328

Casual
Posted on October 23, 2015 by David M Willis
2015-10-patreon2previewOne of this month’s Dumbing of Age Patreon bonus strips is a strip that would have run tomorrow but I didn’t use it!  It’s easily still canon and everything, I just thought it slowed things down more than it offered information.  To the left is its first panel, and you can see the rest if you follow me on Patreon.

328 thoughts on “Casual”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    FUCK THA POLICEnah just kiddin’, psychic police would just mean less drama to get to read

    guess Beckers ISN’T buckled up… but then, as I said yesterday, I guess a fatal (or even near-fatal) car accident might be preferable to reprogramming =p

    1. spriteless

      Her dad’s not either. For that matter, Amazi Girl would get messed up the worst.

      1. liahansen

        Nah, if they crashed she’d probably just do a sweet kickflip over the car. Thats how Amazi girl rolls

      2. Ana Chronistic

        In a collision, Toedad would dent a TANK.

        1. Clif

          As Amber goes airborne, he would make a great landing pad.

    2. Adam Smith

      Well, neither is her dad

    3. TPman

      Better ‘an letting a seatbelt restrict MA FREEDOM!

      1. Boxilar

        You will actually get arguments from anti seatbelt types along the lines of, “But what if I’m trapped in the car and it’s on fire?” or (and this is my favorite) “It would be better to be thrown clear of the wreck.”

        1. Carms

          Why do you give me more people to be sad about? I already have antivaxxerrs and climate denialists and historical revisionists and neo nazis and MRAs and, like, politicians…………

        2. Boxilar

          I’m sorry. On the upside the anti seatbelt types don’t seem to be a prevalent as they used to be. In part through natural selection, I would imagine.

        3. Opus the Poet

          This is another post that exemplars why we need an upvote system.

        4. rheinman137

          Think of it as evolution in action.

        5. Roborat

          Ah, one of my favourite books.

        6. buckybone

          But enough about Benjamin Netanyahu.

        7. Lel

          “Palestinians planned the holocaust, Hitler Did Nothing Wrong”.

          And he has the gall to call people racist.

        8. zoomer296

          @Carms Don’t forget the flat earth society!

        9. White Rice

          I’m prefacing my comment with the fact that I do wear my seatbelt and fully endorse using seat belts.

          A few jobs ago, I had a coworker who was in one is those scenarios: collision/thrown from wreck. He was a larger individual, and the vehicle he was thrown from was a bit older & the safety glass in the windshield didn’t break apart as fully as it should have. The cops & paramedics agreed that he did survive only because he got tossed from the truck & didn’t get pelted with the metric-crap-ton of broken glass shards & other broken truck bits that would have gotten to him otherwise (and they would have had trouble getting him out of the vehicle; again, he was big)

          But yeah, that’s the 1 anecdotal “evidence” against seat belts I’ve got…but the guy was an ass, so again: wear your seatbelt.

        10. Howard

          As a firefighter, I have seen, over a decade, maybe one incident where the seatbelt seemed like a bad idea. In the same time I’ve seen dozens of incidents where the seatbelt saved lives, and one where the seatbelt would have been really, really nice. (pro tip; once you’re thrown from the car, where does the car end up? It could end up on top of you. This actually happened, and it was pretty bad. VERY bad. One of the worst I’d ever seen)

          Wear your seatbelts, kids.

        11. qman

          My dad was a crash safety test engineer for one of the big three American auto manufacturers. It’s a way, way better idea to wear your seat belt than not, they’re the most effective piece of crash safety equipment we have on cars. I always wear my seat belt and I’d advise anyone to do the same.

          That said, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to mandate adult seat belt use. The information is out there and has been for decades. If an adult chooses to not wear a seat belt, that’s their own (usually stupid) decision to make. The same goes for wearing a helmet on a motorcycle.

        12. Opus the Poet

          And as a former race driver I can tell you that seat belts are the only safety device that will actually PREVENT a wreck, by keeping the driver securely behind the steering wheel and capable of reaching the brakes. Everything else, helmets, firesuits, roll cages and even airbags, is post-impact safety and is just along for the ride until then. Unless you make the roll cage a structural part of the frame like I did on my T-Bucket. >:]

        13. qman

          You have a point but it’s not quite the only one, things like ABS and traction control systems are present to do this. And comparing a 3-point passenger belt to a 5-point racing harness, the latter is far more effective at it. Passenger car safety equipment is a compromise between convenience and effectiveness. A 5-point harness and helmet are much better at keeping you alive than any airbag system on the road, but I don’t know of a single production car that comes with one. Lighter and smaller cars are also more agile and can avoid crashes more easily, but cars on average keep getting bigger and heavier.

          Ultimately though, the main preventative safety measure is the driver being alert and capable.

        14. Roborat

          Qman, it depends on your point of reference. Compared to cars from before say, mid 1970s, todays cars are far smaller and lighter.

        15. Agemegos

          Roborat:

          One thing to watch is that some makers (Toyota, for example) introduce a new model at the bottom of their range, and at each redesign make every model a bit bigger and better-appointed, then at some stage discontinue their biggest car and start a new model at the bottom of the range.

          Another thing is that though Seventies cars were bigger and heavier than today’s cars, in the Seventies there were no SUVs, and hardly anyone drove around in a Landrover.

        16. Chuk

          My aunt was once in an accident where she wasn’t wearing a belt and fell to the floor of the car. The top half of the car was crushed, including where her head would have been if she’d still been belted in. (She still wears her belt now though.)

        17. Seamus

          My sister-in-law rolled her Miata on a tight turn; had she been strapped in, she would be in two pieces instead of alive and bruised. I encourage seatbelt use, but in most ragtops, there is nothing taller than the passenger/driver. So IF you roll it, there is no way to flatten out enough before the windshield comes down on you.

        18. Sam

          Yeah, the exceptions to the rule can make people stupidly believe doing something is okay though.

          Seatbelts exist to keep people safe, and in general, wearing them is far safer than not wearing them. Just because in a few instances it works out okay when not wearing them doesn’t mean it will in all or that it means not wearing them is safer.

          In most instances, not wearing them will lead to greater injury or death, just as in most instances, impaling yourself through the head would kill you and an exception to the rule wouldn’t change that that is still the most likely result of that action.

        19. LR27

          Some non-exceptions:
          -I have been a passenger in two rear engine VW’s, upside down, with belts on. No injuries.
          -When I was 17 I got in an accident. Probably would have hit the windshield without the belt.

        20. Kryss LaBryn

          Anecdotal evidence from BC: A mum from the town I lived in was driving along the highway, heading back home again, in a pickup. The kids, including her 10-year-old son (who didn’t like to wear the seatbelt and had lied when she asked him if he was strapped in) were in the back seat of the truck; her son in the centre. On the way home, doing the speed limit of 80 kmph (55 mph) a grouse crossed the road in front of them. She swerved to miss it (and did), and lost control of the truck. It went into the ditch and hit a tree.

          Everyone in the vehicle was fine, except for her son, who, remember, hadn’t put his seatbelt on. He went straight through the windshield, hit the tree, broke his neck, and died instantly.

          Everyone else was fine. It was a bloody senseless tragedy that could have been prevented so easily.

          And one everyone is familiar with is the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, and their driver. Everyone died, except her bodyguard, who was in the front seat of the car in a head-on collision; although he needed facial reconstruction surgery, he survived.

          Being launched through a window at highway speeds straight into whatever just stopped the vehicle is lethal. The very extremely few exceptions are statistically insignificant, and only occurred through a very rare set of circumstances. People (and I realize this is not you) who claim that it is safer to not wear a seatbelt so you’ll “be thrown clear” ought to be categorized in the same group as those claiming that, since a rare person or two has miraculously survived falling from a plane, parachutes are unnecessary.

        21. AgentKeen

          We had a officer (state trooper I think?) come into health class in high school to give the seat belt speech. I’d been thinking ‘uh, duh, everyone knows to wear seat belts!’ when this one girl starts trying to argue about how seat belts are death traps.

          She specifically brought up ‘what if the car is on fire and you can’t unhook in time’ and the officer, in what I thought was a brilliant move of playing to his audience, asked her if she could fire a gun. She was pretty clearly a ‘country girl’ (this was in a southern part of the Midwest and pretty rural, too), so she says of course. He says ‘well, it’s as easy and quick to unbuckle a seat belt as pulling a trigger’ and she kinda just stared at him.

        22. Ed Rhodes

          I’ve never had an accident. I DID have an incident once where we belted in the children and when we got to where we were going, couldn’t get one of the belts undone until after five minutes of fiddling with the buckle. I shudder to think what would have happened if it had BEEN an accident!

          On the other side, I heard a news story about a woman who was thrown out of the car, she died instantly when she was crushed between the two cars during the crash!

    4. Guairdean Beatha

      When my youngest was still in a car seat we left the store one day, buckled her in, and started home. Before we left the parking lot, a car cut me off and I had to slam on the brakes. The car seat buckle let go and she slid into the floorboard. No injuries, but she was a very scared little girl. After that, it was impossible to start the car unless she was buckled in and the buckle had been given a test “yank” to make sure. She’s grown and on her own, but never moves the car without being buckled in.

      Just in case you’re curious, we went back in the store and bought a new car seat. It seemed to be a fluke, I rebuckled and yanked on it pretty hard, but why risk it. Car seats aren’t that expensive.

  2. DarkoNeko

    Hah !

    …of course it’d end up that way, for now they think he’s still back there ^^;

    1. DarkoNeko

      Nwo there’s hope Toedad doesn’t check for them in the back mirror, else he’ll see Amagi-girl ^^;

      1. inqntrol

        Yeah,he would use the brake to make her hit on the back of the car.

    2. Doctor_Who

      They’re just thinking “Dumb girl, Back to the Future Day was yesterday. And no one in the future of that movie wore a cape.”

      1. Ana Chronistic

        wait, wait

        –is she gonna catch up to the side of the car and slowly open the door and pull Becky out?

        IS THERE A TUNNEL COMING UP

        1. Walky_Talky

          And the dad will crash into a truck full of toenail clippings.

          “Toenails! I hate toenails!”

        2. inqntrol

          That’s his kryptonite.

        3. random832

          I’m not sure if there are any tunnels in the *state*, let alone nearby.

        4. kingoHrts

          I know there’s a tunnel in Louisville, but that’s a still quite a distance. She’d have to hang on across half the state. She might find a covered bridge sooner than that. I think there are still some of those in Indiana

        5. HumboldtRobin

          Louisville is almost exactly two driving hours South south-east of Bloomington.
          Indiana in fact has more covered bridges than any other state in the union. However Monroe county has none.
          I’m caretaking for my grandparents and visiting and subsequently drawing covered bridges is a large part of how my grandfather has spent the last twenty years while they’ve been retired/semi-retired.

        6. DSL

          An underpass or low bridge will do nicely.

    3. John

      Well, that was just the IU police. And at least one car should probably secure the shooting location and take statements from witnesses to improve the hunt. For all we know one of the cars is radioing the other car saying, was that the guy? Although it’s more likely that they were distracted by Amazigirl being crazy stupid, didn’t notice that the car matches the description, and decided that hooliganism is a lower priority than shooting suspects.

      So as far as I can tell, there have probably been at least two 911 calls related to Toe Dad. One at the forest, another at the fountain. If the callers followed the operators’ instructions then both should have stayed on the line until police arrived.

      The first call indicated an armed man chasing students. If they stayed on the line they would have reported him returning to his car and leaving the location.

      The second call should have reported shots fired, and if they stayed on the line they would have reported that the armed man took a female student with him in his car and left the location.

      In all probability between the two calls the following information was relayed: Descriptions of Toedad’s car, Toedad, Becky. This means that as soon as Toedad’s relocation is confirmed an APB should be drafted and sent out to IU Police, Bloomington Police, and probably even State Police since the probability of suspect fleeing IU campus via a highway is high. There’s a state police district located in Bloomington, so there’s not reason not to give them the APB as well.

      I don’t expect that the FBI would be notified even though they have a branch in Bloomington as there is no reason to believe Becky is at “a tender age” or that her abductor has crossed state lines yet.

      TL-DR: It’s going to be really hard for Toe dad to evade the police now that he’s raised his profile so high. The only thing he’s got going for him is that he’s got Amazigirl distracting the attention of anyone he passes.

      1. thejeff

        OTOH, that may be too simple.
        Even if the first guy stayed on the phone, he may have cleared out of the immediate area in case the potential shooter came back and thus have not seen Ross return to the car and drive away. Should have gotten a description of the car then though.

        For the actual shots fired, they probably got a dozen or more calls, only a few of which actually were close enough to see. Given panic and adrenaline, the stories probably only vaguely match. It wouldn’t be at all out of line to have descriptions entirely wrong, to have the girl assumed to be an accomplice, to leave the girl out entirely, etc.
        Then someone’s got to parse through all that, make some rough guesses what really happened and pass that to the cops heading for the scene.

        1. MichaelHaneline

          Yeah, unfortunately witnesses in a crisis situation are incredibly unreliable.
          My mom was an “air stewardess” (flight attendant) before I was born. Her plane was hijacked by a man with a fake bomb. All three stewardesses got what should’ve been a good look at the man, and yet all three gave very different descriptions of him.

  3. Leorale

    Well, at least somebody called them to the fountain.

    1. John

      Hopefully the people who called 911 are still on the phone with the operator and the police are being rerouted.

  4. otusasio451

    The police know you’ve got this, Amazi-Girl!

    (she doesn’t have this)

    1. AgentKeen

      She’s TOTALLY got this.

      (No, no she doesn’t)

      1. Doctor_Who

        She’ll be fine!

        (Where should I have the flowers sent?)

      2. Ana Chronistic

        SHE’S TOTALLY GONNA GET IT

        (she is so)

        1. Dean

          Everything’s coming up roses!

          (Lilies, actually)

    2. motorfirebox

      Everything is okay!

      (screaming, screaming)

  5. Mr. Mendo

    Truly, it is a bleak vision of the present times!

  6. Nono

    I’m vaguely surprised ‘skateboard carsurfing’ isn’t already a thing. Wait, is it a thing?

    1. Tacos

      It’s a thing. Pretty much anything can be car-surfed. Skateboards, couches, kayaks…

    2. Leorale

      Sometimes people try to make it a thing, but it turns into a ‘get your face dragged behind a car’ type of deal.

      1. Doctor_Who

        We used to do it, sort of. I used to live in an apartment next to a Salvation Army with a huge parking lot. Me or my brother would hang around, wait until someone was leaving, then sneak up behind the car and hold on while crouching on a skateboard.

        Only held on while they were in the parking lot, so they were never going faster than like 10 mph, and we never suffered worse than a skinned knee for our troubles, but it was still an incredibly stupid thing to do.

        1. Boxilar

          None of the kids I hung out with had skateboards. We all had bicycles. I had several wipeouts and collected a fair amount of road rash from pedaling down this one hill in the neighborhood as fast as I could. All of us did. Several bikes were wrecked and a few bones were broken. The neighborhood moms forbade us to run Dead Man’s Hill after the second or third broken arm. So we did it anyway.

        2. Anon

          Hahaha yeah my friends and I had very similar experiences on “suicide hill” when I was younger. As for the carsurfing though, we used to do that with rollerblades. No injuries amongst our friends, but I’ve heard of several deaths from the same.

    3. John

      One of my friends in college played rollerblade carsurfing with my station wagon one time. Fortunately, when it ended badly, it was only “scraped-up knees” badly and not “squished by a two-ton automobile” badly.

    4. thebatman22

      Well Marty McFly pulled it off

      1. Deanatay

        ^ This should never be used as a reason to do ANYTHING EVER.

        1. zoomer296

          So I shouldn’t travel through time in a DeLorean?

    5. WikiDreamer

      If I’m not mistaken, and please correct me if I am, the term for skateboard car surfing is called skitching.

      1. Guairdean Beatha

        I’d never heard that, but you are quite right. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skitching

      2. MichaelHaneline

        Beat me to it.
        (Only reason I know the term is used to have Skitchin’ for my Sega Genesis)

        1. LR27

          What do they call sneaker car surfing on snow? I’ve seen that a bunch of times, and had people try to use my car for it. However, I didn’t want to find any fingers stuck in the bumper when I got home, so I stopped each time.

  7. Shanunu

    Theyre gonna feel soo stupid when they get to the campus and discover tney drove right by the culprit

    1. sps48

      That happened to the SFPD with the Zodiac waaaaay back in the day.

  8. lime sheep

    well, i mean, obviously

  9. Makkabee

    Amazi-Girl should have waved a bag of donuts at them.

    1. Twilightomens

      Hey that’s an offensive and hurtful cop stereotype

      1. motorfirebox

        Seriously, you’d need at least a cinnamon roll or two.

      2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

        It’s a simple, filling food that tastes good and can be eaten while on the go. It’s pretty much perfect for cops.

        1. Thrabalen

          Also, once upon a time, donut shops were literally the only thing guaranteed to be serving food at 3AM in every city and town in the nation. If the same could be said about McDonald’s, we’d be making “cops and McNuggets” jokes.

  10. Adam Smith

    It’s about fuckin time

    1. liahansen

      I mean, i think it’s only been a few minutes in-comic

  11. Skizz

    On their way to the report of a gunman at the water feature.

    1. Lurlock

      Somebody forgot to read the alt text…

  12. liahansen

    I like that Amber’s willing to potentially compromise her whole super hero thing to get the cops’ help in saving Becky

    1. segnosaur

      Also rather interesting that Amber has described herself as an “illegal” vigilante. I guess she’s not so far off the deep end to not realize that what she does is questionable towards real law enforcement types.

      1. sps48

        Are there legal vigilantes?

        1. Agemegos

          Only in places where the legal system is permanently out to lunch.

        2. Anorak

          wait, so doesnt that mean amber is a legal vigilante?

        3. HumboldtRobin

          Yes. They are called Police Officers who kill suspects without a trial.

        4. Joseph

          I guess it depends on what you mean by vigilante. In Ireland, it’s used both for people who “take the law into their own hands” in the sense of being judge, jury, and sometimes literal executioner, and for people who are more like anti-crime activists, collecting information and calling people out. That second group might not be breaking the law (photos on public ground are legal, I think), while the first totally are. So, activists, some journalists, PIs, stuff like that.

  13. Some Name

    Someone disabled the cop’s AI.

  14. SpacemanSpiff85

    How do the police not have a description of the car?

    1. Dean

      Because ‘dark colored sedan of some kind, sorry I didn’t get the number plate’ covers a lot of ground?

      1. rheinman137

        A car driven by a giant toe!

      2. liahansen

        plus, the person or people who called it in probably did so before he drove away, so they dont know they’re looking for a car

        1. SpacemanSpiff85

          I’d think they’d have multiple calls about it by now, and probably pictures too.

        2. Cerberus

          Multiple confused calls about it. Panicked people talking about guns in the tree line. Guns and car swerves over by said tree line. Panicked people talking about hearing gunfire. Panicked calls about seeing a man with a gun threatening to shoot people by the fountain.

          I mean, eventually they’re going to narrow the facts down to Toedad’s description and his car and will start putting out an APB, but for now, they’re still responding to what they think is a potential school shooting massacre at the fountain.

        3. SpacemanSpiff85

          I’m sure they’d have gotten a message by now about the shooter leaving. There were lots of people watching just at the fountain. Usually with things like this there’s picture and video, and apprehending the shooter is a priority.

        4. segnosaur

          People phoning in about the shooting and the escape will not be talking to the cops directly. Any calls that come in will likely go to the 911 operators first, before it gets relayed (or possibly not) to the police.

          Given the fact that Amber was still able to see Toedad’s car when she arrived, very little time would have elapsed between Toedad leaving and them passing the cops. Probably not enough time to have messages like “they drove away” to be relayed.

        5. SpacemanSpiff85

          Unless people were calling it in as it happened (which should have happened when he originally pulled the gun out and police should’ve been there by now), it seems like “he just drove off” would’ve been mentioned.

        6. Kamino Neko

          The call they’re responding to isn’t one of the ones that are currently talking to the 911 operators (seriously, people, this is not taking place in real time!), it’s the one from when he first pulled out the gun.

        7. thejeff

          No. They’re definitely responding to the fountain now. My guess is that they were at or on route to the initial site when the calls came in saying “shots fired!”, so the response time from there will be much quicker.

      3. SpacemanSpiff85

        Considering it seems o be the only car on the road it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.
        And he was stopped there for a while, with multiple people around. I can’t believe nobody would notice the color, or the license plate, or take a picture. It lingered long enough for it to still be within sight for Amber to chase after.

        1. segnosaur

          When a person has a weapon, that tends to grab people’s attention. Before the shooting, they may not have noticed the car. When he fired, people would be focused on the weapon (and/or keeping their heads down) than on what car he was driving. Afterwards, people would probably be more focused on escape.

        2. SpacemanSpiff85

          Actually it sure seemed like people were lingering.

        3. Leorale

          Scared people are rarely rational or observant.

        4. SpacemanSpiff85

          But they have cell phones.

        5. segnosaur

          The fact that they have cell phones doesn’t mean they will automatically be rational or coherent.

          Some people (in their panic) might not phone in right away. (Holly crap, the guy had a gun! I need a second to compose myself.) Others might phone in and give misleading information.

        6. Tacos

          Which means nothing if they’re still freaked out about a gun.

        7. SpacemanSpiff85

          I’m sure someone would’ve taken a picture or video.

        8. segnosaur

          Even if someone took a picture or video, would that even make it to the police? I don’t think their communications equipment (either the 9/11 or the police themselves) has the ability to receive pictures.

          And even if someone did get their cell phone out to take a pic, the car might have been half a block away, probably too far to get a good pic of the license plate.

        9. Cerberus

          segnosaur-

          This. 911 dispatchers are fielding conflicting and varying calls. People relaying shots heard. Maybe people fielding a kidnapping. Probably more people relaying threats of violence.

          911 doesn’t have equipment to accept camera footage and even with fantastic wi-fi, uploading to Youtube takes time and we’re dealing with matters of mere minutes. In fact, the only people capable of talking to the witnesses and reviewing the phone video or the security footage are the cops racing to get to the scene.

          So yeah, they’ll know he did it, but it will probably take at least another 15 minutes if not an hour or two to get a coherent story straight and track down the people who fled the scene and would have the closest memories of what happened and in that time he’d (in a universe where no one tried to stop him) be able to get a good distance away and would be the focus of a general APB to all cars in the area and the distribution of choppers to search for him and strategic road blocks.

          But yeah, right now, one car leaving a dangerous campus at a time when there is plenty of traffic on the road in general is not going to raise red flags yet, largely because the reports are school shooting shape rather than kidnapping shape and so they’ll probably be still looking for someone on the ground.

        10. Pat

          People had no reason to pay attention to the car until after he was no longer in the car.

        11. SpacemanSpiff85

          He was standing right next to it the whole time. And drove away slowly.

        12. sps48

          Posters are trying to explain to you that there are more steps involved, each of which take time. You aren’t comprehending.
          Let me ask- if you are one of several people calling a limited number of 911 operators, how are you going to get your cell phone pics and video to the police officers nearby?

        13. SpacemanSpiff85

          I’m not talking about them getting the video to the police. I’m saying they could look at the pictures and see what color the car was.

        14. sps48

          What, they are going to call back to 911 and wait until they get through the rest of the calls on this event?
          The real world simply doesn’t work the way you seem to think it does.

        15. SpacemanSpiff85

          I’ve been around situations like this, so I know what I’m talking about. People tweet and post stuff online and talk very fast. And they could check the pictures, then call.

        16. Pat

          Before the gun was out they didn’t care. After the gun was out they cared about the gun.

        17. MindLink

          Remember that “the whole time” was probably less than a minute,
          and I’m guessing they didn’t notice until he actually fired the gun, which would be around the 30 second mark.
          The police we are seeing, are probably responding to the first bystander reporting when he parked the card and went into the woods.

        18. CJ

          If it is toe-dad’s car, Joyce will know the number by hearth.
          But we don’t know where she is now.

        19. Tan

          Really? Did you know your childhood friends’ parents’ license plates by heart? I sure as hell didn’t.

          (that being said, she -will- know his name and address, so the cops should be able to easily look up the specific plates)

        20. Chris

          Someone yesterday had said the plates had changed (between the car getting impounded and the fountain) and given that a) Willis doesn’t seem to anything by accident, and b) the crowd here is pretty observant, then it’s possible Toe Dad has swapped out his legitimate plates. Looking up the plates would be pointless.

        21. Kamino Neko

          Can someone possibly link to a strip where we saw the plate before it was impounded, because as far as I can tell, we didn’t. The strip where it’s towed is the first time we see it (and the last until he comes back), and that only showed the front end. In profile.

        22. Kamino Neko

          Er…’it’ in my last post was the car. I lost my train of thought looking through the strips again trying to see if there was one I missed.

        23. Chris

          Just went back over the comics since Toe-dad appeared behind Dina. No evidence of a plate before yesterday’s comic… so unless something was posted on Patreon (which I wouldn’t have seen), I seem to have been trolled. I will never trust the crowd here again.

        24. Kamino Neko

          I don’t even know my own parents’ licence plate by heart. (I knew their last car’s plate, but not their current one.)

        25. Ragingagnostic

          He’s also speeding and going through red lights. How is that NOT attracting police attention?

      4. Palamdrone

        How hard could it be to spot the only car in town? Seriously!

        1. DSL

          You’d be surprised what people think they see/fail to see in a NON-stressful situation, let alone one gone as far south as this one. Oh I know YOU all are lean, mean noticing machines, but you’re just watching a comic strip describing the situation, fat lot of good that does anyone.

        2. segnosaur

          I remember seeing this interactive “test” once that simulated a threat with a weapon. A video was shown of someone waving a knife around, and then afterwards you were asked to identify details about the person holding the knife.

          People focused on the weapon itself and as a result could not give a proper description of the person.

        3. DSL

          Ever see the video I’m which the viewer is told, before the video starts, to keep track of how often the basketball was passed along different people? Did you notice the person in the gorilla suit? (I didn’t.) Plenty of similar examples. People miss some obvious things if they don’t expect to see them — or see what they expect to see, even if it’s not there.

      5. Opus the Poet

        From Yesterday’s strip we know it’s a late-aughts Ford sedan.

    2. segnosaur

      I suspect the issue that’s on the policemen’s mind is that the likey problem is a shooter intent on killing people. Not sure how many incidents like this involve kidnapping, but I suspect relatively few compared to those interested in just killing. So it makes sense that the cops wouldn’t be too concerned with identifying vehicles.

      1. SpacemanSpiff85

        The reason why they don’t stop him is pretty simple and obvious. It’s so Amazi-girl can be involved in this story, for some reason.

        1. segnosaur

          While it is true that the purpose of the comics is to tell a story about the characters, it is a mark of a good storyteller if the narrative is able to mix in some consistency.

          In this case, the delay in police response and the inability to identify Toedad’s car is consistent with how the events would unfold in a realistic universe.

        2. Lord Stoneheart

          Or the people who called 911 didn’t get a good look at the car, or it hasn’t been much time so maybe the 911 operators haven’t been told that the shooter left. We didn’t see anyone onscreen call 911, but clearly someone did because the cops are heading to the fountain now. We don’t know how much they know.

        3. SpacemanSpiff85

          Unless they called while Ross was right there with the gun, I’m sure they would have mentioned that the car left.

        4. Marie

          They probably did, then took a bit of time (even under a minute is significant) trying to remember to describe the car, and then the 911 operators had to relay that information in a coherent manner.

          Even if they did find it suspect, they might not have found it suspect enough to pull a U turn at full speed.

        5. MindLink

          I doubt that these cars have yet to receive info on the latest calls from the fountain, too early.

    3. Guairdean Beatha

      The first call that went out was probably a simple “Shots fired.” Followup calls will list at least one location. People hear shots and assume it’s close to them. Right now, the police are on high alert but may not know if the shooter was a student, or outsider. As things settle, they’ll get a better description of the car and the people involved. At some point, a call will go out that it’s been upgraded to a kidnapping and possible (and considering Fundie’s remark in panel two, probably) hostage situation. AG’s biggest problem right now is probably the wheels on the skateboard. They aren’t meant to take that much abuse, and don’t do well on rocks and rough pavement. I’d start reeling in to get close to the car. Maybe she can make a grab for something and try to get in through a window.

  15. mo

    Hope Joyce can at least redirect the police when they get to the fountain amd give a description of the car and Ross’s identity.

    1. Carms

      “A girl in yellow and blue on a skateboard was chasing them”

      “….. ah.”

      1. inqntrol

        “Wait a minute we just pass-!Erhm,I mean we need to stop this scum at all costs!”

      2. segnosaur

        For some reason that reminds me of the movie The Jerk, where the “hero” is working at a gas station when some criminals stop to buy some gas. He tries to keep them there by tying their car to a house near by, but they only succeed in towing the car behind them.

        In the next scene, he’s talking to the cops saying “blue chevy, towing a house. If you see a car towing a house, that’s probably it.”

  16. RJ

    I think this will end with Ross getting very arrested… and Amber possibly getting very hurt. 🙁

    1. Big Box

      Ross just said: “I won’t let them take you.”

      If Amber doesn’t stop him before the police do, he is going to end up with more holes than the plot of The Hunger Games.

  17. newllend(henryvolt)

    WOW Cops in the DoA Universes are almost as useless as they are in the real world.

    1. rheinman137

      When seconds count, the police are minutes away.

      1. sps48

        Hey! I used that one yesterday!

        1. sps48

          Well, when “Cojones” was posted.

        2. Kamino Neko

          Someone’s been using that line in the comments on almost every strip in this arc.

          It’s becoming as bad as ‘FAAACE’ and ‘clever girl’.

        3. xKiv

          But not nearly anything like “For Joyce, Becky and Dina, this was the day Toead showed up and kidnapped Becky. For That Guy .. it was over with”.

    2. Proper Dave

      Yeh. We definitely need more armed private citizens willing to do whatever it takes to do what they think its right.

  18. rheinman137

    Inertia is not going to be Amazi-Girl’s friend at the next stoplight

    1. pjeseb

      I don’t think Becky’s dad plans on stopping at any lights or signs for the next few hours.

      1. neeks

        Well I dunno, he and Becky discussed it a couple strips ago and she asked him to stop at stop signs and promised not to run seeing as he’ll just chase after her with a gun again…and yes, she might have been just telling him what he wants to hear (because gun) so she can lull him into a false sense of having succeeded in his awful mission and plans to gtfo at the first opportunity (because gun), but I really think she just doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, whether by gunshot or traffic accident. Not herself, not her butthole dad, not an innocent bystander.

        Besides, running stop signs/lights would arguably attract the attention of the cops, who will hopefully soon have a description of the car and its driver/passenger (and its other pursuant, haha), and I don’t think that is what Ross wants, although it may not have occurred to him.

        Granted, there’s always the awful possibility that even if he does get pulled over for a traffic violation (and cooperates with the instructions to pull over), the cop will just go with his version of events ((subjectively) truthful or otherwise) and Becky won’t do or say anything to contradict it (because gun, and she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt).

    2. liahansen

      If she sees it coming, she might be able to slow herself down in time depending on her skateboarding skill level, which is apparently Totally Radical

  19. Stephen R. Bierce

    *plays Huey Lewis & The News’ … “Bad Is Bad” on the car stereo*

    1. a4lbi

      *hammers a muzak onto a car*

  20. inqntrol

    ,,Hey Bob,ain’t that a vigilante girl on a skateboard ,probably trying to catch a suspect?”
    ,,Don’t be silly,the suspect can’t just pass near us without us noticing him.Those people probably came from a party.”
    Indiana’s finest ladies and gentleman.

  21. jepmz

    I imagined they definitely saw her but they prioritize the call about a school shooting more 🙁

  22. jams

    Becky stop helping your dad :c

    1. Cerberus

      She’s trying to make it out alive…ish. Especially since he just straight up threatened to kill her if the cops try and pull him over.

      1. Marie

        I wouldn’t call that straight up threatening to kill her, but yeah, definitely a threat of escalation (against the police, her, himself, whatever).

        1. snogglethorpe

          I think “I won’t let them take you” is intended to refer to the “If I can’t have person x, nobody can” attitude you see in a lot of recent domestic (or “ex-” etc) killings in the U.S….

        2. MindLink

          To me it sounded like he was referring to their driving speed, as in “Don’t worry, they won’t catch up with us”

        3. nightsbridge

          Charitable interpretation

    2. Boxilar

      She doesn’t want him dead. Whatever else she may think of him, he’s her dad and she loves him. And if he speeds, or does anything to draw attention, he’s going to get out of the damned car brandishing a rifle and is going to die in a hail of bullets.
      And this may get some hate thrown my way, but I sort of feel sorry for him. I don’t condone anything he’s doing, or his pigheaded attitude about his daughters sexuality, but I think I know where he’s at right now. He’s lost his wife, his faith is probably strained to the breaking point and he’s desperately trying to hang on to what little he has left. And he’s willing to die if he thinks he’s going to lose the one thing left in his life that matters. And that whole faith being strained to breaking, where you WANT to believe but in your deepest self know it’s not possible anymore? That can be a very dark and painful place to be.

      Becky is helping him because she knows if she doesn’t, he’ll probably die.

      1. MindLink

        Yeah,
        I can actually relate a little bit to that.
        Not any of the particulars in this case, but having a mindset that is difficult to change when you first have gotten onto a track. I can imagine that he might not even WANT to do any of this any-more, but he’s so rigid in his thoughts that he literally can see no other option. Imagine his initial though as a train leaving the station on a one-rail track, with an engine that can’t go in reverse. Now, if you were on the train, and suddenly realized you forgot something important back at the station, then that feeling would be similar to how he is feeling right now. I got that feeling all-ready back at the fountain, when he is pleading with Becky to get in the car, even though he actually has a gun on her. He is not really saying “please, come back with me”, but rather “please, help me to stop me from shooting you, I don’t want to, but I can’t seem to stop”.
        Getting back in his car and simply driving away wasn’t just unacceptable for him at that point, it was as impossible as it would’ve been for him to suddenly sprout wings and fly away.
        Maybe.
        Or he’s just an asshole. People are very different.

        1. Boxilar

          The reason I think Ross isn’t completely irredeemable is his expression here, once he’s in the car.
          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/let/
          He’s crying just a little bit. Have been in a similar situation (worldview falling into ruin, not kidnapping my daughter at gunpoint) I can empathize even as I condemned his actions.

        2. Cerberus

          I see that as a very charitable interpretation of his meaning. His “get in the car” was a demand. Either the human Becky heeded the call and got in her correct box (the one her moral guardian and the head of her family has decided for her) or the demon would continue to vex him by playing to his “weakness” (i.e. conscience saying this is terrible).

          His world view holds that changing one’s mind, especially on matters where one knows demons are involved (because gayness is demons stealing your loved one and recruiting them in their dark family-destroying ways) is weakness and corruption, a sign that Satan is trying to warp your morals. He stood strong against the demon and “saved” his daughter’s soul, even if he doesn’t fully believe he was fully successful. That is enough for him to cry about as she acquiesced. And he has re-hardened his heart against any further deception the demon might make until her “rightful sexuality has been restored completely” through his prayers. That and he fears that his crusade will be cut short by the authorities… an ending he is also resigned to because death in the midst of “such a holy act” as “bringing his daughter back into the fold” is sure to result in being reunited with his wife in Heaven.

          He is fighting his conscience. But it is not the demons of his abusive tendencies he is at war with. It is the last shreds of empathy his twisted worldview can summon and their memories of once caring about Becky as a person instead of a prop (which was always a fiction because that love was dependent on her submission to his worldview, but that doesn’t mean he can’t think back on those memories and his pride in raising her).

        3. Boxilar

          I see your point. I guess I’m hoping there’s more to Ross than that, but I’m willing to concede that your read on him may be right. Chances are, he’s either going to jail or he’s going down in a blaze of glory. I’d say it’s pretty even either way at the moment.

        4. Cerberus

          It’s sadly a not uncommon way parents end up responding to the news that their offspring are some flavor of queer. A lot of tough love and standing “firm” against the delusions or immorality the child is claiming to be. Hardening one’s heart against conscience to stand for propriety and “sanity”.

          And the worst part is that type of brutality is not unique to just religious parents of queer kids. There’s a lot to that, that we as a society should probably unpack in the interest of said kids. When viewed directly, it seems patently awful (largely because it is), but to a lot of parents it makes sense to them in the moment.

        5. MindLink

          Careful, so that you don’t end up using his “demonizing” thought patterns against him yourself. Most perpetrators of evil are usually only weak minded, trapped in their own thoughts, despairingly trying to grasp a little control, but ultimately failing. Basically a slave to pre-set notions that doesn’t fit the situation at hand.

        6. Amazi-Stool

          He is not really saying “please, come back with me”, but rather “please, help me to stop me from shooting you, I don’t want to, but I can’t seem to stop”.

          He says “please” exactly zero times. He is not begging, he is commanding!

          It was Becky who said “please”.

        7. MindLink

          I didn’t mean it literally, look at his expression again.. He IS pleading, in his own, twisted way.

  23. 0kami

    Way to arrive in the nick of time to save the day and pull a BDH moment, police!

  24. HorchataShake

    I’m going to explode when Ross gets his commeupance.

    1. JessWitt

      Yeah, the anticipation. Ever so high.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      I better step behind this anti-blast wall then… 😛

  25. John

    Okay, can people stop asking if Bloomington’s got any cops at all because it’s been like five whole minutes and SWAT snipers haven’t blown butthole dad’s head off yet now?

    1. Agemegos

      You, sir, are a dizzying optimist.

  26. Cthulhu's Intern

    I like how Toedad doesn’t even seem to notice that there’s some girl in a superhero suit grappled to his car on a skateboard.

    1. Ana Chronistic

      she must accidentally have some of Dina’s invisibility rubbed off on the suit

    2. John

      He can’t turn his head to look behind him because of his lack of neck.

      1. JessWitt

        That explains his single-mindedness.

      2. Agemegos

        I can’t either. I have driving mirrors.

        1. John

          Superheros don’t have reflections.

          Or is that vampires?

          One of those things that wears capes, anyway.

      3. MindLink

        His rear-view mirror is in front of him though.

        1. Tacos

          He is probably to preoccupied with focusing that Becky doesn’t try anything for him to look in his rear-view mirror. Also who knows if it’s not broken. I mean he has a busted bumper which could indicate that he doesn’t take care of his car.

    3. Cerberus

      He might actually be too focused on the cops and making sure his daughter “doesn’t get any bright ideas” about escape to have it fully hit his notice.

  27. Twilightomens

    You can do it Amazigirl! Just don’t let go!

    1. saki

      Don’t let it go, don’t let it go~
      Hold him back a bit longer~
      Don’t let it go, don’t let it go~
      Beware of the momentum~
      I don’t care~ If they shoot Toedad~
      Let the cops get him~
      Freedom never suited him anyway~

      Yeah that was bad. I’m sorry. I had to try. I’ll see myself out now. ->[]

    2. Stephen R. Bierce

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5lBzKGSxNA <- A classic cut from REO Speedwagon.

  28. les-be-friends dinosaurs

    Im pretty sure that Becky wouldn’t be the one taken away but whatever its your delusions

    1. Pat

      They’re gonna take her away from him.
      And that’s not fair, he owns her!

      1. Cerberus

        Just no respect for property rights!

  29. Carms

    come back on screen in one piece Dina
    http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/i-didnt-even-have-a-joke-for-this-week

  30. Just Me

    How long will it be before Ross see’s AmberAmazi-Girl in his rear-view mirror?

    That aught to slow things down.

    1. Reaver

      Bout as long as it takes Biff to notice Martie in the back seat talking loudly on a walkee talkie

  31. Cerberus

    Toe Dad’s line… holy fuck. He really has made up his mind to kill her if he encounters any more resistance… and Amazi-Girl is fast approaching… well fuck…

    But seriously, Becky has such a narrow tightrope to walk here to attempt to stay safe knowing that the very things that could save her are also what Toedad is waiting for in order to have an excuse to escalate. It’s definitely a traditional violent abusive parent power play, but that makes it no safer to be anywhere nearby.

    I have a feeling that the hospital at the end of this may not just be for one single member of the crew, but rather multiple before this is done.

    1. Agemegos

      As I said, Big Toe Daddy’s current frame of mind is of extreme concern, and it is both important and urgent that whomever is handling the situation be told of it. Only Joyce knows.

      Even Amazi-Girl doesn’t know to treat this as an attempted murder-suicide in progress.

    2. Boxilar

      My read of Toedad’s mental state is a bit different. That bit just before Becky got in the car with him she mentioned that he was “willing to die for me”. He didn’t bring a semiautomatic rifle with a big magazine, or even a blot action hunting rifle that holds five rounds. He brought a single shot rifle that he fired into the air and has not reloaded, at least on camera. I think Ross will go down on a blaze of glory if cornered by the police, maybe with an unloaded gun.

      1. Pat

        He did reload it on camera, immediately after firing it.

        1. Boxilar

          You’re right. It’s in the overhead shot of the fountain and the people around it. I missed it on several read throughs.

      2. Marie

        I hope he doesn’t die [right now or any time before Becky is 100% safe], because he would think in that last millisecond that he would be saved for what he did.

      3. Agemegos

        Okay, so he didn’t set out with a plan to force Becky into a state of grace, kill her, and then get killed by the police in a hail of bullets, repentance, and “no, this totally does not counts as suicide, honest”. And so he’s not well equipped to execute such a plan. If he had he would probably have had an AR-15 and a high-capacity pistol. But his didn’t, so he doesn’t. But whatever plan he did have went completely off the rails either when Becky refused to get in his car at Anderson or when he saw Dina with Becky. Really, I don’t think that plans are his strong suit. And that’s why I wrote that I consider his current frame of mind, not his plan, to be of extreme concern.

        Right now he’s confused, highly emotional, and sees no feasible way out of his difficulties, though saving Becky and then getting ‘everyone’ killed has recently crossed his mind and he has indicated that he is resigned to that. This is an extremely dangerous situation.

        A competent police negotiator could very likely talk Toedad down. Which is why it is important and urgent that the police incident response manager finds out (a) that Becky has Dina’s phone, and what its number is, and (2) what the hell is going on with Becky and her Big Toe Daddy. This is information that only Joyce can supply.

        1. Cerberus

          I would agree with this. Toedad’s plan seems to have been “get her back, get her fixed, bring a hunting rifle in case the wayward child proves ‘difficult’ again or the demons of secular university try and waylay me in my holy duty”. I think initially, he had a plan of just tracking her down and dragging her away ala Anderson, just this time with a tighter grip, but then he got waylaid by Dina, had his car towed, and then Becky had a girlfriend and then ran from him.

          And that was a blow to his authority, pride, and masculine duty as head of the house. The escalation to gun was easy for him given his abusive nature, but he didn’t seem to have a specific plan in mind beyond “how dare that demon continue to vex me” and “this’ll show her”.

          Her statement on how that power play in a secular college community was going to be shut down hard by the secular authorities threw a monkey wrench in that and seems to be where he settled on “eh, in for a penny, in for a pound. Won’t let the demon beat me, no matter what sacrifices need to be made”.

          And he still seems to be in that headspace, even after her acquiescence, because he’s an abusive creep and his pride is still wounded by her initial refusals and the thought of larger worldly powers still waylaying his “holy mission”. And that makes him incredibly dangerous in this moment, because he made his peace with “father and daughter go out together in a giant fuck you to the devil and then yay to heaven to meet with the wife” and is only too happy to continue to escalate towards that end, especially as that lets him regain his toxic ideas about being the “man of the house” and “setting things morally right” even if it requires “sacrifice”.

          Becky’s trying to ride that as best as she can now that she’s been ripped away from all her happiness and any hope for a future, but it’s near impossible to waylay an abusive parent when they are prepping themselves up for another bad turn.

    3. Bagge

      I’m not sure if it really has sunk in for Becky that he will probably try to take her with him, but she has definitely understood that she is watching her father’s suicide, right here, right now.

      I mean, because clearly Becky needs MORE trauma.

      1. Cerberus

        Hey, it’s buy one, get one free at the trauma store and we need to stock up for the winter!

  32. Yotomoe

    Too bad Amber isn’t black. They woulda stopped her out of principle.

    1. inqntrol

      Really sad that this principle is applied even today.

    2. Pat

      They probably should have stopped her on principle regardless, in this case.
      Different principle, but still.

    3. Spencer

      I laughed a bit and now I feel like shit.

      Thanks, yotomoe. Expect a sternly worded e-mail in the next seven business days.

  33. Barf Ninjason

    Once upon a time, I was down at the river I live by and I ran into an old woman who said she had nerve damage and wanted to know if I knew anyone who could give her a ride up the very steep hill you had to go up/down to reach the river. I said “No, but I can give you a piggyback ride.” She said, “No, you couldn’t do that.” I said “I’m completely serious but oh hey look a cop’s passing by I’ll flag him down.” I attempted to do so. He drove past us. She said “I guess he’s busy.” I said “Yeah, that would be the charitable interpretation.”

    1. inqntrol

      It was very nice of you to help the old woman,but about the cop did you see him turning his head around to check the surroundings?If he was keeping the eyes on the round,that would explain why he didn’t stop.

  34. Sionyx

    Police question witnesses, Joyce names Ross, police are waiting for Ross when he gets home.

    Like it’ll really be that easy…

    1. Pat

      When he gets home?
      Where is that? When will he be there? Is he going there?

  35. Professor Fate

    “Hey Muldoon, ain’t car surfin’ against da law?”
    “Yeah, Toody, so?”
    “Dat kid in da Halloween costume was doin’ it back dere.”
    “Ferget it, we got shots fired on campus.”

    “Car 54, Where are you?”

    1. Cerberus

      Yup. They’re reacting to the report from a few minutes ago… unfortunately there might not be anyone left in the area by the time they get there to let them now about the kidnapping… unless maybe Sayid stuck around. Cause if not, I have a bad feeling that Joyce isn’t exactly in a mind to stay still and gently explain the situation to the cops. She seems to be in “fuck authority. get becky back.” mode.

      1. nightsbridge

        Complete with curses

      2. John

        Coming next strip: Joyce punches out a cop, “deputizes” his cruiser, goes to get Becky back herself.

    2. fogel

      There’s a holdup in the Bronx …

  36. Marie

    Even if they aren’t turning right around I hope they go fast once someone says ‘they drove off that way!’ (at least one should be able to take pursuit right away, one might stay to take a statement and see if anyone needs an ambulance and I wouldn’t fault that)

    I also wouldn’t fault Becky bailing from the car now that there are cops (I wouldn’t have before, but especially now). I don’t think she will based on Becky, but on the other hand that seems like a good story move because Amazigirl gets a minute to fight Toedad when he inevitably slams on the brakes.

  37. OtakuPatriot

    “I won’t let them take you.” You keep telling yourself you have the power to do that.

    You know, my brother was in prison; I hear that when you answer the question “What are you in for?” with something like “I kidnapped my own daughter at gunpoint,” it doesn’t really look good for you. It’s almost as bad as being a pedophile, but you’ll still get your ass beat on a regular basis.

  38. Agemegos

    I bet Batman never has this trouble.

    1. inqntrol

      “Look! It’s Batman! Shouldn’t we help him?”
      “Nah,he got this. After all…HE’S BATMAN.”

      1. Agemegos

        I guess so. At least it’s a different sort of trouble.

    2. Boxilar

      Batman has the Bat mobile, the Batwing, the Batboat, the Bat cave, the resources of Wayne Enterprises, several other Bat themed sidekicks and Alfred.

      Amazigirl pretty much has what she’s running around with. I think she’s doing pretty well, considering.

      1. Tacos

        Don’t forget the most important resource. His Bat-shark repellent. *nods*

        1. inqntrol

          Now all he needs is some Batsnacks.

        2. Amazi-Stool

          And that he totally has.
          As can be seen here.

        3. John

          In case he’s attacked by bat-sharks. (Manta rays?)

      2. Pat

        He also has bird-themed sidekicks.

        1. Boxilar

          Indeed. It used to bother me somewhat that Robin had such a different outfit than Batman or even Batgirl. Then a friend pointed out it was basically an acrobat’s outfit and it made sense. Well, as much as extraordinary men and women dressing up like early 20th century circus performers made sense to a kid growing up in the 70’s and 80’s,

        2. sps48

          Can Amazi-Girl breathe IN SPACE?

        3. Boxilar

          Well, we know she’s immune to criticism. Have someone, preferably Blaine criticize her inability to breathe in a vacuum and she’d be golden.

        4. Spencer

          Holy crap, I figured it out.

          Anytime we criticize Amazi-Girl’s stunts as unrealistic, she automatically gains the ability to do them.

        5. mo

          Amazi-girl can’t beat up Ross and get him put in jail without Becky or herself getting harmed, that’s unrealistic.

          [anticipation]

        6. Amazi-Stool

          It is official.

          It is canon.

          Batman can breathe in space and it was a direct reference to a Shortpacked! comic.

        7. Bicycle Bill

          So does Amazi-Girl — She has Raptor!!
          And as as Dina herself will tell you, there is strong evidence for raptors having had feathers…..

    3. Bagge

      It DOES seem like something that could happen to Spiderman though.

  39. Kelandrea

    *lifts hands to sky* Please Do Not Look In The Rear View Mirror.

  40. Kinoko

    Does Ross just not check his mirrors? I guess he was blasting through stop signs earlier, so we already know he’s not the most conscientious driver…

    1. 0kami

      I’m sure his method of safe driving is ‘Jesus, take the wheel’.

  41. motorfirebox

    I like that she’s even sarcastic in her BatBale voice.

    “I’m not wearing hockey pads. I mean, I am, but they’re actually a really well-designed piece of protective equipment designed for high-energy movement, so it makes sense.”

  42. Idon'tcarenomore

    I think Amber is in a world of shit right now. I’d hoped that she would use the rope trick around the stop sign pole, and swing herself into the side of the car while it was still moving slowly – so she could grab a door or window.

    Toedad isn’t showing any inclination at the moment to turn his head as all those cops drove by him. But, with most driver’s anyway, seems he should be looking in the rearview mirror about this time.

    He spots AG, he is going to brake and unless she can swerve around him….well she appears to be awesome on that skateboard…so maybe…

    Damn, you’re good Mr. Willis.

    1. Pat

      He is not a good driver.

      1. Boxilar

        He doesn’t appear to be a good anything.

        1. Boxilar

          And I am terrible at proofreading.

        2. Pat

          I’m not gonna argue with you, but I can’t see anything wrong with the above comment?

        3. Amazi-Stool

          Was probably meant as “at anything”?

          But i agree: The comment as it were posted works as it was!

        4. Boxilar

          I intended what Amazi-stool said. Still, I think you’re right. It does work better as written.

  43. Bagge

    I’m not going to lie – I LOVE Amazie-girl’s banter here. Even if everything is super serious and dramatic she knows what being a super hero is all about.

    Ross, it’s not the police that threaten to take Becky – you are. You are the kind of thing the police are there to stop.

  44. Bagge

    #Trigger warning: School shooting.

    I’m going to be political for a moment. Feel free to scroll on, I will probably write a post screaming abuse about ToeDad later today.

    As discussed in the comments some time ago it was expected that there would be a school attack in the US during this arc for purely statistical reasons. But I didn’t expect there to be one in Sweden. But there was. Lonely young man, few friends, one morning he put on a mask, grabbed a weapon and went to his old high school and started to attack people. He was eventually stopped by the police and is currently in hospital.

    Thankfully we are not used to this in Sweden. What in other countries would be horrible routine is here a national emergency. But there is something else that differs too. The man armed himself with swords and knives. Three people died. I can just imagine how many would have died if he had access to guns.

    Sorry about that, just wanted to give an international perspective and yet again say that this story touches a nerve that deserves to be touched. Thanks for describing a horribly important topic with honesty.

    1. 0kami

      I guess there’s a silver lining in that they managed to subdue him and take him alive. All too often, the perpetrator takes themselves out along with the innocent victims, and the grim “opportunity” to delve into finding out what drives someone to just do this kind of thing is something to explore if we’re to find the root cause of this tragic scenario.

      Thanks for the international view, and hope any injured people and the bereaved families are coping as well as they can. I think we can anticipate some form of regulatory action from Sweden on guns and weapons, similar to other countries that suffered similar tragedies (other than, y’know, us, ‘cuz.. 2nd Amendment, yadda yadda… =_= ).

      1. Bagge

        Yes, unfortunately I was writing based on old news. One of the three was the perpetrator himself, so we are stuck in just the tragic scenario you describe. Thankfully guns are well regulated in Sweden (that’s why the attack was made with edged weapons instead of bullets) but we will probably see higher security in schools from now on.

        1. CJ

          Recent reports make it sound once again like the perp was a young man without prospects to become someone in society who turned to fascist thoughts and went out to kill people who are either better of or getting what should be his.
          The school recently received a lot of refugee kids ist seems.
          I fear, we will have some more of theses losers attacking refugees and people who help them in the near future. At the moment, in Germany, they tend to put fire to refugee housing, first only to empty ones, recently also some with people already living there. Last week, there was the knife attack on the cologne mayor candidate, …
          Most are probably about as rational as toe-dad and in a way to be pitied, but … hell … even Rosenberg admitted that stopping the violence has priority.

      2. Porto

        Also might be because about 2/3 of firearm deaths are suicides.

        According to the CDC. The same people who have tried to convince doctors to violate HIPPA laws if their patients have guns.

        Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think people with violent or seriously troubled pasts should be able to grab a gun and go buck wild, but it’d be nice if I wasn’t considered a dangerous psychopath for wanting to protect myself from another sexual assault.

        Because if somebody ever comes at me again, that will be the last thing they do.

    2. li

      It’s okay.

      There was a school stabbing in China shortly after one of our many school shootings last year. People tried to be like “look see they’ll just find other weapons”, as if the fact that all of the victims in China had survived wasn’t important.

      1. Boxilar

        To be fair, Japan, a country with gun regulations that make England look like America by comparison, has pretty regular mass stabbings. The big difference being that rampages with a knife tend to top out in the single digits where as with guns the death toll can be quite a bit higher especially if no one else in the area is similarly armed. The exception to that would be the 2014 Kunming subway attack where a group of eight people went on a knife rampage in a crowd of civilians. 29 victims were killed along with four of the attackers and 140 people were injured. The difference between this and Sweden being the the Kungming attack was a coordinated attack by eight assailants on a crowded subway platform.

        1. Li

          Right so… Pretty much just further supports all my feelings on gun control.

        2. Boxilar

          Fair enough. I would point out that violence in general has dropped by half in the U.S. since a spike in the late 80’s and early 90’s. From a scientific standpoint, that probably has more to do with improved automobile emmission controls and the elimination of lead additives in gasoline than anything else, though. Large portions of America’s urban population are no longer subject to constant low level lead poisoning and the violent tendencies that go along with it.

  45. HiiroArana79

    Fun comment that won’t post!

  46. HiiroArana79

    Oh wow it worked

  47. Ryan

    Okay, now this has to happen. In an homage to Back to the Future, asshole slams on the breaks, Amazi-Girl is speeding toward back of stopped car, thinks quickly and jumps up, running/somersaulting/whatever on top of the car as the skateboard slides under it, she jumps on it the second it comes out of the front, rides a few yards and skids sideways to a stop, badass as hell. Cape blowing in the wind.

    1. Roborat

      Then gets flattened by the car.

  48. BenRG

    We learn two things today:
    1) Yes, it looks like Ross somehow got locked into a fight/flight response;

    2) The police in Bloomington apparently set records for lack of observation skills.

    1. Cerberus

      They’re not privy to our knowledge. To them, this is just one more car on a busy Monday school day morning driving around with a college punk doing a stunt on the back. On a slow day, they’d have pulled that over and investigated. Without Amber, they probably wouldn’t have even done that. With reports of a gunman, they’re not going to be pulling over anything until they make sure that no one is in physical danger from a gunman roaming the campus.

      1. m2iCodeJockey

        While I know this is a comedy, human beings are just not that stupid.
        They’d split up, and their equipment is set up for doing so, thinking “she is probably either the shooter or a target so, better get ’em both.”
        Really, AG stands out so much.

        She may as well be a big yellow arrow with sign that says “THEY’RE RIGHT F***IN’ HEEEERRRE!!!”

        1. Lord Stoneheart

          What are you talking about? The cops here simply don’t have the same info we do. At this point in time they probably don’t have a good description of the suspect’s car. They probably haven’t been told that the suspect has fled the scene in his car. (It’s probably been less than 15 minutes since this whole thing started). There was probably multiple calls to 911, and I doubt that they got a clear picture of what happened this quickly. I doubt all the calls gave all possible non conflicting info. What part of that makes the cops stupid exactly?

        2. Trolldrool

          No police force is going to split their forces to go after what appears to be a minor offense if there’s been reports about a shooting at campus. And Amazi Girl’s presence means absolutely nothing since we have no reason to believe the people who called the police noticed her attaching herself to the car. As far as the police can tell, it’s another stupid college prank. Everything you wrote appears to be based on how you wish things were, not how they actually are.

        3. nightsbridge

          Maybe you don’t spend a lot of time on a college campus, but this is like . . . Pretty simple for the weird that can go on. No reason to suspect more than they see.

        4. Cerberus

          Um, everything everyone else said and also:

          This is not the only car on the road around campus. I mean, this shooting occurred near the peak of classes on a Monday. There’s going to be plenty of kids looking for parking, kids trying to find their way to classes. Yeah, there was a shot fired, but it was only one and not everyone is going to know what a gunshot sounds like. Outside that main crowd, I’m sure there are people who are going about their business until they get the news about the lockdown. (I mean, we have the preview panel for the bonus strip for Dorothy that implies that she doesn’t initially know about the shooting initially). And people are going to be extra trying to drive away from where they heard the shots if they can.

          As such, to the cops, this isn’t really going to raise a red flag. It’s just someone driving around campus, goofing around like shit didn’t just get serious, but you know those damn kids and their hippity hops, blah de blah.

          And that’s not going to be a big deal to cops who think they are rushing to a potential massacre. They just don’t have the information to know this was an abusive kidnapping with a gun yet. Maybe if they get a chance to talk with Joyce, but I doubt Joyce is of a mind to stick around where she is for long, either rushing off to join the chase or trying to track down someone like Sal or Dorothy to figure out what to do next.

        5. m2iCodeJockey

          Well, what you can guess they know would depends on WHY they would be headed to the fountain or not.

          The operators’ goal would be to keep the caller(s) on the line, getting as much info as possible, without endangering the caller(s), until unit(s) arrive to make first-person observations.
          Test this. Try listening to a couple emergency calls and see if they don’t usually end with the sound of sirens near the caller, if not the voice of a person saying “we’re on the scene.”

          So, if they were called (and they aren’t just headed somewhere else:)
          -If they are headed to the other edge of the woods, they already have a description of Ross’ car which stands out for two basic reasons: Its color and it’s a two-door.
          -If they are headed to the fountain, it’s likely because one of the 7 people in that frame called but, even if not, it’s still likely they already know a bright-haired girl left with the gunman and they have a better description of Ross than the one from the woods.

        6. Cerberus

          It’s more about who’s calling. There’s going to be a lot of 911 calls that are just going to be talking about hearing shots or seeing people running. The dispatchers will piece together the fragments, but right now there’s a lot of scared people. One of the fullest pieces might be the person who saw Toedad pull out the gun to chase Dina and Becky, but that would be talking about a man chasing after two girls on foot in the direction of the fountain, where there would be reports of shots.

          Not to mention that none of the people who were physically there during the kidnapping were shown to pull out their phones, so it’s possible that those are only just now connecting with 911, whereas the rest of the reports are probably just about the fact that there heard shots in that direction.

          And these cops are still on route so that means they are still in the process of just acquiring the information as you note. And given the scariness of the situation, I imagine a good number of seconds was spent just trying to have the people calm down.

          Overall, I have no doubt that dispatch will have a full description ready for Toedad and there’ll be an APB, but it makes sense that that might be delayed for some more minutes due to the volume of the calls and what the cops will be most worried the calls are about (a school shooting) Overall, it might be plenty of time for him to put at least a little distance between himself and the campus.

        7. Cerberus

          See also how much of a confused clusterfuck it is when a school shooting occurs and how long it takes law enforcement to convene on the shooter and that’s when they are taking multiple shots. And also how larger actions where the person who planted a bomb or took shots flees the scenes often end in an arrest hours or sometimes even days later while they are figuring out who the suspect is and where they might have gone.

          Honestly, large public actions are probably easier to escape from in the short-term, because of the chaos and all the people talking about it. Single actions against one person in private means a very small amount of 911 calls if the person lives long enough to call.

        8. Pat

          If Joyce isn’t still there (and she might be, Amazi-Girl has only just dashed away from her and now there are police cars coming), I’d think she might go after Dina. Becky might be her first thought, but Ross, Becky, and Amazi-Girl have all brought Dina to her mind, and Becky (twice) said things that might make Joyce realize she’s hurt or in danger.

          Of course, she doesn’t really know where to go to look for her.

  49. Spencer

    I’ve nitpicked a lot about comedic timing in the last few strips, but this one was really good.

    Also holyshit: “I won’t let them take you” and Becky’s attempts to try and calm him down. She clearly has had to do this before for him.

    1. Bagge

      Ouch. Very, very true.

      1. Spencer

        It’s tragic that is almost definitely isn’t the first time she’s had to try and placate him when he’s acting irrational. Deference to your parents is one thing, but Becky’s had to go above and beyond to try and keep things controlled and safe with this guy.

        Strips like these are like getting slapped in the face with a big pile of TOO REAL for me.

        1. Heavensrun

          I realize what you’re saying, that you’re basically talking exclusively about panel 2, but you just looked at a comic that is 3 panels of a yellow and blue costumed superheroine hanging off the back of a speeding car on a skateboard, and your reaction was “Man, this comic is too real to me.”

        2. Heavensrun

          (4 panels, that is)

        3. Heavensrun

          (5 even. Argh. I just woke up, lemme ‘lone.)

        4. Spencer

          Well there was that one time I dressed up in a yellow and blue superhero costume, grappled onto a speeding car and skateboarded after it.

        5. anna

          Congratulations! You now understand trauma.

        6. Pat

          The superheroine is being described as an “illegal vigilante” though, rather than being summoned by the police with a large flashlight. So that part’s more realistic.

        7. Cerberus

          Yup. I’ve seen it with friends and romantic partners who have violently abusive parents. That dance of desperately and often futilely trying to de-escalate someone who is mostly just looking for an excuse to escalate and that careful walking on egg-shells submissiveness of trying to forestall that excuse by any means necessary.

          You’re right that it’s real clear that that has been a regular thing for Becky, which is probably why she took so much joy in being loud and crude. For once, she didn’t have to walk on eggshells and perform an exaggerated meekness and now all that confidence has been strangled from her as she’s forced back into this desperate performance…

          Fucking abusers, man.

        8. Spencer

          Yeah, it’s just a really shitty situation. I dealt with it a long time when I was a kid and years later I just had to accept that what was happening wasn’t my fault and I couldn’t change it no matter how much I kept bending over backwards.

          One of the healthiest steps I’ve taken is to stop being ashamed that I went through years of dealing with an abusive alcoholic parent. Like, fuck yeah I’m sad and angry; it was all total bullshit and none of it was my fault.

        9. thejeff

          Maybe, but the loud and crude shows up in her first appearance (very first strip & poop joke.) She also as much as admitted it’s cover to keep from being “Debbie Downer”.
          I see the loud, crude, happy thing as a mask to cover all the ways her life has sucked for so long.

        10. Cerberus

          Joyce has always been her sanctuary and her escape.

    2. Losloslos

      Toedad is *seriously* fucked up. She’s got a great case for a restraining order, a .45 and a couple Dobermans. I would say an emancipation too but she’s 18.

      1. Lin

        Your solution for Becky is that she should ARM HERSELF? That’s the takeaway for you in this arc?

        1. Boxilar

          I’m pretty sure the legal age to get a concealed carry pistol permit is 21 in Indiana anyway. Once she gets a legal residence, the dogs and restraining order would be a good idea, though.

        2. Porto

          It’d give her a way to protect herself when he gets out of prison.

          Because as the dead woman in New Jersey showed us, the police cannot be relied upon to protect you, even when you’ve taken legal action against an abuser.

        3. Boxilar

          If you can’t legally carry a handgun, the best home defense gun would probably be a pump action shotgun, such as a Mossberg 500 or Remington 870. A shot gun loaded with 2 3/4 inch 00 buck shells will do for any attacker and the shot will not over penetrate or pass through common building materials in case you miss. Manually operated shotguns are reliable, deadly and relatively inexpensive. They are also largely unrestricted, even in states with strict firearms laws. And the sound of the cycling action is unmistakable. It has been ruled in court in states that require warning to be given and “sufficient warning.” Please stay safe and take care of yourself.

        4. thejeff

          I’ve often thought that a small sound clip of a shotgun action would be a sufficient home protection aid.
          More seriously, in the near future Becky will be in school with any luck at all and thus firearms (or dogs and similar things) aren’t likely to be a possibility.

          And even more to the point, even in the middle of this one of Becky’s biggest fears is her father getting killed, along with Joyce or Dina getting hurt. If her father’s still in this mental state, he’s not going to be frightened off by a gun and Becky isn’t going to shoot him. A gun is nearly useless to her.

  50. Rick Robin Cagnaan

    Imagine if Walkyverse Becky and her dad Ross get pulled over by those cops, what do you think they’d do? I’d see Amazi-girl getting some piece of action. Who woulda thought? Well done, Willis.

  51. Clif

    I like the way Amazagirl is slowing down as TD drives casual. Love her understated self-depreciating humor throughout. From the triumphant exclamation as the grapple connects to the car and then the anticlimactic roll past the back end of the car and then the sarcastically repeated triumphant exclamation as the line goes tight, all the way to today’s comments.

    Amber/Amazagirl is so cool. If she was the central character instead of Joyce, I’d have to change my name to Fanboy. And that would be ridiculous for a man my age, so thank you Willis (and damn you anyway).

  52. Guairdean Beatha

    Looks like I was right on one count. You have a girl in a superhero costume on a skateboard being pulled by a car. Or, as the police in most college towns would call it, Friday.

    1. Cerberus

      “Hey Bob, the fuck is with that kid on the back of that car?”

      “I dunno man, college kids, I don’t get ’em.”

      “Fuck, you’d think they’d have heard about the gunshots. Damn reckless teens, I don’t even know what.”

      “Forget about it Jake, it’s Indiana U.”

  53. Ritch

    I hope I’m not the only one anticipating disaster because I’m not seeing any seatbelts…

  54. Deanatay

    Cops pull up to the fountain, immediately arrest Sayid (Middle Eastern, therefore terrorist), ToeDad gets away – if not for Amazi-Girl!

    1. Boxilar

      This would not surprise me.

  55. John

    I have the worst feeling she’s going to be dead by the end of this arc.

    1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      Gods, I hope not.

  56. Shiro

    I…did not know this page highlighted in red.

    That made accidentally highlighting the comic with a stray doubleclick…disconcerting.

  57. Eric

    The man is certifiably crazy. “I won’t let them take you.”. Does this NRA Westboro Whacko hear himself?

    Clearly not.

    1. Boxilar

      The irony is the Westboro folks would probably picket him for something. They seem to hate everybody.

  58. Sunny

    >The police arrive at the fountain.
    >”My friend was abducted by her father, they’re in a brown car, a girl in a yellow jumpsuit with a blue cape went after them!”

    This is going to turn into one hella weird carchase.

    1. BenRG

      Anyone remember the O. J. Simpson convoy-O-Pursuit?

  59. Commodore Jeep-Eep

    She just needs a away to bait him out of the car and then bumrush him before he can fully climb out/bring the rifle to bear. t

    Then she just has to make those seconds of shock count with some well placed fists and feet to secure the inital advantage and maybe an ‘armed kidnapping is a serious offense’ pre-asskicking oneliner.

    1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      Hell, if he doesn’t come to a full stop before disembarking, she could deliver one hell of a skateboard borne sucker punch.

  60. Tomas

    “Witness me!”

  61. Leiaaah

    Amazi-girl comic on my birthday? Thank you Willis!
    The suspense is killing meee!

  62. The Wizard

    Testing

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