257

Kidnap
Posted on March 24, 2020 by David M Willis

257 thoughts on “Kidnap”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    WOW this went somewhere

    I feel like Sal will stop being ok with Asher after this

    hahahahaha duct tapeYES but it’s more readily available than rope and you can’t wiggle out as easily I guess

    1. alice

      we can’t see their wrists, but the ankle tape at least is over pajamas/socks for walky and boots for joyce, so that shouldn’t last long.

      1. clif

        Well, so much for the no kidnapping theory.

        1. Agemegos

          Yeah. This is weird. How? Why?

          Did the Keystone Cops duo who chased Mike on scooters last night pull off at least two clean quiet snatches in a public place? What have Joyce and Walky got to do with Becky and Amber. Isn’t this completely over-the-top as a way to make Amber drop out?

        2. CC

          Blaine has specifically referred to Joyce (and likely Walky off-panel) as “targets”

        3. ReFlex76

          Interesting that Faz is tagged in that comic.

        4. Deanatay

          You can see his profile in front of Sarah in the last panel.

        5. RowenMorland

          I like how Blaine has twigged that Joyce is the Alpha Character. Soon he will cut of his nose and ears and form a guild of assassins.

        6. BarerMender

          Yeah, the silent kidnapping from a crowd pushes credibility.

        7. maarvarq

          One of the sillier episodes of the TV series Fringe had the Villain of the Week, whose only power was being really smart, manage to kidnap a grown woman from the pump area of a busy gas station during the daytime. How he did this was of course not shown on camera.

        8. RowenMorland

          Lottery scratch card on a piece of string.

        9. Needfuldoer

          Joyce is Becky’s best friend, Walky is Amber’s current love interest.

          My guess is they’re leverage.

          Conspiracy theory: Maybe the “big rule” Willis broke is ‘no rehashing relationships from the old continuity’…

        10. King Daniel

          He’s already stated that he’s willing to forgo that if he can cover new ground with it. Ruth/Billie was a thing in the Walkyverse, as was Mandy/Grace/sometimes-Sierra, and that’s just off the top of my head.

        11. Ana Chronistic

          Wally/Dorothy was a biggie

        12. Ana Chronistic

          Walky

          Thx autocorrect I forgot about

        13. Needfuldoer

          Gotta change your avatar to Alice now.

        14. Ellegos

          The how, I don’t know. But as to the why… Joyce is Becky’s closest friend, and Walky is Amber’s current boyfriend.

          They make for pretty good bait/hostages, and are two of the people most likely to interfere with their plans.

      2. He Who Abides

        @alice – it could be the tape sold for bondage exploits. That’s not easy to slip out of.

    2. Sirksome

      I feel like it would be more than “not being okay” with him after this.

    3. AntJ

      I doubt Asher knew people were getting kidnapped. Blaine probably just told him “I need you to pull the fire alarm at 4am”. He seemed pretty adamant about not hurting anybody.

      1. Felix

        Yeah, probably. But still makes him an accomplice.

        1. Agemegos

          In at least two serious felonies.

      2. Deadjolras

        Yeah, the last time we saw Blaine and Asher speaking to each other, Asher only seemed convinced because Blaine told him “no one would get hurt”.

        1. Lokitsu

          That’s one of those questions where, if you have to ask then you already know the answer.

    4. Rose by Any Other Name

      Obviously this kidnapper watched Ocelotina’s videos concerning duct tape.

      1. abacuswizard

        Holy independent comics, Batman, was that an Empowered reference??

      2. Michael L

        Wow, this is an unlikely reference connecting the two web comics I actually read every day.

        1. Rose by Any Other Name

          **glances at the complete collection of first printings on bookshelf including Unchained and Soldier of Love**

          Yes. “Web comic.”

      3. Delicious Taffy

        A+ for that one.

        1. Rose by Any Other Name

          Thank you!
          Also – sweet Bernadette Gravatar.

      4. Roborat

        Woohoo, fellow Empowered fans.

        1. Rose by Any Other Name

          Hello!

    5. Random832

      They put two people wrapped in duct tape in the same room. If they keep their heads (and if it really is duct tape, and there isn’t something tougher than wrist duct tape on their hands), getting out of it should be easy

      1. Random832

        Oddly, if there really is just duct tape around their wrists, Walky’s cape might be a bigger obstacle to them getting free than anything the kidnappers did.

      2. Ana Chronistic

        “Wrapped in” would be a lot harder tho

        Like, you ever make a duct tape body cast for a… costume

      3. Jhon

        Houdini never had to deal with duct tape…

    6. Ana Chronistic

      Actually surprised more people haven’t commented on “I refuse to be traumatized by this”

      If not book title, then campaign slogan?

  2. Stephen Bierce

    I see our villain has left our hero masked. No “he’s only a twat with Daddy issues” scene.

    1. Mordecai

      Behind all the cartoons and McNuggets, you’re just a little boy in a playsuit crying for mommy and daddy… it’d be pathetic if it weren’t so funny.

      1. lightsabermario

        Excellent BB:ROTJ reference.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Batman Beyond: Return of the Jedi?

        2. poofdepoof

          @needfuldoer same

        3. clif

          Batman Beyond: Return of the Jedi was the episode of MonkeyMaster where we learned why duct tape was inescapable even if you had superpowers.

  3. Kyoulkoa

    100mph tape

  4. ian livs

    Ooh, duct tape? Can confirm, an amateur can escape from that stuff. (Also, less relevant here, but if somebody puts it over your mouth, you can just lick it and then you can talk just fine. Hurts like hell if it gets caught in your hair though.)

    *nope, I’ve never been kidnapped (to my knowledge). I just wanted to test how good I was at escaping from things as a paranoid middle schooler. (I feel like my mom probably shouldn’t have gone along with it so easily though?)

    1. SuperZero

      You were entertaining yourself quietly.

      1. ian livs

        No, no, remember that I quickly learned how to talk through duct tape. I was quiet for approximately 3 seconds, lol

    2. Beef

      To your mom’s credit, 12 year olds do stupid shit so often and was probably worried you’d hurt yourself if she didn’t help

      1. ian livs

        Good point–if not her, I probably would’ve enlisted my kid brother

        1. Thanatos

          Also, I’m sure it provided PLENTY of amusement for her. You asked your mom to tie you up and let you struggle to get free. Chances of you actually getting hurt were pretty minimal and she got to have relatively free entertainment at your expense.

        2. ego

          can confirm, am currently trying to figure out how to get my six year old to try this game.

    3. Regalli

      Given it’s Joyce and Walky in this first strip specifically, with duct tape, I’m going to guess they can’t break out of it as a reference to the Walkyverse where it was conditioned into the abductees to be inescapable as a way to keep them from escaping when they were periodically brought in for more experimentation. (Since, you know, super strength means regular restraints are tricky. You need some mild psychic fuckery.) Joyce and Walky get particularly associated with it because the start of their romance arc was meeting as kids during routine abductee experimentation.

      But DAMN, will I ever be amused if Amber or Sarah or Ethan is in the next room and can get out because ‘what? It’s just duct tape’ while Joyce, Walky, Sal, and/or Dina all stare at them blankly.

      1. Regalli

        Alternately, they CAN break out, and the flavor text makes a joke about it.

        1. Agemegos

          I’m missing something.

      2. Adam Black

        what if there is a secret MORE to dumbiverse joyce and walky aside from churchmouse videos

      3. Khyrin

        Joyce has teleportation abilities that are explicitly referenced by others in the actual text of the comic. Amber’s/Amazi-girl’s meat-ship got away with just a bruised melon instead of a pulped one. The Fucking Semi What Hungers for Integrity.

        I am never, ever going to NOT half-expect Willis to spring “surprise! SEMME is in Dumbiverse, too, but the Martians are active because Head Alien/Dexter are purely fictional”

    4. Charles Spencer

      It helps even more if you slobber your lips up thoroughly before the tape is applied. I speak from experience in the days when teachers were permitted to tape a chatty kid’s mouth shut.

  5. Kyrik Michalowski

    This doesn’t bode well for anyone, and I have the distinct feeling that Amazigirl isn’t going to save them this time.

    1. Oak Rover

      Obviously not — the kidnappers were smart enough to grab Amazigirl first. Who do you think is tied up next to Joyce?

    2. ThatMatt

      Holy crap… I think you’re right. I really think you’re right.

  6. DailyBrad

    Ah, I see. Walky and Joyce can hopefully keep each other in good spirits through this. Probably through arguing.

    1. ian livs

      I will admit, that’s a silver lining. Their dynamic makes me happy

  7. Vangeln

    Why’d anyone kidnap Walky?

    1. SuperZero

      Witness?

    2. Valerie

      Maybe the dads found out that Amber is dating him.

    3. Aletheia

      He was probably just told something like “The one in the mask,” because who would guess there would be two people who wear masks like that on campus? 😛

      1. Aletheia

        “He” being the one who kidnapped them, not Walky; I feel like I should clarify that, heh.

      2. Jhon

        Several upvotes!

    4. Bunny

      Walky is wearing a cape and Amazigirl’s mask. Asher May have just been told to grab the one in the mask. But he’s also been shagging Amber so that might be a factor.

      1. AntJ

        If Blaine’s goons start calling him Amazi-Girl, that would be the most Willisian of twists

        1. ktbear

          Well, Billie thought Sal was Amazigirl, also Sal and Walky being twins you may not be too far off.

        2. Random832

          It also means he might be in deep shit because if he’s not a target he’s a loose end

    5. Bunny

      Maybe Asher grabbed him too because Walky punches Asher the day before…

      1. Rotunda

        I don’t think Asher did the kidnapping—only the fire alarm. He was seen leaving Read Hall looking at a message on his phone saying “It is done”, probably from the kidnapper.

        1. Dr. T

          Actually, the “It is done” was an outgoing message, so Asher was letting Blaine know he set off the alarm.

    6. Bagge

      Walky is just that annoying

    7. Adam Black

      I think he was mistaken for Ethan

  8. Cattleprod

    DOA needs location tags so this one can be ‘secondary location’.

  9. Reltzik

    HUH. Blaine didn’t gag them. That means if Joyce rolls over Walky can chew through the duct tape on her wrists in, like, seconds if he does it right, or ten minutes if he screws it up. (All while Joyce goes ewewewew because Walkyspit.)

    I’d have expected better from someone with mob ties. But I suppose being someone with mob ties doesn’t automatically make you someone with zip ties.

    1. alice

      i’m reading this as asher, not blaine

      1. ReFlex76

        I’m pretty sure all Asher did was pull the fire alarm.

    2. ReFlex76

      I have a suspicion this ain’t Blaine’s work.

      1. Reltzik

        I don’t think he’d trust it to Ross. Especially since Joyce would recognize Ross.

        1. Dr. T

          There is one other candidate that Blaine could have turned to other than Ross. Someone who is also eligible to get bailed out of jail and has had two weeks to heal and stew over what Amber did to him. Someone who has no compunction against causing harm to our heroes, especially Joyce.

        2. King Daniel

          I don’t think Ryan is anywhere near having regained the ability to get out of the hospital bed yet.

        3. Dr. T

          You think he is still bedridden after two weeks? I am pretty sure that is how long it has been now.

        4. thejeff

          I think the last we knew he hadn’t regained consciousness.

          If it’s nearly as bad as implied, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he’s still there. Non-superficial stab wounds don’t heal quickly. Of course, the injuries were never specified in any detail, so it’s easy enough for the needs of the plot to have him mostly recovered.

        5. Reltzik

          Yeah, that person would do far worse to Joyce than duct tape her and toss her in a van then a basement, and Joyce would be far worse off if she’d been subdued by and/or if she had seen that person.

    3. ian livs

      “being someone with mob ties doesn’t automatically make you someone with zip ties” is the best thing I’ve read today, thank you for that

    4. Bagge

      Walky making someting actually useful with his mouth would be a good twist.

      1. clif

        Hisses and throws peanuts at Bagge.

      2. Jhon

        Also upvotes.

    5. Jhon

      ‘ewewewew because Walkyspit’
      Upvotes!

  10. Beef

    Softening the blow of the characters bring kidnapped with a Mulaney reference is very kind of you

  11. BBCC

    Hoo boy. Well this’ll be fun.

    I feel like now’s a good time to remind you all tomorrow’s patreon strip’s $5.

    1. Rose by Any Other Name

      Yeah, like tomorrow’s strip is gonna help.
      A $100 tier where you can see the entire buffer, maybe.

      1. ktbear

        Theres a $100 tier? Why did I not know this!! /j

        1. clif

          It’s $5 for one day ahead, $10 for two days, $25 for three days, $50 for four days, and $100 gets you 5 days. If you want six, it would be $200 and a full week for $400. Or at least that’s the way it should work to optimally keep the Willis household funded.

  12. Valerie

    STREET SMARTS

  13. JJ Bittenbinder

    Street Smarts!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdIPlDAXsqg

    1. MK15

      So pumped for that reference!

  14. Tandel

    That’s some high quality alt-text right there.

  15. LadyCaramel

    Omg

  16. Foxhack

    This… doesn’t make any sense, unless Blaine suddenly got ninja powers.

    1. clif

      Maybe it kinda makes sense.

      Okay, we want Amber, Becky and Amazigirl. That’ll be the one in costume and a mask and the one with Dina and here’s a picture of Amber.

      Didn’t see Amber, boss, but here’s Becky and Amazigirl all duct taped up and delivered.

      1. Alopex

        Bad Dad Squad knows where Becky lives, they wouldn’t be grabbing her off the street. I’m pretty sure Joyce is a hostage. Walky might be a mistake. Or he might have been grabbed on the grounds that he’s been boning Amber all over campus.

        1. clif

          They know where Representative DeSanto lives and where the party was. But do they know Becky wouldn’t be spending the night with Dina?

          If, as seems likely, the memory stick Faz stole is their source of information on Amber, that happened before Walky and Amber were a thing. And of course Walky and Amber have been making a point of not doing it all over campus, or much at all on account of bad assumptions about Sal. So presumably the Dad’s wouldn’t know.

    2. Bagge

      Blaine might not have ninja powers…

      But who knows what kind of powers Dad Man (TM) has?
      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/convention/

    3. Agemegos

      Dina has ninja powers! It must have been her!

    4. Needfuldoer

      Oh no, what if Ninja Rick is really evil and has been helping Toedad and the Blaine? That could be the broken rule, ‘no old characters who still resemble the real people they’re based on’.

  17. Jeff K!

    It should be noted: this is hardly the first time a Walky and a Joyce have been kidnapped together and tied with duct tape.

    I expect somewhat less ‘Sound of Music’ this time, though.

    1. clif

      Also fewer aliens.

  18. Huehuetotl

    Ross was driving a sedan. So Blaine had another vehicle, or we’re being misdirected.

    1. Agemegos

      He has a limousine. The vehicle that Ross rolled onto its roof abducting Becky a couple of weeks ago is likely not drivable, and ought to be in an evidence impound anyway.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Blaine’s contracting business probably has a couple minivans or cargo vans.

      The green car from Mike night is Yuri’s Mitsubishi Galant.

      Toedad’s Kia Forte Koup is totaled, and should be held in evidence for the last felony kidnapping he perpetrated.

  19. Bicycle Bill

    Are we to assume that they were just tossed unceremoniously down the steps?  That shows whoever is doing this isn’t doing it just for the sake of taking hostages and doesn’t much give a shit what happens to these two.  This, I assure you, is NOT a good thing.

    1. clif

      Is that steps into a basement or a ramp into a van?

      I’ll admit it looks like steps into a basement, but Walky says van and Joyce’s placement is odd if she was tossed down steps.

      So I don’t know.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        All the ramps I’ve ever seen go UP into a van, not down.  Not to mention that blue pipe (?) looks like part of a handrail.

        I’m now thinking they were abducted and transported in a van to this location, a house somewhere off-campus … and since we don’t know how much time has passed they may not even be in Bloomington any more.  They have been tossed feet-first into a garage through a door (off-panel, top right), and if enough time has passed it is now daylight which explains both the lighter section of the floor and the fact that Joyce and Walky were casting shadows as they landed; and the stairs lead from the floor level of the garage up to the main dwelling level of the attached house.

        1. Needfuldoer

          I think the light is coming from a fixture in the room on the other side of the door from the basement stairs.

        2. thejeff

          The light’s coming from above – down the stairs. It’s lined up directly with the stairs and the character shadows are directly beneath them. In panel 3 it looks weird, but Joyce landed on her shoulder and her legs are still raised.

          Could be one of those relatively short cellar hatch stairs, cause if they just got thrown down a full flight of stairs, I’d expect more than an “ow”. Especially since it looks like Walky landed on his butt, with his hands right underneath it.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Looks like a basement to me. The dark spot suggests damp concrete, and that pole next to the stairs is either a handrail or Lally column.

      3. Agemegos

        This is a basement. Walky is complaining about the lack of style of the van that was used to bring him here from the kidnap site.

    2. Adam Black

      So canonically there is 3 Groups , plus A wildcard ( Mike warner ) f that guy, he knows too much.

      The daughters : “ones we want to save”
      “those who will get in our way”

      and “the expendables” , with Joyce at the center of it all.

  20. Sirksome

    Well they got kidnapped pretty quick. Were the parents all hiding in the background just waiting for them to split up?

    1. ReFlex76

      Such speed hints at several people carrying this out; a mob, if you will.

      1. Bryy

        They must have been quick as the Flash.

  21. ReFlex76

    My suspicion: This is Yuri’s work, using the info Faz gathered; with help from Korean mob ties.

    1. Agemegos

      If Baline can command the services of Mob goons adept at kidnapping, why did he need Asher and Ross?

  22. JetstreamGW

    Okay… *how* did they get kidnapped? They were in a crowd.

    1. Bryy

      Yeah, I really, really don’t buy it. They got kidnapped within, what, two panels?

      1. Lumino

        This was my problem last strip. Like, over 6 people just got grabbed, out of a crowd of people, with nobody noticing and no noise being made? I call bullshit.

        1. King Daniel

          At 4 AM too, so it’s hardly like non-students won’t stand out.

        2. clif

          Six people disappeared. We don’t know how many were grabbed, just that it was at least two. Amber may well have entered the building after her phone. Ethan might have followed because possibility of fire. Hard to figure Joyce voluntarily separating from Dorothy tho.

    2. Sam

      It was likely easy because they *were* in a crowd, which made it impossible to keep track of every individual person. Children tend to be kidnapped easily in crowded supermarkets and malls because of the same thing – with so many people around, you can’t keep track of every individual thing happening and it gives an illusion of safety, so people usually let their guards down too.

      If there are only 5 people total, you would notice if 3 vanished. If there are 30 you still might but it would be less immediately obvious. If there are 300, you likely wouldn’t unless it was someone you were literally just talking to.

      I imagine it will be elaborated on more later exactly how but it is not impossible at the very least.

    3. Nono

      Especially since two of the ones being kidnapped are Sarah, who is unlikely to go down without a fight, and Ethan, who isn’t exactly small or weak.

    4. Bicycle Bill

      We don’t know for a fact they were in a crowd.  We don’t even know how much time has elapsed between yesterday’s strip and this one.  Walky and Joyce could have been snatched up after they left Read Hall and got away from the crowds, been transported who-knows-where, and what we’re seeing now is three or four hours later.

  23. Nah

    Hah! Reliving their Joyce and Walky childhoods. People clearly just see these two and think ‘wow, gotta kidnap these two together. Don’t wanna separate them’

    1. Regalli

      I’ve got it! The rule Willis broke a while back WASN’T ‘no deaths’ after all! He really did cave and bring Head Alien back in! Mike is alive in the next room, also restrained with duct tape! WACKY SCI FI HIJINKS WILL ENSUE ONCE MORE!

      … What? I can dream. That’ll be WAY less stressful to keep reading through quarantine. Plus maybe Galasso’s team of Walkyverse dimension-hoppers will come back for a teamup arc and Leslie can kick HA’s ass again.

      1. clif

        What? Mike was clearly the secret identity of Head Alien the entire time.

        1. Needfuldoer

          I thought the real Head Alien was the friends we made along the way.

        2. clif

          That was the real Mike. The real Head Alien was the memes we posted along the way.

  24. John

    Yeah, getting traumatized by your abduction is so other universe.

  25. DiDi

    Oh… Oh, this is what’s happening.

  26. Rotunda

    Blaine’s scheme is still a puzzle. He’s probably trying to frame Ross, but he used his real name to the church congregation and to Ross, and Mike shouted it when people were around. We’ll see.

    1. deathjavu

      The puzzle piece you’re missing is that Blaine is an egotistical idiot.

  27. Bryy

    So….. my theory that Carol’s phone call was about KIDNAPPING JOYCE is kinda getting less theory-y.

    I hope my Waco theory is not correct.

    1. Dr. T

      I mean, it would explain the amateurish nature of this job, but I have serious doubts.

      1. clif

        Kidnappings taking place right in front of Ruth and other witnesses with no-one suspecting? Why do you say amateurish.

  28. Yotomoe

    I am the night.

    1. clif

      You’re the other night guy?

  29. Rose by Any Other Name

    I’m calling it now: they’ve been kidnapped by Mike.

    If I’m wrong, meh, it was a long shot and no one’s gonna care in a week. I’ve been wrong before (yay!).

    But if I’m right… oh if I’m right….

    1. clif

      You mean Willis dropped a live Mike?

    2. Agemegos

      Are they in the basement of an abandoned house?

      1. clif

        The barrel of lotion is just off panel.

        1. Agemegos

          Thank heavens we got that before the panic-buying started.

        2. Liquid Len

          I laughed more than I should have at that!

  30. NinjaNick

    This escalated really fast.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      Cue a classic meme.

  31. EvilMidnightLurker

    This seems beyond the Dadholes’ ability.

    1. Agemegos

      Yes, it does. Chasing Mike on electric scooters and swiping as fast as they can is demonstrably more their speed.

  32. Suet

    Well this is a fine how do you do. There’s gonna be more, innit?

    *plays .38 Special’s Caught Up In You on the van’s speakers*

    Maybe Dorothy; Carla, Ethan and Sarah feel too big to be hustled; Billie’s pretty far…. maybe Dorothy.

  33. Random832

    Wait, why was Walky kidnapped anyway?

    Does… does Asher think Walky is Amazi-Girl?

    1. Hugo Bedward

      Gotta keep Joyce & Walky together

    2. Icalasari

      This is going to lead to a great smack down soon

    3. Deadjolras

      Asher only pulled the fire alarm. The kidnapping was someone else, probably one or both the Evil Dads. In any case, it was dark and what are the odds of two people of similar height walking around wearing a cape and a mask?

  34. Bagge

    Walky shutting up: Not happening.

    1. clif

      In any universe.

  35. Shane

    ::kidnapping intensifies::

  36. Bill Buchanan

    Done in by the secondary location. Rookie mistake.

    1. Adam Black

      what do you mean?

      1. Zor

        The extra text is a John Mulaney reference

    2. a/snow/mous/e

      *+1’s*

  37. Adam Black

    First Reaction: OMG its about Friggin Time

    second reaction: I have no idea why ( but I got a THEORY ) why at least to me the last “comic day” has been so intolerable. intolerably long.

    To be fair the artist, Damn You Willis He does this frequently on major cliff hangers, and throws them to the back burner to to build up suspense. it hasnt been that long either. I know hes blameless. ( almost, but hes so sweetly sensitive to readers mental health I think its mostly a giant coincidence )

    but this time its been ; WT CHEESE, how could you?

    MY THEORY: ITs been awful , awful , awful but its written 9 months ahead…
    and in the Meantime we have the nearly exact same slow burn National Disaster playing out in real time, in denial, at the exact same speed, as the comic release, at the exact same time.

    and its also playing out as a giant climax to Trumpocalypse .

    Even the mechanism was the same for 2 months, denial of urgent catastrophe thats not being prepared for.

    thats my Theory : current events destroyed the escapism psychological hatch by playing out at similar real time speed as the release of the comic.

    im curious if other longtime readers experienced this intolerability of the last comic day ( maybe due to covid19 ) .

    even this kidnapping can be a metaphor for getting covid19.
    First Mike but no one knows. 2 months later 2 more characters.
    Walky is one of teh few characters to know Mike is missing so its like a social contagion

    you have the RA almost noticing. Ruth s like chinese doctor who saw the wuhan cluster. ( or was that Mike ?)

    Im actually relieved shit the fan and we can go from there.

    long time readers, what do you think/ feel ?

    1. Chris Phoenix

      I think you’d enjoy reading Unsong. “Nothing is a coincidence.”

      1. Adam Black

        what is this?

    2. Needfuldoer

      Sir, this is a Wendy’s.

    3. Some Ed

      I’m uncertain of how this is at all related to COVID-19. To be fair, the response to COVID-19 is basically everybody’s forced to take the sort of vacation I prefer, so it doesn’t have nearly the psychological impact on me as nearly everyone else.

      I understand you feel confined, but there’s a significant difference in my mind with mere confinement and being kidnapped with ones hands duct taped together. It also feels like the whole COVID-19 thing has been going on, start to now, has taken about half of the amount of in universe time that DoA has had, but that’s been going on for a lot less than a tenth of the time that DoA has been running. So that’s a very different pacing.

      I’m sorry I’m not able to be more sympathetic to you, I’m just about as much not in the same observational frame of reality as you as Walky.

      1. clif

        Besides, besides the kidnapping is the work of Blaine and Toe while Covid-19 is the work of Sydney Yus. Totally different.

  38. Jonah Sanville

    WELL FUCK OKAY THEN

    1. clif

      Difficult under the circumstances.

  39. Nenja

    Oh no they’re being transported to a secondary location!

    1. Zor

      They’re never coming back

  40. Deadjolras

    re: alt-text: QUICK, THROW YOUR WALLET

  41. abysswatcher1993

    Seriously, how did two grown ups kindnapped Walky and Joyce out of the sight of Ruth… Wait… OH MY STARS, THE CHURCH KIDNAPPED JOYCE AND HER FRIENDS!!!! That is the only explanation. Two men can’t kidnap so many teenagers! Also, Blaine has no reason to kidnap Joyce besides taunting Amber. If Joyce and her friends escape this situation, these evil people will spend decades in jail, and I doubt any right winger would bail so many people out of jail.

    1. Adam Black

      more likely Fazs reconnaissance and relationship map comes into play.
      then its with assistance from Korean mafia.

      Joyce is connected to Becky, and dated aslo Ethan.
      Ethan is also Blaines leverage against Amber
      * they might think walky is Ethan.

      Also Walky was with Amber when he punched Asher.

      Joyce punched Ross in the face and is leverage to getting becky for Toedad

    2. Bagge

      …fuck

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/therightthing/

    3. Sombrero

      Plus: Blaine needs scapegoats. He may be an asshole, but he is a selfish one. He wants Amber out of IU to have more money to live his life.
      Plus plus: A mob job would really push this into slasher territory.

  42. BenRG

    I’m with Joyce. It’s difficult to be focussed on your immediate peril, or even feel particularly scared, when in the presence of someone not even in the same observational frame of reality as you!

    1. Bagge

      Breaking people’s observational frame of reality is what NightGuy ™ does best.

  43. Acher4

    What???

    What is going on?

    This really goes towards an ending for the comic, doesn’t it?
    (“an ending”, not “the ending”… I hope)

  44. PiotrW

    Wait… so they have really been kidnapped? I thought that it was just a non-serious suggestion people were throwing around…

    If so, then – how did this happen? How do you kidnap two people from a crowd of other people without being noticed?

    1. Agemegos

      Remember that this is the universe in which Amazi-Girl fell southwards instead of down.

  45. Kabo

    How is that a van? Never saw a van with a “downstairs”.

    1. Agemegos

      The van was used to bring them to the secondary location.

      Still dunno how or why.

      1. Agemegos

        Sorry, that wasn’t clear.

        This is not a van. This is a basement.

        The van that Walky is complaining about is the vehicle used to bring him from the place where he was captured to this place.

    2. BarerMender

      I think that’s supposed to be an up ramp.

      1. clif

        I thought that initially, but now I’m not sure.

  46. Keulen

    So whoever kidnapped them (I’m not gonna assume it’s Blaine and Ross until we see them) did it while they were in a crowd of people, and didn’t tape their mouths or anything to stop them from yelling for help. And somehow nobody noticed until after they were gone.

  47. Alanari

    I’m a bit curious about that plan. I mean, they probably weren’t kidnapped in plain sight. They left the meeting point. So the plan was to hope that they won’t stay where they are supposed to stay?

  48. Tan

    Your first mistake was thinking the Duke of Thingley wouldn’t be prepared to be kidnapped. That’s one of the first things they teach you in duking school.

    Your second mistake was putting Nightguy in a basement. It’s high places he’s bad getting down from; low places are his specialty.

    1. Bagge

      “Your mistake, see, was trying to kidnapp me – the DUKE – in Thingley. You seriously thought I wouldn’t be able to free myself in my own country?”

      “Indiana is not in Thingley.”

      “DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY!!!”

      1. Some Ed

        A duchy is generally an area larger than a county but smaller than a state. Duchies are hundreds of square kilometers, while Indiana is over 36,000 km^2. Thingley would be in Indiana, if the two overlapped in space.

        1. Bagge

          ah, but you see, knave, that counting mere bunarium like a cartographer clerk causes you to miss what Thingley has and Indiana sorely lacks. Thingley has gravitas

        2. clif

          Are you saying Walky is making a mass of things?

        3. Bagge

          …yes. Yes, that’ exactly what I’m saying

  49. Felgraf

    Ah, duct tape, together, and their mouths aren’t covered?

    Joyce is resourceful, I actually think she’ll figure this out pretty quick.

    God I hope she breaks Blaine’s jaw next.

  50. Archivist

    If that’s duct tape then the callback IS destroying me.

    1. clif

      Alas, poor Archivist. We (didn’t) know them well.

  51. DarkoNeko

    Well it check out, the sidekick gets kidnapped.

    1. DarkoNeko

      ….but really, the fire alarm, etc, etc. I should have seen that coming, but I didn’t~

    2. BenRG

      I’m guessing that this is all going to end up in a huge trope subversion. Maybe Sal gets the truth out of Asher and, instead of going charging in there, as Amazi-Girl wants, Sal persuades her to let her call the cops instead and let the professionals handle it.

      Maybe, just for the sake of a Walkyverse call-back, Joyce and Walky are already in the process of a comedic plan to free themselves.

      1. BBCC

        That requires Sal to trust the police.

  52. Joe Covenant

    In one mighty leap they were…
    …

    kidnapped…???

  53. CJ

    So now, did Asher kidnapp Joyce and Walky, pretending he thought the latter was Amazi-girl?

    1. Some Ed

      I seem to recall that Blaine named Joyce as a person of interest, as the connection between Becky and Amber. I think that’s more likely than this being an attempted kidnapping of Amazi-Girl.

      That said, I’m not sure that Asher knows who Amazi Girl is, or even that Joyce definitely isn’t her. Sure, Asher has interacted with Amber, but only enough to know that Walky is Amber’s friend who is comfortable about trying to negotiate affection from her. (Using the word friend a bit loosely here, because it’s the word Asher would use.)

      I don’t see any comics with Asher and Amazi-Girl, so while he certainly would know of her, I don’t see any reason why he’d know Joyce wasn’t her. It’s just needlessly convoluted for him to kidnap Joyce due to that when there’s a perfectly good reason for him to go after Joyce anyway.

      1. CJ

        I read your comment and wondered, and wondered, and then I understood. I meant to say Asher took Walky to be Amazi-Girl because of the costume/pyjamas. I don’t think anyone could think Joyce is Amazi-Girl.

  54. Maddieface

    I hope that this turns out to be an elaborate plot by Sydney Yus and completely unrelated to the Blaine/Toe malarkey

  55. Zaxares

    Well, that escalated quickly. Still… HOW exactly would one manage to kidnap a sizeable group of people (we’re talking Amber, Joyce, Dorothy, Sarah, Walky AND Ethan here) while they’re right in the middle of a large, milling group of people who just came out of a dorm?? This is not the kind of thing you can pull off easily as a two-man operation, so the only logical conclusion here is that Blaine and Ross called in some extra help… Either from the mob, or Ross’s church (which, tbh, is actually the scarier thought, that random people just decided to agree to help kidnap a bunch of kids because they were so convinced that it was “the right thing to do”.)

    1. Some Ed

      It’s not clear to me they kidnapped all of those people quite yet. Some of those people could have legitimately wandered off. Amber to get her phone, Ethan to stop her.

      Also, the members of Ross’s church aren’t exactly random people. Many of them are known to be nut jobs that think that Ross isn’t a horrible person, which already put them way out there on the fringe.

      1. Dr. T

        I think it is entirely possible that they have a third partner; one that has it in for Joyce, AmaziGirl, Amber, Sarah, and possibly Dorothy. Someone that is also eligible for bail and has had two weeks to heal from the gutting he was subjected to from Amber.

        That’s right, I think they might be working with Ryan. Why would Blaine work with him when it is obvious that the guy wants to kill his daughter? Well, because he doesn’t care at all about his daughter. If she dies, then she can never cost him another dime. He probably even has an insurance policy on her, so she is probably more valuable to him dead.

        1. King Daniel

          If Ryan was here, I think Joyce’d be a LOT more concerned.

        2. Dr. T

          Good point. He could still be involved, but it could be Toedad or Blaine that grabbed her.

  56. Needfuldoer

    “Well, let’s see what happens in today’s Dumbing of A– *TIM ALLEN GRUNT OF SURPRISE AND CONFUSION*”

    – Me, twelve seconds ago

  57. Delicious Taffy

    OMG, Joypse and Walkus are gonna do hot hostage makeouts and their kidnapper will be too much distractioned to noticing them totally escapeding. Brivlis hast outdone yourself tonight.

  58. Some Ed

    They really decided to pick a *superhero* as one of their kidnap choices? What kind of idiots are these guys.

    Oh, wait, Night Guy is just a poser to get into AmaziGirl’s pants. Sorry, I got confused for a moment.

  59. Agemegos

    Step 1. Kidnap college kids.

    Step 2. ???

    Step 3. Amber drops out of college and Becky becomes straight.

    1. Shariku

      You know, when its phrased like that, you see just how stupid Blaine and Toedad’s goals really are.

      With the effort that Blaine’s putting into this to save on several years of college tuition money (taking into account that there’s no way he’s getting back the first year’s tuition fee), he probably could have found a way to make that money back. He may be scum, but at the very least he’s a resourceful guy. Kidnapping is one of the dumbest ways he could go about doing this.

      1. Bagge

        Plot twist: Blaine and Toedad are really stupid.

        1. inqntrol

          It’s the stupid people that are the most dangerous, their actions cannot be easily predicted.

        2. Bagge

          It’s working.

          I for one could not predict this
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/convention/

      2. Rotunda

        He’s probably planning to frame Ross.

  60. Rabisch

    I like Walky’s positive attitude.

  61. clif

    That episode where Joyce and Walky are thrown together.

  62. Passchendaele

    yes walky, that’s definitely, absolutely, exactly how trauma works

    1. thejeff

      It’s not a bad attitude to go into it with. Don’t worry, the trauma will be along later anyway.

  63. Felian

    Ssso… now i kinda hope that whatever happens will escalate badly enough to get the bad guys sentenced to death or lifelong prison….

    1. thejeff

      Well, as long as they don’t kill anyone, Indiana will let them out on bail.

      I mean, Ross already had kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

      1. King Daniel

        Finding someone to pay their bail, on the other hand…

        (Remember, Joyce’s church was originally unable to pay Ross’s bail until Blaine stepped in.)

  64. Alaric

    Hmm. I notice that the “next” button from the two-days-ago strip isn’t working. Yesterday’s is working, just not the day before’s. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/headcount/

  65. Alaric

    Where are Sarah and Dorothy, I wonder? And did Amber change to Amazi-Girl, or did she get kidnapped, too?

    1. Bryy

      I do not see this going well for Amber at all.

  66. hof1991

    At a minimum, Blaine, Ross and Yuri, with Faz as the driver. Are their more people involved from Joyce’s church? Joyce’s bad brother? Her mom? Surprisingly well executed.

    1. Bryy

      I’m sure Jonathan is involved. I wouldn’t be surprised if Youth Pastor Dave was sent in as a “deprogrammer”.

  67. Jhon

    My head-canon: This entire storyline is flashing through Mike’s mind as he plummets toward the hard hard concrete below.

    1. clif

      Only to be caught by Amazigirl. Which breaks his neck.

  68. Sombrero

    I hope the kidnappers will allow us for some Joyce/Walky time. We had too little of it in DoA, and they are good foils for each other.

    1. Sombrero

      Also: This is pointing to Walky being a surprise for the kidnappers. They sure think they’ve got Amazi-Girl and they will find they’ve got McNuggets-Boy. Willis-wise I am afraid this surprise will get quickly neutered.

      1. Shariku

        Kind of thinking the same. I can see this being Toedad having grabbed him because he was dressed up, and he made an assumption that Walky must have been connected to the girl that was dressed up. I can see Blaine walking in on this and asking why the hell Walky is there.

  69. Ellegos

    But the Bittenbinder technique never fails!

  70. Roborat

    I must admit, I am curious as to how they managed to kidnap them among a huge group of students from the dorm, not to mention they are around friends. What are the odds that Dina saw the whole thing go down? Finally, with the two of them together, it won’t take long to get out of that tape.

  71. RiverDelta

    Carla kidnapped them to save them.

  72. PB

    THE HELL?!

  73. MrBookBoy

    I think this a great time for Ruth/Billie to be the heroes. They’re still free.

  74. Dracke

    For once walkie is acting attractive…i mean cool

  75. Sarpiedon

    This escalated quickly

  76. jufreire

    I don’t know what I expected but oh my God it was NOT this. This scene… Stablishes so MUCH, in such a small amount of time which is unusual for this comic, and it is also unexpectedly funny. I think its one of my all time favorite strips. It made me laugh out loud

  77. A. Non YMous

    I really relate to Walky here
    >> AS SOMEONE THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED To <<<

    Some people might think this is unrealistic, but Willis
    You are actually spot on .

    If you dont yet believe you are about to be murdered,
    …
    Refusing to traumatized is the correct response .

    But there will be massive side effects if the Injury is followed later by insults,
    salt in the wound after the fact ,
    becomes worse then the initial wound. even decades later.

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