Kieran Bright is a college student home for the summer and roped into an online reunion with his old neighborhood friends in the most recent update of their favorite childhood MMORPG.
At least, he was, and that was the idea...
Join Kieran and his friends as they are pulled into another reality that may or may not be real and are forced to confront their own identities, the nature of simulated universes and reality itself.
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Wow, people hold up convenience stores to relieve stress? I had no idea. How is that even possible? I get tired lifting a hundred pounds for extended periods.
(how people fail: Amber flips tables, Sal holds up convenience stores, Danny somehow metadanny’s himself using his slutty DS so that everybody else’s failures collide into one single mega fail that is all ultimately his fault)
I mean obviously other great things include: sal kicking over a chips stand, sal with a machete knife, sal wearing the same clothes that she’s wearing now…
It would be a more-great comic if amber were twirling the shit out of her hair
Considering she was 13 at the time, it makes sense that it looks like it does now on her. That said though, it doesn’t have to be the same exact shirt. Sal figured out she likes tank tops and probably has a ton of them.
Don’t think the flashback is over; we still haven’t seen the scene where Amber is cowering (along with Ethan, as Willis alluded to when he talked about the difference in skin tone in the comments a couple days ago) behind the display rack. This is just to make sure that each and every one of us realize that the robber is Sal.
There’s also a couple of questions about the robberies that maybe need to be answered — such as is this the first of the two, or is this the second one? And was the second robbery successful, or did something go wrong which resulted in Sal getting caught; and if so, how?
I suspect there was only this one and Walky was being an ass. I imagine shes just run out of the house after a particularly bad session of bieng told how wonderful Walky is and how useless she is and how she’s dressed dressd like a slut. Seeing the nachitos stand caused here to snap because Walky was probbaly sitting there all through iit eating nachitos and genarally being unsupportive
Blaine is not going to be happy when he comes in and some twerp of a girl is getting in his way by pretending she is bad ass. Finally, someone he can hurt in public.
Amber is going to say something about the robber. Danny will take that as further confirmation that Sal is Amazi-Girl – that incident made her change for good.
Sal may be embarrassed and try to leave or get angry and defend herself.
Danny will at some point say he understands, etc.
That mess continues until some later point, when the truth is revealed to the chagrin of many.
For sure. What I meant was that Danny will tell Sal she understands about changing since the robbery. He will think that he is saying that in reference to becoming Amazi-Girl, Sal will think that Danny seeing her for what she is now, not then.
Which leaves Amber as being in the wrong.
Maybe Amber forgets herself and uses the Amazigirl voice in front of Danny? Nah, that’d be too simple.
Gotta say I’m not sure I’m feeling this development. I’m reserving judgment, but so far on the plot twist scale from “Wow, that blows my mind!” to “Oh, COME ON!” this is dangerously towards the later for me.
I get the feeling that this part of the comic may (at least later on) turn into a cliche story of forgiveness. Honestly, that would be boring and predictable. However, everything else that happens up to that point would make the situation interesting.
Dorothy seems pretty well-adjusted and has her priorities in check, but she works too hard.
Joe is wild, but not a mess.
You know who’s really got it together? Walky.
Mike has a pretty good grip on the world around him. He just needs to see your mom. For a nickel.
Walky is childish – and 18. Don’t remember any kids that age being actually mature, with a grip on life. Not even the supposedly mature ones – mature for the age has that major qualifier.
But his issues don’t need therapy. College is a great place to turf kids while they grow up and learn 2 years of stuff in 4 years.
Between Dorothy and his mom, Walky will be pushed into growing up and finding direction.
I don’t know about really bad ends, they aren’t more screwed up than most people. But not good paths.
Walky and Dorothy balance each other. He’s childish for 18, but not too immature for the age. She is too serious, because an HS honor’s student who was also on the track team shouldn’t need to study 24/7 just for some A’s.
But Mike is there to straighten everybody out. I’d love to see a version of DoA where he is just Batman Gambitting everybody into facing their issues. Not possible, but it would be fun.
That isn’t a ‘major issue’ in that sense. Conniving is not troubled.
However, those who have that much free sex are either really free or covering other problems. Swingers are some of the most unhappy people you’ll meet.
Her character can be seen as a rejection of her sister. That isn’t really a healthy reason to have sex. The problem with being a rebel is that often they define themselves in terms of who they are rebelling against.
I dunno about that. It certainly happens, but I’ve been an outlier in a community before where not directly involved but knew people and honestly I’d say more like a 40/60 mix. of miserable/happy. Some folks really are just free.
Sure, I already said some people are just very open sexually.
I didn’t mean it as a blanket statement that all swingers are unhappy. Just that many are miserable people – it’s clearly their version of drinking their problems away.
I don’t think we really need to see much more from Amber’s perspective here. I’m guessing we’ll get more of this flashback from Sal’s point of view eventually, and maybe Ethan’s (but probably not).
It will turn out that Ethan was an action hero and sprung out and subdued Sal. You have never seen anything so manly in your life – and neither had Amber. Premature dating ensues.
I think Sal should feel remorse and try to make amends with Amber, when she finds out that Amber is that girl. Personally, I can’t root for her as a character until she does. Not that I don’t like her or how she’s written – I wouldn’t say I’m rooting against her! – but I probably won’t feel invested in her success otherwise. Threatening innocent strangers with a knife is crossing a line, even though she probably never intended to use it.
That said, it’s really striking how young she looks in the flashback. Poor Sal is just as young and scared as Amber and Ethan are. It’s so awful that she was so hurt she felt this was the right path.
I suspect that to Sal, Amber was basically a non-entity in that scene. She was facing down the store clerk, not Amber, and probably paid little attention to anyone else there. She would probably have no stronger feelings toward that person she didn’t notice behind the shelf than to the person she didn’t notice peacefully sleeping the night away in their house across town.
Well, yeah, that’s what I’m saying. She didn’t do this to hurt and threaten Amber/random customer girl. But she did. It doesn’t matter what intentions she had, waving a knife yelling “this is a holdup” is a threat to everyone in earshot.
Beware: My interpretation of events follows. I think that explains a lot actually. Funny how small parts of conversation stick with you for life. Ethan’s words to Amber had a really powerful effect on her. Saying she might be the same as Sal, and then seeing Sal become a “villain” frightened Amber. Though naturally timid , she also struggles with anger issues that she sees inherited from her father. She sees Sal being compared to her and gets this terror that this is what she’ll become. This could very well be an inevitability. And so, in order to prevent this, she becomes Amazi-girl, using it as a coping mechanism to deal with her own insecurities, strengthen her moral fiber, and to find a strong outlet for her physical (angry-ish) inclinations. This became exaggerated as she dealt with more and more heavy stressors in her life.
Amber doesn’t see that she has anger issues like Blaine until Mike made his point. In fact, she was worried about growing up to be a victim like her mom.
My idea is – This is the cathartic incident that brings Amber out of her shell. She is tired of being a victim – of her father, of other kids as epitomized by Sal.
That is why she starts to interact with others. As she told Dina, she only learned to do so recently.
But having Blaine as a father and the traumatic incident of the hold up built up a lot of negative emotion. Emotion Amber doesn’t have a release for. So she becomes Amazi-Girl, her ultimate expression of her emancipation from fear.
Regular Amber learns to control her anxieties enough to go among people. Amazi-Girl conquers fears by using her negative emotions (unknowingly inherited or modeled from Blaine) on the Sal substitutes.
So Amber gets to express the dark side of herself she has no other way to do, as she told Danny. She also gets to do it in the nerdy way, as it is established she is a comic book fan.
I Googled ‘nachitos’ and according to the illustration it seems to just be tortilla chips covered in cheese, salsa, meat, and other gook….which is what I always thought were just plain ‘nachos’. Would someone please tell me just what is the difference, or is this something like a brand name that is specific to the Bloomington area?
Yes. Those interactions go like this –
1) They interact for some reason, alone.
2) Sal gets irritated for seemingly little reason.
3) It escalates
4) Walky brings this robbery attempt up
5) Rest of conversation goes to hell.
The most recent was after family day. It came out that Sal did this because of Mommy issues. To Sal, Walky was always mom’s favorite and knows this. To Sal, it is because Walky has fairer skin. So this was a cry for attention.
Walky had no idea. He thought he was the favorite after robbery (attempt). He didn’t know about the internal life of Sal.
Of course they have the same skin tone, as far as I’ve noticed. Research also shows that parents tend to favor their opposite-gendered child. How much that is true in DoA is anybody’s guess.
It wasn’t because Walky has ‘fairer’ skin, it is because he ACTS more like a ‘white’ person than Sal does. He likes things which are more associated with ‘white’ culture than Sal does. To Sal, he was always their PARENTS’ favourite, and as he was smart enough to just cruise through life, Sal of course felt like she had to try incredibly hard to even get close to him. And when being good didn’t pander out, she switched to rebelling for attention instead.
Sal made a move on parents day–the good girl outfit and demeanor–that must have cost her but which Mommma W didn’t even really recognize or respond to in her CONTNUING focus on Walky. Sal STILL wants Mom’s love, Mom is still stuffing her in favor of Walky, Walky is still oblivious (blame Mom), …and Dad W is barely there.
I see that as more of a symptom. Right or wrong about her familys focus (and it’s been implied it’s a least a little right), Sal’s the way she is over more then just the hair. It’s the everything.
Sal see’s the reason for Walky being the favorite as a result of him being whiter. “It fuckin’ started the day we were born and you came out whiter”.
Doesn’t look to me like it’s about Walky acting whiter.
It’s all about mom. Sal got dad to see her, but not mom. That’s when she slunk away. She yelled at Walky about how mom acted, who her favorite was, and tried to get mom’s attention.
If you haven’t noticed, it’s mom who runs things in that household.
That’s why stories have superfrostedhoneybuns that can be defeated by super heroes OR ordinaries stepping up to be heroes–WAY easier to deal with than reality: see Mike in Shortpak re the most recent S-man movie. (Btw, I didn’t pick this graveyard, the algorthm did….)
That strip wasn’t nearly dramatic enough to get the message across. You clearly should have broken out the psychological trauma and violent freakouts on day 1.
When a normal theif is robbing is robbing a store , they just walk through a store and says T”This is a stick up!”, but when sal is robbing a store she runs in, kicks something over and fucking annonces This is a fucking stick up!
Oh and Willis if your reading this about the last strip , I didn’t mean to disrespect anyone or offend anyone I’m sorry, I was just posting my thoughts
I imagine the last frame with that music from “Kill Bill,” the music that sounds like a emergency siren when Kiddo ‘The Bride’ sees one of the assassins that killed her wedding party and tried to kill her.
This might be a ridiculous thought. But could it be that we’re reading too much into the “T-” in panel 4? Maybe it happened because Sal was trying to balance the dangling cigarette and speak at the same time?
Sal and Amber are coming from almost the opposite place with similar results. Sal got no positive attention from her parents. Amber got all negative attention from her dad. I think Stacy was probably loving, but overwhelmed dealing with her asshole dickhead abuser husband.
Unless Sal kicks her ass, which is also possible if not likely especially if Amber has the element of surprise.
Then again if she goes into Amazi-Girl mode while as her default Bruce Wayne mode, especially in front of everyone else, that could be far worse for her than just Danny-boy finding out.
Knew a Marine hand-to-hand instructor who said he’d pick the spoon over fork or knife for a fight because it would confuse his opponent AND he could mess someone up hella bad with a spoon. That was a dude you did NOT want to mess with.
Imagine if sal got into Some late at night and amazi-girl shows up and they get into a fight , then Danny shows up on the seen See’s it all and is like ” wait your suppose to de…but are, WHO are you people!?
Oh god…older more physically capable Amber is going to murder Sal…and if she doesn’t something is going to happen that causes her and Danny great pain…but holy shit this makes sense
Sal and Ethan have not met, on the other hand…But I would bet that from his perspective the holdup is just a barely remembered bit of unpleasantness, as opposed to a life-defining milestone.
Probably a coincidence, though it is interesting to point that out because that means this is their first face-to-face confrontation; I hope she doesn’t blow it.
If you do a tag search for Amber and Sal together (amber+sal) you will find that they have appeared in the same strip a total of five time (and today’s strip is one of them). We can assume that they may have seen one another across the room at the floor meeting, for example, but they have had exactly zero interaction.
She’s holding up a store with a KNIFE? No wonder she got caught. Most of those convenience stores have a shotgun under the counter. She’s lucky she didn’t get her fool head blown off…
At this stage she probably wouldn’t have minded. Then at least her parents would focus on her for once instead of her brother and people say nice things at funerals. I am just making myself feel more like giving Sal a hug.
OMG OMG OMG! I never thought of this possibility until a couple of strips ago when someone mentioned it. Flashback Sal! All hell is going to break loose now.
Someone actually called it months and months ago, before this storyline began! I don’t recall where exactly it first started, but I believe it was on the comic where Amber recognized Sal in the hallway.
Did Danny have his hand on Sal a few strips ago? It kinda looked like he did, but why she would tolerate that I don’t know. If that’s what Amber saw or thinks she saw though she’s gonna flip even more.
I think he did, but I’m not sure it meant anything. It looks like he has his hand on her back and was about to point something out in the game (half extender index finger) when he noticed Amber and stopped mid-motion.
*Plays “The Rains of Castamere* Walky, Amber, Ethan, Sal, and Danny all die horribly. The new cast is made up of Dinah, Joyce, Sarah, and Joe taking up the slack in wake of the horror.
Is there a Serena/Usagi attending this school too? Maybe her Imperial Silver crystal is gravitating everyone into this one little spot out of the whole world
Well, time for some long-time-coming catharsis from Amber. I can see Danny getting some collateral damage in this confrontation, as well. Poor everyone in this: Amber’s breakdown, Sal’s violent past, and Danny’s innocent stupidity are all reaching the boiling point.
She’s a highly skilled martial artist, genius and I meant literally kill.
Sal might be able to punch but all Amber needs is one grasp of Sal’s neck and she’s gone.
Heck if Amber has really gone over the edge I bet she could take down quite a few students/security personnel before being terminated by a police sniper whilst she’s covered in blood and entrails.
Well this explains Amazi-Girl. Even though Sal is holding the knife backwards, just the way adorable 13 year-old acting out without any intention or ability to use it would. On the other hand, that is a combat knife. Who sold that to her? How does she talk without dropping the cigarette in her mouth? Who sold her the cigarette? Do clothes Sal wore when she was 13 really fit her now? Have I been watching too much Cinema Sins?
Yeah, but that’s about all you can do with it held like that. You’ve got one cut, but both it and the icepick stab are only useful in close, which in a knife fight means your opponent can cut you before you can cut them. Or in this situation, if she wants to be a threat to a clerk behind a counter, she’s going to have to literally climb up on the counter to even be able to reach them.
Holding it point-forward gives you a lot more options for both cutting and stabbing angles, and more reach with both slash and thrust.
And I think Sal is right-handed, though I’m not positive.
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. Now I have to reread the entire archive and see if she’s run into Sal before. I don’t have time! Agh!
Jeez Sal, ever think of wearing a mask when committing a felony in front of cameras? Makes me think she wanted to get caught. Maybe she did. Teenage rebellion writ large.
So, where did Sal and Amber get their martial arts training? Bet Indiana is just over run with dojos and both sets of parents were so supportive of making their kids young killing machines. Just being emotionally stunted isn’t often the best course to comb skills and neither is playing video games.
One bad sign for this whole crew is that they still dress like they were 13. Except Sal now wears a bra.
I’m sure Amber had plenty of chances to learn some techniques. Five years training to become a masked vigilante for a girl with violence and anger issues.
Sal, meanwhile, spent the last several years in a catholic school. Nuns do not fuck around.
Is there any evidence that Sal has any martial arts training? We’ve seen her scuffle with Ruth (who does seem to know at least some judo or similar), but she relied on a surprise attack from behind and still got an elbow to the solar plexus for her trouble. Holding a knife doesn’t mean you know how to use it, and Sal isn’t holding that knife like someone who knows how to use it.
I could see Amber getting her mom to let her take martial arts “for self-defense”, especially after the robbery incident. Probably not a good dojo, or they’d have taught her methods of dealing with her anger without hitting people, but there are belt factories everywhere, and it’d give her something to build some practical experience on top of.
It IS a big coincidence…. but there’s some set-up. Sal was recently teased about the good-little-girl outfit she put on when her parents visited, so it’s maybe not surprising she’s wearing her bad girl clothes today. And what’s badder than the jacket you wore during your brief criminal career?
So… This is all well and good, he said sarcastically. Given the current situation, and Amber’s breakdown in progress, I could see this ending badly in different ways. Some with violence. Some with Danny *sigh* Danning it up. Some with Amber dropping out of school or getting kicked out some time after she runs away from this and hermits herself up in her dorm room for the rest of the semester.
However, I can actually see the possibility of a rabbit being pulled out of this hat.
I don’t recall anyone mentioning someone else who was there at the convenience store and who is possibly still having a mad-on over getting his jaw knocked to the floor within the past 24 hours.
Allow me to sketch out a possibility. Blaine comes in after paying for gas to yell at Amber for taking too damn long to get her Twinkies, sees young Sal in action and goes to town on her, which is how she gets caught. Amber’s cowering during the holdup, but maybe she’s also cowering from Blaine losing it. She’s seen it before, and she knows it’s not going to end well. Not much more to add to that, maybe some post-arrest scene, and Blaine chewing Amber out on the way back home or to the field trip destination.
Present day, Amber’s obviously recognized Sal. Decides she has found a skinny target that she can snap into kindling, because by God, there is someone who’s going to pay. Especially since this… female… is with her Danny. Go into Amazi-Girl mode and to hell with the consequences. Sal’s not likely to put up with this idea very well, and it starts.
Now Blaine steps out of the shadows, seeing that his target is fully distracted. Amazi-Girl is not one that can be snuck up on, and Sal has a little list. She recognizes the bastard that got her arrested and sent to boarding school, etc. Both of them can prioritize. They beat the hell out of Blaine. Maybe hospitalize him. Maybe put him in a coma so we never have to deal with his crap again, since Willis said nobody dies. Maybe not though, as there would be a lot more police crap and legal drama involved. Probably just bloody him up enough so he realizes the campus is not a safe place to be until he can come up with a better plan since he has enemies on campus that are effectives. That gives us some drama in about 6 more years as first semester finals come up.
During all of this, Danny is… well, just being Danny. Staring open jawed, not knowing what the hell to do, but during the fracas, Amazi-Girl’s face mask falls out of a pocket. As the battle ends, Danny picks it up.
At this point, it could go various ways. I’d like for him to see that Amber’s hear is mussed up and realize the mask is hers as he holds it up to look through it and sees her face, and they finally have a talk. However, this is Danny, and so he might try to slide up to Sal and discreetly hand it to her. “Your secret’s safe with me.” Which leads to some scathing remarks and a “What the Hell are you talking about? Get the fuck away from me” sort of moment.
Continue on to more Dumbiverse drama in about two months as this half hour moment concludes.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again… I will buck the trend of everyone expecting Danny to just Dan it up like he always does and predict that he will actually do something helpful.
I’ll applaud if he does. I’ve personally been very forgiving in my head regarding Danny up to the “You picked Wiggler?” part. At that point, I just kind of smacked my head and said, “Ok, maybe you really are as Danny as everyone says you are.”
I just hope that part of the resolution to this is that he finally puts together the pieces needed to see that Amber is Amazi-Girl. I’m fully in support of those two getting together without Amber having to hide herself.
If David continues with this “Danny thinks Sal’s Amazi-Girl” farce after ANY confrontation in which Danny is given a concrete clue as to who Amazi-Girl really is, I don’t think I could read this webcomic anymore. I would literally stop reading because not only would it get old by that time, it would just dissolve any kind of tension within the series where Danny is concerned. Turning him into some kind of walking sitcom where nothing changes and no character arc develops would be the worst possible move to make, especially in a story centered around character arcs being explored.
And like you, I hope Amber and Sal eventually settle their differences via beating Blaine half to death, but I hope Danny finally sees the truth of Amazi-Girl by either Amber owning up to her own mistakes, or him discovering it by himself.
“That gives us some drama in about 6 more years as first semester finals come up.”
@UnspeakableAnger — The strip has been running for three years now and we’re still in September (note the date on the sign). Willis will probably be a grandfather by the time we get to finals week.
Trust, in other words, make yourself vulnerable– you are VERY right. (I hadn’t realized that is the pivot!) If Ruth and Billie could, is there a chance Amber and Sal can? Maybe that night in that store could be something in common from which they can help each other deal with the issues that brought her there in the state she was in.
I don’t think they will be able to help each other for a long time. There’s a lot of things that would have to happen for them to even talk to each other about what happened, let alone trust each other.
You are right. They have to start talking AND listening, and that requires that Both of them are ready for that AND are in a physical and a social location where that can happen. So neither is about to just say, ‘let’s go talk about THAT night…’ as much as I’d like their about-to-happen confrontation to turn out as Scott Pilgrim vs Nega-Scott did. But I do hope that they can reach that psycho-social space together because I’ve gotten this idea I like of Amber and Sal as an odd-couple who could do a lot for each other. And Willis does let some of his troubled characters connect with each other in ways that are good for them– after sufficient and appropriate drama, of course (no resolution after 90minutes, roll credits).
Not so much as you might think. It’s a state university, and while I don’t know about the Indiana area, but where I grew up, two thirds of the high school grads went right to the same college.
I’m also wondering just what Sal’s parent’s did to push her this close to the edge we got the gist of it when the parentals came by, but still it’s obvious she was nervous as shit to knock over that gas station if she was pacing in the corner.
Well generally when you age someone down, you make their eyes larger and farther apart and make their ears bigger, and basically just making the head a little larger all around while de-emphasizing their jaw, and that unavoidably adorableizes someone.
AAAAHHHHHHH Amber! I see this going in to ways, either she kicks Sal’s ass now or Amazing Girl kicks Sal’s ass later….although I don’t know why Amazing Girl knows about this, unless Amazing Girl is Ethan?!
Is it wrong, I really do want Amber to beat the **** out of Sal? I love Sal, I love Amber, and I think Sal is as much a victim as anyone but I also think it’d be a great plot point. Poor Sal would have to deal with the unexpected blowback of her cry for help. Basically, “you wanted to hurt your parents and your brother. You also hurt other people.”
So… Amber is totally going to react with violence upon seeing Sal back in reality? B/c she deals with all this trauma by beating up criminals, and Sal was the initial criminal who traumatized her.
And so it begins. The great shitstorm of our time.
If the flashback ends here, I think we’re going to see more of a riff on the “You and her are probably the same” comment. Just look at her holding that game. Look at the rage they both have to deal with. They are the same, and Amber might be able to see it now when she couldn’t five years back.
So, finally found the time to read through this and play catch up, and while the post itself is late, I think this could easily be the best event of my birthday, now that I’ve discovered it. Thanks and keep up the great work!
I hope someday soon We get to be horrified as to what pushed Sal over the edge. I like to think that this was just after what she tried to make the “perfect” day. She studied her ass off , was on her best behavior at school even though it was embarrassing, and dressed up real nice of her own accord when the family went out to dinner.
And that night no one mentioned that the Parents didnt get a call from the principal at all that week, makes light of her dressing herself. And her B report card gets overshadowed by Walky’s A.
The next day after hanging out down the street she gets in her head so much, to much she just escilates her own through process till she decides to make her parents notice her.
It has just suddenly occurred to me just how terrified Sal was at this moment. Yeah, you read that right. Life has been shitty to her and Amber pretty much the whole way through, hasn’t it?
Here's an entertaining cite at the bottom of the first page
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 20h
JUST IN: Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan moves to dismiss federal criminal case against her for allegedly helping immigrant hide from ICE. Her lawyers say she's protected by official acts & judicial immunity and 10th Amendment. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 1d
Hawley dismisses Trump lining his pockets with his memecoin: "Listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought. I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?"
wilbur, savvy enough to know he's in a comic strip but still not a great actor, awkwardly lifts a muffin up into frame so that we, the audience, understand that he has a muffin right now, which is very important narratively, but he's not really selling it well as an organic, human action
confirming that the reason there's been no Galaxy Version female characters in Blokees until now is that they felt they needed to make Round Lady Thighs For Ladies
It's #webcomicday? We have a special day???
Well, my name is Pat McHoarney and I draw 69 Mouse-Ear Blvd, a multigenerational story about women who all have sexy legs and probably other features. There was a grandmother, but she wasn't hot and so she died off-panel.
Elizabeth Holmes is in prison for defrauding investors through her blood-testing company, Theranos. Her partner, Billy Evans, is now trying to raise money for a company that describes itself as “the future of diagnostics.” nyti.ms/3FbtZm9
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 20h
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 1d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 10d
The New York Times @nytimes.com ⋅ 5d
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 3d
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OH MY HOLY FUCKIN’ SHIT.
This pretty much sums up my reaction. Thank you.
same here
WHoly shit snacks!!!!!
Oddly appropriate in this instance.
0 ^ o;…Wellsaidbye! *zoom off to hide from Armageddon*
SYDNEY
wait
Yus!
…wait…
My first thought too.
Wonder where she is in this.
Running for Senator against Robin.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
What he said. Well done, Mr. Willis. *slow clap*
Mine is “Ah! Called it!”
While I did not call it, I did hear people call it, and it seemed reasonable enough, so I was expecting it.
I know right? That hairstyle is just plain catastrophic.
HOLY DAMN EVERYTHING.
ME TOOOO OMG
Exactly what I said. Word for word.
Time for amber to have a nuclear meltdown…
Yup. Completely freaking out. What a timid little mouse.
That’s just how some of us deal with our stress. Some people twiddle their thumbs. Others hold up convenience stores.
What’s that Sal? You’re worried? DON’T WORRY THE DOOR LOCKS FROM THE OUTSIDE.
Yeah, she is stuttering and everything! Clearly freaking out here.
Hey! It’s a legitimate strategy.
It’s like a puffer fish strategy.
FWOOMPH
Well, sure: “Repo Man”! (“I blame society…”)
Wow, people hold up convenience stores to relieve stress? I had no idea. How is that even possible? I get tired lifting a hundred pounds for extended periods.
Wait, what’s that sound? Oh, right, it’s Amber’s psyche SHATTERING.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKolsZiYkEU
I imagine that’s what Mike does all the time.
So what was that squishy noise that accompanied it then?
Her faith in humanity?
Her brain going critical?
My assumption was that it was the merging of the past with the present, and the emulsification of the metaphysical walls of Amber’s perceived reality.
Or she could have stepped in something. She is having one of those days.
Not one of her better days…
In my experience, days like this are usually resolved using the business end of a large truck.
Still better than the business end of a large monkey.
I’m spending entirely too much brain energy trying to figure out which end of a monkey is the business end. Such monkey business.
Would it be clearer if I said tha business end of a monkey’s monkey?
Eh. Ruth tried that already. She didn’t care for it.
What about the end of a monkey’s business…?
Now let’s not get hasty, I think all the readers made a pretty big noise too!
Not the Nachitos, Sal!
No wonder Walky isn’t sympathetic to her.
I actually think she kicked the Nachitos stand because Walky likes them so much.
Chest Manly, your wisdom is inspirational.
(that sounds sarcastic, I do not mean it sarcastically, it is just a lovely little poem of a sentence)
Action Sal.
Kept the cloths, this can’t end well.
and this is where it all goes horribly wrong…wronger?
Wrong and Wronger.
Danny & Dannier.
(how people fail: Amber flips tables, Sal holds up convenience stores, Danny somehow metadanny’s himself using his slutty DS so that everybody else’s failures collide into one single mega fail that is all ultimately his fault)
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN
My thoughts exactly.
There’s a lot of great things about this comic but the greatest thing is that Ethan is right.
This.
Well, the parental issues are slightly different.
They both just had one bad day….
I mean obviously other great things include: sal kicking over a chips stand, sal with a machete knife, sal wearing the same clothes that she’s wearing now…
It would be a more-great comic if amber were twirling the shit out of her hair
Like, with both hands
Other people than me totally called it. I didn’t expect these two to have a connection at all.
Wow, Sal…
Aw, you can hear her hesitance even as she looks super fierce.
No you can’t. You can certainly read it though.
Same dif!
I can hear it… with my Mind’s Eye!
Your Mind’s Ear.
“Mind’s Ear” is now a thing. Congratulations. You get a cookie.
TOTALLY CALLED IT. ^_^
…
Did it answer the phone?
YES and then I was pulled out of the Matrix.
Note to self: Do not take the red pill
I took both at once… Things went downhill from there.
Hey, at least you didn’t grind them up and snort them, right?
…right?
Christ, someone call 911.
Called it HIGH FIVE!
*BROFIST*
And that’s when Amber’s hatecrush began.
So Amber as Batman and Sal as Catwoman then? O.O
Yup.
Hottest fanfic idea EVER
I’M DYING
SOMEBODY, ONE OF YOU TALENTED ARTERS OR SOME SUCH
YOU GOTTA DO THIS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
Somebody do it for the poor dying girl!
Or the boy with the really unfortunate name!
Google it!
More like Amber is Batman, Sal is Joe Chill. Less hot.
Holy mother of (whatever your into).
Holy mother of Sal!
Naw she’s a jerk.
OH MY GOD.
Sal still has that same jacket.
Well when you find a look that works.
Looks like the same tank top, too.
Musta stretched it out quite a bit if that’s the case.
Considering she was 13 at the time, it makes sense that it looks like it does now on her. That said though, it doesn’t have to be the same exact shirt. Sal figured out she likes tank tops and probably has a ton of them.
Wonder if her development was arrested at that age.
giggle-snort
It explains why it looks so tight on her now.
Same rest of the outfit, too, looks like. Maybe that’s why it’s so small.
Sal rebels against the need to wear new clothes.
“Ah wonder why nobody wants to be around me”
I figured she considered that a feature, not a bug.
She might act like she doesn’t mind, but she’s hanging out with Danny after just meeting him.
OMG what’s with all the plot twists every five comics?
You’re new to Willis’ strips. aren’t you?
We used to measure out the weeks by the DRAMATIC CLIFFHANGER on Friday.
to be fair, a lot of people here saw this coming a lot sooner then 5 strips ago.
It’s like. Parent’s day is over. Now everything can calm down and we can go back to some nice, light-hearted fun.
And then nope. A whole lotta nope.
No we’re on Sunday of Freshman Family Weekend. Day 2.
Today’s main event, Amber “Amazi-Grl” Vs. Sally (Don’t hurt me!) “Sal” Walkerton!!!
Yaaaay, Freshman Family Weekend….
Uh-oh.
What? No Nachitos tag?
Even though she’d probably kick my ass i have to say Robber Sal is so adorable
Sal, robbin’ stores and Robin’ boys.
What doesn’t she steal?
She already stole my heart.
She stole my lungs.
She stole my kidney to get her motorcycle
She stole my Stole coat.
She stole some Stoli.
She stole my pants. Just cause.
Fitting Gravitar.
You came here without those, honey.
She stole my stollen
And My Ax!
She stole lots “eh”s
[shoot, that almost palindromes]
She stole her accent from a random yokel.
OH LAWD
Well that explains this flashback.
Uh oh…
I am blowing on one of the curly noise thingies, holding a sparkler in each hand, as fireworks go off in the background in the shape of “I KNEW IT”.
Or at least, that’s what I wish was happening.
Ah man. You’re celebrating more than I did about Jocelyne not being gay.
You can borrow my celebration next time one of your specualtions turns out to be true. Or you can even try to top it!
I will if I ever get off my ass and start animatin’
Sounds like an episode of Community.
Kinda like this?
The possibilities of this getting worse are sadly getting better. Poor girl(s).
Oh no, oh shit. The flashback is OVER? I’m not ready. MY BODY IS NOT READY.
You wanna wallow in Twinkies?
Don’t think the flashback is over; we still haven’t seen the scene where Amber is cowering (along with Ethan, as Willis alluded to when he talked about the difference in skin tone in the comments a couple days ago) behind the display rack. This is just to make sure that each and every one of us realize that the robber is Sal.
There’s also a couple of questions about the robberies that maybe need to be answered — such as is this the first of the two, or is this the second one? And was the second robbery successful, or did something go wrong which resulted in Sal getting caught; and if so, how?
Well, for one she’s not really hiding her identity much.
I suspect there was only this one and Walky was being an ass. I imagine shes just run out of the house after a particularly bad session of bieng told how wonderful Walky is and how useless she is and how she’s dressed dressd like a slut. Seeing the nachitos stand caused here to snap because Walky was probbaly sitting there all through iit eating nachitos and genarally being unsupportive
Come on, that’s obviously Walky in drag.
Walky would NEVER destroy innocent Nachitos.
Much truth here
Nah, see, he freaks out the clerk with that fake knife, then scoops up as many bags ‘a Nachitos as he can an’ bolts.
Who owns a fake knife?
What a koinky-dink.
Boingg
Amazi-Girl is like the anti-Batman. If the robber had killed her dad it would have FIXED her.
+1 LIKE
+1 ALSO. Yay
You sir are a genius.
Blaine is not going to be happy when he comes in and some twerp of a girl is getting in his way by pretending she is bad ass. Finally, someone he can hurt in public.
The gears. They’re clicking together! What’s Amber going to do now?
Less of a click and more of a grind.
There are sparks coming off of them.
Combat?
Mortal Kombat.
#cue: cheezy techno-pop instrumental
Sal is about to die?
Don’t think Amber is going to go catatonic after all, Sal is coming in sharp and clear on Amazi-girls radar. Talk about a repressed memory.
And Danny is going to be his usual totally useless self whichever way it goes.
I think this is out of anybody’s league. Not just Danny’s.
Yeah Danny is just going to totally danny it up and think Amber’s hostility toward Sal is based on jealousy.
Amber is going to say something about the robber. Danny will take that as further confirmation that Sal is Amazi-Girl – that incident made her change for good.
Sal may be embarrassed and try to leave or get angry and defend herself.
Danny will at some point say he understands, etc.
That mess continues until some later point, when the truth is revealed to the chagrin of many.
5 internets says Danny will think Amber was the robber.
For sure. What I meant was that Danny will tell Sal she understands about changing since the robbery. He will think that he is saying that in reference to becoming Amazi-Girl, Sal will think that Danny seeing her for what she is now, not then.
Which leaves Amber as being in the wrong.
Maybe Amber forgets herself and uses the Amazigirl voice in front of Danny? Nah, that’d be too simple.
Gotta say I’m not sure I’m feeling this development. I’m reserving judgment, but so far on the plot twist scale from “Wow, that blows my mind!” to “Oh, COME ON!” this is dangerously towards the later for me.
I get the feeling that this part of the comic may (at least later on) turn into a cliche story of forgiveness. Honestly, that would be boring and predictable. However, everything else that happens up to that point would make the situation interesting.
Aw, who wouldn’t want to see a team-up between Sal and Amazi-Girl?
http://dundundun.net
AW SHIT SON
Is it just me or Sal looks cuter in panel 5 than in panel 4?
Nah, it’s true. Serenity outweighs littleness for her cuteness.
Having said that, I see why it was tough for Willis to draw Sal as a teenager.
One would hope that you’d prefer an 18-year-old, relaxed Sal to a 13-year-old psychopath version. At least, I’m one that would hope so.
There’s gonna be a bloodbath.
Everyone in this strip has major issues and they all need to see qualified and supportive counselors.
Like, right now. These people need some positive stability, stat.
Dorothy seems pretty well-adjusted and has her priorities in check, but she works too hard.
Joe is wild, but not a mess.
You know who’s really got it together? Walky.
Mike has a pretty good grip on the world around him. He just needs to see your mom. For a nickel.
Fuck no. Walky’s living in a state of perpetual childhood. He’s so insecure he thinks owning more than one pair of shoes makes him less of a man.
Sierra seems cool, too. But yeah. If you’re a main character in this comic stip, you probably have brain problems!
(And Kladeos’s avvy is appropriate.)
Walky is childish – and 18. Don’t remember any kids that age being actually mature, with a grip on life. Not even the supposedly mature ones – mature for the age has that major qualifier.
But his issues don’t need therapy. College is a great place to turf kids while they grow up and learn 2 years of stuff in 4 years.
Between Dorothy and his mom, Walky will be pushed into growing up and finding direction.
Agreed. Walky is apt to grow out of his problems all on his own through life. Or at least find a manageable balance.
Most of the other characters seem to be on the path to bad ends without change.
I don’t know about really bad ends, they aren’t more screwed up than most people. But not good paths.
Walky and Dorothy balance each other. He’s childish for 18, but not too immature for the age. She is too serious, because an HS honor’s student who was also on the track team shouldn’t need to study 24/7 just for some A’s.
But Mike is there to straighten everybody out. I’d love to see a version of DoA where he is just Batman Gambitting everybody into facing their issues. Not possible, but it would be fun.
Roz seems happy.
I don’t exactly get the feeling she’s trying to hook up Robin and Leslie out of the goodness of her heart, though.
That isn’t a ‘major issue’ in that sense. Conniving is not troubled.
However, those who have that much free sex are either really free or covering other problems. Swingers are some of the most unhappy people you’ll meet.
Her character can be seen as a rejection of her sister. That isn’t really a healthy reason to have sex. The problem with being a rebel is that often they define themselves in terms of who they are rebelling against.
Joe is an oddly appropriate avatar for that comment
I’d agree, but I’m not sure I like that you aren’t accounting for any middle ground with Roz.
I dunno about that. It certainly happens, but I’ve been an outlier in a community before where not directly involved but knew people and honestly I’d say more like a 40/60 mix. of miserable/happy. Some folks really are just free.
Sure, I already said some people are just very open sexually.
I didn’t mean it as a blanket statement that all swingers are unhappy. Just that many are miserable people – it’s clearly their version of drinking their problems away.
I like your last sentence.
I don’t know what swingers YOU know, but… XD
Walky is just as fucked up as Sal, just in different ways. probably won’t get anyone killed in this universe though.
Uuuh… noooo? Walky has standard 18 year old issues. Sal has ISSUES.
I haven’t seen this many messed up people in a series since the original Evangelion.
What about School Days?
What, are they more normal in 2.0 or whatever? (and who is that girl in pink???)
Pink?? The grav I’m using as of this posting is Toph wearing her “brown is beautiful” costume.
I think he was talking about the Evangelion character, Mari
Wears a Pink plug suit!!!
I miss Azula giving no f*cks in her pink tee
Wait, so are we not getting the full flashback then? Nooooo
I don’t think we really need to see much more from Amber’s perspective here. I’m guessing we’ll get more of this flashback from Sal’s point of view eventually, and maybe Ethan’s (but probably not).
It will turn out that Ethan was an action hero and sprung out and subdued Sal. You have never seen anything so manly in your life – and neither had Amber. Premature dating ensues.
I forget who, but I know someone predicted this.
I mean, the prediction was that the store Sal robbed was the one from Amber’s previous one-panel flashback to this.
Um…I’d say like 10 people.
None of them were me.
Yeah, apparently some of them predicted this years ago. I only found out about the prediction two or three days ago.
I thought it was common knowledge by now.
I think Sal should feel remorse and try to make amends with Amber, when she finds out that Amber is that girl. Personally, I can’t root for her as a character until she does. Not that I don’t like her or how she’s written – I wouldn’t say I’m rooting against her! – but I probably won’t feel invested in her success otherwise. Threatening innocent strangers with a knife is crossing a line, even though she probably never intended to use it.
That said, it’s really striking how young she looks in the flashback. Poor Sal is just as young and scared as Amber and Ethan are. It’s so awful that she was so hurt she felt this was the right path.
Yeah, I guess she does owe Amber at least an apology. They can bond over wiggler.
I suspect that to Sal, Amber was basically a non-entity in that scene. She was facing down the store clerk, not Amber, and probably paid little attention to anyone else there. She would probably have no stronger feelings toward that person she didn’t notice behind the shelf than to the person she didn’t notice peacefully sleeping the night away in their house across town.
Well, yeah, that’s what I’m saying. She didn’t do this to hurt and threaten Amber/random customer girl. But she did. It doesn’t matter what intentions she had, waving a knife yelling “this is a holdup” is a threat to everyone in earshot.
And my point is that Sal may have a hard time feeling genuine regret for harming somebody she didn’t even know was there.
Beware: My interpretation of events follows. I think that explains a lot actually. Funny how small parts of conversation stick with you for life. Ethan’s words to Amber had a really powerful effect on her. Saying she might be the same as Sal, and then seeing Sal become a “villain” frightened Amber. Though naturally timid , she also struggles with anger issues that she sees inherited from her father. She sees Sal being compared to her and gets this terror that this is what she’ll become. This could very well be an inevitability. And so, in order to prevent this, she becomes Amazi-girl, using it as a coping mechanism to deal with her own insecurities, strengthen her moral fiber, and to find a strong outlet for her physical (angry-ish) inclinations. This became exaggerated as she dealt with more and more heavy stressors in her life.
Word. I like this. thanks dude
Gotta say, your pictures were perfect for this
haha yay you’re right : ) the amber one I made myself, because I looooooove heeerrrrrr
Amber doesn’t see that she has anger issues like Blaine until Mike made his point. In fact, she was worried about growing up to be a victim like her mom.
My idea is – This is the cathartic incident that brings Amber out of her shell. She is tired of being a victim – of her father, of other kids as epitomized by Sal.
That is why she starts to interact with others. As she told Dina, she only learned to do so recently.
But having Blaine as a father and the traumatic incident of the hold up built up a lot of negative emotion. Emotion Amber doesn’t have a release for. So she becomes Amazi-Girl, her ultimate expression of her emancipation from fear.
Regular Amber learns to control her anxieties enough to go among people. Amazi-Girl conquers fears by using her negative emotions (unknowingly inherited or modeled from Blaine) on the Sal substitutes.
So Amber gets to express the dark side of herself she has no other way to do, as she told Danny. She also gets to do it in the nerdy way, as it is established she is a comic book fan.
S’good analysis–including Mike as catalyst through his need to tell people truths about themselves …
Well said.
I’m going to assume Walky never got the full details on this event. He would never forgive Sal for destroying a nachito stand like that.
Walky (Weeping): Ah, Nachitos , I hardly knew ye …
I Googled ‘nachitos’ and according to the illustration it seems to just be tortilla chips covered in cheese, salsa, meat, and other gook….which is what I always thought were just plain ‘nachos’. Would someone please tell me just what is the difference, or is this something like a brand name that is specific to the Bloomington area?
I think it’s a brand specific to the Walkyverse that’s basically the equivalent of Doritos.
They are SMALL nachos
Well, we knew they sent her off to Catholic school for a reason…
Yes. We also knew that it was THIS reason.
Ayup. Nobody should be surprised that Sal’s knocked over a convenience store or two. Right there in the cast entry.
Didn’t she and Walky talk about it pretty recently?
Yes. Those interactions go like this –
1) They interact for some reason, alone.
2) Sal gets irritated for seemingly little reason.
3) It escalates
4) Walky brings this robbery attempt up
5) Rest of conversation goes to hell.
The most recent was after family day. It came out that Sal did this because of Mommy issues. To Sal, Walky was always mom’s favorite and knows this. To Sal, it is because Walky has fairer skin. So this was a cry for attention.
Walky had no idea. He thought he was the favorite after robbery (attempt). He didn’t know about the internal life of Sal.
Of course they have the same skin tone, as far as I’ve noticed. Research also shows that parents tend to favor their opposite-gendered child. How much that is true in DoA is anybody’s guess.
It wasn’t because Walky has ‘fairer’ skin, it is because he ACTS more like a ‘white’ person than Sal does. He likes things which are more associated with ‘white’ culture than Sal does. To Sal, he was always their PARENTS’ favourite, and as he was smart enough to just cruise through life, Sal of course felt like she had to try incredibly hard to even get close to him. And when being good didn’t pander out, she switched to rebelling for attention instead.
Sal made a move on parents day–the good girl outfit and demeanor–that must have cost her but which Mommma W didn’t even really recognize or respond to in her CONTNUING focus on Walky. Sal STILL wants Mom’s love, Mom is still stuffing her in favor of Walky, Walky is still oblivious (blame Mom), …and Dad W is barely there.
There’s also his hair, which is straighter than Sal’s. That probably played a role.
I see that as more of a symptom. Right or wrong about her familys focus (and it’s been implied it’s a least a little right), Sal’s the way she is over more then just the hair. It’s the everything.
Sal see’s the reason for Walky being the favorite as a result of him being whiter. “It fuckin’ started the day we were born and you came out whiter”.
Doesn’t look to me like it’s about Walky acting whiter.
It’s all about mom. Sal got dad to see her, but not mom. That’s when she slunk away. She yelled at Walky about how mom acted, who her favorite was, and tried to get mom’s attention.
If you haven’t noticed, it’s mom who runs things in that household.
Well, Amber recognizes Sal, but does Sal recognize Amber?
She’s definitely noticed something. Though she could just be wondering why that girl with the glasses looks ready to either run in terror or kill her.
“That girl’s got some nice cans…”
“Ah wonder if she’ll let me play with them.”
Sal’s just realised that she was smiling.
Now she’s worried that that’s her quota of smiling all used up for this universe.
Who pulled the drama tag in this universe?
It never had one. One of the many perils of realism.
Why is reality so much more terrifying than giant mutant frosted honey bun?
That’s why stories have superfrostedhoneybuns that can be defeated by super heroes OR ordinaries stepping up to be heroes–WAY easier to deal with than reality: see Mike in Shortpak re the most recent S-man movie. (Btw, I didn’t pick this graveyard, the algorthm did….)
The horrors of realism, EXPOSED! Don’t let YOUR webcomics try realism or this could happen to YOUUUUUUU!
Talk to your kids about realism.
In my head, there never being a drama tag is why there are no aliens in this universe. It literally brought them to earth to make things wackier.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/forget/
That strip wasn’t nearly dramatic enough to get the message across. You clearly should have broken out the psychological trauma and violent freakouts on day 1.
HOLY. SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.
The “T-” in Sal’s line adds so much to this strip.
dude agreed, it’s a really nice touch
But shouldn’t it actually have been “Th-this”? Nobody enunciates that T as a separate sound.
When a normal theif is robbing is robbing a store , they just walk through a store and says T”This is a stick up!”, but when sal is robbing a store she runs in, kicks something over and fucking annonces This is a fucking stick up!
Oh and Willis if your reading this about the last strip , I didn’t mean to disrespect anyone or offend anyone I’m sorry, I was just posting my thoughts
Also she uses a knife and not a gun. Because bullets would only be a handicap.
I’d be offended mostly because you are misquoting the comic.
I imagine the last frame with that music from “Kill Bill,” the music that sounds like a emergency siren when Kiddo ‘The Bride’ sees one of the assassins that killed her wedding party and tried to kill her.
weeee wooooo
weeee wooooo
Dun Duna Dundaaaaaaaa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOy6hqzfsAs
Are you sure you didn’t mean this one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJySOf2jPnU
Bill?! I thought she killed you?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jMruFHTwrY&list=PLgI2JuO9smZ5yQ1yDjPuMeOQa2vX0QGyn
This might be a ridiculous thought. But could it be that we’re reading too much into the “T-” in panel 4? Maybe it happened because Sal was trying to balance the dangling cigarette and speak at the same time?
Damn, she wants twinkies WAY more than Amber.
She likes junk food? Well, at least she has something in common with her brother.
That gets funnier when you think who Sal slept with
BAZOW
Someone should be like “Dude, Sal! Chill! I just watched the news and Hostess is back in business! They’re gonna keep making them!!”
Sal have a snickers
And Sal was what? 13 at the time?
Sal and Amber are coming from almost the opposite place with similar results. Sal got no positive attention from her parents. Amber got all negative attention from her dad. I think Stacy was probably loving, but overwhelmed dealing with her asshole dickhead abuser husband.
Turns out Dumbing of Age was actually Crash all along.
I don’t see how bandicoots factor in at all, honestly.
You’ve gotta be kidding me.
OH SNAP!
Well I think this is going to turn out just fine….right?
OH YEAH THIS’LL BE FINE SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE
For somebody who solves mysteries you sure aren’t the sharpest
Is Sal going to turn out to be Amazi-Girl’s Joe Chill?
What is the hover text? On my phone.
“It is rough to draw a thirteen-year-old Sal whose adorableness doesn’t overwhelm her supposed badassery”
Protip: Tapping the right side of the area just under the comic should pop the alt text on mobile/tablet.
Sal’s been holding her cigarette at that angle since she was a tyke.
Sal is like some strange mix of adorable and OH GOD GET ME OUT OF HERE I WANT TO LIVE.
*13-year old Sal
WHELP…It’s DEFINITELY NOT repressed five finger discount memories. This is going to be odd.
This is going to be interesting, when Danny totally realizes that Amber is Amazi-Girl, which has GOT to happen if she flips.
Unless Sal kicks her ass, which is also possible if not likely especially if Amber has the element of surprise.
Then again if she goes into Amazi-Girl mode while as her default Bruce Wayne mode, especially in front of everyone else, that could be far worse for her than just Danny-boy finding out.
Am I going to hell for wanting to laugh at this? Because I feel guilty about it.
Going to hell for not identifying with characters in a work of fiction? What kind of religion would–
Er… Well, the answer is still no.
Sal?!
Jumpin’ Funk Nuggets!!
Danny: “Don’t worry, Amber, I know she looks intimidating, but she’s really Amazigirl!”
Amber: Come on, that’s Faz.
See, the really bad thing is that Blaine is still outside and will have no sympathy after this.
Where’s her lead pipe? Where’s Amber’s homemade comic Science Boy?
So many, many people called it.
I’m not so humble as to not mention one of them was me CALLED IT!
…oh. Right. That’s a terrible thing in the context of the story. Damn. A bittersweet victory.
Oh well played.
And now Amber stabs Sal with a cafeteria spoon?
SPOOOOOOOOOOON! *spulick*
Knew a Marine hand-to-hand instructor who said he’d pick the spoon over fork or knife for a fight because it would confuse his opponent AND he could mess someone up hella bad with a spoon. That was a dude you did NOT want to mess with.
Wow, Amber really was a basket case back then. It makes her seem like a relatively, sensible and well adjusted individual now.
As for Sal…WOW! Whatta gal!
So that’s why she prefers to have straight hair. Sal’s curly hair is her “Im a gonna rob ya now!” hair…
Everybody sing! “It’s a small world after all…”
It’s actually Sal’s half cousin from Russia.
neat.
Well shit
DUDE. people were saying this, and, I don’t know, I guess, ok, but, REALLY???? AAAAHHHHH
also how is it possible that amber wouldn’t have seen sal before now? right? isn’t that insane? are we still like two weeks into classes??
She did see her. The speculation started a long time ago because Amber saw Sal and had a weird expression on her face.
Wow. I’m a dang-near constant re-reader of this comic (so good y’all) and I didn’t catch that. I’LL LOOK IT UP
unless someone beats me to it
HEYO
just check out amber’s face in all of these:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/amber+sal/
super nice observation my friend
Congratz to those of you who called it.
And now, to wait a looooong 24 hours…..
Holy SHIT, man!!!
I just mouthed a silent “Holy Shit!”
Well done, Willis.
Imagine if sal got into Some late at night and amazi-girl shows up and they get into a fight , then Danny shows up on the seen See’s it all and is like ” wait your suppose to de…but are, WHO are you people!?
oh shit
My sentiment exactly.
Oh god…older more physically capable Amber is going to murder Sal…and if she doesn’t something is going to happen that causes her and Danny great pain…but holy shit this makes sense
I think Sal also seems more physically capable.
But has Sal spent the last five years training to be the best at DDR?
Amber could totally take Sal.
Notice what Sal knocked over. The holdup is totally Walky’s fault indirectly.
And it just dawns on everyone that these two characters haven’t seen each other throughout the entirety of the comic.
Nope, they have. Or to be more accurate, Amber has seen Sal.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/margaret/
Sal and Ethan have not met, on the other hand…But I would bet that from his perspective the holdup is just a barely remembered bit of unpleasantness, as opposed to a life-defining milestone.
Oh my goodness, does that explain Amber’s face in that comic?!
I may be reading too much into it, but I think its interesting that they were standing as far away from each other as possible in the floor meeting: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/other-guys/
Probably a coincidence, though it is interesting to point that out because that means this is their first face-to-face confrontation; I hope she doesn’t blow it.
what better way to deal with your demons than them in punching them in the face
Sharing a hot shower together? Wait, wrong conversation. I’ll just let myself out.
Hella impressive detail monitoring Kernanator.
Yeah, after that time, Amber was probably all “just some girl who looks simliar, calm down, no way that was her.”
This time though, it’d be hard NOT to recognize her.
If you do a tag search for Amber and Sal together (amber+sal) you will find that they have appeared in the same strip a total of five time (and today’s strip is one of them). We can assume that they may have seen one another across the room at the floor meeting, for example, but they have had exactly zero interaction.
She’s holding up a store with a KNIFE? No wonder she got caught. Most of those convenience stores have a shotgun under the counter. She’s lucky she didn’t get her fool head blown off…
At this stage she probably wouldn’t have minded. Then at least her parents would focus on her for once instead of her brother and people say nice things at funerals. I am just making myself feel more like giving Sal a hug.
That sentiment goes great with your current avatar.
OMG OMG OMG! I never thought of this possibility until a couple of strips ago when someone mentioned it. Flashback Sal! All hell is going to break loose now.
Oh
Well
That explains so much.
you know………….someone called this – sometime since this flashback started – someone said they saw this coming. I didnt believe it – but WOW!
lol um, like Claire said six minutes ago
Someone actually called it months and months ago, before this storyline began! I don’t recall where exactly it first started, but I believe it was on the comic where Amber recognized Sal in the hallway.
I kinda saw it coming, too. In the strip before the flashback I recognized the unruly tufts of hair in the fourth panel.
Wow…just when I thought this couldn’t get worse. What’s next for Amber and her lovely psyche ride of hell?
Simple. Blaine makes another appearance.
Or maybe Faz.
I think Amazi-Girl’s found her first archenemy.
CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did Danny have his hand on Sal a few strips ago? It kinda looked like he did, but why she would tolerate that I don’t know. If that’s what Amber saw or thinks she saw though she’s gonna flip even more.
I think he did, but I’m not sure it meant anything. It looks like he has his hand on her back and was about to point something out in the game (half extender index finger) when he noticed Amber and stopped mid-motion.
So, get the feeling Ethan saying dumb things isn’t a recent trend.
Wait does Sal recognize Amber? What’s that look on her face?
I’m guessing she’s wondering why Amber is staring at her.
“For you, the day that Sal held up a convenience store was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was a Tuesday.”
HEEEERE’S SALLY
Sal, when is the last time you bought clothes?
I’m again, totally supportive Dumbing of Age ending with several deaths. School Days, man! School Days!
Red Wedding Redux!
*Plays “The Rains of Castamere* Walky, Amber, Ethan, Sal, and Danny all die horribly. The new cast is made up of Dinah, Joyce, Sarah, and Joe taking up the slack in wake of the horror.
Riley ends up played by Peter Dinklage.
Tonight on Kung Fu Exploitation Theater:
“SISTERS OF RAGE”
subtitled “Bad Girls Gone Worse”
Damn it, Sal. -_-
And then Amber attacks Sal…Amazi-girl Style!
OH COME ON!
Is there a Serena/Usagi attending this school too? Maybe her Imperial Silver crystal is gravitating everyone into this one little spot out of the whole world
in b4 amber flips on sal.
And cue epic flip-out in 3…
2…
1…
Hey, Amber’s talking with a normal volume again.
I wonder if it would help or hurt matters if Blaine chose this moment to bust into the dorm again, and Sal gave Amber an assist with him.
Oh my god this would be the best thing.
Well, time for some long-time-coming catharsis from Amber. I can see Danny getting some collateral damage in this confrontation, as well. Poor everyone in this: Amber’s breakdown, Sal’s violent past, and Danny’s innocent stupidity are all reaching the boiling point.
I really dig Young Sal’s design. She’s adorable in a troubled teen rebel punk tomboy kind of way.
So Sal is going to die now I guess.
please Amazi-girl may be immune to criticism, but not a boot to bread basket.
She’s a highly skilled martial artist, genius and I meant literally kill.
Sal might be able to punch but all Amber needs is one grasp of Sal’s neck and she’s gone.
Heck if Amber has really gone over the edge I bet she could take down quite a few students/security personnel before being terminated by a police sniper whilst she’s covered in blood and entrails.
Wow, that was somewhat of a quick flashback.
Well this explains Amazi-Girl. Even though Sal is holding the knife backwards, just the way adorable 13 year-old acting out without any intention or ability to use it would. On the other hand, that is a combat knife. Who sold that to her? How does she talk without dropping the cigarette in her mouth? Who sold her the cigarette? Do clothes Sal wore when she was 13 really fit her now? Have I been watching too much Cinema Sins?
re: holding the knife: that does appear to be a correct grip if one is going to stab downward at something. And is left-handed.
Yeah, but that’s about all you can do with it held like that. You’ve got one cut, but both it and the icepick stab are only useful in close, which in a knife fight means your opponent can cut you before you can cut them. Or in this situation, if she wants to be a threat to a clerk behind a counter, she’s going to have to literally climb up on the counter to even be able to reach them.
Holding it point-forward gives you a lot more options for both cutting and stabbing angles, and more reach with both slash and thrust.
And I think Sal is right-handed, though I’m not positive.
All the drama.
With half the calories.
But twice the salt. Stupid tears.
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. Now I have to reread the entire archive and see if she’s run into Sal before. I don’t have time! Agh!
Jeez Sal, ever think of wearing a mask when committing a felony in front of cameras? Makes me think she wanted to get caught. Maybe she did. Teenage rebellion writ large.
They haven’t. The only people they know mutually before today were Dina and Mike, too.
They passed in the halls once or twice, but didn’t talk. Search the tags for “Amber + Sal”
and full circle it is….
Well, THAT escalated quickly! O_o
Sal looks so…intense, playing that DSLite. And I get the feeling Amber’s about to do a flying tackle on her. Not that she can’t take care of herself.
W00t! I started reading DoA about 4 days ago and finally caught up to the present! ^_^
Wow, when Danny Danny’s a situation, he REALLY Danny’s it up.
So, where did Sal and Amber get their martial arts training? Bet Indiana is just over run with dojos and both sets of parents were so supportive of making their kids young killing machines. Just being emotionally stunted isn’t often the best course to comb skills and neither is playing video games.
One bad sign for this whole crew is that they still dress like they were 13. Except Sal now wears a bra.
I’m sure Amber had plenty of chances to learn some techniques. Five years training to become a masked vigilante for a girl with violence and anger issues.
Sal, meanwhile, spent the last several years in a catholic school. Nuns do not fuck around.
Is there any evidence that Sal has any martial arts training? We’ve seen her scuffle with Ruth (who does seem to know at least some judo or similar), but she relied on a surprise attack from behind and still got an elbow to the solar plexus for her trouble. Holding a knife doesn’t mean you know how to use it, and Sal isn’t holding that knife like someone who knows how to use it.
I could see Amber getting her mom to let her take martial arts “for self-defense”, especially after the robbery incident. Probably not a good dojo, or they’d have taught her methods of dealing with her anger without hitting people, but there are belt factories everywhere, and it’d give her something to build some practical experience on top of.
oh sweet dear jesus lord almighty what the hell willis!
Well holy shit, i did not see that coming
Sal went from adorable/stabby to absolutely gorgeous.
Oh…
Of all of the coincidences that are needed for this to happen, I find it the most dubious that Sal is still wearing the same clothes
It IS a big coincidence…. but there’s some set-up. Sal was recently teased about the good-little-girl outfit she put on when her parents visited, so it’s maybe not surprising she’s wearing her bad girl clothes today. And what’s badder than the jacket you wore during your brief criminal career?
Anyone else hear the opening to Kung-Fu Fighting in panel 3?
So… This is all well and good, he said sarcastically. Given the current situation, and Amber’s breakdown in progress, I could see this ending badly in different ways. Some with violence. Some with Danny *sigh* Danning it up. Some with Amber dropping out of school or getting kicked out some time after she runs away from this and hermits herself up in her dorm room for the rest of the semester.
However, I can actually see the possibility of a rabbit being pulled out of this hat.
I don’t recall anyone mentioning someone else who was there at the convenience store and who is possibly still having a mad-on over getting his jaw knocked to the floor within the past 24 hours.
Allow me to sketch out a possibility. Blaine comes in after paying for gas to yell at Amber for taking too damn long to get her Twinkies, sees young Sal in action and goes to town on her, which is how she gets caught. Amber’s cowering during the holdup, but maybe she’s also cowering from Blaine losing it. She’s seen it before, and she knows it’s not going to end well. Not much more to add to that, maybe some post-arrest scene, and Blaine chewing Amber out on the way back home or to the field trip destination.
Present day, Amber’s obviously recognized Sal. Decides she has found a skinny target that she can snap into kindling, because by God, there is someone who’s going to pay. Especially since this… female… is with her Danny. Go into Amazi-Girl mode and to hell with the consequences. Sal’s not likely to put up with this idea very well, and it starts.
Now Blaine steps out of the shadows, seeing that his target is fully distracted. Amazi-Girl is not one that can be snuck up on, and Sal has a little list. She recognizes the bastard that got her arrested and sent to boarding school, etc. Both of them can prioritize. They beat the hell out of Blaine. Maybe hospitalize him. Maybe put him in a coma so we never have to deal with his crap again, since Willis said nobody dies. Maybe not though, as there would be a lot more police crap and legal drama involved. Probably just bloody him up enough so he realizes the campus is not a safe place to be until he can come up with a better plan since he has enemies on campus that are effectives. That gives us some drama in about 6 more years as first semester finals come up.
During all of this, Danny is… well, just being Danny. Staring open jawed, not knowing what the hell to do, but during the fracas, Amazi-Girl’s face mask falls out of a pocket. As the battle ends, Danny picks it up.
At this point, it could go various ways. I’d like for him to see that Amber’s hear is mussed up and realize the mask is hers as he holds it up to look through it and sees her face, and they finally have a talk. However, this is Danny, and so he might try to slide up to Sal and discreetly hand it to her. “Your secret’s safe with me.” Which leads to some scathing remarks and a “What the Hell are you talking about? Get the fuck away from me” sort of moment.
Continue on to more Dumbiverse drama in about two months as this half hour moment concludes.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again… I will buck the trend of everyone expecting Danny to just Dan it up like he always does and predict that he will actually do something helpful.
I’ll applaud if he does. I’ve personally been very forgiving in my head regarding Danny up to the “You picked Wiggler?” part. At that point, I just kind of smacked my head and said, “Ok, maybe you really are as Danny as everyone says you are.”
I just hope that part of the resolution to this is that he finally puts together the pieces needed to see that Amber is Amazi-Girl. I’m fully in support of those two getting together without Amber having to hide herself.
I NEVER underestimate Danny’s capacity to Dan it up.
Even if Danny does do something helpful, people will still find a way to hate him for it. =P
If David continues with this “Danny thinks Sal’s Amazi-Girl” farce after ANY confrontation in which Danny is given a concrete clue as to who Amazi-Girl really is, I don’t think I could read this webcomic anymore. I would literally stop reading because not only would it get old by that time, it would just dissolve any kind of tension within the series where Danny is concerned. Turning him into some kind of walking sitcom where nothing changes and no character arc develops would be the worst possible move to make, especially in a story centered around character arcs being explored.
And like you, I hope Amber and Sal eventually settle their differences via beating Blaine half to death, but I hope Danny finally sees the truth of Amazi-Girl by either Amber owning up to her own mistakes, or him discovering it by himself.
“That gives us some drama in about 6 more years as first semester finals come up.”
@UnspeakableAnger — The strip has been running for three years now and we’re still in September (note the date on the sign). Willis will probably be a grandfather by the time we get to finals week.
Any chance that “today’s” Amber and Sal can help each other?
They can help each other a great deal. Will they, though? That depends on any number of things. Mostly related to trust.
Trust, in other words, make yourself vulnerable– you are VERY right. (I hadn’t realized that is the pivot!) If Ruth and Billie could, is there a chance Amber and Sal can? Maybe that night in that store could be something in common from which they can help each other deal with the issues that brought her there in the state she was in.
I don’t think they will be able to help each other for a long time. There’s a lot of things that would have to happen for them to even talk to each other about what happened, let alone trust each other.
You are right. They have to start talking AND listening, and that requires that Both of them are ready for that AND are in a physical and a social location where that can happen. So neither is about to just say, ‘let’s go talk about THAT night…’ as much as I’d like their about-to-happen confrontation to turn out as Scott Pilgrim vs Nega-Scott did. But I do hope that they can reach that psycho-social space together because I’ve gotten this idea I like of Amber and Sal as an odd-couple who could do a lot for each other. And Willis does let some of his troubled characters connect with each other in ways that are good for them– after sufficient and appropriate drama, of course (no resolution after 90minutes, roll credits).
This is a pretty amazing coincidence, all things considered.
Not so much as you might think. It’s a state university, and while I don’t know about the Indiana area, but where I grew up, two thirds of the high school grads went right to the same college.
Amber during panels 3 and 4: “World, this is NOT helping.” Panel 5: ditto.
And CONFIRMED.
It’s official. Amber has had the Worst Weekend Ever.
Sorry to go off topic, but what is your avatar from?
That’s Amethyst from the DC Nation animated shorts.
Is this the same Amethyst from the 80s comic book series?
Same character, different version / interpretation.
I think it’s called Princess Saphire or something. DC Nation ran it a while back. It was really good.
Oh. Right. Amethyst. This is why we read things
Well, I hope someone picks up that phone, because I FREAKING CALLED IT!…
Actually, it wasn’t me. It was Team Fourstar. They want their joke back. BUT ITS MINE NOW! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
This is good, this is just what Amber needed right now.
Wow Ethan, what a thing to say at just the wrong time.
Fucking Christ I did not see that coming, shit isabout to hit the fan
I’m also wondering just what Sal’s parent’s did to push her this close to the edge we got the gist of it when the parentals came by, but still it’s obvious she was nervous as shit to knock over that gas station if she was pacing in the corner.
Just read that hover text, the heck do you mean adorableness?
Well generally when you age someone down, you make their eyes larger and farther apart and make their ears bigger, and basically just making the head a little larger all around while de-emphasizing their jaw, and that unavoidably adorableizes someone.
Hm when you put it like that I can see it, but that expression…sheesh I’d hate to see what her children are like when they want something…
Cat fight alert?
Ugh.
And there it is. But how does this strip not already have a thousand comments?
Well this is… not where I thought this was going. I beleive a Damn You Willis is in order.
AAAAHHHHHHH Amber! I see this going in to ways, either she kicks Sal’s ass now or Amazing Girl kicks Sal’s ass later….although I don’t know why Amazing Girl knows about this, unless Amazing Girl is Ethan?!
Wow, small world
A knife. . .I laughed as soon as I saw that.
Clerk: A knife? How cute. Excuse me, let me just pull out my shotgun. Hey you two kid over there, call the police, we are going to need an ambulance.
Kicking over Nachitos?! This is blasphemy! This…is MADNESS!!
Madness? This is Dorito.
Is it wrong, I really do want Amber to beat the **** out of Sal? I love Sal, I love Amber, and I think Sal is as much a victim as anyone but I also think it’d be a great plot point. Poor Sal would have to deal with the unexpected blowback of her cry for help. Basically, “you wanted to hurt your parents and your brother. You also hurt other people.”
Well.
Heh, small world.
Wow. Ethan is just not good at reading people.
Well, he was right that she was freaking out. He just drew the wrong conclusion!
I think we can all agree that this is Danny’s fault.
Well…he was stupid enough to believe that Sal is Amazi-girl when so many things point her to not being AG!
But she liked Wiggler! Who else but Amazi-Girl likes Wiggler!?
So… Amber is totally going to react with violence upon seeing Sal back in reality? B/c she deals with all this trauma by beating up criminals, and Sal was the initial criminal who traumatized her.
And so it begins. The great shitstorm of our time.
If the flashback ends here, I think we’re going to see more of a riff on the “You and her are probably the same” comment. Just look at her holding that game. Look at the rage they both have to deal with. They are the same, and Amber might be able to see it now when she couldn’t five years back.
What will the reaction be if this is misdirection and Amber’s got the wrong girl? Seems a bit too convoluted to be the case, though.
“Oh Shit” was appropritate
bolder flavor? older flavor?
I’m holding out for solder flavor.
As long as it isn’t folder flavor.
Now the question is, does sal recognise amber?
Damn, Sal makes one SCARY thirteen-year-old 8/
I did not see this coming.
Wait WHAT
DAMN YOU WILLIS!
So, finally found the time to read through this and play catch up, and while the post itself is late, I think this could easily be the best event of my birthday, now that I’ve discovered it. Thanks and keep up the great work!
BALDUR’S GATE!!!!!!! Sorry, off topic and all but I love your Gravitar. Have you looked into Pillars of Eternity at all?
NOOOOO!!!!!! NOT THE NACHITOS DISPLAY!!!!!!
Holy motherf&(kers nipples! I lose the use of internet for a few weeks and you pull this! Dammit Willis!
For some reason, this makes me wonder why there isn’t a My Little Pony version of Badass Sal.
Just to comment Willis, to your alt text – Kudos you succeeded in making 13 year old Sal friggin terrifying.
I hope someday soon We get to be horrified as to what pushed Sal over the edge. I like to think that this was just after what she tried to make the “perfect” day. She studied her ass off , was on her best behavior at school even though it was embarrassing, and dressed up real nice of her own accord when the family went out to dinner.
And that night no one mentioned that the Parents didnt get a call from the principal at all that week, makes light of her dressing herself. And her B report card gets overshadowed by Walky’s A.
The next day after hanging out down the street she gets in her head so much, to much she just escilates her own through process till she decides to make her parents notice her.
It has just suddenly occurred to me just how terrified Sal was at this moment. Yeah, you read that right. Life has been shitty to her and Amber pretty much the whole way through, hasn’t it?