167

League
Posted on March 28, 2012 by David M Willis
This coming weekend (March 30-April 1) I'm going to be at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle!  You'll find me with Blank Label Comics at booth 210!  Come see me there!  I'll have and posters and doodling abilities at the ready.

167 thoughts on “League”

  1. Jen Aside

    This ship is departing!

    1. George

      ALL ABOARD!

      1. Twisted Two-face

        Walky would totes say that if he were gonna fuck Billie.

        1. Twisted Two-face

          *was. Yikes.

        2. MoreWhitecaps

          Haha, you actually got it right the first time.

        3. Sagara S.

          this just made me flash back to my 2100Q homework….
          Discussing the grammaticality of descriptivly used english slang as opposed to prescriptivly used english when written or spoken in casual context….
          Thanks for the trauma again 😛

        4. Roborat

          You had to discuss that? My brain seized up just trying to process that.

        5. Usayasha

          My brain seized up trying to read it. XP

  2. Jetstream

    Run, Joyce, run! She might charge!

    1. Blob Marley

      Joyce is about to play Cthulhu to Billie’s S.S. Walkydotty

      1. mrelegos

        Clearly Billie will take the form of a narwhal

        1. Rowen Morland

          I demand Billie-narwhal fanart!

        2. Shippy McShipper

          Billie in narwhal form, or Billy X narwhal belated slash entries?

        3. Justin

          Why can’t it be both?

        4. Justin

          Sorry, I wasn’t clear. What I meant by that is: Billie X Narwhal-Billie.

        5. Shippy McShipper

          Yeah I got that. But I’m also dissapointed.
          The correct answer was “Yes.”

        6. Izzy

          I remember when freakazoid taught me to say narwhal in some other language…good times

    2. Icalasari

      See Joyce

      See Joyce run

      Run, Joyce, run!

  3. Wonder Wig

    Gasp, the f-word! Cover your ears Joyce!!

  4. MarcinMN

    Wow, no comment from Joyce on Billie’s use of the F-word??

    1. Jetstream

      She’s in shock.

    2. George

      Huh. Guess she’s too wrapped up in her shipping to notice.

    3. luke

      or about the pre-marital hankypanky!

    4. Rognik

      PREMARITAL HANKY-PANKY!

      1. Blob Marley

        “I think that was uttered at a frequency only virgins can hear.”

        “No, we all heard it.”

    5. TPman

      The lack of response on Joyce’s part is actually pretty shocking. I give next strip a 50/50 chance of containing a belated double-take/outburst from Joyce.

  5. David Herbert

    Run Joyce, before your poor choice of words costs you your femurs.

    1. Shippy McShipper

      No! Not her femurs etc

  6. DiDi

    So shallow, Joyce… But then, I’m not surprised…

    But she didn’t cringe when Billie said the “F” word. Progress.

  7. Hylian

    Joyce better start walking faster if she has any form of self preservation at all.

  8. ZuiyoMaru

    Fascinating! Joyce didn’t even bat an eye at Billie’s casual vulgarity!

    *wipes tear from eye* She’s come so far.

    1. molochmachine

      Yep. You’d be surprised at the distance some girls can achieve. …Wait, what were we talking about?

  9. Plasma Mongoose

    Someone really needs to do something about all these ships, they’re becoming a real water hazard.

    1. Aizat

      I’ve got subs ready and waiting. Just give the order.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Arm the torpedos.

        1. Aizat

          Aye, sir!

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          FIRE or is it WATER the torpedos!

        3. Aizat

          Technically, it’s fire the torpedo,sir!

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          I know I know, I’m just dwelling too much on the word idioms I guess.

        5. Aizat

          It happens to the best of us, sir!

        6. Blob Marley

          Fun fact: it’s actually “shoot” the torpedoes. they don’t use the word “fire” on a sub because that word is reserved for actual incendiary mishaps – or at least that was the policy when my dad was working on nuclear subs back in the Cretaceous.

        7. Plasma Mongoose

          Shoot the torpedos? Are you sure it wasn’t launch the torpedos as torpedos have their own propulsion.

        8. iSaidCandleja-

          You learn something new everyday. Although “shoot” doesn’t sound as cool as “launch” in my opinion.

        9. Blob Marley

          @Plasma, I’m not sure what it is now, but “shoot” was the accepted nomenclature back when Admiral T-Rex was running things.

        10. Aizat

          You served under Admiral T-Rex?

        11. Blob Marley

          @Aziat this was before he got MENgaged to Walky.

        12. L

          AFAIK Blob is right and it’s “Shoot”. It’s not as weird as it sounds because it’s supposed to be the “Execute” command in the proceedure (Captain had to order the tubes to be flooded, get a firing solution, etc.)

        13. Tucker

          Engage!

        14. Tucker

          Or better yet: “Once you fire that thing, you are ruining somebody’s day, somewhere, some time. That’s why you don’t ‘shoot from the hip’, and you wait for the computer to give you a damn firing solution!” “Sir, yes sir!”

        15. Justin

          “Flood the tubes” is actually a pretty hilarious statement.

    2. Mkvenner

      I’ll get the Exocets.

  10. Aizat

    Billie, have you have ever heard the trope Triumphant Childhood Friend?

    1. Aizat

      Sorry, wrong trope. I meant Victorious Childhood Friend.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        That only counts if she was pining for him.

      2. Rognik

        She’s also a meganekko, a tsundere and a ponytailed girl. Seriously, she could not be a bigger Japanese fetish if she were a moe catgirl.

        1. Aizat

          Or if she’s wearing a sailor fuku.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          Also Buxom Is Better

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Don’t forget the Bottle Fairy & Break The Haughty tropes.

        4. Aizat

          So, Billie is a black haired, glasses wearing Excellen Browning?

        5. Plasma Mongoose

          This Excellen Browning looks more like Asuka than Billie.

        6. Rognik

          Eh… the Bottle Fairy is still an Informed Ability. We’ve yet to see her take a single drink.

        7. begbert2

          Other than at that party, you mean.

        8. Plasma Mongoose

          While we may not see her do the deed, you often see the effects and after-effects.

  11. Sensedog

    And all the while, Mike watches Billie. Given how Billie has been acting since she arrived on campus, perhaps a relationship with him would help her put things into “perspective”.

    Or at least be appropriate karma.

    1. Brasca1

      Well they’d certainly have some epic hate fucks.

      1. Sensedog

        Yet another reason why it should be her with Mike. She is very physically attractive, but many people would be turned-off by her attitude, myself included. So yes, you are right. Billie is a prime example of what it means to be hate-fuckable.

        1. vlademir1

          The entire above exchange has me wanting fanart of the two as Homestuck trolls…

    2. Spazman

      I read this and all I could see was Mike doing a Burns-esque “eeexcellent”

  12. Mkvenner

    Get back you W.A.S.P.

  13. Ryan

    Wow. Joyce being kind of a douche throughout the entire strip.

    1. Rognik

      Um… I think our definitions of douche are pretty different (and I don’t mean how douche is french for shower). She may be nosy and stuff, but I don’t call it being a douche.

      Also, that gravitar looks so much like me, it’s scary.

  14. Jererry

    No No No! You can’t use ship unless it’s being typed awkwardly on the internet! Yargh.

  15. Propellergator

    Too many ships on the dancefloor…

    1. Blob Marley

      (too many ships…)

  16. Jererry

    Vulgarity in speech is habit, not philosophy (well, at least superficially), so maybe she’s smart enough to know not to argue every point. It is informative regardless. She’s clearly not dumb and bullheaded if she had restraint. If she was stupid, she’s just launch into a programmed sermon like a robot.

  17. Aegon01

    Damn Billie that’s cold. But I guess her gigantic ego got bruised so it makes sense.

  18. Bunk

    Oh you two, you’re a day late to do stuff. The seed has been planted.

    …Wait no, not seed… uh…

    Thought? It’s not the same, but at least it didn’t imply any planting of seed that may have happened, which probably didn’t.

    I’m gonna stop now.

    1. Sensedog

      …I lost the game.

    2. Aizat

      Seed, eh?

    3. Blob Marley

      The tongue has been planted.

      1. Historyman68

        You took the words right out of my mouth.

        1. Blob Marley

          Don’t worry, I replaced them…

          with my tongue.

          For a nickel.

        2. Fauxlosopher

          Is that a felony?

  19. Wack'd

    Billie. Is going to voluntarily spend time around Walky. And help him.

    Is this another alternate unive–

    Ah. She may be spending time with him now, but hooking him up will mean he has someone to spend all his time with who’s not HER.

    Smart, Billie.

  20. Rayrayrave

    It’s painful, even in an alternate universe, to not see Joyce and Walky together. :'(

    1. Blob Marley

      I feel like these two aren’t quite the match of Walkyverse Joyce and Walky.

      1. BelOggy

        Walky is Walky. But, yes. I finid Alt/Joyce lacking somehow.

        1. horerczy

          She’s more reserved than her prior counterpart and her Christian mode is in hyperdrive.

          This is all in comparison to her in Roomies! Which is where I feel the best comparison comes from at this stage in teh story.

  21. Matt Boyd

    Joyce really took that in stride.

  22. Plasma Mongoose

    Face it Billie, you’re less likely to be part of a ship and more likely be an iceburg these days.

    1. Blob Marley

      RAMMING SPEED! We may go down, but by God and Theodore Roosevelt, we’re taking this right frigid bastard with us!

      1. Sagara S.

        forever and always from this point on my new oath upon starting any endeavor will be “by god and Theodore Roosevelt”. I think I may even include the frigid bastard part regardless of context

        1. Blob Marley

          Glad to be of service. If you’re gonna swear by any mortal man, make it Teddy Roosevelt. Or Vladimir Putin, if you’re Russian. He’s like a slavic Teddy.

    2. horerczy

      She doesn’t seem all that frigid though.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        When I say Iceburg in shipping context, it has less to do with ‘frigidity’ and more about ‘ship-wrecking’.

        You know, like how an iceburg wrecked the Titanic.

        1. Yotomoe

          But she tries to help walky get Dorothy! Iceburgs don’t save ships

        2. Shippy McShipper

          Now I must write a Titanic fanfic where the Titanic and the Iceberg are both sentient, the Titanic is evil, and the Iceberg’s heroic sacrifice is hailed by the Iceberg people for centuries.

          …

          Actually, I can see Pixar filming that. With the names scratched off, of course.
          Also, you have no idea how tempting it was to litter this comment with TvTropes links.

  23. Aizat

    The problem with hooking up two people is that you might be attracted to one of them or both.

  24. Uniqueantique

    Oops!. And as mentioned..odd that Joyce didn’t have a fit when the F-bomb landed. And what is Mike loitering about for…he never “loiters”

    1. iSaidCandleja-

      Mike waits. And watches. And drops eaves.

      1. Aizat

        And do your mom, for a nickel.

        1. Spazman

          for JOURNALISM

    2. begbert2

      Maybe Joyce just accepted that Billie was using the word in its literal sense as a technical term, rather than as a swear word.

  25. Blob Marley

    And run QUICKLY

  26. Wack'd

    Maybe it’s just because I hang out with nerds, but it bugs me whenever the DoA cast refer to shipping in quotation marks, as though it’s not a real thing and just part of Joyce’s defect.

    I mean, I suppose it makes sense for Billie, I’m just so used to thinking of it as this nebulous, internet-encompassing concept.

    1. Historyman68

      Well, it is part of Joyce’s defect. Most people don’t ship people in real life- and this is real life to them.

    2. begbert2

      Of course it’s a real thing. To ship someone is to put them in a box and mail them somewhere. Outside the internetty place the alternate meaning hasn’t taken over yet (not quite), so such alternate uses should be highlighted to make the meaning clear when not among the eclectic group that has adopted the slang meaning.

      (Which is to say – it’s just like any other slang that hasn’t become mainstream yet. Which is no big deal; give it a few years and it’ll be as hip and cool and sweet and boss and radical as anything.)

    3. Yotomoe

      I don’t think I’ve ever shipped someone in real life. I’m gonna start doing that now. And they will all be nonsensical and random.
      I ship my Garbage Man and my Lunch Lady

      1. Thrudd

        Hey that’s an idea or three and a half …..
        So how about Shipping George Carlen and ‘Liz Taylor with Bubbles watching in the background?

  27. iSaidCandleja-

    Well it didn’t take much for Billie to assume Danny is gay. There’s no other reason for guys not to get excited over random hook ups. Though I’m sure Billie noticed he WAS excited, so to speak.

    1. Yotomoe

      Um…have you seen Billie? If someone doesn’t wanna get with all of THAT…must be gay >.>

  28. Ravux

    I… I just want to punch Joyce’s face in the third panel. Is that bad?

    1. Atcote

      I can’t deny it; I too am curious if I could fit my fist in that mouth.
      It’s a… It’s a thing… that I’m into…

  29. Bekah

    “Ship” is largely a fandom term. Billie? Do you have something you want to tell us?

    1. iSaidCandleja-

      I think not, considering Joyce is the one who used it first in their conversations. No, this popular cheerleader isn’t involved in fandoms.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Cue revelations that Billie is a secret yaoi fangirl.

        1. Blob Marley

          Shit, Billie and Marigold of QC just did a DBZ fusion dance in my brain-hole.

        2. Shippy McShipper

          “DBZ fusion dance”? Is that what we’re calling it now?

  30. Arkadi

    C’mon, Billie: everybody‘s shipping you and Walky. Well, except for those who ship Sal and you.

    1. Blob Marley

      No way, man. If not Walkydotty, then definitely Walkydina.

    2. Joseph Harner

      there are those monsters out there who in their hears ship Dina+Mike… They must still be destroyed.

    3. Stevie Windup

      If I shipped her with anyone, it would be Mike, just so she could get her comeuppance.

      1. twobeef

        But then, five years later, Mike emerges as a stoic, chastened man, and he leaves school so that he can join the ministry. And everyone asks, “What have you done?!?! D: “

        1. Spazman

          Mike, Supreme Hat-Guy of the Church of Cheese. With his sacred tree branch, he has the final say on all things cheesy and evil.

        2. Blob Marley

          There is no Cheese god but Chester, and Mike is his prophet!

        3. Arkadi

          Joining the ministry would be just like Mike. Think of all the sheer evilness he could unleash on the world!

  31. Will

    Reminds me of a favorite quote of mine from “Shit my dad says”. “Out of your league? OUT OF YOUR FUCKING LEAGUE? YOU’RE A MAN, SHE’S A WOMAN, WHATS THE FUCKING PROBLEM?!”

    1. twobeef

      I know a guy online who used to be out-of-shape in high school. He decided to put his nerdy mind to use to create the best workout program he could and really try to change himself. A handful of years later, he had gotten himself so much in shape that he was getting modeling gigs. He’s a seriously nice guy, he doesn’t come across as arrogant at all, and his nerdiness has gotten him a well-paying programming gig.

      And he complains that he can’t meet girls. He walks up to them in bars and events and things, has pleasant conversations, gets to know them a bit, and then they shy away when he asks for a phone number. The vibe he gets from them is that they think they’re out of his league.

      You know, it’s like… some of those seemingly perfect people aren’t so arrogant that they need someone just as perfect as them to fall in love. So yes, Walky should totally try to hit that.

      1. Atcote

        ‘Also, he can only communicate by licking on someone’s ear in Morse code. That might have something to do with it.’

      2. Sagara S.

        So wait, you’re telling me there exists a Nice, Nerdy, Buff guy who drinks, programs, AND isn’t afraid to ask for a number?
        Who possibly knows morse code?

        God does exist.

        1. Arkadi

          And He’s coming to lick your ear! 😀

        2. Thrudd

          He’s coming to lick your ear, ha-haaa!!
          He’s coming to lick your ear, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa
          Nipping at the lobes.
          Pinnia-linguis all the time and You’ll be happy to see that nice young men in his Cheetos stained sweatshirt.
          He’s coming to lick your ear, ha-haaa!!

  32. Ancestral Hamster

    Billie, Billie, Billie … you just don’t understand. You’re not even in Walky’s league. Hooking up with you would a a huge step down.

  33. BelOggy

    I’m shipping Joyce and Mike.

    And Joyce’s mom. . . . For a nickle.

  34. Sensedog

    As much as I do not like Billie, it would be nice to see Joyce eat her words this time around. However, Billie’s motives for trying to get Walky and Dorothy together are still self-serving, and so the added bonus would be her own realization that Walky did NOT, in fact, require her assistance.

    But hell, she won’t have Walky following her around anymore, so why should she care?

    1. Blob Marley

      Knowing Billie? She’ll get catty and jealous.

  35. MR C

    i say billy should just hook up with sal already

    1. Arkadi

      She should hook up with Sal and Walky. Unwholesome threesome!

  36. LiC

    I’d love to see DoA’s Joyce’s reaction to the fact that in another continuity she’s married to Walky.

    1. horerczy

      and had premarital hanky panky.

      1. Inarai

        LIFESAVING premarital hanky-panky, even

  37. Dahlia

    *snickers immaturely* Her unintentional burn at Billie satisfied me more than it should have… xD

  38. Tucker

    I should go.

  39. coobee

    OH GOD THIS MADE ME LAUGH SO LOUDLY

    Oh Billie.

  40. Heavensrun

    Hmmm….Resistant to the idea that Dorothy would take interest in Walky, placing of Dorothy on a pedestal above all her other classmates…

    Yessss….Sail, Jorothy! SAIL!

    (I choose to interpret this week’s comic in the fashion most supportive to my favorite ship.)

  41. chumpersonable

    Joyce no you can’t ship people who exist in your universe.

    THAT IS NOT OKAY

    1. Maycroft

      Could this be called Meta-shipping?

      1. begbert2

        Meta means to do something from one level further displaced or ‘outside’. Is there an equivalent term for doing something from a level further inside? (Integra-shipping?)

        1. Tucker

          Well, Meta was Aristotle’s thing (Metaphysics – after physics)… I suppose to go one step further back, to Plato. We shall call it: Cave-shipping.

        2. Shippy McShipper

          Meta was not “Aristotle’s Thing”. It was ancient greek. It was a real word that existed.
          Also the metaphysics were not even named by him. It was the collector/library guy. Something of Rhodas I think.

          Also also, not sure how nobody’s bringing Inception into this. Never thought I’d see the day.

        3. Tucker

          I would have been more specific if I had been anticipating fellow fans of philosophy in the room.

          Also, Inception for this would be a webcomic, inside a webcomic, inside a webcomic.

          We’re reading Dumbing of Age,
          Walky is reading It’s Walky!,
          And deep, deep down, in one instance in the apartment, somebody was reading Questionable Content.

          Then, all the way back at Dumbing of Age, Joyce decides to ship Marigold and the Space man, thus reminding all of us to read QC.

          Buts
          Buts
          Buts
          Buts
          Buts

        4. Shippy McShipper

          Oh, I know Inception wouldn’t actually have been appropiate. I was just surprised that it didn’t come up anyways

  42. lightsabermario

    TROOOOOOOOLLLL!

  43. KresyAntics

    Love panel 1 where Walky goes past Mike like he does not exist. Then the girls talk as if Walky is not within “hearing” distance

  44. Random Guy

    Wow these comments are almost as entertaining as the story. Three tangents and a handful of hyperbole.

    1. Thrudd

      Is hyperbole anything like a toddler on a sugar rush but in the shape of a breakfast cereal container or more of a variation on a Klein bottle?

  45. Roborat

    All that, and yet absolutely no reaction from Joyce to Billy casually saying she tried to have sex with a random guy yesterday, and using a vulgar word on top of it? So we are going to get a delayed reaction next strip?

    1. Tucker

      She’ll figure it out tomorrow morning.

      1. Shippy McShipper

        Tomorrow morning for US, right? Please?

  46. Dio

    Ahaha, Walky’s a friend of Dorothy.

    …what, it’s just me who thinks that’s funny? Alright then!

  47. ProjectXa3

    Any chance you’ll be at any other Comic Cons, Mr. Willis? Like say, Philly?

    1. David

      The only other one I have planned right now other than the ones listed on the frontpage is San Diego. Dunno about the back half of the year yet!

      1. Noel Schornhorst

        I hope to someday see you at a convention, but lately, I haven’t been able to go to any… maybe Dragon*Con if I find work this year!

  48. Yotomoe

    Don’t worry Joyce. Walky doesn’t like guys. Walky like Mcnuggets. Walky x Mcnuggets is my OTP

  49. Noel Schornhorst

    I think I wanna ship Walky X Danny almost as much as I wanna ship Me X Danny! 😀

  50. Connor

    So Billie just busted out an F-bomb in front of Joyce and… no reaction?

  51. newllend

    My god joyce your so cluelessly out of the loop

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