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He’s nothing but a low-down, double-dealing, backstabbing, larcenous perverted worm! Hanging’s too good for him. Burning’s too good for him! He should be torn into little bitsy pieces and buried alive!
You win everything in my eyes now. I never expected someone after all these years to not only reference Heavy Metal, but also reference my favorite bit from the movie. *high five*
I put a link to this scene in my Facebook status yesterday regarding a different topic.
And upon reflection, either an ambulance or a body bag would cause problems for Amber I’d rather she she not have to face. One hopes she’ll be quicker to realize this than I was
It’s because of all those times he sold dope disguised as a nun, isn’t it? Thanks so much for the Heavy Metal reference… I’m going to be giggling over that the rest of the day.
Modern/equally accepted… no… no I believe you are mistaking misuse as valid definition. Meaning is derived from the roots of a word. And there are several better ways to say destroy; annihilate; obliterate; ruin; wreck; annul; nullify; eradicate; exterminate..
Sorry Lord Ellion, but I think you’re mistaken here. Word roots do lead to word meaning, but meaning is derived from the language users collective understanding, generally speaking. As much as I enjoy being a pedantic nerd about word roots and origins, as the language evolves so must we with it. If you were to take all words to their original meanings you’d be speaking an entirely different language. Language is communication.
(I had to go fix my Gravatar since I accidentally put in the email for the wrong account. I think it slightly undermines my point when my Gravatar is a photo of the Doctor in a silly sweater, although at least it wasn’t the total non-sequitur that my Gravtar of Steven Wilson in a bubble bath would have been.)
Nah, that’s too kind. I’d want him to suffer. Also avoids the murder charge. Besides, what cop is going to believe a girl dressed up like a superhero beat the crap out of you?
The impending beating, however, is probably just what Blaine wants. His threats to Amber include mostly financial douchebaggery. Blaine wanting to “see where his money was going” probably had a reason behind it, maybe a justifiable exit to paying child support? Either way, he seems to be much more competent in understanding and following the law than his daughter, and is likely to use the law as a weapon against her. His conversation with his daughter seemed to have the sole purpose of provoking her to make a bad decision, and if Blaine gets assaulted in a public place, Amber gets jail time. Add the fact that he can potentially discover his daughter is practicing vigilantism, and that problem gets amplified by several magnitudes of bad.
Sorry, kiddo hit the wrong button. No idea how, only 9 months old and already manipulating my computer like a pro… ah, anyways:
That said, while your concerns may be justified, controlling finances is a huge part of abuse. It’s a major control and is a good way to trap the person. It would NOT surprise me if part of how Blaine kept Amber and her mother in the relationship was with money. Blaine thinks that child support should mean he has control of Amber, well Blaine just thinks he should have control of Amber and will use anything to justify it, and he is desperately trying to reassert control over his daughter. Problem is, child support means nothing of the sort. Parents who have no rights at all to even see their children still have to pay support until someone else adopts the children.
Also, I really don’t think child support works like that. I know quite a few single parents with abusive/manipulative exes, and have never heard of one successfully arguing about WHAT the support has to go to so long as it’s going to the child’s well-being. Any complaints wouldn’t be “I don’t want my money going towards that!”, it’d have to be “They aren’t taking proper care of our child” (ex. if the custodial parent only gives the child junk food, the other parent can’t say “I want my money to only go towards health food”, but has to file a complaint that the custodial parent is neglecting the child’s health). What, exactly, is he going to tell the courts? That the support he’s required to pay to cover her tuition is covering the tuition and a good college (and I believe a state university, so if she’s in-state it’s FAR cheaper than a private one)? That she has a good-quality laptop, now a necessity in college, especially for computer science students, which Amber seems to be? And that’s assuming it IS expensive, it doesn’t appear to be a tablet PC and nowadays regular laptops are comparatively fairly cheap, and Amber sounds like she knows how to upgrade a cheap laptop which can be a lot cheaper than buying one with all the works. The money isn’t going towards drugs, her mother isn’t spending it on herself, the money is going to things that legitimately benefit Amber, the non-custodial parent has fairly minimal control about how child support is spent as long as it’s not being spent wildly inappropriately, which it’s not. I have absolutely no idea what his plan legally is. If he went to a judge with the information he saw, that his child support is being used the way it’s SUPPOSED to be used and he doesn’t like that, he’d be laughed out of court.
The biggest thing is that I don’t think the money is the big issue for him. The control is the big issue. His actions are not those of someone who just wants out of paying child support (or alimoney or whatever else). He is an abusive man, his primary interest in Amber is to be able to control her. He’s angry about child support because he’s used to having people be financially dependent on him meaning he can easily control them and now he can’t. He’s trying to use the money to assert control, not trying to assert control because he resents having to pay the money.
Because of this, it changes how things’ll go down if she does attack him enough to do serious damage. He already hasn’t pressed charges for the earlier assault, even though there were several witnesses who seemed (initially) sympathetic to him. I doubt he really wants Amber to go to jail- he’ll have even less access to or control over her. It could be years before he could try again. It’s unlikely anything he does will sway it so he can have custody, short of arranging to have her mother killed (even if her mother appoints someone else to get custody of Amber in her will, it’s not uncommon for courts to try to put children with the other parent, even if the other parent is abusive, I know a few people who are trying to make plans to avoid this happening and it’s not easy). Even if he proves Amber is a danger and can’t be at college and has to be under house arrest, this will occur at her MOTHER’s home. Maybe he wouldn’t have to pay child support anymore (Amber’s likely over 18, I don’t know how the law works), but I don’t think the money is the issue- the control is. Putting Amber back with her mother may take him further from being able to control either of them.
No, I think it’s more likely that he’d use it as a guilt chip and blackmail. “I know you did it, I can prove it, you’ll be kicked out of college and sent to jail, your life ruined, but if you do as I say I won’t.”
In my parent’s divorce, my father had to pay $x amount of child support until we turned 18, then $y amount (where y=cost of attending the nearest state university) as long as we were in undergrad college. The lawyer said that was standard.
In a friend’s parents’ divorce, though, his father had to pay child support until he stopped going to college.
A different friend’s father has to pay child support until she graduates high school, even though she turned 18 at the beginning of the school year.
So it seems entirely reasonable to me that Blaine has to pay child support while Amber is a freshman in college. We don’t know the terms of their divorce yet but hopefully “abuser” weighed against him in the decree.
Two things: I’m not sure he WILL recognize her. The rain is plastering down her hair and making it darker, her voice is different, she IS wearing a mask. He’s not as clueless as Danny, but I’m not sure if he will recognize her.
Second thing: if Blaine is really beaten up by a girl, I’m not sure he WOULD report it to ANYONE. It might be too humiliating to admit, after his “weak” comments about Amber’s mother and Amber. He doesn’t strike me as the type to relish reporting being beaten up by anybody of the “weaker” sex.
She switched to this voice, all right … and said three words over a cellular phone. Blaine is not Liam Neeson and needs to hear someone say more than “Good luck” in order to make a voice identification.
My guess is he probably thinks that one of her friends grabbed the phone from her, said “I’ll be there” (suggesting the friend was coming instead), and now this friend is there in her place to deal with him since, as someone else said, he doesn’t think much of her.
Well it is raining and she’s sorta far away. Danny can recognize Amazi-girl because he’s seen her in that outfit plenty before, but Blaine may just need to get an up-close look first.
But Dorothy has stood maybe a foot away from Amber for a prolonged period of time, AND chased down Amazi-Girl. Maybe the disguise in better in-universe than out?
Unless Dorothy has really good facial recognition, standing close to someone isn’t the same as knowing a person very well. Dorothy didn’t exactly spend the time staring at her face and analyzing it. I believe Ethan recognized her without being told (that was the implication I got, it may be wrong) because they’re so close.
In terms of people she’s only met at the start of the semester, Dina’s in the best position to recognize Amber as AG, but it’s Dina so who knows how that’d go.
She’s wearing different eyewear, very different clothes, has different posture and demeanor, and changes her voice. Anyone who knows Amber from college knows her as the reclusive shut-in who spends all her time on the computer. And, rightly or not, there is the stereotype that these types never do any exercise so it’s harder for people to think she could be this parkour-expert. No, it shouldn’t be incredibly hard to put the two together, but it’s not surprising that near-strangers aren’t able to.
I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s harder to make the connection when you know the two separately. If she had done this at the end of the year, she may have been more easily recognized, and now that people are getting decent pictures it’s more likely someone will.
Also, y’know, comic logic. By all rights, putting a @#$@ pair of glasses on shouldn’t hide your secret identity, and yet it worked for Superman.
If you actually knew the two very well separately, it shouldn’t be that hard to piece it together because the similarities would start to become obvious (if you ever watch the anime Detective Conan, or read the manga, this is why Ran suspects the truth multiple times, there start to be very obvious similarities and oddities that become obvious with time, it is only a lack of evidence that prevents her proving her theory right).
Blaine failing to recognize Amber as Amazi-Girl backs up my theory that Willis is doing some suspension of reality here with the Clark Kent’s glasses trope. Hopefully this will take some unfair criticism off of Danny; he has enough fair criticism to deal with to have to also stand up to the unfair stuff.
Blaine has only seen Amber once in three years and Amazi-Girl never before. Her posture, voice, mask and different clothes combined have thrown him off, FOR THE MOMENT. That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to figure it out soon though or hasn’t already started to suspect that it could be Amber.
Although, to be honest. I didn’t really think he was being kidnapped either. Just, Blaine keeping him close, until he could confront Amber.
Making him, stay despite wanting to go….
Keeping him occupied…
I’m thick, aren’t I?
I’m not sure it’s a kidnapping thing yet… Blaine hasn’t used undo force or coercion to get Danny to stay. Danny COULD just walk away. If Blaine shoves him in the car and locks him in somehow, then it’ll be kidnapping.
I am too. He can be inconsiderate and cartoonishly oblivious, but I don’t think he’s really a bad guy. I just hope his relationship with Amber comes out of this at least somewhat intact.
When someone only has “not a bad guy” going for him, that says something. “Not bad” should be the default state of humanity. He’s a single-minded, rather useless, completely naive fuck-up who doesn’t recognize the difference between a short stout girl with pale skin and a tall lanky girl with dark skin. Costume or no, this isn’t the X-Men and we’re not changing genders on a will.
I enjoy Ren Faires and I have an entire suit of armor including a mask that covers my whole face. Friends don’t recognize me in it. However, no one would get me confused with my wife, who is a good three inches taller and 30 pounds lighter.
Yes, continue with how this comic isn’t realistic enough.
But excessive realism is dull. Or did you have a day like any of the characters, ever? Much less day after day.
Sweet and affectionate apply only when he feels like it, when he is annoyed or upset he is quite snappy and threatened to MURDER Dorothy and Joe if they’d scared Amber away which is pretty goddamn extreme considering he had only known her for a few days.
Can’t be bothered doing an archive binge right now, too much other things to do. I don’t 100% remember this, but I’m guessing he said something along the lines of “I’ll kill you”. I don’t know what part of the world you’re from, but both my British partner and American self use this turn of phrase. It’s really common, it’s not a legitimate threat of murder no matter how graphic it gets. It’s typically relegated to just “I’m going to kill [whoever]”, but if the person is REALLY mad, it can get bloody.
It’s common for kids with non-abusive parents who have never truly hurt them, would never dream of hurting them, and will do anything to ensure their well-being to say “My parents are going to kill me, I am so dead, they are going to kill me and bring me back so they can kill me again” over something like a low grade. It’s not uncommon for these parents to say “I’m going to kill that kid” when the kid does something like clogging the plumbing and costing hundreds of dollars in repairs, either. Neither party honestly thinks the parents will so much as raise a hand to their child. The child is most likely going to get grounded and have to either study more (with low grades) or lose allowance to help cover the repairs (with costly repairs).
Is this a GOOD thing? I’m not going to say either way, but it’s culturally fairly accepted in the English language.
A person has to show other signs of violent tendencies for this to be a concern. I haven’t read all of Willis’s comics, but in DoA I haven’t seen Danny ever do anything to make it seem like more than a cultural expression of anger with no true malice. Mike? A bit concerning. Blaine? I’d take that very seriously and possibly call the cops.
It may have been a typo… And a reference to Mystique who can change everything at will. Height, body type, and gender. If AG could dot hat, though, give up trying to figure out who she is….
Sadly, the “default state of humanity” as I’ve seen it includes a LOT of malice, bigotry, ruthlessness and hypocrisy, some of it surfacing in the most unexpected people. Danny is at least spectacularly non-malevolent, which counts for a lot with me.
You’re being too hard on Danny. There’s no way he could recognize Amber in her suit and mask! There are certain laws in action here. Dorothy and Walky didn’t recognize her either, didn’t they?
Well, to give Danny a little credit, he was told that Sal was Amazi-girl, and he could claim being blinded by love or something similar (because that’s something Danny might actually have a real version of). Plus, I’m not sure he even saw Amazi-girl in complete daylight – which might be part of it.
Point being, Sal chose Wiggler on Mario Kart. That’s clearly evidence enough.
You realize of course that even Blaine can’t recognize his own daughter in this comic? Blaine, who has known Amber for significantly longer than 3 weeks, which is still longer than Danny’s known her as they didn’t even meet the first few days of the comic (aside from Amazi-Girl saving him, but that’s not really meeting each other).
Initially, I thought that Blaine would surely recognize her, because she’s his dang daughter. But! He hasn’t actually seen her in years. Last time he saw her (before today) she was a child. Add to the usual ideas that it’s at night, she’s soaking wet, she’s acting opposite of how Blaine expects, etc., Blaine may actually come out of this without figuring out her identity.
Prepare for Danny. It’s so Uncanny.
To protect the school from Education.
To Flirt with all girls from Orientation
To Reinforce the evil of truth and love
To still somehow appear so dumb.
Danny. Brown.
Team Danny Dans it up at the speed of Sound
Well let’s hope my popularity doesn’t go further down!
Amber, she’s round!
I’m on Team It’s Fun to Make Fun of Danny ’cause That’s Clearly the Idea Especially Since He’s a Goddamn Fictional Character and Not a Real Human Being with Real Human Feelings but I See Your Point
I’m not on Team Danny, but I don’t really blame him. A few people have talked about how he really doesn’t have enough information, which is in no small part Amber’s fault. Although thinking Sal is Amazi-Girl is pushing it on the intelligence front.
In my happy place, Danny is a brilliant mastermind who plays everyone around him to fulfill his goals, pretending to be unaware of Amber being Amazi-Girl so that she feels safe about her secret identity.
Actually, if she bought one that is classified as a “long gun” she could. She’s eighteen. And the laws in Indiana mean she could even carry it out in the open. She doesn’t even need a license. Just buy one, walk up to him with it.
Long gun is any gun that is specifically designed with a barrel that is longer than other classes.
It is supposed to be designed so that the user has to brace the gun against their shoulder while firing.
And.
Special note: Assault Rifles are long guns.
Assault rifles are also burst fire and/or fully automatic, which the federal government has Opinions about people buying or carrying, whatever their state laws may be.
She’s giving him the option to do as she says or start some shit. Really quite ingenious, because as far as I can tell having his power so blatantly taken away from him is pretty much the surest way to make Blaine go ballistic. Just the way he acts in this strip is nearly enough to make Danny suspicious. When he starts fighting, a couple of strips from now I imagine, he stops being able to manipulate Danny. Then it’s just a question of surviving the fight and hopefully not kill him.
Yeah, I’ve been following the story over the last couple of weeks where we actually see Amber transform into Amazi-girl and back on the page, with accompanying flashbacks that show how she came to create the Amazi-girl persona.
You know, you’re acting like “Of course he knows” but then, literally every other person she’s encountered has been struck with a violent case of stupidity and/or incredibly poor vision, so somebody seeing through Clark Kent Amber’s astounding disguise is new.
To be fair, i thought he was making sure Amber got closer, so Danny could see, and he recognizes her shape. In addition, he put the two of her daugther having a grappling hook, the two of her obsession with comic book super heroes, and the two of the above, to get the six of Amber = Amazi-girl.
You know, “Clark Kenting” isn’t as absurd a disguise as it seems. Many celebrities do it in real life – they change how they walk in public (or simply don’t walk in the same way as their celebrity persona), keep their head down a bit, maybe add on a hat or something, and suddenly nobody realises that they’ve just passed Patrick Stewart in the street on his way to buy a carton of milk. Clark Kenting (in the example of the eponymous character) isn’t just about wearing the glasses, but changing his physical posture, his voice, his mannerisms etc. and that can count for a lot, it’s only our perspective as viewers who knew from the start that he’s Superman that makes it seem quite so blatantly obvious.
I don’t think that it’d work on close friends and family. How often has your best friend been able to walk past you without you recognizing them because they put on a hat? People can usually recognize their friends/family even when they drastically change their hairstyle/makeup/etc. If Clark Kenting worked on everyone to that degree, then in Shortpacked! when Amber cut her hair, no one would have known who she was.
I don’t know how far Amber is from him, though. She’s probably quite far away, relatively speaking, he doesn’t seem to have seriously looked at her, and combined with the other factors (dark, rain, wet hair and mask obscuring her face, changed voice, etc), it’s very plausible that he didn’t immediately recognize her and it may still be hard for him to.
I think that’s the opposite of how he’s acting, considering he’s sighing at someone saying Blaine DOES know. And especially considering Blaine looks right at Amazi-Girl and says, “Wait for Amber.”
Willis, I’m implying that as it stands, given that Blaine manipulates things to light in his favor, he would say “Is that girl wearing a costume?” and “Stay in the car, damn you. Wait for Amber” to get out of the car and talk to ‘Amazi-Girl’ as either in her past, dressing up as a hero was a defense mechanism she used to cope with his behavior, or he recognizes her based on random factors such as he had found her plans for the costume, it was something she pretended to be when she was young and playing, etc. Obviously you, Willis, as the writer, know where it is/will be heading and your intent behind your comic. Reading it as the rest of us do, from day to day, leaves us with such speculation, intended or not.
Or “wait until I demask her”. Or “she’s still too far for me to recognize her in this rain”.
OK, probably not the last one. If he knew about AG, he could recognize her colors. He shouldn’t have *that* much worse eyesight (compared to Danny) – that would be bad for driving …
See, I assumed he DID know, and that was what he was referring to when he called her a “spaz” (because that’s what most muggles think about real-life superheroes…at best.) But maybe he was just referring to her social anxiety.
Regardless, he needs to spend some more time writhing on the wet asphalt in agony.
Yeah, almost anyone would start getting pissed at Blaine if he started talking to them like Blaine is talking to Danny. But this is Danny we’re talking about.
Well, I think one commenter said it best, Blaine temperament and Amazi-Girl’s identity is known to us, the reader….but the character does not know that.
Even without pre-knowledge of Blaine or Amber’s family situation, this whole situation is sketchy as shit and Danny is, characteristically, completely oblivious to it.
He has expressed misgivings, so he isn’t completely oblivious, just mostly. Though I can’t say I would do better in this case, outside of the recognizing the Clark Kenting.
I just realized how much of a mind-fuck this is gonna be when everything finally clicks. When he realizes what’s going on, he’ll suddenly understand everything he hasn’t since the beginning of the story. And i doubt he’ll handle it well.
It’s okay to love things even if people you love don’t love them, and to hate things even if people you hate also hate them. There’s room for ambiguous and even conflicting feelings. The world isn’t a manichaean construct of absolute black and white. Just look at KKK’s stance on Westboro Baptist “Church”
For just a split second, Danny sees everything through new eyes. He recognizes his immense folly, and the truths that have been laid bare before him. His eyes widen, and everyone can see the new wisdom just about to emerge.
And then it’s gone. And what might have been becomes forever lost.
I know Dorothy likes ’em cute and unlikely to interfere in her bid for President, but I’m seriously starting to wonder how they lasted more than a week. Did he just fail to notice her dumping him all the other times?
Because they likely spent little time together because Dorothy was very busy which would have caused her to fail to notice his flaws. They likely still WOULD be together if Danny had his own aspirations in life and hadn’t undermined her desire to go to Yale as something she might have changed her mind on later. That last point honestly seemed to be what pushed her to firmly go ‘Nope, this isn’t going to work out at all regardless of what I say to him’.
She’s letting him drive away without Danny. But if Danny gets back in the car, she can let loose on Blaine in order to defend a helpless idiot.
The only thing that would make this better is if a certain motorcyclist comes driving by and Danny sees AG and “Sal” together and immediately thinks they are twins, which really shows how dumb he is.
That was what they made the super robot thingy for in the Silver Age Superman, so that Supes could be seen in public interacting with Clark Kent. And yes, I’m old.
In fairness, she’s not just in costume, she’s outside his car, some distance away, in pouring rain. We’ll see if the secret identity plot-armor holds up when she gets closer.
But if he knew she dressed in a costume, and was expecting her – then a girl her age / size in a costume wouldn’t be that surprising. Blaine doesn’t recognize his own daughter even though he is expecting her.
Why do you think he knows she dresses in a costume? He hasn’t indicated as such. The only thing he said that ever let on that he knew that she was Amazi-girl was when he made that “spaz” comment, and that was vague enough that given his reaction here, superhero cosplay obviously isn’t what he meant.
I took it for granted that secret identities are one of the genre rules this strip plays by. Superhero disguises and secret identities are IMPENETRABLE except in special circumstances, no matter how flimsy they might appear from outside the text. Seriously, would everyone be talking about Lois Lane or Aunt May the way you’re talking about Danny?
Um…People -do- talk about Lois Lane that way. It’s a running freaking joke in the fandom that is so prevalent that the source material has had to stop to address it repeatedly. And with Aunt May, well, last I checked Spider-man wears a full face mask, so it’s not exactly the same situation.
Plus, as Spiderman’s costume shows none of his face and muffles his voice, that leaves body type as the only indicator as to who it might be and in a world where most people are skinny, that pretty much narrows it down to everybody. -w-
I think Blaine will be able to figure out who Amazi-Girl is once she gives him a very familiar-feeling haymaker! Wait… is my obsession with Blaine getting haymakers bordering on the creepy territory? Nah…
Meanwhile..it’s raining and it’s pretty dark from the looks of things and no available light sources. It could be anyone with the same build and hair color. Also, we, the reader who are the omniscient observer, know who it is but that information is not known to Danny, who is not an omniscient observer.
My prediction: Danny gets knocked out mid fight, wakes up, Amazi-girl gone, Blaine gone but Amber is there, and it all makes sense to him, she was on the way there after all.
I’m still rooting for Danny, but this is dumb even for Danny. I hope Willis isn’t dumbing Danny down in response to fan attitudes about him. I guess it’s a moot point since Willis drew the current strips seven years ago
I think Blaine will get some beating but will ultimately win since he tried to teach Amber to fight when she was a kid but she wasn’t brutal enough. Still isn’t. Seriously, he’s a grown man (psychopath). He’ll unmask her, drag her to the car and drive away leaving danny staring in the rain.
Please be careful about spoilers on the Dumblr. I didn’t expect things to work out with Ethan, but now I know that Joyce actually does get together with Dorothy. This takes much of the dramatic tension out of the next four months of strips.
Well, they do live in the same residence hall, and I believe they also have a class (Gender Studies?) together, so why is it so revealing for them to be walking down the hallway together?
I’m just seriously scared for Danny now. I wasn’t until now, because I didn’t think Blaine would actually be a threat to anyone but his ex-wife/daughter.
He’s just a kid, and no kid deserves to be in that situation.
Thing is, from the beginning Blaine has proven he will do anything to hurt Amber. It’s an obvious extension of that knowledge to assume he wouldn’t balk at hurting one of her friends if he can’t get to her directly.
Blaine is an abuser. He will hurt anyone that gets in the way of him establishing or maintaining his control over someone. That’s why abusers usually stay in control until someone else intervenes – their threats are always serious and they will hurt anyone they have to so that their control is maintained, even children.
You just know it’s gonna cut back to post-coitus Walky + Dorothy, right? Dave will never let a fully epic sequence like this play out without an intermission…
It’s not even really fair to call Danny oblivious in this situation. Pretend you don’t have omniscience over a comic for a moment. You meet the father of a close friend. You know nothing about him, but he seems nice enough and is showing some kind of concern for his daughter. He might handle things a little strangely… but that doesn’t mean your first thought is that he’s an evil psychopath who is going to kidnap you just because he tells you to get back in his car. That’s actually pretty fucking far-fetched.
Nnnno, the fact is he met someone -claiming- to be the father of a close friend. Blaine is still a stranger to Danny, and not somebody he ever should have gotten in a car with. For all Danny knows, this guy could’ve been Amber’s creepy serial-killing stalker that offs her boyfriends. From an in-universe perspective, his behavior is still stupid and oblivious, just in a different, more naive way.
I suppose my point is DON’T GET IN A CAR WITH SOMEBODY YOU JUST MET, NO MATTER WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE.
Also, Amber NEVER mentioned her dad to him. So, all he know is that there was a dude in the shadows who knew Amber’s name. And now he’s taken him to the edge of town.
Jesus, if this were set at the U of F instead of Indiana, he’d be dead already
a slow decapitation, while castration of his genitals just as he getting the slow decapitation to show that both parts of him are getting it in the end.. this is coming from man that really hates this father figure
I don’t get any humor out of this strip at all . . . Maybe I’m looking too deep into this. . . but it feels MORE like Danny is actually scared of Blaine now, BUT is catching on to the fact that confrontation is what sets him off and he’s pretending to give Blaine the benefit of the doubt out of sheer terror.
Take your pick.
1 a girl
2 computer geek
3 comic book enthusiast
4 social anxiety disorder
5 PTSD
6 band kid
To someone like Blaine it could be any or all of these reasons that make him call her a spaz. Mind you, his information about Amber is at least three years out of date.
Will Danny go back into the car? Will Amazi-Girl get to castrate Blaine? Does Walky ever get his shirt off? Find out (or not) in the next comic on Dumbing of Age!
…Why the hell is Danny’s stupidity this giant thing now? Yeah, the boy’s not terribly bright, but even Dina’s parents didn’t get the hint about Blaine until Amber flat-out stated “I DO NOT WANT [HIM] HERE.”
Take a reasonably gullible, incredibly naive character like Danny and pair him up with a seasoned manipulator like Amber’s father and this entire situation suddenly isn’t that difficult to wrap your mind around. Danny is hardly as stupid or unsympathetic as the commenters make him out to be.
Blain isn’t exactly the best Villain a good Villain knows when to give up the prize to tuck with the Hero. It’s the reason why Sauron is a smarter Villain than Smaug.
Why am I getting the feeling Blaine will go as far as making Danny a hostage? Though in a way, Danny is. I mean why else is Blaine getting bent on having him back in the car?
That way we can hear Blaine’s “evil mastermind plan” to ruin Amazi-girl’s life. In reality Amazi-girl is doing a pretty good job all on her own. Danny is just to clueless enough to keep Danning it up, gets back in the car to keep from getting wet.
To everyone complaining about people being dumb about Amazi-girl, I think Willis has established that the world follow’s comic book rules in this instamce. Nobody ever recognizes superheroes, even and especially if their mask is just a ribbon around their eyes. And you shouldn’t, or at least it’s implied you shouldn’t, question the intelligence of the plebs for it.
Poor Danny. Didn’t pre-Flashpoint Danny start out as the POV character? I’ve always liked the character even before I discovered ShortPacked and its predecessors. Being clueless, naive, and idealistic isn’t a crime, not when he’s also loyal and smart. And no, not seeing through Amazi Girl’s disguise doesn’t mean he’s smart if no one else can either!
he’s not actually stupid, his lack of knowledge compared to our knowledge of things HE doesn’t know… doesn’t make him stupid.. he IS however unfathomably DENSE. But I do like him. :3
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btw if you're one of those rando bluesky weirdos who doesn't know me but sees me in the wild being sarcastic and don't know i'm being sarcastic because you haven't taken like 30 seconds to, like, maybe look at my user profile or something, keep walking, you're not going to score internet points here
Here's an entertaining cite at the bottom of the first page
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
JUST IN: Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan moves to dismiss federal criminal case against her for allegedly helping immigrant hide from ICE. Her lawyers say she's protected by official acts & judicial immunity and 10th Amendment. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 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?"
wilbur, savvy enough to know he's in a comic strip but still not a great actor, awkwardly lifts a muffin up into frame so that we, the audience, understand that he has a muffin right now, which is very important narratively, but he's not really selling it well as an organic, human action
confirming that the reason there's been no Galaxy Version female characters in Blokees until now is that they felt they needed to make Round Lady Thighs For Ladies
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 14h
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 2d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 11d
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OH SHIT IT’S ABOUT TO HAPPEN
kick his ass Amber
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE kick his ass
DECIMATE HIM
He’s nothing but a low-down, double-dealing, backstabbing, larcenous perverted worm! Hanging’s too good for him. Burning’s too good for him! He should be torn into little bitsy pieces and buried alive!
It’s not nice to talk about Danny like that. D:
And then the comments take a perfectly serious scene and make me laugh XD
Please, please, PLEASE tell me that’s a quote from Heavy Metal.
*Cheap Trick song starts*
You win everything in my eyes now. I never expected someone after all these years to not only reference Heavy Metal, but also reference my favorite bit from the movie. *high five*
Yup, always thought that song was the best part of the movie.
*high five*
I guess I’m the only one who though the best bit was the whole movie altogether? :'(
STERRRNN!!! XDXDXDXDXDXD
Thanks Hanover…
Goodbye…
*pulls lever*
Lol, somebody’s been looking at my status *cough* lejwocky *cough*
That said, one hopes that Amazi-girl’s dad isn’t also her Kryptonite. And one also hopes he leaves this scene in an ambulance. If not a body-bag
“Except maybe the preschool prostitution ring….”
I put a link to this scene in my Facebook status yesterday regarding a different topic.
And upon reflection, either an ambulance or a body bag would cause problems for Amber I’d rather she she not have to face. One hopes she’ll be quicker to realize this than I was
It’s because of all those times he sold dope disguised as a nun, isn’t it? Thanks so much for the Heavy Metal reference… I’m going to be giggling over that the rest of the day.
Yes AG, remove 10% of his body, ideally the whole genital region plus his colon.
His head would be more efficient.
Efficient maybe but fun? not as much as my suggestion.
Still say that girls came up with castration.
If I had to guess I’d say it got started by men wanting to make sure their male servants aren’t doing anything inappropriate with their woman/women.
I like to think it started when girls removed parts from a rapist.
I thought it was invented by GOD.
“I think there’s a whole thread in the comments tonight specifically about cutting off Blaine’s dick.” as posted by Mr Willis.
Hey, count me in. As long as we don’t have to ritually cook it and eat it later or something like that.
Using the old/classic definition for decimate, instead of the modern and equally accepted one. I can respect that.
Modern/equally accepted… no… no I believe you are mistaking misuse as valid definition. Meaning is derived from the roots of a word. And there are several better ways to say destroy; annihilate; obliterate; ruin; wreck; annul; nullify; eradicate; exterminate..
All would mean 100% dealt with. XP
Taking that word back! Deci means 10.
Sorry Lord Ellion, but I think you’re mistaken here. Word roots do lead to word meaning, but meaning is derived from the language users collective understanding, generally speaking. As much as I enjoy being a pedantic nerd about word roots and origins, as the language evolves so must we with it. If you were to take all words to their original meanings you’d be speaking an entirely different language. Language is communication.
“She took away his weapon… both of them.”
NICE! “Sin City” references always for the win!
“Amazi-Girl Performs a Sex (removal)”
Eradicate him!
EXTERMINATE! Him.
With a Dalek!
You rang?
Wait, I mean…EXTERMINIEREN!
Oh, look, the Cybermen have decided to join in with the Blaine-hate!
DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
They know Blaine can’t be upgraded, because he’s so terrible, so deleting him is the only option.
And thus Daleks and Cybermen joined forces to rid humanity of the scourge that is Blaine!
I’LL STOP YOU NO MATTER WHAT THE CO-oh wait, Blaine? Carry on.
(I had to go fix my Gravatar since I accidentally put in the email for the wrong account. I think it slightly undermines my point when my Gravatar is a photo of the Doctor in a silly sweater, although at least it wasn’t the total non-sequitur that my Gravtar of Steven Wilson in a bubble bath would have been.)
Your voice processor must be malfunctioning…you don’t sound at all like your Dalek brethren!!!
Nah, that’s too kind. I’d want him to suffer. Also avoids the murder charge. Besides, what cop is going to believe a girl dressed up like a superhero beat the crap out of you?
… For some odd reason I read decimate as Decaffeinate…. Lots of water is available and I do detect a full head of steam approaching critical levels.
THAT’S MY LINE! D:
FINISH HIM!
The impending beating, however, is probably just what Blaine wants. His threats to Amber include mostly financial douchebaggery. Blaine wanting to “see where his money was going” probably had a reason behind it, maybe a justifiable exit to paying child support? Either way, he seems to be much more competent in understanding and following the law than his daughter, and is likely to use the law as a weapon against her. His conversation with his daughter seemed to have the sole purpose of provoking her to make a bad decision, and if Blaine gets assaulted in a public place, Amber gets jail time. Add the fact that he can potentially discover his daughter is practicing vigilantism, and that problem gets amplified by several magnitudes of bad.
This raises something I’m already wondering- does Blaine recognize his daughter? Will he?
t
He might, if she lost her mask. Otherwise, she’s protected by the laws of superheroics.
Sorry, kiddo hit the wrong button. No idea how, only 9 months old and already manipulating my computer like a pro… ah, anyways:
That said, while your concerns may be justified, controlling finances is a huge part of abuse. It’s a major control and is a good way to trap the person. It would NOT surprise me if part of how Blaine kept Amber and her mother in the relationship was with money. Blaine thinks that child support should mean he has control of Amber, well Blaine just thinks he should have control of Amber and will use anything to justify it, and he is desperately trying to reassert control over his daughter. Problem is, child support means nothing of the sort. Parents who have no rights at all to even see their children still have to pay support until someone else adopts the children.
Also, I really don’t think child support works like that. I know quite a few single parents with abusive/manipulative exes, and have never heard of one successfully arguing about WHAT the support has to go to so long as it’s going to the child’s well-being. Any complaints wouldn’t be “I don’t want my money going towards that!”, it’d have to be “They aren’t taking proper care of our child” (ex. if the custodial parent only gives the child junk food, the other parent can’t say “I want my money to only go towards health food”, but has to file a complaint that the custodial parent is neglecting the child’s health). What, exactly, is he going to tell the courts? That the support he’s required to pay to cover her tuition is covering the tuition and a good college (and I believe a state university, so if she’s in-state it’s FAR cheaper than a private one)? That she has a good-quality laptop, now a necessity in college, especially for computer science students, which Amber seems to be? And that’s assuming it IS expensive, it doesn’t appear to be a tablet PC and nowadays regular laptops are comparatively fairly cheap, and Amber sounds like she knows how to upgrade a cheap laptop which can be a lot cheaper than buying one with all the works. The money isn’t going towards drugs, her mother isn’t spending it on herself, the money is going to things that legitimately benefit Amber, the non-custodial parent has fairly minimal control about how child support is spent as long as it’s not being spent wildly inappropriately, which it’s not. I have absolutely no idea what his plan legally is. If he went to a judge with the information he saw, that his child support is being used the way it’s SUPPOSED to be used and he doesn’t like that, he’d be laughed out of court.
The biggest thing is that I don’t think the money is the big issue for him. The control is the big issue. His actions are not those of someone who just wants out of paying child support (or alimoney or whatever else). He is an abusive man, his primary interest in Amber is to be able to control her. He’s angry about child support because he’s used to having people be financially dependent on him meaning he can easily control them and now he can’t. He’s trying to use the money to assert control, not trying to assert control because he resents having to pay the money.
Because of this, it changes how things’ll go down if she does attack him enough to do serious damage. He already hasn’t pressed charges for the earlier assault, even though there were several witnesses who seemed (initially) sympathetic to him. I doubt he really wants Amber to go to jail- he’ll have even less access to or control over her. It could be years before he could try again. It’s unlikely anything he does will sway it so he can have custody, short of arranging to have her mother killed (even if her mother appoints someone else to get custody of Amber in her will, it’s not uncommon for courts to try to put children with the other parent, even if the other parent is abusive, I know a few people who are trying to make plans to avoid this happening and it’s not easy). Even if he proves Amber is a danger and can’t be at college and has to be under house arrest, this will occur at her MOTHER’s home. Maybe he wouldn’t have to pay child support anymore (Amber’s likely over 18, I don’t know how the law works), but I don’t think the money is the issue- the control is. Putting Amber back with her mother may take him further from being able to control either of them.
No, I think it’s more likely that he’d use it as a guilt chip and blackmail. “I know you did it, I can prove it, you’ll be kicked out of college and sent to jail, your life ruined, but if you do as I say I won’t.”
In my parent’s divorce, my father had to pay $x amount of child support until we turned 18, then $y amount (where y=cost of attending the nearest state university) as long as we were in undergrad college. The lawyer said that was standard.
In a friend’s parents’ divorce, though, his father had to pay child support until he stopped going to college.
A different friend’s father has to pay child support until she graduates high school, even though she turned 18 at the beginning of the school year.
So it seems entirely reasonable to me that Blaine has to pay child support while Amber is a freshman in college. We don’t know the terms of their divorce yet but hopefully “abuser” weighed against him in the decree.
Two things: I’m not sure he WILL recognize her. The rain is plastering down her hair and making it darker, her voice is different, she IS wearing a mask. He’s not as clueless as Danny, but I’m not sure if he will recognize her.
Second thing: if Blaine is really beaten up by a girl, I’m not sure he WOULD report it to ANYONE. It might be too humiliating to admit, after his “weak” comments about Amber’s mother and Amber. He doesn’t strike me as the type to relish reporting being beaten up by anybody of the “weaker” sex.
By “his” I trust you mean both of them.
All the this.
Danny is too stupid to live anymore.
RUTH HIM ALREADY.
Danny trained hard to be the best at being stupid …
I tried to “like” your comment.
MORTAL KOMBAT!
“Test your might”
THIS MATCH IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE! FIGHT!
HEAVEN OR HELL, LET’S ROCK!!
THE WHEEL OF FATE IS TURNING! REBEL 1! ACTION!
LIVE AND LET DIE! FIGHT!
Damn it Danny, use your head.
“No, your other head!”
(HIJINKS INTENSIFIES)
Oh good, even Blaine is an idiot. Guess Danny’s stupidity is contagious.
To be fair, if DoA’s supposed to run potentially FOREVER, revealing too much not even a couple months into the first semester would be a bit fast.
Honestly, I am not surprised at all that Blaine fails to recognize this figure as his own daughter. He never saw any kind of potential in her at all.
Amber switched to this voice right in the middle of a phone conversation with him, though.
Apparently he can’t put 2 and 2 together.
She switched to this voice, all right … and said three words over a cellular phone. Blaine is not Liam Neeson and needs to hear someone say more than “Good luck” in order to make a voice identification.
I’ve dealt with that kind of person before. They’re not nearly as intelligent as they think they are.
My guess is he probably thinks that one of her friends grabbed the phone from her, said “I’ll be there” (suggesting the friend was coming instead), and now this friend is there in her place to deal with him since, as someone else said, he doesn’t think much of her.
Does that mean “Dumbing of Age” is going to be David Willis’ Naruto?
Do you see any Mary Sue clan?
I do… But we’ll see if I’m right.
Shh… I’ll get yelled at if I say it.
NO! NOT THE FILLER! ANYTHING BUT THE FILLER!
If my opinion counts for anything, I hope Dumbing of Age doesn’t become Naruto. Neither Willis’ nor anyone’s. In any conceivable way whatsoever ó_ò
Never assume a man does not have ninjas at his disposal.
Let’s not give Danny too much credit. Blaine probably isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He’s a tool all the same, though.
He’s like a really rusty rake, with the teeth bent.
…and the best way to fix a rake is with a vice and a belt-sander.
I always reach for the hammer first but always keep a handy persons not so secret weapon always at hand …. Duct Tape.
… always ….
Ma’am, consider yourself saluted. That was kind of bad-ass.
sir*
DOH!
Sorry ’bout that.
No worries. At least it’s not as bad as the people who do it to my FACE.
To your FAAAACE?
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
So true XD
Well it is raining and she’s sorta far away. Danny can recognize Amazi-girl because he’s seen her in that outfit plenty before, but Blaine may just need to get an up-close look first.
He’s still a tool though
But Dorothy has stood maybe a foot away from Amber for a prolonged period of time, AND chased down Amazi-Girl. Maybe the disguise in better in-universe than out?
Unless Dorothy has really good facial recognition, standing close to someone isn’t the same as knowing a person very well. Dorothy didn’t exactly spend the time staring at her face and analyzing it. I believe Ethan recognized her without being told (that was the implication I got, it may be wrong) because they’re so close.
In terms of people she’s only met at the start of the semester, Dina’s in the best position to recognize Amber as AG, but it’s Dina so who knows how that’d go.
She’s wearing different eyewear, very different clothes, has different posture and demeanor, and changes her voice. Anyone who knows Amber from college knows her as the reclusive shut-in who spends all her time on the computer. And, rightly or not, there is the stereotype that these types never do any exercise so it’s harder for people to think she could be this parkour-expert. No, it shouldn’t be incredibly hard to put the two together, but it’s not surprising that near-strangers aren’t able to.
I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s harder to make the connection when you know the two separately. If she had done this at the end of the year, she may have been more easily recognized, and now that people are getting decent pictures it’s more likely someone will.
Also, y’know, comic logic. By all rights, putting a @#$@ pair of glasses on shouldn’t hide your secret identity, and yet it worked for Superman.
If you actually knew the two very well separately, it shouldn’t be that hard to piece it together because the similarities would start to become obvious (if you ever watch the anime Detective Conan, or read the manga, this is why Ran suspects the truth multiple times, there start to be very obvious similarities and oddities that become obvious with time, it is only a lack of evidence that prevents her proving her theory right).
It’s not that unbelievable. She’s changed her clothes, hair, voice, and obscured a good bit of her face.
He’s no more stupid than everyone in Metropolis for not recognizing Superman.
I think maybe he at least suspects but is trying to keep Danny on his side.
Blaine failing to recognize Amber as Amazi-Girl backs up my theory that Willis is doing some suspension of reality here with the Clark Kent’s glasses trope. Hopefully this will take some unfair criticism off of Danny; he has enough fair criticism to deal with to have to also stand up to the unfair stuff.
Blaine has only seen Amber once in three years and Amazi-Girl never before. Her posture, voice, mask and different clothes combined have thrown him off, FOR THE MOMENT. That doesn’t mean he isn’t going to figure it out soon though or hasn’t already started to suspect that it could be Amber.
The one time he gets genre savvy….
holy shit Danny.
Danny really is thick as a brick sandwich, isn’t he?
I’d love to see him turn on Blaine, though.
Read that as ‘turn Blaine on’ at first.
I don’t think ANYBODY wants to see THAT slash fiction.
Speak for yourself.
Eaugh?!
Don’t knock it till you try it
That explains the Evil in EvilPenguin.
No, Danny rapes Blaine after B trips on a rusty rake and hits his head like that Kathy Bates movie with the writer…
That’s a James Caan movie with Kathy Bates as a nut/nurse!
Or a Stevie King book starring James Caan, co-starring Kathy Bates and a busload of Twinkies!
Rule 34. Though I’ll admit, Blaine tests its limits.
I just figured it out, Faz’s mom is a Pixiv artist
In the category of things that disprove rule 34: Blaine and, let’s say, Margaret Thatcher.
Challenge Accepted!
Dear God, what have I done.
Something that may not end until I suggest one more horrorporn than Rheinman wants to draw, I’m afraid. >_>
Willis, cancel that Leslie/Robin thing, I think I know what your next Slipshine comic should be.
no. just no.
It would be a rape fanfic.
NO.
Danny would never do that to Blaine.
It would be a rape side story. Don’t know if thats worse or better. Probably worse.
If I was a better writer I’d write it myself. Faz might have made an appearance. at the best/worst time.
Danny’s thicker than a CONCRETE BLOCK SAMMICH
though HILARITY ENSUES when he doesn’t get that he has indeed been kidnapped
“And the Danny thickens…into a 65 lb. lump of unshaped concrete.”
That seems a bit light for a lump the size of Danny. That would be something on the order of 500 pounds.
Danny’s brighter than a wet match!
About as sharp as a marble.
Quick as a snail soaked in ether.
Bright as a penny dunked in mud.
And I hear all those done as Foghorn Leghorn.
Duller than a lecture by “The Economics Teacher”.
Clearly you’ve never banged into the corner of a marble countertop.
Dumb as a sack of wet bricks.
With all the social graces of a box of staples.
Although, to be honest. I didn’t really think he was being kidnapped either. Just, Blaine keeping him close, until he could confront Amber.
Making him, stay despite wanting to go….
Keeping him occupied…
I’m thick, aren’t I?
I don’t think it became a kidnapping thing until right about now.
Danny is technically an adult and went with Blaine without coercion of any kind. He’s not impaired(beyond being Danny, of course) in any way, either.
Now that he’s being threatening/demanding, though, it’s different.
I’m not sure it’s a kidnapping thing yet… Blaine hasn’t used undo force or coercion to get Danny to stay. Danny COULD just walk away. If Blaine shoves him in the car and locks him in somehow, then it’ll be kidnapping.
Ah. Good old Danny.
I don’t care if I’m the only one, I’m on Team Danny.
I am too. He can be inconsiderate and cartoonishly oblivious, but I don’t think he’s really a bad guy. I just hope his relationship with Amber comes out of this at least somewhat intact.
[HIGH FIVE]
Right now I’ll settle for “comes out of this of without getting hospitalized”.
When someone only has “not a bad guy” going for him, that says something. “Not bad” should be the default state of humanity. He’s a single-minded, rather useless, completely naive fuck-up who doesn’t recognize the difference between a short stout girl with pale skin and a tall lanky girl with dark skin. Costume or no, this isn’t the X-Men and we’re not changing genders on a will.
I enjoy Ren Faires and I have an entire suit of armor including a mask that covers my whole face. Friends don’t recognize me in it. However, no one would get me confused with my wife, who is a good three inches taller and 30 pounds lighter.
Yes, continue with how this comic isn’t realistic enough.
But excessive realism is dull. Or did you have a day like any of the characters, ever? Much less day after day.
He’s also sweet, affectionate, and loyal.
What does “changing genders on a will” have to do with anything you said?
Sweet and affectionate apply only when he feels like it, when he is annoyed or upset he is quite snappy and threatened to MURDER Dorothy and Joe if they’d scared Amber away which is pretty goddamn extreme considering he had only known her for a few days.
Can’t be bothered doing an archive binge right now, too much other things to do. I don’t 100% remember this, but I’m guessing he said something along the lines of “I’ll kill you”. I don’t know what part of the world you’re from, but both my British partner and American self use this turn of phrase. It’s really common, it’s not a legitimate threat of murder no matter how graphic it gets. It’s typically relegated to just “I’m going to kill [whoever]”, but if the person is REALLY mad, it can get bloody.
It’s common for kids with non-abusive parents who have never truly hurt them, would never dream of hurting them, and will do anything to ensure their well-being to say “My parents are going to kill me, I am so dead, they are going to kill me and bring me back so they can kill me again” over something like a low grade. It’s not uncommon for these parents to say “I’m going to kill that kid” when the kid does something like clogging the plumbing and costing hundreds of dollars in repairs, either. Neither party honestly thinks the parents will so much as raise a hand to their child. The child is most likely going to get grounded and have to either study more (with low grades) or lose allowance to help cover the repairs (with costly repairs).
Is this a GOOD thing? I’m not going to say either way, but it’s culturally fairly accepted in the English language.
A person has to show other signs of violent tendencies for this to be a concern. I haven’t read all of Willis’s comics, but in DoA I haven’t seen Danny ever do anything to make it seem like more than a cultural expression of anger with no true malice. Mike? A bit concerning. Blaine? I’d take that very seriously and possibly call the cops.
I just went back and found that comic,
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/homicide/
and it’s clearly a tongue and cheek threat like saying “I’m gonna kill you.
He was definitely mad at them, but since they were both close friends and it was something he was serious about, it’s not really out of bounds.
man you’re weird
Yeah somehow I don’t think that was a serious death threat. It was admittedly a more ballsy joke than we usually see from Danny.
You seem like you have a huge problem with Danny for being Danny and yet there he showed some backbone and you bite his head off for it.
It may have been a typo… And a reference to Mystique who can change everything at will. Height, body type, and gender. If AG could dot hat, though, give up trying to figure out who she is….
Sadly, the “default state of humanity” as I’ve seen it includes a LOT of malice, bigotry, ruthlessness and hypocrisy, some of it surfacing in the most unexpected people. Danny is at least spectacularly non-malevolent, which counts for a lot with me.
You’re being too hard on Danny. There’s no way he could recognize Amber in her suit and mask! There are certain laws in action here. Dorothy and Walky didn’t recognize her either, didn’t they?
[ I meant *did they?* ]
Well, to give Danny a little credit, he was told that Sal was Amazi-girl, and he could claim being blinded by love or something similar (because that’s something Danny might actually have a real version of). Plus, I’m not sure he even saw Amazi-girl in complete daylight – which might be part of it.
Point being, Sal chose Wiggler on Mario Kart. That’s clearly evidence enough.
You realize of course that even Blaine can’t recognize his own daughter in this comic? Blaine, who has known Amber for significantly longer than 3 weeks, which is still longer than Danny’s known her as they didn’t even meet the first few days of the comic (aside from Amazi-Girl saving him, but that’s not really meeting each other).
Initially, I thought that Blaine would surely recognize her, because she’s his dang daughter. But! He hasn’t actually seen her in years. Last time he saw her (before today) she was a child. Add to the usual ideas that it’s at night, she’s soaking wet, she’s acting opposite of how Blaine expects, etc., Blaine may actually come out of this without figuring out her identity.
You aren’t the only one. I am too.
I’m there with you.
I’m with you there.
I can’t hate Danny. He reminds me too much of myself.
Prepare for Danny. It’s so Uncanny.
To protect the school from Education.
To Flirt with all girls from Orientation
To Reinforce the evil of truth and love
To still somehow appear so dumb.
Danny. Brown.
Team Danny Dans it up at the speed of Sound
Well let’s hope my popularity doesn’t go further down!
Amber, she’s round!
*slow clap*
You did this remarkably quickly
that’s what she said
(it cried out to be said i’m sorry)
First off, this is magnificent.
Second, isn’t Danny’s last name Wilcox? Joyce’s is Brown.
Hey, I do like Danny. But the kid brings “oblivious” to a whole new level sometimes. This is one of those times.
Woooo! Danny FTW!
Go Team Danny!
I’m on Team It’s Fun to Make Fun of Danny ’cause That’s Clearly the Idea Especially Since He’s a Goddamn Fictional Character and Not a Real Human Being with Real Human Feelings but I See Your Point
Have any of the others said we have an awfully convuted team name?
And my axe!
*sprays deodorant*
I’m not on Team Danny, but I don’t really blame him. A few people have talked about how he really doesn’t have enough information, which is in no small part Amber’s fault. Although thinking Sal is Amazi-Girl is pushing it on the intelligence front.
The boy has issues. Issues I say. [more foghorn leghorn]
Nice guy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.
That boy’s as thick as a whale sandwich.
Just stayed up for an extra ten minutes to see this update because Amber is awesome and I love this arc so very much.
I regret absolutely nothing.
I would love to believe that Danny is trying to use psychology to frustrate Blaine into leaving on his own.
I would love to, but he’s Danny.
In my happy place, Danny is a brilliant mastermind who plays everyone around him to fulfill his goals, pretending to be unaware of Amber being Amazi-Girl so that she feels safe about her secret identity.
She’s letting him drive away without a beating? Aww, that sucks.
Why can’t she be more like a 90s anti-hero instead of a proper one?
Cos she doesn’t have access to any assault rifles??
….again your alright
That and artwork by Liefeld.
I need to do a redesign on Amazi-Girl with giant shoulder pads and a ton of pouches.
No, not shoulder PADS, it’s shoulder PAD. Singular. Oh and don’t skim on the Youngblood’s disease.
I wouldn’t wish youngblood’s disease on even my worst of enemies.
Actually, if she bought one that is classified as a “long gun” she could. She’s eighteen. And the laws in Indiana mean she could even carry it out in the open. She doesn’t even need a license. Just buy one, walk up to him with it.
Long gun is long?
Long gun is any gun that is specifically designed with a barrel that is longer than other classes.
It is supposed to be designed so that the user has to brace the gun against their shoulder while firing.
And.
Special note: Assault Rifles are long guns.
Assault rifles are also burst fire and/or fully automatic, which the federal government has Opinions about people buying or carrying, whatever their state laws may be.
Honestly, most of this stuff is just from wikipedia. I don’t know much about gun laws.
Hey, this is the American midwest, she just has to go to WalMart, could probably buy a tank if she wanted to.
She’s giving him the option to do as she says or start some shit. Really quite ingenious, because as far as I can tell having his power so blatantly taken away from him is pretty much the surest way to make Blaine go ballistic. Just the way he acts in this strip is nearly enough to make Danny suspicious. When he starts fighting, a couple of strips from now I imagine, he stops being able to manipulate Danny. Then it’s just a question of surviving the fight and hopefully not kill him.
She gave him the Superhero Code mandated One Warning. Since he’s not leaving, she can now do whatever she feels is appropriate.
Have him qualify for dental via a boot to the solar plexus?
Amber alert for a kidnapped Danny.
Fantastic.
THE PUNS! THEY BURNS US!
It’s too bad she has to have a secret identity, because “Amber Alert” would be a great battle cry.
Except it might give her secret identity away.
If (when) Amber is revealed, I’d like to see her get a renaming to “Amber Alert”.
AG is the heroine that Danny doesn’t deserve but she is the one he needs.
Danny needs to go sit in the corner is what he needs. This dunce with a capital D.
Does anyone know for sure that Amazi-Girl is Amber?
Yeah, it got confirmed via tags a while back.
Presumably Amber does.
Maybe.
Ethan seemed to know as well. That was back before he came out to Joyce.
Pretty sure Mike knows too.
Mike knows all.
Yeah, I’ve been following the story over the last couple of weeks where we actually see Amber transform into Amazi-girl and back on the page, with accompanying flashbacks that show how she came to create the Amazi-girl persona.
“Who She Is And How She Came To Be”
Dina might know, since she tied Faz up with AG’s grappling line a while back/spends an indeterminate time hidden behind the door in their room.
…oh god damn it, Danny.
Now I think Blaine does know who Amazi-Girl is. And for that, I worry.
I don’t think he knew before this point, since in panel 1 you can tell he’d never seen AG before. He might have connected the dots already, though.
*pinches bridge of nose, sighs*
You know, you’re acting like “Of course he knows” but then, literally every other person she’s encountered has been struck with a violent case of stupidity and/or incredibly poor vision, so somebody seeing through
Clark KentAmber’s astounding disguise is new.*PINCHES BRIDGE OF NOSE AND SIGHS HARDER*
Hey, come on now. We can’t all be smarter than Danny. Some people are real-life Dannys!
Deep breaths. Serenity now!
Serenity Now, Insanity Later!
Guys, I think Willis might be trying to tell us something here.
He wants us to cut off the air supply!
Have you heard their music? I would cut them off too.
Or he has a nose bleed.
Sigh Hard 2: Sigh Harder.
“not sure how you could read tonight’s strip and post about how you think blaine knows who amazi-girl is, yet here we are”
From the Twitter of one D. Willis.
To be fair, i thought he was making sure Amber got closer, so Danny could see, and he recognizes her shape. In addition, he put the two of her daugther having a grappling hook, the two of her obsession with comic book super heroes, and the two of the above, to get the six of Amber = Amazi-girl.
You know, “Clark Kenting” isn’t as absurd a disguise as it seems. Many celebrities do it in real life – they change how they walk in public (or simply don’t walk in the same way as their celebrity persona), keep their head down a bit, maybe add on a hat or something, and suddenly nobody realises that they’ve just passed Patrick Stewart in the street on his way to buy a carton of milk. Clark Kenting (in the example of the eponymous character) isn’t just about wearing the glasses, but changing his physical posture, his voice, his mannerisms etc. and that can count for a lot, it’s only our perspective as viewers who knew from the start that he’s Superman that makes it seem quite so blatantly obvious.
I don’t think that it’d work on close friends and family. How often has your best friend been able to walk past you without you recognizing them because they put on a hat? People can usually recognize their friends/family even when they drastically change their hairstyle/makeup/etc. If Clark Kenting worked on everyone to that degree, then in Shortpacked! when Amber cut her hair, no one would have known who she was.
I don’t know how far Amber is from him, though. She’s probably quite far away, relatively speaking, he doesn’t seem to have seriously looked at her, and combined with the other factors (dark, rain, wet hair and mask obscuring her face, changed voice, etc), it’s very plausible that he didn’t immediately recognize her and it may still be hard for him to.
You don’t know how often you didn’t recognize them, because you didn’t recognize them.
I think that’s the opposite of how he’s acting, considering he’s sighing at someone saying Blaine DOES know. And especially considering Blaine looks right at Amazi-Girl and says, “Wait for Amber.”
Problem is, Willis already wrote so many curveballs at us, we can’t just take anything in the comic at face value.
Willis, I’m implying that as it stands, given that Blaine manipulates things to light in his favor, he would say “Is that girl wearing a costume?” and “Stay in the car, damn you. Wait for Amber” to get out of the car and talk to ‘Amazi-Girl’ as either in her past, dressing up as a hero was a defense mechanism she used to cope with his behavior, or he recognizes her based on random factors such as he had found her plans for the costume, it was something she pretended to be when she was young and playing, etc. Obviously you, Willis, as the writer, know where it is/will be heading and your intent behind your comic. Reading it as the rest of us do, from day to day, leaves us with such speculation, intended or not.
Reread the 2nd panel, it pretty much suggest that Blaine doesn’t know that the costumed girl in the rain is Amber.
Or “wait until I demask her”. Or “she’s still too far for me to recognize her in this rain”.
OK, probably not the last one. If he knew about AG, he could recognize her colors. He shouldn’t have *that* much worse eyesight (compared to Danny) – that would be bad for driving …
Damnit Danny!…..sorry force of habit , Damnit pry05
See, I assumed he DID know, and that was what he was referring to when he called her a “spaz” (because that’s what most muggles think about real-life superheroes…at best.) But maybe he was just referring to her social anxiety.
Regardless, he needs to spend some more time writhing on the wet asphalt in agony.
I was thinking his spaz comment was for her PTSD, but social anxiety 3-5 years out of date works too.
Danny is a human species unto himself. He’s such an airhead he can’t be classified together with homo sapiens….
Homo stultus.
He’s like a Cro Magnon. Just an archaic but functional Sapien, No Homo.
Cro Magnon is Homo Sapiens, just not Homo Sapiens sapiens. That’s us, slightly more evolved versions of Cro Magnon.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET BLAINE’S UPPANCE COME SOON!
Everyone in this comic is an idiot. Every single one of them.
Yeah, there really ought to be something in the title about that to warn potential readers.
Dude, there is. “Of”, which stands for “idiOtic Fools”.
I wish this comment had a like button.
Mike is the sole exception. That’s why he doesn’t get much screen time.
Sierra seems to be pretty cool. MAYBE YOU NOTICED
It’s not unheard of to be cool, awesome, and the love of my life and still be an idiot.
Dammit Danny, WHY YOU SO STOOPID
Arrrrgh.
That avatar is beautiful…. and fits so well with that comment…
You know, this is either going to get really disturbing, really funny, or both.
Danny, this is your last chance. Get a clue in the next three strips or I will officially declare you a Lost Cause.
Danny needs one of those meters like Scott Pilgrim has so we can see the instant he switches from “Clueless” to “Gets It”.
Give him a minute…
Danny….run. As far away as you can.
But he’s waiting to recover his PS3. Sal/AG came out in the rain to bring it to him where he’s waiting for Amber with Blaine.
Nope…It was his 3DS that “Amazi-Girl” has.
Is this a suspension-of-disbelief thing, or are these guys idiots?
yes
Very yes!
Re: the Alt Text
Perhaps Danny will finally get a clue soon and start hating Blaine like the rest of us. Or, at the very least, start disliking him a tad…
Yeah, almost anyone would start getting pissed at Blaine if he started talking to them like Blaine is talking to Danny. But this is Danny we’re talking about.
Whose parents talk to in the same way.
Danny, that is.
Poor Amazi-girl. I wonder where Amber is?
Danny is so thick, he makes fog look like clear skies.
Even the fog of Silent Hill isn’t as thick as Danny is!
But Danny is as thick as milkshake. How thick is it, you might ask? It’s so thick that…you gotta help me.
The only things I could come up with sound vaguely porn.
Oh wait, I got this. Danny is as thick as milkshake…how thick is it you might ask? It’s so thick that you have to eat it with a spoon.
That boy’s as thick as a whale sandwich.
It brings all the boys to the yard?
I know everyone hates on Danny…but his obliviousness in this strip has me giggling…a lot.
I also think the paradox between his comic relief and the intensity of amber and her father is fantastic.
Danny is legit amazing right here, assuming that Amazi-Girl found him out of nowhere just to return his 3DS and presumably leave.
He’s also kinda stupid if he thinks when it’s raining is a great time for someone to return a piece of electronics.
DANNY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
*slow clap*
Little does Danny know…well, that about sums up everything in proximity to Danny.
Danny, you are about to get a whopping dose of what a not-Dan-view of the world really is.
Well, I think one commenter said it best, Blaine temperament and Amazi-Girl’s identity is known to us, the reader….but the character does not know that.
I’m talking more about the fact that Danny still thinks this situation is “K”, when Blaine has seriously kidnapped him
Even without pre-knowledge of Blaine or Amber’s family situation, this whole situation is sketchy as shit and Danny is, characteristically, completely oblivious to it.
That’s his superpower–MR. OBLIVIOUS!
He has expressed misgivings, so he isn’t completely oblivious, just mostly. Though I can’t say I would do better in this case, outside of the recognizing the Clark Kenting.
FINISH HIM!!
Luckily for you, revenge is not an idea they hold on Amazi-Girl’s planet.
But we’re not on her planet
ARE WE.
THERE’S A BLAINE IN MY BOOT
You are a sad, strange little man. You have my pity.
Amazi-Girl is our master. Amazi-girl chooses who will go and who will stay.
I just realized how much of a mind-fuck this is gonna be when everything finally clicks. When he realizes what’s going on, he’ll suddenly understand everything he hasn’t since the beginning of the story. And i doubt he’ll handle it well.
I’m distracted from the imminent awesome apocalyptic beatdown by Danny proceeding to Dan everything up. AGAIN.
Amazi-Girl looks…amazing. Just thought that deserved pointing out in the midst of all the facepalming.
Ditto.
Why is that some kind of surprise, alt text? Blaine hates LITERALLY EVERYONE.
He’s about to become the Dansel in distress.
Danny, I can say being 100% positive that your are EXACT definition of misconception.
Except the superhero who’s power is to create concept art. Her name is Miss Conception, who’s name is ironically a misconception.
Somebody should start an archive of Yotomoe comments, because this shit is gold.
Yeah, and the title should be…Yotomoe’s Greatest Hits…if it hit an audiobook version.
Stop, you’re making me blush!
No, seriously. If somehow, someone compiled all of your comments and made a book out of it, I’d totally buy it.
Tis’ true!
*Gasp* you found out Willise’s secret identity how did you Know!?….Ha the boss man probably going kill me for that one but I dont care
I thought Misconception was what happened 9 months prior to giving birth to a daughter.
That’s misogynist.
Yes ^
No, that’s Blaine.
no it’s not. they conceived a “miss”, unless you’re going to go with a gender-neutral honorific or just straight up call your daughter “mister”
I think technically then, misconception would be unprotected sex that didn’t end up in a pregnancy
Good lord, Blaine doesn’t recognize her, either?
Danny’s cementitude must have rubbed off on him.
But yes, incoming awesomeness detected.
If Blaine hates Danny, does that mean I can’t anymore?
I’M SO CONFUSED
It’s okay to love things even if people you love don’t love them, and to hate things even if people you hate also hate them. There’s room for ambiguous and even conflicting feelings. The world isn’t a manichaean construct of absolute black and white. Just look at KKK’s stance on Westboro Baptist “Church”
But! The News Media portray EVERYTHING as having two sides. And I know they don’t reduce things to a simplistic dichotomy.
Damn it, danny. Stop being an idiot for one second.
That might just be worse.
For just a split second, Danny sees everything through new eyes. He recognizes his immense folly, and the truths that have been laid bare before him. His eyes widen, and everyone can see the new wisdom just about to emerge.
And then it’s gone. And what might have been becomes forever lost.
Quoting from the tweet posted with the comic:
“Tonight’s Dumbing of Age is where I started just legit enjoying how dumb Danny is, like as a joke.“
I know Dorothy likes ’em cute and unlikely to interfere in her bid for President, but I’m seriously starting to wonder how they lasted more than a week. Did he just fail to notice her dumping him all the other times?
This is my headcanon now.
Because they likely spent little time together because Dorothy was very busy which would have caused her to fail to notice his flaws. They likely still WOULD be together if Danny had his own aspirations in life and hadn’t undermined her desire to go to Yale as something she might have changed her mind on later. That last point honestly seemed to be what pushed her to firmly go ‘Nope, this isn’t going to work out at all regardless of what I say to him’.
“Jeepers Mr. O’Malley, you almost sounded like a BAD GUY there.”
“I am a BAD GUY. And get back in the car. We’re waiting for my f**** c*** of a daughter. Not for some stupid bongo in a stupid costume.”
“Ha ha! Now I see where Amber gets her sense of humor, Mr. O’Malley!”
OH MY GOD DANNY!!!!
She’s letting him drive away without Danny. But if Danny gets back in the car, she can let loose on Blaine in order to defend a helpless idiot.
The only thing that would make this better is if a certain motorcyclist comes driving by and Danny sees AG and “Sal” together and immediately thinks they are twins, which really shows how dumb he is.
Wouldn’t that make them triplets? Or are you saying Walky is Amazi-girl?
No, I was thinking of Supes and an other-dimensional Supes with one pretending to be Clark Kent in order to throw Lois off the “Supes is Clark” trail.
That was what they made the super robot thingy for in the Silver Age Superman, so that Supes could be seen in public interacting with Clark Kent. And yes, I’m old.
Ok, so, yay on Blaine apparently not recognizing her.
I was really worried that he’d say something along the lines of “Amber, are you still playing dress-up as that pathetic super hero game?”
At that point, nothing can end well.
In fairness, she’s not just in costume, she’s outside his car, some distance away, in pouring rain. We’ll see if the secret identity plot-armor holds up when she gets closer.
But if he knew she dressed in a costume, and was expecting her – then a girl her age / size in a costume wouldn’t be that surprising. Blaine doesn’t recognize his own daughter even though he is expecting her.
Why do you think he knows she dresses in a costume? He hasn’t indicated as such. The only thing he said that ever let on that he knew that she was Amazi-girl was when he made that “spaz” comment, and that was vague enough that given his reaction here, superhero cosplay obviously isn’t what he meant.
Danny, you’re lucky you have Blaine next to you to put things into perspective.
I think this is where I officially give up on Danny.
I took it for granted that secret identities are one of the genre rules this strip plays by. Superhero disguises and secret identities are IMPENETRABLE except in special circumstances, no matter how flimsy they might appear from outside the text. Seriously, would everyone be talking about Lois Lane or Aunt May the way you’re talking about Danny?
This is a realistic webcomic which mirrors real life in every other way. That makes this issue stand out
Um…People -do- talk about Lois Lane that way. It’s a running freaking joke in the fandom that is so prevalent that the source material has had to stop to address it repeatedly. And with Aunt May, well, last I checked Spider-man wears a full face mask, so it’s not exactly the same situation.
Aunt May has also never made out with Peter.
That we know of.
Widows do get lonely, too…
THANK YOU FOR THAT MENTAL PICTURE I’M JUST GOING TO GO CLEAN MY BRAIN WITH A WIRE BRUSH NOW.
Plus, as Spiderman’s costume shows none of his face and muffles his voice, that leaves body type as the only indicator as to who it might be and in a world where most people are skinny, that pretty much narrows it down to everybody. -w-
I think Blaine will be able to figure out who Amazi-Girl is once she gives him a very familiar-feeling haymaker! Wait… is my obsession with Blaine getting haymakers bordering on the creepy territory? Nah…
You mean he’ll know its Ruth?!
Oh the horrors!
No, Ruth suplexed him http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/urrgl/ , Amber gave him the uppercut that put him in the left field bleachers. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/strength/
I was being sarcastic. Mind you, he probably will think its Ruthless, just because he doesn’t think that much of his daughter.
Danny, you’re giving more and more credence to the theory that you use your brain to cool your blood.
……………………………..seriously?
No one is THAT dumb.
Well…the civilians in the DCU and Marvel universe are kinda of dumb.
So are some of the villains.
And the heroes. Apparently, the Idiot Ball get passed around a lot.
More like, the idiot hot potato.
It doesn’t need to get passed around if it’s 6378km in radius.
Everyone being a massive idiot is basically the entire point of the Marvel universe.
As required reading I recommend past issues of the Darwin Awards.
Also anyone who believes anything spoken by any politician since times immemorial.
OMG!. And I do not use this often.
Oh man, in any Deity’s name, how can one human being be this freakin’ stupid.
Run fool. Amber is gonna kill him, and you don’t want to be in the middle because she just may not stop to worry over your worthless ass.
Nice one, Oblivious McGee.
Dan is danning this up so badly that he’s actually saving the day.
Wow Danny is retarded. I mean I know the last couple of months had been hammering that in but DAMN
Danny needs to be kicked in the head a few times. I personally think this would help his intelligence, after all, it can’t get much worse.
…..To which Blaine proceeds to murder Danny, much to the delight of EVERYONE!
Except for the people that like Danny, and the people that don’t mind him, and the people that hate Blaine, and the people who empathize with Amber…
The people who empathize with Amber hate Danny most of all.
I can palm my face any harder without braking my nose……fuck it….:facepalm:
Nose leaves skidmark as it locks up the brakes…
Nose + skidmark = ewwwww
Danny, are you serious? Can you NOT sense the pure malice in his voice!?
You’re Danning again! (if not already Danning enough)
The fandumb in here is depressing. Staying out of here from now on.
Care to expand on that?
Eeyup.
Hmmm… same height and build as Amber. Same hair… but she’s got a blue mask. Amber doesn’t have one of those, she has glasses.
Can’t be her.
Meanwhile…different height and build; different hair length, color, and texture. Must be Amazi-girl.
Meanwhile..it’s raining and it’s pretty dark from the looks of things and no available light sources. It could be anyone with the same build and hair color. Also, we, the reader who are the omniscient observer, know who it is but that information is not known to Danny, who is not an omniscient observer.
but that information is not known to Danny, who is
not an omniscient observer.dumber than several treestumps filled with copper sulfate.What’s up with all the decorum? It’s clearly lead sulfate we are talking about here.
are you sure that its not Osmium but then again Dan is rather basic.
That’s… racist?
Sounds legit.
someone gets it
and without the glasses, she wouldn’t be able to see!
It’s almost like Danny is the stupidest person alive
My prediction: Danny gets knocked out mid fight, wakes up, Amazi-girl gone, Blaine gone but Amber is there, and it all makes sense to him, she was on the way there after all.
I predict next strip will just be five panels of Steve eating cereal.
hahahahahaha
I sometimes forget David reads some of the same stips we do.
I’m still rooting for Danny, but this is dumb even for Danny. I hope Willis isn’t dumbing Danny down in response to fan attitudes about him. I guess it’s a moot point since Willis drew the current strips seven years ago
Well…this is “Dumbing” of Age!
Just noticed Willis’ Tweet: “Tonight’s Dumbing of Age is where I started just legit enjoying how dumb Danny is, like as a joke..
My sarcasm meter doesn’t always work and I’ve got no reading here.
Dammit I forgot the end quote. The second paragraph is me again.
God Damn it Danny! Run!
Fucking Danny
Can’t ever take him seriously again
I approve of this gravitar-comment match.
Danny it, Willis!
I think Blaine will get some beating but will ultimately win since he tried to teach Amber to fight when she was a kid but she wasn’t brutal enough. Still isn’t. Seriously, he’s a grown man (psychopath). He’ll unmask her, drag her to the car and drive away leaving danny staring in the rain.
^ Well, isn’t that comment an interesting bundle of proclivities.
Dear Mr. Willis,
Please be careful about spoilers on the Dumblr. I didn’t expect things to work out with Ethan, but now I know that Joyce actually does get together with Dorothy. This takes much of the dramatic tension out of the next four months of strips.
Sincerely,
Kevin
Well, they do live in the same residence hall, and I believe they also have a class (Gender Studies?) together, so why is it so revealing for them to be walking down the hallway together?
Whoosh!
(I hope he’s just kidding)
Twas indeed a joke.
I guess it’s a good thing Danny can Dan up Blaine’s plans the same way he does everything else.
I seem to be the only one who likes Danny now.
I’m just seriously scared for Danny now. I wasn’t until now, because I didn’t think Blaine would actually be a threat to anyone but his ex-wife/daughter.
He’s just a kid, and no kid deserves to be in that situation.
Thing is, from the beginning Blaine has proven he will do anything to hurt Amber. It’s an obvious extension of that knowledge to assume he wouldn’t balk at hurting one of her friends if he can’t get to her directly.
Blaine is an abuser. He will hurt anyone that gets in the way of him establishing or maintaining his control over someone. That’s why abusers usually stay in control until someone else intervenes – their threats are always serious and they will hurt anyone they have to so that their control is maintained, even children.
You just know it’s gonna cut back to post-coitus Walky + Dorothy, right? Dave will never let a fully epic sequence like this play out without an intermission…
Your mask’s slipping.
(No, not you, Amber.)
“Playing into her misconception”. Tee hee heee ^^
Danny’s adorable.
That is all.
Who wants to door Danny?
Still waiting for the thunder.
Oh, Danny. Your happy little face.
Oh Danny you fine but you simple!
It’s not even really fair to call Danny oblivious in this situation. Pretend you don’t have omniscience over a comic for a moment. You meet the father of a close friend. You know nothing about him, but he seems nice enough and is showing some kind of concern for his daughter. He might handle things a little strangely… but that doesn’t mean your first thought is that he’s an evil psychopath who is going to kidnap you just because he tells you to get back in his car. That’s actually pretty fucking far-fetched.
Nnnno, the fact is he met someone -claiming- to be the father of a close friend. Blaine is still a stranger to Danny, and not somebody he ever should have gotten in a car with. For all Danny knows, this guy could’ve been Amber’s creepy serial-killing stalker that offs her boyfriends. From an in-universe perspective, his behavior is still stupid and oblivious, just in a different, more naive way.
I suppose my point is DON’T GET IN A CAR WITH SOMEBODY YOU JUST MET, NO MATTER WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE.
They had a whole meal together, I think he revealed enough to prove to Danny that he’s her father.
Also, Amber NEVER mentioned her dad to him. So, all he know is that there was a dude in the shadows who knew Amber’s name. And now he’s taken him to the edge of town.
Jesus, if this were set at the U of F instead of Indiana, he’d be dead already
Also an alumni or just heard the stories?
If it’s the stories that’s mainly FSU. ^^;
15 strips of fight scenes?
a slow decapitation, while castration of his genitals just as he getting the slow decapitation to show that both parts of him are getting it in the end.. this is coming from man that really hates this father figure
Hah, see, the title’s funny because Blaine probably wishes he’d never conceived her.
Or maybe it’s the other thing. Tragic? Yeah probably tragic.
I don’t get any humor out of this strip at all . . . Maybe I’m looking too deep into this. . . but it feels MORE like Danny is actually scared of Blaine now, BUT is catching on to the fact that confrontation is what sets him off and he’s pretending to give Blaine the benefit of the doubt out of sheer terror.
Oh, Danny. Poor, well-intentioned, optimistic, naive, slightly stupid Danny.
“How does Amazi-Girl know Blaine’s name?”
She’s a super hero (for Danny-doesn’t-know-how long). I wouldn’t (as a character) put it past her.
So exactly what kind of little spaz is Amber?
Take your pick.
1 a girl
2 computer geek
3 comic book enthusiast
4 social anxiety disorder
5 PTSD
6 band kid
To someone like Blaine it could be any or all of these reasons that make him call her a spaz. Mind you, his information about Amber is at least three years out of date.
I’m pretty sure Blaine knows that Amber knows that Danny knows the first one on there.
Maybe even a hint of dissociative disorder.
Will Danny go back into the car? Will Amazi-Girl get to castrate Blaine? Does Walky ever get his shirt off? Find out (or not) in the next comic on Dumbing of Age!
What is this weird sensation? Am I… starting to actively *like* Danny?
If this goes on longer I can definitely see Danny and Blaine interacting like Goku and Vegeta from DBZ abridged.
“That’s not very nice!”
“I’M NOT NICE, I’M F*****G EVIL!”
I just had a sudden rush of sympathy for Abridged!Vegeta.
Yesh…being compared to Blaine
Poor guy!
Danny is possibly gonna get punched or something because blaine seems pretty pissed that this kid he is tricking wont listen to him
…Why the hell is Danny’s stupidity this giant thing now? Yeah, the boy’s not terribly bright, but even Dina’s parents didn’t get the hint about Blaine until Amber flat-out stated “I DO NOT WANT [HIM] HERE.”
Take a reasonably gullible, incredibly naive character like Danny and pair him up with a seasoned manipulator like Amber’s father and this entire situation suddenly isn’t that difficult to wrap your mind around. Danny is hardly as stupid or unsympathetic as the commenters make him out to be.
To be fair, Dina’s parents really don’t seem like the most observant people, to put a word on it.
It has always been giant.
Blain isn’t exactly the best Villain a good Villain knows when to give up the prize to tuck with the Hero. It’s the reason why Sauron is a smarter Villain than Smaug.
SHE’S GONNA FUCK HIM UP! YEAH!
IT’S ABOUT TO GO DOWN.
Why am I getting the feeling Blaine will go as far as making Danny a hostage? Though in a way, Danny is. I mean why else is Blaine getting bent on having him back in the car?
That way we can hear Blaine’s “evil mastermind plan” to ruin Amazi-girl’s life. In reality Amazi-girl is doing a pretty good job all on her own. Danny is just to clueless enough to keep Danning it up, gets back in the car to keep from getting wet.
To everyone complaining about people being dumb about Amazi-girl, I think Willis has established that the world follow’s comic book rules in this instamce. Nobody ever recognizes superheroes, even and especially if their mask is just a ribbon around their eyes. And you shouldn’t, or at least it’s implied you shouldn’t, question the intelligence of the plebs for it.
So has Blaine figured it out yet, or not?
lol Danny…you made my laugh.
If the Amazi-Mask can even fool parents, I’m kinda glad I didn’t see what the Amazi-Condom can do.
(Actually, Dumbi-Fans, you still can! The Slipshine comic is ON SALE! Buy now!)
(PS The above comment is fictious. The author does not take responsibility for the lack of Amazi-Condoms, real or concidental, in the actual comic.)
There are Amazi-Condoms in the comic. Turns out they work just like the mask. Walky puts it on and is imeadiatly confused. “Wait! Whos penis is this?”
To which Dorothy says “Don’t care, gimmie.”
Poor Danny. Didn’t pre-Flashpoint Danny start out as the POV character? I’ve always liked the character even before I discovered ShortPacked and its predecessors. Being clueless, naive, and idealistic isn’t a crime, not when he’s also loyal and smart. And no, not seeing through Amazi Girl’s disguise doesn’t mean he’s smart if no one else can either!
Hopefully Danny will die and Amazi-Girl will get some more current tragedy.
i’ve thought this a long time about danny; he is a seriously impressive sort of dense.
Kudos to Aeron for calling the “Did you bring my DS back?”
I may be alone here, but Danny’s stupidity kind of makes me like him!
he’s not actually stupid, his lack of knowledge compared to our knowledge of things HE doesn’t know… doesn’t make him stupid.. he IS however unfathomably DENSE. But I do like him. :3
Come on, Frank Miller’s Amazi-Girl! HIT DANNY! HIT HIM HARD!
Still trying to be imposing even in the rain
So what do Danny and Walky have in common right now? They both have a good chance of getting F******* right about now.
…..okay, little redundant there, but you get the idea.