Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Nigh Heaven & Hell
Scotty
Heather Vodihn is on a simple mission: find her father. However she becomes entangled with two strangers with mysterious powers being stalked by a group with bizarre demands. Heather must learn to trust her new traveling companions, even if she is untrustworthy herself.
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.
Blindsprings
Kadi Fedoruk
Tamaura, wrested into a world 300 years in the future, must find a way to save the magic fading from her country.
Stand Still, Stay Silent
Minna Sundberg
A few generations after the end of the world, a small, poorly financed research crew is sent out to rediscover whatever is left of the forbidden old world in the south.
Angel's Orchard
Harry Bogosian
After the events in Demon's Mirror, Gerda has accepted her role as a Demon Hunter, and Cezar has traveled back to the Demon City. Demons have existed alongside humans for millennia, so things begin to return to normal. But an impossibly powerful Relic has been taken by one of the Demon Masters, and a silent war enters its final stages.
Novae
KaiJu
A historical romance with a touch magic and a dash of astronomy. It chronicles the romantic adventures of Sulvain, a sweet tempered necromancer and Raziol, a passionate 17th century astronomer.
The Golden Boar
Magnolia Porter Siddell
A young woman joins a group of summoners who call forth Guardian Beasts to protect their isolated magical island. Unfortunately, her Guardian Beast is nothing like she'd imagined, and he's about to change her life, and everything she thought she knew about herself...
Monster's Garden
Ash G.
Champion pit fighter Kilo Monster was content to spend the rest of his days tending to his quiet garden alone... until he met a curious robot girl and her human family.
Namesake
Isa, Meg
There's ghosts at your heels and fairy tale worlds ahead. What do you do? Jump down the rabbit hole!
ARISE, YE SKELETON KING
Brian Clevinger, Escher Cattle, Lee Black
A troupe of wandering "adventurers" down to their last silver "acquire" a map only to find the real treasure was the fiend they dug up along the way.
The Weave
Rennie Kingsley
A young woman pursued by bad luck is witness to the murder of the Fairy Queen of Summer. Can she get to the bottom of this mystery?
Darkling Bright
Chris Hazelton
Kieran Bright is a college student home for the summer and roped into an online reunion with his old neighborhood friends in the most recent update of their favorite childhood MMORPG.
At least, he was, and that was the idea...
Join Kieran and his friends as they are pulled into another reality that may or may not be real and are forced to confront their own identities, the nature of simulated universes and reality itself.
Augustine
Winter Jay Kiakas, Windy
August and her ragtag group are just like everyone else, simply surviving in the treacherous Crater... When they stumble into what may be an artifact of the ancient past, their lives are thrown into a much bigger loop as they trifle with bounty hunters, monsters and gods.
Not Drunk Enough
Tess Stone
Logan Ibarra is possibly the unluckiest repairman in the world. A late night job should not have landed him in the middle of a mad scientist's squabble, but he soon finds himself surrounded by monsters and further madness with little tools to get out.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Peritale
Mari Costa
A fairy godmother with no magic tries her best to successfully fulfill a Fairytale and win the respect of her peers.
Barbarous
Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota
A crummy wizard and an anxious monster have to get over themselves and bring order to an apartment building full of misfits.
Three Panel Soul
Matt Boyd, Ian McConville
It's a pretty rigid format but we keep the content loose, you know?
Edison Rex
Chris Roberson
The adventures of the world’s greatest villain who, after defeating his superheroic nemesis, decides that he’s the only one left to defend the world.
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
Freakshow
Scotty
A festival of broken people, blood flows in the center ring. Come one and come all, to the greatest show in all of Paris.
Heroes of Thantopolis
Izzy Strontium Hall
A living boy fights to save the City of the Dead.
Little Tiny Things
Clover
What are the little things that move us? The simple joys that warm our bodies and hearts? The micro life of insects that influence our world more than we think? The tiny steps we make everyday to have a happier tomorrow?
Ozzie the Vampire
Eric Lide
Ozzie and her best friend Kimmy are your average everyday normal art students – except one is an immortal vampire with superpowers and the other possesses a magic talking grimoire. Also they have to save their town from a demonic invasion.
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.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Saint for Rent
Ru Xu
Saint Halliday runs an inn for Time Travelers. Unfortunately, he seems to attract other supernatural "guests," too.
Sleepless Domain
Mary Cagle (Cube Watermelon)
In a world where magical girls and their battles are commonplace, loss has become all too common as well.
The Messenger
indui
In a ruin-abound town cursed with bad luck, Kai and Kalla--a young boy and a fledgling dragonbird spirit--take on a quest in hopes the reward will solve all of their problems.
Sakana
Mad Rupert
Our heroes must navigate a hazardous dating scene, overcome personal anxieties, and wrangle unruly seafood in order to find love, peace of mind, and a paycheck.
Lies Within
Lacey
Lysander's aimless and carefree life is turned upside down when he accidentally discovers that the cute boy next door, Simon, is a literal monster
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No, Dina thinks A/AG changes personas to help A/AG, Dina thinks A/AG is so careful about saying which is which to help Dina. Sorry Dina, A/AG doesn’t do it for you, she does it because she’s just that fucked up.
I’m not so sure, if only because when she’s under pressure, her two personas seem to converge instead of diverge. It would think it would take a complete flip in Amber’s MO for a split to occur. Don’t know how likely that is irl…?
Which make’s Dina’s internal observation that it’s difficult to tell Amber-Girl from Amazi apart both perceptive and prescient. The two personas aren’t as distinct as either Mask or No Mask would like to think.
Also the alt text implying Amber herself has trouble distinguishing them. Yea.
The only real difference I see between Amber and Amazigirl is the amount of control Amber feels she has in a situation. Amazigirl has the same anger issues, but she’s can ‘control’ her anger in a way Amber ‘can’t’ because she releases her anger only on criminals who ‘deserve’ it. Amazi-girl, a superhero in a world mostly void of them, also lets Amber control encounters with others. When people interact with Amazi-girl, they (usually) automatically go to a comic book script that Amber feels comfortable with.
So, yea, I think Amazi-girl is about Amber feeling in control. So when Amber feels completely out of control (re: Blaine, Sal) there can be no Amazi-girl.
And I’m telling you, you don’t know what you’re talking about. For one thing if Willis actually gave her a split personality he’d have to deal with it for the rest of the comic, and worse he’d be obligated to portray it accurately. Second, if she was going to snap it would have been when she was under heavy stress, not the minor stress she has now.
As it has been confirmed* that Dina is always just off-panel or behind a door in any given strip, feel free to add inner monologue to all the strips period. Like the roofying party, the Blaine interactions, and of course all the sex scenes. (The last goes without saying.)
I actually wonder if Dorothy and Walky are hungover. I mean Danny also had alcohol yet he’s fine right now. Granted he didn’t pass out and fall asleep like they did and he probably uh… did… stuff to work the alcohol through his system.
LOL people like that are funny. Daniel the Human is like that too. Used to try splashing him in “grog” as some Australian Humans call it, but stopped when he started carrying metal bars & magnets around the house…
This brings up the question of whether Amazi-girl wears contact lenses, or Amber wears glasses strictly for cosmetic reasons. The mask doesn’t seem to have lenses.
I really don’t understand why Danny doesn’t just announce that he and Amber are dating. I mean, really no one knows he’s dating Amazi-Girl, and the few people he told probably didn’t take him seriously anyway.
It would be relatively simple for Amber to stage an incident before multiple witnesses where Amazi-Girl tells Danny that it can’t go on. Whilst she will always remember him with affection, the Mission must come first. For his safety, they must break up.
Danny then, with Dorothy’s help plays the heartbroken beau before ‘running into’ Amber and the two of them getting together.
They would need to develop a plausible explanation. Maybe Ethan could arrange a ‘spontaneous meeting’ at the Comic & Hobby shop where they could publicly ‘bond’ over their mutual geekhood.
Danny and Amber wouldn’t need any particular explanation. They’re already known to be friends. And they live in the same dorm, have some of the same friends, and at least one class together.
They probably would decide to have some time pass between the “breakup” and dating in public.
Which is even worse If you think about it.
Amber won’t date him because of the crummy way he treated her.
But, AG will date him because she is crazy over him (literally).
Ah, thanks for phrasing it that way. I think you’ve zeroed in on her problem — daddy has inculcated in her the belief that she (Amber) doesn’t deserve the good things in life.
But by being Amazi-Girl, Amber’s father isn’t her (Amazi-Girl) father, and all that “disappointment” doesn’t apply to her.
Dina is for sure huggable. But, she showed that she does get upset being treated like a kid because of her looks, height, and general adorableness. So maybe that’s not such a good idea.
She might go raptor on ya, with the teeth and all.
Dina’s thoughts on Amazi-Girl and Amber are interesting. She, at least, does not seem to believe that they are separate personae but rather two different roles played by the same woman for appropriate different for circumstances.
I wonder if Dina is her real name, or just one she has insisted on so long that even her parents call her that. Picturing a whole different persona under that dinocap…
It might be an abbreviation of something that ends in -dina. I have a family connexion whose name is “Geraldine”, known as “Dine” professionally and to friends and family.
Poor Amber – Amaziegirl seem to grab more and more of her positive experiences. Amaziegirl has the good haircut. Amaziegirl has adventures. Amaziegirl can snuggle with Danny while Amber argues with him.
Well, one of these days she’s going to have to reconcile her personae, so maybe she’ll collapse all those good experiences together? Maybe? *fingers crossed*
Willis, your comic load seems to be blocking on loading everyone’s gravatar for some reason. Since Gravatar’s CDN seems to be down right now, I can’t see any of your comics without manually opening the image in another page.
So… Is there anyone in this story who isn’t in need of psychiatric care?
Amber and Ruth seem to need it the most.
One is seriously emotionally unstable, if she hasn’t become an alcoholic she might have become a cutter.
And the other seems to think she’s two people – she has a ready made insanity defense for when she’s eventually arrested, the years she’ll spend institutionalized may be good for her.
I guess Dina is just Aspergers.
Joyce is a religious nut who simply needs exposure to reality so as to realize that if there is a deity it is – at best – indifferent to humanity, or – at worst – a sadistic psychopath. That will come with time (one hopes).
Strange as it may seem, Walky might be the most sane and emotionally stable of the lot.
Plenty. Besides the ones on your list, Danny (just needs further information on bisexuality), Dorothy, Marcie, Malaya, Jacob, Joe, Leslie and Roz all strike me as in good mental health, and that’s just the ones off the cast page.
Also Mike? Maybe? And I don’t think Mary needs psychiatric help, either – if being a terrible human being were a mental health condition, at least 3/4 of the world’s surface would have to be a sanatorium.
I’ve always been of the opinion that while Mike is a sadistic asshole, he actually uses this for good as best he can. (Though he would never admit it. Think of all the good the initial wang-drawing and marker switch did.)
So he’s probably the most mentally stable.
It did lead to Amber and Joyce becoming friendlier, and having a case to solve helped Amber recenter and find her self-esteem again. Also Joyce grew a little as a person. But yeah, there’s no way Mike did that on purpose. Shortpacked! had a few moments where Mike deliberately used his assholish nature to make points that needed to be made, but DoA Mike is pretty much just a comical misanthrope.
More like plot misanthrope – as many of his actions led directly or indirectly to much of the plot development or triggered personality growth in DoA.
He’s basically the plot-demon – where he threads noteworthy stuff happens.
…Or is he? Perhaps he is conversing with Mr Willis himself, shattering that 4th wall, & using that information to play Devil’s Advocate, facilitate other people’s growth…
Being a doormat isn’t a psychological condition. Besides, hes shown more than a few times in the comic that he can take initiative. He’s just not very good at it.
If it leads to scenes like Danny & Dorothy’s breakup, then yeah, it is a condition. Maybe not a DSM-recognized disorder, but more severe than Dina’s issues.
I don’t even know how to begin to describe how much I disagree with that interpretation. Like, Dina has some problems expressing herself, but there’s nothing wrong with her. Likewise, Danny can be a bit too passive and can be a fantasist, but that’s not a mental illness.
I genuinely await the day we all collectively stop treating the break up as if it has some major impact on how we’re supposed to view Danny as a person.
Though anxiety attaches itself to it pretty easily nonetheless. Turns out being unable to read people’s cues and often being treated negatively because you’re different doesn’t make you very confident in yourself and your ability to make friends without thinking you’re imposing on people!… Life is uncomfy sometimes.
So does Amber only pull her third-person terms when she’s with Danny and Ethan? I think this is the first time she’s ever stopped herself from referring to Amber and Amazi-Girl as separate people.
Well, Ethan, Danny, Dina, and Dotty are the only ones in on the secret, (at least until Daisy finds out) So around most people, referring to Amber and Amazi-Girl as sepearte people is sort of an important defense mechanism.
Right, but when she’s with Danny and Ethan she’s super strict about compartmentalizing her identities and here she drops it in front of Dina. Does she recognize it as strange? If so, why does she do it to Danny and Ethan?
I think it was more the mask. Onxe thats off she no longer sees herself as Amazi girl. Whether she took it off to drop the facade or juet cuase she was getting ready to change is uncertain
I think people overanalyze the way she compartmentalizes it with Danny and Ethan. They see it as this weird split where she has different identities, but I really think it has more to do with the fact that she’s aware that what AG does is illegal, and could get her in trouble if anybody put two and two together. It’s not about her actually seeing AG and Amber as different entities, it’s about the need to keep her identities separate to the public.
The point being, Danny dating Amazi-girl and explicitly not Amber is not because AG is a separate person, but because Danny has been -telling- people he’s dating AG, and so if people see him being flirty and close with Amber, she could get busted. Also, Habitually referring to Amber as a separate person when talking as Amazi-Girl is a similar thing. If she doesn’t make it a habit, and slips up when talking to someone that knows both of them, it’s bad mojo.
I don’t see why it would be flaunting. She dumped him, and she had a new boyfriend at almost the exact same pace. But give the reasons behind the dumping, would she be the one who’s “flaunting.”
In their last conversation Dorothy asked him if he was just bragging about his sex life. I assume this is in reference to that.
Danny confirms on the next panel that he is flaunting just a bit and that’s fine, really. It’s a little petty but it’s a perfectly human reaction after a bad break up.
Willis doesn’t have them explicitly say it, but the fact that Dina and Amber get exhausted by socializing pretty much pegs them as introverts.
Some of you may be saying, “No surprise there, they’re socially awkward,” but introversion is not the same as social awkwardness (nor is it the same as shyness, being antisocial, or always wanting to be alone). An introvert is someone who feels drained by interacting with groups of people, whereas extroverts are those who feel energized by social interaction. About one in four people are introverts, and many of them can be good as socializing, and even become great leaders – one notable example being Abraham Lincoln.
Although Dina and Amber have plenty of emotional issues and baggage to sort through, being introverted is the least of their problems.
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THE MORE YOU KNOW…
Being an introvert is not a psychological problem. Like you said, introversion simply means one recharges through time alone, while social interaction drains the inner resources. I’m always boggled by how many people don’t understand what these terms actually mean. Recently, I was having a conversation with my mother where she was talking about how she’s had to work on being less introverted over the years. I asked her what she thinks it means to be an introvert. She looked at me like I’d sprouted another head, and told me, “It means you shy away from people.” At which point, I had to refrain from facepalming in order to educate by mother on what introversion and extroversion actually are.
I myself am a shy, socially awkward introvert, but that’s just me. I make no claims of being the voice of introverts everywhere. When you’ve met one introvert, you’ve met one introvert. I know that there are outgoing, self-assured introverts out there, and there are also shy, socially awkward extroverts. I may wish I was less shy and awkward, but I’m fine with the fact that I’ll always be an introvert. As far as I’m concerned, the world needs all kinds of people — introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts.
I appreciate that you do understand what it means to be an introvert. So many people misuse and misunderstand the term, and it makes me cringe inwardly. This is especially so when people treat introversion as a character flaw that should be corrected.
Okay — didn’t mean to get on a soapbox here. Certain topics just bring that out in me, and that’s one of them. I’m done for now.
It’s good to vent sometimes.
Personally I’ve thought of myself as a introvert throughout most of my life,
but as time went on I became more and more extroverted. Shyness
notwithstanding, seems that I’ve become an ambivert – though I was not aware of the term until just now. So thanks for the very apt term, Edupoet81.
That explains it better than I could. I get less exhausted dealing with people I like also, but I personally still consider myself an introvert. I can only speak for myself, though.
I really enjoy the strips with Dina in them. She feels pretty much the way I feel much of the time. These may be off-the-board questions, but I am curious about whether Willis had a flesh-and-blood inspiration for her, and whether Willis has a diagnosis in mind for her. I loved shaking his hand at Comic-Con!
Petty but also for pretty minor compared to some other incidents between Danny and Dorothy since they’ve broken up. Or in other words, I’m slightly confused as to how you could maintain respect for him after the incident with the shoes, but lose it after the admission that he is flaunting his relationship with a masked vigilante a little bit.
Optimus Prime broke down and cried on the set of "Transformers" (2007) due to the extensive use of green screen filming. He reportedly said, "This is not why I became an actor."
“I’m just going to say it, shame on any of us who throws a trans child under the bus for thinking they’re going to get elected. That child deserves our support. Don’t worry about the pollsters calling it distractions, because we need to be the party of human dignity.”
Minnesota Star Tribune@startribune.com ⋅ 1d
Gov. Tim Walz is doubling down on trans rights — and criticizing members of his party who are retreating — at a time when the issue has become a political lightning rod nationally and back home in Minnesota.
they managed to get the arms and thighs to be different grays, which I wasn't sure they'd be able to do, the way the mold's set up
though maybe they're just producing a lot of extra thighs and/or arms in the wrong colors and throwing those away, i dunno
Minnesota Star Tribune @startribune.com ⋅ 1d
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 1d
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There is already way too much Danny for what I expected of this story =<
(I keed, I keed)
((though there sure is a lot))
(((also, I can attest to FAAAAAAACES being tiring)))
Well you have to take the good (Dina) with the bad (Danny)
So who’s the ugly then?
Toedad.
Completion of the proof is left to the student.
Faz.
“Ugly” doesn’t even start to describe Faz.
It’s not even that he looks that ugly. His personality is what makes him truly abhorrent and disturbing.
“If the looks are a 10, but the personality is a 2, then they’re a 2…”
…at least that’s what I’ve been told. I just like all the pretty Human ladies…
His looks are a 4. His personality is a -9001.
You take ‘Em both and then you have Walking With Dina.
Actually, from the name, I think you’d have Walky and Dina…
More Danny, but none of the Danny aftertaste. What is this madness?
Dina thinks Amber/AmaziGirl changes personas to help her, Dina?
No, Dina thinks A/AG changes personas to help A/AG, Dina thinks A/AG is so careful about saying which is which to help Dina. Sorry Dina, A/AG doesn’t do it for you, she does it because she’s just that fucked up.
This is adorable.
Guys, I’m telling you…personality schism comiiiiiiing…
The potential Amber/Danny/Ethan threesome is gonna end up being a foursome, isn’t it.
Well, “Mask or No Mask” was a two-person threesome…
you know what, fuck it. masks for everyone
I’m not so sure, if only because when she’s under pressure, her two personas seem to converge instead of diverge. It would think it would take a complete flip in Amber’s MO for a split to occur. Don’t know how likely that is irl…?
Which make’s Dina’s internal observation that it’s difficult to tell Amber-Girl from Amazi apart both perceptive and prescient. The two personas aren’t as distinct as either Mask or No Mask would like to think.
Also the alt text implying Amber herself has trouble distinguishing them. Yea.
The only real difference I see between Amber and Amazigirl is the amount of control Amber feels she has in a situation. Amazigirl has the same anger issues, but she’s can ‘control’ her anger in a way Amber ‘can’t’ because she releases her anger only on criminals who ‘deserve’ it. Amazi-girl, a superhero in a world mostly void of them, also lets Amber control encounters with others. When people interact with Amazi-girl, they (usually) automatically go to a comic book script that Amber feels comfortable with.
So, yea, I think Amazi-girl is about Amber feeling in control. So when Amber feels completely out of control (re: Blaine, Sal) there can be no Amazi-girl.
That’s a pretty good summation of the difference between Amber and her alter-ego…
Maybe they only look different in the dark.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/zipper/
And I’m telling you, you don’t know what you’re talking about. For one thing if Willis actually gave her a split personality he’d have to deal with it for the rest of the comic, and worse he’d be obligated to portray it accurately. Second, if she was going to snap it would have been when she was under heavy stress, not the minor stress she has now.
Yeah, fair enough. In truth this is mostly in jest. I don’t really think she has DID, she doesn’t have the symptoms involved.
It’s cool how Amazi-Girl’s mask gives her sclerae. That way no one will ever think Amber is her secret identity.
no eye-white, it’s a face-whitening mask
It’s made of a variation on that translucent material Peter Parker used for his Spider-Man masks.
I thought it was like the Dark Knight trilogy where Bruce Wanye obvious paints around his eyes. Except in this case its Amber and white paint.
Will we hear Dana’s thoughts on scenes where she isn’t present?
Except for a strip or two, Dina is in all strips in this storyline. (In the few she isn’t, she’s still there, just off-panel.)
And that’s how I already know this is going to be the best chapter of Dumbing of Age.
Seriously. We must have been extra nice lately or something to get this storyline.
Well, this is Willis, so instead of being optimistic now I’m afraid something terrible is about to happen to Dina.
Dina is always just off-panel.
That’s my new headcanon.
Hiding behind the nearest door.
Yess.
Fantastic idea. Looking forward to this one.
Probably not. Dana likely hasn’t returned to IU since she got kicked out after her roommate Sarah reported her drug problem last year. :trollface:
And there’s a cold lonely light that shines from you
You’ll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use–Elton John, “I’m Still Standing”
Dina’s inner monologue is adorabz
Dina officially confirmed for precious cinnamon roll too good for this world <3
And now to go back and read all Dina strips and add inner monologue
As it has been confirmed* that Dina is always just off-panel or behind a door in any given strip, feel free to add inner monologue to all the strips period. Like the roofying party, the Blaine interactions, and of course all the sex scenes. (The last goes without saying.)
* well, almost.
Should be okay, so long as Danny doesn’t whip it out and go “Hey, Dorothy, remember this? Well last night it was in a superhero!”
Wonder what Walky will think, though?
Joyce put D and W in their own rooms since they had already passed out.
And Dorothy says ,”Yeah , I already know where AmaziGirl sleeps.”
Or maybe, “Ow, do you have to breathe so loud?”
wonder if she’ll still go for a morning jog hung-over
I actually wonder if Dorothy and Walky are hungover. I mean Danny also had alcohol yet he’s fine right now. Granted he didn’t pass out and fall asleep like they did and he probably uh… did… stuff to work the alcohol through his system.
I don’t think danny had had nearly as much as walky, and dorothy was almost as drunk as her caramel-sculpted boyfriend.
Walky doesn’t need much, he gets drunk on the smell of beer.
LOL people like that are funny. Daniel the Human is like that too. Used to try splashing him in “grog” as some Australian Humans call it, but stopped when he started carrying metal bars & magnets around the house…
Seeing her study rythm, i’d guess Dotty was pretty tired to begin with.
That mask really does highlight her eyes.
I know right? It’s almost like she’s a whole different person.
…Says the human with the amazi-girl Gravatar… :p
hah !
This brings up the question of whether Amazi-girl wears contact lenses, or Amber wears glasses strictly for cosmetic reasons. The mask doesn’t seem to have lenses.
They could be reading glasses, and she just chooses to wear them most the time.
My glasses are reading glasses but I almost never take them off.
Well, her glasses don’t distort the line of her face (final panel) which’d make them either very weak or fake.
Or, you know, that’d just be annoying as hell to remember to draw all the time, but the other way works on a Watsonian level!
Glasses can feel like a layer/protection against the outside world.
Or just, well, feel like a normal and integral part of the face, depending on people.
I’m definitely in the “normal part of my face” camp.
I just feel naked without mine ._.
Inb4 “who cares what the alt text very clearly implies, Amber is obviously just pretending to have identity issues”.
oh, teens and their social and psychological issues! it’s fun because it’s like normal teen drama, but it’s mixed with capes, masks, and dina!
I really don’t understand why Danny doesn’t just announce that he and Amber are dating. I mean, really no one knows he’s dating Amazi-Girl, and the few people he told probably didn’t take him seriously anyway.
Amber doesn’t want him to. Danny wanted to “break up” with Amazi-Girl so he could date Amber but she wouldn’t allow it.
That makes no sense. Is he worried about cheating or something?
It’s not logical but that’s just how it is. Amber probably has reason for why she wants it like this though they might not make sense to us.
It would be relatively simple for Amber to stage an incident before multiple witnesses where Amazi-Girl tells Danny that it can’t go on. Whilst she will always remember him with affection, the Mission must come first. For his safety, they must break up.
Danny then, with Dorothy’s help plays the heartbroken beau before ‘running into’ Amber and the two of them getting together.
They would need to develop a plausible explanation. Maybe Ethan could arrange a ‘spontaneous meeting’ at the Comic & Hobby shop where they could publicly ‘bond’ over their mutual geekhood.
Danny and Amber wouldn’t need any particular explanation. They’re already known to be friends. And they live in the same dorm, have some of the same friends, and at least one class together.
They probably would decide to have some time pass between the “breakup” and dating in public.
Which is even worse If you think about it.
Amber won’t date him because of the crummy way he treated her.
But, AG will date him because she is crazy over him (literally).
I sorta saw it the opposite way.
Amber isn’t particularly fond of herself and her anger issues and Amazi-Girl is in large part a coping mechanism.
So rather than have Danny date Amber she wants him to date the ‘better’ one.
Yea. It’s pretty much confirmed that Amber doesn’t allow herself any of the good stuff. Not allowed the good haircut. Not allowed the boyfriend.
Ah, thanks for phrasing it that way. I think you’ve zeroed in on her problem — daddy has inculcated in her the belief that she (Amber) doesn’t deserve the good things in life.
But by being Amazi-Girl, Amber’s father isn’t her (Amazi-Girl) father, and all that “disappointment” doesn’t apply to her.
Well, Amber was supposed to get both those things she just handled it poorly and Amazi-Girl ended up with them.
“Maybe Amazi-Girl could dump me and I could date Amber.”
Seriously now. You’ve been told this already.
Possibly relevant:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/compartmentalize/
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/faithful/ (mostly for the implication the alt-text might have on that last panel)
I want to go right up to Dina and ask her permission and then if told yes give her a big ol’ hug
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/why-2/#comment-244287
Also: timing.
Dina is for sure huggable. But, she showed that she does get upset being treated like a kid because of her looks, height, and general adorableness. So maybe that’s not such a good idea.
She might go raptor on ya, with the teeth and all.
Dina’s thoughts on Amazi-Girl and Amber are interesting. She, at least, does not seem to believe that they are separate personae but rather two different roles played by the same woman for appropriate different for circumstances.
I wonder if Dina is her real name, or just one she has insisted on so long that even her parents call her that. Picturing a whole different persona under that dinocap…
It might be an abbreviation of something that ends in -dina. I have a family connexion whose name is “Geraldine”, known as “Dine” professionally and to friends and family.
“Oswaldina”, for instance.
…Donaldina ?
Tyrannosauridina?
I just hope that Willis is able to keep the Amazi-Girl and Amber personae separate.
Aww, poor Amber always has to comb out her AG hair, even though it doesn’t look as good. That detail always makes me sad.
Awwww, I didn’t notice that.
Poor Amber – Amaziegirl seem to grab more and more of her positive experiences. Amaziegirl has the good haircut. Amaziegirl has adventures. Amaziegirl can snuggle with Danny while Amber argues with him.
Well, one of these days she’s going to have to reconcile her personae, so maybe she’ll collapse all those good experiences together? Maybe? *fingers crossed*
What I hope for is a triumph for Amber rather than amaziegirl. Helping Dina could maybe be it
And on top of that, she refers to her Amber haircut as the haircut she got for prom. Her number one association with her hair is not a happy memory.
I actually prefer Amber’s normal hair. Amazigirl’s hair looks like a puffy pastry.
The logistics behind secret identity romances can be tiring.
Willis, your comic load seems to be blocking on loading everyone’s gravatar for some reason. Since Gravatar’s CDN seems to be down right now, I can’t see any of your comics without manually opening the image in another page.
ok, panel 2-3 made me cringe.
That girl is not well.
So… Is there anyone in this story who isn’t in need of psychiatric care?
Amber and Ruth seem to need it the most.
One is seriously emotionally unstable, if she hasn’t become an alcoholic she might have become a cutter.
And the other seems to think she’s two people – she has a ready made insanity defense for when she’s eventually arrested, the years she’ll spend institutionalized may be good for her.
I guess Dina is just Aspergers.
Joyce is a religious nut who simply needs exposure to reality so as to realize that if there is a deity it is – at best – indifferent to humanity, or – at worst – a sadistic psychopath. That will come with time (one hopes).
Strange as it may seem, Walky might be the most sane and emotionally stable of the lot.
And if that isn’t disturbing…
Plenty. Besides the ones on your list, Danny (just needs further information on bisexuality), Dorothy, Marcie, Malaya, Jacob, Joe, Leslie and Roz all strike me as in good mental health, and that’s just the ones off the cast page.
Also Mike? Maybe? And I don’t think Mary needs psychiatric help, either – if being a terrible human being were a mental health condition, at least 3/4 of the world’s surface would have to be a sanatorium.
I’ve always been of the opinion that while Mike is a sadistic asshole, he actually uses this for good as best he can. (Though he would never admit it. Think of all the good the initial wang-drawing and marker switch did.)
So he’s probably the most mentally stable.
What possible good did that cause? Joyce just scribbled a bunch of dicks and then had a PTSD-fueled breakdown.
It did lead to Amber and Joyce becoming friendlier, and having a case to solve helped Amber recenter and find her self-esteem again. Also Joyce grew a little as a person. But yeah, there’s no way Mike did that on purpose. Shortpacked! had a few moments where Mike deliberately used his assholish nature to make points that needed to be made, but DoA Mike is pretty much just a comical misanthrope.
More like plot misanthrope – as many of his actions led directly or indirectly to much of the plot development or triggered personality growth in DoA.
He’s basically the plot-demon – where he threads noteworthy stuff happens.
…Or is he? Perhaps he is conversing with Mr Willis himself, shattering that 4th wall, & using that information to play Devil’s Advocate, facilitate other people’s growth…
Oooo, new word, facilitate…
Danny needs psychiatric care to stop being a complete and utter doormat.
Being a doormat isn’t a psychological condition. Besides, hes shown more than a few times in the comic that he can take initiative. He’s just not very good at it.
He’d much rather follow the flow, most of the time.
…I can’t blame him for that. I really can”t
If it leads to scenes like Danny & Dorothy’s breakup, then yeah, it is a condition. Maybe not a DSM-recognized disorder, but more severe than Dina’s issues.
I don’t even know how to begin to describe how much I disagree with that interpretation. Like, Dina has some problems expressing herself, but there’s nothing wrong with her. Likewise, Danny can be a bit too passive and can be a fantasist, but that’s not a mental illness.
I genuinely await the day we all collectively stop treating the break up as if it has some major impact on how we’re supposed to view Danny as a person.
Aspergers doesn’t require psychiatric care automatically.
Though anxiety attaches itself to it pretty easily nonetheless. Turns out being unable to read people’s cues and often being treated negatively because you’re different doesn’t make you very confident in yourself and your ability to make friends without thinking you’re imposing on people!… Life is uncomfy sometimes.
So does Amber only pull her third-person terms when she’s with Danny and Ethan? I think this is the first time she’s ever stopped herself from referring to Amber and Amazi-Girl as separate people.
Well, Ethan, Danny, Dina, and Dotty are the only ones in on the secret, (at least until Daisy finds out) So around most people, referring to Amber and Amazi-Girl as sepearte people is sort of an important defense mechanism.
Right, but when she’s with Danny and Ethan she’s super strict about compartmentalizing her identities and here she drops it in front of Dina. Does she recognize it as strange? If so, why does she do it to Danny and Ethan?
I think it was more the mask. Onxe thats off she no longer sees herself as Amazi girl. Whether she took it off to drop the facade or juet cuase she was getting ready to change is uncertain
I think people overanalyze the way she compartmentalizes it with Danny and Ethan. They see it as this weird split where she has different identities, but I really think it has more to do with the fact that she’s aware that what AG does is illegal, and could get her in trouble if anybody put two and two together. It’s not about her actually seeing AG and Amber as different entities, it’s about the need to keep her identities separate to the public.
The point being, Danny dating Amazi-girl and explicitly not Amber is not because AG is a separate person, but because Danny has been -telling- people he’s dating AG, and so if people see him being flirty and close with Amber, she could get busted. Also, Habitually referring to Amber as a separate person when talking as Amazi-Girl is a similar thing. If she doesn’t make it a habit, and slips up when talking to someone that knows both of them, it’s bad mojo.
I don’t see why it would be flaunting. She dumped him, and she had a new boyfriend at almost the exact same pace. But give the reasons behind the dumping, would she be the one who’s “flaunting.”
In their last conversation Dorothy asked him if he was just bragging about his sex life. I assume this is in reference to that.
Danny confirms on the next panel that he is flaunting just a bit and that’s fine, really. It’s a little petty but it’s a perfectly human reaction after a bad break up.
It’s not about flaunting the fact that he has a relationship, it’s flaunting the fact that he’s dating AMAZIGIRL.
And doing it from a grappling hook.
Danny is self conscious about stufflike that
Willis doesn’t have them explicitly say it, but the fact that Dina and Amber get exhausted by socializing pretty much pegs them as introverts.
Some of you may be saying, “No surprise there, they’re socially awkward,” but introversion is not the same as social awkwardness (nor is it the same as shyness, being antisocial, or always wanting to be alone). An introvert is someone who feels drained by interacting with groups of people, whereas extroverts are those who feel energized by social interaction. About one in four people are introverts, and many of them can be good as socializing, and even become great leaders – one notable example being Abraham Lincoln.
Although Dina and Amber have plenty of emotional issues and baggage to sort through, being introverted is the least of their problems.
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THE MORE YOU KNOW…
(Crud – that star with a rainbow behind it looked perfect in the comment box…)
Being an introvert is not a psychological problem. Like you said, introversion simply means one recharges through time alone, while social interaction drains the inner resources. I’m always boggled by how many people don’t understand what these terms actually mean. Recently, I was having a conversation with my mother where she was talking about how she’s had to work on being less introverted over the years. I asked her what she thinks it means to be an introvert. She looked at me like I’d sprouted another head, and told me, “It means you shy away from people.” At which point, I had to refrain from facepalming in order to educate by mother on what introversion and extroversion actually are.
I myself am a shy, socially awkward introvert, but that’s just me. I make no claims of being the voice of introverts everywhere. When you’ve met one introvert, you’ve met one introvert. I know that there are outgoing, self-assured introverts out there, and there are also shy, socially awkward extroverts. I may wish I was less shy and awkward, but I’m fine with the fact that I’ll always be an introvert. As far as I’m concerned, the world needs all kinds of people — introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts.
I appreciate that you do understand what it means to be an introvert. So many people misuse and misunderstand the term, and it makes me cringe inwardly. This is especially so when people treat introversion as a character flaw that should be corrected.
Okay — didn’t mean to get on a soapbox here. Certain topics just bring that out in me, and that’s one of them. I’m done for now.
It’s good to vent sometimes.
Personally I’ve thought of myself as a introvert throughout most of my life,
but as time went on I became more and more extroverted. Shyness
notwithstanding, seems that I’ve become an ambivert – though I was not aware of the term until just now. So thanks for the very apt term, Edupoet81.
What does ambivert mean? I get exhausted very quickly when dealing with most people, but when dealing with people I like I tend to get less exhausted.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukebailey/ambiverts-for-the-silver#.khdvqWvpM
That explains it better than I could. I get less exhausted dealing with people I like also, but I personally still consider myself an introvert. I can only speak for myself, though.
I really enjoy the strips with Dina in them. She feels pretty much the way I feel much of the time. These may be off-the-board questions, but I am curious about whether Willis had a flesh-and-blood inspiration for her, and whether Willis has a diagnosis in mind for her. I loved shaking his hand at Comic-Con!
The voice keeps calling her ‘Amber’. In her mind, that’s not what she calls herself.
AMAZI-GIRL BEYOND
The voice is Dina. Dina wouldn’t be aware of Ambers onner naming, or monolouge
Now I want to reach into the comic and tell Dina to check for cheek blush.
In this comic at least it seems likely the mask just covers her cheekblushes, but I haven’t looked for that detail extensively.
Hey, it’s not like Dina doesn’t have multiple personalities, too. There’s Dina, and there’s Dino-Hat.
Also “The Raptor”.
Also “yeah, ’cause leaving from another girl’s room isn’t suspiscious at all”
I didn’t expect to lose respect for Danny anytime soon, actually. That’s just petty, Danny.
Petty but also for pretty minor compared to some other incidents between Danny and Dorothy since they’ve broken up. Or in other words, I’m slightly confused as to how you could maintain respect for him after the incident with the shoes, but lose it after the admission that he is flaunting his relationship with a masked vigilante a little bit.
Wait, the shoe thing was bad to you? It’s… danny. The need to establish he isn’t a complete doormat is pretty valid.
It’s almost like he’s a teenager or something!
The white of her eyes goes away when she removes her mask.
…
Magic.