Grab it
Posted on January 5, 2026 by David M Willis

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Tags: becky, dorothy, jason, joyce

186 thoughts on “Grab it”

  1. QueenofSodor

    look ALL I’M SAYING is now that Joyce has a handle on this whole gayness thing, she should try kissing Becky again to see if it feels different now!!!

    1. Doctor_Who

      Becky: “You noticin’ anything?”

      Joyce: “I definitely feel something…”

      Becky: “Yeah?!”

      Joyce: “I think I just turned straight again.”

      Becky: “Dammit!”

      1. mindbleach

        Dorothy: “DAMMIT!”

        1. C.T Phipps

          Joyce: Listen, sexuality is mutable.

          Becky: *internal screaming*

      2. Acher4

        rofl!!!

      3. Steamweed

        Half the Komment Krowd: “Dammit!”

    2. apocryphascribe

      I appreciate any and all efforts and suggestions to make this actually messy.

    3. Stormtide Leviathan

      Real and true

    4. Armadillo

      What part of this comic suggests that Joyce has any kind of handle on anything in her life?

    5. gromsh

      That would be actually wretched; it should happen

    6. Mewzard

      Joyce: …Huh, turns out I AM into you Becky.

      Becky: YES-

      Joyce: Too bad I’m with Dorothy now.

      Becky: NO-

      Joyce: Although I have been thinking of us sharing a poly romance…

      Becky: YES-

      Joyce: With Joe.

      Becky: NO-

      Joyce: Though you and Dina could also join us…

      Becky: …*foams at the mouth from all the back and forth*

      1. Steamweed

        The Whiplash! It Hurts!

    7. Dot

      “Has a handle on it” is a little generous.

  2. NGPZ

    aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh here it goooooooooooooooeeeesss

    *grabs some snacks and a blast shield*

    1. Thag Simmons

      we’re all going to be normal about this

      1. Poppakat

        Absolutely normal. No weirdness at all.

  3. Dot

    Joyce maybe don’t talk to Becky for a while

    1. Doctor_Who

      If Joyce isn’t allowed to talk to people she’s going to be awkward and put her foot in her mouth around, she might as well become a Tibetan monk and take a vow of silence.

      1. Twinsword

        EXCELLENT choice, sir. 10/10, no notes.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Couldn’t hurt!

    2. Zero

      Becky initiated.

      1. The Queer Agenda [frog memes]

        Joyce, maybe stay on topic if you do talk to Becky.

    3. PumpkinCake

      Maybe if Joyce beefs it enough while talking to Becky, she’ll extinguish Becky’s torch for her. I say she continues exactly as she’s doing.

  4. Tequila Mockingbird

    Now I’m wondering/worrying if someone took Robin as a way to make an example of her, an apostate who left the conservative fold.

    1. Dot

      ? No, that’s silly

      1. Bittersweet

        Horrifyingly not that silly (speaking from a personal, traumatic experience of childhood, it’s a thing people actually do). Definitely not something I see happening in the comic though.

        1. BorkBorkBork

          “Evil conservative authority figure kidnaps someone who used to be under the thumb of a certain conservative organization but who has since publically distanced themselves from them and are thinking for themselves” doesn’t seem like a possible plotline for Dumbing of Age?

          Have we been reading the same comic?

          I know that there was at least one strip that had Joe and Danny playing video games on a couch, but Penny Arcade this ain’t.

        2. Bittersweet

          I just can’t think of an established character who would kidnap Robin rn, unless we’ve been introduced to any of her former coworkers lol.

          Plus like, it would definitely feel a little like a rehash of the Toedad kidnapping.

        3. Tequila Mockingbird

          Admittedly, I was typing that half-asleep, and even when fully awake, I know my imagination goes strange places.

    2. C.T Phipps

      She’s decided to quit her job and take one at a toy store.

      It’s where Mike is and we discover that cloning is real in this setting.

    3. Armadillo

      She probably just got arrested and is getting deported or whatever the fuck Americans do with their citizens now.

      1. C.T Phipps

        If Willis wanted to go full Doonesbury, Robin and Leslie may have been deported to Bulmeria and he triples down on the plot.

    4. Needfuldoer

      I stand by my “she held Leslie back as the protest dispersed and threw a ‘do you know who I am’ tantrum, which got them both arrested” theory.

    5. zee

      That’s an interesting way of phrasing “she got arrested”

  5. Astariel

    Smooth, Joyce, very smooth.

    1. Pocky

      shooting her down and complimenting her at the same time, doubly painful lol

    2. Embe13

      she truely is the smoothest at sliding her foot down her throat

  6. Polar

    Oh my god Joyce we know you’re bad at this but holy SHIT. At least it looks like she realized the mistake she was making as she was making it.

  7. Bill Erak

    Joyce should win the ‘can always make everything awkward’ award

  8. Sirksome

    Don’t trust the United States justice system or haircuts.

    1. Clif

      Done.

    2. Nymph

      Waayyyy ahead of you.

    3. Jon

      Now that’s just common sense. In both regards.

    4. Tequila Mockingbird

      I understand the other two, but what did haircuts do to deserve that shade? ?

      1. Tequila Mockingbird

        *other one

        1. Andrusi

          Oh good I was mentally going through and putting commas in different spots trying to find something that split “United States justice system” into two meaningfully distinct things in this context.

        2. Tequila Mockingbird

          Yeah, my first read-through was “United States [i]and[/i] its justice system,” but after a second look I realized my mind had added that preposition for some reason.

  9. ClaudeLemieux

    It’s not really her fault, her upbringing was horrifying, but Joyce can be such a thoughtless jerk.

    1. Nono

      Becky had a similar upbringing. Jocelyne had a similar upbringing.

      1. AMagicalDuck

        Becky realised she was queer a lot earlier so was more alienated from that upbringing, and Jocelyne is a few years older and as had more time to grow

    2. Stormtide Leviathan

      That’s not true here. I’d say she’s being a very thoughtful jerk. She’s trying to give a compliment to a friend, realizes that *probably* isn’t good in this particular context, tries to fix it, and makes it even worse. The thought is definitely there, however she simply has a terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease

      1. Tequila Mockingbird

        boy howdy, do i ever relate to that (re; foot in mouth tendency)

    3. apocryphascribe

      I disagree, she’s being very thoughtful here! Would have been more thoughtful to just leave it at “cute hair” without the caveats, but hey, she’s learning.

    4. Bryy

      Yeah, that was…. really tone deaf.

    5. Fail Earnhardt

      Idk, I think the callous “everything is permitted for true love” mindset is unique to Joyce and how her relationship with media filled in the blanks for her fundie upbringing. She’s still struggling to find a middle ground between “all-consuming shame paralysis” and “I’m in love and nothing else matters.” People with a self-righteous streak never notice they’re putting their foot in their mouth until it’s halfway down their throat.

      1. Fail Earnhardt

        *they’re FUCK

        1. Risky

          Are you sure?

        2. Fail Earnhardt

          Look I realized as soon as I made the second comment that I actually had the right “they’re” the first time, bear with me on this

        3. Thag Simmons

          it is a pretty funny mistake to make

        4. Andrusi

          People with a self-righteous streak never notice they’re putting their foot in they’re FUCK until it’s halfway down their throat.

  10. Maddie B

    Girl really said “no homo” after all this “full homo”. ?

    1. Pocky

      she needs to learn now that she’s at least bi she can say things like this with all the homo, no pressure to add the no homo after.

      1. Nymph

        I think the reason she “no homo’d” this particular thing wasn’t about not accepting her sexuality, but about trying to not accidentally imply attraction to Becky specifically. Joyce is trying to spare Becky’s feelings (and doing it poorly).

    2. Rowen Morland

      I think she was going for no romo though.

      1. Tequila Mockingbird

        +1 internets to you, comrade. Gave me a giggle, m8.

  11. Zamperla on His Phone

    gasp. This could mean something terrible. Like Leslie making out with robin again

    1. Thag Simmons

      can’t be worse than Leslie’s current girlfriend

      1. AMagicalDuck

        I think former republican senator is worse than woman who is mean sometimes

        1. Astariel

          Representative, not Senator.

        2. Thag Simmons

          Eh, in terms of day-to-day how unpleasant they are to be around I think it’s probably a lateral move

          Leslie could do better than both of them, that’s for certain

        3. Wilde

          Yeeaaah here for Leslie+Mandy

        4. Needfuldoer

          No, Many should be with Sal.

          SalAmanda.

        5. Jeff K!

          That would be a hot relationship!
          …
          because salamanders… fire spirits…aw, you get it.

        6. Tequila Mockingbird

          I mean, some people think the tsundere thing is attractive. I ain’t one of ’em, but each to their own, y’know?

        7. SillyGoose

          Somehow they’re both worse than the other

        8. drs

          Robin has shown more signs of being a thoughtful and compassionate person to people in her life. Like, she’s flawed, but she means well. I’m not sure Anna means well.

          Robin has contributed more to societal damage, but she literally quit that.

        9. zee

          Gotta disagree, you shouldn’t be mean sometimes to your own partner. You shouldn’t be mean ever to your partner. That sucks. I don’t like Robin but she’s clearly learning and growing. Anna just negs the hell out of Leslie

    2. Clif

      We have very different definitions of something terrible.

      1. Clif

        I mean it’s better than my scenario of the two of them being held in the same jail cell from the protest.

        1. thejeff

          Well, that’s where they’re making out.

    3. Fail Earnhardt

      Oh no I would (((hate))) for this to culminate in a slipshine of toxic lesbian jail sex that would be (((just awful))) I hope that (((never))) happens

  12. Nono

    Most unrealistic college kids ever, what’s with Walky and Becky both going to class the day after a (possibly imagined in Becky’s case) breakup, I’d be in sweatpants and listening to sad songs.

    1. Thag Simmons

      I think Becky’s looking for a teacher, and with her she might want to keep active.

      I feel like she’d rather be on her feet doing something to keep her mind off of things than locked in her dorm sadly listening to one of the angsty Tegan and Sara songs or something

    2. Zero

      I don’t think we’ve seen anyone just not go to class in this comic. It’s a big deal if someone misses a class.

      1. Nono

        Ethan’s been skipping classes, we just haven’t had a lot of focus on him.

        Amber missed a computer science class once I think.

        1. Bill Erak

          Yeah, as far as we know, Ethan hasn’t gone to a single class all semester, but Amber appears to be hacking his assistance records to keep it perfect.

        2. Meagan

          This is one of those moments my attempts at bilingualism is clueing me into the fact that English may be your second language. Did you mean ‘attendance’? I ask because asistir is one of those false cognates between English and Spanish, and I am speculating in other languages too.

        3. The Queer Agenda [frog memes]

          Interesting. Autocorrect while tired isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, either.

        4. Bill Erak

          Yep, I’ve been bilingual for a decade but English is indeed my second language, next to spanish.

          What they don’t teach you in schools is that being bilingual means you speak both languages worse because you keep mixing up words from each! You should see how many times I just brutalize english words while speaking spanish. It’s insane.

      2. Stormtide Leviathan

        No people definitely miss class sometimes. Danny skipped some classes after he and Dotty broke up. Walky… might have? I can’t remember if he actually missed any before mike bullied him back into it. But he definitely skipped class a few times *before* they broke up, when he was being avoidant about his grades. Jennifer skipped class to drink sometimes. Joyce and Sarah skipped classes to hang out with Liz

        1. Clif

          Instructors skipping class tends to be frowned on. Generally there’s someone they need to notify so that at minimum a TA can give the students a heads up and read Chapter 14 when they show up.

    3. anon

      i mean, it feels like it’d be more of a waste of money to not go to a college class tho i imagine becky might still have a scholarship?

    4. eh, whatever

      What’s the point of listening to sad songs when you’re already sad?

      Imagining the singer is commiserating with you?

      1. SillyGoose

        Wallowing can be helpful, it’s just a form of allowing yourself to sit with yours emotions to better process them. It can actually facilitate moving on vs just masking all day every day until you crash.

      2. Nymph

        Different things help different people, but there’s no harm in sitting with grief or sadness for a while and doing things that don’t necessarily drag you up out of it yet.

      3. zee

        Happy songs when you’re sad can be annoying and make you feel worse. Like how the Christmas season can feel like shit if you’re depressed, the gap between your own feelings and what’s around you can be devastating

        1. NGPZ

          can confirm TT~TT

          In the United States at least, Xmas season is only fun if you have lotta money to spend

          for the rest of us tho? it’s pointless and stupid and in-your-face and exhausting and most of us wish we could just fucking skip it (-_-)

    5. Big Z

      Different strokes for different folks, I suppose, but I always wanted to bury my feelings under a load of coursework right after a breakup.

    6. zee

      Booster needled walky into going to class instead of wallowing. Boy tried

  13. C.T Phipps

    It’s a shame we’ll never see Leslie and Robin again but they’re now on the run in ROCKIN ROBIN which is Willis’ new comic about their war against the US government’s corrupt plans to initiate Project: SEMME.

    Which is not a real thing but I’d totally read.

    1. Byron Orpheus

      So… Joe is Steve Harrington, Ethan is Will Byers, Amber is 11, who’s Dustin?

      1. Bokie

        Gotta be Danny.

  14. Sirksome

    Them all standing next to Jason makes all three of the girls look like the size of hobbits.

    1. butting

      You might like the results of an image search for “Ryan Stiles Sandi Toksvig”.

      1. NickPG

        Or ‘Sandi Toksvig Richard Osman’.

        1. butting

          Aw, I forgot about him! He’s magic.

          But the Stiles search will have Tony Slattery (oh the sadness, he’s missed, he’s so missed) and John Sessions… and against Stiles, they both look like they’re Toksvig’s height.

        2. Embe13

          more than magic he created the cartoon Bromwell High in the early 2000s, fucking hilarious cartoon

          and he’s great on QI (intenent archive have most of the QI XL episodes, which are amazing)

    2. MK15

      If Joyce is Frodo and Becky is Sam… does that make Dorothy be Sméagol? 🙁

  15. RassilonTDavros

    Been AFK for a few days and finally have time to check back in on the day Joyce and Dotty are back again. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for me?

    Anyway fuck American imperialist pseudo-liberation to hell and back. sincerely, an American

    1. C.T Phipps

      Every scandal reveals someone acting surprised that [REDACTED] is an insane tyrant and monster who fully means every awful thing he says.

    2. Thag Simmons

      This is a less than auspicious start to the year

      1. Tequila Mockingbird

        I know it’s textbook “magical thinking” but on like, Jan 1 or 2, the father of a friend of mine made a miraculous recovery from a hospital visit they were terrified was lethal. I told him “aww yeah, 2026 off to a great start” and the next. fucking. day. orange voldemort bombs a country with zero provocation. I feel like I jinxed it.

        1. NGPZ

          Eh, “”jinx”” my also recently hospitalized ass

          at this point im pretty fuckin disillusioned with any notion of “New Years luck”

          in the end a special number on the Gregorian calender dont mean jack — it certainly didnt make the pandemic any less scary or devastating at the start of 2021 ?

          if our brotha MLK ever had anything to say about it, he’d say that ANY time is the perfect time to stop living by some mythical concept of time (-_-)

          or likewise as Dina once said,

          “renounce magical thinking and embrace empirical evidence”

  16. Pocky

    they haven’t even had time to somewhat relax about the whole Costumed Crusader drama, and now have to find Becky’s new moms.

    1. C.T Phipps

      They’ll get Leslie to confess to being Amazi-Girl eventually.

      1. Pocky

        Honestly, Robin might confess just because she’d think it would make her cooler.

        1. Ray Radlein

          tbf, it would

    2. Thag Simmons

      Don’t they have a bowling date tonight too?

      1. Dot

        Was it tonight? I honestly can’t remember.

        1. Pocky

          I imagine the new romantic activity will instead be breaking the gays out of jail.

        2. Tequila Mockingbird

          Which is frankly the most “be gay, do crime” date one can have. 110% approved.

        3. Clif

          I think asking Sal might have slipped someone’s mind.

    3. Acher4

      We had just one day to relax with the girl’s new love and happiness
      and now every single card of the drama plot is moving at lightspeed.

      Wonder if that was by design…? 😛 (ofc it was)

      1. Pocky

        People were lulled into a false sense of sapphic security.

  17. Shakes

    The running gag that Robin runs on what is basically Kevin McCallister in Home Alone’s diet is one of my favourites.

  18. IntangibleMatter

    ….yay governmental kidnappings…..

    1. C.T Phipps

      There’s been a lot this past year. Just the latest was the most noticeable.

  19. StClair

    “buddy”
    yeah, she’s done.

    1. Bryy

      YUP.

    2. Andrusi

      That’s rough. “Buddy.”

      1. Tequila Mockingbird

        I almost cannot hear that word anymore without my mind immediately going to “Last Airbender.”

    3. apocryphascribe

      the BIGGESTS of oofs when I saw that.

  20. ADLegend21

    OOF, called Joyce Buddy, they’re through.

    1. Sirksome

      Good for Becky, honestly.

      1. Grimeyville

        Becky inevitably learning her moms were arrested while Joyce continues to Joyce is really gonna make this ‘thin line between love and hate’ thing solidify.

      2. Big Z

        Through, maybe, but definitely there’s a sense of “look, Joyce, I used to think *I* was a little tactless and bad about boundaries, but jebus.”

  21. Grimeyville

    “In a cute regular way”.

    Damned by faint queer praise.

  22. Armadillo

    Brain to mouth filter working splendidly as always, Joyce.

  23. Massey

    I’m sure someone else has already called it, but my guess is they were both arrested and have been stuck together since no one has noticed to bail them out.

  24. NGPZ

    Mountain climbing at sunset, butterflies, your favorite meal at a cat cafe, fruit salad by the beach, camping by a lake, wombats, and a room full of stuffed animals

    must remember these

    1. NGPZ

      Gbrnejkwox dgagaffsfaagsgsg

      did not mean to post this here LOL

      im tired, so just gonna leave this here without context hahahaha feel free to guess or somethin i dunno XD

      zzzzzzzzzz

    2. StClair

      These are a few of my favorite things

      … nope, doesn’t fit the meter.

      1. Andrusi

        We didn’t start the fire

        Closer, but still no.

        1. Tequila Mockingbird

          One of my fave songs ever. Bless you for the reference.

  25. Kyulen

    I’m assuming this probably means Robin and Leslie were arrested at the protest and are in jail now. Or maybe they both just slept in and forgot about the classes they’re supposed to teach, but that seems a lot less likely to me.

    1. Bill Erak

      Leslie cheated on her gf with Robin, they’re both at Robin’s place (Wherever that is) and Leslie is so guilty and scared she’s keeping Robin tied and panicking, refusing to answer any phone calls.

      1. Fail Earnhardt

        Surprisingly plausible had we not last seen them at the protest

  26. Acher4

    Well, ffffff

    They are in jail aren’t they? :/

  27. Da Boy

    Someone take shovel away from Joyce before she digs herself too deep

  28. Doopyboop

    When I was in college, I remember that if the professor didn’t show up after about ten to fifteen minutes into a lecture, everyone would agree to ditch. Usually the professor eventually showed but a couple times they never did and we all got to ditch and got an email later like “yeah sorry something came up, class like usual next day”.

  29. darkoneko

    ….they really were arrested … and not released when Robin must have loudly said she was an ex congresswoman ?

    1. thejeff

      Thrown into the back of police car yelling “Do you know who I am?”

  30. Fail Earnhardt

    Goddamn, if one of my closest friends called me “buddy” with that tone I would self-immolate

  31. Jernacious

    I feel like Becky is entitled to punch Joyce at this point.

    1. nadamás

      No? Not even remotely so.

    2. Big Z

      Definitely entitled to the desire, but I think a strip of duct tape would be more effective.

    3. Taffy

      Just a little bop on the shoulder, maybe with a “Chill out” attached.

    4. zee

      Bit of slapstick would be funny but no

    5. Dot

      Every time someone says something like this there’s a lot of reflexive “no how dare you encourage violence as a solution to interpersonal grievances” and it always confuses me because I feel like it’s fairly obvious that it isn’t being presented as a serious scenario.

      1. Tequila Mockingbird

        And also, you know… all involved are fictional characters. It’s one thing when Popeye punches a guy, quite another when someone threatens an IRL person. Even a staunch pacifist is going to cheer when the superhero kicks the villain’s ass in purely fantastical context.

    6. StarfighterVicki

      Accidental report, sorry. The good news is that I killed the bug on my phone screen.

    7. Skewbrow

      Naah! This is Joyce’s autism talking. She has absorbedthat some nice comment is due the first thing she meets Becky. In other words, Joyce is simply following an internal script, genuinely trying to be friendly. Her brain is unable to process it in real time that this particular exchange is off. However, she will rehearse this conversation in her mind a doze times, but only afterwards. Determined to do bette next time.

      1. StClair

        autism brains: always fighting the last war having the last conversation.

  32. Risky

    I’m torn as to whether to assume Joyce meant ‘Your haircut is cute and not at all like your previous “angrily lesbian” haircut’.

    1. Doopyboop

      She definitely didn’t mean it like that. If you mean Joyce’s mumbled ‘not in a I’m gay now way’, what she’s saying is “I think your haircut looks cute however now that I know I’m attracted to women and we are currently in an awkward state due to your crush on me I must confirm that I mean cute as in looks nice rather than expressing an attraction to you”. That’s just a bit too long and wordy to say in an actual coversation LMAO

    2. zee

      She’s basically saying “no homo”

    3. John Campbell

      I believe she means, “Your haircut is cute, but I still don’t want to fuck you.”

  33. Miroku2235

    Joyce really has no tact. “I know people are apparently missing, there’s a police raid going on, and I’ve still left Joe standing in that room waiting to finish that conversation, but the first thing I’ll say to Becky is ‘Nice hair!'” Oof.

    1. nadamás

      The “nice hair” is very much not the no tact part of what she said.

    2. Dot

      Look, I’m as eager as anyone to get back to the polyamory conversation but there are more important things going on

      1. thejeff

        Though I am amused that after all the panicked running around the last time we saw them, Joyce and Dorothy just went off to class like normal.

  34. ValdVin

    Jason, have you tried opening a bag of Skittles?

    1. Taffy

      We can’t see the floor, but I assume he’s probably scattered several packets of Skittles all over the room.

    2. zee

      Buy out a big bag of Cadbury creme eggs and shake it like cat treats

    3. John Campbell

      Trail of Skittles leading up to the door.

      1. Tequila Mockingbird

        Which now just has me imagining Robin in the role of ET. Different candy, same scenario. ?

        1. John Campbell

          Robin, unfortunately, may also be having problems phoning home.

  35. Perils

    It’s almost like Becky and Joyce should have talked before going to class.

  36. Juanoku

    Joyce clarifying only makes it 10x worse

  37. Owlmirror

    If Robin and/or Leslie had been arrested, who would know?

    – Their department heads might know, or at least, Leslie at least would probably have felt guilty enough about missing her class that she would want her department head to know.

    – Robin’s family might know, so Roz might know.

    – Daisy might know from reporters on the scene, even if names didn’t make it into the final article.

    – Asma might know because she might have friends among the arrestees, and because she’s otherwise interested in the fate of the protesters.

    – Jocelyne might know, for the same reasons as Asma

    – Mary might know, because she might have seen the arrests as they happened.

    – Amazi-Girl might know, because she went back after helping Joyrothy+Jocelyne+Asma escape.

    PS: Where’s Barry Abbas? Oh, maybe Barry Abbas was one of the arrestees!
    Free Barry Abbas!

  38. Bokie

    Can someone kindly explain the alt-text joke? Who or what is Mario? (The video game protagonist is the obvious pop culture guess, but I don’t get the connection.) Is it the costume that might be found next to him, or Robin and Leslie?

    1. Justnobodyfqwl

      “Mario Is Missing” was a much-maligned and obscure 3rd party Mario edutainment game, where Luigi has to learn geography facts to find and save his brother. It’s one of the few non-nintendo mario games from the brief period where they allowed that kind of thing.

  39. ElderlyMarxist

    jfc joyce worst foot in mouth moment yet. ‘yeah, thanks, buddy, i figured’ is the sharpest becky’s been with her ever afaict

    1. Dot

      She got very prickly during the atheism debacle but this is definitely notable in its curtness. Compare to how open she was with Dorothy.

    2. apocryphascribe

      I’m looking forward to more of it, tbh

  40. C.T Phipps

    Panel 2:

    Will this be Dorothy’s moment of LEADERSHIP?

    Will she seize control of the class with gay kisses?

    LEADERSHIP?

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