137

Awkward
Posted on April 14, 2011 by David M Willis

137 thoughts on “Awkward”

  1. DaniellePhantom

    …..so did they do it or didn’t they? i’m tempted to go for the latter.

    1. Croaxleigh

      My guess is they tried, and ran into technical difficulties.

      On account of Ethan technically being gay and all.

      (Why do I suddenly feel like I’m channeling Mike with that joke?)

      1. MM

        *Insert joke involving “channeling” and “your mom” here*

        1. Tristan J

          I inserted a joke into Your Mom.

          Wait, that sounds bad for me.

        2. darkond2100

          I inserted myself into your mother…
          With my penis.

        3. DarkVeghetta

          So that’s why she’s gay now!

        4. Shift

          It sounds like you knocked up her mom.

          Babies: The practical joke that keeps giving for 18 years.

        5. aydr

          I think you’ve mixed up “giving” and “taking”.

          ‘yaknow. Like Ethan.

        6. DarkVeghetta

          *slowclap*

        7. david with a small d

          Word. This is Soooo Babies.

        8. ChesterJSellars

          Everyone above this deserves One Free Internet. I have never laughed so hard in my life.

  2. Jen Aside

    Wait, what? I thought I was reading DoA!

    ¬_¬

    ^_^

  3. David Herbert

    Next strip, Mike finds out he got herpes from your mom.

    1. Justme

      … for a nickle.

      1. Soundbucket

        Which is pretty expensive. Usually you can get herpes for free

        1. DarkVeghetta

          It’s dem’ fancy’ European herpes.

  4. Dahlia

    Awww, its ok, Ethan! You’re awesome no matter what orientation you are!

    I’m sure Amber understands D:

    1. Shift

      Yeah, but you know a small part of a her is bitter. I mean, prom is supposed to be THE NIGHT of high school. Having that particular event punctuated by “its not you, it’s me, cause I like boy-bits” usually isn’t the kind of teenage memory most girls want to have.

      1. Dahlia

        v.v Yeah…thats true…and I don’t blame her.

        I’ve been there and know how she feels (eight years liking the guy to find the same thing! To make matters worse it was a trusted secret @.@;;)….

        I just think Amber is a good enough person to (eventually) let go of that bitterness and be happy for Ethan finally finding himself…its not an easy thing to accept nor a lifestyle that goes unpunished amongst ignorant (read: the majority of encountered) people.

        1. Shift

          Yeah, I was one the other end of the scenerio with my best friend. She had a crush on me and wanted to date, but the whole “we both enjoy a nice man” thing… Well, there was awkwardness.

          Thankfully we never persued a relationship together, so when I came out, I think that might have helped soften the blow. It was less “you were using me to mask your sexuality” and more “well that explains A LOT!”

          And I agree. Amber is no doubt a good enough person to move on. And I think she is happy for Ethan even now. But the embarrassment and rejection… It’s going to be awkward.

        2. Dahlia

          Oh gosh! I can only imagine how that went…sounds complicated…I’m so glad that you two were able to work it out and remain friends!

          I totally admire you, you know *o*

          I’m sometimes ashamed to be heterosexual because some “anti-gay” movements show more: heterosexuality = retarded. Homosexuality won’t start wars. Its not contagious. Its nothing to be ashamed of.

          I grew up being treated as a cripple because of a disease I have, and it sickens me when people talk abuot homosexuals in general like they’ve got the plaugue. Its not fun for people WHO ARE SICK to be treated this way, let alone a perfectly healthy individual IN LOVE (so what if its with the same gender?).

          Haha, but I do go on ^^;;

      2. dusk

        I am sorry, but this has not been said yet

        She was going to do him in that hotel room

        ….with his penis

        For a nickle

        In the FAAAAAAAAAACE!

        1. DarkVeghetta

          FATALITY

  5. Teowulf

    I like the Mike’s look in the 2nd to last panel ALMOST looks like legitimate concern.

    1. Teowulf

      Doh, *THAT. I need proofread better.

  6. Jon

    DoA Mike may be the most mindfucking incarnation of him yet.

    1. David Herbert

      What about mom-fucking?

      1. DarkVeghetta

        That’s what dads and plumbers are for, silly.

        1. DarkVeghetta

          And Mike. No exceptions.

  7. Doctor_Who

    Mike seems to know a lot about what happened. Was he there?

    Maybe in the next room over, with HIS prom date, Your Mom.

  8. NCP19

    Man, “just like in the hotel room after prom” just became my go-to reply if anyone says “this is awkward” now.

    1. Seerow

      I dunno, if there wasn’t -actually- an event in the hotel room after prom, and the person you’re speaking to wasn’t -actually- the person who had a very awkward moment in the hotel room after prom…. that seems like the sort of retort that could get turned around on you in a very bad way.

      1. photoman86

        The trick is not to care.

        1. ArchSchnitz

          This and the fact that I personally have managed to turn just about anything into a “just like prom night” joke.

  9. Tristan J

    In light of this strip, I stand by the Mike And Ethan Are Bangin’ In The Dumbiverse Theory.

    1. Peace in Our Time

      I hope not. Not everybody has to be paired off after all. Some platonic friendship would be a nice change of pace. Besides, Ethan being Ethan has always been a goldmine for Mike.

      1. gangler

        Everybody has to be paired off. Every single person. No exceptions.

        This being said, Ethan can’t be paired with Mike, because he’s already paired with your mom and a nickel. Got a little threesome going there.

        1. gerardo

          It makes sense, even the cartoonist got hitched… traka tum kash!

    2. turkishproverb

      I second this theory. Actually…I think I stated it in the past…must…check…archives…

    3. Shift

      I could see them hooking up once or twice, but frankly, I don’t see them dating. Mike is much younger here than in the SP! universe so, he still has too much chaos to sew that he can’t be tied down by Ethan or Amber.

  10. T Campbell

    Yeah, why would Amber NOT want to make more time for these guys? Her life is so much fuller now than it was this morning.

    1. John

      Just like in the hotel room after prom.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Your Mom was full in the hote-

        Y’know what, skip it. I’ve had one obvious joke too many. For a nickel.

        1. Dean

          Just like your mom?

      2. aydr

        Like the hotel room after prom in that in both cases “fuller” means “emptier”. Particularly with regards to Amber.

  11. ScytheAkse

    well THAT was unexpected

  12. ilvos01

    Woah woah woah, is the Amber/Faz Half-Brother/Sister thing still real in this universe?

    1. Viktoria

      It doesn’t matter, because Faz is dead. He was masturbating frantically to his own underwear when he accidentally swallowed his tongue, causing him to fall out a 3rd story window naked, landing on a cactus, which made him run into the street where he was run over by a garbage truck. Some of the trash was actually toxic waste, and when it fell on him it caught fire. No one showed up at the funeral.

      1. Croaxleigh

        Until he returned two seasons later, having gained superpowers from the toxic waste.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Faz is the Toxic Avenger now? CRIKEY!

        2. Lunchbox

          We’ll have to wait until the Toxic Avenger vs. Amazi-Girl story arc to find out :P.

      2. Narf

        This comment is made all the more hilarious by the fact that

        **********SPOILER ALERT FOR ARCHIVE BINGE-ERS**********
        ****************************************************
        ****************************************************
        ****************************************************

        Faz actually shows up later, with Amber’s dickhead dad. Now, I’m going to re-read those scenes imagining that Faz is a zombie.

        Awesome. 😀

  13. calendarman27

    On the bright side, this universe’s Ethan was able to come out a lot earlier than SP! Ethan, so Amber did him a really big service in the long run, even if it was unfathomably awkward at the time

    1. MM

      Also, if Amber had enough of a normal high school existence to go to prom, I’m guessing (hoping?) she had a much happier childhood.

      1. dchorror

        I just have the image of her growing up with Faz. Normal doesn’t mean happier.

        1. calendarman27

          Well yeah, but think about this: if Amber’s dad isn’t such a giant toolbastard in this universe, then he probably never got involved with the korean mob meaning he never had an affair with a korean woman, thus Faz was never born!

        2. dchorror

          He’d be different, but it doesn’t null the opportunity for him to exist.

        3. gangler

          That’s getting into some weird existential matters of the soul. Let’s just stick to the concrete. Mommy and Daddy never slept together, so you were never born.

        4. gangler

          Because annoying siblings cause equivelant unhappiness to that of severe abuse? Noted.

        5. dchorror

          No, but I never said it was equivalently unhappy either. We don’t even know if it was normal yet either, so…

        6. Shift

          The thing that disturbs me most about that idea is that Faz continued to hit on Amber in this universe despite being raised as siblings.

      2. gerardo

        her mother divorced faster, so her life was a shorter hell

  14. The Paradoxical Frogboy

    Meanwhile, in an alternate universe:

    “Again, Andrew, I’m sorry that I ruined our Gay Prom night by being straight.”

    1. Seerow

      Wait they have a separate Gay Prom from Straight Prom now?

      1. David

        Mississippi’s tryin’ their best.

      2. Rognik

        they do in alternate realities!

      3. dchorror

        Depends on where you go, and it’s rarely a separate official one. My high school banned the gay kids from prom one year, they held their own.

        Didn’t go over well for the school.

        1. 1Samildanach

          I don’t imagine it would. And mind altering substances must have been involved in that decision.

      4. Shift

        Yeah in most cases where being gay is frowned upon by the school, the LGBT kids end up throwing their own proms in a basement or something.

        My high school wasn’t even lucky enough to have a gay prom. Heck, we weren’t even allowed to have a LGBT club on campus grounds. Of course this was Nebraska in the mid-late 90’s, so I’m not surprised.

        And I guess one of the problems we had was that we had no notably out homosexual students in my school except for myself, and even then only my close friends knew. But I’m very certain that had I tried to bring a boyfriend, the school wouldn’t have allowed it. And if not them… well the homophobic students would have taken issue. :,-(

    2. dchorror

      Why would there be a universe in which only one of them was a different gender?

      1. Shift

        It’s a universe that was done very half-assed. You know, like 65% of the Alternate Earth’s from DC’s “Countdown to Final Crisis.”

      2. aydr

        You mean sexuality? They’re talking about Drew, Ethan’s Shortpacked! boyfriend. At least I assume.

        1. dchorror

          Oh…um, yeah…I wasn’t even thinking about that. Haven’t read Shortpacked a lot over the past few weeks, so the name escapes me.

          Besides, Andrew seems a good male approximation for Amber.

        2. Narf

          What about Ambrose?

  15. Cha

    I love Mike’s FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE in the second to last panel.
    Yeah, had to do it. xD;

    1. benenator

      With your penis.

      1. agentksilver

        In the hotel room after prom.

        1. Tobias

          Ladies and gentlemen, we have hit meme critical mass.

        2. Cha

          For a nickel.

  16. Sushi Database

    My heart goes out to Amber- the same thing happened to me on my prom night. …okay, not quite the same thing, we thankfully never got as far as the hotel room, but still! Bad breaks, ladydude!

  17. dchorror

    I can kinda see why Amber may have been avoiding the two of them.

    It seems this Mike has a wider range of expression than Mike prime. I find this much more frightening than the smile he pulled after Amber slugged him.

  18. Ridureyu

    One look at Amber’s body, and BAM!!! he’s gay.

    Or at least that’s how her shattered self-esteem will make it look.

    1. Seerow

      Honestly that’s the kind of comment I expect from Mike.

    2. ProtonCon

      I have PSL for Amber. It’s the glasses man…

      1. Bill M.

        I’ve had PSL for Amber for quite some time now. Lemon fanfic levels of PSL…

    3. GreenSimplicity

      You know, she seems a whole lot less “shattered self-esteem” in this universe. For example, SP! Amber (at least at the beginning) would never have reacted so strongly to Mike like that.

      I’m really liking DoA Amber like this.

      1. Ridureyu

        Depends. I read a lot of her “Nope! No social interaction. Vidya games!” as a nice little defensive mechanism.

  19. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

    On another note, I’ve always thought Ethan and Amber would make for a great couple.

  20. Kater

    Well at least Mike didn’t have sex with them both in the same night.

    Yet.

    1. lord of dance

      or maybe he did… which would explain both how he knew how awkward it was and how ethan figured out he was gay

  21. Silver C.

    I love you, Mike. 😀

    Other than that, that would explain why Amber would rather face a computer screen than them. (^^); Poor girl.

  22. linkman0596

    jesus mike….jesus mike……mike as jesus……..sometimes i love my mind, right now i’m just scared of it

    1. venderian945

      Mike as Jesus? Dear God, I can’t even imagine what would happen.

      1. lord of dance

        amen i say to you.
        love each other as you love yourself
        or as i loved your mom… for a nickel

        1. Breeze

          Maybe it’s the fact that it’s 2:20AM, but this made me laugh. Well played, Lord of Dance. Well played.

      2. Jetstream

        Some of the more militant Christian sects would make a hell of a lot more sense? 😀

    2. 1Samildanach

      God did his mum in the FAAAACE!!! with his penis in the hotel room after prom, for a nickel?

      Y’know, if the old testament wroth wroth smite smite-ness somehow got transferred to jesus!Mike, that’d explain a lot. The more relaxed attitude seen in the new testament, for example (though that could simply be from Him getting laid).

  23. Grassynoel

    Yeah it’s awkward, but not for Mike, I’m guessing.

    1. agentksilver

      Nothing is ever awkward for Mike. Well, that one time. With the customer who just didn’t understand that Mike had banged the customer’s mom for a nickel.

  24. Shift

    Well that answers my question from the other day.

    But Amber, how can you snap at Mike? Getting pissy at him comments is like being pissed at a dog for licking itself. They going to do it whether you like it or not, so just learn to ignore it. 😛

  25. calendarman27

    I’m impressed with Mike, it’s only day 3 of college and already he’s ruined somebody’s date, has got to wreck a lot of people’s self esteem, and now is reopening the old wounds of his friends, good show Mike

    1. Shift

      Really? I dunno… seems like he’s slack off a bit. I mean, he hasn’t even made he hasn’t even made some cry properly yet on panel. Maybe he’s just starting out slow and building up steam.

    2. fezzam

      i put the day at 4 if you count orientation.

  26. ThatRobedGuy

    Ba-ZING!

    1. ThatRobedGuy

      My wife just mentioned she reads Mike as Neil Patrick Harris…I’m okay with this.

  27. Sauron Bane

    Oh Mike… How we love ye’… You sadistic git. 😀

  28. Ozzmandius

    I only just now noticed how Eathan is wearing the same shirt here and in SP! Has this always happened? I tend to not pick up on things.

  29. Kelsey

    “Sorry I ruined our Prom night by being gay” is the most hilariously awkward apology ever.

  30. ashleyw

    pfft, mike you’re just jealous that it wasn’t you and amber on prom night

    of course I say this and we’ll later find out that they did do something

    1. Seraph

      No, Mike was too busy doing your Mom that night. For a nickel.

      1. ashleyw

        ok

  31. VRiley2000

    New to this comic… but wow, Mike’s a d**k, isn’t he?

    1. Suzushiiro

      You have no idea.

      1. Seraph

        Indeed. There are plenty of unpleasant characters in this comic – more every time we turn around, it seems – but Mike is in a category all his own. He is an elemental force of bastardry.

        1. Doom Shepherd

          That’s what I tend to like about Willis’s comics. Nobody is unflawed. Deep down (or sometimes, not so deep down,) everybody’s a jerk or a hypocrite about something. The trick to life is finding out how. Then using it. To your own advantage, or for the lulz.

        2. 1Samildanach

          Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart! Mike!

        3. KZero

          “Hey, kid. If you don’t pick up that can I’m going to take the deposit from it… and use it to sleep with your mom twice.” – Mike Planeteer

          (In MI deposit is 10 cents boys and girls. And that’s where I’m from.)

  32. Jason

    Thank god for the comments, or I’d still be thinking that Amber was trying to hide the fact that she slept with Mike (awkwardly).

    1. Jason

      P.S. I love that sad-puppy-dog look Ethan has in the last two panels.

  33. XLR

    By looking at the Authors comments I notices it still says Bechdel test. This is still part of that storyline?

    1. bloodgun

      I predict someone unexpected may turn out to be bisexual in this storyline, I’m hoping for DoA Joyce.

      1. bloodgun

        On second thought, I’m thinking Amber is more likely.

        1. bloodgun

          Duh… Sorry about being a total idiot here, I read that as the kinsey scale rather than bechdel test and I completely forgot how storylines work in david willis’ comics.

  34. calendarman27

    Mike is important because he makes even the most unpleasant characters seem like decent people, *gasp* what if that’s the plan? giving all other characters a common person to view as an asshole? he’s like Batman, hes the hero this comic deserves, but not the one it needs

  35. DaveSilver

    I just started reading this and the other Wally stuff like two days ago and it’s great so far. Also Dumbing of Age, which happens to be the first Wally comic I found, launched on my birthday so that only makes me more interested in it. Great work and keep it up.

    1. gerardo

      I read them all in 2 days (3 counting shortpacked), How many days take you to read them?

  36. Robin

    I thought thetwist to this universe would be Ethan and Leslie being straight … and everyoe else is gay

  37. A random reader

    But this makes no sense in relation to yesterday. If Mike already knows about it and Ethan already knows about it, who didn’t know what yet? Who doesn’t know what yet?!

    On another note, Goddamnit! My PSL for the AmberMike pairing is sobbing.

    1. Seth

      Ethan didn’t know he was gay in the Hotel Room after prom. HE DIDN’T KNOW!

    2. Strephon

      Ethan didn’t yet know he was gay until the night of prom (note use of past tense–didn’t, not doesn’t).

  38. TPmanW

    Does Mike have a facebook page? What about a last name? I know we met his parents but I’m too lazy to track down the strips.

    1. David

      His cast page has always said his last name is Warner.

  39. Pingback: Dumbing of Age - ETHAN IS GAY

  40. Shameless

    OK is anyone else thinking about Arrested Development right now? COME ON! I’ve made a huge mistake.

  41. Maycroft

    Pure Mikeness.

  42. newllend

    Oooh that’s funny, wait a minute he’s guy, and my avatar is him so…OH FUCK YOU!

  43. RandomPerson12

    Okay, Mike is now officially my favorite DoA character.

Leave a Reply to calendarman27 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.