knowing what he wants out of life and knowing that, more then a career, he wants a special someone? Or saying that its his fault his girlfriend waited so long to do something she should have done before because she was too scared to hurt her feelings and instead caused irreparable damage? Or for turning down sex with someone he barely knew because he wanted to get to know them better? Really, what is your peoples deal with harping on Danny?
Accurate depiction of David Will & his readers ->
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3517/fm20.jpg
BWAHAH! Awesome. And accurate.
Nice, Vree. VERY nice.
OK – Mad at Danny, but he is what he is – an emotionally stunted, immature college-aged male. He has possibilities, but he needs to GTHO his “perfect woman” bit. Like most college-aged people, they have not yet realized that the “perfect person” for them is a hurtful myth.
Amber is not faultless either. She DID push Danny into that situation, and even if her intentions were good, which they are/were, it forced him into a situation where he felt that he had to make a choice. And so he did (the wrong one, of course, but we all knew that was coming, right?), and Amber goes away hurt and defeated again, which will give plenty of juice for AG. I just hope she (Amber as AG) doesn’t beat the crap out of Danny, though he has it coming. I also hope she does NOT reveal who she really is – she is smart enough to realize that she needs that outlet to stay hidden for a while longer).
I hope that Willis takes about a month off from this pair now, because he IS doing a pretty good Lucy imitation right now. LOVE the strip, Mr. Willis. Just give us a little time, please.
Mother of all feels!
Because how hard is it to poach a goddamn egg properly?!
Seriously, that’s like… Eggs 101.
god damn, why does she even like him? danny’s a jerk…
So close, yet so far.