140

Baldy
Posted on December 8, 2011 by David M Willis

140 thoughts on “Baldy”

  1. David Herbert

    Someone has beach envy.

    1. Tucker

      The truck.

      Dina jumped right in. Well, sorta. Ankles count!

      1. johannhowitzer

        Bet you a fiver Dina stands in that one spot the whole day or until someone says, “hey Dina, you gonna swim?”, whichever comes first.

      2. Mally

        The truck thinks this beach is pretty cool, I guess.

  2. Mkvenner

    And the sunk frieghters.

    1. Mkvenner

      http://youtu.be/8MUO2KHSbjc

    2. Kalan

      and more awesome ducks.

      1. Mkvenner

        Those ducks eat geese for breakfest.

    3. Mkvenner

      http://youtu.be/SG87jD8fsm4

    4. Mkvenner

      http://youtu.be/_d-t0959C3A

      Due South

      1. Cholma

        Ooh, I remember Due South. Fun show.

        1. Rowen Morland

          That time they shot his hat 😀

        2. Mkvenner

          “She shot my hat, Ray.”

  3. Plasma Mongoose

    The pick-up truck in panel 3 thinks pretty highly of this place.

    1. Andrew Colunga

      Hahahaha

    2. Chrisby

      Perhaps it’s a robot….

      IN DISGUISE.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Why not, it is a Willis comic after all. 😀

      2. Kalan

        Or Ultra-Pickup

        1. Blob Marley

          That’s clearly amazi-girl out of costume.

        2. alex

          nah, we all know that walky’s amazi-girl!
          think about it, when have we ever seen them on screen together?

      3. iSaidCandleja-

        At least it doesn’t have to watch humans have sex right in front of him… wait, where’s Billie and Sal?

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Somewhere where it cannot watch. 😀

        2. Moonshine McGee

          The cab?

      4. a99steaksauce

        Ulra-car either got a makeover or a brother now.

  4. Tucker

    Hark, a three panel strip!

    David, Happy End of the Fiscal Fourth Quarter.

  5. Kalan

    So this is Lake Alsoran?

    1. Mkvenner

      No its Lake Monroe.

      1. Kalan

        Compared to Lake Michigan, it’s an also-ran, apparently.

        1. marr

          Compared to the Great Lakes almost every other lake seems like an also ran.

    2. Lordphulish

      I thought it was Lake Woebegone.

      1. Fauxlosopher

        Oh man that is awesome. I love Lake Woebegone.

      2. Mkvenner

        Lake Woebegone is not in Indiana.

  6. Joraiem

    Dina, I’m not sure if you need your inner tube right there.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      not to mention the floaties on each arm…

  7. MarcinMN

    Little do they realize, Ryan is watching from his pickup truck in the parking lot…plotting his nefarious revenge…

    Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn!

    1. Henry

      Or maybe he’s just masturbating.

      1. a99steaksauce

        He is, I saw him. He freaked out at first, but than he just continued.

    2. Mkvenner

      He’s eyeing Sal.

      1. NakedDumblydore

        I bet even Ryan can tell he’d never get one over on Sal.

        1. Joraiem

          Oh, but it would be fun to see what she’d do to him if he tried.

        2. Mkvenner

          Second.

  8. Henry

    Joyce Brown: Making your lakes feel woefully inadequate since 2011.

    1. Jacob

      Well, the Great Lakes are so amazing, it’s not Joyce’s fault she prefers them.

      1. Henry

        I’ll admit I’ve only ever seen one of them up close, and it was once, but frankly, Lake Michigan didn’t seem all that amazing other than being really freakin’ big.

        1. madd

          Dude! How many non-Great lakes have waves like that?!

        2. Henry

          It was a clear, calm day. I didn’t see anything I haven’t seen on the Chesapeake Bay, which is my usual yardstick.

          Also, it was Chicago. I was paying more attention to the largest city I’ve ever seen.

        3. murrkitteh

          WOOOOOOOH Maryland, home of…. nothing to do…

        4. thomas0comer

          Yeah, Michigan is impressive for a lake, but I live maybe half an hour from the Chesapeake, and I go down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina every year.

    2. carl320

      Monroe Reservoir should feel inadequate.

  9. Trae Dorn

    That truck sure looks familiar…

    1. Trae Dorn

      …and seems to be talking, in a Mark Trail sort of way…

      1. begbert2

        More like in a Trailbreaker sort of way.

  10. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

    This was a fairly nice seeing as how most of the dialogue was by Joyce and every bit of it was calm, serene and sincere. I think nostalgia has hit her a little though. Probably is a little homesick even though it’s only been a few days.

  11. Andrew Colunga

    Stay tuned for Lakewatch! Staring Dorothy.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Cue the slow-mo running.

      1. NCP19

        Glad I’m not the only one thinking this

    2. Mkvenner

      What channel is Mythbusters on?

      1. Blob Marley

        For the time being? No channel. They accidentally a cannonball into a residential neighborhood.

        1. Tucker

          For serious? That’s pretty spectacular.

        2. iSaidCandleja-

          Like 3 houses got hit… they were not on the same block.

        3. Tucker

          As long as it was just property damage, I will take my leave to roll on the floor about the spectacular oversight that is!

          Seriously… Webcomics are all I need; outside of them, the world is just stranger than fiction.

          I mean, Herman Cain quoted the Donna Summer song at the end of Pokemon the Movie 2000… I live in Canada, and that still made my god-damned life!

        4. Cannon...ball?

          It went through one house after bouncing off of a sidewalk, crossed a six lane road, ricocheted off of the roof of another house before landing in a van that had been vacated five minutes beforehand.

        5. Joraiem

          You know, I’m just amazed they haven’t done something like this before.

    3. Ancestral Hamster

      Hey! Don’t hassle the Hoff!

      1. Gundi

        +5. Hey, I think you dinged!

    4. Spazman

      Staring Dorothy? Sounds a little bit freaky

    5. Historyman68

      “staring”- Freudian slip?

      1. begbert2

        Now I’m picturing 45 minutes of Dorothy camped out on a beach, carefully watching and making sure the lake doesn’t go anywhere or do anything weird.

  12. Kernanator

    The comic brought to you by the Travel Channel.

    1. Mkvenner

      The what channel?

      1. Valdrax

        http://lmgtfy.com/?q=the+travel+channel

      2. Valdrax

        Seriously, though, it’s one of the few channels left on TV that I can still stomach. It has a bunch of shows about places to go, things to see, and delicious stuff to eat across the US and the world.

        Unfortunately, it’s beginning the inevitable death spiral. If you’re not all about the food (which I am), the rest of the content has become all too rare, and it has suffered the rotting plague of all educational / info channels — some show about supernatural crap (haunted locations) and its first “docutainment” reality show — something involving movers.

        If you do like food, though, it has “Man v. Food” and “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.” I don’t really like TV, but I sometimes enjoy them.

        1. Tucker

          The Daily Show – clearly.

        2. Valdrax

          Hm? Why do you mention it?
          That’s a different channel.

        3. Tucker

          It’s still one of the valid shows worth watching.

        4. Valdrax

          Well, a bit off-topic, but yes. Yes, it is.

  13. jaredstar

    at first i thought warren dunes was being referenced (since it too has a very steep very high hill

    1. marr

      Warren Dunes was my first thought too.

  14. Jon

    Dawwww. That was a well-written second panel, Willis. I doff my cap to you.

  15. Slipgate

    I comment only to tell you this is a thing of beauty. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what is my new bar for ‘slice of LIFE.’

    I’m saving this comic to my computer.

    1. thomas0comer

      I have extensive records of everything Willis has ever done or made saved on my computer.

  16. alicemacher

    Judging from yesterday’s strip and today’s, everyone’s wearing the same outfits as they are in this much earlier print.

    Well, except for Billie, who hasn’t stripped down to her swimsuit yet.

  17. Gneekman

    Mt Baldy is a pretty awesome dune, I have to agree. The Lake Michigan shoreline has some grade-A nature, and I love spending time almost anywhere along it.

    1. Mischief82

      Mt. Baldy’s really fun to roll down on as well, although rolling towards the lake wasn’t such a good idea. Last time I did that, I didn’t like how much rust was in the sand from the semi-nearby industry and I was finding bits of metal too. That’s why I prefer the Dunes State Park.

  18. NinjaNick

    Aw, cute Dina.

    The beach is a lovely place. I live about 15 miles to the nearest one.

    1. tahrey

      Where did she get the inner tube?!

      1. Bill M.

        Her backpack. You clearly missed the strip where Sal was amazed when it was revealed.

        1. ThatOneGuy

          Question is, if she was off to eat… why did she have an inner tube in her backpack?

  19. Jimmy

    It’s funny a friend of mine was just talking about climbing a beach dune off of Lake Michigan, but I can’t remember what the name of it was. We were too busy doing stair climbing up 45 floors in a building. That was painful.

  20. tom

    What the heck? What’s that pickup truck doing there? That pickup is far too sweet to not have a name. It should be tagged, Willis! I’d call her Betsy.

    1. Wackd

      That truck looks suspiciously familiar. I’m tempted to say it’s a version of an actual truck Willis had for almost two decades, which showed up occasionally in “It’s Walky!” and was eulogized in song in a “Shortpacked!” comic after it blew up.

      In which case, it already has a name, but I can’t remember for the life of me what it is.

      1. Tucker

        Walky’s truck talked?

      2. Allen

        It’s Kup

        1. begbert2

          Don’t be silly; that’s obviously Trailbreaker.

        2. Animal

          Agree. It’s Kup.

  21. NF

    The second panel is giving me nostalgia envy. I think it is likely a real anecdote from Willis’ childhood.

  22. Penisman

    Nice to see Dorothy barefoot! I’ve got a foot british and suspect DW does too, so it’s a nice thing to see :p

    1. f.p.

      One of your feet is British?

      1. Penisman

        Haha I guess this is one of those FU autocorrect moments.

    2. alicemacher

      Shouldn’t your nick be “Footman,” then?

  23. Blob Marley

    Gravity, Joyce? Or Intelligent Falling.

    1. NakedDumblydore

      OMG DUCKS!!!

      It’s the little things.

      1. NakedDumblydore

        That ducks comment was not supposed to be a reply. My fail.

  24. roshan

    Too bad you can’t climb Mt. Baldy anymore. At least not from the parking lot, given the slow creep of the mountain towards the parking lot given the thousands of people climbing, shifting the sand over the years. You technically still can, but you’ll just get in trouble if caught.

  25. Chris Kern

    Willis, you stalk me in your comics. I grew up near Lake Michigan and went to Mount Baldy all the time, and did just what Joyce is talking about. I also lived in Columbus for a while and even saw you once at Target.

    1. Valdrax

      …
      So turnabout’s fair play, then?

  26. Ryanwoofs

    Yep, that looks like the Lake Monroe I know. You’ve done it an extra service by making the water blue, instead of the muddy brown/algae green it usually is.

  27. Steven

    Holy shit, I think I’ve BEEN to that Dune as a child. I’ve run up and slid down it!

  28. a2020vision

    I, too, am originally from a town in Northwest Indiana just off of Lake Michigan, and can vouch for Mt. Baldy’s awesomeness. And Lake Michigan can get some serious waves, especially when there’s a bit of wind.

  29. Alexx

    *sigh* Reminds me of Sleeping Bear Dunes; my favorite passtime. That place has a GIGANTIC hill that I never got to run down when I was litte ’cause it was so steep. So, when I took a trip there later with my wife (then girlfriend) I did not hesitate to run down that sucker like a little child. My wife, of course, didn’t know that was my intention. She assumed, when she saw it, that I would understand how long it would take to GET BACK UP. I did not think of that. I was too excited. Took me a little under and hour to walk back up that son of a bongo – that’s how steep it was. You literally can only walk a few feet before getting tired, especially if you’re not used to pacing yourself. Every few feet was another rest stop!

    I never regretted it. Someday i’ll probably do it again.

  30. ryan

    joyce is a hypocrite. she beats up joe because of PMHP, but now she’s reminiscing about climbing mount baldy?

    1. MLBlue

      I was waiting for someone to finally make a penis joke from that. 😉

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Prepaid Mental Health Plan?

      1. TsunamiJane

        Pre Marital Hanky Panky!

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          That makes more sense.

  31. Gundi

    Pfft. I’ve lived near oceans all my life and I say with some confidence that all freshwater bodies are uppity and compensating for something. Lake Michigan *does* have nice beaches though.

    1. MacaroniPterodactyl

      If you think that Oceans have anything on freshwater lakes then you need to go see Lake Superior from the top of a cliff in summertime. Trust me on this.

  32. Jeffrey Scott

    Wow, I have video of those sand dunes from when I was a child. They were awesome!

  33. Animal

    This beach needs more Sal.

    1. Tucker

      This gravatar approves, but likely in a different way.

  34. Ter

    Ducks!

  35. David Grubb

    Being a Bloomington kid, I can’t help but notice how your backgrounds a lot of the time tend to be actual places around town, or at the least very similar. I’m going to hazard a guess that today’s is Paynetown? Either way, I love that you take the time to do that even if most people wouldn’t notice.

  36. agentksilver

    Don’t mind me, I’m just testing my new gravatar to see if changing it worked.

  37. Whit

    It is very, VERY easy to top Fairfax Beach. I mean, the most common indigenous species is Millerlitus shardus.

  38. Whit

    Hm, I guess you’re right, David Grubb (do I know you? I did change my name….), it looks more like Paynetown, but the rocks reminded me of the rocks up along the sidewalk and towards the concession stand at Fairfax. I remember in ’83, the lake was flooded and came up almost to the Fairfax parking lot. The beach was of course closed and there were no lifeguards, but it was packed once the heat hit roundabout April or May. Memories….

  39. KevinSig

    Not Pajama jeans, but LL Bean apparently makes flannel lined jeans. That’s kinda close, and they come in Men’s sizes.

    1. Animal

      LL Bean jeans are for urban metrosexuals who want to look outdoorsy. For the real deal, you need Carhartt.

      1. KevinSig

        So they do. I only knew about the LL Bean ones because I spotted them in a flyer thing this morning. But looking up on the nets, yeah the Carhart ones are about the same thing.

        Anyway, just figured I’d share, because they sound like the closest thing we men folk can get to Pajama jeans. Since flannel is used in PJs at least.

        1. KresyAntics

          The make actual PJeans. You can find them in any Walgreens. Usually on the very top shelf where no one looks. The box they come in looks just like the one Willis has drawn.

  40. Malana

    🙁 I miss Mt. Baldy. And the Indiana Dunes in general.

  41. Sapphire82

    I didn’t think anyone knew about Mt. Blady, that’s an obscure reference unless you’re from “The Region”. lol, I haven’t been there in years but I do have fond memories of running up that hill and falling on my face.

  42. obo

    beaches and shores….

  43. dvtol58

    There must be several dunes called Mt. Baldy along Lake Michigan. The one I ran up and down is in Saugatuck, about two hours drive north of Indiana State Dunes. No rust or metal or pollution there, but there is a big radar dome on the top.

  44. Amieechu

    Man, I used to really close to lake Michigan. Like 30 minutes away. This comic has brought me so many feels.

  45. Kitrona

    Mount Baldy!! You know, they closed it now, because there were too many people climbing it and it was eroding. 🙁

  46. Tealjoy

    I love how Dina is so prepared

  47. derpdeeherp

    MOUNT BALDY? I love that place! MY youth group goes there once a year TOO! Have you ever tried going down the back instead of the front? It’s reeaaally steep and hard to climb back up, but that just makes it more fun!

    1. David Willis

      I believe Joyce *is* referring to the steep part. 🙂

  48. Chops

    Aw shit, Mount Baldy? So is Joyce from Saugatuck or Douglas? And did she go to that Presbyterian Camp?

  49. Yumi

    On my first read through, I didn’t connect Mount Baldy with Michigan City. Now that I did, this makes me super excited. I’m from Michigan, but my family would spend a week at a cabin in Michigan City most summers when I was growing up. Also, when I was seventeen I took two friends with me and looked into the churches in the area some because I knew one of my friends would like to go. There were A LOT of them, many of which I would have been super uncomfortable going to. I did find at least one, though, that I felt I, as a queer person, would still be safe and perfectly welcome at.

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