197

Tights
Posted on September 15, 2017 by David M Willis
OH HEY!  It's that time of year again, which means I'm making my annual pilgrimage to Dumbing of Age Ground Zero, aka Bloomington, Indiana.  You can find me at Vintage Phoenix Comic Books downtown on September 22, from 5pm to 7pm, where I will have books and maybe some other things like spare magnets from years past.  Come say hello to me!  My trip to Bloomington is always the best.  That place is rad. but admittedly not as rad as the Lisa Frank dress on the left that Joyce will NEVER WEAR because i don't have the hours in the day to draw it in every panel she appears ALSO: Friday night at midnight EST (24 hours from this posting), I'm gonna put up the final three remaining copies of the "Twenty" limited anniversary print.  The dust has settled, and three left is what I've got.  (i proooooobably don't have to say this, but i'll say please limit yourself to buying one, just in case)

197 thoughts on “Tights”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    –and grape juice!

    what

  2. Danni

    canary in a coal mine sounds like a sex thing

    1. butting

      The disturbing happy Mary avatar is disturbing.

      1. Danni

        i didnt pick the damn avatar and dont know how to change it

        1. Emperor Norton II

          Don’t ever change it!

        2. butting

          Yup! Mary avatars can be fun, especially if talking about sex.

        3. Clif

          Voice of experience.

        4. butting

          Nah, the only noteworthy thing that happened when I had one was a cascade of four of us with it griping about it.

          Someone followed up with a comment about slapping all four Marys in turn and *sniff* it wuz the best

        5. Jhon

          Fun times.

        6. Doctor_Who

          I believe that if you change the capitalization of your email address slightly, you’ll be assigned a new one.

          No one should have to suffer through being Mary. Not even Mary. That’s why she’s so grouchy. You’d be too if you woke up and you were Mary.

        7. Clif

          So logically, if Mary changed her name to MarY, …

        8. Yumi

          If you want to change it, you can just capitalize (or de-capitalize) a letter in the email address you put in the comment’s email field.

    2. Stephen Bierce

      It’s a song from The Police too but I won’t play it on the hacked Muzak as a service to everybody.

      1. John

        I know that Sting singing about a canary in a coma is the first place my mind went.

      2. elebenty

        But… he gets so dizzy! Even walking in a straight line.

      3. Remmington Steele

        New York Mining Disaster 1941 by the Bee Gees.

      4. Deanatay

        Wait, since when was NOT playing something on the hacked Muzak a thing?

        1. Reltzik

          When Stephen started Policing himself.

          ….

          *flees for dear punning life*

  3. butts

    i bet Sarah wants Jacob to be the canary in her coal mine ehhhh

    1. Arawn

      As long as you don’t name the canary Lemmiwinks or anything resembling…

    2. Danni

      your icons a coal mine

      1. Pablo360

        and yours is a canary

        wait fu

        1. Pablo360

          I forgot I changed my gravatar, this is going to be trippy for a while

    3. CJ

      You know that the canary in the coal mine’s function was to drop dead from gas in time to warn the miners?

      1. Jhon

        Chokedamp is -not- sexy.

  4. Yumi

    I was thinking Jacob’s church might be dressier than what Joyce was expecting. Maybe the beliefs are more “hippie,” but the physical spaces seem fancy.

    1. Yumi

      And I forgot to use the new Gravatar-associated email. Oops.

  5. AutobotDen

    I like Joyce’s outfit. It’s cute, and pastel yellow is definitely a nice color on her.

  6. AnvilPro

    There is no way this ends happy. Even if I think Joyce and Joe would be a cute couple this ain’t the answer

    1. Wolfbeckett

      I’m sure you meant to say Joyce and Jacob there. I think Joyce and Joe went out the window as a possible couple when she hired someone to punch him in the face.

      1. begbert2

        Oddly, I think the face punching is what opened the door to that ship being possible. Prior to that Joe saw her only as a female body with an inconvenient head propped on top, so only after that view of her was blasted out of his head did it even become possible for him to see her as a person, thus allowing an actual relationship (of any kind) to develop.

  7. Carms

    good grief this is hilarious

  8. Marsh Maryrose

    Head cheerleader, problem maker! (But only for those who deserve to have problems made for them, of course.)

  9. Pigeon Pollyx

    regardless of intentions that is a good look.

    I wasn’t raised religious so I don’t think I can diagnose what Joyce is feeling right now, but I can’t help but feel a little uncomfortable about “my church is real”. Anyone know what that feeling’s like, wanna explain?

    1. vlademir1

      It’s going to be essentially the same feeling as when anyone casts doubt on anything you consider a significant part of who you are.

    2. Opus the Poet

      Ask a neo-Pagan about having a “real” church that isn’t based on the mis-translated transcriptions of a 6000 YO oral tradition.

      I’ll save you the bus fare, ’tain’t fun. Even less fun when your religion was based on a secret society.

    3. ditrysia

      In short, they are suggesting that her system of beliefs and the society she shares them with, which are really important to her, are less legit than other religions which are probably more standard and/or organized. It removed validation from something that is important to her. It’s a joke but it also shows disrespect.

      1. Pablo360

        I’ve seen what those kinds of churches can do and am fully willing to disrespect that.

        1. Yumi

          I don’t care about respecting those churches, but I don’t think positioning them as “not real” as one’s form of disrespect really does anybody any good. I’d also try to respect my friend even if I didn’t like the church they were a part of.

          That said, if I was in Joyce’s place, I don’t feel like my reaction to a comment like that would be more than, “Um, rude” in an equally joking manner, unless it’s stirring up other feelings she has around her church, which is very possible.

        2. Minotaur

          It´s not like more standard and/or organized religions always have the moral high ground in that respect…

        3. CJ

          Some denominations have a tradition of more than 10, 50 or even a hundred years. Naturally, they had more time time raise money for church building and created tradition on how to behave.
          On the fundi end, you get the impression there is a new church spawned as soon as someone disagrees with one tenet or other.

          It’s disturbing that a basicly grass-roots and anarchist behavior leads to totalitarian though systems.

          I’m depressed about the current state of German politics. the trump clones are getting third place in the “Sunday question” (if Sunday were the election, whom would you vote for?).

        4. The Gorram Batguy

          “there is a new church spawned as soon as someone disagrees with one tenet or other”
          I can’t speak for every particular religion, but that sounds about right.
          Meanwhile, reminds me of the following joke by the great Emo Phillips
          (Gotta watch to the end.)
          https://youtu.be/l3fAcxcxoZ8

    4. Tom T.

      Think of it as akin to someone suggesting that your college isn’t “real” because it’s new or non-standard (e.g., Hampshire or Liberty), or that your degree isn’t “real” because it’s in women’s studies or some other supposedly “soft” field.

      1. Clif

        Like those non-physicists pretending that what they do is real science.

  10. BeatleJWOL

    Does…does this actually work??

    Like, ever, in the history of ever?

    1. pjeseb

      What, putting your hair in a ponytail?

      I… I think so? I mean, I don’t have any personal experience with it, but I’ve seen people with ponytails in the real life so I assume there must be some way to pull it off.

      1. Emperor Norton II

        No no no!

        You don’t pull it off, then it’s no longer a pony tail!

    2. Arawn

      It’s not hard to cause jealousy and division between a couple. It just takes suspicion, a girl that’s prettier or something to cause some form of inferiority complex to pop up and wreak havoc. We can all be our own worst enemy. In terms of breaking someone up to get someone together with someone else? Uh… it can work but the relationships are quite rarely more than short term.

      1. Leorale

        The end goal is just to make Raidah unhappy. It could work for that.

        1. Leorale

          –or, of course, Raidah might not be the jealous type, and/or she’s impressed that Jacob comports himself well, and/or Jacob catches on and is grossed out, and another twenty ways this could backfire and make Jacob/Raidah stronger.

        2. Greylurker

          I feel like we’ve seen Raidah react to Joyce’s presence before. I think she recognizes a threat even if Joyce doesn’t realize it.

        3. Deathjavu

          Radiah “doesn’t do” jealousy (although who would say they do??)

        4. SomeUnregPunk

          it could backfire in a different way. Raidah deciding that she’s cool with polysexual relationships but only with Joyce.

    3. Sam

      Yes, it does. There is always a segment of really insecure or jealous people dating partners that are shallow, emotionally detached or immature that would leave if someone better came along or if the relationship took effort to maintain. Could also just lead to cheating on their partner though.

      Doesn’t seem likely to work on Raidah and Jacob with our current knowledge of the situation in my opinion, but it can definitely work on certain types of people in unstable relationships without a solid foundation of trust.

      1. BenRG

        FWIW, I can see Raidah effectively sabotaging her relationship with Jacob (by being possessive of him and cruel to Joyce) in response to a threat from Joyce that only exists in her mind. However, I’m not familiar enough with the character to know how plausible this scenario might be.

        1. Dalben

          Well, Joyce is trying to break them up, so the threat isn’t entirely imaginary.

        2. BenRG

          Joyce’s intentions and her ability to actually carry out those intentions are quite different things, IMO. In fact, the whole thought of her trying to persuade Jacob to dump Raidah for Sarah through flowery oratory that she claims describe Sarah’s feelings actually is quite funny.

        3. Sam

          So far we haven’t seen Raidah to be the jealous type which is why I don’t think she will do that at the moment. But jealousy and possessiveness CAN be induced if there is enough suspicion so I’m not throwing the possibility away completely, just saying I don’t think it will work based on our current knowledge.

  11. Kernanator

    What could possibly go wrong?

  12. Yumi

    Also: Okay, but can we vote for that Lisa Frank dress to appear in a bonus strip?

    (Side note, I was blanking on the first name for a minute, and then all I could come up with is “Anne Frank” which is SO DIFFERENT.)

  13. MapleAmber

    Joyce looks so good in this comic; I love her clothes!
    Good job, Billie, at least someone sees this.

  14. Nono

    I… don’t think I’ve ever seen light blue tights before.

    Like I’m sure they exist, but the concept of tights that weren’t just black or brown or maybe red is somehow a new concept.

    1. Yumi

      They come in all sorts of patterns and colors. I feel like it’s more popular with leggings, but I like galaxy print versions of both.

    2. JetstreamGW

      Maybe you’ve never seen light blue tights… but you have seen… GREEN!

      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Montreal_Comiccon_2015_-_Robin_Hood_-_Men_in_Tights_%2819292135019%29.jpg

      !

      1. Goshii

        They are Men, Men in tights!

  15. Passchendaele

    hmm I know my dad used to be episcopalian, but he never really talks about it, so this’ll be an interesting new perspective. Pews are definitely better than gymnasiums, at least. :p

  16. DinaWho

    Am I the only person who isn’t really feeling Joyce’s outfit? The pale yellow and blue combo just isn’t working for me (I think if the tights were a different colour it wouldn’t seem so odd).

    1. Yumi

      If the tights were white that might be okay, any other color probably not, but I like the blue more than I imagine I would the white. So basically I think it’s nice as is.

      1. Yumi

        Also note: I’m predisposed to be opposed to the pairing of blue and yellow, but I still like it.

    2. Ansel

      It’s kind of washed out but I don’t think it’s bad otherwise.

      But yeah were it me I’d pair with darker tights or something that would make the yellow pop? I like yellow.

      1. missilentmurmur

        That yellow wouldn’t pop. It’s a sickly yellow that has lost everything in life.

  17. Keulen

    That is a good look for Joyce there. Also I’m kinda disappointed that we won’t see more of Joyce in that tiger dress.

    1. Roborat

      Maybe Willis will make it a Kickstarter option for the next book.

  18. Gojira

    I thought ‘lil Jacob was the canary in her coal mine.

    1. ValdVin

      Well, the only thing Other Jacob’s errant symptoms warn her of is that she needs spare batteries.

  19. Ninjamaid

    Because cartoons almost always keep the same character model for 100+ episodes I always get a thrill seeing characters change their hairstyle/clothes.

    1. BBCC

      Same – Weekenders blew my mind by not having one main outfit per person.

      1. Ansel

        But iirc they did repeat clothes, which was neat because lots of shows without a fixed outfit instead make it like they have new clothes every day.

        1. BBCC

          Yep! The cast had around 4-5 regular outfits and they didn’t all appear on one episode, which made it seem like they had a finite, but not strangely limited wardrobe. I think 2-3 outfits is very reasonable for a group of 12 year olds on the weekend.

      2. Yumi

        Remember when Tino didn’t even win for “Best Tino.”

        1. BBCC

          Oooh, that’s harsh.

      3. Roborat

        What about poor Liz in Real Life? She has been wearing the same top for 11 years.

    2. Surah-2

      See I was thinking ‘ugh if only Joyce knew how to do something with her hair’. For all the clothes changing, you’d think at least one girl would add a braid or crimps or something. I mean Billie was a cheerleader! She should be rocking (temporary) dyed dipped hair or streaks in the university colors! It’s mandatory lol

      1. UniqueSnowflake2

        Mandy changed her hair color.

  20. John

    Sarah and Billie are the best supervillain team.

  21. Keulen

    And here I thought “other Jacob” was the canary in her coal mine.

  22. maxyai

    I vote for Mary to be the canary in the coal mine. A real coal mine. Go now.

  23. Rukdug

    Sarah: “Well damn. We should have started getting along sooner. We’d have accomplished so much by now.”
    Billie: “I know, right?”

    1. Deanatay

      “Sooo many soaking wet Walky’s!”
      “Um, phrasing, girl.”

  24. Fart Captor

    Oh god, Billie’s proud smile is adorable

    1. Jess

      Right? What a cute moment — but it’s hard not to love Joyce. c:

  25. Loki

    Aww, they are bonding uwu;

  26. Michael Chandra

    This is adorable. ^_^

  27. Yumi

    Hey, since I apparently have too much time and a mild interest in learning how to use Pixlr,
    here’s a bunch of recolors of the tights that nobody asked for.

    1. missilentmurmur

      Thanks! I like the dark blue most. I think some pearly white that plays into light pink would be nice too 😛

      1. OnyxIdol

        That “dark blue” looks more like dark purple to me. Let’s have endless discussion about it that go nowhere 😉

        1. Yumi

          I see it as dark purple too, but also some of the colors look pretty different on my phone than they did on my computer, so who’s to say, really.

    2. King Daniel

      curse you, dup-o-matic

    3. Surah-2

      Because I used to go to a stuffy pew church, the white, black and brown look look the most appropriate to me.

      That said, this makes me realize I hate the boots with this combo. Like really really really hate. The dress is all light with a super causal neckline that makes me think it’s still warm out, and then the boots make it get like it’s 40 degrees. Idk

  28. Bagge

    Billie has no objections. Finally drama is shaping up to her taste

  29. MentalDojo

    **plays “Canary in a Coalmine” on hacked Muzak**

  30. Marsh Maryrose

    I don’t know anything about Episcopal churches except what I’ve read on the internet. Which is a too-long way of saying I don’t know anything about Episcopal churches.

    My pre-internet understanding of the Episcopal church was that it was basically like the Catholic church, except Protestant. And then they started ordaining women as priests. And then they started ordaining openly gay bishops.

    My pathetic and still mostly uninformed understanding of the Episcopal church is that, while services will differ wildly from church to church, in general Episcopalian services will tend to be very traditional in terms of form and ritual, but the underlying theology is pretty darned liberal.

    I imagine both of those things will freak Joyce out, for opposite reasons.

    1. Yumi

      Yeah, I have a past acquaintance who’s an openly gay member of the clergy in the Episcopalian church. (Apparently he’s either no longer on Facebook or unfriended me, so I don’t know his exact position.) Anyway, his church pictures always looked pretty…churchy. As in how I would imagine a church.

      I find Joyce’s church experiences to be interesting…I mean, I know more about what fundamentalist churches can be like now, but they just don’t match my expectations of church.

      Also, I have a friend who belongs to a church that seems somewhat like the type Joyce likes, with the more modern worship songs. And I went to her baptism with another friend of mine, and we both disliked these songs, but for different reasons: I felt all the Jesus and stuff was ruining otherwise good music, and she felt the style of music wasn’t matching for worship.

    2. Deathjavu

      I remember my Episcopalian church being fairly traditional with pews and sermons but liberal with songs (not quite to guitar levels but they may have gotten there eventually), although admittedly I was a) under 12 b) socially unaware and c) did not want to be there.

      Just the waking up part of going to church was already strikes 1-5 in my book.

    3. Jhon

      ‘Episcopal’ means they have bishops. Not hippies.
      …unless they have hippie bishops…

  31. Kamino Neko

    Re: Alt text…

    TOO SOON.

    1. Tim

      I’m sure 3 months ago he wasn’t aware there was going to be several hurricanes hitting the US. 🙂

      1. Emperor Norton II

        His alt-texts aren’t necessarily written at that time, though. There has been a few times where I’m pretty damn sure he wrote them the day before uploading.

        1. Clif

          Either way, I’m pretty sure he knew who the president was. We are talking about the same thing?

        2. Emperor Norton II

          Oh man… Once that complete stain on humanity’s sheet is out of office, there’s going to be a hell of a long mourning period where it’ll be TOO SOON to make jokes about it because it’s going to depress everyone.

        3. Marsh Maryrose

          I assume the alt text is a reference to Alice’s assessment of Billie.

          But the Emperor is right (of course). The alt texts have been known to refer to events within a day or two of the posting; and at any rate (if my memory is not failing) they have sometimes been changed after posting.

  32. missilentmurmur

    I don’t know anything about these American churches, but Joyce’s outfit would be very off in any major church here. It shows too much shoulder.

    1. BP

      These days, so few people in the States even still go to church that they’re getting less strict. (I went to a Catholic church, blue jeans and flipflops were fine once I hit twelve and my mom couldn’t make me wear dresses.)

  33. Eldritch Gentleman

    No wonder Sarah has bad opinion of Billie… but then again at this point it’s pot and kettle…

    1. Emperor Norton II

      Sometimes, there’s nothing like seeing a part of yourself in someone else to dislike them intensely.

      1. Eldritch Gentleman

        Seeing the sawdust in another’s eye but not the beam in one’s own.

  34. Some Random Name

    The dress does work with tights. Maybe not Ugg-style boots, but yes with tights.

    1. ZerglingOne

      TBH, without any direct reference to what Joyce would actually look like, given it’s cartoony, I’d still wager a guess she’s one of those girls that would look attractive in a burlap sack with armholes.

      In other words, she’d probably look good wearing anything.

      1. BenRG

        Yeah, in essence. In fact (and I bet that, as time goes by this will become an increasing source of resentment amongst her peers), she could probably have any partner she wanted but doesn’t realise it and would normally never consider leveraging her appearance in that way.

        1. ValdVin

          As Harry Stiles might tell Joyce, “You don’t know you’re beautiful.”

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/sexualshamereel/

          (i’ll show myself out.)

  35. BenRG

    I can’t help but wonder if Joyce is going to be puzzled by Becky’s reaction to her today… let alone the reaction of many an anonymous guy and girl. It’s somewhat characteristic of her that she’s effortlessly beautiful and attractive and simply doesn’t realise it.

    My hope? She meets a guy at Jacob’s church that she really likes and they become close friends. After a while, they’re dating and Joyce doesn’t realise it because she has this issue of compartmentalising her relationships into ‘friendship’ and ‘romantic target’.

    Finally: Sarah, you don’t need Billie around. Just ask yourself “What would Billie do?” and be wary of the answer and what it means for your own ethics.

    1. ValdVin

      “What would Billie do?” and do the opposite.

      Sounds a bit oversimplified, but it’s a good start.

  36. PapayaPunkPixie

    I’m really disappointed that Sarah and Billie are using Joyce like this. Especially playing up her sex appeal to get a guy to commit infidelity, knowing this is against everything she values. I hope Joyce doesn’t get hurt in all of this.

    1. reaver

      Why? Joyce was perfectly fine with breaking Joshua up with Radiah because she thought Sarah was better…Not like she’s apparently got a problem with infidelity if it benefits her in some way…

      1. Emily

        What Sarah is doing is definitely more fucked up than what Joyce is doing. Like Joyce’s matchmaking thing is definitely not cool and she needs to step back but Sarah is basically doing this without Joyce’s knowledge or consent and not even because she thinks it will make Joyce happy but rather to spite someone else with what appears to be no real consideration for how this could affect Joyce.

        1. Victor

          Meh. I mean, we’re not talking about breaking up a marriage here, we’re talking about a college relationship that’s been going on for maybe a month. I don’t know about your experience, but college relationships weren’t exactly long-term for me or anybody I know. And Joyce can decide if she’s interested in Jacob herself, that’s not even where her head is right now. Jacob seems like a safe enough guy for Joyce if she does decide there’s an interest there at some point. I actually think Joe might be a better option for her, though. The 0- isn’t a real rating, Joe actually likes her as a person, and he’s even farther outside of her crazy religion since he’s not even christian.

        2. thejeff

          I’ve met people like that. Even dated one. “It’s no big deal I’m sleeping with this guy who has another girlfriend. It’s not like they’re married or even living together.”
          Deliberately screwing up other people’s relationships for your own benefit is crappy behavior, regardless of how long-term it was.
          If it turns out to be a short term relationship, then you’ll have that chance after they break up on their own.

      2. Arioch

        Keep in mind too, what Joyce thinks she’s doing in regards to this matchmaking (still wrong and not cool) is a lot more innocent than what Sarah and Billie are doing. Joyce thinks she is going to talk to Jacob about how awesome Sarah is and convince him through the power of her words alone that he should break up with Raidah and date Sarah. It may take hanging out and talking to him several times but she will try. To someone like Joyce, that might not constitute infidelity because she is going to convince him that Sarah is awesome and then he will leave that *dastardly Raidah* for her *awesome friend*.
        Then again, I could be wrong. It could be that because she has her subconscious crush on Jacob and Sarah likes him that her brain is allowing her to gloss over the pesky moral details of what she’s doing. But, that doesn’t really feel like Joyce to me. She’s a pretty complex character and at the same time there are still some things about her that remain amazingly innocent. I just think the folks who are jumping on here with her willingness to “seduce Jacob away from Raidah for Sarah” haven’t thought to appreciate just how much she may not have thought that part through.

        1. thejeff

          She certainly hasn’t thought it through, but she’s also certainly subconsciously crushing on him.

    2. Deathjavu

      Sarah is even admitting out loud that what she’s doing is a bad idea in the last panel…and still doesn’t feel the need to change anything.

      1. reaver

        I just don’t understand the whole “Knowing it’s against everything she values” Yes and Joyce is still willingly going along with this whole “Seduce Jacob away from Radiah” plot.

        She knows her values and beliefs, she should already KNOW this isn’t okay.

        1. adjudicus

          I think its more about Sarah knowing that this goes against Joyce’s values instead of Joyce willingly choosing to go against her values. Besides, Joyce honestly has no idea of this plot, she just thinks she’s going to try to convince Jacob to get together with Sarah, while Sarah is using that to try to get Jacob with Joyce. If Joyce did know of the plot, she’d refuse to do it, but she’s so naive that she can’t see that she’s being sent to “seduce” Jacob

        2. reaver

          Joyce knows she’s supposed to attempt to seduce Jacob away from Radiah for Sarah,

          She doesn’t know she’s supposed to attempt to seduce him away for herself according to Sarah.

          Joyce knows thou shalt not covent thy neighbors stuff

          She knows “Thou shalt not commit adultery”

          She knows she’s doing BOTH of those, yes Sarah knows this is wrong, but Joyce ALSO knows this is wrong.

          …Friggen JOE KNOWS IT’S WRONG.

          Idk how many red flags Joyce needs after the ‘Womanizer” Goes ‘Joyce don’t do that, it’s crummy”

        3. adjudicus

          I wouldn’t say “seduce”. More like she’s going to try to convince Jacob to leave Raidah rather than cheating on her. However, Sarah obviously sees that Joyce has a crush on Jacob and interacts better with him, so she decided to let Joyce have Jacob to spite Raidah. Honestly, I don’t think the idea of seduction ever crosses Joyce’s mind. While this is still really wrong , I don’t think she’d see this as going against her values

        4. reaver

          Ofcourse she doesn’t she ‘s “justified” it in her head by virtue of “Sarah is better in every conceivable way”

          It’s kinda what she does ._.

        5. adjudicus

          Well, yeah, but what evidence has she seen that Raidah is better than Sarah? She heard about Dana from Sarah, who might’ve let her bias against Raidah colour her perception, and I think she saw Raidah(correct me if i’m wrong) insult Dina for no apparent reason. Also, she’s been living with Sarah for a month, and Sarah had saved her life, while her only interaction with Raidah was when she met Raidah at the store. So of course she’d think that Sarah was better.

          Plus, I still think this doesn’t go against her values because she’s going to try to talk Jacob out of the relationship. She probably wouldn’t see this as adultery or any other “sin”.

  37. BP

    Billie’s got the yellow clothing for canaryhood and everything too, whoever comes after her won’t have that kind of dedication!

  38. NinjaNick

    Joyce’s outfit is so cute.

  39. Lovely Monsters

    The dress is indeed okay with tights. It is NOT okay with Uggs. Ugh.

    (see what I did there)

    1. BenRG

      FWIW, I’m looking forward to the first time poor Joyce goes tottering around on heels. ‘Funny’ probably wouldn’t adequately describe it.

  40. darkoneko

    Sarah’s making lesbian innuendos now~~

  41. David

    Ah, a Lew Zealand impression: “I throw the Joyce, and it gets back at Raidah”.

  42. Emily

    Yikes, Sarah that is not good big sister behaviour at all.

    1. Clif

      What could go wrong?

    2. Surah-2

      Have you had a big sister? Mine used me as an excuse to go to movies only to meet up with guys to make out with awkwardly next to me.

      That’s when I started getting comfortable going to movies alone.

      1. Emily

        Thus the “good” qualifier. That is also an example of shitty big sister behaviour.

  43. BenRG

    Just to add that I love Billie’s “My work here is done” smile and body language in panels 2 and 5!

    1. Bagge

      Agreed. Even Sarah gets into it in panel 5

  44. Vulcanodon

    I am strangely excited by the prospect of Joyce encountering a different kind of church.

  45. L!ghtn!ng

    So what’s Billie’s motive in this? Is she just trying to hook Joyce up with Jacob despite Raidah, or does she have issues with Raidah too? Or does she just love the drama?

    1. BenRG

      As far as I can tell, she has her own reasons for disliking Raidah and wanting to spite her in a passive-aggressive manner.

      1. timemonkey

        Last time they interacted was Billie trying to befriend her before Sarah punched her in the face.

      2. Shariku

        I think she’s just getting on the bandwagon. The only time Billie and Raidah met is during the visit to the mall. Billie wanted to get in with the sophomores but it got ruined by Sarah punching Raidah.

        Unless she’s holding a grudge for that one panel where Raidah suggested that Joyce try on a jacket that was one size smaller than the one Billie suggested i wouldn’t say they have any history.

    2. McBogue

      Billie has heard Sarah’s recounting of the whole Dana situation and the bad blood between them. She also likely knows of Raidah and her “minions” insulting Dina for no good fucking reason. There’s probably also a bit of envy about Raidah having the kind of “Alpha Bongo” status that Billie would like to have.

    3. McBogue

      Billie has heard Sarah’s recounting of the whole Dana situation and the bad blood between them. She also likely knows of Raidah and her “minions” insulting Dina for no good fucking reason. There’s probably also a bit of envy about Raidah having the kind of “Alpha Bongo” status that Billie would like to have.

      1. Spencer

        Sarah likewise insulted and demeaned Dina in the exact same way.

  46. plane9

    Ugh, jeans and flipflops? Probably my most hated fashion choice, to the point that I can’t wait for winter just so people stop wearing it.

  47. prime_pm

    Dude, I’m Episcopalian and all I wear are jeans and a shirt, sometimes a Ravens one depending on gameday.

  48. hof1991

    Mileage varies. Some Episcopal churchs are fairly formal “Sunday going to meeting clothes” but if the building lacks AC, people will dress comfortably in summer. In Wisconsin, every church sees a lot of green and gold on Sunday in season. Bet I saw 100 people with some form of jersey last week, maybe 20% of the congregation. Even the priest was in green and gold.

    Pews are an important signifier. Pews indicate that its a church that is permanent enough to invest in furniture and have a single purpose space. If your church is also a gym, that conveys a sense of impermanence. That it only exists when the space stops being a gym and that it can cease to exist just by removing a podium and stacking chairs.

    1. wynne

      Haha, I go to a Catholic church that permanently ended up in a space it wasn’t supposed to be in (what was originally supposed to just be the parish school), so we have both pews AND the gym. The gym is like a very large, very squeaky anteroom.

  49. Nymphie

    It just hit me how grateful I am that Willis character designs are strong enough that you can still identify a character when they get new outfits or put up their hair in ponytails.

    1. King Daniel

      Eglamore looks pretty different today.

      1. Yumi

        Have an upvote.

      2. Joey245

        Gunnerkrigg Court references! Yay!

      3. shammers

        YEET

  50. wynne

    Billie and Sarah’s friendship is good. Odd, but good.

    1. Clif

      There are friendships that aren’t odd in some way?

      1. Deanatay

        Not if you’re doing it right.

  51. Katherine

    I’m Episcopalian and we get all kinds of dress at my church, just like any other. It’s fairly high church, too, and takes place in a French-Gothic style cathedral, with real bells in a bell tower and everything. I wear jeans and a blouse most Sundays. I’m sure every congregation is different, though I appreciate the “come as you are” aspect of my church. It’s chill.

    1. Stella

      Same! Apart from churches with an official dress code (Mennonite, for example), every church I’ve attended, liturgical, pentecostal, and in-between, doesn’t seem to mind how people dress. I mean, I suppose if someone came in wearing something way out-there–a swimsuit or a ballgown, for example–people would say something, but generally I think the “come as you are” attitude has been accepted fairly broadly.

  52. Roger Sterling

    Oh boy, Sarah’s in piece of shit mode again.

  53. kristiellkay

    In my fundie-ish experience, the whole point of the church being ~wherever~ rather than in a building built just for it was kind of a point of pride. Like it was more ‘authentic’ or something, because it was more about the message and less about the trappings that come with the more traditional churches.

    Also, it was always kind of sold that it was the older, (again) more authentic method of worship. I’m sure every sect felt this way, but the idea was [whatever major sect they split from] had ‘lost the way’ or whatever, and they split to go back to how it should be, that kind of thing.

    Unrelated: squeeeeee at finally getting to see this dress in comic! It’s been showing up in tumblr previews for too long now!

  54. Paulinir

    Nobody worried about sending dressed up Joyce towards Becky? My money is on drama before they even get to cause drama for Jacob. And Billy should be an expert on unhealthy lesbian relationships…

  55. Tenn

    Do college kids these days actually know about canaries in coal mines? *coughs up soot*

    1. BBCC

      They know the expression, if not the why.

      1. StClair

        Kind of like the record-scratch noise, even though the vinyl LP is a dead format, extinct outside of certain small, protected enclaves.

        1. ValdVin

          You mean what they call a Portland Boombox, as illustrated here?

          http://www.jspowerhour.com/comics/204

        2. BBCC

          Yeah, we know what records are, even though they long predate us.

  56. Deanatay

    Am I being too bongoy to Raidah? Doesn’t seem like I am…

    Wait. Is this something BILLIE would do?

    …

    Dammit.

  57. nlips

    “See? It’s fine with tights!” was the end of some sort of conversation. Clearly Billie was trying to get her to wear the yellow dress WITHOUT tights, and Joyce had a problem with it. Joyce argued that tights would be all right, and Billie said they wouldn’t. It ends with Joyce putting on the tights anyway, and saying, “See? It’s fine!”

  58. Joey245

    Joyce looks amazing no matter what she wears. Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

    1. Joey245

      Aw man, Joyce isn’t my gravatar anymore. 🙁

  59. Exilon1

    I am completely in love with Sarah and Billie right now and can barely contian my excitement towards Joyce and Jacob goodness.

    1. bunivasal

      Sarah’s using Joyce to punish a romantic rival without having to take the blame for stealing him away, if away he can be stolen.

      Having been entangled in situations like this before, it ends poorly for everyone.

  60. Br44n5m

    I see you, head alien!

    1. ValdVin

      Good eye! I had to look 2x for it.

      This is the kind of reinforcement we need to give Willis so the backgrounds continue. Its a lot of work.

      1. Agent Kale Duped Ya

        The backgrounds are indeed beautifully detailed.

  61. Spring

    Does anyone know how to contact David Willis reliably? My print got bent in the mail a little bit, and I’m wondering if he has replacements. I tried tweeting at him, but I know a lot of artists don’t check their replies, and don’t want to harass him by posting on a bunch of other things.

    1. Lingo

      If tweeting doesn’t work, I think he reads most of these comments. And if you have a tumblr account, you could send him an ask there.

    2. David M Willis

      *checks Twitter*

      I don’t see anybody tweeting at me about this, but this might be because Twitter sometimes hides tweets to verified tweeters depending on settings or just how the site feels, I dunno.

      But, yeah, I made sure I had a few extras, just in case, for stuff like this. Let me know who I’m resending to with an email to wiigii at gmail.

  62. C.T Phipps

    I should point out there’s a lot of wrong usage of the term “Infidelity.” If Jacob decides he likes Joyce and breaks up with Raidah, that’s perfectly normal. It’s called relationships.

    They’re not married.

  63. kendermouse

    I want that Lisa Frank dress Joyce is wearing in the blurb section, omg.

  64. Flakky

    Sarah shouldn’t need another canary when her current one just metaphorically died.
    It’s time to heed the warning that you’re headed for dire straights.

  65. CastawayJ

    HOW is the comic titled “tights” not about Amazigirl???

    1. David M Willis

      amazi-girl doesn’t wear tights

  66. Tealjoy

    See, I’m Joyce in this situation. I did not think that was what was happening here. Totally clueless

  67. Passchendaele

    In my tired morning mind, “Stuffy pews” sounds sort-of like somebody with allergies, and I find it funnier than is necessary.

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