See, the thing is, she beat Doom without any formal training. Had she beaten Galactus on her way to trying to be Iron Man’s sidekick instead, she’d be Amazi-Girl instead of Squirrel Girl.
Someone has to remind you that Applejack isn’t a background pony, FLUTTERSHY is best pony (followed by Rainbow Dash), and that the best background pony is, of course, DERPY.
My kid watched that episode and then pranced downstairs and asked if we knew what an alicorn was. I guessed an alligator with a horn, and my wife freaked out.
Yeah, thanks to the color change there, I realized she was doing it. Also, thanks to realizing she was doing it, I’m now reading everything she says in a heavy-smoker Batman voice.
Back when DoA began, would you have ever guessed that “favorite My Little Pony character” would end up being a perfectly ordinary thing for nerds to argue about?
Yes, because they always were. Friendship is Magic is a good show, but just because ponies are (yes, are!) primarily for girls doesn’t mean boys can’t enjoy the show and its concepts too, both now and in the 80s.
By the second term of DoA, MLP:FiM will be something their parents grew up with and how The Simpsons are STILL making new episodes even after The Singularity happened.
I… have a feeling that maybe it wasn’t a robbery. She hesitates to call it a robbery, she doesn’t want to talk about it, and the flashback makes it look pretty violent…
It looks like she’s holding onto a chips rack or something from the back, so I thought she was hiding behind something. Also, it might not be her — it might be her mother, or even her dad. (Then again, the hair in the back sort of negates that.)
The more that I look at it, the more I think it might be she’s being pressed against the side of that chip rack, perhaps that’s her shoulder that’s being grabbed. I dunno, the implications are already rough as it is.
I get the feeling there’s some information about this dad of her’s I don’t know. I apologize for my ignorance, I’ve not read the other comics, what’s the situation with her dad? Or was there DoA strip I’m forgetting that elaborates this info?
There’s no reason to think that her dad in this strip is like her dad in the other strip. As for DoAmber’s dad, I don’t think we know anything about him.
Right sorry, in Shortpacked! Amber’s dad is/was abusive and he had a streak of gray in his hair. Of course Shortpacked!Amber is really different to DoA!Amber, so different backstory is really plausible.
Was. He’s dead. And there was much rejoicing. (Literally, Mike wore a party hat to the funeral, and no one thought that was dickish.)
For DOA!Amber, we do know he left when she was little, with that exact phrasing. That’s pretty much it. It is possible he’s the same abusive ass in this universe as he was in Shortpacked, but it’s also possible he wasn’t. At the very least, we know he screwed Amber and her mom up much less this time since he wasn’t around.
Well of course it’s the R-word. What? You though a female hero could just see injustice and decide to fight crime? Not without being “saved by an Orc” she can’t.
Well considering it is something that happens in real life (and unfortunately still rather often) and has an enormous impact on someone’s life, it is a viable option in storytelling. If you’re prepared to have your characters experience the really bad things, that is.
A problem only arises if it’s used too often. Which it probably is. Creating a bit of an “a woman can’t have a deep and troubled character unless” situation. Which, I guess, is your real problem with it. Making it a cheap cop out for many writers. Which is in turn putting those who do it, but do it right in an undeserved bad light.
Of course it has an enormous impact on someone’s life.
But, YES, it is used too often. It has been the origin story of so many female superheroes, even being retconned into the origins where it didn’t already exist, and meanwhile I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times a male superhero has gotten his start because he was raped.
Mostly because that number is zero.
(Seriously the ONLY example I can think of at all, period, is SPOILER Derek Morgan of Criminal Minds, who was molested as a child by a priest. SPOILER, and he is not a superhero.)
Just seriously try to imagine for a moment if the next dark reboot of Batman had the first cop who showed up to help him in the ally instead force him to give him a blowjob. Now try to imagine that that was already a pretty common origin story for a superhero and that you were physically exhausted by the thought.
I know Amber’s childhood was really, really awful in Shortpacked and that it might also be awful here, but I will STILL be depressed if it turns out that’s what’s motivating her here.
On a related note, could you name names, concerning rape-victim origin story super-heroines, as Starfire and Black Cat are the only ones who come to mind? I’m hardly a hardcore western comics follower. Most of my Marvel and DC knowledge comes from other sources
Third Panel, it looks like she’s hiding behind a grocery store shelf, with a hand on her… shoulder? Someones black hair in the top left corner… Not sure what else to make of it.
I think the mention of a robbery here is curious. I recall she was giving Sal some weird looks earlier, Sal has robbed stores in the past… I’m probably getting something wrong, but there might be a connection there. Also, I’m curious as to what it is in front of her that’s getting ‘grabbed’, or is the view from the side and is that her shoulder? Either way, what’s going on doesn’t look good.
My pet theory is less than pleasant, unfortunately. -.- Gotta love what warp your mind’ll go through. But I could be wrong, could just be a simple robbery gone bad that traumatized her. Buuuuut ze hints do not allow ze mind to skip to better alternatives.
Finger placement implies to me that it’s her hand, and she’s clutching a bag or hat in front of her (perhaps to add some cover) or gripping her knee (if she’s crouched on the floor.) To me, it really looks like she’s just hiding, not being the focal point of an attack.
That could be it as well. The indication of something behind or further back from the object being grabbed (you can sort of see it covering up her chin) makes it look like a bag or something similar, or that she’s being pressed into something possibly. Or, she could be turning her head into something, I’m not sure. Its sort of the combination of factors and the way she recounts it in a possibly traumatized way that makes me assume the worst. Notice how she’s screaming– something at least distinctly disturbing is occurring, and we know so little about the scene that it could be any number of occurrences. To be fair, this is my first Willis comic, so I don’t know about her experiences in any others. (God, why am I thinking so much about this? Damn compelling story.)
In the Walkyverse, her dad was an abusive asshole who punched her in the face after he found her in bed with a boy, was verbally abusive and controlling, basically tried to kidnap her, most likely assaulted her mom multiple times, and was also involved with financial fraud and the Korean mafia, which almost got Amber and her mom in serious trouble. Plus he was sleeping around with women involved in it. Dude was an utter jackass, and we’re glad he’s dead.
In this universe, we know her dad left when she was young. If this has any bearing on the backstory, he COULD be trying to get back in contact by trying to abduct her like what happened in the Walkyverse flashback or something. Alternately, it could very well be a robbery. From the one panel we see, there’s no real reason to believe it isn’t. (By the way, I checked the tags- the only time Sal interacts with Amber OR Amazi-Girl, Amber’s staring at her while Sal talks about coming in through the windows and how it reminds her of boarding school, and Billie complains about Ruth, just before Ruth shows up. So she could be reacting to Sal, but it could just be the incoming RA of Doom.)
Since she said she was around thirteen, I don’t think at the moment it’s going to go down the Very Bad Route… I mean, it COULD, but it’s a hard subject to pull off tastefully, particularly since it’s a really overused trope with superheroines and particularly with a character that young. Especially for a backstory.
Thank you soooooo much for this information. XD I was really drawing a blank about this dad of her’s that folks kept mentioning, ’cause this is my first Willis comic. My main thought is centered around the positioning, the way she’s screaming… again, I’m not happy with the whole concept, but its a possibility. Then again, some trauma with this dad of her’s or a shoot out in a gas station can freak someone out, too.
Don’t mention it! And yeah, it’s been absent in this universe, which allowed Amber to skip the years of character development she needed to recover from it in Shortpacked. We don’t know how much contact she had with him in this universe, just that it was clearly much less than the first one. Especially since it was described as him leaving this time.
Well, we are talking about Amazi-Girl’s origin stories between universes, right?
The other one is: She’s a girl who likes Teen Titans and unfortunately started reading DC Comics with the reboot. And Red Hood And The Outlaws issue 1.
I interpreted the bit with Amber, Sal, and Billie as Amber being nervous that Billie, who Amazi-Girl rescued and conversed briefly with a little earlier, might recognize her.
For me, it pretty looks like her left hand clutching her right shoulder that she’s looking over while trying to hide behind a sales rack. That, it would seem, is pushed onto her by someone else on the other side.
Wow. And here I’d figured that her origin story was just something like, “Well, my boyfriend decided he preferred cock, and between not getting laid and having to spend the whole summer dealing with every homophobic asshole in his extended family, I really needed an excuse to beat the crap out of some dudes.”
And then Danny would be all, “Wow! The same thing happened to my friend Amber! You remember her? She said you helped her one time. She’s about your height, build, complexion, hair color and length, eye color, facial structure… but she wears glasses and combs her hair, and her speech bubbles aren’t blue.”
DAVID! I’M TRYING TO TALK TO YOU; MAYBE IF I TYPE IN CAPS ENOUGH YOU’LL HEAR! There’s some unsightly brown left on Amazi-girl’s eye in panel 4 (if you count the out-of-panel panel).
The problem is pony fans are everywhere and very vocal. No matter what is said or done, no matter where you are they’ll turn up and inject ponies into it. It sounds harmless enough, and it’s nice something brings them so much joy, but it gets really annoying really fast for those who aren’t into it.
Hell, I was actually planning on watching the show since I’d heard so many good things about it but by the time I got the chance the fans had soured me to the entire franchise.
Just watch the damn show and make your opinion AFTER you watch it. Using fanbase as reason is just stupid.
It’s like when movie fans keep saying that Citizen Kane is the best movie out there and you refuse to watch it because you got sick hearing people talking about it?
I can’t, because I can’t stand the characters now.
I have no opnion about the quality of the show, what with not having watched it, but now I can’t stand it.
Yeah, me too. A robbery might be traumatic enough even though she “just” was another customer, but in Shortpacked her dad was some kind of mafia boss and not a very nice person so if it’s the same here, maybe he did the robbery himself knowing she was there or it wasn’t a robbery but somebody trying to kill him? Poor Amb- I mean Amazigirl either way!
Fuck’s sake. What exactly happened to Amazi in this “robbery”? Cause I’m pretty sure that’s a hand grabbing boob. I got some dark images going round my head right now and I’m hoping none of them are true.
That was my first thought to but given the angle of the hand it looks more like someone’s holding her down to keep the young Amazi-Girl out of sight from the robbers.
Just throwin’ my two cents in here…. She IS thirteen, wouldn’t expect her to be quite as ample up top as she is now. But yeah. I’ve heard it could be a bag of sorts, I thought it was her shoulder if she was wearing something baggy… Either way.
I don’t blame Amber in the least for being unable to pick Twilight or Fluttershy. I can’t choose between those two either. that’s part of the reason I ship them. the biggest reason, though, is because their personalities compliment each other so nicely.
It’s just a popular franchise you’re not a fan of. If you don’t like it that’s fine but it’s not a fad that’ll pass, it’s a show people genuinely like.
I understand the fanbase can get annoying at times (all fandoms do) but I don’t think calling it a fad is fair.
I know. It’s more her use of the word fad that bothered me. Yes if she’s sick of bronies that’s not really anything I can argue with. But it’s not a fad, it’s just like any other fandom.
I would argue that all fandoms are “fads”, in the sense that they are popular for a while and then largely die out after whatever movie / TV show / comic book / book etc is finished.
Fandoms run hot and cold, not because we stop liking the things we like but because it’s hard to keep pouring the same intensity into a thing once it has run its course.
Uh, you do know that none of those things are actually finished, right? Possible exception for Voltron, don’t know enough about it. Whedon keeps teasing fans with the possibility of more TV or another movie, but also does comic books.
But Sonic as in SATAM continues in the Archie comics, and keeps getting games, and anime series. Evangelion keeps getting rebooted and IIRC the current run of movies is unfinished even in Japan.
So these are terrible examples.
But I didn’t say everyone EVAPORATED, and if a fan base was big enough it can still be “pretty active” even if it’s reduced to a tenth of its size at its prime. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that it is now a tenth of its size.
Generally it’s not that love for a fandom turns to hate — and there are exceptions even to that, oh yes — just that we individually become less “active” as fans. Less new material to analyze, so we slow down on analyzing it, and we slow down on writing fanfic, or drawing fan art, so there becomes less analysis to discuss and less fic and art to view, which means we consume fan work at a lower rate, which means artists and writers and thinkers get less response, which means they have less motivation for producing.
It’s a very natural cycle and it feeds itself, causing fandoms to shrink and sometimes atrophy.
All of this happens to a lesser degree these days because of DVD box sets and the Internet, where you can quickly find even the last active forum in existence and be among friends and keep the embers going, but it does still happen. And it’s okay.
Agreed. I’m a big fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I find the “Brony” title to be too defensive for my tastes. Adult fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender & Legend of Korra or feel the need to call themselves “Big Benders” or anything.
Also the “bro” part of it, and how it reminds me of the whole bro (AKA douchebag, or guido if your Italian-American enough) scene, which adds to my perspective…
One can feel and express disapproval of the sort of fans who identify as “bronies” without feeling the same for the source material, or other segments of its fandom.
I happen to be a fan of the show. I’ve seen “bronies” pull stuff that is [i]way[/i] over the line.
She wants to be a superhero that stands out when appearing. For that, she needs a colour that stands out even when there’s only a little light. Which kinda reduces your choice.
Pink wouldn’t be one, by the way. Tends to blend into the background quite nicely in dark places, weird as it sounds.
That’s far too narrow of a choice. There is a pony higher than my second favorite between them. My favorite has to be Best Pony. That would be Discord. To this day I only have three disappointing moments from him.
1. Discord is forced to physically alter Fluttershy’s mind. Although he might have just not wanted to put in that much time. Based on the events at the GGG I would say that he COULD have broken through her mind given enough effort.
2. When the mane 6 attacked him at the end, he didn’t put up any resistance. With the type of villain that he is, he should have been trying to break down their minds again, even if the others did come their aid and break through.
3. In “Keep Calm And Flutter On” Discord succumbs a bit TOO quickly to Fluttershy’s opposing mind games. There’s obviously more to Fluttershy than meets the eye as she’s the only one who not only keeps their cool around Discord, without being a part of his chaos, but is also immune to his psychological influence. She still can’t resist a direct override though.
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Silly Danny, Applejack’s the way to go.
Nobody likes Applejack, the stupid hick!
–Dr. Doom
Says the guy who got his ass kicked by squirrels. Dr. Doom, I mean.
Oh BURN!
To be fair, she also beat Galactus.
And Modok.
See, the thing is, she beat Doom without any formal training. Had she beaten Galactus on her way to trying to be Iron Man’s sidekick instead, she’d be Amazi-Girl instead of Squirrel Girl.
Uh, no. it’s all about Rainbow Dash. She’s blue, and a pony!
And kicked Starscream’s ass
Well, EVERYONE kicked Starscream’s ass.
and now my avatar is Joyce with her triangular smile….
I do, actually.
To be fair, Applejack & Twilight are my favorites, split 50-50. Fluffle Puff gets the other 100% though.
That’s a funny way to spell Pinkie Pie.
RIGHT!?
really weird
Wait, so your best pony ISN’T Doctor Whooves?
MIND = BLOWN
His official name is Doctor Whoof (or Time Turner) because using Whooves is a little bit too close with the trademark…..
So? I doubt the copyright lawyers are trawling the comment sections, and Doctor Whoof just looks silly IMO.
Doctor Whoof is in an actual episode of the show. Knowing BBC, Hasbro probably paid licensing for that…
Fluttershy is awesome but well your choices are good too
But Rainbow Dash has more colors than any other pony !
It seems you all have forgotten Derpy exists and mistakably put down the wrong ponies.
But Pinkie Pie just wants to make you smile!
Oh god you got the song stuck in my head again.
I can’t think of that song without thinking about Smile HD. I’m so, very sorry.
silly humans everyone knows Derpy is best pony! and Luna is best Princess
Is that how they pronounce “Rarity” where you’re from?
Clearly. Must be some sort of regional dialect.
Yeah people need to remember the ‘R’. And the fabulosity, that’s important too.
I prefer Mudkip.
You sir, get a cookie. Also Rainbow Dash is more awesome then all of you.
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120303023623/random-ness/images/5/57/Pinkkip.png
Well, I’ll be seeing that in my nightMAREs! Sorry, I’ll stop horsing around.
*shakes head* You, sir, are punbelievable and should be punished by being sent to the punitentiary.
Or we could just give you a sore throat and make you horse. Either way.
Fluttershy forever, you guys. Come on!
Fluttershy is BEST PONY
+1000
Pretty sure her fave is nerdy dorky adorable and allaround lovely Twilight.^^
Well, that escalated quickly.
B-but Willis said this wasn’t going to be a period piece, so EVERY generation is game…
Minty is best pony.
Agreed. GO MINTY!
That is a bit strange coming from someone with your gravatar.
Firefly!!!!!
Because you always remember your first….
Rainbow Dash > All other ponies
Except maybe Twilight Sparkle…
BEST MLP tOY EVER!
That must be where the glitter variety comes from.
In the Elmer’s Factory, where your hopes and fears come true! In the Elmer’s factory, where not a single soul gets through!
Whoops, “fears and horrors”. I am bad at lyrics.
I am also hilariously late to correct myself. Oh well.
PINK PONY IS BEST PONY!!
Question superhero origins, touch him on the pony.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/555942_508405242530300_858930078_n.jpg =3~~~
Applejack is best background pony, but everypony knows Twilight Sparkle is best Mane Five Pony.
Someone has to remind you that Applejack isn’t a background pony, FLUTTERSHY is best pony (followed by Rainbow Dash), and that the best background pony is, of course, DERPY.
Anyone not choosing Twilight Sparkle obviously forgot she’s an alicorn now.
One word: Retcon :p
You mean make it so she’s ALWAYS been an alicorn?
Interesting.
My kid watched that episode and then pranced downstairs and asked if we knew what an alicorn was. I guessed an alligator with a horn, and my wife freaked out.
I thought she would have gone for Spirit/Swift Wing.
I really like the way you use the color of the bubbles to show her persona slipping for a moment. Really nice touch.
“ditto.” ~ Mr Taggart
Oh, is that what that was? I thought that was Danny interrupting. Neat!
Danny turned into the Ghost of Christmas Present for a second there.
So… Sal holding up a liquor store is Amazi-Girl’s origin story, right?
That . . . is pretty good.
You should never tell people which MLP character you like until you are either seriously commited or posting in a random foru, everyone knows that. 😛
So Amazi-girl’s doing a voice, right? Like a BatBale voice? Or an accent?
Seriously, how does he not recognize her?
Yeah. She’s gruffin’ it up.
That’s the blue, isn’t it? It slips when she’s saying “I–“
Yeah, thanks to the color change there, I realized she was doing it. Also, thanks to realizing she was doing it, I’m now reading everything she says in a heavy-smoker Batman voice.
I’ve been doing that since waaaaay back. (Several days, in-comic time.)
I think there was a certain “How I met your mother” episode that might be of help here.
The one about stopping to smoke obviously.
Contractual Genre Blindness?
Same thing as Clark Kent’s glasses.
I’m pretty sure the blue indicates that she is disguising her voice with a Jamaican accent.
Was the new MLP on the air around the time the first Dumbing of Ages stripes/if their real time started from then?
NUMBER FOUR: http://www.dumbingofage.com/about/
But… I still want to know. ='(
FIM started one month after DoA did.
Back when DoA began, would you have ever guessed that “favorite My Little Pony character” would end up being a perfectly ordinary thing for nerds to argue about?
Considering this is the guy who also writes Shortpacked!, I’m guessing yes.
Yes, because they always were. Friendship is Magic is a good show, but just because ponies are (yes, are!) primarily for girls doesn’t mean boys can’t enjoy the show and its concepts too, both now and in the 80s.
And considering the amount of webcomic artists who have seen and enjoyed the show…
Well, back in the 50s the nerds never expected that they will talk about animation made by Japanese either.
Thank you maestro.
By the second term of DoA, MLP:FiM will be something their parents grew up with and how The Simpsons are STILL making new episodes even after The Singularity happened.
Matt Groening will be a cyborg. Or a head in a jar.
Why not both? a cyborg with a his head in a jar?
In an early strip, didn’t Danny mention he watched MLP non-ironically?
Also, Rarity is best pony
Brave brave sir Robin talk the truth! talk the truth!
Pinkie Pie was best pony until she was flanderized in the latest season. *cries silent, bitter tears of anguish*
Why is Amazi-girl so adorable?
DAMN YOU WILLIS! IF YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, MAKE HER IN THE REAL!!!
There, there. There’s bound to be someone like her in real life.
NO! I LOOKED! I ONLY FOUND JOYCE AND A SMALL POTTED FERN!
Keep looking, I’m sure of it.
I ATTEMPTED TO MAKE LOVE TO BOTH AND THE RESULTS WERE COMPARABLE!
You do a plant?
It was a sexy fern.
I just realized that “fern” is kind of a sexy word, if said in the right context by the right person (e.g. Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room).
If you could direct me to both, it would be much appreciated
see, this is why i love dumbing of age… THE FANBASE MAKES IT SO MUCH BETTAR
you can’t have my wife
You never let me have any fun….
D’aww, I bet that won you like ten points. 😀
She’s my wife now, Dave.
For some reason I read this in the voice of HAL 9000
I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that…
If you can’t do that then we’re getting a divorce!
Wack’d, open the pod bay doors.
Me too!
I’m trying to decipher the third panel. Is she stealing something? Is someone else stealing…why is there a price sign, why is she screaming?
I… have a feeling that maybe it wasn’t a robbery. She hesitates to call it a robbery, she doesn’t want to talk about it, and the flashback makes it look pretty violent…
It looks like… A vending machine? And she is either stuck inside it or being crushed by it?
Willis? Little help?
Well, we’ve certainly been given enough hints throughout to lead to at least one possible conclusion…
We have?
She was attacked by a sentient vending machine.
What? There were hints (I’m told), and I drew a conclusion. Correlation equals causation.
My guess is that is her with her back pressed up against a set of store shelves. Probably in a convenience store/gas station.
Yeah, it definitely looks like store shelving.
My interpretation is that she was frantically trying to make something up and realized it didn’t work.
It looks like she’s holding onto a chips rack or something from the back, so I thought she was hiding behind something. Also, it might not be her — it might be her mother, or even her dad. (Then again, the hair in the back sort of negates that.)
The more that I look at it, the more I think it might be she’s being pressed against the side of that chip rack, perhaps that’s her shoulder that’s being grabbed. I dunno, the implications are already rough as it is.
Yeah. Probably this is going to be left alone for months (years?), then the whole panel will be shown and everything will make sense.
There’s a streak of gray in the black hair, looks like her dad’s maybe?
I get the feeling there’s some information about this dad of her’s I don’t know. I apologize for my ignorance, I’ve not read the other comics, what’s the situation with her dad? Or was there DoA strip I’m forgetting that elaborates this info?
There’s no reason to think that her dad in this strip is like her dad in the other strip. As for DoAmber’s dad, I don’t think we know anything about him.
Right sorry, in Shortpacked! Amber’s dad is/was abusive and he had a streak of gray in his hair. Of course Shortpacked!Amber is really different to DoA!Amber, so different backstory is really plausible.
Was. He’s dead. And there was much rejoicing. (Literally, Mike wore a party hat to the funeral, and no one thought that was dickish.)
For DOA!Amber, we do know he left when she was little, with that exact phrasing. That’s pretty much it. It is possible he’s the same abusive ass in this universe as he was in Shortpacked, but it’s also possible he wasn’t. At the very least, we know he screwed Amber and her mom up much less this time since he wasn’t around.
Maybe im a little pervert.. buy I see a hand grabbing a boob..
Now I do too. 😀
This just made my week. It was so worth it.
Danny, Danny Danny. Derpy is the most superior pony.
Guess it would be weird to mention Ruin as my favorite pony :I
uhoh, I see character development back there…
You passed it on that last exit.
Also she looks so sweet in the fifth panel that I might just make that my new gravatar. I look more like her anyway.
Going from one superhero to another, I see.
Well, they said there’d been a robbery. His pistol had been found.
They marched him to the station house. He waited till the dawn.
A robbery? Did she lose someone that day? Or is it something?
She lost her mind. And now she wears a costume with a crime fighting alter ego. Meanwhile there’s someone with an Amber Mind.
Oh my god this is adorable.
I’m just glad that Walky is far too good a writer to resort to the r-word being part of Amazi-Girl’s origins.
I already got turned off of Amethyst’s new comic thanks to that. Come on, Christy Marx, you’re better than that.
R word? reelection? Regurgitation? Rebirth? Rump Roast? Rip Van Winkle? Regeneration? Reinstallation? Reincarnation? RiceBalls? Railshooters?Ringley’s 3-ring circus? Ridley? Ridley” Metroid Prime? Riddles? Rotation? Racecars? racecaRs? Rotoscoping? Rearview windows? Reapers? The Runs? Ruth Lessinski?
It’s the four letter r-word isn’t it?
You ain’t just whistlin’ dixie, buster!
What? She just used the R-word. There was some kind of robbery.
I’m sorry, what does that mean?
“Yes.”
Impressively, the only 4-letter r-word listed is “runs”.
Clearly this is what happened.
Also rump!
Roof.
romp? as in she just wanted to have a romp’n good time. so she went out and became a vigilante?
Someone rudely threw a rock at her ring finger, causing her to lose a race against some rats who went on to eat all of her rice.
RUTH.
Haha, that works so well with your Gravatar!
ah. Rope.
rust?
Sadly, it indeed looks like it might be the 4-letter R-word, but of course we’re only seeing a small view.
RAGE.
Reed?
I’m pretty certain that four-letter r-word played a part in Scarecrow’s origin story.
(This whole discussion is reminding me of the time Jeremy Hardy swore on national radio and immediately apologized for saying “the fuck-w”.)
Relationship.
Too bad, it was really good. Too bad it only lasted 9 issues. Hopefully it isn’t going to be a ‘kill them all’ ending.
Well of course it’s the R-word. What? You though a female hero could just see injustice and decide to fight crime? Not without being “saved by an Orc” she can’t.
Ah god I thought I’d finally purged Dominic Deegan from my memories.
GOD DAMN YOU
Well considering it is something that happens in real life (and unfortunately still rather often) and has an enormous impact on someone’s life, it is a viable option in storytelling. If you’re prepared to have your characters experience the really bad things, that is.
A problem only arises if it’s used too often. Which it probably is. Creating a bit of an “a woman can’t have a deep and troubled character unless” situation. Which, I guess, is your real problem with it. Making it a cheap cop out for many writers. Which is in turn putting those who do it, but do it right in an undeserved bad light.
Of course it happens in real life.
Of course it happens often.
Of course it has an enormous impact on someone’s life.
But, YES, it is used too often. It has been the origin story of so many female superheroes, even being retconned into the origins where it didn’t already exist, and meanwhile I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times a male superhero has gotten his start because he was raped.
Mostly because that number is zero.
(Seriously the ONLY example I can think of at all, period, is SPOILER Derek Morgan of Criminal Minds, who was molested as a child by a priest. SPOILER, and he is not a superhero.)
Just seriously try to imagine for a moment if the next dark reboot of Batman had the first cop who showed up to help him in the ally instead force him to give him a blowjob. Now try to imagine that that was already a pretty common origin story for a superhero and that you were physically exhausted by the thought.
I know Amber’s childhood was really, really awful in Shortpacked and that it might also be awful here, but I will STILL be depressed if it turns out that’s what’s motivating her here.
The world just doesn’t need one more of these.
It just doesn’t.
On a related note, could you name names, concerning rape-victim origin story super-heroines, as Starfire and Black Cat are the only ones who come to mind? I’m hardly a hardcore western comics follower. Most of my Marvel and DC knowledge comes from other sources
Bah, that’s an easy choice. It’s Twilight or Rainbow Dash that really will cause bloodshed. XD
But…but…I like Fluttershy better
Pft. Everyone who values humor and interesting characterization knows that Rarity is best pony. Even if she didn’t get any episodes in season three.
That’s why they call her Rarity.
Third panel: What happened? What kind of robbers?
Hamburglars.
Worse, it was the Burger King.
Burger King Radical.
Dr Mcninja pun… nice…
Elephant!
Third Panel, it looks like she’s hiding behind a grocery store shelf, with a hand on her… shoulder? Someones black hair in the top left corner… Not sure what else to make of it.
I know Amber”s mentioned her mom, but she hasn’t mentioned her dad yet…
Your characters are really adorable at times.
Nightmare moon, yo. Only pony willing to stand against the tyranny of the sun goddess and her dystopian empire!
YES!
Wow I completely thought about her *SPOILER SPOILER SPIOLER* Asshole Dad. Bet he’s the source of all this.
*eyebrow raise* Fascinating.
That “robbery” looks suspiciously like a malfunctioning vending machine.
I think the mention of a robbery here is curious. I recall she was giving Sal some weird looks earlier, Sal has robbed stores in the past… I’m probably getting something wrong, but there might be a connection there. Also, I’m curious as to what it is in front of her that’s getting ‘grabbed’, or is the view from the side and is that her shoulder? Either way, what’s going on doesn’t look good.
…My god. You may have something there.
My pet theory is less than pleasant, unfortunately. -.- Gotta love what warp your mind’ll go through. But I could be wrong, could just be a simple robbery gone bad that traumatized her. Buuuuut ze hints do not allow ze mind to skip to better alternatives.
Finger placement implies to me that it’s her hand, and she’s clutching a bag or hat in front of her (perhaps to add some cover) or gripping her knee (if she’s crouched on the floor.) To me, it really looks like she’s just hiding, not being the focal point of an attack.
That could be it as well. The indication of something behind or further back from the object being grabbed (you can sort of see it covering up her chin) makes it look like a bag or something similar, or that she’s being pressed into something possibly. Or, she could be turning her head into something, I’m not sure. Its sort of the combination of factors and the way she recounts it in a possibly traumatized way that makes me assume the worst. Notice how she’s screaming– something at least distinctly disturbing is occurring, and we know so little about the scene that it could be any number of occurrences. To be fair, this is my first Willis comic, so I don’t know about her experiences in any others. (God, why am I thinking so much about this? Damn compelling story.)
SPOILER ALERT…
In the Walkyverse, her dad was an abusive asshole who punched her in the face after he found her in bed with a boy, was verbally abusive and controlling, basically tried to kidnap her, most likely assaulted her mom multiple times, and was also involved with financial fraud and the Korean mafia, which almost got Amber and her mom in serious trouble. Plus he was sleeping around with women involved in it. Dude was an utter jackass, and we’re glad he’s dead.
In this universe, we know her dad left when she was young. If this has any bearing on the backstory, he COULD be trying to get back in contact by trying to abduct her like what happened in the Walkyverse flashback or something. Alternately, it could very well be a robbery. From the one panel we see, there’s no real reason to believe it isn’t. (By the way, I checked the tags- the only time Sal interacts with Amber OR Amazi-Girl, Amber’s staring at her while Sal talks about coming in through the windows and how it reminds her of boarding school, and Billie complains about Ruth, just before Ruth shows up. So she could be reacting to Sal, but it could just be the incoming RA of Doom.)
Since she said she was around thirteen, I don’t think at the moment it’s going to go down the Very Bad Route… I mean, it COULD, but it’s a hard subject to pull off tastefully, particularly since it’s a really overused trope with superheroines and particularly with a character that young. Especially for a backstory.
Jackass is really too mild a word here.
Well, yes. Probably should’ve gone with ‘fuckwad’, that’s a bit closer.
Thank you soooooo much for this information. XD I was really drawing a blank about this dad of her’s that folks kept mentioning, ’cause this is my first Willis comic. My main thought is centered around the positioning, the way she’s screaming… again, I’m not happy with the whole concept, but its a possibility. Then again, some trauma with this dad of her’s or a shoot out in a gas station can freak someone out, too.
Don’t mention it! And yeah, it’s been absent in this universe, which allowed Amber to skip the years of character development she needed to recover from it in Shortpacked. We don’t know how much contact she had with him in this universe, just that it was clearly much less than the first one. Especially since it was described as him leaving this time.
Wait, why are we talking about Amber, how are she and the totally different Amazi-girl related?
Well, we are talking about Amazi-Girl’s origin stories between universes, right?
The other one is: She’s a girl who likes Teen Titans and unfortunately started reading DC Comics with the reboot. And Red Hood And The Outlaws issue 1.
I interpreted the bit with Amber, Sal, and Billie as Amber being nervous that Billie, who Amazi-Girl rescued and conversed briefly with a little earlier, might recognize her.
For me, it pretty looks like her left hand clutching her right shoulder that she’s looking over while trying to hide behind a sales rack. That, it would seem, is pushed onto her by someone else on the other side.
Yeah, either there’s a “pretty” too much or a “much” missing in there.
I just read this comic from beginning to end in 2 days! Wooo too!!
Good stuff sir! Hope to see you at Phoenix Comicon!
Panel 3:
Always wondered if the blue dialogue meant anything. Now I know she is Christian Bale-ing it up to the hilt.
Wow. And here I’d figured that her origin story was just something like, “Well, my boyfriend decided he preferred cock, and between not getting laid and having to spend the whole summer dealing with every homophobic asshole in his extended family, I really needed an excuse to beat the crap out of some dudes.”
And then Danny would be all, “Wow! The same thing happened to my friend Amber! You remember her? She said you helped her one time. She’s about your height, build, complexion, hair color and length, eye color, facial structure… but she wears glasses and combs her hair, and her speech bubbles aren’t blue.”
And of course Danny is a brony.
Wait, if Danny can see speech bubbles, doesn’t that mean that Danny is Deadpool?
Not until he starts beating people up with them.
DAVID! I’M TRYING TO TALK TO YOU; MAYBE IF I TYPE IN CAPS ENOUGH YOU’LL HEAR! There’s some unsightly brown left on Amazi-girl’s eye in panel 4 (if you count the out-of-panel panel).
I know it’s been said but seriously, that is a weird way to spell “Luna or Scoots?”
You like chicken?
Well, I think we all know what the next poll will be.
I would genuinely like to see the results of that poll
Damn this strip by all the assorted divinities. I just can’t escape this stupid pony nonsense. It’s got to be the longest running troll of all time.
Sorry, not trolling. We genuinely like it. You’re free to disagree, but I protest you calling us trolls, because by and large, we aren’t.
The problem is pony fans are everywhere and very vocal. No matter what is said or done, no matter where you are they’ll turn up and inject ponies into it. It sounds harmless enough, and it’s nice something brings them so much joy, but it gets really annoying really fast for those who aren’t into it.
Hell, I was actually planning on watching the show since I’d heard so many good things about it but by the time I got the chance the fans had soured me to the entire franchise.
Just watch the damn show and make your opinion AFTER you watch it. Using fanbase as reason is just stupid.
It’s like when movie fans keep saying that Citizen Kane is the best movie out there and you refuse to watch it because you got sick hearing people talking about it?
I can’t, because I can’t stand the characters now.
I have no opnion about the quality of the show, what with not having watched it, but now I can’t stand it.
I can’t decide between them, but I suppose if I HAD to pick it’d be Fluttershy.
Only if this was like, upon threat of injury and/or death, otherwise I’d be totally indecisive about it.
It looks like she’s hiding behind a grocery aisle. I see snacks, price tags, and shelves.
Yeah, me too. A robbery might be traumatic enough even though she “just” was another customer, but in Shortpacked her dad was some kind of mafia boss and not a very nice person so if it’s the same here, maybe he did the robbery himself knowing she was there or it wasn’t a robbery but somebody trying to kill him? Poor Amb- I mean Amazigirl either way!
OBVIOUSLY Rainbow Dash.
She is so spunky. <3
I’m wondering if this is maybe a recasting of the post Drama Tag robbery from Shortpacked!, with someone trying to save the day… and failing.
Fuck’s sake. What exactly happened to Amazi in this “robbery”? Cause I’m pretty sure that’s a hand grabbing boob. I got some dark images going round my head right now and I’m hoping none of them are true.
That was my first thought to but given the angle of the hand it looks more like someone’s holding her down to keep the young Amazi-Girl out of sight from the robbers.
She’s hiding behind what looks to be a snack stand
Just throwin’ my two cents in here…. She IS thirteen, wouldn’t expect her to be quite as ample up top as she is now. But yeah. I’ve heard it could be a bag of sorts, I thought it was her shoulder if she was wearing something baggy… Either way.
And that would be webcomic number 122 with a reference to ponies! You can find the complete list with all your favourite webcomics and the links to all their comics with ponies in them right here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18tFbR1_Sp0-8CeJ4wDoaZR3wCrHjnB0ITf7uaZ8WYUA/edit?hl=en_US#
I”m pretty sure that thi isn’t the first time DoA made a pony refrance.
DoA made reference to ponies way earlier. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/screening/
Thanks a lot, I just added it to the list!
“Look, it was a metaphorical robbery.”
I’m appalled by the lack of Rarity fans in this discussion
That avatar…. that works SO WELL for your comment! 😀
Well, they are a rarity I guess.
Except for maybe Rainbow Dash, none of the other Mane 6 would ever make such a distinction, to their great credit.
I didn’t think a masked vigilante could look so sweet and cute.
I don’t blame Amber in the least for being unable to pick Twilight or Fluttershy. I can’t choose between those two either. that’s part of the reason I ship them. the biggest reason, though, is because their personalities compliment each other so nicely.
No… not bronies. Hell no. Please just let this fad pass.
It’s just a popular franchise you’re not a fan of. If you don’t like it that’s fine but it’s not a fad that’ll pass, it’s a show people genuinely like.
I understand the fanbase can get annoying at times (all fandoms do) but I don’t think calling it a fad is fair.
I don’t think wanting bronies to go away is the same thing as wanting everyone to stop liking it.
Just sayin’.
I know. It’s more her use of the word fad that bothered me. Yes if she’s sick of bronies that’s not really anything I can argue with. But it’s not a fad, it’s just like any other fandom.
I would argue that all fandoms are “fads”, in the sense that they are popular for a while and then largely die out after whatever movie / TV show / comic book / book etc is finished.
Fandoms run hot and cold, not because we stop liking the things we like but because it’s hard to keep pouring the same intensity into a thing once it has run its course.
Run cold after the show finished? tell that to Sonic, Firefly, Evangelion or even Voltron. They are out there, and they are pretty active.
Uh, you do know that none of those things are actually finished, right? Possible exception for Voltron, don’t know enough about it. Whedon keeps teasing fans with the possibility of more TV or another movie, but also does comic books.
But Sonic as in SATAM continues in the Archie comics, and keeps getting games, and anime series. Evangelion keeps getting rebooted and IIRC the current run of movies is unfinished even in Japan.
So these are terrible examples.
But I didn’t say everyone EVAPORATED, and if a fan base was big enough it can still be “pretty active” even if it’s reduced to a tenth of its size at its prime. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that it is now a tenth of its size.
Generally it’s not that love for a fandom turns to hate — and there are exceptions even to that, oh yes — just that we individually become less “active” as fans. Less new material to analyze, so we slow down on analyzing it, and we slow down on writing fanfic, or drawing fan art, so there becomes less analysis to discuss and less fic and art to view, which means we consume fan work at a lower rate, which means artists and writers and thinkers get less response, which means they have less motivation for producing.
It’s a very natural cycle and it feeds itself, causing fandoms to shrink and sometimes atrophy.
All of this happens to a lesser degree these days because of DVD box sets and the Internet, where you can quickly find even the last active forum in existence and be among friends and keep the embers going, but it does still happen. And it’s okay.
Agreed. I’m a big fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I find the “Brony” title to be too defensive for my tastes. Adult fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender & Legend of Korra or feel the need to call themselves “Big Benders” or anything.
Also the “bro” part of it, and how it reminds me of the whole bro (AKA douchebag, or guido if your Italian-American enough) scene, which adds to my perspective…
One can feel and express disapproval of the sort of fans who identify as “bronies” without feeling the same for the source material, or other segments of its fandom.
I happen to be a fan of the show. I’ve seen “bronies” pull stuff that is [i]way[/i] over the line.
I understand. Like I said it was the word fad that was the issue, not that Pronk has issues with Bronies.
>Blue is favorite color
>Outfit is primarily yellow
>Yellow is a highly visible color
>Works primarily at night
SEEMS LEGIT
Hey, some ninjas wore orange or pink.
She wants to be a superhero that stands out when appearing. For that, she needs a colour that stands out even when there’s only a little light. Which kinda reduces your choice.
Pink wouldn’t be one, by the way. Tends to blend into the background quite nicely in dark places, weird as it sounds.
Something about that flashback panel’s art…
Amazi-Girl is really from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal!
The Mysterious Mare Do Well was everypony except Rarity and Rainbow Dash, so I’m sure that Amazi-Girl can’t name just one.
Having seen The Mystery of the Batwoman pretty much ruined the surprise ending of that episode, too.
Ouhh… so there’s more to her backstory 🙂
….GALVATRON.
RAINBOW DASH !!!!!!!
Also see “Double Rainboom” on youtube
Try Death Battle: Starscream vs. Rainbow Dash. It’s what made me finally check out MLP:FiM for the first time. Heh.
“This is a PONY. A baby horse girl toy! WHY IS IT SO AWESOME?!”
Man, I’ve only seen like three people who actually know how to spell Derpy.
You mean Derpy Hooves aka. Ditzy Doo aka. Bright Eyes aka. companion to either Dr. Hooves or Cloudchaser(might be remembering her name wrong).
That’s far too narrow of a choice. There is a pony higher than my second favorite between them. My favorite has to be Best Pony. That would be Discord. To this day I only have three disappointing moments from him.
1. Discord is forced to physically alter Fluttershy’s mind. Although he might have just not wanted to put in that much time. Based on the events at the GGG I would say that he COULD have broken through her mind given enough effort.
2. When the mane 6 attacked him at the end, he didn’t put up any resistance. With the type of villain that he is, he should have been trying to break down their minds again, even if the others did come their aid and break through.
3. In “Keep Calm And Flutter On” Discord succumbs a bit TOO quickly to Fluttershy’s opposing mind games. There’s obviously more to Fluttershy than meets the eye as she’s the only one who not only keeps their cool around Discord, without being a part of his chaos, but is also immune to his psychological influence. She still can’t resist a direct override though.