623

Hostage
Posted on October 30, 2015 by David M Willis
vintagephoenix2015bigTODAY I'm going to be in Bloomington, Indiana!  Come see me at Vintage Phoenix Comics from 6 to 8 pm! glad i'm going into this event with today's comic instead of yesterday's

623 thoughts on “Hostage”

  1. syd

    yyaaaaasss

    1. Very Good Karma

      Well, Amazi-Girl couldn’t seriously break bones… otherwise she’d be in a cast for /years/ and /years/, and I don’t think Willis could give up her having action adventures for that long.

      Also, there’s no trucks in this scene, so everyone is perfectly safe.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Bones don’t generally take years to heal, so far as I know. I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic there or not.

        1. Just Saying

          In comic-time. It takes years to get through the six weeks of healing and however long of recovery.

        2. Opus the Poet

          We have just reached week 7 (?) in comic time 5 years later in real world time

        3. merbrat

          Someone posted the link comic of Becky’s arrival. It was ONE YEAR AGO! Amazing!

        4. smashman42

          Holy crap?! Does time fly or what?

        5. TheNinthShader

          Why is there only Amazi-girl tag, why not a ‘random person in a car’ tag

        6. Clif

          Sweetheart of reclusive artist who creates Dexter and Monkey Master is too big to fit on a tag.

          You know, I said yesterday “And you know what? She knowingly put her life on the line going up against someone she knew full well was armed and dangerous. Not for cash or fame or out of any belief she was magically invulnerable, but simply because someone needed help. And her hard acquired skills almost got her into position where she could have done something. If Amber died right now, she still would have been awesome.”

          I wasn’t effusive enough.

        7. PlutoniumBoss

          Indeed. This is what makes a superhero. The will to put everything you’ve got on the line to do what’s right. Amazi-Girl was a hero before, but as of this moment, she is a superhero.

        8. Benvincible

          I think Paranatural has him beat. That comic has been running since 2011 and hasn’t even gotten through a week.

        9. Chris

          The Manson of E -might- be on its third day and it’s been around since July 2003.

        10. Boojum

          Well that beats Grrlpower, so far anyway, going since 2010 and on Day 2.

        11. WaytoomanyUIDs

          And I thought Freefall held the record. going since 1998 and covered about 3 weeks.

        12. John

          Grrl Power is worse than that; it’s on Day 2 of a flashback to several months before it began. So it’s made negative progress.

        13. TheNinthShader

          +1 internet for all you guys who read many comics at one time.

        14. Roborat

          I would nominate Between Failures as well. It took 300 episodes to cover one day.

        15. Palamdrone

          Camp Sherwood is on day 2 and it started about 8 years ago.

        16. John

          Not even. It’s Monday of Week 5. Becky’s arrival, a year ago in real-world time, was only four days ago in the Dumbiverse.

        17. heyitsthatoneguy

          As foretold by 2 Peter 3:8, amen. Willis is actually God, apparently.

        18. Bicycle Bill

          Or Hebrews 13:8 — “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

        19. Disloyal Subject

          I didn’t even think of that. This is why I shouldn’t comment after midnight.

        20. Dante

          I’m guessing they more mean at the pace the story itself actually moves. All things considered, it really hasn’t been all THAT long in-comic since it started.

        21. Ruthful

          As someone pointed out in yesterday’s comic, one year has passed since Becky arrived. Becky’s arrival, in-universe, was four days ago.

        22. C Baker

          Has it really been a year!?

        23. C Baker

          Each year in our time is about one week in their time.

        24. Deanatay

          Are they even in October, yet? Man, I wanna see these people dress up for Halloween!

        25. DinaWho

          Next chapter will be the first one set in October.

        26. Ragingagnostic

          Amazi-Girl is in costume AND in character. That’s good enough for me.

        27. TheNinthShader

          Not even a week, 3 days maybe

        28. CaptainBatson

          Four days. Becky arrived on Thursday and it’s Monday now.

      2. ANeM

        I was really expecting him to put Amber in a wheelchair, forcing the new Badass Joyce to take up the mantle of Amazi-Girl while Amber acts as her Oracle.

    2. Doctor_Who

      If that lady in the car didn’t just put “Holding Out for a Hero” on her stereo, she’s doing this wrong.

      1. Dreadhawk177

        +1 internet coupon

      2. TheStranger

        here. my yes. have all of it.

      3. saki

        Yesyesyes.

      4. IRL Name TBD

        https://youtu.be/qBokbWHx8qk

        Can it be this version?

        1. Jade

          I’ll see your version and raise you this: https://youtu.be/WI0mSEzttx8

        2. Kactusalliv

          Or how about this one.

        3. LipxtickSuckerpunch

          Yes! My favorite version. Hands down. I get goosebumps everytime.

        4. Bicycle Bill

          Fer cryin’ out loud, if you’re gonna do it, then at least do it right!

        5. Chris

          Your video came up as “unavailable” for me… is this the same one?
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQTi9GYm1G8

        6. StClair

          May I suggest…
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD1tjvIOxVU

        7. noizeman

          Come now, are we forgetting medieval metal heroes Grailknights?
          http://youtu.be/s-H_vDs1jFY

        8. FinalOwen

          There’s also this live cover that has the distinction of being approved by Jim Steinman.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixJOEjRyArw

        9. Chrisashtear

          How did nobody think to link the short circuit one? For shame!
          https://youtu.be/XMm7QA7icbs

      5. Porthos9438

        This comic strip right here is the very definition of what a hero is.

  2. Nono

    1. Poppa Boo

      My god, this strip left Nono speechless.

      1. Ellen

        I… I think my suspension of disbelief just snapped.

        Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s just a reminder to me that we’re in this fictional universe containing Amazi-girl and her whole history of unbelievable antics. 🙂

        Besides, these nightly updates have been giving me uncomfortable adrenaline highs lately. I can relax a little better now since its easier to remember this is all a fictional universe.

        1. Onihikage

          It’s not that unbelievable, the other car was moving at about the same speed as the car Amazi-girl was hanging onto, and the previous panel showed that car swerving and braking. Honestly, given the buildup, I’m surprised she even hit that car at all, let alone hard enough to crack the windshield.

          I’m right there with you on the adrenaline highs, though. God, every time I see an update in my feeds… this comic will make me a junkie yet.

        2. Ellen

          It’s not the lack of incapacitation, it’s the characters’ responses… Amber’s mental (not physical) ability to not only get up from that impact but to spring right back into action in a car chase straight out of an action movie. And the car driver’s willingness to be on board with this and make a split second decision with the outcome seen here.

          So no, the lack of injury here isn’t unbelievable, but it just kind of acted as a small reminder that Amazi-girl and her entire action-hero skillset are fictional. Not at all inconsistent with what else we’ve seem in the comic, mind! Simply a soft reminder that this is, in the end, a comic. 🙂

          But it is one hell of a ride.

        3. Marie

          It’s not exactly ability though, if anything I’d call it a mental inability to let herself breathe.

        4. Chris

          … the fact that the driver can hear anything AG said.

        5. TheNinthShader

          Well I believe there is a rather large crack or hole in the windshield..

        6. Itama

          nah, thats tempered safety glass. if she managed to hit it hard enough to create that kind of hole, its more likely the whole thing would just disintegrate into tiny blunt beads of glass.

        7. Guairdean Beatha

          The windshield might break or shatter, but they’re made to hold together. Side windows shatter into thousands of tiny, smooth, glass pebbles that are relatively safe. Windshields hold together. Here’s a good article explaining it all. http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/windshield-history.cfm

        8. CaptainBatson

          Oh, no, she’s clearly injured. She just can’t allow herself to give in to the injury at the moment. If she does, she’ll fail, and she can’t let herself fail. Not again.

        9. Spiny Creature

          Nah, it’s unbelievable that someone who just had a stranger fly into their windshield would do anything other than stop.

          Speaking as a driver who values not dying and not killing other people, if someone flies into my windshield and cracks it, it doesn’t matter if they give me a speech as eloquent as the Gettysburg Address – I’m not speeding up for them.

        10. Ellen

          Yes, this too.

          Yet like I said, this is a fictional comic and the characters are allowed to behave in improbable ways for the sake of the story. I don’t mind! If anything, the last few comics before this one were really heavy-hitting re. the realism of Terrible Parents existing and I was getting waayyyy caught up in concern for the characters. This update actually let’s me breathe a little!

        11. Spencer

          Yeah, it is pretty silly. The best thing about Amazi-Girl was that she was a crazy fantasy concept interacting with a real world of reasonable actions and consequences, but here it’s just way over the top.

          This strip here honestly feels like something out of Die Hard.

        12. TheLurkerAbove

          I’ve seen a fellow student years ago get knocked by a van and somehow still walk, while the van had a dent roughly his body shape. Didn’t even suffer a concussion.

          However I’d probably hit my brakes and get out, that’s kinda the procedure in an accident, since you don’t want to do a hit-and-run (unless you’re a pyschopath or something)!

        13. Deanatay

          Hey, if you’re gonna suspend your disbelief, you might as well suspend it from a nylon wire strung between the Two Towers.

          On September 10, 2001.

      2. Reaver

        CARLOOOOSSS

    2. AnvilPro

      You’re saying what we’re all thinking

    3. DarkoNeko

      Couldn’t have said it better.

  3. anna

    You can’t not tell us who the driver is WHO IS SHE DAMN YOU

    1. Lone Wolf

      She’s a hero. That’s all we need to know.

      1. Valerie

        +1

      2. Mollyscribbles

        She’s the hero we need. The hero we deserve.

      3. Betty Anne

        Here’s your Internet: [ InTeRnEt ]

    2. Ana Chronistic

      someone who clearly doesn’t have the sense not to drive behind someone with a caped skateboarder hanging on by a rope

      (yes, I didn’t post FIRST today, I was distracted in the manner of Dina)

      1. Bagge

        A noble reason to be distracted

      2. Deanatay

        Indeed. Apology accepted.

    3. jepmz

      Maybe she’s the truck driver that killed Ruth or something

      1. Pir

        Then this would be the second time some random chick threw themselves in front of her vehicle. Poor car lady.

      2. LuniasM

        Good thing Ruth didn’t try to knock Amazi-Girl out of the way with her car then.

      3. doubleW

        Honestly, she looks like an older Ruth. She’s doing the right thing so she can live with herself (or whatever the roomies quote was)

        1. Orion Fury

          I was kinda thinking the same thing there.

        2. TPman

          Act with integrity. No regrets.

    4. Cow

      She’s obviously amazi-girl

    5. Jason

      She looks a lot like Willis’s wife (Maggie?) to me….

      1. CommunistCanada

        That’s what I thought at first.

        1. Ghostforge

          same here

        2. Jestam

          Well, she *is* driving Willis’s car…

        3. SDGlyph

          Hah! Good call!

      2. someguywithakatana

        I actually thought she looked like Becky’s original design in Joyce and Walky.

    6. Bicycle Bill

      At first glance I thought it was Ruthless.

      1. Bagge

        Nah, then she would have rammed ToeDad already

        1. JustCheetoDust

          He’ll get his ramming sometime after the arrest.

  4. MightionNY

    Williiiiissssss………

  5. Ian

    Is this enough to warrant Amazi-Girl’s own post in the Determinator trope?

    1. Icalasari

      She took a car to the everything and is still going

      I’d say yes

    2. Brewerdude

      I’m a Troper, I’ll see if I can put toward that!

    3. Jir

      Well she is chasing a car with a VIP in it.
      And Joyce literally said “I need your motorcycle (and your boots and your clothes)”.

  6. Horerczy

    Amazigirl is resilient I’ll give her that.

    1. Chronos

      She is fucking made of Iron.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        That’s not blood, it’s rust!

    2. Safgaftsa

      Her bones were rendered super-dense in a laboratory accident.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Or she just drank lots of milk.

        1. TJ Pittsburgh

          When I was younger I saw all of the 1980s TV commercials for milk with the scrawny boy (who looked just like me) saying, “I’m young now, but I’m drinking milk, so I’ll grow up big and strong . . . ” The after-drinking-milk guys had big muscles and were very attractive, so I ended up drinking GALLONS of milk each week! My parents had to tell me to ease off. Somehow I missed the “and I’ve been working out” part of the ad. I was very disappointed that I didn’t have a magical transformation into super-hunk! Now I drink less milk, but go to the gym seven days a week. This shows considerably better progress.

      2. Tandel

        Chem 101 sure has gotten interesting since I was in college.

    3. Bicycle Bill

      Amber is channeling “V”:
      ““Behind this mask there is more than just flesh.  Beneath this mask there is an idea…. and ideas are bulletproof.”

      1. BenRG

        Thank you, I’m glad I’m not the only one who wants to see Amber start quoting V in her confrontation with Ross.

  7. Emeraldbeacon

    …I literally just got goosebumps.

  8. redraine

    Is that Maggie? Woaaaah yes Cameo! ?

    1. Very Good Karma

      Versions of David and Maggie were canon in the Walkyverse, and most characters from the Walkyverse exist in the Dumbiverse, so it’s reasonable to expect that David and Maggie are both in the Dumbiverse somewhere.

      1. Jon Rich

        Wait, isn’t David Walky? That’s his name, David Walkerton. Is there another David?

        1. Amazi-Stool

          See the character “David Willis” argue with Ethan about details in the Transformers Wiki!

        2. JustCheetoDust

          I miss non-character tags.

      2. Kelly

        We know there is a David Willis in-universe that is the creator of Dexter and Monkey Master.

      3. Knifleman

        Dumbiverse Dave Willis is the creator of Dexter and Monkey Master

        1. Matthew Davis

          Does Dumbiverse David Willis also get in random internet editwars with Ethan? Because Ethan’s more of a Transformers than Dexter and Monkey Master fan, right?

        2. Smiling Cat

          Nope, dotty.

      4. Lord Stoneheart

        I can’t remember when I saw the post, but I remember seeing one that said that Willis exists in the Dumbiverse. He’s the reclusive creator of the Dexter & Monkey Master comics.

        1. TJ Pittsburgh

          That’s all very Vonnegut-esque.

      5. Ana Chronistic

        I *WAS* gonna ask if Willis just had Amazi-Girl smash up his own car

        (that took a bit long to find)

  9. Poppa Boo

    Hold up how is Amber Amazi-Girl not dead? Why is this random ass person trusting her? HOW IS SHE NOT DEAD?!

    1. Dmitri0240

      Assuming the red car didn’t accelerate after Amazi-Girl lost control, the speed difference between the red car and Amazi-Girl shouldn’t be that large.

    2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      Windshield glass is designed to be kinda squishy specifically so you don’t kill people who hit your windshield. It would have been worse if she’d broken through since the inside of the car (not to mention glass shards) are much less forgiving.

      1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

        **has personally experienced windshield glass, albeit from the other end of that equation, and the impact wasn’t a person but a deer**

    3. DarkoNeko

      Differential speed wasn’t that big ; windshield softened the shock (…and caused cuts)

    4. Leorale

      She tucked the same way that stuntmen do, and the windshield absorbed the impact, and her adrenaline means she can’t feel whatever scrapes and bruises she may have sustained. Also a wizard did it, with magic.

      1. Poppa Boo

        Wizards are not to be trusted.

        1. inqntrol

          Yeah, in special those that could have summoned a pair of eagles to help his friends to finish a task much easier.

        2. Poppa Boo

          ….That joke was so dated it changed my icon.

        3. inqntrol

          If you “liked” that one here’s another:Why did the evil wizard put poison in his teacher’s Frosted Drakes?
          He’s a cereal killer.

        4. Lou

          Yeah. I wouldn’t trust a wizard if I were an eagle, either.

        5. Rutee

          You’re aware that if they’d tried to fly eagles into mordor, Sauron would have had them swatted out of the skies, right? It’d be Gandalf vs. all of the Nazgul at once, with giant vulnerable fleshy targets Gandalf can’t protect with magic. Bloody frodoing.

    5. SUGauthor

      That girl looks like she could be college age. Maybe she already knows who Amazi-Girl is.

    6. Screwball

      Daniel here. You’ll be surprised what you can shrug off when you’re determined/focused/angry/crazy. Got into more than a few fights as a kid, plus been hit by cars twice (neither time my fault), took plenty of hits, got plenty of scars, but never stopped rolling…

      …And right now, Amber is both focused & angry, with a serving of crazy thrown in for good measure…

      1. Opus the Poet

        Do I know you? Or are we related? The two are not mutually inclusive or exclusive.

    7. CrazyJ

      I’ve been hit by a speeding taxi before, and was able to almost walk away. My leg was numb for the first half hours, and after that it hurt like hell to walk on for the next week just because of the bruising. Anyway, it wasn’t like Amazi-girl was hit from a standing position, she had some forward momentum and the windshield absorbed some of the blow, so that part doesn’t seem unrealistic to me.

      The only thing to suggest she should be more hurt is that she is bleeding from her head, which implies she somehow hit it on impact, and that tends to lead to pretty poor outcomes.

      1. maxh

        Cranial lacerations tend to bleed disproportionately to a similar laceration elsewhere on the body, so even an extremely bloody injury is not necessarily severe.

        1. Athedia

          Speaking from personal experience (also known as Close Encounters with the Knife Kind) this Sunday, any extremity or place where the blood vessels are close to the skin bleeds a lot. Like scary levels.

        2. MaximumZero

          Your face and fingers are good examples of that. Lots and lots of blood for fairly minor cuts. Especially on the forehead or in the eyebrows. Source: Ex-kickboxer.

        3. Pilgrim

          Pro wrestling gives us a term for this, the Muta Scale, where a 1.0 is the amount of blood running down the face of Keiji Mutoh AKA The Great Muta during one of the bloodiest matches ever.

          If you google image search the Muta Scale I imagine you’ll find plenty of examples of how much blood a man can produce while only pretending to be hurt.

    8. Mollyscribbles

      As for why this woman is trusting her . . . look, it sounds to me like a cab driver who just had someone jump in the back and yell “Follow that car!” because occasionally life has moments where you see the opportunity to act in a way that a lifetime of action movies has prepared you for.

      My sympathies to the owner of any fruit stand that might be on the route.

      1. drs

        “My cabbages!”

        1. Rectus Flabdominus

          A+++ reference

        2. Roborat

          Now that was funny.

      2. CrazyJ

        oh no, not the broccoli.

      3. TheGrammarLegionary

        There’s a part of me that wonders how big a difference jumping in the back makes, as opposed to jumping on the front as Amazi-girl has done.

      4. MindLink

        Yeah, you can kind of see the thought process going through her head in those two panels: “What! Is she crazy?! I have to stop the car!” and then “Fuck it! When am I going to get a chance like this again, and there’s apparently lives at stake!”

    9. Jir

      Amazi-Girl’s bones are impervious to speeding cars. It was speeding cars right?

      Also the whole windshields are designed to absorb impact and the speed difference wasn’t that high. Still would incapacitate you in real life though.

  10. AnvilPro

    Oh, okay. Now lady who isn’t even in the tag is in the race. Why isn’t she an option in the poll on the side? I want to see more of her!

    1. Sambo

      I agree. She should be in the polls!!!

  11. Bladeglory

    …I’m tearing up. I’m seriously on the verge of crying.

  12. lordikaroz91

    Holy nuts, Amazigirl doing a Batman…….NICE.

  13. chefhoag

    Oh, HOLY CRAP!!!! Adrenaline can do wonders……
    (As long as it lasts, that is.)

    1. Cerberus

      Amber is so crashing at the end of all this.

      1. saki

        Random prediction: As Amber inevitably looses consciousness at the end of this… altercation?, she sees a blurry figure standing over her while removing their helmet. It’s Sal. It’s the woman from the robbery. Amber wants to get up and fight and scream but even as the corner of her brains are on fire, her conscience fades.

        1. Jestam

          I like that.

        2. BenRG

          +1 cool

        3. David

          Well, Sal could say “come with me if you want to live”. That’s the correct thing to say if you are offering someone who has most reason to distrust you a ride out of danger on a motorcycle.

        4. DSL

          Conscience or consciousness?

        5. saki

          Uuh consciousness, sorry. ^^” In my first language it’s the same word for both, so I confuse them sometimes haha.

      2. Pope William T Wodium

        I refuse to believe that was unintentional.

  14. Jude Deluca

    Okay, what’s the name of the woman in the car?

    1. BenRG

      Maggie Willis, apparently.

  15. CriticalQuit

    Now here’s the question. Does red driver’s auto insurance cover damage caused by vigilanteism?

    1. Failed by the System

      Only if they have compresensive, as it would be the product of a crime. Vigilanteism is illegal and therefore a criminal act.

  16. timemonkey

    Tomorrow she jumps for the rope and dives face first into the pavement.

    1. -Sentinel-

      And then gets run over by the car.

  17. Someone

    Holy fuck is that Maggie, Holy fuck was I right?

  18. Knifleman

    Jesus, what did Amber make her suit out of, titanium?

    1. DarkoNeko

      no, that’s only the front’s top.

      1. DarkoNeko

        wait, that’s tittynium.

        1. DarkoNeko

          (Sorry, not sorry)

    2. Stephen R. Bierce

      Bones were made super dense as the result of a lab accident.

      1. SDGlyph

        …I’m losing track of the number of times I’ve googled some reference in the comments to find out where it came from, only to get circled back to an earlier strip.

        1. Amazi-Stool

          For reference.

    3. tim gueguen

      Amazitonium.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Unobtanium.

    4. ProjectXa3

      You can go a surprising distance on a simple fracture, actually. If it’s not too bad, it just feels like a bad sprain, and considering the unique house blend Amazi-girl’s got goin’ on there of adrenaline, focused willpower, and mild mental… something-that-I’m-not-sure-of-and-don’t-want-to-use-the-wrong-term, it’s not surprising that she can keep herself in action. Plus, you have to take in to account that she wasn’t hit by a car doing forty-five in the relative sense: she’d only take a hit of the difference between her own speed and that of the car, so it would likely be something more in the twenty-five to fifteen MPH range on hit. Still, it’s impressive all the same.

      1. OnFurtherReview

        Intense situations can help you shrug off more pain than most people realize. Once, during a military exercise, I broke my collarbone and went three days before I noticed it wasn’t shaped quite right. In the meantime I had been hauling around 70+ pounds of equipment on my back, hiking through mountainous terrain 18 hours a day, and carrying an M249 machine gun with the sling over that shoulder. By the time I got it seen about, it had already set crooked; I chose not to have it re-broken and reset, so it’s still a little wonky.

      2. Opus the Poet

        After my wreck I was getting around on a tib-fib fracture that the doctors didn’t find until the tibia healed and scarred at the fracture site. The broken bone re-set itself while was doing my rag doll in a tornado impression after bouncing off the crushed roof of the truck, and the massive swelling that took a couple of months to go down enough to move my foot a tiny bit acted as a splint/cast to immobilize the fracture. It just hurt like hell to try to walk on it, so I didn’t put any weight on the leg while I used the walker to get around.

        Interesting aside, by the time I got done with the walker I could do all the upper body exercises in the Navy Seal Workout video at their cadence. I was using the thing like a 4-legged crutch…

        So tl;dr this is totally plausible for Amazi-girl.

    5. saki

      Well we’d certainly like the lyrics “bulletproof, nothing to loose, I am titanium” to apply here.

    6. SDGlyph

      Her wingscape is like a shield of steel!

    7. David

      I’ve rolled off a few hoods. It’s the kind of thing you one gets to practise with right of way on a bike path. Surprised she managed to smash the window, though. Probably the only reason she stayed on, getting stuck. Other than that, a car front is supposed to let the air roll off smoothly, and it does pretty much the same with persons.

  19. DanLovatClark

    I don’t know who car-driving lady is, but she is my goddamn hero.

    1. segnosaur

      And remember, Amber asked her to drive closer to a car that was being driven by someone who HAD A GUN.

      1. Rartorata

        In defense of her sanity here, Ross’s gun is a rifle (though not a Ross Rifle) and would be almost impossible for him to use while driving.

  20. inqntrol

    “She got some cojones.”

    1. The Other Mike

      “Girl’s got balls.”
      “Thanks. And eww.”

  21. Idon'tcarenomore

    Holy Shit!

  22. Codyblues

    Crap, she’s gonna die.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Please be ok, please be ok, please be ok, please be ok.

  23. DarkoNeko

    I kinda want the driver to have a a lot of appearances down the road too, now ._.

    1. DarkoNeko

      The figurative road..

      1. nothri

        Dunno about that. But the literal one will definitely happen.

  24. Leorale

    Hot dang!!
    And who is this mystery badass?

    1. Someone

      Well given that it looks exactly like Maggie (Willis’s wife) I can surmise that it is in fact the wife of the creator of Dexter and Monkey Master. Thats my guess

      1. Undrave

        Who then proceed to steal Amazi-Girl’s identity to create her own super popular cartoon. Amber ends up in a complicated intellectual property lawsuit, made all the more complicated when she doesn’t want to show up in court out of costume :p

        1. Tacos

          Eventually Amber gets fed up with the legal actions and gives up the suit only to then pass on the mantle to Lucy.

  25. Brewerdude

    Come on, Amazi-Girl! You can do it!

  26. SUGauthor

    Holy shit she’s awesome. They’re both awesome.

  27. Eva

    Wow.

  28. Icalasari

    * Knowing you may be the only chance this girl has…

    * It fills you with DETERMINATION

    1. KRVeale

      GLORIOUS.

    2. Cobaltergeist

      I had “Hopes and Dreams” playing on my headphones when I loaded the page. I was surprised how incredibly fitting this scene is.

      1. Icalasari

        I just reread it with that song playing. Paced the words to how Amazigirl may be talking, and got to the driver looking determined right as the guitar riff kicked in

        That DID fit amazingly well

    3. Kelly

      Undertale?

  29. Safgaftsa

    I thought that was Flashback Amber in panel 1 before I continued reading.

    1. Nono

      I’m impressed she’s still keeping up the Amazi-girl voice.

      1. Pat

        She lost it for a moment there.

  30. Andrew

    HOLY SHIT YES. DRIVER WOMAN TO THE RESCUE.

    I love this comic.

    1. Pat

      And Amazi-Girl, and Dina, and the police, and Sal, and Joyce, and Dorothy in a way… who’s not to the rescue at this point?

      1. Mandy

        Send in the cavalry!

        1. David

          Billy is doing a smoking-hot striptease in order to generate the necessary signals for that.

  31. Valis_kr3

    Called it. Kinda.

    1. Someone

      So did I…kinda, I thought it would be Willis, not Maggie

      1. Marie

        I like it better this way, it would feel like a weird deus ex machina self insert if it was him.

        1. TheGrammarLegionary

          “Deus ex machina”,meaning “god in the machine”, that would be the most literal expression of that statement ever.

        2. Marie

          the god in the car-machine

        3. Marie

          I realize that you could have meant machine like workings and that it would also apply, but I like my first interpretation better.

        4. TheGrammarLegionary

          Your first interpretation was my intent, although you’re right, both work.

        5. Orion Fury

          I’ve been under the impression that it translates to “God, from Machine” and that it’s a trope that originated from plays, where to remove a plot hole, or write themselves out of a corner, they would have a god of some sort descend from above on a platform or in a harness via pulleys (a simple machine) to have the plot move on.

  32. Hippienerd

    Wow, Amazi-Girl is pretty hardcore, taking that hit in stride like that. She’s also using her little-known super power of making her words extend beyond her speech bubbles.

  33. shadowcell

    so she’s made of ambermantium

    1. Mada

      I wish I could upvote your comment.

    2. Dreadhawk177

      Amazi-badass.

      1. xKiv

        Amazinc-badassium alloy.

  34. Anima

    I will ignore the fact that Amazigirl should’ve been thrown off/rolled off the car so I can CHEER HER THE FUDGE ON! GO AMAZIGIRL! GO KIND STRANGER!

    1. neeks

      if that suction cup hadn’t fortuitously latched onto the hood, she might have rolled off without anything to grab on to

      but yeah. GO AMBRAZIGIRL DO THE THING!

    2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      Actually, the way it crushed in can catch a target and hold them – by design, I believe, so that people don’t fly over your car onto the road behind you. It also works on (small) deer. **has experience with this**

  35. heinousactszx

    Heroes come from all sorts of places.

  36. Rodimiss

    Holy god, Amber, please take care of YOURSELF once in a while. Please.

    1. tim gueguen

      Amber is such an odd mix of guilt, anger, insecurity, and obsessiveness. I’d really like to see some backstory on how a girl who some of the flashbacks, and dialogue, imply suffers from some sort of autism related problems, picked up the skills she has.

      1. Ellen

        Seconded!

      2. Lia47

        There are YouTube tutorials for a lot of things these days

      3. BenRG

        Amber said that Blaine signed her up for martial arts lessons to ‘toughen her up’. I think she took that up to eleven or even twelve! She learned acrobatics and gymnastics too! She learned how to fall without injuring herself and she likely researched and sourced her own equipment too.

        If she didn’t have this obsession with being “the mild-mannered shut-in”, then Amber would probably be one of the most striking women on campus and would likely rejoice in the nickname “Amazon”.

        1. Jhon

          “Ambazon”

      4. Liliet

        If being a superhero is her special interest, autism is a big help there, not any sort of hinder… it can also come with hyperfocus, sensory weirdness that can blunt pain, etc
        some neurodivergences can function like superpowers in certain circumstances, and I think for Amber this is it

  37. 0kami

    O hai Maggie.

    Glad you could join the action scene.

  38. SpacemanSpiff85

    This is just silly now.

    1. Poppa Boo

      >Now

      1. SpacemanSpiff85

        It was getting that way before, and know it’s over the top. 😛

        1. SpacemanSpiff85

          *now.

        2. Ellen

          Agree! But I’m happy to enjoy the ride. 🙂

        3. Hi There

          Now to see just how over the top it gets before this story line is over. I’m just waiting to see what the heck Amazi-Girl is going to do next.

        4. SpacemanSpiff85

          She’s grabbing the hood of the car, so I’m guessing she’s about to fly into the air holding the car and then smash it on top of Ross’s.

        5. Hi There

          Probably, but none of that seems like a good idea. Then again, I prefer to be inside moving vehicles, not on the outside on the hood. Still sure that she’s going to end up in the hospital by the time this story line is over.

        6. SDGlyph

          Pfeh, Willing Suspension of Disbelief extended on account of Rule of Cool.

  39. Adept Arcanist

    …Coolest. Bystander. Ever.

    1. Poppa Boo

      Well she’s certainly better than Background Bob.

      1. Orion Fury

        Braver than Background Bob.

  40. DarkoNeko

    Unrelatedly, this is gonna make for a “fun” insurance claim later.

    1. inqntrol

      “My car got damaged while i was helping a vigilante catch a criminal.”
      “…Your story is more original than the last 20. I’ll give you that.”

      1. DSL

        “That’s the fourth since the fall term started at IU.”

        1. Lou

          Is Nate Ford going to show up investigating Amazi-girl?

        2. Orion Fury

          Pre- or post- son’s death? Cause post could make for an interesting episode.

    2. Betty Anne

      Fuck the insurance claim. I’d pay for the windshield myself; totally worth it. Unfortunately, I doubt it’d be possible to be sure Amazi-girl had the backup she needed and still be gone by the time the police arrive so as to not have it reported. :/

  41. My1DigitIQ

    I mean, my windshield is already fucked up anyway… Whats the worst that could happen?

    1. DarkoNeko

      Amazigirl tries to jump on Toedad’s car, misses, get run over by Red.

  42. Nono

    Also, how is Ross’ car still driving straight at this point considering he just had at least10 seconds off the wheel to hit Becky and stare at the phone screen?

    1. Safgaftsa

      Nothing like finding out your on 911 speakerphone to improve your driving.

      1. Valerie

        This made me actually laugh out loud. Good job. <3

      2. Safgaftsa

        Oh god. I meant to say “you’re.” I’m ashamed.

        1. Safgaftsa

          The first time. Not the second time.

  43. Mada

    I dunno what the woman’s name is, but due to the car’s color, I’ve decided her name is Scarlet.

    1. brumagem

      Scarlet is the adult of the year in this comic.

    2. Bagge

      Not THAT stiff competition…. except for Leslie.

  44. Synnerman

    It wasn’t as pretty a Batman or Moon Knight hood landing, but SHE DID IT!

    GO AMBER, kick Toedad in the face… repeatedly.

  45. lejwocky

    cue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaJHFxCYUjI

    1. chefhoag

      I was thinking more like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsZdT3pEILE

      1. Stephen R. Bierce

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64si_NqMEng <- I'm thinking this…

        1. Stephen R. Bierce

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSVY0PjiL8o <- Or possibly this.

        2. Stephen R. Bierce

          …Frickin’ Warner Brothers. :/

    2. Mollyscribbles

      Either this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFctQMCs3k4

      Or this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyRXvHmXxo

      1. Someone

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WJXw0lL5-vA

        1. SDGlyph

          Well, canonically…

        2. Jay Field

          This action scene is way too tense for music that upbeat. Gotta love Wicked, but I think something a little more mood appropriate is in order for this scene:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_znPjprsH8

        3. Kyle Voltti

          gotta give her the classic

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrmWoBneIww&list=PL8D5935EF8A7A0F61

        4. Gwen

          … I JUST got where the title of this storyline comes from. “To those who’d ground me, take a message back from me: Tell them how I’m defying gravity”

    3. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgxOeo5mnY&list=PL0F37A4B366BB6AA2&index=10

  46. LBD "Nytetrayn"

    I think Amber just took a level in bad-ass.

    Incidentally, just supposing this doesn’t end up leaving her in the hospital and her identity revealed, I wonder how she’ll cover for those injuries from this.

    1. neeks

      “walked into a bunch of doors”/”haha you should see the other guy” *doesn’t elaborate*

      1. saki

        “Mike.”

        1. neeks

          “look amber just because you got hit by a car doesn’t mean you gotta throw your friend under the bus”

        2. neeks

          although i guess technically she hit the car

        3. saki

          Ahaha oh gods that was a good one. XD

    2. BenRG

      She pretends to the whole world that she isn’t hurt, Batman-style. Dina knows, of course and, when Danny unwraps Amazi-Girl for a night of passion, he gets a horrifying shock.

    3. MiffedMab

      She could just say she got in a bad skateboarding accident – technically true.

    4. Deanatay

      Amber qualified for the ‘Bad-Ass’ prestige class years ago. She’s currently a human Fighter 7, Bad-Ass 4.

  47. Cattleprod

    Huh, is the driver’s identity going to be a spoiler of some sort? I’m getting flashbacks to the conspicuously untitled story chapters in It’s Walky.

    1. Kelly

      That’s Maggie

      1. Cattleprod

        Oh, jeez. I think Willis even commented on that being their actual car, because that made it easier to reference… and I believed that. Okay. Is the driver married to the creator of Dexter and Monkey Master?

        1. Kelly

          I think he lives in Ohio like our Willis? Not sure though. On Patreon, Willis said this car can’t be from Ohio because they require front license plates.

        2. Mandy

          Our silly, pointless front license plates. I wish we didn’t have to have them!

        3. Betty Anne

          Wisconsin requires them, too. My brother used to get harassed by a cop outside Hudson because he didn’t have a front plate on his Camaro (no front bracket, wasn’t going to put holes in his Camaro to make one). It’s stupid, but it’s a thing in several states.

        4. Tenn

          I never cease to be surprised by these little cultural peculiarities of the US.

          “We have college-aged non-jewish men who have never seen an uncircumcised penis.”

          And I’m like whaaat.

          “We call things that aren’t liquorice ‘liquorice’.”

          And I’m like whaaat.

          “There are states where cars aren’t required to have front license plates.”

          And I’m like whaaat.

        5. Liliet

          same omg

  48. newllend(henryvolt)

    YES ! That’s my girl Tough as nails !

  49. Marie

    Now as soon as she jumps off, you call 911 too

    1. Marie

      I’m a little concerned about red car if Ross’ reaction to the phone includes braking, though.

      1. Pat

        That’ll help Amazi-Girl catch up quicker.

      2. Betty Anne

        Ross seems the type to grab for the phone and/or wrestle for the steering wheel while still keeping his foot on the gas pedal. As long as Maggie? does her best to pay attention to what Ross’s car is doing and let Amazi-girl handle the rest, she should be able to follow relatively safely.

  50. Idon'tcarenomore

    So way back at the stop sign lasso, I hoped AGs purpose was to swing around into the car.
    Gotta give her credit, she don’t freakin’ give up.

    Who the Hell is driving?

    and Give her a major thumbs up too.
    Most people would be totally freaked by the bloody face of the person they just hit/caught, talking to them thru the windshield. Not to mention the thump AG made re: the steering.

    1. xKiv

      > Who the hell is driving?

      Jesus. Or the other guy.

  51. jepmz

    Yes !!!! Go Amazi-girl go!!! (Tho I’m not sure how she’s going to pull this off)

  52. Hadasoulonce

    Because when a crazy girl in a super hero outfit lands on your car, you don’t ask questions, just drive.

  53. Mr. Mendo

    I’m still waiting for her to morph into liquid metal and tell the driver to get out… 😉

  54. epershannd

    really feelin’ those emotions right now…….

  55. Liska

    Holy shit! That’s all I have to say. Both those girls are amazing. I had to come in and comment for the first time just to say that.

    There’s no way this is going to end well, though, not with a head injury (assuming due to the blood…)

    1. LordofthePotatoes

      Head injuries often look worse than they are because they bleed so much. It could easily just be a cut. Saw a friend take a hockey ball to the face, right above her eye, and while it bled like nigara falls it only needed a couple of stitches.

  56. Raen

    Geez, random lady really steps in in the clutch.

    *checks alt text* Oh, I see. Still feels guilty about hitting that Wiccan girl in Boston.

    1. Matthew Davis

      Redhead for redhead, threefold path. Redhead for redhead.

    2. SDGlyph

      And that unshaven dude in Bedford.

  57. Valerie

    YEAAAAAHHHHHHH
    This is so awesome. I am so happy with this. I am so excited that the woman in the car is going for it, too. She’s like instantly on board. SO COOL.

  58. Idon'tcarenomore

    Shes got the suction cup in hand, somehow. She’s gonna jump….kill him AG.

    1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      Chekov’s Suction Cup! Called it! (Yes, I already posted that below, but fuck it, I never get to say “called it” so I’m saying it this time dammit)

      1. Ellen

        Applause for you!

        (And yes, it’s acceptable to gloat a little, having called it.)

        1. Clif

          The suction cup was used to slow her down before she hit the windshield.

  59. Zagreus

    …How the hell can the driver HEAR her? They’re speeding down a busy highway and none of her windows are down! Is this even physically possible?

    1. Sarah

      Maybe she can’t but knows how to read lips

      1. Hi There

        Maybe she caught just enough key words and tone of voice to understand that she needs to follow that car without fully hearing everything Amazi-Girl said.

    2. neeks

      shouting near the cracked windshield, maybe? better call mythbusters. also i dunno that i’d call it busy, for all we know those are the only two cars on the road at the moment.

      1. Hi There

        Now that would make a great Mythbusters episode. I’d like to watch them try to test that. While they’re at it, maybe they could test the rest of this situation so that we’d know if Amber hitting the windshield and being functional enough to still attempt stopping the kidnapping is even possible.

        1. Zababcd

          Sad news: shooting for the final season of Mythbusters has already finished.

        2. Hi There

          Well crap. That is sad. Now who do we contact to get questions like this answered?

        3. zach

          What-if.xkcd.com
          But it better be termed as a wierd physics problem.
          The author keeps destroying the moon, for some reason.

        4. DSL

          “What would happen to the moon’s orbit if a college freshman dressed as a superhero shouted through the broken windshield of a moving car on which she had just landed?”

    3. segnosaur

      Are they really “speeding down a busy highway”? In real time, its probably just been a couple of minutes since they’ve started driving, so they’re probably still on city/residential streets, and Becky did ask her dad to drive careful (stop at stop signs). Plus, in the previous comic, they do show ‘screeching’, suggesting the woman was breaking.

      Plus, the road can’t be that busy, since the woman had swerved into the opposite lane and nobody hit her.

      1. random832

        The road is two lanes with a dashed yellow line, which city streets don’t tend to get. I’m going to _guess_ it’s 37-Business, aka Walnut Street, which according to Google Street View has a speed limit of 55.

        1. pjeseb

          Plus the car started to break around the time Amazigirl lost her skateboard, and presumably kept on slowing down until A told her to chase after Ross’s car.

        2. Kamino Neko

          Where are people getting the idea the car braked? It swerved, then corrected back into the lane. Maggie no more hit the brakes than Ross did.

        3. SDGlyph

          Well, I’d instinctively hit the brakes or at least lift off the gas, so there’s that assumption. But even if they didn’t, both cars had a tyre-screeching swerve, and that’s going to slow them down.

          Speed limit on that road, as far as I can tell, is 25mph, so unless Maggie was speeding significantly she wouldn’t have been so close behind Ross if he was going faster.

        4. segnosaur

          Earlier comics showed the cars with a “Screech” next to them. In my opinion its a little ambiguous… it could refer to an uncontrolled skid, or it could be brakes being applied.

          As another poster suggested, I do think it is a natural tendency for people to apply the breaks when an object is approaching the car.

        5. 80-watt Hamster

          Tires (especially regular all-season passenger tires, which are relatively hard in order promote decent wear/mileage) start to squeal long before they lose usable traction, so a sharp swerve could easily make a “screech” without the driver losing control.

        6. Kamino Neko

          It’s not ambiguous. If there weren’t a person attached to the front car by a rope, it may have been, but unless Amazi-Girl has developed the super power to defy inertia, she removes any ambiguity by not colliding with the car in front of her.

        7. Agemegos

          She doesn’t fall to the ground, either. Hits rge following car above the level of its grille.

        8. segnosaur

          * The road is two lanes with a dashed yellow line, which city streets don’t tend to get

          Really? holey crap. I’m from Canada, so maybe that has something to do with it. But the ‘default’ speed limit here is 50km/h. (which works out to be around 35MPH). And while streets in subdivisions may not have lines, they are common in business and mixed-use roads.

        9. Random832

          A dashed (as opposed to solid double) yellow line implies they’re not in a built-up area, since it allows for crossing over to pass. I’d put them about here.

        10. Random832

          I did some more searching, and this intersection is the point where the markings on Walnut Street become a single dashed yellow line, which means that they were at least that far north at the start of this sequence. I passed a Speed Limit 55 sign about half a mile back.

    4. DarkoNeko

      a busy highway ? I see no other vehicles.

      1. Deanatay

        All the other drivers saw ToeDad swerving around with Amazi-Girl in tow, and thought, “That is an accident waiting to happen. Maybe I should drive somewhere else!”

        Not sure about Heroic Red Car Driver. Maybe she was in a hurry.

    5. SDGlyph

      Well, Amazi-Girl is clearly shouting at top volume, the windshield is cracked, they probably weren’t going fast having just had a tyre-screeching crash, and I thought we’d established that they hadn’t reached the highway yet?

      1. SDGlyph

        Actually, wait, I can do this…
        *goes to google maps, cross-references july 25 tumblr post*

        Right, they’ve barely left campus. I believe the right turn where Amazi-Girl hitched the back of the car was from E 7th, going directly away from the fountain, onto N Woodlawn Ave. We haven’t seen a left turn onto E 10th so pretty sure that’s where they are.

        Here, have a map link.

        1. SDGlyph

          Incidentally, the road signs (which Becky got Toedad to follow) say the speed limit is 25.

        2. Random832

          I feel like there’s been a short timeskip – we’ve had Sal’s whole discussion with Joyce, during which the turns you’re thinking of could have taken place), and then I feel like the strip where Becky noticed Amazi-girl took place over the course of a mile or two – and they’re now well out of town on Walnut Street, since the road you linked doesn’t have a dashed center line, nor the grass and trees and power lines that we’ve seen in these strips.

        3. SDGlyph

          …yyyeaah, even allowing for artistic licence, that’s blatantly not the same road, is it. I blame trying to do maps before coffee.

          Pretty sure 7th to Woodlawn is correct, as AG had to catch up to them on a skateboard (Willis said Woodland on tumblr, but the only Woodland I can find is in the other Bloomington). The intersection looks a lot cleaner than it is on Google, but I guess artistic licence there – unless the right turn was off Woodlawn onto 10th or something, but that makes no sense?

          I guess you’re right about them being on that half-mile-or-so section of Walnut – I can’t see anywhere else locally that seems to match the strip. It does mean they’re a hell of a lot further away than I thought – and that AG has been hanging on to the back of the car for a lot longer (and a lot faster) than I imagined. Ouch.

        4. SDGlyph

          must… resist… urge… to map… all of DoA…

  60. Vangeln

    No regrets!

  61. TimeLoss

    I’d imagine Amber would get some kind of internal injury from that, I hope she is alright, I hope she stays alright.

    This storyline, my gods this storyline. I patiently await the next 24 hr update.

    1. Clif

      PatIently???

  62. Ancestral Hamster

    Good of mysterious driver woman to step up to the call. My question is now what does Amazi-Girl do? Grabbing the rope and getting dragged behind Ross’ car is not a good idea.

    Oh, one more question, why hasn’t AG been incapacitated with pain? That was a hard hit.

    1. Lia47

      I think the driver woman plans on catching up with Ross so amazigirl can get to him. As for the pain, adrenaline and shock can do really weird things to you in extreme situations. People with broken legs have gotten up and walked around, even damage to the spine can be overcome (I think there’s a story about that happening to Charlie Chaplin). you see it a lot in more “realistic” comics like kick-ass and the grittier versions of batman- the hero will have a climactic fight and end up totally battered by the end of it, but pull out just enough adrenaline-rage-determination strength to beat the bad guy, and then spend several months in recovery

    2. Marie

      I was assuming red car was going to get close enough that Amber can directly grab the back of Ross’ car.

  63. Yotomoe

    Good thing Amber’s bones are made of solid steel.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Then I’m guessing she’s a big fan of wolverine, that would explain why they have the same color scheme for their costumes.

  64. JessWitt

    Go, AmaziGirl and unnamed driver, Go!

  65. AshKetchup

    Wow. That driver’s got some balls.

  66. Lia47

    WHAT THE HELL FUCK YEAH

    1. Ellen

      +1 well said!

  67. Sarah

    That lady just became my fifth favorite character, just behind Becky, Joyce, Amber and Amazi-girl

  68. LeslieBean4Shizzle

    Fuck yeah Chekov’s Suction Cup! CALLED IT bongoES!!! **does the “I called it” dance**

    1. Durandal_1707

      With your dance being accompanied by bongo drums?

      1. inqntrol

        No, sax.

      2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

        I believe that was a content filter. I did not type bongos, although the result was actually funnier than my original comment.

        1. Durandal_1707

          Yep, it changes female dog into bongo. I discovered this myself pretty much the same way you did the other week. 😀

  69. Rocketboy1313

    I can’t fail… My bones have some objections, and while they are convincing I have decided their advice shall be noted but ignored.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      “Shut up, legs!”
           (……Jens Voigt)

  70. rachel

    holy crap you guys amazi-girl is an amazi-badass, like, even more than we thought

  71. I Write Monsters

    Has anyone else ever evolved a character from introduction to their Crowning Moment of Awesome in just five panels?

  72. Lim

    Is it bad the alt text is the part of this page I like the most?

    1. Jay Field

      That is an absolutely classic old-school webcomic running gag, and it is @#$%ing HILARIOUS. So no, you should feel NO shame in your preference. Frankly, Willis wins an internet for that one, IMHO. Bravo.

    2. maarvarq

      It’s the best laugh I’ve had all week, so I’m going to say no too!

  73. saki

    This woman = New favourite side character. <3

  74. Professor Fate

    Good ol’ shatter resistant windshield does it again. I’d imagine Amber’s gonna be mighty stiff and sore later, but now she’s runnin’ on pure Adrenaline. I’m not sure what she’s gonna do next. Maybe she has more suction cups so she can cling to the roof and kick Toedads ass when he tries to get out. Also, Becky will fight him, Sal and Joyce are in pursuit and the cops are on the way. Ross is pretty much screwed. I hope he pulls that gun on the cops and they shoot him.

  75. Matthew Chapdelaine

    New Character! A firecracker who will become a lesbian love interest! We can only hope for something so epic. Maybe she can join in a 3 way with Amber and Danny. Maybe she’s a new teacher. Yeah, I wanna see a CS professor that can actually challenge Danny and Amber. She’ll pwn them like n00bs Stackoverflow style. Maybe she’s a stranger who will become a stable member of the mane cast.

    1. DarkoNeko

      Leave some for Daisy, will ya.

    2. Amazi-Stool

      Nope! She’s from out of town and is (was?) only here to visit the event at Vintage Phoenix Comics, that Willis has announced above!

  76. dailybrad

    You can do it, redcar lady!
    Jerks don’t get passes from badasses in glasses!

    1. brasca1

      I just hope this girl driving does not suffer the fate that ultimately happened to Ruth. She bears some resemblance.

      1. Matthew Chapdelaine

        Agh! It’s Ruth’s Mother! Ugh. I need a drink.

      2. Kelly

        …that seems wildly unlikely, for reasons 😛

        1. TheNinthShader

          OML it is ruths mom, same sort of style with the sudden urges to do shit for no reason 😮

  77. Shiro

    Man, I hope red car lady becomes a character. I like red car lady.

    1. ailorn

      I agree!

  78. Chronos

    Welp, now that I know she more-or-less survived the car collision…

    I’ve noticed AG has yet to see Sal and Joyce together. Anyone care to guess whether or not this might seriously distract her?

    1. merbrat

      Sal said they were gonna take short-cut, where the comment to Joyce was “it might hurt” came from. Probably going thru the woods, back roads. Trying to get to Becky’s house, first, I imagine. (sneek-peek shot was of Joyce with her father, it seems) They might not see any of this.

      1. Random832

        You do realize that they live 200 miles away, right? There’s a lot that can happen in 200 miles, Sal has no particular reason to believe that Toe-dad will ever arrive in La Porte.

        1. merbrat

          Yeah… I just re-read it all. The shortcut Sal was speaking of was getting across campus *to* Hwy 37. It was the stairs that would be bumpy and might hurt, etc. Ross probably isn’t on 37, yet, so they might still meet up.
          I just remember one of the preview pics showed Joyce talking with her dad.

        2. Chronos

          I hope you’re right and they don’t meet up here. Unlike seemingly most people here, I feel that AG and Sal meeting now, with Joyce in tow, is one of the worst times for them to encounter each other. While I think Sal would be able to handle the situation well enough, AG would be mired in old trauma. While I don’t believe for a second that AG would break off the pursuit of Becky and Toedad to face Sal, I *do* think her presence will throw AG off- certainly off enough for this to end in a hospital visit.

  79. yoshdrayden

    I’m pleasantly surprised she can even still move.

  80. Sheason

    “We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled.”

  81. Tacos

    Ok I appreciate the thought AG but uh, you’re bleeding from the head. You should probably get that checked out. Don’t want to have a concussion and faint while you’re car surfing.

    On a different note, I wonder what the name is of the lady driving the car.

    1. inqntrol

      Someone up in the comments thinks that it might be Willis’s wife. Maybe we’ll get a tag in the next strip for her.

      1. Someone

        Wait do you mean Someone as in me, or someone as I a random person.
        My name is very confusing sometimes.

        1. Tacos

          You think your name is confusing? You’d be surprised at how often tacos come up in conversations.

        2. inqntrol

          Sorry for the confusion.

        3. Someone

          That doesn’t really answer the question

        4. inqntrol

          Random person.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Scalp lacerations just bleed like crazy. True she may have a concussion, but having one doesn’t necessarily mean you have the other.

      Amber should come up with a plausible alibi for the injuries though. Playing her DS and tripped down some stairs?

      1. Rob

        Anyone who knows her would believe it.

  82. mister gray

    meet amazi girl’s sidekick car girl! She drives a car!

    1. Amazi-Stool

      But, but, … i am the established sidekick!

  83. Sporky

    OK, as awesome as this is, I’m calling bullshit. Literally no driver would react like this.

    1. Matthew Chapdelaine

      Not automatically, no. But friendships can be made in an instant with a flash of recognition and empathy. You can be friends for someone for 5 seconds. The bond is real. Early in today’s comic we see her initial reaction, and then a transformation where we connect with her.

    2. Jir

      It is a bit… odd. Let’s just roll with the premise that Amazi-Girl is so well known and loved that everyone just kinda rolls with it. Like if Batman asks you to do something you will do it.

    3. John

      I believe the driver is actually a cameo by Willis’s wife, so I’m thinking Willis is a better authority on what she’d do than you are. And can easily consult with the ultimate authority.

      1. DarkoNeko

        That’s pretty pratical.

      2. winter

        Can’t say what Willis’ wife would do, but if she’s willing to further endanger a person who hit her car by listening to their whacko plea to speed up, she should probably have her license taken away stat.

        This is a comic, so I’ll accept the insanity, but you have to be kidding me if you think anybody would or should do this in a real life situation.
        Why would anybody who didn’t know Amazi-girl both trust her enough, and be so unafraid of harming her, as to listen in this situation?

        1. Clif

          You mean you’d let an innocent girl be shot or kidnapped?

        2. winter

          I’d place the odds of the masked psycho with the concussion being able to effectively deal with this situation as rather low and take down Toedad’s plate number for a police call.

          I find it very concerning that you seem to be willing to drive an innocent and injured girl into a violent confrontation with an armed man.

        3. merbrat

          Amazi-Girl was featured in campus paper, so she does have fans.

        4. winter

          Fair point.

    4. Kelly

      Yes, well, Joyce and Mike beat Joe up in a restaurant, and no one did anything or particularly cared (except Joe). There is plenty in this *comic strip* that is not 100% accurate to real life, even if it closer than some.

    5. Jenny Islander

      I might be going “ohcrapohcrap if I fat-finger this braking situation Imma pitch her off the front of the car. I could kill her with momentum.” And if I could hear AG–there’s a kind of desperate terror that’s very, very difficult to fake. Also I would’ve seen with my own eyes the driver of the car in front of me attempt to shake off his car surfer in a way that could have made her an organ donor. So it miiiight be best to be right behind him where it would be harder for him to reach me, not to mention AG.

      Of course I would still be going really really fast with a caped crusader on my hood and a hostage situation right in front of me, so I would probably also be dialing 911…

      1. FireSTK

        Coasting to a stop and letting her in is one option. A literal caped crusader on my hood would seriously impair my line of sight. I’m pretty sure it would be a fast way to kill us both. Also I’m not sure how much I would trust the judgement of someone currently bleeding from her head.

    6. anna

      …I would.

      (one of many reasons I don’t drive)

    7. MindLink

      You can’t say “literally”, because you KNOW that you can’t know how ALL drivers would react. MOST wouldn’t, probably, but many would, including me.
      People do reckless daring stuff without thinking all the time.

    8. dropded

      What Sporky said. If a person unexpectedly came flying through the air towards the windshield of your car, 99.9999% of us would be slamming on the brakes (and probably screaming) before the impact, with the same percentage stopping and getting out of the car as soon as we came to a stop.

      1. Mindlink

        Not when there’s lives at stake, I would guess around 70% would stop, not 99.

  84. zmm

    so… who the hells bells is this driver? the fraking frakit frak?

    Thi sure feels like when Its Walky turned from idle comics to insane alien invasion stuff.

    but probabl will just turn into one of them being killed.

    1. John

      The insane alien invasion stuff actually started like three storylines into Roomies!.

  85. Foxhack

    SIDEKICK FOUND.

  86. Victor Riley

    And now the newest sidekick hero in the fight against crime and douchebaggery… RED-CAR-WOMAN! (Okay, the name needs work…)

    1. Stephen R. Bierce

      Magnicours. (Famous racetrack, if you didn’t know.)

      1. Stephen R. Bierce

        More properly, Magny-Cours. Oops.

        1. Stephen R. Bierce

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_de_Nevers_Magny-Cours <- More info.

        2. Jason

          Maggie-Cours.

    2. Heavensrun

      . . . spider-car?

      1. Heavensrun

        Damn, it’s still filtered. I was suggesting an arachnid/car related superhero name, but the running gags of yesteryear have ruined it.

  87. agentsarahjane

    OMG… Amazi-Girl lives up to her name… she is the unbreakable

  88. newllend(henryvolt)

    Oh god every shit just gets more and more serouse, I was dead wrong things are getting more intense…..if I was reading the last 20 pages in a row for the first time I think I’d be freaking out.

  89. Carms

    watta badbutt

  90. Catty

    Why do the eye holes in her mask also close when she closes her eyes?

    1. random832

      The same reason her eyebrows are in front of her hair.

    2. Kelly

      Ask Spiderman. Or Deadpool.

      1. Catty

        I did ask them, but I couldn’t understand a word they were saying because their mouths were half-full of mask.

  91. Peduncle

    I called it! Woohoo, I called it!!

    Wait. No, I didn’t.

  92. Guairdean Beatha

    “Can’t fail anybody” is a hell of a load to bear. Let’s hope the ending of her efforts don’t add to her guilt.

  93. Bri

    I don’t know if this is healthy.
    I don’t don’t know if this is realistic.
    But damn is it bad ass.

    1. saki

      +1

    2. NinjaNick

      Agreed. 😀

  94. Lan Mikoto

    I hereby dub this driver Captain of the Red Wheel. Someone name this wonderful Captain dammit!

    1. Clif

      Captain Dammit has a certain ring but doesn’t seem exactly appropriate.

  95. Opus the Poet

    OK for all you H8ers up there, this is totally possible if somewhat improbable. Remember you’re reading this from a guy who has totalled out 3 vehicles that hit him as a pedestrian or cyclist. People (a small but non-zero number of people) can get hit by a car like this and still function.

    1. inqntrol

      You were hit 3 times? Sheesh, that’s really bad luck man.

      1. Opus the Poet

        Oh no I have been hit a lot more than that. I have been hit 6 or 7 times this century, but only the first one required a hospital stay or totaled out the weapon vehicle. The other 5 I walked away and the vehicle was repairable. I’m having a hard time remembering how many times I got hit in the previous century, but to be honest except for the 2 times I got hit in the same crosswalk and totalled out the vehicles (and hobbled away) I really can’t remember them individually any more.

        I guess the brain damage from that one wreck that killed me (2 minutes dead, +/-) was pretty bad to not be able to remember how many times I got hit by cars before the wreck.

        1. saki

          I’m not sure if you’re extremely unlucky to get hit by cars so many times or extremely lucky to have survived all of those. ._. Either way glad you made it through all that.

        2. Bicycle Bill

          In 40-plus years of cycling I’ve only been hit by cars about four times, and only one of those that required any medical attention.  You must put on a lot more miles than it do (more mileage = more exposure); either that or your reaction times must stink.

        3. Opus the Poet

          I think it’s partially bad luck, and partially bad infrastructure design. I mean I have been hit twice waiting for a red light to change. One of those was semi-on purpose (I was “in the way”) the other just did not know there was or could be a bicycle waiting in the same lane as cars. There was the one guy that made the U-turn to get on my side of the street, and a couple of buzz jobs, and the idiot passing on the right while I was making a left turn on a 2 lane street (he lost his driver’s side mirror on my elbow).

          Let’s just say I have been riding in an area with little to no bicycle infrastructure and extremely crappy drivers.

        4. Bicycle Bill

          I certainly hope you and the justice system were able to hang the person who hit you because you were “in the way” out to dry.

      2. anonymsly

        Opus is an unkillable badass though!

    2. DarkoNeko

      h8ers ? where.

  96. drs

    BTW, it’s really slow to go look at older comics when having 500+ comments means it takes a long time to load.

    I suppose the server’s probably getting hit extra hard at 12:30 EDT too, but the popularity is choking the newer archives in general, I think.

    1. DarkoNeko

      oh. May be why some websites requires an additional click to start loading the comments.

  97. TrueVCU

    *CHAPTER DOOF INTENSIFIES*

  98. Zababcd

    That’s some pretty Amazi-ing determination.

  99. Alyx

    I’m so psyched about the reference to Something Positive
    Although I always figured that was Avagadro’s car
    I’m flipping my shit over how great this sequence is getting

    1. DarkoNeko

      It’s not.

  100. Jir

    Blarg, no Tag for Car Lady.

  101. detective boomwolf

    Introducing Amazigirl’s newest companion…. um… uh…. Car Lady Person!

  102. John

    Okay, it’s not quite what I said she’d need to do for maximum cool points, but I’m giving it to her anyway. And Maggie gets some, too, for just rolling with it.

    1. pjeseb

      Damn, I knew there was something about that girl in the car, I just couldn’t place it.

      I notice she’s not tagged. Does that mean she’s not showing up again later?
      🙁

  103. Shanunu

    Fast forward a few strips, and let’s say Amazigirl has Ross out of the car. Does Becky just let Amazigirl wail on him? Will she interject? I mean at the point where she’s not even allowed to touch him, maybe she has different feelings than she did ten minutes ago when she wanted to keep his head intact.

    1. Marie

      I don’t think she’ll stop Amazigirl from at least restraining him, but I’m not sure after that. Becky probably would do anything to keep the gun from being pointed at Amazigirl though, and stopping Ross might mean letting Amazigirl go with it.

      1. Clif

        Amazigirl won’the be wailing away at Ross like Amber did with her own father. Rather she’ll leave him tied up for the police.

        1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          Considering how much adrenaline she’s mainlining right now… that ain’t a certainty.

  104. jr

    Huh. Is that a Ford Focus? Good job on the car, Willis.

    1. Needfuldoer

      It’s a 2013 or newer Mazda3 hatchback.

      Not sure what Toedad’s driving, though.

      1. boompatrol

        MAZDA 3 YESSSSSSSSSSS

  105. 6Qubed

    Is red car driver lady here what TV Tropes refers to as a “Badass Bystander”?

    1. saki

      No! No, not TV Tropes! Please! NOOOoooooo… *voices slowly fades into the void as I get sucked into the vortex*

      1. Raven Stromdans

        Muahahahahaha! There is not escape from the TROPE ZONE!

      2. Someone

        GRAB MY HAND! Reaches out to you.

        1. saki

          *manages to grasp it after exhausting effort* Oh thank gods, I made it out after only reading two articles. I think that’s a first for me. Thanks mate.

        2. Someone

          Pulls you back…struggling, manages to pull you out of the void

        3. Chris Phoenix

          Is that a trope?

        4. Iron Glenn

          http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TakeMyHand

          You’re welcome.

      3. 6Qubed

        …Whups. O_O’

      4. SDGlyph

        Bahaha! I am immune to TVTropes links!

        …mainly because I already have it memorised from the number of times I’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole.

  106. Jess

    I wonder if it’s possible that the woman in the car is Carla’s mom… The car does look similar to the one in the other comic… At least if my memory is serving me right…
    Just curious.
    Since the mom from the other comic plus Joe, are currently in college and probably shouldn’t be having college age children as well…

  107. saki

    I admire Amber for everything she’s trying to do, but after this story arc is over, her friends had better ground her. And more than just the amount of rest the doctors will order. I want Amber to take care of herself properly after this.

    1. Amazi-Stool

      (…) her friends had better ground her.

      You are aware that Amazi-Girl has already answered your recommendation with the title of this storyline?
      (Answer completed in the lyrics of the song)

      1. saki

        I am. But you can only fly so long before you have to land if you don’t want to fall and die. Amber needs to let Amazi-girl rest, at least for a while, and deal with her issues properly – her physical injuries for one.

  108. pjeseb

    Damn, and here I thought Amazigirl had been knocked out of this fight.

    Congratulations Amazigirl, you have officially graduated from “Plucky Heroine” to “Crazy-Awesome.”

  109. pjeseb

    Also, can Maggie become a side-character? She seems cool.

  110. Raven Stromdans

    That is a crowning moment of awesome for both Amazigirl and the driver of the car.

    It’s time to put on the Hero Face.

  111. soupytwist

    So the driver of the re car is my new favorite character.

    1. ailorn

      me too! she needs a name. I vote Sheila

      1. Claire

        I think it’s Maggie! 🙂 Though she shouldn’t be involved in a car chase while pregnant 😛

  112. Eliza

    Reeeaaaally hope a future storyline involves Amber getting some therapy. It’s really sad that she feels she has to put herself in such grave danger to avoid disappointing others.

  113. Rukduk

    Damn. That is one brave driver.

  114. Koms

    Yay! Amazigirl is alright. For now.

  115. Arianod

    HELL YES

  116. IRL Name TBD

    And I love YOU, random citizen!

    1. Androiddreams

      everyones a hero in their own way! you and you and you but mostly me!

      1. merbrat

        Heh. You nailed that! (with your, you know… Hammer)

    2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

      Cue typhoon cheese?

  117. Reltzik

    Also, slowing down would launch amazi-girl onto the asphalt at high speeds, which can be worse (given that she was already traveling at car speeds) than getting slammed into the windshield at the first place.

    1. DarkoNeko

      braking hard would do that, slowing down, no

      1. Marie

        you can never get off now

    2. Kamino Neko

      Driving with you must be an experience…

  118. DaveM

    You know the annoying thing about this? Imagine how kick-ass Amber would be if she could do this without needing to hide behind the mask. And that is why Blaine is still #1 asshole dad. Say what you like about Toedad (and there is much to be said, all bad) but at least Becky can trust herself without needing to hide behind a persona.

    1. DaveM

      PS: GO AMAZIGIRL!

    2. Bagge

      That’s a very good point. Amazie-girl is AWESOME, but Amber can’t allow herself to be awesome.

      This COULD have been Amber.

      Fuck Blaine.

  119. saki

    I just wanna take a moment to appreciate the attention to detail here. Look at the blood. It’s not just a streak of uniform red. It has tiny nuances to make it more 3-dimensional.

    1. Catty

      Sounds like something Buckets of Blood Guy would say.

      (See http://www.shortpacked.com/searchcomic.php?search=buckets%20of%20blood%20guy if you don’t get this reference.)

      1. John

        BoB Guy is actually a DoA character, too.

      2. saki

        Naw, he’d be too busy complaining about how little blood there is to notice the details. XD

        (But yes I appreciate the reference. :3)

  120. Hogan

    The awesome lady in the car needs a name and a tag… I vote “Maggie” 🙂

  121. A Scientist

    Sidekick?

  122. Mr. Random

    So… That is a woman who’s kinda both crazy and awesome.
    …
    I wanna know more about her.

    1. David

      She calls herself “Amazigirl” and has a cover identity “Amber” when she does not want to get recognized.

  123. NinjaNick

    Go, Amazi-Girl. Now, let’s kick the glass out of Toefungus’ car and tear out his eyes.

  124. Bagge

    Hurray! Badass bystander is badass.

    This is the part where Amazie-girl’s theme starts playing extra triumphatorically. Hoooolllllyyy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

  125. David

    Seconded. I mean the “H-holy shit!” thing.

  126. Palamdrone

    That driver must be able to read lips, because there’s no way she could have heard what Amazigirl said.

  127. NoHeart6265

    Car lady is the real MVP

  128. Fijahh

    That car is a Mazda3. It’s very well drawn. Good job!

    1. Rartorata

      It’s Willis’s car. Thus why it’s driven by Willis’s wife!

  129. BenRG

    Every main character in this arc has their own demons. The thing about Amber is that she’s using those demons as something to give her the strength to do good – to do real good for as many people as possible.

    1. winter

      As many people as possible? I think I’ve seen Amber hurt a lot more people than she’s helped. She saved Danny, a sexual harassment victim, and a cat, if I’m not mistaken. And possibly she will help Becky if Sal isn’t 100% correct about her taking this situation from bad to worse.

      1. winter

        I mean, Amber has probably helped a lot more than 3 people, don’t get me wrong. But I have a hard time justifying it when most of what I’ve seen is her provoking petty criminals and getting into situations where she’s at high risk for causing auto accidents.

        1. Durandal_1707

          And enabling Joyce’s attempted rapist to escape, don’t forget that.

        2. fallingivy

          That was not her fault, and blaming her for it is unfair and such a stretch.

        3. pjeseb

          I’m not sure if you’re serious, or just role playing your gravitar’s guilt complex.

        4. winter

          Too far. I don’t know how you can blame Amber for that.

          I’m critical of the way Amber was beating up people at that party for unknown reasons. I’m critical of how Amber seemed to think saving an assault victim ends after the assaulter is dealt with (she got a little better when she reached out to Joyce about the whiteboards). But if a clown walked into the party and distracted people and Ryan got away, it wouldn’t be the clown’s fault any more than Amber’s. It’s just an unfortunate coincidence, not anybody’s fault.

      2. Amazi-Stool

        Let’s not forget she prevented a bicycle-theft!

        1. Rartorata

          Her greatest accomplishment!

    2. dogma

      Amber committed assault, a felony, against Sal and her friends for drinking underage, a misdemeanor.

      1. BenRG

        Whilst it is arguable Amber provoked them, Carla made the first direct and overt aggressive move, at Sal’s prompting.

        1. Spencer

          Malaya was the first to try anything, but Amber was absolutely provoking the entire conflict.

    3. Sam

      Vigilante justice always gives me a bad vibe. Sooner or later, bound to turn bad. Too much power with lack of accountability.

  130. SDGlyph

    Has any strip ever flipped so fast from OH HELLS NO to OH HELLS YES?

    This is gonna hurt later, but for right now…
    *punches the air*

    1. BenRG

      I’m thinking that Amber will need to go to hospital after the adrenaline and focus on Becky finally fades away. Right now, however, she’s so charged up that her injuries barely sting.

      1. SDGlyph

        I’m also starting to get worried about how long it’s taking Joyce and Sal to catch up, and what they’ll find when they do…

    2. Cephalo the Pod

      If you ask me, the flip happened yesterday, when Amber ended up hitting the windshield instead of rolling under the car, and It turned out Becky had called 911.

  131. Apostate

    Vigilantism is infectious, apparently.

    1. BenRG

      Doing the right thing is infectious. It’s a fact that remains the nightmare scenario of many power groups.

      1. TheNinthShader

        Diseases are also infectious

        1. BenRG

          Ever heard of ‘viral thought patterns’? Another name for them is ‘meme’.

  132. podian

    Regarding the alt-text: Wait, WILLIS is the one hitting people in S*P?!

    1. John

      No, apparently Maggie is. What’s Maggie got against Kestrel, I wanna know?

      1. Guairdean Beatha

        This could be bad. What if Maggie hates redheads and finds out Becky’s one of the “Evil Gingers” that tormented her in her youth? Maybe her red car is symbolic. She uses a red car to eliminate the “Red Menace.”

        Scoff if you will, but it’s not the craziest prediction I’ve made.

        1. BenRG

          *Hangs GB a brown paper bag* Ease down. Breathe into this and think calm thoughts.

        2. Guairdean Beatha

          There’d better be a bottle of Scotch in that bag.

        3. Legasher

          I’d hyperventilate for Scotch…

  133. MedStudentWho

    Only amazigirl inspires sich courage. Whenever i am hit by a car and order them to keep driving, they just ask “what the hell is wrong with you?” Stop and call the cops. No matter how blue i make my voice sound.

    1. SDGlyph

      You need to tell them about the hostage in the other car. That’s where you’re going wrong.

  134. Will

    Go Maggie go!

  135. BenRG

    I’m personally thinking that the mystery of Ross’s lack of seatbelt is now being revealed. Amber is going to drag him out of the driver’s side window and throw him onto the blacktop. Bonus points if he calls her ‘demon’ at least once.

  136. Mr. Morningstar

    thats gotta be at least like three broken ribs

    adreniline is a hell of a painkiller i guess

  137. Furie

    Oh thank Willis, she’s alive.

  138. SDGlyph

    Art aside: I’m really liking the split vertical panels that have been showing up in this sequence, particularly for emotional beats. Very cinematic!

  139. Osaru Sensei

    You don’t need to wear a cape to be a hero.

    1. TheNinthShader

      Yes you do

      1. SDGlyph

        That’s what Syndrome thought too.

  140. Crumplepunch

    That’s going to look bad on her insurance though.

  141. mr.insidious

    is it just me or does the driver look like Danny’s Mom?

  142. Kit

    Go Maggie!

  143. HMRC4EVR

    Still would love to see an ongoing Amazi-Girl series. Would have to prob be set in yet another reality where Amber was akin to Peter Parker starting out after high school in a new city.

    Whole new secondary cast too-except Dina and Becky. Always have them in ALL THE THINGS!

    “With no power (and possible psychological issues) comes great drama”

  144. evilmidnightlurker

    …and on this day, the universe took a long look at its lack of dramatic and physical support of superhero tropes and said to itself “screw that, let’s get four-color.”

  145. gkheyf

    And then carla fell in love with ultra car the end.

  146. Peregrin

    Best alt-text I’ve seen in a long while!

  147. Skizz

    Aaaaaaand, good ye biology and physics, it’s webcomic time! Weeeeeee

  148. Androiddreams

    if I heard girl being held hostage with a gun, I’m pretty sure I’d help. and call the police.

    god, if the girl in the red car had a gun, this would be over by now. Ross would be dead, both cars would swerve out of control and crash in a huge fireball.
    more guns, amiright???

  149. SP!Fan

    I had to post just to comment: loved the alt-text!
    (I mean, the comics is good, too. But the alt-text! The alt-text!)

  150. Just Me

    Is Sal right though? Is Amazi-girl going to make things worse? I hope not.

  151. PaulW

    That Something*Positive incident with the red car WAS TEN YEARS AGO.

    WE’RE GETTING TOO OLD.

  152. raker

    David Willis you got me in tears with this one.

  153. John Madden

    And I’m apparently the only person who realized the red car is apparently a Mazda (or an amalgam of them).

    1. OnyxIdol

      Nope, commented on that two strips ago.

    2. DarkoNeko

      It’s actually the author’s car, for “pratical photography angles” purposes.

      1. HMRC4EVR

        The Jaguar must have been in the shop

  154. SDGlyph

    Willis commented on Clever Girl that Maggie’s favourite strip was still to come… wonder if it’s this one? 😉

  155. Yumi

    I’m cackling because I’m an awful person and this is the worst plan

  156. The E-man

    What I learned from reading today’s comments section: DoA readers get in a variety of accidents and I am horrified, impressed, and grateful they lived with minor injuries at most.

    Oh god Amber be safe. Good luck.

    1. xKiv

      You only hear from the ones that survived.

  157. Darwin

    Damn. Amazi-Girl is tougher than a nickel steak.

  158. MutantSentry

    Head wound. Head Wound!

  159. Kraken

    They must both be concussed.

    1. John

      Both who? Amber and Amazi-Girl?

  160. Mike

    I’m so glad the first seven weeks of my freshman year in college weren’t like this universe. The adrenaline induced heart attack would have been hard to explain to my folks.

    1. Dani

      The first seven weeks of my freshman year in college included a terrorist attack on the US and a tornado that ripped through campus and killed two students.

      …it wasn’t a great time.

  161. Toes14

    Well I did not see this coming!

  162. Emperor Norton

    Toedad interrupts Dina and Becky: “Damn, shit just got real.”

    Toedad brings out a gun: “Whoa, shit just got real!”

    Toedad hits Dina: “Shit got -really- real!!”

    Toedad fires the gun to have Becky come with him: “Shit shit shit, this shit is getting real!”

    Joyce swears!: “Daaayum, shit got seriously real!”

    Sal plays a hero and Joyce goes all Batman dark and gritty: “Shit couldn’t get any more real now, could it?”

    Toedad punches his own daughter: “Well, shit!”

    AmaziGirl survives being flung on a hood and keeps on hero-ing: “Whoa whoa whoa, Shit. Got. REAL!”

    So the question now is: How much more real can shit possibly get?

    1. WikiDreamer

      Ask and ye shall recieve. Remember, Becky dialed 911 and left it on while her dad went on a mental bint. Not to mention there’s Joyce and Sal on the way via motorcycle, with which the latter will be taking some “shortcuts” so don’t be surprised to see that bike flying overhead and pulling the classic Akira side break in front of the car with Joyce getting out and putting her hands out to somehow get him to stop. So calling that BS now.

    2. Crumplepunch

      I’m not sure I want to contemplate just how real the shit will get.

      1. BenRG

        Cut to a big guy on his bike with a Winchester 20-gauge lever action, looking down at the chase. Next Panel, a red-toned zoomed image of Becky’s face in the car (surrounded with a white highlight), a mass of computer read outs and ‘TARGET ACQUIRED – PRIORITY-00’.

        Serious enough?

        1. Guairdean Beatha

          Not to be too picky, but a sawed off shotgun (the Winchester lever guns were mostly 10 gauge by the way, a few were 12, no 20’s) wouldn’t do much damage at that range. Sarah Conner with a pistol, however, is another story.

        2. Guairdean Beatha

          Dangit, I gotta find a way to turn off the glide pad.

          Anyway, Sarah would be aiming at Fundie. He reminds me of a Terminator. No real thought process, just programmed reactions.

      2. TheNinthShader

        That grav, is perfect for that comment

    3. Bicycle Bill

      “So the question now is: How much more real can shit possibly get?”
      —————————
      When you can smell it through the comments page.

      1. DSL

        I’ve seen comment pages that gave me that impression.

    4. NinjaNick

      More than a truckload of manure. 🙂

    5. shadowcell

      shit approaching absolute reality

    6. Eric

      The realness of this series is best conveyed through the Halo DM announcer:

      SHIT JUST GOT REEEAAL!

      DOUBLE REAL!

      TRIPLE REAL!

      MULTI-REAL!

      ULTRA REAL!

      M-M-M-M-MONSTER REAL!

      RAMPAGE!

      UNSTOPPABLE!

      WICKED REAL!

      GODLIKE!

      1. Just Here

        Funny, I was thinking of the arena announcer in League of Legends or Heroes of the storm there.

  163. Daisy

    I want to vote for this stranger in the poll! More of her!

  164. Guest2015

    You GO random determined female driver!

  165. Deanatay

    Willis, Heroic Driver (Maggie?) needs a tag here. If she were just a background character, I’d be OK with leaving her tagless, but she a) has a line, b) gets two dramatic panels to herself, and c) makes a dramatic decision that changes the flow of the story! She must be tagged, if not NAMED!

    1. Guairdean Beatha

      I wonder if that’s our first clue that it really is Maggie?

  166. EpikAlia

    I recently went back and read the comments on the comic with the first appearance of Ross. How innocent we were then, saying that he couldn’t possibly be worse than Blaine…

    1. John

      I dunno, I’ve been pretty solidly in the “butthole dad is the worst (except maybe Ol’ Gashface)” boat ever since his first appearance when Becky said he intended to “fix” her, because of the horrible, horrible things that are euphemistically described as “fixing” the gay. I mean, I don’t know that he intends to have Becky raped into a facsimile of heterosexuality, but I can’t rule it out, and, as much of an asshole as Blaine is, there’s a line there that I’ve never suspected him of crossing.

  167. xKiv

    Avogadro reincarnated as a better person?

  168. Guairdean Beatha

    Are any of you here old enough to remember the original Superman cartoons? They were produced back in the 40’s (I saw them as Saturday morning TV fare) and in the later episodes, Superman always said “This looks like a job” in a meek Clark Kent voice, and followed with “For Superman” in a deeper, more firm, Superman voice. I hear Amber’s transition to Amazi-Girl in the same tones.

    1. Chronos

      I’m far too young to have seen them when they premiered. I did, however, catch a few of them re-aired on American Movie Classics channel sometime in the nineties, so I remember what you’re talking about.

      I more imagine Amber’s voice changing not unlike Bruce Wayne’s does in the Dark Knight trilogy when he’s Batman. Something about coloring the word bubbles leaves that impression in my head.

      1. Guairdean Beatha

        The word bubble coloring is what made me think of the voice change. I didn’t see the cartoons first run, but Saturday mornings in the 50’s and 60’s were filled with new and old cartoons. Saturday afternoons were devoted to old live action serials. Days when it was too cold, or too wet, to go outside were spent in front of the TV.

        1. Abel Undercity

          They picked up the same trick in the Superman radio show, as well. And yeah, I can totally see that with Amber/Amazi-Girl.

      2. merbrat

        Danny and Ethan joked about her Christian Bale voice. Danny tried to imitate it, but couldn’t the dark blue… just a medium blue talk bubble. Ethan saving him from Carla, resulting in Danny’s self-revelation angst caused everyone to forget that scene.

    2. Tenn

      Well, they’re on Youtube, so… 😉

  169. Mattyos

    Well…Willis did say no one would be hit by a semi truck…he didn’t mention small red cars from something positive though…

  170. Commodore Jeep-Eep

    Called that she wasn’t out for the count yesterday. What a lovely day!

  171. m2iCodeJockey

    Red Car Chick: “HOLY SHIT!!!”
    Red Car Chick (inner monologue:) “I totally wasn’t even trying to hit anyone this time…”

  172. Micki

    …I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.

    GO GO GO STAY ON ‘EM

  173. l3aker

    She really needs to take out his tires somehow.

  174. Abel Undercity

    “We can be heroes / Just for one day…”

  175. Don Wayne

    Wow … I had a visceral reaction to this. I can’t articulate it except to say: GET EM!

  176. Jhon

    Amazigirl will not go to the hospital. She will walk away from this — although with bruises in glorious technicolor.

    “Freckles” Redcar will go on to adorn a dozen fanfics.

  177. Tylenus

    I can sympathize with Amber’s need to not fail anyone. When you feel like you’ve done some bad shit in your past it can make you go to incredibly stupid lengths to make up for it.

  178. AeroQC

    Well, Amazi-girl is sure too feel out of it as soon as the adrenaline wears off.

  179. Keulan

    Amazi-Girl turns bystanders into badasses.

    1. A Scientist

      That’s a darned useful super power. It could make for some amazing comics.

  180. Kereth Midknight

    Can we get the girl in the car in this comic added to the “Who do you want to see more of?” polls? Ktnx. 😉

  181. Nezumi

    I may be misremembering, but I think the red car that hits people originated as a reference to Queen of Wands. Which, like what happened to Ruth in Roomies!, is one of those things you just know about if you were following webcomics at the right time, regardless of if you were actually reading that specific one.

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