137

Trauma response
Posted on March 8, 2022 by David M Willis

137 thoughts on “Trauma response”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    did his arm fall asleep

    (j/k this convo is super awkward)

    1. King Daniel

      I think Ethan’s been exposed to too many rads, he’s clearly growing a third arm

      (yeah)

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        And 2 of his arms appear to be holding on to a nearly invisible pipe of some form. Strange times indeed.

        (I almost hope to pass out until things are less awkward.)

        1. Clif

          I thought he was gesturing towards Mike’s ghost.

        2. milu

          no no he has a ghost arm, clearly it sprouted then was amputated during Halloween, this is a big reveal

          (ugh poor babies)

  2. ThunderNight

    Best way to cope using pop culture is making your own pop culture I guess

    1. CC

      Probably a good time to stop thinking about the close friend that got killed by your superhero persona’s nemesis, traumatizing everyone and filling your life with survivor’s guilt … Let’s go back to talking about Jason Todd!

      1. CC

        Alternatively: “Looks like there’s been a death in the family, eh? Ehhh? Why aren’t you laughing”

        1. King Daniel

          Why so serious, Ethan??

        2. milu

          Who died and made you the scowling character, Ethan?

  3. Kyrik Michalowski

    Oh boy, talking to Ethan about superheroes was probably the wrong idea Amber. Although what other possible subject could she have chosen?

    1. Doctor_Who

      Robots might be safer, until it turns out Ethan commissioned Carla to build a MikeBot.

      She’s got it up to 40 MPNs (Moms-Per-Nickel).

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Heh, nice. The real mike would be proud… or indifferent, I can never get a read on that guy.

        1. Casi

          Wait, are you saying that DBZA Tien will also do your mom for a nickel?

        2. Throwatron

          I feel like the only reason Tien fucks anyone, might be spite. He’s just an ornery dude.

      2. Thag Simmons

        still struggling with the hair though

    2. Needfuldoer

      This was a Kobayashi Maru for Amber, there was no right answer. Ethan would’ve found a way to twist the phone using anything she brought up.

      1. Ana Chronistic

        “My mom married Joe’s dad”

        “Guess who will NEVER be a dad NOW”

        hahaha yikes ?

        1. Needfuldoer

          Yup. Donna will never exist in the Dumbiverse, unless she’s retooled into one of Mike or Amber’s cousins or something in a flashback sequence.

  4. 0kami

    Don’t worry, Ethan, there’s always keeping up with current events to cheer you up and lift your spirits.

    You’re welcome.

    1. milu

      why don’t you work up an interest in climate change? that’ll thaw your frown!

    2. TallPacked

      I forget what year the Dumbingverse is in now

      1. thejeff

        Now. The Dumbiverse is always now.

        (But with no pandemic because that would have messed up the comic too drastically.)

  5. Sirksome

    Maybe take of drawing or learn to play an instrument. Never shame someone for having hobbies but it really should be more than one thing that you enjoy in life even if you’re not good at it.

    1. Max

      Ukulele! He can learn the ukulele. We need a character in the cast that can play the ukulele!

  6. RassilonTDavros

    Can’t tell if Ethan is just pointing to an empty seat to emphasize his point, or if Ethan has his own Ghost Mike.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Amber accidentally started a fad, and half the campus are walking around with Ghost Mikes. They’re like fidget spinners were.

      1. True Survivor

        Yet some how still less annoying in class.

      2. Kyrik Michalowski

        I still have yet to even touch a fidget spinner.

      3. Dean

        People can level up their Ghost Mikes by having them fight each other!

        1. The Wellerman

          You mean like Stand Users? ?

        2. EvilMidnightLurker

          PEDANTIC OVERDRIVE: Most Stands do not actually improve! Their Users may not know everything they can do at first, but their powers and abilities are fixed once they manifest fully.

          The major exceptions of course being Act-type Stands, and interacting with an Arrow.

      4. PirateTawnee

        Everyone gets a Patronus!

        Monkey’s Paw : They are all Mike.

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      If it is a new ghost Mike then I hope we get to see him like we did with Amber’s. Because 1) I want to see what Ethan thinks of Mike as a ghost and 2) how does it compare the Amber’s?

    3. Doki

      He definitely metaphorically does, even if his brain didn’t react to the trauma the same way as Amber/Amazi-Girl’s.

  7. True Survivor

    Oh no. Is Ethan also haunted by ghost Mike? I’m not sure these kids need anti-psychotics or a really good exorcist.

    1. TheLurkerAbove

      Pretty sure he’s just emphasising that Mike is dead, and is one of the bad outcomes of Amber’s coping mechanisms.

      1. Clif

        Of course, if he’s including Ghost-Mike, then he’s actually undercounting by one. Amazigirl has been shackled from superhero to sports figure, so it hasn’t been so great for her either.

        1. Inbar Fink

          … I don’t think that moving from superheroics to organized sports is really the same thing as DYING. And Amazi-Girl seems to be enjoying the Roller-Derby just fine.

        2. Thag Simmons

          I think that’s probably an improvement

    2. Bicycle Bill

      I’ll let you all in on a secret.  Once you lose someone you really cared for — or were at least more-than-just-moderately interested in – you will always be haunted by their ghost, even if you think you’ve exorcised them or replaced them with someone or something else.

      And some free advice.  You can’t control it, so don’t sweat it or beat yourself up over it.  Not all hauntings are bad; some are more pleasurable than others, so just accept it.

      1. Ereb

        that’s a good way of putting it.

      2. Hazel

        Well, that is certainly one way to view grief, Bicycle Bill.

      3. milu

        heh… yeah… i’ve lost a friend recently. We used to have endless conversations about… well… linguistics, social justice, biology, cooking, queer politics, movies, math, anarchism… almost everything i’m interested in. there’s no one else in my life i share so many interests with, whose wavelength i find so easy to tune into, who i can feel comfortable just chewing their ear for an hour trying to convey my excitement about some obscure book i’m reading, or pet theory of mine, and know that they’re actually interested.

        Not sure her ghost can measure up with how fun and interesting she was to talk to in real life, but… here’s hoping =)

        1. Laura

          So sorry about your friend.

          FWIW, my late partner doesn’t speak when he comes to visit but I’m glad to see his face again (in my mind’s eye) anyway. ?

        2. Laura

          …All I mean is, the dead we have loved never truly leave us.

        3. milu

          yeah, i believe that. my philosopher brother told me, we don’t grieve the person so much as that third entity, what we shared and created together with them. so as long as we live and remember, yeah, that’s never truly gone <3

  8. Nono

    Hmm, I wonder how well Naomi took the death of Ethan’s friend (that she was fearful he was gonna gay for) over winter break.

    1. Andy

      With a disturbing amount of relief, I suspect.

    2. newlland(Henryvolt)

      I can guarantee to you know that shit was not pretty. So much so that if it wasn’t for me wanting to also know how home life was for him dealing with his homophobic mother at a time like this to I’d say I’d rather spend winter break in the Walkerton household instead.

  9. newlland(Henryvolt)

    Damn dude ok maybe take a break from the action adventure fantasy stuff and chill with some sitcom shows? Maybe watch some Seinfeld or Friends? Maybe a little Always Sunny in Philadelphia

  10. Kravis

    Oh, great.

    Now is Ethan “seeing” Mike.

    1. dralou

      I’ve read Ethan’s movement as him gesturing: “look there, where Mike would have been if he was still alive. See the empty space ?” and I think that Willis’ alt-text implies that there is no Mike in this page.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        That’s how I was reading it too.

        1. Clif

          While it’s true there is no Mike tag, there doesn’t need to be.

  11. BBCC

    Yeah. Sometimes trauma takes things from us we don’t expect or want it to take. Sometimes we get them back but sometimes they’re just gone forever and that’s hard to deal with. I guess time will have to tell if Ethan will ever get that enjoyment back.

  12. Bajj

    Remember that time when Ethan got a haircut? …well, the black watermelon has returned and is, in fact, devouring Ethan’s head.

  13. Audkitten

    Wait, did Ethan stop eating? Is that why he looks so different? ☹️

    1. karishi

      I’d bet he stopped sleeping well. (writes this user at 2 am)

    2. Thag Simmons

      He’s definitely not taking very good care of himself

  14. Sporky

    I like that he doesn’t even consider the concept of like… consuming media that has no relationship to trauma

    1. Throwatron

      I mean, that’s how he was processing all the other trauma which he hadn’t yet accepted was trauma, so he does understand that it’s his trauma coping mechanism, but now that it’s not working for this one specific enormous trauma that is crowding out every other trauma in his life, he is well and truly at a loss, with his loss. The prior stuff didn’t count as “real trauma,” so he isn’t really thinking clearly about it. He might be able to piece together the premise of what you’re saying, but the reality is, he didn’t previously consume that media, so it isn’t as if it’s going to come to mind, when he’s desperately trying to milk a soothing ritual.

    2. StClair

      That’s much less common, in this century (so far) (in my experience).

  15. Ereb

    That’s a really interesting development for Ethan – he has been singularily focused on Transformers and comics before, and I think the strip made jokes about it before. Now it’s not the outside pressure that forces him to revaluate his interests, but a lack of resonance… and it’s nice too see him go back to an empty well, too. I think a lot of fannish people can relate to clinging to franchises, because they once meant a lot to you/worked as a coping mechanism and distraction.

  16. Jonah Sanville

    oh no

  17. Otl1973

    Why are people getting the impression that Ethan is ”seeing” Mike there? He’s clearly pointing out that Mike isn’t there, but would be if Amber hadn’t done the Amazigirl thing and by implication gotten Mike into the fight. It isn’t clear that this is a completely valid view – Amazigirl or not, Amber didn’t really have a way to avoid dealing with her father, and Mike might have gotten involved regardless.

    1. Clif

      Ethan is the one gesturing and saying all three of us. It may not be a correct interpretation, but it’s a reasonable one.

      1. Otl1973

        I don’t see that. He’s looking at Amber while waving through empty space, with his comment indicating that he (Ethan) is damaged by Amber’s superhero “antics”, Amber herself obviously is, and the third member of their friend(-ish) group is no longer there because of them. If he was seeing a ghost Mike, I’d think in this exchange he would look at him or address him, or something – but clearly the only one there that he is acknowledging as present is Amber.

      2. zee

        No it’s not. Absolutely nothing has established Ethan as having hallucinations. Occam’s razor, he’s just doing it for emphasis

    2. thejeff

      It also ignores that Mike deliberately contributed to her trauma in order to make her more dangerous to Blaine. Not that Ethan has as clear a reason to know that as we do.

      But yeah, I see it the same way. Ethan’s talking about their little group including the dead Mike, not about some hallucinatory version of Mike he’s still literally seeing. Metaphorically haunted by, sure, but not literally.

    3. zee

      People take things in this comic insanely literally sometimes

      1. Spencer

        I do not take things literally.

        It’s a comic, there’s nothing to grab.

        1. Clif

          It exists on a web that literally, is not literally there.

  18. Chaucer59

    Dick move blaming her for Mike’s death. She’s already blaming herself, his chiming in will just increase her PTSD.

    1. Throwatron

      okay, fair, but dick move from Amber, for ghosting her co-dependent bad-emotion-and-obsession-dump in the shape of a human, for like four or five months, while he was desperately in need of any external support over the loss of their other mutually co-dependent friend. Amber is absolutely acting like the narcissistic monster she constantly says she fears she it, with zero remorse, because hey, she’s moved on, so presumably everyone else has, and things can go back to normal where Ethan constantly gratifies her with his passive attention, while asking for practically nothing in return.

      Shockingly, Ethan feels a little used, and he’s had a lot of time to think about it.

      1. Clif

        Rather surprisingly, people who are hurting are sometimes prone to making dick moves.

  19. MugiwaraNoPancakes

    I really hope Ethan isn’t implying Amber’s coping mechanism for her trauma was the cause of Mikes death rather than her violent, abusive, shit-lord of a father did

    1. Comic.phile

      I think that’s why he’s been avoiding her, because he does partially blame her for Mike’s death. Grief isn’t always rational, unfortunately.

      1. Mopey

        It’s not even that irrational. Amber’s “coping mechanism” was violent and dangerous for herself and people around her. Someone dying was always on the table (Either her, her ‘targets’ or some bystander), and that outcome became more and more probable the longer she kept it up.

        I wouldn’t fault Ethan for thinking that Mike would still be alive in the alternate timeline where Amber dealt with her trauma through medication and therapy instead of crime-fighting.

    2. Ereb

      well, she did hinder his recovery and possible survival – didn’t the switch between Amazigirl and Amber leave Amber in the dark on what happened?

      1. Ereb

        correction – she didn’t, it was the mob connection that delayed first aid for him: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/ninest/

        1. thejeff

          It was Blaine still trying to kill her that delayed that if anything – she escaped him with Mike in the Dadcar and brought him to the hospital. I don’t see anything she did there that would have led to him not recovering – as least not anything related to the split between them.

          What she did do was take his id so the hospital couldn’t identify him. That wouldn’t stop them from treating him, but it did keep them from contacting his family or friends.

        2. Ereb

          yeah, she did what she could. It seems like it was Toedad who would’ve tried to finish Mike.

          In real life, it’s not good idea to move someone with a head injury at all, let alone prop up his head. Amazi-girl alludes to that herself. Just moving someone’s head side-wise can make a injury go from “really bad” to “fatal for sure” based on how the neck is straned.

          First aid teaches how to remove someone’s motorcycle helmet after an accident with a likely head injury with the least amount of possible movement. They recommend organizing a helper to keep the person’s head in a level position, too. Maybe she should’ve asked Toe dad.

        3. thejeff

          Yeah, fair that there were risks to moving him – the usual advice there doesn’t really cover a situation where someone’s still trying to kill you though.

    3. Thag Simmons

      There are things she could have done to prevent Mike’s death, but the most obvious one would be patricide in a mcdonalds parking lot and that’s not a very reasonable thing to expect someone to do

  20. Mr. Random

    Well that seems like an awkward conversation.

  21. Tan

    Frankly this worked out fantastic for Mike. He’s endlessly tormenting the both of them with zero effort on his part. Everything’s coming up Mike.

    Like the pavement.

    (Sorry. But Mike would want me to.)

  22. Dr. Gonzo

    There are many ways of avoiding/dealing with abusive parents that don’t involve dressing up like a superhero and risking you personal safety, or that of your friends and family.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Granted that.  But a lot of times people do what they do without proper forethought or consideration of consequences.

      Or to put it another way, “It seemed like a good idea to me at the time…”

    2. Clif

      Yes, but are they as satisfying?

    3. Throwatron

      To be fair, most abusive parents are still unlikely to murder you or your other loved ones. The very existence of Blaine, in the grand scheme of normal human relationships, is nearly an exceptional case, as Amazi-Girl was. Even if Amber did nothing wrong, like, Mike might still get himself murdered by Blaine because of who he is as a person. If Amber’s dad isn’t a literal freaking mob thug on a power trip, it’s possible that the worst thing that happened to her and Amazi-Girl would have been that time their nemesis had to rescue their unconscious body from a speeding car. Which is still pretty bad, but like, nobody died?

      1. Thag Simmons

        Would have been very easy for someone to die there though

      2. bemisawa

        Yeah. And we saw from Mike’s initial needling of Blaine in flashbacks that he certainly did not hold back from provoking the man.

    4. Chupi

      I mean, Blaine was Blaine. He was already essentially trying/threatening to kill people to get her out of college. Amazi-Girl only made his methods of fighting Amazi-Girl worse, not his overall tactics or murderous intent. Not having the Amazi-Girl identity ultimately wouldn’t have changed anything except that he might have killed someone else. Probably Danny, that first time he threatened to kill people attached to her. Before he ever saw Amazi-Girl.

      It’s not really her fault anyone attached to her was in danger.

      1. Throwatron

        That was a major part of my point, yeah. People seem to forget that in the process of the same scenario were Mike ultimately died, Blaine kidnapped like six to eight people. Blaine is not an abusive parent in the typical quality; he is legitimately more like a comic strip villain than a real person who exists. Mike is also more of comic strip comic relief character, than an actual friend, and furthermore, he’s also an immensely-confident narcissist, just one who actually likes and wants to protect Amber. With the shit Blaine pulled, well, we know Mike is the ultimate shit-puller, and the primary reason he pulls any Mike shit, is it’s the only love-language he understands. He 100% could have gotten himself killed by Blaine just as easily, even if Amber’s coping mechanism this whole time had been something more pedestrian, like crying in the fetal position.

        1. thejeff

          Just one who spend 5 whole years poking Amber’s bear so she’d be a timebomb he could point at Blaine. It was when he realized how abusive that was and how close his excuses were to what Blaine was saying that he sacrificed himself for her.

    5. Ensiform

      Source?

      1. Clif

        of what?

  23. Hazel

    Honestly, Amber is not 100% blameless for Mike’s death. It would be very unfair if Ethan blamed her fully for it, but her response to trauma has definitely put people (including herself) in harm’s way. Amber’s friendship has come with a lot of b*****it over the years and in better circumstances Ethan was able to deal with it, but Mike’s death has made him very much not able.

    1. DailyBrad

      I dunno, I think the guy who murdered him is 100 percent responsible for it. Of course, that guy and his accomplice are also both murdered now, so I get that Amber’s the only one still around to pin the blame on.

  24. PirateTawnee

    “This is where my Ghost Mike would be.

    IF I HAD ONE!”

    1. Clif

      You don’t?

      I guess that’s one way to stay out of trouble.

  25. Bagge

    “Yes, I know all about healthy coping mechanisms”

  26. Lingo

    Sounds like Ethan needs some new hobbies and personality traits. Perhaps he could consider taking up a cute musical instrument or a fashion accessory … oh right, never mind.

    1. Darkoneko

      no no, they could make a duet

      1. JessWitt

        Together with Sal, it would be the most awkward band at IU. Or any university campus practically.

  27. Ophidiophile

    Wait…Is Mike haunting Ethan, too?

  28. foducool

    not sure if sarcasm or if he can also see a Mike ghost

  29. Darkoneko

    Not like Mike would stay with your nerds to talk about Batman

  30. Bryy

    Good job realizing you had an unhealthy identity crisis, Ethan.

    Congrats on your new one?

  31. Francoinblanco

    Oh i sorry that i stood up to my shitty father. Now I see better lay low and be doormat because retaliation May be worse.

  32. Sombrero

    Amber: Stop faking that you see Ghost Mike! I’ve decommissioned it. From now on it’s Robert Pattinson jokes or nothing.

    Then something awakes in the Shortpacked! website.

  33. Arianod

    Geez, the amount of people in whose heads Mike lives rent-free…

  34. Neto

    Ethan should read Paul Dini’s “Dark Night.” Nothing quite like reading about how someone who wrote Batman comics dealt with an incredibly similar experience.

  35. Biscuit

    Is somebody in this comic going to get some therapy, like, ever?

    1. Francoinblanco

      But if they go to any therapists, they wouldn’t have been able to mentally snap, break free in a burst of rage, and go on a violent rampage, saving everyone! The system isn’t broken! It works!

      1. Clif

        What you said, but without the sarcasm.

        Well, maybe a little bit of the sarcasm.

    2. Sombrero

      It was implied at some point after Amber decommissioned Ryan that Dorothy and Amber got some. But mainly it seems they will wait for Booster to open shop.

      1. Nova

        Ruth also got some therapy.

        1. thejeff

          We saw Dorothy go after Ryan. I don’t think Amber did at that point. Ruth was going. Jennifer did as well, towards the end of the semester.

          Amber talked about going in her Mike’s bedside chat with Ethan, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything further on that.

          There was also a Walky comment about the campus’s therapists not being very good, but it’s not clear whose experience that was based on.

  36. ProjectXa3

    I think I had something like that, extremely briefly, back at the start of the 2020 protests when I opened up Steam to get away from the stress and fear and booted up XCOM Chimera Squad

    You know, the turn-based tactics game about POLICE SHOOTOUTS against ALIEN MINORITY GROUPS

  37. Perdellian

    “Three of us”

    Is the third supposed to be Mike, or is he referring to Amber’s headmate?

    1. Seregiel

      I think he’s gesturing to the empty space Mike is supposed to exist in… but since that was also a headmate of Amber recently… Yes!

    2. Clif

      Either way, it should be four.

      1. Perdellian

        Quite right you are!

        I had been thinking of Amazigirl, but yes, factive Mike would also qualify.

  38. Spencer

    yyyyyeeeeessss horrible painful drama let’s goooo

    If these kids ain’t having a bad time I ain’t having a good time.

  39. Spencer

    I’ve never lost anyone suddenly and unexpectedly, but grief and how it interacts with death in fiction is such a fascinating idea for a terminally online person like Ethan to explore.

    Dinobot dies, but he dies in just about the most awesome way possible, taking on every single Predacon at once and saving the entire future of humanity, then his friends get to be there and send him off. His death is the culmination of a character arc, it’s actually uplifting, it’s an ending.

    Dina dies pointlessly locking herself in a room with a bomb and lasting just long enough to curse her own uselessness and for Walky and Mike to burst in and see it happen, but the point is that she dies pointlessly. She’s an expression of themes and ideas that culminated in the resolution that she’d never actually be happy or find that worth she craved, and it was only once she was gone that the people around her realized they took advantage of her.

    Something I do relate to, however, is Ethan as someone who lost himself in fiction and how it’s now turning on him. For years I was just incapable of sticking to a book, let alone writing one, and for all the turmoil I’ve got going on lately that I’m capable of that is something I feel I have to cling to, and I’m genuinely terrified of losing it again. I’ve played games all my life, but in the last year and a half I’ve had periods of time, the first lasting three entire months, where I was just incapable of enjoying them, and it just made me feel like there was something wrong with me.

    (There is, mind you, but it’s an actual, tangibly understood thing and not a vague blob of “I’m innately broken”)

    I feel like I’ve said this every time Ethan’s been back on-page, but I am so down with having him back like this. I couldn’t stand this nob and now I just wanna see him all the time.

  40. Amós Batista

    Have you tried other more mature graphic novel, Ethan?
    There’s a plenty of histories that goes beyond super-heroes themes, even dealing with trauma and abusive relationships…

  41. Willoughby Chase

    Goth Ethan?

  42. Pat

    Mike is over to Amber’s left, silly.

    1. Keulen

      Ghost Mike is wherever you don’t want him to be.

  43. Rabisch

    SAVAGE! And, of course, now it’s all Amber’s fault.

  44. Deviant

    Cool move, Ethan. Nice to blame someones death on a persons coping mechanism for abuse.

  45. GeekRyuu

    Children, PLEASE get some damn therapy already.

    1. DailyBrad

      Honestly, we don’t even know that some of them aren’t getting it. It’s not like we’d likely see major results any time soon.

      Ethan, though, probably isn’t, given his looking even more haggard than Amber sometimes does.

  46. the jighole man

    please understand, he just opened up to her about how shit things are, and the first thing she does is try to one up him.

    “i keep trying to fall back into my old habits, because they are all i had, they are all i was…”

    “YOU THINK THAT’S BAD! I BECAME A SUPER HERO AND FOUGHT PETTY CRIME! NOW THAT’S BAD! WAAAAY WORSE THAN WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH!”

    he doesn’t need oneupmanship, he doesn’t need you to make it all about yourself, he doesn’t need you to go for gold in the cope olympics. he needs someone to talk to him and he show him SOME form of support.

  47. Risky

    Please tag third member.

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