Paid
Posted on September 14, 2016 by David M Willis

411 thoughts on “Paid”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Ryan’s upset face is he realized he ran out into a room with no floor

    well it could be Subspace I guess but that’s no fun unless Ramona’s waiting with her hammer out

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      He may be eaten by a Grue.

      1. ety

        I should hope so. He doesn’t even have a light… okay, I suppose he has the phone.

      2. podian

        And nothing of value would be lost, except for Amber’s phone.

        1. Clif

          You mean the phone that she’ll be able to track?

        2. podian

          But it’d be eaten by a grue.

        3. Gwen

          Also, if Ryan gets into it, he might be able to figure out that Amazigirl is Amber

        4. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          At a minimum, he is past the “Sal is Amazi-Girl” blind alley.

        5. Spencer

          Billie sees the pictures of Sal and Amazi-Girl together comes to the obvious conclusion.

          Walky is pretending to be Amazi-Girl to cover for his sister.

        6. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Or Walky is pretending to be Sal to cover for his sister. Just needs a padded bra, gloves, and a wig, right?

        7. Clif

          Good point.

        8. Fart Captor

          Billie would have to believe Walky was capable of acting remotely cool for her to think he could pull that off

        9. blaidemaiden

          Seaweed will do the trick in a pinch.

        10. Sinjun

          except he didn’t think enough ahead to realize that now he has stolen something so the have him. add the fact that they threw the first punch with plenty of witnesses. really the guy didn’t think ahead to realize stealing the phone would get him nowhere since his picture could be taken with ease.. anywhere he is at.

          plus i think Marcie will take him down in the next comic.. or i hope that is what happens.

    2. yo.

      I think he’s just running outside. Marcie was working entry security.

    3. Wheelpath

      That reference though! This does take place in America, Ryan isn’t Canadian as far as we know

      1. abacuswizard

        He does kinda seem like an evil ex-boyfriend.

        1. Griiins

          I think he is a level beyond just evil at this point, and as for ex boyfriend thats a nope ghost rider.

    4. Tomas

      It’s not Hammer Space, It’s The Friend Zone.

      “And like that. *poof* He was gone.”

    5. Bicycle Bill

      Time to bring up the IU website, figure out the floor plan of the building, and determine if he is running outside, into the auditorium itself, or some other space within the building.

    6. Kuraimizu

      I really hope he’s upset because the phone is locked.
      And that she was smart enough to have it lock-up after two failed attempts.

      1. Sinjun2501

        given her knowledge of computer systems i would imagine it’s not just a code but also fingerprint

      2. Michael

        That was my first thought. I’d have figured someone like Amber who is both super tech savvy AND has a huge secret to hide would lock her damn phone.

    7. Kuraimizu

      Though much more likely plot wise.
      He has a phone that likely has Joyce in the contacts.
      He’s not going to waste this opportunity to take revenge.
      He’ll use the phone to text Joyce as Amber / amazi-girl
      Once he has lured her out of the dorms
      He’ll likely try to kidnap her or something.

      1. Positron

        Given the superhero/arch nemesis theme I would put my money on him discovering that Amazi-Girl is Amber, and either blackmailing her (the photo was uploaded already, so he couldn’t just delete it) or just exposing her for revenge.

        1. Hoop

          Discovering Amazi-Girl is Amber and also that Amber has naughty pics on her phone.

        2. Ransal

          Amazi-girl seems like the type to have her very own phone.

        3. ety

          I want him to try and expose her by unwittingly giving the phone and the information to Dorothy.

      2. Splork

        TW: rape

        Unfortunately I think it could be even worse; he could lure into a secluded place, and. You know.

    8. Trousle Undrhil

      His upset face is when he realizes that Amazi-Girl was texting someone and had sent his picture to her as well. Good thing that phone has her address and everything in it! \o/

  2. AnvilPro

    I think everything’s gonna be juuuuust fine

    1. Fridge_Logik

      Dorothy has the picture of him at a distance that was sent to her. That’s more to go on than they’ve had for a long time.

      1. podian

        The main problem is that if, somehow, Amber was stupid enough not to lock her phone, Ryan now knows who she is.

        1. -Sentinel-

          …shit. And he can likely track down Dorothy as well.

        2. -Sentinel-

          Thankfully, I don’t think Amber knows Joyce well enough to have her in her contact list. They rarely ever interact.

  3. MatthewTheLucky

    Well, fuck.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Fuck is right! He’s gonna transfer her Charizard for one lousy candy!

      1. podian

        Amber is a tech geek, so she would probably have her phone rooted, so Pokemon Go wouldn’t work anymore anyway.

        1. Vert

          If she’s a real tech geek, she already has Rootcloak installed and it still works fine.

          She’d also have her phone encrypted and remote wiping enabled.

        2. Basilius

          Just chiming in to add, for any PokeGo players out there:
          RootCloak only works if you aren’t using a custom ROM. If you use AOPK, cyanogen, or literally any ROM or bootloader that isn’t stock, RootCloak won’t help.

        3. podian

          IIRC PokemonGo uses SafetyNet for identification, and this can see through Rootcloak.

        4. Fart Captor

          She’s also a gamer, so its likely she doesn’t have it rooted, for precisely that reason.

          She might have the skill to try and put together an OS during class, but that doesn’t mean she enjoys needing to dick around with Linux all the time.

        5. ety

          ^THIS.

        6. Splork

          I don’t think that’s a smartphone. It has a physical keyboard. (This would also explain why uploading took so long.)

        7. Fart Captor

          You can get a smart phone like that, with a regular touch screen, but also a full keyboard that slides out when you want it. I don’t know if they still make any like that, but I know a couple people who at least used to have one.

          It makes a lot of sense for a programmer. Writing code on your phone would be a huge pain in the butt without a full, physical keyboard.

        8. ety

          At that size it’d still be a huge pain in the butt just a slightly smaller one. Hell, even an 89% keyboard can be irritating, if you’re really trying to work on it.

        9. Robbzilla

          I miss my physical keyboard. I sincerely do.

  4. detective boomwolf

    Aw balls. That can only end in tragedy.

    1. Reltzik

      Au contraire.

      It can end in tragedy AND comedy, fused into one.

      TROMEDY!

      (pronounced trauma-dee)

      1. Silly Name

        I want to correct you, I really want…

        But I can’t. “Tromedy” is infinitely better than “tragicomedy”.

        1. Clif

          Willis is a master of traumatic comedy, Tromedy, and we never had a word for it before.

  5. Briny

    Called it. 🙁

  6. Dan

    Ugh nooooooooo whyyyyyy

    1. Kuraimizu

      The plot demands drama

      1. Josh Spicer

        I personally think we’ve had enough drama to last us until the next arc, but apparently we’re never allowed a chance to rest.

        1. Clif

          Traumatic comedy is a merciless master.

  7. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Ryan returns to The Dark Side.

    1. Some1

      he never left it

    2. TheAnonymousGuy

      You don’t know the power of the dark side.

      1. -Sentinel-

        The dark side is not stronger. Only easier, more seductive.

      2. Ed Rhodes

        Yeah? I know they lied about the cookies!

        1. a snow ʍousɐ

          Hey, they never specified what KIND of cookies they were

        2. a snow ʍousɐ

          And all those leftover stale fruitcakes from the Star Wars Christmas Special had to go somewhere… it really was ingenious to cut them into disks and sell them as cookies.

        3. Schol-R-LEA

          The fruitcake cookie is a… damn, it, no, too dated a ref.

        4. Bicycle Bill

          They’re the Dark Side.  Of course they’d lie about the cookies!!

        5. Clif

          They said they had cookies. They didn’t say you’d get any.

        6. ety

          Pff. Lie about cookies? We’d never do that. Look: COOKIES!

  8. boh

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  9. SUGauthor

    Goddammit, can’t we get a happy ending for once?

    1. inqntrol

      Happy ending? In a Willis comic? Blasphemy!

    2. Blackbird

      I think one of the Slipshine comics had one… Oh wait, you meant the other kind. Sorry.

      1. talantus

        hahaha This guy FTW ^

  10. otusasio451

    …Guys…she already sent the picture to Dorothy. It’s all good.

    1. motorfirebox

      No, it really isn’t. That’s Amber’s phone.

      1. MatthewTheLucky

        Uh-oh. I hope Amazi-Girl thought to use a disposable phone.

        1. Lucretiel

          Doesn’t look like it http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/butt/

        2. trlkly

          I think you meant to link the next comic:

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/flirt/

      2. Bodug

        is that her phone or her DS?

        1. Does not Approve

          Looks like it switched between panels.

          Supposed to be her phone. Let’s hope she was smart enough to lock it.

        2. Fart Captor

          Her DS is red. Her phone just has a keyboard that either folds out or slides out from the back.

        3. Bicycle Bill

          One of the dangers of a floating timeline/sliding timescale.  A phone with a slide-out QWERTY keypad was considered cutting edge in 2011/2012 when Willis started this comic, but is hopelessly obsolete in 2016.

        4. David

          So? Most of my equipment is “hopelessly obsolete” but why replace it with something that works worse for the stuff I need to do with it?

        5. PlainMarie

          Exactly!

        6. Positron

          They weren’t considered cutting edge at all, the design predates the iPhone by years and ultimately died due to manufacturer and popular obsession with form over function (a slow death that meant a few models from time to time through to around 2011/2012) Amber probably kept an older phone because she preferred the physical keyboard – she’s in the right demographic (ie computer science) to be one of the minority who were concerned more about typing comfort than shaving off a half millimetre of thickness.

        7. Historyman68

          Soon she’ll be one of those weirdoes whose phone still has an audio jack!

        8. sjmcc13

          That is a feature not a bug, makes this more likely to be a burner/throw away phone now 😉

          Though how much personal info does amber have on her phone? she spends most of her time at her PC and could easily use that for most tasks people use their phones for.

        9. Robbzilla

          Poor college students are often living in the world of hopelessly obsolete for financial reasons. Caltrops ain’t cheap.

    2. CC

      A picture from far away for someone who already knows what he looks like. She can kiss the up close and in focus pictures goodbye

    3. Splork

      Well, he might look through her texts and delete that too. But it’s not out of the question that someone screencapped her post, or recognized his picture, or that people at the rally recognized him.

      1. Splork

        Oh, right, he can’t delete the text off Dorothy’s phone.

        1. Some1

          plus I’m fairly certain that Amber’s phone will be locked.

        2. Idontcarenomore

          Yes I agree Amber would lock her phone.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Hopefully not with an easy-to-guess PIN.

        4. Bicycle Bill

          Putting it bluntly, why WOULDN’T anyone put some sort of password or pattern lock on their phone?

        5. Fart Captor

          Laziness. If you never leave your phone unattended (as I never do), and you check your phone frequently, the inconvenience of entering a password may feel like it outweighs the security concerns

        6. Some1

          however, you are not a superhero, Amber would have to be the biggest idiot in the world, to run around with a mask on and not lock her phone.

        7. trlkly

          But you aren’t a costumed vigilante and tech head who is trying to protect her identity.

          Though you probably could check most of what you want on the lock screen. You’d only need to enter the password if you wanted to actually respond. There should be notifications that tell you if you got a text and such.

        8. Amyra

          It depends on where you live and the type of people surrounding you. I leave my phone unlocked because if I ever lose it, there’s probably a 95% chance that the person who finds it will try to return it to me. And if it’s unlocked, it’s much easier for them to figure out how to contact me or my emergency contacts. Yeah there’s a 5% chance that they’ll steal or wipe the phone, but I still think unlocked is better. (I used to lock my phone, but my SO explained this line of reasoning to me, and I took the lock off.)

        9. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          I’ve gotten my not-really-a-proper-smartphone back when I left it in a restaurant and they called my friend A.A. who called S.C. who was with me.

          On the other side, I found an iPhone (I think) in an airport parking garage. I picked it up to turn it in, but before I got there it rang and it was the owner, and after some fumbling around we found each other and I gave it back. Couldn’t have done that if I couldn’t have answered it.

        10. Fart Captor

          I think most phones can be answered without entering the pin for that reason.

        11. Michael

          Well not just for that reason, also entering in your pin every time you have an incoming call would make it really impractical for most people.

        12. DB

          You know you can set a message on your lock screen? Like, for example, an emergency contact number for somebody to dial.

        13. Huttj509

          A friend of mine leaves his phone unlocked. I asked why.

          He has a toddler (age 4 now). Seems like more reason to lock it, to prevent toddler dials to his speed dials (like his parents), but his brand of phone matters.

          See, when locked, as a backup in case of emergency, it has a “dial 911” button you can press without unlocking the phone (I dunno where it’s positioned to prevent butt dialing 911).

          Toddler dialing his grandparents better than toddler-dialing 911.

        14. ety

          Hm, I mean my phone has a similar feature that allows you to make an emergency call from the lock screen even without the passcode, but you have to go from the lock screen > to the passcode screen then > hit the emergency button > then actually DIAL an emergency number

    4. Thevoiceoftreason

      The danger is he now knows her name, phone number and where she lives.

      1. TheAnonymousGuy

        The mask isn’t for you, it’s to protect the people you care about. if you want fuck yourself over, carry your personal cellphone on you while on the punch clock.

        1. motorfirebox

          Heh, punch clock.

        2. hof1991

          The mask is to protect people from Amber and her rage. Which Sal has already felt once.

      2. Idontcarenomore

        Why would he know where she lives? My address is not in my phone, the finder is turned off. I suppose a hacker would find it easily enough. But, normally I don’t think so.
        I don’t believe in carrying my life history in my cell.

        1. ety

          That may apply to you, but that says nothing of anyone else.

      3. podian

        Come on, Amber is a tech-savvy vigilante, there’s zero chance that her phone wouldn’t have a screen lock.

        1. Deanatay

          Yeah, but those usually take a minute to kick in – if Ryan got to it before the phone auto-locked, he may be able to keep it awake.

          Actually, in many cases, AG has needed to use the phone immediately – I’ve never seen her unlock it. It’s possible she leaves it unlocked, in case she needs it quickly.

        2. Gand

          They don’t? I mean, there is a timer (which you can set), but you can also just press the off button to lock it.

          And unlocking with a pattern is like a half a second swipe, so…

    5. otusasio451

      In response to everyone who responded to this…I totally forgot for a second that Amazi-Girl and Amber were the same person. Shit. For so many reasons.

  11. DarkoNeko

    Oooh shit.

  12. John

    I hope the Amazi-Phone has an Amazi-Phone-Finder.

    1. motorfirebox

      I hope the Amazi-Phone doesn’t have Amber’s contact info. Or name.

      1. Fart Captor

        Hopefully she set a password to unlock it

        1. Oberon

          If she hasn’t set a password on her phone she needs to hang up her cape and never again pretend to be a crime fighter.

        2. John

          Or a computer geek.

      2. Splork

        OHH SHIT I DIDN’T THINK OF THIS

        OH NO

      3. leafirebender

        oh shit there’s the real problem. Didn’t think about that.

    2. jy3

      If it’s an Android, she does

  13. Chengrel

    I’m sure this will end well. Like with Amber seeing a therapist.

    1. Fart Captor

      …and Ryan seeing a physical therapist.

      1. Deanatay

        … inside the State Pen, of course.

    2. leafirebender

      Hopefully. And Ryan seeing some jail time (and a therapist too, perchance). And Joyce seeing a therapist. Therapists for everyone!!!

      1. detective boomwolf

        YOU GET A THERAPIST! AND YOU GET A THERAPIST! EVERYONE IS GOING HOME WITH A THERAPIST!!

        1. Aurora

          Godammit, you stole my joke. Now I gotta go talk to my therapist about it. Seriously though, I am so team therapy for everyone. And from my experience, pretty much every college student there ever was should be in therapy, at minimum for all the general school related stress.

        2. Deanatay

          And so begins Willis’ new series, Saning of Age.

  14. SailorCakes

    Wouldn’t Amber’s phone have a screen lock on it tho?

    1. lejwocky

      Some people live dangerously

    2. Splork

      Narratively, this wouldn’t make sense if it did, unfortunately.

      1. Skater Girl (@syleegrrl)

        It still would, since Ryan would have stolen the phone regardless. He’s an idiot. Also, it would be entirely out of character for Amber, a computer expert, to not exercise security precautions on her electronic device.

        1. Jetpack Monkey

          You wouldn’t believe the stupid crap computer experts will do. I had a boss who would consistently forget to lock his computer. I know security experts who reuse passwords even as they advise other people not to. We can very much be a “Do as I say not as I do” people.

        2. Betty Anne

          My first college degree is in computers, and I have never locked my phone, ever!

          I also have my contacts identified so that emergency services can easily access them and figure out who is related to me if they need to, and I don’t keep private information other than my phone number on my phone, so.

        3. SailorCakes

          I just got a new smartphone and it made me put a screen lock on it even when I didn’t really want to. Aren’t most phones like that now?

        4. vivid

          i just got mine a month or two ago and it didn’t do that.

        5. SailorCakes

          What kind of phone did you get?

        6. Splork

          No, I mean Willis wouldn’t have created a strip whose main point is Ryan escaping with the phone and end that strip on a cliffhanger, only for Ryan not to be able to get into the phone.

        7. Orion Fury

          But he does seem to derive satisfaction from us freaking out, so I could picture Ryan being unsuccessful and just smashing it. Also because Ryan now having Amber and Joyce’s info is a bit of ‘bad guy wins’, and while he gives us the feels, I don’t think he’s gone that far. Well, yet, maybe.

        8. Willoughby Chase

          Yes, that’s part of his diabolical master-plan! BAWAHAHAHAHHA

        9. Aurora

          It may be a bit optimistic, but it could be that Amber uses the gps to track him down before he finds a way to unlock it.

        10. Gecko

          ha! You know, that would be a pretty awesome twist. if she actually baited him to take it. I’m gonna be optimistic with you on this one.

        11. Roborat

          I know, she built herself a proximity security system. If the phone is more than a few feet from her, it locks automatically.

        12. Random832

          yeah but there’s no narrative purpose to the phone being stolen rather than destroyed if he’s not going to be able to do anything with it.

        13. Spencer

          I mean, it won’t be as simple as “Ryan steals the phone but then it is returned with no consequence” but I think there’s some ways to milk drama out of this situation.

          – There’s Sal getting a hold of it and demanding some answers to what Amazi-Girl is saying here, like the identity of this “her” AG protects Sal from, or why she’s so insistent on fighting if she doesn’t actually hate her.

          – There’s Ryan getting a look at Amber’s wallpaper which could be somehow incriminating, like say if she has a picture of Danny on it.

          – There’s Ryan poking into her contact list and getting a bunch of names, like Amber’s own, or Joyce, Danny or Dorothy’s, and trying to threaten her.

          And, well, you may be right, and Amber gets totally outed here. I don’t think that’s likely for a number of reasons, but there’s a lot that can spring from this.

    3. Deanatay

      She’s a superhero who uses her phone a lot while in the field. Leaving a lock on it would require her to waste precious seconds unlocking it before she could use it, thus allowing a suspect to disappear into a crowd. She may never have considered the security implications.

      1. Lielac

        All the smartphones I’ve used (iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4, LG G4) have had the ability to take a picture without unlocking the phone. My latest, the LG, also has the ability to take a picture by hitting the volume down key twice.

  15. Flynn58

    Amazi-girl either has a passcode on her phone, or deserves to have her identity revealed for the stupidity of not having a passcode on her superhero phone.

    1. SUGauthor

      Not much time has passed, there’s a good chance the phone was still on.

      1. Skater Girl (@syleegrrl)

        My screen locks after a couple seconds of not being actively used.

        1. SUGauthor

          And mine takes about 2 minutes.

        2. sjmcc13

          Depending on the model, there are settings for both how long the screen stays on, and how long it takes to lock.
          My phone can be set to lock either immediately, 5s, 15s, 30s, 1m, 2m, 5m, 10m or 30m after the screen turns off. Locking on the power button is an option that can be disabled.
          The inactivity time out on the screen can be set to 15s, 30s 1m, 2m, 5m, or 10m.

      2. trlkly

        Nah. You see him turning it on in the last panel as he runs.

        1. Fart Captor

          He’s hitting the power button, sure, but that doesn’t mean he can unlock it.

          I would think if he already had, his expression would be more smug.

        2. trlkly

          My reply was to SUGAuthor, who was saying the phone might still be on. I don’t think he’d be turning it off.

          Still, there are some phones where the lock still doesn’t come up for a bit even after the screen goes off, so it’s possible he didn’t have to enter a password.

          But your comment about the look on his face is interesting. Problem is, we don’t know if he’s just now turning it on.

        3. Fart Captor

          Yeah, he’s probably just now turning it on, and his expression only means he hasn’t already got it unlocked.

          If he were being prompted for a password already, I imagine he’d look even angrier.

  16. Fart Captor

    I am EXTREMELY unhappy that his legs still work at this point

  17. CapedLuigisYoshi

    Welp. If there was any time for Amazi-Girl’s identity to be revealed to the public…

  18. Ragnarok101

    Not pictured: Sarah and her Old Testament Beating Bat, just down the hall Ryan’s running down.

    1. Orion Fury

      End of Days is in session?

  19. Tricky

    She’s a computer science major there’s no way she doesn’t have some kind of password or encryption.

    Right??

  20. smalltown

    Does it really matter he grabbed her phone? She sent his photo to Dorothy, so there’s at least one other copy of it out there.

  21. Train Moblin

    She already sent the image to Dorothy didn’t she? Dorothy’s probably sent it in to the police by now, so his efforts might be in vain.

    1. Viktoria

      Why would the police give a damn?

      1. MatthewTheLucky

        He just attacked someone in front of dozens of witnesses?

        1. Viktoria

          Someone who was acting threatening, in a mask, at a political event. Ryan needs to die, but his actions this night aren’t exactly hard to defend.

        2. trlkly

          No. It’s Amazi-Girl, who is a well known crime fighter, and the witnesses saw he and his friends start the fight.

          No, the problem would be that the picture is not of the fight. It could just be a picture of any random dude. The cops aren’t going to go and check out a fight that’s already over, and Dorothy has no reason to call them right now (as all she knows about is the attempted rape, which happened too long ago for the police to even conceivably do anything).

        3. Idontcarenomore

          3 guys attacked AG and knocked her down, in front of a crowd. No matter if she did act threatening to him, I don’t think that can be justified.

        4. Lailah

          If she was physically threatening Ryan, that’d be incredibly justified as self defense. But she wasn’t. She only ever threatened him with exposure. That’s not a threat (of bodily harm). Unlike with Sal, she actually, factually didn’t start the fight!

      2. spriteless

        Because a white girl said so!

        1. Skater Girl (@syleegrrl)

          Yes, because the police have such a storied history of listening to female victims. /sarcasm

      3. Train Moblin

        …Good point, but I’m not completely sure she hasn’t done ANYTHING, she might have sent it to someone else, or maybe I’m completely wrong and about to drown in tears.

  22. leafirebender

    NOOOOOOOOOO

  23. yo.

    If the next page isn’t Sarah waiting for him with a bat and an evil grin, I riot.

  24. Tenchan

    Noooooooooo!!!

    1. Petroden

      Chortle

    2. Firedaws

      The button is perfectly appropriate for this situation.

  25. leafirebender

    NOOOOOOOOOOO

  26. Mr. Random

    Yeah, even if she didn’t already send it, how many people at a political rally wouldn’t have phones set to record AND wouldn’t record when a noted vigilante hero cropped up.

    1. leafirebender

      Yep. That’s super real.

    2. Splork

      ^Exactly

  27. NinjaNick

    Curses!

  28. Just Me

    Either the image has already been uploaded, or not. His taking the phone only makes him a thief, among other things. AG knows who he is, she can find him again.

    1. Fart Captor

      No, she doesn’t. She only knows what he looks like now, unless she has some way to track her phone’s GPS

      1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

        There’s apps you can use to track stolen phones.

        1. Bicycle Bill

          And the first thing a phone thief does is power down the phone, which renders the app useless.  You might be able to determine the last place the phone was used, but unless that was within the last five minutes, what good does that do?

    2. Marie

      She did already send a picture to Dorothy, at least. It might not be the best one, but it’s something.

      1. Anorak

        Don’t colleges have text books or at least some kind of student directory or something? If they know what he looks like, how hard could it be to find him?

        1. Bicycle Bill

          Student directories don’t contain pictures of the students, just name, campus address, and possibly permanent (home) address.

        2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Mine had pictures, but that was back in the 70s.

        3. Bicycle Bill

          Sure that wasn’t your end-of-the-schoolyear yearbook?

        4. Anorak

          At the least, couldnt dorothy go around with the photo asking people for the name of this scumbag?

        5. DonDueed

          IU has 48,000 students enrolled. That’s a lot of “Do you know this guy?”s.

        6. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Yes. I’d use it early in freshman year to find out the name of that cute girl I was just talking to.

          However, this was a much smaller school than IU.

        7. ety

          People tend to use this thing called “FaceBook” for that now and more to the point that’s why I think asking around to see if anybody knows that guy wouldn’t actually be all that hard despite the… 48,000? really? people.

        8. Mav

          My school had all three of those things. You could request to keep it private, but only students were able to search for that level of information

  29. JessWitt

    Well crap, the phone is swiped.

    Nice to get some insight, although twisted, from AmaziGirl.

  30. Mandy

    And then Ryan ran in front of a speeding freight train and was flattened, the end.

  31. Foxhack

    AG can.

    Amber can’t.

    1. spriteless

      Ninja’d by literally 1 minute

  32. spriteless

    It is interesting to know Amber hates Sal, not Amazi Girl

    1. Mister gray

      Why hate the person who made her existence possible?

      1. Ed Rhodes

        Pretty certain Batman doesn’t have warm, cuddly feelings for Joe Chill!

  33. Kernanator

    Haha, what could possibly go wrong?

    I said it ironically, so it should be fine, right?

  34. Peny

    Not worried. Can’t they get the name from Freida?

  35. Leorale

    Okay, so the immediate questions right now:
    – Did AG actually upload the close-up picture anywhere, or was she bluffing?
    – Is her phone locked with a passcode, or is it still on with everything logged in and an Amber&Danny background?

    1. trlkly

      As I say above, we see him turning the phone on. So, if she has a passcode, he mostly likely would have to enter it.

      Though there is the possibility that this is one of those phones that has a grace period where you can turn the phone back on without it locking. But, even then, he’d have to be very lucky to catch that, as it’s usually only a few seconds.

      The big worry is that she didn’t have one at all. I’m really hoping she’s smart enough to. Sure, a tech geek might get rid of the password for speed purposes. But surely a tech geek who need to keep her identity secret would be smarter.

      Even with everything else she’s done, not having a password would actually make me the least sympathetic for her that I’ve been so far.

      1. Leorale

        No way does she not have a passcode. That would be such a n00b mistake!

    2. Spencer

      Password locking seems to be the exact kind of thing Amber would do, so in that I think she’s safe, if only because if she’s outed as Amazi-Girl then she is definitely absolutely going to jail.

      But I do think it’s likely that she set her background to be a photo of herself and Danny, because that seems to be the easiest route to the maximum amount of drama; that Ryan threatens the guy in the photo and makes her completely lose her shit.

      1. Deanatay

        Amber? Yes. Amazi-Girl? Perhaps not. AG has been seen to use the phone while in the field, to take pictures of suspected evildoers. Needing to unlock the phone every time she used it would be extremely impractical for her – she may leave it unlocked, relying on her own abilities to safeguard it. She may soon pay the price for that arrogance.

        1. Norah

          Depending on the type of phone she has, she may not need to unlock it to take photos.

  36. zebrathinker

    and on the next page he’ll be trying to figure out her password and won’t be able to and the phone will lock, right?! r-right??

    at this point i’m just hoping he’s only trying to delete something, and not send anything to anyone. :/

  37. Zaidyer

    Oh, fuck.

    That phone has a record of conversation with Dorothy. And depending on how thorough Amazi-Girl is, it might also have information about Amber, Danny, Ethan, possibly even Joyce.
    And now it’s in the hands of a coward who plots to attack women and hides behind a gaggle of goons to do his dirty work.

    Of course you realize, this means war.

    1. Splork

      You’re right, it has Joyce’s info. This is bad 🙁

  38. Retrikaethan

    whenever i play videogames, i learn very quickly which mobs need to be murdered first. those two could learn a bloody lesson in priorities from them.

    1. ninja_jesus

      Not now, killing spiders.

  39. DRA2840

    Please tell me she had already uploaded the picture. And that her phone is password locked. Pretty please?

  40. WikiDreamer

    PLEASE BE PASSWORD LOCKED ;A;

  41. Lipke the Articulate

    For a second there I thought “Oh this is a pretty bad strip to post this on”, but then I realized it’s actually the perfect one. :/
    This is something I wrote earlier today, just ‘cuz.
    ——————————————————————————————-

    At the time of me writing this, I’ve just finished reading Shortpacked!
    Over the past few weeks (days, I dunno) I’ve binged my way through Dumbing of Age, followed by the whole of the Walkyverse- starting with the It’s Walky, and moving onto Joyce and Walky when I realized that it wasn’t caught up. After that, of course, was Shortpacked!
    I’ve really only got three words to say.

    Damn you, Willis.

    Damn you for every time you scared me into thinking a character was about to die.
    Damn you for every time that those fears were realized.
    Damn you for every time I cried while reading your stories- damn you for my sadness, and damn you for my joy.
    Damn you for every character I have fallen in love with, and every character I despise.
    Damn you for every ‘ship that sailed, and damn you for every boat that burned.
    Damn you for all those times I wondered if maybe I should get into Transformers.
    Damn you for every reference I understood, and damn you twice for every one I still don’t get.
    Damn you for making me say “damn” exactly twelve times in this post alone. Wait, no, damn it, fourteen. Wait, god fuckin’ damn it, fifteen. Wait, GAAAAAAH
    Damn you for hams, and damn you for singularikitty.
    Damn you for PROBABLY RUINING ALL OTHER WEBCOMICS FOREVER, MAN!
    Damn you for pushing me to become a better writer, so that I can reciprocate the kind of joys and pains that I felt reading your work.

    As I said, three words.
    Here’s another two, though.
    Thank you.
    —————————————————————————————–
    Welp now that my sappy fanboying is out of the way, DAMMIT RYAN’S GOT TEH PHONE

    1. Orion Fury

      I don’t think I say thank you enough, really.

      1. Deanatay

        Thank you, Willis?

        1. Orion Fury

          He’s a good writer.

  42. Zach

    Just look for him on facebook.
    On the list of free helpers (they were getting intern credit, right)
    On anyone elsez phone who is there and under 30.

  43. Some1

    You know I don’t really think the bros (discounting Ryan) are really evil, as much as just dumb and really easily manipulated.

    1. Splork

      I think they’re robots.

    2. Fart Captor

      They might be less evil, but they heard AG explain what he did to Joyce, helped him attack her, and culminating in the whole “HOLD HER DOWN” shit.

      All of it without question, without pause. Even after being told the girl who gave Ryan his scar sent her.

      Those three are pieces of shit at best. I don’t care they’ve been best friends with Ryan since they were toddlers, those aren’t red flags, those are god damn forest fires.

      1. Some1

        they wern’t there when Amazi Girl talked to him initially. All they know is what Ryan told them.

        1. Fart Captor

          Dawson was tagged in the strip when she first approached him, standing just behind him.

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/who/

          Unless he wandered off, then came back moments later, the implication (as I see it) is that they were just off-panel when AG explains it, and I strongly doubt she was keeping her voice down.

        2. Some1

          look I have enough people to hate in this comic, so until I know either way, I’m going to assume that they don’t know what’s going on.

        3. Fart Captor

          Even still, anyone who would care if one of their friends were a sexual predator would not have been so quick to both gang up on AG, and hold her down while he punched her in the fucking face. From the way he was reeling back, he was going to hit her as hard as he fucking could before Sal so satisfyingly interrupted him.

          I don’t care if he saved their lives at some point. No friend is owed that kind of blind loyalty.

          These are not morally ambiguous actions. There at LEAST should have been a moment of “wait, what the fuck?” on their faces. No, they were absolutely okay with that.

        4. Some1

          No, I am figuratively holding my fingers in my ears and going la la la la la. Because I am too exhausted to add more people to my hate list.

        5. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          You have a list, like Arya?

        6. Some1

          it basically is catorgized as

          Hate: Ryan. Blaine Ross

          Dislike: The bros. Mary

          Mildly Dislike: Mike, Malaya

        7. Tan

          Lemme tell ya, if there’s one thing well-to-do straight white young men need in this world, it’s more benefit of the doubt-that-doesn’t-actually-exist.

        8. trlkly

          Tan: And what we need more of is people who think in terms of demographics instead of people.

        9. KKoro

          Trikly: Yes, what a jerk she is for recognizing significant statistical trends that represent how society is biased towards certain demographics.

          Clearly the solution to repeated and outrageous miscarriages of justice is the “They who smelt it dealt it” approach.

        10. trlkly

          KKoro: It should give you pause that you’re having to use the same defense racists use. “Statistics say that black people get arrested more, so it’s okay for me to call them thieves.”

          Tan is deliberately being a jerk to Some1 because he’s doing the right thing. They demonstrated that their goal is to hurt someone else.

          The fact that these dudes are white has nothing to do with why Some1 was saying what he said. He was clearly fatigued and Tan just posted to try and rub racism in his face.

          So, yes, Tan was being a jerk. If they weren’t, then me responding the exact same way would not have pissed you off.

        11. Fart Captor

          trlkly:
          When we’ve heard of a single black man getting away with the kind of shit I keep hearing these entitled little white shits getting away with (or better yet, they stop getting away with it) THEN we can get worked up about that.

          While it may have been completely unnecessary for Tan to bring race into this to begin with, they’re not wrong.

        12. Tan

          trikly:
          There is no room for doubt that the bros are unambiguously shitty people. Fart Captor explained this. Some1’s response was to reject this explanation, not because of any counter-evidence or because of flaws in Fart Captor’s evidence, but because Some1 didn’t want it to be true (“figuratively holding my fingers in my ears and going la la la la la”). That is not “Some1 doing the right thing”. It’s willful ignorance.

          Now really, I assume Some1 was at least in part being silly, but they also brushed up against an actual phenomenon where people just don’t want to believe that someone who fits their mental image of ‘good kid’ (meaning the well-to-do straight white boy or young man) has done something terrible… So they rationalize away or just ignore whatever they need to to stick with their initial judgment. I mean, this is literally what we just saw going on in the flashback with Leland. It is a thing.

          And not a “well, it’s true for SOME well-to-do straight white males, so that justifies applying it to all of them” as in your black people are thieves example (yay false equivalence); every well-to-do straight white male (and others who can be mistaken for such) receive more benefit of the doubt or the not-actually-doubt in their lives than they otherwise would. Mind you, some of them may deserve the benefit of the doubt, but A: the DISPROPORTION of benefit applies to every individual at some point in their lives, and B: there’s no such thing as deserving the benefit of the not-actually-doubt (and I did specify benefit of the not-actually-doubt in my comment).

          But anyway, my initially intended tone was of light ribbing. “Hey, I know/am pretty sure you’re being silly, but c’mon now, you’ve got some unfortunate implications going on there.”

          In short, your defense of white dudes is both fundamentally flawed and an overreaction in the first place.

    3. Woobie

      Evil? They are definitely bad guys.

    4. ninja_jesus

      Anyone who lives under the mysogynistic Bro Code ethic is wrong until otherwise.

    5. Orion Fury

      You get what you pay for?

    6. fogel

      The Bros know that a “bongo” did some cosmetic surgery on Ryan and they accepted whatever story he gave them to explain that ….

  44. lia47

    oh my god is she talking about amber

    1. Clif

      Obviously. AG was a role set up to protect the world from Amber’s violent tendencies while allowing her a safe outlet for them. Safe for others anyway.

      1. Deanatay

        Of course, Sal may not realize this. Dunno if it has crossed her mind, yet, that AG may have an alter-ego.

        1. Spencer

          If this plays out as Sal demanding some answers from Amazi-Girl, I think something like that will sip; Amber doesn’t recognize that it may be offputting to other folks to refer to herself as two separate entities.

  45. Tacos

    Ah shit. Well at least Dorothy already go his picture texted to her so even he deletes the original, it shouldn’t matter. On the other hand, now he has potentially a bunch of information on Amber/AG.

  46. Lucretiel

    Goddamn it I can’t believe either of them would let him out of their site for that long.

  47. JJJ

    I wonder if Joyce ends up in this somehow. Strictly, it’s neither Sal’s nor AG/Amber’s battle to fight.

    1. Fart Captor

      I don’t think she would object to someone else beating him up.

      I’m really not comfortable with the idea of it being “not their battle” though. It’s not like they’re meddling in someone’s personal life here. He’s a dangerous sexual predator and needs to be stopped.

      1. JJJ

        Excellent points.

    2. DonDueed

      Joyce still has her wrist in a brace from the last evil dude she punched out. I hope she won’t need one for the other wrist. Oh wait, I hope she will.

    3. Spencer

      I’m kinda glad Joyce isn’t involved?

      The way I’m seeing this is that Joyce really shouldn’t have to lift a finger to put Ryan to justice, or at least for him to be eating his own spine. Justice, here represented by a nerd in spandex and a biker chick, is going to be meted on Ryan. Though I’m half convinced this ends up going really badly for Amber’s dealing with her anger if he does end up finding something.

      Honestly, this whole time I figured we’d only hear from Ryan again if it was an obituary. That we find out he died in a car accident and Joyce has to deal with the idea of being okay with somebody’s death.

      1. talantus

        if story telling has taught me anything, its that unresolved issues will be ended one way or another. knowing willis`s story telling habits, I Guarantee at some point, Joyce is going to be involved. she is after all, more or less, the main character of this Comic

        1. Spencer

          No, I get that; this is a character narrative and that’s why Amber and Sal constantly get thrown at each other instead of Amber just getting some goddamned therapy, but I’m nonetheless pleased that Joyce can get justice regardless.

  48. carms

    I was wondering how Ambermazigirl worked that phone. whether she had an amazi-girl only phone- which would have been a GOOD IDEA

  49. avistel

    God damnit Willis can you put this douchebro caricature in jail already?

    I swear, at this rate I’ll reach old age and die before this storyline resolves.

    (Aside from that, props to the author! I haven’t felt this much revulsion towards an antagonist since Dio in Jojo: Phantom Blood.)

  50. Solenoid

    Later: AG uses phonefinder to track down his residence, and wrecks him there. Alternately, the phone is unlocked, he tries to take more personal revenge, and Ryan finds out personally why Amber is the danger rather than AG.

    On the other other hand, phonefinder could be used to get the police involved, but everything about this says that the police will be worse than useless in this situation.

    On the fourth hand, I just noticed a smileyface in the bottom-left corner of the webpage.

    1. Clif

      Wait. What?

      Which web page?

      1. ety

        THIS web page, the one you are on. Right. here. In the very bottom, left-hand corner and it kind of irritates me. I think it’s a stats-tracking thing of some sort, but that’s an offhand guess.

        1. ety

          Hmm, It’s actually pulled from this link:

          This is what it is.

  51. Tomas

    “Should we stop that guy from stealing that phone?”

    “I ‘unno.”

  52. Reltzik

    And now Ryan may well discover who Amber is.

    This strip is such a cell-out.

    1. Figrin

      You could say it’s a convenient plot device.

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      Aren’t combination locks and thing now a days? You know what I’m over thinking this probably need to expand my suspension of disbelief just a little bit.

  53. Teddae

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE NOPE NOPE RYAN GET BACK HERE AND LET THEM BEAT YOU UP

  54. Derek

    oh no
    OH NO

  55. Bagge

    Sal: “Yes, I totally need your protection. Thank you so much for being so thoughtful.”

    1. Deanatay

      AG: “No need to thank me. It’s what I do.”
      Sal: “I WAS BEING SARCASTIC, DAMMIT!”

  56. Tomas

    Is he going to write in “Heywood Jablome” as his name? I hate when people do that.

    The last thing that AG said was a bit scary. It implied that she became a super hero, because she didn’t want to become a murderer, and those were the only two options.

    1. Lipke the Articulate

      …so, any chance of that being a reference to another Ryan in particular, or…?

  57. Griffin

    okay if this was a fanfic Amber and Sal would be kissing very soon.

    1. Spencer

      #bonecity

  58. Derek

    I’m kinda surprised that people care more about Ryan’s photo getting deleted than Ryan finding out who Amber is and using all his manipulative abuse tactics to make her life hell LIKE BLAINE DID

    I’m hoping that Ryan has a one-track mind like the comments section does and he only deletes the photo and throws the phone in the garbage because honestly that’s the best case scenario here

    1. Bicycle Bill

      I’m kinda surprised that people care more about Ryan’s photo getting deleted than Ryan finding out who Amber is and using all his manipulative abuse tactics to make her life hell…
      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
      Not me, man.  That’s the FIRST thing I thought of when I saw that last panel.

      1. ety

        Instead, even better, He tries to out her by going to the newspaper and gives the phone and information to Dorothy.

      2. DonDueed

        Same here. That, and “Oh what a twist.” I’d figured AG had just slipped the phone back into whatever utility pocket she normally kept it in.

    2. A Scientist

      If it’s locked, he might accomplish neither. That’s the actual best case scenario, that he finds the phone is locked and can’t crack the PIN or whatever security measure she has on it. And if she doesn’t have a picture of herself as her lock screen, there’s no information there.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        I use a pattern lock on my smart phone; you must draw a line connecting six dots out of nine in a specific order to unlock the phone and be able to pull up anything like contacts, text messages, e-mails, the dialer keypad, or anything else.  And I’ve got my lock screen set so it displays a picture of Joyce.

        1. Broken8ball

          When using pattern locks like that, it’s important to keep your screen wiped clean. Otherwise, you can see the pattern if you tilt the phone under the right light – just from natural oils and other residue.

          I’ve cracked a few friends phones that way, as a proof of concept…and certainly not for prank purposes….

        2. ety

          I’ve taught people things of that nature the hard way…

        3. A Scientist

          Using swipe to text and playing Pokemon Go has helped me mitigate some of that effect. I’ve got swipe traces all over the place. But I have to wipe my screen regularly just to keep using it anyway, so that helps.

        4. A Scientist

          I just got a new phone and haven’t taken any pictures yet, but both this one and the old one were the connect the dots thing, and my old picture was of a science demo I did which looked pretty cool, so no one would get my identity from my phone, either.

    3. fogel

      Even worse, I feel, would be that Ryan finds Joyce thank to AG messing up SOOOO badly.

  59. Saaaam

    Ugh, you need to break the guy’s knees so he doesn’t keep doing this shit

    1. Fart Captor

      I know, right? Each unbroken bone in his body just adds to my frustration.

      1. Orion Fury

        Got over 200 to go, if any are damaged they’re only bruised.

    2. Willoughby Chase

      Broken bones are a start, don’t forget the soft squishy bits as well.

  60. bryy

    Calling it: Joyce is going to beat up Ryan, completing her exodus from her toxic faith sect.

    1. Mister gray

      Oh I so hope that’s what happens

  61. AutobotDen

    Oh, no, no no no nonononononononononono!

  62. Mouse

    Hello, rabbit hole.

  63. Rob

    hope he slips on the panel the bastard

  64. Synnerman

    Oh hell. Stop talking and pay attention Amber!

    1. Deanatay

      Once again, Ryan steals away while Amazi-Girl hogs the spotlight.

  65. miados

    part of me hopes that meat guy with the sunglasses blocks him. i doubt it will be the case but i think it would be funny to see ryan slam into the big guy

    1. Big Box

      Eh, Beef doesn’t really have a motive to help out AG. If anything, he’d probably intervene against her, considering she’s put the smack-down on his friends twice now.

      1. miados

        I did say i doubt it would happen and that i mostly wanted to see the visual.

      2. Fart Captor

        He has been looming rather conspicuously in the background lately, though. Makes me think he might end up getting involved at some point.

        Or, it could just be a cameo, and he only shows up repeatedly as a point of reference, so we could tell they’d moved away from that first crowd

  66. Arianod

    I’m not happy about this development.

  67. BenRG

    I do hope that, as the two dudebros are counting their bruises, contusions and cuts, they remember how their ‘good friend’ Ryan ran away and left them to be pounded into a pulp by two women. Meanwhile, I suspect that Ryan is about to learn that the most hated phrase in the English language is “Login Failed – User Name or Password Incorrect”.

    1. ety

      I hope they go looking for Ryan for revenge after this.

    2. Neeks

      Did you mean three? I thought we’d been over the whole “miscounting the bros” thing. Everyone forgets Tyler.

  68. A Scientist

    That looks to me like the face of someone trying to solve a puzzle, which leads me to suspect the phone is locked, thank goodness, and he’s going to struggle for a bit guessing at passcodes or whatever before giving up and smashing the thing.

    Also, I guess Willis anticipated a question about security whenever he wrote these, because I just asked yesterday what security was doing, and there they are.

  69. Idontcarenomore

    I think the 3 of them attacking AG and knocking her to the ground would negate any claim Ryan may have about her threatening him. And the crowd seems to be considering that.
    As to Ryan, he’s toast no matter what he does. You know her phone is locked, and she sent his pix to Dorothy. Besides he just ran out on his ‘good buddies’.

    I thought this was a good development at first, seeing Sal and AG covering each others backs. But AG is wearing the mask to protect Sal? From what?

    If she’s protecting Sal from Amber, that’s bad, seems to show an even deeper reality break for Amber/AG?

    1. BenRG

      She wears the mask from the monster called Amber O’Malley, who would certainly hurt her without cause if Amazi-Girl were not there to control her. Or, at least, that’s the narrative upon which the last thread of Amber’s sanity seems to be hanging.

  70. CJ

    To busy to notice Ryan getting away with the phone.
    How very superheroesque.
    And nobody else notices either…

    I hope it’s well protected, else he’ll be able to find out she’s Amber when not wearing the mask (most of the time).

    1. ety

      We don’t know just how serious the AG/Amber split is and we have no idea how Amber might react to Ryan…. from waht we’ve seen Amber is the far more likely to go overboard with violence. If Ryan threatens Amber directly I imagine he could end up much the same way as Blaine.

      1. Lipke the Articulate

        Which, let’s face it, wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen in the series.
        Of course, it’d likely be only one repercussion of the event, so I suppose we should hope Willis isn’t evil enough to let it happen…

        *sigh*

    2. fogel

      @CJ: Ryan always gets away when AG is on the case

  71. Takashoru

    The first rule of superheroing: use a goddamn burner phone.

    Honestly, Amber, you’re doing all this superheroing and reading and writing of fanfiction, and you never once stumbled on Worm?

    1. Ellegos

      I suppose it’s too much to hope that she locks her phone with a PIN and that she set it to lock right away?

      1. vlademir1

        If she’s smart she jailbroke her phone and installed a deeply customized (like at the code level) Android or *NIX phone distro which is setup to do a drop to command line after a short period without input.

        We’ve seen her phone has a physical keyboard (look back to her txting Dorothy a few days ago) making what I’m suggesting perfectly viable. Further the percentage of the population who can work from the Windows command line is tiny, let alone from raw bash or tcsh with no GUI or web access like I’m suggesting, and it could then require knowing a password for root access to even bring back the GUI.
        A customized OS could also easily do some flavor of encryption on all data and/or use nonstandard custom formats for data as well. On top of all this, and really even without any of the previous stuff, she could have it sending GPS data back in a way she can check with her other devices and/or have a prepaid burner SIM inside her phone when acting as AG.

        That said, I put the likelihood of Willis having thought it out to that degree or the character having gone that deeply as highly improbable at best but still I feel it worth saying as this kind of thing is in Amber’s wheelhouse, theoretically if nothing else.

        1. ety

          “Further the percentage of the population who can work from the Windows command line is tiny, let alone from raw bash or tcsh with no GUI or web access like I’m suggesting”

          Honestly, more people should learn to do that.

        2. ety

          I wouldn’t use “Smart” as the descriptor there.

        3. DB

          Or she could just use a passcode, which on most modern phones is sufficient to defend against this threat. Hell, even a fingerprint scanner would do.

        4. David

          Where is a point in using a system that evil masterminds are best equipped to handle? A social media side dropping connection every three seconds is much more likely to drive an evil archvillain into despair and surrender than a nice old lady.

        5. Jhon

          This is a gal who writes OS kernels to while away an idle hour.
          She can, but will she?

    2. Roborat

      I thought the first rule was: no capes. And the second rule is: don’t monologue and let the villain escape.

  72. Kathleen

    This is the most tense I’ve felt after a strip!! He’s gonna find out who she is!! D:

  73. Peruhain

    Augh!!! Willis!!!!

  74. Kingmonster

    …and that’s how the cookie crumbles. Darnit.

  75. Keulan

    Damn You Willis!

  76. Syndrine

    GREAT IT GOT WORSE THAN I COULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE UGH WILLIS DAMN YOU

  77. Kinoko

    Marcie’s been off-panel for a while now. I’m hoping she reappears and lays the smackdown on his scarred face.

  78. Eldritch Gentleman

    This call for another visit by the Angel of Baseball.

  79. Eva

    On the plus side, it might be hard to prove attempted rape.

    It should be easy to prove he stole her phone.

  80. Rian

    Guys, guys look, a mere 12 strips from now Amber is smiling surely nothing to bad could happen.
    http://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/146492524947/september-26-2016

    I’m really hoping that smile isn’t as fake as it seems to me.

    1. BenRG

      It’s a happy after feeling sad; someone has made her feel better after she’s had a bad time. We’ll see what that is when the time comes.

    2. J. A. J.

      But that’s Amber. Come back when you have AMAZI-GIRL’s expressions.

      /s

  81. Jake'm

    Here’s hoping that the phone has a password protect.

  82. trlkly

    Was going through old comics, and I just realized. This is a callback:

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/caped/

    1. Deanatay

      Indeed. Two things you can say about Ryan:

      – He demonstrates a high Constitution score,
      – He clearly put points into his Stealth and Feign Unconsciousness skills.

      1. Fart Captor

        I doubt he was faking. A blow to the head won’t knock someone out for more than a couple seconds, unless there was severe brain trauma. The kind that gets you hauled away on a stretcher.

      2. trlkly

        And one thing about Amazi-Girl: she’s bad at being distracting to guys who beat up rapists.

  83. Zaxares

    Oh, this is bad. VERY bad. I’m not sure if Amber was cautious enough to use two separate phones for her different identities, so if she didn’t, it means Ryan now knows who Amazi-girl is.

    And even worse, who her friends are, should he decide to seek revenge.

  84. fogel

    If this were a GOOD Super-H movie, AG would have rigged that phone to do something SERIOUSLY nasty to him (anyone who does certain things to her phone).

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Maybe her phone has the same “self-destruct” feature now found on the Galaxy Note 7, and it burns a hole in Ryan’s hip when he tries to get away with it.

  85. Emily

    Oh cool once again Amazi-Girl fucks everything up and endangers people with her recklessness.

    1. Lailah

      Primarily herself, and probably Danny. We seem to have moved off of ‘these people want to kill Sal.’

      1. Spencer

        Yeah I’m wondering if Ryan sees a pic of Danny on Amber’s phone, or decides to look at a newspaper and find Amazi-Girl’s boyfriend.

        I’m not too worried, like it probably would have happened while they were still dating and the only person who ever cared enough to ask was Sal (personal headcanon is that nobody on campus really cares about AG and thinks she’s just a performance piece by a freshman).

  86. fogel

    Dang it Willis. I don’t think I want to worry about Ryan while I’m trying to deal with my fears about the election. Trump and his Deplorables are more than enough for me. (If Ryan returns to his apartment and he has a Pepe poster, that would be ‘It’…)

    1. JBento

      Speaking of the POTUS election, I’ve been meaning to ask and keep forgetting: how much is Clinton’s half-faint this weekend going to hurt her chances? Has it made an impact in the polls yet?

      She was already running a horrible campaign on full health, that couldn’t have helped.

      1. BenRG

        There seem to be cultural scars in the US about sick Presidents, possibly because of Franklin Roosevelt dying early on in his third term. The perception that HRC is seriously ill to the point that it would impact on her ability to carry out the duties of office will certainly put some people off voting for her.

        1. Deanatay

          I’unno, FDR was one of the badassedest Presidents in history, and he spent the thirteen years of his Presidency paralyzed with polio. And he died early in his fourth term.

        2. Willoughby Chase

          And Reagan had Alzheimers for most of his?

          But he’s GOP so IT DOESN’T count amirite.

        3. Jhon

          Um, Woodrow Wilson? When he was incapacitated, his VP chickened out, so his wife basically took over?

    2. DonDueed

      On the plus side, “Donald and the Deplorables” would be a great band name.

    3. trlkly

      There’s no reason to worry about Ryan. We know that there’s a guy involved who is telling a story. And I don’t think that story will be “Attempted rapist gets away.”

      Wish I could say the same about your other worry.

      1. trlkly

        (Well, other than what my psychologist would tell me, which is that worrying doesn’t really accomplish anything. It’s not a useful coping strategy.)

  87. Geneseepaws

    Worst fears: Confirmed!

  88. DJTsurugi

    this is going to result in Ryan getting stabbed, in the FAAAAACE ~<3

    1. Roborat

      . . . again.

  89. Willinwoods

    I have had some trouble with the advertisements on the DoA site for a couple of days now, anybody else experience this? I had to turn the adblocker on, because otherwise it would just be loading forever, and/or eating all memory (Chrome/ChromeOS).

  90. Quezzel

    uh oh…I’m scared now…sombody tell me everxthing is going to be okay

  91. Ashley Lightheart

    Hey look the worthless coward and disgusting excuse for a human being is running away.

    1. Shadow Eagle

      with the phone w/his pic…. guess he gets away to roofie again another day.

  92. Brian

    This is why I’ve learned to never get my hopes up when reading this strip. I’ve come to realize that Willis likes to raise his readers’ hopes and then smash all of them to pieces.

  93. Vulcanodon

    Lots of speculation over whether Amber/AG had locked the phone. Which outcome would cause the most readers to curse, “Damn you Willis!”? But I’ve been wrong about everything in this storyline so far. Hopefully I am wrong about this too.

    It need not be an old phone: there are phone cases with a built-in Bluetooth keyboard.

    1. Vulcanodon

      Also, Ryan’s jawbone appears to be still aligned with the rest of his cranium. Sad!

  94. Volkai

    OH man, I really, really hope that phone is screen-locked.

  95. Carolyn

    And then Ryan is thwarted by the password screen.

    THE END.

  96. Galuna

    Dorothy already has a copy of the picture anyway..

  97. Reltzik

    The real question here is whether Ryan picked up the phone fast enough to thwart the automatic reversion to password.

    …. or, barring that, if he knows any bros who can crack a phone faster than Amber can trace its GPS.

  98. Regalli

    Come on, lock screen! Never have you been more needed than this moment.

  99. Zellgato

    Well. that was foolish for her…. hello all contact info.
    though it isn’t like the cops don’t know who she was. but i guess social media will now probably.
    and or some serious violence

    1. Zellgato

      oh. Also.
      I hope the.. girl whose name i forgot.. security guard gal who is sal’s friend. close lines that guy

      1. Fart Captor

        I totally forgot about Marcie. She’s conspicuously absent from the panel with the guard who she had been right next to, and her suddenly clothslining creepo here would be awesome

        1. Spencer

          Marcie does tend to be Sal’s voice of reason, so I think it’d be fitting if she got involved here too.

        2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          She is changing into her own superhero costume.

  100. Spencer

    To lose a rapist scumbag once is misfortune, to lose him twice looks like carelessness.

    1. fogel

      Yes, AG must make serious effort to acquire at least one scumbag rapist before the semester is over, or she cannot hope to maintain her position in campus society.

      1. trlkly

        She already beat up a guy in the process of starting a rape.

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/problem-2/

  101. Vulcanodon

    Best Case Scenario: he tries four times to unlock the phone, and it sends his picture and location to the owner. Then becomes a brick.

    1. Fart Captor

      …and then Amazi-Girl tracks him down, tears his entire ass off, and smothers him to death with it

  102. modulusshift

    Everyone’s talking about that being Amber’s phone, which, yeah, bad, but I’m more interested that she says that she becomes Amazi-Girl to protect Sal, and presumably other people, from Amber. That’s why she didn’t want Danny to date Amber, because Amber would hurt him. Arguably did hurt him.

    Amazi-Girl is constrained by laws, though. With loopholes in the assault ones, I guess…actually, let me rephrase that: Amazi-Girl waits for you to break the law first, so both of them can be outside the law. Anyway, Amazi-Girl isn’t just an outlet, she doesn’t have to fight crime to ease her stress and anger, instead she becomes Amazi-Girl to force herself to fight crime and not just hurt people. Amazi-Girl isn’t a compulsion, she’s a choice. One she’s addicted to, one she unhealthily puts above herself, but a choice. I hadn’t realized that before.

    1. Spencer

      Recall that it was Amazi-Girl who got in Danny’s face and screamed at him and dumped him, whereas it took almost swearing at him to reduce Amber to a sobbing wreck.

      Amber thinks she’s found a workaround to her anger issues. That it’s okay to experience these unforgivable emotions hoisted onto her by her father as long as she repurposes it towards a more productive mean.

    2. Lailah

      Ah, an on-topic one.

      Amazi-girl attacked Sal once, and stalked her after that, and is the one who abused Danny, albeit briefly. I don’t think Willis is ignoring that, so much as saying that Amazi-girl has a claim, and is sticking to it no matter waht – especially in the face of evidence to the contrary.

      And she’s slipped into that alter to harrass people because of Sal.

  103. hof1991

    Re: needing to unlock. The phone was in use by AG just 30 seconds ago. I know it was a week our time, but has the phone had time to lock in comic time? Mine locks after 3 minutes and it certainly hasn’t been that long.

    Yes, the mask protects people from Amber, especially it protects Sal, who Amber attacked in a rage once before.

    Prediction: No one remembers Marcie. Just like the forgettable brodude, no one remember that Marcie is on site, right behind Sal and hired to do security. Marcie will get Ryan, who she knows is a thief, even if she didn’t follow the Sal/AG discussion or isn’t an AG fangirl. Ryan will then try to explain to Marcie why it is OK for him to start a fight and steal that phone. Marcie will have none of it.

    1. Lailah

      The fight scene might very well have been a couple minutes.

      1. Michael

        In my experience fights that feel like 10 minutes are usually 30 seconds, and a 2 minute fight feels like an hour.
        Amber hasn’t even broken a sweat (though that could just be the art style).

    2. Fart Captor

      How long a phone takes to automatically lock is usually configurable. Mine can be set anywhere between 30 seconds and never. I think its safe to assume that it locked, though. Whether it needs a password is another matter

  104. Crumplepunch

    Oh come on guys, you had one job.

    1. Falling Star

      What is the name of this webcomic?

  105. Lailah

    Not buying it, Amazigirl. Amber hasn’t done anything but run since the story started. Amber stabbed her 5 years ago, but you jumped her in a parking lot and stalked her.

    1. Spencer

      That is actually a good point!

      I think Amber’s thought process is that if she didn’t run, then she’d hurt Sal, but Amber, as we know, can’t believe she’s capable of any kind of goodness; she’s shunted every positive thing about herself onto Amazi-Girl, and worse, believes that every action Amazi-Girl takes is just.

    2. Fart Captor

      You’re not wrong, but Amber is the one who can’t control her anger.

      All of the red panels she’s collected since the stabbing have centered on Amber losing control of her anger and lashing out at someone. Some of those issues may have bled into Amazi-Girl since they’re not being dealt with, but the fear that Amber’s actions might have been even worse doesn’t seem unreasonable.

      This probably shows that Amazi-Girl doesn’t yet fully appreciate how bad her own actions were, but I think she’s being sincere

  106. Falling Star

    The next thing we see is Joyce punching him in the face.
    Joyce received a text from Dotty, waking her up and sending her and Sarah flying towards the rally. They get there, see Ryan running out, and Joyce snaps, punching him with her sprained wrist fist.
    At least that’s what I’m hoping.

    1. Lipke the Articulate

      Uh… I’d hope Joyce’d use the other hand.
      Or not have to see Ryan ever again…

  107. Cybersnark

    This is why all of Batman’s important gadgets are built into the suit itself.

  108. Charles RB

    I HAD wondered where security was during all this.

  109. nellydreadful

    My deep unrealistic hope is that this is part of an incredibly elaborate and brilliant Xanatos gambit on AmaziGirl’s part where before the evening started she borrowed someone else’s phone and now she’s about to accuse him of theft. What would he say? “I just took it so she couldn’t tell anyone I’m a rapist?”

  110. AlexDenton

    Oh man this is awesome. Can’t wait for the next page 😀

  111. Lan

    aaaaaaaaand there goes the phone.

  112. Roborat

    Oh come on! all those people, not to mention security, watching the fight and nobody sees Ryan sneaking away?

    1. Spencer

      If a superhero and her frenemy were beating up a bunch of dudes, wouldn’t you want to get out of dodge?

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Ryan has an SEP field.

      1. Spongegirl Circleskirt

        Somebody Else’s Problem field, for those not in the know. 🙂

  113. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Darker idea, Ryan hacks her phone, installs spyware, and lets AG get it back. Voyeuristic security breach ensues.

    1. Michael

      he doesn’t seem that smart

  114. Jon P

    So fucking what?
    Dorothy (THE REPORTER) has a picture of Ryan, wearing a DeSanto shirt, and knows he is confirmed to be The Bad Guy.
    Even if Ryan inexplicably is allowed to start a fight, steal a phone and then just leave, it’s not like he’ll be able to continue lying low for much longer.

    1. Jhon

      Are you my twin from an alternate universe? Have you tried a Whopperrito?

      1. Riku

        I may or may not be your twin but the whopperrito was terrible, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The cheeto chicken fries are rad though.

        1. Jay Eff

          What is going on with Burger King, lately? It’s like they’re trying to compete with Taco Bell re: who hires the most potheads to create new menu items for them.

  115. Vulcanodon

    The sheer number of women who would gain satisfaction from punching Ryan does not bode well for him. And once Dorothy gets done making him famous, more will come up I am sure.

  116. AutobotDen

    Wait. where’s Marcie?

    1. Jay Eff

      Hopefully she’s somewhere in that black void, waiting for ol’ Scarface.

  117. nerothewriter

    this comic brought to you by the word Traumedy ! 🙂

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