173

Well-meaning
Posted on July 27, 2022 by David M Willis

173 thoughts on “Well-meaning”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    was he at least wearing a Fred costume at the time

    or Shaggy, even

    heck, Daphne

    1. FaerwenOfValenwood

      this is blatant Velma/Daphne shipper bait and I am very very happily biting.

    2. Nono

      No, he was also wearing Velma.

      1. FaerwenOfValenwood

        I was gonna make a selfcest joke but do I really want to be responsible for possibly starting up a selfcest discussion on this comment section?

        and have I just pulled a Danny and done so anyway?

      2. Wizard

        Your phrasing disturbs me deeply. Possibly because I was just reading an article about Ed Gein.

        1. Stanistani

          My condolences.

        2. Carms

          have you seen the anime Golden Kamuy? There’s a character based of Ed Gein called ‘Edogain’.
          it’s also a very good show.

  2. Doctor_Who

    Joe as Fred, Danny as Shaggy, Joyce as Daphne, Dorothy as Velma, and Fuckface as Scooby. Spin-off time!

    1. Nono

      Would that make Mike Scrappy?

      1. The Oracle

        Well, they’re both dead.

      2. Thag Simmons

        Mike is a ghost

        1. Sirksome

          The kind of ghost whose mask you rip off at the end of the episode to reveal he’s actually been Booster the whole time!

        2. King Daniel

          Mike is Jennifer, get it straight already!

        3. Clif

          You can tell by their woodpecker collection.

        4. Thag Simmons

          Nah, Booster is Red Herring

    2. Needfuldoer

      They’ll have to play in a band, just to be safe.

      1. Songbird

        Was that a Homestar Runner SBEmail reference?

        “Having fun with my frieeends….”

    3. Vukodlak

      Walky seems like a Shaggy to me.

    4. someone

      Joe as Shaggy, Dan as Scooby-Doo.

    5. thejeff

      But Shaggy‘s already canon in Dumbing of Age.

      1. Fidalgo

        Woah, this is like that time Kramer appeared on Mad About You but later we see George and Susan watching Mad About You.

  3. The Wellerman

    Kermit the Frog! Aaaah!!! ?

    1. True Survivor

      Yeeeeeaaaay!

      1. Deanatay

        All right, but if he breaks into “The Rainbow Connection” at this party, I may have to smash his ukelele, for the sake of our sanity.

    2. Stephen Bierce

      Muh na muh na…

      1. Geneseepaws

        Happy to see what you did there.
        There was also a musical spot with a trumpet-nosed beast. Also very good.

    3. jeffepp

      It’s not easy being green.

    4. Jeff K!

      Hilariously, just tonight I broke out The Muppet Show for the first time in a year, because my oldest daughter said she didn’t really like the Muppets, and I knew better. After the Haunted Mansion special and the Marisa Berenson TMS episode, she was begging for more. ?

    5. Dara

      When I was in school I knew somebody who as a little girl was absolutely terrified of Kermit the Frog. If Kermit showed up on Sesame Street? She was gone.

      No idea why now, of course, it was just one of those random kid fears.

      Mine was of the mysterious sparkly butterfly in the television that eventually turned out to be the old CBC Colour logo. xD

      1. The Wellerman

        Huh. Funny you mention a butterfly being creepy.

        For me it was the butterflies from the Lunesta sleeping pill commercials that really freaked me out, not in like a scary kind of way but more like, “ooooo pretty butterflies”, and then “OK, here’s all the ways this product can potentially make you DIE.” ??

        1. The Quirk

          For me, it was the Mark VI logo. Just the shot of that dark, sinister blacksmith’s hand and the sound of the hammer striking the anvil.

        2. Enkrod

          Mark VII Limited?

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umfHyL09QlA

  4. FaerwenOfValenwood

    Danny, please, one of them has a Battle-ready Frying Pan

    1. ThunderNight

      aren’t all pans battle-ready?

      1. FaerwenOfValenwood

        true, I guess one’s limited only by the puniness of one’s own arms

      2. Michael Haneline

        If a pan is sturdy enough to be used as a weapon it is usually heavy enough that it is difficult to wield as one.

        1. Opus the Poet

          Not really, cast aluminum is both sturdy and lightweight (source: my backpack gear was Aluminum and survived quite nicely when I brained someone getting obnoxious on a camping trip)

        2. FaerwenOfValenwood

          oh hell yeah, I swear by anodized aluminum baking pans!! (for, like, baking. not fighting people. too lightweight)

    2. True Survivor

      Joyce must be super strong to carry a cast-iron pan around for a whole evening.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Maybe it’s a foam prop.

        1. Laura

          Or carbon steel.

        2. Ana Chronistic

          Or bread

          Geddit lolololol

        3. The Wellerman

          I’m hungry now ?

        4. S.R.

          A cast-iron bread would probably be equally as heavy, unless it was just a slice.

  5. Nono

    I’m not sure I can piece Joe’s costume from that one panel. Is he just like a generic zombie since that shirt looks a little ripped?

    1. Thag Simmons

      I think he’s one of the Ted Lasso dudes

      1. anonymsly

        Pretty sure he’s Roy Kent, yeah.

        That’s a look Joe can for sure pull off.

        1. Otl1973

          Can’t be Roy Kent. He said an entire sentence without saying “fuck” once.

        2. JessWitt

          He’s gonna have a field day with Fuckface.

        3. anonymsly

          LOL! That’s the difference between costume and cosplay maybe? Costume doesn’t require one to be in character.

  6. Sirksome

    2 fuckups in less than 20 seconds. That’s gotta be a Danny record.

    1. Suitora

      I dunno, his moment with Ethan at the hospital was several at once.

    2. AbacusWizard

      Not necessarily; thanks to the chrono-flexibility of the comics medium, that third panel could easily represent up to five minutes of awkward silence.

  7. True Survivor

    How is Dan so incredibly self-aware and yet simultaneously so utterly oblivious?

    1. AlexanderHammil

      The knowledge that what you’re saying is wrong sadly doesn’t stop you from blurting it out anyway.

    2. Thag Simmons

      He knows himself well enough to know what sort of mistakes he tends to make but not well enough to stop making them

    3. Nono

      Being trope aware doesn’t make you trope immune.

    4. Kitschensyngk

      “Hey, Amber, what’s eating you? Somebody die or something?”

    5. Wizard

      His awareness tends to lag very slightly behind his expression. Kind of like when they do a time delay in case of inappropriate language on TV or radio, only backwards.

    6. Amós Batista

      Danny is a real boomer. Like a true uncle.

  8. RassilonTDavros

    …I’m going to hear Danny as Jim Henson for the rest of this storyline, aren’t I

  9. thakoru

    Joyce continues to have no idea who Danny is.

    1. Nono

      I have no idea why he’s even invited. I know he was at the last party, but I have no idea why he would even be on the shortlist for one of Joyce/Sarah’s parties.

      1. Sirksome

        He’s Joe’s plus one. Joe definitely has an in with Joyce by now whether either of them want to admit it.

        1. Nono

          The weird thing is that Danny just kind of… shows up to events where he has no real direct relation to Joyce/Sarah. He was at their dorm party because… I don’t even remember, and Joe was definitely not invited to that one. He was on garbage roof despite not being involved in the kidnapping.

          He’s basically said like two sentences to either of them.

        2. Sirksome

          I think the spirit of garbage roof at that moment was that anyone was invited. Ethan was his in for Joyce’s party and Joyce only barely remembered him then.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/extricate/

        3. AlexanderHammil

          The garbage roof group hangout was organized by Amber, who invited Danny.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/saw19/

          It’s a dorm party, anyway; people just wander in if they know people and they’re looking to socialize, or at least that’s how parties worked when I was in the dorms.

        4. Yumi

          He was at their dorm party because of Amber and Ethan, from what I can find. Basically, Ethan thought he’d be good for Amber (and probably wanted Danny to attend himself) and then Danny ended up arriving with Ethan.

        5. AlexanderHammil

          Yeah, Ethan suggested Danny as a bribe or social bulwark for Amber, and then brought him himself, since Amber had to do Amazigirl stuff first.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/theedgeoff/

        6. Yumi

          You… replied to my comment linking the same comic I had already linked in said comment? I mean, okay… don’t know why that seems so weird to me…

        7. Clif

          Why would anyone think that was weird?

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/theedgeoff/

    2. C.T. Phipps

      I truly hope that Joyce has forgotten his name. It never will stop being funny.

  10. Regalli

    Oh Danny. Danny. You tried.

    And should maybe look into methods for dealing with intrusive thoughts? Because by this point… oof.

    1. The Wellerman

      What do you recommend for that, Regs?

      1. Opus the Poet

        Well 62 years of experience speaking did it for me.

  11. Schpoonman

    Oh, Dan.

  12. Kitschensyngk

    It’s not easy being green. But it’s better than being Danny.

  13. newlland(Henryvolt)

    It’s not really him Danning up the moment but this does fit his mannerisms.

  14. Suet

    Why are there so many chapters about black parades?

  15. anonymsly

    Now here’s the question: is Joe a Ted Lasso fan, or does he just acknowledge that, based on still images, he can pull off that specific hot footballer? (I, meanwhile, have sung the Roy Kent tune several times in my head.)

    1. Thag Simmons

      I’d bet on the latter.

      1. anonymsly

        Me too, honestly, though I do think he’d like the show and maybe learn something about decent human interaction.

  16. Johan

    So she wore it last year?

    Lol what a faux pas.

    (Ive worn the same costume to every costume party for the last 10 years)

    1. FaerwenOfValenwood

      same, not for 10 years but for…as long as The Good Place has been around now?? look, Bad Janet is easy for me to pull off and I get to be on my phone ignoring everyone and it’s in character

      1. Nono

        Well The Good Place started in 2016, but Bad Janet doesn’t show up til around 2018. So I guess about 3 Halloweens’ worth?

        1. Yumi

          Bad Janet showed up in season one of The Good Place– first appearance is episode 9, which aired in 2016 but after Halloween. So, if it was Halloween 2017-present, that’s more like five Halloweens.

        2. FaerwenOfValenwood

          yeah, sounds about right if we deduct a couple due to the dang virus and add one drag show. I went to see a drag show dressed as Bad Janet because reasons.

    2. k

      At least two years, since she wore Velma one year and the following year was President Dinkley

      1. thejeff

        Yeah, they dated for a couple years, I believe.

    3. Opus the Poet

      I swap back and forth between Bad Lance Armstrong and Mission Accomplished Bush pretty much every other year.

  17. Yumi

    Oh no, Danny’s being massively screwing up, but I love his costume. I’m so conflicted.

    1. Thag Simmons

      No-one ever said it was easy to be green

    2. Yumi

      Also, strikeout “being” from my comment. I was trying to figure out my wording, but I messed it up. I blame Danny.

      1. Laura

        No, no, it’s correct.
        “He be massively screwing up.”
        “He’s always being massively screwing up.”
        “He’s being [a person who’s] screwing up right now.”
        Gotta dip into AAVE (or Philly) just a touch for continuity, but any one of those could work. It sounded perfectly natural to me.

        1. Laura

          Sorry, sorry, linguistic compulsion. *Facepalm.*
          Speaking of screwing up…

        2. eh, whatever

          Why? It’s interesting. 🙂

        3. Laura

          Thanks, eh, whatever. I just tend to digress a lot into lecture-speak, and it’s a habit I’m trying to break. Glad you found it interesting, though. 🙂

  18. Someguy

    Just his entire leg in his mouth, huh?

    1. PirateTawnee

      Nothing relevant to add, I just want to mention that I know exactly where that gravatar is from and I LOVE that comic panel.

  19. temporalshrew

    Gonna go ahead and imagine Danny delivering every line in the Kermit voice for this entire party, personally.

    1. StClair

      Hi ho, Danny the Frog here

  20. Mr. Random

    Just…. damn it Danny.

  21. C.T. Phipps

    Joyce: Who are you? Have we met?

  22. k

    1. Danny continues to be my favorite character. You can’t change my mind.

    2. What I find endearing about Joe is that he doesn’t HAVE to show up to these things. It’s a college campus, there could be a ton of other Halloween parties happening. And yet Joe CHOOSES to attend Joyce’s event.

    1. C.T. Phipps

      Well Joe is blacklisted from the rest of the school due to being outed as a raging misogynist. Any frat that would invite him is not one he’d want to attend.

      1. drs

        IU Bloomington has over 30,000 undergrads. I really doubt that most have any idea who he is.

        1. King Daniel

          Yeah. It can be a little easy to forget at times, but IU Bloomington’s student-plus-faculty population’s just a little under 50,000 (well over 45,000+ students and 2,000+ faculty), making it the size of a small city in itself…and that’s not even counting Bloomington proper. While our core cast’s shenanigans might be occasionally the talk of the dorm or even a couple of neighboring dorms, outside that relatively-limited circle it’s hard to imagine much knowledge of it would ever really get out.

  23. Rabbit

    Ouch, Danny.

    Also mildly hilarious if you think about Danny asking her out with dyed brown hair, and then ending up in his entanglement with Amber. People called Amber a shorter dottie but maybe the opposite is true in that case lmao

  24. JessWitt

    Less is more, Danny. He could’ve just stopped at the first question.

    Or just not say anything at all and nod to them.

  25. Robbie

    Joyce is armed, Danny… Be careful

  26. C.T. Phipps

    It’s sad I can’t tell if Joyce is remembering her kidnapping or her sexual assault.

    1. alongcameaspider

      Probably bit of both

      Dorothy’s probably remembering the kidnapping and that time that one asshole (don’t recall his name and he doesn’t get name privileges anyway) cornered her and Amber

      1. Opus the Poet

        Ryan AKA Scarface. Joyce did a number on him with a broken glass, then Amber completed the job with his own boxcutter when he found which dorm Joyce lived in and came to finish the rape/murder he didn’t get to do the first time because of Joyce’s smashing and breaking the glass on his face. He’s currently getting food through a straw since he’s capable of consuming liquids and doesn’t need the IV any more.

  27. chuckroast

    Really Danny’d that one, eh Dan?

  28. ADLegend21

    Well….at least he saw it coming.

  29. AbacusWizard

    Dumbing of Age, Book XI: The Last Time You Were In That Costume, I Asked You Out

    1. newlland(Henryvolt)

      That might work.

  30. Dr. T

    Damn Danny, you sure know how to step in it. At least we know he’s got dating Sal in his future to take the sting out of this moment.

  31. epitome of incomprehensibility

    …Danny’s first remark seems accidental, but the second? It reads as mean/purposeful to me. Or like he’s trying to tease Dorothy on a non-touchy subject but she takes it as an insult (doesn’t like him making fun of her clothes?)

    Maybe I’m reading this all wrong?

    1. epitome of incomprehensibility

      Or is the idea that she literally was wearing the Velma costume when he asked her out?

      (and Velma’s fashion choices are fine! plus Dorothy looks adorable in that)

      1. Yumi

        She was literally “in that costume” when he asked her out.

        1. Nono

          The plot twist is, it wasn’t Halloween at the time.

        2. epitome of incomprehensibility

          Another plot twist: it was at a Comiccon where Willis was selling books, so she picked one up and realized that she and all her friends are fictional. Then she told Walky…

      2. Thag Simmons

        This is not the first year she’s dressed as Velma for halloween, so yeah

      3. thejeff

        Yeah, it’s awkward because he’s bringing up asking her out, but I don’t see anything mean or teasing in it. Just Danny putting his foot in his mouth as usual.

        1. epitome of incomprehensibility

          My reasoning went like: well, she was the one who broke up with him, so he could still be bitter about that.

          But maybe not, now that I think about it? He doesn’t usually seem resentful. But it seems Dorothy *thinks* he’s trying to annoy her or make her feel guilty. Or tease her about unoriginality in Halloween costumes/clothes/etc.

          I dunno, she looks pissed off, is all. 🙂

  32. Anon A Mouse

    That seems a little extra-Danny even for Danny. Like, the first part is 100% Danny, but they’ve had enough interactions I’d think he wouldn’t even feel the need to say the second statement. Considering everyone seems to be turned up an extra level (Dorothy, Ruth, even Walky seems a little more hyper than usual) I wonder if everyone is on a knife edge of tension and something actually just sets everyone off in some way.

    1. Nono

      We haven’t seen Danny react to Mike actually dying yet, so that might be it.

    2. Laura

      I think you nailed it. Halloween was stressful and frayed relationships because everyone was trying to force themselves to party and have a good time and nobody was ready to do that yet.

      I know I’ve felt like that. When even someone making a good natured joke on an unrelated topic felt like a slap in the face. Sometimes you just need time to set aside for trauma processing. Looks like nobody’s taken that time yet.

      1. epitome of incomprehensibility

        That makes a lot of sense!

        Even if there wasn’t trauma involved, people can be touchy about stuff. Dorothy often worries about how she’s perceived, at least from what I’ve seen. She doesn’t want to be thought of as boring just because she’s organized, or as callous/uncaring just because she’s ambitious, etc.

        1. Laura

          Very true.

          …I love your linked page by the way. Fascinating! 🙂

  33. Nono

    That Kermit costume is *really* crotch-exposing, huh.

    He should have invested in a dance belt.

  34. BBCC

    Damn, Danny, you don’t have to go two for two 😛

  35. Clif

    While Danny babbles, Dorothy and Joyce continue to stare at whatever they were staring at in the last panel of the previous strip.

  36. Francoinblanco

    I though joke will be Danny bring guitar to a party and nothing else matter

  37. Jenniffniff

    Danny’s Kermit costume + ukulele is iconic

  38. Rainhat

    This one’s a classic. Love it.

  39. june gloom

    Classic Dan.

  40. Blibdoolpoolp

    You can always just say hi, Dan

    1. The Oracle

      He could, but can he?

  41. Bicycle Bill

    OK, someone’s gonna ask, and it might as well be me.  Joyce is wearing an outfit with a laced-up bodice and holding what appears to be a skillet or frying pan in her hand.  So just who or what is she supposed to be?

    1. newlland(Henryvolt)

      She mentioned it earlier, she’s the Disney version of Rapunzel from the movie tangled.

      1. Raen

        Why the skillet, though?

        1. Nono

          It was her ‘weapon’ in the movie.

    2. zee

      Dude they said it in comic, multiple times

  42. Needfuldoer

    It’s not that easy being Dan
    To spend each day with your foot lodged firmly in your mouth

    1. Laura

      “Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.” ― Ann Richards

      1. Opus the Poet

        Imaginary Upvote for quoting the best Goober TX had in the last half of the XX century.

  43. CJ

    Terminal,foot-in-mouth disease.

    1. Laura

      “Foot-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids.”

      Huh. Wikipedia article doesn’t say anything about frogs. Odd.

  44. Blackdrazon

    It ain’t easy, being Dan.

  45. Bagge

    No one dans it up like Dan

  46. powerpowerpow

    From dressing up as Kermit so he has an excuse to carry the ukulele to trying so desperately to keep his foot out of his mouth and failing miserably, this is a classic Danny strip through and through. These four panels sum up his character of “well-meaning idiot” perfectly. If he hadn’t lost his hat right before this I’d bet he was wearing it underneath.

    As a sidenote, I have also just realized that because this is a flashback, we won’t get any cute Kermit × Julia Gray moments. That’s a damn shame.

    1. Rabisch

      Mayb3 not cute moments, but I’m hoping for a duet. Probably all of the people in the party has already see the two of them sing and play together

  47. Rabisch

    So disappointed in Dorothy for recycling her costume.i wonder if Sarah is watching all of this and what she thinks of Danny’s inimitable performance

  48. Eldritchy

    Careful Danny, Joyce is armed and dangerous

  49. GUIGUI

    Two for two. It’s a gift.

  50. Lone Duck

    To be fair… Dan is stuck without his dapper hat, which usually seals in his rampant Dan energy.

  51. Michael Chandra

    When I was
    A young boy
    My father
    Took me into the city
    To see a marching band

  52. darkoneko

    (woops. New setup and used wrong mail. sorry)

    Danny’s mouth really do poorly whenever he get a bit stressed uh

  53. thumb

    That’s what happens when Danny don’t have the right hat.

  54. Deviant

    Danny is as awkward as ever, I see. This is not a new thing. Even the vikings wrote about this in the havamal, basically the big book on how to avoid party fouls.

    “For the unwise man ’tis best to be mute
    when he come amid the crowd,
    for none is aware of his lack of wit
    if he wastes not too many words;
    for he who lacks wit shall never learn
    though his words flow ne’er so fast.”

  55. egg egg

    Hit Danny with the frying pan, Joyce.

  56. Hilen

    As time passes, I like Danny less and less.

    1. Alex

      It’s unfortunate that the foot-in-mouth comments are played up for laughs.

  57. ProjectXa3

    god dannit

  58. Joy

    hahahahahahahahahahaha

  59. Icalasari

    At leasy he’s self aware?

    1. Alex

      I think awareness only matters if it helps you avoid the pitfalls.

  60. Keulen

    He really Danned it up again. Maybe Danny should stop talking and stand awkwardly in a corner for a while, it’s what I used to do at college parties instead of fucking up social interactions this badly.

  61. Kirtro

    Good thing Joyce already has a frying pan ready.

  62. Sillyhead

    Time to Danny saying something awkward? .6 seconds. Perhaps a new record!

    1. KingMonster

      A NEW RECORD!!!

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