269

Ruining
Posted on March 6, 2020 by David M Willis

269 thoughts on “Ruining”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Mike has transcended a la astral projection

    or maybe asshole projection

    1. abysswatcher1993

      Asshole projection. Stronger than Palpatine, but less annoying than Palpatine’s return.

    2. Chaucer59

      Yep. Mike is calling her from the Asshole Plane.

    3. Miri

      My first mental image of that involved somebody bending over and squatting whilst pointing their bare bum at a white screen, in order to project video footage at it…

    4. Bruceski

      Staring at his phone that way I’m getting Quantum Leap vibes.
      “Ziggy says today’s going to end in disaster.” “Who’s Ziggy?” “I don’t know, some reference my grandpa used to make.

      1. MatthewTheLucky

        I got that reference!

      2. Jim

        C’mon now, you don’t need to be grandparent-old to have seen Quantum Leap!
        (Googles Quantum Leap and sees it’s been off the air for 27 years)
        …Okay, you do have to be at least parent-of-a college-student age.

        1. firefly

          DVDs exist.

        2. Yumi

          What’s a DVD?

        3. Felian

          it’s Netflix pressed into a physical shape.

        4. Delicious Taffy

          It’s like a VHS tape, except worse in almost every way.

        5. StClair

          Ha, hardly. Higher resolution; able to jump instantly to any point, without having to wind the tape forward or back; and fewer moving parts to fail. Sure it’s got a finite lifespan, but so does magtape.

        6. Kyoulkoa

          magtape does have a significantly longer shelf life than your standard disc based media, however there are archival dvd/blurays which have very good shelf life.

    5. Pylgrim

      Asshal Projection?

      1. Geneseepaws

        Perhaps AssTrhole Projection?

      2. Carl-E

        Asshat projection.

        1. NécroX

          Ass-Troll Projection

        2. Geneseepaws

          You nailed it!

  2. Doctor_Who

    Zoom out to reveal Hayden Christensen and Brendan Fraser standing next to him.

    1. Makkabee

      Which Brendan Fraser?

      I’m guessing the School Ties version so she can imagine him naked shower-wrestling with Matt Damon.

      1. desolation0

        Encino Man

    2. Galuna

      Scrubs Reference. I got it.

      1. Kinoko

        “Where do you think we are?”

        That scene WRECKED me. ;_;

  3. King Daniel

    They humped him back to life??

    1. Doctor_Who

      The need to make fun of people’s insecurities transcends death.

      There was a Lupin the 3rd movie where Inspector Zenigata was in a coma and declared brain dead. Hearing Lupin’s name snapped him out of it and he immediately awoke and tried to arrest him.

      Amber engaging in self-pity did the same to Mike.

  4. ThatGuyNamedSam

    Please tell me Mike isn’t dead and that’s Amber’s imaginary Mike

    1. clif

      That’s the real Mike but he’s actually dead.

    2. Undrave

      Pretty sure that Mike is imaginary, wether the original is alive or not…

      1. Merbrat

        Schroedinger’s Mike

        1. Geneseepaws

          Heisenburg’s Mike? You can know where he’s at, but not if he’s alive or dead. OOOorrrr, you can know if he’s alive or dead but not where he is; heaven, hell, purgatory, partying with Reah, wandering loose cannon between planes, like in The Terminal?

    3. Rose by Any Other Name

      Sudden swerve – Mike has always been imaginary, every previous Mike scene was actually Amber, and it was Amber who fell off the stairs last night.

      1. a/snow mous/e

        So who’s Walky’s roommate…?

        1. Deadjolras

          Michael.

        2. Rose by Any Other Name

          Amber in a blonde wig, obviously.

        3. clif

          Thank you for giving that answer so I didn’t have to.

  5. Suet

    Yeah, it’s all in your head.

    Asstral Projection RISE UP

  6. Bagge

    Who’s that guy?

    1. Bryy

      What would they do if they knew it was Michael?

    2. King Daniel

      Man, Eglamore has really gotten a new look today.

      1. brute

        i got that reference!!!

      2. Some Ed

        Well, you know, sometimes he dresses up. This is just a bit more than normal.

      3. Bagge

        Heh!

      4. Happilychaotic

        Wow, it has been a while since I last read that joke!

        I approve.

  7. Wack'd

    Damn, first his hair breaks the laws of perspective and now his all of him breaks the laws of light refraction! What laws will he break next?

    1. Mc

      The law against screwing your mom. For a nickel.

  8. purblebirb

    I love how you can tell he’s not real by his lack of detailed color rendering

    1. Norah

      I never even noticed that. Is Amber hallucinating, or just imagining him? Hopefully the latter.

      1. CC

        For me it wasn’t that, it was the fact he’s apparently phased half into her bed

        1. Allan

          You can see his legs actually in the last panel, there’s some blue shapes that look like legs that were not in previous panels anyway.

  9. gingercake

    So is this her Inner Mike or her Outer Mike? Because it’s hard to tell.

    1. Viktoria

      Based on the art, Inner Mike.

      BTW Willis, good job on the art today. I normally kind of skim art in comics(sorry), but you managed to make Mike noticeable enough that I picked up on something being different instantly, but without turning him into a force ghost.

  10. Bagge

    Don’t flatter yourself, amber. There was exactly zero chance of Walky getting any studying done today.

    1. StClair

      Correct.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Just today?

  11. MechaBill

    Yess!!!

  12. ProjectXa3

    Oh god he isn’t shaded it actually happened

    1. MutantSentry

      Or he is hurt somewhere. This is her memory of what happened bleeding from AG to Amber mixing with her anxiety and self loathing.

      I think the barrier between Amber and AG is about to break and she is gonna remember what happened and it will not go well.

      Alternate theory—

      This is the Mike from the Walkyverse somehow projected into the DoAverse for reasons

  13. BBCC

    Okay, so, place your bets here – is he really here or do I need to be more worried about Amber than usual?

    1. not someone else

      I can say one thing for sure- if Willis just forgot to add the shade layer to Mike I imagine there’s some headsmacking right now. 😀

    2. Bagge

      I think yes and yes.

    3. deathjavu

      A real mike would be visible in 3 other panels.

    4. He Who Abides

      No, he’s not here. Yes, you should be worried.

    5. Sombrero

      If you didn’t consider that Amber needs therapy and that she needs it right now, then yes, you should be more worried than usual.

      1. BBCC

        Already thought that but hallucinating’s a new one.

    6. Regalli

      The ‘most likely hallucinating’ is a new and exciting level of ‘wait, FUCK,’ but honestly given that may well be a stress/only partially suppressed trauma thing and not permanent (except for, you know, how she had AG screaming ‘No’ as the mask a while back seriously GOD Amber you need qualified psychological support), I’m at least as worried about ‘having sex with Walky and enjoying it means I’m garbage.’ Because even if Sal gives her blessing so you’ll shut up about it already, Amber still thinks they’re not supposed to. And even though clearly Walky was not gonna study WHATSOEVER, especially not while you two were going all ‘I want you! But I can’t! But that makes me want you more!’, they were supposed to be studying and her taking up that time is a personal failing on her part.

      I don’t think I was quite worried about ‘the fact that I like you is proof that I’m garbage’ up to this point, but in hindsight the signs were very much there and GOD, that’s up there with ‘We ruin everything we touch… Both of us, we’re already ruined. We can touch each other.’ for ‘holy shit that’s a deeply unhealthy mindset to have for a relationship.’ (I wanted to look up that strip just to confirm to myself that one was bad, and it was even worse than I remembered, sweet FUCK Billie. August 30, 2014 for those checking since I still can’t remember how to get links working properly. Also, wow, we’re coming up on six years since the Sexy Lesbian Suicide Pact.)

  14. Yotomoe

    Jeez Amber. Where do you think we are?

    1. Bunny

      Updoot for the Scrubs reference. And shit. Now I can’t even delude mused that Mike survives.

  15. Kravis

    Holy shit, a wild Mike appears!

    WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Your mom, obviously.

      1. MiaKitty

        Like

      2. Kravis

        But will it be FOR A PENNY?

  16. Zor

    W-… Was I the only one that fell for it or…?

  17. Nono

    Yeah this is 95% a subconscious thing.

  18. Stephen Bierce

    *plays the Michael J. Fox cover of “Johnny B. Goode” on a little Bluetooth speaker in the corner*

    1. RANdom

      Try the Judas Priest cover instead. It’s everything the Fox cover tried to be, but better!

  19. kat

    is Mike even there? i hope he’s there

  20. Agemegos

    Hey Mike! Who’s minding the store?

  21. Robbie

    Um,what?

  22. Linkman0596

    I’m assuming this is real. If Mike had died, or even been hospitalized, it would have been pretty clear he had been assaulted by someone even if there was no clear proof of who did it. It likely would have been some kind of campus incident that most of the characters would be aware of and Robin would have absolutely brought it up when talking about how she got extra security for Becky. The idea that Mike could have secretly died with no one knowing is just a little too far fetched

    1. King Daniel

      Counterpoint: he’s comfortably lying back in Amber’s bed (where he was clearly not 0.5 seconds ago, and the comic went to lengths to show us so), and he’s entirely unshaded, strikingly unlike everyone else in today’s strip.

      1. Loki

        Counterpoint: Becky has been shown to be able to teleport out of her dress, so this may be comical exaggeration of… Something

        Or they were so horny they didn’t mind him being there.

        1. deathjavu

          She didn’t teleport out of the dress, she tore it off.

          So super strength, not teleportation. That’s Joyce’s power.

        2. Schpoonman

          And Dina’s.

    2. Agemegos

      What’s Mike standing on, Linkman?

      1. clif

        The floor. Just past the end of her bed. Also Mike is too shaded. His forehead is shaded just under his hair and his neck is shaded under his chin. On the other hand if Mike were just hanging around it would be in the room he shares with Sally, not the room Amber shares with Dinogirl and Amazigirl.

        But alive or dead, this is pure Mike.

        1. clif

          In other news my spell correct still wants to change Walky to Sally each and every time.

        2. Agemegos

          Compare the last panel to the first. How much taller is Mike than Walky? Which side is Mike standing on of the head of the bed (pink plank)?

        3. Random832

          In case you genuinely don’t know what people mean when they say he’s not shaded: yes, there are shadows in his line-art, but his coloring is flat.

        4. clif

          Compare it to Mike’s shading in https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/empathizing/ Are you claiming he was a force ghost there as well?

        5. King Daniel

          Mike literally has shading on his hair and skin in that very strip.

        6. Sarah

          Shading on his eatm the sided of his head, under his sleeve at his forearm, and significantly more shading on his neck than ‘thick line under his head’, VS none of the above

      2. nobilis

        Mike is sitting on the bed. You can see part of his kegs next to Amber’s elbow.
        Only it isn’t there in the panel before, so he is either Joyce or a ghost

      3. NelC

        He’s not standing, he’s lying on the bed right where Amber and Walky were 30 seconds ago. You can see his knee through the side-rail. The fact that you couldn’t see the knee in the frame before should be a big clue that something is up in either the DOAverse or Amber’s perception of it.

        1. clif

          Odd though it may seem, there are time gaps between panels.

    3. GutterChick

      Blaine and Ross probably took the body, dead or alive. Then they either disposed of him if he was dead, or they’re holding him somewhere if he’s alive

  23. Thursday Violist

    What if

    Mike has been her imaginary friend this whole time
    and all the times he interacted with other characters was just her writing fanfiction of her life

    1. Needfuldoer

      This adds weight to my “DoA is St. Elsewhere and Amber is Tommy Westphall” conspiracy theory.

    2. nobilis

      Mike has never been real, he is just a mass halluzination – everyone projects their dark side onto him.

      1. Happilychaotic

        I quite like this idea.

  24. DailyBrad

    Slipshine of Walky jizzing his pants when?

    Jokes aside, if this isn’t legitimately Mike, having her not acknowledge him, and having him with his phone out (playing with it? Having recorded the hump session?) seems like a bit of an odd choice. Hmm.

    1. Agemegos

      Eurgh! Walky is off to a class with his boxers full of baby-batter.

      Did he start washing his clothes yet?

      1. Loki

        Tissues are a thing.

        1. Agemegos

          Tissues are only poor to medium at getting semen out of cloth when you have rubbed it in.

        2. Roborat

          More likely he rubbed it out.

        3. Agemegos

          That, too.

    2. goggleman64

      He’s just appeared out of nowhere, though ~ the space where his legs are in the last panel was visible, and empty, in the panels before.

      The dialog doesn’t seem to be taking a long break before the last panel, either; he’s riffing on what she just said.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Come on, that would be ridiculous.

    4. Misfortune

      Walky Performs a Dryhump

  25. electriccombines

    I love how after all the hidden spellings of “Mike” throughout the strips the textbook Wally is holding has Mike’s hair on it.
    And now we’re reaching peak mental breakdown, and God I am ready for it. LET THE MERGE OF ALTER EGO AND AMBER COMMENCE.

    1. King Daniel

      “Merging” is not common with DID, nor is forcing it recommended. I doubt that’s where we’re ultimately going with Amber’s storyline.

    2. bejouled

      What hidden spellings of “Mike”? I went back and checked but I’m oblivious and can’t find any

      1. King Daniel

        Willis has been hiding the word “Mike” (sometimes split up across panels, with one holding “M”, the next “I”, and so on) in many, and possibly all, of the strips featuring Amber since the Fall.

        1. bejouled

          I went back and found a couple in the windows of wide shots. Are there others? Can’t find any in the strips that only have closeups

        2. King Daniel

          The last strip in which Amber and Walky appeared had M-I-K-E successively appear on the cover of Dina’s textbook.

        3. bejouled

          I went back and found M-I-K-E in all Amber strips post-getting-out-of-bed.

          Man, Willis is clever.

        4. Alanari

          Me too.
          Is that symbolic for Mikes fate lingering in her subconscious or is Willis screwing with us?

        5. RacingTurtle

          The fact that it’s specifically the Amber strips suggests that it represents her subconscious (or maybe Amazi-Girl) whispering about the Big Event she can’t remember

        6. Wraithy2773

          Porque no dos?

        7. Keulen

          I went back through all the most recent strips tagged with Amber. I don’t know how but I completely failed to notice this until you mentioned it.

        8. Liquid Len

          Same here!

        9. nobilis

          Hidden in plain sight. Well done, Willis!

    3. Sam

      Alters don’t merge together at random like that and certainly not during a mental breakdown (which would prove to AG that she needs to be around). AG’s memories might eventually leak through but that won’t be because they’re merging. That’s kind of a thing the alter has to be willing to do and can’t be forced into from my knowledge and not everyone wants to do that.

      1. NelC

        Amazi-Girl couldn’t just write Amber a note? (Not sure if I’m kidding or not.)

  26. Meagan

    I assume that if this wasn’t actually Mike, he wouldn’t be tagged.

    1. King Daniel

      We’ve had dream-characters and photographs tagged. Blaine was also tagged when he appeared to Amber in a figment of her imagination for cutting Ryan up and thus proving herself a “true O’Malley”.

    2. Owlmirror

      This manfestation of Blaine:

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/proved/

      is clearly imagined, not actually present.

      1. Me et al.

        And Blaine is shaded and fancy coloured, undermining the “mikes not shaded” comment above.

        .

        .

        WILLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS!

    3. timemonkey

      Sometimes Willis uses the wrong tag and then changes them after the reveal.

  27. Josh Spicer

    So either this is entirely legitimate or just a figment of her imagination designed to deal with her internalized guilt for failing to save him when she had the chance.

    1. Josh Spicer

      I think that explains the “little less crazy” “wait for it” because…the next comic is probably her realizing that she’s talking to a figment of her imagination designed to deal with her internalized guilt for failing to save him when she had the chance.

  28. Bicycle Bill

    That ain’t really Mike; it’s his Force ghost.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      The jerk side of the Force is strong in this one.

      1. King Daniel

        The jerk side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

        1. abysswatcher1993

          Like trolling people, gaslighting, misinformation, and throwing nickels at moms.

    2. K

      If you strike me down, I shall become more of an asshole than you can possibly imagine.

  29. abysswatcher1993

    Amber, stop sabotaging yourself and Walky! You need help and- MIKE IS ALIVE! MIKE IS ALIVE! MIKE IS ALIVE!

    … Or is he? Knowing Amber’s fractured mind, he is probably an hallucination and this is the Fight Clu-Ouch! Okay, I know we don’t talk about it!

  30. FLUFFY

    FINALLY SOMEONE LET ME OUT OF MY CAGE

    1. King Monster

      NOW, TIME FOR ME IS NOTHING CAUSE I’M COUNTING NO AGE

      1. abysswatcher1993

        Now I couldn’t be there
        Now you shouldn’t be scared

        1. Schpoonman

          I’m good at repairs
          And I’m under E’s snare!

    2. Liquid Len

      If I keep self control
      I’ll be safe in my soul

    3. Deadjolras

      AND YOU’VE BEEN DOING JUST FINE

  31. Brasca1

    Maybe Mike was too obnoxious for Hell.

  32. Mra

    Well he’s alive, kind of expecting a broken leg or something

    1. Mra

      Wait, now I amthinking he is not really there

  33. Shane

    HE NOT DEAD.
    Given that boring outcome, it was sure worth excruciatingly dragging out for a month! Maybe!

    1. clif

      Wait for it.

  34. Masumi

    …is Mike making fun of her for hallucinating him? How very Mike.

    1. goggleman64

      This is how Willis is getting around the No Death Rule, and how he’ll resolve Joyce’s crisis of faith: Heaven is real, and Mike is pulling an unsolicited Angels in the Outfield for everyone he knew.

      1. Me et al.

        I don’t know that Willis would go and solidfy heaven being real or not. Wether he believes or not, it certainly doesn’t seem likely based on what has been shared of his background, but it also doesn’t fit the style of his narative. Certainly the human condition provides no such guarantees beyond the perspective of individual opinion.

  35. Mr. Random

    Is Mike gonna convince her that having memory gaps is serious enough to get hit the ‘Emergency Therapy ” button?

    1. Delicious Taffy

      “Don’t drink me”

  36. deathjavu

    Amazing how many people think Mike’s not dead just because Amber is hallucinating him now.

    Look more carefully people. It’s impossible for real Mike to be there because he’s not in the exact same spot in 3 other panels. Walky didn’t see him in the bed he was just in. It’s a hallucination.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      He’s taken a level-up in Dina-apparition.

    2. clif

      Yes it’s probably not the real Mike, but oddly enough, people moving between panels is a thing.

      1. deathjavu

        Moving up and into the bed with no panels showing that movement and no one noticing? It’s not impossible, but it’s definitely implausible and a weird way to set up the comic.

        1. clif

          He’s past the headboard, not in the bed. Or at least he would be if he weren’t all in her mind. The important point is that he would be hanging around Walky’s room and not hers.

  37. mrnoidea

    Slow clap. Welcome back, Mike.

    1. mrnoidea

      Fuck, I should’ve noticed the lack of shading on him.

      1. clif

        You should have also noticed a similar style with Mike in many previous strips. Not the recent ones that occurred at night, but I linked above to a relatively recent one for comparison. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/empathizing/

        1. King Daniel

          Mike’s hair and skin have a subtle sheen in the strip you just linked. Not so in today’s strip.

  38. Lingo

    This is multiple levels of Not Good.

  39. Bryy

    ….. is this a loophole for “Nobody dies”?

  40. Nah

    ….Is mike tall or did he teleport onto the bed and is lying down in it or is this a mental thing going on

    1. RacingTurtle

      His legs are visible on the bed. He’s in a lounging pose.

      1. clif

        That’s the sheet, not his legs.

        1. Lingo

          The sheet is a lighter color.

  41. auroki

    Either Mike cashed in all his nickels for a respawn or he paid half price to come back as a ghost. Let’s find out!

    1. Roborat

      Or he such an asshole he got kicked out of hell.

  42. Qube

    Mike Durden

  43. Rikunda

    Is Mike really there?

  44. Beef

    Obviously not real Mike (barring super powers) but I’m hoping this is more akin to the Blaine ghost we saw way back when. If a student died on campus surely people would know.

  45. Hazel

    This does not bode well.

    1. RacingTurtle

      I’ve got a really bad feeling about this

  46. synnerman

    I feel like I just stepped into the crazy zone. I don’t feel safe feeling relieved.

  47. Adam Black

    Its Walkyverse Mike and only Amber can see him

    1. Adam Black

      “To Remind You of My Love”
      Makes sense for Walkyverse Mike, who canonically died

      1. King Daniel

        Twice

    2. RacingTurtle

      The simple shadows and black shirt really do make him look like the Walkyverse version

      1. Adam Black

        What if Amazigirl is also Walkverse Amber ?

        1. RacingTurtle

          She’s in disguise??!

          Turning the superhero she invented and the guy she married into inhabitants of her brain is really horrifying. I’m glad I’m not a Walkyverse/DoA character

  48. Romanticide

    So is the Mike that fell the imaginary one or is this the one, we will have to wait.

  49. BenRG

    “Hello, I’m ghost!Mike and I’m your new alter.”

  50. Needfuldoer

    Mike is now a Force ghost haunting Amber.

  51. JA

    So Mike is either a ghost, a projection of Amber’s subconsciousness, or a timeline reset happened and the events of the previous night never happened.

    1. BenRG

      I’m guessing that he’s a DID alter created by the stress of seeing Mike die. He’ll live rent-free in Amber’s head as the voice of her dark side (what people have previously called ‘Red Amber’) – both in terms of her insecurities and her urge to cause harm to others for her own convenience.

      1. PB

        This is very intelligent and if you are right I will be really mad.

      2. Zaxares

        I pretty much concur with your analysis. *nods sagely*

  52. PB

    Nnnnnoooooooo no mo nkno kknononononononononononoNO

  53. Acher4

    At first, without reading everything, I instantly spotted Mike and I was so relieved.
    “Finally. But, FU Willis for making us so anxious over this.”

    But then, after reading it all…

    “yeeee, that’s an imaginary Mike
    *fists towards the sky*
    DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!”

  54. Keulen

    I can’t tell if this is actually Mike and he’s somehow alive, or if Amber’s just imagining him there.

  55. GUIGUI

    Mie is a tulpa, now.

    1. Boh No

      Mike, welcome to the Tulpa Zone

  56. Dracke

    So he died and she is either in denial or keeping it from everyone.
    Man died like a hero thou

    1. Needfuldoer

      Amber and Amazi-Girl aren’t sharing memories anymore, and only the latter knows something happened to Mike.

      1. Reltzik

        Except Amber seems to subconsciously know something’s wrong, and who knows what her subconscious might tell her through “Mike”.

        1. Needfuldoer

          I like to think all the subtle hints in Amber’s recent appearances are from Amazi-Girl frantically pounding on their shared cubicle wall.

          “Shit’s seriously important this time! STOP IGNORING ME!!”

  57. Zoe

    Fairly sure that everyone is right and this is not a corporeal Mike, but for a second I was convinced that the punchline of this strip was that Mike had been fine this entire time and we’d all been stressing ourselves out over nothing.

    1. Ron again

      I feel you, this was me as well. Then I missed *happy noises* in the comments and started reading the conversation in more detail. Now I’m sad.

    2. Happilychaotic

      Likewise.

      1. clif

        We still don’t know if Mike is dead or not.

  58. Delicious Taffy

    Mike, where the FuCK IS YOUR SHADING you sneaky momboinker

    I came out to my girlfriend last week. I’m agender and also drunk while I type this. Fuck gender I don’t want it. All of my best decisions lately have been made while drunk, but in a not gross way, let’s keep an eye on that, I don’t regret them when I sober up, keep it that way. Anyway, Mike isn’t gummi shaded like Abmer, just like in JOIce’s dream. He’s an hologramic hallucination like Rimmer, or M I imagining it

    1. Yumi

      Hey, congrats on coming out to your girlfriend. I’m agender myself.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Yumi, you’re cool. You’re gonna prosperous soon I promise you.

    2. He Who Abides

      Congrats on coming out. Maybe keep some aspirin handy today, though.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Gonna have green hair tomorrow. Chemical smells r gone be good for hangover Taffy, thanks for the aspirin advice.

    3. Valerie

      Congratulations!

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Congratulations!

        1. Valerie

          Congratulations!

    4. kat

      oh my god i didn’t notice the shading. that nails it

      also congrats on coming out!

    5. Hilzabub

      Congrats on coming out and on having green hair. Both are awesome.

  59. Mishyana

    To paraphrase Johnny Dangerously: Willis, you farging icehole

  60. ValdVin

    Willis drew bedhead on Amber. It’s surprisingly effective!

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Is “effective” the new hip lingo for “hot as hecky”

      1. ValdVin

        I now feel compelled to start saying “Hot as hecky”.

  61. Sombrero

    Please, keep seated and fasten your seatbelts. We are approaching turbulence.

    1. Sombrero

      Also: Dumbing of Age Book 10: Oh. Wait for It.

  62. Reltzik

    … so IF this is Amber hallucinating (which I think is likely), then this isn’t going to be the real Mike (obviously). He isn’t going to have the real Mike’s true personality, or any insights beyond what Amber can produce on her own. He’s not going to show growth from his last-minute epiphany. His personality will really be Amber’s perception of the real Mike’s personality, and his words will actually be an expression of her own subconscious.

    Right now, her subconscious is telling her she’s crazy.

  63. Crumplepunch

    I really enjoyed this comic but I think I’m done.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      You’re a person your feelings are valid. You have value as an individual and your choices are yours to make.

  64. Boh No

    Por

    QUE!!!??????

  65. Spriteless Girl

    Oh Mike, you show up and immediately are filming Amber’s self pity rant.

  66. zellgato

    I’d love if that was real Mike not Psycho figment mike

    1. Deanatay

      What’s the diff, exactly?

      1. BenRG

        It would mean that Mike is alive and unharmed rather than another splinter of Amber’s already-shattered psyche developing its own independent existence.

        1. thejeff

          I don’t think this means “developing its own independent existence” any more than her chat with Blaine after coming back from the stabbing mean that.
          Though there she did seem to know at once he wasn’t really there.

  67. Deanatay

    CALLED IT

    OR MAYBE I DIDN’T

    DAMN YOU WILLIS

  68. Thatonecatc

    So I am assuming Mike is dead and this is some sort of projection as a memorial for him was mentioned a while ago in Something positive

    1. WikiDreamer

      Hold up, what memorial?! Link, please!

      1. Thatonecatc

        For whatever reason cannot post the link. The date of the comic was Jan 27th. Has a memorial wreath for mike in it

      2. Diane

        Your link: https://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01272020.shtml

        I don’t HTML, I’m too lazy for that…

    2. Daibhid C

      But Something Positive isn’t in continuity with Dumbing of Age. It’s in continuity with Shortpacked.

      So I guess Walkyverse Mike is dead? Sorry, Walkyverse Amber.

      1. 3oranges

        It’s not so bad. That Mike has gotten better before. Even Dina did, by the end.

  69. DarkoNeko

    …Dude, where did you enter from ? 😐

    1. DarkoNeko

      also you BETTER have removed your shoes first.

  70. Geneseepaws

    Reading this Comic makes me hurt inside. But not reading, ie skipping a couple a’ days, isn’t any better. The feels hurt, and not knowing hurts, an’ imma shut up now.

    1. Ron again

      I feel you. Been hurting a little from not knowing. Now it hurts more even though we still don’t really know…

  71. Rabisch

    Amber is getting worse. Now she start having visions!

  72. thumb

    I’m a call it. If a college student had died on campus, it’d have made the local news and people would have been talking about it. The fact that no one has even heard of anything up to this point means that Mike is alive. Because a college student being seriously injured after going to a party isn’t news.

    1. MutantSentry

      So a few complications to that. We know after the incident Amber got back to her room. We don’t know what happed to the Evil Dad Alliance. If we assume AG/Amber freaked out and just bolted and Toe Dad helped Blaine up from the rope Blaine could have talked Toe Dad into helping him either hide the body or kidnap the injured Mike (because if Toe Dad was arrested for this he could’t “save” his daughter from her wicked ways, so God must want him to help cover this up… that is exactly the kind of thing Blaine would do).

      Another possibility is that Mike falling broke AG completely. Loosing her firm superhero moral compass she goes off the rails and either kills or deeply injures both Toe Dad and Blaine (or Toe Dad runs off and she cuts the rope). Then to protect Amber “Dark AG” disposes of the bodies/stashes the injured out of site. This would be the “DC Injustice” version.

  73. Jarawara

    Personally, I don’t think that’s “imagination Mike”, I think that’s the real Mike. But real Mike isn’t actually real Mike. Instead, this is all part of the Roomies/It’sWalky/Joyce&Walky universe, and Head Alien is real and has been controlling the plot all along to drive Amber insane and pave the way for Head Alien’s return.

    And no, I’m not suggesting anything silly like Mike being Head Alien in disguise. That would be just bonkers!

    Mike is obviously a disguised Monkey Master.

    1. clif

      You are my hero.

  74. Pat

    “So Amber, wanna see a fun video of when you blacked out last night and murdered your dad?”

    1. a/snow mous/e

      Blaine dead instead of Mike? that sounds good to me

      1. Ron again

        Why not both?

        Sorry, “both” is often an option people overlook

  75. hoop

    Wait, this isn’t all happening like, the day of Mike getting murked?

    I assumed that we had just jumped back in time a day or two, maybe even a couple hours, and all the stuff with Mike and Blaine and whatnot is currently yet-to-happen.

    1. hoop

      also, and this shows what i get for not talking to anyone else about the strip – i’d firmly convinced myself that Amber really has quit being Amazi-Girl and we’ve been watching Dorothy for the last however long in the strip, which is why she’s so tired all the time. She’s been doing her studies AND doing Amazi-Girl stuff to keep the legend alive.

    2. BBCC

      No. No, we haven’t. That would make everything blue.

    3. Deadjolras

      It’d make absolutely no sense for any of the events of today to have happened before the party (which took place at the same time as Mike’s encounter with the Evil Dads).

      At the party, Joyce and Dorothy would’ve had more pressing concerns than the Jacob Fiasco (as in, she would’ve been far more worried about Toedad being up for bail).

      If the events of “today” were indeed part of a backwards time-jump then Robin would’ve arrived before the party took place. So no one, especially Becky, should’ve been surprised at her showing up.

      1. hoop

        oh, cool, shows what i get for never ever reading the comments lol

  76. Alan in DC

    Why does a living Mike seem implausible, while a buff and agile Blaine in a super-hero costume remains perfectly OK with everyone?

    1. 3oranges

      Living Mike seems plausible to me, but maybe completely uninjured Mike is not quite the same thing.

      1. clif

        Same.

    2. Mr. Random

      Eh, I’m kinda reverse on that.
      Blaine putting on a mask was… a bit of a step too far (for my taste).
      Mike only fell like a story and a half.
      Perfectly survivable, though probably screwed his leg up for a bit.

  77. a/snow mous/e

    Hello, Darkness, my old friend.

  78. Nep

    I once again state that I ship Amber/Therapy.

  79. Deadjolras

    I’m not sure why we’re under the impression that the options are “Amber is hallucinating and Mike is dead” or “Amber isn’t hallucinating and Mike is alive.”

    I honestly believe Amber is hallucinating and Mike is alive. That’s not the real Mike. The real Mike might’ve been kidnapped or he’s currently hospitalized, and this is Amber’s mind trying to communicate to her the fact that something happened to him by projecting Mike’s personality and image. There’s no way he’s been in the room, in that bed, this whole time. But that doesn’t mean he’s dead.

  80. Sam

    I want it noted that I am a psychic because I made a comment on the strip Brainspace on Valentine’s Day about a dream I had that Mike’s next appearance would be him casually uninjured. Whether he is a hallucination or not, I don’t know yet, but I am counting it regardless.

    1. 3oranges

      “Counting it regardless” – sounds like you’ve already mastered an important part of being psychic. 😉

      1. Sam

        Yes, you must count all victories, even technical victories.

  81. Jezzeh!

    I try really hard not to take advantage of my patreon-granted ability to see the future, but days like today, it is IMPOSSIBLE not to go look!

    1. clif

      Days like today are a solid reason to Patron. But before you peek ahead one day, you should remember that it was the mind of Willis that created Mike.

  82. Happilychaotic

    So… Mike has died and his spirit possessed Amber?

  83. Needfuldoer

    Mike just poof-ed into existence, like Jeannie.

    From this point forward, DoA is a 60s magical housewife sitcom.

  84. Sean Smith

    Mike has just been in Amber’s head all along, the pinnacle of her self loathing directed outward.

  85. Tomixcomics

    Does this mean it was technically a threesome?

  86. Sirksome

    For those still potentially wondering if this Mike is real or not. He’s not. This is Amber and Dinah’s dorm noted mostly by that toy in panel 1 which looks more transformeresque than any toy Walky would have. Also Dinah was here moment before the humping. You could argue that perfectly safe and not jn a coma Mike walked all the way to the girls dorm and hid in the corner of a room just to watch Amber and Walky grind on each other or that the two dragged Dinah to Walky’s room just so she could stop them from fucking but my question for both those theories is why? It’s a ghost Mike. Ambs be cray.cray.

  87. poofdepoof

    Wait so Amber is saying that since she’s a terrible person she deserves guilt so she can continue to make terrible decisions because that guilt is what she deserves anyway?

    1. Gunslinger

      To be fair Walky put the idea in her head via Garbage Roof.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.