225

Flesh and blood
Posted on January 5, 2020 by David M Willis

225 thoughts on “Flesh and blood”

  1. Rob Cottingham

    Nice to see Mike truly, genuinely astonished for once.

    1. Screwball

      It is something that doesn’t happen very often, is it?

      Daniel the Human could have worded that better, but hopefully you get the point…

      1. Clif

        I believe he’s less astonished and more worried that she’s losing the mask Though the expression persists in the last panel, so I could be wrong.

        1. vitalProximity

          I think he was like “holy shit, Amber? … OMG, Amber is AMAZI-GIRL??!” Except, you know, however Mike would word that in a moment of actual genuine emotion.

          … Huh. I was fairly convinced he had to know by now, but maybe he really didn’t.

          Then again, Amber isn’t tagged at all… The alt text leads me to believe he still figured it out when the mask slipped off, though.

        2. Rex Vivat

          Go ahead and reread what Mike said on January 2nd. He knows perfectly well, up to specifics, who Amazi-Girl is.

        3. thejeff

          That line still makes perfect sense if he just wanted Amber who he’d been poking to stoke her rage to use against her father, rather than Amazi-Girl who’s not involved.

          For that to make sense in the way you took it he’d have to not merely know that Amber and AG share a body, which is vaguely plausible if he knew from before school, but also about the full on disassociation, which is a lot harder to justify given how much it’s increased since the year started and that there’s been nothing on panel to give him a clue.

          That look of surprise when he sees AG with the mask half-off just confirms it. That’s when he recognizes her.

        4. Freezer

          Mike has heard Amber refer to herself and Amazi-Girl as different people before.

          And IIRC, he’s talked about it with Ethan, who knows Amber better than anyone else.

        5. thejeff

          I’m pretty sure Ethan doesn’t know about the disassociation – or at least doesn’t understand it. I don’t recall a scene where they talked about Amber being Amazi-Girl, much less about them still being different.

          As for the first, I’d need to see the context.

        6. thejeff

          No reason for Amber to be tagged. She’s not here. The physical mask slipped, not the mental one. Mike can still be recognizing her when he sees that.

        7. vitalProximity

          That’s an excellent point. Amber’s face still looks like Amber, even if AG’s the one at the wheel

        8. vitalProximity

          Also… I think Mike’s expression in panel 3 might be a little of “Wait, that’s what I was trying to do. But wait, THIS guy is a next-level asshole, so if he was doing the same thing for the same reason… Fuck. Was I being WAAAY more of a dick than I ever intended, especially considering Amber is supposedly my friend? … Shit shit shit…”

        9. Colineo

          That was my impression. Blaine is basically repeating exactly what Mine said, with a slightly different perspective.

        10. TemperaryObsessor

          To be fair since I’ve actually seen Mike try to help her in the past I’m more inclined to actually believe Mike.

  2. Nono

    Blaine: so what I’m saying is…. can I adopt you?

    1. Laladoria

      That sure is what it sounds like. This is his way of saying “I love you, kid!”

      1. Doctor_Who

        Maybe he’s like Ra’s al Ghul and he wants Amazi-Girl to marry his daughter and inherit his phony carpentry business.

        1. Max

          Better not make that proposal in front of Toe Dad.

        2. J

          Galasso would like a word with you.

        3. fridge_logic

          Ra’s al Ghul had a phony carpentry business?

      2. Screwball

        Daniel here. Last few comics BlainDick was going on about how liberating the mask & costume were, how you could be someone else while wearing them, and so on. NOW he’s pointing out his daughter’s apparent failings – despite his “attempts” to make her “stronger” – to the person who inadvertently helped him realize how liberating the mask is…

        Even if BlaineDick DIDN’T see her face, part of me is worried he’ll put 2&2 together…

        1. JA

          If it took even Mike this long to figure it out (and only after the mask came off), then Blaine will never figure it out.

    2. Zaxares

      If Blaine actually said “I’m proud of you, Amazi-Girl.”, I wonder if it would cause her to self-destruct through overwhelming emotional internal conflict.

      1. vitalProximity

        Presumably, since Amber did before when he told her the same thing after she did something awful. I can’t remember what

  3. foamy

    What the actual fuck, Blaine.

    1. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

      Blaine-quality ‘Every Villain is the Hero of Their Own Story” rationalization, perhaps?

      1. Nyzer

        There have been strong hints to this for a while. Amber said early on that Blaine made her take self defense classes, not therapy. We saw him express disappointment that she (and Ethan) couldn’t fight back against a skinny teenager with a knife, even when Ethan’s life was threatened. We’ve seen extensively that his dislike of her, in flashback era, was because of her extreme anxiety and helplessness.

        In his eyes, he was, at least at some point in time, trying to tough-love her into standing up for herself. Probably the same techniques he was on the receiving end of in his own childhood.

        1. TemperaryObsessor

          I knew that he thought or at least pretended to think thats what he was doing. But considering how “wonderfully” he took it when Amber did stand up to him as Amber its BS. He just found an excuse to pick on someone who couldn’t stand up to him.

        2. Nyzer

          Don’t forget he’s an abusive piece of shit too. He clearly views himself as the leader of the family (even after it’s been broken up) and as such should be obeyed.

          That doesn’t mean he didn’t want Amber to be able to stand up to other people.

        3. BarerMender

          If Amber couldn’t stand up, it was because he beat her down all her life.

        4. TemperaryObsessor

          At first it was because she was a three. He had her since she was a newborn but I’m going to assume he mostly left her to be raised by her mom for the first few years.

        5. Nyzer

          Yep. Not sure if he either is just too stupid to understand that, or doesn’t consider that a valid “excuse” (since it’s fair to assume he grew up enduring the same kind of treatment too).

        6. Kat

          I’m reminded of the Ogres from the Changeling: The Lost (in which the Seemings are all just metaphors for coping strategies anyway). “Hurt people hurt people.”

    2. Charlie Spencer

      She’s got him monologuing.

  4. Julez

    Aha, it seems Mike DIDN’T know until now.

    1. tim gueguen

      Either that, or something has made him think Amber is now in control

      1. King Daniel

        Amber is not tagged, and the final panel lacks cheek-blushes – Amazi-Girl is still calling the shots, I believe.

        1. vitalProximity

          Since the mask is back on in the final panel, I would think that panel counts as Amazi-Girl. Panel *5* is when the mask is off, and when Mike sees something that apparently shocks him… And the way the mask falls *conveniently* hides whether there are rosy cheeks or not. Hmmm. Coincidence? I think not… Perhaps a reintegration is imminent?

          AG definitely seems a little ticked off on Amber’s behalf, at the very least.

        2. King Daniel

          My memory is a little fuzzy, but I remember Cerberus talking back in the day about how reintegration was not common for alters, nor was it recommended – rather, what was was the alters learning to work and cooperate with each other.

    2. LeslieBean4shizzle

      Alternatively, he might just be worried that she’s going to be revealed. “Oh shit, her mask is damaged!”

      I dunno. Mike is hard to read.

    3. Los

      I find it weird that Mike, the lovechild of incisive wit and situational awareness, wou,d not have made the connection already

    4. Needfuldoer

      Or Mike thought Amazi-Girl was still just a character Amber roleplayed as, and he didn’t realize how deep the dissociation rabbit-hole goes.

      Or maybe Mike’s hearing Blaine justify himself from the same angle that he’s used to justify his own edgelord asshole behavior to his friends, that it’s “tough love for their own good”.

  5. King Daniel

    So, I think we’ve seen in-comic confirmation that Mike didn’t know about the whole bodyshare thing going on until just now.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Yeah, I always figured he knew, since figuring out people’s insecurities is kind of his whole thing. Guess not.

    2. Hugo Bedward

      Is it really a bodyshare split personality thing?

      1. King Daniel

        On mobile right now so I can’t link, but Amber herself has talked in the comic about how she and Amazi-Girl ”share the same 5’2” meat vehicle.” Not to mention all the commenters – such as our esteemed Cerberus – who have talked at length about how Amber/Amazi-Girl’s storyline reflects their own experiences with DID.

      2. Khyrin

        Yes. Amazi-girl has taken the meat-ship they share out of port without Amber’s knowledge in the past (and Amber discovered the evidence in the form of skinned knuckles the morning after), and while they used to share information, Amazi-girl has recently been keeping it to herself.

        1. thejeff

          Goes both ways. Amazi-Girl was recently surprised to learn Amber’d been making out with Walky.

        2. miri

          And he forgot to mention that he had split up with Dorothy prior to the make-outs, which can’t have done great things for AG’s faith in Amber to make good life choices…

      3. Z

        Yes. The dissociation has progressed to the point that it fits diagnostic criteria and even that it inhibits their functioning. Amazon girl and Amber no longer share memories- amazi girl has been surprised to hear about amber’s actions and I believe amazi girl has been getting out without amber’s knowledge.

        They’ve split on a lot of personality traits and values as well, beyond standard human complexity.

  6. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    So . . .Mike has finally found out and is both astonished . . and horrified if I am reading his expression right?

    I wonder if the mask being punched/ripped off like that will lead to Amber coming out to law down the biggest of arse kickings.

    1. Vigil

      I am very sure he already knew and was only showing shock because he was worried her identity was gonna be revealed

      1. LeslieBean4shizzle

        That was my take as well, Vigil.

        That he’s worried about her being revealed, I mean. Of course, it can be hard to tell for certain.

        1. vitalProximity

          But if that’s the case, why does he looked surprised still/again when the mask goes back on in panel 6?

        2. Fart Captor

          Also, the alt-text

      2. Nono

        People seem to be very insistent that Mike already knows when all the signs in-comic point to him not knowing.

        1. foamy

          Maybe, but like, all Mike can see from that angle, mask or not, is her hair.

        2. Rotunda

          It’s likely that the artist has decided to concentrate this part of the drama into a single frame with both faces visible rather than using cinematic conventions of reversed camera angles, which takes an extra frame.

        3. TemperaryObsessor

          A few panels ago he was talking about Amber in the third person in a way that implies he knows.

        4. Eolirin

          If Mike hasn’t made the connection that Amber has DID his hyper awareness of people’s weaknesses would make him less not more likely to put two and two together. Amber can’t do the things Amazi-Girl does. Mike would assume they’re two separate people, because they are.

        5. miri

          Amber has demonstrated her parkour skills previously, and it’s Amber who beat Ryan into the hospital, despite him being the one who came armed and looking for a fight…

        6. thejeff

          Talking about Amber in the third person implies he knows? I don’t follow.

          That bit was ambiguous, probably deliberately so. Could be read as either “I wish the Amber alter was in charge now instead of the Amazi-Girl alter, so all the work I’d done poking her would pay off in an explosion aimed at Blaine.” or “I wish Amber (the physical person) was hero now instead of Amazi-Girl , so all the work I’d done poking her would pay off in an explosion aimed at Blaine.”

          For the first to make sense, he’d have to know not just about the secret identity, but also the DID and that’s a lot harder to justify since he’s had almost no clues on panel and her degree of disassociation has changed drastically since the start of the semester.

        7. Needfuldoer

          In the Dec. 31st strip, Mike says he found Toedad and the Blaine outside “a house party”, not “the house party” or “Becky’s house party”. He knew Amber was at the party, so he might have said “the party” if he thought she and AG were one and the same. (By which I mean “AG is a character persona Amber puts on at will to do vigilante stuff”.)

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/interloper/

          Before this, AG and Mike were only in two strips together, where she interrogated him during the Whiteboard Ding-Dong Bandit investigation.

        8. TemperaryObsessor

          Talking about Amber in the third person right after Amazigirl said it wasn’t exactly me you were fighting last time.
          Also Mike would not intentionally hand Blaine that.

        9. Clif

          Not all the signs in comic point to him not knowing. The signs start back in an early strip where Amber is talking to Ethan and Mike and Ethan says, “we know what you’ve been doing,” refering to her activities as Amazigirl. Now Ethan could have been using the royal we,but the implication is that Ethan knows and he knows Mike knows. Again, Mike’s recent conversation about wishing for Amber over Amazigirl reads very strangely considering a few strips earlier he was calling for Amazigirl to show up, unless he in fact knows. I will admit to some ambiguity in what Mike knows, but in fact the proponderence of the evidence is that he does.

        10. King Daniel

          The early strips had a few instances of Early Installment Weirdness going on – until Willis went back and edited the actual images a year or so back, I remember there were a few strips, for example, where Sal wasn’t wearing gloves (in fact, I remember how for years those strips used to be brought up as evidence that Sal wasn’t trying to conceal a scar on her hand).

        11. thejeff

          I can’t find any early strip like that and I don’t remember one.

  7. BBCC

    And did it ever occur to you that maybe you weren’t actually helping and were in fact making things worse, Blaine?

    No? Ah. I see.

    1. Regalli

      I mean, that would require him to actually think about other people and his impact on them. Or care.

      1. Agemegos

        People like that start with the premise that they are right.

    2. James P Huggins

      The best part is Mike’s expression in that panel. “That’s… what I was trying to do. Oh.”

      1. vitalProximity

        Oh good, you saw that too? That gives me a little hope for him as well

      2. BBCC

        Yuuuuup.

        1. Zee

          So that’s how this redemption is gonna happen

  8. Mollyscribbles

    dumbass, you never tried to better her. You tried to traumatize her. Are you lying to yourself or to Amazi-Girl?

    1. Mra

      If by pushed and prodded he means verbally and possibly physically assaulted her, I can’t imagine him begging in any capacity.

      1. Dr T

        I genuinely thought he did know.

    2. Uly

      Himself. Abusive parents like this always lie to themselves.

    3. Charlie Spencer

      For me, it’s not so much his questionable goals for her or his appalling methods to achieve them. It’s more his inability to accept Amber as she is.

      1. thejeff

        To be fair, I’d have had a lot of trouble accepting Amber as she is. Or at least as she was – see our flashbacks to young Amber. The answer however is therapy and support, not abuse. See the help we know Ethan gave her.

        Though that still ignores the question of how much of Amber’s problems always were due to Blaine.

        1. miri

          If she didn’t grow up in an abusive household with a domineering, violent, belittling father, would she have been as crippled by anxiety as she was though?

  9. Mra

    I had thought Mike knew, or at least suspected Amazi-girls identity, by the look of surprise, I guess not.

    1. Dr T

      I genuinely thought he did know.

      1. vitalProximity

        Same

    2. Bicycle Bill

      I think the look of surprise (in panel 5) might be caused by the fact that Amazi-Girl is not easily and readily mopping up the fire escape with Blaine, and there is now a nagging sense of doubt in his mind as to just how this will play out.

  10. Sirksome

    You still think this was a good idea, Mike?

    1. Sirksome

      Also is this showing that Mike didn’t know Amber was AG? For real question here cause I assumed he was in the know like Ethan was.

      1. DailyBrad

        He seemingly did not, which makes me wonder now how Ethan came to know about it, since he’s seemingly the only person who knew before Dina then Danny found out.

        1. Sirksome

          Ethan’s a lot closer to Amber than Mike is. In fact he’s a lot closer to Mike than Amber is too. He’s kind the bridge friend between them. Plus Ethan was there when Amber first snapped so I’m thinking there are plenty of ways he could’ve found out.

        2. vitalProximity

          I think both Amber and Mike are pretty hard to get close to, but Ethan’s more open than either of them in a lot of ways. In fact, he may be the only one who’s really close to either of them, although Amber had at least (reluctantly) branched out a bit since getting to college. Mike… has had some hookups, and that’s about it as far as I can tell. :/

  11. Dr_D

    From the look on AGs face, I think it might be Amber we’ll be seeing next.

    1. Uly

      Agreed.

    2. thejeff

      Doubt it. That looks more like determination to me.

  12. Opus the Poet

    Someone needs to tell Mike that rules of fair fighting don’t apply to attempted murderers and he needs to kick Blaine in the back of the neck while he’s got his back to Mike.

  13. Juanoku

    Mike be like
    Oh…
    OOHHHHHH

  14. Cattleprod

    Ah, my favorite game, is this plot point (in this case Blaine not knowing Amazi-Girl’s identity):

    A) Genuinely new information
    B) Subtext I missed out on
    C) Something specifically spelled out that I forgot

    I really need to do a re-read of this whole thing, I think I’d read through Roomies/It’s Walky from the start at least three times by the time it ended.

    1. King Daniel

      Blaine never had the opportunity to discover who Amazi-Girl was, unless explicit information spelling out her identity was found on that stolen flash drive (which seems was the case).

      1. miri

        I’m hoping it was brim-full of her LITERATURE.

    2. thejeff

      More I think that there’s never been any reason to think Blaine knew it and quite a few to think he didn’t. Many commentors however seem to assume it’s obvious and are constantly surprised when people don’t know.
      It’s amazing how well that mask works.

  15. SUGauthor

    Is Blaine not aware what happened the last time he thinks he met Amber?

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/strength/

    1. DailyBrad

      He knows, but I don’t think he wants to admit to even himself that Amber whooped his ass, much less to the superheroine who also whooped his ass.

    2. tim gueguen

      He probably wrote it off as a one time move by Amber. After all she ran away instead of trying to hit him again, and it was Ruth and Asma who actually forced him out of the building.

      1. TemperaryObsessor

        God he’s the type of asshole who only acknowledges physical violence as standing up for yourself. Physical violence is supposed to be used as a last resort when either you have no authority on your side or your cornered and don’t have access to them.

      2. thejeff

        As he says here: “At best she’d spaz out. She’d explode.” That’s what he thought that was.

    3. Mordecai

      “I’m not enough like my mother, you fucking gorilla. No, I’m saddled with your stupid violent, petty rage.”

      One of the best lines in this entire comic, and that’s saying something.

  16. AceDetective002

    Wait did Mike not know Amber is Amazi-Girl, he looked pretty shocked to see her face

  17. BarerMender

    Now, if Mike can just resist his compulsion to tell everything he knows….

  18. DailyBrad

    So, Mike didn’t know then, confirmed. Also, was more sure Blaine definitely didn’t know, but now we know for sure he wouldn’t because I don’t see him talking like this if he thought it was her. Not because he is above that, obviously not, but because I feel like he’d twist the knife more, so to speak.

  19. goggleman64

    I just hope this isn’t leading up to the Mike Retrieval Arc.

  20. Agemegos

    I hope Ross is too stupid and uninterested to figure out what is going on here.

    1. Agemegos

      What is being said and revealed, I mean.

    2. DailyBrad

      Even if he did see, it wouldn’t really mean anything to him. He’s never met Amber or has any idea who she is even if he had.

      1. Agemegos

        He doesn’t care about other people, and is likely to let their interpersonal babble wash over him without wasting his limited attention on it.

        But if he figures out that Amazi-Girl is Blaine’s [biological] daughter his behaviour is likely to become erratic. And the police will find out Amazi-Girl’s secret identity in a way that will make them more unhelpful to Amber.

  21. DailyBrad

    So far, seems the people who know Amber is Amazi-Girl are:
    -Ethan
    -Dina
    -Danny
    -Dorothy
    -Walky
    -Sal
    -Marcie

    Am I missing anyone?

    1. BarerMender

      Mike.

      1. King Daniel

        As of this strip, yes.

      2. DailyBrad

        I meant other than him, I should have clarified.

    2. BBCC

      Ruth knows because Dorothy told her.

      1. DailyBrad

        Ah, right, that’s another.

  22. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Garth Brooks’ “Thunder Rolls” on the hacked speakers*

    1. Lawzlo

      *plays AC/DC’s “Thuunderstruck” on the hacked speakers*

      1. Stephen Bierce

        *followed by “I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It” from Phantom of the Opera*

        1. Commander Clash

          *followed by “Hero” by Cher*

  23. BarerMender

    It comes to me that if the Mob laundered millions through Blaine’s company, he must’ve come into his cut, and his whining about Amber’s college costs is bullshit.

    1. tim gueguen

      Someone like Blaine will always begrudge having to do anything that doesn’t directly benefit him.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      But that’s HIS money, and being forced/court-ordered(?) to spend it on anything/anyone else just galls the hell out of him.

    3. Agemegos

      His commission is likely to have been small, depending on what other hold they have over him. And he might be running his business so ineptly that he is making continual losses and only his money-laundering money keeps his going at all.

      But yes, his complaints about Amber’s tuition costs are self-serving bullshit.

      1. Bathymetheus

        You seem to be suggesting that Blaine is no better than trump. While I despise Blaine, I wouldn’t go THAT far.

      2. Needfuldoer

        In the divorce, he chose to pay for college instead of alimony or child support because he didn’t think she’d go. He tried to get out of paying anything.

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/04-vote-for-robin/money-2/

    4. Charles Phipps

      Blaine is a raging narcissist and misogynist both.

    5. DailyBrad

      It’s still likely a good chunk of money to him, especially since the laundering is probably millions over years, rather than recently alone, but yeah, Blaine and Faz’s mom are just spiteful jackoffs.

      1. BBCC

        In fairness, we’re not 100% sure whether Yuri knows he has, ah, extra income available. Though if she’s a mobster’s daughter, as I suspect, it’d be hard not to know.

        1. TemperaryObsessor

          Blaine has probly convinced her college is more expensive than it is, or that he’s making less money than he is, or possibly worst of all it does not matter who’s in the right if someone is making Blaine mad they must be the problem.

        2. Needfuldoer

          It’s probable that Yuri’s part of one of the mob families. I can’t find the exact comic right now, but I remember someone (Stacy?) saying Blaine “shacked up with one of their blank-ity blank daughters”.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Which, come to think of it, implies Faz is Amber’s paternal half-brother.

        4. miri

          Which would make him a statutory rapist I believe and would mean that Amber would beat herself up more about the fact that she hasn’t Magically done something to prevent Faz from having to live with him http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/measure/

  24. auroki

    This whole arc has been both ridiculous and full of legit surprises regarding characters and I love it! Mikes face and Blaines dialogue especially

  25. Archivist

    Classic supervillain to obsess over the hero while they neglect their kid. With a uh, twist.

    1. PB

      Oh.

      Oh crap you’re right.

      … He’s the Green Goblaine.

  26. Bicycle Bill

    I call bullshit.  If that flying/swinging kick to the face was enough to put Blaine onto his knees and cause him to start to bleed from his (re)-injured nose, the pain should have been enough that he does NOT just ‘shake it off’ and continue as if nothing happened.

    1. King Daniel

      Amber managed to grit through being hit by Maggie’s car. Pain tolerance might be a thing that runs in the blood.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Wait, the unusually helpful motorist has a name? I didn’t know that

        1. King Daniel

          She wasn’t tagged in her brief appearance, but she bore a very strong resemblance to Maggie’s tagged appearances in Shortpacked! – hence like half the comments on that day’s strip taking it as a given that that was who she was.

    2. Agemegos

      It has been bullshit since Amazi-Girl chased Ross’s car. It has been bullshit since she improvised a zip-line out of a telephone cable and a pair of nunchaku. I have learned to cope.

      1. Geneseepaws

        Can confirm that old style telephone cables, over ten years old p, if well anchored will support 200 lbs in a ten foot length with no detectable stretch (over a10 ft. length),

      2. Deanatay

        Also, it wasn’t nunchaku, it was a pair of hedge trimmers. The BS is strong in this one.

        1. Deanatay

          Also, I apparently can’t tell the diff between strong and strikethru markups.

    3. Commander Clash

      He might still have an adrenile rush from his previous duking it out with Amazi-girl. Adrenaline can totally block pain receptors until it wears off.

      1. He Who Abides

        I can confirm that. I didn’t feel my proto-scar being born until after someone screamed . . . I assume “call an ambulance”, but I was still pretty jazzed until that point.

    4. TemporalShrew

      Welcome to everything superhero-related!

    5. DarkoNeko

      his nose is bleeding in the last panels. Well, something in the top half of his face is, anyway

      1. DarkoNeko

        He’s also clutching at his chest, now that I’m looking again.

  27. Icalasari

    Ok that implies Mike DIDN’T know that is Amber. Ok, the hell kind of lighting conditions are allowing Amber to keep getting away with this?

    1. King Daniel

      amazing how well that mask works

    2. BBCC

      Superhero genre conventions dictate that only the people closest to them (emotionally, not physically) can see through the identity immediately so long as they’re disguised in some way.

      In this case, that means Ethan and, due to Rule of Funny, Dina.

      1. GutterChick

        See also: Tony Hawk

      2. thejeff

        And even that is rarely. Plenty of heroes are long unrecognized by even those close to them.

        I assume here that Ethan was let in on the secret before the year started. Probably helped with her training. And that Dina was just behind the door one day when she changed.

        1. miri

          Or it’s Luna Lovegood-like weird perceptiveness (combined with a unique way of viewing the world, and frequent ignorance around typical social expectations)…

    3. He Who Abides

      Maybe she’s like Sailor Moon, and her own blood can’t recognize her when she’s LITERALLY STARING THEM IN THE FACE GODDAMMIT THAT’S YOUR CHILD WOMAN!

  28. Chaucer59

    So, Mike knows now, and Blaine is truly delusional. And…anybody seen
    Toedad?

  29. DarkoNeko

    Whaaaat, Mike didn’t actually know

    1. DarkoNeko

      But seeing him having stars in his eyes when he realizes makes me so, so unconfortable lol

    2. Charles Phipps

      How could he? They look nothing alike. Amber wears glasses!

      1. Aro

        And Amazi-Girl has way better hair!

        1. Charles Phipps

          I mean how would Amber even see?

        2. ValdVin

          Nice shout-out!

  30. Hoboturtle

    So is trying to get Amber thrown out of college also an attempt to get her to “stand up for herself”?

  31. General Tekno

    It makes sense Mike didn’t know.

    Otherwise I don’t think he’d have tried to summon Amazigirl. He’s an asshole but only so much of one.

    1. thejeff

      Given that he said a couple strips back that he almost wished Amber was here so the timebomb he’s been working on for years could go off, I wouldn’t be so sure of that.

      1. PB

        Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit THAT’S what he meant.

  32. Zellgato

    Well that synches it. Mike’s going to die here. for Amber/Amazigirl, probably kililng her dad with him.
    I knew the dad def knew it was her.
    I’m still surprised that mike somehow didn’t know. i swear he’s made jokes about it earlier this semester. Does explain why his plan was Amazigirl not cops.
    cause.. the hell mike?

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Poor little asshole bit off more than he could chew. Can we get an F in the chat for the soon-to-be murdered Mike.

    2. thejeff

      Why do you think Blaine knew it was her?

      As far as I know, Mike’s never used AG to poke Amber – one of the big reasons I was pretty sure he didn’t know.

  33. Agemegos

    What is the square thing on the back of Blaine’s left glove, and am I correct in interpreting that it lit up in the second panel?

    1. Delicious Taffy

      That’s his phone hand.

      1. Arian

        *Knife.

        1. Booker

          Pretty sure it’s just the pattern on the glove

    2. Bicycle Bill

      It’s an open patch across the back of the hand.  Look at a pair of cycling gloves or golf gloves and you’ll see a similar cuuout.  It seems like it ‘lit up’ in the second panel because I suspect Willis was trying to show how light from below is illuminating the whiteness of the back of his hand.

  34. LadySol

    I think it was pretty clear from the last few strips that Mike not only knows Amber and Amazi-girl share a body, but also that he knows they aren’t necessarily the same person. So I’m definitely in the camp of reading the mask off panel as worry about her blowing her cover. What exactly his expression in the last panel is supposed to convey I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure we’ll find out.

    1. jmsr7

      While your interpretation is consistent with mike’s expression in panel 5, his expression in panel 6 is not. “Shocked surprise” at a newly revealed fact that you did not know and is now staring you in the face can paralyze you into inaction for several seconds (think: Whaaaaaat?) IS consistent with both, which is why i fall into the second camp and think he genuinely didn’t know.

      I also think Blaine didn’t know either because he’d be belittling her directly here instead of just doing the “bongoing like a disappointed parent to people who might understand the troubles of being a parent in general.” Which is a relief since i’ve been worried about what might be on that thumb drive Faz stole for him. “Big secret that could get her arrested and definitely thrown out of college still safe? – Check.”

  35. abysswatcher1993

    FUCK YOU BLAINE!

    You forced an innocent child to be violent to satisfy your ego! You wanted a psychopath, not a daughter! Fuck you and every person that shares your sociopathic darwinistic worldview! Fuck you! Even Mike seems scared of you, asshole!

  36. Derek

    How much does Amber weigh? 60 kilograms easily? Blaine must be incredibly strong to swing her around by the leg while lying prone. The fact that she’s upright makes it rather unbelievable

    1. Crumplepunch

      In the last comic she jumped hard enough that she went over the balcony and then had enough momentum left over to swing back at an angle using rope anchored to the balcony. I think physics is as done here as psychology.

  37. brasca1

    As if this fight wasn’t unbelievable enough now I see Mike genuinely surprised. And I thought he masterminded all this.

  38. Zemgosl

    @Peeps saying that mike didn’t know before tonight. just a few panels ago he said: “id almost rather have her here than you tonight”. That implies that he DEFINITELY knows. Imo the look on his face here is concern over her identify being revealed but I might be missing something as well.

    1. kilgaen

      It only implies he thinks of Amber and Amazi-Girl as separate people. Like two different people are usually separate.

      I looked back over that panel and I think he meant that he’d been winding up Amber up so she could fight back against her dad (Mike has a poor understanding/opinion of therapy). I don’t think he’d realised she’d been winding down behind a mask. He knows Amber could beat the crap out of Blaine. He didn’t figure out it was Amber’s face behind Amazi-Girl’s mask until right now. The mask works really well, y’all.

  39. Zatar

    Okay so Mike definitly doesen’t know.

    1. Zatar

      *Didn’t

  40. Synnerman

    Amber is here now.

    Let the destruction begin.

  41. BenRG

    I think that Amber has something to say to her father. After that, I suspect that the only reason he’s going to still be breathing is that Mike doesn’t want his friend to soil her hands with that monster’s blood.

  42. Suet

    The grass is greener when you’re not in it.

    Amazi-Mask, From the People Who Created Amazi-Stool

    1. Amazi-Stool

      So you are referring to Brian Daniel?

  43. bryy

    And there we go. There’s Willis making this all too soul-crushingly real again.

  44. NinjaNick

    Blaine thinks he’s so unstoppable. He needs a hit in a head with a hammer.

  45. Keulen

    Does this mean Mike didn’t know that Amber is Amazi-Girl? Because I could’ve sworn he knew already.

    1. BenRG

      I suspect that he didn’t realise just how total the disassociation is between Amazi-Girl and Amber actually is. I think that he saw the two alters ‘hand-off’ just then and it terrified him to think that there are two people in his childhood friend’s body.

      1. King Daniel

        Tags and cheeks both say it’s still Amazi-Girl.

      2. thejeff

        The previous line about wanting Amber there instead of AG makes no sense at all if he thinks AG is Amber with a mask on. It works if he thinks they’re completely separate people and it works if he already understands they’re two people in the same body.

  46. Eve

    “Amazing how well that mask works”

    …..wait did Mike not know?! I thought he totally knew?!

  47. Arianod

    “OMG AMBER IS AMAZI-GIRL!”

    1. BenRG

      Or, more worryingly, she isn’t anymore.

  48. Colineo

    It’s like accidentally knocking off Clark Kent’s glasses and realizing he’s Superman

  49. Rabisch

    Finally Mike is speakless! His old friend is a superhero and he has never think about this possibility…. a little bit like Blaine has do.

  50. Booker

    Blaine. You absolute piece of garbage. How dare you try to convince yourself you’re anything other than a self serving weasel….and yeah! I know! That’s not fair to the weasels!!!

  51. miri

    This appears to be an unpleasant look in the mirror for Mike.

  52. Rosstifer

    Blaine is really that fucking stupid, huh?

  53. motorfirebox

    Oh, huh. When I said “I’d almost rather have her her tonight”, I thought that meant he knew.

    1. Clif

      It probably did.

      1. motorfirebox

        I dunno, this page doesn’t make it look like he knew.

  54. Smartkitty

    Sorry, silly question, but is there a new way to look at alt-text on iOS? Used to be I could click on the blank area next to the navigation arrows, now I can’t figure out how to pull it up.

    1. Clif

      Still works the same for me.

  55. Bagge

    Mask or no mask?

    Either way, it doesn’t look too god for Blaine.

  56. ziggy78eog

    This is the dramatic moment, in the comic’s story arc, where the hero takes off the mask, and says something like, “You think you know your daughter? Well, you’re wrong, because I’m your daughter!”

    1. Rotunda

      But the mask slipped, and she replaced it.

  57. Jay

    I honestly thought mike already knew

  58. Marie

    Hey. HEY. What about Ross? What’s going on with him right now???

    1. Jhon

      He’s busy dodging the hammer that came flying at his face.

    2. AGV

      He went to fetch some popcorn

    3. Amazi-Stool

      He still believes that he and Rachel were on a break!

  59. Rotunda

    Dilemma for Amber/Amazi-Girl: Amber has Blaine’s rage, and risks becoming like him in that respect, but now Amazi-Girl is seen to be respected by Blaine for fulfilling his template for his worthy progeny. Both personae bear Blaine’s stamp.

  60. Vulcanodon

    We’re gonna need a bigger bucket…

  61. eskimolos

    My take would maybe be mike’s worried that with amazigirl’s (literal) mask slipping that she was losing control and blaine’s antagonizing was getting her down.

  62. PB

    Wait, I’m confused: did he NOT know?

    1. PB

      (Rereads everything) Oh crap in a hat, HE DIDN’T KNOW.

  63. Strangeshapes

    Whether or not Mike knew about Amber=Amazigirl, I cant see how his expression is related to that here. When her mask slips, her face is to us in the fourth wall, and her hair is a curtain between herself and Mike. From his vantage point, he’d be able to see that her mask had slipped but not who was beneath it. So I would think he’d be looking worried that Blaine or Toedad might have seen her identity, not because he’d seen it himself.

  64. Stanistani

    Ross is not visible. The hammer was headed right at him. Will this be important momentarily?

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