Guys
Posted on July 19, 2018 by David M Willis

121 thoughts on “Guys”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    and Transformer Batfans

  2. Doctor_Who

    I can relate to Ethan here. My name may be Doctor Who, but that’s not all I’m capable of thinking about. For example, there’s that Transformer named Skids who homages Doctor Who.

    Okay, that was a bad example. Ooh, how about the new DuckTales, I like that! It features David Tennant as an adventurer who is much older than he looks, has been everywhere and done everything, fought tons of monsters and villains, time traveled, became gloomy and reclusive until having new young companions in his life rekindled his will to have adventures, and has a history with Catherine Tate!

    See? I contain multitudes.

    1. cbwroses

      I wish the new episodes would come out already.

      1. Doctor_Who

        September, from the sound of it.

        Unless you’re talking about Ducktales, in which case the hiatus is blessedly over and we’ve been getting new episodes the last several Saturdays.

        1. cbwroses

          I’m talking about Ducktales. I’m the kind of guy who likes to watch a series from the beginning and I have no desire to attempt that with a show that’s been running consistently (from what I understand) longer than I’ve been alive (I’m pushing 40).

          I’m surprised my Dvr hasn’t been recording DT.
          Welp, I know what I’m binge watching this weekend.

        2. SgtWadeyWilson

          “Consistently?” *Laughs maniacally.*

        3. DrWattson

          Consistent isn’t the word I would use to describe Doctor Who’s run. It was ran consistently from 1963-1989. The current run’s only been going since 2005.

        4. cbwroses

          Would you look at that? Even thought it’s not as consistent as I thought, as a series, it’s still older than me.

        5. DrWattson

          Even then, the modern series is only barely connected with the original. There’s the occasional reference for the hardcore fans, but for the most part it’s entirely new characters, planets, aliens, stories, etc. It’s very easy to view the 2005 series as a separate show from the 1963 version as a lot of old school fans do.

        6. Killer Klown

          The old series didn’t have too much connection between episodes either; but it was also in a different format in which each storyline was made up of a few epsiodes (So, essentially, each story was between 2-4 hours long). Between the storylines, though, the threads were about as thin as they are between the current generation and reboot.
          I started watching during Tom Bakers last few episodes; one of the best things I remember from the current crop was, during the mummy on the train episode, I mentioned how Capaldi was basically channeling Tom Baker for a lot of his quirks and attitudes, and all he needs to do is pull out a bag of Jelly Babies and offer it to some random stranger.
          …Sure enough, in the _very next scene…_

        7. Agemegos

          I haven’t watched much of the new series (John Pertwee veteran, Tom Baker fanboy). Don’t they at least have Daleks, cybermen, and Sontarans?

        8. Clif

          Yes.

        9. Clif

          Although they’ve changed along the way as well. Now the Dalecks can fly, the Cybermen have evolved separately multiple times and there has been a Sontaran sidekick for comic relief. Also the Time Lord home world got lost, the Doctor got married for a while until his wife was saved , which is actually just as well since the Doctor is now a woman. So, yeah, I think the show has been fairly consistent in its way.

        10. Needfuldoer

          Pity any modern Doctor Who fan that thinks they can just go back and binge-watch the entire original series…

        11. thejeff

          Well, you can binge watch most it, though it’ll take awhile.
          Good chunks of the early seasons are lost, but it’s still a worthwhile endeavor.

        12. Daibhid C

          And even that’s assuming you allow “consistently” to include the 18-month hiatus in 85-86, and the new series skipping years because Ten’s doing Hamlet/Moff’s busy overseeing the Sherlock finale lest it accidentally make sense or something.

        13. Ana Chronistic

          …DVR?

          I just https://disneynow.go.com/shows/ducktales-disney-channel

    2. Regalli

      Does the TARDIS have a money bin?

      1. Doctor_Who

        Of course, Cybermen have (or had at least, they eventually mostly got rid of it) a known allergy to gold, so it’s good to keep a lot of it around.

        1. LookingIn

          plus he’s gotta buy food or fuel sometimes…

          Not a joke, I believe that was once addressed on the show(money, jewels, gold etc.)

      2. Tawdry Quirks

        It does, but no one knows exactly where it’s hiding after the latest remodel. Could be next to the swimming pool.

        But The Doctor can just waggle his (or her) Sonic Screwdriver at any ATM whenever money is needed.

      3. Clif

        I originally read the question as Does the TARDIS have a looney bin?

        1. DaveM

          To which the answer is yes, it’s called the main control room. After all he IS a madman with a box.

    3. LookingIn

      What about Star Trek having one of the most interesting adventures when they crossed over with The Doctor making one hell of a great cyborg adventure as the Cybermen and Borg met

      1. Bagge

        I LOVE that they took advantage of the longevity of both shows by having two different era crews encounter two different era doctors.

      2. ProfessorDetective

        Ah, Assimilation². Great story. Artwork could have been better.

      3. Needfuldoer

        Wait, that’s a real thing? Holy crap!

        *Googles*

        I hope that DS9-based sequel gets made someday, if only to see how the Cardassians react to Dalek sass.

  3. Durandal_1707

    When life gives you gators, make Gatorade.

    (Yes, I know I should have come up with this one yesterday, but now is when I thought of it, so screw it)

    1. Bagge

      STILL FUNNY, DANGIT

      1. Clif

        You could go back in time and make the comment in context. Or if you don’t have a time machine handy, you could just use the Previous button.

        1. Durandal_1707

          Or, I could post it here, and WHATCHA GONNA DO ABOUT IT?

  4. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    . . .College Dorm neighbors who are actually interested in you and WILLINGLY engage you in conversation? What madness is this?

    1. Yumi

      True, I barely talked to anyone in my dorm.

      1. cbwroses

        I interacted with people in my dorm. It’s next door neighbors after I left school that I never talked to.

      2. ShinyNeen

        Same! Though, I lived in the building for all the single rooms, so maybe I was in good company.

    2. Keulen

      During my freshman year I occasionally interacted with the other people in my dorm, but every year after that I almost never talked or hung out with anyone in whatever dorm I was in that year.

    3. Agemegos

      Nothing like any uni residence I ever lived in. The only communication I had with fellow residents was when they sounded vuvuzelas to wake everyone up to try to make us go and watch intramural Rugby matches.

    4. Skeptible

      Of course, the “you” that they want to engage with is the “you” that they assume you are because you MUST have something in common. Maybe Ethan doesn’t talk to them because he has heard what they are interested in and it bores him to tears.
      Or maybe I am projecting.

      1. Agemegos

        I am projecting too!

    5. Khno

      common kitchen and no cafeteria on evenings make wonders for communication.

  5. Stephen Bierce

    *plays the Age of Chance remake of TAFKA Prince’s “Kiss” on the hacked Muzak*

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Today’s strip was sponsored by Tic-Tac and their current product line celebrating The Simpsons. If you use up most of a pack and then give the pack to somebody else, is it bad manners to invite them to “Eat My Shorts”?

  6. Regalli

    Why don’t we have a Transformer homaging Robin yet? He’s toyetic!

  7. newllend(henryvolt)

    You think Batman is a transformers fan?

    1. Doctor_Who

      It occurs to me that due to Comic Book Time, I am now only a couple years younger than Batman. So we probably grew up watching some of the same shows.

      1. MatthewTheLucky

        Batman is two thousand years old?

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Unless he’s lying.

        2. Clif

          Why would Batman lie about something like that?

    2. cbwroses

      Doubtful. He’s not happy enough. Or at all.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Must only have seen the Bay movies then.

        1. cbwroses

          I wouldn’t be surprised. I tried with Bey.
          I watched the first one.
          I actually enjoyed the second one.
          I got annoyed with the third one.
          I gave up with the fourth one.
          And I didn’t even try with the fifth one.

    3. Kernanator

      Fan? No. Someone who reads the TF Wiki on the off-chance that solving a supervillain’s plot will rely on knowing Transformers trivia? Absolutely.

      1. adjudicus

        What would make this even better would be if Pat Lee was the villain

    4. Regalli

      Hard to say.

      He is canonically familiar enough with Sailor Moon to know when Martian Manhunter uses ‘Rei Hino’ as an alias. Between that and his multitude of children, I’m certain he’s at least seen a Transformer.

      1. Tacos

        Huh? He knows about Sailor Moon? Picturing Batman sitting in the Batcave watching anime makes me giggle.

        1. BBCC

          He does and he assumes other people are familiar enough that ‘Rei Hino’ would be too on the nose as an alias.

        2. BBCC

          Also – this means Martian Manhunter watches it too and liked it enough to use Rei’s name as an alias.

        3. SgtWadeyWilson

          I picture Batman seeing his ship not working out, glaring and saying “Hrm.”

          Then a Joker voice in his head goes: “Ooo, harsh… Maybe we should go visit those writer’s, give ’em a piece of your mind. I know I enjoy mine…”

        4. ProfessorDetective

          I bet he’d be into Detective Conan or The Big O.

      2. ProfessorDetective

        For reference: JLA #27, 1999. (http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/antpogo/media/bWVkaWFJZDozMTIwNDA1OQ)

        Apparently, the reference was a fluke: the writer asked a friend for a female Japanese name that would translate to ‘Poet of Mars’. His friend gave him the name of a SAILOR of Mars as a joke. It got to print obviously.

        1. Khno

          why does he look like Steven Seagal?

    5. JessWitt

      He’s a scientist so it’s possible.

  8. ShinyNeen

    I don’t think football words can save you now, Ethan!

  9. Passchendaele

    who *doesn’t* think about batman

  10. TrueVCU

    Oh hey let me tell you about my friend Amber and her Batman slash fics

  11. BBCC

    Aw come on, Ethan. Don’t you have a working knowledge of things like spongebob and pokemon? Weren’t those the DVDs that subverted the authority of the Lord God Joyce was worried about.

    1. Regalli

      On the one hand, I’m not certain how many thought processes one should devote to Spongebob. On the other hand, he never truly leaves your mind.

  12. Purblebirb

    So can Thad’s last name be Guy in THIS universe?

    1. David M Willis

      it’s “guys”

      it’s why he and only he responds in the first panel

      1. Purblebirb

        Rad

  13. 1 2 2 50 in Roman numerals

    So do u think thad is a dileberate homage to thew adams

    1. David M Willis

      thad-the-character is eleven years old: http://www.shortpacked.com/comic/goaaaal

      and his name is a pun on “that guy”

      so no

      1. 1 2 2 50 in Roman numerals

        thanks for telling me still though crazy coincidence that there names and appearances r so similar

      2. butts

        Hey, where’d Manny get himself off to

        1. butts

          …did Drew get hit by a car in this universe too

        2. adjudicus

          Wait, he got hit by a car?

        3. King Daniel

          In Shortpacked!, Drew was, IIRC, Ethan’s “opposite” who worked at McAwesome’s, just across the street from Shortpacked! – similarly to how Rose was Amber’s “opposite”, or Agatha being Robin’s – and with McAwesome’s whole thing being that it was basically the complete opposite of Shortpacked! in how it treated its employees, its customers, etc., whenever something bad happened to Shortpacked! employees (which was quite often), something good happened to their McAwesome’s counterparts…so when things finally started going right for Ethan for a while, his McAwesome’s counterpart was hit by a car, if I remember right.

        4. David M Willis

          (that was Evan)

        5. Alan Lafond

          Drew was Ethan’s boyfriend

  14. whatevsman

    I don’t think I’ve ever empathized with Ethan more than I have right now

  15. Torn

    Is Ethan’s shirt torn or something? I can’t tell what’s going on.

    1. Torn

      Whoops, no he’s just holding a dinosaur transformer.

  16. C.T Phipps

    I wonder if Ethan is so monogeeky that he doesn’t like Star Wars.

  17. JessWitt

    Huh I guess Ethan’s social circle was consistently small, even in his less than two months at college.

    And he could stand to socialize with other gay guys on his floor too, to minimize his self-loathing.

  18. Catharcissism

    Is this Thad’s very first DOA appearance?!

    1. Daisy

      Yes! I’m happy to see Thad!!

  19. stoodmuffin

    I think. They mean OTHER things.

  20. Mr D

    QUESTION OF THE DAY: (Related to this being the Mike Chapter)
    What’s the deal with the “Girls like Bad Boys” trope? Like, Where does it come from? How prevalent is it? Does it have any purchase in reality?

    Okay, fine, the ammount of Fangirls that Sephiroth or Draco Malfoy have tells me that yes, it does have SOME purchase in reallity.
    So, What’s the deal?
    I know it isn’t nearly as prevalent among guys, when guys go after the “bad Girl” they don’t go for the one that’s the biggest bongo, the stereotype is that they go for the “loose” one, such as it is.

    1. Ooz

      In reality, there’s not a lot to it. Though in my experience, men who classify themselves as “bad boys” typically aren’t that attractive. They’re just creeps. I know plenty of women who’ve fallen into relationships with creeps, less with “bad boys”, whatever that actually means in real life. When it does pop up, however, it’s typically a case of the girl feeling special because he’s “different” around her. Also, leather jackets and rebelling against society is kind of sexy. When you’re a teenage girl, sometimes the best way to rebel against your parents is to date the guy they think is no good. And sometimes the person other people classify as “bad” is actually a really good guy once you actually have a conversation with him.

      In FICTION, it’s usually just that the antagonists are the most interesting characters! Everyone loves them, not just their fangirls. Of course every fanfic has the reader’s self-insert ending up with the most interesting character. Whether that’s a “mary sue” or another character the author is projecting onto. And again, there’s something romantic about a villain changing their ways in the name of love.

    2. Ooz

      Oh, I also had other thoughts- if you want to talk about characters like Mike and why girls in universe find him attractive (which we haven’t actually seen much evidence of, aside from Amber who has a whole host of issues surrounding that) and characters in movies and tv shows, you’ll have to ask the writers.

      In terms of real girls falling for fictional bad boys- often the character isn’t really “bad”. Not the way they’re written in the fanfiction or interpreted by their fangirls anyway. To follow the Draco Malfoy example you mentioned, he’s not really a “villain”. There aren’t a ton of Voldemort fangirls (there are some, but they’re not the norm) but there are so many Malfoy and Snape ones. And the fanfiction usually has Draco starting out as a dumb teen who learns the error of his ways through true love. And dumb idiot teen is how he’s presented in most of the books. Snape is an asshole, but he’s presented as one that’s secretly been “good” the whole time both in text and out. Sephiroth is also kind of a tragic figure, if you’re trying to look at him that way (which the fangirls you’re referencing usually are). Same with Vegeta, another fictional “bad boy” (bad man).

      My point is, usually those fantasies are about REDEEMING the “bad boy”, who already has sympathetic traits. Then you just get the charming snark and cool aesthetic wrapped around a heart of gold.

      Anyway, that’s all based around fictional bad boys where the girls are in complete control of the fantasy. In real life, girls end up with jerks because they have their own issues they’re still trying to work through and occasionally they get trapped due to various societal pressures and occasionally the actual abusive partner. Sometimes they’re assholes too and think their asshole boyfriend is actually a genius. It’s not particularly connected to the “bad boy” fantasy, at least in my experience.

      1. Mr D phone posting

        Oh I am.actually talking about media consumption in this case. Real life “bad boy romance” usually ends up in sad sad things.

  21. Bagge

    That’s… a pretty aggressive way to start a conversation.

    1. Puckish Rogue

      It is isn’t it, whats wrong with hey hows it going or see around (or similar vaguely similar), this just sounds a bit accusingly

      1. thejeff

        Sounds like they’ve tried that in the past and haven’t gotten anywhere.

        I guess it’s kind of aggressively friendly. Nothing compared to Joyce levels of aggressive friendliness though.

  22. Nono

    Poor Thad, only in college and he’s already bald.

    1. RacingTurtle

      …I am trying to imagine Thad with hair and failing.

      (HI THAD!)

      1. Needfuldoer

        It’s easier if you imagine him with a full “80s Phil Collins” receding hairline, and think he just says “eff it” and finishes the job with a razor like BBCC said.

        1. Puckish Rogue

          Oh man early 80s Phil Collins (and Genesis and Peter Gabriel and Mike + The Mechanics)) are a particular favourite of mine

    2. BBCC

      Maybe he shaves it?

    3. brionl

      I knew a guy who started going bald when he was about 17.

  23. BenRG

    ETHAN (thinks): “Oh dear, I’ve just realised that my life is empty. Better find Danny, Amber or Mike”

  24. Wolfbeckett

    This comic makes me miss the Batman comics from Shortpacked. Willis really has a talent for comedy focused Batman.

    1. Kryss LaBryn

      and Batman-focused comedy 😀

  25. Black Bumblebee

    Does Batbot (A David Willis creation) exist in this universe? If so, Ethan would be a fan of his own creator’s creation… which is a bit meta

    1. adjudicus

      I’m pretty sure david willis exists in this universe(I think he was the creator of Dexter and Monkey master), but not sure about whether he made the recordicons comic in this universe.

  26. Ainara

    Oh man, I feel this. I’m pretty bad at small talk (not that I HATE small talk- I love talking, it’s just sometimes I can’t come up with topics to talk about and that’s just how it is). I’m pretty content standing there in silence with someone if there’s really nothing to talk about, but I guess some people feel awkward when no one’s talking and feel the need to force a conversation because they think the other people are bored. This one time on the train, a college classmate kept asking me questions like “Read any book lately? Watched any movie lately? Any TV show? Played any videogame?” and after I had to keep awkwardly answering “…not really”, he actually had the nerve of saying how “difficult” it was talking to me. Like, wow, thanks asshole!

    (Funniest part is, when I asked HIM back if he had watched, read, played anything he also said “no”. So you start the conversation but it’s all MY responsability to keep it going?! D: )

  27. Felian

    “also, sometimes, i think about gay batman smut…“

  28. darkoneko

    Be careful what you ask for 😀

  29. SonicBlueRanger

    Why is this literally me but replace Transformers with Power Rangers?

  30. Jimmy

    I like Thad and Bryan already.

  31. abysswatcher1993

    I have a lot to talk about: Homestuck, Voltron, Wakfu, Dungeons and Dragons, Steven Universe, RWBY, Adventure Time, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, DC, Marvel, Doctor Who, etc.

    Sadly, not many people know about those things, so I can only nod with a boring expression when they talk to be about something boring.

  32. MutantSentry

    …I’m having flash backs to college (except replace Transformers with Marvel Comics, and this was back in ’98-’02… so no MCU, no one knew who Tony Stark was let alone how weird is was when his armor became sentient and caught him in an abusive relationship)

  33. Spriteless Girl

    YOU GUYS ARE IN COLLEGE ASK “What is your major?” AND IF THAT GETS A CURT RESPONSE ASK “And what drew you to that?” GEEZE IT IS NOT THAT HARD TO BUILD A FRIENDLY CHATBOT FOR STUDENTS.

    1. Ainara

      But Ethan doesn’t have a major yet!

  34. Puckish Rogue

    I just don’t get people like Ethan, whether it be “nerds”, “geeks, “jocks” (or whatever other labels you can think of) that’re just interested in very few things

    Its not that hard to understand the basics of most sportss even if you’re not interested in it and its not that hard to differentiate between different comics, toys, movies or whatever

    Ethans a good person but geez he’d probably be the most boring, dull and uninteresting main character to hang out with

    1. BBCC

      Sports generally bore me to tears but it’s typically easy enough to understand since gym class is a thing and it’s easy to ask ‘how do you score?’ and ‘how do you win’ as relevant.

      1. Puckish Rogue

        Exactly, you don’t have to know the ins ands outs of sports to get the basic gist of it.

        To me its like people who don’t bother to see the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek

    2. Sol Karas

      No one can be bothered to learn even a moderate amount of my interests, why should I be bothered to learn a moderate amount of theirs? We connect with people based on similar interests, and I’m just not gonna connect with people who don’t share them. Why fake it? *That* is boring. Ethan might be boring to people who aren’t the fans of the same things he’s fans of, but he wouldn’t be boring to people with similar interests.

      1. thejeff

        But his things are sufficiently narrowly focused that’s not going to be a lot of people and he’s so into them that even people casually interested aren’t going to be able to keep up.

        More generally, I’m not going to fake being into sports or the latest TV shows or whatever, but there are plenty of things I can connect with. Even more so back in school, where you could at least rant about classes or something.

        OTOH, Ethan was able to talk to Joyce and to Danny – who don’t really share his focuses.

      2. BBCC

        You don’t have to care but when you’re talking to someone, tuning them out because it’s not a thing you like is kind of rude. Just listening for a minute until you change the subject won’t hurt you. Besides, you might find something you found boring is actually neat. Maybe you won’t but again, that’s what changing the subject is for.

    3. thejeff

      It’s easy enough to understand the basics of sports, but that doesn’t mean I want to spend a lot of time talking about them. And the usual talking about them is more keeping up on how local favorite teams are doing and how the last big game went than the basics.

      I mean, I know the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars, but to people who don’t like science fiction at all what do the differences matter? They don’t care and they’re not going to like either of them.

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