He has bionic balls now. They made him better than he was. Stronger. Faster. Able to ejaculate in the blink of an eye . . . Ooh, on second thought, maybe he *shouldn’t* have gotten that elective surgery.
Daniel here. I’ve had to do the whole hernia surgery thing myself, abdominal/pelvic region, keyhole surgery. Went well, slept longer than expected since I stayed up all night to prevent missing the appointment, went home that day, did NOT have working ab muscles for 3 weeks after!! I hope your recovery went as smooth as possible…
I don’t know what “keyhole surgery” is, but I don’t want it anywhere near my inguinal regions.
Clif
It’s when they perform the surgery through a keyhole, just to make it fair.
Dean
Instead of cutting you open, they make a small incision and guide the tools with a camera. It heals quicker, apparently.
Roborat
Yea, the doctors were finding that standard abdominal surgery was getting too routine and boring, so they thought they would make it more challenging by doing it through a camara lense. But seriously, they just wanted to use some high tech shit.
Needfuldoer
If the aftereffects were that bad, maybe you should’ve had a doctor do the surgery. I’m all for do-it-yourself, but some things are best left to the pros.
whoops I didn’t finish typing this but anyways 10/10 punchline, as in continuing this line of thought makes walky a bit more punchable but still I’m happy with it
Come to think of it, I’m more surprised that the Walkerton parents aren’t constantly checking in on their golden boy to see if he needs snacks and to inquire how his future presumed doctorhood-level grades are going.
But they’re not entitled to see his grades automatically anymore, since he’s chronologically an adult. Linda would definitely pester him about them, though.
Sal might get a fleeting “good job” from Charles, but that’s about it.
BBCC
That’s about what I’m expecting. A fleeting ‘oh, that’s nice dear’ or ‘good for you’ before focusing on Walky. And of course, it can’t be their golden boy’s fault so I’m sure they’ll come up with some sort of explanation.
I think he’ll figure it out. He’s lazy and irresponsible, but not stupid.
It’ll just probably happen at a more dramatic moment.
Axel
But he also wasn’t looking at any of his grades for a while, I don’t think. It’s not totally unreasonable to think that maybe a couple quizzes (since he’s attended a couple times recently iirc) were scored really high and brought it from a fail to a very low pass.
That’s not to say I don’t think he’ll notice, I just think it’s probably pretty close to 50/50, unless Joyce or someone who’s seen his scores mentions it.
Nono
He’s not stupid, but he’s also a big fan of denial.
I imagine if Joyce was there she’d drop the suspicion bomb though.
It’s “average.” Its not passing in grad school programs, but its just passing in undergrad. Passing grades for American undergrad programs are A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, and failing grades are D+, D, and F. There used to be minuses too, but they did away with those to spare feelings or something.
ǝ snow ʍousɐ
My university (alma mater, I suppose, since I recently graduated) uses minuses, unless they did away with them within the past few years.
I’ve had a hernia surgery myself. It was loads of fun. I slept on the couch for about half a week because I didn’t have it in me to go up the stairs.
Of course, the real pain came when my insurance reversed course after the fact and decided not to pay for my surgery after all. Basically, they wanted me to have the surgery to prevent my health from going south in a way they’d be forced to pay for, but couldn’t resist smurfing me in the smurf. I had to pay out of pocket after negotiating a settlement. That sucked.
I just had hernia surgery yesterday. I’m walking around ok. Well, hobbling anyway.
Supposedly, my part after insurance is 4,000 bucks, but we’re still negotiating.
Doing the minimum will always doom you. If you spent your whole life getting Cs or 70s, one small mistake will ruin your average and make you try to achieve something greater and end up as stressed as an animation student on the last two weeks of the semester. It isn’t funny.
Okay, someone who knows comic-drawing please tell me what the hell is happening with Walky’s eyes in panels 1,3, and 4?
I know it totally works. I didn’t notice anything was weird the first couple of times I read the comic, and those eyes totally convey the roller coaster of emotions that Walky is feeling.
But I look at it with my analytical brain, and panel 1 Walky almost looks like he has cuttlefish eyes, with that classic w-shaped pupil. Panel 3 has…exclamation point pupils? And I can’t stop looking at the yin-yang shape in panel 4.
I can’t draw for squat, and I can’t analyze drawing for squat. But I’ll bet someone out there has the answers.
As far as I can make out, part of the black is the pupils of his eyes, part of the white is light reflecting from the pupils, the other part of the white is the whites of his eyes, and the other black is the shadows of his eyelids. I won’t swear to this in court, though.
In between reading the previous strip and this one, about 24 hours passed during which I received the book containing the storyline in which Amber changed Walky’s grade … along with a dozen nifty magnets! Thank you Willis!
mainly because the constant foreshadowing here about ‘having a future’ and life’s berevity in the last three strips – ESPECIALLY when Walky is walking into view or being addressed- has been driving me fucking crazy, i HAVE to say something, i don’t care if it ends up being a red herring.
92 thoughts on “Minimum”
Ana Chronistic
Amber’s an enabler now
enambler
…
look, I tried idk
anyway, Sal should watch out for Walky attentively throwing toys at her head
Ana Chronistic
also, yay hernia surgery? hope you’re better Willis??
Cholma
He has bionic balls now. They made him better than he was. Stronger. Faster. Able to ejaculate in the blink of an eye . . . Ooh, on second thought, maybe he *shouldn’t* have gotten that elective surgery.
Screwball
Daniel here. I’ve had to do the whole hernia surgery thing myself, abdominal/pelvic region, keyhole surgery. Went well, slept longer than expected since I stayed up all night to prevent missing the appointment, went home that day, did NOT have working ab muscles for 3 weeks after!! I hope your recovery went as smooth as possible…
BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
I don’t know what “keyhole surgery” is, but I don’t want it anywhere near my inguinal regions.
Clif
It’s when they perform the surgery through a keyhole, just to make it fair.
Dean
Instead of cutting you open, they make a small incision and guide the tools with a camera. It heals quicker, apparently.
Roborat
Yea, the doctors were finding that standard abdominal surgery was getting too routine and boring, so they thought they would make it more challenging by doing it through a camara lense. But seriously, they just wanted to use some high tech shit.
Needfuldoer
If the aftereffects were that bad, maybe you should’ve had a doctor do the surgery. I’m all for do-it-yourself, but some things are best left to the pros.
Kendra
I wish I could upvote comments here.
raul
You operated on yourself? Dayum, these HMOs really are pushing to cut costs, aren’t they?
fire_daws
At least you tried 🙂 In all seriousness, trust me if you Walky a mile in my shoes just getting the pun out there that’s enough.
ǝ snow ʍousɐ
I see why you chose the Claire avatar…
Reltzik
The pun’s in trouble. You need to just walk it back. You know, make it an Amberler.
Jamie
I somehow read Amber alert and I’m okay with that.
Lingo
No, an Amber Alert is when she kidnaps small Asian boys.
Diner Kinetic
hehehehe
Diner Kinetic
whoops I didn’t finish typing this but anyways 10/10 punchline, as in continuing this line of thought makes walky a bit more punchable but still I’m happy with it
DailyBrad
Hope your hernia surgery’s healed/healing well, dude!
And Walky/Sal rapport, as per usual, is funny stuff.
Kamino Neko
Remember the buffer. That surgery was in 1952.
Marsh Maryrose
I thought it was in 1918?
No wait, that’s when Gasoline Alley debuted. I sometimes get the two strips confused.
Clif
An understandable error.
Nono
Come to think of it, I’m more surprised that the Walkerton parents aren’t constantly checking in on their golden boy to see if he needs snacks and to inquire how his future presumed doctorhood-level grades are going.
Miri
They do send care packages? But I think they assume his grades are good because they always have been…
Needfuldoer
But they’re not entitled to see his grades automatically anymore, since he’s chronologically an adult. Linda would definitely pester him about them, though.
Sal might get a fleeting “good job” from Charles, but that’s about it.
BBCC
That’s about what I’m expecting. A fleeting ‘oh, that’s nice dear’ or ‘good for you’ before focusing on Walky. And of course, it can’t be their golden boy’s fault so I’m sure they’ll come up with some sort of explanation.
Miri
… Has he not realised this also means Amber changed his grades a bit after all?
Axel
that’s why she made it a C, so it wouldn’t be as obvious. but yeah he maybe should at least have considered that she did.
Doctor_Who
I think he’ll figure it out. He’s lazy and irresponsible, but not stupid.
It’ll just probably happen at a more dramatic moment.
Axel
But he also wasn’t looking at any of his grades for a while, I don’t think. It’s not totally unreasonable to think that maybe a couple quizzes (since he’s attended a couple times recently iirc) were scored really high and brought it from a fail to a very low pass.
That’s not to say I don’t think he’ll notice, I just think it’s probably pretty close to 50/50, unless Joyce or someone who’s seen his scores mentions it.
Nono
He’s not stupid, but he’s also a big fan of denial.
I imagine if Joyce was there she’d drop the suspicion bomb though.
Kyrik Michalowski
Is there any hope that he will take this chance to do better or are we going to watch him screw it up even more?
Jamie
Look, despair is meaningless without that sliver of hope.
Jamie
At least, that’s what Dragon Quest Builders 2 has taught me.
Kyrik Michalowski
I want that game so bad, it looks like so much fun.
Zee
I was thinking Danganronpa
newllend(henryvolt)
Going to haft to just watch and see.
Pocky
I know what a ‘c’ means.
Rex Vivat
I don’t, I’m not American. I don’t even know if it’s a passing grade or not. I could look it up, but… eh, effort.
insomniac
It’s the lowest passing grade at most American universities.
Comic.phil
It’s “average.” Its not passing in grad school programs, but its just passing in undergrad. Passing grades for American undergrad programs are A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, and failing grades are D+, D, and F. There used to be minuses too, but they did away with those to spare feelings or something.
ǝ snow ʍousɐ
My university (alma mater, I suppose, since I recently graduated) uses minuses, unless they did away with them within the past few years.
Reltzik
And THAT is what a C means.
Jamie
It’s for cookie, and it’s just barely good enough for me.
Marie
A+++ for you! And also a cookie for you, since you clearly don’t get enough of them.
BBCC
You can listen and still not immediately do the thing she says, Walky, I’m just saying.
Stephen Bierce
…And the Buffer pays for itself, again.
Mystery Achievement, you’re on my mind
(On my mind!)
On my mi~ind!
pienapp1e
hope your body’s doing much better! ans as always, thanks for the comic 🙂
Marsh Maryrose
Willis, you magnificent Recipient of “Damn You!”s, good job staying alive!
Keulen
Stop giving Walky ideas, Sal.
Dr T
I’ve had a hernia surgery myself. It was loads of fun. I slept on the couch for about half a week because I didn’t have it in me to go up the stairs.
Of course, the real pain came when my insurance reversed course after the fact and decided not to pay for my surgery after all. Basically, they wanted me to have the surgery to prevent my health from going south in a way they’d be forced to pay for, but couldn’t resist smurfing me in the smurf. I had to pay out of pocket after negotiating a settlement. That sucked.
brionl
I just had hernia surgery yesterday. I’m walking around ok. Well, hobbling anyway.
Supposedly, my part after insurance is 4,000 bucks, but we’re still negotiating.
SUGauthor
I’m actually kind of surprised he doesn’t suspect Amber.
BenRG
That’s Walky, though, isn’t it? It fits into his self image that he was doing better than he feared.
sirconanad
Plus he told her not to do it and he probably still trusts that she wouldn’t go behind his back, since she’s his garbage roof buddy.
abysswatcher1993
Doing the minimum will always doom you. If you spent your whole life getting Cs or 70s, one small mistake will ruin your average and make you try to achieve something greater and end up as stressed as an animation student on the last two weeks of the semester. It isn’t funny.
Reltzik
What if you’re an animation student getting Cs?
abysswatcher1993
Not recommended.
Bagge
So, time to start studying, then?
Needfuldoer
Nah, he’s got a C. He can keep coasting.
/s
Bagge
Don’t listen to Needfuldoer, Walky.
fire_daws
What I hope he doesn’t do is rely on Amber to ‘fix’ his grade in calc and goof off instead of studying.
Marsh Maryrose
Okay, someone who knows comic-drawing please tell me what the hell is happening with Walky’s eyes in panels 1,3, and 4?
I know it totally works. I didn’t notice anything was weird the first couple of times I read the comic, and those eyes totally convey the roller coaster of emotions that Walky is feeling.
But I look at it with my analytical brain, and panel 1 Walky almost looks like he has cuttlefish eyes, with that classic w-shaped pupil. Panel 3 has…exclamation point pupils? And I can’t stop looking at the yin-yang shape in panel 4.
I can’t draw for squat, and I can’t analyze drawing for squat. But I’ll bet someone out there has the answers.
Icalasari
His eyes are watering in hope and joy over having a chance to maybe turn his life around
BarerMender
As far as I can make out, part of the black is the pupils of his eyes, part of the white is light reflecting from the pupils, the other part of the white is the whites of his eyes, and the other black is the shadows of his eyelids. I won’t swear to this in court, though.
Lingo
In between reading the previous strip and this one, about 24 hours passed during which I received the book containing the storyline in which Amber changed Walky’s grade … along with a dozen nifty magnets! Thank you Willis!
Moon
( ͡°, ͡°ᖘ⨅ᖗ
BenRG
My favourite siblings reminding me why they’re my favourite!
MsAndrosia
first time commenter!!
mainly because the constant foreshadowing here about ‘having a future’ and life’s berevity in the last three strips – ESPECIALLY when Walky is walking into view or being addressed- has been driving me fucking crazy, i HAVE to say something, i don’t care if it ends up being a red herring.
avistel