479

Opaque
Posted on August 5, 2020 by David M Willis
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479 thoughts on “Opaque”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    ACAB

    especially this one

    1. gabbyNyssa

      All cops assassinate Blaine?
      (Kidding, ACAB for real, I just couldn’t resist the joke.)

      1. Valerie

        That was pretty good.

    2. leaf

      But he’s killing Blaine, doesn’t that make him a good guy?

      1. Lena

        Pretty sure a corrupt, mob informant cop who’s killing someone who just became a liability isn’t suddenly a good guy just because we don’t like the person he’s killing.

        1. NotPiffany

          Agreed. This is more of a “stopped clock is right twice a day” situation.

        2. porthos9438

          I’d agree. Just like Hitler isn’t praised for being the one to kill Hitler. A bad person doing a bad deed to a good end doesn’t make them good, or the deed any better.

      2. Mollyscribbles

        Doing the right thing for the wrong reason doesn’t get him the credit.

        If he’d simply ensured Blaine would be charged for the crimes he’d actually committed, that’d make him a good guy.

        Chaotic good, if he’d decided that if Blaine’s daughter beat him up, she was acting in self-defense and not to bother bringing her in.

    3. ReFlex76

      He’s about to kill Blaine, so he’s not *that* much of a b.

      1. Jamie

        Maxim 29: The enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy, no more, no less.

        1. Agemegos

          The enemy of my enemy is a possible strategic asset.

        2. Undrave

          Very cynical, but much more realistic. I’m stealing that.

        3. Joe Helfrich

          I’ve always used “the enemy of my enemy is a tool.” Little more nuance in the description. First popped out during a LARP where I was playing a Tremere elder. Felt on brand.

        4. Gulby

          I like that. That’s cynical though.

        5. LauraS

          Ooh, a double meaning. I like it.

        6. Hexx

          The Enemy of my Enemy is just waiting for me to be distracted with the other guy before he sticks the knife in both our backs.

        7. Needfuldoer

          Ooh, that’s good.

          It’s like on special two-part TV show episodes that have the heros and villains team up against a third party Big Bad so they can eliminate it and de-escalate back to their normal episodic bickering.

        8. Kinoko

          Ooh, I like this version better.

        9. Drakontis

          I see you fellow Schlock Mercenary fan, and I witness you.

        10. Keith

          Now if he can just figure out how to get paid twice for the job. Because nobody does this work for free.

        11. Super enemy

          The enemy of my enemy is my SUPER enemy. That’s multiplication!

        12. Fogel

          My enemy’s enemy is … me.

      2. Clint McInnes

        Maybe I’m missing something. (Probably)
        It looked to me as if he’s effecting Blaine’s escape.
        (I hope I’m wrong.)

        1. Droewyn

          Escape really isn’t plausible for someone who is handcuffed to the bed.

          Blaine has outlived his usefulness to the mob.

        2. darkgloomie

          He isn’t. He’s manifacturing plausible cause for either a suicide, or a cop shooting.

        3. Jack Faire

          You’re not alone that’s how I initially read it too

    4. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

      Thinking this one is less about simply being corrupt and more about a certain Korean mob wanting someone on the inside….Whom has been sick of Blaine being a bit of a neidermeyer for a while, but put up with it because it was all gangland protocol before now.

      Might as well left a videotape of himself setting city hall on fire with the governor’s cousins inside, for all the heat this will bring…While serving his crime family’s needs not a single bit, so less. Liabilities gotta go, and Blaine might as well be Tommy from ‘Goodfellas’ by this point.

      1. thejeff

        Or more simply corrupt as opposed to the more usual cops are bastards. He’s actually in the pay of the mob, not just doing the usual bad cop stuff.

    5. Chris Phoenix

      Yeah. https://medium.com/@OfcrACab/confessions-of-a-former-bastard-cop-bb14d17bc759

      Read that, especially the part about how cops will often inflict pain to get someone to struggle so they can pile on the charges.

      Then watch the video of Rayshard Brooks’ death. The cuffs click on, and he’s still standing there quietly. Then there’s a second click and he pulls away. Over-tightened cuffs are excruciating. At that point he tries desperately to get away… but he doesn’t quite make it.

    6. Suitora

      All Cats Are Beautiful? Where is the beautiful cat here?

  2. BBCC

    Pick up the phone because I fucking called it!

    Couldn’t have happened to a nicer asshole.

    1. Olivia Cheatham

      Upvote

    2. Regalli

      Seriously. Quelle surprise.

      1. Bluesnake463

        Unfortunately now the Mob knows who Amaza-girl is and will also have a hit out most likely

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          Why? The mob doesn’t care about random criminals when they aren’t competing.

        2. James

          Why would the mob care about Amazigirl? Genuine question, I’m wondering if there’s something I’m not remembering.

        3. deathjavu

          Mike did start yelling about Blaine’s money laundering, which might be enough to put someone on the trail. They might not care about Amazi but they might care about Mike.

        4. Wafflebob

          Man, I saw this on coming a mile away. I have no idea how Blaine thought this idiotic idea was going to end in anything other than his own death.

        5. Regalli

          Blaine does not think ahead.

          Basically ever.

        6. Tomn

          Well, there’s not much ahead to think about anymore, is there?

        7. Needfuldoer

          There’s going to be a bit less of a head momentarily.

        8. Droewyn

          In his head he’s not only a brilliant tactician, but so valuable that the mob bosses should owe HIM loyalty.

          Kind of like Galasso without the charisma.

          Or, you know, Donald Trump.

        9. NotPiffany

          That seems more likely to be the reason they know the DA may want to offer Blaine a deal, though.

        10. Sirksome

          Amazi-girl is responsible for the loss of one of their launderers. The mob probably does not know this whole thing was a personal vendetta by Blaine. On the outside it looks like a small time vigilante decided to get more serious and take down a low level crook. The mob at least has reason to investigate.Amazi-girl at this point just to cover their ass.

        11. thejeff

          How would it look like that? Blaine was the one doing unsanctioned kidnappings. Even from the outside that doesn’t look like Amazi-Girl’s initiative. Even more so once they know she’s his kid. If they believe that.

        12. Azhrei Vep

          I’m with thejeff. Blaine is responsible for the loss of one of their launderers. Amazi-girl, at worst, prevented him from being gunned down in the street by the cops, which would have simplified things even more than this.

        13. Sirksome

          Maybe it doesn’t look like that. I’m running off the assumption that Blaine’s lied to them about everything, because that’s what he does. There’s no real incentive for him to tell them the truth about what happened here or why. I really doubt the mob backed him on his scheme to kidnap a bunch of college students to blackmail his daughter into dropping out as a way of saving on paying her tuition. Honestly though I don’t know how this looks from the outside. Just some random man having a mental breakdown and assisting another criminal because they both REALLY hate the gays? Although Becky did kind of expose everything she knew on twitter anyway so it’s hard to say what the mob would actually believe between her post and whatever lies Blaine is definitely telling. My bad.

        14. NotPiffany

          Well, they may know that the whole mess was Blaine’s petty vendetta now. Or they will once Lester checks in. I think Blaine told him everything.

        15. Droewyn

          Maybe if there’s an overlap between the mob’s kids and the school’s plague of rich, entitled, date rapists. Which, given that I remember Ryan’s friends all being white, likely isn’t the case.

          Amber/AG and Asher haven’t come into contact, as far as I know.

        16. Zee

          Amber and Asher met. She and Walky were soft-stalking him, he got annoyed at her ogling him, Walky punched him for ratting out sal, amber went to make out with walky

        17. Sirksome

          Possibly not. Blaine’s been consistently denying it and even panel two I think is meant to be sarcasm from him. What with Amazi-girl being in quotations. His denial might be wofking in Amber’s favor.

        18. Agemegos

          For why? Hits cost money, and Amazi-Girl doesn’t.

        19. Regalli

          Honestly what I see as WAY more of a threat is Blaine trying to save his skin by directing Lester to the fact that the kid in a coma downstairs knows everything.

          I don’t think that’ll save BLAINE, if for no other reason than a fucking TEENAGER could find his faulty finances, but it could actually draw the mob into AG’s orbit if they try to kill Mike as well. (Or succeed.) Which could be… worrisome.

    3. Undrave

      Everybody called it, man :p I’m surprised it didn’t happen in the police car.

      1. Thanatos

        Nope. They had to question him first to see if there would be any loose ends after they… ended him (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖).
        Mafia isn’t stupid. They wouldn’t persist so well if they were. So they got him to tell them everything so they can make sure no one can tie anything back to them.

      2. Benwhoski

        I didn’t exactly call _this_ but I did expect that the mob wasn’t going to be so thrilled with him pulling something so reckless and high-profile.

    4. Abbe_Faria

      Beat me to it XD but yeah gonna step outside to pick up that phone. Feel weird wanting to give props to the corrupt cop, but Blaine continuing to go on about Amber and Amazi Girl is really asking for this.

    5. Azhrei Vep

      I’m only surprised it happened so soon. Really figured they’d wait until he was in jail, awaiting trial.

      1. thejeff

        The sooner it happens, the less time he has to tell the cops he has useful info and ask for protection.

  3. Sirksome

    HAHAHAHA!!!!

    1. Sirksome

      I mean uh! Oh no! What a tragic and sudden loss of life!

      1. clif

        Isn’t it?

        1. PB

          Oh, I know! I’m absolutely the opposite of giddy right now. XP

  4. Proxiehunter

    Well shit.

  5. Chris

    As expected. Though the cop really shouldn’t be telling him this before it’s done.

    1. Doctor_Who

      No villain can resist a good pre-win gloat.

      “Oh Blaine, if only there was someone who loved you.”

      1. bryy

        …. i understood that reference.

        1. Jon Rich

          I did not. What is it?

        2. RacingTurtle

          Frozen:)

        3. Robbie

          Spoilers.

          (It’s from Frozen)

      2. Maddieface

        “You were killed here. Unknown shooter. It was a tragedy. That’s all it was.”

        1. Ana Chronistic

          It’s… a tragedy. Just a tragedy. That’s all it was.

      3. Axel

        it’s topical because they watched it in Joyce’s dorm party

        1. Clint McInnes

          Did they? I recall she’d said they weren’t ALLOWED to watch it because it presented the concept that parents could make mistakes. And we can’t have that, now, can we?

        2. thejeff

          That’s why they watched it at the party.

    2. TechheadZero

      It’s just some professional courtesy between violent corrupt bastards.

    3. Agemegos

      I don’t expect Willis to show us tatters of scalp and skull and a spray of whatever shit Blaine has in place of brains, which means that this scene has to end before the top comes off Blaine’s head. And the exposition has to go before the cut, so….

    4. Axel

      cops are dumb af though

    5. Bluewind

      Actually, I think it’s damn smart. He’s scaring Blaine by telling him he plans to keep the report opaque after Blaine wrestles his handgun from him followed by ominous dialogue. He’s baiting him, and basically guaranteeing that Blaine will go for that specific gun. It can go one of two ways from here.
      1. Blaine gets shot with the gun, giving a good trajectory and evidence when it’s investigated.
      OR
      2. The gun the officer is holding is a decoy (empty, jammed beforehand, his personal piece still on him but empty). This leaves the officer free and clear to pull out his backup (over 4/5ths of officers in the states carry a main gun and a backup gun) and open fire. He could also just yell for help (especially if Blaine tries to take him hostage) with the cop outside running in and not hesitating to open fire on Blaine. Lester will get in little to no trouble over it (gun maintenance, failing to properly secure a prisoner…) and it wont be clear that a gun was removed from its holster before Blaine went for it.

      1. Sunny

        Or blame the doctors. “They told us not to handcuff him properly because it would have been dangerous for him what with all his injuries. If only they had not been doing their job this tragedy could have been prevented.”

        1. Bluewind

          Hum… never considered that. Interssting angle. Btw, my guess is part writer’s intuition and part my aunt was married to a crooked cop.

    6. Scott

      Well he is making Blain more likely to struggle which will support his cover story.

  6. Nono

    Curse this sudden and inevitable betrayal!

  7. JA

    …dafuq?

    1. Jamie

      Panel 3: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/ninest/

    2. Needfuldoer

      The thing on the tray table in front of Blaine is a type of spirometry test. You blow into a tube to fill the large chamber, while keeping a plastic bead in a certain range in the small chamber. Doctors can determine pulmonary function (lung capacity, how hard you can blow, etc) from those readings.

      (Not a doctor, I’ve just seen these things before.)

      1. Chromedome

        A common misconception. It’s called an incentive spirometer. You don’t blow into it, you actually breathe in through it. It has two functions: determining lung capacity and also forcing the patient to deeply breathe. By completely filling the lungs with fresh air, your chances of catching pneumonia fall considerably. When a patient is injured in the hospital, they typically stay in bed far longer than they normally would, which causes days of shallow breathing. The bases of the lungs not receiving fresh air for days creates a swampy environment, and bacteria spreads quickly in such environments, causing pneumonia. Fresh air to the bases of the lungs helps dry them out, inhibiting bacteria growth.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Oh, right. It’s been a bit since I’ve had to deal with one of those.

          Basically you breathe in until it hurts, right?

        2. Chromedome

          As deeply as you can tolerate, certainly. Hopefully it’s not so much as to cause pain. If it is… ruh roh raggy.

  8. Newllend(henryvolt)

    Yeah that’s what I thought, you’ve been fucking up one to many times Blaine.

  9. Doctor_Who

    Folks, I know that this looks bad, but Blaine is fine. He’s going to a farm upstate where he can run and play with all the other mobbed up thugs.

    1. Stephen Bierce

      So far up upstate that it’s really Lake Michigan.

      1. Agemegos

        With comfy custom-fitted cement waders!

      2. Geneseepaws

        That is an Erie thought.

        1. Deanatay

          Don’t go acting all Superior.

        2. Deanatay

          (And if you think this is some kind of pun chain, Huron’g.)

        3. Deanatay

          (…Well, not Ontari-ly wrong…)

        4. Geneseepaws

          I think that it’s Blaine that deserves the
          Pun-ishment, not the commentariat. That’s cruel and unusual.

      3. Droewyn

        I think Huron to something!

    2. Agemegos

      Actually, I think Asher’s Gramps is pretty intent that Blaine should not end up upstate playing with anyone.

    3. temperaryobsessor

      Somehow I don’t think he’s getting witness protection.

      1. Mephron

        A witness is perfectly safe if they can’t tell anyone anything.

        Soon Blaine will be as safe as a human can be, even as his skull gets a service door and a bay window.

  10. ADLegend21

    aw he’s gonna let him get aw….wait….OH SHIT GET FUCKED BLAINE HAHAHAHA

  11. Terah

    YES!

  12. CMasta1992

    Damn the blammer in the ER? What happened to pillows? Much quieter

    1. Illjwamh

      Hard to make the claim he smothered himself.

      1. CMasta1992

        If you’re bold enough to murder someone in a hospital, you can definitely forge an autopsy report.

        1. Sirksome

          Why even bother with that? He’s a cop. Pretty much whatever he says happens, goes at this point. Especially since Blaine’s a violent criminal that murdered a guy. This might not even get investigated.

        2. tim gueguen

          A beat cop, crooked or otherwise, generally has nothing to do with conducting autopsies, or writing the autopsy report.

        3. Buli-Buli

          He doesn’t need to.
          The fact he’s a cop means the rest of the law enforcement coomunity will do everything they need to to protect him.

        4. Apostate

          What Buli-Buli said.

        5. Regalli

          Yeeeeeep.

          Sadly.

        6. thejeff

          Would need to if he smothered him though. Can’t really smother in self-defense.

        7. Droewyn

          Can’t really smother yourself with a pillow anyway… autonomous panic response would kick in and force you to breathe.

          A plastic bag, on the other hand, if he tied it…

        8. Reltzik

          Kinda hard to do that when there are a whole lot of respiratory specialists within 100 yards who are watching Blaine’s case very carefully, and also a whole bunch of alarms hooked up to him that will summon dozens of credible witnesses long before Blaine dies of hypoxia.

        9. khn0

          The police will hire non-specialist to get the report done. Happened a few time already.

    2. Agemegos

      Blaine’s recent exploits show that he really is stupid enough to start something that has no way of working out well for him, such as grabbing a cop’s gun while he is incapacitated by injuries and handcuffed to a hospital bed.

      1. Reltzik

        In full and reluctant fairness to Blaine and this hypothetical future stupidity of his, it doesn’t look like he has smarter options.

        … unless you mean that his stupidity precedent makes the “cop shot the injured handcuffed guy in self-defense” scenario more plausible in his particular case. In which case, yes, it does.

        1. Agemegos

          That is indeed what I meant.

        2. Regalli

          Amber: So our father got himself killed by aggressively trying to escape custody again for the second? Third time in twenty four hours, coming out of surgery for the ribs I kicked into his lungs.
          Faz: It appears so.
          Amber and Faz:… Checks out.

        3. Icalasari

          Eh, I’d think Amber would at least pause, then go, “You know what, I choose to believe this. I’m not going to dig in this case”

    3. Nono

      Might have a silencer to give himself some cover time.

      1. Reltzik

        Unless that silencer also muffles the machines that Blaine’s hooked up to, it would just make everything more alarming.

        *flees for dear punning life*

      2. Illjwamh

        Silencers don’t work like in the movies, anyway. You’d still clearly be able to hear it up and down the hall.

  13. DailyBrad

    You reap what you sow.

  14. Robbie

    Uh wait what?
    He’s about to murder him?

    1. Angel

      No no, of course not. Blaine’s about to conveniently shoot himself with a suspicious gun that he somehow managed to smuggle into the hospital. It’s a mystery alright, but don’t worry the cops are on the case!

      1. drs

        “Shoot himself with the cop’s gun that he wrestled away from the cop.” It’s right there in the strip.

      2. Lanie

        Actually, since Blaine is in police custody it’s 100% accurate that he would have an armed officer at bedside. Lester didn’t have to smuggle the gun in at all, he’s expected to have it. In real life Blaine would also be handcuffed by one arm to his hospital bed as well. Since we can’t see his wrists I’m curious if Willis will have included that detail.

      3. Doctor_Who

        On the case.

      4. Deanatay

        Blaine is about to “accidentally” commit “suicide by cop”.

        It’s a tragedy. People will be really choked up about it.

    2. NotPiffany

      Sure.

      The mob knows that Blaine knows enough about their operation (finances and cops on the payroll at least) to cause trouble if he turned state’s evidence.

      He’s currently looking at murder and kidnapping charges; he’s facing life in prison at best and the death penalty at worst.

      The only thing he has to offer a DA to trade for his life is his knowledge of the mob.

      They’d want to shut him up even if they don’t know that he got a mob boss’s grandson involved in his petty vendetta.

      1. Regalli

        Finances, cops, and the grandson and he know each other on sight so at least a FEW of the bigwigs.

    3. Vukodlak

      Officially it will be self-defense, but yeah. Blaine is looking at life imprisonment his only way out is to rat on all his mob ties and go into wit-sec. So they’re going to take him out before that offers on the table.

  15. Kamino Neko

    Hands up everyone who called it… Five…ten…three hundred…

    1. Agemegos

      Might be easier to count the people who didn’t see it coming. Blaine. Ross. The bozo boys….

      Anyone else?

      1. Cyrus

        Plenty of commenters who were convinced he had incredible sway for some reason.

        1. DrunkenNordmann

          I never really got why – everything about Blaine pointed to him being just some low-level mook with an inflated ego.

        2. James

          A lot of people on the internet are Really Bad At Nuance.

        3. missilentmurmur

          Some of the readers are not native speakers, so please.

        4. Jamie

          Eh, he’s also the largest villain in the entire comic strip. It’s not that hard to see why Willis would come up with an excuse to let him get away and menace the main cast once again.

          Fortunately, Willis is remarkably not lazy at writing.

        5. aqua

          Because how can someone be that cocky without something to back it with? He strong armed the bosses grandson, you have to have some kind of insurance or trump card to do stuff like that.

        6. Cyrus

          By being a raging narcissist with delusions of grandeur. Besides, being able to manipulate a kid by threatening to tell on him to his grandpa (possibly about the money he stole?) does not equal having power and influence in the mob.

    2. bryy

      Well, I mean, Sarah was at least half-right.

  16. JetstreamGW

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah see you in hell.

  17. Spaceforce Captain

    Hmmm…either the cop is going to let Blaine shoot his way out, or he’s been sent to off him. Either way, I’m going to need popcorn.

  18. Zor

    Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa karma (get fucked, Blaine)

  19. Illjwamh

    Mine is an evil laugh!

  20. Robbie

    I’m worried that by announcing his intentions the cop has ruined his chances of success

    1. StClair

      Same.

    2. Needfuldoer

      I really hope this goes the way it looks like it will. Blaine’s not competent (or uninjured) enough to wrestle the gun away and kill Lester with it.

      besides, that would also just put him in a whole new world of shit, and the Gramps mafia will send even more dirty cops after him.

    3. Azhrei Vep

      I’m convinced it will actually improve his chances of success, by making it happen for real rather than just being his story.

    4. Zee

      I’m wondering how Mr. Ribs in his lungs, possibly cuffed to the bed is supposed to fight back in any way meaningful enough to backfire

  21. Cyrus

    surprisedpikachu.jpg

    But Blaine’s mob connections make him invincible! He’s not supposed to suffer consequences!

  22. jupiterror

    bruh not cool lester

  23. James

    No. Stop. Don’t.

    The only possible downside here is the mob possibly knowing or having reason to suspect Amber as Amazigirl, if they ever had a reason to care, which I can’t imagine they do at this exact moment, but who knows.

    1. Newllend(henryvolt)

      Unlike Blaine she doesn’t have a vast knowledge about their Network or where they keep their money so there’s no reason to bother.

      1. James

        Yeah, it’s not likely. But I have faith in Willis’ ability to make things terrible as necessary.

      2. Uly

        She… she might.

        She certainly has access to somebody who quite probably does remember what he saw all those years ago while going through Blaine’s paperwork. (If he ever wakes up.)

        1. Ron again

          They might know there’s someone who “knows stuff” as Mikes info gathering activity may have been noticed. They may not know it was Mike and assume it was AG. Occams Razor implies it’s different but that rarely goes in these comics.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Amber could plausibly remember some of his dealings from before the divorce, if only at a high level. (“He and mom always worried about money, but he still bought trucks and power tools” or something like that.)

          Faz may or may not know as well, but if Yuri is part of the family she probably taught him to turn a blind eye and not ask questions.

  24. jaybee

    wait i dont understand? is the cop helping him escape or betraying him?

    1. Agemegos

      Going to kill him in self-defence.

    2. danielle

      betraying him

    3. Angel

      The cop is going to shoot him and make it look like a suicide. After all, he’s a disgraced gangster who just got humiliated and is desperate to stay out of prison. Nobody would exactly question why someone in his position would off himself.

      1. NotPiffany

        An attempted escape, not a suicide.

        1. thejeff

          “I am making out the report now. We haven’t quite decided yet whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.”

    4. Uly

      The cop moonlights as a mob enforcer. He’s going to shoot Blaine and make it look like self-defense, or possibly suicide.

      1. Victor Riley

        Only thing that concerns me… if he dies, will Amber still be able to afford going to college? He’s the one that has to pay it. What happens if he’s gone (or in jail)? Does his estate keep paying the bill?

        1. Bathymetheus

          Apparently Yuri is a mobster’s daughter. There is precedent for the mob paying the widow of a hit a pension. Provided she is not considered to be at fault, of course.

    5. Bysmerian

      Definitely betraying him. The question is whether Angel or Agemos is right; whether the story is going to be “he took his own life rather than go to jail” or “he tried to take my gun from me in a bid for an escape, but it went off in the chaos and…well…he won’t be standing trial now, that’s for sure.”

      1. Ron again

        I got the feeling it’s going to be the second one, but now that you mention it, the humiliation line can be read both for the mob and for Blaine.

    6. Lingo

      Yeah, at first I thought the cop was telling Blaine he was going to have to go on the lam, but it makes much more sense that he’s just going to kill Blaine.

  25. Agemegos

    Yup. Normally the mob would prefer a mysterious disappearance, but they have to silence Blaine before the feds offer him a deal for testimony.

    1. NotPiffany

      And Blaine’s made it so easy to make a “suicide by cop” scenario look plausible. He abducted a bunch of college kids, tried to abduct a congresswoman’s campaign manager, murdered his own partner with a hammer, took one of the college kids hostage a second time, and tried to make a break for it. “This crazy guy tried to grab my gun and escape” is a pretty believable scenario.

  26. jmsr7

    The thing about narcissists is that they rarely stop to think about what other people might think about them. So they’re bad at predicting how other people might react to their actions. Usually, this just means the end of a relationship, and that rarely has lethal consequences. Rarely.

    1. deathjavu

      Blaine is so narcissistic he forgot that he works for the mob – a group of people as ruthlessly cruel as he is, but actually somewhat competent. They did to him exactly what he would do to them if the roles were reversed, but he still doesn’t see it coming.

      1. Droewyn

        He was graciously allowing the mob bosses to THINK they were in charge.

        Unfortunately for him, they seem to have been correct.

  27. Stephen Bierce

    AH~AH~YA~YA! (Wah wah wah)… (/The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly)

  28. betsumei

    Okay, now we just need to make sure Dan doesn’t come in here and dan up the handy removal of Ballpeen from Amazi-Girl’s rogues gallery.

    1. drs

      Haha I was just thinking of Danny.

    2. SuperFroakie82

      I’m thinking he’s gonna be seconds too late to stop it from happening, but just in time to witness Lester standing with a gun pointed at Blaine’s exploded face and subsequently get the mob going after him.

      1. Droewyn

        Luckily for Danny, Lester doesn’t get a good look at his face but does see the hat and ukelele (upon which Danny was composing an epic ballad about lost love and the cruelty of *checks notes* worrying about a comatose friend).

        The entire next story arc is about Danny’s internal struggle: was his life worth losing his newfound stupid hat character development?

  29. Golden Yak

    I never saw it coming! Also, I knew it would turn out this way!

  30. Tarnagh

    Please let this mean what I think it means. Please don’t let Danny Running Away From Ethan blunder into this and Dan up this moment!

    1. Dara

      When Faz was talking to Amber, he said Blaine was upstairs, and then not long after, Amber’s mom, Joe, Joe’s dad, and Danny showed up at what appears to be the same floor/lobby area, and it looks like Danny just went down the hall from where they were to talk to Ethan. So Blaine is probably not on the same floor that Mike is, and Danny is unlikely to go upstairs and just happen upon Blaine’s room.

      1. Ron again

        I read the last two words as “Blaine’s boom”. No idea why.

        1. Deanatay

          Try “Blaine’s doom”. Might work better for you.

        2. Droewyn

          Boom today. … and probably tomorrow. There’s always a boom tomorrow.

          Also jam.

      2. Tarnagh

        Thank you for that reassurance!

      3. Needfuldoer

        Makes sense. Mike is likely in the ICU, and Blaine’s either in post-op recovery or a normal room.

  31. synnerman

    Hrm… I wonder if Amber is going to save him. I don’t want her to, but it would be interesting.

    1. tim gueguen

      Blaine might grab the cop’s gun and do the deed himself if she does. No way can he accept a woman saving his life.

      1. clif

        Besides, it’s going to be Faz who turn up just in time to save him or watch him die, whichever.

        1. thejeff

          Faz said that Yuri was upstairs with Blaine. Wonder where she is now.

        2. Agemegos

          Rehearsing her testimony, perhaps?

        3. Regalli

          I’m just saying, there are worse ways to get confirmation Yuri is in fact a mobster’s daughter. (Though that would not bode super well for Faz.)

    2. Deanatay

      The mob doesn’t care about AG – yet.

      In a few years, when a masked avenger starts a vendetta against organized crime in downtown Bloomington, they’ll start to care.

      1. Geneseepaws

        By that time she’ll be doing her graduate work at Champaign/Urbana

  32. Lanie

    Man, I think this is supposed to be Blaine losing his illusions of control of the narrative, possibly his life as well, and here I am just thrilled to death that Willis has drawn a beautiful representation of an incentive spirometer. No situation is too dire for pulmonary hygiene, Blaine, not even having your ribs pulled out of your lungs!

    1. Lexi

      I was admiring it too!! At first I thought it was a kettle, and was unsure why there was a kettle in the hospital, but then I recognized it as a spirometer!

      1. LynziGraye

        Cool, and I didn’t even have to Google the name of the thing! All I remembered was that it was used for breathing somehow. This comment section rocks. Thanks!

        1. Lanie

          Glad to be of service! This comment section is, in fact, the absolute best I’ve ever stumbled across.

        2. Droewyn

          I always just call them “the torture device with the plastic ball”

      2. Bicycle Bill

        Recognized it immediately also.  Never had to use one myself, but my mother managed to accumulate three or four of them.  I took one of them apart, painted the dome portion gray, and used it to represent the containment building in a nuclear power plant I installed on a segment of a model railroad module.

    2. BigDogLittleCat

      Right?! It should get a tag.

    3. Kamino Neko

      *looks it up* Huh. Number of times I’ve been hospitalized for lung issues, surprised I was never made to use one of those.

    4. CE

      Thank you, I did not actually know what it was called despite my irritation with using it a while back.

  33. Berlioz

    I can’t believe Blaine killed himself!

    So if I say that line, I get the cash, right?

    1. Dean

      He had so much to live for.

    2. Deanatay

      It’s just like that time that guy tripped and fell down that locked elevator shaft. And collided with seventeen bullets on the way down. Freak accident!

  34. Dave

    Ya know, I kind of figured for someone with “mob connections”, Blaine was drawing waaaay waaaaaay too much attention to himself.

  35. Ghastly

    This isn’t the usual definition of “Suicide By Cop”, but I’ll take it.

  36. Green

    I know this is like, A Big Deal and all, but mostly all I can focus on are the literal dozens of times I’ve had to use those lung-strength breather-things and how much I always always hate it. I hope Blaine hated it too, not sure how many more times he’ll have to do it though.

  37. Pagemistress

    You know, his denial over a fact that was literally revealed to be true to his face is just sad. It went from irritating to irritating and sad.
    Oh well, looks like I won’t have to deal with it for long!

    1. Sirksome

      Weirdly I think his delusion actually helped Amber a little bit. The mob might have targeted her for being partially responsible for putting their launderer behind bars. His denial makes that less likely.

      1. DrunkenNordmann

        I assume the mob is aware that this is 100 % Blaine’s fault.

        This wasn’t a case of somebody going after their money launderer and messing with their business – this was their money launderer playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes.

    2. Rectilinear Propagation

      He could only believe it for the five seconds he thought he could take credit for it*. It’s pathetic in the truest sense of the word.

      I actually thought for half a second, because he had seemed to accept that Amber was Amazi-Girl during that fight, that he was denying it here to protect Amber**. But then he was all, “Tell people if it will put her in jail”, and I’m like oh nevermind.

      *Alternatively, he stopped believing it specifically because she didn’t beat the crap out of him when she had the chance and he saw that as more weakness on Amber’s part.
      **I thought it was about to be a “I don’t actually want her dead” thing. I’m not sure that would have been believable anyway.

      1. Rectilinear Propagation

        To be clear: I didn’t expect him to protect Amber before reading the strip; that’s why I initially didn’t get why he was denying her alter ego. I fully expected him to just tell people she’s Amazi-Girl and Amber either having to deal with the fallout or being saved by Blaine not having any proof.

  38. Foxhack

    Please tell me Mike will bust in and ask for the gun so he can shoot him instead.

    1. Geneseepaws

      Is Blaine’s mother still alive? Cause although Mike is in the hospital, this might be her only chance to visit Blaine without the temptation to errrrr… never mind.

      1. Regalli

        Blaine, in Mike’s last conscious present-time strip after telling him Mike fucked her: ‘My mother is dead.’ (Thus prompting Mike’s ‘we’ll see her in hell’ one-liner and the fall.)

        1. Ron again

          You mean his “well you can come watch” 😛

        2. Regalli

          Theeeere we go! Knew he got a one-liner, was a bit fuzzy already on what.

      2. Needfuldoer

        According to Blaine-as-Ballpeen, no.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/dead/

        So either he’s lying, or Amber’s paternal grandmother is deceased.

  39. danielle

    alone and no witnesses

    1. Geneseepaws

      Oh, won’t Lester be there to witness it?

      1. clif

        Also Faz is on his way.

        1. Ron again

          Is he? He was just talking to Amber, without giving a clue he was going back up as far as I can tell. Will check.

  40. Keulen

    Oh shit. I didn’t see this coming.

  41. Reaver

    No, stop.. please don’t…

    -yawn-

    1. Deanatay

      *Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka*

      Please. Don’t. Stop.

  42. adam Black

    Oh God no,
    Please dont Danny this up .

  43. Svata

    who could have possibly seen this coming

  44. General Tekno

    Okay, who DIDN’T see this coming a mile away?

    Organized crime does NOT like loose cannons after all. The LAST thing they want to invite is scrutiny.

  45. Antonio Tyler

    Blaine’s about to shoot himself in the back of head a 10 times.

  46. Romanticide

    So the mob decided he was enough trouble already.

  47. Antonio Tyler

    Blaine’s about to shoot himself in the back of the head 10 times.

    1. Jamie

      Nah, he’s white, so he’s not terrifying enough to need the extra shots.

  48. Opus the Poet

    OK who has “Shot while attempting to escape” on their bingo card?

    1. Uly

      God, Blaine, even in the hospital you’re horrible. NO INSIGHT AND YOU DESERVE TO DIE LIKE THIS.

    2. Uly

      Whoops meant that as a top level reply.

  49. DiDi

    I… I don’t entirely remember why he’d want to do this.

    Why is he doing this? I mean, I don’t have any pity for the fucker but this reeks of personal and I can’t remember why…

    1. Uly

      Why he’d want to do what? Get shot a bajillion times by a dirty cop that’s working with the mob? Or why he’d want to keep denying and denying who his daughter is?

    2. Regalli

      Blaine knows which cops work for the mob, Blaine knows Lester, ergo Lester’s working for the mob. Blaine’s one piece of ammo to stay out of prison is turning state’s witness on the mob, and even if he DOESN’T it’s not inconceivable an investigation into his finances comes up since he could pay (exorbitant) bail for a total stranger. Blaine hides his finances so poorly a 13-year-old could find his conflicting tax returns. (Granted, that 13-year-old was Mike, but he did so in like, less than an hour.) Blaine knows the boss’s grandkid on sight, and the grandkid knows him too, meaning despite being a stooge he’s a stooge that gets around.

      Blaine is a liability to the mob, and to Lester specifically.

      1. Foxhack

        I thought the church paid Toedad’s bail?

        1. Deadjolras

          Blaine contributed to the bail fund using mob money because he’s a goddamn idiot.

        2. RacingTurtle

          What Deadjolras said. Relevant strip: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/03-sometimes-the-sky-was-so-far-away/bond/

        3. Regalli

          Also relevant is this, where we know he gave his REAL FUCKING NAME when he was bailing Ross out.

          Seriously for a literal supervillain, this man is really fucking bad at evil schemes.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/ohrightalmostforgot/

    3. Kamino Neko

      This doesn’t read personal to me, at all. This is just business, getting rid of a liability for their mutual employer, while making it look like an escape attempt.

  50. abacuswizard

    HashtagBlaineOMalleyDidntKillHimself

  51. TlalocW

    Man, Indiana is a hotbed of mob activity.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Everywhere is a hotbed of criminal activity. Some places are just better than others.

    2. tim gueguen

      Apparently in real life organised crime in Indiana is a “branch plant” of the Chicago Mafia groups.

    3. Dara

      That’s what I’ve been thinking. jfc, Indiana? When your biggest city is Indiananoplace what the hell is there to bother stealing? Is it like mob AA league or what?

  52. Illithid

    Not happening. Too dark, offing another rotten father. I don’t think Willis will do it.

    DO IT!

    1. Illithid

      No, on second thought, Amber’s got enough emotional issues, she doesn’t need that. Saving his life so he can rot in jail, though, would rub her ability in his face and might help her. I’ll root for that.

  53. Blue

    Man, when you can’t trust the mafia, who CAN you trust.

    1. Jamie

      There’s always Faz?

    2. Miri

      Danny has recently taken danning it up to whole new levels?

  54. Keulen

    And he still can’t accept that Amber is Amazi-Girl.

    1. bryy

      No, he does. He had that whole mnologue about how he made her.

  55. Lexi

    You know, I’m pretty ACAB in my leanings, but I’m willing to let this moment of police overreach go.

    1. Regalli

      Lester is also a mob crony, which is at least as much what’s going on there.

      Doesn’t make it better, but hey, I can utterly fail to mourn Blaine AND hope Yuri gets Lester twenty minutes from now. (After sufficient time for him to arrange the scene of the suicide, of course.)

      1. Jamie

        I don’t think there’s any particular need to arrange the scene.

    2. ego

      nah, this is salt-of-the-earth organized crime, not *government* crime. much higher class of asshole.

  56. Chris

    Plot twist: Blaine really does manage to wrestle the gun away, shoots Lester, and testifies against the corrupt cops who tried to silence him.

    1. Bagge

      Plot twist: Blaine really does manage to wrestle the gun away, tries to shoot Lester, misses, shoot self in dick.

      Because that’s who Blaine is.

      1. clif

        Lester reaches for the gun.

        Faz has it.

        Blaine gloats.

        Faz shoots Blaine.

        1. Lexi

          They both reached for, they both reached for, they both reached for
          The gun the gun the gun the gun the gun they both reached for the gun
          For the gun

        2. Bagge

          Heh

  57. Buli-Buli

    So…

    Will the Mob try and make an example of AG for messing with one of their own (even if he was suicidally stupid)?

    Or will they just sit on that info for if/when she tries her vigilante campaign against assests they actually care about?

    1. deathjavu

      They care about making money and not going to jail…as long as AG doesn’t mess with either of those, they’re not doing anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s on their radar now though.

      1. Foxhack

        The only thing AG does is beat up muggers and rapists. There’s no reason why she’d ever cross paths with the mob on purpose.

        1. Buli-Buli

          For now.

    2. BigDogLittleCat

      I would hope they’ll leave her alone. After all, she didn’t mess with him. He messed with her. If he hadn’t pulled this boneheaded stunt, AG and the mob never would have crossed paths.
      If anything, they’re probably grateful that she, however inadvertently, helped show what a liability he is to them.

    3. DrunkenNordmann

      Honestly, I doubt it.

      Amazi-Girl only relates to them as far as Blaine trying to mess with her is involved – and they’re about to cut this knot permanently.

  58. abysswatcher1993

    I want to cheer for Blaine’s demise, but… on the great scheme of things the mobs are still out there, having agents inside the police.

    Huh. Full Metal Alchemist was into something about evil people spreading their tendrils in all levels of power.

  59. Stu

    Honestly… kinda disappointed that the cop is dirty. Would’ve been awesome to see Blaine rot in jail for the rest of his life, always having to watch his back due to his connections.

    1. Regalli

      Blaine knew him by name, it wasn’t really a possibility this guy was anything but in with the mob.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Yup. He was the officer on-scene who took Blaine into custody.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/ohrightalmostforgot/

    2. tim gueguen

      That may still happen. Tune in tomorrow!

  60. Some1

    Much much later:

    Faz (and/or Amber): You killed my father…I wanted to kill my father!

    1. Geneseepaws

      Faz (and/or Amber): My (And/or Our) name is Inago Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die!

      1. Some1

        Hopefully Lester doesn’t have kids, otherwise this could go on for a while.

        1. Bathymetheus

          When that happens it’s called a vendetta. And they can indeed go on for generations.

  61. MatthewTheLucky

    Ugh, finally.

  62. bcb

    So, wait, is this police officer part of the same mob as Blaine?

    1. DrunkenNordmann

      Yes, which is probably why BLaine knows him by name.

  63. Architex

    Ah shit, it’s QC all over again

  64. BigDogLittleCat

    Is anyone in the hospital going to be suspicious that the cop who is supposed to be guarding this violent wacko is sitting right up and cozy next to the bed having a private chat with the prisoner?
    That seems a very peculiar method to guard a prisoner.

    1. Mae

      I’m assuming they’re in a private hospital room so that Blaine won’t be a danger to other patients. My best guess is that there are guards stationed out in the hall, and Lester is inside the room to make sure Blaine doesn’t somehow escape his cuffs or commit suicide… though he’s clearly planning to fail at that job.

      1. Kali

        Lester is in the room questioning him for the report and any follow ups needed. Blaine has lung problems, so expecting him to speak loudly is too much, so Lester needs to be closer… is a convenient excuse at least…

  65. Kater

    No.
    Don’t.
    Stop.

  66. Alanari

    Interesting how people sided with ethan yesterday and are now completely fine with blaine being murdered.
    Not sure how Amber deals with THAT. beating up her father is one thing. Him being killed might be a different story. Not even talking about the part where he is paying for j her education..

    1. Mae

      Though murder is pretty much never OK in real life, I feel like there’s a weird catharsis in fiction from seeing it happen to a person we really, really hate. Plus, Blaine’s threatened the lives of several people, outright attempted to take at least two (Amber, then Mike) and SUCCESSFULLY killed one (Toedad). And that’s not even counting all the kidnapping, child abuse, and enabling a crazy church to use as pawns in his vengeance plan.

      I think Blaine’s earned the bad karma at this point.

    2. Alex Boston

      Amber’s father-in-law-to-be could pick up the tab for Amber’s education (and mental health treatment).

      1. Alanari

        I don’t expect this marriage to last longer than her college years to be honest.

      2. Arian

        I think you meant her future stepfather? Richard?

        You gain a father-in-law when *you* get married; you gain a stepfather when your mother does.

    3. Regalli

      Oh it’s gonna be completely traumatizing to her.

      At the same time, Blaine is at least twice Mike’s age and has not shown anything that could be, in ANY possible light, considered a remotely good quality. (Mike… had a sense of justice once, possibly. Showed horror when forcibly confronted with the monstrousness of his actions. He’s still AWFUL, but I could see a possible storyline where he tried to stop being an asshole and I would relish it as Danny and Walky still say ‘no, fuck you, Mike’. Won’t be more than vaguely disappointed because of my general feelings on redemption equals death if he dies, but I’d accept that one. Cannot see a similar storyline for Blaine, WHATSOEVER.) Also, we’re commentors on a work of fiction and Danny is a person, talking about another person, to that person’s friend.

      The other thing is that narratively, Blaine could not be left alive anymore than Ross could. Their presence escalates things, and once Ross got bailed and Blaine successfully (enough, anyway, more than the parking lot incident with Danny) kidnapped the kids and put Mike in a coma, they were always going to be bogeymen lurking in the corner. Because of Blaine’s mob ties, the only way to know he’s not going to wriggle out of things and pop up to continue supervillaining is his death. Also Ross would have eventually gone to trial and I guess Willis didn’t want to write a courtroom drama.

      That’s why Blaine went full supervillain to have a Proper Showdown with AG, and it’s why Amber got the personal triumph of ‘I made me’ as her last dealing with him. Other villains can’t take the stage when he’s lurking in the background, so give him one last hurrah of awfulness, let Amber see the look on his face when he realizes she’s everything without him, and then exit, pursued by a bear dirty cop.

      1. Rabid Rabbit

        Blaine is… tenacious? In some contexts, that’s a good quality, right?

        Umm… I know! He’s not vain! Glasses instead of contacts or laser surgery, and he doesn’t dye his graying temples. There, a second quality!

        And, umm, let me see if I can manage a third one… He doesn’t completely abandon his families! (Even though that’s probably not by choice, as Yuri was probably convenient after he got kicked out by Stacey, and if the hypothesis that she’s related to the mob is correct, even he knows it wouldn’t be safe to desert her.) He got Amber to take self-defence lessons as opposed to just washing his hands of her! From a certain angle, very distantly, and if you ignore everything surrounding that fact, this would count as him doing a semi-decent thing.

        And that’s where I give up.

      2. Alanari

        He’s objectively a bad human being. And not trying to decide who should die is what separates me from him. He belongs to jail.

        1. Regalli

          (CW: Abuse.)

          He’s fictional, so I’m not grieving him. (Like I said, I think his dying is a narrative decision first and foremost. The dirty cop killing him is not meant to be a good thing, even if the look on his face is quite satisfying as he finally recognizes he completely fucked this all up.) Not even rooting for it so much as ‘yeah I do not see any other way this ends and this arc needed reassurance he will not return, because he cannot escalate things further than he already has.’

          But eh, I know I’m a petty and spiteful human being. I still consider myself distinct from the one person I personally know and wish dead. Furthermore, I consider my mother (who also expresses some ‘dear god why have other, less terrible relatives died while this man continues to live?’) distinct from him, because there are things he has done that we both find abhorrent. There are many examples, but the one that’s representative in that ‘Calling the school because Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All is unacceptable, because the greatest love of all is Jesus’s’ way goes like this:

          My aunt brings her one-year-old, his grandson, for a visit. She no longer lives super close by, and intends to visit for hours. When they arrive, there’s a gun on the coffee table. By all accounts, it’s loaded. She asks him to put it somewhere not on the fucking coffee table where the 1-year-old can try and grab at it. He proceeds to tell my aunt that it was completely unreasonable to expect him to secure and unload the gun, and that it was much more reasonable for said one-year-old to remain in his carseat as long as they were visiting, because her one-year-old not knowing a gun is dangerous is a matter of ‘discipline’. (While my aunt went to visit him two years ago when they thought he was dying, and my uncle maintains a strained but existent relationship, this guaranteed he would never have a relationship with any of us grandkids even supervised. He was never getting unsupervised visits, because he abused his children and wives.)

          No one’s going to do more than lament the fundamental unfairness of the universe that he’s been in hospice with, allegedly, a brain tumor for the past two and a half years while his sister went from sick to systemic cancer to death in about six months. We wouldn’t even express this to his current wife and the two youngest children who have never been disowned and estranged, and would hesitate to express something even vaguely similar to my uncle who still maintains that strained relationship. (IE, not until he says something similar first. There’s hating someone and then there’s being a dick to people you do care about with that hatred.) But there is virtually no goodwill to be had for him on that side of the family. Between that and dozens of other incidents, he’s burned it all away. (Hell, my great-grandfather – who was one of the gentlest, most good-natured people I knew – openly trash-talked the man, because he hurt his daughter and granddaughter.) I may not be a great person for wishing he’d die before the next member of the family we actually care about does, or implying he’s literally a vampire, but there is still a difference between a passive wish and doing active, constant, willful harm to other people. Particularly when that wish is BECAUSE he did active, constant, willful harm to people I care about.

    4. BBCC

      It’ll be traumatizing to Amber, but Blaine’s fictional. I’m all on board with him dying.

    5. Zee

      Not sure what parallel you’re trying to draw here

    6. Axel

      wanting (or not caring about) the death of someone who is an murderer, abuser, kidnapper, and probably a child molester (re Yuri) are different types of people to speak ill of (alive or dead) is a little different wanting (/not caring about) the death* of someone’s friend who happens to be an asshole

      *and, especially in a comic, a permanent coma would be equivalent to death, as well as his family taking him off life support eventually

      1. Axel

        I’m really out of it today, that should have read

        “are different types of people to speak ill of (alive or dead)” but with a slightly different intro line

        OR

        “is a little different than wanting”

  67. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    So, Amazi-Girl has to go on a Raging Rampage Of Revenge because No One Else Is Allowed To Kill Him But Me?

    1. clif

      No, but she has to take out the mob to protect Faz after he witnesses the murder.

      1. Ron again

        I just re read the last few times Faz showed up. I see no reason why he would be coming up to Blaine at all.

  68. NinjaNick

    Desperate? He’s going to prison no matter what. He killed Toedad and had some criminal connections, which should be at least life without parole.

    1. Kamino Neko

      That’s the point. It makes sense that he’d make a desperate Hail Mary for freedom, forcing the cop to kill him in self-defense. (Or, to assume the other assumption people are making is correct, that he’d take the easy way out and end it before he got to prison.)

      He’s telling Blaine what his story is going to be after he kills him.

  69. Mae

    So if Blaine and Toedad, the two biggest villains in the series, have been brutally killed…… logically this means Carol’s next, right? Please say yes.

    1. Axel

      she could at least go back to the hell that is living with one’s parents

  70. rachel

    THE CHICKENS ARE COMING HOME TO ROOST

  71. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    You know . . . in video games the Mob/Mafia is often seen as a higher class of Criminal. Sometimes more palatable then the actual Law Enforcement or other factions you can side with.

    Respectable almost.

    Corrupt.

    Murderous.

    Hypocrites.

    They have their own code of Ethics.

    They dress Smartly.

    And they act as a kind of Shadow Government for the Underworld so that “innocent civilians” don’t get hurt and draw heat on the rest of their operations.

    So this . . comes as no surprise whatsoever.

    Honestly I’m simply surprised that *this* is the moment that the Mob is deciding to strike instead of say . . .while Blaine is in transport to jail/prison.

    That way there is no real chance of footage capturing the incident and so long as other bought cops are on the case everything gets swept under the rug nice and easy.

    But that can be explained away I suppose.

    From what I understand the Mob gives their agents a bit of leeway with when and how things are done so long as it *does* get done and it is unable to be traced back to them.

    And so long as there are no cameras in *this* room then this is a pretty good plan for . . . Lester (seriously?) to come up with.

    1. Rabid Rabbit

      It couldn’t be when Lester had him in his car taking him to hospital, because then he couldn’t frame it as either an escape attempt or a suicide attempt by Blaine — no chance for him to grab the gun.

      It also can’t be once he gets to jail. Blaine is a liability. He has to be shut up before he can talk, and not all the cops are on the payroll. They managed to get Lester there to arrest him, but he has to be silenced fast, before he has the chance to talk to anyone, just in case. Other cops or non-corrupt higher-ups might be on their way. This is the best opportunity Lester has, especially since no other cops who might have different opinions on whether Blaine seemed in the state of mind to go for the gun have seen him.

      1. Ron again

        It may be useful to hear him out, as he may provide info on other people thay know about the mob. He may start talking about Mike in 3…2…1…

        1. Regalli

          I can’t imagine that’ll serve as more than a temporary distraction, though. ‘I hid my records badly enough one of my daughter’s little friends found them’ is… not helping his case. (I mean, WE know Mike was scarily competent even as a 13-year-old, but the beauty of Mike being Mike is I don’t think Lester would believe Blaine even if he told the painstaking truth, WITHOUT accounting for Blaine being an outlandish liar.)

    2. Regalli

      No one else in earshot for Blaine to try and sell Lester out to, is presumably the logic.

      That, or Lester’s banking on the blue wall of silence and the mob’s general approval to see him safely through.

  72. Delicious Taffy

    Oh sure, then the cop shoots him. I believe you.

  73. Huehuetotl

    Blaine deserves to be punished, or at least kept from harming anyone else. but that doesn’t mean its good he’s going to be murdered / extrajudicially executed.
    and it seems like murder is the kind of thing a murderer would want to be a surprise. unless he’s tricking Blaine into staging his own struggle.

    1. Regalli

      Possibly the struggle, possibly exposition so we the readers know precisely what just happened, likely a bit of column A, bit of column B.

      Blaine dying is good NARRATIVELY, I think, since it’s the only surefire way to remove him from the playing board, but yeah, were he an actual person his killing by the mob would be way more worrisome than him remaining alive, on the whole. (If for no other reason than the dead don’t talk.) Not gonna mourn this particular fictional character, but I am not pretending Lester is at all better than him. Just possibly a bit smarter. (Granted, that’s not hard.)

  74. Cmd1095

    Yeah this tracks. Blaine is useless to the mob now. In fact, if he lives and things get investigated further, he could be an active liability to the mob. Especially since he’s self-serving and not that bright, he could spill a lot of secrets in a plea deal or something.

    So yeah, makes complete and utter sense that the mob is cutting their losses with him and making sure he stays quiet.

  75. Bicycle Bill

    Welp, now we know at least who ONE of the dirty cops Mike alluded to is, don’t we?

    A classic example of a face-saving gesture once common in many military organizations as well.  A disgraced military man would be given a pistol with one round, a suggestion/reminder that ‘you know what to do to save everybody a lot of embarrassment’, and then a brief period of time in which to do so; the official report would read something like “killed in action” and that would be the end of that.

    Blaine is being given the opportunity to fall on his sword here, in a manner that could be easily explained away.  Sure the cop will be investigated as to how he let Blaine get the gun away from him, but a finding that “he was desperate, knew he had nothing to lose, and who would have expected that from someone with a punctured lung and under guard in a hospital bed anyway?” would more than likely be the official determination when all the dust settles, and Lester here will walk away with probably no worse than a written reprimand in his official file.

    As far as the cameras go, I’m sure there is one on at this very moment, but you never know when there will be a ‘malfunction’ of the camera or the recording equipment, do you?

    1. Kamino Neko

      We’ve known Lester was crooked since he first showed up, given that Blaine was all chummy with him. (Not realizing that he had more loyalty to the guys that pay him than the guy that just jeopardized that.)

      1. JBento

        One of the absoluteliest best scenes in A Game of Thrones (the book, not the show) is when Ned Stark and Littlefinger are talking about the coup and discussing the Goldcloaks and Littlefinger idly spins a dagger on the table while asking “But who are their loyal to?”. Then the dagger stops poitning at him and he goes: “There you go. To the one who pays them.”

    2. thejeff

      Unless Lester has another gun pointed at him the whole time, there’s no way he’s really giving Blaine the gun. The mob’s not dumb enough to assume Blaine would shoot himself.

      1. PiotrW

        I think that the implication here is that Lester will should Blaine and, then, claim that Blaine wrestled his gun from him and was shot while Lester tried to disarm him…

        1. Kamino Neko

          Which is such a common thing in the real world, it seems obvious to me that’s what’s happening, here.

        2. thejeff

          That’s my read. He’s not falling on his sword, he’s being thrown on it.

  76. Axel

    he looks kinda like howie in the second last panel. I think it’s just the glasses though

  77. Dave

    Anybody wanna pick that up? CUZ I FREAKIN’ CALLED IT!

  78. plasticwrap

    Here I thought the cop was gonna help him escape again. I suppose the perspective angles should’ve tipped me off to a more sinister intent. Either way, corrupt cops are just the worst.

    1. PB

      They are, but given that this is a fictional setting and Blaine is objectively The Worst™️, it’s hard for me to be really upset about this.

  79. Robert

    If I were attempting to write a darkest climax for recent scenes, Blane wrestles with Lester’s gun before he can be executed, gun goes off, hits Mike through a wall/the floor, making Danny’s recent harsh words to Ethan far more monstrous.

  80. Mr. Random

    … so are they gonna go and blackmail the kid with athletic abilities or leave well enough alone?

  81. Axel

    I don’t know how he possibly could, but I’m worried Blaine will actually get hold of the gun, and while the only good cop is a dead cop, that’s not much use if it’s a dead cop and also Blaine is loose.

    1. BenRG

      Blaine is just out of surgery. I suspect that he’ll end up tearing all his stitches and bleeding to death internally if he actually tries anything physical. However, if Yuri is there, she may be the spoiler for this plan.

    2. Ron again

      Wow. “the only good cop is a dead cop”? You do realize there are cops in other countries as well, right?

      1. Axel

        okay, the cops, if any should exist, in countries where the policing system was not developed to capture slaves, serve the whims of the richest and highest social status, nor to keep ‘undesirable’ minorities fearful and in the prison system, and who have not been involved in actions of similar prejudice, nor tolerated or covered up other cops doing so, and who do not harass anyone based on income, minority-status, nor just because they feel like it-

        some of those cops may be alright without being dead

        1. Axel

          also, although it is a very similar country that is fucked up in mostly the same ways, worse in others, I am from another country

        2. Ron again

          Glad we’re somewhat on the same page. I personally think there are a lot of “good cops” out there, you just never hear the headline “cop refuses a bribe and arrests the person offering” as that is just them doing their job. People saying “the only good cop is a dead cop” hits a nerve with me. A cop, good, bad or otherwise, is still a person.

          I didn’t mention a specific country. Was unsure whether “country” or “continent” was best.

        3. Axel

          all cops in the american (and Canadian, and many similar) police system are complicit though. It doesn’t matter if some officer doesn’t murder anyone when he is part of and has decided to remain a part of an institution meant to suppress minorities and protestors, and which covers for other police who murder and more. That’s why ACAB, in as much detail as I can do at 3:33 am

        4. Ron again

          I agree that it’s terrible that there’s a “blue wall of silence”. Many of the cops in my country are assholes, willing to physically hurt peaceful protestors, not discriminating between the peaceful people who want to be heard and the punks that are present to cause trouble. However, I don’t want to make the same mistake. I want to be part of a protest for a good cause, even if there are other “protesters” present that are causing trouble. Therefore I won’t judge one police(wo)man for the actions of another as he or she likely wants to be part of a good cause, even though there are those in the force that are corrupt and or malicious.

          Sorry for the timing, here it’s just past noon 😉

        5. Mr. Random

          Being part of the shitty system isn’t always a good sign.
          Laws need enforcement.
          Not to the current extent, but we do need some.
          And saying all cops are complicit sorta glosses over the people who are in that shitty system trying to make it better.

        6. Axel

          re country I assumed that you assumed that I meant america.

        7. Valerie

          Personally, I like “the only good cop is an ex-cop.”

          I personally have never had trouble with the police, but that’s probably because I’m a cute little white girl and not a “big scary black guy.”

          Honestly, if a cop tries to stop other cops from being racist fuckbags, then that cop is an okay cop. There are a lot of problems with the whole police thing, even outside of racism.

          I’m American, if it’s important.

        8. Ron again

          I completely agree with you. If a cop tries to stop other cops from being any type of fuckbags, I label them as good. Independent of their success at trying.

          And I think it shouldn’t be important where you’re from.

        9. thejeff

          It shouldn’t, but it might affect your experience and perspective of cops, since the institution varies from country to country, at least in degree.

        10. Joyfulldreams

          If a cop tries to stop other cops from being racist fuckbags they get immediately fired. And sometimes even threatened and killed! Whistleblowers are treated worse than dog shit by the police. Hell, choosing to just NOT shoot somebody who didn’t need to be shot gets you fired and ostracized.

          Good cops don’t stay cops for long, traditionally. That’s sort of the whole THING. You stay complicit, or you don’t stay at all.

        11. C.T Phipps

          As much as I believe slavery and racism impact every element of society, Sheriffs and Deputies have existed since Medieval times. The police being created for catching slaves is a….well inaccurate view of matters.

        12. thejeff

          The modern US police force traces a lot more descent to southern slave patrols than to the medieval Sheriff – who wasn’t really law enforcement, but more of a manager.

        13. C.T Phipps

          The problem is that basically is a very Americano-centric view of the police as well. It doesn’t help also that the police as know them were created in NEW YORK and moved outward, not the South.

        14. Axel

          That is why I qualified it with “nor [the rest of my post],” rather than leaving it at that or using “and” instead of “nor”

    3. PiotrW

      “… while the only good cop is a dead cop…”

      Okay, seriously, can we draw the line here? I realize there are *serious* problems with how police works in the US, but even there not all cops are monsters that deserve to be killed. Also, there also cops in other countries with police forces that don’t have problems similar to those of the US system. Not to mention, cop issues aside, you are basically refusing a whole group of human beings the very right to live.

      TL;DR – what you said is bigoted, hateful and literally evil. You should be ashamed.

      1. BBCC

        As much as I don’t agree with wishing real people dead, I am going to say that in my experience, ‘other countries don’t have problems similar to the US’ is untrue. Usually when people say that, the countries they give as examples do have similar problems (corruption, over policing minorities, covering for misbehaving cops, etc.), they’re just less publicized

        1. Axel

          I meant to say something along these lines. I am not super educated about every country’s police system but my mind immediately goes to Negro Matapacos and Chilean protests and police presence.

          (Chile is far from the only example but my husband wears a Matapacos badge (which roughly reads as ‘forgetting is betrayal’) so that example is always at the forefront of my mind)

      2. Axel

        the police aren’t a minority group which one can be bigoted against. they’re an oppressive force, and an oppressive force which they joined by choice. you’re not born a cop.

        also I didn’t wish them all dead, I just said that it’s what to takes for them to be good (although I can leave room for ex cops as above). I wish them to be abolished.

        1. Axel

          Also I would fully rather be called “evil” than be a cop sympathizer.

  82. Paradox

    I don’t like this outcome, death is too merciful for Blaine

    1. Sam

      It might be too merciful for Blaine if you value punishment, but it is a great mercy for Amber and Faz to not have him around any more which I would say matters more narratively than him getting exact comeuppance as this was still a self-created consequence ultimately.

  83. cartoogle

    I wonder if everyone is going waay the wrong direction here: Clarence is helping Blaine run away, while saying firmly to B that the mob is cutting him loose. “Run, and keep running, asshole.”

    1. cartoogle

      OK, I’m probably not buying that either.

      1. Jake'm

        I mean, I’d buy it if he were capable of running in the first place. Having freshly-removed ribs is not what I’d call “best time to start running” :V

        1. Geneseepaws

          My doctor said it’s never Too Late to get into shape! Except for maybe the rather Late Blaine O’Malley.
          Our newspaper has a euphemism; “died unexpectedly.” which means suicide. Sudden non-suicidal death is “died suddenly.“

  84. Marcus Wallaby, M.D.

    I’m impressed at Willis’s attention to detail re hospital protocols. Not one cartoonist in a hundred would remember to put an at the bedside. He has to have had inpatient surgery.

  85. Marcus Wallaby, M.D.

    I’m impressed at Willis’s attention to detail re hospital protocols. Not one cartoonist in a hundred would remember to put an Incentive Spirometer at the bedside. He has to have had inpatient surgery.

  86. Furious_Tomato

    I see what’s going on here. The cop is telling Blaine “Off yourself or we’ll pin this on you and your daughter in order to cover it all up.”

    1. JustAName

      …That would be the dumbest threat ever. Blaine is already taking the fall for this, and he hates his daughter.

      You’re probably thinking of the stories where an innocent person is forced to take the blame for something they didn’t do, sacrificing themselves to protect their family. This is the opposite of that, the person is guilty and trying to harm their family. ‘Off yourself and we’ll make sure to also pin things on your daughter’ would already a be more effective threat for this.

      But this is not a threat. The cop is merely informing Blaine what’s going to happen. Blaine is going to ‘desperately attempt to escape’ and the cop is going to be ‘forced’ to shoot him. Bonus points if Blaine tries to resist after hearing this, as that would just give more evidence to ‘prove’ that’s really what happened.

      1. Axel

        maybe ‘forced’ to shoot him, maybe a staged suicide.

  87. Harvey Janus

    -Gene Wilder voice- Help. Police. Murder.

    In all seriousness, So Long Blaine, we’ll never miss ya.

    1. Smallfoot

      Looks like they won’t need our help.

  88. BenRG

    Come on, Blaine. Please don’t seriously tell me that you weren’t expecting this!

    You’ve wasted a lot of the family’s favours today and created a difficult situation with the sons of some very rich men. Sorting this out will take time, bribes and a considerable loss of face for Asher’s grandfather. Don’t you think that he’ll want to make sure that all the rest of his hirelings know that he won’t tolerate such behaviour from them?

  89. Eldritchy

    Ahahaha I knew it. Not exactly the prison shanking I had in mind but close enough.

  90. Nevermaker

    As someone who wants corruption in the police stamped out, I am APPALLED.

    But as someone who hates Blaine, I’m DELIGHTED.

    1. Regalli

      Pretty much. Absolute shocker, this is.

  91. acher4

    …wait,what?
    Is Blaine getting a “get out of jail” card?
    or…?

    1. Smiling Cat

      Kinda, technically? In the sense that he definitely won’t end up in jail…

    2. BenRG

      He’s being reminded that dead men don’t get to avoid jail by narking about their bosses.

      1. JBento

        They still get to avoid jail, though – everybody wins.

    3. Zee

      I mean, in the same way Epstein got a get out of jail card

  92. HeySo

    See, and this is why DoA fails as a traditional Superhero narrative- all the villains keep getting offed, preventing their traditional, ceaseless returns! I mean, what even are we going to do for continuing narratives? Keep introducing new villains or something? Yeah, because that always works well.. I mean, that’s how you get villains like Polka-Dot Man and Condiment King. -.-; Or you get a Bleach scenario, where the villains are different, but the narrative itself starts feeling overly repetitive.

    No, clearly Blaine is going to have to survive this, no matter how improbable it may be. I mean, if nothing else, Blaine has gotta spite Amber just one more time..

  93. Bagge

    FUCK!

  94. Bagge

    …wait, we need to find out if Lester is a parent. By the ancient rules of settling ties by combat (as established by Blaine vs ToeDad), he might be our new most-aweful-parent right here!

    1. Opus the Poet

      Do you mean fantastic Aweful? Or really putrid awful? One letter can change everything.

      1. Bagge

        The one that Blaine and Toedad tied for

    2. DrunkenNordmann

      There are some statistics regarding cops and domestic violence, so he might be?

  95. Ray Radlein

    I will at least thank Blaine’s pigheadedness for causing the last bit of information he ever passes on to the mob to be that his daughter isn’t Amazi-Girl

    1. PB

      Yeah. I would say that that counts as him accidentally being a good parent but that would require me to give him any credit at all, and I’m not going to do that.

    2. Zee

      I don’t see why the mob should care

      1. Ray Radlein

        They shouldn’t; but if they do, it’s nice to have that additional safety net for Amber.

  96. foducool

    ooooh, suicide by cop?

    1. BenRG

      That’s what the official report will call it, yes.

  97. Bagge

    I like how Blaine is all “what? I don’t understand how this could happen to such a nice guy as meeeeeee”

    1. BenRG

      Blaine obviously never played either Mafia or Mafia II. If he had, he would have known that the protagonist in these sorts of stories always end up being offed by the Family for some reason.

    2. Eldritchy

      He thought he was so smart and important. He did not realize that he is just a tiny pawn on the board, one the players don’t really care much about.

      1. Bagge

        You are right. It’s not “how could something like this happen to a nice guy like me”, it’s “how could something like this happen to a smart guy like me.”

        I’m glad Blaine got to realize that he wasn’t all that smart, in the end.

        1. Eldritchy

          I was going to ask whether Willis will really go through with this… but then I remembered Toedad. Willis is having his own Marineford moment now I guess.

  98. PB

    … You know, I’m sorry, but I can’t even pretend to be upset or surprised at this outcome.

    1. JessWitt

      Honestly, same.

  99. Beef

    Good. Maybe the cop will get hit by a truck on his way home too.

    1. Axel

      we’ll never be that lucky

    2. AGV

      Now that would be ideal

      1. Reltzik

        Not entirely ideal. Just semi-ideal.

        1. Ron again

          I see what you did there

    3. ValdVin

      Worst. Isekai pitch. Ever.

  100. Lone Duck

    Just a matter of time… Until ALL the parents are dead… Because everyone dies. There is science to back this.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Eat Arby’s.

  101. Arianod

    Well, that’s one thing less to worry about.

  102. thumb

    Dudes, Amber will save him in the next panel. He’ll get to realise how wrong he’s been about her, be forced to become a witness against the mob and still disappear, and Amber will get to never have to deal with him ever again after rubbed it in his face one more time that she’s more awesome than he can stand.

    Thus I say.

    1. Queezle

      I would like that. As much as I dislike Blain for him to be executed like this..two wrongs to not make one right.

      1. Ron again

        Yes! Yes to you both!

  103. Hybrid2

    OH no.Not like this. they all need to go down.

  104. SilentSooYun

    That is the most awkward way to draw your weapon.
    Guns aren’t swords… you don’t reach across, and if you do you would be holding the weapon upside-down

    1. Sam

      That would be true if you holstered the gun the same way as if it was supposed to be on the same side as the hand you used, but if you attached it facing the other way, it wouldn’t be upside down. It would still be weird to do that, but many people do many things awkward, stupid or unsafe ways because they have ‘always done it that way’ so I’m not putting it above the mob guy to maybe have unsafe gun practices or to be doing it to better ‘sell’ that Blaine was trying to steal his gun.

    2. Roborat

      It is probably a cross draw holster.

  105. Caspar Mulders

    *sings*

    “I know the police cause you trouble
    They cause trouble everywhere
    But when you die and go to heaven
    There’ll be no policemen there”

    Oh wait. Never mind, this doesn’t apply to you, Blaine, sorry!

  106. Username Taken

    Where’s that shocked Pikachu face Blaine made near the end of his failed kidnapping plot? Bring it back!

  107. LauraS

    Okay, is anybody else suddenly convinced that, now that Lester’s spoken his plan out loud, it’s going to go awry somehow and Blaine will live?

    1. Axel

      concerned but not convinced

  108. DarkoNeko

    …what the FUCK ?

    1. Needfuldoer

      Blaine’s only hope for leniency is to turn state’s evidence against the mob.

      Dead men tell no tales.

      1. Peter

        That’s not going to save him — that cop (who’s obviously with the mob) is about to kill him.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Dead men don’t turn state’s evidence.

  109. Liz

    This is pretty unrelated to the actual content but I see that you have drawn a spirometer on his lap table and that’s such a good hospital detail and I had to say something about it

  110. Major Matt Mason

    I’m hoping for “Shot Trying To Escape,” but I suspect we don’t live that good.

  111. Clell65619

    Oh, no, this is terrible. If Blaine is killed, who will pay for Amber’s education?

    Other than that, I’m fine with it.

    1. JessWitt

      I wanna say Richard, but I don’t want to presume a doctor makes “college fund money”.

      1. JBento

        He certainly makes “pay off lawsuit money” – Stacey says as much.

        1. goki

          And yet he is still a much better man than Blaine, to be fair though,t hat bar is low…

        2. thejeff

          Well, at least “hire lawyers to fight lawsuit money”.

        3. JessWitt

          Yeah I forgot about that.

          But how much more can Richard chip in? And does he pay any part of Joe’s tuition?

      2. Needfuldoer

        Even if he does make ‘college fund money’ as an Osteologist, he’s already paying for Joe’s tuition.

        1. JessWitt

          Ah you answered my question up there about Joe, thanks.

  112. ADD

    Like I said in a prior comment section: you don’t make yourself inconvenient to ruthless people. Knowing where the “bodies are buried” won’t help you, in fact, it makes you even more expendable.

  113. Geneseepaws

    First thing I noticed in the last panel, is that the gun looks like the one Blaine brandished at the house.

  114. JessWitt

    Just seeing Blaine’s face ticks me off so I’ll be glad to see him leaving this mortal coil for good.

  115. hof1991

    This has to happen for the good of the comic. It ends this arc. The kidnapped kids go on with their lives without dealing with being witnesses in court. Amber loses a nemesis and can start therapy. Blaine in jail would change the trajectory of the larger narrative. DYW May go in new directions but not a years long court case.

    1. Regalli

      Yeah, that’s ultimately why he has to die. Having a supervillain whose mob ties (or ratting the mob out) could get him out of jail time means Amber doesn’t get to feel safe, ever. And hell, neither do the other kids, neither do the readers. He dies here, we know he cannot possibly come back, and with him and Ross gone there’s no long trial storyline to worry about. Cold logic, to be sure, but the logic of the narrative where a dead Ross opens up more and newer opportunities than Ross surviving to threaten Becky again.

  116. Zech Judy

    Poor Amber. Dead men pay no tuition.

    1. Valerie

      I wonder if she would inherit his money. Is he married to Yuri or are they unmarried?

    2. DarkoNeko

      he always refused to pay, to begin with tho ?

      1. Schpoonman

        He wanted to refuse but was court-ordered to pay.

    3. Newllend(henryvolt)

      You don’t know he probably had life insurance.

  117. AbelUndercity

    The fandom saw this coming like a triple-masted schooner coming over the horizon.

  118. Rabisch

    OH YES! The old police’s exuse. I wonder if someone will manage to save Blaine or not.

  119. Shen Hibiki

    Oh no! This is terrible!
    Think of that poor bullet, wasted in this pile of…

    … well, Blaine. =P

  120. iain

    I hope he’s not going to kill him

  121. Peter

    An appropriate ending for Blaine.

  122. JBento

    Huh, the thing everyone saw coming is coming.

    I mean, uh, oh no. Stop. Somebody help.

  123. Zaxares

    And so karma catches up with Blaine at last. I wonder if the crooked cop will frame it as “the gun went off in the struggle” or a “he was determined not to go to jail at any costs-‘suicide'”.

  124. C.T Phipps

    I believe Blaine can’t accept Amazi-Girl is Amber because he defines himself in superiority to her. If she’s a superhero then he’s an inferno.

  125. nothri

    Oooooooooooh. First time reading this I thought cop guy was going to fake an injury and let Blaine get away by making up a story, not plotting to shoot him in cold blood. Yes, that’s much more murdery than I thought it was. Its like I ordered a normal meal with a small side of murder, but found out that the murder has been supersized to an extra large murder. Its so much murder I can only come up with very stupid metaphors.

  126. Robert

    This comic suddenly took on a very “Batman: War Games” vibe

  127. Rani

    Stray pieces are still in play: Yuri, Danny, Amber, Faz, Joe, Richard, Stacey.

    I don’t think Blaine’s number is up just yet. It’d be nice if he goes though. Whenever his face appears in an arc, I feel sad.

  128. Mattyos

    Oh, that’s so sad…Siri, play “schadenfreude” by Avenue Q

  129. Joey245

    “From where you’re sitting, must feel like an 18 karat run of bad luck. But the truth is…the game was rigged from the start.”

  130. Zee

    I genuinely can’t believe that some people are actually surprised by this development

  131. UnDrewsual

    I hope this means the mob is tired of Blaine’s crap and has decided he’s not worth their time and effort anymore.
    I hope this doesn’t mean the cop is letting Blaine escape with a line about how he wrestled the gun away and fled.

    1. poofdepoof

      Considering Blaine’s reaction I think you’re safe (and he is not)

    2. Heavensrun

      Yeah no, Blaine is about to “shoot himself”.

  132. Kayjayoh

    Note how, even after all of this, Blaine still won’t accept that Amber is Amazi-Girl

  133. K. Ivan Ruppert

    Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

  134. Juanoku

    Ooooo that’s pretty dark

  135. Aprion

    And come he slow, or come he fast, It is but death who comes at last.

  136. whatthelewis

    Get royally fucked, Blaine. While I worry about who’s going to pay for Amber’s tuition, Amber, Faz, Stacy, and even Yuri, deserve to get this man outta their lives.

  137. Rikunda

    Yay! Finally justice!

  138. Cheshrin

    I’m torn between my inherent disgust at systemic, foundation-deep corruption baked into the police system and the raging catharsis at seeing Blaine’s mistaken sense of untouchability that drove so much of his monstrous actions finally backfire on him.

    It’s like. A bad thing pointed at another bad thing for bad reasons but the bad things all create a positive consequence both for the narrative and many of the characters within it so ?????

    Ah well. Panel four is still satisfying as fuck. Your mob ties never cared about your ego, Blaine.

    1. Regalli

      All this, really.

  139. Roborat

    It looks like the end of the line for Blaine, however I am skeptical, plus I have been reading the work of Sir Willis for quite a while, and he is a clever writer. Possibilities I have come up with include: Blaine is going to reveal a dead mans switch he has set up, with everything he has on the mob being released if he dies. Or, there is video monitoring on the room, someone is going to see this developing and burst in and stop Lester. Maybe someone has already been investigating dirty cops on the force and have him under surveillance. Or Willis has something else up his (Hawaiian print) sleeves.

  140. Victor Riley

    Man, I never thought I’d be rooting for the corrupt cop.

  141. Roe

    I can’t tell if the cop is going to kill Blaine, the cop is going to tell people Blaine took his gun to get him in trouble, or is about to give Blaine his gun to kill somebody

  142. Dracke

    Blaine is death, and Amber is in trouble with the Mob…
    Honestly i like the superhero parts of the comic a lot

  143. Reltzik

    On reflection, I think I prefer the Blain-tried-to-get-the-cop’s-gun scenario to the Blaine-commited-suicide scenario. Any life insurance he might have would pay out then, and Faz wouldn’t be homeless.

    1. Roborat

      life insurance still has to pay out on suicide, as long as it is a certain period of time after purchase of the policy, the time required I can’t remember right now.

  144. Jay

    Oh? Oh! Oh shit!

  145. Nah

    ….is his wife just watching this or did she leave the room? I’m just curious if she’s cool with this or not.

    1. Rikunda

      I can’t imagine his wife really cares for him by this point. Probably fine with it. Life insurance. Now she just needs to get rid of her meddling kid she has been abusing.

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