162

Zip up
Posted on January 16, 2025 by David M Willis

162 thoughts on “Zip up”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “You’ve got the WRONG CAT“

    1. Doctor_Who

      No way, our brains went exactly the same place.

  2. Doctor_Who

    Leslie just unlocked a 30 year old Animaniacs memory.

    So thanks, Leslie! Everyone needs more Bernadette Peters in their life.

    1. Sharizard

      Ruth and Rita weren’t the first characters i would immediately clump together, but now i’ve made the connection i can’t see them apart.

      Though i admit my first thought would have been more Slappy Squirrel.

      1. SailorCakes

        Isn’t she comparing Leslie and Rita though? :/ After all Leslie is the one saying she isn’t anyone’s mom where as Ruth just made a comment about her dead mom.

        1. Sharizard

          That… does make more sense in the context. It’s just that Rita has that sarcastic cynicism that makes me think Ruth more than Leslie.

    2. Vulcanodon

      A little something in my eye…

  3. NGPZ

    leave it to Leslie to spread the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Mother® XD

  4. NGPZ

    also

    DAAAAAAAMN :0

  5. Thag Simmons

    That’s a hell of a Nuclear Option Ruth.

    1. Dante

      If she doesn’t get to have a mom nobody can (?)

    2. anon

      ruth is a bit of an outlier but i imagine leslie does have a higher amount of ppl with issues in her class, although 4-5 out of like maybe 50 (i assume like for the day, not one singular period) students isn’t too bad compared to 60% of students having mommy issues

  6. Taffy

    Why is Ruth extra hot when she says that?

    1. Dante

      An edge sharpn’d by tragedy, my liege

    2. Jeremiah

      Because we are all sick in the head. Probably because Tumblr or something.

    3. clif

      Doesn’t count. She’s always extra hot.

      1. Casi

        yeah but normally she’s only 5 peppers hot, here she’s 6

    4. anon

      bc mentally /emotional stable ppl that are conventionally attractive/having no depth are boring 8D;

      1. Taffy

        It would be rude to suggest killing all mentally stable people.

  7. RassilonTDavros

    …J-Jesus Christ, Ruth.

    oh god was ruth the one who had to identify her parents’ bodies? do they really have children do that? or was it just an open casket funeral?

    1. Dante

      Probably Sir had to, because Ruth was a minor. Then again, Sir probably took her to look to toughen her up

      … man, that’s grim

      1. Bryy

        No, I mean, you’re probably right.

      2. RassilonTDavros

        Shit, he totally would do that, that bastard.

      3. Amós Batista

        the more you know…

    2. Thag Simmons

      If they were driving then most likely they had identification like wallets and phones, so they probably wouldn’t have needed to further traumatize the orphan? Hopefully.

    3. Envy

      They would not ask a child to identify their parents’ bodies, no. In the modern day, with IDs, smartphones, fingerprints, and DNA, it’s way rarer to ask anyone to identify a body.

    4. BBCC

      Let’s all just hope she and Howard weren’t IN THE CAR during the crash.

      1. Amós Batista

        let’s *crossing the arms, exasperatedly* stop going too deep in this strip…

  8. Charles Phipps

    Leslie is such a sweetie-pie that Ruth acting like this makes me wish a roundhouse kick from Amazi-Girl to her head.

    1. Charles Phipps

      Ruth not Leslie.

  9. Jeremiah

    “No I must keep the maternal instincts at bay!”

  10. Dante

    sdgsd BRUTAL RUTH, COME ONNNN.

    I wanna believe that’s how she’d banter with her mom, too. If she had one. Leslie hasn’t beaten the allegations since roughly her third DoA appearance.

    (There’s a joke to make somewhere about Mike being dead and nickels unspent but so far’s falling flat. I’ll work on it.)

    1. ian livs

      Funnily enough, if there had been a scenario in which Mike and Leslie had to post as son and mom because of Wacky Hijinks or something, they totally could’ve pulled it off

    2. Deanatay

      Works without the comma.

      I mean we’ve seen what Ruth considers a turn-on…

    3. anon

      One could say she’s…ruthless 8D;

  11. Thag Simmons

    I’d make a joke about her not actually being Nobody’s mom, but I’m not deep enough into greek myths to be able to name drop Odysseus’s mother without looking it up.

    1. Taffy

      Leslie Anticlea Bean

    2. Joe Moose

      *Oedipus

      1. Thag Simmons

        I actually could name drop Jocasta without looking it up, but that would be illegible because I was in fact talking about Odysseus, who is a different dude.

        1. Buck Ripsnort

          It scares me that I only know Jocasta’s name because of the Marvel robot.

        2. Thag Simmons

          Hey, that still counts!

      2. Vegetalss4

        To explain for anyone curious, the joke is that during one of his adventures, Odysseus convinced a cyclops his name was Nobody, so that when he called for help as oddyseus made his escape the other Cyclopes wouldn’t come.
        “Nobody blinded me!” “Nobody is getting away!” and so on.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Yeah, Oedipus is a different dude known for less dignified reasons.

        2. misanthropope

          his name is listed in Freud’s index because he… loved his mother

    3. Bryy

      jesus. nice.

    4. Yumi

      Queen of Ithaca* might be good because you could say, “Who do you think you are, the queen of Ithaca?”
      But then his wife was also the queen of Ithaca, so it gets confusing.

      *This is also where my knowledge of her maxes out

      1. butting

        The whole story is confusion though, lean into it.

    5. Ray Radlein

      Anticlea, daughter of master thief Autolycus, granddaughter of Hermes, which explains a lot about Odysseus

      1. eh, whatever

        Autolycus

        Selfwolf?

        1. Vegetalss4

          The traditional translation is “The Wolf Itself”, he was a mythical thief

        2. Azhrei Vep

          And most importantly, he was played by Bruce Campbell.

  12. Shakes

    Now that’s the face of someone who really really loves spite.

  13. JA

    Jesus Christ, Ruth.

  14. BBCC

    Great job, Ruth, now she knows you’re free maternal real estate!

    Really though, that’s one hell of a conversational nuke.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Yep, my mother died from what they call “Brain Slosh” after she broke her hip and fell in 2004. Kinda rough on my Dad, because it happened right in front of him.

      1. BBCC

        That’s very sad. I’m sorry to hear of your loss.

  15. Wendy

    Sometimes it’s like that! Sometimes you gotta vicariously traumatize other people with your own trauma to cope! I get it, unfortunately.

    1. Nymph

      Exactly. If you have to have dead parents, then you get to make dead parent “jokes” every now and then to enjoy the way it horrifies the people around you.

      That’s the trade-off.

      1. Schpoonman

        Batman wastes so much good material.

    2. anon

      lol i feel sorry for other students expecting a ‘normal’ lesson and leslie being shaken up to really teach properly, tho at this point she should just cancel class lol (unless there’d be issues in the syllablus/class credits where she can’t decide that on her own without permission, tho that one science prof did dismiiss ppl earlier that one time)

  16. IntangibleMatter

    Ruth is a Canadian with very very little patience for anyone and dead parent(s). I feel so represented.

    Genuinely though, pulling the “dead parent” card to mess with somebody else’s head is always so much fun.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Not near as much fun as pulling the I died in 2001 card.

  17. John Campbell

    I’m suddenly shipping Ruth and Leslie, and I’m concerned about what this says about me.

    1. Thag Simmons

      You want Ruth to be on the other side of an inappropriate lesbian relationship with an authority figure?

      1. clif

        Well, yes, but relationship first and Jennifer can become an authority figure after.

  18. Sirksome

    Leslie really gets the problem kids in her class. She should start a school for at risk youths with exceptional abilities. Not because of anything related here, it would just be a cool thing to do.

    1. Jeremiah

      And they can fight and wear matching outfits and stuff

      1. Charles Phipps

        She can take over for those Umbrella Academy Kids. Their teacher was terrible and Elliot’s Viktor just needs a hug.

        1. Jeremiah

          I never watched the final season because I heard it was sbad.

        2. Buck Ripsnort

          I was thinking of Miss Peregrine

          Jeez, there are SIX books in that series?

    2. Taffy

      There’s no such thing as a problem kid. Only parents with bad aim.

      1. Taffy

        Fucksake, this phone screen is gonna get me murdered one day.

        Tack on “with the Behavior Beam” before the period, goddamn.

        1. Buck Ripsnort

          I kind of like your original better.

        2. Taffy

          Without the stupid Behavior Beam context, it comes across like I’m saying parents should shoot their children with AR-15s. The scary black ones with the tactical grips and bump stocks, plus whatever other accessories anti-gun people are attaching to them now.

        3. clif

          Kids are small. I recommend laser sights.

  19. Pocky

    Look, just because you have a dullahan as a mom, doesn’t mean you can brag about it.

    1. clif

      I hear Washington Irving had that problem.

      1. Opus the Poet

        As far as is known, Irving’s Headless Horseman was a man, and unrelated to Irving.

        1. Taffy

          That’s the cover-up version.

        2. clif

          He couldn’t brag about his mom and so it had to come out somehow.

        3. Deanatay

          Headless Horse-mom?

        4. Taffy

          Headless Horse-MILF. High heels were invented for horse riding, yeah?

    2. UrsulaDavina

      Glad someone brought up a Duallhan despite it being a Gaelic incarnation of unrelenting death it provides some light hearted humor in comparison to Ruth’s pitch dark statment.

  20. Qube

    I’d ask if she needs a hug, but she’s already proving distressingly blasé on the subject of decapitations

  21. Ray Radlein

    TEACH WITH INTEGRITY

    NO REGRETS

    1. clif

      Trucks have no place in the classroom.

    2. Sirksome

      I actually get this one! Ruth died in a car crash in It’s Walky right? Someone once linked a redrawn page of that moment.

      1. Jeremiah

        And she did that to save Danny life while he was driving drunk I think? Early Willis wasn’t a very good writer if you can believe it

        1. Charles Phipps

          Yes, but it rid the world of Ruth so it wasn’t a terrible plot.

          *audience boos and throws food at me*

        2. Jeremiah

          Okay? Kind of weird and uncalled but alright.

        3. Charles Phipps

          I mentioned being mean to Leslie is beyond unforgivable.

        4. Charles Phipps

          (If it wasn’t clear, the statement is purely in regards to how crappy Ruth’s comment was in this panel and not an overall statement of Ruth as a character)

      2. clif

        Just after monologging “Act with Integrity. No regrets.” You have to read it for the back story. It’s not quite as iconic as Walky’s “It’s the rain” speech, but it comes close.

        1. Taffy

          And yet, I’ve actually heard of the regrets one.

      3. clif

        Early Willis wasn’t the same writer he is now. I’m going to go with a hard disagree with “he wasn’t a very good writer. ” if he hadn’t captured readers with character and story, if there was no magic there, we wouldn’t be here today.

        1. Chris Phoenix

          Well, some of us still would be here. I found DoA first and immediately subscribed. Then I learned he’d done some earlier stuff, checked it out, but never really got into it.

        2. thejeff

          Yeah, but if he hadn’t captured readers with his earlier works, he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep doing it until you found DoA.

        3. Jeremiah

          I argue that being able to capture readers is nog really the same as the writing actually being good. (Btw this is not just me, Willis in the author comment he retroactively added to his earlier comics agrees plenty of it wasn’t very good).

        4. Ray Radlein

          I remembered that specific comic literal decades later, which seems to me to be indicative of at least a certain amount of quality.

        5. Charles Phipps

          It’s an event that, like Mike’s death, is something that has layers of interpretation with what we later find out about Ruth.

        6. Buck Ripsnort

          I never heard of It’s Walky till I started reading Shortpacked. I glanced at it, said, “Eh.” and went right back to Shortpacked. Of all three Walkyverse strips, I liked Shortpacked best.

  22. Jamie

    Not sure what it says about me that my reflexive follow-up is, “And fix the hair color, too.”

    1. clif

      You’re not color blind?

  23. Folus

    Did Ruth take the time to pick a seat and take her coat off, only to come back over for that quip?

    1. Nymph

      Of course. She’s a professional.

    2. anon

      That is a bit odd, i’d assume she’d keep it on and then walk out unless she wants to sit back down and ‘bask’ in the uncomfortable-ness emenating from leslie.

  24. darkoneko

    Sorry Leslie, you are everybody’s mom

    1. NGPZ

      she’s a fairly odd parent, that much is certain

      1. CianM1301

        All she needs now is a wand, wings, and a little crowny thing.

  25. Chris Phoenix

    A few months ago I was checking into a motel in some reddish state. I was wearing a mask. Some guy noticed my license plate and asked, “Is the air that bad in California?”

    I gave a strategic pause and then said quietly, “Covid killed my dad.”

    He did not reply.

    1. Mark

      I am torn between sympathy and admiration.

    2. anon

      sry for your loss

      shame it’s not more normalized just for allergies/ bad air or simply something looking flashy for ‘fashion’ reasons bc i’m sure plenty of ppl would just be like “i have fucked up teeth/hate how my lips look and don’t like ppl looking at my face”

    3. Doopyboop

      I’m in a red state and often get wisecracks about wearing a mask, but as soon as I respond “I live with a cancer survivor” they’re quick to get embarrassed and shut up.

  26. ADLegend21

    [Marge Simpson voice] Students could ya lighten up a bit?

  27. Needfuldoer

    (Not so) fun fact: You know those low bumpers on the back of cargo trucks and trailers? They’re called Mansfield bars because in 1967 actress Jayne Mansfield’s car went under the back of one, the truck floor was at car windshield level, and she met the fate Ruth describes.

    Her kids were fine though, including her 3 year old daughter Mariska who went on to star in Law & Order 32 years later.

  28. Arianod

    The world won’t give Leslie a fuckign chance to beat the mom allegations

  29. Taffy

    Decapitation’s a horrifying ways to to go. Can’t say I’ve never been curious about it though, on account of all the kids in school who kept telling me you can stay conscious for like a minute afterward. Not curious enough to try it though, since I don’t think we’re at the tech level where you can reattach a head that quickly and I’m not sure how you’d report back during that minute.

    1. eh, whatever

      Oh yeah. You stay conscious till you run out of oxygen.

    2. Kyulen

      From what I’ve read, it’s not true that people stay conscious for a minute after decapitation. They fall unconscious within a few seconds due to lack of blood flow to the brain.

      1. Taffy

        The fuck am I gonna do with a few seconds? I’m starting to rethink this whole decapitation thing.

        1. Charles Phipps

          Transfer your consciousness to some other poor soul like one of the X-men.

          Either into an X-man or you being an X-man transferring your consciousness.

      2. Zaxares

        It’s probably not a minute, but there are other accounts of experiments conducted after beheadings where the head continued to react or take actions (like blinking) for nearly up to 30 seconds before death or unconsciousness took place.

    3. Schpoonman

      I think it was a bit in one of the new Wolfenstein games.

  30. Kyulen

    That certainly is a way to end a conversation.

  31. Francoinblanco

    my parents are deaaaaaaaad

  32. AGV/Ruby

    “This is where I watched my parents die, Amazigirl”

  33. Bruno

    really interesting deconstruction of the mom friend phenomenon from ruth

    1. Charles Phipps

      I felt yesterday was better. This felt more like needless abuse.

      1. Taffy

        You can’t abuse an authority figure, that’s now how the power flows.

        1. Charles Phipps

          You can when they are emotionally vulnerable.

        2. Taffy

          No, pretty sure a power dynamic doesn’t get reversed just because they’re vulnerable for a moment. They’re the one with the power, which means they’re automatically less vulnerable by default.

        3. Jeremiah

          Charles here seem to have a bias against Ruth so I don’t think it’s worth arguing with them.

        4. Charles Phipps

          I like Ruth most of the time. I hate when she’s mean to Leslie. I also don’t ship Jennifer and Ruth because of domestic violence. I was disappointed when Ruth ghosted Daisy.

          But the idea that subordinates can’t bully people in higher social positions is weird. Especially if you’re a Ruth supporter and have seen her mental stress.

        5. Charles Phipps

          Example, Ruth is RA but Mary ended up terrifying her with blackmail.

        6. Bruno

          How convenient for abusers.

        7. Taffy

          Is it? That’s less victims for them.

        8. Needfuldoer

          You have to wait for that moment of vulnerability, then hit them with the weapon you got from the authority figure you beat two levels ago. Then it’s back to dodging their attacks until the next moment of vulnerability gives you the opportunity to strike again. (It’s easier once you figure out their patterns.)

        9. Buck Ripsnort

          I honestly question the description of Leslie as an “Authority figure.”

  34. DashWallkick

    I’m surprised Becky and Ruth aren’t closer friends given the whole “horrifically dead mom, depressed, gay” thing.

    1. Daibhid C

      Maybe, they just don’t realise? Someone should say to them “Hey, both your moms died horribly, so I’m sure you’ve got tons to talk about with each other!”

      1. aduaitam

        Hey, bonded with one of my best friends over what it’s like to miss our dads! The system (can) work(s).

    2. Schpoonman

      If they didn’t both have red hair, maybe. At the current juncture it’s like trying to connect identical poles on a magnet.

      1. Casi

        so you’re saying we need to apply enough force to bring them together, but also have a very stable foundation to keep them from flipping out and causing catastrophic collateral damage if the containment fails?

    3. anon

      well she’s slightly ‘closer’ to jen (didn’t she originally give her 20 dollars to ‘go away’ and her having her first ‘gay’ haircut lol), but i imagine ruth isn’t rly interested in more friends, esp since becky is a bit more positive even tho she’s still grieving/affected by it versus ruth being jaded about things

  35. CianM1301

    Life of the party as always, Ruth.

  36. Amós Batista

    Don’t worry, Leslie, you can be my mom…

  37. thumb

    This comic has absurd levels of parental trauma of all kinds. I’d ask Willis what that’s about, but I’m pretty sure he’s been plenty vocal.

    Leslie should be *someone’s* mom.

    1. anon

      i mean given how things are going so far it’d be enough just to try to be a teacher and lend an ear, being a full on adoptive kinda mom would be a bit hard tho idk if her personal life currently is as much of a mess as robin’s

  38. Amelie Wikström

    I’m gonna have to go ahead and call “too far” on that one, Ruth. Maybe Leslie knows about your orphan situation, but she definitely is allowed to talk about the concept of having parents anyway. Out of the 50 or so students in the class, you can’t expect the teacher to have that in mind at all times. So when you make a morbid jab out of nowhere that sort of comes across like randomly throwing out necrophilia gore porn pictures in the middle of a conversation.

    If she does spend a lot of time thinking about her parents’ mutilated corpses, maybe it’s time to take up therapy as a full time job. . .

  39. Michael Steamweed

    His therapist, the Joker, has been very patient trying to help him try out different senses of humor.

    1. Michael Steamweed

      Well, that comment sure got orphaned. Was supposed to go up above, replying to a Batman comment.

  40. cachew sequel

    extreme non-sequitur but I was rereading old strips today & it’s good that mike is dead

    also ruth looks really good in the last panel.

  41. Juanoku

    Holy shit that’s brutal

    1. anon

      Not as brutal as the accident that killed her par–/brick’d

  42. Joyfulldreams

    HOLY SHIT RUTH. She just went for the jugular with absolutely zero provocation.

    (That’s kind of hot?)

    1. Taffy

      You get it.

  43. Yeet

    what’s the point of having dead parents if you can’t make awful jokes about it

  44. Thing2

    Is violently traumatic death that common in the USA, or is the number in this story unusual?

    1. Charles Phipps

      I’ve had two close relatives die of car accident and tractor accident.

    2. gnomedeplume

      Is violently traumatic death common in a country with more guns per person than working refrigerators, and oversized vehicles that completely block the driver’s view of oncoming pedestrians?

      It’s a pretty big country, even if the number’s low there’s still decent odds of running into someone who’s familiar with the trauma.

      1. thejeff

        Sure, but the level in this cast is definitely higher than normal.

        Just like most college friend groups don’t deal with murderous rapists and multiple kidnappings.

  45. Skeptible

    I got distracted wondering how one gets ones neck to line up with a car bumper.

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