550

Booster
Posted on September 24, 2020 by David M Willis

550 thoughts on “Booster”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    getting Alex vibes here

    1. Ana Chronistic

      I have some insane theories in my head, but let’s just see where this goes for a few strips first before floating the really dubious shit

      1. butts

        what if it’s a double fakeout and booster is just mike, who dyed his hair because he wanted a clean start

        1. BorkBorkBork

          Whaddya mean, “if”? That’s drunk Mike right there.

        2. butts

          OH NO YOU’RE RIGHT THAT’S HOW HE’S KEEPING UP THE FACADE

          HE’S EVEN GOT THE SAME CHEEK THINGS, FUCK

        3. Wack'd

          Everyone has those cheek things and Booster’s complexion is, well.

          Let’s just say if this really is a disguise I’d rather Mike stay dead.

        4. Rectilinear Propagation

          Yeah, I think the complexion and height difference is supposed to be telling us it’s definitely not Mike.

        5. Captain Oblivious

          And the height came from…? Mike was not a tall guy, but Booster is a good bit taller than Walkerton.

        6. Foxhack

          Mike regenerated Doctor Who style

        7. Doctor_Who

          Hmmm, I have heard of a Time Lord who was called “The Asshole”, but I figured it was just a nickname for The Master. Do you suppose…?

        8. RedCat

          What, really??

        9. Ziggy78eog

          If it is Mike, he is talking, and moving around, quite well, for someone who had severe head trauma, with next to no rehab. Just laying that out.

      2. anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness

        When he said BOOSTER what popped into my consciousness was The Dough-ler.
        Let us hope he is not such a creature but then I look at the cast and lo and behold we do not have that archetype.

      3. Cimorene

        – Mike’s death faked and he is in witness protection.

        – Booster is Mike. Enby/trans Mike <3 hiding in plain sight.

        I kind of just want a Homestar Runner Strongbad email like, "Wally stop telling people I died!" Like the caffeine email.

    2. SpookyFox

      mike is dead, long live booster

      1. Newllend(henryvolt)

        To be fair I don’t see a Ethan shaped one in there either… now would be a good time to worry though.

        1. Someone

          I kinda think Ethan is over Joyce and Becky’s shoulders, doesn’t look broad enough to make me think Jacob, anyway…

        2. SuperFroakie82

          Pretty sure that’s Joe

      2. Needfuldoer

        Calling it now: Booster offed Mike in order to take his spot among the secondary cast.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          maybe Mike grew a soul and was reincarnated as Booster

    3. Mr D

      Was that ever confirmed?
      Because, like, I don’t think any transition method available can do the massive change that Alex would have gone through in such a case?

      Is there? I’m asking here for real

      1. butts

        I believe Willis confirmed it outside of the strip, in a “I didn’t think of that but you know what it’s canon now” kind of way. Don’t have the source on me though.

        1. butts

          Never mind, found the statement. It was intentionally ambiguous.

        2. butts

          er, bad link

        3. Mr D phone posting

          Ahh yeah Willis even talks about the massive change in a single week(end?). That would have been some impressive transition right there.

        4. Eusis

          I’d like to treat it as if the Alexes are identical strangers, just one repressed while the other embraced transitioning. And is much happier for it!

        5. a/snow/mous/e

          yeah

        6. showler

          Mandela Effect dude. The universes are moving when we’re not looking.

      2. Delthor

        That level of change? Yeah, that’s totally possible, though mileage certainly varies. It happening in a single weekend? Eeeeh, that stretches credibility a bit. I’d chalk it up to artistic license or her doing lots of prep and practice beforehand. You can make a lot of changes without it being obvious like skin and hair care, HRT, etc. Then with a haircut, makeup, and clothes, you can seem like a totally different person. Just look at what some people are able to do with drag, and those people aren’t even taking the medical steps trans people do. Really, the only reason I say it stretches credibility is the difference in face shape. I don’t know much about facial feminization surgery, but I doubt recovery is fast enough that you could do it in a weekend. Again, though, artistic license.

        One thing that can make a huge difference is how happy people are being their genuine selves. One of the most striking things I’ve noticed with almost every before/after picture I’ve seen is just how much happier people are, and it makes an enormous difference.

        1. Regalli

          Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was even why they intended them to be separate characters and went to ‘wasn’t my intent but enough people who’d know consider it possible I’m willing to put it as ambiguous’. (While also saying ‘new or not, this Alex is a trans woman’.)

    4. SuperFroakie82

      That was my immediate thought too, but I really don’t think it’s actually gonna happen, given Booster immediately has a different backstory. I think the reasons for the visual similarities between them and Mike is more likely just so Willis could throw us off on the silhouettes, and to make it so them filling the Mike shaped hole in the cast is both figurative and literal.

      1. SuperFroakie82

        I was thinking that if it did happen the fake-out would be that we think they switched roommates because they’re trans or non-binary and their roommate was dead-naming them, but it’s actually Mike in a witness protection program like others have suggested, and the roommate somehow found out and kept calling them Mike. But actually, it could be both, Booster is Mike and is also non-binary, and Booster just decided to have everyone say they were dead so they could transition freely, that seems sorta believable. Although that could maybe accidentally seem like it’s implying that the brain damage turned them nonbinary or something, which Willis would probably want to avoid, so I dunno.

      2. Some Guy

        What/where are these silhouettes people keep mentioning?

        1. SuperFroakie82

          It’s on the image right below the strip, around where the tags are. They’ve been getting filled in as characters have been appearing.

    5. bubba0077

      Given the name choice and how they are presenting, I suspect Booster is non-binary rather than binary trans like Jocelyne or Alex.

      1. SuperFroakie82

        And the cast page uses they/them too so I think that’s a pretty safe bet.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          I meant “mysterious new person who may or may not be the old person” vibes but however you wanna interpret it

          the ACTUAL most insane theory is it’s one of my schoolmates, who is like a DEAD RINGER for Booster, but he’s gay and cismale (or was, years ago… who knows whether that could’ve morphed into NB anysexuality, I didn’t keep up)

      2. Marsh Maryrose

        Is it just me or does Booster look a lot like Laser of the Double-Clicks?

        (Who of course also goes by they/them)

  2. Olivia Cheatham

    Looks like the Power Booster Rod is here in DOA.

    1. Dr T

      My god, that is who he is, isn’t he?

      1. Rose by Any Other Name

        **opens mouth**
        **closes mouth**

        Huh. Yeah, that makes about as much sense as anything.

        Wait. Does that mean that the Cheese will eventually get a DoA character?

        1. butts

          He already did.

        2. Rose by Any Other Name

          … I completely forgot that.

          Yup. I’m joining the Power Booster Rod theory bandwagon. Seems legit.

        3. Wack'd

          The Cheese was an actual dude with capacity to communicate and a theory of mind! The Power Booster Rod was a tree branch!

        4. abacuswizard

          It wasn’t just a tree branch; it was also powerful and mysterious!

      2. JetstreamGW

        I’m pretty sure it’s just a Booster Gold reference.

        You see…

        Booster Gold’s real name is Michael Carter.

    2. Kamino Neko

      The PBR didn’t have those luscious lips.

  3. Chris

    Well, at least we have an answer to the silhouette question.

    1. Mra

      Well, shit.

    2. Lingo

      Man I was really convinced that was gonna be Imaginary Mike, slightly-different-hair be damned.

      1. Lingo

        Not that this means that Imaginary Mike won’t appear….

        1. Diane

          Not unless Amber’s not around.

  4. SpookyFox

    hello mystery haircut

  5. JA

    Not a previous Walkyverse reader here. Is Booster a carryover or are they a new original character?

    1. Doctor_Who

      There was no character named Booster in the OGverse.

      There was however a thing called the Power Booster Rod, so some people are making that connection.

      1. Cattleprod

        So 99% sure Booster’s last name is Roderick or something.

        1. butts

          Rodriguez, maybe?

        2. Cattleprod

          Yeah, that’s better, I’m not sure I’ve even seen Roderick as a last name before.

        3. DinaJoyce

          I have a friend with the last name Rodrick, so it’s totally possible

        4. Osopescado

          Last name Roderick? That seems familiar… But not too familiar…. but not too NOT familiar….

        5. Council

          GreEtiNgs aNd SaLuTaTioNs

        6. Liz

          IT’S A NEW CRAZE!!!!

        7. Lumus

          I’ll put my chips on Roderick ‘Booster’ Powers.

      2. Jamie

        …why Willis. why.

      3. Regalli

        … If the soft reboot’s actually to bring back the dimension-hopping, alien-fighting hijinks and Booster is named such due to Shenanigans, I will laugh for WEEKS.

        1. Regalli

          To be clear: Booster would have picked their name as a conscious reference to the phenomenon because they Know Things, I do not think Booster is a transfigured tree branch or something.

        2. butts

          they might be

        3. Rose by Any Other Name

          Well, remember, it was only a tree branch because that’s where the Britjas chose to stick the massive pile of interdimensional energy. They could have chosen anything. Or… anyone.

        4. Wack'd

          I mean, Power Booster Rod is also a Transformers reference, because of course it is.

        5. Regalli

          I love how I have just enough Transformers knowledge to get some things, but it’s SO DENSE I miss shoutouts like this and wasn’t keeping up to date on the rerun strips. (I really should change that.)

          We haven’t had nearly enough Transformers OR comics references lately, so if they’re a nerd I am more than okay with that. Also I like the ‘ne’er’, I have enough verbal flourishes for no point but having them to respect that.

        6. showler

          “I am Booster”

        7. saltchocolate

          This made me laugh in the midst of being very sad about Mike . . . and now Ethan, too, since I don’t see his silhouette. ???

    2. Enigmatic Jack

      Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe?

      There WAS a Booster previously, but it was a stick.

  6. butts

    …is this the power booster rod??

    1. butts

      also don’t think we don’t see you with the silhouette fakeout, Willis

  7. Max

    I’m just commenting because I don’t usually get here before there are two dozen comments.

  8. The Lurker

    Whats with the new backer with redacted/shadowed people up above?

    1. brionl

      Some evil bastard is revealing the characters one by one as the make their debut in the day’s strip.

      1. Needfuldoer

        And they didn’t upload them all at once so you can’t cheat and peek ahead by incrementing the filename.

        Damn them.

    2. Linkman0596

      Just guessing, but since there’s been a time skip it looks like everyone’s getting an updated look and as they’re reintroduced they’ll be inserted into the backer

    3. Jo Giggles

      We’re in season 2, after the time skip and Willis is introducing the main cast of the second season, now.

  9. Sirksome

    Well I for one look forward to getting to know Booster!..Nah! Just kidding this dork has not proven himself to me at all! Not yet!

  10. Nono

    …Well, I kinda dislike them already.

    1. butts

      literally we know nothing about them except that they’re (probably) trans

      1. Nono

        Slight smug expression in panel 1, maybe the use of “ne’er”. They could just be a dork, or they could be a smuglord. Too soon to tell.

        1. Suitora

          Probably just Booster trying to be nice. Booster had a roommate who wouldn’t respect his/their name. Walky is an unusual name, but it’s something he goes by. So Booster sympathizes with people not respecting names.

        2. RacingTurtle

          I just thought it sounded like the sort of thing giant dorks say in potentially-stressful situations

        3. Nono

          Yeah, it’s really too early to tell. They could be a Big Bang Theory-level nerd. Which would still be annoying, but… eh. I reserve judgement.

        4. BBCC

          Yeah, I was getting ‘possible theatre/lit nerd’ vibes from that line – or just slightly dramatic nerd in general.

        5. RacingTurtle

          Oooooh, we don’t have a theatre nerd yet; I like the idea

        6. Nono

          I mean, Billie already has a flair for the dramatic.

        7. BBCC

          I might be thinking so because their way of talking reminds me of King Ezekiel from TWD.

        8. saltchocolate

          I’m here for that!

        9. Needfuldoer

          “ne’er” must always be followed by “-do-well”, and only wielded by Victorian era nannies in reference to troublesome children.

      2. ReFlex76

        I was gonna go with non-binary

        1. Yumi

          Those overlap significantly

        2. butts

          not that we need to get extensively into this discourse but nb people are trans (unless they choose to identify otherwise, which is fine)

        3. Rose by Any Other Name

          **raises hand**
          If Boomer was MtF trans, then wouldn’t she be in the girl’s side like Carla?
          Or are people thinking that Boomer is FtM trans?
          Cause I didn’t get either of those impressions. I’m thinking gender fluid but still identifies as male on paperwork (hence the male side of the dorm).

        4. butts

          They could be AFAB, or AMAB and non-binary. I don’t know if IU has gender-neutral dorms. It doesn’t really matter, and frankly it’s a little gross to speculate (even if it is a fictional character), but I’m sure we will get confirmation on pronouns soon.

        5. foamy

          If Booster was AFAB, wouldn’t the same situation we see with Carla — specifically, a room without a roommate, but in the dorm they identify as — apply?

          Honestly, I’m not even going to assume they’re NB as yet; that’s reading an awful lot into some fashion choices and two panels of dialogue. The cast page specifically using ‘they’ is more indicative, I guess.

        6. BBCC

          Willis referred to them as non binary on Patreon and confirmed they’ll be joining the main cast.

          And not necessarily – school administrators can be more twitchy about trans women in women’s dorms than otherwise and Carla’s loaded – she may have paid extra for a single.

        7. ego

          can no longer see this without brain auto-completing “All Females Are Bastards”.

        8. Yumi

          See, my brain goes with “Assigned Cop At Birth.”

        9. Regalli

          Same as Yumi. It’s… an image, to be sure.

          Up there with MLM as multilevel marketing, frankly.

      3. Jamie

        I’m not sure it’s fair to even infer that they’re trans yet.

        1. Sirksome

          Booster’s trans? I kind of didn’t catch that at first unless we’re all just assuming that. I guess that comment about their name could be seen as a hint to that then? I’ll refer to Booster as them then I guess.

        2. Suitora

          It seems hinted. Carla was hinted in the same way multiple times, until I think Mary basically spilled it out by saying she “belongs in the boy’s dorm”.

          The only thing I could see about people being aggressive about not respecting a name is usually that person’s trans. I mean, people were mostly fine with Snoop Dogg changing his name to Snoop Lion. It could be because they have a stick up their ass and think the name Booster is lame, but it’s more likely transphobia.

        3. Nono

          We had more ideas with Carla though because of her storyline in the Walkyverse.

          Booster’s original, but there’s enough here to go off of.

        4. Phil

          It would explain the “fuller than normal on a male” that kind of jumped out at me right on the first panel.

        5. Phil

          “fuller than normal lips on a male”, btw. No edit button? What is this, twitter?

        6. butts

          It’s broadly implied in that last comment. There could be another explanation, but it’s likely.

    2. Sirksome

      I know right! Not because of any flaws Booster may have as that would be impossible to determine based on one appearance, but because his height, build, and haircut were so similar to Mike’s it threw off all of my silhouette theories! Damn you, Booster!

    3. Sam

      Kinda same. I think it is the lips for me. I’m not a personal fan of them so the expressions hit me a little weirdly and the ‘ne’er’ is not a thing I have ever heard a real life person say, so it is a bit weird to me. Still might endear themselves to me yet once I am more used to them but I have a vague sense of dislike right now.

      1. Tandel

        I am very excite. That is all.

        1. Tandel

          Ok… not sure why it responded to THIS thread after I had refreshed the page to not do that. But here we are.

  11. JepMZ

    I can’t tell if he has huge lips or just wears make up

    1. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

      Why not both?

    2. Mr D

      Same.

  12. Mr. Mendo

    Booster’s giving off some enby vibes! I approve! ^_^

    1. Regalli

      Same. Especially that last panel, but the entire vibe Booster’s giving off is definitely androgynous and probably deliberately so.

      And, hey, with Malaya last we checked still questioning things on the entire gender front and Willis coming out in the last year and a half or so (I think? The time dilation of COVID ripples backwards for me), I can see the desire to have a nonbinary character who’s a bit more confident and figured-out in that respect for those feelings.

      1. MLE

        Willis came out? Do you have a link or more info? I hadn’t seen anything about that and I’m having trouble with my Google-Fu tonight

        1. Yumi

          Their Twitter profile has said that they use he/they pronouns for a while

        2. Regalli

          And a while back when asked about the pronoun change on
          Tumblr they gave a public answer.
          https://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/190486276797/hey-i-dont-mean-to-be-presumptive-but-i-saw-a

        3. BBCC

          Wow, I’m late to the party.

          Congrats, Willis! <3

        4. Doctor_Who

          Yeah, I haven’t been on Tumblr for a while, so I was unaware.

        5. Regalli

          I’m mostly off it as well, but had been searching a few months back for that Walkyverse Epilogue Becky art and noticed it there.

          And yeah, a late congrats!

        6. Spencer

          Oh shit yo, congrats!

          The Imposter Syndrome will fade, don’t worry. You never have to prove anything to anyone to just be you.

        7. Rectilinear Propagation

          That’s awesome! I feel bad I missed it when they originally made the change.

          Congratulations Willis!

        8. KryssLaBryn

          First I’ve heard of it too, and I follow their blog! D: No idea how I missed it; now I’m gonna hang out on Garbage Roof over here with you. XD

          Congratulations, Willis! 😀

    2. Radiance

      Everyone saying “Booster gives off enby vibes” gives me life. That was my first thought too and I’m glad it’s not just my nonbinary ass projecting.

      1. Mr. Mendo

        My trans ass likes it too!

  13. PB

    FINE, I’ll accept Mike’s probable death.

    Hi Booster.

    1. Mra

      I am still kind of hoping that Mike might just be still comatose and Walky saying he is dead is just being like, “It’s been three months, he’s not gonna make it.”

      1. TheStranger

        All things are possible by The Willis’ Hand, but I kinda feel like the timeskip was a nod to ‘look if I kill somebody off it’ll be months of mourning in comic time which will mean a DECADE OF BUMMERS so let’s have them mostly get that over with offscreen instead and then we can rejoin them for the second semester.’ Like, explicitly, the point.

        Maybe not, to be sure, but in retrospect it’s a blindingly obvious way to both have and eat cake.

        1. CityKidd

          I still think about one of my dorm mates death almost twenty years later, so the whole idea that the remainder of the semester was enough time for people to mourn rings hollow to me. That’s just my anecdotal experience though.

        2. Rectilinear Propagation

          I don’t think the idea is that no one’s going to be thinking about him at this point (clearly Walky is) but that they’re able to function while processing his death.

          Honestly, how they’re all back after a kidnapping is throwing me more. On the other hand 2020 is showing that we all apparently have to just keep going through a whole lot of awful sh!t so maybe it shouldn’t be. I guess I just don’t have a reference for what should happen after something like that.

        3. Regalli

          This. Amber in the last storyline was completely tapped out, for most of it. Months down the line I’m certain she’s still in pain, but probably not past the point of words or completely numb.

  14. BlackScarabFilmZ

    These DC reboots are getting more unreasonable, this Booster doesn’t even look like the original one, there’s no blue or gold on the costume anywhere!

    1. Ray Radlein

      Amazi-Girl laid him out with one punch! One punch!

  15. Dave Van Domelen

    Go for the gold. Booster Gold.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      The greatst super hero the world didn’t know.

    2. Dara

      25th century technology will cause a lot more issues in the Dumbiverse than in Shortpacked! and the like.

    3. Pablo360

      Just be sure if you ever invite them to your wedding to be very specific about the wedding registry, and that you won’t accept gifts from outside it.

  16. Wack'd

    I immediately like Booster and am politely confused wrt the insistence he’s the Walkyverse’s mindless tree branch that happens to have magic powers.

    Since I saw some stuff over on Patreon, so I’m gonna politely request folks not try to guess their deadname! Also we don’t know Booster’s pronouns yet but defaulting to they/them until otherwise noted is a good move.

    1. BBCC

      Their profile on the cast page seems to use they/them.

    2. Wack'd

      OH NO I FUCKED UP THE PRONOUNS IN MY POST ABOUT NOT FUCKING UP THE PRONOUNS, OH NO ☹️

      1. Yumi

        One time I fucked up my cisgender mom’s pronouns

        1. alice

          for a nickel?

        2. alice

          wait dammit that’s incorrect in more, and way worse, ways than initially intented. sorry.

        3. Peter

          Mike would appreciate it, though.

  17. Stephen Bierce

    Honestly, I was expecting Howie.

    1. Nono

      Howard’s too young, as far as I can tell. He’s about Faz’s age or younger?

      1. BBCC

        Howard is 16 or 17 (old enough to drive) and Faz is 15.

        1. Dark_T_Zeratul

          We’ve seen Howard, though, and he’s not in college yet. Booster is, since they mentioned a previous roommate.

        2. BBCC

          I was agreeing with the above poster, Howard is too young.

    2. Regalli

      Too young, still very much in high school. Same as Faz.

  18. goggleman64

    Hell yeah Booster; let’s rock’n roll.

  19. Julez

    I may be off base but I’m getting enby vibes from Booster.

    1. butts

      god i HOPE so, would be nice to have some nb rep (other than Malaya)

      1. Nono

        Does Jocelyne fall under that category as well? I’ve never been sure if trans falls strictly under nb (since they still consider themselves a specific gender, just not the one assigned at birth).

        1. AutobotDen

          Actually, you’ve got it the other way ’round. Nonbinary is under the Trans umbrella.

        2. BBCC

          A trans man or a trans woman is not non binary, they are still a binary gender. That said, non binary is under the trans umbrella since they are not the gender they were assigned at birth.

        3. Regalli

          Though that can also be a bit complicated, depending on the specific nonbinary person. Still, best to assume they count themselves as trans until they express otherwise. (I’m… probably nonbinary, but don’t feel enough of a disconnect from my assigned gender at birth to really claim trans. At least not yet. Gender is complicated and only really starting significantly questioning it over the last three months in particular does not help anything.)

        4. Yumi

          I didn’t identify with trans while identifying as non-binary for a long time. I think some of it was a feeling of “but I don’t really struggle with x thing ENOUGH to count as trans.” I still identify more strongly with non-binary than trans, but I’m starting to see myself under it.

        5. BBCC

          For sure, lots of non binary people consider it different than being trans.

    2. Wraithy2773

      It’s either that or he’s the straightest man ever who just happens to look like the Westboro Baptist Church’s impression of a gay man.

  20. Cattleprod

    So is Mike’s body interred in the room Booster’s old roommate is still in?

    1. Agemegos

      More likely immured.

  21. BBCC

    I’ve only known Booster for one strip and if anything ever happened to them, I’d kill everyone in this comment section and then myself.

    1. Regalli

      Well, we’re all screwed, then. This is a Willis comic after all. 😉

      But yes, agreed. I’m also hoping drama nerd, now that you mention it upthread, and we could deeply use one.

      1. BBCC

        Yes! Drama/lit nerd please!

    2. Spencer

      you stole my patreon comment

      how dare you

      1. BBCC

        XD It was a funnier version of mine and I’m not sorry. 😛

  22. abysswatcher1993

    This guy looks fine, but knowing Willis he will write some big flaw to Booster to make him fit with all the jerks, misanthropes and misfits of this building.

    1. Reaver

      I mean we don’t know Booster’s pronouns, wouldn’t be too quick to slap a “He” there

      1. abysswatcher1993

        Fair enough.

      2. thejeff

        On the cast page Willis uses “they/them”

        1. Cattleprod

          “Booster is Walky’s new roommate! We don’t know much about them yet. They just showed up literally today.”

          So I’m going to have to check back to see if that ‘today’ gets updated to ‘yesterday’.

        2. thejeff

          Well, not until comic today is over. So, remember in a couple months.

  23. leaf

    Here we see Walky practicing proper social distancing by refusing Booster’s handshake

  24. Switchchris

    I honestly cant tell which Gender Booster is. He is in the male dorm but he/she/they looks to be trans (either Post or Pre transition), either that or its just a very feminine looking guy.
    (not at all trying to be insulting in any way what so ever) Those lips, eyebrows, blushed cheeks, and outfit just through me off and got me confused a bit as to what Gender this person is lol.

    1. leaf

      I’m gonna assume by the nonconventional name that Booster is non-binary

    2. Nono

      Being trans (or nb) doesn’t mean they can’t be in the male dorm. Carla is in the female dorm after all.

      1. Yumi

        But without a roommate. Colleges can still be really weird about that and put up way too many hoops for trans people to jump through.

        1. showler

          I’m hoping we might find out that Zaph moved to the proper dorm.

        2. SuperZero

          Carla paid to get a single room.

        3. Yumi

          Yeah, you’d have to, it’s a university. I guess it’s more a question of, would the university allow Carla or another trans woman to live in the women’s dorms with a cis woman roommate? When I was in college, not that long ago, we were actively working on pushing for our university to allow that.

        4. Nono

          Zaph, I guess, but that one seems to be more of a… mid-transition thing?

        5. showler

          Zaph is the opposite of that, is he not? A trans man placed in the female dorm?

        6. Kamino Neko

          Yes he is. His first appearance made that explicitly clear with Rose being supportive and protective as he goes to the men’s showers. (For only the fifth time.)

        7. Yumi

          Zaph is a trans man assigned to the women’s dorms, I believe.

        8. Nono

          Yeah, I wasn’t sure of his circumstances, whether he identified as male before enrolling (in which case that’s kinda gross misgendering), or if he discovered himself during the semester and was taking approaches towards that.

        9. thejeff

          It sounded like he was coming out during the semester, but I guess it wasn’t explicit.

        10. BBCC

          That was my impression, thejeff.

        11. ELLIOT

          For what it’s worth, my college let trans students choose the gender of their roommates, and didn’t require doctor’s notes or bullshit. Most of the forms were coed anyway, but five buildings weren’t and the same rules applied. As a trans man, I asked for and got an AFAB trans roommate so I could stay closeted with my parents on move in day. Another trans man with a cis male roommate lived across the hall. Most trans students chose coed housing because the culture tended to be a little more welcoming, but I knew trans people in the all-men and all-women’s dorms without issues.

        12. Regalli

          That is solid. Mine was just starting to get around to co-ed halls, much less co-ed roommates when I was there. (It was also a very nice liberal arts college in a VERY conservative part of the state, though, so.)

    3. Jed!

      Booster’s old roommate not calling them by their desired name suggests that they’ve had some kind of change in gender identity that’s come with a name change, and their old roommate was deadnaming them.

      1. Nono

        Yeah I wasn’t sure if it was in a ‘people refuse to let me call myself Princess Consuela Bananahammock!’, because Booster is kind of an out-there name, or if it was a nb name change way. Seems to be the latter.

      2. Regalli

        Especially since we know the room transfer line is significant. (Though probably a bit easier at the start of a new semester.) Refusal to use a nickname, well, that can just be worked out between yourselves, can’t it? (Like Mary and Roz’s little disagreements.) Active misgendering and deadnamimg, on the other hand… a school that size could take the lawsuit, but especially after the semester they just had and KNOWING (well, I’m extrapolating, but given Jacob’s brother Harrison won a big case for trans rights it seems reasonable) that the law is not on their side, and also knowing if the Ruttens hear about this they will bring the very expensive lawyers out…

        Yeah, let’s just fix that without any of that fuss, shall we?

        1. Wack'd

          At least in my college, changing rooms mid-semester was a pain in the ass, but changing between semesters was as easy as hell. I assume Booster simply chose to leave.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Yeah, they could probably re-roll the assignments and shuffle just about everyone while they’re partially moved out for a couple weeks. It’s a lot easier than uprooting them in the middle of a class schedule.

        3. thejeff

          They could, but most places generally don’t. The vast majority of students stay in place.

        4. Needfuldoer

          *just about everyone on the wait list to change rooms

          Sorry, should have specified.

  25. CMasta1992

    Damn. Seeing Booster in the Mike slot drove that one home.

  26. The Coolest Child

    Not the mike slot nooooooo

    1. Lenora

      He died, confirmed yesterday I think

      1. Wraithy2773

        A lot of us are waiting for additional confirmation. It feels like an odd way to permanently kill off a character, off-handedly, casually mentioning “oh yeah he dead” by a character that, while connected to Mike, wasn’t particularly close to him.

        Not saying impossible, just saying “Willis has messed with us before”.

        1. tim gueguen

          And Mike’s whole reason for existence is/was messing with people.

        2. Wraithy2773

          (remember, David Willis’ twitter handle is literally “DamnYouWillis”)

        3. Needfuldoer

          Willis toys with our emotions and enjoys every moment of it, like a cat with a wounded mouse.

  27. DT

    Lips that’d make even Overlord jealous.

    1. wwwhhattt

      They are fantastic

  28. ReFlex76

    I hear Booster in Double Trouble’s voice.

    1. Yumi

      I don’t, but I’m gonna try to.

      1. Zor

        Same Jacob Tobia’s DT voice is iconic as hell

    2. Wack'd

      I’m more hearing Angel from Craig of the Creek, personally.

    3. CMasta1992

      I’ve got a Calculon/Hedonismbot mix in my head

      1. Wack'd

        But Maurice LaMarche is cis!

        1. Opus the Poet

          So am I, but I’ve voiced females in animations. OK the one was like a Dr. Girlfriend character and I just used my normal baritone voice, but all the others were supposed to sound like women, and they did.

  29. Mra

    Is booster wearing lipstick or do they just have naturally dark lips?

  30. Arian

    Enby or a trans man? I guess the (presumably) lipstick makes enby more likely, but I have a sister-in-law who kept her beard, so it’s not set in stone.

    1. ELLIOT

      I think they’ve been confirmed nonbinary, but some nonbinary people also identify as trans men or trans women, because gender is complicated. I’m a binary trans man, and I like to wear jewelry that other people read as feminine. I’m dating a nonbinary trans man who wears the occasional skirt.
      I’m rooting for AMAB nonbinary for Booster solely on the grounds that I’d like more rep of that demographic.

  31. Jay

    I like booster

  32. plasticwrap

    Booster’s lucky they got someone as chill as Walky. I feel like most people would react to the name “Booster” with a good deal of incredulity.

    1. Regalli

      Wouldn’t be shocked if whoever was in charge of Booster’s transfer saw another kid with an unconventional name (I don’t even think Sal uses ‘David’ compared to ‘bro’, so I wouldn’t be shocked if he has it listed under the ‘preferred name’ section of some paperwork, somewhere) and the empty room and decided this was perfect. Because honestly, it is.

      1. Needfuldoer

        I think the only one who actually calls him ‘David’ is his mother (and Dorothy that one time).

  33. meanderling

    We’ll see how you do, replacement Mike. You’re already too smiley.

  34. not someone else

    I’m just gonna say… those are sure some damn lips.

  35. BigDogLittleCat

    Ugh, I guess this means Mike is really dead. I was hoping walky was being an unreliable narrator, and that Mike was off in rehab somewhere. Damn it Willis, you could have sidelined him without killing him.

    And double ugh, I fear I already dislike this kid. “Booster”? Ugh.

    On the other hand, getting a new roommate because the last one refused to use their preferred name sounds like maybe a Mary/Carla sort of issue? I mean, “he won’t call me by my nickname!” doesn’t seem to rise to the level of room reassignment, so there must be some backstory there. Especially with the look on their face in the last panel.
    So if Booster is going to be taller than, better than, a la Carla, I’m here for it. And just like that, I kinda like this kid.

    1. jo

      better than carla?? smh not possible

  36. audkitten6

    Guys, Mike is gone from the cast list D: D: D:
    I’m not ready for him to be gone D:

    Also, Booster has they/them pronouns, so awesome.

    1. JessWitt

      Yeah it’s a shock Mike is off the cast page. But I’m keeping an open mind that it might be a fake-out, as weird as that premise might be.

      1. Opus the Poet

        Yeah, I’m going to mind-canon that Mike is in Witness Protection and had to leave Indiana for the University of Hawaii.

    2. Savail

      He’s actually still in there, but I have no idea if his blurb was written during the “is he/isn’t he” thing or if it was written after. It basically just says that Mike was Walky’s roommate and an asshole, but is dead now.

      1. JessWitt

        Yep that was yesterday. But check the cast page now.

        1. thejeff

          Weird. It was there for me earlier this morning (with the “dead now” comment), along with Booster, but now Mike is gone.

        2. Savail

          Nah, I saw it this morning. He wasn’t on the cast list itself, but he popped up as an option if I clicked…Joe? I think it was Joe.

        3. Savail

          Yup. Still there.

        4. thejeff

          I can still find him that way, but this morning I didn’t try that, just saw him on the normal cast list page.

      2. Cyrus

        It was written after. The previous blurb said “He is (was?) roommates with Wally.”

        1. Savail

          I see! Thankies.<3

  37. Scott Foss

    I… can’t help but feel like this is a mistake. This character design and the introduction seems so cold and sudden jarring, it just… i don’t know man. I’m all for major character death, but I just don’t think this was done well.

    1. Foxhack

      Well, at least it isn’t just me.

    2. Wraithy2773

      Arc ain’t done yet, no need to judge the story in full right now.

    3. leaf

      Dude, what if Booster is actually Mike in disguise, cuz he had to go into witness protection but didn’t want to leave his friends

    4. Keulen

      I’m also having trouble getting used to Mike’s confirmed death, and the addition of what appears to be an entirely new character isn’t helping me with that.

      1. saltchocolate

        Yeah. I think getting rid of the need to allow the characters to spend time mourning doesn’t mean that readers don’t need time to mourn. I’m just sad. And no one in the comic is helping me deal with that, because they’re all over it while I’m in shock and denial (like tons of others in the comments). ☹️

        1. saltchocolate

          Not mad at Booster, though!

        2. thejeff

          Yeah, I think that’s a lot of it. We haven’t got closure.

  38. Kravis

    If Booster turns out to be a good roommate, a GREAT roommate… It will be as if Walky stroke gold…

    BOOSTER GOLD!

    1. Opus the Poet

      This was the perfect avatar for this comment.

  39. Cyrus

    Welp, Mike’s been booted from the cast list. He ded.

    1. RacingTurtle

      You can still access Mike’s old entry!

      It, um, says he’s dead. 🙁

      1. SuperFroakie82

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/cast/attachment/2014castmike/

        yeah

        1. clif

          Man, when that Willis creates a hoax, they go all the way.

  40. Queen Anthai

    Please tell me their last name is Gold.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Goldberg, but not practicing.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Uh Gold-uh-blum.

  41. Adalisa

    So now it’s official we lost both Ethan and Mike as part of the main cast. I mean because I still had the theory that the Mike looking silouhete could be Ethan with a new haircut but now… there’s no Ethan sil, but there’s a Danny one.

    1. Moon

      aw… well his best friend(?) did die(?) i can imagine he transferred, but that leaves a lot of questions re: amber, hmm

    2. Scott Foss

      Ethan, Mike, and getting to see more of Jacob were the big draw that brought me into dumbing of age to begin with. Don’t I feel like an idiot now. My head is in a really bad place by this. Idk. The world is so bleak and messed up right now, it feels like even this silly comic strip has turned dark and mean-spirited on me. I’m just really disappointed by this decision.

      1. Regalli

        If it makes you feel better, Ethan IS still on the cast page proper. I suspect he’s going to be less involved with the core cast for a while because of Emotional Fallout and strong associations there, but I don’t think he’s left the school. (I’m also dead certain we haven’t seen the last of Jacob as a significant presence, and he’s not in the lineup either. So there’s hope, especially since they’re roommates.)

        1. Nono

          I don’t believe that what we’ve seen of Bad Mom Naomi is all that we’re getting from her. That woman is a potential storm a-brewing.

        2. Regalli

          Agreed. Oooh, agreed.

          Like I have a tiny ounce of hope maybe she’d chill out like Walkyverse Naomi apparently did? But uh. TINY. Miniscule, even. If there wasn’t precedent I’d have no hope, and given ALL the bad parents are worse here (as parents, anyway, Linda Walkerton is a class of her own) it is INCREDIBLY thin.

  42. Moon

    BOOSTER POWERS INTO BATTLE

    1. Undrave

      It’s such a Transformers name…

  43. Joyfulldreams

    I gotta say. I’ve been reading this comic for something like a decade at this point and I’ve always preferred it to Shortpacked precisely because it had a consistent cast where major character death wasn’t a thing I had to worry about and I felt like I could just be safely invested in the main cast and their lives and future without the idea of ‘kids (or young adults) dying’ hanging over my head.

    And these sorts of timeskips where things change drastically and things happen off screen, ESPECIALLY character deaths, is exactly the sort of thing to turn me off a story immediately. I’m, like…bummed out, a lot, actually. I’ve checked this comic REFLEXIVELY like multiple times a day for YEARS and like. This is the first time I’ve felt I genuinely just want to stop reading.

    I wished we could have seen Mike grow as a person. I would have been more interested in that than him dying for drama. I would have liked to see someone like him have to deal with a slow recovery from his injuries and his old, shitty ways. But instead he just kinda dies off-screen in a timeskip. So.

    I’m bummed.

    1. Scott Foss

      Seeing him removed completely from the cast page as if he was never even here and no longer of any importance to the characters is just the icing on the cake. I really don’t know if I can keep reading..

      1. Foxhack

        Not to mention, seeing him reduced TO A JOKE in two consecutive strips just doesn’t feel right.

        It’s starting to feel less like “okay, this happened” and more like “okay, this happened and I’m gonna keep rubbing it in your face.” Which is basically how I felt after DC comics outright destroyed all my favorite comic book characters. The ones I grew up with.

        I’m not sure how to feel. But it’s definitely making me want to stop reading this.

    2. audkitten6

      I’m feeling many of the same things. I’ll still keep reading because this is my favorite webcomic right now and the only one I read daily, but I am feeling unenthusiastic at the moment.

      If he was going to die, fine, okay, whatever. I’m not happy about it, but it’s not my story. But I didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to Mike as a character, didn’t get to see his best friends struggle with his death. Blaine and ToeDad got to have a death on screen with resolution from the main cast, and Mike didn’t.

      And the confirmation was jarring. I’m going to need a bit of time to process this.

    3. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

      (sending hugs if desired)

      I agree it would have been nice to see some more character growth for Mike. I’m still holding out hope he’s still in a coma and Walky exaggerated.

      But, hey! New character! Old characters have new hair! Winter clothing! Other distractions so I don’t need to process this loss quite yet!

    4. Jay

      Omg I’m not alone thank God

      I’m in the minority that loved Mike and thought yeah he was an asshole but he was usually an asshole for good reason, he wasn’t my FAVOURITE character but I’d have put him top 5 and to see such an important character to the story just killed off screen and basically being reduced to a gag kinda sucks.

      I’ll never stop reading but this certainly is my least favourite moment in the series

    5. Derek

      Honestly same

    6. Keulen

      Likewise.

    7. Badgermole

      Same. And it’s honestly a little gross that another character just got added to the main cast list and folks are treating them as a replacement for Mike. An upgrade even because it seems they’re trans and sociable whereas Mike was an asshole.

      I know a lot of people didn’t like Mike, but this feels like Willis hated Mike too. Because it feels weird af for a creator to discard his own main character like this.

      1. not someone else

        I really hope people don’t treat Booster as replacement Mike because Booster has every possibility of being a good character and, yeah, this whole thing feels kind of like that.

        Maybe it’ll flow better long-term?

        1. showler

          Honestly, this doesn’t feel sudden to me. Mike’s character did not work with the direction the comic has taken. Mike is designed for “Home-schooled church girl dates gay guy who is trying to be straight and Mike chaperones for the sole purpose of punching people” DOA, not “lesbian girl is almost murdered by her fundamentalist father and ends up homeless” DOA. Being a jerk to people ends up just beating on someone who is already being beaten. Willis attempted to change Mike by giving him that backstory of protecting Amber and by changing the nature of his relationship with Ethan, but it didn’t work. Keep Mike himself and he’s still being an asshole to people, change Mike too much and you can no longer write him correctly because he’s no longer Mike.

          This was followed by Mike’s accident, a very long period of him being out of the comic, the reveal of how serious it was, the reveal that he was unlikely to recover, Amber and Ethan basically mourning him before he passed and then the time skip. With all that setup, Mike being okay after the time skip would have been weird. Combine that with Willis not wanting to write the characters in mourning and we end up here.

          To me, this wasn’t sudden, it was a story that unfolded over many months of the comic.

        2. thejeff

          When was the reveal that he was unlikely to recover?
          Amber was pessimistic, but the closest thing to anything official was Ethan passing on that the doctors weren’t sure he’d wake up for a while – which isn’t great, but also isn’t “will probably die soon”.

        3. showler

          I can’t find it now, so I’m just going to assume that I was convinced of that at this point: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/into/
          After that it appears that several people began using past tense for Mike.

      2. Sirksome

        I don’t think Mike was hated, but I do think the comic and the audience grew beyond Mike. I never really read Shortpacked but it comes across as a comic more comedic and ridiculous in nature than DoA is so a cynical and mean spirited character like Mike could be relevant there. Here though he kind of comes across very one note and not in a good way. Saying mean things to people unwarranted, usually at a moment of emotional vulnerability. Never really having much depth to his character or personal connections.

        Beyond that he wasn’t very significant to the story in later arcs. There were a ton of major events he was never really involved in even less so than most of the male cast who get less focus in general. Like Becky’s first kidnapping, the fight between Amber and Sal, freshman family weekend, anything to do with Ryan, or politics, Ruth’s depression, really anything. He was just kind of on the side, making shitty comments. His only real story was when he banged Ethan which happened just before the final Blaine arc where he sacrificed himself.

        In a way he reminds me of Mary (who has also not been in the comic for a long time now) In that they are mean characters who only existed to be mean except Mike never gets a cathartic comeuppance like Mary does.

        I think that’s why most people are responding well to Booster because they at least have the potential to be a better character than Mike whether good or bad.

        I do think it’s a little cruel to just pretend like Mike didn’t exist though and remove him from the cast page.

        1. SuperFroakie82

          Yeah, I think this is pretty accurate. I liked Mike and found him funny because a lot of what he did, while assholish, was still presented as a punchline, so I didn’t really take it seriously or consider the real world implications of his actions. But I think the comic has only become more and more serious as time went on, so stuff like punching someone in the face every 7 seconds and having multiple recordings of his roommate crying couldn’t just be dismissed as cartoonishly exaggerated assholery. And then there’s plenty of examples of him just being an asshole without any punchline to it at all, like all the emotionally manipulating Amber. So ultimately if him being an asshole couldn’t just be played for laughs anymore, and since being an asshole is kinda the whole point of his character, then he was just gonna be horrible forever and that’s not fun at all.
          I definitely think my view of him is affected by the fact that I binged the whole comic in a few days, compared to people who’ve been reading for years and have seen the comic evolve. The more comedic Mike whose over the top dickishness is played for laughs is much fresher in my mind than for people who’ve read since the beginning and primarily see him for his more recent appearances. And of course, the extent to which I saw the comic as totally serious and grounded in reality was probably affected by the fact that I started in the middle of the arc where everyone is kidnapped by an actual supervillain, so I might not have given some of the worse stuff he did the full emotional weight it was supposed to have. And then also I’m sure there are plenty of people here who just have more life experience than me in general, and maybe they don’t see Mike’s actions as cartoonishly exaggerated at all and have been affected by similar actions in the past, so they never saw them as jokes and always took them seriously. So basically I’m biased and now I’m just rambling about my personal experiences which no one cares about but I already wrote all this so I’m gonna post it anyways.

    8. Moira

      Honestly though, taking a break helps. I’ve stepped away from the comic multiple times in the last decade for a breather. I get burned out when the story is focusing too long on a plot or character I don’t care for. Being able to come back and get through the arc in a day vs months refreshes my enthusiasm personally.

    9. Cyrus

      I really feel like the “no deaths” rule shouldn’t have been broken, because Willis kinda sucks at writing character death, apparently. The gravity of Ross’s death was totally fumbled as well.

    10. Ike

      I totally agree. A character dying offscreem and then doing a timeskip so you don’t have to deal with the consequences is just… lazy. And boring. And setting up Mike to have development only to unceremoniously kill him off seems deliberately mean-spirited. I was really interested in Mike, because I believe he had amazing potential for character growth (I don’t care about what he is in the Walkyverse, I haven’t read it and it’s a different story). Now it just feels like Willis is laughing in my face for being so naive. I may have to quit reading this comic. Which makes me sad, because I have loved this comic for such a long time. But handling a character death so poorly is something that will instantly turn me off a story.

      I also don’t agree with the idea that Mike is no longer Mike if he develops. That’s silly. He’s a different character to Walkyverse Mike. Denying growth because of his counterpart is just short-sighted.

      1. showler

        Willis has written Mike for over two decades
        It’s not uncommon for long term characters to have a life of their own in the writers head. You often see writers talk about how the character changed the story line because they wouldn’t act how the story required.

        1. Ike

          That… has nothing to do with what I said and directly contradicts your earlier statement, so I don’t really understand the point you’re trying to make.

  44. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    “I’m getting a new roommate ‘cuz mine fell off a building. So anyway, I’m going to go hang out on the roof. Want to join?”

    1. audkitten6

      This made me laugh. Thank you 🙂

  45. Sirksome

    I’m gonna go ahead and say now that unless Booster turns out to be some kind of secret asshole, Mike’s not gonna be missed by me. He was never really used much in the story besides being a jerk, and he didn’t get interesting until the arc leading to and surrounding his death. Good bye Mike, Hello Booster!

  46. Huehuetotl

    “Ne’er shall I err.” They seem legitimately nice, but in an obnoxious way that you don’t want to dislike but is hard to take too much of.

    1. Nono

      Oh good, it wasn’t just me. It’s one strip so too early to judge, but there’s some potential annoyance going on there.

    2. alice

      these people are like 18 though

      1. brute

        ^^^

      2. Hazel

        I went through a 1920’s slang stage when I was 12 so this level of dork from an 18-19 year old character seems pretty understandable.

    3. Needfuldoer

      *sniff* It sounds like something Drunk Mike would say…

  47. synnerman

    Well, if Mike is dead, I think that could probably affect Ethan strongly enough to take a semester off, or try to transfer to a new school to get away from Amber and all the horrible memories. After all, he probably holds her responsible.

    1. Spencer

      I dunno. Writing out two of the explicitly MLM guys in the series would be weird, especially since part of the mechanical story reasoning behind Danny’s sexuality in this universe was to provide more options for Ethan.

      1. Yumi

        Whenever I see people abbreviate multilevel marketing as MLM, my brain insists on reading it the other way, and yet in this instance I leapt to “What were Mike and Ethan selling?”

        1. Spencer

          Hey it’s like how whenever I see an article by the Wall Street Journal I’m wondering why Weekly Shonen Jump is talking about American politics.

        2. Regalli

          Essential oils?

          Yeah, I don’t think Ethan’s out, I think he’s taking a step back from Amber and that’s going to reduce his screentime. There’s questionable writing decisions and then there’s downright bad form, and Willis is usually more careful than that.

        3. Spencer

          I’ve been suddenly struck with the realization that, if Mike actually is dead then Danny’s last talk with Ethan has become a thousand times worse.

        4. Regalli

          Yeeeeeeeeep!

          I feel bad for the guy but at the same time? He gave you a way out and you just kept digging there, Dan.

        5. Spencer

          Yep. If Mike woke up that was just a painful conversation. If Mike’s dead… I don’t think Ethan would ever forgive the last thing Danny said while Mike was alive was that.

        6. Regalli

          Thus why, even though I didn’t DISAGREE with what Danny was saying, he did NOT want to say it to Ethan in that hospital room right then.

        7. not someone else

          Marxism Leninism Maoism | Multipurpose Lightweight Missile
          —‐—————–
          Men Loving Men | MultiLevel Marketing

        8. brute

          this is beautiful thank you

  48. Zor

    Holy shit Mike’s actually dead I somehow didn’t see this coming I actually thought Booster’s silhouette was gonna be Mike’s this whole time and now I’m sad T_T

    Still, YAY nonbinary character!!! My enby ass is squealing!!! 😀

  49. Wraithy2773

    You know what? I’m going to be honest here.

    I kinda hope that Booster is unambiguously straight, cis, and male.

    Yes, the character’s art design screams anything but that, to the point where they’d have to be wearing rainbow-flag-hot-pants to get any more blatant, but that’s kinda my thing:

    Why do these physical traits have to only be applicable to a gay, non-binary, trans, or anything else that isn’t straight/cis/male?

    Men can enjoy wearing pink, men can relate much more closely to a nickname than their given name (particularly if they’ve got an embarrassing or uncomfortable name), men can have full, kissable lips, men can have long, styled hair…

    Hell, on first blush? They remind me more of Walkyverse!Amber’s sketch of what her preferred sexy!Batman would look like. And while that version of Batman certainly wouldn’t be straight (Amber is Amber, after all).

    It’d be an interesting subversion to the notion that someone with all of those traits *must* be non-straight/cis/male, and add an interesting wrinkle to the interactions with the normal cast.

    1. Wraithy2773

      Oh, and although it should go without saying, but this the internet we’re on, I should make it clear that I’d find an Non-Binary, Trans, Gay, etc Booster to be perfectly fine as well. I just like a bit of subverting stereotypes of character designs now and then :).

    2. Wack'd

      it would not in fact be an interesting subversion for someone to not be queer

      while i agree we need to normalize non-queer dudes not having to be a certain way we have a kajillion non-queer dudes in fiction and five queer people

      we shouldn’t have to fix the allocishets before we can have nice things

    3. Reaver

      IDK that kinda feels like an ick comment to make about a new character????

      “I HOPE THEY’RE CIS, STRAIGHT AND MALE!”

      Like I get the rest of your point (a little) but it still seems like a icky thing to say.

      1. Wraithy2773

        I mean, it feels like a fair thing to bring up when something like 70% off the comments in here are about if the character is trans or non-binary. It feels equally weird that a character about whom we know exactly three things (wears pink, insists on going by a name that feels more like a nickname in origin than anything, and looks pretty) is having that be the big central focus of discussion as well.

        But yes, if you strip away all the actual explanation from the post, it does look weird.

        1. Wack'd

          it’s almost like this comic has a huge queer audience, certain segments of which are underserved by both the comic and fiction in general, and we’re excited by the possibility of seeing ourselves represented

        2. Spencer

          Well, the comments are mostly about that because the existence of a Non-Binary character in a popular webcomic is a hella big deal to a lot of people and they’re rushing to express their excitement.

        3. BBCC

          We also know that the main cast profile for them refers to them with they/them pronouns and, for those of us on Patreon, Willis has already referred to them as a non binary character (and not the first one in the main cast for that matter – I’m guessing we’ll be following up on Malaya shortly).

        4. Wraithy2773

          Ah, I’m not privy to the Patreon discussions, and mostly read the cast page as “we literally don’t know anything about them” (…and that Willis has an entry on TvTropes’ “Trolling Creator” page >_>).

          Shall be interesting regardless!

    4. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

      I’m with you on subverting stereotypes, although I personally hope Booster is nonbinary.

      Petition to get an additional character who is a nerdy, straight, cis man with big lips who likes My Little Pony and will squee excitedly with Lucy?

    5. Nono

      I get the point that’s being tried to made, but it can be really tricky to fight ‘break down toxic masculinity stereotypes’ and ‘we need more queer representation’ in the same breath.

      You can absolutely have a cis straight guy who’s androgynous looking and enjoys non-traditionally masculine codes of dress, but you’ll also have queers hoping for representation. It’s tricky.

      1. Spencer

        Hypothetically if Booster *were* here to be a cis man with an androgynous appearance, that’d be good too. It’d just be serving different needs for representation.

        But they’re not. They’re Booster, and that’s important too.

      2. Jay

        It’s the kind of situation I hate where if X happens one side will call it out as queerbaiting if Y happens you’ll have the otherwise call it out as stereotyping. It’s a huge lose lose imo

  50. Lala

    Last panel I thought they had a ponytail bc of the beard on Walky’s poster.

    1. Wack'd

      It’s a shame time moves like molasses because Booster would rock a ponytail if their hair ever gets that long.

      1. Regalli

        Maybe their hair grows fast? Because yeah, a short pony like that would look great.

    2. Yumi

      Until I read this comment, m8. Until I read this friggin comment, I thought–

    3. Spencer

      Aw man, I did think it was a ponytail.

  51. Jupiterror

    can’t wait for Carla’s personality to clash with Booster

  52. Johan

    Really just off screen killed a main character… Alright. :/

    1. DailyBrad

      I am cautiously intrigued!

      1. DailyBrad

        Wait, I meant that to be a new post, sorry!

  53. JessWitt

    Whoa, is Booster from any previous Walkyverse comics?

    1. JessWitt

      Never mind, see it up there. First DoA character based off an inanimate object?

      1. ELLIOT

        Carla, sort of.

        1. JessWitt

          Yeah I just thought of her this morning.

  54. Nah

    Hope their best friend is named Ted

    1. JessWitt

      Booster Cord and Ted Gold.

  55. Bagge

    Cool new roommate!

  56. RacingTurtle

    I think I like Booster. They’re cute and dorky and better get a real surname soon or I’m gonna be stuck thinking it’s Rodriguez.

    But I also miss Mike and thought the post-fall story had a lot of potential. Even with the time skip it’s going to be really sad when we catch up with Amber and I am not prepared

    1. RacingTurtle

      Oh, hey, the introduction of Booster prompted me to read all the cast entries and Dorothy’s mistakenly says her new roommate is Dina, not Becky

      1. Spencer

        Imagine a worse hell for Becky than that.

        1. RacingTurtle

          Becky’s first exam anxiety dreams will feature a Dorothy/Joyce/Dina polycule that shuns her. She stumbles off to take her Biology midterm only to discover that the professor has turned into her father

          (I made a typing mistake that caused predictive text to offer “the professor has turned ~heterosexual~” for Becky’s nightmare and this is hilarious to me)

        2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          It is one of those endlessly retconned and complicated things that will drive you mad if you try to dig too far into it.

        3. clif

          Becky, Sierra, and Dina swapped names over the semester break. It was Mike’s dying wish.

        4. Nono

          Sperm donor is a more generous term for Ross.

        5. StClair

          just wanted to say, that was a fiendishly brilliant nightmare.

  57. Sunny Bruv

    For so long I thought that was Mike’s Silhouette with a haircut. Should have guessed it was Drunk Mike.

  58. Dracke

    Man those are the juiciest lips , i was going to wonder if He was a trans but honestly i dont care either way.
    It doesnt take away from those lips.

  59. Los

    Just me or is that a perfect Streets of Rage name?

  60. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Turns out Booster was the sole survivor of a firey plane crash that happened at the same moment that Mike fell…

    1. RacingTurtle

      Trying to place this reference. Hmm. Madeleine Pryor and Jean Grey?

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Yup. Now trying to remember what the deal with her finally turned out to be.

        1. RacingTurtle

          I’ve never known! The issue that revealed it was missing when I read that arc, and to this day I don’t know the answer

        2. Pacce

          She was a clone.

        3. Spencer

          It’s even funnier because in the current comics run every Mutant can now be revived with no consequence (even moreso than usual I mean) but when Madelyne died the Council decided “well she’s a clone and we already have Jean” and denied her resurrection.

        4. Foxhack

          Her being a clone makes no goddamn sense. She doesn’t have Jean’s powers. Whatever Sinister did to her made her a new person.

          And the Marauders, who were cloned ad nauseum, DID get brought back?

        5. Spencer

          I think it’s actually canon that the reason they don’t revive Madelyne is just that they don’t like her.

        6. thejeff

          She kind of did have Jean’s powers. They just were latent at first. Or something.

          She’s a whole mess of twisted retcons. Originally I think, she was just supposed to have an uncanny resemblance to Jean. Mr. Sinister didn’t even exist when she was introduced.

        7. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          “A whole mess of twisted retcons.” – It is dark here, you may be clones by a Grue.

        8. thejeff

          Nah, I found the common sense particle and got out.

        9. Wraithy2773

          I mean, that’s just the safe guess when it comes to weird-ass Marvel plot twists.

    2. tim gueguen

      But if that were the case they’d be named after some obscure to Americans ’70s singer.

  61. Pacce

    I like them more than Mike already! Booster is love, Booster is life.

  62. Keulen

    I’m gonna have to see a bit more of Booster before I decide whether I like him or not.

    1. Spencer

      Booster goes by They/Them pronouns according to their character page.

      1. Keulen

        Ah, I see. Should’ve checked that first I guess.

    2. Keulen

      I’m assuming Booster’s a “him”. The lips and the hair and clothes are making me wonder though, but I’m pretty sure most colleges don’t put students of opposite sexes in the same dorm room together.

  63. Robbie

    I LOVE THEM ALREADY!!!

  64. NinjaNick

    Booster seems kind of cool.

  65. Spencer

    Anyway I fully believe Mike passed his seeming death onto Walky to get out of being his roommate.

    1. Spencer

      Oh and Ethan will be rooming with Mike now to keep a closer eye on him.

      Then they fall in love and get married.

    2. RacingTurtle

      Classic Mike.

  66. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    It is one of those endlessly retconned and complicated things that will drive you mad if you try to dig too far into it.

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Supposed to be an answer to RacingTurtle above.

      1. RacingTurtle

        The Hellfire Club sabotaged to your keyboard to hide the truth. It happens

    2. StClair

      slightly more polite than my own answer, which was “a goddamned fucking mess.”

    3. thejeff

      Please, it’s not that bad.
      There aren’t even any time travel or alternate universe shenanigans in it.

      1. Regalli

        Just Mister Sinister, Baby Manipulator.

  67. Bagge

    Cool new room-mate!

  68. Beef

    Booster made a good first impression. I’m curious though, if they are trans why don’t they get their own room like Carla? Was Carla’s case because her family paid more?

    1. Regalli

      Carla’s family was willing to threaten IU with lawyers to get her in the proper wing, but the fear of making a cis girl room with a trans girl and the complaints therein was likely why they gave her a single. It’s a workaround based in transphobia. (Note that Carla’s listed as a ‘challenge’ by Chloe in the ‘well no one else wants to deal with your hall’ strip, for no apparent reason other than existing.)

      Booster may have just asked for a transfer between the semester breaks, and hey! Here’s an opening! Everyone’s happy! (Not sure IU has gender-neutral dorms, anyway, so there may well have been an inherent misgendering based on them living in whichever hall.)

    2. showler

      Apparently there is only one single room per dorm. Also, in addition to paying extra Carla’s parents pay for entire buildings for the school. Plus, Booster may be non-binary rather than Trans.

      1. clif

        Ruth has a single room.

    3. Robbie

      Presumably they are non-binary and AMAB living in the mens dorms – not seen as needing the same kind of privacy. Because they all got the same private bits as far as everyone knows.
      Also non-binary genders are often not seen as legitimate. Also where should they stay? – not like there’s a non-binary wing. Ah, the eternal struggle of being nonbinary. I caucus with women though, lol

      Carla is a trans woman in the women’s dorm so I think it’s seen as a different situation.

      1. clif

        Carla’s parent’s are insanely wealthy and so it’s seen as a different situation.

        Fixed that for you.

        1. thejeff

          That’s also true, but non-binary and transwoman aren’t quite the same situation either. Or at least aren’t seen as the same.

        2. Regalli

          Yeah, they’re both factors here. As far as I can tell, while entire residence halls are co-ed at IU, there aren’t a lot (if any) co-ed wings or floors – Ruth’s ‘we didn’t lose anyone until the end!’ was because her particular wing stayed mostly stable, even though Walky’s in the same building (and therefore, so was Mike.) This means that there’s basically no dorm on campus at the moment that isn’t going to put a binary gender on a nonbinary student. Carla’s binary trans, so her parents could push for her to be in the proper dorm because there was one.

          Second, nonbinary genders are REALLY not recognized by society at large – there’s some (EXTREMELY) grudging acknowledgement that trans people are a thing, and with money and PR like the Ruttens have, the university won’t fight it. But nonbinary people are still considered a ‘Tumblr phenomenon’ or the like, something only the Teens These Days are getting into because the Internet Gave Them Ideas, by a pretty sizable chunk of the population. And that’s the chunk that even acknowledges we exist on ANY level. Given the stunning display of competence and queer-inclusive training we saw on display with Chloe (referring to Carla as a ‘challenge,’ outing Ruth to her grandfather before checking with Ruth that it was safe to do so, privately, oh and also BEING BRIBED INTO MAKING A WOMAN WHO WAS CLEARLY NOT UP FOR THE JOB REMAIN RA,) I do not expect Resident Life to handle the concept with any more sensitivity than we’ve seen. (Thus the guess that they just put Booster in with whatever gender they were assigned at birth and called it a day.)

          Third, Carla’s parents are terrifyingly wealthy, but enough parents like Carol and students like Mary are around that if Carla was roomed with a cis girl, IU would be bracing itself for complaints that their dear, sweet daughter is forced to room with *and I will leave off here because I don’t want to make anyone read anything Carol would say about Carla and I REALLY don’t want to type it.* So, stick her in the single in the women’s hall, no one complains, and IU has fulfilled the bare minimum adherence and then marks her as a ‘challenge’ in that dorm. (Still angry about that!)

          Slightly different considerations, slightly different possible solutions, but also, yeah, different degrees to which IU cares. Booster at least doesn’t seem to mind that they’re rooming in the men’s wing?

  69. Brasca1

    I don’t know what’s more shocking. Mike is dead or a completely new character is introduced.

  70. SuperFroakie82

    Well since Mike is gone and we’re introducing new characters, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Billie is actually gone too and the silhouette next to probably-Danny that people have been guessing is her is also a new character. I think everyone else on there is still a pretty safe bet for being who they look like they are though.

  71. Regalli

    I get being shocked by the suddenness of the confirmation yesterday, and I get that this could have been set up pre-timeskip, but honestly? I think the punchlines the last few days have been more about the bluntness of Walky (especially traumatized) and Lucy missing the clear cue that this was a Sensitive Topic than the fact Mike’s dead. I dunno, the held panel Walky’s first comic in the dorm and the clear awkwardness here in the last panel says to me this isn’t as raw as it was immediately, but it is still a sore spot for Walky.

    Also, with our first really major new character to the verse introduction, it’s worth hoping for more mlm representation in particular going forward as well. But also just, more new characters who will be significant. Seriously, the biggest DOA original to this point was Raidah.

    1. Spencer

      *Waving the Sayid flag intensifies*

      1. Regalli

        Yep! Let him have substantial characterization! He looks very cool.

  72. PiotrW

    … his lips. What’s wrong with his lips..?

    1. Nono

      Their lips, and I think it’s just to demonstrate plump lips, which some people just have.

    2. Robbie

      Maybe it’s more just that they HAVE lips (actually I think it’s lipstick)

      1. Autogatos

        Yeah I assumed it was lipstick?

        1. Zaxares

          I assumed it was lipstick too, and that Booster is either “flamboyantly gay” or NB in some way. Still, I like him so far. He have earned influence points with me for his introduction. 😉

        2. Spencer

          Booster goes by They/Them pronouns.

      2. StClair

        “Were you drawing nostrils again?”

  73. Lingo

    WELL IT’S A GOOD THING THIS COMIC HAS TAUGHT US COMMENTERS NOT RUSH TO JUDGMENT, RIGHT? RIGHT?????

    1. clif

      Is that a trick question?

    2. MegaBee

      jjonahjameson.gif

    3. Lingo

      Maybe I should stop reading comments for a while.

  74. BenRG

    It’s pretty obvious that Booster is non-binary in some way and that they basically just escaped a dorm-room where their room-mate insisted on misgendering them amongst other delights. I’m pretty sure that they’ll feel and be rather defensive for a while mostly because the whole ‘bullying victim’ thing.

    Was Walky trying to one-up them or just giving fair warning that he isn’t in the mood to ‘rank roomies’ just yet?

    1. butts

      given that it’s Walky, i’m assuming he was just saying the first thing that came to mind

      1. clif

        It’s just that usually the first thing that cames into his mind is “What would Danny say?”

      2. Regalli

        Yeah, the last couple of strips have seemed like Walky’s really blunt and, frankly, I think it’s because the emotions are still pretty raw for him. (Especially having spent the rest of the semester with the empty desk and bed as a reminder. As I said yesterday that side of the room’s fucking haunted, and I think that establishing shot was him lingering over it. Getting a new roommate who can put their mark on it again may well help… though depending on how much Walky’s processed it, that might present its own difficulties, too.)

  75. Iain

    It’s a cool name. My favorite DC hero is Booster Gold.

  76. Reltzik

    You know, I’m really really really really bad at reading these things, but I’m kinda getting some flavor of trans or enby feel off of Booster, and whenever I think that I’m usually wrong, so is there anyone else getting the same-

    *reads other comments*

    – okay, so this time I’m 90% clueless in the OTHER direction. Okay, situation normal, carry on.

  77. FirePrincessLily

    Booster Gold! The greatest hero you’ve never heard of!

  78. Warcodered

    It’s not a contest Walky

    1. clif

      But he wins anyway.

  79. Autogatos

    I dunno so far I like Booster.

  80. Rabid Rabbit

    Yes, he did, Walky. Have you considered that the poster on your bathroom door might be a touch insensitive?

    1. BenRG

      Walky doesn’t do ‘consider’, I’m afraid. The test will be how he reacts if Booster, either verbally or indirectly, shows that it makes them uncomfortable.

    2. Reltzik

      I always assumed that was Mike’s poster, and Walky just left it up in memorandum.

  81. Lone Duck

    Booster? I don’t even know ‘er! This is the Danny joke made off camera.

  82. Mr. Random

    For some reason, I’m gonna assume Booster is non-binary.

  83. DarkoNeko

    Booster ? o_o

  84. Wishwater

    So 3 characters die, one a main character, we get the comics longest time skip, and now a new character! I think this is going to feel like whiplash to a lot of readers…not sure how it will pan out. However I didn’t super love Mike or the more fantastical elements of the comic so maybe it’ll be for the best, will have to wait and see. And yay Booster!

    1. BenRG

      I’m honestly thinking that the ‘season change’ is also going to have the feel of a soft reboot. The cast will change slightly. Some character arcs will be considered resolved and new ones will begin. Basically, this is Dumbing of Age 2 – Atheist Boogaloo.

  85. SeasideSun

    Booster is trans and/or nonbinary. I guarantee it. And i’m here for it as an enby

  86. Wayne Farmer

    Could Willis have whimsically named the new character “Booster” in the hope that having an interesting and question-raising new character would boost his readership and/or Patreon income?

    Of course he could. But would he? Well, are there limits to what Willis won’t do? We’ve all said “Damn you, Willis!” too many times.

    1. BenRG

      I can’t see Willis being so cynical, especially with representation of an extreme minority group.

  87. Poskie

    Booster has that big enby energy + theatre kid energy and I hope we get to love them so so much ;u;

  88. acher4

    ….
    So, Booster on the cast picture is the “nail in the coffin” of Mike.

    “Damn you Willis!!!!” is appropriate here, I think.

    1. clif

      Well, yes, but he took all the fun out of it.

  89. BenRG

    Over on Patreon, some asked if Booster may be named for the Booster Rod in the Walkyverse. As we’ve already had Ultra Car turn up as a fully-bio woman, why not a prop too?

    Maybe knowing Booster will encourage Joyce to begin to wonder stuff about Jocelyn? A perceptional booster rather than a strength booster?

  90. ischemgeek

    Speaking as a queer & trans questioning reader, I see how the characters the bulk of the audience had vocal comments-section-dominating hate fests during their intro arcs for are thus far: Becky, Carla, Zaph, and now Booster.

    Oh but totally not cuz they’re explicitly & unapologetically queer, it’s because they’re focus grouped right?

    Uh-huh.

    Ya don’t need to try to sell me some swamp land in Florida, I’m not buying.

    Complaints that it’s sudden or jarring, I can get behind. Complaints about missing Mike I… Can’t get behind exactly because I hated his character and won’t pretend otherwise, but I can understand them. Complaints about focus grouping/PC appeasing/similar dogwhistles take over the comments every time there’s a queer character not drowning in internalized bigotry from the first second or trying very hard to have straight aesthetic, and if that’s not the message you’re broadcasting, consider why it’s the message a lot of us queer readers are receiving.

    1. eskimolos

      It’s completely bizarre! How is anyone reading this comic and not inclusive/queer friendly? Did the blatant calling out of christian bs and several instances of gay/lesbian/trans and sexuality/gender questioning characters not clue them in? Further to that, this didn’t start with DoA, did these people come from Shortpacked to this comic suddenly expecting things to be less queer?

      Granted, I don’t remember a lot of queer positive plotlines in It’s Walky/Roomies, but they were also like… 15 years ago. I think the worst is the like, visceral distaste people are already showing for a character that has literally had four benign panels to exist in.

      I think I’ve heard some worry that Booster is a disguise for Mike somehow? Mike was already queer before he dropped out, he legit clearly had a thing for Ethan, they slept together. Being enby is not a huge leap on from that…

      1. Regalli

        The reason why ‘sexuality is consistent across universes’ exists is because at the beginning of the comics, there were a LOT of questions about whether Ethan was still gay in this universe.

        There were still people in Shortpacked who were… not thrilled, when UC came out as trans, and when she showed up in the Walky reruns questioned why Willis was referring to her as such when she wasn’t out yet. Similarly, the Carla vs Mary arc and people insisting it was just about studying up until Mary took her to the boy’s dorms. (Hell, we still get people disappointed Joyce is losing her faith and disbelieving it happened in this time when Joyce is an autobiographical character based off a creator who was raised in an incredibly restrictive fundamentalist setting and became an atheist upon being exposed to other people in college and realizing they weren’t all evil. Or people thinking the fundie stuff is unrealistic.)

        1. Foxhack

          People think the fundie stuff is unrealistic?

          Have they been in a hole these past three and a half years?!

      2. ischemgeek

        Tbh, Booster being Mike in disguise trying to be a more authentic version of themself would be interesting. I don’t get the sense that’s where Willis is going, but it would be neat and a cool way of continuing Mike’s story as a Zuko/Entrapta style redemption arc (which is my favorite style of redemption arc).

    2. Josh Spicer

      Meh. My biggest problem with Carla was her attitude, but it’s something that definitely grew on me because she’s a character I just can’t dislike.

    3. Jay

      Filled with hate? 90% of this comment section (including me) is saying we liked the introduction lol.

      I think most the complaints stem from this feeling like Willis killed off Mike just to replace him

    4. Regalli

      Yeah, noticing that quite a bit myself.

      Also reminded of Anna’s introduction and the vitriol she got, and Willis stating outright her dialogue was taken from early Walkyverse Mike, or how much flak Malaya and Carla can get by people who claim Mike seriously worsening Amber’s mental health (judging from the rooftop scene, deliberately) isn’t that bad, or that he isn’t intending for her to take THAT away from ‘which parent does that make you, then?’ If you liked him, that’s fine, but there really does seem to be a double standard with what the white guy could get away with that the female (or in Malaya’s case ‘initially read and presented as female, still questioning so a fair number of us continue using she/her pronouns until other indication’) members of the cast couldn’t.

      Like, I get the shock Mike’s actually dead, I get that it was set up with way more uncertainty. But I also have an association with Mike versus other characters who didn’t have at least one aspect of his white cis male privilege.* And in this moment, it’s coming up for me because even with the fairly jarring nature of Booster’s introduction, they’re getting a lot of shit despite being a perfectly pleasant (but IMMEDIATELY nonbinary-reading) new character. With comments about being focus grouped, and comments about their name when the suggestion is very much ‘Booster is the name they chose and their old roommate was deadnaming them.’ And you know, I wonder.

      * Malaya questioning gender is very recent and like, I read Shortpacked, I remember she’s literally always gotten that hate, so I don’t count her in the same ‘vitriol for a character making A Bigger Deal about their queerness than some people apparently like’ category as Carla or Becky. But even back in Shortpacked when the initial vibe was ‘Filipino lesbian’ (and the character, last we saw, seemed to settle on ‘Filipino aspec queer woman’) she got SHIT, almost immediately and significant.

      1. Spencer

        Heck wasn’t the genesis of Mayala’s creation specifically that you had to include diverse characters “organically” or something?

        1. Needfuldoer

          Pretty much?

          https://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/13275506484/so-what-made-you-decide-to-create-malaya-you

        2. Regalli

          I forgot that! But yeah, that was… a longstanding thing. All of the regular Shortpacked Antagonist Customers were based off active phenomena among certain segments of fandom.

      2. ischemgeek

        Yeah that’s basically exactly what I am talking about.

        Like as a queer person I notice how every time there’s a queer character not full of Queer Damage (I count Ethan and Leslie on this – great characters & I love them but also more or less the archetypical Acceptably Queer characters in that they generally try to have mostly straight aesthetic and did or do struggle with accepting themselves and their sexuality and generally have poor self esteem directly tieable to their issues around their sexuality which is why they don’t get the same level of hate as like “literally screamed her sexuality from the rooftop” Becky or unapologetically proud of herself while trans Carla) we get complaints they’re unrealistic or focus-grouped or a concession to the PC brigade or etc.

        1. ischemgeek

          Like there’s a reason Becky and Zaph and Malaya and Carla and now Booster get more hate than Danny or Ethan or Leslie, and it’s not Willis’s ability to write queer characters that’s the issue here.

        2. ischemgeek

          (& I say that as someone who dislikes Malaya for the same reasons that I disliked Mike – but there’s a reason ppl hate on Malaya way more than they do Mike & it’s everything to do with Malaya being a queer POC from day 1 whereas Mike was a introduced as a straight passing white guy.

        3. thejeff

          Malaya was POC from day 1, but queer wasn’t nearly so obvious. Here or in SP!.

        4. Regalli

          Billie fits that same paradigm of angsting about her sexuality and how it makes her stand out too, and while it’s… no longer the PEAK of Ruth’s issues, it was definitely a part of her arc.

          And yeah, very noticeable. (I’m not huge on Malaya either, but I am a hell of a lot more willing to defend Malaya for the more minor moments because of that double standard. Though I’m also willing to say Raidah’s got points, and frankly I HATE her because of her ableism towards Dina.)

        5. Spencer

          You know, I’ve honestly never thought of that. Are we more forgiving of queer characters as long as they’re normative looking and angst about their sexuality and gender identity?

        6. ischemgeek

          The comments section as a whole definitely is. Normative being more important than angst – but having non-queer-angst-focused queer characters is still very new (not long ago it was illegal to have a queer character who didn’t die or turn out to be the villain) and queer coding as shorthand for villain is still very common. I don’t think it’s conscious so much as ppl likely responding to decades of media tropes that exist to brainwash the public into cis male heteronormativity as the only way to be worthy of protagonist shoes. And to be clear racism and sexism play a big role too (there’s a reason why, despite being way less malicious in her assholery than Mike is with his brand of abuse, ppl who bend over backwards to excuse Mike being emotionally abusive of those around him respond to Malaya as if they’re the jerk – and like Malaya is. My point isn’t Malaya’s not an ass, it’s that ppl hold the brown queer femme to a much higher standard than the cis white man even before Malaya was out as queer).

          Mike as another example (as a white, cis, straight passing character) has people bending themselves into pretzels to excuse the crap he pulled to Amber, by comparison consider how much flack people gave Becky for getting a haircut. Or how comparatively little the comments section reacted to Leslie compromising her entire world view and Robin’s overgrown child variety of emotional abuse as compared with Carla responding to Mary assaulting her and trying to harass her out of the dorms.

          Ethan’s own instances of bad behaviour were mostly off-screen in backstory but he gets a total pass for leading Joyce on about her chances with him so he could have a beard knowing with certainty he’s gay (I get and sympathize with those decisions but it wasn’t fair to Joyce), meanwhile ppl lose their shit at Billie & Danny for being unaware bisexual was an option.

          (Dina hasn’t really behaved badly, but yeah she’s pretty normative in her aesthetic so comments section gives her more of a pass on her poor social skills than she’d likely get in real life, speaking as someone who is pretty awkward myself)

      3. Cattleprod

        I think I noticed the Malaya hate before this, but the thing that really stood out to me was people being outraged by Malaya’s indifference to Mike proposing to Amber. Like who the hell cares that two people you’ve known for 5 minutes are getting married? And it also got me thinking about how the other characters were happy and it kind of bothered me that people that actually knew Mike weren’t at all horrified by the prospect of him raising a child.

        Before that, I remember people getting angry about Malaya’s “don’t care” response to Ken talking about Transformers or whatever, and as a Transformers geek, I don’t go on rambling Transformers screeds to people I know actively don’t care.

  91. SpaceshipPilot

    Booster’s lipstick is on point.

  92. Schpoonman

    Oh thank god, Mike’s not coming back.

    1. clif

      Fortunately you are out of range of my lighting bolts.

      1. Schpoonman

        Mike was unambiguously the worst asshole that was not an out-and-out villain and I’m glad he’s dead. Maybe now Amber can fight her demons without her second-oldest friend telling her she was turning into her father.

        1. Spencer

          He was, but I think it’s really disappointing that we’ve lost the chance to see him change once he realized he was being the worst kind of asshole to his dearest friends.

          Because now he’s been Anakin’d. He gets to remembered as a hero even though he never grew, just changed at the last moment.

        2. King Daniel

          (Which example, incidentally, is literally one of the things Danny said when we last saw him talking to Ethan.)

        3. Regalli

          Agreed. I suspect part of it’s that the Mike who’d necessarily have to grow out of that wouldn’t be the Mike his fans liked – after the degree of what he put Amber through in particular, I wouldn’t give him a fucking INCH. Remember, he claimed to Blaine immediately after the field trip of doom that he set them up to be in a car with each other ‘making them both miserable’ all day. I’m generally inclined to believe that particular incident was a bluff, but at the same time he was, at BEST, befriending a kid who he knew was being sexually abused by a teacher, encouraging him to come forward, and then dropping him immediately once Mike got what he wanted. This is the MOST CHARITABLE POSSIBLE READ. Taken with the admission Mike was actively psychologically fucking with Amber for his own amusement… If he didn’t intentionally put her in a car with her resentful abuser then with the intent that Blaine would take it out on her, I don’t think it matters too much because he did enough consciously awful stuff at that time and has knowingly worsened Amber’s mental health related to her dad because he could, it was frankly equivalent. I wouldn’t accept a Mike redemption with anything less than ‘no fucking with Amber, Ethan, or Walky, EVER AGAIN, in any capacity.’ (He recorded Walky crying and shared it with Sarah with the intention of ‘hey let’s laugh at him crying the day after his first breakup.’) Which would effectively be most of his screentime.

          I think this death lets Mike off easy. But the most interested in Mike in this universe I ever was was the prospect of him not, effectively, being Mike anymore. Shortpacked Mike still being a bit of an asshole was acceptable, because Shortpacked Mike did eventually figure out how to keep things in acceptable levels, and DIDN’T continue to antagonize the people he’d really screwed up psychologically. (Jacob, in particular.) Shortpacked Mike backed Amber’s plays in the Blaine Funeral arc, and the conversation where she decides to tell Faz they’re half-siblings and their father just died is one where Mike DOESN’T play any mind games. Dumbingverse Mike NEVER showed that kind of clear, definitely no manipulations support for anyone. It was possible, I suppose – It’s Walky Mike was terrible and Shortpacked Mike did eventually grow – but Walkyverse Mike also got some serious distance from the people he’d been an asshole to before even remotely entering their orbit again, and that’s not possible for Dumbingverse Mike while he stayed on the cast. (Also, Walkyverse Mike manipulating and bullying adults, even young ones, comes off way differently from Dumbingverse Mike’s years-long manipulations and bullying of teenagers.)

        4. BBCC

          Willis said he was having a hard time writing Mike a while ago, because a lot of his niches were better covered by other characters like Carla, Becky, Walky or Sarah, except going Mega Asshole and that wasn’t very fun. Getting rid of that makes him not really Mike. I can see Willis deciding this was the best choice for handling that.

        5. Regalli

          Checks out. Carla in particular has ridiculous but ultimately minor assholery down, and Sarah can do misanthropy that (usually) has a point. Having them as regulars alone largely rendered Mike redundant. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes, and it’s not as though I’ll miss Mike for Mike. (I was fine with him in Shortpacked, he had some solid moments after Donna was born, but frankly he’s been downhill for me since ‘Later, jerkhole. I’m fucking your daughter.’ And the ACTUALLY SUPPORTIVE conversation preceding the funeral and Amber telling Faz.) I just think AmbG and Ethan deserved better than him, including ‘rent-free space in their heads due to guilt.’

        6. thejeff

          Agreed.
          I’m mostly irritated because I had this kind of redemption through sacrifice arc. Maybe we’ll actually see some of the other characters deal with the complexity of the situation rather than just the martyred dead. That could be interesting – and play into Rachel’s “Redemption is a lie” bit.

        7. Spencer

          That’s why I was so interested when he caught feels for Ethan and realized he was a shithead edgelord. The guy who was as 2D as his haircut now had to deal with the consequences of his actions.

          I’m not totally convinced he’s dead yet, but if he is that’s just really unsatisfying. Toedad got a better send off.

    2. Josh Spicer

      Unfortunately I don’t doubt that Hallucination!Mike still exists.

      1. Schpoonman

        God, he’s one of the worst.

  93. Moira

    Ooh we actually went there? Killed Mike and gave him a fake out silhouette enby replacement? Next thing you know we’ll get a fat person on the main cast (no Billie doesn’t count)…… In 3 years tho xD

    But yeah, wow I can see why Ethan is probably not in that shadowed group photo now – he was the closest to Mike and probably took the semester off. Amber will probably still have ghost Mike in her head but I’m not sure if she’s still in school yet ?

    It just sucks Mike ended up being one of those kids who died right after HS/first year of college and just didn’t.. Get a chance to live. I also feel bad because I didn’t take his possible fatality seriously because of that rule ppl swore Willis would never break – even though when it was happening I thought Mike’s fall looked really bad.

    Still, I need other ppl to talk about it before Schrödinger’s cat is dead in my head. Lol I didn’t even like Mike but still can’t wrap my head around him being dead.

    1. clif

      Like Elvis, Mike will never die.

    2. Reaver

      ….Billie’s not Fat tho, neither really is Amber..

      1. Moira

        That’s why I said she doesn’t count lol but some people think she is? ??‍♀️

        1. Reaver

          Those people are weird XDDD

  94. FacelessDeviant

    New roomie because they wouldnt call them Booster?

    A little weird, but okay.

    1. Spencer

      It’s probably due to their previous roommate repeatedly deadnaming them.

    2. Daibhid C

      I think more “new roomie because they insisted on using their deadname”, and Booster’s downplaying it because they don’t want to bring The Drama this early.

      1. Daibhid C

        Ninja’d.

  95. Azhrei Vep

    Is that a poster of Jason’s father?

  96. Jhon

    That’s going to cause a bit of confusion. Why don’t we just call you “Mike” to keep it clear?

  97. clif

    Wait until Sal gets ahold of him. Er, them.

    In a cruel but unrelated twist of fate, Booster’s previous roommate insisted on calling them Mike.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Walky slips up and accidentally calls Booster ‘Mike’ early in the morning before his brain finishes booting. Roommate drama ensues.

    2. Foxhack

      … it would be hilarious if Booster’s deadname really was Michael.

      Because Booster Gold’s name is Michael Jon Carter.

  98. Josh Spicer

    I like Booster already. They seem neat.

  99. Smith

    Way to perky. Bring in Mike’s ghost to come chase them away.

  100. Rabisch

    It’s not a competition, Walky. Or is is?

  101. Vulcanodon

    Booster! First contact is pretty favorable. Looking forward to getting to know them.

    Earth to Walky, Lucy really likes you. For some reason.

  102. Insanenoodlyguy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QNaQ0eo0pE

    So the theme music was a no-brainer here.

  103. Callid13

    Uh, is it only me, or is Booster’s hand in panel 2 and their head in panel 4 kinda off-model? Cause it looks like the hand-arm connection isn’t where it should be, and the head is nearly the size of the torso…

    My theory: Either Willis is still getting used to drawing Booster, or these are subtle hints that they (it?) is a robot or alien *nods*

    1. Regalli

      Hey, uh. Maybe don’t call a nonbinary character ‘it’? Kind of loaded. (Even if they weren’t human, which… is also a loaded concept with nonbinary characters.)

      1. Callid13

        “It” was meant as a possibility only if they were a robot (which is also why it doesn’t show up in the first paragraph, where I’m not discussing that possibility). I’m not sure if “they” can be applied to “it” as well as “he” and “she”:

        “This is a par bench. They are painted white.” sounds wrong to me.

    2. TheKelliestKelly

      Here to second not calling nonbinary people or characters “it”

      1. Callid13

        See above.

    3. Reaver

      Wooow that was not appropriate

      1. Callid13

        What exactly do you mean?

  104. bcb

    Oh sweet, a new character:D

  105. Rabisch

    Booster previous roommate probably was Mary’s boyfriend.

  106. Suitora

    Honestly, Mike dying isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hear me out.

    Mike is dead. Blaine is dead. Blaine’s mom is dead.

    You see where I’m going.

    1. not not albi

      You see where I’m going.

      I can… for a nickel.

      (Did I do that joke right?)

  107. Heather

    The remaining silhouettes seem to be: from left to right if I’m guessing correctly: Dina, Carla, Joe, Amber, ???, Danny and Malaya. I would have thought the ??? was Billie from process of elimination but according to Dorothy she’s gone and it doesn’t look much like her anyway. I’ve really got nothing on who it could be yet.

    Another new character like Booster maybe? Who knows.

    I’m also surprised that Malaya is there tbh though given how little she’s been in this comic before, guess she’s getting a bigger amount of screen time this decade around?

    1. Axel

      Marcie?

    2. BBCC

      Gone as in not in the dorm anymore.

    3. Foxhack

      I still think that’s Marcie and not Amber.

  108. Arianod

    Why do I get this feeling that Booster will turn out to be the anti-Mike? Like, they’ll be the polar opposite of Mike in every respect. And they’ll turn out to be as… problematic as Mike, but for the opposite reasons. If that makes any sense. (I’m not too sure it does)

    1. Needfuldoer

      ‘Member Drunk Mike back in Shortpacked!? (Mike’s personality pulled a 180 when he was drunk, he turned into a genuinely nice person.)

      Either Booster is Drunk Mike’s player 2 pallet swap, or Mike was Booster’s Wario.

      1. Arianod

        Yeah, but that’s the thing: Drunk Mike was a pleasant guy; the only problematic thing about him is that he had to be drunk to be that way. What I suspect we might be getting here is a character who is as unpleasant as Mike, but in a diametrically opposed way. Like I said, I can’t really imagine how that would work, but I kind of get the feeling that Willis might be going for that.

  109. TheKelliestKelly

    Getting nonbinary vibes from Booster. I love them

  110. Zatar

    Oh cool! New character! Hopefully they’ll be as better roommate then Mike. Feels like Walky deserves that given how much shit he had to deal with from Mike.

  111. Leila

    oh i like Booster immediately

  112. Leadsynth

    New character? DANGIT now my magnet collection is INCOMPLETE

  113. Delthor

    Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. We’ve seen a lot of diversity in this comic, and I’m extremely excited to see someone who I’d guess is nonbinary. The strong feelings about their name, they/them pronouns, etc. all point towards that. Unless there’s someone I’m forgetting, that’s a first for this comic. It’s especially exciting because they’re Walky’s roommate and are important enough to be on the banner. With either Joe or Ethan missing from the banner, that means Booster is likely to be closer to the importance of Dina than a side character like Sierra.

    1. BBCC

      Word of Willis is that Booster is indeed a nonbinary character and they will not be the only one in the main cast (my guess is Malaya will be the other one).

      1. Regalli

        I’m also pretty sure Sydney Yus has been using they/them pronouns since their last appearance or so, but Sydney’s such a bit character (and also a cartoon supervillain) I wouldn’t really count them for it, compared to the clear prominence Malaya’s gender questioning has gotten.

        1. BBCC

          Yeah, Willis specified main cast. I’m sure there will be others.

        2. thejeff

          Sydney might also be speaking in the royal plural. As befits the grandeur of their plans.

          Galasso should also probably not use “he/him”. Galasso doesn’t understand gender. But Galasso mostly solves this problem by using Galasso’s name instead of pronouns.

  114. Alix Lane

    I, for one, will miss Mike, and I hope we get more solid narrative closure about his death, but I admit that my fondness for the character is more of a hangover from “Shortpacked” than a reaction to his presentation in “DoA”. Speaking of which: is Booster the first “DoA” main character that has not had a previous iteration in the larger Walkyverse? I kind of like the idea of a character about whom I have no preconceptions, and who has a copletely new story to present.

    1. Regalli

      Effectively, yes. Raidah is completely Dumbing of Age original, as is Asher. In terms of purely new characters who aren’t complete bit parts, it’s pretty much them. (At least one or two Forest Quad characters seem to be new, but they’re not characterized enough to count IMO.) Since they’re both situational antagonists, too, I wouldn’t call them main cast.

      Sierra had a Walkyverse counterpart, but she in particular was a nonentity enough that she’s effectively new. Still really minor, but she has just enough distinct characterization I’m willing to count her. (Whereas Agatha or Other Rachel have a character trait or two, but not enough they could carry a punchline, and I think I recall Walkyverse Marcie having just enough personality we had some sense of Dumbingverse Marcie going in.) The closest character we have to both ‘new’ and ‘significant’ is Jocelyne, who was a generic ‘one of Joyce’s siblings’ until her appearance at Family Weekend and the realization she was trans. After that she went on to appear in Joyce and Walky’s wedding arc because it took so long to finish, but that was effectively a cameo establishing she exists and is also trans in the Walkyverse, literally all her character work has occurred here. (Joyce’s siblings weren’t even named there, which is why two of them were written out in the transition.) But the only reason Jocelyne has that degree of significance is because she’s JOYCE’S sister specifically, and her coming out is probably going to be another paradigm shift for Joyce. Being that couple of years older prevents her from being more than a satellite character for her and sometimes Ethan.

      Booster being confirmed as main cast is HUGE by comparison.

  115. RiverDelta

    I think Booster’s page on TVTropes’ character sheet misgenders them.

    1. Zatar

      I cannot believe the page lists them as nonbinary and then still misgenders them. TVTropes is a cesspool.

  116. ADLegend21

    Damn, why didn’t *I* chooser ‘Booster’ when I chose a new name.

  117. Toes14

    Gonna go out on a limb here and predict that Booster is one of these:
    1) Trans
    2) Gay
    3) Bi
    4) Non-Corporeal

    1. kat

      I think he’s at least a trans man if not also queer

      1. Reaver

        They are Non Binary, says on their about page.

  118. princesstadashi

    Me as a trans guy: OH MY GODS PLEASE. PLEASE. I AM DYING FOR DECENT REP.
    (Nonbinary is totally cool too! But what I’d give for someone like me…)

  119. Username Taken

    I was having a kneejerk negative reaction to Booster sounding pretentious for a sec, but if the name issue was a deadnaming thing and not just about a nickname, then I really don’t blame them one bit.

    Booster is main cast, so I hope they’re a fun addition!

  120. WestRider

    OK, I spent way too long going “Why is Walky’s new roommate a lesbian?”

  121. Victor Riley

    I just realized, and like, that the cast of the “new season” is slowly being revealed in the picture… as they show up, their picture appears.

    So I do see Amber’s silhouette… it appears that she will still be around, which is good. (I think it was Mrs. Walkerton that made the comment that when Blaine died, no one was going to be paying for her schooling, so she wasn’t going to bother trying to get Amber kicked out.)

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