“If there is a hell, I’m sure this is how it smells.
Wish this were a dream, but no it isn’t.”
Joyce: You should see yourself, you have any idea what you look like right at this moment, Walky?
Walky: What?
Joyce: A ravenous bongo. The same blood runs through both of us. A ravenous bongo who hunts for the affection of others.
Walky: I’ve bled all that kinda blood away.
Joyce: Then why are you still alive!?
(Also guys don’t make this weird, I only put Joyce in Vicious’s role for the bit. Come at me at your peril and we’ll go into a long and ridiculously analytical essay in comments about how Spike is the villain of Vicious’s story that we don’t see.)
Willis can you, or someone who knows, give me an estimate on how much longer Dumbing of Age will continue? Both in terms of books, and years; whatever you can tell me is appreciated.
I hold the firm belief that Willis will end the strip at the most confusing unexpected moment with no warning or build-up whatsoever.
Ruth’s grandfather shows up to reveal that he was the mastermind behind ‘everything’, and presses a button to reveal that Joyce has always been a robot. She stabs Dorothy. As she dies, she reaches out for Walky, the only one there who could possibly help her. But it turns out he too is a robot, and promptly explodes in front of her.
The End.
deliverything
If only he’d bothered to keep up with his maintenance.
I know people have convinced themselves that Dorothy/Joyce is endgame and therefore the strip must be ending soon, but AFAWK Willis has no plans to end it anytime soon.
Dorothy/Joyce was originally intended to be endgame, but Willis was visited by three ghosts in the night and taught the true meaning of Lesbmas, and so decided to do it early.
I think Willis has said in the past that the story ends at the end of the first academic year. Given we’re still pretty deep into winter that’s a long way off.
Sure, Dumbing of Age ends, but what about Second Dumbing of Age? Dumbing of Age Year 2. Dumbing of Age II: The Dumbening. Dumbing of Age II: The Wrath of Dumbening?
R. Francis Smith
Pip, I don’t think they know about Second Dumbing of Age.
It’s been 15 years and the story’s only at the end of the January following the start of freshman year (for most of the class). And that’s including a huge time skip from the middle of October to the first week of January.
Honestly, I think it would’ve been better if the story was paced out so that each in-universe year took 10 real world years to play out. That would’ve given longer-to-us arcs more room to breathe for the characters while still giving it a minimum 40 year run from move-in day to graduation. (Point of comparison: Peanuts ran for 50 years.)
If I recall, Willis started Dumbing of Age because he was planning on starting a family, and it was too time consuming to be constantly staying up to date on pop culture for Shortpacked.
Dumbing of Age for the most part doesn’t require he stay up to the minute on any particular news item so he can be the first funnyman to make a joke about the latest topical item. Which leaves him more time to spend with his kids.
So, you might theorize that he could switch to a new comic again once all his kids are grown up and moved out, but personally I suspect he just likes working on this project too much to stop, even once his schedule is freed up.
I kind of suspect that even if Dumbing of Age did wrap up, it would be replaced with another self contained story. Maybe try his hand at another sci-fi narrative like ItsWalky. I don’t think we’re going back to another Shortpacked style story.
Ist Willis 20-year career and main/sole incomesource.
Soooo …… until he retires?
Would you ask Mick Jagger how long he´s planning to make music? Different league, but artists rarely just stop doing the thing that keeps them fed and housed.
As do plumbers and bus drivers, btw.
Willis does have a long career as a comic artist, but not all of that has been Dumbing of Age specifically. There was Shortpacked, and before that Joyce and Walky, and before that It’s Walky, and before that Roomies.
It’s not asking how long Mick Jagger plans to make music. It’s asking when we can expect his next album.
All that being said, I don’t expect Dumbing of Age to end anytime soon.
ResRam
As you point out correctly about Jagger: young artists tend to be productive and change lanes, searching for a way of expression that keeps them fed.
Once they have settled in in some niche where they can earn a good living? They tend to ride that horse as long as it can walk.
And i´m not saying that derisevely. Its just human nature to largely stop struggeling too hard when we can live a secure life.
Yes, Willis has done other stuff.
But DoA has been his mainstay for over a decade, and he isnt young anymore (going on fifty).
We will see if he moves on at some point, and turns out to be one of the authors who keeps renewing his work going on. But given what I have seen from so many other creative types I liked, few had a different biography than 10, 20 years of creative peak, folowed by decades of mikling that niche.
Gangler
Eh, Willis is still pretty spry.
I don’t think he’s quite at the “resting on his laurels” part of his career just yet.
Even this current story arc is a pretty big shakeup.
55 would mean his best years are behind him if he were a football player, but for an artist and author I think it’s pretty unfair to say that he’s past his “creative peak” when he’s still improving is craft with every passing year.
Li
Plenty of cartoonists are still cartooning in their 90s.
Also boy is that ever an extremely young idea of what “old” is, assuming you are under 30.
Never. They fucked on it hardstyle and then didn’t clean it at any point.
ZombieKyrik
It’s possible that Dina has cleaned it in some form considering she has been sleeping on it.
Pocky
or she’s sleeping in it because it NEEDS cleaning lol
Pocky
not sleeping *
Clif
Look, if your going to have a dinosaur, it needs to have that authentic dinosaur scent.
Taellosse
…Dinosaurs smelled like stale human sexytimes?
deliverything
Scents don’t fossilize. Do we have any paleontologist commenters who can reason it out from the evidence we do have?
Things can sometimes smell like seemingly unrelated other things just because there are only so many available molecules that would fit the process making them.
I mean, yes, but also, having walky over right now probably would be bad. I mean, Amber played a role in Walky and Dorothy breaking up, which ultimately caused the situation between dina and becky. That could give some bad “I messed up your relationship to be close to my now freshly single love interest” – vibes.
This whole thing basically messed up most social relations in this cast.
She also said in an earlier strip that she blames herself for helping Dorothy send the down shirt photos iirc.
Kalylian
Yes, and she just told Dina she made Joyce and Dorothy being together happen. Wouldn’t have worked if they weren’t into each other in the first place, but she definitely was a catalyst in those events.
What do you mean that the first strip after Dorothy and Joyce kissing isn’t Joe talking about his feelings???? That’s SUCH bullshit. No, it never occurred to me that we’ll get there eventually. Why do you ask?
269 thoughts on “Rewarded”
NGPZ
Dina…
She did the best she could do…
She did what was for the best…
But this is still very painful for her.
??? ???????
*plays “Rain” from Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack on hacked muzak*
Dara
Ah, the masterpiece version. Correct choice, beautifully done.
Grimeyville
“If there is a hell, I’m sure this is how it smells.
Wish this were a dream, but no it isn’t.”
Joyce: You should see yourself, you have any idea what you look like right at this moment, Walky?
Walky: What?
Joyce: A ravenous bongo. The same blood runs through both of us. A ravenous bongo who hunts for the affection of others.
Walky: I’ve bled all that kinda blood away.
Joyce: Then why are you still alive!?
(Also guys don’t make this weird, I only put Joyce in Vicious’s role for the bit. Come at me at your peril and we’ll go into a long and ridiculously analytical essay in comments about how Spike is the villain of Vicious’s story that we don’t see.)
Dara
“If there is a hell, I’m sure this is how it smells.
Wish these were fresh nugs, but no, they are not.”
Auroki
This reminds me when Amber finally let go of Mike’s Ghost.
Ironically my headphones were playing Blue from Cowboy Bebop for that panel.
JSpider
“never seen a bluer sky, I can feel it reaching out and moving closer”
Auroki
There’s something about Blue.
Asked myself what it’s all for
You know, the funny thing about it
I couldn’t answer
No, I couldn’t answer
Chronos
I like you like he likes she likes Chicken Bone
ZombieKyrik
Willis can you, or someone who knows, give me an estimate on how much longer Dumbing of Age will continue? Both in terms of books, and years; whatever you can tell me is appreciated.
Dot
Until they’re finished
nadamás
It will probably continue until willis is physically unable to keep making it.
Ray Radlein
…and for at least three years afterward, thanks to the size of his buffer by then
Furie
And even then they’ll have a time skip to get to graduation, with several new couples in place just to mess with us.
Poskie
Galasso x Mary is endgame.
elebenty
Now I want that arc, just not as endgame.
Masha
Graduation or heat death of the universe. Whichever comes first.
Jon
Heat death of the universe it is, then.
eh, whatever
Not if there’s a Big Rip or a Big Crunch. Of course both of those would presumably end the comic, too…
Steamweed
Willis, talk with the Foglios, learn the process of continuing past the Big Crunch (Winslow says “Hi!”).
Searcher
Just until the main cast is dead.
Paradoxius
Two more strips.
Alina
I believe the buffer is a full year out at this point.
not someone else
…Is that a tree from a specific book cover or am I, like, entirely imagining the resemblance?
Sharizard
I hold the firm belief that Willis will end the strip at the most confusing unexpected moment with no warning or build-up whatsoever.
Ruth’s grandfather shows up to reveal that he was the mastermind behind ‘everything’, and presses a button to reveal that Joyce has always been a robot. She stabs Dorothy. As she dies, she reaches out for Walky, the only one there who could possibly help her. But it turns out he too is a robot, and promptly explodes in front of her.
The End.
deliverything
If only he’d bothered to keep up with his maintenance.
anon
considering the buffer is a year ahead i imagine prolly til his kids graduate, eif not longer
Poewar
I hope for a long time, but I started as a Shortpacked fan so…
Li
I know people have convinced themselves that Dorothy/Joyce is endgame and therefore the strip must be ending soon, but AFAWK Willis has no plans to end it anytime soon.
Marianne
Dorothy/Joyce was originally intended to be endgame, but Willis was visited by three ghosts in the night and taught the true meaning of Lesbmas, and so decided to do it early.
deliverything
So many stories end when the destined couple get together, but that’s not required. There’s still a lot of story potential afterward.
june gloom
I think Willis has said in the past that the story ends at the end of the first academic year. Given we’re still pretty deep into winter that’s a long way off.
Dot
They also used to say that they didn’t think we’d ever see the end of the first semester.
Freemage
Technically, we didn’t see the ‘end’ of the first semester–we just pole-vaulted over it.
Niles Hayter
“They”? Is Willis nonbinary, genderfluid, or gender indeterminate? I’ve noticed this but don’t know much about Willis personally.
Li
Yes. He/they pronouns atm.
Dara
Sure, Dumbing of Age ends, but what about Second Dumbing of Age? Dumbing of Age Year 2. Dumbing of Age II: The Dumbening. Dumbing of Age II: The Wrath of Dumbening?
R. Francis Smith
Pip, I don’t think they know about Second Dumbing of Age.
Needfuldoer
It’s been 15 years and the story’s only at the end of the January following the start of freshman year (for most of the class). And that’s including a huge time skip from the middle of October to the first week of January.
Honestly, I think it would’ve been better if the story was paced out so that each in-universe year took 10 real world years to play out. That would’ve given longer-to-us arcs more room to breathe for the characters while still giving it a minimum 40 year run from move-in day to graduation. (Point of comparison: Peanuts ran for 50 years.)
Tarkara
This is a very ominous question, are you okay?
Gangler
If I recall, Willis started Dumbing of Age because he was planning on starting a family, and it was too time consuming to be constantly staying up to date on pop culture for Shortpacked.
Dumbing of Age for the most part doesn’t require he stay up to the minute on any particular news item so he can be the first funnyman to make a joke about the latest topical item. Which leaves him more time to spend with his kids.
So, you might theorize that he could switch to a new comic again once all his kids are grown up and moved out, but personally I suspect he just likes working on this project too much to stop, even once his schedule is freed up.
I kind of suspect that even if Dumbing of Age did wrap up, it would be replaced with another self contained story. Maybe try his hand at another sci-fi narrative like ItsWalky. I don’t think we’re going back to another Shortpacked style story.
ResRam
Ist Willis 20-year career and main/sole incomesource.
Soooo …… until he retires?
Would you ask Mick Jagger how long he´s planning to make music? Different league, but artists rarely just stop doing the thing that keeps them fed and housed.
As do plumbers and bus drivers, btw.
Gangler
Willis does have a long career as a comic artist, but not all of that has been Dumbing of Age specifically. There was Shortpacked, and before that Joyce and Walky, and before that It’s Walky, and before that Roomies.
It’s not asking how long Mick Jagger plans to make music. It’s asking when we can expect his next album.
All that being said, I don’t expect Dumbing of Age to end anytime soon.
ResRam
As you point out correctly about Jagger: young artists tend to be productive and change lanes, searching for a way of expression that keeps them fed.
Once they have settled in in some niche where they can earn a good living? They tend to ride that horse as long as it can walk.
And i´m not saying that derisevely. Its just human nature to largely stop struggeling too hard when we can live a secure life.
Yes, Willis has done other stuff.
But DoA has been his mainstay for over a decade, and he isnt young anymore (going on fifty).
We will see if he moves on at some point, and turns out to be one of the authors who keeps renewing his work going on. But given what I have seen from so many other creative types I liked, few had a different biography than 10, 20 years of creative peak, folowed by decades of mikling that niche.
Gangler
Eh, Willis is still pretty spry.
I don’t think he’s quite at the “resting on his laurels” part of his career just yet.
Even this current story arc is a pretty big shakeup.
55 would mean his best years are behind him if he were a football player, but for an artist and author I think it’s pretty unfair to say that he’s past his “creative peak” when he’s still improving is craft with every passing year.
Li
Plenty of cartoonists are still cartooning in their 90s.
Also boy is that ever an extremely young idea of what “old” is, assuming you are under 30.
Dot
Dina avoiding the dinosaur :((
Donovan
Dinosarn’t
NGPZ
???????
*plays “Disheartened Pazu” from Castle in the Sky on hacked muzak*
Pocky
how often have they cleaned that dino since, uh. . . using it?
Taffy
Never. They fucked on it hardstyle and then didn’t clean it at any point.
ZombieKyrik
It’s possible that Dina has cleaned it in some form considering she has been sleeping on it.
Pocky
or she’s sleeping in it because it NEEDS cleaning lol
Pocky
not sleeping *
Clif
Look, if your going to have a dinosaur, it needs to have that authentic dinosaur scent.
Taellosse
…Dinosaurs smelled like stale human sexytimes?
deliverything
Scents don’t fossilize. Do we have any paleontologist commenters who can reason it out from the evidence we do have?
Things can sometimes smell like seemingly unrelated other things just because there are only so many available molecules that would fit the process making them.
Kyulen
I genuinely hope Dina has tried to clean it at some point off-panel, because otherwise that’s kinda gross.
IntangibleMatter
Honestly the deleted message is even more Amber. It feels like it’d be right at home on the garbage roof.
Kalylian
I mean, yes, but also, having walky over right now probably would be bad. I mean, Amber played a role in Walky and Dorothy breaking up, which ultimately caused the situation between dina and becky. That could give some bad “I messed up your relationship to be close to my now freshly single love interest” – vibes.
This whole thing basically messed up most social relations in this cast.
Lee
She also said in an earlier strip that she blames herself for helping Dorothy send the down shirt photos iirc.
Kalylian
Yes, and she just told Dina she made Joyce and Dorothy being together happen. Wouldn’t have worked if they weren’t into each other in the first place, but she definitely was a catalyst in those events.
Twinsword
*sigh* Patience. PATIENCE.
nadamás
Pfft we don’t do that around here.
IntangibleMatter
What do you mean that the first strip after Dorothy and Joyce kissing isn’t Joe talking about his feelings???? That’s SUCH bullshit. No, it never occurred to me that we’ll get there eventually. Why do you ask?
anon
even w/o the dina issue, ambz is still pretty injured
dinerkinetic
I love the little detail that dina won’t sleep on a gift from becky right now. Great strip.
Clif
On the other hand, I take the fact that she hasn’t tossed it out to be a positive sign.
TerribleTransit
I mean, I agree with you… but also, practically speaking, how would she get it out of the room if she wanted to toss it?
Azhrei Vep
She’s got a big strong roomate. She can just get Am…ber…. to…
Hm.
Yes, there is a logistical issue or two.
Spriteless Aunty
suddenly and without anyone noticing?
jimbotherisenclown
Localized entirely within your kitchen?