189

Reporter
Posted on March 17, 2014 by David M Willis

189 thoughts on “Reporter”

  1. thecanvashat

    Dorothy looks like Amazigirl in glasses

    1. Maveric1984

      Yeah, but she was with Walky when they ran into her. It can’t be Dorothy…

      Unless…

      Supes would dress as Batman to throw people off of Bruce Wayne’s scent after all…

      1. Jen Aside

        THE GREATEST SCAM

        1. Yotomoe

          OR MAYBE SUPERMAN IS ACTUALLY BATMAN AND BRUCE WAYNE IS A SCAPEGOAT.

        2. Yo Gabba Gabba Messiah

          CLARK KENT WAS JUST A RED HERRING

        3. Hoboturtle

          Superman has no secret identity! What would a man who has everything need one for?

        4. Matthew

          SUPERMAN IS SECRETLY EVERY SUPERHERO

        5. Glacirus

          Except Aquaman.

        6. Jen Aside

          Superman is Wonder Woman?? WHOA *mind blown*

        7. Jonathan S.

          Let’s just say Kal-El is really good at tucking…

        8. xKiv

          “My other secret identity is also Superman”

        9. Hoboturtle

          Super tucking is one of Superman’s powers.

        10. Kirt

          But only in the Silver Age.

        11. Noel Schornhorst

          Communism was just a red herring!

        12. BrokenEye, True False Prophet

          Don’t be ridiculous. Alfred is obviously Batman.

    2. Dean

      Dorothy was obviously a humanoid robot, built using advanced Amazi-Planet technology. Amazi-Girl keeps a bunch of them in her Fortress of Amazitude, for just this kind of thing.

  2. Maveric1984

    Am I supposed to know who Rose is? I don’t remember her from anywhere.

    1. Regalli

      She worked at McAwesome’s in Shortpacked!, the neighboring store that’s eerily identical to Shortpacked, but different.

      She and Faz’s eerily identical duplicate, Zaph, were dating up until they found out they were actually half-siblings via Blaine O’Malley.

      Possibly at their father’s funeral.

      1. Maveric1984

        Oh of course! The McAwesomes crew! I always forget about them.

      2. Viktoria

        Wait, they found out/broke up? I figured they were still together, they were cute. Now I’m sad.

        1. someguywithakatana

          I feel like incest overrides any amount of cute present in the relationship, regardless of what Japan has been trying to convince us of all these years.

        2. Viktoria

          They don’t think of each other as siblings so there’s no power imbalance, the birth defect rate is far lower than people think(or adopt like a decent person), and they make each other happy. What is there to object to in the relationship?

        3. Hoovy_Woopeans

          probably because most people don’t have the same mentality regarding incest as you do. I’m not stating for one side or the other, I’m just saying that there’s a high likelihood that they would consider it weird and not feel comfortable about it.

        4. Drunken Nordmann

          I think it depends on the person – if they’re neither affected by the Westermarck Effect nor grossed out by their relationship on finding out they’re related – then they could should do their thing, if you ask me, as long as they don’t try to have a child with each other. Love is one thing, burdening your offspring with possibly defective genes is another.

        5. Marisa Mockery

          ………Yeah but that kinda goes into weird territory. I mean, do you tell someone who’s schizophrenic to not have children because it might possibly burden their children with defective genes? Or an autistic person? Or someone with some other handicap? Telling people to not have kids because they MIGHT have birth defects is toeing a very fine line.

        6. masterofbones

          Because enforced eugenics is acceptable only if it applies to people who are viewed as subhuman by the majority of society.

        7. Arkadi

          There was actually a couple in Germany; only found out they were half-siblings when they tried to get married and were’nt allowed to. Rather than being grossed out, however, they were trying to get the law changed so they marriage would be legal. Don’t know what came of it.

        8. Drunken Nordmann

          “Because enforced eugenics is acceptable only if it applies to people who are viewed as subhuman by the majority of society.”

          That was uncalled for. I do not condone eugenics, but I think people should really think of the potential risks – the chance that a child inherits some defects, is higher when the parents are related, especially if they are siblings or parent and child. I do not support laws banning people from being together – but they should really think about if they wouldn’t rather adopt instead of taking a very high risk.

        9. Viktor

          The odds are similar to the chance of a woman over 40 having children with birth defects. I mean, I think everyone should adopt, but the kid(s) aren’t significantly worse off than a large number of other children.

    2. John

      She’s a very minor Shortpacked! character, Amber’s McAwesome’s counterpart.

    3. Leorale

      Oh man, it’s Amber’s counterpart from McAwesome’s Chocolate and Parasailing.

      1. Leorale

        …we’re all so helpful.

        1. Maveric1984

          And thank you all!

        2. Jen Aside

          I was trying to think of a clever way to say something like “Chocolate and Parasailing News” without having to refer to the other universe(s?), but I guess it doesn’t matter.

    4. ZORK

      Heh, I didn’t even noticed it’s Rose at first. I thought it’s Ruth, for some weird reason.

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Wait, it’s NOT Ruth?

        Sheesh, and here I thought you were all discussing Rose because of the poll. *Facepalm*

      2. sps48

        Ruth? Smiling like that?

  3. Regalli

    Rose!
    … Is Rose still a half-sibling in this universe, or can we assume she’s just a regularly inexplicably identical person this time around?

    1. Hoboturtle

      Maybe she ends up being an important character, helping Amber get over her relationship with her dad because of their mutual hatred of- probably not, see you in another couple of years Rose.

      1. jy2

        So, tomorrow in in-comic time?

    2. Elva Rodríguez

      She probably IS her half sibling, after all, so is Faz.

      If she knows Blaine or Amber is uncertain.

  4. Wonder Wig

    Clearly that’s Black Widow, not Amazi-Girl.

  5. Super Duper

    Its obviously Ultra Car
    Tes, I’m bringing that joke back.

    1. nothri

      Good luck with that.

    2. Kelly

      Heh, not if the filter has anything to say about it. 😛

      1. moby

        The filter is the whole joke!

    3. newllend

      I dont get it?

    4. Yotomoe

      It’s obviousely Squiggleman.

      1. Jen Aside

        It’s a snake, it’s a snake, it’s a snaaaaaaake…

  6. Rheinman

    Better question, are we going to be seeing more of Rose?

    Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, say no more 😉

    1. Super Duper

      They said she would be in the 50th special, but it was just some sentient bomb.

      1. caesaria82

        I see what you did there.

      2. moby

        Oh that Rose! British girl! Ooooohhh

      3. Keroshino

        Also somthing to do with a “Bad Wolf”

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      We can only hope.

    3. Kiggy

      Actually I hope Willis brings everyone over from all his other comics to DOA.

      The more the merrier! 😀

      1. begbert2

        Plus if he doesn’t they’ll have to hang around in the comic book character unemployment line, which is just sad.

  7. Stephen Bierce

    Walk Woother?

    1. Jay Eff

      Walk Woother will cwush Amazi-Girl, without wemorse!

  8. nothri

    So I guess the mechsuit and the window falling out of are a go?

    1. tinfoil theory

      Are power ties also mechanical?

  9. Yotomoe

    That girl’s color scheme seems pretty saturated to me.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Red Rose is RED!

  10. rhelmot

    Man. and I bet she’s got a secret identity as some sort of super-lighthearted magical-girl type hero who goes around doing good for purposes of carrying on the wishes of her benevolent father who died of cancer.

    1. 4th Dimension

      Her father . . . . is Blaine.

      1. Beige

        well, we can hope for the cancer anywho…

  11. Bill

    Walky, how can you be so good at some things and be so far off-base on others?

    1. Yotomoe

      I mean yeah. The shaving the hair is unecessary. Everything else though. Spot on.

    2. nothri

      Not that I disagree with you, but haven’t you basically described every human being on the goddamn planet that ever has or ever will exist?

      1. timemonkey

        No, many people aren’t good at anything at all.

        1. nothri

          Oh snap! Human race just got served! Everybody want some ice for that sick burn?

        2. Zephyr, God of the West Wind

          I got burned by boiling water while making cup ramen 🙁

    3. xKiv

      It’s all part of his big plan.

  12. Plasma Mongoose

    So Dotty is more against the idea of Walky shaving off his hair than been thrown out of a window…

    1. MM

      It’s only the first floor.

    2. nothri

      We’ve been down this road. It leads only to madness.

      http://www.joyceandwalky.com/d/20061223.html

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Well it worked for Patrick Steward…

        1. nothri

          Really? I just assumed he lucked out and managed to go bald in a way that made him look more distinguished.

      2. Hoboturtle

        I love that link. Its very good joke.

  13. Jon P

    hahaha, I’m glad we’ve got the McAwesome crew (or at least some of them).

    1. Jen Aside

      I feel like Willis is never going to make up actual new characters at this point.

      Okay sure we never saw some of the parents in the alternate universes, but we knew they were around, at least.

      1. Maveric1984

        He doesn’t really need to. He’s got about 50 of them altogether if you count all the background characters from SEMME and McAwesomes and various and sundry customers at Shortpacked. I’m just waiting for the complaining guy to show up.

        Of course, Riley was a brand new character in this strip that was later introduced in Shortpacked…

        1. John

          Sooner or later he’s going to have to fall back on Roomies! regulars like bespectacled and vested girl.

        2. Gigafreak

          Complaining guy? Duncan’s already had a cameo appearance.

      2. shietka

        Raidah is completely new. And there’s also Jocelyn.

        1. timemonkey

          Technically Jocelyn isn’t really new. We always knew Joyce had brothers, or a sister in this case, now we’re just learning details.

        2. John

          Walkyverse Joyce had five siblings; Dumbiverse Joyce has three. And while we know even less about her Walkyverse siblings than we do about her Dumbiverse siblings, I don’t think there’s a one-to-one correspondence.

        3. timemonkey

          Of course there is, it’s just earlier in the timeline so she has less.

        4. John

          Joyce is the youngest, in both timelines.

        5. David Willis

          Plus I’m pretty sure Mrs. Brown isn’t really capable of pumping out any more at this point.

      3. David Willis

        Why would I make up a new “intentional clone/doppelganger of Amber” when Rose already exists and serves that exact role already? It’d be reinventing the wheel. Rose’s Walkyverse purpose is already to Be Another Amber. It’s even why her name is Rose.

        1. moby

          Rose the Rouge Rogue

        2. Jen Aside

          The reason for “no actual new characters” can be “there’s already one for that purpose”!

        3. clodia

          …That pun took a while to sink in. And I’ve been reading you for many years.

  14. Doulos

    Are half the women at this college Dorothy “clones”? I guess short hair is in for many of the ocularly challenged females. 🙂

    1. Athedia

      *Squints at comment trying to read.*
      *Puts on glasses*
      *Looks at hair*

      Oh.My.God.

    2. timemonkey

      Willis has a type. He also has four comic casts to work with, each bringing their own copies of the same character types.

      1. Gwydion

        Actually, it’s a company of just six actors – Willis spends all his time working out the entrances and exits so they have time for costume changes.

  15. newllend

    Clark Kent and Petter parker, hes got good point but no…

    Anyway Amber might be screwd, Walky’s smarter than Danny He might figure it out if he meets her

    1. Bill

      Don’t forget Britt Reid, a/k/a The Green Hornet, who was also the publisher of the Daily Sentinel.

      1. LiamAldam

        I think everyone’s trying to forget The Green Hornet.

        1. Yo Gabba Gabba Messiah

          The green hornet was a masterwork

        2. newllend

          I thought everybody hated it except me?

        3. Kiggy

          I think the OP refers to the pre-movie Green Hornet.

          But, hey, if after 16 years Hollywood can make amends with a new, more faithful to the original Godzilla movie, then I have hope for new Green Hornet (and Green Lantern) reboot movies.

        4. Opus the Poet

          No way dude, the 1960s TV Hornet and Kato were cool. Bruce Lee and whatsisname? And the ’60s Black Beauty was much better than the FWD 2000s version.

        5. Bill

          Finally!!  Someone old enough to remember!!!
          For the record, “whatsisname” was Van Williams.  And the “Black Beauty” was a 1966 Chrysler Imperial, customized and tricked out by Dean Jeffries, who was also responsible for the “Monkeemobile” (“the WHAT?“, I hear you say) and the moon buggy ripped off by James Bond in “Diamonds Are Forever”.

        6. sps48

          Monkeemobile 4evah!

    2. Heavensrun

      You kinda lost me at “Walky’s smarter than Danny”.

      1. newllend

        Walky’s secretly a genuis, he just act dumb and childish because he wants to be, also so people dont give him high expectations to live up too.

  16. Kernanator

    …So close, and yet so far.

  17. Z3tto

    I was gonna say that Rose was the first McAwesome’s character to make the jump… but then I looked it up and realized Agatha was from there too. I could’ve sworn she was from IW! or J&W.

    1. David Willis

      She is from McAwesomes, but she’s from IW! first.

      1. Super Duper

        Wait, what’s McAwesome?

        1. David Willis

          great i broke rule #3

        2. Yotomoe

          Now finally you can speak the words “Damn you Willis!”

        3. nothri

          Wouldn’t that be “Damn me, me”?

        4. Sailor_Arashi

          I can only assume you have re-ordered the rules in the past year, because you didn’t threaten to quit your own comic there, or post ‘First!’ 😀

        5. John

          McAwesome’s is Shortpacked’s good twin.

    2. John

      Agatha’s at McAwesome’s because she’s Robin’s “former SEMME agent from Squad 82” counterpart.

  18. LiamAldam

    Heh, Rose. Headcannon: the whole McAwesome’s crew lives in another building/wing and live parallel drama-free lives.

    1. Glacirus

      And Mike goes there to study/party while drunk.

    2. sps48

      You say Headcannon, I see Heavy Artillery of the Superhomeys.

  19. Plasma Mongoose

    I have to admit that before I read the dialogue, I thought this was going to be about Walky foolishly checking out the hot redhead in front of Dotty and Dotty chewing him out over it.

    1. Dr. Zeus

      I had the same thought to be honest.

    2. newllend

      And here I thought I was the only who was thinking that.

    3. Kiggy

      Me Fourth

    4. Plasma Mongoose

      Yay us for being on the same wavelength. ^_^

    5. Yotomoe

      http://i.imgur.com/74ZgvsI.png
      Or something like this.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Joyce will be jealous if she finds THAT out about Dotty.

    6. clodia

      I’m not convinced that it isn’t, honestly.

  20. Mr. Random

    Do you want supervillains? ‘Cause this how you get supervillains.

    1. newllend

      You think there’s going to be some crazy side character who’s going to go out and make a costume and be amazi-girls arch enemy just for the hell of it?

      1. Mr K

        Blaine.

        1. newllend

          Blaine’s a jackass bit he’s not THAT crazy. If anyone where to do something like that, it be sydney yus.

      2. tinfoil theory

        And the pension benefits they get if they register with the League of Calamitous Intent.

      3. Leonou

        I’m rooting for the (mildly) evil engineering students/delinquents to come back face off Amazi-Girl.

        1. Leonou

          Wait, they don’t even have their own tags ? This is an outrage !

    2. sps48

      I thought that only applied to ants.

  21. Wack'd

    I know it’s a Lex Luthor thing, but honestly my first thought was that it was in reference to this.

    1. Hylleddin

      It’s probably both.

  22. LupinThe8th

    So Dorothy’s Irish? Wasn’t sure with the last name.

  23. Viktoria

    2 Irish girls AND Rose is in orange. I doubt it was intentional, but the outfits are hilariously appropriate today.

    1. The Candyman

      Does that mean Rose and Dorothy will get into a fight?

  24. wynne

    Good call, Dorothy.

  25. Kell

    Dorothy has her priorities in order.

  26. Packy

    Mmmm. Freckles.

  27. JessWitt

    Rose reminds me of Velma Dinkley. No surprise there, given Willis’ Velma fan art.

  28. newllend

    Ok true talk walky that girl has Red hair, amazi-girls a brunette you know this.

    1. Jason

      It’s a wig!

  29. Karfsma778

    Well, he’s on the right track…

  30. EvergreenFir

    MORE ROSE!

    1. EvergreenFir

      And add her to the list DoA’s hottest ladies poll.

      1. JAD

        I was going to ask for Grace to be added… you know, the girl from the Greek Chorus.

  31. Zap Rowsdower

    Ah, so Walky has chosen his major and wants to go into either business or politics, then.

  32. Kathleen

    Now we’re up to five short ladies with short hair and glasses!

    If my calculations are correct, soon Dumbing of Age will be reach critical mass and the Short Girl with Glasses apocalypse will begin!

    1. John

      We actually established yesterday that Dorothy is taller than average.

  33. caesaria82

    Don’t do it, Walky. Listen to your girfriend. It is glorious hair, don’t shave it off.

  34. Huh?

    Oh. That’s NOT Ruth. Ok.

  35. Idon'tcarenomore

    Walky is good with book work, games, and food. People, not so much.
    Like my dad told me,”you’re smart, you just don’t have any common sense”

  36. Sporky

    So close and yet…

  37. Jesse

    Walky has access to power armor? WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED?!?!

    1. Beige

      wait, you don’t have access to power armour? we thought it was just something people could do.

  38. Emiko

    whoa, I finally caught up! been reading this for two days now. lol. can’t wait to be checking in for updates with everybody else 😀

    1. Tenn

      Welcome aboard!

  39. Megatron

    Honestly, I don’t know how you fleshlings tell each other apart. You all look the same. At least the seekers have the good sense to color each other differently.

    1. Gordon Blvd

      THIS!

  40. Jimmy

    Poor Rose. Made by her creator just to look similar to Amber for the comic misunderstanding.

  41. The Candyman

    Pfft, come on Walky. She doesn’t even have the same hairstyle.

  42. Kamino Neko

    No, Walky, no.

    Amazi-girl is a badass normal, not a superpowered alien. What you need to do is dye your hair green, and put on way too much white pancake. (And optionally add a Glasgow Grin.)

    1. timemonkey

      Amazi-Girl is really more of a villain with good publicity, since all she’s looking for is targets for her rage.

      1. luxlucis

        I think that would be more of an anti-hero seeing as she DOES try to stop crime. However secondary to her venting it is.

      2. Megatron

        You uh, wouldn’t happen to have the number of her publicist? I’m looking for a friend.

  43. OmegaDez

    Another cute girl with glasses in Dumbing of Age.
    Please make her recurring. =D

    1. clodia

      Nah, she’s probably got a therapist and a healthy relationship with her family and boyfriend/girlfriend.

  44. Vree

    Willis has a thing for freckles? confirmed.

    Also we should just start calling these characters

    Yellow Dorothy (Dorothy)
    Brown Dorothy (Amber)
    Red Dorothy (Rose)

    I mean, c’mon, build, freckles, glasses…totally twin-clones separated at birth.

    1. David Willis

      I am not sure in what universe Dorothy and Amber have the same build. I am also not sure how three characters having freckles out of a cast of, like, dozens, is indicative of anything other than Some People Have Freckles.

      1. Vree

        Too much overprotectiveness ruined the joke. 🙁
        Good job breaking it, Willis. :B

        1. David Willis

          Well, stop telling the same dumb joke that TVTropes does.

        2. DSL

          … I’m pretty sure “the same dumb joke” TVTropers tell all the time is to categorize two of the same thing, anything, as a trend.

        3. captainswift

          Well, “build” really doesn’t belong on the list of similarities, regardless. Amber is a little on the heavy side, but Dorothy is probably one of the slimmest characters in the main cast.

        4. John

          There’s really not all that much in the way of similarities between Dorothy and Amber. I was looking back at at that “Dude, creepy!” page yesterday, and… most of the similarity there is actually just that they’re in the same pose. Their hairstyles are different, though both have a kind of round profile. They both wear glasses with oval lenses, but Amber’s are angled and Dorothy’s are straight. Dorothy is taller and slimmer. They have different face shapes; Amber’s face is heart-shaped, while Dorothy’s is a rounded oblong. (And neither of them are Standard Female Face #1, that like half the female cast shares.) And of course they have different color schemes and wardrobes (though Dorothy does sometimes elbow in on Amber’s standard yellow-and-blue wardrobe colors… the shirt she’s wearing in that strip is the same plaid as the one Amber was wearing yesterday, but Dorothy’s is a button-down while Amber’s is a hoodie).

        5. Darth Cariss

          When the comic first started they looked a lot closer, but over time Dorothy has thinned out (probably an effort to make them look different, since Willis seems to dislike the “X is Dorothy/Amber with X hair color!” things people say). Other than being repetitive, people still saying these things even after making steps to have them look different probably just adds to such frustrations.

          I personally think some of these characters could stand to have their designs fleshed out a bit more, sort of like Ruth had. Different eye colors and such. I’m also not a fan of the “black dot eyes” that some characters like Walky have, and have always found it a bit strange that we have both styles of eyes in the comic, but I’ve gotten used to it after reading for so many years.

          I’ve always thought it’d be cool if Willis updated the eyes of more characters, especially since he’s proven to be pretty good at using them for expression these days, but I can understand his attachment to old character designs and not wanting to change them.

    2. Vree

      PS. Inb4 Danny asks her out.
      It’s great when Fate basically gives you the same gf with minor modifications over and over.
      It’s like, a costum gf modeller irl.

  45. Gargamel

    Well thematically that’s the wrong villain but eh, could work, face-paints might be a better choice or you could stand on the edge of a building standing on a large surfing board cut into the shape of a bat.

  46. Incubus

    Dorothy and Walky keep getting cuter together. This relationship is growing stronger and stronger. . . I really hope it doesn’t come to an end.

    1. Viktoria

      They’ve already set a date for the breakup; this relationship is just for fun and will end when Dorothy goes off to Yale. So plan to be sad sometime in 2040.

  47. Vusuki

    I just read this in about 3 hours. Brilliant. Well done!

    1. Clif

      But you haven’t really read it until you’ve read all the comments too. So go back and start over.

  48. Doctor_Who

    Walky would look weird bald.

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