To be honest, we still haven’t seen enough. I always pictured them as the exact opposite of Mike. Kind on the outside but assholes on the inside. They will make you feel SO welcome in their house you will jump out a window to escape.
There are arguments for him being a jackass to people in order for them to grow up. Making Ethan feel bad about HIDING his sexuality, forcing Walky to choose between remaining a tiny kid in pajamas or grow up and compromise with his girlfriend. Thing is, he LIKES being an asshole. He enjoys it. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t doing the right thing too. He could definitely find a different way of doing things. He chooses not to.
Because he’s the hero that DoA deserves, but not the one it needs right now…and so they’ll tolerate him…because he can take it…because he’s not a hero…he’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector…the asshole.
Yeah. Mike’s an interesting case. While other asshole characters, like, say, Mary or Malaya or even Billie, are jerks to people who don’t meet their standards – usually petty bullshit standards that they’re not very good at meeting themselves – Mike’s assholery generally takes the form of holding people to their own standards and exposing them to the worst consequences of their own actions.
And while this often results in teaching his victims lessons and making them better people in the long run, it’s still not clear to me, even after knowing Mike for thirteen years in two worlds, and seeing that he’s capable of enormous self-sacrifice, whether he actually does it in order to teach them lessons and make them better people, or whether he does it just because he likes to hurt people, and the most effective way to do that is to make them hurt themselves, with any self-improvement being a side effect.
But either way, there’s an element of instant karma to his gambits.
I’d say it’s not one or the other, but both. He does seem to want to see people improve, but he definitely likes being a troll about it.
But it’s probably not even THAT simple. He’s also shown traces of masochism, and a very slight inability to comprehend how damaging his behavior can be (Dina).
Rereading this a year and a half later, no, I did not mean sadism. In Shortpacked, Mike is actually excited when he manages to provoke Amber into attacking him. He also acts as such in DoA when Amazi-Girl throws him to the floor, thinking he was the Whiteboard Ding-Dong Bandit. He also allowed himself to be assaulted by people after spoiling Harry Potter books the day of release in Shortpacked, despite being a supersoldier in that universe.
According to the Turnippuller Monkey method, it’s 1. Then again, it’s an abridged version of Farringanzibar’s rule that assumes that the conditions in Melophilus’ Theorem aren’t met. I didn’t check those, really, ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.
The news the next day:
Mrs. Walkerton and Mike Warner were seen having sex in the middle of the campus, for 9 hours straight. The only word Mike had on the subject were “I got 5 nickels, dick”
If cartoons and comics have taught me anything, bubble pipes come from costume shops and English dollar stores. They ought to come with any detective Sherlock getup.
I work at a Tim Hortons, I see hundreds of people with newspapers a day. Some leave them on the tables when they’re done and then we read them ourselves.
Most dorms prohibit smoking in the building these days (sometimes it’s even prohibited within a certain range of the building.) While it is the case that students often ignore these rules, pipe smoke would still be likely to cause the alarms to go off and a firetruck brought in.
The idea that a ban from smoking near the dorms would cause people to not do it is laughable. I walked by some guys lighting it up by the dorms entrance in the middle of Hurricane Sandy.
No way my RA would have let that slide. The floor stoners wound up having to build a giant cardboard plastic wrapped box they could put up against the window to sit in if they wanted to smoke.
I’ll admit that I’m just going off his use of the word “sport”, but it’s nice knowing that no matter when Mike’s dad is born he’ll always appear to have wandered out of the fifties.
Hmm. Actually, on re-reading, the fuss Billie made was all about Joyce trying to hook her up with Walky. The suggestion that Billie hook up with Sal instead actually came from Billie herself, and Walky just suggested that he could help make it happen. (I think he’s delusional. Or remembering a different sister than the one he has now.) And Billie wasn’t nearly as vociferous about rejecting that idea. (I think she was too embarrassed to admit publicly that she really does want to go home every night to that, but with boobs. Or just didn’t want to encourage Walky.)
Nobody’s pointing out Mike’s burn in the first panel? I’m not sure if he’s going to be delighted that Walky’s hanging out instead of having a large stain on the crotch of his pants.
I think Mike’s happier that he doesn’t have the wet spot on his crotch…mommy hugging him now Is so much better. Although, I’m guessing either way makes Mike happ(ier).
Wow. Thanks for the link. Has the character talking about them shown up in DoA or Walkyverse? O_o I don’t remember her, but I could have totally missed it. That’s not Sarah’s last roommate, is it?
That would be pretty cool if Willis did at least a cameo role for Carol, but from what I have noticed, that sort of thing is more likely to occur in SP! than in DoA.
The last panel is different in each. Mr Warner isn’t in the old one, and Mike’s line is totally different (‘I don’t say this often, but I love you, Mom.’)
I”m amazed that nobody is commenting on Walky pissing his pants…wait, it wasn’t piss. Ooh, this just got even dirtier, and Mike’s joke is so much worse. Walky’s got nocturnal emissions, ahahahahaha. I don’t even know what to do with myself at this point. Even if I’m wrong, that’s the only way I’ll read this from now on.
Wait… in frame 5 (of 6) … are Walky’s eyes dots, with his cheeks outlined from the sheer force of cringing… or are his eyes scrunched closed with his eyebrows crinkled up into mere dots? 🙂
I read this three times and even read the alt text before I noticed that Mike had made a joke about Walky wetting himself.
I make “slow” into an art form. My art’s value is somewhere between one group hug and a nickel.
I had never seen Mike’s parents prior to this and I was thinking, “What could have made him such a horribly mean person” now it all makes sense and that isn’t sarcasm this really does answer the question in the most wonderfully twisted way.
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Well they haven’t changed.
To be honest, we still haven’t seen enough. I always pictured them as the exact opposite of Mike. Kind on the outside but assholes on the inside. They will make you feel SO welcome in their house you will jump out a window to escape.
Mike’s parents have also appeared in Shortpacked!.
It appears their personalities remain unchanged across the dimensional divide.
Mike isn’t a jerk with a heart of gold. He’s a jerk with a heart of jerk. Peel away the outer layer of asshole, and you’ll just find more asshole.
There are arguments for him being a jackass to people in order for them to grow up. Making Ethan feel bad about HIDING his sexuality, forcing Walky to choose between remaining a tiny kid in pajamas or grow up and compromise with his girlfriend. Thing is, he LIKES being an asshole. He enjoys it. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t doing the right thing too. He could definitely find a different way of doing things. He chooses not to.
Because he’s the hero that DoA deserves, but not the one it needs right now…and so they’ll tolerate him…because he can take it…because he’s not a hero…he’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector…the asshole.
That. Is. Brilliant.
As Amasi-girl is the face and the light. Mike is the dark hero.
Yeah. Mike’s an interesting case. While other asshole characters, like, say, Mary or Malaya or even Billie, are jerks to people who don’t meet their standards – usually petty bullshit standards that they’re not very good at meeting themselves – Mike’s assholery generally takes the form of holding people to their own standards and exposing them to the worst consequences of their own actions.
And while this often results in teaching his victims lessons and making them better people in the long run, it’s still not clear to me, even after knowing Mike for thirteen years in two worlds, and seeing that he’s capable of enormous self-sacrifice, whether he actually does it in order to teach them lessons and make them better people, or whether he does it just because he likes to hurt people, and the most effective way to do that is to make them hurt themselves, with any self-improvement being a side effect.
But either way, there’s an element of instant karma to his gambits.
I’d say it’s not one or the other, but both. He does seem to want to see people improve, but he definitely likes being a troll about it.
But it’s probably not even THAT simple. He’s also shown traces of masochism, and a very slight inability to comprehend how damaging his behavior can be (Dina).
Perhaps you meant ‘sadism’?
Rereading this a year and a half later, no, I did not mean sadism. In Shortpacked, Mike is actually excited when he manages to provoke Amber into attacking him. He also acts as such in DoA when Amazi-Girl throws him to the floor, thinking he was the Whiteboard Ding-Dong Bandit. He also allowed himself to be assaulted by people after spoiling Harry Potter books the day of release in Shortpacked, despite being a supersoldier in that universe.
Fractal asshole? Assholeception? Yo dawg, I heard you like assholes, so I put an asshole in yo asshole so yo can be a jerk while yo’ a jerk?
That answers one question.
But how many more questions will it raise.
27 exactly.
Recheck your calculations, I got 42.
Okay, one of us is wrong. I got 35. Did either of you use Strong method?
I used Farringanzibar’s rule and got 35X where X is the mean circumference of Mike and the mom in question’s heads.
Farringanzibar’s Rule? That is so outdated, the Yipikaiyay Principle is the generally accepted method these day.
According to the Turnippuller Monkey method, it’s 1. Then again, it’s an abridged version of Farringanzibar’s rule that assumes that the conditions in Melophilus’ Theorem aren’t met. I didn’t check those, really, ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.
Didn’t John McLane develop that method?
“The feels.”
She might feel something alright… 😀
Not a good time for morning wood, I’d imagine.
Not a good time to have your blood pumpimg from embarassment, either.
Ha! Dangly parts.
Darn it, Phil-Ken Sebben.
The nights… the nights are so cold Walky.
Anytime I see them again I have to say I would have turned like mike too with those parents.
i theorize they are actually exactly like mike.
they are just always drunk.
And because he was concieved while both parents were drunk Mike is now unable to be happy while sober. Thus continuing the devil’s circle.
Those are pretty much MY parents, and I pretty much DID.
You have my condolences. Do the cookies at least taste good? Because I like cookies.
The chocolate chip are heavenly. But sometimes there are instead. Those are the bad days.
Nothing against raisins in their place, but they should never substitute for chocolate chips.
Oops you accidentally a word!
For everyone else, “But sometimes there are (raisins) instead.”
I know that was probably obvious, but I’m just trying to help anyone who might not have immediately understood.
After midnight, I are dumb.
I won’t.
The awkward…IT IS TOO MUCH!!!
so many people were basically right lol. also, Mike’s parents are friendly?!?
Very friendly.
they are in the original walkyverse. If the characterization is consistent between universes, Walky’s about to get his pants filled with cookies.
Oh, I love cookies, especially chocolate chip. Too bad I can’t eat them at the moment.
Which is not where you want cookies.
I beg to differ. Jeans can carry quite a lot of cookies and fabric softener smells nice.
Mike’s mother just gives away her cookies to just about anyone? That explains Mike so much.
She doesn’t even ask anyone for a nickel. It’s scandalous, really.
As opposed to Nachitos?
I’m a tad confused. Where in the walkyverse do the Warners appear? I’m surprised I don’t remember them.
Shortpacked, chapter 10 and whatnot.
I know they show up in Shortpacked!, but I’m not sure if they ever did in any of the others.
There first appearance is here:
http://www.shortpacked.com/2009/comic/book-10/01-this-man-this-manhattan/oatmeal/
Okay, first: Their*
Goddamnit.
There is no second item on this agenda.
Mrs. Warner knows what’s up.
[not Li’l Walky… yet?]
Am I gonna need to draw more Rule 34? With that connotation it could get pretty nasty.
Like that would stop you. 😀
Walky: Hey Mike I banged your mom and afterwards she gave me a cookie. So I gave her a nickle in return.
The news the next day:
Mrs. Walkerton and Mike Warner were seen having sex in the middle of the campus, for 9 hours straight. The only word Mike had on the subject were “I got 5 nickels, dick”
Walky: So my mom is worth more than yours? *Eyebrow wiggle*
+1 LIKE
Well you paid mine 1 nickel for 5 minutes.
I paid your 5 nickels for 9 hours. Do the math.
Walky hates math. And it’s the sexy kind he doesn’t like here.
Mike: I hope it’s chocolate chip because that’s the last thing you’d ever tasted.
We need to remove the chain because this is off it
MIKE KNOWS.
She’s so affectionate.
I’m not sure if this is the most hilarious or creepiest thing in history.
Creepy. Definitely creepy. People demanding hugs out of others just… irritates me to no end.
You know, I was expecting Mr. Warner to smoke a pipe. You know, like dads do back in the 50’s…or how TV portray dads in the 50’s.
Walkyverse Mr. Warner did. This version’s a decade or two younger.
Also, smoking’s not allowed in the dorms.
You could give him an e-cig?
…or a bubble pipe.
Where would one get a legit bubble pipe anyways? And how the heck would one make it work?
If cartoons and comics have taught me anything, bubble pipes come from costume shops and English dollar stores. They ought to come with any detective Sherlock getup.
He still says ‘sport’. And reads a ‘newspaper’.
Yes, he does. I know because I wrote it!
Lots of people read newspapers.
Lies.
To be fair, “lots” can mean “several dozen”.
I work at a Tim Hortons, I see hundreds of people with newspapers a day. Some leave them on the tables when they’re done and then we read them ourselves.
Most dorms prohibit smoking in the building these days (sometimes it’s even prohibited within a certain range of the building.) While it is the case that students often ignore these rules, pipe smoke would still be likely to cause the alarms to go off and a firetruck brought in.
The idea that a ban from smoking near the dorms would cause people to not do it is laughable. I walked by some guys lighting it up by the dorms entrance in the middle of Hurricane Sandy.
I had a roommate who liked to smoke a hookah in our room, despite all our “No Smoking” rules and the really evil glares she got from our RA.
No way my RA would have let that slide. The floor stoners wound up having to build a giant cardboard plastic wrapped box they could put up against the window to sit in if they wanted to smoke.
Engineers *eyeroll*
People will do anything to keep their habit. If I have to climb mountains and cross rivers for my coffee, then by Jove I’ll do it all.
Oh Mike, you never fail my expectations.
Would some one mind reminding me of this storyline’s title? It seems I’m too drunk to recall.
Bets on whether or not Mike has a well hidden and never worn matching argyle sweater vest?
Goddamnit I keep forgetting I have the Mike gravatar.
Mike burned it.
It reconstituted though, because Argyle sweaters are timeless.
I’ll admit that I’m just going off his use of the word “sport”, but it’s nice knowing that no matter when Mike’s dad is born he’ll always appear to have wandered out of the fifties.
I thought the sweater vest was a dead giveaway.
Joyce Wears a sweater Vest.
And look how she acted like.
Point to Aizat. Remember the first to three points gets a silver Internet.
Oh yeah, called it.
I was expecting Mr and Mrs. Walkerton.
That comes later. When the Warners and Walky are mid-group hug…
Walky…are you…cheating on us!?
Considering he’s hugging Mrs Warner with his dingle hanging out, that gives a rather…concerning impression of Walkerton family gatherings.
He is on record as trying to hook up his sister with their neighbor. While they’re roomies!
To be fair, for all the fuss she made about it at the time, the neighbor’s made a couple passes at his sister, too.
Hmm. Actually, on re-reading, the fuss Billie made was all about Joyce trying to hook her up with Walky. The suggestion that Billie hook up with Sal instead actually came from Billie herself, and Walky just suggested that he could help make it happen. (I think he’s delusional. Or remembering a different sister than the one he has now.) And Billie wasn’t nearly as vociferous about rejecting that idea. (I think she was too embarrassed to admit publicly that she really does want to go home every night to that, but with boobs. Or just didn’t want to encourage Walky.)
Hilarious! All hail Willis!
Good old dependable Mike.
Just realized that Mike’s dad looks a lot younger than his Walkyverse counterpart.
We met them in the Walkyverse when they were 13 years older.
Nobody’s pointing out Mike’s burn in the first panel? I’m not sure if he’s going to be delighted that Walky’s hanging out instead of having a large stain on the crotch of his pants.
I’m pretty sure he knows and may-or may not have been hoping for such an outcome when giving Walky those pants in the first place.
I think this is my new favorite strip in DoA.
Oh, this is just getting better … Let’s see if Mike will formally introduce his parents to Walky’s penis.
I will accept this group hug but only on the condition Mrs.Warner gives me a nickle
A jar of chocolate chip cookie is fine too.
I think Mike’s happier that he doesn’t have the wet spot on his crotch…mommy hugging him now Is so much better. Although, I’m guessing either way makes Mike happ(ier).
I have a feeling Walky will forever be known as ‘Woody’ from here on in.
“Joyce and Sarah” gueststar in BF webcomic
Wow. Thanks for the link. Has the character talking about them shown up in DoA or Walkyverse? O_o I don’t remember her, but I could have totally missed it. That’s not Sarah’s last roommate, is it?
That would be pretty cool if Willis did at least a cameo role for Carol, but from what I have noticed, that sort of thing is more likely to occur in SP! than in DoA.
The joke’s on Mike. He’s unwittingly pushing Walky to do who he could not: the only mom in all the world who Mike can’t fuck, for a nickel.
Man if I was getting hugged like that by Ms. Warner my little walky would be lifting his arms for a hug if you know what I mean.
Alternative punchline? http://www.dumbingofage.com/comics-rss/2013-07-15-hugs.png
This is exactly the same strip. Was it different before? How so?
Apparently it was. Willis just answered a question about on his tumblr http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/55493874491/the-rss-feed-for-dumbing-of-age-is-showing-me-a
The last panel is different in each. Mr Warner isn’t in the old one, and Mike’s line is totally different (‘I don’t say this often, but I love you, Mom.’)
Thanks.
I”m amazed that nobody is commenting on Walky pissing his pants…wait, it wasn’t piss. Ooh, this just got even dirtier, and Mike’s joke is so much worse. Walky’s got nocturnal emissions, ahahahahaha. I don’t even know what to do with myself at this point. Even if I’m wrong, that’s the only way I’ll read this from now on.
Check out yesterday’s comic again.
I’m betting she brought a suitcase full of cookies.
I don’t understand all the cookie jokes. Was I supposed to read the other comics before I read this one?
No. Nothing in DoA so far requires familiarity with the Walkyverse version of any of these characters… well, except occasionally the comments section.
Argh, I’ve been getting lax on #3 again: http://www.dumbingofage.com/about/
OK, I’ll go for the obvious one:
“REALLY excited to meet you, Mrs. Warner!”
I have been enjoying reading this comic during the weekend. How long will that last?
IIRC the stretch goal on the Kickstarter campaign said a year. Presumably that stretch goal will also be on the next campaign as well.
….I thought only Mike did moms?
(did someone mention that earlier? probably. It needs repeating.)
No, he also does threesomes and guys who are questioning their sexuality.
Sometimes at the same time. In multiple different places, at the same time.
And sometimes in multiple alternate universes.
ppphhhhttt BUWAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!
Anyone else notice Joyce and Sarah in today’s ‘Between Failures”? Seems Sarah has a habit of getting people expelled
Awww… I wanted to post about that! 🙁
Well, here’s the link for anyone who wasn’t already a follower:
http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/1104-boot-to-the-head
my first comment I LOVE DOA AND I WANT A NICKEL who gonna give me one?
Mike will give your mom a nickel.
(And everyone else’s moms too.)
Webcomics don’t usually make me literally laugh out loud, but this one did. Perfect execution.
Such an awkward moment. If only there was a way for someone to fix it. . .with his penis.
This was pretty much exactly what I needed to wake me up this morning.
Oh yeah, and I guess the strip’s pretty good, too. And the arc title joke. 😀
Wait… in frame 5 (of 6) … are Walky’s eyes dots, with his cheeks outlined from the sheer force of cringing… or are his eyes scrunched closed with his eyebrows crinkled up into mere dots? 🙂
Once you see it…
I read this three times and even read the alt text before I noticed that Mike had made a joke about Walky wetting himself.
I make “slow” into an art form. My art’s value is somewhere between one group hug and a nickel.
I was hoping that this would happen after reading yesterday’s comic
dear god, walky is in an even more horrifying situation than I could have possibly imagined…
I hope she’s wearin’ underwear…or at least has a Nickel
Well, maybe this incident finally convinces Walky of the advantages of real pants and underwear…
But really, he could not secure himself sufficently between being spotted in the hallway and making it back to the room?
It doesn’t button, so he can’t. And I suspect it’s fairly early in the morning (read: still AM) on a Saturday.
Oh god why?!
I am going to assume that the title of this arc is a Birdemic reference.
Hmmm, I guess it’s MILF week. Nice curves. 🙂
^
I want “Let’s do it, Sport” to become a new meme around here.
Let’s do it, Sport.
maam i really need to change my pants then, maybe, ill hug u.
Only Mike could figure out how to use a group hug as a weapon…
-Reads rollover text-
Your wife is the best wife, clearly.
No means no, Mike’s mom.
Harriet will give you non-consensual cookies, too.
i knew i was going to hate college about 2 minutes after i walked in my dorm room and my first sweaty roommate hugged me. I never saw her coming.
Wouldn’t it be the biggest irony if Walky actually wound up banging Mike’s Mom, even if it was completely on accident.
I love this so much.
i can see why mike hates everything
I had never seen Mike’s parents prior to this and I was thinking, “What could have made him such a horribly mean person” now it all makes sense and that isn’t sarcasm this really does answer the question in the most wonderfully twisted way.
Mike, you’re a Master, you’re a genius you’re Elvis, you’re God.
Is there a reason Walky was going commando?
I’ll lift my arms for a nickel