173

Read
Posted on May 22, 2018 by David M Willis

173 thoughts on “Read”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “cheez, you’re like reading a billboard”

    1. Ana Chronistic

      then Mike takes off his hoodie, and Ethan thirsts so hard his braces wire snaps

      1. Crusading Barista

        Oh, goodness.
        (Insert a like button)

        1. WikiDreamer

          I second the need for a like button. That’s a great visual.

        2. Ainara

          It’s the fact that it actually happened IRL that makes it so great.

          (It was over Michael B Jordan)

      2. neeks

        captainamericaiunderstoodthatreference.gif

      3. Kinoko

        This needs to be explained because anyone who doesn’t know the reference is missing out!

        http://nymag.com/selectall/2018/03/girl-breaks-retainer-from-michael-b-jordan-in-black-panther.html

  2. Schpoonman

    Well, at least he’s not glaring at everyone yet?

    1. Arawn

      It hurts worse when they’re not expecting it.

      1. GoblinScribe

        Reminder that Mike has personally attested that he is not good at lying. I wouldn’t be surprised if that turns out to be significant. In other words, either he’s being genuine here, or something happens in this flashback to show why he doesn’t like to lie about his intentions anymore.

        1. Abbefaria

          Maybe reading too much into the bag lines under his eyes but wondering if their connected to something happening at this stage of his life, cause don’t really see them on present day Mike so…maybe learned to hide it, or is an asshole as a general coping mechanism for whatever mess his life is/was. Do see the present day Mike in this strip though since he has all but admitted he does half of what he does to get a reaction out of people so him reading the room and the people (or practicing said skill at this stage) isn’t surprising, he’s like a genius serial killer but without the murder and killing and more just using his intelligence to be a dick in the most calculated way possible (he’s many things but random isn’t really one, when he’s an ass he does it with a reason based on the victim).

        2. Kinoko

          The fact that he only has the bag lines under his eyes when he’s smiling, but they disappear as soon as he stops leads me to believe the smile isn’t genuine and is taking extreme effort.

        3. Abbefaria

          I hadn’t noticed that…

  3. butts

    Making a Motherfucker: The Mike Warner Story

    1. neeks

      Available On Demand for only a nickel.

  4. AnvilPro

    Mike’s power is infinite. It existed long before college, and it will exist long after the heat death of this or any other universe.

    1. shadowcell

      much like the availability of your mom

      for a nickel

  5. Shiro

    Why ever did he decide to use his powers for evil?

    1. C.T Phipps

      Because Mike is evil.

      And he’s so good at it that people still believe he’s a warrior therapist.

      1. Mr D

        Evil’s not born. It’s made.
        Or that is my opinion for now, I reserve judgement until the end of the flashback.

        I mean, there has to be a reason Amber and Ethan still consider him a friend. Amber especially, with her rather disturbing moralizing.

        1. McBogue

          Amber and Ethan both have self-esteem issues. When you have the tendency to treat yourself like crap, other people treating you like crap seems normal.

        2. C.T Phipps

          Or it’s chosen. In Mike’s case, he saw his parents were good and decent people who were also weak–so he would be strong by hurting others.

      2. cbwroses

        I remember a certain webcomic where it was theorized that all Mikes from all realities were automatically evil. Mostly because they crossed over with both IW and with CRFH.
        Was it “Fans”? I’m not sure, but I think that was it.

        1. No Name

          It was, in fact, Fans. And it was, in fact, during its crossover with It’s Walky!

        2. russellmz

          also that webcomic with the evil mike with the tentacle arm.

        3. russellmz

          hah whoops it was mentioned already

        4. cbwroses

          After that happened, I had always hoped the two Mike’s would meet up and have some sort of contest to decide who was the most evil.

        5. dethtolldotmid

          Don’t forget Something Positive, though it’s a subversion in that the Mike in that comic had Character Development and is generally a decent person now.

        6. Jay

          Let’s not have that Mike meet this Mike. It’d end with SP Mike traumatized and sobbing into a pillow.

    2. Chronos

      I’m not sure “decide” is the right word for him. He doesn’t appear to want to help others, nor does he appear to enjoy when he harms them. He just seems to do the things he does because he’s the one that’s supposed to do these things. He comes off more as a force of nature than an actual human with a will of his own. No other explanation really makes sense for me.

  6. Purblebirb

    I realize Transformers Animated wouldve been showing at this point, right?

    1. Doctor_Who

      Stop reminding me I’m so damn old.

    2. Dark

      Not unless Dumbing of Age is on a sliding timescale.

      Also Ethan has taste. He wouldn’t have watched that shit.

      1. King Daniel

        Dumbing of Age is indeed on a sliding timescale, with the “present” in-comic always being the current real-life present.

      2. Regalli

        1) Dumbing of Age is explicitly on a sliding timescale (hence, for instance, the whole ‘presidential being used to describe grossly hitting on women’ bit with Joe and Dorothy in the last book.) 2) Ethan LOVED Animated in Shortpacked and I see no reason why he wouldn’t in this verse.

      3. Sol Karas

        The webcomic operates on “comic book time”. That is, it’s always the present day and isn’t “slowly becoming a period piece” as put in the faq lol

      4. adjudicus

        Hey, I liked animated! And Nah, he totally would if his shortpacked counterpart is anything to go by.

      5. Black Bumblebee

        Hey now, I liked Transformers: Animated. It had the voice of Megatron playing Optimus and Weird Al as a garbage truck. What wasn’t there to like?

    3. C.

      They appear to be 10-12 here, so Transformers Animated has ended and Transformers Prime/Rescue Bots has arrived in its place.

    4. Needfuldoer

      If it’s not still in production, it’s probably in repeats.

      1. Corwin Haught

        Cartoon Network pretty much pulled Transformers Animated immediately aftet it ended.

        1. StClair

          had to make room for more TTG!

        2. C.

          In fairness, Hasbro was airing Transformers Prime on a competing channel which they had re-launched.

    5. vlademir1

      What would be currently airing is rather immaterial for this story. Even before the official DVDs of G1 existed, there is a reasonable chance of Ethan, and/or the rest of them, being exposed to that cartoon or the related comics through various means such as a nostalgic family member, random longbox pull, etc.

  7. Kernanator

    Hmm.

    Hmmmm.

    Hmmmmmmmm.

    1. PB

      Beat me to it.

  8. Miroku2235

    And thus he read the room. And thus was he disenchanted by them all.

  9. space

    okay thank god, i thought something traumatizing made Mike that way. He’s just naturally a chaotic good.

    1. Woobie

      Chaotic good?

      1. Leorale

        Chaotic evil, for sho.

        1. Yumi

          Maybe he started as a chaotic good and gradually slide down.

        2. Dark

          Chaotic Neutral. He fucks with people purely just to fuck with them.

        3. Mr. Random

          Chaotic Nuetral, but mostly because he flip flops on whether he screws with people for their own good, and to amuse himself.

        4. space

          Yes I agree with chaotic neutral now

      2. newllend(henryvolt)

        We’ve been debating whether or not he’s somehwere between chaotic neutral or chaotic evil for the last few pages he’s in, chaotic good though? No way.

        1. Emily

          I don’t see where Chaotic is coming from. Mike doesn’t seem to have any active disdain for rules or order he’s very much an opportunist with no real principles. He follows or disregards the rules as suits his purposes. I’d pin him as Neutral Evil: pursues his own satisfaction with no regard for how it hurts others observing or ignoring the rules as is convenient.

        2. Leorale

          I misremembered what the Chaotic alignment means. Emily convinced me of Neutral Evil, especially that last line.

  10. Stephen Bierce

    “You don’t think of them as human
    You don’t think of them at all”…

  11. Lingo

    Ahhh, same old Mike. What a relief?

    1. Lingo

      Just for fun, for this and all forthcoming flashbacks, I’m going to imagine Mike sounds like Alvin the Chipmunk. No, scratch that–Theodore.

      1. cbwroses

        Theodore is way to adorable to be the voice of Mike. I’d go Simon for clinical observation and detachment or Alvin for ego and not caring about the consequences of his actions.

        1. cbwroses

          *way too adorable

        2. Lingo

          Yes, the adorableness was the point. I was mentally removing his power by turning him into something harmless.

  12. Bagge

    What a nice young man

  13. DailyBrad

    Relatable. To which of them?
    Yes.

  14. Skittylover3

    God that sass

    1. butts

      God that sass

      1. Yumi

        This is a very butt-free comic for that comment

        1. Some1

          Also everyone is 12.

        2. Needfuldoer

          I’m going to assume butts is hypnotized by their own gravatar again…

        3. Schpoonman

          Are you not?

        4. Deanatay

          Your Grav looks like it’s staring at it…

          TBH, so am I.

        5. butts

          a public service announcement, from butts:

          do not stare at twelve-year-old butts (unless you’re also twelve, I guess, then it’s probably fine)

          this has been a public service announcement, from butts

      2. Lingo

        God thats ass

    2. Skittylover3

      I mean its not anything abnormal ((For a willis comic))
      but I still enjoy it. Also, Ethan stay away from snakes. Sure they may LOOK pretty, and their eyes may be oh so mesmerizing but they are EVIL they just want to sink their venomous fangs into you and make you scream-
      It may be just a wee baby snake…but it will grow…
      It will..

      1. Zach

        1. You’re listing all the reasons we love cats

        2. Ethan wants Mike to make him scream.

      2. cbwroses

        This sounds like post Garden of Eden anti-snake propaganda.

  15. Passchendaele

    Mike no

    stop being adorable

    please

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Adorable? This is freaking terrifying.

      1. thejeff

        Adorbifying? Teridorable?

  16. Cass

    Oh good, his face relaxed when he dropped the smile. Those lines were giving me JD from (various animations of the musical of) Heathers vibes.

  17. No Name

    Oh no, don’t tell me Mike’s the one who made him realize he’s gay… Just like last time, actually.

    1. thejeff

      No. Ethan didn’t realize he was gay until well after this.
      The attraction might go this far back, but if so, it was all still covered by denial.

  18. Leorale

    I definitely read this like he’s a sociopath.

    1. Yumi

      I don’t know what definition of sociopathy you’re going from (as there are some different ones), but that’s not what I get from this particular strip. My first thought, if we hadn’t met his parents, was that it seems sort of similar to what kids who have been abused have been like. But, knowing how he is a few years later, I guess it’s possible he has ASPD or such.

      But also, do we know that Mike’s parents are his birth parents? Like, could he have been in an abusive home and then adopted by his current parents?

      1. C.T Phipps

        Mike’s particular brand of awful isn’t the kind I normally see from abusive homes. Normally, it’s from middle to upper class homes that are actually quite nice to their children but somewhat neglectful or distant. They don’t relate to their child so their child becomes a person who seeks validation elsewhere.

        Like 4chan.

        1. Yumi

          My initial part about kids who have been abused is limited to what I see from Mike in this strip and this strip only. Him at 18, I’m not trying to fit in with exactly because, well, it could very well be that circumstances since this point (this strip) got him to that point (most of the comic).

          As for the second part, I just got myself curious.

        2. Lilyliv

          Oddly enough, Mike’s behavior reminds me a lot of my brother. I love the kid and he does turn off some of the assholishness around me but he IS an asshole. And I theorize it did stem from our home environment growing up. Now we were upper middle class and our dad was well-meaning (ish) but neglectful so that definitely holds true to the pattern, but our mom was physically and mentally/emotionally abusive—mostly to me since I made sure to piss her off to distract her if I thought she’d get that’s way with my kid brother.

          Idk what that does to the pattern. It’s weird bc I identify a lot with Amber’s behavior and flawed coping mechanisms (Though I am not, I my knowledge, a masked vigilante on the side) while my brother strongly reminds me of Mike sometimes. It’s an odd situation and I don’t actually know why I’m rambling about it here but oh well. Data points, I guess.

        3. Lilyliv

          *TO my knowledge. Damn you, autocorrect.

        4. cbwroses

          But if you were secretly a masked vigilante, would you be so careless as o tell us? Masked vigilante 101 is to not tell people your secret identity.

          *I personally think you should always tell your loved ones your secret identity to cut down on the villains attacking them and having to always pretend to be late/stupid/loser/meek around them, but I’m not a masked vigilante. Or am I?*

        5. Lilyliv

          Dammit, you caught me. ^_^’’

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      A very very Dangerously intelligent sociopath, you know what matter of fact I think I would add Mike to the circle of fictional characters I think would make a very dangerous chaos syndicate. Which includes-

      -Junko Enoshima( Danganronpa)

      -Izaya Orihara(Durarara)

      -The Joker

      -and now Mike

      1. Kamino Neko

        Izaya is a very good comparison to Mike.

        1. cbwroses

          Izaya has a lot more fun with it, though.

        2. Kannen

          Mike’s comments in this strip did remind me of Izaya

    3. tisvana18

      It reminds me of my older brother since he acted quite a bit like this when he was younger. He’s never been formally diagnosed with anything since my mother doesn’t believe in psychiatry at all–I wasn’t able to receive a diagnosis for my depression until I was an adult, myself.

      He can be a bit of an asshole at times, and I walk the line between wanting to excuse it and hold him accountable. He’s never really understood emotions at all. He acts however he has to in order to get what he wants, but only if it benefits him. He never does things for someone else and he never regrets hurting someone.

      I love him to death, but it can be really hard to deal with sometimes. One thing I will say is that he usually doesn’t lie though, so there’s that. Everyone who knows him personally agrees that he is either a sociopath or has sociopathic tendencies. He vehemently disagrees with that assessment, but he just thinks that he’s more intelligent than everyone else.

      And he is extremely intelligent, but that’s not a license to mistreat people. He’s definitely got something going on with him, but since he shares the same opinion as our mother, it’s very likely that we’ll never know for sure.

      There’s a lot of other, more specific things that make me believe that, but it would be airing a lot of dirty laundry and I’m not very good at explaining things either. I love him though, and I wish there were more media where a sociopath wasn’t a serial killer.

  19. caesaria82

    omg baby!gay Ethan is SO cute!

  20. Archivist

    MIKE’S HAIR IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT! KILL IT!

    1. Ainara

      If we give it any more freedom, it’ll start trying to exist in the 3rd dimension! We can’t let that happen!

      1. Needfuldoer

        Too late!

  21. MatthewTheLucky

    So it took all of five seconds for Mike to figure him out.

  22. DannyUniverse

    Something I didn’t get a chance to say yesterday – I immediately jumped to the idea that Amber was babysitting Faz. But having just read yesterdays comments, it doesn’t look like anyone else thinks that is likely.

    Though am unsure if the age difference between the two being only 2.5 years makes that more or less likely. But it would be a way for bed to have time around Faz predating the divorce, potentially – The divorce was finalized around when she was 13, but Stacy and Blaine might have started the process before that – And regardless of all that, Blaine could have easily arranged for Amber to babysit Faz while and Yuri were on a date… Whether or not Amber knew they were an item at the time.

    1. BBCC

      The divorce finalized when she was 13 and she hasn’t seen him in 3 years. She’s 18 now, so she last saw him at 15.

      That’s not such an unreasonable range for her to be babysitting Faz.

    2. Regalli

      Consider this: Do either Blaine or Yuri seem all that likely to pay Amber $10 an hour? Cause like that’s a pretty good rate, it encourages some degree of freedom from Blaine, and Yuri is very clearly Not Fond of Amber.

      1. Yumi

        Yeah, $10 an hour is pretty standard, but, like…from good people. If she were watching Faz and Blaine had a hand in it, I kind of think he’d just be telling her to do it because he said so.

        1. Regalli

          Also Blaine just strikes me as a dude who underpays babysitters and the like in general. I mean maybe I’m wrong, but it would be surprising to see him actually value that kind of labor.

      2. Mr D

        not fond of Amber as of Now. We don’t know if it ever was different.

        1. cbwroses

          He didn’t seem very fond of Amber during the flashback that had Sal in it, either, so if he was affectionate before, it didn’t seem o take long before it changed.

        2. Yumi

          I think Mr D was referring to Yuri.

        3. Mr D

          Thank you :]

      3. Wizard

        Yeah, guilting Amber into doing it free strikes me as more Blaine’s style.

    3. thejeff

      Standards rates aside, I can definitely see Blaine getting a kick out of having his daughter babysit for his secret mistress’s son.

      1. DannyUniverse

        Yes – this is what I was thinking.

  23. Mr. Random

    13 and already working on his facade. The second he knew he could drop his ‘worried new guy’ look, he drops it.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Half of the class just vanished over the years.

      Bwhahahaa.

  24. newllend(henryvolt)

    Mike gets more more unsettling the more he gets screen time. If a new kid 8-12th grade came into school sat next to me and started psychologically sizing people up then said he likes hanging in the back to start figuring people out my immediate first reaction would have been, ” okay yeah this guy is going to be a problem.”

    1. Mr D

      I was a socially awkward kid, I like sitting in the back, and I liked figuring out people beforehand as to avoid being a dick.

      Life beat that out of me, now I reallize I’m gonna be a dick anyway, so I’m ready to apologize at the first moment I reallize I fucked up.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        This could be read as either “I’m just gathering information on people to have a better grasp on understanding them better” or “I’m scanning for other people’s weaknesses.” One says he’s really thoughtful and the other one is really foreboding almost kind of ominous.

      2. thejeff

        That’s not uncommon, I think. It’s the openness in announcing what you’re doing that’s a little freaky.
        But then, that’s Mike’s style. He’s always been very open about being a jerk.

    2. Shiro

      To me it’d be a sign of potential abuse at home, but we’ve seen Mike’s parents and iirc in this continuity they’re perfectly lovely too, so idk.

      1. Some1

        I feel like the abusive parent trope has become a bit overplayed at this point. Not every character needs to have abusive parents.

        1. Yumi

          Yeah, that’s really what keeps me from getting to into my Theory(TM) about Mike’s parentage. I still agree that I’d have more of Shiro’s perspective on it than newllend’s, though.

        2. Zach

          Being guarded at all times is exhosting, and it’s a learned behavior. He may not feel threatened at present or in this flashback, but he always sees the worst in people. A history of abuse is heavily suggested by his very character.

        3. J

          This is pretty much why every time I see Mike I get the feeling his supposedly wonderful parents are actually really not. I mean, my own parents are absolutely lovely in public or in front of anyone who isn’t in our nuclear unit. But privately they’re, well, decidedly not. And I used to (and still) do the Mike thing of sizing everyone up to keep track of people’s weaknesses, but in my case it’s in case I ever have to defend myself with a nuclear option. If it hadn’t have been for my need to be as far away from my parents’ personalities as possible, I could’ve gone in the direction of attacking preemptively and/or for my own amusement. Y’know, play nice until the right moment to strike, and then make sure it’s a critical hit for maximum damage. If you do it right (…for a given definition thereof), you never have to strike the same person twice. Efficient emotional destruction! Taught to me by my parents, who are perfectly lovely people by all accounts and who would feign horror and deny this to their dying day.

          Not to say Mike couldn’t have been born with some emotional issues, mind you. It just doesn’t seem very probable, IMO, compared to the more likely option that this is a learned thing. Assuming, of course, that he isn’t just The Joker In DoA Form, in which where he comes from isn’t as important as what he does, and then he’d largely be an author’s tool to help put other characters through hell for the sake of plot. I doubt that too, though, since even Toe Dad and Blaine have backgrounds, reasons, and motivations for why they’re trash (which doesn’t make them less trash, it just fills out the picture so they’re not cardboard cutout mustache-twirling villains).

        4. BBCC

          It could also be someone else who was close to the family. Maybe that’s why they moved.

        5. No Name

          Ooh, that’s a good one, I didn’t even think of that.

        6. BBCC

          If Mike’s parents still have nice jobs and are busy, it could have been a nanny, a grandparent, an extended family member who was in close contact, a teacher or bully at his old school, or any number of people.

        7. Yumi

          My new theory is that Mike is adopted by his current parents, with his previous living situation being the kind he had to be removed from.
          I’m pretty sure that’s not actually the case, but at the same time, it’s what I’m going with.

        8. No Name

          From what I could tell in the other ‘verse, they were genuinely bereft when Mike died the first time, and their worst sins were being too nice and a little too comfortable talking about their sex lives.

          They might have been neglectful, not “I forgot to feed the brat who lives in the broom closet again” neglectful, but more “I have no idea what makes this kid tick so I’m just going to smile and nod” neglectful (which would definitely feed into the grief). Mike is, after all, a very different person from his parents (or at least what we’ve seen of them); I wouldn’t be surprised if if it turns out he does, indeed, have ASPD.

          This neglect, coupled with antisociality (defined as an inability to see things from other people’s perspectives), could be all that was needed for Mike to decide that being nice was a sham and he didn’t feel like being nice so why bother?

          I’m making this argument primarily because I don’t think Willis would do this sort of thing. He’s always been very upfront about the nastier, in-your-face kinds of evil parenting, the type I would call “actively abusive”, what Blaine, Ross and Clint have done to Amber, Becky and Ruth.

          You may note that in Becky’s case, we were kept in the dark until Becky showed up again and spilled the beans, but we didn’t meet Ross in this comic until then, and the other ‘verse already showed Ross to be a Jerk. For the more subtle “passive abuse”, like what the Walkertons and Wilcoxen have done to Sal and Danny, or even what the Browns did to their kids (Well, Hank at any rate, I’m not sure Carol fits the definition of “passive” used here) we still saw the causes (the Walkerton’s obvious coddling of Walky, the Wilcoxen’s focus on themselves) of the effects we’ve seen in the kids (Sal’s rebellion, Danny’s spineless neediness). The worst I can see coming out of Mike’s homelife is the type of neglect well-meaning parents end up giving kids they can’t understand. I don’t see Willis being the kind of jerk to make Mike’s parents awful. Not to Mike (because it’s about time he was) or us readers (because that’s been amply demonstrated), but to Mike’s parents, who were definitely good people in the other ‘verse – perhaps a bit self-centered and prone to over-sharing, but genuinely willing to connect with their son. They act pretty much the same here, and there was no traumatic loss followed by a miraculous second chance, so it’s probably their default.

          (To head off another argument, Clint’s minor appearance in the other ‘verse showed him as not averse to physical altercations, and made no mention of his parenting skills – or his relation to Ruth for that matter).

    3. Lena

      Not a fan of Mike, but the whole trying to figure stuff out is often a defensive behaviour. (Like my girlfriend noted when I first visited her that my eyes are just constantly shooting all directions and that I’m super on guard.)

      1. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

        In other words, Mike’s hatred for himself and every creature in the big, wide universe was based on life experience (*this* Mike, at least) rather in being a dour avatar of Loki or something…
        Also look at Whatshisname and Toofurs in the 1st panel….Seems like Mike isn’t the only one trying to be on guard….

  25. C.T Phipps

    Mike is like Michael Myers–except instead of stabbing, he’s psychological destruction.

  26. Danni

    of course it was an act

  27. Nim

    Given that current Ethan is in present day college, the little hipster was a fan of 80s transformers in the late 2000s.

    1. Kamino Neko

      I mean, barring G2’s insignias, the Autobot and Decepticon symbols didn’t really change much over the years…to the extent that they do, this seems pretty much in line with the extra-grumpy-looking movie-verse insignia.

  28. Keulen

    This is not quite at Mike’s normal scowl yet, but at least it’s closer to the Mike I’m used to.

  29. Eldritch Gentleman

    I think I finally understand Mike… He is a friggin Chuuni.

    1. JessWitt

      Well, that’s a new slang. I had to look that one up.

      1. Eldritch Gentleman

        Naah, anime fans have been throwing it around for a long while.

  30. BenRG

    Ah, that smile! Was Ethan crushing on smart!Mike from the first meeting?

    That aside, yes, Mike has always been perceptive about what others are thinking and feeling. I wonder what soured him so?

    1. Agemegos

      Knowing what people were thinking and feeling, perhaps.

      1. Nono

        It’s like Jean Grey. But with… more nuance? Less?

  31. Badgermole

    Yeah it could be a symptom of abuse but baby Mike could just have been really into Sherlock Holmes. Tbh I’m a little bit like this – I don’t make an effort to scope out people’s psychological profiles but I can’t Not see the patterns after a point.

  32. steelbright

    Why does baby Mike look like the baby mice that got stuck in my car and had a horrible mouse tragedy while also being dirty and destroying things?

  33. Ainara

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/file/

    Some things never change…

  34. JessWitt

    So not quite evil, but there’s an air of suspicion, even mischief on young Mike.

  35. Nope

    Young innocent Mike looks like G-man

  36. cbwroses

    So which one of them is having the flashback?
    I figure it’s Ethan.

  37. bluebirdy

    Jeezus christ Ethan you’re too young to be thirsting already

    1. Bagge

      Silly bluebirdy, Ethan can’t be thirsting for Mike. They are both boys.

      Sincerely, Pre-character growth Joyce, as well as Ethan’s parents.

  38. BenRG

    I think that reading people was either a survival necessity or an innate talent.

    I wonder if we are leading into learning that Mike is somewhere on the psychopathic spectrum. Has a hard time relating to or understanding others’ emotions and having a natural bent toward manipulative behaviour but not fully understanding that this is wrong.

  39. Kater

    A lot of comments seem to think Mike has trouble understanding emotions. I think he makes a conscious effort to understand people, usually so he can hurt or mess with them. Whether this is a response to abuse, a “tough truth” excuse or just for the lols, will hopefully* be explored in the next pages, but I think Mike is very calculated. He doesn’t do things unless he wants to.

    *or we’ll just have more questions than answers. Preliminary Damn You, Willis**

    ** I’M SO EXCITED

  40. Jack

    If I’d been drinking something the alt-text would definitely have caused a spit-take.

  41. Lauralot

    Is anyone else having a problem where the site keeps loading to the latest Blaine strip instead of the newest comic? I keep getting Blaine face and it’s unsettling.

    1. CJ

      No, no trouble there. Maybe you cache is playing tricks? Try deleting either the whole cache or only the cookies from this site.

    2. thejeff

      I haven’t, but I’ve seen a few comments over the last week or so about it not loading the latest strip.

    3. Sunny

      I had that as well, but this time it went straight to this actual latest strip.

    4. JessWitt

      I’ve been having that problem on my laptop but not the iPhone.

  42. CJ

    How did Mike manage to change his face from innocent and shy to nearly the thing we see now (including the different direction his hair goes)?
    This is starting to look more and more like somebody’s flashback.

    A psychopath has no empathy. I’m not sure if we are learning right now that Mike has no empathy. To me, it rather looks like he has it but prefers not make it a basis for how he acts.

    1. PB

      That …. sounds right. I mean, I’ll be honest; I don’t think Mike could be as mean as he is if he had no empathy.

      1. Daibhid C

        As I understand it, empathy means (at least) two different things. When people say sociopaths lack empathy, they don’t mean they don’t understand other people’s emotions – many sociopaths are very good at reading emotions, the better to manipulate them. They mean they don’t care about other people’s emotions.

        (When people say autistics lack empathy, incidentally, they mean the exact opposite. Most autistic folk care very much about not upsetting other people, we just have very little sense of how to go about it.)

        1. CJ

          There are at least two different kinds of empathy, affective (emotional) and cognitive.
          I think the definition of a psychopath as someone who totally lacks empathy refers to affective empathy.
          With autism, I rather think it’s not emotional empathy that’s impaired (and definitely not totally lacking!) but the ability to react to it in a way that resonates with the other person.

  43. abysswatcher1993

    And this is how Mike developed the ability to read details like Sherlock. It’s a good skill… until he becomes like Moriarty years later.

  44. Brumagem

    Ethan “Notice Me Senpai” Spiegel

  45. Pidgey

    Is it ok that I hate mike?

    1. Ainara

      No, the CMA will be at your doorstep soon

      (Central Mike Agency)

  46. Roborat

    Mike looks like Walky in the second last panel.

  47. PB

    It’s kind of spooky when you can see a little of yourself in a character. I also had trouble relating to others and learned to interact by watching them, but I didn’t come to the same conclusions Mike did.*

    *I was gonna say his conclusions were Randian, but Rand believed everyone else was secretly as awful as she was and died living off the charity of others. Mike seems to know that the people around him mean well; he just doesn’t care.

  48. ItsASecret

    People are saying that mike’s dropping the smile facade here, but it feels like the opposite to me. His eyes look uncomfortable in every panel where he’s smiling, it strikes me as mike being genuinely happy and just naturally smiling as a result, but wanting to hide the smile and struggling to do so. He gets much better at it later.

    Is it really that he’s only sitting back there to size up the room, or did he also want to sit next to someone who he knew wanted his presence?

    1. DailyBrad

      I am wondering the same. I think they’re not mutually exclusive.

  49. Anywhere

    I just want to say how much I love that we get Dumbing of Babies! flashbacks. Because the entire strip focuses on one (relatively) short period of time, it’s a nice change of pace.

    1. thejeff

      It is babies and babies of Dumbing!

  50. Tobias

    Been reading the Prince of Nothing series and now it’s headcanon that Mike is a Dunyain gone horribly wrong.

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