517

Down
Posted on February 1, 2014 by David M Willis

517 thoughts on “Down”

  1. Idon'tcarenomore

    She got him. Indeed.

    1. David Herbert

      Looking at that hand in panel one, he seems to be begging her to stop.

      1. Justin

        Is anyone else actually…kinda proud danny stepped in there? instead of just staring at the fight with a dumbstruck expression?

        1. Niblik

          I am. It fits Danny’s personality that he would step in rather than watch someone be killed.

        2. Ghola

          I’m proud he stepped in only because he’s an idiot and completely unaware that’s Amber.

          I’d like to think he’d help pound the bastard into the ground if he knew it was her.

        3. D

          I want to think that’s what any decent person would do. He trusts AG not to hurt him, or I imagine he does, and he recognizes that she’s taking this too far. I don’t think a random passerby would do this because they don’t know that AG wouldn’t turn on them, but Danny has reason to believe he’d be safe even if he pulls her off. I know people give him flack, but in this comic so far he really hasn’t made utterly unreasonable mistakes and he generally tries to do the right thing.

          I imagine he was conflicted about whether or not to interfere before he went down, but once Blaine’s no longer an immediate threat there isn’t as much grey area. Blaine deserves a lot of things, but Amber doesn’t deserve to become a murderer.

    2. Pumpkin Cake

      Thank goodness Danny was there. Blaine totally deserves whatever Amber does to him, but murder is a much more serious charge than assault if this gets out.

      1. EvilPenguin

        Given how Blaine had grabbed Danny they could argue it was self-defense.

        1. xKiv

          Pummeling somebody who’s already down is never self-defense (assuming no guns present). You are not defending if you are attacking.
          “Prevention” of some imagined future threats also isn’t self-defense. The threat has to be imminent.

        2. k

          Dogg, I don’t know how many fights you’ve been in… But just because someone is on the ground does not mean the fight is over. Yes, according to the law that is the end (in many states). But in real life? Hell no – I’ve seen a man get shot FOUR TIMES in the chest and keep coming without even slowing down.

        3. Kell

          Not self-defense in relation to him grabbing Danny–it would be defense of another person.

      2. Zap Rowsdower

        Please, she’s a masked vigilante; they’d have to figure out her identity before they could pin any charges on her, and we all know the Campus Police version of Commissioner Gordon would deny any knowledge.

  2. JebJeb

    Well that definitely has to sting. Surprised Sal can use her hand after that.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      I hope it wasn’t her masturbating hand.

      1. JebJeb

        My heart goes out to her if it is. Takes a long time to get that other hand into masturbating shape.

        1. Lumino

          There is no better Gravitar for that comment.

        2. Sambo

          I didn’t even notice. Thanks for making my day that much better 😀

        3. Rex Hondo

          No, it really doesn’t. It just takes proper motivation.

        4. Charlie Spencer

          It really isn’t a problem if you’ll just switch off regularly. Then you’ll be prepared in the event of a crisis, or a ‘two-fer’.

        5. Animal

          You have to master a technique commonly referred to as “speed-shifting.”

      2. Mr K

        What does she masturbate to?

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Guys with fancy British accents, so… Stephen Fry perhaps?

        2. chris73

          I’m straight but I’d whack off to Stephen Fry

        3. Tunaro

          Hate-fuck videos, maybe? Is that a thing?

        4. asmcint

          Yes, that is a thing.

        5. Davriel

          The next logical step would be Stephen Fry hate-fucking.

        6. das-g

          Sadly, I guess about half the vanilla hard core porn videos would qualify for that moniker. Most of the other half is advertised as “amateur” or similar.

        7. Animal

          “The Most Interesting Man in the World” commercials.

          (I can neither confirm nor deny myself having been the inspiration for those commercials.)

      3. nothri

        And suddenly I have an entirely different explanation for Sal’s general level of bongoiness.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          I might be cranky too if I couldn’t use both hands ‘stoke my fires’.

        2. PokeyPuppy

          Meh, that’s toys are for.

        3. nothri

          Dude, some things not even transformers can cure.

          …..oh, wait, you meant THOSE kind of….

        4. Mr. Random

          TMNT toys can’t solve it either.
          Or did you mean…

        5. Shadow12000

          I believe they’re talking about My “Little Pony”.

        6. Bill

          Pokey Puppy is talking about the playthings from Pixar’s “Toy Story”.
          You know, Mom’s toys …. Buzz and Woody.

        7. PokeyPuppy

          You guys are all awesome. 🙂

        8. nothri

          Wasn’t even trying to make a call back, but here we are anyhow:

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/noises/

        9. Betty Anne

          Transformers can cure a wider variety of ‘ailments’ than you might think. See: Tumblr. XD

        10. shizuka

          If you don’t have them both yet, just play with your Woody until you get a Buzz…

        11. sidhe3141

          They work better if you let Joyce make the noises.

      4. The Candyman

        Seeing as Sal is left-handed, it most likely was. Poor girl.

        1. Azrael

          Good thing she got stabbed in the right hand then. 😛

        2. Justanothersomethingorother

          Methinks the implications there are that she wasn’t BORN left-handed

        3. David Willis

          She was wielding the knife left-handed earlier.

      5. Mattyos

        She’s a lefty so she’ll be fine

    2. Jordan

      No wonder she never takes off her gloves! Still, kind of makes you wonder how she doesn’t recognize Amber considering that Amber shish-kebabed her hand.

      1. EvilPenguin

        Maybe she didn’t see her? Her eyes are closed from the pain, maybe the cops got Amber out of sight.

      2. Ace

        Not a single person has recognised Amber. It’s getting really silly every single comic “wow how didn’t (Danny/Dorothy/Blaine/Sal) recognise it was her they must be stupid” when this is obviously a Clark-Kent type universe.

        1. MM

          As a brunette with glasses, I don’t have a terribly hard time believing Amber blends in.

        2. TheKelliestKelly

          No, I think Jordan meant he was surprised that Sal didn’t recognize Amber when she was out of costume.

        3. insomniac

          You misunderstand. In this case Jordan isn’t asking “why didn’t Sal recognise Amazi-Girl is Amber,” the question is “why didn’t Sal recognise ‘Amber the fellow student Sal dismissed as a weirdo’ as ‘Amber the girl who stabbed Sal with a knife’.”

          It might be a reasonable slip on Sal’s part (years ago, only saw her briefly both times, etc) but it’s a different question.

        4. Kryss LaBryn

          Yeah, but her hair, body language, and glasses (not to mention the difference in ages) is so different that *I* barely recognize Amber as Amber, and I wasn’t full of adrenaline when I first laid eyes on her.

          One time I was at the mall when I was supposed to be in school, when who should come down the corridor but my dad. I took off my glasses and put them in my pocket and brushed my bangs back and he didn’t even look twice when he passed right by us. Going in the opposite direction, too, so we were briefly face-to-face.

          It’s surprising how much we rely on very broad cues to recognize even people we know quite well; change your body language, change something as fundamental to your face as glasses, and meet them somewhere they aren’t expecting you, and if you don’t do anything to attract their attention they will skip right over you. Once avoided a girl who’d been actively *looking* for me by taking off my perpetual hat and, again, my glasses; she sat right beside me with her friends as I was reading for about five minutes, and again, didn’t even notice me.

          Frankly, I’d be surprised, given how much Amber’s changed, and the difference in the two scenarios under which they’ve met, if Sal *did* recognize her. Mind you, if she ever happens to see Amber crying and borderline-hysterical at a gas station, there might be a sudden realization of why Amber had looked vaguely familiar.

        5. Ess

          And yet Sal, who is taller, older, more composed, and now with straighter hair, was easily recognised all of these years later by Amber, in spite of so many cues changed. Why is this a one-way street?

        6. Leorale

          Some people just have an eye for faces. (I know because I don’t.)

        7. Shadow12000

          Oh gee, I dunno, I could guess it’s either one of two things: Amber has a better memory, or Amber was much more mentally scarred by the event that she has the memory of the person who used her only friend as a hostage. Sal was stabbed in her hand, and seems like much more the kind of person who can move on from something like that. She’s Sal after all.

        8. Shadow12000

          memory of the person who used her only friend as a hostage burned into her mind.*

          Sorry, was trying to word that better and forgot to actually finish it. It’s late.

        9. fogel

          Add to that, Amber was focused on Sal, whereas Sal wasn’t really paying real attention to Amber OR Ethan as individuals.

        10. John

          Sal was wearing the same clothes!

        11. MsSchiff

          “The day you stabbed me in the hand because I took your friend hostage in a misguided attempt to get my parents’ attention was the most important day of your life.

          “To me… It was Tuesday.”

        12. Arkadi

          WIN

        13. WaytoomanyUIDs

          I was starting to think I’d have to post that

        14. StClair

          “Yes… YESSSSS.”

        15. Furie

          Amber was traumatised, Sal was rabid. One had the details etched in, the other seems to be trying to forget them.

        16. shizuka

          I would say that Amber was much more deeply traumatized by the initial encounter. Kinda like the scene from the (god-awful) Street Fighter movie when Bison is talking to Chun-Li. I paraphrase: “For you, the day I destroyed your village and murdered your father was the defining moment in your life. For me, it was Tuesday…”

        17. Vastin

          I’d just like to note, for one of the worst movies ever, that was nevertheless one of the best quotes ever.

          A simple and biting deconstruction of how different people’s (and characters) perceptions can be, even at the same place and time.

        18. insomniac

          I’m not saying it’s impossible or even implausible. Just that it’s a different question than the one Ace thought Jordan was asking.

        19. gka

          Aye. This is why the basic trick for changing one’s identity (as a man, at least) is to shave and get a hair cut. Instantly, one looks completely different.

        20. Paul1963

          Never underestimate the importance of context when speculating on whether someone would recognize someone else. I know I’ve always had an issue with not immediately recognizing people when I see them in a different setting than I’m used to. Obviously, it’s not a problem with close friends, but if I run into someone from work outside the office, there’s a pretty good chance I won’t know them right away.

      3. Cody B

        My guess is that she was on all the drugs.

      4. Vibbles

        Eh, she was a little brunette girl at the time; now she’s a young brunette woman. People have a hard enough time remembering faces/physical traits of assailants shortly after an attack, as adults, when describing them to police- expecting someone to immediately recognize a person ten years after the fact when it happened in her own youth and her attacker has…. y’know, grown up, is expecting a bit much, I’d think.

      5. DocHarleen

        Ohhhh shit. Good point about the gloves! That hadn’t clicked yet. Damn, Willis is fucking brilliant with these long-running details. Dang.

      6. Arkadi

        My thoughts exactly. But it was dark, and she probably didn’t get to take a good look at her.

    3. Wigii!

      This might be while sal wears gloves all the time, to hide her stab scar.

    4. Ghola

      She didn’t twist the blade, looked like it went in between the bones of her hand. Should be fine. well as fine as a stab wound that can imbed the blade into hood of a cop car could be.

  3. KingMabel

    Red eyes? You can get that out in photoshop right?

    1. fawndolyn

      This comment had me laughing so hard 😀
      <3

    2. insomniac

      Is there a filter that takes out murderous rage?

      1. KingMabel

        I think it’s standard in the “family photo” package.

        1. insomniac

          Well played.

        2. Ocbrad1

          +1 for your comment, KingMabel!

        3. StClair

          and another +1 from me.

    3. Heavensrun

      No Visine joke?

      1. Ikaru

        Feeling unstoppable murderous rage? Eyes red and dry with hate? Clear up quick with Visine! Visine sold at stores near you, not an acceptable replacement for treatment for unstoppable rages.

        1. rowanmikaio

          Woooooow

      2. Glynvel

        For dry, red eyes try Clear Eyes. Clear Eyes removes redness and has an ingredient to calm you the fuck down.

  4. David Herbert

    Never noticed Sal having a scar on her hand. Or did it heal?

    1. Yotomoe

      She wears gloves all the time. Like Mickey Mouse or Sonic the Hedgehog.

      1. Najaru

        Not always. Her hand looks more or less fine in this panel, although it’s tough to tell.

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/law/

        1. Yotomoe

          That’s probably too old to be relevant at this point.

        2. Shadow12000

          Or she healed really well.

        3. trwpld

          No it doesn’t—look, she only has three fingers and her thumb. She wouldn’t hide a scar so much, but a missing finger would draw attention.

        4. Mr. Random

          I will admit though, that the first time I read through that part, I did think something looked wrong with her hand, but just attributed it to a weird art angle on Willis’ part.

    2. Kyle

      She always wears gloves.

      1. CRtwenty

        Except when she was doing her schoolgirl thing. And in all of those panels she had her right hand hidden. Damn Willis, you crazy.

        1. Benbo231

          How long ago did he have this all planned out? As a Dungeon Master, I can only DREAM of that sort of long-term planning…

        2. RaijinK

          There are a few strips in November 2011 where you can see the back of Sal’s right hand gloveless. Those may have been from before Willis planned this.

        3. RaijinK

          That is, you see her hand gloveless and there’s no visible scar.

        4. CrazyOne

          yep he can’t just give away the big reveal

        5. David Herbert

          Holy crap, didn’t think of that. Wow, dude has his shit worked out real well.

      2. blackouthart

        Correction! She isn’t wearing gloves here:
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/disperse/
        or here:
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/law/

        1. EvilPenguin

          EVERYTHING I THOUGHT WAS TRUE WAS A LIE

        2. nothri

          That’s right, Evilpenguin. Everything. I wish luck finding out who your true parents are.

        3. Blue Dragon

          That’s EASY!!

          Evilpenguin thought it was true that her (gender arbitrarily assigned via gravitar bias) next door neighbors are not her true parents. We now know this is a lie.

          Actually, there are a lot of true parents out there. I wish luck finding them all.

        4. nothri

          This is starting to sound like a demented version of pokemon. Parent-mon! Gotta catch this all.

        5. Claire

          Seems like the point of view of the panels aren’t close-ups? Maybe that is why there is not visible scar? (maybe)

        6. Reboot

          Hey, Joyce’s hand healed ridiculously quickly and hasn’t left a scar…

        7. WaveRocker

          Yeah that’s my theory / probably Willis’s explanation

        8. Kennerly

          Clearly there’s no scar because it had to be amputated and she’s got a Star Wars robot hand.

        9. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          That makes a disturbing amount of sense. Sal’s description of the police seems to imply that she remembers more about the incident than just what it was; she’s either pointing out how incompetent the cop holding the knife was or she knows what happened to Amber (but doesn’t recognize her anymore).

    3. fogel

      Surgery? Surgeries?

  5. Jen Aside

    whoa what

  6. Kiggy

    fuuuuuuuck . . . . .

  7. Sageress

    Have you considered counseling.

    1. cmd1095

      Like Blaine would ever actually pay to get Amber counseling

      1. Leorale

        It’d also be risky for Blaine: Amber would have an emotional resource/influence other than Blaine, to whom she might mention the abuse and domestic violence.

  8. EvilPenguin

    Jesus Christ.

    Sal’s always worn her gloves, hasn’t she?

    1. Dorsilus

      I was just about to point this out.

  9. Dorsilus

    fuck.

  10. Pyr05

    And this, kids is why Sal always wears gloves.

    1. CRtwenty

      Oh… oh jeez… she HAS worn gloves this entire time…

    2. Just Cheeto Dust

      Not always, as pointed out yesterday.

      1. Just Cheeto Dust

        Then again, the examples I cited (1, 2) were over two years old, and in a recent example she goes out of her way to hide that right hand.

        1. Pyr05

          None of the girls there would question it. Heck, WALKY wouldn’t question it. Anywhere else, for the sake of hiding it so people don’t ask questions, or by chance meeting ‘that crazy chick’ again, it’s needed. Plus, of course, all that sweet biking she does.

        2. Telepathic

          Welp.

        3. Keroshino

          Wow…I never noticed that Sal’s glove had a red circle in the middle!

        4. Just Cheeto Dust

          Then the distracting “sexy Mickey Mouse” look did its job.

  11. Geminia999

    I guess these hovertexts were wrote when willis was having big issues with the amazi-girl joke.

    Also, that’s why Sal wears gloves!!!

    1. Zababcd

      I think that while the comics are made ahead of time, the hovertext is written around the time the comics are posted. I could be wrong.

      1. David Willis

        I write the hovertext as I upload the comics once they’re finished, though this one wasn’t written with the “amazi-girl joke” comments in mind.

  12. Yotomoe

    Amber should get her retinas checked too.

    1. Mr K

      She’s part demon.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Blaine is a demon? That explains so much…

        1. NCP19

          So Blaine is Trigon and that makes Amber Raven?

      2. Yotomoe

        Well…she IS Blaine’s daughter.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          This also explains why she has ‘superhuman’ abilities.

        2. hmrc4evr

          If Amber is Raven, does that make Danny Gar/Beast Boy or Robin?

        3. NaughtbutaHoax

          I don’t think he would qualify for either– Not broody enough to be Robin, not goofball enough to be BB. He’s more like Floyd Belkin, if anyone. Comes right apart when the chips are down.

  13. Idon'tcarenomore

    Sal doesn’t remember this, or ever mention it?

    1. Yotomoe

      Maybe she does but Amber has changed visually enough that Sal didn’t immediately recognize her.

    2. Wack'd

      To who?

    3. Plasma Mongoose

      If you were Sal, would you talk about the time you had your hand stabbed during an attempted robbery you were commiting?

      1. Yotomoe

        I mean…yeah…In hopes it would give me a lesser sentence.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          A lesser sentence?? From people around her?

        2. Yotomoe

          Well she was attacked out of nowhere following her detainment. And she’s a minor. The court could take pity on her.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Umm OK but I wasn’t talking about the time she would have been in court, I was talking about after she served whatever sentence she might have served.

        4. Heavensrun

          Why would she mention it? Do people in your area make a habit of blathering the details of past trauma to anyone that will listen? (Note: If they don’t, you’d never know.)

    4. Baker

      Yeah it seems strange that Sal didn’t recognize her, but maybe her eyes were closed and full of tears the whole time Amber was being pulled away. You would definitely think you would try to get a look at whoever stabbed your hand though.

      1. Lord Ellion

        “An when ah looked up, all ah could see through the… rain… was her red eyes…

    5. Doctor_Who

      How would it come up? She doesn’t talk much to her many fawning admirers. Hell, she managed to avoid her own roommate for weeks.

    6. Alex Stritar

      She probably remembers it, just doesn’t like to talk about it. (Also, don’t think she’s ever gotten a good look at Amber, so probably won’t recognize her around the school)

    7. gangler

      Do you try and work that time you bled back when you were twelve into every conversation?

      1. Opus the Poet

        I don’t know about that, I manage to bring up the fact that I was dead several times a year. I mean how many other dead people have you had conversations with?

        1. Heavensrun

          Geeze, must be happy fun times talking to you. But possibly important distinction: Was the time that you were dead explicitly tied to a time that you committed a felony as an act of rebellion against dismissive parents? If you had that much baggage attached to the story, would you be as eager to recount it? Now imagine that you’re a girl in a world where women are held to crazy standards of beauty, and the event gave you a disfiguring scar on the back of your hand. Hell, I know people who would never bring it up specifcally to avoid drawing attention to the scar.

  14. Wonder Wig

    No wonder Joyce idolizes Sal she’s got the stigmata.

  15. Plasma Mongoose

    YES, again, people have called it concerning Sal’s hand.

  16. Oliver

    I think Dan did something good here.

    *Spreads arms for crucifixion”

    1. Alex Stritar

      No he didn’t, he let Blaine live. He’s worse than Hitler.

      1. Oliver

        Yes but if Amber killed Blaine she would go to jail. Blaine is a horrible, despicable person, but as far as we know he hasnt killed anyone. And I think things are better with Amber not incarcerated.

        1. Alex Stritar

          I know, that was just a joke. 😛

        2. Oliver

          Well, I wouldnt be surprised if some people actually wanted Blaine to be beaten to death.

        3. Rex Hondo

          Oh, it would certainly be satisfying on a certain, visceral level, before the whole dreary business of “consequences” came into play.

        4. fogel

          Which is why its better to always act without thinking about consequences, eh? 😉

        5. Kiggy

          ^^^This^^^

    2. Just Cheeto Dust

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Boondocks5.img_assist_custom.jpg

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        What the hell did I just look at? O_O

        1. Just Cheeto Dust

          Aaron McGruder’s mashup parody of Tyler Perry and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Needless to say, Tyler Perry was not happy when that episode of The Boondocks aired.

      2. Opus the Poet

        That wasn’t disturbing at all {shudder}.

        1. Just Cheeto Dust

          The scene that picture is from.

          I want to say that helps, but sometimes context only makes it worse.

    3. Yotomoe

      You did good Danny…You did good.

      1. Keroshino

        That’ll do Danny, That’ll do.

        1. MM

          You win.

    4. V Missirian

      Ya. although he still seems hopelessly confused, i was impressed he is physically restraining Amber, who despite being his girlfriend, is a superhero as well as being way tougher than he is.

      1. John

        If some part of Amber didn’t want to be held back, I’m pretty sure Danny couldn’t do it.

        1. V Missirian

          I agree with you there

        2. V Missirian

          i was impressed that he actually tried! although the concern for others fits his character, it was still a pretty bold move for him overall

        3. Leorale

          That’s true. Nicely done, Danny! Preventing your girlfriend from murdering people = good idea.

  17. Mr K

    I hope Blaine broke his neck. Or lost other vital organs.

    1. Geminia999

      A man, forgot my Kidney’s again, sigh -__-

    2. Yotomoe

      I hope his appendix burst. Cuz he can live without it, but it’s still dangerous.

      1. WaveRocker

        and hopefully excruciatingly painful.
        abusive son of a bongo…

      2. Otera

        Alternately, his spleen could have burst! It happened to a kid I went to school with. He got punched twice in precisely the wrong spot and his spleen ruptured and had to be removed. I think he made it nearly half an hour before going to the nurse’s office, but whenever he went to the nurse, he passed out almost immediately after entering her office. He had to get an emergency splenectomy, but in the end, he was fine. He has to be extra careful about his health now though– removing the spleen increases a person’s risk of infection. (the wiki page describes the spleen as essentially a huge lymph node)
        personally, I vote that for Blaine. not only is it painful until treated, but it will be an inconvenience for the rest of his life.

    3. Rex Hondo

      She hit him so hard he got cancer!

      1. Leorale

        Funky funky cancer cancer

        1. Rex Hondo

          No! Blaine doesn’t deserve funky cancer. He just gets a regular sucky cancer. Preferably dick cancer. That’s a thing, right?

        2. MsSchiff

          Oh, probably. You can’t blink your eyes without a new kind of cancer showing up on someone somewhere. So don’t blink, kids!

          Anyway, testicular cancer is definitely a thing. Maybe go with the low-hanging fruit.

        3. Opus the Poet

          Are you sure Blaine’s fruits are hanging low? (sorry, too obvious)

  18. timemonkey

    So she experienced a robbery, stabbed someone and still didn’t get therapy?

    1. timemonkey

      You know, on top of the abusive asshole father but the other people wouldn’t have known about that.

    2. Spectre

      Do you really think Blaine would pay for therapy?

      1. Mr K

        Well, somebody had to notice, given that it happened in public.

        1. Yotomoe

          Court ordered therapy is a thing. And she did commit assault.

        2. Spectre

          Yeah, I didn’t think of that. Too stunned by the comic at the moment.

        3. Just Cheeto Dust

          Legally, it’s battery and not assault.

        4. Hoboturtle

          Depends on the state. Some states just group assualt and battery together, like New York.

        5. Just Cheeto Dust

          Turns out that Indiana defines this as battery. It doesn’t look like the threat of harm (“assault” in legal terms) is defined in that state.

        6. AgentKeen

          Like Blaine wouldn’t be beyond lying about getting her therapy.

        7. Leorale

          This. Blaine would risk a lot by sending his abused daughter to a therapist.

    3. Dorsilus

      Maybe it’s something else she doesn’t really talk about a lot?

    4. Aaron S.

      My guess is that Blaine began his entire “she’s so troubled, but I’m doing the best a good dad can do with a horrible child like her” speech, and he probably said she was already in therapy or some other lie to keep her away from anyone who could take her side against him.

    5. TheOthin

      We don’t know she didn’t. She does seem to be in a very different state since then.

    6. MLEst1

      It could have been family counseling or something, and Blaine only made it worse?

  19. Caffienated

    Ooh her mask slipped!

    1. Wack'd

      Too bad Danny’s behind her.

      1. John

        I’m not sure he’d recognize her, anyway. “Hey, Amazi-Girl, has anyone ever told you that you look just like my friend Amber except she has glasses instead of DEMONIC RED EYES?”

        1. Keroshino

          We might need an Exorcist!!!

    2. showler

      Literally and metaphorically.

  20. Yotomoe

    Someone called it yesterday and I applaud him!

    1. Aizat

      Called it!

      1. lejwocky

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDajqW561KM

        1. Aizat

          You know, I can’t tell if you are being sarcastic or sincere.

        2. lejwocky

          Mostly sincere, since I myself have no predictive powers when it comes to webcomic plots. That clip is a bit much, but that’s half the fun of it.

  21. Doctor_Who

    Ouch. Really hoping Sal never recognizes her, or Amber’s going to have tire treads on her face.

    1. Yotomoe

      Have you met Amazi-Girl? This will be a battle of epic proportions.

      1. insomniac

        Sal’s a badass rebel motorcycle loner who’s settled into a role that she initially took up as a desperate cry for attention.

        Amber is prone to outbursts of violence to the point that she runs around at night trying to find justifiable targets.

        I may harbor PSL for Sal, but I wouldn’t bet my rent money on her.

        1. Ancestral Hamster

          Hear, hear!

        2. gatorgeorge

          No, you did it wrong. Here:

          Sal’s a badass rebel motorcycle loner who’s settled into a role that she initially took up as a desperate cry for attention.

          Amber is prone to outbursts of violence to the point that she runs around at night trying to find justifiable targets.

          THEY FIGHT CRIME.

        3. insomniac

          I’d watch it.

        4. E.R.

          I’m pretty sure that describes at least one combination in the Bat family.

  22. Bill

    She did get Sal’s hand … her right hand.

    1. TheOthin

      Worth noting that Sal is apparently left-handed.

      1. Yotomoe

        WELL SHE DEFINITELY IS NOW.

      2. Bill

        Could be that her right hand suffered nerve or tendon damage as a result of this and she had to switch her dominant hand, but Sal was holding the knife in her left hand at the start of the robbery flashback.

  23. Mr. Random

    Gloves.

  24. Alex Stritar

    Called it. … That is really all I’m emotionally capable of saying for this strip.

  25. Idon'tcarenomore

    NM. That explains the gloves as pointed out. Doh!

  26. DanielleM

    Oh please let the mask fall off. I think it’s time.

  27. Vanessa

    Wow, Danny did something good here. I’m glad and it seems Amber is, too.

  28. Paidraig

    Suddenly Sal’s love of gloves makes a lot more sense…

  29. Kernanator

    …And Sal doesn’t recognize the girl who stabbed her?

    1. Wack'd

      Five years older with a completely different haircut and glasses? It’s more likely than you think.

      1. Kernanator

        The first two didn’t stop Amber from recognizing Sal. I see your point though.

        Though I do kind of like the image of Sal going, “Yeah, I got stabbed. Wasn’t that big of a deal”.

        1. Wack'd

          Ah, yes, but both 13!Sal and 18!Sal don’t have glasses, whereas Amber’s replaced hers.

          The glasses are very important.

        2. Kernanator

          That’s true.

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/03-men-are-from-beck-women-are-from-clark/glasses/

          Very true, indeed.

    2. timemonkey

      She probably barely noticed Amber at all until she got stabbed and then was too distracted by the pain.

    3. Kyle

      Her eyes are shut tight in pain, and I’m betting Amber would have been given a deal by the prosecutor to drop charges in exchange for an affidavit against Sal (and maybe some therapy or something). They wouldn’t have seen each other in court. This goes double if this version of Blaine also has ties to organized crime.

    4. Plasma Mongoose

      It’s amazing (no pun intended) how different someone can look with age and a very different hairstyle.

  30. NerdHerder

    Oh.

  31. John Madden

    And Blaine has reaped the seeds he sowed. Will he learn from it?

    1. Mr K

      after some time in the hospital, Blaine goes home, and then Faz kills him with a sword. “That’s for leaving me tied up. Nobody abandons the Great Faz!”

      1. Yotomoe

        He then kisses his girlfriend dina and rides off into the night in his Fazmobile.
        Then Faz wakes up.

        1. Mr K

          And he’s a millionaire married to Dina. Amber’s his maid, and he owns half the country.

        2. Hoboturtle

          Best fanfic ever.

        3. xKiv

          The country lost a lot of value …

      2. Just Cheeto Dust

        If Blaine has to die by Faz’s hands, it’s in the hospital as Faz smothers him with an Amber body pillow.

  32. Aaron S.

    Poor Amber. No wonder she’s so furious with Blaine, among her many other reasons. He goaded her when she was already traumatized into hurting someone, which she’s had to live with on her conscience all this time. No wonder she wants to be Amazi-Girl. She wants to atone for her guilty conscience and her feelings of being powerless for so long.

    1. timemonkey

      Considering when she saw Sal again earlier that day she flipped out and went to attack her AGAIN her conscious doesn’t seem to have entered into the equation.

      1. LiamAldam

        Maybe she wanted to anonymously apologize.

      2. V Missirian

        It seems like she responds to feelings of powerlessness with anger. The fact that this behavior is inspired by Blaine could make her conflicted thus resulting in two identities.

      3. Twirls

        I don’t know where you’re getting that from.
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/weirdo/
        She didn’t go to attack her. She went to get the hell out of there. she then compartmentalized it by changing into her Amazi-Girl clothes until she got ahold of herself(she said she wouldn’t even be Amazi-Girl right then except she lost her shoe, remember?)

        1. Twirls

          nevermind, “take her from behind,” got it

        2. E.R.

          Where does that get said?

        3. xKiv

          3 strips later.

      4. PokeyPuppy

        I think it’s possible Amber feels guilty for stabbing Sal, while still seeing her as a dangerous criminal.

  33. Idon'tcarenomore

    Is he alive to learn from it?

  34. Spectre

    Wow.

    For once, Danny didn’t Dan it up.

    I’m, not sure what to say.

    1. Jordan

      I know! I’m impressed. I can’t believe I’m saying this but, “Good job Danny on not Danning it up”.

      1. Clif

        Oh, give him time. It’s early days yet.

    2. Yotomoe

      Amber is starting to Amb it up though.

      1. Dude

        You mean be generally awesome and put jerks in their place with bizarre imunity? Yes, she Ambered it up good (since you’re speaking about current events).
        Still curious how Willis explains her not getting in trouble for violent assault though. I mean, Sal’s hand could have been ruined, and she was already in police custody.

        1. beege

          The explanation for that may tie in with Sal’s low opinion of the police.

  35. Draga Noche

    how the hell has Amber not gotten therapy, I mean even considering that Blaine is Blaine, surely her mother would have done something after hearing about this

    1. Fuzzydaemon

      Mom was abused by Blaine too, so even if she had thought of therapy for Amber, Blaine would have struck that down, not to make a bad pun.

      I also think that Stacy is none too bright and not very emotionally available for Amber. Remember how she went off with Dr. Rosenthal on parents’ weekend and really failed to show up.

      1. MM

        Also, bear in mind that therapy only works if you’re open to it working. Amber could have gone and just refused to talk or avoided anything of substance.

    2. Spectre

      Her mother gets easily distracted.

      1. Rex Hondo

        …By anything that happens to pop up.

      2. John

        This made me realize that Blaine and Stacy banged at least once. I really didn’t want to think about that.

        Also, still wondering if Stacy and Dr. Dick were previously acquainted.

        Also also, the first comments on that page are pretty funny in retrospect, given recent developments on the David Willis, Porn Lord front.

    3. T Campbell

      Also, she may indeed have gotten some therapy. Frankly, what’s TRULY Amazi about her is that she can normally function as well as she can.

  36. AY

    My brother stabbed a kid in the hand with scissors once, but I don’t think that guy wore gloves after…. clearly he was nowhere near Sal’s level.

  37. DarthLeon

    Notice how Amber uses in her normal voice in the final panel. Also notice the expression on Danny’s face.

  38. JessWitt

    Wow, just when I thought I saw the whole picture, a wild puzzle piece gets thrown into the mix.

  39. Idon'tcarenomore

    That is some amazing juxtaposition of past and present panels. Very deep.

  40. Bats

    OH MY GOD THE GLOVES.

  41. Idon'tcarenomore

    Draga Noche, I don’t think Ambers mother could do anything. I think Blaine beat her more than he abused Amber verbally. I could be wrong, but think this was ‘brought up in a storyline” ?

  42. Equuizzicals

    Laying the smackdown is supposed to be fun. Not actually conflicting and loaded with emotional baggage.

    YOU LIED TO ME ROCK.

  43. Mo

    She’s not wearing gloves here:
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/law/
    and OH MY GOD ONLY FOUR FINGERS ON HER RIGHT HAND

    1. Bill

      Check this strip; now the right hand has four fingers and a thumb and her *LEFT* hand only shows three fingers.

    2. AgentKeen

      Yeah, but that’s early enough that the hands are still a bit wonkily drawn (not that I could do even half as well).

      Also, I think we’ve seen her right hand with 5 fingers when wearing gloves.

    3. TimeLoss

      Well obviously Sal gained a genetic mutation were she grows and loses fingers at will.

  44. Shanunu

    I love how Danny still looks clueless.
    Way to go Danny boy.

    1. Yotomoe

      What were all those red panels about? And why is Amazi-girl having flashbacks for Amber? Amazi-Girl isn’t even in the tags anymore! What’s going on!!!!?

  45. LiamAldam

    Chekhov’s Gloves. Notice, even in her school uniform, Sal hides her right hand. Well played, Willis. Unfortunately you know this means I have to uncover your other Chekhov accessories in the story thus far.

    Marcie doesn’t have eyes.

    1. Rex Hondo

      Nah, Marcie doesn’t actually exist. She’s a complete figment of Sal’s imagination.

      1. NIghtsbridge

        Are you telling me that mutes aren’t real people?

  46. Keroshino

    To all who thought otherwise…
    OH GOD, THE KNIFE WAS REAL!!!!

    1. Aizat

      Too bad we don’t get to see Amber turn the knife.

  47. Aizat

    Never again shall I know peace, never again shall I let my loved ones come to harm.

  48. Yotomoe

    I said it yesterday, but I REALLY hope something happened to Amber for this! You can’t just go around stabbing people after the threat is gone. She deserves to be detained almost as much as Sal does if not JUST as much.

    1. Baker

      It’s assault with a deadly weapon, committed directly in front of two police officers and probably on tape. I don’t see how she could have gotten out of being punished by the law in some considerable way.

      1. Yotomoe

        Exactly. And if she doesn’t I will be very upset >:T.

      2. Rex Hondo

        An assault committed by an already emotionally traumatized minor against the very person who caused the trauma will probably result in some court mandated therapy. Odds are that Amber saying that Blaine egged her on will help her case, and quite possibly lead to the divorce once her mom doesn’t have the luxury of pretending Blaine isn’t a complete monster any more.

        1. Random832

          Yeah – I had that thought, too – that this event is going to have been a significant part of what led up to the divorce.

      3. nothri

        They’re all minors right now. I’m not up on local laws, but that will probably limit what they can do to Sal or Amber.

        1. Yotomoe

          You can’t just stab people in front of police.

        2. nothri

          I’m not saying you can. Just saying that if someone DOES do that and they are a minor they aren’t going to get the full brunt of the law the way an adult would. Also, Amber is demonstrably traumatized and unhinged right now, which might also mitigate things somewhat.

        3. Yotomoe

          Yeah, but SOMETHING has to happen. Throw her in a psychiatrist office. Or behind some sort of bars, idk.

        4. Robin

          Mars bars.

        5. Yotomoe

          There are no bars on mars, because when the men from mars are through with cars they’ll start eating bars. And soon he’ll be eating Guitars!!!

        6. E.R.

          You seem to be forgetting that amber is white and middle to upper middle class and Sal is black and just tried to rob a convenience store.

          None of that actually means Amber shouldn’t face consequences for stabbing someone, but when combined with the other stuff, there are probably more than a few cops and judges willing to go very easy on her. This would also go a ways to explaining Sal’s views on race.

      4. fogel

        Police have to be embarrassed by that …

      5. Just Cheeto Dust

        It’s battery.

        Felony battery to be specific.

        I should’ve switched to a Jacob or Sarah avatar before posting this.

    2. Quatoria

      Sal literally grabbed Ethan and held a knife to his throat. Depending on the jurisdiction, the charges from that would be a hell of a lot more severe than Amber’s battery. And, I’m sorry, are you really using the word ‘deserves’, here? Amber was literally in the physical and neurological state of shock, in diminished capacity, when her abusive father excoriated her, denounced her, and aimed her at Sal like a bullet in a gun. It’s unquestionably wrong that Amber injured Sal, but the idea that she ‘deserves’ to be imprisoned or detained as much as Sal seems ludicrous, to me.

      1. espanolbot

        Considering Blaine is a compulsive liar, chances are he’d just say that Amber just flipped out for no reason, and depending on how out of it Amber is at the moment she might not be able to correct him.

        Therapy for her shouldn’t really be avoided at this point though, even if Blaine says she’s seeing someone already, SOMEONE would probably check just to make sure.

    3. khambatta

      I hope she stops directing her rage at Sal.

    4. Pinja

      I seriously doubt any court would punish a kid for being driven wild after a hostage situation. I certainly wouldn’t. It’d be adding insult to injury.

      Also was Sal even punished by the law? I don’t think the law sends you to Catholic boarding school. That was her parents. Who also sent her enough pocket money she saved up and bought a pretty sweet looking bike and leathers.

      Full time jobs struggle to pay that much.

  49. Baker

    So are we missing the Amazi-girl tag because she lost control?

    1. John

      She’s not Amazi-Girl right now. She’s Amber wearing silly clothes.

  50. Commander Clash

    ~Shao Kahn voice~ Amazi-girl wins. Flawless Victory. Mercy.

    1. Aizat

      Mercy is for the weak!

  51. Philippe G.

    Oh dear.

  52. Jon P

    Quick, get in Blaine’s car and drive away before he comes to his senses!

  53. Bill

    107 comments inside of thirteen minutes.  Willis must be ecstatic to have a fandom so engaged in his comics.

    1. Aizat

      Indeed. The fandom is a very active one, I must say.

  54. nothri

    Well, dunno how I feel about Amber stabbing an unarmed woman. Definitely a underhanded tactics on her part. A wrist-y business all around. If I was Sal I would definitely gives her the finger, though she’ll still be punished by the long arm of the law. This might have been a really thumb decision on Amber’s part, even if it inspired the seemingly unopposable persona of Amazigirl.

    1. ninja_jesus

      I was about to yell at you, but then I palmed myself and reread your post.

      1. Jackson

        You really have to hand it to them.

        1. nothri

          Thank you for pointing that out.

        2. Jackson

          Your puns are so tight, they march in like a phalanx.

      2. nothri

        I was a little concerned I might annoy people, but I’ve never been one to knuckle under in these situations.

    2. AJBulldis

      Gotta hand it to you, that was some Grade A punnage. Two thumbs up.

      1. nothri

        High five? Brofist?

      2. Kryss LaBryn

        Yup, they really nailed it.

  55. Keroshino

    NO MORE!

    1. Aizat

      To quote the late Owen Hart: I tried to be a nice guy, I tried to play by the rules…You turned your backs on me! I snap! I was a victim! Well, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

  56. Claire

    I sense a big reveal! Or else a flight into the night.

  57. Bill

    Now, let’s examine Amber/Amazi-Girl saying “Never again” in the last panel.  Is she saying “never again” as in “never again will I be helpless” or “never again will you have this kind of power over me” (like she did before she went all medieval on Blaine a few days ago), or is she saying “never again” as in “I will never need to be (or can’t risk being) Amazi-Girl again”?

    1. David Willis

      You are missing a few other possibilities.

      1. Claire

        Never again will I let Anger take control of me?

        1. Yotomoe

          Never again will I let AMBER take control of me!
          (and then she’s Amazi-girl forever)

        2. Kyle

          My guess is she stopped at McDonald’s on the way. That sort of mistake would make anyone regret.

        3. nothri

          You can take my boyfriend hostage. You can try to manipulate and extort me for your own abusive ends. But if you so much as try to order that terrible food, I WILL END YOU!

          Gotta have your priorities.

        4. John

          Yeah, don’t eat Mickey D’s before a fight. Just a bad idea all around.

      2. Bill

        Oh, I know there are other possibilities; I just didn’t want to take the time and space to try to list them all.  I *DID* want to toss out the idea that because of this loss of control beatdown she delivered Amber might come to the realization that being Amazi-Girl merely allows her to be an asshole herself.  Hence, I was positing that “never again” could be interpreted as a clue that this may be one of the last times we see Amazi-Girl … and her absence in the tag cloud the past couple of days would seem to be a confirmation of that conclusion.

        1. Bill

          Although the absence of Amazi-Girl in the tags could also be taken that it was Amber that opened up this can of whoop-ass and she was just wearing Amazi-Girl’s costume.  I’ve read enough of this strip to know that Willis’ mind has more curves and twists than a macaroni factory and nothing is for certain until we either see it for ourselves or Willis says so.

      3. Baker

        Wait are you saying it’s not “never again will I be helpless”? Because that’s the one I thought she was going for. She will “never again” stand by while someone important to her is threatened and be helpless to do something.

        1. SDGlyph

          I read this as (at least) three separate meanings / emotional contexts:
          Your interpretation is the first, I think – the one Amber consciously meant when she started saying it in Amazi-Girl’s voice. But that didn’t last long, and I read the second – when she dropped the voice – as the point where Amber lost control and her rage at Blaine takes over. Now it’s more like “Never again will I let you bully me” – and notice that Amber’s seemingly triggered by Sal saying “just give me what I fucking want” (it’s important enough to say twice, so I’m pretty sure Willis meant us to notice it). I’ll bet heavily that Amber’s heard exactly that kind of “look what you made me do” emotional/physical abuse combo from Blaine: “This is your fault, why can’t you just give me what I want, I wouldn’t have to do this.”

          Then in today’s strip, there are just so many implications packed into the two words: first, I think Amber’s somewhat in shock, and is numbly repeating the one thing she’s been focussed on for the last few seconds. There’s conscious recognition, I think, of the second meaning above; that she was talking directly to Blaine about her own situation. And then there’s all the stuff that we as readers are supposed to draw from it even if Amber herself doesn’t consciously recognise them yet – that this isn’t healthy behaviour, that Amber’s coping mechanism is destructive to herself and others, that Amazi-Girl must stop. I would like to think that Amber’s acknowledging here that she lost control and became the thing she hates – “I must never do this again, I must never again give in to my rage, I must never again violently lose control” or even “never again must I let myself be goaded into violence” – but only time will tell, and I don’t think she recognises that on a conscious level yet. The wavy balloon tail indicates her physical exhaustion, but I think it’s pointing to her mental exhaustion and brokenness too.

          Incidentally, this also makes sense of Blaine calling her a “spaz” in the flashbacks. I don’t know how that insult is used in the US, but here in the UK it wouldn’t be used for a docile, withdrawn person but for someone who violently lost control – usually a bullied kid who occasionally “flipped”, and not just as a one-off. I doubt the flashback scene was the first time Blaine’s seen Amber lose it like that, though it was probably the most serious; and as today’s strip proves, it certainly wasn’t the last.

          Wall of text to say: Damn, Willis is good at this.

        2. SDGlyph

          Oh yeah, and I suppose it’s redundant to point out Willis’ deconstruction of the Batman trope of the traumatised vigilante. Bravo sir, bravo.

        3. Kevin

          From Wikipedia: “In American slang, the term “spaz” is largely inoffensive, and is generally understood as a casual word for clumsiness, sometimes associated with overexcitability, excessive startle response (“jumpiness”), excessive energy, or hyperactivity.”

          That’s how I always understood the term.

        4. Marisa Mockery

          Yeah, that’s why I was confused that Blaine was using it as such a threat. I mean, being a spaz isn’t exactly a GOOD thing, but on a scale of one to ten, I’d rather be a spaz than a bongo. ‘Psycho’ or ‘nutjob’ comes closer to the UK definition of ‘spaz’ than…well….spaz.

          Except that this is set in the US. So, what?

        5. David Willis

          In America, a “spaz” is someone who is awkward in a nerd-type way who is prone to tantrums or fits when under stress.

      4. Jack Finch

        Did Blaine beat up a friend of Amber’s in this verse too?

    2. Jackson

      Never again will I let someone I care about and who cares about me be held hostage or threatened without me helping.

      1. Marisa Mockery

        …….Without you helping them be held hostage?

        Sorry, I know what you mean, but grammar.

    3. Rex Hondo

      “Never again will I stand by, helpless, while somebody I care about is threatened.”

    4. RaijinK

      “Never again will I let the boy I like get used as a hostage without laying the smackdown on the hostage-taker” seems like an obvious one.

    5. AgentKeen

      Never again will I trust my gaydar. I mean seriously, I can’t handle another gay boy.

    6. Kevin

      Never again will I be Amazigirl?

      Or never again will I miss the face.

      1. AgentKeen

        Never again will I FAAAAAAAACE.

  58. KingMabel

    Ok. 50:7 chance Blaine crapped his pants.

    1. Rex Hondo

      But how could you tell it apart from the pile of excrement that is Blaine?

      1. Just Cheeto Dust

        Freshness.

  59. OkamiKing

    Wait….. Does this also ties in with Sal’s distrust of authority? Seeing on how they let a rampant teen stab her hand?

    1. Aizat

      Well, you know what they say “Once you become a criminal, there is a possibility that you are going to get stabbed eventually”

    2. Pinja

      Doesn’t speak well of Sal if it did.

      “How dare someone fight back! And how dare the cops slip up for one moment!”

  60. penguintruth

    Duta duh duh duh, I’m lovin’ it.

  61. Darwin

    Wow… no wonder Amazi-Girl was seeing red. Lookit them peepers.

  62. demoneater

    NO DANNY! You let her keep beating him till the squishy noises stop. UNTIL THE SQUISHY NOISES STOP! and not a moment before!

  63. Digglesworth

    And here is the explanation of her sleeping with gloves on

  64. Minder

    Oh. Oh, Amber.

    And just like that, the question changes from “Should Amber be doing this to Blaine?” to “Is this going to happen again the next time she gets triggered?”

    1. Izumi Ryu

      Which is why I think that Blaine really won this one. Blaine can still play her like a puppet, now that he’s figuring out what each string does.

      And what’s stopping him from throwing her under the bus for assaulting him? If he’s smart enough, he’d know how to use authority figures in his favor, and Amber has given him more than enough ammo.

      1. Rex Hondo

        Yeah, I’m not really thinking that getting the crap kicked out of him was all part of his master plan, especially since he didn’t seem to realize that it was Amber he was talking to.

      2. Minder

        That still banks on him knowing that Amber was the one who assaulted him, though. Given how stubbornly determined Blaine seems to view his daughter as pathetic and weak–even in the face of, as we now know, multiple counts of her proving herself to be exactly the opposite, so powerful she is potentially incredibly dangerous–I don’t think it’s likely he’ll realize it’s Amber behind that mask at all. At least, he won’t if she comes to her senses quickly, and books it the hell out of there before Blaine gets back up.

        Of course, I could be completely wrong. Maybe Blaine did recognize Amber, or will at some point in the aftermath of this mess. But if I had to guess at what’s going to happen next, I’d say that what Blaine will likely take away from this is that (1) the girl who beat him up and ruined his plans for Amber was some weirdo dressed up in a costume, and (2) said girl seems to care an awful lot about Danny Wilcox.

        I really don’t think Amber’s the only one who ought to be worried about what Blaine could be planning after this.

      3. Greenygal

        For one, we don’t know if he’s worked out who Amazi-Girl is yet. He didn’t know when she showed up, and while it’s not a huge leap in logic we’ll have to wait till he wakes up to know if he made it.

        For two, let’s consider what happened here. Amber’s abusive father came onto a campus he is not allowed to enter to lure another student off alone so he could use him to get to Amber. When Amber did show up, she tried to get Danny away from a dangerous man, and Blaine physically assaulted him to keep him from leaving. Amber attacked Blaine in Danny’s defense–violently, yes, but after all Blaine is considerably older and bigger than she is. And Danny stopped her from hitting him once he was down.

        I honestly don’t know what the official response to this would be, especially once you throw in the costumed vigilante. For sure Amber would be looking at mandatory therapy, and I don’t know what IU would do about assaulting fellow students. But Danny is witness that Blaine attacked him–and you could maybe make a kidnapping charge stick–and Amber was defending him, and unless Blaine’s record is squeaky clean I don’t see that going well for him. He might well not want official attention brought to this.

        1. Marisa Mockery

          I don’t think the point is about official attention. I think Amber is off the hook regardless. I think the point is that if Blaine ever figures out that Amber did this, HE KNOWS HE CAN MAKE HER DO IT AGAIN. And he can, if he figures out how, use that AGAINST her. And he’s such a douche that he probably will.

          ……….Probably in about ten years, given how long it takes Willis to get through one day, but still. IT MAY HAPPEN. XD

        2. Greenygal

          While it’s possible that Blaine can come up with something, what with being a supervillain and all, I still feel like the ability to manipulate somebody into beating you to a pulp is of limited utility.

      4. Pinja

        My guess, assuming he doesn’t do it in the future is as follows:

        – Blaine is a career criminal and has likely spent time inside prison. Accusations from such men are not take seriously

        – Likewise, career criminals rarely make complaints to the cops and especially about being beaten up by “little girls”

        – He was holding Danny hostage, itself a crime. It also means the only witness is on the other side

        – Earlier that day he was throw out of the university by security after screaming through the halls, shouting threats and attempting to assault Ruth

  65. Robert Stoll

    Again, this comic has pulled me deeper into its characters than most novels can.

  66. Water

    [muffled “I see Red” playing in the background]

  67. Izumi Ryu

    I’m sorry to say this, but if Blaine can cause this kind of reaction in Amber, even on the losing end, Blaine still has full control of Amber. It might not have been the reaction he wanted, but he’s still pulling Amber’s strings. Nothing good will come of this whole thing. Even beaten to a pulp on the ground, Blaine has won. All Amber did was give him more ammunition to use against her.

    1. gc

      Well, that was very wise. Except that there’s no indication he knows it’s Amber who’s beating him up.

      1. fogel

        Blaine may not know its Amber, but Amber is still REACTING to Blaine. Is beating him to a pulp going to help her? Is revenge? What I’d like is if she can get FREE of him — both the external/real him AND the ‘him’ that she carries around inside her. She went to tell him to leave Danny alone & get out of town, cool, but during the interaction she LOST CONTROL OF HERSELF, didn’t she? I don’t care what Blaine deserved, I care about where Amber goes from here. (Though if this makes Blaine less Blaine-ish or less effectively Blaine-ish, then cool.)

        1. Rani

          I disagree. You forget that Blaine then physically accosted Danny, making anything that followed on his head. Amber/Amazi-Girl is at the very least ethically justified in doing anything short of murder and possible crippling to remove Blaine as a threat to her or Danny’s lives.

          But now I raise a far more controversial point: how does Amber beating up Blaine give Blaine the victory? Is your idea of the high road really all that important?

        2. fogel

          I was unclear.
          (1) Blaine used violence on Danny, she was right to use violence back. I’m even open to her using more than minimum necessary violence to try to convince Blaine to stay away. My point was she lost control of herself.
          (2) I said nothing about “the high road.” I said she was reacting to Blaine.
          She’s been living in reaction to Blaine. She’s not gotten free of Blaine and chosen her own life.

        3. Rani

          Phrasing is everything, not just the afterthought.

  68. Bilfred

    *ghasp* now we know why sal always wears gloves!!!

  69. Karen

    1) Even good therapy cannot completely undo years of abuse, as well as likely PTSD from the robbery. Who knows? Maybe Amber received therapy and is merely fucked up instead of catatonic.

    2) Sal not recognizing Amber I’ll believe. Sal was focusing on Ethan and the store clerk, not the other kid. She never saw the person who wielded the knife. Some people’s faces change a lot when they mature. Mine didn’t, but I know friends who “grew into” their faces between 13 and 18. Glasses especially can alter a person’s face.

  70. vlademir1

    Out of curiosity, as I haven’t been able to keep up with comments on this part of the story, has anyone in the comments actually asked how bad Amber’s PTSD is and whether she’s ever had therapy for it?

    1. WaveRocker

      My guess is that even if the idea was brought up to get therapy for the occurence, blaine would shoot it down because money and because 2tough

    2. Rex Hondo

      Sad to say, the mental health system is kind of fucked up. So, even if she did get some court-mandated therapy, there’s really no guarantee that it did any good, or that some therapist didn’t actually inadvertantly contribute to Amazi-Girl’s creation by telling Amber to channel her anger in a more constructive direction.

    3. fogel

      Plus, she’s been continually exposed to Blaine, who’s continued to inflict traumatic stress on her — she may have PTSD, but the TS isn’t only P.

  71. Synnerman

    Berserker rage.

  72. Just Cheeto Dust

    To this day, Amber is still awful at five finger fillet.

  73. Sambo

    Holy shit.

    …

    She is going to be in serious trouble. She must have some sort of criminal record after doing that to Sal, and now this.

    1. Just Cheeto Dust

      A record could still get sealed down the road.

    2. Bill

      Juvenile records usually are.

  74. XMinusOne

    Woo! Nice beat down, Amazi-Girl. Now get it together and scram before somebody calls the po-po’s and you get busted. No one will believe clueless Danny when he tells what happened and her old man won’t admit a girl kicked his ass, so she’s home free.

  75. Ridureyu

    NOOOO! Now’s your chance! Kill Danny! Kill Danny! I can’t believe Danny is being so evil.

    1. Absolom

      You’re saying killing is good, and stopping from killing (or at least brutally maiming) is evil? Such violent hatred never solves any more problems than it creates.

      Have you considered that there is no such thing as Justice? It is all an idea we keep in our head. It is a social convenience, so that when people go around killing innocent people like Danny, society works together to stop them from such deranged actions.

      Your idea of “justice” seems to be “if a person does something I don’t like, kill them. Kill Blaine for being an abusive asshole. Kill Danny for trying to stop me from killing Blaine.” This is evil, being unable to see that you aren’t the most important thing in the universe, and wanting to inflict yourself on the lives of others. This is why we say Blaine is evil, and from where I’m standing, your motivations aren’t any different from Blaine’s.

      If you’re a Christian, you probably see no problem with thinking everyone is hopelessly wicked. Your response will be “you’re right, I’m no different from Blaine, and I deserve to be punished for eternity in Hellfire.” But nobody deserves that. There is nothing that anyone can do that is so evil in this short life that they deserve eternal torture. And God, the one who is doing the torturing, is no different from Blaine. He’s an abusive, jealous, divorcee who demands control, respect, worship even. He is not Love, He is not He is not unknowable, or perfect, He is the product of human minds. Punishing you because you are bad, then turning around and saying “I only do this because I love you.”

  76. Rabid Rabbit

    Tomorrow’s strip: The next day. Danny goes to see Amber.

    Danny: “Uh, hey, Amber. OK, yesterday, I ran into Amazi-girl, and, well… it turns out she’s kind of crazy. I mean, I thought she was cool, but… she had this burst of rage and… well, she was doing all sorts of terrible things to your dad and I couldn’t really stop her. So, uh… I hate to have to tell you, but your dad’s in the hospital. And I’ve dumped Amazi-Girl, because she’s absolutely insane.

    “So, wanna go get pizza?”

    1. John

      And then they go to Galasso’s and he tells her she’s funny and pretty.

      Sounds like a good plan! I can hardly believe that Danny thought of it!

      1. Sock

        Until he gets stabbed in the hand while she’s cutting her pizza…

        She does that sort of thing, you know.

        1. Marisa Mockery

          Well, he did dump her alter-ego. She doesn’t handle rejection all that well.

    2. Jack Finch

      Plausible. Probable even.

  77. WaveRocker

    When I first glanced at the first panel I thought it was present-day AmaziGirl with the knife in her hands. That would’ve been crazy confusing

  78. Count Dracula

    So did Amber go to juvenile hall for this or get some sort of recognition from the law that “Hey, stabbing ladies ain’t cool”, or did they just send her home with a strict lecture?

  79. Rex Hondo

    Wouldn’t it be a kick in the ass if it wasn’t actually Sal that robbed that particular store, but just Amber’s emotional state then and now, combined with the distance of time causing her brain to “fill in the blanks” when she sees a somewhat similar looking dark-skinned girl talking with her sorta-boyfriend?

    1. John

      It was actually Walky in a wig.

    2. Gargamel

      It is a hell of a coincidence that the girl whose robbed the store and Amber ended up in the same collage.

    3. Bill

      No, dammit.  Don’t even go there.

    4. xKiv

      Sal is tagged.

    5. Pinja

      That’d be really cheap writing

  80. ridtom

    Jesus Chirst Blaine, I’m kind of dissapointed he didn’t even put up a fight. He got dropped like a bad habit.

    1. Just Cheeto Dust

      He got dropped like a sheet of acid at a music festival.

      Like a sack of potatoes in the hands of a narcoleptic.

      Like a local comedian after Dane Cook hijacked his time slot at the last minute.

      Like a military drone over Afghanistan.

      Like a celebrity’s sponsorship deals after a scandal.

    2. Jack Finch

      Real fights are like that. Over quick.

  81. John Cabot

    Well, this has been a fun and heartwarming ramble down memory lane.

  82. Flare

    Holeeshit

  83. Rabid Rabbit

    Also, may I just point out that now knowing that their daughter not only went to jail, but also got stabbed through the hand…

    Man. The Walkertons really are assholes when it comes to their daughter.

    (Also, I trust this will put an end to everyone who wanted Amazi-Girl to go beat Sal up.)

    1. Rex Hondo

      Yeah, the Walkertons suck, but I fail to see what one has to do with the other. She pretty much brought the jail and stabbing on herself.

      1. Rabid Rabbit

        The jail, sure. The stabbing’s a bit over-the-top. The two together lead to “Right, you’ve been stabbed, gone to jail, and spent year in Catholic boarding school. And since as far as we’ve know you’re not gay and this isn’t a porno, that probably wasn’t all that fun. So how are you, honey”

  84. Mayonnaise

    STAB

  85. Ridureyu

    KILL DANNY! KILL DANNY! KILL DANNY!

    1. ninja_jesus

      Okay, the first time you wrote this was okay, because I assumed you were kidding. Now, while I still assume you’re kidding, it’s become kinda creepy. Settle down your bloodlust, buddy. 😛

  86. I don't know what to put here.

    Oh my god…
    …
    Let’s give her a hand!

  87. Andrew

    I went back to look and see if Sal had a scar on her hand or somthing, but I got reminded she wares gloves. Well played past sal well played

  88. insomniac

    Officer Friendly really should be worrying more about Amber’s other arm.

    But I suppose I shouldn’t expect too much from the crack team that let a forteen year old girl disarm an officer and attack a subject in custody.

    (Maybe that’s how Amber got out of this without time in juvie. “Now. We could charge the girl and testify, or–and hear me out on this one–we can let her with the glasses go and never speak of this again.”

    1. Rex Hondo

      He just never expected her to grab the knife that he was holding in his open, upturned palms, within easy arm’s-reach of the original perp, who hadn’t been cuffed yet.

  89. Vent

    Maybe I should change my earlier statement of “nothing good happens across the street from a mcdonalds” to “nothing good happens outside a convenience store”

  90. Aaron Bourque

    Amber, have you considered NOT violently assaulting people?

    1. Mayonnaise

      Blaine is not people.

      1. Crumplepunch

        Are Blaine and Sal collectively people?

        Because this comic looks like compelling evidence that Amber violently assaults people, plural.

        1. Doom Shepherd

          Sal is people now, because she has apparently served her punishment and somewhat changed. Back then, she was just someone who had violently assaulted Amber’s friend. Mind you, she was in custody, which really nullifies the need to retaliate at that point. (tho I also think Amber was metaphorically / subconsciously stabbing Blaine at that point, in the only way her cracking mind could.)

    2. Janons

      Thing about mental trauma, sometimes other people get hit with the shrampnel

  91. Seawee

    This mental breakdown and violence was brought you by: McDonalds! Because there is nothing like fat food when you feel down!

  92. cj95

    Im not sure….

    Whats exactly was Blaine’s plan for this evening?
    Verbally abuse Amber?
    Beat her up?
    Was the abuse sexual?

    Im just not understanding what he hoped to accomplish.

    1. ProfNekko

      Likely to reinforce his dominance. In any form of an abusive relationship, be it romantic, familial or otherwise, the abuser will go to great lengths to keep the abused submissive. I assume he was going to use Danny as a means to show in spite of her attitude at him when she was at school, when she was outside of her safe zone without others to help her she was still completely weak and helpless to protect those she cared about.
      Granted as seen here, it doesn’t always end well for the abuser

    2. fogel

      He repeatedly said he would be “respected”. He had SOME idea that he could compel Amber to show him “respect”….

  93. Jack Faire

    It’s funny but this happens sometimes that abusers get shocked when they realize that everything they taught the person every little thing is used to put them in their place.

    “You shouldn’t let people hurt your friends and do nothing about it you failure” (fast forward) “I am going to hurt your friend….oh shit”

  94. Plasma Mongoose

    You know what AG needs right now? A Happy-Meal.

    1. Just Cheeto Dust

      “Boy” happy meal for the Adventure Time toys.

      Unless you’re in Pittsburgh, in which case you’ve just ordered heroin.

  95. CianM1301

    Holy crap, she stabbed her! *Gasp* That’s why Sal wears gloves all the time! Also, Danny STILL doesn’t know?! How many pennies have to drop for him to see it’s Amber? I mean, she’s talking in her Amber voice!

    1. Kevin

      She said two words, while transitioning from her AG voice to her normal voice, in the rain (rain can be pretty loud).

      We haven’t had a chance yet to see his reaction to her speech in the last panel, but that’s just the same two words again.

      1. Nohar

        Well, we can see that her mask is slipping (figuratively and litteraly), and Amazi-Girl/Amber beat up Blaine thoroughly. At this point, even Danny has to put two and two together.

    2. Bemmie

      Don’t forget she didn’t put on the AG voice until well after she met Danny and was worried he might cotton on… Danny has heard AG talk in ambers voice, and still didn’t put it together, never underestimate the power of Danny’s ignorance.

  96. Kevin

    Yay! Go Danny!

    Love the expression in the third panel.

  97. acher4

    And now we know the truth behind all those red flashbacks.
    It was McDonald’s colour fault. 😛

  98. chris73

    Ok so I’ll admit Sal got what she deserved and this is a brilliant series

  99. Twirls

    holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit

  100. Cas A Nova

    This one gave me a legit panic attack nightmare.
    I imagined my dad was trying to shoot my family and even after all the shit he pulled on me and how I just let him do it because I was small and scared all the time, I pull the gun from him and just -bludgeoned- him to death.
    30 times I hit him. It was like in a video game. I got a combo. And then I just got carted off to jail, laughing hysterically.
    This just gave me a fucking nightmare and it’s fantastic and scary how well you portray the absolute fury that abusive people can get in meek people like me when we’ve HAD ENOUGH.

    1. Gold

      Seek help.

    2. Minder

      I’ve had dreams like that. I wake up feeling terrified of myself.

    3. Leorale

      What a scary nightmare!

      I hope you have good support for the panic attacks.

  101. Arturo

    FINISH HIM!

  102. Peter

    That’s not Amazi-girl’s voice in the last panel.

    1. Jonathan S.

      It stopped being her voice the first time she shouted, “NEVER AGAIN!” Mid-speech-bubble, it faded from AG to Amber. I thought it was a nice touch.

  103. Drakkin the alien

    soooo….. white girl stabs brown girl…. brown girl gets indicted …. white girl gets pat in the head from her dad: “l’il brown b**** got what she deserved” … ” rekon that” says the cops with a smile and a wink.
    “She hurt herself to play victim” says the prosecutor.. “Obviously…” says the court honor.

    five years later.

    Sal looks at Amber: “meh…all white girls with glasses look the same…”
    Amber half glances at Sal: “this brown girl with STRAIGHT hair MUST BE that black curly girl from back then!”

    Drakkin the alien’s family:white mother, black dad, two white siblings, two brown ones. I used to see myself as beige when i was young…. i got the super straight hair at birth… i swear.

    1. The Candyman

      what

      1. Kerry

        I can’t tell if Drakkin is calling Amber racist, the authorities racist, or Willis racist. They’re certainly accusing someone of being racist.

        1. Alex Stritar

          Well, everybody’s a little bit racist sometimes.

        2. David Willis

          It’s a good bet all three are.

    2. thomas0comer

      Uh… alright…then?

    3. Jonathan S.

      Drakkin, sometimes you find what you’re looking for, whether it’s there or not.

      1. Drakkin the alien

        Maybe. But this subplot , it strikes close to home, with the mixed marriage of my parents. Me, being raised in a Church of Scotia sponsored school, right in the middle of a strongly catholic country, makes a funny mirror.
        Prejudice, like racism, rises its ugly head everywhere, and It is funny that I only came to understand it as an adult. In the school, it was a great thing to see kids from 5 o 6 countries’ heritage in a single classroom. There were not minorities, there was not a superior race at sight. Sometimes some white boy would be the Head Boy, and the next year a brown boy or a yellow one. The very idea of one race being superior to other was an abhorrent thought for the scotish teachers (long live the Queen, longer live to Scotland!). One school, were nobody would ever use a racial derogative and get away with it!. We were just proud of being alumni.
        The problem came to hit me, once school was over and i found out how most everybody else would look at you and clasify your skills, knowledge and aptitudes based on your color. It was easier! The cholos exagerate their smarts! They are obviously dumb! Otherwise, how come the spanish conquered them and their country! And when I say most everybody else, I mean that sadly some of my fellow brown countrymen also think and say out loud that the other browns are dumb and inferior. The prejudice permeates the souls.

        My first job: “Have you figured it out off the pictures?”, said my boss, once when i commented something i have read in a foreign magazine i had at hand. I didnt understand the question at first. It fell in place latter on. Obviously I wouldn’t be able to read english. I was brown! He had never read my Resumé.

        My first appartment: “How come the robbers got into the building so easily? Have you noticed the new tennant?”

        you got the idea. It happens. My nick is like that for “a reason”.

    4. Pinja

      If you bust into somewhere and take a hostage no one gives a shit what happens to you.

      Reverse it: Criminal causes innocent to have a psychotic break and trauma and you want to add insult to injury by adding punishment on top?

      Ethan and Amber are not fucking props in the drama of Sal’s life.

  104. Drakkin the alien

    one serious question thou’.
    why go the distance to the far away hand? why the right hand and not the left arm wich was closer? what was in her mind? is that a religious thing about punishment? what about “an eye for an eye”? is the Amazi-Girl an attonement thing? Is she only allowed to become enraged when she is her role of vigilante? Do that means that Amber is not allowed to be angry? Wich personality is repressing the other?

    ok, that escalated quite beyond one question… 😛

  105. Alexis

    amber you were such a fool in your youth

    her BACK was RIGHT THERE

  106. Cheryl

    wholy shit snacks!!!

    1. mrlshade

      And THAT’s how we get ANTs!

  107. BL

    so in five panels, Amazi-Girl (or present Amber) went on a PTSD rampage, flashback Amber went insane, Danny did something that wasn’t naive or misguided and we figured out Amber has a more violent history than previously thought with Sal.

    willis what the hell how did you even come up with this

  108. hof1991

    There is no AG in this strip, just Amber, according to the tags. I think AG left at some point and this is all Amber. Amber who can’t stop hitting Blaine until she is totally exhausted.

    Plus, were Sal’s gloves planned to hid a scar two years ago? Or just a happy fashion accessory?

    1. Eromer

      The gloves! I didn’t even think of that!

      Man I love this comic.

    2. John

      Sal’s been wearing gloves all the time a whole lot longer than DoA has been a thing.

      I’m finding it really interesting how fifteen-year-old quirks of Sal’s character design – her long, straight hair, wearing gloves all the time – are suddenly stealth plot points in DoA.

  109. EmanRuoy88

    Is that a McDonatello’s?

  110. Kim

    So… Why, exactley, did she change to Amazi Girl and started chasing down Sal when she saw her playing DS with Danny?

    1. timemonkey

      So she could attack her. Because she’s batshit crazy.

      1. Kim

        “I see you can use your right hand just fine. I’m here to rectify that”

  111. Animal

    Hover text for this strip should have been “stigmata.”

  112. BL

    i also like how there’s people almost obsessively updating the tvtropes character sheets for Blaine, Amber and Danny every day now

    1. Nohar

      I’m absolutly not concerned by that comment at all, I assure you, believe me, really.

  113. FuryOfFirestorm

    Warning: DO NOT FUCK WITH AMBER O’MALLEY. SHE WILL FUCK YOUR SHIT UP.

  114. The Sandman

    So, how’s Danny going to Dan this one up?

    My guess is that Blaine was one punch away from being completely subdued, and now he’s had the time to get back up and blindside Amber with a boot to the face. Things go downhill from there.

    1. Bemmie

      “So, did you bring my DS?”

  115. Rani

    NO MORE

  116. Mr K

    Sal finds Blaine, and assumes he is innocent. Blaine then says”This weird bongo in a superhero costume was beating me up”. Sal recognizes her as the girl who stalked her. Sal and Blaine then work together to find Amazi-Girl.

  117. JohnnyO

    I checked the other strips. We NEVER see Sal’s right hand. When she’s not wearing her glove it’s always behind her back or conspicuously just off-panel. Damn you, Willis, you are a crafty one.

  118. joegkushner

    Now onwards to angry sedx!

  119. PoweredBySucrose

    This is the worst McDonalds product placement ever.

    1. xKiv

      It’s actually just McDona.

  120. TrueVCU

    NO! STAB BLAINE! BLAINE! IN THE EYE! AND ALSO THE DICK!

  121. David

    Ok.. now she needs to rip off the mask and yell “Oh, and I’m Amber by the way you STUPID FUCKING MUPPIT! WE LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME except for this mask! What are you a character from a superman comic?!”

    1. Tricia

      You mean just like every single other character in the comic can’t recognize her? Like Blaine can’t recognize his own daughter? Willis has pretty clearly (or as clearly as Willis gets about these things) that as far as Amazi-Girl goes, everyone *is* a character from a Superman comic. They can’t recognize her because she wears a mask.

  122. Bill

    Since Faz and Blaine were originally together when they showed up in Amber’s room, am I the only one who is wondering where Faz is throughout all this?  Or is he going to become the Chuck Cunningham of DoA?

    1. Bill

      Oops — wrong link/too deep into the trope.  Use this one instead.

      1. Cragalanch

        We can only hope

  123. Tomas

    Kinda feel bad for Sal now.

    1. chris73

      I don’t she got what she deserved and it could have gone a lot worse for her, cashier pulls a gun or maybe her knife slips across Ethans throat etc etc

  124. bruhcomeon

    Anyone else notice that when she’s raising her fists in the first panel it’s the way you would do if you were gripping a knife with both hands?

    1. Ikaru

      Yeah, I saw that too.

    2. Jonathan S.

      I figured it was just the follow-through on a two-handed uppercut. But it does fit nicely with the image of her with the knife upraised in the flashback…

    3. Leorale

      I saw that too and came here to check if anybody had commented on it. I like it.

  125. Lel

    Am I the only one who realized she just did her normal Amber voice and Danny is visibly shocked?
    Although he could not be visibly shocked. It’s hard to tell when his eyes are black dots.

    1. Minder

      Hm. My prediction would be that he doesn’t figure it out from this, because otherwise I don’t know what the point was of Billie misleading him into thinking that Sal was Amazi-Girl. Unless Sal keeping Danny’s DS is going to be a huge plot point in a future storyline, I feel like we still have some personal drama that can milked from the identity mix-up.

      1. Jackson

        I’d think that Amber seeing her boyfriend chatting up her origin story would be enough of a payoff for that particular plot.

      2. Bill

        Checkov’s Nintendo?

    2. BL

      Willis has been hinting on Twitter that both Blaine and Danny still have no idea that Amber is Amazi-Girl, regardless her voice being unchanged at this point. Disguise level: Clark Kent.

  126. Jack Finch

    Danny just witnessed a felony assault–granted it couldn’t have happened to a better guy than Blaine, but Danny’s now in a helluva pickle. Does he tell the truth about what he’s just seen and to who? Dorothy? The police?

    1. shadowcell

      whatever he does, i’m sure everyone will hate him for it just the same

      don’t worry danny, some things are forever

      1. rachel

        like fandom hate

  127. NoOneOfConsequence

    It was Kovacs Amber who closed his her eyes. It was Rorschach Amazi-Girl who opened them again.

  128. Naruturd

    Sharingan Unlocked

  129. dontgetfooled

    Really stretching here, but I think Danny knows that Amazi-Girl is Amber, but blurting that stuff out with Blaine around would be a very very bad idea. Not that he wouldn’t Dan it up, of course.

    1. rachel

      yeah I think so too, at this point he is going to know, and/or amber is just about to tell him and to unload on him. question is, is your typical fairly well-adjusted, pretty essentially healthy-home 18 year old boy ready for this shit, at all?

  130. Epic

    So.

    Did he died?

  131. Tealjoy

    I’m glad he stepped in, and I hope she comes clean that it’s her. Or at least give him some sort of clue, because with Ethan off playing your local Hetero (though I know he loves her more than anyone, but with his own scrambled up feelings about himself, and the events of what happened that day finally being revealed, she probably doesn’t want to burden him), Dina still trying to understand social and emotional behavior, and Mike being Mike, Danny is all she got. And even though he Danny’d this up really bad, hopefully he can be there for the fall out because once that asshole wakes up I’m sure he’s going to want the last word. Though I wonder what he’s going to do, seeing as he can’t go to the cops. As far as we know Amazi-girl has only been seen around campus (and I’m sure wherever they are in town there are no witnesses. Even though that was a glorious beating, SOMEBODY would have stepped in earlier) so if he reports a blue and yellow costumed girl assaulting him he’ll end up giving himself away because then campus security will know he was on school grounds and I’m sure they’ll report him, and before we know it Amber’s mother will show up etc, etc. I don’t know but knowing this asshole he’s going to have the last word.

  132. man in black

    She’s in Berserk mode

    1. Keroshino

      “Flippy” mode

  133. theKOT

    So why is this comic completely realistic EXCEPT for people’s abilities to see through masks? It’s hard for me to understand this incongruity. I see how it enables us to have this sort of intriguing storyline but it also tugs on my suspension of disbelief because EVERYTHING else is normal so it stands out like a sore thumb.

    1. rachel

      the only conceit is to let go the mask. please let it go. it does not have to be 100% realistic. everything else is normal? a masked vigilante having the opportunity to pay it back to her abusive father and understanding, really understanding that it’s all him? really? remember distinction between normal and believable.

      1. theKOT

        Normal meaning stuff that actually occurs irl as opposed to in this universe.
        And no, I won’t let it go, it’s disconcerting, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. It’s like this facet of the strip pushes things into the uncanny valley of believability.

    2. Bill

      Although in Danny’s case it is highly unlikely that he hasn’t made the Amber/Amazi-Girl connection, it is still completely realistic that no one else has.  Amazi-Girl doesn’t go around handing out business cards (“In trouble? Call 555-AMAZING”) and only Danny has been close enough to her in both personas frequently enough to have reasonably gotten a clue.

      As for Sal and Amber not recognizing each other, remember that the robbery/stabbing happened something like five years ago and took perhaps ten highly stressful minutes for the entire incident to go down; they have most likely had no contact during that intervening period.  Now put glasses on one of the participants, completely change the hairstyle of the other, let ’em age from 13 to 18, and voila!

      Finally remember that this whole incident got started when Amber was already stressed out over Ethan hanging out with Joyce (“You’ll fake it with her but not with me”) when she saw Sal with Danny — and now, in hindsight, it appears that she may have recognized Sal as the person she stabbed — and that’s when Amber’s train went completely off the rails.

      1. theKOT

        Well I’m thinking of Blaine and Danny, primarily. It seems no one finds her sufficiently familiar to identify her, in general. It bugs me. I’m still reading this webcomic and enjoying it, but it’s not without what I consider flaws.

    3. Drakkin the alien

      Its a real problem for me. People without glasses (going for contacts or such) or with radical differente hairdos are different people for me. Say, James Marsden (cyclops) without the googles. In other movies out of the franchise, I only find out after the credits roll. Used to happen to me with Samuel Jackson in most his ’00s movies. I have tried to rationalizate this issue, and came empty handed. Maybe I’m wired funny.

  134. maxlines

    So it wasn’t a rubber knife, after all.

  135. Bilfred

    “Wait a minute, you must be impersonating Amber’s voice to confuse him! Good call!”

  136. Cyan1deDr3ams

    Oh, finally, Amber did something I don’t like, besides liking Danny- stabbing someone already apprehended who is also messed up and has issues of their own.

    1. Timni16

      Oh come on, she didn’t know that! How was she suppose to know that Sal has her own personal turmoil? All she knows is that Sal hurt Ethan and made Amber feel weaker than she already feels. Amber was not in the right state of mind either. I am not saying that what she did is right, but you have to think about it in Amber’s perspective.

      1. Heavensrun

        (past the expiration date on this comment, but I happened past and can’t not respond here.)

        Cyan could’ve stopped at “stabbing someone” and I would’ve still been nodding my head vigorously. I feel sympathy for Amber, but as an act, this is pretty indefensible.

  137. DarkoNeko

    Red eyes.

  138. AniDanny

    I’m reading through the archives for the second time and I’ve been keeping an eye on her hands. Sleeping with her gloves on should maybe have tipped me off the first time around that something was off (it didn’t), but the second time around I noticed that she always kept her right hand out of sight when she was wearing the schoolgirl uniform. Impressive, Willis!

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