286

January
Posted on September 9, 2020 by David M Willis

286 thoughts on “January”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    where I live, in the past fourteen years I’ve been here, that would last for like two days, and no more snow for the rest of the year

    what climate change

    1. clif

      That. And the cars are back. It’s a conspiracy, I tell you!

      1. Deanatay

        Dark Grey car must have forgot something. Something important.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          Yeah, like a license plate

          …I keed, it’s probably that rectangle that’s the size of a motorcycle plate and/or bumper sticker

        2. clif

          I’ve not heard keed used that way in a very long time.

        3. anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness

          In some states and provinces there is no requirement for a front plate.
          Reason given is that when a car is approaching you are too busy avoiding becoming a hood ornament to take notice.

        4. Ana Chronistic

          these are the back of the car tho??

        5. Ana Chronistic

          ok shit I didn’t see the right side of the comic, I thought it was light grey and dark (medium) grey of the three in the middle

        6. Ana Chronistic

          why are these cars all bland colours

          no blue or red or anything

    2. threePwny

      Meanwhile, where I live has seen increasingly severe winters for the last decade, constantly topping some new low temperature or snowfall record. And yet, being in the middle of the Bible Belt, the response that elicits is invariably “SEE?! GLOBAL WARMING ISN’T REAL!”

    3. Some Ed

      I lived in Texas for a while. It was my understanding that even before climate change, they had years where snow never lasted more than a couple of days.

      Still, the first major snowstorm I experienced featured snow that only lasted hours. I’ll admit, it did last over 12 hours, but most of them were night time hours. By 10 am, there were just little bits of snow off on the edges of the roads where there was shade, and it was gone by 11 am.

      1. threePwny

        Heh. My brother went to Texas A&M (we grew up in the Midwest) and he always made fun of Texas drivers (and public schools) for freaking out at the lightest dusting of snow or cup of ice dropped on the ground

        Climate change sure ain’t helping them, but they’ve never been the place to end up with much snow all that often

        1. clif

          Here on the Gulf Coast, climate change is great. Every day I’m a tiny bit closer to having beachfront property.

        2. thejeff

          It’s fun to laugh at from more northerly regions, but to be fair, part of the reason is that they just don’t have the snow removal equipment we do. It’s too rare to invest in, so you just wait for it to melt and no one ever has to drive in it.

        3. Elisto

          Everyone says that explanation, but I have family in the south and it snows every year. Not a lot, sure, but it’s not some rare occurrence that no one has experience with. And yet every time it snows, so many people, including the people making decisions about snow removal, road salt, closures, etc. act like they’ve never seen snow in their life and don’t know what to do.

        4. Kazuma Taichi

          To be fair, I live pretty far north where it snows and then sticks around for the next 7 months, and without fail the first snow of the year everyone seems to forget how to drive on snow. Maybe it’s that they haven’t changed over their tires yet, but the few months of clear roads seems to reset everyone regardless. So I can get why the south US doesn’t have snow permeance.

        5. Moo Moo

          Has no one ever told you the secret? It’s because we all really like snow days. If we all pretend like we have no idea what to do, then we can justify snow days. Now go forth with your new knowledge and use it to do good.

        6. The Lurker

          Snow days are a thing of the past… now there is only Zoom!

  2. Octopus Ink

    Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’…

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Nothing changes New Years’ Day…
      On New Years’ Day
      I will be with you again…

      1. Geneseepaws

        Nice.

    2. SoftVelvet

      Into the fuuuutuuuuure…

    3. JediMB

      Can you feel time slippin’ down your spine?

      1. Schpoonman

        OOOOOOHHH YOU TRY AND TRY TO IGNORE, YeEaAaHHHH.

  3. Chris

    Cars have returned!

    1. Doctor_Who

      Their migratory period has ended, they return here to spawn.

      If you hear rhythmic honking and the sound of hydraulics, look away.

      1. Mr. Random

        No, don’t look away.
        Nature is beautiful.
        In its own strange way.

        And take pictures.

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      The brown car’s attempt to build a new life was a failure. 8-({

    3. Greg

      Nature is healing. We are the virus

  4. Geneseepaws

    Gray car didn’t eat the beige car. Yay! I’m glad

    1. clif

      But is it the same beige car or their evil twin?

    2. Keulen

      And the brown and white cars are back as well. I thought for sure they’d been eaten by the grey car.

      1. clif

        Re-car-pulation reciprocates progenity. Well known principle.

        1. Geneseepaws

          When I grow up I want to have a brain like yours. +1 invisible upvote.

        2. clif

          I recommend hard druge. I mean, that’s not the route I took, but I understand it gets you there much faster.

        3. clif

          *drugs

  5. BBCC

    Snow!!!! <3

    Welcome to the new semester, peeps. Hang on to your hats.

    1. Doctor_Who

      That advice is a little late for Danny, thank god.

      1. clif

        The drama tag was hidden in Danny’s cap and, once it was gone, exciting stuff stopped happening. I mean, it can’t be just a coincidence.

    2. Jamie

      We never did find out how Walky did on that midterm.

      1. vlademir1

        I’m certain we will soon enough.

      2. clif

        Walky flunked out, but the Duke of Thingy passed with flying colors.

        1. Eric

          If you fail a class first semester, it may be college is not for you.

      3. Spriteless Girl

        I do hope he is retaking that class.

    3. Undrave

      Garbage roof is probably frigid

    4. Dara

      ooooooh semester system not quarters

      somehow this makes more sense now.

      1. Dara

        Even though, mind you, winter quarter starts in January too.

        1. clif

          Just remember there’s five nickels in a quarter. If you pass all five of the nickels, then it’s time for a change in diet.

        2. Needfuldoer

          And those nickels used to have little pictures of bees on ’em! “Gimme five bees for a quarter”, you’d say…

        3. Geneseepaws

          No quarter, neither asked nor given.

    5. drs

      New semester? Nah, we’ll keep going until they’re sophomores.

      1. Needfuldoer

        New semester opens up new places for the plot to go. Becky can enroll, Robin’s successor is sworn into Congress, Walky may or may not be on academic probation and facing Linda’s wrath, we’ll have an entirely new class schedule…

  6. Sirksome

    Yeah cool but what year is it?! ?!

    1. Bagge

      Next year.

      Duh

    2. BBCC

      In strip?

      Why, January 2020. Why do you ask? *innocent face*

      1. JetstreamGW

        I earnestly hope Willis never does the pandemic in the comic. Comics don’t need to mime the real world.

        1. Sirksome

          I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that specifically but I’d still like to pretend they just skip over 2020 straight to 2021 we’ll catch up real quick anyway. I wanna believe these kids live in a better reality than we do.

        2. BBCC

          Nah, you saw how long it took to get through September (the Bechdel Test to That Perfect Girl) and that was with a couple short time jumps. Hopefully the pandemic won’t last that long.

        3. clif

          Someday the pandemic will end.

          Just in time for the next permanent emergency to come along.

          And after us, the deluge.

        4. abacuswizard

          Josh Fruhlinger of “Comics Curmudgeon” wrote an interesting article a few months ago on exactly that subject—how various comic strips are dealing with (or ignoring) the pandemic and lockdown.

          https://www.polygon.com/comics/2020/6/10/21284457/coronavirus-comic-strips-funny-pages-newspapers

        5. JetstreamGW

          I, for one, wish PVP had ignored it.

    3. Doctor_Who

      https://i.imgur.com/qW1r6qJ.gif

    4. Needfuldoer

      Next Sunday, A.D.

    5. Deanatay

      Out with the Old Year!!

      In with the New Year!!

      (Same as the Last Year)

  7. Bagge

    always winter, never christmas

    1. clif

      It was just last month. Don’t you remember?

    2. DrunkenNordmann

      For some reason my brain automatically put this to the tune of Country Roads.

      1. Deanatay

        Too much fo76?

    3. Reltzik

      …. I count three lampposts.

      We may either make nothing of this, or read far, far too much into it. Those are the only options.

      1. clif

        They represent the three food groups.

        1. Geneseepaws

          Four food groups; cookies, candies, cakes, and Cokes.
          Or did you mean Gorp? Granola, M&Ms, raisins, and peanuts?

        2. banetheblue

          Peanut butter, rice, eggs. The three food groups, according to my pantry.

        3. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          The teetotaller’s Three Junk Food Groups: Sugar, Salt, and Grease.

        4. clif

          Proving Hostess Twinkies stuffed with pretzels are a balanced diet.

  8. Passchendaele

    haha that’s about as much snow as I’ve got outside right now (in summer, which is a totally normal time for snow to fall)

    1. Vanessa

      I’m in Colorado, are you? Over 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Denver for a record number of days this summer including yesterday and now it’s snowing. More extreme temperature swings and chaotic weather — check, just as predicted.

      Meanwhile, I heard it was 111 in California in wine county.

      1. Chris

        Last Thursday, we had both a record high and a record low for the date.

    2. Masumi

      Not sure if southern hemisphere or sarcasm

      1. Taellosse

        In the southern hemisphere, the colder portion of the year is still called “winter” – it just happens in the opposite half of the calendar from the north.

        1. clif

          They have winter in summer. It’s very efficient.

        2. Reltzik

          Even more efficient, because their winter coincides with aphelion.

          … I mean that’s not MUCH more efficient, but it’s efficiency. Every little bit helps.

    3. BBCC

      I’ve had snow in August before! It lasted like 2 minutes and it was part of a hail storm but it was snow.

  9. danielle

    taking guesses on the first dialogue of book 11

    1. Doctor_Who

      “I can’t believe I have History of Galasso right before Galassonomics! When will I find time for Dissident Hunting Club?”

      “At least Galassophy is cancelled on Friday so we can all attend Princess Conquest’s new consort-selection ceremony. She wears them out so fast. All Hail Galasso!”

      “All Hail!”

    2. JessWitt

      FAAACE!

      1. Dara

        Was I the only one completely creeped out by Face?

        1. RacingTurtle

          oh no i’d forgotten about face and now he scares me too

    3. Some1

      “I can’t believe Dorothy betrayed us, almost killed Joyce and joined a group dedicated to world domination!”

      “I’m just surprised Mary is a member.”

      Much later

      “DOROTHY!!!”

      “JOOOOOYCE!!!!”

      (For the confused, I am parodying Naruto)

      1. chris2315

        Could be any shonen manga, really.

    4. Cholma

      Wow. Soggies really *do* rule!

    5. clif

      Jeeze, Becky! This is *your* room? — As Joyce helps Becks move in.

    6. abacuswizard

      “I’m so glad we could all make it to the 10-year dorm reunion!”

  10. Cattleprod

    We missed Halloween costumes AND ugly Christmas sweaters? You monster.

  11. Mollyscribbles

    GO BACK GO BACK. We missed Halloween, do we need to miss Christmas, too? I wanted to see how Joyce handled the holiday season, given her new perspective on everything.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Well, I imagine she went home like most students. And I imagine Joyce’s home has not been a happy one, recently.

      1. Mollyscribbles

        BUT WE WON’T SEE WHAT HAPPENED. Will Joyce actually be able to handle Christmas with her mother, after everything? Will she be able to eat cookies baked by someone she knew was responsible for her kidnapping?

        1. kendermage

          Aaaand cue flashbacks.

  12. Phroggonalog

    No snow on cars? They must have teleported from the Enterprise

    1. Lenora

      You brush off the car before driving so snow doesn’t obscure your vision or fall off and obscure the vision of drivers behind you

      1. vlademir1

        You’ve clearly not spent enough time in Ohio during Winter. Many, many people here clear just enough from the windshield and back window to see out to drive “safely”.

        1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          There is a new vigilante on campus targeting snowy cars.

        2. clif

          Amazing.

        3. Needfuldoer

          You guys clean off your back windows?

      2. Eric

        No one does that. Everyone scratches out a tiny “tank” window in the windshield, and drives off.

        1. BBCC

          Speak for yourself. Where I am, everyone does that.

    2. Reltzik

      The snow’s only sticking to the ground and the branches. It’s not accumulating on stuff like concrete and asphalt and cars.

  13. emeraldbeacon

    Time will now pass at a rate of 1 month per day, until the sliding time scale has properly corrected to realtime. That means roughly 10 years of elapsed time, which should take 120 strips.

    THE TIME SCALE MUST BE CORRECTED… ONLY FOUR MORE MONTHS OF THIS TO GO

    1. Tobias

      Nope, it’s just going to keep going like this for the next realtime ten years, until the cast is going to college in the 24th century.

  14. Rani

    So if a month and a half of these characters lives resulted in no fewer than 4 break ups, 5 attempted murders, three hostage crises, two suicide attempts, two parents getting righteously assaulted by parents on campus and a motherfucking mob conspiracy, what in God’s name could have transpired in 4 times that length of time?

    1. clif

      Nothing until Danny gets his hat with the hidden drama tag back.

    2. Wizard

      Nothing. The drama batteries have been recharging. After all that, they were pretty drained.

    3. Meanderling

      …and a partridge in a pear tree!

    4. Reltzik

      The complete unraveling of time itself.

      THAT IS THE ONLY EXPLANATION.

  15. Newllend(henryvolt)

    Did the whole website change its cooler just a bit?

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      If you’re asking if everything is more pastel now, yes.

    2. Mr. Random

      I think he’s been altering it slightly with each month change, yeah.

      1. clif

        It’s a trick of the lightning.

  16. Amber

    Very appropriate, I just got snow here today!

    1. clif

      Throw a snowball at someone for Mike.

  17. leaf

    Prediction: this is gonna end with the original cast having graduated and the comic will continue with a completely new cast of college students nobody cares about, like in Skins

    1. Jamie

      Oh good. Joyce’s kids’ll be fascinating.

      1. JessWitt

        But with whom will she have kids?

        1. clif

          With their father.

  18. goki

    So despite the fact that like 20 big incidents happened on campus, ranging from multiple assaults, multiple kidnappings, attempted murder, murder, a school shooting, a scandal involving the RA, several political scandals and the appearance of a masked vigilante (to name some incidences) happened in like the time of a month, yet nothing bad happened for several months?

    That seems unlikely, unless someone was able to put back the Drama Tag

    1. Agemegos

      Hot glue.

    2. SuperZero

      Real-life drama is like that. Sometimes it all happens at once. Have you heard of the year 2020, perhaps?

      1. clif

        I’m telling you, Danny lost his hat.

        Coincidence? I don’t think so.

    3. drs

      Willis is the anti-GRRM.

      1. He Who Abides

        Because he actually finishes what he writes, yes?

    4. nobilis

      The drama has escaped from the comic into our real life.
      There was a bit of residue, and the buffer helped, too, but now the dumbiverse is completely drained of drama.

      1. SuperZero

        So you’re saying we’re full on real drama?

  19. Jeff Harris

    Just as long as DoA doesn’t go full Funky Winkerbean, I’m fine with this time jump.

    1. Undrave

      Cancer cancer cancer?

      1. Cholma

        No worries. Pretty sure Lord Willis has his sights set on emulating 9 Chickwood Lane. DoA is going to become all about sex-crazed coeds and legs, Legs, LEGS!

        1. clif

          And we are surprisingly okay with that.

  20. Suet

    The fool and its winter will soon be parted…

    … as soon as it realizes that passing by four months this easy is more than the time passed in all ten years of this comic.

  21. BigDogLittleCat

    I am having a hard time coping with the fact that this week has covered more time than the last 10 years. About three times more time.

  22. The Coolest Child

    i waited TEN YEARS FOR halloween
    i just wanted to see osama bin doggy in the dumbing art style..
    DAMN YOU WILLIS

    1. Chris Phoenix

      He’s actually planning to go back and show us the halloween party, and a lot of other stuff… but all in flashback blue!

      1. Geneseepaws

        It will not be very satisfactory to have you monochrome costumes on display. Half the fun is being able to see if there’s blood on the vampire, if the zombie is mold gray or mold green,… I’m overthinking this arent I?

    2. Deanatay

      I am hollow inside, like a Jack O’ Lantern
      There is no Thanks, only DamnYou-tion
      Ho Ho Ho, and a bottle of rum

  23. Some1

    What if the time skip involved Joyce discovering that Jocelyne was going to be executed by the republican party? Forcing her to team up with a clown and fish dude?

  24. ADLegend21

    Willis showing off his background drawing skills.

  25. brasca1

    It’s like being inside George Pal’s Time Machine.

  26. Green

    Please tell me I’m not the only one who has a very vague memory of Mr. Willis once saying DoA was unlikely to even get out of the first semester. Did I dream that? Was it a bizarre hallucination? (relative to what my hallucinations are usually like)

    Well, either way, I’m excited to see Becky as a student!! I did genuinely believe that was never going to be seen and it kinda bummed me out

    1. BBCC

      He decided to skip ahead a bit as a sort of soft reboot/new season type vibe.

      1. Green

        That makes sense, and thank you for clarifying for me! I was worried I had made up a memory that never happened, ha

        1. BBCC

          No, it did happen, but as Willis has said, with Dumbing of Age, word of god is not immutable or unchanging and he reserves the right to change his mind.

    2. clif

      From now on, it’s a floating semester. No matter how many season breaks we get, it’s always the current semester.

    3. Anna

      No, he wrote that, I remember it. He also wrote that he wasn’t going to kill any characters this time and just wanted to write college snenanigans for the forseeable future, perhaps for the rest of his career.
      So either he actively changed his mind or he just couldn’t help it and the story ran away with him. My guess was the latter, but perhaps it’s both.

    4. Eric

      He did say DoA would never get to sophomore year.

  27. Kravis

    Happy New Year.

    Is it 2011 or 2012?

    1. NinjaNick

      It’s now 2011 in the Dumbiverse.

      1. clif

        Is not. It’s very clearly January of 2020.

        Why do you think the sign has been screaming all this time?

        1. Keulen

          They’re in for a rough year.

        2. Geneseepaws

          Why is there no tag for the screaming sign?
          Please list your favorite conspiracy theories:

        3. clif

          My favorite conspiracy theories? There aren’t enough electrons.

      2. Needfuldoer

        DoA is always “this year”, but we can probably assume it’s following January 2011’s calendar for its days of the week now.

  28. Cholma

    I wad just JOKING about skipping straight to St Paddy’s Day! Dear Cheese, I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition a Time Skip this big!

  29. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    All the cars are back to where they were in October! Dun dun DUNNNNN!!!!!

    Spring term starts in January, right? Is it time to see some characters complain about the cold and snow?

    1. BBCC

      I’ll be very surprised if Sal’s hand doesn’t hurt like a bongo in the snow.

      1. Some1

        Sierra is immediately hospitalized for frostbite.

        1. clif

          Her feet may have gotten a cold reception, but like Amazigirl, they are immune to criticism.

        2. Needfuldoer

          You’d be amazed at how some people just deal with the cold, especially when they’re already used to being unshod. As long as she avoids slush and doesn’t stay outside too long, she’ll be fine.

          Plus she’ll get to freak other people out with no extra effort required.

  30. Some1

    Willis, how much would I have to pay you for you to agree to rename the comic Dumbing of Age 2: Electric Boogaloo?

    1. clif

      Out of curiousity, how much are you offering?

      1. Some1

        Eh 20 bucks.

        1. clif

          I don’t see how he could turn that down.

  31. Juanoku

    So that’s it
    This is the webcomic now

    1. Eric

      Yep.

  32. abysswatcher1993

    This timeskip is going to change a lot like in Fire Emblem Three Houses.

    Joyce probably began a different career path and became as cynical as Willis after whatever happened with his mom; Dorothy probably took a more realistic path in politics and tries to do more good for society indepdently of having a political charge; Walky would quit after his first semster and get a part time job; Becky would enroll for a biology career and she is already perfect the way she is; Danny had an intervention after Joe realized Danny was becoming an incel; Amber got therapy and after 8 months she finally began to love herself; Dina conquered Fodlan… wiat what?

    1. Rikunda

      The funny part about Danny is you are probably correct. Dude cannot get laid, and keeps putting his foot in his mouth!

      1. SuperFroakie82

        Eh, Danny has shown plenty of ability to get laid. He almost did it with Billie without even trying pretty early on.

  33. JA

    Wow, Willis is laying it on thick with that time skip.

    Which, given it took a decade to go, what, six weeks? And that he has no plans of going beyond this one year of college? The comic would take another 70 years or so to finish at the pre-time skip pace.

    1. Needfuldoer

      DoA Season 1 covered August 29th to October 21st, with about a week and a half skipped along the way.

  34. NinjaNick

    Should old acquaintance be forgot…

    1. clif

      And daze of old Aunt Zyne.

    2. Needfuldoer

      “Here’s to the new year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one, and may we all be home before she’s over.”

      -Col. Sherman Potter, M*A*S*H S09 E06 A War for All Seasons

  35. Abdomino

    This is bordering on inane now.

    1. clif

      Insane? Did Kentucky change its name again?

      1. clif

        The rain in Inane stays mainly on horse tracks.

  36. Bicycle Bill

    “Never in the course of webcomics have so many comments been inspired by so little activity.”    (…..apologies to Churchill)

    1. clif

      Never apologize. Never explain. — Winston Churchill

  37. Cass

    Oh yay, the middle car is back! I was so worried that poor person had lost their job or died or something.

  38. brionl

    Somebody captured the Infinity Pizza from Galasso, and un-did all of his vehicular slaughter.

    1. clif

      Well done. It’s the only explanation that make sense.

    2. Needfuldoer

      [Owner of the local huge car dealer network] played the Uno reverse card, and Galasso’s delivery car broke down.

  39. RacingTurtle

    Who the heck turned IU to ludicrous speed?

    Somebody stop it before it all goes to plaid

    1. Needfuldoer

      We can’t stop! We have to slow down first!

      1. Deanatay

        My brains… are going into my feet!!

  40. Romanticide

    I ran out of quotes of a part of “Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay” … oh well

  41. Keulen

    How many months is Willis gonna skip? And will we at least get some flashbacks to some of the stuff that happened in those months, like Halloween?

  42. brumagem

    THE DAY I THOUGHT WOULD NEVER COME

    WINTER QUARTER

    1. Reltzik

      And it still hasn’t.

      Say hello to Winter Semester instead.

      You see, they’re like quarters, but they take Willis-length-time to complete instead of normal-length-time.

      1. clif

        Having taught a semester or two back in the day, I can attest to this.

  43. poofdepoof

    Ooh I wonder what Dorothy’s grades were like for the fall semester

  44. ElectricBlue

    I’m pretty sure Willis said on Twitter that this storyline ends on September 10, but I’m still all shocked-Pikachu-face at every update for the past few days when the time skip moves forward by yet another month

    (We’ve gotta be done by now though, right…? I’m not sure if September 10 is the end of this storyline or the start of the next one but it’d make sense to end the timeskip in January because it’s the start of a new semester)

  45. Farmer_10

    Anyone think the tree’s character progression is going too fast?

    1. Needfuldoer

      On the contrary, if we slow down we might never see it turn over a new leaf.

      1. clif

        We should at least see it gain new interests and branch out.

        I mean Willis obviously needs more branches to draw.

  46. Ray Radlein

    So do students at IU pay by the semester or the year? Because if Amber’s late unlamented father had only paid for the first semester….

    1. clif

      When I went in Texas back in the dark ages, it was by the semester. But I imagine Richard’s lawyers are on it. She probably also qualifies for a scholarship or two.

  47. BIG DECK GETTIN WRECKED

    David

    David stop

    David I don’t want to go so fast

    I’m frightened

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      “It seems to have been deliberately buried…”

  48. BenRG

    “Let is snooowww…!!!”

    Meanwhile, is that Joyce and Carla making snow angels?

    1. clif

      Wait! Where?

  49. Katherine

    I’m kinda confused tbh. Nothing notable happened when they all went home for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas? So many things unresolved from the last arc…

    1. AbelUndercity

      I think Willis is artfully slipping past doing a year or so of Thanksgiving strips.

  50. William A Egbert

    I’m confused too. This much nothing tells me that Willis is bored of the webcomic and quitting it. So, why make all the nothing?

    1. foducool

      it’s just to show us nothing happened until graduation, the end XD

      1. William A Egbert

        The thing is, with that group of characters in the situation they were left in, I don’t believe for one single second that nothing happened until graduation. Joyce, Amber, and Becky in particular were left in a rather unstable state. (Not to mention MIKE.)

    2. thejeff

      He’s skipping forward in time. It’ll likely read better collected or on a reread.

      I believe we’re likely to see normal strips start up tomorrow. (Or possibly tomorrow is the last of the skip strips, but that’s less likely.)

  51. foducool

    the storytelling is on point XD

  52. TrueVCU

    How have none of those cars been towed

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Because they are not cars, they are frogs.  Anything else will be toad.

      1. FacelessDeviant

        What a ribbiting tale!

        1. clif

          What a load of croak.

        2. TrueVCU

          I was not prepared for this level of punning toaday

  53. Dawn T

    I was very much interested in seeing Thanksgiving and Christmas drama with Joyce’s family. I really hope we get flashbacks. I really don’t understand what could be the purpose of a skip this long.

    1. CJ

      Mike will have either died and they have had time to get over the raw grief or he is recovering and back in the story.

    2. BenRG

      The time skip means: “Nothing of significance has happened.” No matter how unlikely that seems to you or me.

      1. ensiform

        @BenRG: That’s not necessarily true at all. Willis could be skipping over some things too heavy for him to dwell on in the strip, as CJ suggests. Flashbacks would be the preferred way to show what happened, in that case.

    3. Needfuldoer

      A substantial time skip opens up a lot of new territory for the plot to explore, and answer some long-term questions asked in the last season.

      January brings a new session of Congress, so Manley has been sworn into the House. This frees Robin up for hijinks.

      It’s a new semester, so Becky can be an enrolled student instead of being stuck in limbo.

      Willis can plausibly play with the characters’ hairstyles now, as hinted at by the shilouette preview on Twitter. (I guess we might see it get filled in gradually as we catch up with the rest of the cast?)

      Mike’s fate will be revealed. Does he have permanent, life-altering injuries? Is he still cognizant? We get to find out!

      There’s a whole new class schedule, so we might see new teachers. (Does Professor Doc exist in DoA? Will we finally see a reasonable shot of Professor Rees?)

      What about Jason’s employment and immigration status?

      Or Amber’s tuition, who’s paying for it now that Blaine’s gone?

      1. Zaxares

        I’m focusing more on the cars in the strip. The beige-colored sedan has not moved from that spot for four months now. The grey SUV on the right has shifted once or twice, but it is also a constant here. So… Who do these cars belong to? Hank? Carol? Is one or the other refusing to go home for some reason? (If so, that might indeed mean divorce proceedings are underway. I’m curious as to how Joyce would take THAT news.)

        1. Needfuldoer

          Those cars have been there almost every time we’ve seen this shot.

          Hank’s car is a green Chevy Blazer (or GMC Jimmy, same thing).

      2. Bagge

        ” This frees Robin up for hijinks. ”

        Now that will be a change of pace

        1. BenRG

          Huge post-Time Skip twist: Robin is now working at Gallassos as the barkeep. She’s actually quite good at the ‘wise sage for all the sad drunks’ part of the role. Leslie suspects that she’s Googling profound words of wisdom when no-one is looking.

        2. CJ

          Upvote this?

  54. Lilybits

    I guess we’d all skip the rest of the year if we could too

    1. Lilybits

      YAY BLOWJOB CAT!!

  55. Bicycle Bill

    Just sayin’ that, by Wisconsin standards, that ain’t hardly any snow at all.

    1. TheStranger

      Co-signed. My first winter living in Wisconsin was apparently a record year for snowfall. The shoveling was epic.

      1. clif

        Here in Houston that amount of snow would shut things down tighter than they would ever get for some mere virus.

    2. Eric

      It doesn’t snow south of the Lakes anymore. Thanks, repubs.

  56. GUIGUI

    Isn’t that illegal?

  57. Phil

    Can’t believer we’ve all aged forty years in the last 4 days.
    (What? It took 10 years IRL for one month to pass in this comic.)

    1. Deanatay

      That fits with how 2020 makes me feel.

  58. Reltzik

    Predictions:

    When (if) we get back to normal time…. Becky and Dina will have had their sexings and amicably broken up, Sarah will be a super-popular socialite, Walky will be managing his ADHD with black-market adderal and be hiding it from AG (but not Amber), Faz will have enrolled during Winter semester do to some surprising performance in AP classes, And AG (but not Amber) will have an eyepatch.

    I am prepared to defend these predictions to the last breath, provided my qualifier about normal time is observed.

    1. BenRG

      I do think that Becky will be determined to pair Joyce off with somebody and be completely in denial about her mixed feelings on the subject.

    2. ensiform

      None of those predictions seem at all likely.

      1. clif

        As opposed to recent events which were very probable.

  59. SillyGoose

    That creeping suspicion that DoA will from now on only be seasonal pictures of the parking lot.

    1. CJ

      wow, then we would end up in about ten year‘s time with the current buffer up to Jan 14th. still a bit early for Dorothy to be elected, though…

  60. Mr.Morningstar

    Tbh if I had one complaint its that theres no need to go through every month until whichever one is the current one. Maybe doing three at a time would suffice.

    I understand that when these are all out it’s not gonna be an issue after that but even so it is just several strips of nothing

    1. BenRG

      Artist mindset: “The idea appeals to me so I’m going to do it!”

      1. clif

        Artists gonna art.

        1. BenRG

          Ironically, from Willis’s footer notes, I suspect that he’s regretting the notion to do a ‘time passes’ montage. Mostly because drawing naked branches is hard.

  61. thumb

    I stand corrected

    1. clif

      I used to stand corrected. Now days it’s so much easier to sit corrected.

  62. Hilzabub

    I’m assuming we’ll be doing this until the comic is completely caught up with the ten years that have passed since it began.

  63. davidbreslin101

    We’ve got a few more days of this- the plan is to fast-forward to their very last term.

  64. Heavensrun

    we get through twelve months, then Willis just posts the exact same November image again….

    1. clif

      And the picks the story up from where it was. No explanation ever.

      1. clif

        *then. Sigh

      2. SuperZero

        They took a year off due to plague.

  65. JasonAW3

    The black car waits patiently, watching, ready to strike…

    1. BenRG

      “My Lord Megatron, I’ve got to get moving soon! My systems are freezing!”

      “Wildrider, you pitiable excuse for a warrior! You will stay there until the target arrives or you’ll have more to worry about than the cold!“

  66. Wendylynn

    The time skips gotta stop now because the strip will look exactly the same for the next three months.

  67. Pat

    This makes me unreasonably upset.

    1. clif

      You do realize that this comic is a gift from Willis and not something he owes us? But if being upset makes you feel better, go for it.

      1. Tan

        Technically a commercial transaction rather than a gift. Also they never said upset at Willis. Also people are allowed to have an emotional reaction to art and media, so long as they don’t make unreasonable demands of others based on their emotional reaction, which they didn’t, as they made no demands of any sort.

        1. King Daniel

          It’s not even possibly a commercial transaction unless the person in question is a Patreon supporter. Even on Patreon, though, the “transaction-y” things only extend to getting bonus comics and seeing tomorrow’s comic today AFAIK; the strips published on the site are free.

        2. clif

          Aside from commercial, Tan is completely right. It was intended more as a reminder than an admonition, though I do miss the point of being unreasonably upset.

        3. Tan

          It is absolutely a commercial transaction between the viewer, Willis, and advertisers. All three parties provide something of value and get something of value to them.

          You (hopefully) give a brief moment of attention to the advertiser’s ad, you get to read a comic.

          The advertiser gets that attention and gives money to Willis.

          Willis gets money and makes the comic. (Willis is also roundaboutly an ‘advertiser’ as well insofar as directing people to his Patreon, physical books, and merch)

          Willis is a professional doing his job, not your buddy making a present for you because he likes you. (I mean, he might like you, I don’t know, but whether he does or not is an unrelated matter)

        4. clif

          There are ads?

        5. Redcat

          Yes

  68. Bluesnake463

    I admit I am kind of disapointed that we are missing out on how christmas went for them this year.

  69. Jen Bak

    Okay, I am now officially shocked the time jump has lasted so long. o_O

  70. Keith

    I can deal with the time jump. Really, it’s cool. No worse than the last time someone chloroformed me and stuck me in a cryotank for…how long doesn’t matter but really. I don’t fit anywhen now. BUT, what DOES worry me is that car has not moved the entire time. When I see things like that, with no obvious damage. Be it car, yard, business it makes me wonder what is up. Someone could be missing, but nobody seemed to notice.

    1. clif

      If Blaine’s death was faked, where better to hide out then in an abandoned vehicle on his arch-nemesis’s campus?

      1. Keith

        Blaine is not that smart…obsessed possibly. But just not quite smart or disciplined enough for that.

  71. ziggy78eog

    I thought I was just being sarcastic, when I said that the next story arc would just be parked cars, in a parking lot.

    1. clif

      It’s traditional to do a victory dance in your underwear while yelling “CALLED IT!” at the top of your lungs.

      Or maybe that’s just me.

  72. bcb

    Fools? Does that mean Galasso or Sydney are writing the hovertext? FOOOOOOOOLS!

  73. Roborat

    This comic is amazing, four pages of essentially nothing happening but cars rusting, and the comment section is still going strong.

    1. clif

      Just think what the comment section will look like when Carla and Joe jetpack into the scene holding hands.

      1. clif

        And that’s even before we see the pursuing zombies in the next strip.

      2. RacingTurtle

        That’s because they’ve become besties, right? Because Carla/Joe and Carla/Rachel are two ships that would be a hard NO in any universe, for Walkyverse reasons

  74. TomHCinMI

    Ok, so, I was right about the snow sticking in January.
    I don’t know what winter’s usually like in Indiana.
    Is it like Ann Arbor?

  75. weirderthanweird

    I am very happy that I got super busy after moving and ended up taking an 8 month break from reading this comic. Can you imagine reading the past 200 pages a day at a time? That would have been torture!

    1. Roborat

      Cue the entire readership glaring at you.

  76. horsevoirace

    so is it gonna stop this winter or keep going another whole year

    1. Eric

      No. This is the comic now. Every day, a new month. Forever.

  77. Addle

    I just realized that tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of DoA. I wonder if there’s going to be a special strip?

    1. adam Black

      i think we had it 3 days ago

  78. Paul

    I feel we are being cheated out of some important details here.

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