236

Roomies
Posted on April 3, 2019 by David M Willis
There are 6 days left in the Dumbing of Age Book 8 Kickstarter!  Also it's my birthday.  If you haven't pledged yet, but want to, today would be a great day to!  I'm turning 40!  SO OLD. This book will collect "Year Eight," spanning the four storylines that start on September 1, 2017, and complete on August 30, 2018. This includes new commentary, behind-the-scenes artwork, 24 previously Patreon-exclusive bonus strips, and new character designs into an 222-page tome with luxurious glossy paper all bound up into a sturdy presentation!

236 thoughts on “Roomies”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Eating soup! So brave

    (it really is, soup is like liquid sodium, which I can’t have)

    1. Ana Chronistic

      Welcome to Old Fartdom, Willis

      Turn in your working knees

      1. BarerMender

        I’m an aged, aged man, but my knees still work fine.

        1. Doctor_Who

          I’m six years away from decepitude, but for me it’s gonna be my ankles. Better enjoy them while I can.

        2. Needfuldoer

          I’m a little over 3/4 Willis’s age, but I’m already trying to save my back at the expense of my knees. They’re easier to fix.

          Already have one bad ankle too, so that’s fun.

        3. Opus the Poet

          I’m 1.5 times DYW’s age, and two of my kids are the same age as Willis or older. Get off my lawn. 🙂

          My knees are semi-OKish, but the hips are getting iffy.

        4. OBBWG

          I’m 1.5 years younger than Opus. My knees are in great shape. You cannot have my knees. They are mine! Mine I say! You young whippersnappers get away from my kneecaps!

          And Happy Birthday, David!

        5. Annonymouse

          My mum can say the same thing – Knees fully bought and paid for.
          She is the BionicGranGran.
          Me? I have had bad knees since gradeschool. Not so bad until a kneecap decides to pop out of place because I moved or sat in a way it didn’t like.

        6. Clif

          Happy Birthday, Willis! My knees had the grace to hold up to 69 1/2, but as 70 approaches, one of them has just decided to fall apart. Just so you know, the second 40 goes by a lot faster than the first 40 did.

        7. qlx

          I’m young, and mine don’t. Wanna switch?

        8. BarerMender

          Nuh-uh. You have to buy your own.

        9. maarvarq

          I’m an old, old man with crap knees, but they were already crap when I was a teenager.

      2. showler

        I used to be an adventurer like you but then I took time’s arrow to the knee.

      3. KarlBob

        47 here, and sure enough, the knees are going. On the other hand, my younger sister wore out her knees much earlier than I have, so there’s that.
        Happy birthday!

    2. DarkoNeko

      Home-make one without salt ! Cury would probably help make that palatable.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Low sodium broth is a godsend.

      2. Ana Chronistic

        Hmm, I do know this one recipe

        Just need a stone

        1. Annonymouse

          Just be very selective on the choice of rock otherwise you will get more salts than you bargained for. I recommend a nice polished river cobble.

          As for soups in general
          – stock from those leftover bits simmered for hours or pressure cooker
          – veggies – lots of veggies – slow cook and in the correct order

          Oh and the basis for that old story – it was a potato.

        2. Ana Chronistic

          argh, I saw your comment and craved potato soup all day

          then I used the stone recipe (just throw shit in) and despite using chicken stock and cream and such I ended up with potato hot water

          so I guess I either need a real recipe or just to suck up the salt (the lack of which could be what made it taste like water)

        3. Geneseepaws

          Well, done. Have +5 bonus points!

    3. jmsr7

      Ana said “(it really is, soup is like liquid sodium, which I can’t have)”

      To be fair, you’re not alone in that. Here’s what some sodium would do to your insides.

      1. Dana

        I had to make sure I’d been beaten to this comment. You did better than I would have.

      2. Marsh Maryrose

        The melting point of sodium is 208 degrees Fahrenheit, so actual liquid sodium would be even more disagreeable internally.

        A classmate of mine actually tried the metallic-sodium-in-the-toilet-bowl thing as a prank. It actually cracked the base of the toilet.

  2. ValdVin

    Does Ethan know Joyce had the noodles with meatballs not-on-the-side? Because that is now vital info.

    1. Bagge

      Even Ethan does not know how metal Joyce is

  3. DarkoNeko

    Absolutely breathtaking

  4. TrueVCU

    JOYCE, THE FIRST OF HER NAME, SLAYER OF TOEDAD, QUEEN OF SOUPS

    1. fire_daws

      LESBIAN LOVE SLEUTH AND MONKEY MASTER SUPERFAN

  5. Nono

    Joyce, you also have trust issues with McNuggets that might have touched each other.

    It’s not just about what you can’t see.

    1. Shen Hibiki

      Well, as you state, they -might- have touched eachother.
      She didn’t see them do that.
      Is still about what she can’t see.

    2. Zach

      McNuggets are not to be trusted!

      1. DaveM

        Too True. I am given to understand they’ve improved the McNuggets over the last 20 years, but I still won’t trust them. Long ago I decided that real chicken nuggets are not made from a grey paste, and REAL CHICKENS do NOT have air bubbles!

        1. Needfuldoer

          Last time I had McNuggets, they were minced chicken meat. (Eyeballs, anuses, and gizzards are meat, right?) They also weren’t cooked properly, so some of them were still cold and slimy inside. The ones that were cooked tasted bland and vaguely sweet. That was at least 10 years ago, I haven’t touched a McNugget since.

          I get my breaded mystery poultry fix from frozen popcorn chicken these days, sometimes with the flavored corn syrup dipping sauce.

        2. CoMa

          The last time I ate McNuggets was about 14 years ago as a teen. I was in a phase where nearly all of my lunch breaks were spent there (I usually went with the boys in my class – very unhealthy, I gained a lot of weight, not recommended, even as a teen!).
          I thankfully stopped that as my higher school didn’t have breaks long enough for me to walk to one and get food and be back and eat the food, so I got healthier simply not eating there (even though we have higher regulations concerning which type of meat is to be processed in McD).

          And now it’s basically out of the question, as I became a pescetarian a few years ago. BUT during the time I still ate meat, I found my own perfect version of a chicken nugget or chicken finger-type of thing would be to simply cut, fry the chicken myself in cornflakes-coating. It’s absolutely crunchy and delicious, best with a cocktail sauce.
          (which, kind of sounds like a pun, but believe me, it’s not intended)

      2. Deanatay

        Fish sticks and chicken nuggets look exactly the same on the outside! THEY’RE TRYING TO TRICK US!!

        1. Ryek Hvek

          Be glad you never encountered Clam Sticks – they were a thing, back in the day

    3. Felian

      in my dark religious past, i once did an internship with a christian organisation and there was a “six inch rule“ of distance to people of the other sex… maybe in Joyce’s religion, this should apply to foods of different kinds, too.

  6. shadowcell

    on garbage roof we can be garbage, but there shall be only purity in Joyce’s Soup

    1. Yotomoe

      All soup, by its very nature is impure.

  7. Piotr W

    Fourth panel: the creepiest Joyce smile ever!

    1. BarerMender

      I didn’t get creepy. I thought it was a smile of realization. “Hey, I am bad. I’m a dad-punching son of a bongo.”

      1. Sunny

        She’s not a son, though, even though the rest of it is correct. How about “Bad-Ass Dad Puncher” instead?

        But yeah, that’s how I interpret that smile, too. With a bit of “the person I’m crushing on admires something about me”.

        1. BarerMender

          Anyone who trifles over the literal meaning of cuss words has left the path of wisdom. Cuss words are for emotional impact, not intellectual effect.

    2. moon

      For a second I misread that as “creepiest” instead of “cutest” and thought I might had to fight you! haha

    3. BigDogLittleCat

      I see it as pleased with the compliment, but uncertain about how to take it because she likes Jacob and doesn’t entirely trust herself here, so she doesn’t want to read too much into it.
      With a touch of private embarassment about what a jerk she was.

      1. Jamie

        This is also what I read.

      2. Rabid Rabbit

        And also “Pride in yourself is sinful” (http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/mysterious/) but if the compliment is coming from Jacob it must be fine, right, because he’s godly, and besides, Daddy thought punching Mr. Macintyre out was pretty cool too, but even so…

    4. Cyrus

      Looks like a bashful smile to me.

  8. Stephen Bierce

    According to Douglas Adams, an inedible particle in a bowl of soup is called a “grimsby”.

    1. Stephen Bierce

      (The Meaning of Liff, if you want to go looking for that.)

  9. ShinyNeen

    The grim specter of Midterms looms it’s ugly head again!

    And yet I don’t believe we’ve seen anybody really freaking out about them yet. Nice.

    1. Schpoonman

      Dorothy and Walky broke up over the stress.

      1. ShinyNeen

        I mean, that wasn’t specifically about Midterms, was it? It was about her overall academic achievement and how she wasn’t successfully doing, like, everything at once in order to get into Yale? Right? Geez, it’s been so long since my last readthrough that I’m forgetting details about my favorite character!

        1. ShinyNeen

          Also it’s been like a year real-time since they broke up but too soon *dramatic sobbing*

        2. BBCC

          There, there, friend, that’s why we have AO3. 😉

        3. ShinyNeen

          You can’t use fanfiction to solve every problem! That’s– that’s madness! Surely there’s not enough time in the day for all that fic!

        4. BBCC

          You can’t use it to solve all your problems, but fandom related problems? It’s usually a pretty good aid. 😉

  10. Bicycle Bill

    I don’t care how much Joyce changes, she will always be ‘the girl who dissected tacos’ to me.

  11. Yotomoe

    You got a bite Joyce. Now be careful how you real this big boy in.

  12. Shiro

    HAPPY BIRTH WILLIS

    Also last panel Joyce, same, hard same

  13. ian livs

    To be fair, I also want to sift through my soup for undesirable vegetables. That seems perfectly reasonable and can keep me from being poisoned. It’s… survival… instinct?? Maybe?

    1. BarerMender

      It’s cowardice! It’s terror fear! Hang your head!

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      If there’s poisonous material in the soup, the poison is in the broth as well. The only way to win is not to play the game at all.

      1. thejeff

        Maybe? Depends on how poisonous and how easily it dissolves into water.

        Mostly I just sift through a bit to make sure someone didn’t try to sneak something nasty like lima beans into my meal. 🙂

  14. Keulen

    The middle three panels are pretty darn cute here, and more fuel for my Joyce/Jacob ship as well.

  15. ValdVin

    Ethan doing some nice wingmannery in panel five.

    1. Bagge

      He’s the generous kind

      1. Deanatay

        He wants to help his roomie curate his own collection of exes!

        STARTING WITH RAIDAH

        (I’m a terrible person)

  16. BarerMender

    “Help, I’m forty.” I’m three months from seventy. I don’t have any sympathy.

    1. Schpoonman

      69, duuude. Nice.

      1. BarerMender

        Then kew.

      2. Bagge

        HAH!

    2. Opus the Poet

      Where were you when JFK was shot?

      1. hof1991

        Third grade. It was a school day. Unless you are 80, you were in school.

        1. Clif

          Yep. On the other hand, I seem to recall that Oswald got it on a weekend, probably Sunday. But my mind makes stuff up sometimes.

      2. Eyebrow

        Breastfeeding. I was a month old.

      3. BarerMender

        I don’t remember where I was when JFK was shot. For years, I thought I was in 8th grade geometry class, but when I count back on my fingers, I was actually in 10th grade that year.

    3. Deanatay

      I don’t think he’s looking for sympathy. I think he wants suggestions.

  17. BBCC

    All soup is absolutely vile and I support Joyce in this matter.

    1. BBCC

      And happy birthday, Willis!

    2. Keulen

      My main problem with soup is that it has too much water in it and not enough actual food.

      1. BarerMender

        You can have better soup than that. Or is that stew?

      2. BBCC

        My problem with soup is it always makes me gag. My brain can’t decide if soup is a food or a drink and so it decides the safe thing to do is gag it out.

        1. J

          Holy wow, I thought I was the only one! I basically had to eat my soup in two steps, the broth part and the solid stuffs, otherwise I start choking.

          To be fair, though, I also choke on my own spit randomly. Yeah, I dunno why either.

        2. BBCC

          I choke on my spit and on air sometimes too. It’s not just you.

          If food touching makes the food taste/feel different than it’s ‘supposed’ to, my gag reflex will reject it too.

        3. Masumi

          Hmmm… Soup has never made me gag, but then again, I’ve never even considered *not* eating the broth part and the solid part separately.

        4. Drakkin the Alien

          that´s so binary… you should get away from peruvian food in general, we have a dish that its called “Seco de Pollo” that it’s some kind of chicken stew and rice, and another dish that its called “Aguadito de Pollo”, that it’s some kind of chicken soup with rice that tastes mostly the same but is more watery. Then we hace this soup “Sancochado” that needs spoon and fork (unless you want to grab the lofty meats by hand…). 🙂 no kidding.

        5. BBCC

          I’m not a connoisseur of Peruvian food, but I shall keep that in mind.

          As for binary, take it up with the oversensitive gag reflex. 😛

        6. Liquid Len

          Seco de Pollo sounds a lot like asopao, which is a Puerto Rican chicken and rice stew my mother-in-law makes. It’s quite good!

      3. chris2315

        Keulen reviews soup:

        7.8/10
        – Too much water

        1. Schpoonman

          Four and a half years, I didn’t even finish Alpha Sapphire, and I’m still pissed about that review.

        2. MatthewTheLucky

          Aww man, the postgame was what made that game worth the forty bucks.

      4. Needfuldoer

        You can and add stuff to soup and thicken it to a point, then suddenly you’ve got stew.

        Science has yet to determine which side of the line chowder falls on. The think tank at Cornell says chowder is soup, but the scientists at Harvard are firmly entrenched in stew territory. Personally I think they’re working with two different samples.

        1. Liquid Len

          I’m from New England, and we definitely classify chowder as a soup

        2. Needfuldoer

          It was more of a Manhattan chowder vs Boston chowder joke.

          The red stuff isn’t chowdah, it’s wattah.

        3. Liquid Len

          Ah, I missed that, since Cornell is nowhere near Manhattan XD.
          The crew at URI Providence disdain both cream and tomatoes.

        4. Needfuldoer

          It was the only brainy-sounding ivy league New York college I could think of. Actual New Yorkers would have probably eviscerated me if I used Princeton instead. 🙁

        5. Liquid Len

          So would actual New Jerseyans, 😉
          For future reference, may I suggest NYU or Columbia? XD

      5. CoMa

        My soup (meant: cooked by me) is mostly too many vegetables (like, with every bite you have peas, or cauliflower or whatever, depending on the type of vegetable I had to work with, because I bought too much) – but I like it that way.
        I only like ‘watery soup’ when I’m very sick and basically cannot stomach anything, or my throat hurts etc.

        Plus, there’s always thicker types of soup, e.g. lentil. And, lastly, you can always blend it together, then it’s one consistency (e.g. tomato cream soup, garlic cream soup).

        I do understand though, that there are sometimes things that make you gag (for a friend of mine it’s cheese – she only likes it melted, and soup). A long time for me it was mushrooms. And I like the taste of ginger in spicy food, but only if it’s not too strong, because then I feel very sick. I cannot drink ginger water or tea, because even though it tastes good, my stomach can literally not deal with it (for whatever reason) and I’ll have to belch continuously, up to the point I’m not sure I can keep it down. Which sucks, because many herbal tees for sore throats contain ginger and I’m often in need of them…

        1. BBCC

          I’m sure your soup is delicious. It’s nothing against soup in and of itself – I just can’t eat certain things and soup (and stew) is one.

    3. Kyrik Michalowski

      Even tomato soup? D: But it’s so creamy and if you are Southern like me, spicy.

      1. Schpoonman

        A little spicy with a 3-cheese grilled cheese? Ooohh, mama.

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          Yeah, that hits the spot every time. Although my definition of “a little spicy” is somewhat skewed. I use habanero and cayenne pepper for mine.

      2. BBCC

        All. Soup.

        At least if you’re me.

        It makes me gag. Sorry.

        And I’m allergic to the mould in cheese, so I’m afraid grilled cheese ALSO disgusts me. 😛

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          Fair enough, I respect your life choices regarding soup and I’m sorry to hear you’re allergic to cheese.

        2. BBCC

          Eh. It’s something I’ve been allergic to as long as I remember so it doesn’t bother me.

          What DOES bother me is when the makers of fake cheese snacks (Cheesies, Crunchits) start making their snacks with real cheese. I miss being able to eat those, damn it! I had waaaaaay too many Cheesies on Saturday because screw allergies and I’ve only just gotten rid of the stomachache today.

          Not something I’d do every day, but once-twice a year? Worth it.

        3. ShinyNeen

          Ahh, food allergies. Not cheese for me, but I know that feeling. My sympathies! It sucks having to double-check something that you used to be able to trust!

        4. BBCC

          Thankfully, the occasions Doritos gave me a stomach ache seem to be a one-off. That’s my frame of reference on what cheese tastes like – Doritos, cheesies and crunchits.

        5. MatthewTheLucky

          They’re not too far off, although sharp cheese has more of an acidic tang, almost like lemon.

    4. Yotomoe

      #notallsoup

      1. BBCC

        #yesallsoup. 😛

        1. Yotomoe

          I stand by Tomato Soup. Especially when dipping grilled Cheese in it.

        2. BBCC

          I can eat neither so I stand by my ‘all soup’.

    5. ǝ snow ʍousɐ

      How can people eat a steaming-hot liquid? It doesn’t make any sense.

      Food is meant to be chewed. It even rhymes!

      1. Yotomoe

        You don’t chew Ice cream. Or Yogurt. Or mashed potatoes. Or Apple Sauce.

        1. BBCC

          If you’re me, you absolutely do.

        2. CoMa

          If i’d chew ice cream, my teeth would kill me…

        3. BBCC

          That’s totally understandable, but I personally do chew my ice cream.

        4. CoMa

          I envy you immensely for that xD – I’d love to simply try out one of those ice cookies once, but nope, my teeth are just “TOO COLD!! Must mean it’s dangerous! Send the pain-signal!”

        5. Inahc

          Sensitivity toothpaste does help a fair bit, though. At least it goes from “nope nope nope” to “okay just don’t get it on the gum line”

        6. Deanatay

          If you’re not chewing your ice cream, you’re not eating the right kinds.

          -Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
          -Rocky Road
          -Moose Tracks

      2. mrnoidea

        There’s something unsettling, though, when you chew the soft noodles and carrots but suddenly encounter a *CRUNCH*

        1. Inahc

          One time my mum made a lovely blended veggie soup, then somehow poured it into a pot containing dried-out leftover spaghetti. I didn’t even consider the health issues at the time, but the texture horror of suddenly finding half-crunchy gross *things* in nice smooth soup was too much for me.
          Somehow neither of us thought to try filtering it. It just wasted away in the back of the freezer, iirc, with me occasionally being berated for not eating it.

          Luckily I don’t have problems with soup in general though. TIL there exist people with worse gag reflexes than me!

      3. wwwhhattt

        In Japan at least they get their verbs right (probably because all Japanese soup is very watery)

  18. Illithid

    Forty!? Oh, man, you ain’t seen nuthin yet!

    But seriously, it’s okay. I’m over 50, and I feel fine. At work, still leaving teens and twenties in the dust. Darn lazy kids. Pull up yer pants and put down yer cellaphones!

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Starting to realize how many people of all ages make up the fandom of this community.

      1. JessWitt

        Same here. DoA is fun for all ages (above 18 years old).

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          I started reading at 14.

    2. Sam

      But my back is terrible, clothes aren’t designed for people like me and I need to text my mum for painkillers. 🙁

      (I do not have a job as I’m in Uni but the first thing is true. I have had a bad back my whole life that has only gotten worse over the years.)

    3. Eyebrow

      And I can barely remember what happened between 40 and 50. It went by so damn fast.

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        I don’t remember anything that happened after 35 because I’ve been 35 for 25 years now.

        1. Inahc

          Everything after 28 is a blur for me, but I was blaming that on all the painkillers 🙂

  19. Kyrik Michalowski

    Congratulations on aging Willis, may you continue to do so for a long time to come.

    This scene is so cute, I’m glad Joyce’s new look is going over well. Though I’m wondering how well it will go over with her family still. Maybe ok with her dad, and probably not so much with her mom?

    1. BarerMender

      “Sorry, mom, I’m grown up now. I choose my own clothes.”

      1. BBCC

        Oh, won’t THAT be a fun conversation to have with Carol?

        Might as well tell Linda she has no right to view her kids grades while you’re at it.

        Both are true, but they’ll go over about as well.

        1. Rabid Rabbit

          Ah, but you see, if Joyce frames it as “I borrowed it from my cool presents-as-black friend,” Carol will suffer a critical system failure as she tries to reconcile “My daughter is rebelling!” with “But we’re not racist!” They can enter her frozen body into the next local sculpture competition.

        2. BBCC

          Well, of COURSE Carol’s not racist, but you know, there’s just Something she Doesn’t Trust about Sal and she’s feel So Much Better if Joyce just stopped talking to her.

          (It’s the anti-authoritarianism).

        3. Miri

          Also wasn’t it a Catholic school she was sent to and isn’t the imagery a step or 12 too close to idolatry for them?

        4. BBCC

          I mean, yeah, but Carol’s probably not gonna stick around long enough to hear that part. If she does though, yes, the Catholicism will make her break out in hives.

        5. thejeff

          Plus she’s a criminal.

        6. BBCC

          That too, but I’m pretty sure Carol would assume that just from the leather jacket and motorcycle boots.

  20. TheKelliestKelly

    Happy Birthday!

  21. BigDogLittleCat

    Joyce’s face in panel 4 is the greatest face in the history of comics.
    It says everything.

    1. Schpoonman

      It’s like Joyce is falling a little more in love every time she talks to Jacob. And that makes me excited because they would be great together, actually healthy for one another, but Jacob is still with Raidah and for all that Raidah can be shitty she doesn’t deserve Jacob cheating on her.

      1. BigDogLittleCat

        And now Joyce realizes she doesn’t want to be the reason (if) they break up, so she won’t let herelf indulge too much in the compliment. It can be hard to adjust from crush to friend.

        Not only does Raidah not deserve to be cheated on, Jacob doesn’t deserve to be the kind of guy who cheats.

        1. ValdVin

          It’s just one more Joyce face which says a thousand words.

          And Many Happy Returns, Willis.

        2. thejeff

          I’m not even sure what “cheating” would be here. Hand-holding? Maybe a side hug? It’s not like they’re going to have sex.

          Nobody here’s going to actually cheat. Jacob won’t. Joyce doesn’t want that – even before her recent change in understanding of her role in the rom-com playing in her head, she wanted them to break up and Jacob to date her instead. Not to cheat.

          I am very interested to see how she handles the attraction between them now that she’s apparently changed her mind about actively pursuing him.

        3. TemperaryObsessor

          Most likely kissing.
          I don’t think its fair to anyone to define cheating as spending time with someone in a way that is indistinguishable from friendship. Its also not fare to define cheating as only sex counts.

        4. thejeff

          True. I just think the emphasis on cheating when talking about this is overblown. That’s not what anyone involved wants.

  22. tim gueguen

    The comment thread makes me want to go make some chicken Oxo.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      It makes me want to weep over having had to throw out a couple of gallons of frozen home-made stock (a little each of chicken, shrimp, pork).

      I had to throw it out because I’m moving several hundred miles, and it was time to move the freezer, and there was no good way to take the contents too. But it would have made some damn fine soups and stews. (And I always put chicken stock in my black beans and pork stock in my red beans.)

    2. Delicious Taffy

      Share your favorite chicken recipe?

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        I don’t have a chicken recipe per se. If I want to make something chicken-ish I’ll look up the recipe on the web. (I worship Kenji Lopez-Alt as a household deity.)

        Mostly I put stock into other things. I cook rice and couscous with it, I cook beans with it, I make sauces with it; if it’s a savory dish and there’s a liquid component, most of the time, about half of the liquid is going to be stock when I make it.

        The secret to making good meat stock at home is time and cartilaginous animal parts — for chicken stock, I’ll throw in half a pound of chicken feet for every two pounds of chicken bones, same with ham hocks for pork stock.

        As for time, the longer you simmer the bones, the more collagen you’ll extract (collagen is what gives good stock its mouth-feel). I have the twin luxuries of having a freezer, and having the kitchen to myself, so I make large batches and make an all-day affair of it.

        But you can make very tasty stock with the carcass of that roasted chicken you bought from Costco last night, simmering it on the stovetop for a couple of hours.

        1. Inahc

          Mmm, stock. I used to buy a Costco pack of chicken breasts and poach them in a big pot for a few hours. After I’d taken out the breasts and shredded the good meat, all the weird bits went back into the pot with the chickeny water to be boiled down to under a cup of liquid. Best stock I’ve ever tasted. 🙂

  23. ShinyNeen

    Happy birthday Willis! Thank you so much for another year of this amazing comic!

    Um, hopefully 40 doesn’t turn out to be much of an immediate game-changer.

  24. abysswatcher1993

    Happy Birthday, Willis!

    Also, I am happy that Jacob recognizes that Joyce is showing her own badass nature, unlike Jacob who thinks trying to change is wrong. Joyce has changed, and maybe that is why Joe is scared. He is scared that people can change and be something else, and that maybe he can be a goodd person and has no excuse to stay the same douchebag. Stagnation is the realm of defeatists, and Nurgle, the chaos god that is nice to his followers in a twisted way.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      joe in the second line* Both names have Js!

  25. DailyBrad

    Congrats on your birthday, and this is such a cute strip.

  26. saltchocolate

    Totally happy birthday, Willis! 4(0) more years!!

  27. Adrianna

    That’s a big ass mood Joyce. I can’t…. Not Look at the pieces in it and risk getting something gross. Have you seen some of the rotten potato chunks in potato ham chowder, or the funky looking meat in cans of soup in general? Can’t do it.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Ugh, well looks like you perfectly validated her reasoning.

  28. DaveM

    Might I offer my congratulations on reaching 40 oh esteemed author? Don’t listen to the Nay sayers, 40 is when life gets interesting! You’re still young enough to be wild, but you’re mature enough to avoid it ending badly. Now 50 is another matter. I’m very much of the opinion that the only time reaching half a century is to be celebrated is if you’re playing Cricket. 🙂

    1. Jhon

      I’d be happy to celebrate my 50th again. (Pushing 70, from the wrong direction.)

  29. Bagge

    Awwwww, panel 4 Joyce <3

  30. sultryglebe

    Happy birthday! It’s a good age.

  31. mrnoidea

    I think I developed a similar trust issue when my parents took me to a Basque restaurant. It was beef tongue stewed in a brown sauce with peas and carrots. A couple beef pieces still had taste buds attached, and the moment they touched my own taste buds…

    SO MUCH NOPE

    1. All-Purpose Guru

      I’ve been eating THAT since I was, oh, 3?

      Trust me when I say there’s Basque food that is MUCH worse than that. Still delish, though.

      (I’m Basque.)

  32. mrnoidea

    Also, happy birthday David Willis! I wish I had something sappy or grand to say, but I’m no good at birthday speeches.

  33. Architex

    Happy Birthday, David!

  34. Quietlythundering

    Happy birthday, Willis!!!

  35. Tacos

    Joyce: Such a badass. Don’t try to hold her back.

    Happy Birthday Willis. Say goodbye to working knees.

  36. Dara

    how can this be year eight

    LIES

    also happy birthday!

  37. BenRG

    Yeah, Jacob likes Joyce’s new look alright. Additionally, personal ethics and resolutions aside, Joyce still likes Jacob enough that his words make her bashful and cute… Or at least cuter than usual.

    Joyce is lucky to have two good friends like that.

    1. ShinyNeen

      Yeah, having people in your life that are genuinely invested in your growth is really special : D

      (Also I like ‘cuter than usual’, that was good)

  38. brionl

    40? Pfft, I’ve got t-shirts almost that old.

    1. hof1991

      I own a couple 45 year old t-shirts from my high school. Pull them out for reunions every five years, so they age like this strip does.

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        I too have a couple of athletics t-shirts from my junior-year high school (same vintage as yours). Unfortunately, they have shrunk quite a bit at the belly 🙂 and so they stay in the memories drawer.

  39. BenRG

    It suddenly occurs to me that Joyce is wrong in panel 1. Than and Jacob are just two guys who have the same dorm room; the Roomies are Danny and Joe!

    1. ShinyNeen

      It turns out the real roomies were whichever two dudes shared a room all along. Or the real roomies were the friends we made along the way, could be either really.

    2. JBento

      The real roomies were the people we dormed with along the way.

  40. Ryan

    Title dro- Oh wait, never mind.

  41. Reltzik

    Alt-text: Willis, if you don’t want to be 40, get your ass to Mars. The Martian year is 687 (Earth) days long, meaning that you’re only about 27 in Martian years. If we can get a Martian colony up and running in the next 35 years, you can move there and be under 40 years old.

    While we do that, try not to reflect on how dated the line “get your ass to Mars” actually is. 🙂

  42. acher4

    Happy Birthday!
    Congrats on that nice round 40!
    May you live happily, beyond 100 😉

  43. Marsh Maryrose

    It’s not a big deal
    It doesn’t matter
    so happy birthday to you    .

  44. Shane Wegner

    I was a little disappointed in one dimensional strawman dads originally, but since then they’ve developed more of their own thoughts and ideas. (even if villainous)

  45. CoMa

    A Very Merry Birthday, Willis!
    (imagine the song from Alice in Wonderland, but without the “Un-” before birthday being sung)
    Pro-tip: Just look at your birthday as levelling up, you’re gaining all the XP! 😀

    1. Delicious Taffy

      I just got that song out of my head, you fiend.

  46. Furie

    Happy birthday Willis. Remember, it’s just a number, not a reason to give up on RackNRuin ever being released for your Wreckers display.

  47. Delicious Taffy

    This comic needs more Larxene.

  48. Opus the Poet

    Happy B-Day, I hope you live long enough to draw these kids graduating from college…

  49. Ethics Gradient

    Now why couldn’t Joe acknowledge her badassery?

    Happy Birthday Willis!

    1. BenRG

      Because Joe likes sweet, innocent Joyce, not hard-bitten and more world-aware Joyce.

  50. Miri

    Happy birthday!

  51. JoeCovenant

    All the very best, dude!

  52. 0kami

    Happy Birthday, Old Timer!

    Don’t forget to take your fiber shake each morning.

  53. Austin C Williams

    Panel four is SO CUTE!!!!

    1. BenRG

      Agreed; Joyce isn’t over Jacob by a long shot. If this was manga, she’d be thinking “Sempai noticed me!”

  54. TheFlamingonator

    Joyce is missing out on so much!

    SHE HAS NEVER HAD ANY KIND OF DUMPLINGS

  55. Jasmijn

    Aging is weird. When DoA started, I was the same age as the characters. Now, I’m old enough to be their grandparents.

    1. ShinyNeen

      I know, right? When I first– wait, grandparents!?

  56. Knightsky

    Now I want Joyce to binge-watch all the various Anthony Bourdain shows.

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      I can’t imagine Joyce would be able to make it one-tenth of the way through half of them.

      I immediately thought of the wart-hog anus episode. (His later explanation of the incident is the best illustration of why he was such a goddamned mensch.)

  57. Nothri

    I’m with Joyce. Like, all those spiders that crawl inside your mouth at night to die. I just don’t trust them…

  58. King Daniel

    “…we’ve all heard the factoid that the average person supposedly eats 4 spiders per second. This statistic is misleading; it’s based on a study examining on the peak rate of spider consumption in areas where the spider-streams are densest. The global average rate is probably closer to 1 spider per second (obviously higher while asleep than while awake)…”

    1. King Daniel

      Meant to be a reply to the person above me.

      And obviously not serious.

    2. Bagge

      “average person eats 3 spiders a year” factoid actualy (sic) just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted”

  59. Lucy Gillam

    “Help I’m forty.”

    Man, every time I get reminded that pretty much all of the web cartoonists I follow are younger than me, it’s a shock to my system. Welcome to middle age! Have fun hitting fifty when your kids are tweens (she says from experience).

    1. ValdVin

      I won’t give an exact number for my age, but it’s around yours.

      Do you, too, remember when newspaper comic panels were larger than a postage stamp?

      1. Lucy Gillam

        I do! I remember when the Sunday funnies were four pages!

  60. Nym

    Some things I love about this particular strip:

    -Panel four and Joyce’s smile.
    -The Miles Morales Spider-Man shirt Jacob is wearing.
    -Joyce’s trust issues.
    -Jacob’s panel three matter of fact, yeah you’re a bad-ass, followed by the last panel’s more tongue in cheek, but still semi-sincere, “Incredibly bad-ass.”
    -Every bit of friendship on display here, Jacob & Joyce, Ethan & Jacob, and Ethan & Joyce. Such a nice, fun, uncomplicated strip. 😀

    1. Clif

      Uncomplicated you say.

      1. Schpoonman

        On the surface!

    2. Twirls

      Agreed!

  61. karmax

    The Willis and I are now the same age. It feels a lot like 30 except the stomach has expanded.

  62. ego

    oh, to be a child of 40 again.

  63. figureaddict

    Happy Birthday!

  64. BBCC

    All these comments about Willis turning 40 and how much older some of the commentariot is is finally making it make sense why I get reactions when I say I turn 23 this month.

    1. Yotomoe

      oh, man. I’m older than BBCC.

      1. BBCC

        Lots of cool people are! You’re in good company!

        1. Emperor Norton II

          Most cool people are older than BBCC.

          And also Yotomoe.

  65. Borg

    Personally, I extend implicit trust to any food I choose to eat, but feel extremely betrayed if I find anything inedible in my food (other than pin bones, which are tolerated).

    So I just don’t understand why some people would choose to eat meat with bones in it.

  66. Geneseepaws

    Who is the one, the one we cheer, the one this party’s for?
    It’s Mr. willis in his 40th year, and we wish him many, many more.
    So happy-happy happy birthday, to you, David Willis!
    And many morrrrrrre,….

  67. Rachel

    I’m honestly really about this trio. Fun combo. 😀

  68. a/snow mous/e

    It’s my brother David’s birthday too! He’s only half as old as you, though.

  69. Vulcanodon

    61, sitting in recovery from angiogram, reading fav web comic Happy birthday Willis!

  70. PB

    I’m with Joyce on this one. But I have food allergies so I might be biased.

    1. Bagge

      More like, justified.

      It’s not paranoia if it’s really out to get you.

  71. JessWitt

    Still finicky about food at age 30. Some peculiarities just don’t go away.

    1. Inahc

      Yup. OTOH, some do: I couldn’t eat olives until I was 25. Now they taste great, and only the green ones are still a tiny bit intense.

      Still can’t handle more than one bite of pickle, though.

  72. smarties

    This is the perfect trio in the comic for a solid Dungeons and Dragons group.

    1. Greylurker

      hmmm….actually kind of curious to see how Joyce might react to an RPG. I’ve known gamers who’s parents were big into the Satanic Panic back in the day. I still remember one of them mid game declaring “Hey wait a minute. This game is just Math. I feel very very lied to”

      1. Bagge

        Well, it IS forbidden by her religion…
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-8/02-this-is-the-way-that-we-love/hobble/

        Yeah, I feel that the Satanic Panic hyped the game in a way that was hard to live up to.

        1. Bagge

          Fun fact, there was a brief attempt to induce an offshoot of the satanic panic about roleplaying games in Sweden.

          Problem is, Swedes as a rule are pretty non-religious and don’t really care about Satan one way or another, so the campaign floundered A LOT about trying to come up with exactly WHY roleplaying games were dangerous. There were some vague mentions of nazism and bullying but that was about it.

        2. Bagge

          It didn’t really help the campaign when some branches of the state church and the scouts got into roleplaying games in the early 90s and declared it to be the best thing ever.

          “See how these poor, lonely children…. find a place to belong with ties to, like, the most wholesome youth organisations ever and spend a lot of time having picknicks in the wood… AREN’T YOU SCARED?”

  73. ajm5007

    Hey, me too! Forty buddies!

  74. Micki

    I have SO MANY FEELINGS about fourth panel Joyce. I FEEL YOU GURL

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