Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
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I wasn’t confused, I knew from the beginning you were a douche. :p Kidding of course. That is an interesting new Gravatar though, I have to admit. I keep forgetting to change mine…
The chapter started with a face (Joyce) and a hand (Sal’s).
The naked Walkerton came one panel later….
And it ends with a face (Amber) and a hand (Dina’s)
And we had a naked Walkerton in the preceding panel.
So there is a symmetry, sort of.
And then New Blaine has Leonard Nimoy’s voice for the rest of the movie. But when the TV series starts up again, he suddenly sounds like the guy who ran Warner Bros. on Animaniacs.
At least he’s reenacting that scene from Jurassic Park where Laura Dern thinks she’s been pat on the shoulder by Samuel L. Jackson, but it’s actually his severed arm.
Dina would want to go out in a way that reminds everyone of dinosaurs.
Yeah, I’ve done that math before, and… I’ve gotten used to the idea that there are ongoing stories that I follow that I might not see finished because the author might not live long enough (e.g., Song of Ice and Fire), but the thought that I might not see them finished because I might not live long enough was new and depressing.
If Dumbing of Age ended, it wouldn’t be tied to how old its characters are. The story doesn’t end when the characters leave college, but when the story itself ends. College is just a setting.
Yeah, but it looks to me – and of course I’m only guessing at where you’re going with this thing – like it’s a story that, even with the “omg all this has happened in only three weeks?” compression, I think has to have at least months of comic time in it. How long has it taken you to grow from that fundie dude who drew Roomies! to the Porn Czar that you are today? If we’re watching Joyce walk a similar path, at a real-time year per DoA week…
So I’m figuring that you could easily draw DoA for the rest of your life if you wanted to, without doing a disservice to the story. And I’m a few years older than you are, so if DoA runs ’til three months after you kick the bucket, odds are I’m missing the last few years of it.
How’s she supposed to know that, Willis? How is she supposed to know the subtleties of sympathetic light touches when she only learned that today? Stupid unwritten rules of human contact.
Society collapses because everyone is only well versed and interested in dinosaurs, as opposed to engineering, law, non-dinosaur related scientific research, farming, policing, manufacturing, medicine, etc. etc. etc.
The human race goes extinct within ~50 years, not just because of societal collapse, but because every single living human is now female, thus preventing reproduction.
You can’t study dinosaurs without science, and you can’t live on studying dinosaurs alone. So instead of society collapsing, we would see a major socio-economic shift in which human societies center itself around studying dinosaurs.
Moreover, in learning the history and tragedy of the dinosaurs, the world of Dinas would recognize the importance of the environment, of keeping an eye on the sky, of preparing defenses against dangers far more pernicious than merely “each other.”
A world of Dinas is a world of peace. Literal-minded, obsessive peace, but peace.
And that “keeping an eye on the sky” would lead inevitably to an understanding of other planets, which science (via the principle of convergent evolution) suggests could be life-bearing, and which thus may contain still-living dinosaur-analogues.
And so we begin researching means of interstellar travel, and develop a functional interplanetary civilization within a century.
Dina, I love you. Can we be best friends… or at least good acquaintances? Really I just wanna hang out. Is that possible? You can talk about dino’s all you want.
Adorbs!!! This comic is strangely powerful to me. As someone that has worked in group homes for the last 10 years and has actually had the opportunity to do pretty much exactly what Amber did for Dina the feels that this brings up for me are stronger than they probably should be. It’s always a wonderful thing when you see the kind of progress that Dina has made here, especially with her melding of dry, scientific observation with emotional first-aid. And the look on Amber’s face just makes this for me. Good job Willis.
Whatever happened with Amber’s mom? I mean, besides getting sexed by Joe’s dad. It seems like Amber would have tried to get in touch with her at some point to inform her that Blaine was on campus (I mean after that whole Amazi-Girl-ing but before the bedtime), or that someone would have informed campus security and they, in turn, would have called Amber’s mom.
I guess she took off without saying goodbye, which is weird.
As I recall, Amber eventually got a call from her mom and left to go meet with her. We didn’t really get to see much or any of the meeting, but presumably things went amicably, she mentioned that her dad had showed up at their room and after spending some time together her mom left, all under the assumption that Blaine had been escorted off campus and wouldn’t be returning that weekend.
So many people are loving Dina so I am going to pull a Willis and make all of you scream. Just because I can.
Fact One: Dina is being taught how to treat people the way she feels.
Fact Two: Dina loves bones.
Fact Three: Willis has made several jokes about the removal of body parts.
Fact Four: All of the Dumbing of Age cast have major faults that at times have led to some people hating them. Except Dina.
Posit: Dina will become a serial killer who buries people under her house and in her backyard so she can express her feelings for people and their bones
Nice idea, but it is Joyce who’s hailing from the home town of Belle Gunness. So it is more likely one of the Browns who will end up pursuing that hobby.
I could see her saving the femurs of her friends and family after they die, but the way she seems to enjoy being around living people probably means she’s in no hurry to kill anyone.
I think that if she had a choice, she’d prefer her dinosaur skeletons to be covered by living flesh. So I don’t see why she’d carve free the human bones she likes.
I didn’t realize this before, but this past story line is split between book 3 and book 4. THAT’S HOW LONG IT WAS! IT DOESN’T EVEN FIT IN A SINGLE BOOK! (Also, seven months.)
In search of emotional intimacy and support: Dina performs a light physical contact: The next level of porn, not available on Slipshine due to absence of nudity.
This is a very bare bones version of that story. I crave decompressed, lingering over-the-shoulder action, which explores the hopes and dreams of the characters involved and gets us inside their heads and shows us how the event transforms them and deepens their relationship.
It amazes me to look at this and realize that in the time this comic has been running, I’ve finished my senior year of college and am now a little over half way through a fifth year to finish up my degree.
“Willised” (Past tense) (v) Def: To turn a funny or generally happy moment into a heapload of drama and sorrow. The appropriate response to a “Willised” moment is a cry of “Damn you Willis!” followed by an immense stream of tears. (Please let this become a thing)
I work midnight shifts in the back room at Wal*Mart and this was a colossally shitty week. It’s the start of my weekend and I’m so tired I can’t get to sleep and I’m mega cranky. That said, the last panel with Amber’s smile made me smile and the day doesn’t feel so bad anymore. Thank you…
Dina is accustomed to being booksmart and studying books to figure out the world around her, so her “How to interact with other people” book is actually working. Plus points on her being smart enough to apply the facts in said book to the situations she’s presented in real life. I can see her fleshing out into a really awesome character once she ‘graduates’ her reading material and, as any good scientist must, applies her book smarts to the world around her.
I think her and Amber make a pretty awesome duo in that regard. Amber has all the “real world” experience (most of it bad) to educate Dina to how things are and possibly protect her from unwittingly getting into dangerous situations, and Dina has the book facts that show how things usually should be enough to possibly knock Amber out of her self-deprecating cycles and show that aspects of her life were/were done wrong because of the shittiness of other people (aka: Blaine) and that she does have a choice to feed into the cycle or not.
Evidently when the Drama Tag was pre-pulled, all of the extra happiness and zaniness that was displaced by drama was siphoned into Dina. It’d explain how she somehow became even more adorable in the Dumbiverse….
rode my bike past where my kid was at camp
bike trail was 10 feet from where they were having lunch
called his name, louder and louder, eventually other kids got his attention
he looked at me like "...who are you?"
"...I'm your DAD."
i have never before felt so much like i was Stranger Danger
Good piece by @jamellebouie.net taking apart JD Vance's reprehensible immigration worldview on the substance. I'd add that JD seems to cast our admission of immigrants purely as an act of benevolence on our part, when of course that's not the story at all
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
I hope Josh Johnson is given The Daily Show and is allowed to rebuild it from scratch in his own image just like Jon Stewart got to do in 99.
He has built his own groundbreaking form of topical comedy, and imitating the style of others is something he is great at, but better than.
thinking about how mario's head has stayed the exact same size his entire life, while princess peach's head has shrunk on its way into adulthood
David M Willis!@damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 17h
do you think Mario, Luigi, and the Princesses have, like, existential crises about the baby versions of themselves also just casually being next to them in all the races
like I would be having ego death right now, not leaping triumphantly
do you think Mario, Luigi, and the Princesses have, like, existential crises about the baby versions of themselves also just casually being next to them in all the races
like I would be having ego death right now, not leaping triumphantly
For July's first bonus strip, folks voted for DEXTER and MONKEY MASTER! For world domination! Read this bonus strip and hundreds of previous at the Dumbing of Age Patreon:
www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...
and remember you can always pledge up to read tomorrow's strip
Good news for the people still circulating this post: it is now a real t-shirt you can purchase and wear to let the world know you take responsibility for the actions of fictional characters:
The Emotion Engine@emotion-engine.bsky.social ⋅ 9d
Normally I’d let this sort of thing just die out but an alarming amount of you have asked where you can buy this and my wife had to have an emergency surgery the day before I made this, so here is my chance to live the American Dream (selling print-on-demand shirts to pay down medical debt)
The Emotion Engine@emotion-engine.bsky.social ⋅ 13d
Working on a t-shirt to sell to the weird people that show up in your mentions every time you talk about enjoying something that has crime or impure thought in it.
Someone leaked the entire unreleased Micronauts animated series to archive.org
All 52 episodes
Yes they FULLY FINISHED a Micronauts cartoon in the early 2020s and mothballed it
Vangelus@vangelus.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
tested ep1 of Micronauts, skipped to the credits so I could see every name of every crew member who put in so much work with the expectation that anybody would ever see the thing they did as part of their vocation in a creative field, working in service of what should be a reliable client & partner
tested ep1 of Micronauts, skipped to the credits so I could see every name of every crew member who put in so much work with the expectation that anybody would ever see the thing they did as part of their vocation in a creative field, working in service of what should be a reliable client & partner
admittedly, i might be arriving at a little annoyance on behalf of anyone responded to ever with "WELL it's not called SMARTING of age" because that's become a lot, i think the fork might be in that one, it's done
today in #9chickweedlane i learned that "how to lie" is not, actually, achieved by cupping the balls, despite the evidence of the entirety of the first panel, but by some other giant pile of words i guess, tl;dr
“It’s not me who’s a bigot,” they always argue. “I’m fine with all you people. But the rest of the electorate is full of bigots, on whose behalf I will now speak”
WOW LONG WEEKEND
also, adorablest sympathy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Yay Dina helps.
Clever girl…
(sorry, had to be done)
No apologies, it is the most apt response.
DAT SMILE
Seriously- holy hell, that was a busy weekend!
dina is good people
Dina is the BEST people
One might even say she is BESTEST people because rules of grammar be damned when it comes to Dina.
Rules of grammar? They’re more what you’d call “guidelines”.
More like friendly suggestions.
Dina is plusgood people.
No, she is doubleplus good people
She’s a real horrorshow devotchka.
Okay, Alex, we get it
Dina on laced milk… that would be… something interestin’.
I think Sal would be more fit for drinking milk-plus.
nah , Dina is such plusgood that milk-plus would just add to her power
Dina is better than people, Dina is good dinosaur.
Aw. She’s learning.
Not only learning, but proper use, and intent.
By George, I think she’s got it!
Clever girl. :3
Special moves are more effective when you announce their names.
You really should announce your weapons *after* you fire them.
Lipstick-Tazer!
Sometimes a pat on the shoulder is just as good as a hug. Though hugs are better.
It’s nice to see Dina again.
It sure is. I think we needed this
Well, at least her hand.
And a small portion of her hat.
I want a shirt with that on it. To go with the Dina hat.
I’m helping.
Good job Dina
Clever Girl
LIGHT PHYSICAL CONTACT HER!!
When i saw your avatar…. I imagined Dale saying “This one has potential” XDDDD
d’awww?
D’AWWW
D’AWWWWW
I read that in the voice of a T-Rex.
I read it in nigel’s voice. D’awwwlawwgh youtube.com/watch?v=liCKrHyatVs
TOTALLY d’awww.
No question about it!
Absolutely! Yay Dina!
Dumbing of Days.
How nice. Exclamation mark.
“Thanks, Dina.”
“Sympathy via warm smile.”
“This actually helps.”
“Sympathy via spooning?”
“Uh, no, I think we’ll stop at ‘warm smile’ for now.”
“Sympathy via Heavy Petting?”
“Sympathy licky-style?”
“Sympathy strapon-style?”
Well that escalated quickly.
Heavensrun that’s the best gravatar ever for that
Yeah, Aslan is pretty chill dude…
You skipped the obvious “Sympathy via Perform a Sex” or “Sympathy via You’ll See Some Serious Clit”
Meanwhile, Mike is giving “Sympathy via a Nickel” to mothers everywhere.
And so ends yet another dumb day in the Dumbiverse.
Best of luck, Amber. The dumbest is yet to come.
That’s right. You’ll see Danny tomorrow.
Hey, you changed your Gravatar!
I wanted to decrease the likelihood that I’d be confused for a girl but increase the likelihood that I’m confused for a douche.
I wasn’t confused, I knew from the beginning you were a douche. :p Kidding of course. That is an interesting new Gravatar though, I have to admit. I keep forgetting to change mine…
Did other people beside me confuse you for a girl? oO
Tune in tomorrow – same Amazi-time, same Amazi-channel!
Well. One dumb day is just the start to your…
DUMBING OF AGE
It was a dumbing of age weekend.
I fucking love this comic.
I fucking love Dina.
WHAT NO THE CHAPTER STARTED WITH NAKED WALKERTONS IT MUST END WITH NAKED WALKERTONS
The chapter started with a face (Joyce) and a hand (Sal’s).
The naked Walkerton came one panel later….
And it ends with a face (Amber) and a hand (Dina’s)
And we had a naked Walkerton in the preceding panel.
So there is a symmetry, sort of.
DINA WINS!!! Adorability!
“Friendship!”
Anyone wanna place a bet on the number of “Dina performs a sex” comments this strip spawns?
Damnit.
Wow, and one comment later, too. That’s hilarious.
Can I bet on “Dina uses light physical contact. It’s super-effective!” instead?
Dina uses ’empathy’.
It’s super-effective.
I was thinking something along the lines of “Dina Performs a Sympathy”, but I figured even variants were a bit overplayed by now.
…
Dina performs a sex?
Dina performs a physical contact, and for a first time, it is quite heartwarming.
^This. Although everything she does is heartwarming.
Aw, very cute!
Dina’s has got the touch…
SHE’S GOT THE POWAH!!!
YEAH!
Great, now I’m imagining Faz dumping Blaine out an airlock and Blaine being rebuilt by Unicron.
And then New Blaine has Leonard Nimoy’s voice for the rest of the movie. But when the TV series starts up again, he suddenly sounds like the guy who ran Warner Bros. on Animaniacs.
Who’s voiced by Eric Idle?
Roz.
Amber’s most perfectest roommate?
♥♥♥♥♥♥…LOVE THIS COMMENT…♥♥♥♥♥♥
Oh Dina.
Posting for the first time just to join in the love for Dina. SO MUCH LOVE.
Awwww.
(In before the cries for ‘Dina and Amber perform a sex” >.> )
Nope, never mind, Yotomoe beat me.
But Nothri beat me…
I noticed that after the second post. Whoo, bronze?
Here’s to better times ahead for Amber. May the drama llama go easy on her.
AMEN. BROTHA!!!!
*snff* Just… just got some sand in my eye is all.
Pollen, it’s only pollen…
Liquid pride.
Go back to nickels and mothers… nothing to see here
HNNG
I Reeeealy hope thats dina
A serial killer has crept into the dorm room, and is patting Amber’s shoulder with Dina’s severed hand.
And wearing her scalp since we all know that green ‘hat’ is really a part of Dina.
At least he’s reenacting that scene from Jurassic Park where Laura Dern thinks she’s been pat on the shoulder by Samuel L. Jackson, but it’s actually his severed arm.
Dina would want to go out in a way that reminds everyone of dinosaurs.
How bad is it that I totally thought of that further up the chain?
“Ray, you’re alive! And you…have both arms!?”
“What? Sure I’ve got both arms, why wouldn’t I?”
“Because…a black guy’s arm…It fell on me. We thought you were dead!”
“Oh, I see. So a black arm falls on you, and you just -assume- it’s mine!”
Dina would want to go out …
… in a cataclysmatic rain of meteors that drives many species extinct?
I LOVE YOU DINA
I am aware this is not a particularly unique sentiment.
Dina makes everything better.
This is a good feel.
Well, Mister Spock, you’re becoming more human every day.
Frankly, Captain… I find that remark, insulting.
“Amber?”
“Yes, Dina?”
“What does ‘thumpasprung’ mean?”
Dina’s so thoughtful. Clever girl indeed.
Wow! I had no idea so little time had passed.
Also Dina is so right minded. Daaaw!
D’awwwww. So sweet. Love Amber’s smile.
awww… I love Dina.
Sweet Dina. Love her ..light touch.
Dumb day. Understatement of the decade.
Dina for the win.
Thank christ that weekend is over, it seems like it lasted for months! Or four months, even!
In my haste to make a joke, I vastly underestimated how long this weekend has actually been going.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/isee-2/
7 months, give or take, and almost all of it horrific (though on the latter, I can hardly fault Willis for realism).
So to make this comic pass in realtime, we need hundred updates per day.
At the current rate, none of this comic’s readership is likely to survive two semesters in the Dumbiverse.
Yeah, I’ve done that math before, and… I’ve gotten used to the idea that there are ongoing stories that I follow that I might not see finished because the author might not live long enough (e.g., Song of Ice and Fire), but the thought that I might not see them finished because I might not live long enough was new and depressing.
If Dumbing of Age ended, it wouldn’t be tied to how old its characters are. The story doesn’t end when the characters leave college, but when the story itself ends. College is just a setting.
Yeah, but it looks to me – and of course I’m only guessing at where you’re going with this thing – like it’s a story that, even with the “omg all this has happened in only three weeks?” compression, I think has to have at least months of comic time in it. How long has it taken you to grow from that fundie dude who drew Roomies! to the Porn Czar that you are today? If we’re watching Joyce walk a similar path, at a real-time year per DoA week…
So I’m figuring that you could easily draw DoA for the rest of your life if you wanted to, without doing a disservice to the story. And I’m a few years older than you are, so if DoA runs ’til three months after you kick the bucket, odds are I’m missing the last few years of it.
How’s she supposed to know that, Willis? How is she supposed to know the subtleties of sympathetic light touches when she only learned that today? Stupid unwritten rules of human contact.
A good guess?
Wasn’t Amber giving her training? She might have mentioned this part in between strips.
Dina performs a sympathetic touch to strengthen the bonds between her and a random college roommate…
I tried too hard, I’ll show myself out.
No, no, I think you’re onto something.
Dina is definitely caboose….cause everyone likes her…and she likes herself too
She’s getting better at this.
D’awwwww.
Dina: Best friend to have during the worst of times and the best of times. I wish everybody could be like Dina.
imagine that as hard as you can. Fill in the details.
Society collapses because everyone is only well versed and interested in dinosaurs, as opposed to engineering, law, non-dinosaur related scientific research, farming, policing, manufacturing, medicine, etc. etc. etc.
The human race goes extinct within ~50 years, not just because of societal collapse, but because every single living human is now female, thus preventing reproduction.
(did I imagine it too hard?)
A little. The real problem is that nobody’s quite sure when they can come out from behind the door.
You can’t study dinosaurs without science, and you can’t live on studying dinosaurs alone. So instead of society collapsing, we would see a major socio-economic shift in which human societies center itself around studying dinosaurs.
Moreover, in learning the history and tragedy of the dinosaurs, the world of Dinas would recognize the importance of the environment, of keeping an eye on the sky, of preparing defenses against dangers far more pernicious than merely “each other.”
A world of Dinas is a world of peace. Literal-minded, obsessive peace, but peace.
And that “keeping an eye on the sky” would lead inevitably to an understanding of other planets, which science (via the principle of convergent evolution) suggests could be life-bearing, and which thus may contain still-living dinosaur-analogues.
And so we begin researching means of interstellar travel, and develop a functional interplanetary civilization within a century.
Until we reach the DINOSAUR EVENT HORIZON!
‘and you can’t live on studying dinosaurs alone. ‘
Surprisingly, that was the joke.
Can you picture Dina as a farmer? Or a hunter-gatherer?
It would not take long for society to collapse without food.
I don’t think all the humans being female would be a problem. They’ve all seen Jurassic Park, after all.
Life finds a way.
DIIIIIIINNNNAAAAAA! My precious angel finally reappears.
Thank you Willis. We needed this :]
Dina, I love you. Can we be best friends… or at least good acquaintances? Really I just wanna hang out. Is that possible? You can talk about dino’s all you want.
No today was a Danny day…well more like the last phew months were Danny months. thank you Dina
(Just read willises last phew tweets) eight months ago!? The SHIT!?
Awwwwww ^.^
Dina casts Cure Light Emotional Wounds; Amber receives +2 Sanity.
+1
BREATHE Y’ALL BREATHE
also awwwww dina you are just so NICE omg
Adorbs!!! This comic is strangely powerful to me. As someone that has worked in group homes for the last 10 years and has actually had the opportunity to do pretty much exactly what Amber did for Dina the feels that this brings up for me are stronger than they probably should be. It’s always a wonderful thing when you see the kind of progress that Dina has made here, especially with her melding of dry, scientific observation with emotional first-aid. And the look on Amber’s face just makes this for me. Good job Willis.
Amber, there’s your reminder that you do some things right. Good Karma? Check!
I think Dina’s Parents are still stranded in the dorm. Check behind the door.
lol
DINÀAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
And this is why Dina is best character?
this is why we love her more than danny
If Danny snuck into Amber’s room to do this it would be creepy and would not go over well.
Awwww, they are so cute! I totally friend-ship them!
Whatever happened with Amber’s mom? I mean, besides getting sexed by Joe’s dad. It seems like Amber would have tried to get in touch with her at some point to inform her that Blaine was on campus (I mean after that whole Amazi-Girl-ing but before the bedtime), or that someone would have informed campus security and they, in turn, would have called Amber’s mom.
I guess she took off without saying goodbye, which is weird.
As I recall, Amber eventually got a call from her mom and left to go meet with her. We didn’t really get to see much or any of the meeting, but presumably things went amicably, she mentioned that her dad had showed up at their room and after spending some time together her mom left, all under the assumption that Blaine had been escorted off campus and wouldn’t be returning that weekend.
Only one word. D’awww. :3
So many people are loving Dina so I am going to pull a Willis and make all of you scream. Just because I can.
Fact One: Dina is being taught how to treat people the way she feels.
Fact Two: Dina loves bones.
Fact Three: Willis has made several jokes about the removal of body parts.
Fact Four: All of the Dumbing of Age cast have major faults that at times have led to some people hating them. Except Dina.
Posit: Dina will become a serial killer who buries people under her house and in her backyard so she can express her feelings for people and their bones
D’awww indeed.
Nice idea, but it is Joyce who’s hailing from the home town of Belle Gunness. So it is more likely one of the Browns who will end up pursuing that hobby.
I call Jordan.
Isn’t she already a cereal killer.
Yes, Fruity Pebbles (or the generic equivalent)
You say that like people wouldn’t still love her.
I could see her saving the femurs of her friends and family after they die, but the way she seems to enjoy being around living people probably means she’s in no hurry to kill anyone.
I think that if she had a choice, she’d prefer her dinosaur skeletons to be covered by living flesh. So I don’t see why she’d carve free the human bones she likes.
Perhaps I should discuss Ornithocheirus flight patterns to be certain she is comforted…
New fact learned: Ornitocheirus =/= azdarchid.
Who said it was?
When things go horribly drama-tastic…the simple gestures mean the most.
OH DINA.
Dina is best room mate. ;_;
Dwaaa. Perfect ending to a really deep story line.
I didn’t realize this before, but this past story line is split between book 3 and book 4. THAT’S HOW LONG IT WAS! IT DOESN’T EVEN FIT IN A SINGLE BOOK! (Also, seven months.)
Aw Dina.
Please don’t kill her again Willis
d’awwwwww, much <3 Dina.
It’s super effective!
That is the only type of sympathy I can express.
Aaannwww, cute ♥
You are getting so good at this, Dina.
“….would it help if I preened your proto-feathers in a soothing manner?”
This makes up for the lack of Riley with cereal.
WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?
Dina performs a feels.
Although I’m pretty sure “Postosuchus performs a Blaine” would be the more popular comic.
Also, THANK YOU WILLIS! Or whatever the opposite of “DAMN YOU WILLIS” would be.
That would be BLESS ME WASISNT.
In search of emotional intimacy and support: Dina performs a light physical contact: The next level of porn, not available on Slipshine due to absence of nudity.
Pretty please Willis?
*mutual support, dangit
You’re already looking at it.
This is a very bare bones version of that story. I crave decompressed, lingering over-the-shoulder action, which explores the hopes and dreams of the characters involved and gets us inside their heads and shows us how the event transforms them and deepens their relationship.
Actually, “Dina Performs a Light Physical Contact” could make a fairly decent porn. It just depends where said “Light Physical Contact” is performed
It amazes me to look at this and realize that in the time this comic has been running, I’ve finished my senior year of college and am now a little over half way through a fifth year to finish up my degree.
For some reason, Dina sounds like Starfire from Teen Titans when I read this strip.
This is so! Cute!
Oh Dina your learning!
Dina’s getting the hang of it, and it’s adorkable.
AWWWW :3
That is the most D’AWWWWW moment ever!
Cragalanch hates to point it out, but odds are that Billie is as of now drinking herself into a coma
Dude, you totally just Willised the “dawwwww” moment!
“Willised” (Past tense) (v) Def: To turn a funny or generally happy moment into a heapload of drama and sorrow. The appropriate response to a “Willised” moment is a cry of “Damn you Willis!” followed by an immense stream of tears. (Please let this become a thing)
I find it both cute and a bit funny that Dina is so bad at showing sympathy that she just came full circle into being good at it
Again, this whole chapter was nothing short of amazing. Well played, Willis.
I work midnight shifts in the back room at Wal*Mart and this was a colossally shitty week. It’s the start of my weekend and I’m so tired I can’t get to sleep and I’m mega cranky. That said, the last panel with Amber’s smile made me smile and the day doesn’t feel so bad anymore. Thank you…
Dina makes all the bad stuff go away.
Seriously, that last panel is so soothing, I’m just sitting here, relaxing, contemplating. Many minutes passed between this paragraph and the last.
More minutes pass.
This is the perfect end to a weekend so full of horrible things. This is the best anyone could do.
Dina is accustomed to being booksmart and studying books to figure out the world around her, so her “How to interact with other people” book is actually working. Plus points on her being smart enough to apply the facts in said book to the situations she’s presented in real life. I can see her fleshing out into a really awesome character once she ‘graduates’ her reading material and, as any good scientist must, applies her book smarts to the world around her.
I think her and Amber make a pretty awesome duo in that regard. Amber has all the “real world” experience (most of it bad) to educate Dina to how things are and possibly protect her from unwittingly getting into dangerous situations, and Dina has the book facts that show how things usually should be enough to possibly knock Amber out of her self-deprecating cycles and show that aspects of her life were/were done wrong because of the shittiness of other people (aka: Blaine) and that she does have a choice to feed into the cycle or not.
I concur
After a long day of any kind, one small act of kindness is all it takes. Thank you Dina
For a comic, there definitely has been some heavy stuff going on.
Thank you, Dina.
Dina must be, an Elcor, that has to be it.
Needs more angst.
Yeah, I’m going to have to agree with a number of other people: that last panel makes a hellish week so much better. <3 Dina!
“… Isn’t she a brick, Shekels?
“Brick? She’s more than a brick, more than a thousand bricks—she’s a reptile!” – A Horse’s Tale
This is the best DOA ever.
Evidently when the Drama Tag was pre-pulled, all of the extra happiness and zaniness that was displaced by drama was siphoned into Dina. It’d explain how she somehow became even more adorable in the Dumbiverse….