238

Over, finished
Posted on May 16, 2020 by David M Willis
The DUMBING OF AGE BOOK 9 KICKSTARTER has entered the plodding, tumbleweedy middle portion where essentially the needle doesn't move!  That's fine.  It's all part of the circle of life.  But at the ... end of the tunnel oh god too many metaphors ... we've got a pledge tier to add a MIKE MAGNET unlocking at $55k.  That'll probably be a while from now.  But here's a fancy graphic showing all that we've unlocked so far anyway!!!!

238 thoughts on “Over, finished”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    feeding time

    it’s fine if she only gouges out an eye, right

    (j/k)

    [maybe]

    1. Wack'd

      “Sorry about that, but it didn’t look like he’d be shutting up anytime soon, and I’ve got no time to wait. Oh, don’t worry about him, he’ll be up in a while. He might be permanently blind, though. Oh well, that should make it easier to get away with stuff.

      “Of course, being blind, he might develop a keen sense of hearing. That might not be good. You know, if you’d like I could do something to his ears. Have you got a lik-em-aid stick?

      “Oh, but then he’ll just fine tune his sensitivity to vibrations. Mmm…we’d have to do some work on his central nervous system. I’ll need some tweezers and shoelaces.

      “Pooh, but what if he becomes some kind of olfactory ninja? This is very difficult. I mean we can’t kill him–a kid needs a dad.”

      1. Dandi_Andi

        Was that JTHM or Squee? It’s been a while and I don’t remember clearly.

        1. Jon

          In an issue of JTHM – Nny wanted to talk to Squee, but his dad was in the room and just wouldn’t shut up and stop being horrible. (Man, and you thought Ballpeen was a bad father…)

    2. G97

      I’d pay good money to see Ball-Peen get impaled by a triceratops skull on display like in Fallen Kingdom. It’d certainly be more dignified than he deserves…

      1. Regalli

        Honestly I feel like the Tywin Lannister death is more dignified than he deserves.

        And Blaine DEFINITELY doesn’t shit gold.

    3. Stephen Bierce

      Boom boom acka lacka lacka boom / Boom boom acka lacka boom boom…

      1. MnstrPoppa

        Open the door,
        Get on the floor

        1. Johnny Austin

          Ballpeen gets mauled by a dinasaur

    4. NinjaNick

      I want Dina to press his eyeballs inside and Joyce to do all the nut crunching, too.

  2. Wack'd

    “You saved me. I owe you my life.”
    “Repay me by accepting feathered dinosaurs into your heart.”

    1. inqntrol

      And his last words were: Clever girl

      1. inqntrol

        The heck, I didn’t mean to reply to your comment Wack’d, oops

  3. BassBone

    The cleverest girl.

  4. Zag

    Has it been used before? Yes

    Am I gonna say it anyway? Yes

    Clever girl…

    1. StClair

      Honestly, I’m surprised Ana wasn’t first with it.

    2. Bagge

      Clever girl indeed!

      1. ktbear

        Seem to recall her being a clever girl didn’t help Dina over come Ross?

        1. Bagge

          That was before she got that raptor claw

        2. Needfuldoer

          All she has to do is trip him up enough to give Amazi-ber, Joyce, and Walky an opportunity to attack. Then they just have to keep him occupied until the cavalry arrives.

          If Blaine thinks crooked cops will save him, he’s forgetting he’s wearing a mask.

        3. William A Egbert

          “Hey, I’m Blaine O’Malley! I personally handed each of you five hundred bucks just this morning!”

          “Don’t be silly; O’Malley doesn’t wear a mask! Now get in the car!”

  5. BBCC

    Ohhhh they forgot about Dina. Thaaaaat’s never a good idea.

    Y’all done messed up, Blaine.

    1. Reltzik

      TBF, Blaine didn’t forget about her. He didn’t even know she was there in the first place.

      1. Opus the Poet

        Nobody sees Dina unless she wants you to see her. It’s almost like magic.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          Maybe she’s a being that lives outside the construct of time, like Daran on Flaky Pastry… seems like a fitting comparison, but maybe I’m just fanboying over my new webcomic binge, lol.

  6. Miri

    Is Dina a head taller than Walky or leaping at Blaine?

    I think she’s about his height, and there seem to be movement lines so I’m going with leaping?

    1. danielle

      i think shes a little taller than walky? but also leaping at blaine

      1. sharktrs

        Wait, she’s taller than Walky?

        For that she’d have to be, like, 5’8, and that just doesn’t seem right

    2. Bagge

      She has the high ground

      1. Strangeshapes

        Moral and otherwise

    3. Segnosaur

      It could also be that walky isn’t standing up straight. (Blaine may be holding him so his legs are bent a little, to give more leverage.)

    4. Needfuldoer

      She’s going for the jugular.

  7. HeinousActsZX

    They remember.

  8. Too Old To Be Cool

    Never, EVER piss off a raptor.

  9. Hex Hornet

    “It’s always the quiet ones!”
    -Winston Zeddemore

  10. abacuswizard

    aw yuss it’s raptor time

  11. Stephen Bierce

    Remind her about those ribs.

    1. Undrave

      Not just that, he’s taken a lot of lumps in his scuffle with Ross, and I bet he dislocated his shoulder when he caught himself when falling from the staircase. The guy’s in no shape to win any fight.

  12. Ghastly

    Blaine started the day preparing for vigilante superheroics, little did he know this university is multi-genre

    1. Thanatos

      This made me laugh. Bravo!

  13. Cmasta1992

    This…working would be a little too convenient. I’m not letting my guard down yet.

    1. King Daniel

      Yeah. I want this to work, but I still remember what happened the last time Dina attacked someone larger than herself in defense of Becky.

      Like I said, hoping this works out well though. We are now in the third act of this storyline, per Willis.

      1. Some1

        Someone needs to sit Dina down and tell her “you weigh like 110 lbs, please stop trying to fight men way out of your weight class.”

        1. Zach

          Amber said a MURDER was happening, perhaps Dina brought a 6 inch retractable claw to the table.

        2. Some1

          Dina just straight up shanks Blaine.

          Dina: Crap I missed and hit Walky by mistake!

        3. Geneseepaws

          Dina: I am deliberate about my movements. I calculated my attack to account for Any sudden movements You might have made.
          Faz: here, Dad, I calculated the Five most optimal ways she might use to successfully attack you. I made a graph!

        4. Reltzik

          The claw thing WAS set up at her birthday party. But I think it’s more likely that she grabbed some sort of meat-chopping blade from the kitchen counter.

          Cleaver girl.

        5. clif

          Ooooo!

        6. Chris

          Dina weighs three Atrociraptors, which puts her right around 100 pounds.

      2. Foxhack

        She doesn’t need to overpower him. All she needs to do is distract him, make him swing at her so Walky is safe, and then Amber or AG can try to disable Blaine, assuming Faz doesn’t pull something off on his own.

      3. Bicycle Bill

        She was going up against a (reasonably) fit opponent who clearly was her physical superior, which is why he was able to toss her about.  But at that time I thought her intention was more-or-less a distraction to allow Becky to clear the area — and it would have worked, too, if Toedad hadn’t been able to immediately spot that flaming beacon that is Becky’s hair and resume the pursuit.

        This time she is doing what raptors and predators do best — increasing the odds of success by targeting the old, the weak, and the infirm rather than going one-on-one with the alpha animal of the herd.  It just so happens that this time the alpha animal *IS* the weak and the infirm one.

        1. King Daniel

          Per Dina’s attempted apology to Becky later in the chapter, she was actually trying to take him down, not just delay him.

        2. Osaru Sensei

          Lone Ranger Raptor.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Walky can be Taunt-o.

        4. thejeff

          But it might have turned out worse for Dina if Ross hadn’t spotted Becky’s hair, since she was down and that distracted him from her.

    2. timemonkey

      Blaine is already pretty messed up, all Dina needs to do is make an opening and they can easily take him.

      1. King Daniel

        We still have over five weeks’ worth of strips in this storyline, so I wouldn’t count out one last nasty surprise or two.

        1. Opus the Poet

          So it takes five weeks for Blaine to die horribly with guts and blood everywhere.

          I can live with that. But Blaine won’t, I hope.

        2. Ron again

          This also what I’m afraid of. Dina hasn’t taken Faz into account I believe, so let’s see what tomorrow brings. Hope for the best, expect your idea of “the worst” to be an under-estimation and let’s get it on.

        3. Bicycle Bill

          When we saw Blaine, Walky, and Faz in yesterday’s strip Blaine was holding Walky in front of him, looking over Walky’s right shoulder, and Faz was to the left of them. apparently preoccupied with whatever it is he is doing with Amazi-Girl’s cape, and standing slightly in front of Walky.

          Now look at today’s comic and the panel in which we now see Dina.  Blaine’s head appears to be turned slightly to the right in order to see Dina, who is to his right and behind him (5 o’clock position, if you’d like).  And I’m assuming that little smug-assed Faz is still where he was, still occupied with Amazi-Girl’s cape and whatever he is doing to it with the scissors.  I think it’s safe to assume that if when Dina strikes, Faz is in no position to do anything about it, and once attention has shifted to the action between Dina and Ball-peen, Amber will jump to pull Walky clear and then join in the struggle, making it two-to-one against Blaine, while Faz finds himself with his hands full trying to deal with an enraged Joyce.

        4. timemonkey

          The wrap up for the storyline will likely take quite a while so the action is likely almost over.

  14. sharktrs

    we all know by now, but I’mma say it again

    Blaine is a fucking moron

    1. Regalli

      The absolute DUMBEST of dumbasses.

      1. inqntrol

        World champion at dumbassesery.

  15. BigDogLittleCat

    It has to be said: Clever girl.

    I had been disappointed that we hadn’t gotten a Dina the Raptor payoff. Blaine will have so much fun in prison explaining that he was beaten, not merely by a girl, but by a tiny girl who thinks she’s a dinosaur. But at least he’ll have the tooth marks to prove it.

  16. DuckDuckMoose

    CLEVEREST GIRL

  17. Yhelta

    He bout to have his jugular bit…

  18. Maddieface

    Never presume a woman does not have raptors at her disposal.

    1. Regalli

      Dumbing of Age Good Ending: Everyone graduates. Dorothy becomes president, Sarah’s her Attorney General, Joyce becomes a pilot, Walky, Amber, and Ethan collaborate on a successful superhero series, Dina and Becky publish a Spinosaurus-level paper recontextualizing our understanding of dinosaurs, Sal goes into music again, and everyone gets shitloads of therapy.

      Bad Ending: Everyone takes a leave of absence because college has been a neverending cavalcade of trauma.

      True Ending: They all open, and subsequently work in, a toy store.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Until soggies rule.

        1. King Daniel

          They may rule.

        2. clif

          Pedant!

          (Pedant is code for “we all know you’re right, but maybe we can get you to feel bad about it.”)

        3. Regalli

          He, he, he.

        4. Delicious Taffy

          ‘Til sea swallows all?

  19. Some1

    Blaine steps out of the way and Dina crashes through a window.

  20. Raen

    So I guess this is an accidental confession he lied before?

    1. Ron again

      Either that or this is an attempt at intimidation (he rolled a one on that one)

    2. Johnny Austin

      No, he still doesn’t know amazigirl’s identity.
      And we are still missing the scene post Mike’s fall…

    3. clif

      Since Amazigirl couldn’t possibly be Amber, he doesn’t have to be consistent in his lies. He has no more idea if Mike is alive than we do.

      Less actually.

  21. Circeus

    I’m sure we can fit a few more Jurassic Park memes

    1. fire_daws

      Blaine: After careful consideration I’ve decided not to endorse this kidnapping.
      Towdad: …
      Faz: Faz agrees

    2. UniqueSnowflake2

      They were so preoccupied with whether or not they *could* fit more Jurassic Park memes that they didn’t stop to think if they *should*.

      1. Strangeshapes

        Memes … memes find a way.

    3. clif

      Jurassic Park?

      You killed my father. Prepare to die!

      1. clif

        Ack! Angle brackets don’t work.

        You killed my (girlfriend’s) father. Prepare to die!

  22. Rikunda

    I just got the strangest boner.

    1. Johnny Austin

      Is it rock hard?

      It might be a fossil.

  23. Catullus

    Actually, Amber, it looks to me like this attack is coming from the side :b

    1. Johnny Austin

      Peen has his head turned sideways.
      She is behind him.
      Check walky’s hair shape to orientate direction.

  24. Icalasari

    Becky suddenly is very aroused and is not sure why

  25. HMH

    I’m scared for Dina but at the same time I am genuinely jealous of her rogue skills and cannot in good conscience counsel her in the common sense she’d need to stop savagely mauling evil men.

  26. JessWitt

    And Dina’s cloaking device pays off twice within hours. Amazing.

  27. mrnoidea

    And then Yakety Sax plays while Blaine gets ripped to shreds.

    1. Opus the Poet

      For 5 weeks IRL, about 30 seconds DoA time

  28. zellgato

    I am actually more scared about Joyce there. The facial expression–then the occulsion of said facial expression.
    I think.. She’s decided she’s just done with it all

    1. Foxhack

      Look at the way she’s standing. Her left shoulder is facing Blaine.

      That’s not a “done with it all” stance, that’s a “I’m probably gonna have to hurt someone” stance.

    2. Ensiform

      What on earth? Why are so many readers of this comic so very bad at interpreting visual story?

      1. clif

        I don’t know.

      2. Delicious Taffy

        Seriously. Like, there was this one time some absolute bozo mistook a weapon for a communication device.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Amber wielded that phone with skill, though.

        2. clif

          In fairness, it was a Sharp phone.

        3. King Daniel

          I thought it was a kniPhone…

        4. He Who Abides

          It was only a weapon in the theatrical release, but noooooooo, Spielberg couldn’t leave well enough alone.

        5. clif

          You should have seen 2001 before they messed up the ending.

      3. Kali

        I mean, I’ve seen recently in the comments people decrying Joyce for being excited to find scissors, and maybe she should look for knives, when that was two panels immediately after (Joyce remarking that she’ll look for knives)

  29. Bicycle Bill

    Amber bested Blaine once in the dorm, and if Danny hadn’t pulled Amber off of him back at the AAA/McDonald’s parking lot rematch, Blaine would probably be dead already.  Telling her to ‘gimme your best shot’ isn’t the wisest move he could make at this point.

  30. Sirksome

    How exactly was he planning on getting out of this while still covered in the blood of the guy he killed? With several other witnesses besides AG to testify against him? I give one thing to Blaine, he is an optimist.

  31. Kensou

    I, for one, am glad that Phil Tippet failed in his job tonight.

  32. bibulb

    Again :
    “we don’t deserve Dina, but we’re sure as hell not gonna go back to the manager to tell them we accidentally got a bargain we shouldn’t have.”

  33. Yenklette

    Anyone else notice that Blaine just called Mike dead?

    1. Sirksome

      He’s lying. The whole “he killed Mike” thing has been a weak bluff he’s been flipflopping on himself from the start.

      1. Yenklette

        His lie was that Mike was in a coma. That was what Amber was worried he was lying about.

        1. King Daniel

          If Mike is in a coma and under threat of death should things go haywire, after all, that’s power he has over the hostages. If Mike’s dead, he doesn’t have that sword of Damocles to hang over them.

        2. Sirksome

          We’ve seen what happened to Mike. He informed AG about the corrupt cops before passing out. She knows herself that Blaines’s lying about what happened. There was a whole day Mike’s been missing where Walky his roommate would’ve been informed he’d died. Ethan’s went to check on him right now. Unless Blaine has some guy stationed at the hospital feeding him regular updates about Mike’s condition he’s lying about him being dead.

        3. King Daniel

          Walky wouldn’t have been informed that Mike was dead if they didn’t know who Mike was – Amazi-Girl explicitly removed any way to identify Mike via phone/wallet before she left the scene.

          Blaine could have been lying about Mike being at the hospital at all.

        4. Sirksome

          There is a possibility Mike is dead. *even though I don’t think he is* but there is no way Blaine knows about it and not AG. None of the info ads up. If Mike died that night before an ambulance showed up then why take his wallet and phone? Do his parent’s not matter in knowing their son died? A dead man doesn’t need protection from corrupt cops or the mafia.

          Did he die in the moments after AG took his stuff but before the ambulance showed up and AG just left him passed out on the street without making sure he was taken to the hospital? He said not to call the cops so she what? …Just left him there? Did Blaine stick around to make sure he died after get hurt so bad he’s struggling to breath?

          If he died at the hospital, how does Blaine know that? Amber took Mike’s ID so the hospital doesn’t have any information to give if he sent someone to check. How does he even know what hospital Mike was taken to for that matter? Is he well connected enough to have a someone at the hospital to monitor/kill Mike but still need to rely on college frat boys with grudges as his goons?

          Also if he didn’t go to the hospital where the hell is Ethan going? Why didn’t AG at anytime during this hostage situation not just tell Ethan his friend was dead? How does Blaine know he’s dead but not AG?

          Like it gives me a headache trying to justify it!

        5. NelC

          If Blaine had proper hoods at the hospital, why wouldn’t he have them at the house, instead a bunch of high school bullies?

      2. Ensiform

        No, he was lying before. Now it seems like the truth has slipped out.

        1. NelC

          A bullshitter bullshits to the end. He doesn’t know or care what the truth is, just what he might say to swing a favourable outcome.

    2. Needfuldoer

      That’s consistent with Blaine’s “your little friend’s life is at my mercy” narrative, if he means it as “I’m placing the call to kill him once I’m through with you”.

  34. Dr T

    Oh, I think we have plenty more memes to utilize.

    Also, Blaine is a moron. Joyce knows Faz, so extrapolating that the masked murderer being his stepfather is an easy one even without Amber.

  35. timemonkey

    The good news is we’re almost out of potential plot twists to extend this situation soon we’ll be back to our regular comic about people being stupid, becoming disillusioned by reality and casual parental emotional abuse.

    1. Some1

      People keep saying things will go back to normal once this is over, but they fail to realize that Blaine and Ross being removed from the picture will give the chance for even worse people to enter the fray. Granted I’m not sure why anyone more competent than Blaine would want to go after a bunch of college kids…

      1. ElectricBlue

        I feel like the repercussions of this storyline will be a big enough focus afterwards that we won’t necessarily need any new villains for a while. (The main thing I can think of is that Joyce and Becky will be up against their church community, mainly Joyce’s mom, who could be the main antagonist of the next storyline.)
        But if we’re gonna follow up Blaine with another supervillain-ish antagonist, I vote for the return of Sydney Yus as a palate-cleanser of good ol’ fashioned cartoonish (and inept) evildoing.

        1. Regalli

          Yeah, I think it’s going to be a while before we bring in the next set of Massive Parental Supervillains after this all shakes out (with Carol and the congregation being part of this “shaking out”.) Linda’s probably capable of making people’s lives massively hellish if she puts her mind to it, with the Dean connection, and Sir and Billingsdad are both still lurking in the background, among others, but it seems likely there will be some stakes deescalation for a bit before moving onto, say, Ruth’s massively abusive douchebag guardian issues. (I also kind of want to see Dargon Chesterfield again. I give zero shits about Jason, but Dargon is just so very… I mean, his name is DARGON CHESTERFIELD and he’s a “cruel and powerful captain of industry” who’s also British and wears an eyepatch. No matter how terrible he is, he comes pre-cartoonishly supervillained.)

          Of course, since one of our potential lower-stakes villains is MARY, I doubt we’re going to be totally free of cartoonish antics, y’know?

    2. sharktrs

      I just want to see what’s going on between Joe and Joyce dammit

    3. clif

      Out of potential plot twists? Snerk! I suspect you haven’t been reading Willis comics all that long.

      1. timemonkey

        Since Early Shortpacked, and I’ve read the first two as well.

        Dumbing of Age being more grounded in reality limits the amount of randomness that can happen. Blaine’s out of potential allies to show up and help and the only other characters left to make an appearance would end things faster.

        1. clif

          Jason’s father, Sydney, Mary, Asher’s godfather, Danny trying to do the right thing?

          But seriously, I can think of half a dozen plot twists with just the people on hand and Willis continually surprises me. The least likely is that Blaine hurts Dina just as Becky appears on the scene.

          But yeah, reading since early Shortpacked should certainly qualify you to know better.
          😛
          🙂

        2. Sombrero

          I’m afraid “our regular comic” is not going back. 2020 has taken it with no intention to return it. “Grounded in reality” it’s not what it used to be. Uh, this sounds a little nihilistic. Maybe I should go out more. Oh, wait!

  36. ADLegend21

    FUCK EM UP DINA, FUCK EM UP!!! [Clap Clap]

  37. Geneseepaws

    Lame: Who would have thought that such a cute little girl could destroy my beautiful wickedness?
    Dina: I’m nineteen, and I’m not little. I’m space-efficient.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      That sounds better than the diminutive girl I used to date who called herself “fun-sized”.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        You dated the green M&M? Nice.

    2. Commander Clash

      It’s the small, cute ones you have to watch out for.

      1. clif

        Mmmmm.

      2. Hmrc4evr

        Now I want to see Dina dressed as Sailor Mercury.

  38. PB

    Oh brother, Blaine’s something,
    He puts me in a spin!
    He’s just not comprehending
    The position that he’s in

    It’s over, he’s finished
    He hasn’t got a prayer!
    Cuz his daughter’s Miss Amazo
    And her dinosaur… is standing… right there!

  39. Meagan

    I am concerned for Walky. I know he has plot armor, but the part of my brain that thinks about this logically is worried that he will get hurt in the fray.

  40. SuperFroakie82

    I dunno that looks like the side to me

    1. clif

      He turns to the side to look (as shown by Walky’s head) and discovers Dina behind him.

      1. SuperFroakie82

        But if we look at the way he’s holding Walky in the previous strip, then wouldn’t Walky’s hair not even be in the panel? and also shouldn’t we be seeing his shoulder?

  41. Reltzik

    Alt-text: No. We still have to have someone flee to the car, close the door, breathe a huge sigh of relief… and then turn to discover that Dina’s already in the car.

    1. Bagge

      and we haven’t covered the DIna escape scene yet. Justs a single shot to cut barbed wire, and the looming question just where Dina is now.

      1. JBento

        “She can’t open doors, can she?”

        *Dina’s hand slowly pulls down a door handle*

  42. Bagge

    aaaaaaaand there he took his eyes off Joyce.

    Big mistake.

    1. nobilis

      Dina roars. Blaine turns to her, still holding Walky.
      Then he’s hit on the head by Sarah’s bat, and in the stomach by Joyce’s kick.
      Ruth arrives too late for femur collecting.

      1. Johnny Austin

        I have a fossilized human rib I found on the beach that says it’s never too late for femur collecting…

        I really should get that down to the university…

        Who do I go see? Anthropologists?

        I checked against an anatomy textbook,
        I’m pretty certain its human.
        There are no other primates in Australia.
        And I found it in adelaide, AKA The Murder Capital of Australia

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Lyre birds are primates. It may be from one of them.

        2. clif

          It’s well established that Blaine is a Lyre and one look should establish that he is an odd bird.

        3. JBento

          He’s not only a Lyre, he also keeps harping on all the lies. You know, hitting the same key.

    2. JBento

      You thought it was the RAport Pack Tactics, but it turns out it was the Kansas City Shuffle: the threat’s coming from where you were expecting in the first place.

  43. SuperFroakie82

    Also, I still haven’t gone back and read everything yet, so I didn’t really expect Dina to be so… attack raptor-y. I guess I should have.

    1. Deanatay

      She’s done it before…

      1. SuperFroakie82

        Yeah, I saw someone else link that, and also saw that everyone else was already expecting her to attack, so that’s why I mentioned I haven’t read everything yet. I just didn’t expect it going off of my limited experience with the character so far.

  44. Owlmirror

    Who’s going to rat you [Blaine] out? Maybe the six people (whom you kidnapped; multiple felonies) who saw you start hitting Ross with a hammer before they escaped?

    (agrees that Blaine is a moron)

    Headcanon: At some point in the recent past, Dina and Amber had a Jurassic Park marathon, where Dina carefully pointed out all the mistakes/liberties taken (with the latest references) (“First of all, it should really be called Cretaceous Park . . .”), while also carefully intoning all the best lines when they reached those points.

    1. Needfuldoer

      A Rifftrax-esque MP3 of voice actors playing this out would be amazing.

    2. segnosaur

      He may be thinking that the mask is hiding his identity. (I can’t remember if anyone ever called him Blaine in front of the kidnap victims, or if he identified Amber as his daughter.) Yeah I know its not very realistic, but its the comic book secret identity trope.

      Of course between the presence of Faz (that several people there know), Blaine’s connection to the murder victim, probable phone records, and possible henchmen testifying against him, even if people didn’t know “This is Blaine” the cops would still be able to figure out it was him.

  45. Ophidiophile

    Best roomie ever.

    1. clif

      Danny or Joe?

  46. Bagge

    I find it very important that amber doesn’t pull a “only I am allowed to fight you” or “I have to finish this myself” or some crap like that. She knows what DIna is capable of, so she is happy to play distraction.

    Blaine is going down.

  47. abysswatcher1993

    The cleverest girl ever. Dina is the wildcard that turned the tables, and this time the house lost. She deserves all the dinosaurs the Republican party can buy. Maybe by stealing money destined to ICE and building the wall. No one needs those things, and Dina needs a lot of dinosaurs.

  48. Juanoku

    Magic teleport go!
    Wait why didn’t Joyce do it too

    1. clif

      No lizard on her head.

    2. Strangeshapes

      It’s not over yet.

  49. Bickendan

    Dinanonychus

  50. DaveM

    Dammit (checks tags) Amber! Dina does 2.5x damage on a successful sneak attack and you have to go and ruin it for her!

    Also has anyone else realised that Blaines refusal to accept that Amazigirl is Amber works against his “plan”? I mean even if he does end up getting arrested, he could work a plea bargain and get the charges reduced by revealing Amazigirls secret identity. Amber gets outed (so to speak), and probably kicked out of college. Which was Blaines plan from the start so he “wins”.

    1. Segnosaur

      Would Amber’s secret identity be worth it to the police to get charges dropped? Yes technically she is a vigilante (and I am sure at least some of what she did is a crime), but she did target criminals. And blaine is a murderer/kidnapper. His crimes are so much worse. He could say “reduce the sentence and I will reveal Amazigirl’s identity and the cops would say “it’s not worth it”.

      1. ktbear

        But would THESE cops say its not worth it though?

      2. Rotunda

        Reducing charges is up to prosecutors, not the police.

      3. Regalli

        If Blaine wants a reduced sentence his better bet is “hey, what do you want to know about the Korean mob?”

        Which is why I think he’s gonna die before he can talk.

      4. Agemegos

        Yeah, technically Amazi-Girl is a vigilante, and has committed assault and battery. But did any of her victims file a complaint? Is there any evidence of any of her crimes?

        Far most likely the DA won’t be able to do anything with the information that “Amber O’Malley is Amazi-Girl”. It’s not clear that there are any reported crimes to charge her with, it would be very hard to prove that Amber is the only person who could have been wearing the Amazi-costume during any Amazi-crimes that might have been reported, and as for Blaines testimony, his malice against her is so extreme and so blatant that it no judge or jury will accept his testimony against her.

  51. Brasca1

    And here I thought it would be Ruth ready to demonstrate that femur removal she’s always threatening people with.

  52. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

    Headcannon: Dina is a full shapeshifter but limits herself to changing her teeth into raptor teeth to keep it under wraps because she’s correctly deduced that revealing the full extent of her abilities would make things awkward for her friends

    1. King Daniel

      Maybe she’s a miniature raptor piloting a human suit. The “eyes” in her hat and hoodie are actually windows for the raptor to look out!

    2. Needfuldoer

      That’s really why she got rid of her bunk bed; all she needs is a bucket to sleep in every sixteen hours!

  53. James

    I am very concerned about the fact that Faz is holding scissors, those could do damage in the hands of an idiot.

  54. NinjaNick

    Go, Dina! Murder that loser. Or at least kick him in the balls.

  55. Mark

    Great, instead of the police being called when they should have been we’ll rely on yet another teenager to save the day.

    I hope Dina isn’t affected by too many issues if she has to commit an act of violence

    1. King Daniel

      The police have been called. Amber literally says in the first panel that they’ll be here any second.

      1. BarerMender

        Established: he’s wearing a cup.

      2. Mark

        Fair enough, I got that wrong

    2. Segnosaur

      The police were already called (probably as soon as they had a chance) they just haven’t arrived yet.

      And Dina has already committed acts of violence… Against Ross when he brought a gun to the university the first time, and earlier that evening evening when Amazigirl gave Sarah a bat and gave Dina “prey”.

      1. Mark

        Yeah see thats not good, that kind of thing changes you.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          The fuck does that even mean?

        2. Regalli

          Violence can be traumatic, whether you’re a victim, witness, or commit it. Amber’s entire character arc is exploring that fact, among others.

          But the trauma ship’s already sailed here, because they were fucking kidnapped and Dina watched her girlfriend’s (admittedly terrible) father take a lethal blow. Dina defending herself and her friends long enough for the police to actually arrive? Gonna be WAY less traumatic than, say, Amber stabbing Ryan. Dina’s also committed all her acts of violence in clear self-defense and been about as minimal with the force used as she realistically can, and the first kidnapping was pretty damn traumatic itself. (Biting’s risky, but it’s what she has as someone small and with no experience in martial arts the way Amber does, up against relatively fit grown adults.) Her attacking people is gonna be way less on her mind than the fact that those people kidnapped her friends first and wanted to do way worse.

        3. thejeff

          Besides, it’s what a raptor would do and not think twice about.

  56. Rognik

    Pretty sure we haven’t done the ripples in the glass of water meme. Can’t remember if “Clever girl” has been used or not. But that all I can think of.

    1. sultryglebe

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/clever/

    2. Dr. T

      Ross did the “clever girl” meme when he showed up to kidnap Becky the first time. It even wound up being one of the featured ones on the back of that book.

    3. Shell

      Toward says it just before Dina attacks him in the woods during his attempt to kidnap Becky.

  57. BenRG

    Don’t bite him, Dina. You don’t know where he’s been.

  58. foducool

    ahah this is the best jurassic park reference ever

  59. Sporky

    I’ve still never seen Jurassic Park

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Are we admitting things? Is that what we’re doing?

      I’ve never seen Robocop, Ghostbusters, or The Terminator.

      1. Kensou

        Well, just going by the top ten of the AFI’s top 100 list, I haven’t seen Raging Bull, Singin’ in the Rain, Gone With the Wind or Vertigo. It’d take up a lot of space if I kept going down the list.

  60. ktbear

    So, Ambers dead friend would be…Mike?

  61. ValdVin

    Is this story arc the thing which finally pushes me into seeing Jurassic Park?

    1. Mark

      You really should, the special effects still hold up today (arguably better than a lot of special effects today) and movie shows just how good Spielberg is

      1. ValdVin

        I know some of the memes and the beats, but I guess it’s gonna be new enough to me so I can assess it for its own merits.

        PS I was quite the straggler to seeing Star Wars, too.

  62. Keulen

    Re: Alt text, I’m pretty sure there are still plenty more Jurassic Park memes to use. For example, nobody has had a chance to say “that is one big pile of shit” yet.

  63. Dracke

    ill give you the JP reference, any JP reference makes me happy

  64. Treita

    I’m fairly concerned about her being infected by f***face’s blood when she bites his cheek off.

    1. RedCat

      But fuckface is in Sal’s and Malaya’s room.

      1. He Who Abides

        Yes, but Treita said “f***face”. Totally different being.

        1. Sombrero

          The one in Sal’s and Malaya’s room is Fuckface. There’s a capital difference between them.

    2. Treita

      Y’all make me so happy ^_^

  65. Eldritchy

    Bad Dad: Exists
    Dina: Raptor Attack!

  66. EvilMidnightLurker

    Lunar Exalted, Seven Raptors Clever. She will drink his heart’s blood tonight.

    1. Snail

      Now I’m thinking about what you would use Blaine’s form for…

      1. EvilMidnightLurker

        Infiltrating the mob?

  67. Vulcanodon

    Frying pan, please, oh please, frying pan!

  68. Avstron

    Please please please let Dina be the hero of the day ?

  69. Rabisch

    Blaine will be the first Velociraptor’s victim in 71 million years. I hope he survives, because I think it would be a too big honor for him.

    1. Makkabee

      But won’t it be an even bigger honor to be the first velociraptor fatality?

      Also, remember that toedad got the velociraptor attack in the woods. “Clever girl.” So Blaine needs to be killed to have a truly unique honor. So, purely for his own sake, he needs to die.

  70. Kromblite

    Wait, that IS from the sides.

    1. Makkabee

      Misdirection.

    2. 3oranges

      I like to imagine it’s less that she was literally describing what was happening, and more that she was quoting Jurassic Park because she knew Dina would know exactly what to do when she heard it.

    3. Alaric

      Is it? It looks to me like Blaine’s turning his head, just in time to see Dina attacking from behind.

  71. Commander Clash

    ~Aussie accent~ “Clever girl…”

  72. Commander Clash

    I hate to play devil’s advocate on this but, maybe Blaine is supposed to check periodically with the man at the hospital and if he doesn’t, kill Mike.
    Not saying Blaine did that, but it’s the intelligent move.

    1. Bagge

      Yeah, that’s the problem right there. Blaine is really not known for making intelligent moves.

      (also, a hostage is only good for a threat. actually delivering on the threat does nothing to increase Blaine’s leverage… and anyway, he’s most likely lying about the man at the hospital anyway)

    2. Needfuldoer

      I don’t think he’s clever enough to set up a dead man’s switch like that, but he thinks he’s clever enough to pull of a “I’ll finish him off when I’m through with you” empty threat.

      1. Regalli

        Yeah, plus I’m pretty sure Blaine’s ‘plan’ probably has less to do with ‘someone’s already there, waiting for the moment’ and more ‘call an actual mob hitman about the fact that Mike knows Blaine’s a money launderer’. Seems way more likely to get the results he wants, and he does actually want Mike dead.

        1. Regalli

          Oh, I’m also assuming here that the mob hitman who’d be doing this is doing it solely in that ‘Blaine convinces them Mike is a threat and needs erasing, mob hitman erases him IMMEDIATELY because if he’s worth killing, he’s worth killing right the fuck now and solely because he Knows Too Much.’ No paying involved. No roping hitmen in on this elaborate hostage threat, because god no. PURELY mob self-interest involved.

    3. Agemegos

      I just don’t believe that anyone is going to kill anyone on Blaine’s say-so. He is not a mob boss; he’s not even a full member. Blaine might know a contract killer, but it’s unlikely he can afford to pay one.

    4. Nah

      To be fair, what lacky would agree to that? If Blaine never calls, odds are he’s taken out and can’t pay them the cash money to kill Mike. Killing someone is waaaaaay too big a step to do on faith and I don’t see Blaine as the type to pay up front.

    5. Sombrero

      In Panel 3 Blaine’s given away his leverage.

  73. DarkoNeko

    HA.

    1. clif

      No, it turned out to be Fax.

      1. clif

        Faz. Not HA.

  74. L!ghtn!ng

    YAAAAAAAAAAS! I noticed Dina’s raptor eyes yesterday and was hoping for something like this.

  75. JA

    Clever girl…

  76. Hmrc4evr

    There needs to be a DoA Patreon tier where there’s a motion comic option

  77. Commander Clash

    “Blaine, this is going to end one of two ways. You’re either going to be tried by twelve or carried by six. And I can tell you, in both you’ll be fiund guilty in the courts of justice. Also, if our friend is dead then we don’t have to worry. Faz, we’re sorry, but you’re about to lose your father.”

    1. Needfuldoer

      “STEP-fa-AAUGH”
      – Blaine, immediately after that.

      He won’t deserve the dancing pallbearers, either.

  78. ValdVin

    The extreme close-ups here are boffo.

  79. bibulb

    Prediction :

    Sal’s TOTALLY gonna stab him in the hand as a finishing move.

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