318

Complicit
Posted on October 31, 2013 by David M Willis
OH HEY Dumbing of Age has a new Tumblr.  I still have my old Tumblr, but thought there should be one that's just DoA stuff and not also whatever Velma stuff I want to reblog.  So it's there.  If you want to follow it. Also I'm coming to Bloomington, IN, again on November 20!  Once again I will haunt Vintage Phoenix Comics, so mark your calendars, Hoosiers.

318 thoughts on “Complicit”

  1. Aizat

    Last panel: Hngggggg…

    1. Luke

      It made my soul cry…

    2. Reynard-Miri

      I want to hug her and tell her that everything will be alright. T_T

      1. Badeyes

        You’re too late, I’ve already handled it in panel 5. Willis just chose to let it remain private.

        1. Chronos

          No. It’s going to end as a big ol’ group hug, like at the very end of the Mary Tyler Moore show.

    3. Ourorboros

      Quick, Mike needs to start a Batman Gambit to fix this!

      (I would read the hell out of that.)

  2. Tunaro

    Hands up, who else feels an overwhelming urge to give Dina a hug?

    1. Yotomoe

      The force is strong with this one.

      1. Jammy

        Or rather, the feels

        1. Neospector

          The feels are the force.

        2. Colin

          Don’t let the Jedi catch you saying that. Right though it is.

    2. Aizat

      Hugs.

    3. MM

      *raises hand*

      *raises other hand*

      *attempts to embrace screen*

    4. Opus the Poet

      *hand*

      1. Opus the Poet

        But then I just want to hug Dina on GP.

    5. Zap Rowsdower

      *raises hand*

      I move that anyone who doesn’t want to hug her has no heart.

      1. FlashXX

        *both hands shoot up quickly*

        Full~ sentences…and there not about dinos?! Please be okay.

    6. Doctor_Who

      Pretty much always.

    7. The Phantom's Belch

      *raises hand

    8. saltchocolate

      *Hands up and waving wildly above my head

      Also, I second Zap Rowsdower’s motion.

    9. Shadow12000

      *raises hand* In fact, this feeling is stronger than usual!

    10. Jesse

      Me.

    11. NinjaNick

      *hands way up*

    12. Tan

      Can’t raise hand, busy hugging monitor.

    13. WikiDreamer

      Come to my bosom you adorably considerate awkward girl you! *pulls into bosom*

    14. pyrophobia

      *hand*

    15. CthulhuPanda36

      “Say it!”
      “POLKA WILL NEVER DIE!”
      Best motivational speech I could think of.

    16. Tenn

      *raises hands*

      *and feet*

      *falls on ass*

      I probably shouldn’t have been doing that standing up.

    17. James

      Anyone who doesn’t raise their hand here is a filthy liar. …Or they have issues with physical contact.

      1. James

        …and I did not know that was my gravatar.

      2. N0083rP00F

        Or can not lend a hand due to a pronounced lack of the required fore mentioned appendage. [shame on you]

    18. ocbrad1

      Hands way up!

    19. Andy_147

      Does Dina like hugs, though?

    20. Cyan1deDr3ams

      Yeah, for sure.

  3. KingMabel

    NO! Don’t feel bad Dina… 🙁

    1. David Herbert

      Think of dinosaurs roaming the land.

      1. Aizat

        And think of the Dinosaur Empire. They need their queen, goddammit.

  4. Yotomoe

    Dina, I demand you stop using that face this instant!

    1. Pizzathehutt

      So…so CUTE!

      1. Tunaro

        Don’t look directly at it! You’ll go mad!

      2. slicey

        oh no the cute got mike!!! the cute got mike!!! *looks at the face* Oh sweetie! *walks into the sun trying to hug Dina*

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Almost as dangerous as the dreaded puppy-dog eyes.

      1. CrazyOne

        raptor eyes are more dangerous than puppy-dog eyes… its the teary doe eyes are the ones to look out for

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          You can counter doe eyes with headlights. 😀

        2. CrazyOne

          not when they are filled with tears… water can reflect light 🙂

        3. Far

          What about from behind?
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPrI8db74kA

    3. hof1991

      Even her hat looks sad. Sad dinosaurs are the worst, since you know it won’t end well for them.

      1. begbert2

        Naw, the hat’s more like, ‘Oh boy, here we go, my ride/dinner has decided to get all emotional. Wonderful.’

  5. Lavaticmay

    Dina darling, don’t ever change.

    1. Yotomoe

      Except your clothes. Change those periodically.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        also your feminine hygiene for the same reason.

        1. saltchocolate

          I see what you did there, Plasma. It took me a minute…

    2. Mr. Random

      But she is. And for the better.

      1. Doctor_Who

        What? Dina is evolving!

        Dina evolved into Dinasaurus Rex!

        1. Aizat

          Dina’s next form: Dinasaurus Deus Rex

        2. Mr. Random

          So what happens when you use a Moon Stone?

        3. Aizat

          Dinasaurus Luna Rex. You can only get the Deus Rex variant if you let Dina evolve naturally.

        4. Far

          Dina hasn’t evolved yet, b
          ut she’s at a watershed moment.

    3. Sam

      If you like her so much, then you should want her to eventually change and grow to be a better person.

      1. gangler

        Changing is one thing. It’s good to recognize your fault’s and weaknesses and attempt patch those up.

        It’s another thing entirely to feel that on a fundamental level, the person that you are is no good. There’s a difference between “Wow, I’m remarkably ignorant on this subject and that’s been hurting me in these ways, I should read up on that”, and “I’m a moron who doesn’t deserve such smart friends”.

        Dina has already recognized some of her social inadequacies and has set out to rectify them. What she just said was different from that.

      2. Cyan1deDr3ams

        I don’t get how she did anything wrong. You can’t expect someone to automatically know that their roommate has a troubled relationship with their father.

  6. Aizat

    And from now on, assholitude is a real word.

    1. Yotomoe

      You say that as if it already wasn’t.

    2. KingMabel

      Assholitude: a degree of measurement, referring to how much of an asshole one is, either is character or in action.

      1. Mr. Random

        Measured in nano-Mikes.

        1. E.R.

          I don’t know, Mikes more a jerk.
          At least when he does things, most of the time, it’s meant to make the recipient improve themselves.

        2. Shadow12000

          I fairly remember him sleeping with Ethan in the Shortpacked universe as he and Robin were the only ones who hadn’t slept with him yet and he wanted to piss her off.

        3. Mr. Random

          It was a four-fer, as he also slept with Amber. Driving a wedge between them, pushing Robin further by stating another person that wasn’t her slept with Ethan, and he got Faz as well.

        4. Badeyes

          I was had the understanding that the Mike is a unit of Jerkiness measure but the general scale is pico Mike. There is an equivalency chart to ButtStains, .5 pico Mike = 1 ButtStain.

      2. Van Dyne

        Measured in Amber’s Dad Units.

        1. Shadow12000

          ಠ_ಠ You have tricked me with your link-that-is-not-a-link. I am not amused.

        2. Kiggy

          Fooled me as well x_x

        3. Hammoncheeze

          That non-link puts you at 1/2 ass on the assholitude scale. 🙂

        4. Van Dyne

          What nooo I didn’t mean to do that!

          Amber’s dad units

      3. Plasma Mongoose

        Don’t forget, you can measure assholitude by using the prichter scale.

        1. miilkshake

          Really we’re just gonna let this go?
          Bravo.

        2. Aizat

          Measured by Prowls?

    3. Jay Eff

      Not to be confused with “Assholeitosis,” a condition you do NOT want to have, believeyoume…

      1. Doctor_Who

        Is it related to Butts Disease?

        1. Narf

          If so, it’s a truly terrifying variant.

      2. xKiv

        Or assholiness, which measures how righteous one is about it.
        I just wanted to create a context for “his assholiness”.

    4. hof1991

      In the Urban Dictionary since 2008, when the cast was in middle school.

  7. Wonder Wig

    Noo! Hush, Dina! You’re the optimum amount of Dina.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      She provides herself with 100% of her daily Dina requirements.

  8. Plasma Mongoose

    All together now everybody, AWWWWWWWW!

    1. Kladeos

      Awww…

    2. KingMabel

      *comes in late

      WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

      1. Aizat

        HNNNNGGGGGGGG…..

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Good answer!

  9. Darth

    WILLIS YOU LIAR YOU SAID WE WOULD SMILE AT THE NEW COMICS.

    I AM NOT SMILING

    1. MM

      You trusted him? You poor, naive fool.

      1. E.R.

        At least it’s not Worm.

    2. Yotomoe

      What he meant is he would smile. Smile at the absurd amount of power he has over our emotions.

    3. Mr. Random

      I am.

  10. Pizzathehutt

    “Assholeitude” who else but Dina. 🙂

    1. Mr. Random

      Giggitty giggitty goo!

  11. Aizat

    It’s not really anyone’s fault, really. Dina’s parents didn’t know what kind of person Blaine really is.

    1. AgentKeen

      Can we say it’s Blaine’s fault?

      1. Aizat

        Yes, Blaine is to be blame.

  12. Doctor_Who

    Wow. Just a couple days ago I expressed a desire to see Dina curse.

    I’ll add it to my list of evidence that the buffer is a LIE and Willis is just writing whatever we want to see in the comments. Also he is an alien escaped from Area 51 and assassinated Kennedy.

    Don’t laugh! I’ve got this all on a blackboard! A BLACKBOARD! Robin will back me up that this makes it true!

    1. Aizat

      Or Willis could see time in a non-linear fashion.

      1. Mr. Random

        Wait, you guys can’t?

        1. Mr. Random

          Seriously, can you guys not? I just assumed everyone posted at the time their bodies were out of politeness, and to keep a sense to the time stream.

      2. MM

        The strips are really just a mechanism for merging us all into one giant hive-mind. Or possibly Voltron.

        1. Zach

          I like the second one much better.

          http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=4794

      3. ninja_jesus

        Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey?

    2. Kernanator

      Do you have lines connecting people? The lines are very important.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        You referring to the red strings of fate?

        1. saltchocolate

          Red String… So sad that’s over, with it’s earnest weirdness and carefully plotted sexytimes. Le sigh.

      2. Doctor_Who

        Here is a circle marked “David Willis”. Here is one marked “Betty Crocker”. As you can clearly see, I have a line here connecting them. COINCIDENCE?!

        1. Kernanator

          I defer to your expertise.

        2. Aizat

          I have a connection between Cyberbots and Super Robot Wars….though I don’t know why.

    3. NIghtsbridge

      A blackboard, you say? SECURITY! Please escort Faz from the premises.

      1. NIghtsbridge

        oh my god my gravatar is PERFECT.

    4. John

      If Willis were just writing what the comment section wants, Joyce and Dorothy would be banging by now.

      1. saltchocolate

        True. Fanservice is good on DoA, but not *that* good. That’s why I always keep a strong “DAMN YOU, WILLIS” handy.

      2. begbert2

        It’s not that he writes what we want; it that he knows what we’ve said/are going to say/are thinking. He then uses this knowledge as he sees fit, typically for evil.

    5. Shadow12000

      Or you’re a time traveler and that’s cheating.

    6. Random832

      Blackboards are amateur hour, you’ve got to have a corkboard with bits of string.

  13. Bilfred

    I feel that Dina shall do some very stupid stuff soon.

    1. KingMabel

      Like what? Start dating someone in the comic, thus ruining all relationships in the comic, both cannon and shipped?

      Impossible

      1. Mr K

        Be quiet. You’re giving Willis ideas.

        1. KingMabel

          Whats the worst that can happen?

        2. Shadow12000

          …Joyce, stop talking to yourself.

        3. Kernanator

          I don’t wanna!

        4. Bill

          Never challenge worst.

        5. xKiv

          Let’s start with worst and work up to best, rather than the other way.

        6. begbert2

          Let’s see, what happened in another continuity shortly after Dina experimented with dating?

          Oh. Right.

        7. John

          If that was the best she could do, I really don’t want to know what the worst might have been.

        8. N0083rP00F

          Dinoroders – nuff said.

    2. Yotomoe

      She’ll cut the clever out of her shirt and just have it say “Girl” so as to be more accurate.

      1. Darwin2500

        A boob window which *literally* represents her self-loathing and poor self esteem! Could there be a more perfect metaphor?

        1. Shadow12000

          Of course the Joe gravitar is the one mentioning boobs.

  14. Yotomoe

    The store clerk was being irresponsible by selling me such a mismatched shirt. THIS SHIRT IS A LIEEEE.

  15. Kernanator

    Dina hits uncomfortably close to home.

    1. Vash

      I think Dina hit hurtfully close to home for pretty much everybody.

  16. MM

    Dina, you had to deal with Faz. I think you’ve already been punished enough.

    1. Aizat

      Dealing with Faz is not something that I would do even to my most hated enemies.

      1. Mr. Random

        I would. They’d then become my most loyal minions. Muahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha *cah cah* huuh. hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha

    2. Opus the Poet

      Doubleplus on this one. Dina has already suffered at the comments of Faz.

    3. Yotomoe

      There’s never enough Faz in your life.

      1. Zach

        Does Faz come in negative units? I don’t care which manner he came in but I want all of it out.

        1. Mr K

          I actually feel sorry for the little twerp. He has to deal with Blaine on a daily basis. That explains why he’s so fucked up.

      2. The Phantom's Belch

        And yet, Dina already showed assertiveness by making sure Faz was bound, gagged, and mailed back to his father.

        Amber: “MAILED?!”
        Dina: “Federal Express.”

        1. Aizat

          “Why didn’t you mail him to Abu Dhabi?”

        2. The Phantom's Belch

          “I wouldn’t wish the Faz on anyone who doesn’t deserve it. Which your father does.”

        3. Tenn

          “I might have caught a bit of the Faz. Here is a diagram showing the… I mean, did you know that [random dinosaur trivia]?”

  17. Keroshino

    Awwww Dina…don’t be sad!

    1. xKiv

      Cause three out of three ain’t bad?

  18. Rabbling Rouser

    No Dina, it’s not you that’s wrong…it’s the world

    1. KingMabel

      That’s right! The world is not ready to deal with the level of awesome that is Dina!

    2. Badtux

      This. Dina is adorkable. Dina is not the problem.

    3. Wack'd

      She is beautiful. It’s the world that’s ugly.

      1. John

        It’s the rain.

  19. sad-weeb

    oh boy! time to identify!

    1. Doctor_Who

      Oooh! Ooooh! Let me try.

      Hmmm…the one in the hat is Dina. I was gonna say the other one is Amazi-Girl, but she wears a mask.

  20. Safgaftsa

    Not to join the bandwagon [/join bandwagon], but one is inclined to feel pity for Dina. Having once been extremely socially awkward (though definitely not as much as Dina), I can say that it’s unpleasant to feel like you’ve been the cause of a problematic situation. Hopefully Amber will make her feel better.

    1. Jack Finch

      I feel pity for ALL the DoA cast (well, maybe not Mary…she’s an asshole, on the other hand she has to BE Mary, so yeah, maybe even her.).
      I root like crazy for them.

  21. Ridureyu

    This… this is all gonna end with Dina blowing up and Walky punching Mike, isn’t it?

    1. Yotomoe

      Dina, why are you eat nitroglycerine?
      -“It was the best I could do”

    2. Super Duper

      No, Mike will punch someone. Nobody punches Mike.
      Nobody.

      1. John

        It’s happened. More than once. Though somehow Mike is capable of manipulating things so that getting beaten to a pulp hurts the attacker more than it does him.

    3. Shadow12000

      o(╥﹏╥)o Why would you remind me of that?

      1. Hammoncheeze

        Willis is doing it again! Just like he did with Ruth in roomies last week! He coulda fixed it…sniff…why didn’t he fix it! DAMN YOU WILLIS!

        1. John

          I kinda think DoA is fixing that.

  22. C.

    *Cut to shot of the Enterprise*

    Produced by Gene L. Coon

    1. Super Duper

      Written by Brannon Braga.

      1. Kyrros

        ♫ IT’S BEEN A LOOOONG TIIIIIIME… ♫

      2. Heavensrun

        HISSSS

  23. JA

    Dina needs a hug 🙁

  24. timemonkey

    It’s okay, Dina, you did the best you could do.

    1. Dina

      And that’s the problem

    2. nothri

      timemonkey, tell me that was deliberate.

      1. timemonkey

        Of course, I’m an evil bastard.

        1. Narf

          You might be evil but you ain’t original, that’s been referenced like 10 times on this comment page alone 😛

  25. Mr K

    Did Dina just swear? That was strange.

    1. MM

      Can you think of a more technically precise term for Blaine?

      1. Mr K

        Monster.

        1. MM

          Fair point.

        2. nothri

          Mr. K, I award you five and half internets.

        3. ninja_jesus

          How about a technically precise term within the context of the sentence in order to replace the swear word?

        4. Bill

          Try “arschlochlichkeit”.  Means pretty much the same thing, but has the added benefit of sounding like a psychological term similar to “schadenfreude” or “weltschmerz”.

          You’d be surprised what you can get away with saying if you don’t say it in English.

  26. Frelance

    transpired not conspired. s’okay, Dina, I still <3 you. but… transpired, not conspired. … 🙂

    1. TacosForever

      Thank you. Now I know I’m not alone in having that be my first thought about this comic!

    2. Don't Mind Me

      Yep, came here to say this. A character with Asperger’s would most likely know the difference, too.

  27. Lel

    Dina no! Don’t get drawn into the drama! YOU’RE TOO ADORABLE TO ANGST

  28. Super Duper

    Does Amber have a Transformers Animated poster?
    She really WAS Ethan’s beard for a while!

    1. David Willis

      Dumbiverse Amber loves Transformers twice as much as Ethan, and way before he did.

      1. Super Duper

        That’s… that’s impossible! Nobody loves Transformers more than Ethan! It would rupture the very fabric of space time! Panic, fire brimstone! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

        1. MM

          Of course it ruptured the fabric of space time. That’s why Willis created a multiverse.

        2. Axel

          It’s also entirely possible that Dumbiverse Ethan is not quite as into Transformers as Walkyverse Ethan.

  29. RobHagen

    Oh lord…that’s at least 8.8 Joyces on the Facial Expression meter!

    *has the feels*

  30. Fezzam

    I feel like Dina is on the verge of an alternate identity. Perhaps with a mask, a hyphenated name, perhaps said as a logo… You know like in comic books!

    1. Mr K

      She’s Amazi Gi-“Shot”

      1. nothri

        Mr. K, now I reducing my award to three and three/fourths internets. Watch your step.

    2. The Phantom's Belch

      Dina: “I am not just Dina. When you go out as Amazi-Girl, I will go with you. … I AM THE RAPTOR!”

      1. Bill

        +2.  She’s been rocking the cowl for that costume ever since we first saw her in the Dumbiverse.

        In fact, I’m surprised DC or Marvel haven’t already done a character called ‘the Raptor’.

        1. David Willis

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_(Marvel_Comics)

        2. Bill

          Wow – not just one, but three.  Which makes me pause to think — with the vast pantheon of super-heroes, mutants, genetically-morphed oddities, and all, it seems like *NORMAL, ORDINARY* people are a distinct minority in the Marvel/DC universes.

        3. Heavensrun

          There are SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE.

        4. John

          Naming superheros is really hard, because Marvel and DC and the smaller outfits have already taken sooo many of them. My last Marvel RPG character ended up straight-up stealing a canon hero’s name, with the justification, “I’ve never heard of her or her super-team before, and, seriously, I can do impossible things with photons, and her superpowers are owning a gun and dating someone who has actual powers. Since I’m immune to bullets and even her boyfriend isn’t in my league, power-level-wise, old Shooting Star can suck it.”

          But clearly Dina’s superhero name is Clever Girl. It says right on her shirt. That’s her costume; that’s why it’s pink and purple instead of the earth tones she’s worn before. So that no one guesses that it’s her.

  31. nothri

    ::thinks about Walkverse Dina and how things went over there::

    ::spends rest of night balling eyes out::

    ::Damns Willis::

    1. nothri

      “Damns Willis” as in I am saying “Damn you, Willis”, not that I am literally damning Willis as if I am an almighty God or a soul bound to a piece of martian battle armor that looks inexplicably like swiss cheese.

    2. Gordon Blvd

      link 4 noobs, pls 🙂

      1. nothri

        I….uh…whew. I’m not sure where to begin….

      2. nothri

        Actually, I super don’t know where to begin, because the links on Joyce and Walky are all totally broken.

      3. Larkeith

        You don’t want to read this, but… Here it is if you really want it: http://itswalky.com/d/20030719.html

        1. nothri

          Well, yes, but the context is so, so much bigger than that. Dina has arcs through several stories that culminated with that and…sob.

        2. Larkeith

          True, I was just linking to the ending; for the full context he should really read the whole thing.

        3. Bluedarky

          That was merely the culmination of Dina’s life, the arcs she started went on for a while afterwards.

      4. nothri

        Starts roughly here….kinda. Good a place as any.

        http://www.itswalky.com/d/20010418.html

      5. nothri

        Goes here….

        http://www.itswalky.com/d/20010419.html

    3. ninja_jesus

      Balling eyes out… like, into balls? Because they’re already in that shape. o_o

      1. John

        I’m assuming that by “balling eyes out” nothri meant “removing eyes with a melon baller”. I know I frequently spend Halloween that way.

        1. John

          Also, I think this conversation has exceeded the maximum level of Billie allowable by Federal curve-control regulations.

        2. nothri

          What? Outrageous! I’m calling my rep right now. I want unlimited Billie or we force a government shutdown!

          Also, apologies to Willis for the other night. I had insomnia something awful and decided to deal with it by hunting down everything I could find that might be considered a “Dina Prime” plotpoint. I was operating on a near zero level of common sense at the time and did not consider a number of potential problems that could arise from doing so, like massive spoilers and (more importantly) that it might mess up the web site or jack up your bill. So yeah, I am sincerely sorry about that. Was not thinking at all straight.

  32. MacBone

    I smell character development!

    1. nothri

      Yeah? What’s it smell like?

      1. Gordon Blvd

        smells like “awwwwwwwwwwww’s” this time……………….

        1. Super Duper

          More like “baaaaaaawwww”…

      2. Kernanator

        Smells like what The Rock is cooking.

        1. Aizat

          He’s cooking roody-poo candy asses….and poontang pie.

      3. Bill

        Smells like Teen Spirit.

    2. Glockenspielberg

      I’m actually not against Dina developing a little

      1. Opus the Poet

        Nope, Dina would look terrible with anything over a B cup…

    3. Aizat

      Oh yeah? *puts on fake nose* Well, I smell…PU, he’s right.

  33. zana

    Awww your not a problem.

  34. Mark17

    We love you Dina :'(

  35. nothri

    PLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICKPLEASELETAMAZIGIRLGETASIDEKICK…

  36. Remonis

    No one has suggested that Amber take her under her wing for tutelage in the ways of Vigilantism? Sidekick Girl! Or something.

    1. Remonis

      Wow, literally one minute too slow

      1. nothri

        No hard feelings I hope 🙂

        And obviously she needs to be called clever girl. Her hat can be her superpower.

    2. MM

      The strip’s eventually going to turn into Amazi-Girl and all the sidekicks ever.

      Poor Stoolie the Wonder-Stool. 🙁

      1. nothri

        Maybe it will just feature a series of different characters bearing the same “sidekick” name, some who move on to be darker and grittier badass superheroes in their own right and some who become traitors for the drama lolz.

  37. Tufto

    I seem to recall a lot of people blaming Dina a while back.

    Embrace the feels, all of you :D.

  38. mister gray

    Quick! Take her under your wing and make her your sidekick!

    1. Aizat

      Just make sure she stays away from crowbars.

  39. Darwin2500

    This is sort of a weird observation, but if you focus on Amber in panel 3, does it look to anyone else like a super-forced-perspective shot from above of her standing on a warped tile floor with her arms behind her back?

  40. Larkeith

    Is conspired the right word for panel one? Should that be transpired?

    1. Pope William T Wodium

      Transpired would be a much better fit, but it’s the kind of malapropism that I would believe a real person would commit in conversation. So, probably a typo, but I didn’t find it too terribly jarring.

  41. Emoroffle

    I need to figure out a way to hug fictional characters.

    1. Vash

      Fanart

  42. DeathsApprentice

    Aww, Dina! 🙁 You are perfect just the way you are!

    1. saltchocolate

      Okay, we all love Dina. But do we really want her to live and die as someone who ends up somewhere she didn’t intend to go, every time a crowd of people walk too close to her? I want Ethan to come out of the closet, and I want Dina to come out from behind the door! Go, Dina!! You keep on with that evolving!

      1. Henry

        Careful. Dina might rage you to death for misusing the term “evolution.”

        1. Mr. Random

          The parts of her personality that put her in uncomfortable situations are slowly dying, while her new traits that allow her to socialize and read facial cues are thriving as they become more necessary for the life she is currently leading. In addition, the small habits she formed which allowed her to remain perfectly fine being solitary are slowly dying of atrophy.
          Seems like a personal evolution to me. Natural selection.
          Survival of the traits.

        2. saltchocolate

          ^ This. Also, raging is not one of Dina’s traits: past, present, or future.

      2. Magyk

        If Dina dies I quit the comic. I can’t do that again, it hurt last time.

        1. Kernanator

          Don’t worry, Willis has said that she won’t die in the comic. Turns out she’s a Highlander!

  43. Aizat

    “And I know about your “nightly activities””.

    1. mai876

      It would actually make a lot of sense if Dina is the first one to figure it out.

      1. Aizat

        She’s always watching…..

        1. Mr. Random

          Well, she is a…

      2. John

        Until proven otherwise, my headcanon is that Dina recognized Amber without difficulty the one time she saw her in costume, and just hasn’t mentioned it because she doesn’t realize that it’s a big mystery to other people, or that her roommate being a costumed vigilante is something worthy of comment.

      3. AI

        … and then dina joins her as her sidekick. and eventually assumes the mantle of amazigirl.

    2. EvergreenFir

      I honestly thought you were referring to her reading slash fics… Not amazigirl

  44. Arkadi

    Not again, Dina >_<

  45. Lancer

    Dina. No. You our our rock. You are our adorable innocent rock. You’re the one who stands awkwardly by while everyone else is being an idiot and causing drama. Stop this right now.

  46. Raoullefere

    Growing pains; Dina has them.

  47. E Flat

    Get your parents to sign the permissions slip, we’re going on a feel trip.

  48. Vivvav

    Finally, some character development. Dina works just fine for the purposes of comedy, but her character’s been kinda one-dimensional up to this point.

  49. Jack Finch

    I am imagining a completely hilarious “Grease” caliber change in Dina’s look

    1. saltchocolate

      “Tell me about it . . . Rex.”

      1. Jack Finch

        extra internets for saltchocolate

    2. Bill

      No; someone else will come up who also knows that the brontosaurus never existed and Dina and he will go off somewhere and excavate fossils together.

      1. Pope William T Wodium

        Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?

  50. Jack Finch

    And …. I am so stealing “severity of his assholitude”.

  51. Doc Harleen

    Cutest and most expressive Dina face yet in that last panel! I’m really hoping this means that we get to see her have a storyline and develop as a character!

  52. hof1991

    After this weekend she sees the drama, angst and pain even more clearly, yet still wants to come out from behind the door. Puts her ahead of some of the cast.

  53. nikofintikis

    no no no dina your one of the best characters do get depressed where did that get you in the walkyverse

    1. Aj Hedgehog

      It got her everywhere… Budaboomtish

      1. fintikisniko

        It got her dead

  54. ninja_jesus

    The character that emotes best is the character that emotes least, and by these standards, Dina is the best character in Dumbing of Age.

  55. Huh?

    It’s hard to tell people you don’t think like they do… heck even for the High Functioning ones~

  56. Greg White

    How about having Joyce get kidnapped by terrorists and they connect with each other they get Lima syndrome and she gets Stockholm syndrome.

  57. Kitsune

    Hmmm expert on one subject, not good at picking up social cues… does Dina have Asperger Syndrome?

    1. Charlie

      As an autistic reader of DoA [although admittedly I’ve not read any of the other universes] I’d always assumed that Dina was most definitely very likely to be on the spectrum.

      1. Jonathan S.

        It does seem obvious, yes – perseverations on dinosaurs are common, as there are so very many facts to know about them, all with their own neat little classifications. And they stay in those neat little classifications – so much easier to deal with than messy ol’ people.

      2. Kitsune

        I was just diagnosed last year.

  58. Beth

    YES YES YES. So glad you’re coming back to Bloomington – hopefully this year I won’t be so seized by fangirl shyness when I ask you to sign book two, like last year, when the names of every character fled out of my head and all I could utter was “DRAW ME THE SUPERHERO GIRL PLZ”

  59. starkruzr

    The thing about this is that Dina is totally right. Her being her IS a problem, in this context.

    The good news is that we all get to decide who we are.

  60. JK

    …you know, I just realized I’ve never seen any of the DoA girls (or boys for that matter) wearing any jewelry.

    /end completely irrelevant comment

    1. Bill

      I raised the same question about a week and a half ago in the comments for this strip (I was talking about pierced ears, which seems like standard equipment these days; I’ve seem girls less than a year old sporting studs in their ears) and was advised that Willis has some sort of aversion or phobia drawing jewelry.

      1. Heavensrun

        If I was to guess, I’d suppose that small details in general are something he prefers to avoid, and since that’s kinda all jewelery is…

        1. Bill

          Possibility, but how hard could it be to add a dot or two to an earlobe to represent a silver, gold, or jeweled stud?

        2. David Willis

          Very fucking hard.

        3. taekwondogirl

          I’m a little weirded out by the choice of emphasis here.

        4. fudo81

          I guess that would be hard especially because of his phobia. And we are probably making him nervous by just discussing the subject, whence his choice of words.

        5. David Willis

          yes

  61. Mal

    Interesting. I posted concerns yesterday about Dina becoming a caricature, and the very next strip, Dina herself seems on the verge of addressing that very issue.

    But what really makes it interesting is that Mr. Willis drew these a couple of months in advance. It’s like he looked into a crystal ball, saw my question, and said, “Don’t worry, Mal. I’ve got ya.”

    1. Vash

      Doesn’t anybody know that Willis has the ability to look into the future? I thought this is was a no-brainer.

      1. Seerow

        It’s how he keeps his output so steady. Anytime he gets writer’s block, he looks into the future to see what comes next in the story, then draws it.

  62. Todd

    Ooh, character development for Dina. This is great. I love it when a serviceably one-sided character becomes a real character. Bravo and thank you, Willis. I’m looking forward to this.

  63. Waverockr

    Hello fellow readers! I just wanted to announce that I’ve finally caught up to the present comic after 2 months or so of reading past chapters and meeting Willis at SPX. Can’t wait for more updates!

  64. Jordan

    That last panel + quite bad depression and low self esteem. Damn.

  65. Leonou

    Youhou, new poll !
    Now, let’s start the painfull ranking …

  66. All Else Fails

    Dina, NOOO!

  67. Em

    Ah shiiiiiiiiiiit. Dina no! Sure she said her dad was a jerk, but I doubt she explained the magnitude. The fault lies with Blaine. I bet he was sweet and charming, because I’m sure he knew Amber would say something like “my dad’s an ass.” Blaine tried to attack Amber, Blaine tried to attack Ruth. Don’t despair! Everything turned out fine in the end. Sure Amber is upset with the situation, but how were you to know? YOU WEREN’T.

    AHHHHH I wish this fictional cartoon character could hear me.

    1. Heavensrun

      Eh, we don’t know how much Amber did or didn’t tell Dina about her dad. She might have told the whole story, in which case yes, Dina should have been more stern about not allowing him in their room. But it is also possible that Amber didn’t give her the full extent. Either way, tho, it’s unclear if keeping him out of the room would have avoided a confrontation for Amber or just moved it to the hallway. Thing is, that’s not even probably the crux of why Amber is upset, but Dina doesn’t know that.

  68. p

    I’m reading all of Dina’s lines in Starfire’s voice from here on out.

    1. Cyan1deDr3ams

      OMG I’m glad someone else is doing that too.

  69. ladysoll

    Dina’s face in panel 4 is just precious

  70. Ser Lo

    More words than Dina has ever spoken before.

  71. Sir Robin

    Is this going to be … a Dina storyline???

  72. Maycroft

    Assholitude should be a word included in every english dicctionary.

    1. Logician

      I’m in favour of assholyness

      1. Ourorboros

        Only if we give those who achieve high levels of assholyness a pope hat.
        An asshat, if you will.

  73. The Phantom's Belch

    I think folks above don’t understand that Dina saying “I feel me being me is the problem” is Dinaspeak for “I realize now that I have a problem.”

    Being socially awkward, Dina isn’t always up on the “right” word for expressing things properly. (This is apparent from her use of “conspired” instead of “transpired”.) Let’s hope Amber picked up on that.

    The real question now before her, which even 40+ year-olds have trouble with at times, is “where do I go from here?” So she’s turning to the one person outside her family who she thinks understands her situation best for help. (Sarah understands Dina just as well as Amber, but Amber’s admitted to having similar issues in the past.)

    I suspect we’ll see a much less shy Dina learning how to fake social unawkwardness, with alternately humorous and drama-filled results – preferably more humorous results involving Walky and other girls on the floor.

    Also, I just realized that the one character from the Walkyverse we’ve not seen yet is Doc. He’d be the perfect person for Dina’s paleo prof.

    1. xKiv

      > Walky and other girls

      🙂

  74. Notebooked

    Hm. This could be a parallel to Dina’s Walkyverse arc, where her confidence was gradually knocked down until she had no faith at all in her own abilities.

    What concerns me is that she may be thinking her social skills and identity are the same thing. Since her lack of social skills obscure her personality, people react to the person they see, which isn’t necessarily the person she is, but she may believe it is. If that’s the case, that could lead to a problem when developing social skills, thinking she needs to change her entire identity rather than just how she manifests that identity.

  75. Gottawonder

    Awww! Just when I decide she couldn’t get cuter, she does.

    I don’t think that she confuses her social skills with her identity. I think she is saying what she has discovered about herself. She is pathologically shy. She hides behind doors. She is realizing that is not the way to relate.

    She apologized for letting ‘his assholery” in the dorm room because she did not recognize how bad Blaine was. But that is not be her fault. Who in their right mind would think anyone could act like he did?

    However, she has been being more aware of people around her, she is working to be more aware. And step one is apologizing for letting Blain in because he caused harm and hate.

    Apparently she feels that if she knew more of the relationships of the people she dorms with, it would not have happened.
    So she says, that she has a problem because “me being me is the problem”. I just don’t think she means she is a problem, her behavior is. And that is the first step to changing what you need to change: recognizing you have a problem.

    I been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I didn’t hide behind doors, but I did a good job of hiding behind books. I knew that was not ‘socially acceptable behavior’. But, I didn’t care. It was me. But, it is not Dina. She is not a hermit, she is just shy and from the looks of her parents, it’s inherited.

    People are scary. Computers are not.

  76. toknaut

    Is Dina’s favorite dessert green jell-o? Man I hope it is, I mean why wouldn’t it be?

  77. Again with Dragons

    I hope you know, I’m reading Dina in Starfire’s voice.

  78. Colin

    I am not certain why, but I feel the urge to punch Dina in the face – not with malice, though; perhaps to help her grow?
    …aand thanks to Again with Dragons, I’m reading/thinking my own comment with Starfire’s speech patterns. Huh.

    1. Manda

      Your avatar fits what you just said so well. =\

  79. Manda

    I now understand why everyone loves Dina. I get it. *hugs Dina and hopes SHe (unlike others) appreciates my tiny T-Rex arms*

  80. ZORK

    D’aaawww… poor Dina. You are not the problem, the world is the problem.

  81. TheGrumpyBear

    Aw, kid…no. You’re perfect just the way you are. 🙁

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