No-show
Posted on April 29, 2020 by David M Willis
The DUMBING OF AGE BOOK 9 KICKSTARTER continues! Since yesterday we've added an ASHER character magnet tier, and we're... probably going to hit $35K and unlock FREE SARAH MAGNETS FOR EVERYBODY around update time tonight? We're very close as I type this out. gotta figure out which magnets are unlocking next

274 thoughts on “No-show”

  1. OtterBoy1

    Oh my…

    1. Deanatay

      Aw, AG’s so cute when she smiles!

      (She turned her frown upside-down?)

  2. Ana Chronistic

    uh oh it’s Yami Amazi-Girl

    1. MatthewTheLucky

      Have you guys noticed Amber’s voice gets deeper when she fights? It’s like she’s a different person!

      1. Shariku

        That’s because she is a different person, Tristan. This has long been established!

  3. JetstreamGW

    Get ready to expand that tooth collection.

    1. Van Jealous

      Ross is collecting them for a necklace!

      1. Meagan

        That is way too pagan for Ross

      2. Nick Piers

        That can’t be true. Ross doesn’t have a neck to hang it from!

        1. Ryan

          Toe ring

        2. Van Jealous

          OK then….A Noneckless 🙂

        3. Van Jealous

          Which immediately made me think of this old evergreen…
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smyLkO5qW5o

  4. Stephen Bierce

    *plays some George Jones on the stereo*

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Else…
      Look Up/Look Up/Look Up
      The sky is fall-lling!      –from the soundtrack of Robotech The New Generation

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        It’s time for a few small repairs, she said
        AG came home with a vengeance

        1. NickG

          AG hung down in the kitchen.

      2. EvilMidnightLurker

        Ah, the only good song from Robotech.

  5. Cholma

    Dun Dun DUNNNNNN!

    1. Cholma

      Cue Dramatic Chipmunk (AKA groundhog)

  6. AntJ

    unlike Ryan, Ross does not get tagged by his blood

    1. poofdepoof

      eeek

    2. Rose by Any Other Name

      I wonder if that means anything.
      Seriously, I’m wondering if that was a conscious decision based on Ross’s current state of being.

      1. Geneseepaws

        Did you mean state of being horizontal or verticle, or did you mean corporeal vs. incorporial?

    3. KJ

      It could be Blaine’s blood. A fight between Blaine and Ross, given Blaine’s current condition, could easily result in Blaine’s blood all over Ross’s hand

      1. Matthew Evan Davis

        Still going to have Ross’ blood on his hammer.

    4. a/snow/mous/e

      It’s because Ryan’s blood was so fresh.

  7. CMasta

    Damn Ross got the business

    1. Geneseepaws

      Did not see that coming. I thought Becky could say goodbye, before he passed.

      1. thejeff

        Comic book logic: Apparent death is off-panel, he’s not actually dead yet.

        1. Jhon

          He’s getting better!

        2. Bicycle Bill

          “It’s only a flesh wound.”

        3. Wereg

          Probably. Unfortunately, it’s not that likely he’ll be back to full functionality after taking multiple hammerstrikes to the temple.

          Still, it’s a comic book and he could miraculously recover and get better.

        4. Andy

          Given where full functionality was for him, will we really be able to tell the difference?

  8. danielle

    thats a big bloody hand print hes got on his face

    1. poofdepoof

      OMG I did not see this and now I will see it forever

      1. clif

        It’s a little hard to miss. On the other hand I missed seeing Amazigirl in the last panel on my first read through.

  9. Jess

    oh Jesus that handprint D:

  10. Bagge

    My main take-home from all this is how good Blaine is at making plans.

    There is nothing bad that will happen to him right now, I’m sure of it. Nothing at all…

    1. clif

      That would be … disapointing.

  11. SuperZero

    Every kid in the city who has a beef with Amber? Interesting.

    1. Rotunda

      Blaine’s current mental model is that Ross released Amber and Amazi-Girl as separate people, so he is referring to Amazi-Girl in both his statements.

      1. SuperZero

        “[T]he one who gutted him” was Amber.

        1. Rotunda

          Right you are.

      2. clif

        Well Ross told him that he released Amazi-Girl to get Becky and Amber clearly isn’t there and obviously Amber isn’t Amazi-Girl, so yeah.

    2. Undrave

      I wonder how many of those guys actually signed on to be accessory to murder though?

      1. Mollyscribbles

        Bare minimum they’re accessories to a kidnapping. Do they somehow think that wearing a mask means they won’t be charged with assault?

        1. ktbear

          Well, its hard to charge someone when you don’t know who they are and they’re all wearing masks so…

        2. Wizard

          Kidnapping, false imprisonment, conspiracy, and probably more. Depending on how the prosecutor’s feeling, they’re potentially looking at telephone sentences even before tossing in a homicide or six, and facing some serious time even after the inevitable plea bargain.

      2. hof1991

        They signed on to hitting people with baseball bats.

  12. Bunny

    I hope Amazi-Girl is rolling with Sidekick Sal and Ruthless tonight. They could have the thugs surrounded already!

    1. Cholma

      If so, many femurs will be collected this day, I tell you!

    2. NinjaNick

      Add Carla and Marcie to the mix, too. With Billie for some face slashings.

      1. Icalasari

        “Alright, here is the plan – Billie, Carla, Marcie, you help Amber out and when she says run, run”
        “And why would I do that!?”
        “Because Sal and I will be letting her know when SWAT is on the way? Your job is just to make sure they can’t run before SWAT shows up, and many methods for that would give you HOURS to run”

      2. wwwhhattt

        Will we finally get the first DOA appearance of Schtickshift?

        1. He Who Abides

          Yeah, I’ve been waiting for Schtickshift for a while now.

    3. Deanatay

      *Sal, Carla and Malaya walk in*

      Sal: Hey! We heard you’re recrutiin’ folks who had a beef wit’ that Amazo girl!
      Blaine: Yes! MWAHAHAHA! More minions to take down Amazi-Girl!
      Sal: Nah, I had a beef wit’ her. Now I’m here to punch dickheads like you inna face.
      Blaine: Uh… *gulp*
      Malaya: I just like punchin’ people, I’m not following Sal or anything.
      Carla: I’m just here ‘cuz she’s still wearing my name on her jacket!

  13. Reltzik

    …. so is Toedad Toedead?

    1. FLUFFY

      He has suffered the agony of da feet

      1. clif

        Ross: It’s only a flesh wound.

        1. Reltzik

          It’ll heel.

        2. ZerglingOne

          Nailed it.

      2. aureus

        His sole has transcended the mortal plane.

    2. AntJ

      now two characters can claim the moniker Toebreaker

    3. Bagge

      Has the Toe been Clipped?

    4. King Daniel

      That nail’s been hammered

    5. NinjaNick

      With a final nail in the coffin.

    6. clif

      He’s gone to that big neck-brace in the sky.

    7. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

      Getting there, obviously…

    8. ValdVin

      He’ll be plantared six feet under.

  14. Bagge

    Yes Tyler. I’m sure reminding an already riled up Joyce about Ryan is a healthy move. Very smart. Have a cookie while you still have teeth.

    1. Bunny

      How can you tell which is Tyler and which is Taylor?

      1. AntJ

        Their skin tones are ever-so-slightly different

      2. Bagge

        I have yet to be presented evidence that it matters even the slightest.

        1. Regalli

          I just consider them all clones with Dawson as the queen to their hive mind.

        2. AntJ

          Everyone always forgets Tyler.

      3. Bicycle Bill

        Does it matter?  One asshole looks pretty much like any other.

        1. NelC

          Apparently, a smart toilet is being developed that can recognise you by the pattern of your, um, asterisk. For medical reasons, or something.

        2. Bagge

          I love that you found a relevant way to include that information in this conversation.

        3. Miri

          … Is the idea that it analyses your offerings and lets you know if you’re dehydrated, under-fibred etc?

        4. NelC

          Diabetic, gout, kidney problems, liver problems, cancer of the colon, and so on and so forth, before they become big enough for you to go to a doctor about.

        5. Delicious Taffy

          Paying far out the ass for a magic asshole-scanning toilet will surely solve my life’s problems.

        6. Jhon

          Maybe you can remove the asshole scanner and use it elsewhere.

        7. Mephron

          You could use it in Washington DC but it would probably explode a couple seconds after you turned it on in Congress.

  15. Nono

    What did Blaine even do, put up a poster that reads, ‘Have you been personally affected by Amazi-Girl? If so, call 1800-BALL-PEEN now!’?

    1. FLUFFY

      “Okay, so what we’re going to do is capture a superhero and tie her up…”
      “This is a weird phone sex line.”
      “OH COME ON!”

      1. Icalasari

        Blaine: “Are you, uh, a real villain?”
        Tyler: “Well, uh, technically… nah.”
        Blaine: “Have you ever caught a good guy, like, uh, like a real superhero?”
        Taylor: “Nah.”
        Blaine: “Have you ever tried a disguise?”
        Tyler: “Nah, nah…”
        Blaine: “Alright! I can see that I will have to teach you how to be villains!”

        Hey!
        We are Number One
        Hey!
        We are Number One

        Now listen closely
        Here’s a little lesson in trickery
        This is going down in history
        If you wanna be a Dumbass Number One
        You have to commit kidnapping on the run
        Just follow my moves, and sneak around
        Be careful to leave evidence in mounds!

    2. Lingo

      I’m trying to imagine how Blaine managed to find this gallery of rogues, and now I’m surprised that Sydney Yus and her Rolodex are not involved somehow.

    3. Segnosaur

      Good question.

      I suppose some may have been arrested. Others may have been interviewed by police after getting beaten by Amazigirl.(remember blaine may have actual police contacts). Maybe some were in the news.

      Blaine could have also contacted Ryan and asked “who are your buddies”.

      1. Regalli

        Genuine question: Do we know for sure what state Ryan’s in? Like, can he actually have random visitors and converse with them? I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been established but I keep half-assuming he’s high enough on painkillers to be sleeping all the time, still. Multiple stabs. And I’m assuming Amber did the smart (for given values of ‘smart’ in this case I mean) thing and went for his torso.

        1. Segnosaur

          It is hard to tell the passage of time from the way this comic handles things, but at least some time has passed since Ryan was arrested (remember amber took several days off… And amber/Sal have joined roller derby (meaning a few more days). I would say at least a couple of weeks… More than enough time for Ryan to be healed enough to be alert/awake.

          And since the state seems to allow bail to almost anyone (Ross was released remember) and Ryan’s family probably has resources, it would not be surprising to find Ryan is released and relaxing ah home.

        2. thejeff

          One day per chapter/storyline. Plus a couple of time skips – the last of which was right after Ryan’s stabbing.

          It’s been exactly 2 weeks. That was a Wednesday, this is the second Wednesday since.

          It’s been left vague exactly how badly hurt Ryan was, certainly messed up, but anywhere from still in a coma to appearing in the next strip with some bandages would be plausible.

        3. Opus the Poet

          Just a point of order, Ryan was stabbed, slashed, and probably curb-stomped in the fracas. And we all know how tender a fracas is (antique joke from a very old man).

        4. Regalli

          Yeah, for something as bad as the phrase ‘gutting’ implies – and I’m pretty sure this is at least the second time a phrase like that’s been used to describe it – him still being hospitalized is entirely in the realm of possibility. Add in Joyce’s line to Joe during the Do List storyline (“he’s in the hospital now. Probably will be for a long time”) and I’ve been assuming he’s not out yet. Or at least not really ambulatory, because a shitload of stitches also means a shitload of bed rest and subsequent physical therapy to rebuild muscles after that shitload of bed rest.

      2. SillyGoose

        My guess is Amber’s USB stick. It may have included info on AG’s encounters, written in the third person.
        So Blaine O’Rrhagia would not initially have understood the link, but intel in intel. It may come in handy one day, and since Amber knows so much about AG they may be friend and it woud be cool to beable to hurt a friend of hers.

  16. ADLegend21

    Amazi-girl please go Marada Uchiha on these fools.

  17. Bicycle Bill

    Calling it now …. someone’s about to feel the full effects of Ruttech Inc.

    1. AutobotDen

      Combine that with Ruthless and Sal, and you’d have a nigh-unstoppable force of chaos and ass-kickings.

  18. ADLegend21

    *Madara

  19. Yotomoe

    I’m gonna level with you Blaine. This was a pretty shitty plan. If anything the fact that it’s going so well that it’s only blowing up in your face NOW seems like pure luck. Hell if just one (non Dina) person saw you snatching them up on the quad your plan wouldn’t have worked.

    1. Undrave

      And I’m pretty sure his goons will turn on him if they realize they’re accessory to murder…

      1. Miri

        His goons are gleefully discussing beating the everloving poop out of people for no greater crime than not wanting to be raped, and being friends with people who don’t think rape is acceptable. If they assume that there’s some form of get out of trouble free card in operation (wear masks? Kill all witnesses too?) I’m not so sure that they wouldn’t be down with murder.

        They may pause for a second or maybe longer if they realise that he turned on his partner in crime and killed him in a fit of rage, mind.

        1. Meagan

          It’s not about rape, man! These girls just need to give it up a little, instead of being cockteases/putting guys in the friend zone/only hooking up with jackasses and virtue signaling “male feminists.” /Sarcasm

        2. SillyGoose

          It made me very sad that you had to explicitly say “/sarcasm”.

        3. Meagan

          I feel like most people in this comment section would have understood it was sarcasm, but the content is disturbing enough (to me at least) that I didn’t want to risk any misunderstanding.

        4. NelC

          Also for their friend getting carved up and put in hospital, by a girl, no less. Not saying they’re any more justified, just that that would be a powerful motivator.

  20. Foxhack

    “Every kid in the city”? So just four dudes and Blaine?

    1. King Daniel

      I’m pretty sure “four dudes” would only account for a single one of Amazi-Girl’s fight sequences. And she’s had a lot of fight sequences.

    2. Keulen

      I’m assuming Amazi-Girl has fought more kids than just these four, but I’m also assuming Blaine couldn’t possibly find everyone she’s fought in the entire city.

    3. SuperZero

      Wait, he recruited Sal and her friends?

      1. King Daniel

        Plot twist!

    4. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

      The Turdchucker Triplets, Fox News-style “risque'” Comedian #2, and Mr. ‘Peanutbutter Jelly time with a Baseball BAT!!’ make 5 that we can see. There may be more off-screen…

      1. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

        Scratch my name for the guy who came after the Triplets. Checked up on that old Shortpacked! strip. The faces don’t match.

  21. NinjaNick

    I hope Amazi-Girl has a skillet to strike Blaine in the back of his head. Dude needs a serious concussion.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      I don’t think that’s Amazi-Girl.  Last time we saw her she was asleep on her feet.  Even a zombie would have been able to show more signs of life than she did.

      1. clif

        Upside down, it’s probably not Becky masquerading as Amazi-Girl.

        1. Bicycle Bill

          You know, that would be a helluva twist, and the more I think of it the more I think it’s just what Willis would be likely to do.  Yeah, I know, she was kidnapped by her dad, and yeah, the last time they were together she flipped him double-birds, but — and I’m speaking from experience here — there’s more than just a germ of truth in the saying about ‘blood being thicker than water’. After all, he WAS her dad, and if she were to show up and find out that he was dead by Blaine’s hand …… well, let’s just say that I wouldn’t want to be Blaine.

        2. Kali

          The full old saying is “The Blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Meaning, the relationships you make are stronger than the ones given to you.

        3. thejeff

          That seems to be a fairly modern take, with the older references being the traditional “blood is thicker than water” meaning family is more important. A backward created justification for the traditional saying.

      2. Jamie

        On one hand, I agree. Doing the Spiderman is hard enough when you’re at 100%. On the other hand… she is tagged.

        1. King Daniel

          And unlike in Shortpacked!, this universe’s Amazi-Girl is an actual person – not just a suit of clothes that can be donned or doffed at will.

        2. SillyGoose

          I seem to recall there have been instances in the past where Willis went back later to change tags, as putting the right ones straightaway would have been a massive spoiler.
          I don’t quite remember when it was. Maybe something to do with the Amber/AG split?

        3. Rabid Rabbit

          There was changing “Joshua” to “Jocelyn”.

        4. King Daniel

          Yeah, that’s the only instance I can think of off the top of my head.

        5. thejeff

          The “Ryan” tag only appeared part way through the party. Not sure exactly when offhand. People were already guessing it was him though.

        6. SillyGoose

          Yes! That’s the one! Thank you!

        7. Regalli

          I think Jocelyne’s was also because at the start of the storyline, Willis didn’t know (they’ve said that before publicly) – If I’d had to guess, I think they only had that realization that she’s trans about four strips before it’s revealed, at the start of that conversation between her and Ethan (“Might say some stuff I might never take back.”/”I’m their favorite. And precisely because they know the least about me.”)

          Gotta wonder what Willis would do writing another character who’s trans but closeted, but knowing that from the start. There’s definitely ways to work around it so that the tagging system and readers would know but other characters don’t, but they’d all take some intentionality. *Shrug* We’ll see if that ever happens.

  22. Lumino

    So literally EVERY one of these kids was willing to commit felony kidnapping and are now completely unconcerned with the fact that they might very well be accessories to MURDER?

    1. DailyBrad

      He probably sold them on the “you’ll have masks on, and we pin it on the one dude who doesn’t”.

    2. tim gueguen

      They’re definitely idiots.

      1. NinjaNick

        Idiots looking for prison time and a permanent ban from Indiana University.

        1. Icalasari

          So Blaine ironically is doing the university a favour – now all these morons will be rounded up and be banned for reasons that will be VERY hard to argue

    3. foamy

      This might well be the finest collection of stupidity on display at the same time across the entire strip’s run, which is really saying something.

      Also, Blaine’s totally lost it. Frankly he was scarier without the mask as a stalking asshole; now it’s honestly hard to take him seriously.

      1. Regalli

        I’m assuming this arc is the ‘set Blaine up as full supervillain, give Amber the big damn confrontation she’s been waiting for across universes for over a decade, and permanently remove Blaine from the board’ arc, because seriously the only way I can see him walking out of this alive is if he’s jailed for life. And even then, the mob will probably fucking kill him.

        I don’t think he’s supposed to be taken fully seriously, in other words. He always toed the line between creepy and supervillain monologuing, now he’s fallen firmly in the latter. (Compare to Carol and Linda, whose scariness have been consistent traits that are just steadily being revealed more.) But you kind of need to sideline the constant thorn in everyone’s side that is Blaine at least a little to bring in, say, Clint (Ruth’s grandfather) in a bigger role. And Clint is DEFINITELY going to be a longer-term antagonist himself.

        1. Mordecai

          I’d have to agree…

          but as an aside, it feels weird to see Clint called by his name. For some reason I called him Sir in my head like Ruth. Not because he deserves any respect but maybe because I see him as a long term antagonist too. Maybe he hasnt earned his supervillain name yet but he gave me the heebie jeebies enough to.

        2. Regalli

          I think of him as Sir as well, but I’m not actually sure who remembers him as name and who remembers him as that, since he doesn’t come up as often and the name’s not as widespread as Toedad.

    4. Ray Radlein

      To be fair, depending on what happened in the basement, they are already on the hook for Felony Murder

      1. Dr. T

        I’d say Ross is still alive, though it’s going to be a tough row to hoe in order for him to recover. I could see the possibility that he and Becky reconcile as she helps him through his recovery and therapy.

    5. Wereg

      In a universe where it’s somehow not a remarkably stupid idea to take on a house full of kidnappers yourself instead of, iunno, calling the police while one of you is free, this makes sense.

      Honestly. If your plan was to just make a mad fucking dash for the exit/fight your way to victory, having the police be on their way should be a bare fucking minimum.

  23. DailyBrad

    Looks like Ross busted up Blaine good, but not good enough.

  24. James

    Captain Hammer is going to get it.

    1. Keulen

      He’s gonna get nailed soon.

      1. Deanatay

        Nah, Ross already got Toe-nailed.

  25. G97

    Oh my god these people are freaking idiots! I understand you hate Amazi-girl but you are now accessories to a potential murder, six accounts of kidnapping and one of these brain dead trust-funds is seriously going to commit assault with a deadly instrument? You’re parents can’t buy your way out of this obvious crime!

    1. Dr. T

      I mean, they are in Indiana. Assaulting Ethan (gay man), Sarah (minority), Dina (also minority), and Walky (black enough for this case) could get a pass from the right jury. Hurting Dorothy and Joyce are a different story, but they are the two most likely to be targeted by Ryan’s friends.

      1. Sam

        Ethan and Dorothy are also both Jewish (Dorothy doesn’t follow the religion though, and they both visibly pass as white people). And while Joyce is the ‘second best’ to a white man in terms of privileges, misogynists also exist. So yeah, there are screwed up reasons that juries could give a pass on all these crimes, but because this is a webcomic, hopefully there will not be a jury made entirely of Misogynistic Neo-Nazis because I think that would kill my soul.

        1. Miri

          Just as an aside, I’m Jewish and white. I mean, I’m at least half Middle Eastern, but I’m pretty sure I’m still Caucasian…

          I get what you mean (and recognise that I also get passing privilege, whereas my sister who got darker hair and a different skin tone gets asked where she’s “really” from, though I think people may guess Eastern European first) but I am pretty sure we’re mainly just a subgroup of Caucasian rather than a whole distinct and separate race.

        2. thejeff

          Not race, but definitely ethnicity. Race is a pretty sketchy concept in any kind of scientific sense and even the closest alignment of it with anything biological real doesn’t really match the categories that drive prejudice.

          Race and in particular “whiteness” is socially constructed. Whether Jews are part of that particular social construct depends far more on prevailing or individual prejudices than on any actual scientific reasoning.

        3. Kali

          You got it in one, there was a time in history where people of Irish decent were not considered to be whites. Racism is not about logic and reason, and frankly never was.

        4. Sam

          I meant it like Dorothy and Ethan don’t have stereotypical features that will immediately peg them as Jewish in people’s eyes… but if they find out, it suddenly won’t matter what they look like. I wasn’t trying to say ‘luckily they pass’ so much as ‘they seem white, but if it is learned they are Jewish, antisemitism exists and it sucks’. I could have phrased and structured it better.

        5. Dr. T

          I had forgotten that Dorothy was Jewish. That’s something a jury could hold against her, but in Indiana it might be worse for a jury to learn she is a godless heathen.

  26. tim gueguen

    This may be an indication that the involvement of Blaine’s mob buddies is limited. Which means that Blaine may be about to find himself left high and dry, whatever actually happens here.

  27. Sirksome

    I starting to feel like there’s a real problem with a lot of these frat guys from IU being so down with these crimes and murders!

    1. Icalasari

      Well to be fair, this is a university that has so many ways to bust Amber, but never does. I suspect this may not be a very good university in the Dumbiverse

      1. Sirksome

        I don’t get it. Is it like a pledge they made? I don’t remember being down to murder the people I tried to sexually assault and then physically assault as part of the bro code. No friend I have would be cool with any of this. Is Ryan really just that charismatic?

        1. Needfuldoer

          Sounds like he was at the core of a friend group of complete shitheads.

        2. Sam

          Some guys don’t have the moral that violence and murder for selfish purposes is wrong*. They think they are entitled to women being under control and if denied, they are justified in lashing out and even killing them (hence why women get justifiably terrified that a ‘no’ could turn into a stabbing or shooting later, as it has, numerous times). Some guys are just really that entitled and awful, as in, far too many, considering over 90% of women that are murdered, are killed by a current or past partner.

          *Under certain circumstances I do agree that murder is not wrong just not my preferred course of action e.g. in defense of children from an active attacker, and these types of guys are not the ones that would care for the distinction.

        3. SuperFroakie82

          Although that’s not really murder, more like self-defense. Err, other people-defense. I don’t know what to call it but I’m pretty sure it’s not murder at least.

        4. Sam

          The law doesn’t isn’t always as lenient or merciful enough to recognise it as self-defense/protection of others. I have definitely heard of more than one case of ‘woman kills abusive partner that was actively trying to hurt children’ being charged as murder and they have gone to jail for it. Sometimes the way the law is applied isn’t as ethical, flexible or as understanding of individual circumstances as it should be

        5. BBCC

          Defence of a third party, yeah, but sadly what’s theoretically legal isn’t always prosecuted that way.

    2. BenRG

      Yes, the existence of Ryan and the level of support he has in his peer group indicates that there is a toxic culture of rape, misogyny and violence at IU. The fact that a girl (well several) have been making it a painful and often-disfiguring passtime has only served to heighten a sense of threatened entitlement and grievance.

    3. Vulcanodon

      To be honest, it is what I expect of frat boys in the real world. In our town, there was a case where frat boys raped and murdered a homeless woman and tried to dispose of her body. And that case was only distinguished by the murder. Still saw (until the covid lockdown) frats around campus wearing t-shirts bragging about their sexual prowess and the envy of lesser men. If that isn’t rape culture I don’t know what is.

      1. thejeff

        This is a bit extreme and I wouldn’t expect it of any randomly chosen frat boys – despite acknowledging the rape culture often prevalent in frats.

        But these aren’t randomly chosen frat boys. They’re the close friends of a practiced serial rapist and a couple of others known to get their kicks gay-bashing and attacking women who’ve made rape accusations. These are the ones you’d go looking for if you were looking for college kids to attack women.

    4. C.T Phipps

      Oddly, this is the premise of the remake of Black Christmas but didn’t need mind control good.

  28. BBCC

    Blaine is, as per usual, wrong.

    And oh, oh that bloody handprint does NOT mean good things for Toedad. Or Becky when she finds out.

  29. Jess

    And then Amazigirl slits Blaine’s throat….? Please? Quick and easy?

    1. Deanatay

      Sorry, Amber’s not tagged.

  30. Sirksome

    I just want to make a quick comment on the art for a sec and just say Blaine has been getting some of the best panels of artwork I’ve seen in the comic to date. Like for real he has two panels just in this strip that are good and every other shot of this murderous fuck bag have been great to look at. It actually kind of makes me uncomfortable because he’s such a bad dude.

    1. Regalli

      Yeah, the steadily growing unhingedness since his fight with Mike’s been done really well.

  31. Axel

    they should really give his phone a good smash. even if it doesn’t fully break, just enough that he can’t use the screen is enough to keep him from making a call.

  32. Doribi

    Am I the only one getting Joker Vibes from Blaine here? Smiling like a madman, an obvious super villain and probably just beat someone to death with a tool (in the Joker’s case beating Jason Todd, in Blaine’s probably toedad) and about to get his butt kicked by basically this universe’s batman.

    1. King Daniel

      He’s the Dad-Joker

      1. Deanatay

        If Yotsuyan was still around, his Blaine-as-Joker avatar would support this.

    2. Rotunda

      No, you are not the only one.

  33. Regalli

    Yeah seriously I do NOT see Blaine surviving the serious beatdown that is definitely going to occur in the next few hours, tops. AmbG is sleep-deprived and gonna be a sloppy fighter, but I can’t imagine Blaine can take much more given the state he’s in now.

    I am seriously worried for Becky, she did not need ‘complicated feelings about my shitty and abusive but critically injured/dead dad’ on her plate.

  34. Some1

    Not gonna lie, if my campus had a superhero girl running around. I would be very tempted to come up with a few of my own evil plans. Although I’d avoid murder and only use traps designed to slow her down/incapacitate her.

    1. Needfuldoer

      That just sounds like S&M with extra steps.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        You pretty much just described superhero antics.

  35. JessWitt

    I smell a massacre brewing.

  36. Corsair114

    [At Doom’s Gate intensifies]

  37. butting

    Happy National Superhero Day, everyone!

    Also National Villain Day, but it’s not looking too good for them just now.

    Seems rude to me that it isn’t also National Now, Kiss! Day, but let’s forgo that one what with the present company. Because ew.

    1. DarkoNeko

      b-but I wanted Sal and/or Ruth to save the day, one tibia at a time !

  38. DarkoNeko

    wow, that bloody hand mark.

    1. Johnny Austin

      WILSON!!!

      1. Johnny Austin

        Sorry.
        I can’t unsee it.

  39. Some1

    You know, I’m not sure we should be happy when Amazi-Girl/Amber does violent shit just because the people she’s fighting are shitty. I mean when it comes down to it, Amber is a deeply disturbed individual who has out right attempted to goad non violent offenders into fighting her. Besides we’ve already established that she’s exhausted and in no shape to be fighting anyone.

    1. Jamie

      We shouldn’t. But a lot of the people who comment here are also people who are pretty damn desperate for the kind of emotional payoff that that kind of fantasy brings. It’s not the kind of thing you can out-logic.

      1. Miri

        Amber doesn’t deserve to have the extra violence on her conscience. She also doesn’t deserve to feel guilty because her friends are in danger for being her friends. But her friends don’t deserve to be brutalised for being there.

        The other people have decreed that some group of people will get hurt. I would rather it wasn’t Dina, Dorothy, etc. This means that I am relieved to see Amazigirl because she will protect them if she can. I am hoping she can restrain the bad guys with minimal violence, make sure her friends including Mike are OK, then have them arrested…

      2. Vulcanodon

        Emotional payoff is what fantasy is for. That, and entertainment and moral exposition. Much as I would like to punch certain cartoon villains who have inexplicably taken power in the real world, but can’t, I can at least temporarily repair my sanity in stories where that does happen.

        Thank you, Willis. (don’t tell him I said that)

        1. Dr. T

          I mean, he doesn’t always comment but he does read these threads.

    2. Sirksome

      I mean as much as this is potentially a hero moment for AG I’d argue this entire chapter is more of a big condemnation for her. Because AG exists all of Amber’s friends are in danger, one of her friend’s father might be dead. All because she decided to beat up the wrong guy. Even Amber doesn’t actually believe in herself anymore and admits in a way this is her fault. So people may be happy for the moment but this whole thing is a tragedy and I wouldn’t be surprised if AG retires her hero antics for something more constructive. The question is did the good outwiegh the bad in the end. Personally I think she broke even.

      1. Hrodvitnir

        I mean, I most certainly agree that it’s hardly a *good* thing that Amazigirl does what she does… the mix of comic superhero fantasy and portrayal of someone very damaged who is not at all coping is a fine line to walk here.

        But I am 0% OK with “because AG exists all of Amber’s friends are in danger”. All of Amber’s friends are in danger because her father is a violent piece of shit, and a bunch of frat bros who never thought they’d experience consequences for their actions are violent pieces of shit. She is not responsible for their actions, no matter if her actions were OK or not.

      2. Chris Phoenix

        “Because the building was wood, it burned down.”

        No, it burned because an arsonist chose to light a match. AG did not come looking for Ryan to stab him. AG did not even bring the knife that stabbed him – he brought it to stab several people for the crime of resisting rape. And finally, AG did not remotely, in any way, cause Ryan’s friends to choose to kidnap and torture innocent kids.

        Also, AG did nothing whatsoever to cause Ross to be so blinded by is religion that he teamed up with a guy who would manipulate and then murder him.

        It seems like you’re trying way too hard to deflect responsibility away from the hideous people who are actually causing all this tragedy… and onto the Angry Woman.

        1. somenovember

          this. yes, AG’s behaviour has been problematic at times and often escalates instead of de-escalating, but she didn’t make this happen, and she didn’t create the conditions for this to happen.

        2. He Who Abides

          She did give Ryan a distraction so he could escape, though. It wasn’t intentional, and nothing that’s happening in this chapter is Amber/Amazi-Girl’s fault*, but they’re not a “superhero” by any means. We’ve seen them try to goad nonviolent offenders into fights multiple times now, all because they don’t know any other way to deal with their very real issues, and been putting their friends at risk to do so should any of their opponents be the vengeful type. This chapter’s just a perfect storm of why their actions were irresponsible and dangerous, and hopefully they learn from this.

          *Unless Becky gets hurt or decides to disappear. Amber/Amazi-Girl rinsed Becky’s security detail, so anything that happens to her as a result of that is squarely on their shoulders.

        3. Sirksome

          Ummm. No. That’s not even close to the point I’m trying to make here. It’s very obvious that these people are insane. Blaine is a whack job with such a toxic sense of masculinity that he’s willing to kill people cause he got beat up once by a woman. But also like…have you been reading the comic. Blaine, right now, is wearing a mask, feeling like he’s free to murder without a care after being directly inspired by AG!

          These goons are looking to beat her up because she beat them up all the way back when this started.
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/move/ Did she have to beat them up to save Danny? Debateable. But they really do feel the need to get revenge because of it.

          You know that guy Ryan we all hate? Well guess who got an opening to crawl away because of a caped attention hogger when he could’ve been caught and charged?
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/caped/
          Maybe that wouldn’t have went well as these college rape things always get muddy in court but it’s implied he had more victims and the optimist in me believes Joyce charging him for this would’ve inspired the other girls to speak up.

          You know it took her like 3 months to find him again right? All that time Joyce so traumatized she needed to date a gay guy as an excuse to feel safe walking around. All that time Ryan probably lying about what happened and coaching his bros to have his back no matter what. Hmmm.
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/schlongs/

          One could argue this whole saga started when Amber lost her temper and punched her dad for being an abusive asshole.
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/strength/
          A satisfying moment but even she knows this wasn’t a good thing.
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/rage/
          And her beating down her dad in the rain to save Danny wasn’t shown as particularly heroic but scary and sad for everyone involved.
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/down/

          Ross I will admit was a righteous and selfless act she did with no ulterior motive and did help in saving a life even though almost everybody almost died in a car crash. I’ll give her that one.

          Also this isn’t related to this kidnapping so much but she stalked Sal for weeks and tried to goad her into a fight and that ended violently and with everyone agreeing that fist fighting to solve your problems doesn’t solve anything.

          No. I’m not defending these assholes or excusing their actions but I’m also not defending Amber/Amazi-girl either, and neither is the comic for that matter. At least it seems like it’s not. I REALLY hope I haven’t interpreted this the wrong way cause I’ve done that before. I also really hope these links work cause I don’t do this that often! Uh…? Thank you for reading this if you did! No disrespect intended.

        4. Dr. T

          It wasn’t just implied that Ryan had other victims. Joyce told Amber after she returned after slicing and dicing Ryan that 3 or 4 other victims came forward once the news that he was caught came out.

        5. BBCC

          The dudes in red are also looking for AG because they’re friends with Ryan too. they were trying to break into one of the victim’s houses to do god knows what and the only reasons they didn’t succeed were because AG leaked false addresses and Sal was there to try to stop them.

      3. thejeff

        “because she decided to beat up the wrong guy” ? Who did she decide to beat up that was wrong? (Stalking and harassment of Sal aside, since not a “guy” and didn’t at all lead to this situation.)

        Blaine? Hard to argue that wasn’t justified and it was Amber anyway.
        Ross? Rescuing Becky from kidnapping, while he tried to murder her.
        Ryan? Trying to id the rapist the first time and the second time he’d come with a knife to attack her friends. The stabbing was also Amber, not AG.
        The various mooks here? All their beatings seem justified to me. There are some in her crime-fighting that are more questionable, but these are among the least. One could have made some excuses for the 3 bros, if they’d just seen AG attack their friend, but since they’re carrying on the vendetta after the rapes became public, they lose any sympathy.

        1. Sirksome

          I actualky replied but my comment is awaiting moderation. To try and clarify briefly I don’t mean wrong as in innocent but wrong as in crazy enough to endanger her friends seeking revenge and her choice to use violence in the first place. Also the Amber/AG thing gets confusing when she doesn’t seem to know either. Like when she first fought Blaine to save Danny. Who was responsible for that? AG walked there but Amber beat him up. So is that on both of them? Does it matter at that point?

        2. thejeff

          What “seeking revenge”?
          On Blaine? That wasn’t seeking revenge, but her snapping when her abuser (apparently?) threatened her friend. It’s not completely clear what Blaine intended there, but it sure wasn’t good for Amber. In a way, that could be seen as foreshadowing this whole sequence – Blaine taking Danny to use to get at Amber.
          Amber and Amazi-Girl certainly have their issues, but you’re straight up making her responsible for this and that’s just nonsense.

        3. Sirksome

          I mean. She is responsible for this. They all are. That’s the point. Violence begets more violence. Amber did not have to punch Blaine in that first moment. If she wanted him to leave she should’ve gotten Ruth who even back then was responsible enough to have gotten security. Blaine didn’t throw the first punch there and even though that’s a technicality I don’ t like it’s the truth. Amber made a mistake and she knew she did. Then things just continued to escalate cause Blaine is a bad dude who will always make the wrong choice in service to himself, and in response Amber/AG made bad choices and it continues in a circle of violence that leads to your friends getting kidnapped and hurt. Although admittedly I don’t think I’m articulating this well and I respect that you and others might disagree with me on this.

        4. Regalli

          Ruth was detoxing (which was why she couldn’t take him in the fight that ensued), and it is WAY THE FUCK HARDER to get someone out of a dorm room than chase them down a dorm hallway once baited and provoked. That situation had escalated the moment the Saruyamas let him into the dorm. As I said below, not blaming the Saruyamas for this, but it was a genuine bad move. Also, Amber knows for a fact he physically abused her mom (and possibly also herself). Blaine was fully intending to snoop around in her stuff. (The superhero gear wasn’t even necessarily the worst thing – in Shortpacked the one time Blaine hit Amber was when he found her in bed with a boy, and we don’t know when she got the Amazi-condoms.) Amber knew Stacey was somewhere on campus at that time, and would probably have been assuming she’d be on her way to the dorm. Leaving Blaine alone in the dorm room was a BAD IDEA, that would yield relatively low returns because Ruth was the one on hand and she couldn’t physically drag Blaine out. (Amber didn’t know Ruth was detoxing, of course, but Ruth is clearly much smaller than Blaine and Blaine could walk off after being suplexed. And if she’s getting Ruth, she’s doing things by the book, relatively speaking.) She could spend, oh, ten minutes minimum waiting for security to arrive being verbally abused by Blaine, while Blaine pokes around in her things and makes her feel guilty for owning a laptop as a college student, with the risk Stacey could show up and walk into a room with her abuser and three people who Blaine’s already pegged as pushovers… or she could get him out of there, RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

          ‘The first moment’ wasn’t in that dorm room. The first punch was not thrown there.

        5. Sirksome

          No the first punch was thrown years ago when Blaine started abusing his family. But everyone has to own up to their own choices and lots of people experience trauma without violently lashing out. The truth is that yes, that horrible situation where Blaine rifles through Amber’s things while verbally berating and abusing her for minutes on end until campus security arrived would’ve been the right move. Not the fun choice, or the satisfying choice, or the dramatic choice, but the right one. Because he’s not allowed to be there and he would’ve been escorted out or even gone to jail if he actually tried to hurt anyone. And Amber knew that and punched him anyway and smiled about it because she’s a damaged person who made a mistake in the heat of a tense situation. And she kind of has to own that.

        6. BBCC

          Yeah, no, sitting around being abused is not the ‘right’ option. What the FUCK is wrong with you?

        7. Regalli

          I was not concerned about just verbal berating and abuse. Why do you think I brought up the condoms specifically in the context of ‘that one time he hit her in the other universe’? It is not a good or healthy idea to just sit and let someone potentially assault you in your own room! (And that’s not to downplay the effect of verbal berating and abuse on someone – remember what happened the last time Amber was stuck with Blaine for an extended period of time and had to wait and listen to him berating her? Here’s a hint, it involved a knife and years of trauma for everyone involved who wasn’t Blaine O’Malley.) Hell, the things he could have destroyed in that room would have included her laptop, which he was already commenting on and which is both a necessary school supply and probably prohibitively expensive for Amber and Stacey to replace if it had been destroyed. She lets him stay there and wait, he may very well be able to force her to drop out.

          Also, I REALLY love you referring to a mentally ill abuse victim as “damaged” for not lying there and taking more abuse, great look for you there. Are you also gonna blame this on Becky for not going with Ross from Anderson? The onus is on Blaine not to abuse his family. 100% of the time. Always. Amber reacting badly to his presence is a foreseeable consequence of HIS being an abusive shithead, and her handling of things in the dorm was honestly the best possible way she could have. She punched him ONCE to bait him, disengaged immediately afterwards, and brought in a hall full of witnesses who helped her get away. The fact that she took some satisfaction in hitting him honestly doesn’t matter, because she wasn’t just doing that for fun and she only did it the one time necessary to bait him.

        8. SuperFroakie82

          I dunno, even if Amber is justified in how she reacted and it was possibly the best thing to do, I still wouldn’t say violence is a totally normal and healthy way to deal with this situation, although I suppose you didn’t say that either. I guess what I’m trying to say is, while it may have been the “best” way to deal with this, it wasn’t a “good” way to deal with it, although to be clear I’m not saying Amber is in the wrong for what she did.

          (also I hope I’m replying to this right since there’s no reply button, I’m assuming people are just replying to the most recent one they can)

        9. Regalli

          It wasn’t good, no, but there wasn’t really a good solution available because Blaine wasn’t gonna leave without a fuss. Dude had the potential to do a LOT of damage in the time it took for security to arrive (especially since someone, probably Amber, would have to leave the room to get Ruth and have her call them. Wouldn’t take him long to get a window open or grab something.) She waits, he abuses her and is a definite risk to property and a possible risk to the bystanders. She leaves outright, he’s still a risk to those two things and Stacy doesn’t know it’s not safe for her to go to the dorm. The Saruyamas also couldn’t really be trusted to hold firm on a boundary (even once they realized the gravity of the situation, he’s a physically imposing man with no qualms about using violence,) so she pretty much has to be there.

          If your options are realistically ‘sit and be abused while he has free rein of the dorm for an unknown period of time, and even then you know he’s not going to go without trying to sweet-talk security or get violent’ and ‘punch him and run’… your options both suck immensely. And how long do you realistically think she COULD hold out in a room with Blaine monologing about how much he hates her without either back-talking or doing precisely what she did? Or, hell, beating him up WORSE once she’d been berated for fifteen minutes and no longer had the relative calm to stop with one punch?

          Reasonable options are for reasonable people, which Blaine is not. This situation came pre-fucked no matter what Amber did.

        10. BBCC

          “Violence begets more violence”

          Oh, fuck that noise. That’s a load of crap that abusers and manipulators put out so they don’t get punched in the mouth.

        11. Sirksome

          Okay first. I’m sorry if my opinion on this has upset you and I’ll stop talking about it cause I’m not trying to start a fight here for real. I just like discussing some of the deeper topics of this comic I really hope nothing is “wrong” with me. But I do understand a lot of people in this comments come from all kinds of traumatic circumstances me included. So I’ll be respectful to that and end it here.

          But the I believe Amber shouldn’t have punched Blaine. That’s the truth to me. Maybe I worded it incorrectly but there were many other options beyond that. No she shouldn’t have to sit and take that abuse but there were other alternatives beyond violence in that situation. Like the comic itself seems to outline what a mistake that was. Life is cruel and unfair and sometimes people are going to be horrible and antagonistic but you can’t just lash out violently every time. But maybe I’m wrong on this and that punching Blaine then was truly the only option.

          And if the moral of all this isn’t violence begets more violence than what is the moral of this story line!? Like wasn’t that the point of the whole fistfight with Sal arc? With all the flashbacks and history of abuse in both their lives. How does that not apply here? Like what happens if Blaine doesn’t die or go to jail here? He comes back with something else and this all starts again but potentially worse right? Also people dying in general is a bad outcome even if it’s bad people. Ross was a horrible man but Becky is gonna be fucked up probably for life if he’s dead.

          But I can see i’m not right in my opinion here so like I said I’m gonna stop. I kind of feel like I should stop commenting for awhile cause I’ve upset people which isn’t my intention at all. My sincerest apologies.

        12. BBCC

          “The truth is that yes, that horrible situation where Blaine rifles through Amber’s things while verbally berating and abusing her for minutes on end until campus security arrived would’ve been the right move.”

          ^ This is why I asked ‘what the fuck is wrong with you’, not because you like discussing deeper topics in the story. I like to do that too. I was probably being overly harsh and I’m sorry for that. There is room to talk about whether punching Blaine was the right choice or not, but there’s a difference between discussing alternatives and saying sitting around for however long it took her to notify Ruth, get security called, and to convince them to eject Blaine while he was abusing her would’ve been the right choice.

          I really hope that’s not the moral of her storyline with Sal because that’s a terrible moral. Violence can be cyclical and victims can hurt each other without thinking as a result of abuse, but flat “violence begets violence” is both untrue and unhelpful. Violence is a tool. It’s one that had to be used carefully and smartly, but it is an important one. Case in point, I had an abusive friend who didn’t back off until I (unbeknownst to her, accidentally) punched her in the stomach. Sometimes violence DOES solve problems and considering Sal and Amber weren’t just fighting each other in that storyline, but people who were trying to break into victims houses and do god knows what to them for speaking up about Ryan, I’m really not going to be happy if that’s what we were meant to take away from that.

          You don’t need to feel bad for having an unpopular opinion and you definitely don’t need to stop posting here. I do strongly disagree with your points but that doesn’t make you bad or mean you need to stop posting here (and again, I apologize for being unnecessarily harsh).

        13. SillyGoose

          Yeah I think we need to make a clear distinction between “her fault” and “in connection with her”.
          Blaine’s, Rapist Bros &co’s fuckery takes this shape because they crossed path with AG and/or Amber, but it’s not on her. If they hadn’t, they would probably still be doing evil, it would just take another form.

          You can say “if she hadn’t been doing her AG thing, they wouldn’t be here” but in that case you can also say
          Maybe Joyce would have been found dead in a ditch after a gang rape.
          Maybe Sarah was nearby when this happened, and for good measure they also tortured and killed the Black girl who was getting ideas above her station. Or alternatively, losing her roommate would have sent her into a depressive spiral, she’d fail her exams, lose her stipend, and spend the rest of her life under-using her mighty brain for the crime of being young, gifted and Black.
          Maybe Danny would have been beat up the first time, and who knows that he wouldn’t have permanently been bullied into suicide over the next three years.
          Maybe then, with all that happening, Dorothy never becomes president of the USA and instead you get, 20 years down the line, Donald Trump Jr.
          And Ethan marries a good girl chosen by his mom.
          Also probably Blaine would have brought Amber under his thumb again, and she would live in a permanent state of abuse without recourse. Without anything to distract him, he would also be spending more time having his twisted fun at home and abusing Faz – though it’s difficult to be sympathetic with Faz, he’s still a child being abused.

          So yeah. Her “fault”… No.

        14. Regalli

          Escalating slightly less than the absolute worst case scenario:

          If nothing had changed without AG’s presence until Becky showed up, and AG hadn’t stepped in with Becky, Becky would be tortured into being straight. No doubt whatsoever, direct “but-for” there.

          Danny probably would have been beat up, and that was prompted by some shitbags calling him gay for showing emotions. Probably would not have helped him in his discovery of his own bisexuality and learning to be his own person independent of a relationship.

          Sarah and Joyce would ABSOLUTELY be hypervigilant looking for Ryan. Having AG around clearly helped Joyce at least a little in her PTSD. Ryan would definitely still be raping women, and very probably would be trying to track Joyce and Sarah down to retaliate against him, since there wouldn’t be a vigilante he could presume was keeping an eye on her. Also, Joyce would be completely traumatized when Becky shows up and is subsequently kidnapped away forever. Again, “Ryan committing rape” and “Becky gets kidnapped” are direct results of AG not being around. (Her harrying Toedad in the car chase was definitely a factor in the police being able to catch up to them.)

        15. Sirksome

          I have to disagree on this last one. If AG hadn’t shown up to that party I think Ryan would be in jail if not at least brought up on charges. There were multiple witnesses there including Billie and Dorothy to vouch for Joyce. There’s no reason to believe everyone at that party was a friend of Ryan or a big enough shit heel to not believe the girl who just glassed a guy for drugging her. Joyce could’ve gotten tested for the drugs that were still in her system. Ryan would’ve been screwed.

        16. thejeff

          It’s possible and that’s a thing that AG acknowledges as her fault and part of why she tried so hard to find him. OTOH, unlike everything else you’re complaining about, it’s got nothing to do with her violent tendencies.

        17. thejeff

          Becky was planning on escaping on her own and living under a bridge without any friends for fear of Ross finding her again and threatening them.
          Which might be a step up from being tortured into being straight.

          And frankly, she probably could have pulled it off. Ross is dumb as a stump.

        18. Regalli

          When the big beatdown of Blaine occurred, he’d taken Danny hostage to get her lured out. That’s 100% on Blaine.

          And actually, let’s pull back for a bit. Amber punched Blaine and got him kicked out of the dorm (prompting him to use Danny as a hostage) because he’d entered despite her putting him on the not allowed list. Who let him in? Dina and her parents. I hope no one’s saying everything that happened since then with Blaine was DINA’S fault, that’s patently ridiculous.

          Pull back a bit farther. Why does AG exist? According to AG and Amber, the holdup is their origin story. The holdup where, after years of abuse and a traumatic incident, Blaine goaded Amber until she dissociated and stabbed someone. Oh huh, Blaine did that, huh? And the years of abuse leading up to it? And hm, what did Blaine have done in response to that? Oh, he convinced everyone involved not to put Amber in therapy, but self-defense classes. Huh. Sure seems to me like therapy could have been helpful in providing a healthy outlet, whereas self-defense classes would only reinforce the ‘the problem is you’re weak’ rhetoric Blaine had been using on her.

          Amber’s mental illness does not exist in a vacuum. It’s clearly hugely influenced by the years of traumatic experiences inflicted on her by Blaine. If anyone’s reaping what they sow in this storyline, it’s Blaine for contributing every step of the way to the circumstances where AmbG exists and thinks violence is the best option for dealing with her anger issues. Besides, Blaine doesn’t just want revenge, he wants Amber out of school and properly cowed. He’s made it clear he doesn’t actually know about AG (at least, not consciously) and that THAT is at least as big a motivating factor as getting back at AG.

          Nothing could have convinced Ross not to kidnap Becky except Becky going along willingly to be coercively ‘made straight’, which. Look. The stifling nature of the box Ross and their religion had for women was already heavily implied to have contributed to Bonnie’s death, it probably would have been even worse for Becky. Without AG, Ross likely gets away before Sal or the police can catch up, Becky is further traumatized. Ross doesn’t even CARE about AG here, except as a tool or obstacle to his goal of getting Becky back. He doesn’t want vengeance, he just wants his propertydaughter.

          Ryan, as thejeff said, was a rapist she was trying to identify (after leaving him an opening where he could escape, but do we really think Ryan didn’t have a support network established or that this was his first time playing the ‘good pastor’s son, hey I’ll watch your drink’ game?) and then a rapist who was threatening to get into the dorm with a knife and harm, minimum, Dorothy and Joyce. He would still have been after Joyce if he got the chance, because she took a glass to his face before AG ever got there. He would still have been raping women if AmbG and Dorothy hadn’t found him and started sending up the alarm, because he clearly was doing so while he was offscreen.

          I’m pretty sure all the bros we’ve seen here were in the ‘let’s dox and threaten Ryan’s accusers’ fight scene. If they weren’t, they’re still actively saying ‘let’s get revenge for our rapist friend who went to a dorm with a knife and intent to seriously harm women.’ Fuck them.

          Will there be trauma as a result of this storyline, including to AmbG? Oh, absolutely. So much trauma. But this is like To Those Who’d Ground Me, where the laws of reality and physics are temporarily suspended in favor of superhero action, except inasmuch as they add tension to the superheroics, and the consequences will be hitting like a truck to a Ruth later. Does AmbG have an issue, generally, going crimefighting and looking for trouble? Absolutely as well! I want her to get into SO MUCH supportive, DID and trauma-supportive therapy. Would anyone here be in a better place right now if AmbG HADN’T fought any of these people in the first place? Not really. This isn’t actually Batman, where AG creates her own villains, she only got involved in these situations AFTER they’d escalated to hostage-taking and date rape. Let’s be real, Blaine was supervillain monologing in Amber’s dorm room on freshman family weekend and been a mob stooge for years, this isn’t actually that big a step for him.

        19. thejeff

          Batman isn’t really that either – or is only in sort of desconstructed aftermath of decades of comics making it weird that Gotham had so many psychos.

        20. Regalli

          Yeah, honestly it’s mostly been a modern take to make Batman Dark and Important, but by now it’s become part of the discussion with him so I use it anyway.

  40. Jonah Sanville

    panel three is scary as FUCK JESUS

    1. Needfuldoer

      Yeah, looks like there was a fight. He must have subdued Ross, if not finished him off.

  41. Mattyos

    Panel 5 Blaine: *nothing*

    Panel 6 Blaine: “Why do I hear boss music?”

    1. thejeff

      I’ve long wanted the superpower “ability to hear incidental music”.

      1. clif

        Careful what you wish for.

  42. SuperFroakie82

    Honestly, these guys feel a little TOO stupid and totally lacking in morality to be believable. Maybe I just haven’t met enough stupid and horrible people in my life.

    1. Libby

      The white kids, Taylor, Tyler, and Dawson, were all volunteers on Robin’s campaign before she talked with Leslie. Their prior appearances plus the fact they’re friends with Ryan may say something.

      1. abysswatcher1993

        Reality is stranger than fiction. There are people as evil as in cartoons, but we try to reject that because cartoons are absurd. Reality is absurd.

        1. Chris Phoenix

          Cerberus commented a few months ago that Saturday morning cartoon villains (in the 90’s?) were literally based personally on Donald Trump.

        2. Johnny Austin

          Hoggish Greedly

          Alternative future biff tannen

          Are there others?

        3. Regalli

          Not a Saturday morning cartoon villain, but the comics arc of Lex Luthor being president clearly had some Trump in him as much as some W. Bush. (Though it did adapt over to Justice League Unlimited in some form.)

        4. Zatar

          80’s era Lex before they made him thinner and gave him more personality of his own was also super clearly meant to be Trump.

    2. Hrodvitnir

      Setting aside the fact that this comic does indeed use comic logic at times, I am pretty sure that sometimes experiencing horrific violence can feel surreally unreal, because some people really are both bizarrely stupid and cartoonishly evil.

      (Honestly, trying to reconcile the level of horror real life people can and do inflict with the fact that each of those people are complex individuals that almost certainly have some good traits is very uncomfortable.)

    3. tim gueguen

      We live in a world where people phone themselves committing crimes with their phones, and then those videos end up on YouTube etc. Yes, people are that stupid in real life.

      1. tim gueguen

        That first phone should be film

  43. Needfuldoer

    Yesss

    But also “oh no”.

  44. BenRG

    *Plays Danny Elfman’s Batman theme on the hacked muzzak*

  45. abysswatcher1993

    My blood knight tendencies are speaking. I want those fucking rape apologists to have their fingers broken to splinters like in that song about a guy hunting down a sailor. I want their knees to be fractured by metal bats or a Harley Quinn jumping over their femurs. I want them to have their toes crushed by bricks. These guys lost their humanity and don’t deserve mercy except to survive to be judged by the law and spend decades in a cell until they become old paraplegic messes.

  46. Ryan the Cool

    It always boils down to that piece of shit Ryan, dunnit?

  47. Amelie Wikström

    Yes, yes, if you beat up the children who told on Ryan for raping that’ll make him innocent.

    1. Bagge

      That’s just science

      1. clif

        Which branch?

        1. SillyGoose

          Which would you like it to be?
          It can be arranged – for a fee!

          Dr Seuss, maybe

        2. Ryan the Cool

          Ryantology

    2. BenRG

      No, it will prove that you’re stronger and that, therefore, you have the right to do what you want to them, no matter what those silly laws say. Unfortunately, that seems to be the mindset most of these semi-organised rape frats seem to have.

  48. BenRG

    Blaine forgot the corollary to that rule: “Batman is never there when you expect him!”

    1. thejeff

      So if I always expect him, he won’t be able to stop me!

      1. BenRG

        No, he’ll just be in the place you never expect him to be, like Amber is demonstrating here. There is a statistically high chance of that being “About to drop on your head in a painful way”.

  49. Alanari

    Do those kids have no sense of self preservation? I mean, putting aside the fact that they are involved in kidnapping and possibly murder. The guy who hired them is literally covered in blood. And it’s not the blood of those they kidnapped, they are unharmed. I’d have questions. Questions like “does he murder his associates”.

    1. BenRG

      Nah, they’re Important People, remember? Daddy’s money and influence will always save them!

    2. BBCC

      Hostage securing first, questions later.

  50. Sombrero

    Stakes are really rising. We have now two characters badly damaged or dead (Mike & Ross), there are still almost two months in this storyline and the baddies may still have cards under their sleeve (is panel 3 a hint that Biff is involved?). It really looks like DoA Book 10 is like the end of something (DoA-as-we-knew-it at least).

    1. Sombrero

      Uh, I typed one “like” too much. But I like this strip, honest.

    2. SuperFroakie82

      Well, the next chapter is called “Is a Song Forever?” which from what I understand is a chapter in Roomies! about them graduating, and the second to last chapter, so I’d definitely agree that this is the end of something.

      1. King Daniel

        It was originally an epilogue to Roomies! during the whole gradual transition period into It’s Walky!, if I recall.

  51. Delicious Taffy

    So, like. Becky might be in the way/already there? If she shows up, is she gonna see her dad dead or just barely hanging on? Fuck Ross in general, but I can’t see her taking that sight especially well.

    1. BenRG

      I haven’t decided yet if she’ll find Ross dead or whether she’ll have a final conversation where she’ll risk bad karma by lying to him that she’s going home to be a good girl from now on and go home to find a nice boy to raise a family with before he dies. Either way will be yet another 50 gallon tank can of trauma to add to her already-overflowing bucket.

      1. SillyGoose

        That’s a very interesting and relevant interpretation of “my cup overflows” from the “The Lord is my shepherd” psalm, which, interestingly, is about death.
        #unauthorizedbiblestudies

  52. ValdVin

    I was calling this the “Before I Kill You” speech before Pixar even existed.

    If it weren’t such a solid storytelling device it wouldn’t still be alive.

  53. Rabisch

    And now the true war can begin! I wonder if Ross is still alive…

  54. hof1991

    It’s the part of the story where evil shows just how evil it is. Now the gloves can come off for the good guys. If any of the evil crew end up with serious injuries or even dead, they brought it on themselves and deserve whatever pain they are about to get. I’m not going to tv tropes for the name for this because I have to get something done today. But it’s definitely a trope to have the bad guys act out do the good guys are justified in any extreme response.

  55. FacelessDeviant

    Sweep the leg, Amazi-Girl/Amber. NO MERCY IN THIS DOJO!

  56. Jim

    I didn’t read all 170 comments on this page so I don’t know if someone already commented on it, but why is one person in this strip not tagged? One of the masked minions…

    1. Diane

      It’s the African dude, and he’s never been tagged. Not even in original appearance seen here. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/kick/

      1. thejeff

        Similarly, in yesterday’s strip the other blond mook standing next to him wasn’t tagged either. The three bros have names from their earlier appearances. These two don’t.

  57. poofdepoof

    I’m wondering, for Dumbing of Age the movie/TV show, would Zac Efron make a good Blaine?

    1. SillyGoose

      The only good Blaine is a dead Blaine.

  58. SimpleSinner

    as much as everyone hates toedad…. if he’s dead it’s gonna fuck up Becky.

    1. Bagge

      That piece of shit really has no right to take up that much mental bandwidth for her.

  59. pienapp1e

    ooooo- LOVE that ominout handprint on hi sface, and the creepy rage of AmaziGirl’s expression! (plus the ploofiness of her hair from being upside-down lol)

  60. Zatar

    Blaine is a incredibly toxic person who is a threat to everyone around him and also a nerd.

  61. Raptorofwar

    Oh look he jinxed it!

  62. Alan in DC

    OK, so whaddaya think? Asher to the rescue, just cuz Blaine pissed him off earlier?

    1. tim gueguen

      Probably not rescue in the usual sense, but sitting in the background someplace waiting for his chance to neutralise Blaine’s hold on him.

  63. Commander Clash

    I could so see Amazi-Girl tearing his arms off…thereby DISARMING him(rimshot)…and beating him senselessly with his own them.

  64. Mark

    Testing?

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