Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
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.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
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!
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?
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.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
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.
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.
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
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.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
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.
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
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.)
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
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.
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.
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?
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
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.
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!
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.
Obelisk
Ashley McCammon
In 1908 New York, a young woman struggles to put her life back together in the wake of her father's death - until she discovers a vampire in the shambles of her inheritance.
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...
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.
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.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
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...
Sunshine Boy
Moosopp
New-kid Kelly is sweet but naive. Luckily, he's got his outgoing neighbor Grey in his corner.
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.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
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.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
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I just got myself a 3DS and downloaded the free Pokemon game promotion they had (still have?) going on. I’m not actually a Pokemon fan, but free is exactly the right price to get me to try it again.
Saw a walkthough book at the store and actually carried it around for like 10 minutes before I realized this is 2014 and what in God’s name am I thinking?
BWAHAHA!.. sorry… I just realised the percentage of times the index has been useful is way below 50 in my own experience. Though I do like to have some dead tree books for studying… bookmarks work really intuitively in their OS.
What’s better is they think the game is so complicated that they’ve decided to issue it in two parts, so you have to spend FORTY dollars to get the entire walkthrough with Pokedex. My friend who collects them complained bitterly about this.
Am I the only one who likes having the manual? I don’t always have internet access, and I love having all the information in front of me…
Then again I usually get the manual after I’ve already completed the first run of the game, so I can go back and get it 100%. I also buy used textbooks to read for fun, even in classes I’m not currently taking.
Like all kinds of healing orbs and a item that really part of a 15 piece item that can only be made by one dude all the way on the other side of the level. That basically what online RPG are like.
I know that I found the pic my grav was originally based on on one of the ‘boorus a few years ago, it’s Asuka(Evangelion) with a new hairstyle and glasses.
Assuming Malaya becomes even a minor character in DoA, I like to think that she’s a robotics major secretly designing an artificial girlfriend which she calls Carla.
My Steam library is beginning to get pretty turgid.
I have made a vow not to buy any more until I make a dent in some of those. I figure I have until the Summer Sale, at which point it’s out of my hands.
Ye cats, I don’t get people who just buy Steam games and never play them. Okay, sure, I have some unplayed Steam games, but they were part of a (humble) bundle, and I have a 96% completion rate of the games I’ve played that have Achievements [still working on Bastion and DuckTales HD].
[[also I have effectively no income to just blow on stuff I won’t play]]
[in b4 arguments about supporting the devs [which is fine, do that all you like] or getting games on the cheap ’cause “you can’t afford NOT to buy them!”]
Because we’re conditioned to respond to bargains, and there’s some* possibility that if you don’t buy the game now that it might become unavailable at some time in the future.
… did I say “we”?
(* increasingly slim/remote in reality, in these days of Steam and GoG where stuff hardly if ever just vanishes forever, but old hoarding habits.)
It’s always games I WANT to play, and will eventually, but don’t have time for just now because of work and life and such.
If I know I want to play it, might as well pick it up when it’s $5 instead of $40. Spending $100 during a sale means I don’t have to buy another game all year.
Yeah, me too. I buy games very deliberately and still only “own” just under thirty [including, I confess, the free-for-Christmas L4D2]. Yes, I have a HUGE pile of point-and-click games stacked up waiting to be played, but not on Steam, because 1. there’s no public record of my hoarding/non-playing in that case, and 2. I actually OWN the games, so I can’t get bullshitted by DRM. [3. I can theoretically resell them if I don’t like any.] I feel like my Steam library can be comfortably ignored indefinitely, vs. being slightly motivated to get through a physical disc.
I’m not saying it’s bad having a huge Steam library, especially to support devs, just that I don’t comprehend that desire myself. But then, I’m moving at the moment and de-cluttering is huge on my mind.
I’m also the type to pay full-price to support a game [or web comic, etc.] I like, though, even if it’s “punishing” myself as a fan, per the above link.
This is the semester that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started studying, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue studying forever just because…This is the semester that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started studying, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue studying forever just because…
Is Ruth going to join in on Dina’s lessons? It would be ever so wonderful if a progressively larger group started coming to Amber to learn social interactions.
Ruth: “Hey look I know your going through a ruff time and I just wanted to say that YOU’RE A FUCKING NERD AND EVERYBODY HATES YOU, no wait I’m sorry I mean that I’m hear for you and if you ever need someone to talk to YOU SHOULD GO OUT AND GET SOME FRIENDS AND A LIFE! no I mean (Damnit Ruth we’ve been over this)
Is Ruth upset she’s condemning Amber because she says the latter lives in her room playing video games (and is being insulting when she’s trying to be nice) or that she’s an idiot for the fact Amber goes to floor meetings and Ruth is sounding stupid for both the above comment as well as her being hard to track down.
I feel like David started writing this, launched into Ruth haranguing, then got about halfway through and then realized, oh yeah, I had her coming in here for a different purpose than to just be Ruth.
Basically, I think the subtext of this comic is that this is how Willis’ creative process worked here.
Pretty sure Ruth just realized she’s acting the same way Blaine would… or if she’s not thinking of him, the way her grandfather likely treats her and her brother.
Even given the assumption that she never leaves her room, why assume the time is spent on video games, rather than browsing the internet, or studying, or sleeping?
I really like the way you pace the story. Though I love all the crazy drama that you put in, having these calmer periods where we can catch our breath makes for great story flow. I think that’s part of how you’ve managed to take three years to convey a month, but it feels like the story is rolling right along at a good pace.
Reading from Roomies through current work, it’s really amazing how much both your art and storytelling has grown. I’m curious, did your growth as an author come purely from practice or did you also do things like writing workshops or self-study/research of story structure, pacing, and such?
Pretty standard story flow, really– periods of rising action, a climax, and then falling action.
Rising action: Dorothy and Walky chase Amber (as Amazi-Girl) all over campus until she escapes on a truck in the rain
Climax: Amber (still as Amazi-Girl) confronts her father and proceeds to beat him to a bloody pulp
Falling action: Danny and Amber (unmasked) flee the scene and discuss her inner issues
Coincidentally, Walky’s penis had a rising action, a climax, and a falling action in approximately the same timeframes.
It seems to be just about impossible to navigate your “It’s Walky” comics. The drop-down menu just sends me to a white page of code, the calendar links just send me to the first page every time, and the arrows to move along one comic at a time are really awkwardly placed and small
Maybe it’s just because I’m browsing on a phone, but Shortpacked and Dumbing of Age work great.
I remember being “supported” that morally by the parents before, oh those years of nonstop playing into madness, though it may have changed into webcomics drawing and reading now.
In my freshman year I was never in the dorm and never went to floor meetings or any of those stupid dorm events, so my RA made me have a private meeting with her because she was “concerned.” I think she thought I was partying every night or something. Actually I was always at rehearsal and getting really involved with clubs and service with the rest of my free time.
I kind of find it hilarious that Ruth is ripping into someone about their social skills. She’s like one of the most unlikable abrasive people in the world while Amber has friends.
Does she? Of all of Amber’s alleged friends, Dina is the only one who hasn’t been doing things that could not possibly be calculated to hurt Amber more. (Though, to be fair, Mike is probably the only one of them actually doing those calculations and deliberately acting on the results.) Maybe they’re friends, but with friends like these, who needs nemeses?
Amber’s friends make Ruth’s fucked up dysfunctional relationship with Billie look good.
At first I thought Amber was referring to the way her dad talked to her (which made me sad). But then I remembered this strip: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/02-uphill-from-here/amber/
So now I’m thinking it possible she’s talking about Mike and Ethan? Which would be less depressing. I don’t know, what are other people’s thoughts?
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Keep at it Ruth. You’ll get it down one day!
She should have it down now! She had two whole weeks of training!
Including an instructional video!
Offer her IMmoral support! Tongue-lash her now!!
“I just want you to know I’m here if you need me and are those Mario bedsheets just what the hell’s wrong with you?”
I swear to god if that’s a pokemon walkthrough manual on your desk…THE INTERNET EXISTS!!! WHY WOULD YOU NEED THIS?
I almost bought one of those this very weekend.
I just got myself a 3DS and downloaded the free Pokemon game promotion they had (still have?) going on. I’m not actually a Pokemon fan, but free is exactly the right price to get me to try it again.
Saw a walkthough book at the store and actually carried it around for like 10 minutes before I realized this is 2014 and what in God’s name am I thinking?
I finally got rid of my old strategy guides, for that matter.
Books don’t need batteries or wifi.
@Historyman68
Sure, but you can’t ctrl-f a dead tree book.
Sure you can. It’s called an index.
BWAHAHA!.. sorry… I just realised the percentage of times the index has been useful is way below 50 in my own experience. Though I do like to have some dead tree books for studying… bookmarks work really intuitively in their OS.
Those things are always filled with inaccuracies anyways.
And people say there were no errors back when we couldn’t patch after release….
“Speaking of which, what the hell is that on your laptop? Does that say… Iron Man/Captain America slashfic?!”
Now, if it was Blackwidow/Spider-Woman/Mockingbird, that would catch her interest.
Mmm, do want.
Pokemon walkthrough manual the hell, people still use those!?
What’s better is they think the game is so complicated that they’ve decided to issue it in two parts, so you have to spend FORTY dollars to get the entire walkthrough with Pokedex. My friend who collects them complained bitterly about this.
Strategy guides are pretty though… I haven’t forked out cash for one in eons, but I would buy it just because it’s pretty.
Am I the only one who likes having the manual? I don’t always have internet access, and I love having all the information in front of me…
Then again I usually get the manual after I’ve already completed the first run of the game, so I can go back and get it 100%. I also buy used textbooks to read for fun, even in classes I’m not currently taking.
Oh my god I think I’m Hermione Granger.
“It’s NidoRIno, not NiDORino.”
Hot damn that is the best comment I’ve read this week.
Who else will protect us all from those damned RPG money spiders if Amber doesn’t?
So really Amazigirl is just an unplugged version of what Amber does constantly
Pretty much and as a bonus, whenever she defeats an enemy IRL, they also drop things like money and other random things.
Like all kinds of healing orbs and a item that really part of a 15 piece item that can only be made by one dude all the way on the other side of the level. That basically what online RPG are like.
Not WoW. Only Monks get healing orbs in WoW.
Entirely unrelated: Do you have a link to the full version of that gravatar? 0.o
I know that I found the pic my grav was originally based on on one of the ‘boorus a few years ago, it’s Asuka(Evangelion) with a new hairstyle and glasses.
But not much else. HEYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*highfive*
That would be nice. Instead what we’ve seen is that when she encounters them, she gets new cutscenes.
Unfortunately, when the tables turn and she is forced to flee, she also drops items… like transformers and Amazi-condoms.
No, that was in Scott Pilgrim.
The best thing about Ruth is that she knows when she’s being a jerk.
I’m not sure if a Mike gravatar makes that comment better or worse, but I know it affects it in some manner.
Hope this turns into an Amber helping Ruth out with Billie thingy.
Don’t be such a turbo dweeb! I mean…
But dont we live in the turbo dweeb age? Everything is digitized.
Ruth seems…remarkably okay considering everything that happened last night. I hope that’s a good sign.
Billie may be large, but the world doesn’t revolve around her.
Does anyone else think they wouldn’t have noticed Billie is supposedly fat if Ruth never called her Lardo or Thunderthighs?
I still don’t consider her overweight. I just assumed Ruth picked what might insult a bodacious cheerleader.
To be fair, she was being drawn a lot smaller in her earlier appearances.
eh, she’s big, but not fat or anything.
Maybe Ruth is just trying to forget her problems for a while by focusing on someone elses’.
Good guess. Really, I’m kind of proud of her, considering the big temptation would have been to deal with her problems the old fashioned drunken way.
“Sometimes the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else.”
-Uncle Iroh, Legend of Korra
“Zuko, you must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself.”
– Prince Zuko as Uncle Iroh
+! to the both of y’all!
Is the ! a reference to Ruth’s shirt?
She’s moved on. She found another full figured girl with glasses and family issues to latch onto, thank you very much.
But Marcie doesn’t have any family issues as fare as I know… =3
And Dorothy is already dating Walky.
Dorothy is fairly svelte, and of all the parents we’ve seen hers are the least awful.
Ruth needs damaged goods with more to cuddle.
We all know she’s going to move on and hook up with malaya
Assuming Malaya becomes even a minor character in DoA, I like to think that she’s a robotics major secretly designing an artificial girlfriend which she calls Carla.
But Malaya already is a minor character in DoA?
Carla hasn’t appeared yet, but they’ve both been in preview panels from the middle of May.
Aw, that’s just a cameo walk-on, not a minor character… Yet.
I play much games. Almost 7 games.
much games
so support
very comfort
wow
Much excite
many wow
so fun
no dice
very Doge
I love you guys. It’s important that you know.
My Steam library is beginning to get pretty turgid.
I have made a vow not to buy any more until I make a dent in some of those. I figure I have until the Summer Sale, at which point it’s out of my hands.
Dark Souls 2 looming eerily on the Steam Store’s main page for preorder…
You mean the Easter sale. The one that’s about a month away.
Ye cats, I don’t get people who just buy Steam games and never play them. Okay, sure, I have some unplayed Steam games, but they were part of a (humble) bundle, and I have a 96% completion rate of the games I’ve played that have Achievements [still working on Bastion and DuckTales HD].
[[also I have effectively no income to just blow on stuff I won’t play]]
[in b4 arguments about supporting the devs [which is fine, do that all you like] or getting games on the cheap ’cause “you can’t afford NOT to buy them!”]
http://thecastledoctrine.net/seedBlogs.php?action=display_post&post_id=jasonrohrer_1389812989_0&show_author=1&show_date=1
Where did you get that Grav, if you don’t mind my asking?
Because we’re conditioned to respond to bargains, and there’s some* possibility that if you don’t buy the game now that it might become unavailable at some time in the future.
… did I say “we”?
(* increasingly slim/remote in reality, in these days of Steam and GoG where stuff hardly if ever just vanishes forever, but old
hoardinghabits.)It’s always games I WANT to play, and will eventually, but don’t have time for just now because of work and life and such.
If I know I want to play it, might as well pick it up when it’s $5 instead of $40. Spending $100 during a sale means I don’t have to buy another game all year.
Yeah, me too. I buy games very deliberately and still only “own” just under thirty [including, I confess, the free-for-Christmas L4D2]. Yes, I have a HUGE pile of point-and-click games stacked up waiting to be played, but not on Steam, because 1. there’s no public record of my hoarding/non-playing in that case, and 2. I actually OWN the games, so I can’t get bullshitted by DRM. [3. I can theoretically resell them if I don’t like any.] I feel like my Steam library can be comfortably ignored indefinitely, vs. being slightly motivated to get through a physical disc.
I’m not saying it’s bad having a huge Steam library, especially to support devs, just that I don’t comprehend that desire myself. But then, I’m moving at the moment and de-cluttering is huge on my mind.
I’m also the type to pay full-price to support a game [or web comic, etc.] I like, though, even if it’s “punishing” myself as a fan, per the above link.
Give her some time. She’s still figuring this whole “interactions that don’t involve yelling at, threatening, or kissing people” thing.
And she only recently learned the difference between shoving and kissing.
I wonder if Dina know the difference.
Dina’s gonna be all, “Oh, I am into hardcore velociraptor cosplay BDSM, didn’t you know?”
Does her partner play the part of some dinosaur that velociraptors eat or the part of some human that hunts dinosaurs?
Dina is the raptor.
Her partner is her human prey.
Prepare to be devoured.
Dina doesn’t strike me as the type who thinks anything is so wrong that it’s right — so, no dinosaurs/humans coexisting.
Wait dangit why am I imagining Dina’s sexual ideas Augh do not want.
Only the most appropriate of gravitars for that comment.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s how I treat everyone.
You could have talked to after a floor meeting and you’re figuring this out damn people are slow in this comic.
YOU’RE DANNING UP.
They’re slow for the sake of drama and story-telling.
“But the last floor meeting was like a YEAR ago!!”
“I don’t want to alarm anyone but I think we’re in some kind of time vortex because we should actually be just about graduating by now.’
“What are you talking about? School started about a month ago, right?”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh”
This is the semester that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started studying, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue studying forever just because…This is the semester that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started studying, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue studying forever just because…
I like that Ruth isn’t letting her personal drama get in the way of her RA stuff and generally being a nic-
…
compassio-
…
…
Ruth is good people.
Better than Horses. Horses are terrible people.
Hay there now ……
Tell that to the Houyhnhnm.
[HANK HILL]”Put down that Game Boy, Amber! You can’t spend your whole life with your nose in a Vidya Game! And put down that Fruit Pie!”[/HANK HILL]
+1
… Oh, Amber.
Ouch. That last line.
Is the alt-text written with the comic, or added later?
And of course I mean “hovertext”.
IIRC Willis does the hovertext with the comic releace but he has been known to change it on the release date.
Thanks, Plas!
You’re Welcome.
This alt-text was written back in December.
This is quite the large backlog saved up you have here.
Amber is so used to abuse.
Well she is like me, except my RA and I hang out. Lots of videogames, and sometimes have to go to the library
Wait, what’s Amber talking abou-
Oh.
This is what I love about Ruth. She’s self-aware and want’s to do the right thing.
Is Ruth going to join in on Dina’s lessons? It would be ever so wonderful if a progressively larger group started coming to Amber to learn social interactions.
Ruth: “Hey look I know your going through a ruff time and I just wanted to say that YOU’RE A FUCKING NERD AND EVERYBODY HATES YOU, no wait I’m sorry I mean that I’m hear for you and if you ever need someone to talk to YOU SHOULD GO OUT AND GET SOME FRIENDS AND A LIFE! no I mean (Damnit Ruth we’ve been over this)
“I wouldn’t worry too much Ruth, just remember that the Earth is bi-polar too”
Is Ruth upset she’s condemning Amber because she says the latter lives in her room playing video games (and is being insulting when she’s trying to be nice) or that she’s an idiot for the fact Amber goes to floor meetings and Ruth is sounding stupid for both the above comment as well as her being hard to track down.
I think it’s a litle bit of both
I feel like David started writing this, launched into Ruth haranguing, then got about halfway through and then realized, oh yeah, I had her coming in here for a different purpose than to just be Ruth.
Basically, I think the subtext of this comic is that this is how Willis’ creative process worked here.
Guess again!
Pretty sure Ruth just realized she’s acting the same way Blaine would… or if she’s not thinking of him, the way her grandfather likely treats her and her brother.
“Go to the library.” anyone else catch that? That’s one of those clutch Spider-Man-Esque cover ups.
I believe that was the library that she leaped off and zip-lined onto that moving truck.
And then Ruth looks in Amber’s eyes and realizes they’re not black dots, they’re actually amber!
…with mozzies engored with dinosaur blood trapped inside them.
Don’t tell Dina about the dino blood or she will want to take them out to see.
Which explains why Dina is Amber’s roommate. She wants to study the dinosaurs trapped in Amber’s eyes!
Let’s offer moral support by berating who we’re conversing with for their life choices!!
Then let’s break their femurs!
Even given the assumption that she never leaves her room, why assume the time is spent on video games, rather than browsing the internet, or studying, or sleeping?
It sounds like Ruth’s asked around about Amber while trying to track her down. Perhaps she’s had a conversation with Ethan?
I really like the way you pace the story. Though I love all the crazy drama that you put in, having these calmer periods where we can catch our breath makes for great story flow. I think that’s part of how you’ve managed to take three years to convey a month, but it feels like the story is rolling right along at a good pace.
Reading from Roomies through current work, it’s really amazing how much both your art and storytelling has grown. I’m curious, did your growth as an author come purely from practice or did you also do things like writing workshops or self-study/research of story structure, pacing, and such?
Pretty standard story flow, really– periods of rising action, a climax, and then falling action.
Rising action: Dorothy and Walky chase Amber (as Amazi-Girl) all over campus until she escapes on a truck in the rain
Climax: Amber (still as Amazi-Girl) confronts her father and proceeds to beat him to a bloody pulp
Falling action: Danny and Amber (unmasked) flee the scene and discuss her inner issues
Coincidentally, Walky’s penis had a rising action, a climax, and a falling action in approximately the same timeframes.
Yes, I wrote this post just to make that joke.
Worth it.
Penis jokes are always worth it.
I’ve never taken a writing course. If I’m better, it’s probably because I’ve kept doing it every day for sixteen years.
Breaking femurs… I mean moral support.
It seems to be just about impossible to navigate your “It’s Walky” comics. The drop-down menu just sends me to a white page of code, the calendar links just send me to the first page every time, and the arrows to move along one comic at a time are really awkwardly placed and small
Maybe it’s just because I’m browsing on a phone, but Shortpacked and Dumbing of Age work great.
Yes, that is why I am putting them all on bringbackroomies.com.
I remember being “supported” that morally by the parents before, oh those years of nonstop playing into madness, though it may have changed into webcomics drawing and reading now.
In my freshman year I was never in the dorm and never went to floor meetings or any of those stupid dorm events, so my RA made me have a private meeting with her because she was “concerned.” I think she thought I was partying every night or something. Actually I was always at rehearsal and getting really involved with clubs and service with the rest of my free time.
I kind of find it hilarious that Ruth is ripping into someone about their social skills. She’s like one of the most unlikable abrasive people in the world while Amber has friends.
Does she? Of all of Amber’s alleged friends, Dina is the only one who hasn’t been doing things that could not possibly be calculated to hurt Amber more. (Though, to be fair, Mike is probably the only one of them actually doing those calculations and deliberately acting on the results.) Maybe they’re friends, but with friends like these, who needs nemeses?
Amber’s friends make Ruth’s fucked up dysfunctional relationship with Billie look good.
At first I thought Amber was referring to the way her dad talked to her (which made me sad). But then I remembered this strip:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/02-uphill-from-here/amber/
So now I’m thinking it possible she’s talking about Mike and Ethan? Which would be less depressing. I don’t know, what are other people’s thoughts?