Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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May 19, 2026

The bus

by David M Willis on April 15, 2022 at 12:01 am
  • 04 – Don't Stop Billie-ving
└ Tags: charles, jennifer, sal, walky

Discussion (144) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    April 15, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    I guess his strength peaked early, too

    • Clif
      Clif
      April 15, 2022 at 1:52 am | #

      In the meantime we see Sal’s ability to scale heights.

      • PirateTawnee
        PirateTawnee
        April 15, 2022 at 7:19 am | #

        Of course she can scale heights, she IS Amazi-Girl after all.

  2. The Wellerman
    The Wellerman
    April 15, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    “Pleeeeaaaase let this be a normal fieldtrip!”

    “With Walky?!?! NO WAY!!!!!”

    😆

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      April 15, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

      Robin would make an…interesting Miss Frizzle.

      • RassilonTDavros
        RassilonTDavros
        April 15, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

        …I kinda want that to be an actual thing, now.

      • The Wellerman
        The Wellerman
        April 15, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

        Oooooo! Now I REALLY want it to happen! Think of the awesome misadventures!!! 😍

      • Icarus
        Icarus
        April 15, 2022 at 1:05 am | #

        F’rizzle.

        • Kyrros
          Kyrros
          April 15, 2022 at 3:13 am | #

          ^ This is the content I come to the internet for!

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      April 15, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

      I knew I should’ve stayed home today.

  3. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    April 15, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

    Thus Billie Ball was born.

  4. Taffy
    Taffy
    April 15, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

    And then he threw her underneath the school bus and Nina’s daughter took the opportunity to take her place. The “Billie/Jennifer” we’ve seen this whole time is actually a different girl altogether. It’s all connected, people.

    • Jamie
      Jamie
      April 15, 2022 at 12:52 am | #

      Nah, Jennifer was thrown under the bus and has only returned to take Billie’s place in the last semester.

  5. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    April 15, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    I feel like a school bus should probably have steps accessible to small children. Or is this public transportation?

    • David M Willis
      David M Willis
      April 15, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

      i mean, do you want photos of my children crawling up the bus steps like a jungle gym on the first day of kindergarten, or

      • The Wellerman
        The Wellerman
        April 15, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

        I don’t know about the rest of you here, but I certainty wouldn’t turn them down!

        • Mr D
          Mr D
          April 15, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

          While I concur that it would be adorable, I don’t think that was a serious offer

          • David M Willis
            David M Willis
            April 15, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

            FOOLS

            note the steps are taller than their legs are at the knee

            • Taffy
              Taffy
              April 15, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

              That backpack is bigger than mine, holy moly.

              • Sirksome
                Sirksome
                April 15, 2022 at 12:20 am | #

                Was gonna say that’s kind of crazy to see. Are they making backpacks bigger these days or are children just small? I mean children are small, so maybe it’s both.

                • King Daniel
                  King Daniel
                  April 15, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

                  If you have a big backpack as a kid, then you can grow into it rather than having to set it aside after a year or three *taps forehead*

                • Switchchris24
                  Switchchris24
                  April 15, 2022 at 12:37 am | #

                  A bigger back pack also allows him to hide in it for a game of Hide and Seek, who would ever think to look in a back pack for a kid?

                • Regalli
                  Regalli
                  April 15, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

                  I know I started getting back pain from having to cart textbooks back and forth (in part because I went to daycare and we couldn’t keep our books there IIRC, also probably in part because of a connective tissue disorder but kids are bendy anyway) sometime around, like, third or fourth grade. Which is still several years away for them, but having a big backpack can be useful in that respect.

                • Uly
                  Uly
                  April 15, 2022 at 1:07 am | #

                  Kids that age need folders. Folders do not come in kindergarten size. All folders are the same size, and they all need to fit in the backpack.

                • Romanticide
                  Romanticide
                  April 15, 2022 at 1:44 am | #

                  Huge heavy backpacks bigger than most kids have been a thing at least since the 90s (can’t speak of before) XD In Mexico somewhere after the 2000s complains where made that what kids where carrying where too much and actually taken seriously.

              • JBento
                JBento
                April 15, 2022 at 6:03 am | #

                I think the backpack is bigger than the KID. Like, Willis could put one kid in a backpack and have the other kid carry him.

                • Needfuldoer
                  Needfuldoer
                  April 15, 2022 at 7:12 am | #

                  How else is he supposed to smuggle the cat, the dog, or his brother into his class?

              • anon
                anon
                April 17, 2022 at 11:49 pm | #

                makes sense to grow into it lol, i feel like i got a new backpack every other year or so while doing back to school shopping tho i suppose it’d be more practical for one to just use the same backpack for multiple years til it wears down but given how fickles kids can be i can imagine they’d want a new backpack everytime around their interests (in yotsuba she also went backpack shopping and randoseru are also supposed to last long, tho i assume the black book bags as a high schooler could also last a while too/looks a bit more pro)

                i’m old enough to appreciate a longer lasting bag now but i’d def be tempted to want a new backpack for each grade growing up tho i wasn’t particularly spoiled haha (tho still don’t really understand some women buying multiple over priced bags other than just to have some luxury name brand bag)

            • The Wellerman
              The Wellerman
              April 15, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

              AWE 😍😍😍

              Thank you Willis!!! ❤️

              • The Wellerman
                The Wellerman
                April 15, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

                BTW your kid has great taste in backpacks! 😆

            • Johan
              Johan
              April 15, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

              I want a shark backpack that can double as my shelter too…

            • Mr D
              Mr D
              April 15, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

              Well, that’s egg on my face.
              Also, Awwwww.

              • Jflb96
                Jflb96
                April 15, 2022 at 8:02 am | #

                Your first mistake was assuming that the USA would do something sensible

            • newlland(Henryvolt)
              newlland(Henryvolt)
              April 15, 2022 at 12:22 am | #

              Now you see to us we find this hilarious and adorable but in their minds they properly like they just Scaled Mount Everest with a backpack full of rocks.

              • Sirksome
                Sirksome
                April 15, 2022 at 12:29 am | #

                Kind of like an episode of Rugrats where an average everyday encounter becomes a grand adventure!

                • The Wellerman
                  The Wellerman
                  April 15, 2022 at 12:37 am | #

                  So sweet! 😍

                  Maybe I’ll make a game about it one day! 🎮

            • woobie
              woobie
              April 15, 2022 at 12:44 am | #

              >watch your step

            • Clif
              Clif
              April 15, 2022 at 1:04 am | #

              Good lord, the size of that back pack!

              A clear case of child cruelty.

              • Clif
                Clif
                April 15, 2022 at 1:54 am | #

                But it IS an impressive feat. And performed with backpack and mask as well. Well done, Willis spawn!

            • Acher4
              Acher4
              April 15, 2022 at 3:43 am | #

              ADORABLE!

              also…

              holy shit, the busses are a hazard zone.

            • Miri
              Miri
              April 15, 2022 at 4:31 am | #

              Those steps are half as tall as your children!! Sal, Walky and Billie have indeed been drawn approximately the same height as your smoll ones at a comparable age/stage 😲

              Is the yellow card so the bus driver knows where to deposit them?

            • Plain Marie
              Plain Marie
              April 15, 2022 at 9:17 am | #

              I see your kids ride the yellow bus. We’ve also use this color coded cards.

            • Keulen
              Keulen
              April 15, 2022 at 10:30 am | #

              Either I didn’t take the bus to school much when I was that young, or I’ve forgotten how big those steps are for a little kid.

            • JA
              JA
              April 16, 2022 at 1:19 am | #

              When your backpack is literally big enough to hide inside of.

    • Doopyboop
      Doopyboop
      April 15, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

      Honestly, the same bus that has 5 year olds on it also has 10 year olds on it, as someone who rode the bus from kindergarden to senior year of high school, can confirm, the steps are pretty big.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      April 15, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

      School buses should have a lot of things. School buses continue not to have those things regardless, in bold defiance of the Mothercrystal’s will.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      April 15, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

      Sort of a side effect of the bus thing, but yeah the step can be rough for younger kids

  6. Mr D
    Mr D
    April 15, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

    Oh hey, look, Charles is recording his children instead of Social Climbing, it’s almost like he’s a human being or something!
    /sarcasm

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      April 15, 2022 at 12:13 am | #

      It’s a smokescreen. He’s actually texting Linda a picture of them with the caption “💵guess who just befriended the rich family’s daughter 💵”

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        April 15, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

        Linda’s already gotten the Billingsworth’s contact information. A play date will be set before the end of the school day. All according to plan!

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      April 15, 2022 at 7:15 am | #

      Linda isn’t there. With nobody around to passively enable, he defaults to following what all the other parents are doing.

      /s

  7. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    April 15, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

    –Holding hands meant so much baby–John Cougar Mellenkamp

    • Geneseepaws
      Geneseepaws
      April 15, 2022 at 1:47 pm | #

      Thank you for that.

  8. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    April 15, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

    Oh my god they’re so adorable

    also, just caught the number on that bus.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 15, 2022 at 12:13 am | #

      What’s so special about it, other than it being a power of two?

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        April 15, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

        It’s how many years ago Willis started doing comics.

        • King Daniel
          King Daniel
          April 15, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

          I didn’t know Willis attended IU in 1894! That’s impressive!

      • AbacusWizard
        AbacusWizard
        April 15, 2022 at 12:17 am | #

        It’s the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two different—oh wait, wrong vehicle, sorry

        • Clif
          Clif
          April 15, 2022 at 1:14 am | #

          Close though. It’s the smallest seventh power of a number to be three more than the third power of a number.

      • Cattleprod
        Cattleprod
        April 15, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

        The main cast of It’s Walky! were members of squad 128.

        • King Daniel
          King Daniel
          April 15, 2022 at 12:22 am | #

          Well, most of the main cast. Joe was never part of Squad 128 from memory, except in one of the alternate universes. (Billie was also never part of any of the SEMME squads, as she didn’t have superpowers.)

          • cbwroses
            cbwroses
            April 15, 2022 at 12:36 am | #

            Joe was part of Squad 128 then he switched squads.

            • King Daniel
              King Daniel
              April 15, 2022 at 12:50 am | #

              Well, point still stands then about Walkyverse!Billie. 😛 Also, Danny.

              • Nono
                Nono
                April 15, 2022 at 1:46 am | #

                Danny, Billie, Leslie, Amber, Ethan, Sarah, Dorothy, Becky, Dina…

                A lot of the main cast have not been on 128.

                • King Daniel
                  King Daniel
                  April 15, 2022 at 2:18 am | #

                  The original comment referred to the main cast of It’s Walky!, though. Ethan and Leslie are Shortpacked!-era characters, Dorothy and Becky are Joyce and Walky!-era characters, and while Sarah—like Billie and Danny—originates in Roomies!, unlike them she was absent for pretty much the entirety of the following plot of It’s Walky, only returning for essentially an extended cameo at the beginning of the finale and one each much shorter cameo in the next two comics.

            • RassilonTDavros
              RassilonTDavros
              April 15, 2022 at 1:11 am | #

              Nah, Joe was on 128 from the time he joined SEMME until the organization was disbanded. Mike was the one who switched.

  9. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    April 15, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

    Oh hey, it’s Good Friday!

    plays “This Jesus Must Die” on the hacked Muzak, because I’m gonna have it stuck in my head all day so I might as well inflict it on y’all

    • Plain Marie
      Plain Marie
      April 15, 2022 at 9:20 am | #

      Right there with ya.
      JCSuperstar – rock on.

    • Bicycle Bill
      Bicycle Bill
      April 15, 2022 at 11:40 pm | #

      But it must be from the B’way soundtrack, not that abomination of a film.

  10. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    April 15, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

    BEST FRIENDS FOREVER.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      April 15, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

      *the screen inverts and dramatically zooms in. a guy who got paid $5 says “UNTIL THEY WEREN’T”*

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 15, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

      *plays “Together Forever” by J. P. Hartmann on Hacked Muzak*

      • Rayndel
        Rayndel
        April 15, 2022 at 2:17 am | #

        I am surprised and very pleased that the song that popped into my head at reading your comment was actually the song you linked to.

  11. Mr. Random
    Mr. Random
    April 15, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

    She was a lonely rich kid and Walky didn’t care about her wealth.

    Heck, even their dad was telling them to behave around her.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 15, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

      That’s one of the most precious, important things about kids — minds not yet tainted by dogma, by the Grand Illusion that manifests the social classes as we know it. 🥲

      • zee
        zee
        April 15, 2022 at 2:23 pm | #

        Eh, go to private school and you’ll quickly find out that’s not true. My friend was getting bullied for being “poor” at like, 6

    • Bladeglory
      Bladeglory
      April 15, 2022 at 2:05 am | #

      Note that he didn’t tell Sal to behave. I think it was just because he knows what his son is like. 😛

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        April 15, 2022 at 7:19 am | #

        Linda would’ve specifically told Sal to behave.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        April 15, 2022 at 7:53 am | #

        He didn’t say “behave”, he said “be nice to her”. And he said it to Walky because she was going to be in his class.

        • Bladeglory
          Bladeglory
          April 15, 2022 at 10:40 pm | #

          …maybe I’m weird, but to me, those mean the same thing.

  12. Thag Simmons
    Thag Simmons
    April 15, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

    Those “I love you”‘s between Sal and her father are surprisingly painful with the foreknowledge of how badly the relationship ends up deteriorating

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      April 15, 2022 at 12:38 am | #

      It’s funny how you think he’s saying “I love you too” to Sal when he’s clearly saying it to his phone. You think he’s taking a loving video of his kid’s first bus ride, but he’s actually checking the value of his bitcoin. Yeah that’s right, Charles is a cryptobro! Sliding timescale means cryptocurrency probably existed then right?

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        April 15, 2022 at 12:40 am | #

        If not, just give it a few years and it will already have already existed.

  13. Riley
    Riley
    April 15, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

    Just really clicked for me that when this comic started the characters were old enough to have gotten their first smart phone as a Sweet 16 present and now their parents had them when they were in kindergarten lol

    • Clay
      Clay
      April 15, 2022 at 8:23 am | #

      Yeah, I did a doubletake.

  14. Francoinblanco
    Francoinblanco
    April 15, 2022 at 12:26 am | #

    Schoolbus too big for schoolchildren? “Ils sont fous, ces Américains !”

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      April 15, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

      Yeah they’re built to handle all ages and you tend to design for the largest potential occupants

      • vlademir1
        vlademir1
        April 15, 2022 at 12:54 am | #

        To be fair they do have school bus designs that’re intended to specifically accommodate younger kids, but not many districts bother as it’s easier to keep in a tight budget if you can just treat every bus as interchangeable.

      • eh, whatever
        eh, whatever
        April 15, 2022 at 4:59 am | #

        You’re aware that buses don’t need to have steps at all, aren’t you?

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          April 15, 2022 at 7:28 am | #

          They do when you build them on the same loading dock height ladder chassis as a cargo truck or dump truck!

          • Agemegos
            Agemegos
            April 15, 2022 at 9:03 am | #

            Not if you built bus tops with a platform at bus floor height, a ramp at one end and stairs at the other. As they do in some cities in Brazil.

            • Agemegos
              Agemegos
              April 15, 2022 at 9:06 am | #

              “bus stops”, that is.

              • Needfuldoer
                Needfuldoer
                April 15, 2022 at 9:17 am | #

                Not practical in parts of the US, where it seems like the school bus stops at every other telephone pole!

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  April 15, 2022 at 11:05 am | #

                  Yeah, in rural and suburban areas school buses stop at houses with kids or at gathering points for a bunch of houses with kids, not at specially build bus stops.

                • khn0
                  khn0
                  April 15, 2022 at 11:50 am | #

                  Still possible to have a wheelchair ramp which smaller kids could use.
                  Ofc that would mean a bit more time per busstop.
                  The lesson here is that yes you can but no you won’t if you don’t really take it into account.

                • Needfuldoer
                  Needfuldoer
                  April 15, 2022 at 2:09 pm | #

                  There’s no room for a ramp on a school bus. Look at the side of an American school bus, and you’ll see three strips that run the whole length, front to back. The bottom strip is the height of the floor, and the middle one is the height of the seats. There’s literally no room to make them accessible by a ramp; the stairs are that steep so you get up to the floor height before you hit the frame rail.

                  School buses here have to be specially equipped with hydraulic wheelchair lifts and tie-downs in order to accommodate wheelchair users, and the driver or an aide has to be trained on how to safely operate and secure them.

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xX6vnB_OGY

                  School buses are built like box trucks, not low-floor passenger buses. The floor is over a meter off the ground.

                • khn0
                  khn0
                  April 16, 2022 at 8:16 am | #

                  That’s precisely the type of equipment I meant, I apologize for using the wrong terms (ramp seems to have been inadequate).
                  .

  15. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    April 15, 2022 at 12:30 am | #

    I’m beginning to see how Walky and Billie hit it off in their own little way.

    Also funny is that this is probably years before the acting sting, but I am thinking of Joyce’s crush on the mouse in Hymnal that turned out to be Walky, how Walky’s been a presence in the romantic development of a surprisingly large portion of the cast.

  16. BBCC
    BBCC
    April 15, 2022 at 12:31 am | #

    Okay, that first panel with Charles and Sal is VERY cute. I love it <3

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      April 15, 2022 at 7:32 am | #

      It’s also kinda heartbreaking because we know what their future holds.

      Kind of makes you wonder what he’s actually like when he’s left to his own devices, rather than passively enabling Linda while she strong-arms the narrative. We’ve seen subtle hints that internally he’s at least more sympathetic to Sal than she is (not that it makes up for his actions, not by a long shot).

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        April 15, 2022 at 11:55 am | #

        I think we just saw it. This is what Charles is like when Linda’s not around. Just a guy. Not really good or bad, but since he’s married to and associated with Linda and her actions it kind of makes everything he does a little less tolerable because you know he enables someone with undesirable motivations.

  17. Cass
    Cass
    April 15, 2022 at 12:42 am | #

    Man, Walky and Sal being young enough that leaving for their first day of school was filmed on a phone is the first thing that really made the sliding timeline hit weird for me (in a “Oh god, how am I this much older than them now?” type of way)

  18. Bagge
    Bagge
    April 15, 2022 at 12:55 am | #

    Those little moments when Walky manages to Walky just right

    • Clif
      Clif
      April 15, 2022 at 1:43 am | #

      Which is always, because there is never a time when Walky doesn’t Walky.

  19. Jamie
    Jamie
    April 15, 2022 at 12:58 am | #

    Man, he got a smartphone before I did.

    • Lexi
      Lexi
      April 15, 2022 at 1:49 am | #

      I was just admiring his smartphone, circa 2004? Even accounting for the “Always Now” timeline, 18 years ago is still well before the advent of the iPhone

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        April 15, 2022 at 2:42 am | #

        I think we call that future proofing

      • King Daniel
        King Daniel
        April 15, 2022 at 2:55 am | #

        They’re kindergarten-age here per word of Willis, and 18 in the “present”; hence this is (currently) set in circa 2009. The original iPhone was released in 2007, two years before.

      • Keulen
        Keulen
        April 15, 2022 at 10:36 am | #

        Most kids start going to kindergarten in the US at around age 5 or 6, so that’s more like 12 or 13 years ago. So this would be 2009 or 2010 phones I guess.

      • khn0
        khn0
        April 15, 2022 at 12:01 pm | #

        There were phones taking pictures before the Iphone. I don’t remember one with this design, but I think this has more to do with this phone being generic so anyone can understand it’s a phone, rather than a specific design a of then existing phone. Note than on many sign now, the old phone symbole (the one with a thing to talk, and one other to speak) has been replace with a generic smartphone-like phone, so younger people are able to understand what it is (not saying they wouldn’t get it, I’m not the one replacing symbols because I’d think people aren’t able to bind a concept and a symbolic image – an ideogramm)

        • zee
          zee
          April 15, 2022 at 2:29 pm | #

          True. When i was little my mom had this phone that looked like an actual camera from the back, with like a rounded keyboard thing at the front. She gave it to me when I was 8 or something and it’s still the coolest phone I’ve ever owned and I’m still trying to track it down

  20. Regalli
    Regalli
    April 15, 2022 at 12:59 am | #

    Sal looks so happy here. She’s being sincere with that ‘love you’ bit.

    =(

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 15, 2022 at 1:02 am | #

      Yeah. Eventually though, “all that is solid melts into air…”

    • Clif
      Clif
      April 15, 2022 at 1:45 am | #

      My reply ended up at the bottom and not here.

      (The tragic thing is not that Sal means it, but that Charles does too.)

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      April 15, 2022 at 5:46 am | #

      Yeah, it stings, thinking about it all.

      I do think Sal definitely loves her parents, on account of it’d be so much easier for her sometimes if she didn’t, but it’s rough.

  21. newlland(Henryvolt)
    newlland(Henryvolt)
    April 15, 2022 at 1:09 am | #

    Simpler times.

  22. LiterallyJustSomeGuy
    LiterallyJustSomeGuy
    April 15, 2022 at 1:14 am | #

    These kids are too cute!

  23. Clif
    Clif
    April 15, 2022 at 1:41 am | #

    The tragic thing is not that Sal means it, but that Charles does too.

  24. Throwatron
    Throwatron
    April 15, 2022 at 2:02 am | #

    Scholarly-inclined readers will note that this time, Walky extended his right hand, while the booger was reportedly on the left. Turns out he was doing a bit the whole time!

  25. Marvelman
    Marvelman
    April 15, 2022 at 2:38 am | #

    Have we ever actually met Billy’s parents?

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      April 15, 2022 at 2:58 am | #

      We saw her mom.

      … Once.

      … In the old Walkyverse continuity.

      … In silhouette.

      … In a flashback.

      … Boinking Ruth’s father.

      https://www.itswalky.com/comic/one-day-part-2-page-9/

      And we saw her father walk her down the aisle. His head is out of frame, though. (Later crowd shots have both of them obscured by other people in the foreground.)

      https://www.itswalky.com/comic/so-smug/

      • King Daniel
        King Daniel
        April 15, 2022 at 3:15 am | #

        Willis remarked there that they might eventually appear in the Dumbiverse (which they still haven’t, to date), but that it eventually became something of a running gag to never get a clear view of her parents in the Walkyverse.

        Which works out just as well, I suppose, since Willis has also stated that while Dumbiverse-Jennifer is mixed-race (her mother’s stated in-comic to be Chinese), Walkyverse-Billie was not (but her being often mistaken for such by the readership is what inspired Dumbiverse-Jennifer to be so, if I recall).

        • DailyBrad
          DailyBrad
          April 15, 2022 at 5:49 am | #

          Huh, did not know that. Billie being biracial is one of those things that works so well for her in DoA that it’s hard to picture a situation where it wouldn’t be the case, though obviously, Walkyverse Billie isn’t quite the same character to begin with, naturally.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          April 15, 2022 at 8:17 am | #

          It works since they’re mostly defined in Jennifer’s life by their absence. Maybe we’ll get to meet Nina.

          • King Daniel
            King Daniel
            April 15, 2022 at 9:53 am | #

            Pretty sure Nina’s a family servant, not Mrs. Billingsworth. Remember this strip? https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/nina/

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              April 15, 2022 at 11:01 am | #

              That’s what I meant.

              We’re more likely to meet Nina, since she’s been more of a presence in Jennifer’s life.

  26. ADLegend21
    ADLegend21
    April 15, 2022 at 3:10 am | #

    Protect this boy.

  27. Acher4
    Acher4
    April 15, 2022 at 3:44 am | #

    that “I love you daddy” is a true tragic irony.

  28. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    April 15, 2022 at 4:23 am | #

    We from the future are sad at this comic.

  29. Darkoneko
    Darkoneko
    April 15, 2022 at 5:02 am | #

    is the booger still in his other hand ?

    • Arianod
      Arianod
      April 15, 2022 at 10:31 am | #

      C’mon, do you even need to ask?

  30. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    April 15, 2022 at 5:38 am | #

    I love how Sal just go up while Walky think about it. Their differences wires already here.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      April 15, 2022 at 8:20 am | #

      Though Walky’s also slowed to look after Jennifer.

  31. Reaver
    Reaver
    April 15, 2022 at 8:33 am | #

    Aw okay, I’ll admit it.. that was cute.

  32. hof1991
    hof1991
    April 15, 2022 at 9:25 am | #

    DYW started drawing using his classmates as models. Now he is using his children. Muzak plays Older by TMBG.

    • hof1991
      hof1991
      April 15, 2022 at 9:35 am | #

      https://youtu.be/TdIRrmNN_CQ Headed out the door but had time to find it. BTW, my photos would be of grandchildren

  33. thejeff
    thejeff
    April 15, 2022 at 11:46 am | #

    I’ve got to say, I really like Walky in these flashback strips. You can see his entire character in miniature.
    The little boy grossness that he’s retained of course, but also turning back to help Jennifer when she’s hesitating.

    • Blue
      Blue
      April 15, 2022 at 2:33 pm | #

      That was so cute! He’s a good egg.

  34. Someone
    Someone
    April 15, 2022 at 1:34 pm | #

    And it was then everyone had a moment. A moment where they wondered, “Do I want a ‘Walky Babies’ thing? It’s Muppet Babies but with the kidDoA! versions of the characters?”

    Thankfully, it was only a moment, and everyone recovered.

    • Geneseepaws
      Geneseepaws
      April 15, 2022 at 1:55 pm | #

      Thank goodness, everyone is safe. You scared me with the “Walkybabies” thing. I panicked. And after more coffee everything is fine.

  35. JBento
    JBento
    April 15, 2022 at 3:23 pm | #

    Oooof, that second panel Billie going “the hell is this thing, a parent saying ‘I love you’ to their kids?”

    • King Daniel
      King Daniel
      April 15, 2022 at 3:49 pm | #

      “Where’s the $20 bill?”

  36. Steelbright
    Steelbright
    April 16, 2022 at 3:55 am | #

    You know what is honestly making me sad about this flashback isn’t anything to do with Jennifer (Billie, in flashback land) and Walky, but how sweet & caring little Sal is…. le sigh.

  37. All-Purpose Guru
    All-Purpose Guru
    April 16, 2022 at 4:53 pm | #

    Little Sal is so adorable…

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