I dunno, hitting him was fine in the other ‘verse where he’s a super strong metahuman with violent tendencies, and she’s an ordinary person, but here he’s a normal guy who’s just kind of a dick and she’s the one with an unhealthy capacity for violence.
After he came back from death and started working for Glasgo it wasn’t clear he was still a superstrong metahuman. He was still into pain though and Amber blackmailing him into a relationship turned him on. But in any case, I don’t think that hitting him was okay because he was super strong. Hitting him was okay because he was Mike.
Clif
Only Willis could make all that sweet.
thejeff
He was when he got in a fight with the Giant Frosted Mutant Honeybun.
Regardless, you’re right about why it’s okay to hit him.
Touchfuzzy
He had the fight with the giant cake thing during Shortpacked and after he was dating Amber, so he does indeed still have his powers.
I would say his “I hope you didn’t internalize that” bit is, in and of itself cruel. If he really had turned over a new leaf, pretending he didn’t really think he could do harm wouldn’t be an option.
It’s a decent prediction. Otherwise, why would we have that whole storyline where Blaine is outmaneuvered by Mike right after Blaine’s sinister plot begins?
I really want some Perils of Penelope Pitstop-esque (or Courage the Cowardly Dog) wacky maneuvers where ToeDad and Blain try to destroy a blissfully unaware Amber/Amazigirl and are constantly foiled by Mike through well-planned traps and improvised hijinks.
Ron
While it looks like mike is just pissing off everybody
Last thing I want. If Mike’s not going to be just an asshole, I want actual character development, not a revelation he was really just helping by being a jerk.
The way I read that storyline, it seemed like Mike actually DOES care about Amber, and especially Ethan. He made the asshole excuse to Blaine to throw him off the trail so he wouldn’t hurt his friends, and he’s kept it up because when other people know how you feel about others they can exploit that. So he minimized his weak spots, though it led to Ethan breaking his heart.
thejeff
Maybe, but that means he’s spend the last 5 years tormenting Amber and Ethan to minimize his weak spots. Which leaves him an asshole.
I still don’t want a secret hero asshole. If he wants to stop being an asshole, he can start by not being an asshole, not by some contrived master plan to save the day by being one.
Matticus
I could see it ending with Mike thwarting Blaine’s plan by doing something genuinely nice and/or doing something that exposes real, human emotions behind his assholishness. Because that’s the last thing Blaine would expect.
HOWEVER, the reveal isn’t treated as a “get out of previous behavior free” card by the rest of the cast, and he has to start rebuilding his relationships from scratch.
Yeah, I saw that headline. My reaction is “Oh sure, now you might be subject to what you’ve been doing to others for years, NOW you decide it’s torture”.
Matticus
Alternatively, part of the plot of Book 10 is that Mike actually IS trying to turn over a new leaf, but nobody believes it because a) it’s Mike and b) New Mike is still a dick because old habits and all that. Ultimately the only way he can prove that he’s trying to be better is by thwarting Blaine’s plan in a way that leaves him hurt and/or in trouble of some kind, which hits the reset button on his relationships with everyone.
But that’ obviously speculation based off of my personal reading of Mike’s backstory chapter. As in I think that deep down he does care for Amber and especially Ethan, and that the Mike we see today is a mask he originally wore to throw Blaine off his trail. The fling with Ethan made him realize that he hates what he’s become.
Now if wasn’t in a serious mood after the last 4 strips I’d express how thirsty I am by saying that I’d take her up on the ass eating offer and I’d enjoy it like it was groceries… but again some Insidious shit is going on and I’m too focused on that right now.
AND I’m pretty sure cannibalism is illegal even if the eaten person consents to it.
vlademir1
At least here in the US it isn’t explicitly illegal to consume human flesh, but murder, abuse of a corpse and assault with a deadly weapon are all charges that could be leveled depending on the method of procurement and all can be charged regardless of the consent of the person whose flesh was being procured.
We get it, Willis. Joyce x Walky, Amber x Mike, Billie x Danny and other ships aren’t happening in this universe… except Dina x Becky because of some reason I don’t understand related to the weird canon of the Walkyverse.
You make it sound like Dina x Becky was a thing in the Walkyverse, but that never happened. I don’t recall the two of them ever meeting, since Becky was never in SEMME, and I don’t think was introduced until long after Dina’s death.
timemonkey
I assume it happened after Dina got tossed back into the universe at the end of Shortpacked.
MatthewTheLucky
Someone didn’t read the Shortpacked! April strips.
Cholma
Oh! Shortpacked! Okay, yeah, that’s Walkyverse too. I was just thinking of Roomies! and IW! leading up to the J&W stories, where Becky’s soon to be introduced. So, he’s talking about Alt-Dina & Alt-Becky, who are from a different universe.
Needfuldoer
Yeah, so far there’s no reciprocal rule about DoA relationships getting backported to the Walkyverse.
As much as I’d like to see Joyce and Walky together again, I like the pseudo-frenemy bickering they do as it is.
RacingTurtle
Walkyverse Dina and Becky were an item for precisely one drawing’s worth of bonus content after Shortpacked! was over, iirc.
RacingTurtle
…By which I mean, the DoA relationship pre-dated the Walkyverse relationship, plus there’s no actual exploration of the relationship in the Walkyverse, it’s just that one drawing.
NickG
There’s the motorcycle pinup that DYW declared canon and the 2018 April 1st comic.
RacingTurtle
@NickG: Oh, right, I totally forgot they’re presented as a couple in the 2018 April 1st comic. Two drawings, then! Thanks for the reminder.
112 thoughts on “Charming”
Ana Chronistic
p sure Mike’s into that, Ambs
Ana Chronistic
(I totes paid, too, alt-text)
[no, MORE than a nickel]
butts
$9.99 a month, as i recall
LeslieBean4shizzle
I prefer ~$50 for 6 months.
Never been a fan of monthly reoccurring fees.
Delicious Taffy
That does sound like a better arrangement. If they would actually take my money, that is.
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Dumbing of Age book 10: You can eat my ENTIRE ass.
Doctor_Who
The Most Epic of HateEats.
Rex Vivat
Hatejobs?
Walky_Talky
Title of the next Slipshine
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Title of the book 10. 😀
JetstreamGW
Don’t threaten him with a good time, Amber.
LeslieBean4shizzle
Yeah… is it me, or is Mike sexier than he used to be? Like, drawing wise. I don’t remember him being this hot until recently.
StClair
Yes, alt-text, I thought of that too.
Stephen Bierce
HARRY MORGAN: MY ASS! (Support Your Local Gunfighter)
pienapp1e
YES! love those 2 movies (SYL Sherriff being the other)! thank you for the ref!
Cholma
Great movies, both of them!
Also Harry Morgan: “HORSE HOCKEY!”
Needfuldoer
MULE FRITTERS!
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Ass.
ASS.
ASS!
ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
(I’m trying to get a new FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE started xD)
thejeff
Stop the ASSSSES!
poofdepoof
Penultimate panel Mike, I just… as they say on the internet, I can’t even
butts
haha… alt-universe sexual tension
BBCC
Belt him one, Amber. Please.
Honestly, he’s not even doing anything that bad here, he’s just been so generally unpleasant I still want it.
timemonkey
How is turning him on going to do anything?
Doctor_Who
I dunno, hitting him was fine in the other ‘verse where he’s a super strong metahuman with violent tendencies, and she’s an ordinary person, but here he’s a normal guy who’s just kind of a dick and she’s the one with an unhealthy capacity for violence.
Kinda changes the tone of the whole thing.
BBCC
Nah, Mike’s definitely more than ‘just kinda a dick’ and since he’s fictional, I don’t care about violence against his person.
Clif
After he came back from death and started working for Glasgo it wasn’t clear he was still a superstrong metahuman. He was still into pain though and Amber blackmailing him into a relationship turned him on. But in any case, I don’t think that hitting him was okay because he was super strong. Hitting him was okay because he was Mike.
Clif
Only Willis could make all that sweet.
thejeff
He was when he got in a fight with the Giant Frosted Mutant Honeybun.
Regardless, you’re right about why it’s okay to hit him.
Touchfuzzy
He had the fight with the giant cake thing during Shortpacked and after he was dating Amber, so he does indeed still have his powers.
WingedBeast
I would say his “I hope you didn’t internalize that” bit is, in and of itself cruel. If he really had turned over a new leaf, pretending he didn’t really think he could do harm wouldn’t be an option.
Fart Captor
ALL OF EVERY LAST BUTT, MIKE
Johan
Will Amber and Mike be a thing in this universe? I really hope so.
Sofiya
Is this how Mike is dealing with his feelings for Ethan?
Newllend(henryvolt)
Having Ethan as a morality pet my do Mike some good.
Bathymetheus
Pretty sure he’s lying. His earlier comments to Walky don’t suggest a new, improved Mike.
Clif
Sometimes you have to lie to make the truth hurt enough.
thejeff
Or sometimes just to hurt.
tim gueguen
I suddenly have the idea that Mike will be the one to foil Blaine’s nasty little scheme.
AntJ
It’s a decent prediction. Otherwise, why would we have that whole storyline where Blaine is outmaneuvered by Mike right after Blaine’s sinister plot begins?
EmCaCo
I really want some Perils of Penelope Pitstop-esque (or Courage the Cowardly Dog) wacky maneuvers where ToeDad and Blain try to destroy a blissfully unaware Amber/Amazigirl and are constantly foiled by Mike through well-planned traps and improvised hijinks.
Ron
While it looks like mike is just pissing off everybody
DailyBrad
It’s certainly possible, given Mike’s done it to Blaine before without Amber even knowing about it at the time.
thejeff
Last thing I want. If Mike’s not going to be just an asshole, I want actual character development, not a revelation he was really just helping by being a jerk.
AntJ
The way I read that storyline, it seemed like Mike actually DOES care about Amber, and especially Ethan. He made the asshole excuse to Blaine to throw him off the trail so he wouldn’t hurt his friends, and he’s kept it up because when other people know how you feel about others they can exploit that. So he minimized his weak spots, though it led to Ethan breaking his heart.
thejeff
Maybe, but that means he’s spend the last 5 years tormenting Amber and Ethan to minimize his weak spots. Which leaves him an asshole.
I still don’t want a secret hero asshole. If he wants to stop being an asshole, he can start by not being an asshole, not by some contrived master plan to save the day by being one.
Matticus
I could see it ending with Mike thwarting Blaine’s plan by doing something genuinely nice and/or doing something that exposes real, human emotions behind his assholishness. Because that’s the last thing Blaine would expect.
HOWEVER, the reveal isn’t treated as a “get out of previous behavior free” card by the rest of the cast, and he has to start rebuilding his relationships from scratch.
Clif
Mike won’t help with Ross, but he’d be happy to send him links like https://thegailygrind.com/2019/09/03/conversion-therapy-group-founder-comes-out-as-gay-issues-apology-to-lgbt-community/
Bathymetheus
Yeah, I saw that headline. My reaction is “Oh sure, now you might be subject to what you’ve been doing to others for years, NOW you decide it’s torture”.
Matticus
Alternatively, part of the plot of Book 10 is that Mike actually IS trying to turn over a new leaf, but nobody believes it because a) it’s Mike and b) New Mike is still a dick because old habits and all that. Ultimately the only way he can prove that he’s trying to be better is by thwarting Blaine’s plan in a way that leaves him hurt and/or in trouble of some kind, which hits the reset button on his relationships with everyone.
But that’ obviously speculation based off of my personal reading of Mike’s backstory chapter. As in I think that deep down he does care for Amber and especially Ethan, and that the Mike we see today is a mask he originally wore to throw Blaine off his trail. The fling with Ethan made him realize that he hates what he’s become.
Captain Whoever on the Planet of Things
He’ll foil it more out of distain for it being so poorly constructed and executed compared to something Mike would have done than anything else.
newllend(henryvolt)
Now if wasn’t in a serious mood after the last 4 strips I’d express how thirsty I am by saying that I’d take her up on the ass eating offer and I’d enjoy it like it was groceries… but again some Insidious shit is going on and I’m too focused on that right now.
Delicious Taffy
But that would be unsanitary.
Sunny
AND I’m pretty sure cannibalism is illegal even if the eaten person consents to it.
vlademir1
At least here in the US it isn’t explicitly illegal to consume human flesh, but murder, abuse of a corpse and assault with a deadly weapon are all charges that could be leveled depending on the method of procurement and all can be charged regardless of the consent of the person whose flesh was being procured.
newllend(henryvolt)
You guys let your minds go to some very dark places.
MatthewTheLucky
They’re just putting their mind where your mouth is.
NinjaNick
“…for a nickel.”
abysswatcher1993
Amber’s mom is already banging Joe’s dad, unless he and Mike do a deal.
abysswatcher1993
If it’s about making Amber a mom in the alternate universe, I am sure one day Mike will give his own son a nickel.
Ohmsford
Not gonna lie, I thought that last line was Walky, and I thought we were going SERIOUS AU for a second.
abysswatcher1993
We get it, Willis. Joyce x Walky, Amber x Mike, Billie x Danny and other ships aren’t happening in this universe… except Dina x Becky because of some reason I don’t understand related to the weird canon of the Walkyverse.
abysswatcher1993
Though Joyce x Walky could be a a big unexpected surprise.
Cholma
You make it sound like Dina x Becky was a thing in the Walkyverse, but that never happened. I don’t recall the two of them ever meeting, since Becky was never in SEMME, and I don’t think was introduced until long after Dina’s death.
timemonkey
I assume it happened after Dina got tossed back into the universe at the end of Shortpacked.
MatthewTheLucky
Someone didn’t read the Shortpacked! April strips.
Cholma
Oh! Shortpacked! Okay, yeah, that’s Walkyverse too. I was just thinking of Roomies! and IW! leading up to the J&W stories, where Becky’s soon to be introduced. So, he’s talking about Alt-Dina & Alt-Becky, who are from a different universe.
Needfuldoer
Yeah, so far there’s no reciprocal rule about DoA relationships getting backported to the Walkyverse.
As much as I’d like to see Joyce and Walky together again, I like the pseudo-frenemy bickering they do as it is.
RacingTurtle
Walkyverse Dina and Becky were an item for precisely one drawing’s worth of bonus content after Shortpacked! was over, iirc.
RacingTurtle
…By which I mean, the DoA relationship pre-dated the Walkyverse relationship, plus there’s no actual exploration of the relationship in the Walkyverse, it’s just that one drawing.
NickG
There’s the motorcycle pinup that DYW declared canon and the 2018 April 1st comic.
RacingTurtle
@NickG: Oh, right, I totally forgot they’re presented as a couple in the 2018 April 1st comic. Two drawings, then! Thanks for the reminder.