A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
Sunshine Boy
Moosopp
New-kid Kelly is sweet but naive. Luckily, he's got his outgoing neighbor Grey in his corner.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Obelisk
Ashley McCammon
In 1908 New York, a young woman struggles to put her life back together in the wake of her father's death - until she discovers a vampire in the shambles of her inheritance.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Countdown to Countdown
Velinxi
Iris Black is a self-proclaimed inventor with the curious ability to bring his drawings to life, and yearns to find a space where he can use his powers freely.
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Shaderunners
Alex Assan, Lin Darrow
A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Awaken
Koti Saavedra/Flipfloppery
Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
KISMET
Jaki King
As interplanetary war threatens the Perseid system, a scientist ventures to the far reaches of space in her search for the truth: is humanity the master of its own fate, or is destiny truly inescapable?
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Tiger, Tiger
Petra Nordlund
A young noble lady steals her brother's identity and his ship to find love and adventure, and to write a book about the fascinating life cycle of sea sponges!
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
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I used to work third shift tech support. Around six am we’d start mumbling to ourselves about the Daywalkers starting to show up. The freaks actually looked at us like we were the weird ones. Then there was Murdoc the singing Texan, who I suspect has coffee in his veins rather than blood, but EVERYBODY thought he was weird.
Being a nice guy and not a complete asshole is literally the bare minimum. No one gets cookies for that, and it sure ain’t good enough reason for Amber to like Danny.
The only reason I can see that she hasn’t stabbed him yet is because the other girl he’s comparing her to is (unbeknownst to him) also her.
As to why she actually likes him…… I got nothin’. Maybe after looking around her classes, she figured that even Danny can be attractive if the alternative is Buckets of Blood Guy.
People you enjoy reading about and people you want to hang out with are two very different things. Most “Interesting characters” have near constant conflict, internal or external, which would be really, really annoying to have to deal with in person.
She’s identified a guy who shares her interests and isn’t gay. Given her established romantic history so far he’s a step up. She’ll have the rest of her life to raise her standards further.
No, but a lot of people confuse them. He clearly thinks of himself as romantic, when he’s really just being self-indulgent. I think she’s taken him at his own evaluation, and is going to be hurt when she realises.
Funny, even while we were rolling our eyes at his failure to notice the obvious, I seem to recall most people thinking it was rather sweet of him to come out and play video games with her while simultaneously not demanding that she explain herself and her rather odd actions.
I guess I forgot that we’re all rage-filled hate monsters with no souls whose only concept of and slow-paced romance is girls kissing and ogling each other.
It’s not failure to notice the obvious, it’s “I know you like me romantically, Amber, but I don’t feel that way for you. However, I do think you should start wearing your hair like the girl you know I’m dating.”
Sure, he’s half-asleep, but all that means is he’s saying what he really thinks, and what he really thinks makes him a jerk.
No opinion on the rest of it, and in fact most of MY eyerolling has been triggered by sad Nice Guy(TM) remarks in the comments, but I get where people are coming from here and for once(?), it’s definitely not groaning at Danny for being too “dumb” to know Clark Kent is Superman with glasses.
He’s not disoriented or dreaming, you know? What he said is perfectly lucid and probably factual (he thinks she’d look hot with Amazi-Girl’s hair). At best I’d give him “grumpy” as an excuse.
Sure they do… which is why Dina is so brilliant. She knew to base her general look off of her roommate in order to throw off the scent. That way, if she left any damning clues to her location, she could just point to Amber.
I think it’s just the bad dithering on the scan making the shadowing look weird. If I had an original or a cleaner scan to judge from it’d be easierto tell.
I recall one comic where Peter Parker had to do some superheroing while away from home, and didn’t have his outfit handy… so he rented a Spider-Man costume from a costume shop.
I’ve been ragging on Danny too much. The fact that he is connecting the Amber and Amazigirl in any way is indicative of some sort of recognition. Plus, he is asserting himself, he wants to stay in be-what am I doing… I want to like Danny, but he needs… SOMETHING! Really bad. GET OUT OF THE BED DANNY, PLEASE! BE AN INTERESTING PERSON, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!
Why is Danny “not being assertive” supposedly the source of his problems? Would being “more assertive” have helped him avoid the breakup with Dorothy? No. That was never his problem. It’s not like Dorothy talked him into going to her preferred college; she wanted HIM to go somewhere else, and Danny “asserted” himself by following her instead.
If anything, it’s Dorothy who needed to be more assertive; she could have made it clearer that she wanted to end their relationship, instead of letting him refuse to take her hints.
Back in my day, we’d hand scribe our missives with quill and ink ‘pon a piece of parchment, which we would then roll up and seal with wax and our personal crest (engraved on a ring we always wore for safe keeping.) Then we’d discharge our messenger on horseback to the house of the message’s recipient, often several weeks’ journey even in good weather. As GPS wouldn’t be invented for some years, the messenger would often get lost for months or years on end, and there was a good 50% chance our letter would never reach its intended reader. Which is just as well, because by that time, I’ve already called the dude on the telephone and told him what I had written in the stupid letter anyway.
You were lucky! We had to carve our messages in runes on stone tablets using a hammer and chisel. There were no safety goggles in them days, so the chips of stone would fly up into our eyes, making us flinch and hit our thumbs with the hammer. When we were done, we had to pick up the tablets with our bruised and bleeding hands (usually dropping them on our toes), carry them out to the garden (usually giving ourselves a hernia), and find a snail strong enough to carry a stone tablet all the way to the recipient.
It was quicker just to walk down to the lobby and invent the internet.
And Amber says to herself, “Why am I wasting my time?”
And Danny says to himself, “Wow, Amber looks like…”
Nope, never going to happen. That would be too easy. And they seem to be lacking something to give them a clue, like common sense.
I shouldn’t be hard on them, I didn’t have any at that age either. Not sure I was That clueless though.
He knows Amber likes him and yet he compares her to/can’t stop talking about Amazi-Girl around her. And he sort of insinuated a while back that she was too boring for him… So yeah, Danny’s an asshole.
Then again, people might be carrying some of their… not hate, more like general dislike of Danny over from Roomies!, because he’s an asshole over there too.
Yeah, he did reject her. Though it had less to do with her being boring, but too much like Dorothy, that and he decided he was more attracted to Amazi-girl.
It’s sort of both, actually. What he said first was “You remind me too much of my ex and I’m afraid I’d be rebounding.” (He also apologized for saying it, so clearly he understands that Amber was interested.) What he said second was “I’ve always gone for the quiet, nerdy girls with glasses. … Maybe just this once I’ll go after someone different.”
Which, yeah, Danny, you like who you like, but after having said that to Amber you don’t tell her she’d be prettier if she looked like Amazi-girl. (I think he might apologize when he wakes up properly except I doubt he’ll remember saying it.)
He’s only semiconscious, making a somewhat insensitive observation under those conditions just means that he’s not thinking too much right now. It seems like more of a whoopsy-daisy situation than anything else.
Eh, I don’t think Danny’s being that much of a butt here, given that he’s making sleep deprived observations that actually have substance and coneection. And idk, I assume Amber here is wanting to come back later because sleep-deprived (possibly blurry-eyed) Danny is proving to be better at connecting the dots than awake!Danny.
(Seriously, though, the reason he was up all night is that he was making out with a superheroine. Given that, the attraction of going out with the hot nerdy girl with whom he believes he has a purely platonic relationship is gotta be dialed back a notch or two.)
((The “you’d look better if you did your hair like my girlfriend” still makes him a dick, though.))
Oh man, my Pavlovian response didn’t trigger because Saturday, but new comic! Whoo!
…And it’s all about Danny half-intentionally being a jerk. Man, I thought Joe was mean to her in the first panel, but holy crap Danny.
(I’ve thought about this a bit — it may be possible we’re overestimating this? As in, Amber might still be hurt because she knows the secret, but, hell, there’s a vigilante running around campus. Danny saying the hair thing is comparable to saying “You should do your hair like Wonder Woman”, and possibly a joke. ‘Course, he looks too grumpy for any of that stuff, but eh.)
I don’t think I can take this anymore. Watching Danny be stupid and oblivious about Amber while thinking he is dating Amazi-Girl. Yeah I dunno. I guess it’s not funny to me anymore, just sad.
I have a hard time being mad at anybody being stupid and oblivious while 9/10th asleep.
And Amber is obviously bone-tired too. “We’re young, let’s run ourselves into the ground during the third week of college” is a terrible plan and she should be in bed too. She should act like a sensible person and date him in the afternoon like sane people do.
[*takes glasses off, straightens up*]
“Danny, there’s something I have to tell you. I’m really…”
[*chickens out, puts glasses back on before he sees*]
“I mean, I was, at first, really nervous about today, but then I decided, darnit…”
Oh come now, the guy was just woken up, probably still has blue-balls, and has to deal with Joe the asshole roomate. You guys are being….
Ah screw it, I can’t defend him. QUIT BEING AN ASS!
Alright, is Danny supposed to be mildly autistic, or have asperger’s?
You don’t go around praising another girl to one of your female friends. You especially don’t start comparing them to eachother.
Dude, just what the fuck.
Read the comic title! He’s supposed to be young and dumb; in fact, they all are. I remember being that age and acting that stupid (though I hope not so consistently). The question is, how quickly will he grow up?
Man, lots of judgmental folks in these comments. “Danny isn’t the perfect boyfriend when he just woke up after having been up all night? What an asshole!” He’s sleep deprived, people act dumb when they’re tired. (And he will get up and go to the comic book store with Amber, if Willis’s tumblr is any indication.)
On another note, there are some interesting parallels between Amber and Ethan here. Both are involved in relationships that are likely to be ultimately destructive, due in no small part to them pretending to be something they’re not. It’s especially telling that Amber has lectured Ethan on exactly this point, but is unable or unwilling to see it in herself. Very interesting, I must say. Great work as always, Mr. Willis.
I’m not really seeing how Amber/Danny is ultimately destructive, or even temporarily destructive. Amber’s hobby may be self-destructive, but that’s not Danny’s fault.
Also, refresh my memory – as far as Danny’s concerned, is he even in a relationship with Amber? He’s dating Amazi-girl, but I think that Amber is (to him) just this pushy girl that keeps trying to hang out with him. To the degree that they’re ‘dating’, I seem to recall that he’s not all that comfortable with it, since he’s already in a relationship and all.
Well, even if Amber and Danny aren’t in a relationship, Amber’s side of their relationship may be unhealthy (in which case it wouldn’t really be Danny’s fault — eh, ‘fault’ is the wrong word to use here, probably) in that she’s dating a guy as her alter ego while also trying to hang out with him as her regular self. While she’s kept up the deception of Amazi-Girl for a while, her alter ego hasn’t had any relationships with people she knows as her normal self until now. Maintaining both interactions consistently may be tough, not to mention emotionally trying.
I pretty much agree with you otherwise, though. Danny’s greatest flaw seems to be that he’s clueless, which can place him anywhere from ‘oblivious guy’ to ‘self-centered jerk’ depending on the situation.
How can you spend all night making out with someone who you are good friends with, and not work out who they are? It’s only possible if you are deliberately blinding yourself to it: and that’s exactly what he says he wants to do here. The implication of that strip is that, for him, this relationship is pure fantasy: he’s living out the stories from comic books, and Amazi-girl is just an actor in the story.
But this isn’t what Amber wants: she made it fairly clear that she was interested when they first started talking, and she has continued to seek him out (as herself) since. I think he’s using her, even if he doesn’t exactly realise it. He’s so caught up in his own “romantic” fantasy, that he’s failing to notice what she wants and needs. This is exactly the same mistake he made with Dorothy, and will probably end the same way.
Oh my god, a person has a fantasy! She hasn’t as Amazi-Girl objected to it, so you can’t really blame him for not pushing it for no reason. If it’s making her miserable she’s WAY more at fault than he is.
There’s a big difference between “having a fantasy” and roping other people in to acting out your fantasy without even considering what they might want out of it. The very least he should do is treat her with special consideration – as if she’s actually his girlfriend – the next morning. But no: that would involve opening his eyes to reality; it would “spoil the story”.
He’s a selfish jerk. I don’t think he’s made her miserable yet, but I think he will, and her only fault is getting involved with him in the first place.
Or not raising an issue with the situation if she has one. You know, like people do when they have a problem with something someone is doing. If you are standing in my way and I don’t ask you to move, it’s my fault. It’s clear that she’s perfectly ok with things between amazi-girl and danny, or at least content with it, if she’s not then all she has to do is 1)stop seeing him 2) take off the mask 3) tell him. She has total control of the situation.
On some levels this is true, and I for one find Amber kind of depressing. She’s jumping through an awful lot of hoops to somewhat fail to fight crime while winning the affections of an extremely average dude.
But FTR, Danny turned her down for several reasons, some of which are NOT in her control and which she can assume to still be the case if she takes off the mask. She’s doing all of this so she can still date him.
I really can’t believe Danny is getting this much hate. Sure, he’s oblivious. And sure, he’s not the perfect guy. But he’s kind, he’s funny, he’s reliable, he’s dedicated, and he and Amber share a lot of the same interests. Of course they get along.
Stop taking everything so seriously and enjoy yourselves! It’s a comic!
Hey! that’s awesome! I also like that you NEVER do filler art, or filler comics You’re good at this. Do you think someday you could add a previous/next button above the comic as well? sometimes I skip a couple days so I have more to read in a day, it makes flipping through comics you don’t want to read yet easier You’re awesome!
There are previous/next buttons above the comics, but in their current form they’re hard to see. Look in the thin teal menu bar on the far right. There’s a Previous arrow there in red and when you go back a strip from the most current one, there’s a Next arrow in red there also. I need to get those in a different color — perhaps now that I have a new host who knows these things, I can get that fiddled with.
Also if you click the strip itself, you go to the next one.
Oh my gosh, they ARE hard to see. I’ve never even noticed them up there before. Megan Rose is right, though, David W. You are a BEAST at pumping out the comics on schedule.
Yay, nice surprise! And thanks for posting about the Kickstarter in the RSS feed, otherwise I would have missed it! I’ve signed up and am looking forward to volume 2!
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Lovin’ the new Saturday updates!
Hurray for Saturdays!
YESSSSSS
This is going to be the best year ever.
Tell that to Sparkles McMorningperson up there.
I don’t know how morning people can exist without some sort of dark magic. It’s unnatural, that’s what it is.
What I’m trying to get at is that morning people are probably witches, and the only way to be sure is to burn them all at the stake.
“She turned me into a newt …”
Your avatar speaks otherwise…
Small reptile, small rodent. It’s all the same, really.
Actually a newt is an amphibian… but who cares, I’ll take the Holy Grail reference anyway.
That’s right. As Kernanator wrote a few comics ago, “it’s not a fanbase until someone quotes Monty Python.”
“I got better …”
He got better
well, that’s what I get for not reading the entire thread
Burned at the stake? We’re up before you are, remember?
True, but we’re still up after you go to sleep.
I used to work third shift tech support. Around six am we’d start mumbling to ourselves about the Daywalkers starting to show up. The freaks actually looked at us like we were the weird ones. Then there was Murdoc the singing Texan, who I suspect has coffee in his veins rather than blood, but EVERYBODY thought he was weird.
They’ll only be burned if they weigh as much as a duck.
so what you’re saying is… witches are made of wood?
Coffee. I am not a morning person and without this black magic I’d not have a job.
That dark magic you refer to.
Its sometimes known as coffee.
Wow, Danny, you are not endearing yourself to your readers. Why does Amber like him again?
He enjoys Pokemon references
his admission to being a brony
That’s not a reason to like someone.
He’s a nice guy and not a complete asshole?
I dunno. What he just said was kinda asshole-y
I said not a complete asshole. He’s mildly assholic.
He’s an assaholic? Isn’t there a support group for that?
Billie reminds me that I’m an assaholic.
There may be a support group, but why would one ever want to actually attend? *puts on a mashup of the Sir Mix-a-lot and Jonathan Coulton versions of Baby Got Back*
Being a nice guy and not a complete asshole is literally the bare minimum. No one gets cookies for that, and it sure ain’t good enough reason for Amber to like Danny.
Given her dating history being STRAIGHT puts him above the crowd.
Some may even go as far to say as it may be the opposite.
The only reason I can see that she hasn’t stabbed him yet is because the other girl he’s comparing her to is (unbeknownst to him) also her.
As to why she actually likes him…… I got nothin’. Maybe after looking around her classes, she figured that even Danny can be attractive if the alternative is Buckets of Blood Guy.
People you enjoy reading about and people you want to hang out with are two very different things. Most “Interesting characters” have near constant conflict, internal or external, which would be really, really annoying to have to deal with in person.
From what I can tell, no one likes reading about Danny. I could be wrong, but that’s the general message I’ve gotten from the comments section.
Some of us do… though not necessarily here anymore. He’s less enjoyable here than in other timelines…
Eh. I dislike this Danny less than Roomies!-Danny. This one is less sanctimonious.
She’s identified a guy who shares her interests and isn’t gay. Given her established romantic history so far he’s a step up. She’ll have the rest of her life to raise her standards further.
Danny’s an asshole, but he’s also romantic (some might say borderline effeminate…), and Amber, given her dating history, clearly likes that.
Clingy != romantic. It extra != effeminate.
No, but a lot of people confuse them. He clearly thinks of himself as romantic, when he’s really just being self-indulgent. I think she’s taken him at his own evaluation, and is going to be hurt when she realises.
Funny, even while we were rolling our eyes at his failure to notice the obvious, I seem to recall most people thinking it was rather sweet of him to come out and play video games with her while simultaneously not demanding that she explain herself and her rather odd actions.
I guess I forgot that we’re all rage-filled hate monsters with no souls whose only concept of and slow-paced romance is girls kissing and ogling each other.
It’s not failure to notice the obvious, it’s “I know you like me romantically, Amber, but I don’t feel that way for you. However, I do think you should start wearing your hair like the girl you know I’m dating.”
Sure, he’s half-asleep, but all that means is he’s saying what he really thinks, and what he really thinks makes him a jerk.
No opinion on the rest of it, and in fact most of MY eyerolling has been triggered by sad Nice Guy(TM) remarks in the comments, but I get where people are coming from here and for once(?), it’s definitely not groaning at Danny for being too “dumb” to know Clark Kent is Superman with glasses.
“Sure, he’s half-asleep, but all that means is he’s saying what he really thinks, and what he really thinks makes him a jerk.”
Really? Because when I’m half-asleep, I mumble about how I’m going to kill everyone with a knife, and I’m not some murderous lunat-
…Maybe this was a bad example.
/snork
He’s not disoriented or dreaming, you know? What he said is perfectly lucid and probably factual (he thinks she’d look hot with Amazi-Girl’s hair). At best I’d give him “grumpy” as an excuse.
I don’t look at him as being an asshole right now, just someone with too much blood in their caffiene stream.
Really danny as soon as i begin having hope for you, you just got to dash it away
You say that like you’ve never been grumpy first thing in the morning.
She could come back later. Or better yet, just join him in bed to catch up on sleep.
…Or just join him in bed.
Join him in bed?
yes on the lower bunk to catch up on some sleep
“Danny I am worried. First you dry hump an Elvis imitator then a pinhead and now your Dorothy clone?”
“On second thought, scratch that last one, props”
Live from New York, it’s Saturday Comics!
Amber’s hair like Amazigirls?! But they look nothing like each other!
Sure they do… which is why Dina is so brilliant. She knew to base her general look off of her roommate in order to throw off the scent. That way, if she left any damning clues to her location, she could just point to Amber.
Wooo Saturday!
Also, Joe is a lot more frowny face than one would expect about the girl who (as far as he knows) is getting Danny laid.
Danny has shot down any illusions he was getting laid every time it’s come up.
She should get some icy cold water and dump it on his face. That’d fix him.
Or some hot steam on his foot. Or a sound bite of blood curdling scream.
Or just put his hand in some lukewarm water.
“Hey wait, if you did your hair up like Amazi-Girl’s…you’d LOOK like Amazi-Girl!”
And then you hear a thousand facepalms across the globe.
Bruce Wayne? Why are you dressed like Batman?
“Because he is Batman, you moron”
“Was” *pulls out a gun and shoots*
This has happened in reverse before. Batman appears out of costume to Gordon, and Gordon just assumes it’s Batman “masquerading” as Bruce Wayne.
Here’s a panel:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HDLEycm-LIE/SXKRdYF2D9I/AAAAAAAAJRk/8Y1rcD6pWCo/s400/6.jpg
Can I just ask what on /Earth/ is going on with his legs in that picture??
You may proceed to ask. You have my permission.
I think it’s just the bad dithering on the scan making the shadowing look weird. If I had an original or a cleaner scan to judge from it’d be easierto tell.
Where’d shaggy and scooby go and what are these waiters doing here!?
People dress like Batman all the time. Just because Wayne does it doesn’t mean anything.
Costume shops all over Gotham have it as the number 2 rental/sale behind the all-time classic, the full gorilla outfit.
I recall one comic where Peter Parker had to do some superheroing while away from home, and didn’t have his outfit handy… so he rented a Spider-Man costume from a costume shop.
I’ve been ragging on Danny too much. The fact that he is connecting the Amber and Amazigirl in any way is indicative of some sort of recognition. Plus, he is asserting himself, he wants to stay in be-what am I doing… I want to like Danny, but he needs… SOMETHING! Really bad. GET OUT OF THE BED DANNY, PLEASE! BE AN INTERESTING PERSON, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!
agreed
Becoming assertive and interesting is probably going to be the main gist of his character art- if he can work up the motivation to do it.
Why is Danny “not being assertive” supposedly the source of his problems? Would being “more assertive” have helped him avoid the breakup with Dorothy? No. That was never his problem. It’s not like Dorothy talked him into going to her preferred college; she wanted HIM to go somewhere else, and Danny “asserted” himself by following her instead.
If anything, it’s Dorothy who needed to be more assertive; she could have made it clearer that she wanted to end their relationship, instead of letting him refuse to take her hints.
Love Joes shirt. As always. Seriously dude got the best shirts.
Get him some coffee laced with chili. That will get him less sleepy.
Excellent, Danny. She’ll never suspect you actually know her true identity like that!
It’s something, I guess.
A comic! On a Saturday! And eventually the nice man who wrote it is going to send me a whole book full of comics!
Life is good sometimes.
Hm… so we paid $20,000 for Danny to be a butt to Amber….
…
Okay, I’m cool with that.
Danny would’ve been a butt to Amber on Monday without the $20,000.
It takes $20,000 to make Danny a butt for 12 seconds.
But if we all pledge our money, someday we CAN find a cure to Butts Disease.
I’d settle for a cure for Danny Disease.
… Gentlemen?
Mentlegen
One dollar for eternal happiness…you know, I think I’d be happier WITH the dollar.
“Down Here”? Joe, you loveable sex fiend.
Oh look, it’s some sort of Strange Visitor!
At least, it’s not Slenderman.
I just notice the bags under Amber’s eyes.
Really cant wait for the inevitable reveal that Dort-er-Amber isn’t Amazi-girl
Is the reason Amber should not wear yellow is because she looks like April O’Neill when she wears yellow?
What? A girl reading comic books? Doesn’t she know those are made for boys?
I’m kidding please don’t write me angry letters
Thank god you’re kidding. I haven’t written a letter in years.
I was born in the 90s I don’t even know what letters are. Are they some kind of non-electronic way of communication?
They’re parts of the alphabet. ^_^
Back in my day, we’d hand scribe our missives with quill and ink ‘pon a piece of parchment, which we would then roll up and seal with wax and our personal crest (engraved on a ring we always wore for safe keeping.) Then we’d discharge our messenger on horseback to the house of the message’s recipient, often several weeks’ journey even in good weather. As GPS wouldn’t be invented for some years, the messenger would often get lost for months or years on end, and there was a good 50% chance our letter would never reach its intended reader. Which is just as well, because by that time, I’ve already called the dude on the telephone and told him what I had written in the stupid letter anyway.
You were lucky! We had to carve our messages in runes on stone tablets using a hammer and chisel. There were no safety goggles in them days, so the chips of stone would fly up into our eyes, making us flinch and hit our thumbs with the hammer. When we were done, we had to pick up the tablets with our bruised and bleeding hands (usually dropping them on our toes), carry them out to the garden (usually giving ourselves a hernia), and find a snail strong enough to carry a stone tablet all the way to the recipient.
It was quicker just to walk down to the lobby and invent the internet.
something seems wrong with amber’s posture
Goddammit Danny stop being so…Danny
I hate you, Danny. I think everyone hates you.
It looks like all the cool kids showed up. All right.
And Amber says to herself, “Why am I wasting my time?”
And Danny says to himself, “Wow, Amber looks like…”
Nope, never going to happen. That would be too easy. And they seem to be lacking something to give them a clue, like common sense.
I shouldn’t be hard on them, I didn’t have any at that age either. Not sure I was That clueless though.
Why’s everyone saying that Danny’s being an asshole? He hasn’t said “I have to cancel to sleep” all he’s done is give her hair advice… The monster?
He knows Amber likes him and yet he compares her to/can’t stop talking about Amazi-Girl around her. And he sort of insinuated a while back that she was too boring for him… So yeah, Danny’s an asshole.
Then again, people might be carrying some of their… not hate, more like general dislike of Danny over from Roomies!, because he’s an asshole over there too.
Wait, Danny knows Amber likes him in a potential romantic partner kind of sense?
Yeah, he did reject her. Though it had less to do with her being boring, but too much like Dorothy, that and he decided he was more attracted to Amazi-girl.
It’s sort of both, actually. What he said first was “You remind me too much of my ex and I’m afraid I’d be rebounding.” (He also apologized for saying it, so clearly he understands that Amber was interested.) What he said second was “I’ve always gone for the quiet, nerdy girls with glasses. … Maybe just this once I’ll go after someone different.”
Which, yeah, Danny, you like who you like, but after having said that to Amber you don’t tell her she’d be prettier if she looked like Amazi-girl. (I think he might apologize when he wakes up properly except I doubt he’ll remember saying it.)
He’s only semiconscious, making a somewhat insensitive observation under those conditions just means that he’s not thinking too much right now. It seems like more of a whoopsy-daisy situation than anything else.
Eh, I don’t think Danny’s being that much of a butt here, given that he’s making sleep deprived observations that actually have substance and coneection. And idk, I assume Amber here is wanting to come back later because sleep-deprived (possibly blurry-eyed) Danny is proving to be better at connecting the dots than awake!Danny.
Dan, you’re turning down the chance to go to a comic book store.
With a girl.
With a hot girl.
With a hot girl who’s a total nerd.
All because you are tired.
WHAT THE F***ITY F*** IS WRONG WITH YOU?
He’s tired. That’s the big thing right now
He’s too tired to think straight, that’s the whole point of this sequence.
Does that mean he’s thinking gay, then?
That would explain the, “Hey, big guy,” to Ethan.
(Seriously, though, the reason he was up all night is that he was making out with a superheroine. Given that, the attraction of going out with the hot nerdy girl with whom he believes he has a purely platonic relationship is gotta be dialed back a notch or two.)
((The “you’d look better if you did your hair like my girlfriend” still makes him a dick, though.))
He hasn’t turned her down, he’s just said “I was up all night.”
Oh man, my Pavlovian response didn’t trigger because Saturday, but new comic! Whoo!
…And it’s all about Danny half-intentionally being a jerk. Man, I thought Joe was mean to her in the first panel, but holy crap Danny.
(I’ve thought about this a bit — it may be possible we’re overestimating this? As in, Amber might still be hurt because she knows the secret, but, hell, there’s a vigilante running around campus. Danny saying the hair thing is comparable to saying “You should do your hair like Wonder Woman”, and possibly a joke. ‘Course, he looks too grumpy for any of that stuff, but eh.)
I don’t think I can take this anymore. Watching Danny be stupid and oblivious about Amber while thinking he is dating Amazi-Girl. Yeah I dunno. I guess it’s not funny to me anymore, just sad.
I’m not quite sure it’s supposed to be funny.
I have a hard time being mad at anybody being stupid and oblivious while 9/10th asleep.
And Amber is obviously bone-tired too. “We’re young, let’s run ourselves into the ground during the third week of college” is a terrible plan and she should be in bed too. She should act like a sensible person and date him in the afternoon like sane people do.
[*takes glasses off, straightens up*]
“Danny, there’s something I have to tell you. I’m really…”
[*chickens out, puts glasses back on before he sees*]
“I mean, I was, at first, really nervous about today, but then I decided, darnit…”
I see what you did there. I approve.
So Amber and Amazi-Girl are coincidentally awake at the same time?
Danny should introduce them
Are you sure they’d get along?
I don’t have anything to say about the comic itself, but I have to comment, because this is a historic moment. Saturday update.
Oh come now, the guy was just woken up, probably still has blue-balls, and has to deal with Joe the asshole roomate. You guys are being….
Ah screw it, I can’t defend him. QUIT BEING AN ASS!
Whereas I can’t defend the readership. Hey all you people out there, QUIT BEING ASSES!
Amber Alert! ;0)
Alright, is Danny supposed to be mildly autistic, or have asperger’s?
You don’t go around praising another girl to one of your female friends. You especially don’t start comparing them to eachother.
Dude, just what the fuck.
Read the comic title! He’s supposed to be young and dumb; in fact, they all are. I remember being that age and acting that stupid (though I hope not so consistently). The question is, how quickly will he grow up?
I don’t remember being this insanely retarded when I was 18. And it was only 2 years ago.
The ship has long since sailed regarding Ms. Dorothy Clone being compared to other women.
Man, lots of judgmental folks in these comments. “Danny isn’t the perfect boyfriend when he just woke up after having been up all night? What an asshole!” He’s sleep deprived, people act dumb when they’re tired. (And he will get up and go to the comic book store with Amber, if Willis’s tumblr is any indication.)
On another note, there are some interesting parallels between Amber and Ethan here. Both are involved in relationships that are likely to be ultimately destructive, due in no small part to them pretending to be something they’re not. It’s especially telling that Amber has lectured Ethan on exactly this point, but is unable or unwilling to see it in herself. Very interesting, I must say. Great work as always, Mr. Willis.
I’m not really seeing how Amber/Danny is ultimately destructive, or even temporarily destructive. Amber’s hobby may be self-destructive, but that’s not Danny’s fault.
Also, refresh my memory – as far as Danny’s concerned, is he even in a relationship with Amber? He’s dating Amazi-girl, but I think that Amber is (to him) just this pushy girl that keeps trying to hang out with him. To the degree that they’re ‘dating’, I seem to recall that he’s not all that comfortable with it, since he’s already in a relationship and all.
Well, even if Amber and Danny aren’t in a relationship, Amber’s side of their relationship may be unhealthy (in which case it wouldn’t really be Danny’s fault — eh, ‘fault’ is the wrong word to use here, probably) in that she’s dating a guy as her alter ego while also trying to hang out with him as her regular self. While she’s kept up the deception of Amazi-Girl for a while, her alter ego hasn’t had any relationships with people she knows as her normal self until now. Maintaining both interactions consistently may be tough, not to mention emotionally trying.
I pretty much agree with you otherwise, though. Danny’s greatest flaw seems to be that he’s clueless, which can place him anywhere from ‘oblivious guy’ to ‘self-centered jerk’ depending on the situation.
How can you spend all night making out with someone who you are good friends with, and not work out who they are? It’s only possible if you are deliberately blinding yourself to it: and that’s exactly what he says he wants to do here. The implication of that strip is that, for him, this relationship is pure fantasy: he’s living out the stories from comic books, and Amazi-girl is just an actor in the story.
But this isn’t what Amber wants: she made it fairly clear that she was interested when they first started talking, and she has continued to seek him out (as herself) since. I think he’s using her, even if he doesn’t exactly realise it. He’s so caught up in his own “romantic” fantasy, that he’s failing to notice what she wants and needs. This is exactly the same mistake he made with Dorothy, and will probably end the same way.
Oh my god, a person has a fantasy! She hasn’t as Amazi-Girl objected to it, so you can’t really blame him for not pushing it for no reason. If it’s making her miserable she’s WAY more at fault than he is.
There’s a big difference between “having a fantasy” and roping other people in to acting out your fantasy without even considering what they might want out of it. The very least he should do is treat her with special consideration – as if she’s actually his girlfriend – the next morning. But no: that would involve opening his eyes to reality; it would “spoil the story”.
He’s a selfish jerk. I don’t think he’s made her miserable yet, but I think he will, and her only fault is getting involved with him in the first place.
Or not raising an issue with the situation if she has one. You know, like people do when they have a problem with something someone is doing. If you are standing in my way and I don’t ask you to move, it’s my fault. It’s clear that she’s perfectly ok with things between amazi-girl and danny, or at least content with it, if she’s not then all she has to do is 1)stop seeing him 2) take off the mask 3) tell him. She has total control of the situation.
On some levels this is true, and I for one find Amber kind of depressing. She’s jumping through an awful lot of hoops to somewhat fail to fight crime while winning the affections of an extremely average dude.
But FTR, Danny turned her down for several reasons, some of which are NOT in her control and which she can assume to still be the case if she takes off the mask. She’s doing all of this so she can still date him.
Which, again, is sad.
I really can’t believe Danny is getting this much hate. Sure, he’s oblivious. And sure, he’s not the perfect guy. But he’s kind, he’s funny, he’s reliable, he’s dedicated, and he and Amber share a lot of the same interests. Of course they get along.
Stop taking everything so seriously and enjoy yourselves! It’s a comic!
Hey! that’s awesome! I also like that you NEVER do filler art, or filler comics
You’re good at this. Do you think someday you could add a previous/next button above the comic as well? sometimes I skip a couple days so I have more to read in a day, it makes flipping through comics you don’t want to read yet easier 
You’re awesome!
There are previous/next buttons above the comics, but in their current form they’re hard to see. Look in the thin teal menu bar on the far right. There’s a Previous arrow there in red and when you go back a strip from the most current one, there’s a Next arrow in red there also. I need to get those in a different color — perhaps now that I have a new host who knows these things, I can get that fiddled with.
Also if you click the strip itself, you go to the next one.
Oh my gosh, they ARE hard to see. I’ve never even noticed them up there before. Megan Rose is right, though, David W. You are a BEAST at pumping out the comics on schedule.
SPOILER ALERT
They go the comic book store.
This solves some of the complaints.
Yay, nice surprise! And thanks for posting about the Kickstarter in the RSS feed, otherwise I would have missed it! I’ve signed up and am looking forward to volume 2!
Kernanator: “I don’t know how morning people can exist without some sort of dark magic. It’s unnatural, that’s what it is.”
It IS dark magic! It’s called Adderall! And it’s awesome!