223

Claptrap
Posted on May 17, 2018 by David M Willis

223 thoughts on “Claptrap”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    so Mike’s goal in life is to die painfully, I see

    1. Paradoxius

      *To die gloriously (painfully)

      1. L33tmaster

        I’m just remembering bravehart now lol

    2. shadowcell

      no regrets!

      1. Dark

        ACT WITH INTEGRITY!

    3. Cholma

      Mike’s a Klingon at heart.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Romulan, maybe? His attacks are all psychological instead of physical…

    4. brasca1

      In this universe he doesn’t have super powers to back him up. Dorothy could hurt him if she wasn’t so concerned about assault and battery affecting her transfer to Harvard.

      1. Deanatay

        Yale. She’s a Yale girl.

        1. CrazyJ

          Good thing she focused on getting into an Ivy League school named after a slave trader. Image is important when you are running for president…

      2. Rowen Morland

        Apt use of both the law and the known social limits of the people around is essentially a super power.

    5. Goki

      It is a good day to die….

      1. Kim Chee

        When you know the reasons why…

    6. Side One

      At least the man has no delusions as to the outcome of his machinations.
      Resolve like that in a man so young is rare.

    7. newllend(henryvolt)

      Mike:”WITNESS ME!”

      1. PB

        Amber: “MEDIOCRE!”

    8. Tan

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/interrogation/

  2. Rosicrucian

    RIP Mike’s femurs.

    1. Doctor_Who

      That’s the idea.

      Also SNAP Mike’s femurs and CRUNCH Mike’s femurs.

      1. LookingIn

        Those are perfect nicknames for them, beats the old “lefty” and “righty”

    2. Annonymouse

      No no no no – those Femurs need to be whole and hearty so that one can perform a Neil Peart Drum Solo upon the rest of his skeletal structure.

  3. Some1

    Fourth panel: that might be the nicest thing Mike has ever said.

    1. Wright

      Nicest thing said while sober, that is.

      1. Dark

        Still don’t know if he’s like that in this universe.

        1. Needfuldoer

          He knows we want to find out, so he doesn’t drink.

        2. Clif

          i choose to believe that in this universe it’s a glorious surprise just waiting for him todiscover.

        3. Unusually Angry Hippie

          I’m expecting mike to go on a bender at some point, and run around in a whirlwind of kindness, solving peoples problems and improving their self esteem. When he wakes up, he will be disgusted with himself.

        4. Sev

          Hmm. I think he’d probably just shrug and see if there was some way he could use this as a new and inventive form of cruelty.

  4. Stephen Bierce

    They say the Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
    And now I know, I know that it’s true…

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      Yeah, that cartilage is a lot tougher than people realize. Femurs are not easily ripped out.

  5. Fart Captor

    Ruth’s been doing so well lately I think she deserves to treat herself. Besides, he’s not one of HER residents. His continued survival is not her responsibility

    1. BBCC

      That should be her alibi when Chloe asks.

      1. Fart Captor

        I was confused there for a moment because Pudding Head doesn’t deserve to share the first name of my favorite character of all time, but it would probably be best to dump the body in Forest quad. That way it’s outside of her jurisdiction

  6. TemporalShrew

    What if Mike is just genuinely suicidal and trying as hard as he can to make someone kill him?

    1. space

      If he was he would love pushing someone to murder that he might even change his mind.

  7. Raen

    …when you put it that way, it kind of seems like she ought to find the most ineffectual man she can.

    …jackpot!

  8. LeslieBean4Shizzle

    **gives Mike the Klingon salute**
    Qapla!

    1. PB

      Remember to hold open his eyes and warn the great battle in the sky that he is coming!

  9. Passchendaele

    And then Ruth stuck his femurs onto a plaque and put it on her wall. It makes for a great conversation piece.

    1. Koms

      And his head in between like a good old Jolly Roger

      1. Passchendaele

        The legendary skull and mikebones

  10. DailyBrad

    I wasn’t really expecting this to keep going after the last strip, so this ought to be interesting.

  11. space

    Sorta excited for a Mike/Ruth interaction. I wonder what will unfold.

    1. Annonymouse

      Mike after Ruth folds him and shoves him through the mail slot.

  12. Puckish Rogue

    So first panel Dorothy tells Mike to get out and in such a way that theres no cause for confusion and Mike proceeds to ignore her request, how safe is Mike making Dorothy feel?

    1. Roger

      is that even a necessary question? Mike isn’t a good person.

      1. Puckish Rogue

        Cause there seem to be more than a few posters on here who like Mike for his “straight talking” so I’m curious to see if they still feel the same over his blatant boundary violations

        1. Rosicrucian

          It’s especially a problem that Mike is doing this to someone who was just stalked and nearly stabbed.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Mike is a terrible person, and that makes for entertaining character interactions in this fictional comic strip.

        3. Clif

          Mike has no boundaries. He’sa force of nature.

      2. Tenzhi

        Actually, while she started with ‘just get out’ she immediately initiated dialogue afterwards. Kinda like how some people end up saying goodbye for 20 minutes by continuing to initiate various threads of conversation between repeated utterances like ‘we should really be going’. For there to have been no cause for confusion she would have ended with ‘just get out’.

        1. thejeff

          She hasn’t learned from Joyce how to deal with Mike. Don’t engage. Don’t talk to him. The whole conversation starting yesterday should have been just “No. Get out.”

    2. TemporalShrew

      It definitely doesn’t excuse his flagrant ignoring of how unwelcome he is, but “I know why you’re really here” is the sort of statement that beggars the reply it got.

    3. Nobody

      Well Mike is an ass, but he’s not the one acting aggressive here, Dorothy advances on him, accuses him of ulterior motives, etc.; I don’t think Dorothy is feeling threatened. All that said yeah Mike should get the hell out

      1. CJ

        ????
        Mike is in Dorothy’s room to get her goat and that’s not aggression?

        1. JohnInCA

          Nah, he’s there to get *Walky’s* goat. Getting Dorothy’s goat is just a bonus prize.

    4. Irredentist

      Well if he left immediately and ended the conversation immediately it would be a pretty boring comic strip.

    5. Knayt

      Judging by the body language, Dorothy isn’t really coming across as scared. Incredibly pissed off, yes. Overtly hostile with good reason, yes. Concerned for her safety? Not so much.

      1. BBCC

        Dorothy shouldn’t have to be afraid for her safety for people to listen when she tells them in no uncertain terms to get out.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          ^This right here^

        2. Knayt

          No shit. That doesn’t mean that the explicitly asked question of “how safe is Mike making Dorothy feel?” doesn’t work particularly well as a rhetorical question.

        3. BBCC

          Oh, I see! Yes, that’s fair. Sorry about that.

      2. Minotaur

        Anger is a fairly common reaction to a threat. So I wouldn’t consider going from “she seems really angry” to “she isn’t concerned for her safety” to be a particularly compelling line of reasoning

  13. Reltzik

    Go ahead Mike. Put on your routine for Ruth, and break a leg.

    1. AutobotDen

      Just a leg?

      1. Annonymouse

        The other will follow as appendages are forcefully inserted into nether regions.

  14. Mada

    Coming to Slipshine; Mike and Dorothy Pound Each Other in the Most Epic of Hatefu- okay I’ll see myself out now.

  15. Laladoria

    So Mike seduced Ethan to make Danny jealous… now he will seduce Dorothy to make Walky jealous?? Although I don’t think Dorothy shares Ruth & Billie’ s philosophy on hate-sex.

    1. Viktoria

      Mike’s focus seems to be on breaking through the delusions people hold about themselves or others. Seducing Dorothy doesn’t tell her or Walky anything they don’t know.

      1. Fart Captor

        Which delusions was he “breaking through” by talking shit about someone whose girlfriend was just put on suicide watch exactly?

        Stop this. Please. He’s just an asshole who enjoys needling people

        1. Some1

          You do realize everyone in this comic is fictional right? Viktoria can say whatever they want about the characters as long as it doesn’t imply something stupid about the real world. They aren’t saying Mike is a good person, they’re examining his motivations.

        2. Delicious Taffy

          Ooh, “it’s just fiction”! One more square and I’ll have BINGO.

        3. Some1

          yes, because asking someone to shut up because they disagree with you over something as trivial as why a character in a web comic is an asshole is silly. If someone was to say Blaine being abusive was okay I would be mad because it implied that being abusive was okay, but if someone was to theorize that Blaine might have had an abusive father himself, I would say that’s okay because its examining motives not excusing actions. Now if Willis was to chime in, I would go with his argument because he writes the comic, but saying that someone should not have an argument because it disagrees with yours stifles discussion and creates an echochamber.

        4. BBCC

          FC never told Viktoria to shut up. They asked Viktoria to stop with the ‘breaking through delusions’ stuff because people keep posting it as a reason Mike’s not REALLY a terrible terrible person.

        5. Some1

          Yeah that’s fair, perhaps I took “stop this. please” to mean something different than intended.

        6. Mad_Academic

          While I accept this is a work of fiction and the creator is attempting to be realistic, I find his attempts at realism often… disturbing. Not because of the implementation of them, but because the implementation of these attempts at realism are chosen for shock value, or dramatic tension. David Willis may have good intentions, but his entire fictional world is attempting to deal with real issues, which, at some point, someone with competence would step in. Even if someone with competence doesn’t always step in.

        7. Fart Captor

          His motivations are pretty clearly shit. I enjoy him as a character but this constant slew of people making excuses for patently abusive behavior is disturbing to me.

          It sometimes feels like Mike could murder someone and show up wearinga mask made from their skin, and there would STILL be people in the comments trying to figure out what valuable life lesson he’s trying to impart

          I’d totally understand people interpreting SOME of the things he’s done as being more complex than just being an asshole, or there being arguments over HOW shitty he’s being at a given moment, but this persistent idea that he’s trying to help and somehow has such intimate knowledge of other characters that he knows what’s best for them better them is MIND BOGGLING.

        8. Irredentist

          I don’t think he’s trying to help the other characters in the comic. He’s obviously not being nice to them or anything. But that’s not his purpose as a character. His purpose is to both say the things that many of us feel are true about these characters, in the most painful and brutal way possible, and also to show us that even when things seem okay, disaster is always on the horizon.

        9. Fart Captor

          Again, even when people are admitting he’s an asshole, you keep trying to ascribe some greater insight to his actions, and some higher truth to the things he says, as if his cruelty were inadvertently serving some benevolent purpose.

          He’s a smug teenage edge lord, and people would be wise to just stop speaking to him entirely. Shitheads like him aren’t hard to find in real life. I don’t get why people seem to want his actions to somehow have a net positive effect.

        10. Irredentist

          That’s not what I’m saying! He serves no benevolent purpose, that’s not his role. His role is to be cruel, by using people’s own feelings against them, and in so doing help us as readers comprehend those feelings.

        11. BBCC

          I’d argue Mike’s not always or even often accurate in the feelings he’s using against the others though.

        12. Irredentist

          If they were not at least a little accurate, then they would not be nearly so effective.

        13. BBCC

          That’s just not true. If a situation is sensitive or traumatic enough, you can be just as effective at hurting people even if you’re not accurate at all.

        14. Irredentist

          We’ll have to agree to disagree I guess.

        15. Mad_Academic

          While this may be true, this does not help the case that there are too many apologists for Mike’s behaviour and Willis’s writin. Mike is clearly the “Edgy One” and is brought in when David Willis wants to say something disturbing. Which I find particularly interesting, because despite all his other characters having distinct personalities, they are, by and large, human. It is only Mike who remains outside this realm of humanity, which leads me to worry that Mike is increasingly the Voice of the Author.

        16. Irredentist

          All of the characters are voices of the author. Mike is just the one who says the darkest and most cruel things in the least apologetic manner possible. Consequently he cannot be a truly human or relatable character and still make sense. Which is probably why Willis chose Mike for this role, because everyone already knows he’s an asshole who likes hurting people, so we accept it.

        17. CJ

          As this is a work of fiction, it does make sense to distinguish between talking about the motivations of people acting in the story (my take on Mike: He enjoys stirring up people and trives on the strong emotions he triggers, there is no deeper meaning to his actions) and the acts and intentions of the author.
          How anyone can think than one character only in a story is the voice of the author and what this character says should be taken as gospel truth expression of who the author is, is beyond me. That’s like saying Hitchcock’s walk-on parts in his films are a more relevant expression of who he was than his directing.

          I’ve written short stories where the main characters do things I thoroughly disagree with and I’m always annoyed with the people who think the characters represent my pow.

        18. Inahc

          Steven Universe seems to have the same issue; Rebecca Sugar seems to have gone out of her way to make him unsympathetic in some episodes (stop wasting napkins arrghhh) and show that he can be in the wrong, and still people often assume everything he does and thinks must be The Right Thing.

        19. TemporalShrew

          By the same token, though, I feel like Mike could build and maintain an exemplary orphanage and people would call him a monster for it. People in the audience here seem to think he’s either some sort of genius savior attempting to save the cast from themselves or the human manifestation of Satan, his breath laced with toxins that slowly kill all to whom he speaks.

        20. Marisa Mockery

          It’s weird to see him like this to start. In Shortpacked at least he was an asshole, but he was more like a guided missile. If he was being an asshole to someone, it was because they needed SOMEONE to call them on their bullshit. This Mike? This Mike doesn’t do that. I really liked Shortpacked Mike. I really hate Dumbing of Age Mike. He just doesn’t fit. He generally hasn’t got a good reason to say any of the destructive stuff he says beyond hurting people. I honestly hope Mike loses a couple femurs before this is over. HE is the one who needs it.

        21. Mr D

          What hurts more tho,? Being needled about some random shit? Or being needled in JUST the right place that you can’t refute because it is true?

        22. Fart Captor

          Being needled in a sore spot. A point of trauma, fear of insecurity. The fact that it fucking hurts does not make it some “deep truth” he’s exposing.

          It’s not insightful. It’s not brave or blunt or confrontational. It’s just cruel

        23. Mr D phone posting

          That is kinda my point tho. He is being cruel, he gets off on seeing other people being in emotional distress. But you can deal SUPER EFFECTIVE emotional distress by sticking your finger in the seeping sore instead of just poking them somewhere random.

        24. Inahc

          and her point is that some teenager being unable to refute it doesn’t make it true.

        25. thejeff

          Yeah, that’s the point of his line “can’t hurt you with something you know isn’t true”. It’s easy to read that as “So what I hurt you with is true”, but all it really means is that you don’t know it isn’t.

          He’s hitting the weak points, whether they’re hidden truths or just lies your brain weasels tell you.

        26. Mr D phone posting

          Also, don’t put words in my mouth, I never said he was “insightful, brave, blunt or confrontational”

      2. Delicious Taffy

        No, his focus is on pissing people off and hurting them in any way he can.

        1. Krys Brynhildr

          The trick is that his preferred method is to go after people’s insecurities and doubts, instead of any usual spiels that he knows can be rejected out of hand by his targets.

          Its not that he’s laying down Hard Truths, its that he’s needling the things people can’t 100% deny out of hand, or that he knows will get the reaction he wants because there’s too much emotion involved to see whatever part is the lie for what it is. “Something you know isn’t true” is the key point of text here, which leaves him a lot more room to work with than “Things that are true”.

        2. Delicious Taffy

          Which actually makes him a bigger asshole, even.

        3. Fart Captor

          YES, exactly!

  16. kater

    Mike’s the worst.
    I love him.

  17. threePwny

    Daaaaamn, Mike has a quad!

  18. TrueVCU

    Perhaps today IS a good day to die!

  19. Lingo

    Next time you wanna study, lock your door, Dorothy.

    1. thejeff

      And that’s one of the worst outcomes of this kind of random harassing behavior. To avoid having to deal with the one asshole, people have to withdraw, lock themselves away and miss people they’d be perfectly happy to see.
      Don’t lock your door. Throw Mike out.

      1. Mr D phone posting

        No actually when you want to do something that DEMANDS focus, like studying, lock your damn door. Keep it open the rest of the time but when you gotta focus on studying you can’t keep on getting interrupted by anyone, be they well meaning friends or assholes.

        ESPECIALLY when you just broke up with you SO to have more time to study.

        1. thejeff

          Except she’s not objecting because she wanted to study, she’s objected because Mike’s being an asshole. Non-assholes can be put off with “busy now, sorry.”

          Especially in a dorm, where you’ve got a roommate and can’t necessarily lock everyone out.
          If you really want to study without any interruptions – go to the library or some other study area.

        2. Mr D phone posting

          That seems worse to me. The library and/or study hall are, you know, open. Anyone can come up to you and interrupt you.

        3. thejeff

          Except they generally don’t, because it’s accepted that those are study areas. Anyone harassing you there would be violating the social norms and likely annoy other people as well.

        4. Delicious Taffy

          As if that stops Mike. The first week, he was beating Joe in a restaurant.

        5. Clif

          See! Mike does have redeeming values.

        6. Inahc

          *cough*privacy chairs*cough*

          is there *anywhere* on that campus that people can be reliably undisturbed? this lack of privacy is one of the many things I don’t miss about being a teenager 😛

        7. Lingo

          It’s also generally accepted that you can’t just walk into people’s homes uninvited, like Mike is doing here.

        8. thejeff

          But that’s private, there aren’t a lot of other people around to object. He can rely on politeness and social norms to keep her from immediately throwing him out.
          Harassing someone in a library is more likely to draw negative attention from others around you.

          Also, dorm life social norms aren’t quite the same as real world social norms.

  20. Irredentist

    You called it Dorothy! But seriously, you don’t choose between love and work, you need both! Love first though.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Love ain’t gonna land her that degree.

      1. Irredentist

        She won’t get a degree at all if she burns out to a crisp because she worked too hard and didn’t get enough recreation. And Walky is recreation personified. She needs him.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Ehh, “need” is a strong word. She’d benefit from a little more fun, sure, but he ain’t the only source on campus.

        2. Irredentist

          Just the most obvious one, the one she’s in love with…

        3. Ferret

          If what she needs is a little fun, then being in love with fun personified is not the answer. There’s such a thing as too much of a good thing.

        4. Irredentist

          She’s doesn’t need a little fun, she needs a lot of it. She’s work personified, so she needs fun personified to balance it out.

        5. thejeff

          But that’s not her problem with Walky. Nor is it like Walky was constantly dragging her off to do fun things. I’d say he was incredibly respectful of her need to study (especially for a teenage boy). Even with his own study problems, once he’d admitted them and then realized how much trouble she was having, he pushed back against her wanting to help him.

          She’s not likely to find another relationship that gives her that much room. Unless she finds something completely non-serious, which again, Walky was willing to be, but she wasn’t.
          This is Dorothy’s basic character flaw, I think. What she’s going to need to learn to address. And it’s visible as far back as right before she and Walky got together the first time. She’s arguing with herself that it’s self-sabotage, just a distraction she doesn’t need, then she goes and kisses him.
          I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the resolution here isn’t going to be “I was right. Relationships are just self-sabotage. I just need the self-discipline to avoid them”. Nor of course: “Love comes first. I will abandon my goals and ambitions to find a man.”
          She’ll need to find some kind of a balance.

        6. abysswatcher1993

          The problem isn’t that she needs to be with Walky. The problem is that she is putting work over everything that she loves. There’s something called Karoshi, and it’s killing Japanese men. Have anyone seen Aggretsuko? Work overload and passive behavior will be her doom until she becomes assertive and takes what she wants instead of seeking romaticized goals.

          Work serves Love, not the other way around. We work because we love something.

        7. Delicious Taffy

          Friends are just as good, and Joyce at least is more than willing to fill that need.

        8. Mr D phone posting

          Just say what you actually mean, “I SHIP JOYCEXDOROTHY”, it is faster.

        9. Delicious Taffy

          Joyce is firmly straight, and I’m pretty sure so is Dorothy. I don’t ship straight girls with each other.

        10. 3oranges

          So ship as in friendship?

        11. Emily

          She doesn’t need Walky she needs a healthy work/life balance that isn’t going to lead to a sleep deprivation induced breakdown.

    2. BBCC

      There’s no good reason she should be expected to put love first even if she has both. Morality? Certainly. Compassion? Goes without saying. Romantic love? Nah.

      1. Irredentist

        First as in chronology.

        1. BBCC

          Ahhh, I see! My mistake.

  21. Keulen

    I thought Ruth didn’t do the threatening to remove peoples’ femurs thing anymore, though I bet she’d make an exception for Mike.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Yeah I think she’ll lose her self control from an encounter with Mike.

  22. StClair

    … good enough.

  23. Goki

    I wish I could post the gif of Jon Steward eating popcorn here, pretty much how I am feeling right now.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Here’s your Jon Stewart popcorn GIF.

      1. Goki

        Thank you.

  24. Irredentist

    People seem to be pretty firmly on one side or the other in the Mike debate. He’s either an asshole out to hurt people, or he’s a smart straight talker who forces people to confront their feelings. The truth is a little bit of both. Yes he’s an asshole, and no his methods don’t help the people he’s talking to. But they’re not for their benefit. They’re for the benefit of us, the readers. There are times when we want to scream at characters when we know they’re making bad decisions. But we can’t, so Mike does it for us. Other times we think everything is fine, but really there’s tension beneath the surface, and disaster around the corner. Mike is the one who shows us that chaos is only one really bad day away. We should stop applying human motivations and reasoning to him because he doesn’t have them. He’s not the same kind of character as the others, he’s a device for the benefit of the reader.

    1. Mad_Academic

      Mike then is the Voice of the Author, and I could not a more destructive voice. Your comment would have Mike take on the mantle of being the “voice of reason” as well. And, if Mike being a manipulative asshole is the “voice of reason”, by your own assessment, then I think I’ve reached my breaking point with this nonsense.

      1. Irredentist

        These characters are all extensions of Willis in one way or another. Mike serves a purpose just like the rest of them, though it is different.

        1. Mad_Academic

          Your rabbid defense of David Willis is… concerning. He is fallible. I am often critical of his work. I find his premise increasingly flimsy. If you wish to be somewhat realistic, then picking and choosing your moments of realism is absurd. Perhaps, I’ve outgrown, or at least tired of this comic. But, I do recall a time when David Willis himself commented on one of the comments I wrote here.

          I expressed a strong distaste for his treatment of Amber’s dissociation, suggesting, that in any meaningful context, that the scenario would have been dealt with someone in a profession capacity, instead of for dramatic fodder. I spoke from a very personal position and only after a close friend of mine showed me this comic. Dozens of people swarmed to his defense with various insults. But, Mr. Willis’ person comment is something I will always remember as dismissive and ignorant.

          I don’t make a habit of reading, or commenting, but every so often I do. And every so often I find that Mr. Willis clearly has not changed. So, I guess I’m just a damn fool.

        2. Irredentist

          Of course he’s fallible, there are plenty of things I don’t like about this comic. And maybe it does sometimes go past the limits of how these real and serious issues should be treated. But if it was too cautious and too realistic then it would just be boring.

        3. thejeff

          Not to drag up past arguments – though I don’t particularly remember this one, but why would Amber’s disassociation have been dealt with by a professional? I mean it would be great – anyone number of commentors have suggested therapy, but when and how would it have happened? Blaine kept her out of therapy after the robbery/stabbing. She’s not seeking it out herself and no one knows is in a position to force her, even if they wanted to.
          I’m not going to claim it’s all completely realistic – she’s a superhero after all. There are certainly ways this comic shifts between at least psychological realism and a more melodramatic approach (or even action movie style sequences) that don’t work for some people. Even occasionally for me – I couldn’t take the Robin sequence seriously, even as some people were caught up in it.

        4. Vulcanodon

          I work on a university campus and reckon a lot happens around me that I’ll never know about. Realistically a lot of people with mental health problems (some quite severe) don’t get treatment for one reason or another. But in the larger context I realized that I watch shows where there is faster-than-light travel, transporters, a Kryptonian hero, sentient robots, Bruce Willis, Sentient Gems, and magical ponies. Not everything has to be perfectly realistic. Putting stories and themes in an unfamiliar or even improbable context lets ideas flow where they might not if everything is like my daily life.

    2. Minotaur

      So if I read you correctly, you think that Willis is a bad story teller because he needs to introduce Mike as a kind of Deus ex machina to speed things up?

      I don’t agree with you.
      There are actually people like Mike in the real world, much like there are Maries in the real world. I can see why people who have run into them would want to express their loathing of fictional examples.

      1. Irredentist

        I never said that Willis is a bad story teller, where did you get that from? I actually quite like his use of Mike. Most authors would have that kind of character/device be a good guy, but Willis has cleverly disguised his as an asshole.

        1. Minotaur

          No, you didn’t. Sorry I didn’t make it clear. That is actually my opinion if you´re right. I think using author mouth pieces is a cop-out.

        2. JBento

          You ARE aware that Joyce is literally Young Willis mouthpiece, right? He’s stated several times that much of her is autobigoraphical.

        3. thejeff

          I think there’s a difference between “autobiographical” and “author’s mouthpiece”.
          Joyce is here to show us a fictionalized version of the journey the author went through, not to make authorial pronouncements. Most of hers would be completely against what Willis now thinks anyway.

          Mind you, I don’t think Mike is particularly the author’s mouthpiece either.

    3. thejeff

      So what’s he telling us here that we don’t already know? Yesterday or today?

      Or for a past example, how about the time he took pictures of Walky & Dorothy in bed and talked about future use against her political ambitions? We already knew Dorothy was worried about things like that – she’d talked to Joyce about it.

  25. JessWitt

    A meeting with Ruth is the perfect prescription for Mike.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      I want to see it now.

  26. newllend(henryvolt)

    What even is Mike? some sort spector that feeds of others eternal conflict until they’re force to resolve them? Because it feels like that since he just appeared out of the either to haunt her.

    1. Some1

      the ether refers to the upper sky, are you saying Mike came from Heaven?

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        The devil also fell from Heaven I could be saying that too, but really what even is Mike.

        1. Some1

          My favorite pickup line is “did it hurt when you fell from Heaven because…die unholy demon!”

          this may explain why I don’t get dates.

      2. Delicious Taffy

        Meteors, nuclear bombs, and FOX News also come from the sky. Some people might argue that those are Heavenly, but society tends to give those people weird looks and a wide berth.

    2. Emily

      He’s just an asshole edgelord white boy. They’re a dime a dozen not some eldritch being.

      1. timemonkey

        His hair disagrees with that statement.

        1. Clif

          It’s been firmly established that Mike isn’t a dime a dozen, but only a nickle.

        2. podian

          His hair is proof that DoA has some fantasy elements.

  27. John

    Bah, hovertext. Mike will live without his femurs, just to spite you.

    1. JoeCovenant

      “No Punch…”

  28. jeffepp

    Mike uses Seduction.

    1. Fart Captor

      It backfires horribly and his mangled corpse is never found

    2. Eldritch Gentleman

      Ruth uses “ACHILLES!!” and Mike is found in the dorm… and the one next to it… and all around it.

  29. @zombieundergrnd

    Mike needs a swift kick to the nads.
    Then this:

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      Knowing him he might be wearing Protective

  30. @zombieundergrnd

    helps when you close the tag

  31. Orangey

    Mike just fuck off

    Seriously

  32. PB

    I can’t wait to see what happens to Mike. This comic has a long-running streak of assholes getting punched cathartically and Mike is overdue a jaw-smashing.

    (I do not advocate the punching of assholes in real life except in self-defense, I just like to see it in fiction. As I have stated before, Mama needs her catharsis.)

    1. BenRG

      The thing is that Mike takes being assaulted as validation of what he says about people – That we’re all basically violent, selfish assholes and it only takes a little push to rip off our masks.

      1. PB

        Yeah, you’re right. The best way to get to him would be through Amazi-Girl, who knows her superheroes well enough to know what would break him is:

        “What are you trying to prove? That deep down inside, everyone else is as ugl as you? You’re ALONE.”

        1. PB

          And yes, I’m aware that she tried a beatdown and it ended with Mike enjoying it (guess that trait carried over from the Walkyverse; he wants a sparring partner more than anything). I just would love to see someone manage to break Mike, unbreakable as he seems.

          (Also if you think that her using a Batman quote made me picture Mike as a frowning Joker, and then turned into them making out … you know me well.)

    2. GoblinScribe

      The trouble with Mike that makes people hate him is he is the most unrealistic thing in this comic. Whereas even Amazigirl has a complicated story justifying her silly existence, Mike is just an elemental (whether he is “good” or “bad” doesn’t even matter here).

      He’s overdue for some humanity, and it has to be more real than what we saw in “Shortpacked” if Willis wants us to buy it. Mike is going to have to drop that frown and shed a tear if Willis wants him to fit in this story. Otherwise, he’s going to remain the odd “comic relief guy” out, and people are going to keep hating him.

      1. DSL

        The only thing unrealistic about Mike is that he’s on average more insightful than the usual IRL asshole who collects information about people to use as ammunition for their turd-on-the-picnic-table button-pushing fun. Most people like Mike settle for learning embarrassing nicknames or that one mistake ou made about whom most rational people don’t care but damn if it doesn’t feel like a world-ending fuckup once your local Mike gets hold of it.

      2. Emily

        Mike is realistic he’s just also incredibly boring much like his real life counterparts.

        1. GoblinScribe

          By “realistic”, I mean dimensional. I’m not saying it’s unrealistic that he’s this big an asshole, I’m saying it’s unrealistic that he is never in any mode other than “asshole”. For Pete’s sake, he successfully shut down an internet nerd debate. Mike is and always has been in the same turf as any other cartoon character with a shtick.

        2. C.T Phipps

          Like Robin, Mike is a character that suffers from the real world as Robin is a typical Republican politician.

          Mike is the Alt-Right.

        3. thejeff

          Though without the focus on the alt-right’s issues. He’s not particularly fighting SJWs, political correctness, or attacking people over race or gender issues. Just targets of opportunity, IMO.

          He’s more a less political internet troll. He’s definitely doing it all for the lulz.

  33. BenRG

    Whoa! I think that Dorothy is dipping her toes in Lake Meltdown here!

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Why can’t a cute character show up in a comic without people asking about her feet?

      1. Needfuldoer

        Hey, that’s tame for the Internet!

      2. Mr D phone posting

        …what?

        Are you projecting? He is talking about her getting close to a meltdown, the “toes” part was incidental to that.

        1. Joe Angel

          You’re one of those people who constantly says “it’s impossible to read someone’s tone on the internet”, aren’t you?

        2. Mr D

          I dunno about you, but it is really hard for me to do IRL, online is just impossible.

    2. Fart Captor

      She’s having a perfectly natural reaction to someone being a shit to her and refusing to leave. Not really a meltdown

      1. Mr D

        Today’s strip? Yes. Last few months? Ohhhhoho no, she is like two fingers away from a meltdown, and I gather it just got waaay worse by breaking up with Walky.

  34. Acher4

    “sudden femur removal”

    ahahahahahahaha

  35. Epsilon Rose

    Mike is Loki. Not the Marvel Loki who’s a greedy bastich with designs on the throne, but the orignal one, form myth, who constantly messed with everyone one and was nearly universally hated, but who also t

    1. Minotaur

      Now that’s just wrong.

      Loki in Norse myth actually has social skills. There are people who like him.
      Loki in Norse myth is a charismatic trickster. Mike is a bully who enjoys tormenting people.

      Mind you, I wouldn’t mind somebody sewing Mike’s mouth shut.

      1. JohnInCA

        Loki in mythology *starts* that way, but by the end you have all the other gods hating him so much they tie him to a rock with venom being dripped into his eyes.

        Mostly because he such an asshole who throws people’s worst moments back at them to get a petty thrill.

        All that’s missing is honey-potting a horse to welch on a debt.

      2. Joe Angel

        People like Mike.

        Okay they just find him very attractive.

  36. Minim

    I wouldn’t miss Mike if he disappeared or died, nor would I miss the inevitable arguments in the comments section about him. *drinks fizz contentedly*

  37. ninja_jesus

    Do you think Mike would be upset if I were to compare him to The Dark Knight’s Joker? Because he kinda is, but just shittier and less violent.

  38. Ryek Hvek

    yay, Persepolis poster

    1. Sunny

      Dorothy did say it was her favourite movie in one of the early strips.

  39. Vulcanodon

    Wonder what a redemption path for Mike would look like. Probably not a taste of his own medicine, but I’m open to the idea…

  40. Roger Sterling

    Mike is a collective hallucination by the entire floor-the manifestation of the hoops their brains have to constantly jump through to justify their terrible decision making.

    On the even of Instrumentality, we will all see Mike.

  41. C.T Phipps

    Dorothy, if Mike wanted to destroy you then he’d just say you’ll never be President because you don’t have any networking skills. At all.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      The bar has been lowered a lot since Donald Trump. Dorothy could be president if she relaxed more and learned how to talk her opinion more publicly instead of being a silent observer like Aaron Burr.

      1. JBento

        Dorothy is an atheist woman in America, so I’m gonna go with 0 chances for the foreseeable future.

        1. abysswatcher1993

          Why is it that atheists and women have it hard in politics? Right, right wing evangelism and fear of communism.

        2. thejeff

          Well, general sexism covers the woman part too.

          Imagine if Hillary Clinton had children from 3 different partners. The bar’s only been lowered for some.

          And it’s easy for an atheist to be elected. All you have to do it pretend to be Christian. 🙂

        3. C.T Phipps

          I imagine Dorothy as a bit like Lisa Simpson. “Well, I’ll just explain why we have to raise taxes for the greater good.”

          *The White House is burned down*

        4. abysswatcher1993

          To be honest, taxes don’t need to be raised or cut. You just need to stop investing in military invasions.

        5. thejeff

          That too.

          But we also need to raise taxes on the top few percent. It’s one of the only ways to keep money circulating instead of accumulating at the top.

      2. Classic Appa

        Actually Donald Trump is pretty much the perfect example of why social networking skills is the most important skill you can have under your belt in politics.

        1. C.T Phipps

          Dorothy has a severe problem that people would prefer to vote for a gladhand like Robin or Roz than someone with actual skill.

          Plus deal making and compromise is pretty much an absolute necessity for someone who wants to win by playing party politics.

          Dot seems surprisingly naive that democracy functions as a meritocracy even when confronted by Robin.

        2. abysswatcher1993

          Networking is a cool skill, but it will be Trump, Roz and Robin’s doom: if you depend on popular opinion instead of actual solutions people will stop voting for you once you show your true colors. Be a superficial liberal like Roz, or a poster girl conservative like Robin, people stop trusting you once they get tired of your speak too much & do nothing.
          Dorothy can’t be president after all the shit that has happened in recent years, but she can do something better, like being a social entrepreneur, a diplomat, a judge, a lawmaker, or the owner of an anime themed restaurant.

      3. C.T Phipps

        “SEE YA ON THE FLIP SIDE!” *cries*

        Not your finest hour, Dot, but Lincoln suffered setbacks too.

  42. Sociotard

    You’d best start believin’ in rom coms Me Swan. You’re in one!

    (But it is nice to see a story with this attitude. Most tv and movies assume everybody has to pair off with someone)

    1. thejeff

      I’m not sure the story has this attitude. Dorothy is not the Voice of the Author either.

  43. alice

    mike @-ing everyone in the comments yesterday

  44. Tealjoy Grove

    I don’t know how I keep forgetting he has no fucks to give.

  45. abysswatcher1993

    Of course love is more important than work, Dorothy! And I am not talking about a random college romance. I am talking about love to your neighbor, love to your family, love to your friends, love to your hobbies, love to life, love to anime. Nobody loves work. The only reason people work is because it is a necessary step to get their goals, be them altruistic or selfish. Even making webcomics is a tedious work, and the reason it’s done is because of the love of the author towards the end result that looks beautiful.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Joyce? That’s an interesting handle.

  46. Griffin Raynor

    Usually Mike doesn’t get to me but now I’m kinda of annoyed lmao

  47. Abbefaria

    In his will he leaves everyone’s mother a nickel.

  48. SpaceshipPilot

    Must… resist… urge… to make Borderlands reference…

  49. Mr. Anderson

    The Persepolis poster makes me smile. Remember when this comic first started and that movie was still kind of relevant?

    1. thejeff

      It now came out when Dorothy was ~7. 🙂

      Not that teens can’t like old movies.

  50. Mydnyt

    I may be in the minority but I truelly love mike. I went through a period in my life where I was actually that cartoonishly dickish. My mental health and a med I probably should have never been on threw me into some bad paranoia which had me in a mindset that nobody could be trusted so it was better to make everyone hate me then to risk friends.

    I really love natural born assholes. Especially truthful ones. I’ve never been able to muster that kind of spite and viciousness when in a stable mental place

Leave a Reply to Keulen Cancel reply

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

*

*

*

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