113

Untied
Posted on January 1, 2023 by David M Willis

113 thoughts on “Untied”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    guess she’s not Owl DeSanto

    1. Scoops!

      Whoooo?

      1. Clif

        I dunno, but panel 5 is channeling Jennifer.

        1. Juanoku

          No, it’s a owl joke
          A real hoot

    2. Decidedly Orthogonal

      Sounds like she bent her wookie.

    3. Leadsynth

      Owl be the judge of that.

  2. Mr. Random

    Happy New Year East Coast!

    1. Rose by Any Other Name

      Cheers!

      1. The Wellerman

        Cheers! *sips Cherry Kool-Aid*

        1. Clif

          Happy New Year Central Time Zone.

  3. The Wellerman

    ???

    Here’s to another interesting new year of the future that never was!

    Good as an excuse as any for fireworks, champagne, anime marathons or however else you wanna celebrate!

    *plays “Ride on Shooting Star” by the Pillows” on hacked muzak*

    1. thakoru

      I refuse to listen to any music on New Year’s that isn’t an off-key rendition of Auld Lang Syne that keeps going long past the point where the singers know or agree on the lyrics.

      1. maarvarq

        I heard and saw a rendition last night by a choir and orchestra, and it just kept going and going and GOING …

    2. True Survivor

      I am once again staying up past midnight … to study for my last college final. I can’t afford to drop the ball with this. (get it?)

      Are you marathoning an anime, if so which one?

      1. The Wellerman

        FLCL ? It’s why I chose that song LOL

      2. Marma

        I’m binge reading Komi Can’t Communicate. It’s oddly cute and funny.

  4. Sirksome

    Robin’s over 30. This just proved she’s over 30.

    1. Jamie

      I felt this statement in my spine. 🙁

    2. Yumi

      Thing is, I’m under 30 but my back is ahead of the curve.

      1. Masumi

        I’m over 30 but my back started off in such bad shape that I’m still improving it?

        (“oh hey, look, another muscle I didn’t know I was supposed to have!” – me, about once per year)

        1. Laura

          That’s great that you are improving it! Good for you!

    3. RassilonTDavros

      My 25-ish year old neck would beg to differ!

      1. Ana Chronistic

        just remembered I as a COLLEGE FRESHMAN could crack my neck on command

    4. Tan

      How dare you and where’s my ibuprofen.

      (ha ha, this is a joke because I know exactly where my ibuprofen is)

      1. Needfuldoer

        Ibuprofen: it’s Band-Aids for your insides!

  5. Cattleprod

    I like the untied bow-tie around her neck, implying that she honestly assumed she could just wing it.

    1. anon

      i feel like i’d either fidget with it too much or need to tie it loosely or it’d come off even if teaching doesn’t require as much ‘walking around’ in classtime lol

  6. Barswanian

    Thanks Robin.

    1. True Survivor

      She never ceases to provide her constituents and students with … something. I’m not exactly sure what, but its definitely something.

      Fun fact: The very real novel “Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery” by Andrew Shaffer’s acknowledgements read simply “Thanks Obama”

      1. spriteless aunty

        When someone says “The very real novel” I don’t expect to actually find the novel exists. 😀

  7. anon

    wouldn’t her neck hurt first? but lol tbh those ‘blush’ marks look more like facepaint but i’d assume they’re being flirty lol

    1. TerribleTransit

      Those blush marks are just a thing. Many (most?) characters have them at almost all times, no matter how flirty they’re being.

      1. anon

        guess it depends on the skin tone tho it does stick out a bit more with robin’s flirty face/eyes lol. tho i have fairly pale skin so unless i’m worn out/sweaty i don’t think m yface ever looks flushed unless i also get tipsy or so lol

      2. thejeff

        It is, for example, the key distinguishing trait between Amber and Amazi-Girl.

    2. Swissaboo

      I mean, the neck… includes part of the spine

  8. DailyBrad

    I mean, I dig it, but maybe she should get a bolo tie if she can’t tie a tie.

    1. anon

      other than the mild cleavage (that shouldn’t be inherently sexual to begin with), i’d think it’d be fine without any kinda tie to begin with, i’d assume the profs don’t have too strict a dress code

      I never went to a college but i can imagine seeing a prof show up in sweatpants and some snarky printed T that a young adult/teen would wear and think “Yeah that seems about right”

      1. woobie

        Décolletage is always sexy, and why shouldn’t it be?

        1. BarerMender

          Selah!

      2. eh, whatever

        Universities don’t have dress codes. Except “Liberty” “University” and the like.

      3. Victor

        Jeans and a t-shirt were not uncommon for my professors. I don’t immediately recall sweatpants, but they weren’t really all that popular anyway.
        I think I may have had one or two professors who wore ties on a regular basis, it was uncommon.

      4. Tan

        Bear in mind that the day before yesterday Leslie commented on Robin no longer wearing the “bowtied professor” look, and almost immediately it’s back. So.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-12/04-dont-stop-billie-ving/rocksolid/

    2. thejeff

      Or go back to the gimmick spinning bow tie she had earlier.

  9. UrsulaDavina

    Thats why you tie the bow tie, it keeps your spine in place Robin.

  10. Joe Moose

    Happy New Year, you infernal spooks. [toasts with his vodka gimlet]

  11. RacingTurtle

    Oh, um, hi, Robin

  12. Clif

    And that’s why Robin ultimately didn’t make it as a politician. In spite of appearances, it turns out she had a spine.

    1. spriteless aunty

      Lol thanks for that

  13. Yumi

    If New Years is daunting for anyone here, this is just a reminder that it’s okay to take it one day at a time, one minute at a time if you have to. The turn of the year can be overwhelming, but I hope 2023 is a positive experience for us all.

    1. The Wellerman

      That’s good. And I hope so too. ?

    2. Clif

      Here’s hoping Ruth collects twice the femers she collected in 2022.

    3. StClair

      Thank you.

  14. EpochFlame

    rip robin

  15. Suet

    Fireworks? Nah, we have Robin’s skeletal structure.

    I can see why Leslie said that in Panel 4, Robin’s channeled Jennifer-middled Joyce

  16. DarkoNeko

    Karma can hit pretty fast

  17. The Wellerman

    Anyone here have any New Years plans and/or resolutions they wanna share?

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I’m planning to clean up my bedroom a bit, take some things to storage. And put as many posters on the walls as is physically possible.

      1. Clif

        I’m going to educate myself about quantum computing circuits.

        1. The Wellerman

          ? That’s super awesome! Care to let me know about the specific reading material you intend to check out?

        2. Clif

          Sure, I’ll update you as I go.

        3. Joy

          Yo me too

      2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        I’m planning get the rest of my stuff out of storage, and save on the rental. Already got maybe 50% out in six months.

    2. Sol

      Gonna restart my diet so I can fit into my goth clothes again T_T Also exercising and eating well is good for you health and shit, I guess.

    3. Morleuca

      Get myself below the cutoff weight for grs (just a handful of pounds left!) and start the consultation process with Mt Sunai

    4. Azhrei Vep

      I resolved to survive until dawn.

      I succeeded!

    5. cain

      I am going to somehow acquire a banjo and try to learn to play it.

    6. spriteless aunty

      I’m planning to exercise, despite the cold. I’ve been slacking this winter. Don’t want to let my desk job* kill me.

      Not actually at a desk. Just sitting on my laptop at work wherever I fit.

    7. Laura

      I’m listening to the full Bible straight through as an audiobook. I’ve read it before but never all the books in order. Kinda need a refresher these days, you know? It’s been too long.

      Been reading Minna Sundberg’s work and found it inspiring.

      My library has “Inspired by… the Bible Experience,” which is pretty epic. Kind of like a Star Wars movie or a long orchestral / spoken-word concept album. So it’s a bit more accessible. Kind of like eating brownie bites with walnuts and bits of prunes in them.

      🙂 (I read the Bible mostly to queer it, and as an index to the turns of phrase in western literature, but it’s good to re-read the classics just to have them in mind.)

      1. Laura

        I mean the local public library.

  18. deathjavu

    And that was the last we heard from DoA Robin. She was largely unmissed.

  19. Pocky

    Robin has surprisingly little game.

    Real talk tho; stiff necks are the worst.

  20. C.T. Phipps

    I’m surprised Leslie and Robin aren’t dating. After all, trashing a Republican campaign in Indiana and electing a Democrat is the kind of grand romantic gesture you’d think she’d be all over.

    1. Thomas

      I get strong Marion Ravenwood vibes from Robin in this outfit. Which I believe is thing that works for Leslie.

      (Replying here because you said Indiana.)

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      I’ve lost track. Did Leslie’s thing with Anna the dental hygienist go anywhere?

      1. Inbar Fink

        Leslie talks about having a girlfriend in the present tense here – https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/03-see-you-in-the-funny-page/relevant/

        Presumably that means Anna, although I guess we can’t discount the possibility that she got a new different girlfriend over the timeskip.

    3. TerribleTransit

      Trashing a Republican campaign might be a nice gesture for Leslie, but it’s somewhat soured by the fact that Robin was the Republican in question and has a history of rhetoric and voting record to match. One good deed can only go so far to make up for that.

      1. Reltzik

        Also soured by several days of home invasion.

  21. John

    Ugg, I still pretty much hate Robin. I really hope Leslie never dates her. She can do so much better.

  22. BBCC

    AH ROBIN, NO. YOUR NECK!

    1. spriteless aunty

      She really does better in a world with cartoon physics!- 😀

  23. Nothri

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h1MO4XchZt8

  24. JediMB

    Well, the “or am I” would def work on me.

    Damn you, Robin.

    1. Yotomoe

      She had me at “See,”

    2. Reltzik

      Credit where credit’s due, achieving that level of sexy coyness is backbreaking work.

  25. Taffy

    Robin’s hot…

    1. The Wellerman

      Yeah! Her lesbian energy alone is enough to penetrate the 4th wall ?

    2. Yotomoe

      I thought Robin was hot before it was cool….

    3. Kim

      agreed! But is this The Hottest She’s Been (thus far)?

      1. Needfuldoer

        Easily in the top 5.

  26. Cmasta1992

    Congratulations to Robin for being the cause of my first GAWDDAYUM of 2023

  27. Yotomoe

    Damn, I hate being late to a comic this HORNY.
    So let me give a belated HOT DAMN DESANTO.

    1. Amós Batista

      The first comic of the year is in the horny.
      In this way, I believe it will be a spicy year for us.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Yeah, that’s… wow.

      But it’s also Robin.

      But also, wow.

      But also, Robin…

  28. Yotomoe

    I just realized I misread what Robin said. I thought she said “I’m open for business”. ie a not subtle hint at Leslie to reach inside there like a cookie jar.

    1. Schpoonman

      It’s Robin, she’d be thrusting her chest at Leslie in that case.

  29. Acher4

    OOOOR AAAAAAAM….? *let the bodies hit the floor*

    1. Grayfinity

      +1

  30. Acher4

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! <3

  31. Chaucer59

    Getting old’s a bongo, eh, Robin?

  32. David Doty

    My neck! My back!

    1. ButWhyASpoon

      My weiner and my sack!

  33. Rabisch

    I think Leslie is annoyed because despite knowing that Robin is wrong, she still manages to cause her an effect, unwanted.

  34. bagge

    …I think she is here for business

  35. Amelie Wikström

    This brings to mind the bit in Disco Elysium where you can get Harry to nod his head for like twenty minutes until his neck makes a sound that “echoes across the city”. Has Robin maybe been drinking so heavily for so long it’s made her joints go bad?

  36. Devin

    You’re gettin’ old Robin, I can go further than that.

  37. poyo

    happy new year everyone !!! excited for another year of DOA !!

  38. HueSatLight

    Thinking about Watsonian explanations for plot setup on joke day.
    1) The reason Jason’s advisor seems non-existent is because they are a terrible advisor, probably out of the country most of the time and never checking in. An advisor who was present would be aware of the accusations, and Jason quitting his TA job. An advisor who was doing their job would know Jason was on a work visa instead of a student visa.
    2) Jason has a work visa instead of a student visa because US immigration is byzantine, and for some reason he was unable to get a student visa, but he got a work visa as a work-around.
    —
    Robin will end up hiring him as a “research” assistant, and his duties will be to wear a tailed tuxedo and butle for her.

    1. Nicoleandmaggie

      It’s so much easier to get a student visa than a work visa, especially for someone coming from a G7 country like the UK. I’ve been assuming it’s a student visa and he has no money but can only work 20hrs/week on campus. Like he’s not literally going to be deported until a grace period after he’s unable to pay his tuition and fees (which might trigger the student visa to fail).

      A university will do the work visa for a professor but no way does that make sense for a math grad student.

      1. Yumi

        Yeah, but it has recently been referred to in-comic as a work visa by both Ruth and Jason.

        1. Nicoleandmaggie

          Like I said, I’ve been assuming that’s shorthand for a student visa where he can only work on campus but he needs money and not a literal work visa.

          That’s the only thing that makes sense (because I refuse to believe that there would be anything unrealistic in this comic…)

        2. Yumi

          To be fair, it being shorthand like that doesn’t make sense either.

        3. Nicoleandmaggie

          In that he needs to work to keep his student visa.

  39. CardinalFan

    LOL. It’s like that South Park episode where all the realtors crack their spines trying to lean the right way for their photos in order to compete with Cartman.

    Happy New Year everyone! May this be the first year of the decade where if we wake up in the morning and see Godzilla outside rampaging we’ll actually be surprised and not just go back to our breakfast! 🙂

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