360

Bad score
Posted on January 14, 2015 by David M Willis

360 thoughts on “Bad score”

  1. Jen Aside

    Walky 2: The Whitening

    1. StClair

      “Hey, everyone, it’s Michael Jackson!”

      1. Dreadhawk177

        “Just Beat It” turned into “Just Eat It”.

        1. StClair

          No, that’s Weird Al.

        2. otusasio451

          How come you’re always such a fussy young man?
          Don’t want no Captain Crunch, don’t want no Raisin Bran!
          Well don’t you know that other kids are starving in Japan?
          So EAT it! JUST eat it!

        3. Jen Aside

          They could use some Cap’n Crunch in an AU about now

        4. thebombzen

          Soggies may rule!

        5. Strangeshapes

          God I wish I could star this!

        6. Gus Snarp

          That was the first album I owned. I didn’t even realize that “King of Suede” wasn’t an original.

        7. Plasma Mongoose

          The Just Eat It video.

    2. Mo

      If it hadn’t been drawn like four months ago, I’d say this was a direct response to all the people insinuating that Willis makes them “blacker” when they mess up.

      1. Random832

        You say that like Willis doesn’t know us.

      2. Ed

        Heh, it actually took me a while to realize that the blood drained from Walky’s face due to his horror at getting a 26.

      3. horrorshow88

        People really say that?!

        1. No Name

          Where were you yesterday?

        2. Mel

          Yeah, I saw yesterday, went “Wow, I wonder how many people will see this as anything but a clever callback to Sal doing the same thing?” And decided ‘Almost everyone’ and left the comments well alone

  2. Anthusiasm

    I can relate 🙁

    1. otusasio451

      Amen. First “F” I ever got burned into the core of my soul.

      1. Mallow

        …I’m pretty sure the first time I failed a test in college I had to keep from crying. (Then again, I was also a 4.0 student in high school with high parental expectations and “If you don’t keep such-and-such GPA and thus your partial scholarship you can’t continue going to college” so the irrational stress and anxiety exponentially climbed as the semesters went on.)

        1. otusasio451

          My first one was also in my freshman year in college, as the result of a TERRIBLE math teacher. To be fair, there’s one more contributing factor, but I’m debating whether to share it or not, honestly.

        2. Anthusiasm

          I feel that. I had a 3.9 GPA last year, now I’m getting a C in a math class. There is basically no way I’m getting into the colleges I want to go to. It’s not a pleasant experience.

        3. otusasio451

          Sorry to hear that. I hope it picks up!
          Which math is it, if you don’t mind me asking?

        4. Anthusiasm

          Thanks! Honors Pre-Calc.

        5. Dragon_Nataku

          plus, community college is cheaper. I got my AA and then transferred over to the best university in the state so it doesn’t automatically mean you won’t get into the school you wanted to. Chin up, man. There are many paths to get to where you want to go in life.

        6. otusasio451

          Same here. Got my AS at a community college, then went to Cornell for my BS, which was my dream school!

        7. Matthew Davis

          Do the first two years at a JC, then transfer. There is no stigma attached to your diploma. Nobody will know, and you can work to build your GPA there.

          I failed out of school, and I have a PhD now. Things can be overcome if you work at it.

        8. bananarama

          Seriously, we do such shitty things to people’s expectations going through school. Grades and diligence are important. But aptitude isn’t destiny. If you want it, you can finagle a way to get to a way to where you want to be. Failure isn’t a value judgement on you as a person, it just means you didn’t do well. That took a long time for me to understand. I failed more than a few classes in my major, mostly because I started to struggle, started over-stressing and spiraling, and thought I was gonna get kicked out. The worst part though was being made to feel ashamed, as if my best wasn’t good enough. If you power through the dark thoughts (and are lucky enough to have awesome friends) you can totally make it in the end.

        9. Toes14

          Plus you saved a buttload of money versus 4 years at University.

        10. Ali

          Plus it’s cheaper, and doing well in a community college can open doors to really amazing four-year universities. I was an alright high school student, did poorly at the first university I went to, and then I moved and did amazing at a community college, and I then transferred to an ivy league school. More people should take advantage of community colleges.

        11. Fugacity

          For most majors, you can get your first year or two out of the way at a community college because they teach pretty much the same classes. Do be careful however to make sure that the classes you take WILL transfer to the college of your choice.
          There are a few majors where you really can’t get some of the key freshman and sophomore courses because they are sufficiently specialized that community colleges simply don’t carry them. I certainly saw that with engineering. I taught a Sophomore “Mass and Energy Balances” class when I was a Prof. I’ve only seen that one taught at ONE community college – and that case it was for an unusual major to prepare folks to become a “Chemical Technician” or “Chemical plant operator”.

      2. Kelly

        My first F was in elementary. I was plenty used to them by the time I got to college.

    2. Dreadhawk177

      Yeah, I recently got a B+ on my blood test. Apparently failure runs through my veins.

      1. otusasio451

        Well, at least you didn’t get an F. If you did, THE SCIENTISTS WOULD COME TO STUDY YOU.

      2. JWLM

        Yeah, well, I got O- — that means I’m less than nothing at heart.

        1. Dreadhawk177

          How did you get a 0 on the blood test? Signing your name gives you points, right?

        2. JWLM

          I forgot and left it blank.

          (Seriously, I once failed an eye exam. My eyes were so swollen from allergies that the optometrist told me she could not refract them, and sent me home with instructions to take antihistamines for a week and then come back for a retest.)

        3. Gigafreak

          Ever hear about they guy who failed his urine test?

          He was cheating.

          They caught him peeking at the guy next to him.

        4. tyersome

          I think your comment is going to really piss some people off … and anyway the guy tells a completely different version:
          He was peeing at the guy, who was clearly a villain since when running off was heard to yell ‘soiled again!’.

        5. Jenny Creed

          There are people who say AB+ is the best blood type cause there’s always blood available for you when you need it. I rather think O- is the best cause you’re made to help people.

        6. Jenny Creed

          (I’m AB+ by the way.)

        7. Fugacity

          Hey an “O” on a test is pretty good – if you are a student at Hogwarts…

          😉

      3. sps48

        B+ is failure?

        1. StClair

          thatsthejoke.jpg

        2. Doom Shepherd

          No it just means they’ll want your platelets. (I give blood. A lot.)

    3. Regalli

      It was the first C that broke me.

      Largely because it was an art class, and I did less than ideally because I couldn’t get up in time to go to class. (It was 8:30 AM. I thought I’d be fine because that meant I could sleep in a full hour or two from high school! Instead I had college freshman-itis, coupled with an underacting thyroid and a vitamin D deficiency that had gotten down to a 7 by the time we finally got it checked. The normal range starts at 30.)

      1. David

        In high school, we had a real talented artist. He did not get along with the teacher at all. So whatever he handed in got a B. It did not really impact his confidence all that much since the other two students handing his work in consistently got straight As for it.

  3. Too Old To Be Cool

    That’s one way to get your fiber.

    1. otusasio451

      It really puts the “F” in “Fiber!”

      I am so sorry.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      mHmmmmmm nourishing cellulose…

      1. Deanatay

        NO NO I LOVE THIS STUFF
        (no one must seeeeeeee)

  4. b

    Excellent reaction as always, Walky

  5. Nono

    YOUR FAAAAAACE

    I GIVE IT TO YOU

    1. Crazy Dina

      FAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

      1. otusasio451

        OOOOOOOH, FACED!

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Not FAAAACE, FAAAAAAIL!

      1. otusasio451

        No. FOOOOOOOOOOOD.

        1. Deanatay

          FOOOOOOD FAAAAAAAAAIL in your FAAAAAAAACE!

        2. StClair

          FOOOOOOL!

  6. otusasio451

    Eating you failure won’t hide your shame.

    1. otusasio451

      *your

      I have failed at grammar. I must now eat my computer. Any suggestions for a nice wine to go with it?

      1. Rosie

        A 1978 Ipecac and the number for poison control.

        1. Fugacity

          Considering how toxic a lot of inks are, that might not be a bad idea…

      2. Opus the Poet

        Hanibal Lecter suggests some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

      3. Incomitatus

        A nice Pinot Noir from the Williamette Valley. I feel the earthiness in the wine would complement the metal content of the computer well.

      4. Too Old To Be Cool

        To quote Mr Miracle: “Rare, with a mild cheese sauce.”

  7. AgentKeen

    Know that feel.

  8. Speedball

    You’re in college, Walky. Your parents aren’t going to see this. Unless, of course, this is indicative of your GPA for the semester in which case you could get thrown out of the house and forced to join the Army like I did.

    Good times.

    1. Crazy Dina

      Wait, being forced to join the military is a real thing that happens?

      1. Speedball

        I needed a home and a job on short notice. Uncle Sam was willing to provide both at once in exchange for being howled at by drill sergeants and forced to live and work where they said.

        1. Crazy Dina

          … we have got to fix the economy and education system. And maybe make new jobs.

  9. Wonder Wig

    Walky’s brain works the opposite of Malaya’s stomach when he gets older.

  10. Crazy Dina

    Oh, sweety. Sweety, Honey, that’s not going to make it go away.
    Poor thing! Let me push you to someone who can help with that! DORITHY!

  11. SUGauthor

    Wow, when he fails he fails hard.

  12. Mr K

    Sal was right . Wally is whiter.

    1. newllend

      You Okay there Walky it looks like you saw a ghost…or more like you look like a ghost.

    2. Packy

      Damn. I was going to make that joke.

      1. Deanatay

        Failure has driven Walky’s soul from his body.

  13. Mallow

    Walky has learned a valuable lesson that all college students eventually learn: Coasting in high school doesn’t mean you can coast in college! (Also, studying is a lot harder to do than it looks. Having that practice from high school when the work has less on the line is pretty valuable. I definitely had a hard time transitioning to “actually having to put in effort” around my first semester of sophomore year, when I actually began major-related courses.)

    1. saltchocolate

      ^ This. A rude awakening. BT,DT.

    2. timemonkey

      Some people can coast in college too, it depends on your ability to absorb and retain information.

      1. Kelly

        I coasted everywhere, and I failed a lot. I can retain info (not math/numbers, but everything else) very well, but I didn’t really do homework. Aside from math my test scores would usually be fine, but the homework grades dragged everything down.

      2. jiynx

        And your major. I did soft sciences for my humanities credits. Never cracked a book, aced the classes. English classes were the same way, thanks to how much of a hardass my dad was when I was younger- my first drafts were everyone else’s final drafts in terms of polish.

        Math and engineering classes were asskickers but interesting.

        It was interesting to realize if I’d gone for an arts or humanities/social sciences major I could have basically phoned it in till halfway through the third year. Nooo I chose the tough major.

      3. jesslin

        True fact. The only test I actually studied for in college, I failed miserably. Apparently I’m the sort that only retains knowledge by listening and taking notes, even though I almost never refer back to the notes. Made me popular with the cute kid who couldn’t be arsed to make it to history 101, since my notes were as good as being in class for them 😀

      4. Pernath

        The only prerequisite for coasting in college is to actually have an interest in what you’re studying. Well that’s my personnal experience at least. Tried three different cursuses (I have a doubt, “cursus” being a roman word does it need to be accorded in english? It sure doesn’t in french. ) and once I found the one where most of the classes were interesting I could board again like in high school, since I naturally did the extra work out of curiosity.

        Still, same problem as Kelly below, usually my homework is done the night before the due date, or just due two days late with a prayer that it gets accepted XD
        That, and doing group work alone.

    3. RK

      Yup, I had the same thing happen too, and kinda regret not buckling down in college more. I’m glad that this arc is happening for Walky.

    4. jpic89

      Still coasted in college. Never studied a day in my life, often skipped class if attendance wasn’t part of the grade. Still graduated Cum Laude.

      1. Andy

        What was your major?

      2. No Name

        Again, I say LUCKY!!

      3. WaytoomanyUIDs

        I hate you

      4. Pilgrim

        I coasted through my MA, too. Wrote my main dissertation on James Bond.

        It’s luck, in that I was lucky to have a brain with really good recall and connection-making.

    5. Fugacity

      This seems to happen to a lot of exceptionally smart students when they hit college. In high school they could coast on their brains. When they get to college, all of a sudden they are with a lot of other smart folks and have to actually STUDY and WORK in order to keep up and get by.

  14. Gigafreak

    Walky

    No

    This is not how you digest knowledge

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      But it is how you consume failure. 😀

      1. tyersome

        In my experience, it is the failure that does the consuming … but I try not to let it eat away at me …

        1. Deanatay

          Failure eats you away from the inside. Because you ate it.

    2. Crazy Dina

      Okay, that’s funny. But only because it’s still in his mouth and the nutrience don’t start being incorporated into his system until the stomach, where only a limited amount gets processed. Unfortunately, that paper will be destroyed in the acid long before it hits the intestines.

      1. Gigafreak

        So in other words

        He’s never going to pass that quiz

        1. otusasio451

          You sure about that? It is fiber.

        2. Crazy Dina

          He should know, you can’t eat your points and have them too.

        3. otusasio451

          Tell that to people on Weight Watchers.

        4. Crazy Dina

          OKAY FINE! I’LL EAT YOUR DUST!

        5. Solenoid

          What a crappy pun.

        6. tyersome

          Why, was it too alimentary for you?

        7. otusasio451

          Please stop. I can’t stomach these puns.

        8. tyersome

          Sounds like your completely boweled over …

        9. RK

          Tyersome just wants to wipe up in the pun department.

        10. tyersome

          Just wait, the best ileumunation you cecums after passing through dark and twisted nether regions.

        11. tyersome

          Well in the final analysis, he’s going to end up dumping these results somewhere …

        12. RK

          Then his grades will REALLY be in the toilet.

        13. tyersome

          Very good – I suspect that this thread will continue plunging to (and also plumbing) new depths …

    3. tyersome

      Maybe not, but I suspect he may be regurgitating that knowledge sooner rather than later.

  15. Luzahn

    Good thinking Walky, that’ll show it.

    1. Kernanator

      Eat the paper to establish dominance.

      Over what, I have no idea.

      1. JessWitt

        Higher academia?

        1. otusasio451

          …You’ve learned our secret.

  16. Solenoid

    Destroy the evidence! Leave no trace of failure behind!

    1. tyersome

      Well, butt one possibility is the failure will leave a trace on his behind …

      1. poofdepoof

        (I’m appreciating the “butt” there… makes the joke so much better)

        1. tyersome

          Thanks! I do try to wipe out as many asspects as I can in one go …

        2. Chris Phoenix

          You doo?

        3. tyersome

          I do doo don’t you? When doo is due, why not dump as large a load as you can?
          …
          Though, TBH I hope this thread poops out soon as its gotten really crappy …

        4. a4lbi

          CEASE AND DESIST!!!!

        5. Crazy Dina

          May I pees and digest instead?

  17. eromer

    Aaww Walky…just remember…you get grades but you are not your grades.

    Can we pretend he can hear me and this made him feel better? Thanks.

    1. Fugacity

      In this case I think he IS his grades – Lazy.

  18. SilentAsshole

    His hair is normal again!? SORCERY!

    1. lejwocky

      WITCHCRAFT!

      1. Barf Ninjason

        HAIROMANCY!

        1. Planken

          HERESY!

    2. Luzahn

      I was hoping it would stay that way for a bit. It was adorable, and could have led to some character development re: Sal.

    3. otusasio451

      HE’S A WITCH! He turned me into a NEWT!

      1. Roborat

        Did you get better?

    4. Warlock

      He’s straightening it out in the first panel. The side under his hand is still curly.

    5. Rosie

      It deflated like Pinky Pie’s. Expect tiny pupils and conversing with inanimate objects.

      1. neeks

        “How did this happen, 2004 Monkeycon Special Edition Dexter? I thought I was supposed to be a genius!”

        1. StClair

          *creepy circus music*

  19. Plasma Mongoose

    This is how the soggies were really made…

    1. Solenoid

      And now I have the mental picture of the Walkyverse being destroyed by Walky’s bad grades.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Makes for a great PSA about studying doesn’t it? ^_^

        1. Crazy Dina

          NO! I AM NOT DOING THE EDITING FOR THAT! NO! NOOOO!
          Okay, fine. I’ll have a compilation done by Tuesday.

        2. otusasio451

          Put it to a sufficiently sad Sarach McLachlan song, and have it on my desk before I leave for the day. It’s date night with the wife.

        3. Crazy Dina

          No. Tuesday ONLY.

        4. otusasio451

          “When you don’t study, you fail. And when you fail, you have to swallow your shame. And when you swallow your shame…

          …a gateway into an alternate universe opens up, releasing the scourge of the Soggies upon an alternate universe in which you married Joyce and had kids.

          Study…or soggies may rule.”

        5. Random832

          Reminds me of a Direct TV commercial.

  20. Mjolna

    I really like how Walky manages to fit his entire hand and the paper in his mouth. He’s just “ABORT PROCESS. Put gem in mouth.”

  21. Catullus

    Walky should look on the bright side, at least his hair returned to its standard shape of its own volition.

    1. Em

      He smoothed it down himself.

  22. Tom

    The appropriateness of that response is off the scale

  23. Boomwolf

    Whoooooooooaaaaaa…

  24. newllend

    Damn! Just Damn, I expected him to fail but WOW that’s a heavy drop.

  25. Lapin

    Oh, the curse of the smart kid finally being challenged…it had to come sooner or later, Walky.

  26. Spencer

    This quiz would be from Wednesday, right? I know this comic is more leaning towards “Walky failed because he never studies and expected to get an A like always”, but you could conceivably argue that he was preoccupied with Billie at the time.

    Also; Jesus, panel 2. He looks like he’s about to burst into tears.

    1. John

      Yeah. At least some of the material it was on was probably from Monday, though, when he skipped class because Dorothy didn’t set her alarm after Walky performed a sex.

      Even if you’ve got the kind of brain that soaks up information like a sponge, skipping class will kill ya.

      1. Incomitatus

        “Even if you’ve got the kind of brain that soaks up information like a sponge, skipping class will kill ya.”

        ^THIS, is why my first semester grades – when I attended every class – were always better than my second semester grades, when I would get lazy.

        1. John

          It was a 7 AM Electromechanical Systems class on the far side of campus that got me. Seriously, who schedules a class like that for seven in the frigging morning? I should have dropped that shit as soon as I saw my schedule. I didn’t actually need it for my degree. Even when I was able to drag myself out of my nice warm bed at that insane hour to slog through the snow to class, I couldn’t stay awake in it.

        2. Fugacity

          If you think staying awake for a 7 AM class is hard, try taking a class that meets right after lunch, in the winter, in a room that is also used as a theater, with nice, soft, cushioned seats, where most of the course material is stuff you covered already….
          I just sat in the back and usually surrendered to the zzzzz’s until near the end of the semester when they started covering new material. At that point I sat on the front row and tried to keep asking the Prof questions to help me stay awake.

  27. Cheryl

    omg

  28. Khaner

    TERRIBLE JOKE INCOMING
    Hey, he really is whiter than Sal! She was right all along!

    1. Crazy Dina

      Yeah that joke is horrible. Prepare to be punished by means of guiltine.

      1. saltchocolate

        Or saltine.

        1. tyersome

          Oh, now that my brine is awake I can finally appreciate how much you packed into that …

        2. tyersome

          … however, I’m pretty sure there won’t be any assalts happening over this … perhaps after a battery of similar results?

    2. tyersome

      That joke was terrible it’s a complete white off.

      1. tyersome

        However, it pales compared to some of what happens here … don’t ask me for examples though, I’m drawing a blanc …

  29. JessWitt

    I sympathize so deeply, Walky; I’ve wanted to eat my test papers as well.

  30. Kernanator

    Walky, maybe you should breathe before you pass out.

    1. newllend

      He’s getting the Vapors

  31. Beachfox

    Awwww, he didn’t keep the hair.

    Also: Been there, buddy. Good luck.

  32. Mary

    Anyone else think it’s possible that nookie earned a grade swap between siblings?

    1. Spencer

      Unless Walky slept with Jason in return for a terrible grade and then forgot about it, no.

      1. Mary

        Simply meant he could have adjusted the first names..

        1. takashid

          nah, there was that whole bit before with Sal and Jason where she still got a bad grade and he said he wasn’t gonna give her good grades even though he wants to sleep with her. If he refuses to give her a better grade for sex then it seems pretty unlikely he would do something as nasty as giving someone a bad grade they don’t deserve

    2. poofdepoof

      I think that if this were true, it would really undermine the development of both characters.
      So, no.

      1. Kris

        Plus we’ve seen Sal working at this. Clocking in totally platonic study time with Danny. We’ve seen Walky?…Hrmm? Have we seen him study?

        1. Lone Wolf

          Once, with Dorothy. The only thing he seemed to learn was that if he squints correctly at the words in his Gender Studies text book, it makes a 3D image of a rocket ship.

          Also, last time we saw Sal’s getting back a graded paper in this class, she gotten a 76, and Jason confirmed that it was another T.A. who graded it, not him, meaning it was her own effort to improve that got her the grade.

      2. Mary

        True, just an oddball theory

    3. Andrusi

      That is exactly the conclusion Mary would jump to. A+.

      1. Mary

        ::facepalm:::

  33. Nick Piers

    I’m having flashbacks to Nightmare on Elm St 5: The Dream Child.

  34. Betty Anne

    Walky, most people quit eating paper at school in second grade.

    …They do, right? I mean, it’s not like most people go to school NOT eating paper, right?

    1. Crazy Dina

      Admittedly, I ate the paper bits that held the papers into spiral notebooks for years after that. (Usually, the main part of the paper was already out, but…

    2. Rosie

      My mom packed me a sandwich, personally.

  35. JustCheetoDust

    That’s some Vitiligo.

  36. newllend

    And the ego takes a critical blow ! But will there be a come back !?

  37. Chengrel

    That’s probably how I’d react.

  38. Sluthy

    Ah, that moment of horror when a naturally gifted child realises they can’t coast on talent forever.

  39. Idon'tcarenomore

    I was hit rather hard with my first below A in college also: but I don’t think it was anywhere near Walky’s reaction. Total meltdown.
    Poor thing.
    Well now he can emphaitize with others who go spat when they don’t study/discover sex.

  40. showler

    So. Worried about the grade or worried that the grade might affect his relationship with Dorothy?

    1. Kk

      Probably the former atm, but I’m sure the latter will hit him the next time he sees Dorothy.

    2. Em

      I don’t think she’d dump him for one bad mark. I think she’d be more inclined to have study sessions with him to help get him back on track.

  41. Anywhere

    Oh my god … he turns into Wacko Warner.

    This is one of those strips I would love to see animated.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      So his girlfriend will transform into his new sister Dot?

      1. Kennerly

        Or the sexy blond nurse.

        1. David D. Davidson

          HELLOOOOOOOOO DOROTHY!

  42. Ridureyu

    BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Okay, I loved this comic more than is reasonable. WELL DONE!

  43. Ridureyu

    Sal got an 83, Walky got a 26… so who got a 1?

    1. saltchocolate

      +1. (You!)

    2. neeks

      Well if you’re trying to imply they add up to 100, someone would have to have scored -10 somehow.

      1. neeks

        -9 actually.

        I’m the one who got a -9 on the math quiz. It’s me.

  44. Kennerly

    Walky may be failing college, but with his new complexion he’ll have no problem getting accepted as a member of the Country Club.

  45. Kk

    I know the feeling, Walky.
    Of course, the low grades were in a high school math class, and I didn’t eat the papers (had to give them back for a grade), but I know what he’s feeling.

  46. Foxhack

    Failure changes your skin tone!

    1. Aeron

      He’s turning American.

      1. HeySo

        Your avatar seems suitably disgusted at the idea.

      2. neeks

        Was…was he not American before?

        1. Em

          He was. I think they mean white.

        2. neeks

          Yeah that was a rhetorical question, but thanks for clarifying. 🙂

      3. gwalla

        Okay what.

  47. Ben

    I don’t actually remember my first failing grade, even though it was fairly recent. The event has been completely wiped from my memory, leaving behind only a pervasive sense of terror and self-loathing that would persist for years to come.

    On the whole though, I’m actually glad that this is the storyline that hits too close to home, considering what other characters have been through. Reminds me of how lucky I’ve been.

    1. Jen Aside

      I confess that I kinda underestimated the impact of zeroes on averages and didn’t really flinch when I failed in school!

      [may say something about my station in life at the moment, but still, NUMBERS DON’T SCARE MEevenwhentheyshould]

    2. Kk

      I think my first failing grade was in fourth grade. I got a forty four on some science thing. Cried my eyes out, both cause it was my first failure, and also I was like ten

  48. mschmidt62

    The thing I don’t get is the “Pay Attention!” comment. I have graded many thousands of quizzes, exams and papers in my life, and most of the time I’m not sure what the problem is. Even when I have a pretty good clue, I don’t write my hypothesis on an exam. And for a math course, you can often not pay attention and still get a good grade–provided you do the homework conscientiously.

    1. Jen Aside

      He must’ve drawn another dinosaur on his quiz

    2. tyersome

      I don’t find it difficult to imagine that he has been so flagrantly inattentive in class that Jason has noticed …

      1. laila

        I think I’d remember the kid who drew a picture of me getting eaten by a dinosaur on his notes for the first lecture. Doesn’t seem unreasonable to imagine that Jason does too and that the first thing he’s going to think that kid needs to do to get his test scores up is actually concentrate in class.

        1. Mickeymau5

          Maybe a future storyline’s going to involve Wally going on meds.

        2. Mickeymau5

          *walky

        3. mschmidt62

          Oh, ok, I forgot the dinosaur.

    3. Kris

      I’m not a teacher and we don’t really see the characters when they’re in class, but if this class is mostly taught through lecture I would assume Jason can tell who’s listening and taking notes and who isn’t. The thing is in college teachers don’t have to force you to pay attention if they don’t care. You wanna goof off? That’s fine actually. It’s your time. Also in my experience math’s all about showing that work. Did Walky do that? I have no idea but that’s something Jason would probably pick up on when grading.

      That being said declining grades is something from my experience teacher’s notice and most will come ask if something’s up before a huge test so you can prepare, but maybe Jason’s not that guy.

    4. Lyssie

      Maybe the parts he did badly on involved principles he’s already shown that he knows how to apply, in previous work? If, say, he made a lot of procedural mistakes that he’s never made before.

    5. TSB

      I second that Jason probably graded these and correctly blamed Walky’s lack of attention based on the dinosaur drawing, but it could also be something like a mistake that the professor specifically warned them about in a lecture, or getting a result that he should be able to just look at and say “wait, that’s not right” even if he barely understood what was going on (for instance, deriving a function and getting a constant when the slope is clearly not constant).

    6. timemonkey

      What you must remember is that Jason is an ass. He’s rude and condescending at all times, even when the situation calls for tact or sympathy.

      1. laila

        I’m not sure this situation does call for either of those things, though, and I say this as someone who managed to drop out of college not once but twice.

  49. brionl

    I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a grade that low on anything I completed. I did get a D in high school English one year because I didn’t turn in my homework. I also got threatened with failing gym if I didn’t quit ditching class.

    1. bananarama

      I vividly recall Physical Chemistry doing that to me on several homework assignments. I love my field, but I swear ritual flogging would not make the curriculum much more rigorous.

      1. tyersome

        I don’t remember any flogging in P-chem … however, there was much racking of my overstretched brain …

      2. otusasio451

        This happened to me in Biochemistry. Autotutorial Biochemistry. At Cornell. In the winter. With no car. Living about 2 miles away in a house inaccessible to a bus.

        That…that was not a good semester.

    2. otusasio451

      I have gotten a couple of Fs in my life, but none of them have been as low as Walky’s.

    3. LiaHansen

      lol I got a 6% on an algebra test once

      1. Kelly

        Now that sounds familiar. Math is cool, but just impossible to me.

    4. bleeters

      I failed gym, and not a single fuck was given that day or any day since.

  50. anonymous

    Reminds me of an old joke about why colleges are repositories of knowledge: Students enter knowing little, leave knowing nothing, and knowledge accumulates.

  51. Kaunisenkeli

    Walky, Walky, Walky… You thought you could get by without studying in Calculus? As a student with tons of Calculus in both my present and future, I have no sympathy for you.

  52. Safgaftsa

    Dina needs to take after Walky and diversify her diet.

  53. Arianod

    OM NOM NOM NOM

  54. NoneOfYourConcern

    Geeze, Walky!

  55. Ashley

    At first I thought he might be overreacting but 26, man, I would be on the floor crying.

    1. poofdepoof

      🙁

    2. Kelly

      Meh

  56. malisteen

    I have been waiting for this day.

  57. David D. Davidson

    Hey, look, Walky turned into me. Literally me. This is still only like a few weeks into the semester, right? Yes, that is exactly me, several months ago. Exactly. Except the grade wasn’t 26 and I didn’t bounce back like Walky will probably do.

    1. David D. Davidson

      Oh, also I didn’t eat my test. I wanted to, though.

  58. Bill

    He can always hope they grade on the Olympic figure-skating system —
    Throw out the highest and lowest scores, and average the rest.

  59. jaimehlers

    Walky, Walky, Walky…eating your paper doesn’t make the bad grade go away.

  60. Jason

    Ooh, that’s bad. Thing is, though, Walky should have been expecting this. A smart kid, even one like Walky, should realize he’s badly failing a quiz as he’s taking it, not days later when he gets the quiz back. He should not have been surprised. I remember being in the same boat once. It was a chemistry test I didn’t study much for because I thought I already knew the material well enough. I get there, though, and after reading it realize I didn’t know how to do it at all. I remember going to the professor at the front of the room during the test, desperately asking if I could retake the test later or something. Nothing doing. I think his policy was that we all would automatically get 50 points just for writing our name on the test, and I still ended up failing it (< 70)!

    1. squeekles

      A low 20s score is wildly different from just getting a D. I failed several tests and quizzes in college, but getting a 21/100 on a midterm (yup) and seeing the curve that showed my score as a low outlier was a whole different story even though I was well aware my score was going to come out <60 when I was taking the test. I think it's just easier psychologically to pretend it didn't happen, but then reality HURTS when the score comes back a few weeks later.

      1. Blue

        Depends on the class.

        If I recall the curve my ochem class used correctly, a 26 would be a D- 😛

        1. Fugacity

          I took a graduate fluid mechanics course once where the typical range of scores was 25-50 (lowest grade was a 25, highest was a 50). The guy with a 50 got an A for the class. 25 got a C+. The material was just that friggin’ difficult.

    2. Lone Wolf

      As others have pointed out, this quiz was taken on the day when he woke up to find Billie in his bed with him, and he had to fetch Ruth to deal with her. It was also after he had missed a day due to Dorothy forgetting to set her alarm after they’d had sex the previous night. It wouldn’t be that far-fetched to believe that he was so preoccupied with worrying about Billie during the quiz that he didn’t notice it was about material he hadn’t covered because he missed a day.

      1. Jason

        Even so, he would have noticed while he was taking the quiz that he didn’t know the material.

        1. Jason

          Well, whatever. It’s just a comic strip, I should really just relax.

  61. Locke

    Silly Walky, THAT’s not paying attention!

  62. FuryOfFirestorm

    No need to stress out, Walky!

    Just hold it upside down, and now you’ve earned a 92! SCORE!

    1. No Name

      97! 97! Upside down 2 is 7!

      1. Kk

        A weird seven with a circular bottom?

        1. No Name

          Yeah, and? It’s better that a weird 2 with a flat top and a hook for a base!

        2. Kk

          Point taken.

  63. The Wizard

    Welcome to my world walky, and I fucking study for the shit.

  64. Avery

    Oh, Walky, ink is bad for you.

  65. Rocketboy1313

    Speaking as a smart guy who farts his way thru everything. I have had this happen and it was world shattering.

  66. Darth Cariss

    So stage one of freaking out over his test score was his hair turning into super black guy hair, stage 2 it reverts to straight “white hair” (I hate that name but whatever), and he turns fully into a white guy.

    That’s quite a process.

  67. ninja_jesus

    Honestly, I’m happy this happened to Walky. His attitude was way to cavalier, and if he had continued to ace tests I would’ve been really mad. College isn’t something you can goof off to.

  68. Kris

    Well I guess this is the difference. Sal immediately went looking for help. Walky eats his test. Just own up to it man. One bad test’s not the end of the world.

    1. thumb

      Yeah, but you don’t know that until you’ve gone through failure. Something in which Sal has greater experience. Except in being badass. She does not know how to fail there.

    2. timemonkey

      Sal got help because Joyce pushed her to and wouldn’t leave until Sal talked to the TA.

      1. Kris

        True enough. The point I was trying to make was that Walky’s pride’s all mixed up in this for some reason. Sal was up front about her bad grade which in turn gave Joyce the opening to urge her to “take charge of her education”. That’s not really possible with his test in his mouth. I’m not sure if he’s upset that he failed or what that failure implies. I think the only one expecting him to be a genius is him.

        1. Alex

          What about his parents? His mom at least seems pretty intent on him being a genius.

        2. Kris

          I’m still wondering about that. I haven’t seen enough to make an opinion about them yet. They seemed nice enough. The mom might have her flaws and the dad seemed like he was just a dad. Who knows? Maybe Walky had it harder at home than people think, maybe Sal got off easy being sent away cause nobody expects anything from her? Is all the pressure on Walky to make something of himself while Sal’s fine as long as she’s not commiting crimes? All these questions from his reaction to one bad grade.

    3. Pinja

      Because the first ten seconds of reaction reveal absolutely everything about someone, right?

      No, wait, I got that wrong, they reveal nothing about a person, that’s right.

  69. beat

    Evidence destroyed. It never happened, and you can’t prove it did.

  70. espanolbot

    Walky’s mum: Hrrmph. Some how, this is Sal’s fault! ):<

  71. grantimusmaximus

    Dear Walky,

    It’s going to be ok.

  72. Alexis

    Don’t worry Walky all you have to do is fuck the TA and your grades will shoot up and no one will blame you for anything because you have some insecurity or the other.

    1. David M Willis

      what the fuck

      1. Crazy Dina

        That’s what he said.

        1. Crazy Dina

          Do gay males use “That’s what he said” amongst themselves when turning things into innuendos?

        2. timemonkey

          The term can be adjusted as needed.

        3. m

          There’s a girl on YouTube who says both “that’s what she said” and “that’s what he said.”

      2. Kidrik

        I always enjoy these moments in the comments section.

    2. neeks

      Well I mean…fucking the TA didn’t get her anything but laid a couple times. Jason pointedly graded her on the merit of her math skills, not her aerobics. These test results are a direct result of Danny’s math tutoring and Sal’s ability to process his advice.

      1. Kris

        You could make the argument that while the sex isn’t directly responsible it allowed Sal to de-stress thus focus better while studying thus better retain the information resulting in a better grade. It takes a little forcing but we can give Jason credit! If you care.

      2. anonymsly

        Heck, Jason very pointedly gave her tests to another TA to grade! Not only did he not improve her grades in exchange for sleeping with him, he doesn’t even know what her grades ARE anymore.

      3. ahuh

        I guess you could argue that by letting her think she had an advantage he gave her a confidence boost that let her do better so she realized she could master the maths.

    3. Andrusi

      That very specifically did not happen.

      1. Bagge

        Sounds like an interesting comic though, I would like to read it one day.

        #ConsequenceFreeDramaOfAge – where Sal get’s away with everything because she’s cool, where everyone just laughs at Joyce’s antics because she’s cute, where no ones feelings get hurt and where character growth is unnecessary.

        …wait, that’s basically just the drama-tag-free shortpacked joke again. OK, I’ll see myself out.

    4. Spencer

      Sal sleeping with Jason to get a good grade was completely shitty, even acknowledging why she did it and the circumstances around her, but it pointedly did not work. She failed. Regardless of how scummy it was that she even tried, it had no effect on the better grade she received now because she earned it.

    5. Pinja

      You know, I think people mocking Walky for this or gloating are assholes and I don’t find Sal’s complex very convincing, but you’re wildly twisting the facts here or else delusional.

    6. Beachfox

      But… That is exactly what -didn’t- happen.

      Sal goes to Jason for tutoring. It doesn’t work because Jason is a -bad tutor-.
      Sal embraces the underlying sexual tension and initiates a fuck session because that’s the sort of person she is.
      Jason passes her tests off to another TA to grade in the future, she continues to get shit grades.
      They continue to fuck.
      Due to a series of Comedic Misunderstandings, Danny winds up tutoring Sal in math, with sex very -explicitly- not part of the equation.
      Sal’s grades go up!

      Though whatever comic you’ve been reading on the side that’s gotten mixed in here sounds interesting?

  73. Charles Fee

    Try not even going half the time, works a charm

  74. Cale Baird

    I would like to make a Sal joke here, but nah…

  75. neeks

    Kudos to Mr Willis for successfully visually conveying a character blanching (that’s what’s happening here I think, you can see some of the color gradually returning in the last two panels after the initial shock). For a long time I thought when a character in a book blanched, it was the same as wincing, but I eventually figured out it was the same thing as “the blood drained from his face”.

    1. Thomas64

      Blanching is real, I’ve seen it happen, though thankfully not often.
      In terms of what happens physiologically, it’s basically the opposite of blushing.

      1. neeks

        Honestly it didn’t really click till I was shocked by something and experienced the sensation myself, but yeah. It’s a thing.

    2. Fugacity

      “Blanch”
      1. make white or pale by extracting color; bleach.
      2. (of a person) grow pale from shock, fear, or a similar emotion
      Middle English: from Old French blanchir, from blanc ‘white,’ ultimately of Germanic origin.
      In other words, to “blanch” is to take the color out of something.

  76. Saintslayer

    Bad grades, you might say, slapped the black right off of Walky.

  77. fogel

    Says something ungood about our ed “system” that so many bright kids skated until college without serious challenge–lot of wasted time and potential in that.

    1. Clell65619

      It’s always been that way. That moment where you realize you may have been the smartest guy in the room in high school calc, but now you’re in a room full of smart people, and you might just be on the dumb side of smart.

      Happened to me in the 70s. You’ve got two choices, buckle down and learn to work and study or quit and admit you peaked.

    2. Pinja

      In Harvard and suchlike its common for people to have breakdowns when they get graded by tough teachers because for the first time in their lives they get something other than an A.

      For me it was the opposite, once I was free of the bullshit in secondary school I consistently aced everything.

  78. Van Jealous

    Judging from Problem 1, it appears as if Walky’s easy slide through school has reached discontinuous point!

    1. Solenoid

      Quite. He’s reached the point of limitless sorrow.

      1. tyersome

        Somehow I hear a very pointed inflection in your voice when you say that …

        1. Van Jealous

          Are you hearing that coming from the Left |–> or the Right <–| ????

  79. Bagge

    So I was bored and wrote a song.

    The cast song (mel. Animaniacs, states song. )

    We have Amber and Amaziegirl and Danny who is dating her
    And Ethan (Sexo Loco!), and Marcie who hangs with Sal,
    who is cool and Walky’s silly, Ruth does secret stuff with Billie
    We have Dina who likes dinosaurs
    And Mikes who likes nothing

    Sarah is sarcastic, Joyce is a joy
    Becky is fantastic (as is Jacob, man and toy)
    Carla likes her roller skates and Roz likes to Joe
    Dorothy is smart and that’s the comic that we know.

    Danny’s parents are insulting, Walky’s tend smother him
    Ethan’s mom and dad deny him his own identity
    Joyce’s parents try to shelter her, Sal’s mother just ignores her
    Joe’s parents used to scream a lot
    And Dinas’ are OK

    Billie’s dad don’t know her, tries to buy her instead,
    Amber’s father’s abusive and Ruth’s parents are dead
    Becky’s father is a butthole and he looks like a toe
    Dorothy’s are great and that’s the comic that we know

    1. chisci

      Lemme help! Lemme help! I’m awful at rhymes but lemme help!

      Then there’s Leslie doing gender studies, Jason who does math,
      Penny might be helping grading quizzes taken by Sal.
      Jocelyne writes freelance, Daisy writes the paper for a thrill.
      Pamela, Galasso and Conquest serve you pizza, subs and drinks.

      Mary believes in cruelty and God
      Alice is toxic and Faz needs to rot
      Raidah is Sarah’s nemesis cos Dana is gone.
      Ryan is a fuckwit. That’s the comic that we know

      1. Bagge

        AWESOME!!!

        I regret using “know” as the final word, it’s harder to rhyme than I expected.

        I really want to see more of Conquest. One day I will afford the patreon. One day…

        1. Crazy Dina

          But this time, to death none shall go?

        2. Crazy Dina

          All this is cause Willis says it’s so?
          But one question: Where is Joyce’s bow?
          Oh, and that guy that looks like a toe?
          And now that it’s said, you get the flow?
          Great tension is stored in the seeds to sow?

          Oh, I totally didn’t look at the song, umm… Yeah, I’m not looking it up while I’m listening to another one.

        3. Bagge

          Thanks a ton. I might do some more stanzas.

          But now I got stuck with Picard saying “make it so” in my head.

  80. Resulli

    This was clearly the most logical choice.

  81. Rodimiss

    I took my phone out during calculus to read today’s comic. It took about three minutes for the irony of this to hit me.

  82. Taigan

    Walky handled that with all the grace and maturity I’d expect from him.

  83. Derek

    It’s a quiz. If you’re having trouble with the material, office hours, study group and get a tutor.

    If it’s because you’re too busy being in college to study, well, then you’re fucked.

  84. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

    Walky vs Karma: The Winner……KARMA.

  85. Deanatay

    BTW, don’t know if anyone noticed from yesterday’s strip, but Mike’s sitting next to Walky. He WILL notice something’s up. Walky cannot escape.

    1. Solenoid

      The skewering shall commence. Mike wills it.

    2. Crazy Dina

      I’m going to go with Mike bullys Walky into studying. Cause that’s the kind of evil he is.

  86. Superdud

    After the strip where Walky’s hair turns black-curly for failing the test, now Walky’s face turns white as he is overcome with sheer stupidity. Racial balance has been restored. 🙂
    (Kidding. Just kidding.)

  87. Volkai

    Ahhh crap.

    Hopefully this means the studying together thing will get serious.

  88. Crumplepunch

    By devouring it he has absorbed its mathy wisdom.

    1. Kk

      Not sure how much wisdom Walky’s gonna get from that particular paper

      1. Crumplepunch

        Exactly.

  89. S. Noir

    I will never forget the first grade I got in college — it was also a 26.

    The professor was nicknamed ‘Goddamnit!’ — but no one would explain why to us first-years.

    Then I took my first test in college — honors physics. Got back the test. Front page? 26.

    Flipped through the sea of red, with roughly the same amount of blood loss to the face. Got to the last page, where the letter grade was:

    “A”

    Involuntarily let out a “Damn it!” — and understood the teacher’s nickname.

    1. Kk

      That is both brilliant and diabolical

    2. Bagge

      Sounds like a great teacher (once you get through the initial shock)

    3. cesium133

      My graduate Electrodynamics I class was like that. I finished the class with a 36% average, which got me an A. It was the highest grade in the class.

  90. Jenny Creed

    Something something reality checks your body can’t cash.

  91. Miles

    Oh no! Walky is turning into a Squirrel! I knew this day would come!

  92. Hiraku

    Probably shouldn’t have spent all those time watching cartoon…

  93. dmaxx

    Remember mike to walky’s left? Just sayin’ 😉

  94. Kelli

    There we go. Walky has finally hit the “smart kid finally encounters a real challenge” wall.

  95. Alexx

    It’s funny when someone is drawing a feeling – like the life draining out of you – and you know that EXACT feeling, just from the visuals.

  96. OnyxIdol

    Here we see him, first despairing, then going stark raving mad.

  97. Ubuntu4Ever

    This is what I meant to do:

  98. Mr Man

    That’s, uh… That’s some nice cover work there, Walky.

  99. 2K

    This has happened because you were having sex with Dorothy all the time. Of course, all day … pa, pa, pa, Zaca, Zaca, Zaca, pla, pla, pla, Pumba, Pumba, Pumba, … It´s that. In the end what happened happened. All day thinking about Mandanga. You may have had a good time with her, but now you get to pay bills, man.

  100. Claire

    🙁

  101. Black

    Walky, crumbling up the test and EATING IT are NOT going to change the fact that you done fucked up, son!

  102. Eric

    Destroy the evidence!

    And eliminate all witnesses…

  103. Lel

    Welp. It’s confirmed that Walky will also be diddling Jason now.

    1. m

      My head says “NO!” but my heart says “YES!”

      1. madock345

        That’s not your heart 😉

  104. Kk

    Anyone else think Walky kinda looks like he’s gonna be sick in panel three?

    1. Jen Aside

      Just 3?

  105. ORI

    I feel like some of you guys are wayyy too happy about this.

    1. Pinja

      DoA fans can be a little mean

    2. Fugacity

      Actually I’m happy when something like this happens to someone IRL – IF – it serves as a wake-up call for them to make necessary changes.

  106. Crazy Dina

    Dina’s back to the top in the polls! http://crazyhead42.tumblr.com/post/108136469125 <3!!!!!!

    1. Crazy Dina

      http://crazyhead42.tumblr.com/post/108136469125/3 sorry, the other one didn’t work.

      1. Crazy Dina

        And that turned out way lamer than I thought it would be.

        1. Pinja

          Like Dina 😛

  107. nothri

    And that ladies and gentlemen is why you never skip breakfast in the morning.

  108. Badtux

    Walky has now discovered that it’s not enough to be smart in college, you have to study too. How will he respond to that discovery? Welp, I guess we’ll find out…

  109. Pinja

    Ha, a uni that gets that hard that fast?

    Indiana must be hardcore.

  110. Pinja

    Also while this is cute prior information seems to indicate Walky has the money to stay in University for a long time due to rich parents and that his mother wouldn’t let him leave even if he wanted to. He could completely fail and just come back. His mother already said the course he’s on isn’t the one he’ll graduate from if she has anything to do with it.

    I have a friend with rich parents who has been in and out of university for almost ten years now, longer than I have known him.

  111. Aslee

    Ah, yes. The first moments of the realization that college isn’t going to let you pass by half-assing everything and relyingnon your natural intelligence. I know it well. Hopefully Walky handles it better than I did and doesn’t have a nervous breakdown before isolating himself in the fiction section of the library for the entirety of finals week.

  112. Bearpelt

    This is basically how that feels. I have finally found a visual representation of that feeling.

  113. Timni

    poor walky 🙁

  114. Skyknight

    Sorry, but when I see this page, that comes to my mind:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRT5rK4Q1nk

  115. A

    Act casual.

  116. Peny

    *Tears off a piece and gives it to Dorothy* “Mmmm?”

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