For all those who are going “What is Danny doing wrong?”, it starts with three words he did not use at the beginning of his sentence.
See how much less Danny it is if he were just to say “I’m sorry, but…”
That’s all it would take. Just a hint of vestigial politeness and courtesy. Just the smallest glimmer of consideration, or some hint that he is able to think of the feelings and welfare of a person that is not his miserable self.
I’m not saying he’s not letting her down either way, but the way it is done matters. It’s the difference between asking someone if they could please be quiet and telling them to STFU.
Or in this case, it’s the difference between apologizing for the need to establish some personal distance from her, and telling her to GTFO without so much as an OKTHXBYE.
Keep in mind that Amber just pulled him into a weird, uncomfortable role-playing game in front of his family, with no explanation or apology. If empathy is important, then we need to show some for Danny and understand why he feels used.
True enough — but remember Danny has a thing for Amazi-girl and Amber knows it, since she *IS* also Amazi-girl. Her “weird, uncomfortable role-playing game”, while it was also a ploy to avoid her father by being somewhere in public around other people, might also have been *HER* first step in revealing to Danny that she was in fact the woman with whom he is infatuated. Remember that even superheroes spend most of their time in their “civilian” identity. When Superman revealed himself to Lois Lane, the result was “Lois and Clark”, not “Lois and Superman”.
I’m convinced that there’s a way this ship can still sail.
I expect this is probably the point where, things actually get clarified. Barring Danny having totally awful luck and actually being inept [as opposed to just falling hard for the Clark Kent Effect], Amber’s probably going to just reveal it here.
That is barring Danny either not referencing Amazigirl or else getting more angry than he should.
I think he’s gotten more flak than he deserves as a character but this will definitely be either a saving moment for him or else it’ll be the point where I do start to feel like this plot is dragging and making me sad.
I mean, when Danny came out with feelings for Amber, I just melted. Seriously, I teared up a bit. That was the first time I started shipping it.
Now, partly due to what’s going on, and partly due to reading the comments, reality is crashing back down around me, and I honestly think the best thing for the both of them… okay, the best thing for Amber is to ditch Danny. She needs to find someone who is actually a stable person, not someone who just looks it.
The best response to this is “so could Danny. And Ethan. And Joyce.” and so on all the way through the entire list of characters [excepting maybe Walky&Dorothy who seem to be balancing eachother out alright].
I can see them working, if this subplot ended. Amber if anyone stands to gain from it, since Danny looks up to her both as Amazi-girl and her regular self. But her pre-existing fear of rejection is preventing this from happening.
So, we get dysfunction and angst and plot as opposed to happy healthy relationships and candy.
It seems to me that the whole episode is due to his empathy. He clearly wants to spill the beans that he is not Amber’s boyfriend. But he kept it to himself for her sake (He didn’t know she was hiding from her father but he must have guessed something was up). But now some time has passed and his parents have gone, he is afraid of betraying Amazi-girl, which he totally would be based on what he knows.
He kept it to himself for his sake, as her being his “real” girlfriend kept him from looking like a total delusional loser in front of his parents. The moment he had nothing to lose, he pushed her overboard.
I don’t think that’s fair. Initially he was quite reluctant to play along with this ploy. His approach to his relationship status vs parents was simply to try and sidestep the question.
Oh, god, I can already imagine what sort of tropes are being abused at this very moment. I know at the very least someone’s about to use “Wham Line” or “What the Hell, Hero?”.
First words out of my mouth, out loud as I read this comic…
“Aaaaaannnnnnnnnd…. there it is.”
“Dan’d it up pretty quickly, he did.”
But, after thinking about it – the poor guy it is still thinking he’s going behind AG’s back. So I doubt there’ll be any real forward movement in this story until he goes back to have to heart-to-heart with AG about the situation.
So, in his mind, he’s actually doing the correct thing for someone in his situation – he’s just being NOT tactful/eloquent about it.
Pretty much the same for me (and I agree on his concern about going behind AG’s back, but that’s more a (dys)function of Danny not realizing the obvious. I mean, he was doing some heavy petting with AG not too long ago, you’d think he’d figure it out). For me, the telling part of today was opening up the page and seeing 340 comments by 7am. Woooo!
Yea, as much as I dislike Danny as a character (and how has he not figured out Amber is AG by now!) this is at least partly on Amber for trying to have her cake and eat it too. Now that it’s revealed that AG is Amber’s crutch for dealing with some emotional issues I’m a little more sympathetic, but I still wish AG would disappear, she keeps screwing with my willing suspension of disbelief.
^This. I was saying to myself “Jesus H. Christ, Danny,” when I realized that the whole painful situation is Willis’s doing. [“This emotional roller coaster brought to you by DAMN YOU, WILLIS!”]
I’m with Tom. Danny might be billing oblivious, but he’s doing what he thinks is the right thing. He now seems to have realized Amber has feelings for him, but he is dating amazi-girl. He thinks it would be better for Amber to be away from him, because he doesn’t want to lead her on (which Amber has kind of been doing, both as Amber and Amzi-girl).
He’s not being an idiot or mean, he’s trying to be a good boyfriend.
I don’t usually jump in on the convos, but I have a different interpretation of what’s happening here. I don’t think he’s trying to spare Amber’s feelings, I think he’s trying to avoid cheating on Amazi-girl with Amber.
I’m kind of on the fence. On the one hand, I think it’s ridiculous that he’s slept with Amazi-girl and hung out with Amber so much and doesn’t realize they’re the same person, so there is definitely some disapproval of Danny boiling up for me… But on the other hand, I agree that Amber is also being ridiculous by not ‘fessing up about her secret identity.
I guess the thing that would tip the scales toward blaming Danny more would be if Amber straight up told him, and he didn’t believe her because he was *just that thick*. I don’t think that’s how it’s going to play out, though.
Unless it happened unannounced during this last timeskip – which I think is unlikely – no, he hasn’t. They’ve made out, but they explicitly did not have sex.
I dunno. I totally take it as a Clark Kent thing/parody. I don’t read comic books really, but I do have the rule engrained in my head as something that exists which can be parodied. I mean how long have stories played up the “In love with your secret identity” thing for years deadpan? Danny is trying to be a good guy but he’s falling for the same thing that a lot of people fall for in comic books.
Hear here. Also, he’s being a nice guy by waiting until they’re alone before bringing this up. AND he’s not letting this drag on and on once he realizes there’s a problem.
I mean, this would actually be a smart and understandable decision if Amber and Amazi-Girl were two different people. Which everyone (not just Danny) seems to believe.
From his perspective… Yeah this is the right choice. He obviously has feelings for Amber, and he knows that. Hanging around her is just playing both hers and Amazigirl’s heartstrings around.
NOW IF ONLY HE COULD FIGURE OUT THE BLOODY OBVIOUS MAYBE I WOULDN’T BE SO MAD ANYWAYS.
I’m glad you said this. I don’t hate Danny for his words, but I kinda hope Amber kisses him, since he wanted to figure it out Spiderman style, I think he said. Or, you know, he gets glasses.
Personally it’s a smart decision on Danny’s part and even if he DOES figure out she’s Amazi-girl, that just kinda adds a whole new depth to their relationship. He seemed ok being lied to but when the truth gets out it’ll be impossible to know how he’ll take it.
There are no smart decisions on Danny’s part. Even if everything turns out well in the end, it will always be despite Danny’s intentions and actions, never because of them.
Very good point. I hope that he is using up all of his Dannyness so that when the moment of truth finally arrives…
Hrmm… that is actually gonna be a painful set of story development. Amazigirl will no longer be a larger than life figure for Danny. And all the issues that led her to donning the Amazigirl outfit, which she almost dropped the voice for and discussed with Danny, may boil over. Unlike the heroes in hero comics, there is only so far she can go before destroying herself. The fact that her father noticed some of her gear in her closet is actually coming back up to worry me. If he starts actively stalking her, it won’t surprise me if he makes the connection and uses it against her. And if I recall, Ethan also knows the truth, right? I mean that isn’t a big deal, but it is proof that not everyone lives in the same state of Danny and Billie mentality.
Seriously, with her realizing she has her father’s temper and enjoyment of inflicting pain, plus whatever else happened, this thing with Danny needs some form of… resolution? If not, she is going to be leaving herself more vulnerable than she already is. Gah, I think I just hit a self-induced thought spiral on this. I’m starting to realize that she has been looking for an excuse to fight a lot. The guys tagging the street sign come to mind. Lots of stuff played for laughs, none of it quite so funny anymore.
If it keeps rolling like this, I pity the spiders tomorrow.
Raine, that’s exactly what I think. I don’t understand why everyone is getting SO mad at him for this, because I mean, he’s trying not to cheat on Amazigirl and that’s commendable.
I disagree. Given his history, I’m thinking he just fears happiness. He is not obligated to stay with Amazagirl. The responsible thing to do is contact Amazagirl and apologize for using her emotionally. After that he can decide which girl he wishes to pursue but he has no obligations. Danny’s greatest flaw is neglecting himself.
I mean they were kinda hot and heavy for a bit, a while back (and in Willis time it was probably earlier in the week), so you’d think he’d be smitten enough with AG to remember fine details about her appearance, physical things that don’t change between Amber and AG, like lips, boobs and dat ass, and presumably recognize them on Amber.
He’s also not TRYING to see through Amazi-girl’s disguise. He’s trying to avoid the mistake he made with Dorothy and gettig too close and involved, keep some mystery in there.
I’m HOPING on the latter. I can empathize and even applaud his decision if that’s what he’s doing. If it turns out he’s figured everything out and just decided Amber is too crazy (or something) to be with I’ll be firmly in the “run him over with a truck” camp. Except if that happened a character I like a lot more will die saving him, so never mind.
Why are people pissed at him? He’s dating another girl and has feelings for Amber. He wants to stay loyal to his girlfriend, so he’s removing temptation, which is especially good since he knows Amber is interested in him. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a workable one, and probably the best he’s capable of.
So you let her down gently. Or better yet, you realize that Amber IS your girlfriend like any human being with any cognitive abilities would have done by now.
^ This,
But also the fact that even if we are to assume Danny is just kinda stupid and doesn’t realize it, I can’t condone someone cutting someone out of their life. This is coming from a guy who doesn’t have a lot of friends, and DEFINITELY not a lot of romantic situations. It DESTROYS my heart to replay all the times someone says we couldn’t hang out. So yeah I’m just kinda projecting that onto him. Also I just don’t like Danny that much.
I dunno, Yotomoe. Amber’s actions from Danny’s perspective all indicate a girl (and kind of an ex-girlfriend at that, however brief the relationship) with feelings for him going to aggressive lengths to hang around him and lie regarding their relationship. And he not so long ago had the epiphany that he actually does have stronger feelings for her than he realized. Assuming he legitimately loves Amazigirl and doesn’t get the connection between her and Amber, it would be reasonable for him to assume that Amber will continue to pursue him despite his relationship status and now he realizes that he would be very tempted to reciprocate those feelings despite himself. In that situation the responsible thing would be to cut ties with her. Still has no tact about it, though.
Danny is the ONLY member of the cast to know both of them. Everyone else has only had brief, in the dark, interactions with Amazi-Girl, and none of them knew Amber at the time. (and yes, a couple of them were in lit rooms at the time they met her but it was still brief and they still didn’t know Amber). If Ethan ran into Amazi-Girl and didn’t recognise her we’d likely think he’s nearly as stupid.
No one has gotten a good look at her, or really knows anything about her. As I mentioned on another strip, Dorothy’s got all the info she needs to figure out Amazi-Girl’s identity, and that’s just after chatting her up for less than a minute. Danny spends a lot of time with “both” girls, so either he’s incredibly incompetent or an asshole.
There could be any number of reasons why she has not yet pursued her lead. Regardless, I think Willis would show her doing so if it had already happened.
How much more gentle is he supposed to be? This is ending a friendship with UST(so it’s basically a breakup), there’s no such thing as a good way to do it. People will be hurt no matter what, and Danny’s method so far doesn’t seem bad.
(And yes, he should have figured it out, but Eyss points out that problem)
You’re cutting a friend out of your life completely. And she has a crush on you. How do you make that not completely suck? Oh, also, you’re a teenager and this is your first time breaking up with someone. Good luck, Danny’s doing about as well as I did my first breakup.
You could apologize. Make sure they realize that it is your bad and not theirs. Be polite. Be abashed. Be empathetic. Most people pick up more rudimentary social skills than this before they hit puberty. It isn’t rocket science.
If he tried and failed to be considerate about this, we might cut him some slack. But he’s not even trying. Worse, it doesn’t even occur to him that he should try. Danny is feeling put out, so he acts like a crabby baby to whoever is near-by.
That Amber finds attractive qualities in him at all speaks more toward her still-healing emotional damage than it does to his character.
You are neglecting the fact that sometimes social skills can be shut down by emotional distress and confusion; I’m willing to bet that after the hand holding scene in Galasso’s that Danny felt a spark for Amber but in his irrational and emotional state sees his feelings for her as a threat to his relationship with AG, so he blames her for being so likeable and available (I did say he’s not on an even logical keel right?) so he pushes her away, both by being rude and by literally telling her to go away
He’s had one sentence on the subject so far. Maybe he’ll go asshole, but for now maybe don’t expect that one line to fulfill everything that the conversation needs to say.
I’m with Vikt here. There’s totally the possiblity of a conversation afterwards but sometimes, when you are awkward about saying something like that you need to open the conversation with it. In better situations, it ends with civilized conversation and a general “It’s just circumstances, you’ll do really well you’re since [X, Y and Z]”.
If he’d started with apologizing and telling her how awesome she is, he might have just started building up her hopes or else he might loose the nerve to say so himself. Opening with this guarentees that it’s out there and they can work from there.
“Make sure they realize that it is your bad and not theirs.”
So he should lie?
She knew he was uncomfortable from the start. Why do you hold Danny to this standard and not Amber?
With a situation like the one that Danny has here, it’s probably more important to be perfectly clear than sugar coat and risk the point being missed. Sometimes you just gotta be blunt.
Danny is the only member of the cast to spend considerable time with both Amber and Amazi-Girl. They look exactly alike and her mask doesn’t cover that much. In one of their first strips together he noted many changes Amazi-Girl was making to try to hide the fact she is Amber from him. He’s had clue after clue after clue waved in his face, he has all the information, it’s so goddam obvious and he still has no clue. We can’t even pretend he’s faking it for fun anymore.
THAT is why everyone is pissed at him. That is why Danny became a verb.
He can crush concrete with a casual gesture, and one-punch a train. If he wants me to pretend I can’t tell he’s just put on a suit and started calling himself “Clark”, I’ll go along with it…
It’s Tropes. There’s certain normalities of story telling.
There’s a huge diachotomy of how a narrative works and how life works. Willis might parody a few but he abides by alot more.
Saying “It works like X in Y, ergo DoA is a Good/Bad story since it does/n’t do the same” is fallacious.
However, the argument that he’s either playing the Comicbook “Clark Kenting” effect to the hilt which is common to most stories with Superheroes which he’s clearly alluding to or he’s parodying it through Danny’s complete obliviousness is a completely valid interpretation/argument.
Superman has super hypnosis. That and there are many other factors that he puts in place to hide his identity such as speaking in a quieter and more timid voice and he slouches a little and wears slightly oversized suits to make himself appear out of shape. Just saying.
….why, Danny? Just… WHY?!
I GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT FOR ONE GODDAMN WEEK AND THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE UP FOR IT?! You can burst into flames for all i care.
Oh, and by the way, FLUTTERSHY IS WORST PONY.
(not really. But if I’m ranting at Danny i might as well insult his favorite.)
She’s his friend, and clearly something is wrong, and as soon as they have a moment alone he jumps straight to “GTFO you make me uncomfortable”.
Leaving aside the whole Amazi-girl thing, Amber is his friend. She’s acting super weird. The correct response is to ask what’s going on and let her explain.
Even if he’s already jumped to the conclusion that this was some sort of weird hitting on him scenario, even if it’s important for him to establish straight away that he’s uncomfortable and she’s crossed the line, nobody with a modicum of empathy jumps straight to “get lost”. It’s classless.
I think what Amber did was kind of weird and manipulative. I can see why Danny’s uncomfortable. But if he were to remove his head from his own colon he’d be in a position right now to listen to Amber and help a friend who’s having an epicly bad day. Instead he Danny’d.
Exactly. They’ve known each other enough for him to know that her behavior was out-of-character, and she made it perfectly clear to him when she interceded that Something Was Going On. Even if he felt uncomfortable and put upon during the whole thing, their friendship should have given her enough credit with him for him to at least ask “Ok, WTF is going on here?” instead of jumping straight to “GTFO”.
It’s called “benefit of the doubt”, Danny, you idiot. Just like the incredible benefit of the doubt you were given when the rumpled cheerleader emerged from your room. You don’t get to just receive it…you have to give it out as well. And also stop being such a put-upon whiny drama queen about every obstacle or inconvenience life throws at you.
For all the Danniness here it actually does make sense from his point of view. He likes one girl but just realized and admitted he is attracted to another, who is also attracted to him. Time to back off and pick one. And with Danny’s loyalty of course he’d pick Sal
Can’t blame him though guys, think about it. Obvious lookalike aside, as far as he’s concerned, he’s having all these feelings for a girl while he’s dating another girl. He’s trying to do the right and fair thing to Amazigirl and Amber. Now, I feel like this scene’s gonna end with Amber revealing her secret, but who knows!
If you were in love with a girl, and accidentally developed feelings for another, wouldn’t you want to space yourself from the girl. I gotta say I’m on Danny’s side for this one, it’s not fair for Amber to make him crush on two people.
Out of context, sure. In context, it’s slightly less sympathetic when literally the only reason you’re choosing the lady in the mask to the lady in front of you is because the masked lady has no semblance whatsoever to your ex.
And it makes you look even more gormless when said masked lady LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE PERSON WHOSE SEMBLANCE YOU’RE TRYING TO AVOID.
Well, I have faith that Danny to not screw it up but why he keeps on screwing it up……hold on a sec, I think now I understand why Danny kept screwing things up.
There were far more than 31 by the time this was posted. The hate train posts are accumulating less at the speed of a train and more at the speed of a starship from Star Trek. The U.S.S Dannerprise.
That wouldn’t help. Then Amber would see that his brusque and tactless whininess isn’t merely a result of being in awkward situations with stressful conflict, but instead is pervasive to his very core.
Being around Danny is simply toxic, like working in a building with asbestos ceiling tiles.
Danny, as a geek/nerd or whatever you want to call it, would probably understand the need for a superhero to keep their identity secret, even from someone they’re dating.
Drama relies on people not doing the obvious, intelligent thing.
“Hey, I’m crazy for you, so I’m going to share a big secret with you.”
“Hey, you’ve trusted me, so I’m going to keep your secret and not blab it to all and sundry.”
“Hey, I heard you’re prophecized to kill your son, so I thought the best way to prevent it was to tell you, not to, say, betray you to your worst enemy and kidnap your son.”. (Stupid Wesley)
God damn, Danny, I liked you.
I never understood why people hated you, but god damn, I was fooled by a friggin’ Webcomic Asshole.
May Mike punch you in the testicles.
Why the hate, guys? Let’s look at the situation here:
1. Danny has a girlfriend – Amazi-Girl.
2. He doesn’t know that Amber is Amazi-Girl.
3. Given the dialogue of the September 15th comic, he’s likely developing romantic feelings for Amber.
If you’re in a committed relationship and you start to develop feelings for another woman, there are two responsible things to do: you can confront those feelings head on, admit them to both women, and try to make a friendship work, or you can walk away from the friendship. While the first option is preferable, it’s a LOT harder and will fail in a lot of cases anyway. In short, he may be taking the easiest responsible way out, he’s far from taking the scummiest path.
The only reason he doesn’t know what we know is because he’s stupid. He has all the information he needs to figure out the obvious and he still has no clue.
Nobody else has spent much time with BOTH of them. For everyone else Amazi-Girl shows up, does something then runs off, for Danny she hangs around and they talk and make out and then he goes and hangs out with Amber.
No one else in this universe has spent significant time up close and personal with Amber in both of her guises. (Except maybe Ethan and Mike, pre-DoA – and Ethan, at least, knows. Not sure if Mike knows, but he seems to know everything, so.) Danny was friggin’ making out with Amazi-Girl a few days ago, and had Amber cuddled against him just recently. He should have at least noticed that they smell a lot alike. The only reason he hasn’t figured it out is because he doesn’t want to figure it out.
All of yall are just mad because you ship Damber and I do too, but this just means that their gonna have a compelling arc before they finally end up together and their relationship will be all the better because of it, it’s my favourite part of storytelling when people have to overcome for love instead of just tripping on it.
It’s stupid because Danny does know most of what we know, plus a bunch of stuff we don’t know, but either can’t or, more likely, won’t use that information to reach the blatantly obvious conclusion. And after refusing to recognize that Amber and Amazi-Girl are the same person, he’s being a dick to the real girl so that he can keep dating the fantasy version of her.
Because people are really, really bad at looking at this objectively, from the standpoint of the characters.
Danny is stupid for not knowing it is Amber! Except… Dorothy has around as much reason to see through the disguise, having seen Amber both in and out of costume numerous times, and having information she could reasonably have derived the answers to Amazigirl’s identity from. Oops. Don’t let that get in the way of a good “dannying it up”, though, because he’s stupid because reasons.
Well that and Dorothy hasn’t really got a prolongued look at Amazi-Girl in good lighting. But yeah, people are more mad that he’s DOING it and not why.
True but atm Joyce was kinda drugged and she wasn’t around either Amber or Amazi-girl enough to tie the two together, unlike Danny who’s in the constant presence of BOTH of them.
She chased her and also met her at the party where Joyce was drugged. She has also met Amber.
Evidence being what she stated when chasing Amber, that she knows her hair color, build, what building on campus she is running to, and about her highschool track and field.
I get that she is busy, but roughly a few weeks have passed, likely, since the party. She has had time to figure it out if she applied herself.
I replied to you below, but we haven’t seen Dorothy doing anything regarding the story yet. She’s been doing other stuff. Stuff she probably values more.
Not everyone’s lives revolve around Amazi-Girl. Just Danny’s.
Good for Danny for doing his best to avoid the temptation to be unfaithful to his girlfriend.
Of course, if he just used half a brain to figure out that Amber and Amazi-girl are the same person he wouldn’t have this problem. Hopefully, Amber sets him straight.
Remember, Amber just ran up and pulled him into a weird, uncomfortable role-playing game in front of his family. She had her reasons, but from his point of view, she used him.
It’d be nice of him to ask her what’s going on, and give her a chance to explain why she was acting so oddly before unilaterally telling her to bog off though.
Danny…think. Do you think pursuing a romance with a masked vigilante is going to end well? The girl that likes you is right in front of you…do it. Don’t do what I did.
A girl who he likes. Not the, a. He’s already happily in a committed relationship.
Can you imagine the kinds of criticism he’d be getting if he just decided to dump Amazigirl for Amber on the spot right now because she lacks the inconveniences of the girl he was madly committed to all of 2 hours ago?
And as Danny stands there dumbfounded, Amber facepalms. And that is the signal that Ruth and Mike have been waiting for.
Simultaneously, Ruth scythes Danny’s legs out from under him and makes a spirited attempt to remove his femurs as Mike appears to repeatedly punch Danny in the face with a fistful of nickels.
People not being able to tell that Amber is Amazi-girl seems to be an in-universe rule, so is Danny necessarily any more stupid than the rest of the cast for not picking it? We have omniscient perspective on DoA *plus* notes from ‘God’ (Willis), which gives us a pretty significant advantage.
It’s hard to be genre savvy when you don’t know you’re a character in a story.
I am waiting for the posts about how Dorothy is a moron for not seeing through the costume. She is supposed to be one of the smartest characters in the comic, and she is fooled by the mask and hair tussle just as much as everyone else is.
Don’t say she hasn’t had the chance, either. Not only did she chase after Amazigirl in an extended encounter, she also met her at the party, not in a situation where she couldn’t get a good look at her, and has also met Amber. She has every reason to see through such a thin disguise, but doesn’t, because it’s a comic with a fucking superhero in it, and that’s how it has always worked.
Dorothy has met Amber (out of costume) a total of two times, one of which was this.
Since the confrontation, Dorothy has been preoccupied with many things other than her story for the paper. She has not pursued her leads yet, and she does not know Amber very well, so it is completely understandable that she has not worked it out.
Danny cannot claim the same, so until it is shown that everyone else in this universe is as oblivious as he, we are well within our rights to think he is stupid as all get out.
That’s fair. That said, the only people even implied to know about it would be Mike and Ethan. Dina could potentially know, but that is not really stated one way or another that I know of.
Fuck if I know how oblivious most folks are, but Ethan and Mike know her much longer than any other cast members, so they’d have fair reason to recognize Amazigirl right off the bat.
In my headcanon, Dina figured it out immediately, and just hasn’t mentioned it because she doesn’t see anything worthy of comment about her roommate moonlighting as a masked vigilante, and thinks everyone else finds Amazi-Girl’s identity equally obvious, anyway.
Dina’ll get mugged or something, and Amazi-Girl will swoop in to save her, and Dina will be all, “Oh, hello, Amber. Thank you for beating up that criminal. Did Ruth tell you that there will be a floor meeting at seven?”
Still, Danny and Amber have been spending loads of time together. Other comments expound on the details. For now, I’m too allergic to cats to think of much else to say.
No, but he knows way more about Amazi-Girl than any other character except perhaps Ethan, and has also spent more time with Amber than any other character except perhaps Dina.
Now I’m scared that if Amber admits she is Amazi-Girl, he will break it off with both of them. I really loathe Danny, but he could destroy Amber emotionally. She is so much better than he is.
It’s hard to say, but he has already been pretty understanding about Amazigirl not being ready to talk about certain things yet. He would probably understand this, though given the level of dishonesty involved, he would potentially have good cause to break up with her. He is crazy about both of them, though, so it’s a crap shoot.
It’s on her now. He is trying to be true to his girlfriend and also not lead a friend on. This translates to “dick” to shippers, I understand, but he’s trying. She can come clean and bring her boyfriend to meet her mom, or she can chicken out on him. She does have the mask, yes, she would have had no chance to stash it anywhere.
I was more concerned that it wasn’t a good thing, but I am now wondering which pocket she keeps it in. She took it off with her left while replacing her glasses with her right, so I wonder how much she has practiced this.
Having actually been in a superficially similar situation myself at college (but without the whole superheroine / evil dad overtones), I can kinda sympathise with him. But he’s still handling it really badly.
Hey now, Danny is just trying to do the right thing and not cheat on his girlfriend Amazi-Girl. There’s probably no good way to break things off with Amber and at it is best to be honest.
And yes, Amber/Amazi-Girl is one and the same person but Danny has the magically enforced blindness everyone in any comic with superheroes has. Not fair to hate him for it.
Danny does “dan” things up … often, but this isn’t one of them.
For those doing the Danny Hate Dogpile, also consider that from his point of view, Amber’s acting like a clingy crazy person. They agreed to just be friends, he told her there’s someone else he likes (even though AG and Amber are the same person, yes; no one’s arguing the idea that Danny’s not thick), they seemed to be cultivating a comfortable friendship… and then while Danny’s parents come to town, Amber suddenly seems to be doing her darnedest to ram a relationship down Danny’s throat.
Danny doesn’t know about Amber’s dad. He doesn’t know about the brawl on the girls’ floor. He doens’t know about her freak-out in the stairwell. All he knows is that suddenly a girl is acting like she’s trying to force him to be her boyfriend.
Hopping universes for a moment, do you recall how another Danny reacted to that same behavior when it was from a girl named Joyce?
So I agree that the meathead’s a little dense for not making the Amber-Amazigirl connection, but c’mon. Cut the guy a little slack. He’s freaking out over her bizarre behavior. He has no reasonable way of knowing that SHE’s freaking out over her scene with her dad. I think they’re a cool couple too, but I don’t see Danny doing anything morally or socially inexcusable here, circumstances considered…
…if you ignore the fact that they both know that Amber is doing him a solid favor by covering for him in front of his parents. A favor he is singularly ungrateful for.
…and he is unwittingly covering for her vs Blaine, and as far as he knows Amber has just randomly shown up, uninvited, and decided to playact as his GF for no reason at all, which, although serendipitously welcome for the hour or so the act was sustained, is something I think we could all agree would be really weird and creepy if someone (male or female) did that to you in real life.
(All the same, I think the first reaction in a case like this is to say … “ok, now, just what the hell was THAT all about?”, rather than immediately defriending them)
He’s not freaking out. He’s quite calmly being a dick. Wouldn’t a more reasonable reaction be “Now that we’re alone, just what the hell was that all about?”
FINALLY! I’d been reading loads upon loads of comments hating on Danny and it boggled my mind how no one seemed to realize that from Danny’s standpoint, Amber was basically pulling a Joyce on him (not that he’d see it in those terms in that universe, of course).
Also, in my head canon I believe that mind-fuzzing everyone she meets to keep them from realizing she’s actually Amber is Amazi-Girl’s superpower. (Not really, but I find it fun to pretend.)
Jesus, Danny. What is your problem? No, wait, you don’t need to tell me. Your problem is that you’re obsessed with your image of what a perfect romantic relationship is, to the point at which you willfully ignore and destroy anything which will clash with that ideal image, even if it comes at the cost of your friends’ or, heck, even your own girlfriend’s happiness (see: your disaster of a breakup with Dorothy). And no, the identity of Amazi-girl and your ignorance of it does not excuse this at all. Even if Amber wasn’t Amazi-girl, you do not summarily un-friend someone over a CRUSH. FUME.
“Your problem is that you’re obsessed with your image of what a perfect romantic relationship is, to the point at which you willfully ignore and destroy anything which will clash with that ideal image….”
You say that like it’s a bad thing ;^)
Oh wait. Been there, done that, and got the T-shirt. And it was a bad thing.
Yup. This whole Twilight-esque ‘My world revolves only around the comforts of my One True Love and I can’t be arsed to maintain other relationships’ thing Danny has going on is striking rather close to home. Argh. Argh argh argh.
Say there’s a guy who starts a truck and accidently hits a small animal that was sleeping under the wheel. He couldn’t hear, see, or know the animal was there in ANY way, and noone was there to warn him.
Is it wrong for people to still be mad at him for letting that happen, though?
Man, that guy must be such an idiot for not seeing the small animal that was OBVIOUSLY there the whole time. What an asshole.
But seriously, I’m not understanding why everyone is shitting on Danny here. He’s finally NOT being passive and standing up for something he cares about. As for him not figuring it out: even if he might’ve noticed some similarities, he’s too guileless himself to suspect that either Amazi-girl or Amber would be deceiving him and would’ve dismissed them as coincidences. After all, wouldn’t Amazi-girl have revealed her real identity to him, her boyfriend, if it were true? As he sees it, Amber’s now endangered his relationship and therefore isn’t really being a good friend to him. Why, then, is he the bad guy here?
That was kinda my point. However at the same time, He’s kinda hurting Amber who’s gone through SO MUCH SHIT right now. As per the metaphor, if the owner of the small animal runs up, even though it wasn’t the guy’s fault, I don’t think there’s an amount of “I’m Sorry” that can really make it ok.
Wasn’t trying to argue with you but add to what you said; apologies if that wasn’t clear!
But in response to this comment: As much as it sucks for the owner of the animal, it’s not fair to blame the guy if he really couldn’t have known. Just as it’s not fair to blame Danny for hurting Amber in this case when there is absolutely no way he could’ve known that’s what he was doing. She never told him about any of the shit she’s dealing with; all they’ve really talked about are safe topics. So if Amber is getting hurt by Danny, it’s because of how much she’s hidden from him (please note that I am NOT saying she deserves it, or that she didn’t have a good reason to keep things from him).
I figure the analogy is more like he’s deliberately choosing to hit the small animal at the front of the truck because he’s so skittish about not hitting the bigger and more loved animal at the back when instead he could have just stopped the truck from moving. I also figure that the analogy has gotten away from me.
The analagy is because he doesn’t know that he’s hurting Amber. He’s just going about his business but he’s really crushing Amber and is to oblivious to realize it.
Um, no… are you suggesting this has happened, and either you’re mad at the person for doing it, or the person was you and others are mad at you for it having happened?
And the Superman path is continuing a relationship with them in this manner to the point where you’ve married them without revealing your identity, right?
Danny is actually my second-favorite character… I guess because, while a bit blunt and tactless, his responses are pretty much exactly what I would do in such a situation. He’s a pretty moralistic guy… Unfortunately, he perfectly sums up the saying ‘nice guys finish last’… Over and over and over again. But still, I enjoy reading strips about Danny.
Actually, people consider it a worst case scenario that Danny is too stupid to realize Amber is Amazigirl and tries to break off with the former being true to the latter.
But what if it’s a “Last Tango in Paris” realization? There is nothing left pursuing without the mystery?
idk, i want there to be more honesty in this weird two-and-a-half-way relation-friend-ship-zone, but i can just see danny snidely muttering to himself inadvertently (because if danny’s anything, it’s not advertent) within earshot of someone who, say, writes articles for the college paper whose name i’m too lazy to look up at the moment.
and then, you know, hijinks. (one could only hope said person would be dorothy.)
damn it willis now i feel like all my speculation echoes of “in my fanfic.”
There are alternate methods of not cheating on your girlfriend than dumping your friend who has actually tried to help you be with your girlfriend, simply because of your attraction to that friend.
Elucidate, please. The way I see it, he has limited choices. He can break up with AG, if he has developed feelings and attraction towards Amber and wants to pursue it, if he is committed to this thing with AG and he doesn’t want to lead Amber on or risk doing something he considers wrong, he can cut off the friendship with Amber and remove any possible temptation, or he can tell her they’ll only ever be friends and try to spend less time alone with her to minimize the chance that he’ll do something he ought not. None of them are going to make Amber happy.
Or, considering Amber is aware that Danny is dating Amazi-girl, he can say “I have a girlfriend, so sorry if I’m accidentally leading you on, but we can’t be romantically involved right now” and just continue being friends and ignore any temptation like a normal monogamous person (at least, I’m guessing that’s what monogamous people do). Depending on how things go, he might then break up with Amazi-girl and start dating Amber, stay with Amazi-girl and continue platonically hanging out with Amber, or get involved in a two-person menage a trois.
That would have all worked better if she hadn’t just pulled a Roomies! Joyce in a clearly desperate bid to force him to choose her – unless it was a show of stalkerish delusion as to what their actual relationship is. Either way some space is now needed. And if she’s the stalker option, then firmness is necessary.
Sure, but begbert2 seems to be set on Amber being the next Joyce. I can’t tell if they’re just looking at it from Danny’s perspective, or if it is their actual opinion though, so who knows.
It was helping him get out of the awkward position he put himself in with his parents by claiming to have a girlfriend that they couldn’t meet and he wouldn’t tell them anything at all about.
And you can tell by the look on his face that that was exactly the sort of help he wanted in getting out of that self-inflicted ‘girlfriend in Canada’ situation.
No, wait, you can’t, because to him Amber’s Joyceish arrival was, and is, a bigger problem by itself.
His job is to Dan.
If he Dans that, he doesn’t Dan.
If he Dans, he doesn’t Dan Danning and therefore doesn’t Dan.
Danned if he Dans, Danned if he Dansn’t.
He’s too afraid of cheating on you with you and if you met you then you’d know that you’re really quite a gal! You wouldn’t want him to cheat on you. Not if you don’t want you to break your neck, anyway, because I don’t know if you know this about you but you’re DANGEROUS.
Yeah, that’d be a great plan except Danny would then think Amber was lying to him just to get him to “cheat” on Amazi-Girl.
Either that or next time he meets Amazi-Girl, if she tries to reveal her identity, Danny will think that Amber is just dressed up as Amazi-Girl to try to get him.
Really, Danny’s kinda especially screwed on this one…
This though seems so “out there” to me that the only way to start this is, “In my fanfic” so….
In my fanfic, Danny considers his parents reaction to Amber, suddenly realizes that his parents have always cared more about who he dates than they do about him and, despite his growing feelings for Amber, decides he’s had enough. Despite the pain, he breaks up with Amber just to deny his parents one more person to compare him unfavorably to.
You know, that seemed a lot more reasonable and healthy in my head….and not at all passive aggressive. Never mind.
Just where is the win for Danny? Abandon AG for another girl, one who’s recent behavior is a little psycho? Amber could have ended all the drama by cluing Danny in that she is AG, but being AG is more important to her than Danny. Reasonable, considering what’sgoing on in her life. If Danny had asked Amber if she was AG, would she admit it or deny it. I’m betting deny it. She has poisoned the relationship from the start. See the short story “I’m a fool” about a guy who starts a relationship on a lie, then has no way to back out when it blossoms. That is where Amber is. Even if she now claimed to be AG, would he believe her?
He thinks he’s dating another girl because Amber hasn’t come clean about the Amazi-Girl thing to him. In his eyes, Amber just came out of nowhere, and basically forced him to pretend that she was his girlfriend in front of his parents- that is, she made him tell a bald-faced lie to his parents, just to cover for her in some weird situation that he couldn’t possibly know about.
The man is just trying to be faithful. If Amber would just be straight with him, this wouldn’t have happened.
He’s a self absorbed condescending ass who is aggressive about all the wrong things while passive about all the wrong things. He’s unintentionally horrible.
In a way Danny is the worst because he doesn’t ever seem to get when he’s being terrible, even when it’s explained to him. Mike, Joe, Walky all of them can be pretty big jerks when they want to be but they’re at least aware their behaviour is bad. Danny? never seems to occur to him that he’s anything but absolutely right.
I would remind folks that there is a protocol for the inevitable response to this strip, established long, long ago (in webcomic terms, anyway.) It is:
All caps. (Yes, you are shouting.) No punctuation other than a full stop at the end. As in:
DAMN YOU WILLIS.
We return you now to your Wednesday, already in progress.
For some reason, I suddenly had an image of the cast doing their own version of “Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?” as Amber tries to insist that she’s Amazi-Girl, and the rest of the cast insists that that’s ridiculous and Amazi-Girl is someone who’s so much larger than life, as she reacts with bafflement to all the things they think Amazi-Girl does. (The original song included claims that the Scarlet Pimpernel ate breakfast in the nude, rode a camel across the moors, carried several whips, was a priest in disguise that gave absolution day and night, a thrill in the sack, didn’t bathe, and other such ridiculous claims. )
Have to say I do like how Danny’s getting all the rage for not making the connection that Amber is Amazigirl, but Amber is getting a free pass for, you know, not fucking saying two simple words (“I’m Amazigirl” or alternatively “I’m Amber”, depending on current state of costume) that would resolve the stupid double identity bullshit adequately?
If he’s thick for not working it out himself, she’s still equally thick for not comprehending that it’s causing problems.
Oh, you mean that comic where he corrected her misinterpretation of his question? Where he absolutely didn’t want her thinking that he was asking who she was? Not seeing how that supports John’s statement.
Looking back (at the entire Danny tag archive), I was wrong about him telling Amazi-girl that he wanted her to tell him at her own pace. He actually told *Amber* that he wanted to not figure it out at all for a while, until something stupid and comic-booky revealed it. So in a way that would have supported John better, and in a way it shows that we’re *both* right – he prefers a “don’t ask AND don’t tell” policy.
Though by his stated plan, if he wants to figure it out, he should be out kissing random girls. Might conflict with his fidelity position.
Yeah, this was the strip I was thinking of. It’s also a large part of the reason that I think that it’s not so much that Danny can’t identify Amazi-Girl as that he won’t. He’s being willfully obtuse to keep his little fantasy going. And that, in turn, is why I’m treating it as something blameworthy rather than just Danny not being very bright, and not buying any of the “but since Danny doesn’t know…” excuses that people keep offering for him. He doesn’t know because he doesn’t want to know, and so he gets to eat the consequences of that.
Actually, I interpreted his subsequent questions about herself (but *not* asking for her actual civilian identity) to be an attempt to rectify his flat image of her. That is to say, I think that he actually listened to Amber and tried to act on her advice to think of Amazi-girl as a woman and not just a cartoon superhero.
Of course, that would requires us to assume that Danny isn’t Satan’s brain-damaged brother, which is clearly impossible.
To me it reads “heck naw, I want you to remain a complete mystery to me”. To you, it’s a correction. The strip John referenced supports my interpretation more.
Y’know, it’s not often that Willis throws a cliffhanger at us mid-week. So, I think that Amber just needs to bust out her domino mask, hand it to him, and walk away….
BTW: I love that bridge. I think I had at least one “first kiss” (and certainly many memorable ones!) if not ON that bridge, well, within a stone’s throw of it. 😀
I have a sneaking suspicion that next comic will have Amber telling him that she was AG the entire time, running away before he can say anything….Then we will reach peak Dannyness.
Has anyone thought of the alternative? What if Danny made the connection that Amber is amzi-girl while praising her to his parents and is upset that she has been lying to him. Or feels hurt because she didn’t trust him enough as her boyfriend or as his friend to tell
What’s with all the hate at Danny? He went over it with Amber as Amber before, he said he’s got hots for Amazi Girl, and she put on the costume and enabled his fantasy. As far as he knows, Amber is Amber and the costumed girl is the costumed girl. He sees clear as day what Amber wants from him, and he’s not up for it, because – far as he knows – he’s with another girl. He can’t do stuff like this behind her back. He’s acting like a decent human being. That he didn’t connect the dots is ancient comic book tradition – think Peter Parker or Clark Kent old. Amber can solve it in three seconds. If she wants to be with Danny as Amber, she should just come clean. If he then gets mad and walk away, I’ll join all the “Damn you Danny!” chants. Until then, it’s all on her.
Actually if he gets mad at her for lying to him and messing with his head for weeks, I wouldn’t even hold that against him. If he fails to come back after he’s had a chance to cool down that’s different of course.
All the hate (at least all mine) isn’t because he’s about as sharp as a brick, not quite as smart as a box of rocks, or even dumber than a stump. It’s because he’s a selfish, insensitive, tactless PRICK! Don’t you think anybody with two brain cells to rub together and make a spark of static electricity would have at least the dim idea to find out what the hell is going on before cutting a good friend out of their life? Not Danny, just gotta Dan it up one more time.
Not like he stuck his fingers in his ears and went “du-dee-dee-duh-duh, I’m not listenin”! He said his piece, tackless as it sounded, ball’s in Amber’s court. We don’t know yet what will happen in 2 seconds.
He isn’t acting solely out of principle, he is aware of the feelings growing between himself and Amber and is attempting to cut them off before they intensify and put his actual relationship in danger or further hurt Amber. I’m sorry, but it is foolish to be “nice” in this case if you look from Danny’s perspective because it will only lead to trouble. Break-ups are the same way, if you let someone off easy and try to be considerate, it only makes it harder because it sends out mixed signals.
Besides that, he’s likely focusing much less on Amber injecting herself into his day than the intimate moment they shared at Galassos. He essentially admitted to himself that she was a threat at that point and has been looking for the best time to leave since that moment.
Unpopular opinion: I don’t hate danny.
He’s an idiot teenage boy who is navigating life.
I have friends like him. I set them straight, they remain oblivious, I do it again, they learn.
Danny will learn.
Jesus Christ, give a college kid some slack, he’s an idiot, but he’s not evil.
OH MY THOR. I cannot believe this comment section. I read the comic, and the thought that blasts through my mind is FINALLY!!! Finally Danny is standing up for his principles, growing a spine, being loyal to his real girlfriend, and letting somebody know straight up that what they just did was not cool.
I mean, put aside that Danny didn’t instantly recognize that DS girl is a superhero (because so many geeks are physically fit) and that, having failed to instantly make he connection he proceeded to make separate mental images for the two roles and never bothered to seriously consider that the one girl he had randomly run into at this school happened to be its superhero too. Yes, that was “stupid”. (How stupid is debatable, but at the very least he failed a spot check.) But that’s also in the past. In the situation he’s in now, Danny’s finally manning up and doing the right thing – and he’s handled the situation a lot more politely than I would if this pushy girl I was casually hanging out with suddenly pulled a Roomies Joyce on me and told my parents we were a couple.
So yeah. Danno is suddenly being awesome.
And then I scroll down to the comment section.
A deluge of kneejerk hate at his failure to, what? Thank her for basically accosting him and thrusting herself into his family? OH MY GOD THE HORROR. Along with yet more of the irrational Danny hate that stopped being funny months ago. Yeah, months. Yes, the guy was too clingy and said the exact wrong thing for Dorothy to dump him, and then failed a rather obvious spot check (obvious to us, who read Shortpacked and know this comic’s cast list), but after those events he’s basically acted in a consistently exemplary manner, in his dealings with Billie, with shoe-hunting Dotty, and now with increasingly-clingy Amber. Not bad for an idiot teenager.
Pheh to the lot of you. From where I sit, you’re all danning it up more than Danny ever has.
This is the only one of Damn You Willis’ strips I’ve read, so I have nothing to compare any of the characters to. I HATE DANNY! Period. He is a tactless, thoughtless, insensitive moron. Getting run over by a steamroller, then backed over to see if they got him, and then run over again in the getaway, is too GOOD for him. I got no patience for assholes, and Danny is an unwiped one.
I suspected it from the start, but now I’m finally fully convinced.
The vast majority of Danny-haters are just pretending. Sure, hating him for being thicker than a concrete bunker is understandable, but that thing about him being a huge jerkass? Just an in-joke. Like how we pretended, for I don’t know how long, to not realize that Amber is Amazi-Girl.
So thank you, anifreik, for being so obvious about it. Now I can stop waiting for someone to give a reasonable explanation for all the hate.
Personally I just find him obnoxious. But my dislike for him is basically just dependant on what he’s doing at the moment. Like when you already don’t like someone, every thing they do wrong becomes MORE prominent. At least in my eye.
I was serious. If he dropped forever from the strip it would please me immensely. Being a dumbass is forgiveable, he can’t help it. Being spitefully obnoxious is totally within his control.
Every time that I’ve tried to get a straight answer as to why people hate Danny, they either reply with things that would make him an asshole if they were true, but aren’t true, or things that are true but doesn’t make him an asshole. If I ask for specific instances of him being horrible, I either get instances where he isn’t being horrible, or replies like “he’s always horrible”.
The worst part is, I want to be angry ‘cuz of Danny’s incredible Amber/Amazi-Girl blindness, but I can’t. All the irrational Danny hate, serious or not, has killed “being angry at Danny” for me. It’s not just a dead horse, it’s minced meat with bits of fur and hooves sticking out, and people just keep kicking it.
So if you truly are serious, then I’m sorry, but neither you nor anyone else has given me any reason to believe it.
I think part of what frustrates me so much about Danny and Amber is that the latter has bent over backwards trying to please him, and the former just sits there without giving anything back.
Amber has not told Danny who she is for a couple of reasons:
1) Danny has already rejected her for Amazi-Girl, therefore, she is worried he’ll break up with her if he knows the truth.
Now remember, Amber has gone through abuse and/or neglect, as well as been dumped by her best friend on account of his being gay, and harassed by said friend’s mom for “turning her son gay”. I don’t know about you guys, but when I’ve been dumped, I generally have a very hard time being around that person. It’s painful. And yet, Amber has had to deal with that with Ethan, with no breaks, no time away for her to recuperate from this ordeal. So it’s to be expected that she wants a normal, not-gay boyfriend that she has stuff in common with. Couple that with the whole AG coping mechanism thing, and you see that her life is just one precarious balancing act that she has to jump through hoops for just to maintain.
And of course, there are those of you that say it’s her fault, that if she didn’t want this to happen she should’ve just told him from the beginning. But what makes you think, from her perspective, that Danny would stay with her if he knew the truth? Especially since Amazi-Girl is the product of a truth so horrible, that there’s little chance anyone would want to be involved in the tragic, fucked up mess of a life that she possesses*.
But what about Danny? There’s good evidence his parents are verbally/emotionally abusive, and also perhaps neglectful. I don’t know how much of an effect on Danny. Maybe their criticisms of him have lowered him to the point where he’s become this dependent, yet somehow still completely arrogant asshole. I can’t say for sure, and no one else can either. However, everything I wrote above about Amber? Backed up by tons of evidence. I’m not going to make any presumptions about Danny’s emotional well-being, because there’s really no reason to.
So yeah, I blame Danny for being an ignorant piece of shit more than I do Amber. His self-centered attitude has contributed a good deal to this situation in a way that I can’t sympathize with.
*Not my personal opinion, just a common worldview of abuse victims that Amber almost certainly applies to herself as well.
Well, I don’t think either of them are really at fault here. At least, neither of them more than the other. You raise a very good point I hadn’t considered, about how Danny’s kind of trapped Amber by more or less telling AG not to reveal her real name to him. It leaves her in a very bad position where she feels she really cannot be honest with him. Danny, meanwhile, is trying to placate meddling parents and also protect his relationship with Amazi-Girl, who (rightly) is his priority over just-a-friend Amber.
The fact is, both of these kids are in a vulnerable and confused place right now and it’s colored their behavior in negative ways towards each other. They’ve made some poor decisions due more to their ex’s and the current emergencies running in their lives, and their selfish inability to be honest with each other is coming back to haunt them. But I don’t see laying blame as being necessary here; I don’t think either one of them is particularly worthy of vilification. Danny’s just trying to be honest and upfront and fair to the girl he’s already making out with at night; Amber’s trying to build their friendship up to the point that she can tell him she is that girl he’s been making out with at night without it being catastrophic to their relationship. Mix their parent issues into that and we get this huge mess. I find it difficult to blame either of them for it, at this point.
It’s cute how so many folks are so protective of li’l Amber, but she’s not completely blameless here. And while folks like me like to point out that Danny gets a bad rep, the fact is he brought his half of this train wreck moment on himself. These two are both messed up for their own reasons, and those flaws are feeding off each other in negative ways.
My question at this point is, what is Amazi-Girl going to say to Danny tonight, now? Is Amber going to try and suck up her hurt and continue her costumed alter-ego’s relationship with the guy? Or is she going to let the situation lead Amazi-Girl to dump Danny? Either reaction is right and wrong, and either one will have deep effects on Danny.
…No
Danny’s desire to pursue a relationship with Amazigirl, deliberately ignorant of her identity, is a kind of objectification. He doesn’t want her to be a real woman, he wants her to be his unrealistic fantasy. He has principles such as honesty, but he’s using “amazigirl” without much consideration for the PERSON she represents.
I agree with what you said regarding Amber, and I’m not trying to assign blame for the current situation. I just find Danny to be a worse person, more selfish.
“Danny’s desire to pursue a relationship with Amazigirl, deliberately ignorant of her identity, is a kind of objectification. He doesn’t want her to be a real woman, he wants her to be his unrealistic fantasy. ”
What? Where do you get that from? You are not in Danny’s head (or Willis’s one), but you are abit jumping to conclusion, there.
You are talking about a couple that has got a lot of occasion to talk and see each other. At some point, Danny made the decision to choose Amazi-girl rather than Amber and that was after having got a lot of chat (through Nintendo DS) with Amazi-girl. I don’t think she is just some super-heroine Fantazy for him. They really got together after they started to get to know each other.
So assuming he’s got purely altruistic motivations for his decision to decline to know her name, he’s still choosing to try to date her because of her superheroine status. That’s a bit more benign, I suppose this comic isn’t supposed to be realistic and I need to suspend my disbelief sufficiently to accept that a man can for unselfish reasons decide to date someone who is a vigilante with a secret identity AS that secret identity.
He’s dating a superhero! I’d say it’s more romanticisation than objectification; it’s like dating a Rockstar or Author or some other celebrity. It’s sort of the opposite of objectification as where Objectification is treating someone as less than an object, Danny here is clinging to the idea of Amazi-girl being larger than life and awesome.
I think it’s a pretty universal feeling which goes accross both genders and shows up with people crushing on celebrities.
Now does this take away from the relationship? Maybe a little. Danny does definitely get on with Amazi-girl for who she is but he likes the idea of dating a superhero as well.
Does this make Danny an awful and/or woman objectifying person? I don’t think so. He’s definitely awkward with dating and has explicitly said so in the past but he means no harm and clearly has a lot of respect for Amazi-girl. I recall him saying that he’s ridiculously awkward about coming off as sexist to the point of feeling awkward flirting.
The problem here which people keep overlooking, is that he has fallen for the Clark Kent effect of not recognizing Amazi-girl without her mask. Which is sort of dumb but an accepted story telling cliche.
Now he does have issues on the other end that he’s clingy, dependant and self-esteem issues that put him pretty far from the ideal boyfriend. Which is why Dorothy dumped him. But I don’t think it’s fair to call him Obnoxious or deliberately sexist/hateful/what have you.
Objectification is treating someone as if they have no agency, merely an object of desire and nothing more. It’s not treating them as “less than an object”. Don’t know where you got that definition.
Rose-colored glasses are never a good thing. He’s placing her on a pedestal, and his fixation on her is affecting his relationships with other people.
Actually though, I’m pretty sure the whole Amber/Danny/Amazi-Girl subplot is meant to be a deconstruction of the Clark Kent cliche. Danny and Amber are reenacting it in an incredible display of escapism because they are having an abysmally hard time coping with their lives right now.
…So yeah, Danny’s not awful. Not at heart, at least. How he conducts himself on the outside however…
Less than an object is mistyping because I’m tired, but I meant “like an object” or “less than a person”. I think I combined the two. I do think a distinction should be made though between “a base object” and crushing on a member of a band or an actor or something like that. I recognize that idolizing someone is treating them like an idol which could be interpreted as objectificiation. However, I don’t feel comfortable putting every friend whose ever had a crush on a famous person in the same category as the [thankfully few] people I’ve met who see other people as objects for their pleasure.
But I do agree that rose-coloured glasses aren’t good. However, all we have here is that he thinks it’s romantic to date a Superhero. He’s never really said or done anything to imply that he doesn’t respect her as a person as well. Maybe he sees her as a way cool person who’s too good for him, but that’s a self-esteem problem that he’d have dating regular Amber too.
I’m able to zone out his ignorance of “haha Clarke Kent cliche” and I think with tha perspective, the rest of his actions seem pretty alright to me. I think people here are reacting like this is the first and last words he’s giving to her, when it seems more likely that he’s ready to stick around and explain why [assuming Amber doesn’t freak out but Walky might want to pad this plot].
“He’s placing her on a pedestal, and his fixation on her is affecting his relationships with other people.” I would say that’s the bane of the start of any relationship. Most relationship (with super heroes or not) always start with “He/she is so perfect”. The partner will often cast his other half in a perfect light.
Just to point out I have a bit of a different talk on Danny asking Amber not to tell her secret ID. Maybe I am getting it wrong, but the way Amber said “Y-You need to know who I am now?” sounded a bit like “you already want to know my secret ID, isn’t that a bit early?” And Danny, for me reacted in way that meant “oh no, you will reveal your ID to me when you feel ready”.
That’s what that exchange meant, for me. At least that’s how I perceive it. Then again, I might be wrong about that, tough, I am not Willis. But people interpretating that has Danny saying “I don’t want to know your secret ID at all ever” is an interpretation I didn’t expect.
Arrogant? Self-centered? Danny? What comic are *you* reading?
Seriously, I think that somebody’s been handing out hallucinogens and has been leaving me out. Which is a darned shame, because it’s obviously some good shit.
Why do I think that Amber is at fault here? For the same reason that I think Jem is at fault with her problems with Rio – she’s 2/3rds of a love triangle of her own making. Simple as that. And while Jem was rightly annoyed that Rio was cheating on her with herself, Danny is taking the high road and trying to avoid that. There are several ways that Amber could handle this (like, staying a casual friend as Amber until Danny finds out, or just telling him), but pursuing him romantically in both modes is NOT putting him in a fair position.
Does she have decent reasons for doing what she’s doing? Debatable – she did NOT have to introduce herself as Danny’d girlfirend to his parents. Being a friend would have saved her just as well. But she DID take the Roomies-Joyce approach, and in doing so she’s painted Danny into a corner: she’s overtly romantically pursued him in both modes. He’s made it quite clear he’s not going to go the Rio route, and has made it clear that he doesn’t want Amber to try to put him in that position. And yet she did. And that’s that – he can’t allow this to continue. Which brings us to where we are.
And he managed to do all this without being arrogant and self-centered at all – not wanting to cheat on Amazi-girl is in large part thinking of her.
Good thing I’m not talking about this specific instance then. What Danny is doing here makes sense based on what Danny knows. That much we can all agree on. However, if you had taken a moment to actually read my post and expand it beyond the narrow scope of this particular strip, it might make a little more sense.
I read your post, shortly after rereading the entirety of Danny’s interactions with Amber and Amazigirl in the tag archive (which I did to be able to more accurately respond to another post.)
Danny remains one of the most selfless people in the comic. He’s not the brightest bulb in the drawer, but he’s not out there to get things for himself at the expense of others. Not now, and not at all since that moment where Dorothy finally got around to mentioning she didn’t want him around (after knowingly letting him follow her to college).
You’ve cited a lot of stuff that Amber knows and Danny doesn’t and couldn’t.
Let me rehash your argument;
Danny, not realizing the two are one in the same, decided that he would rather date one Amber’s one identity over another. This isn’t a flaw I don’t think; if two people like you and you like one more, then you should be allowed to date the one and try to keep on good terms with another.
This has caused Amber some anxiety because she feels her regular-self is too boring for Danny and so she maintains the illusion to keep dating him while trying to win him over to her regular self as well. She has her reasons [or character flaws] which incline her to go down this path.
Now, they’re probably a few weeks into their relationship both dating and as regular friends. It’s very understandable at this point that Amber wouldn’t want to talk her family and neurosis with Danny yet. This is fair but this also means you have to take into account that Danny doesn’t know any of this stuff.
Ergo, here you have Danny doing all her can for Amazi-girl [who he has been loyal to] and trying to maintain a friendship with Amber who he’s just realized he can’t hang out with without this looming air of a crush. This is awkward and difficult but yeah, it’s not obnoxious or a flaw here.
That’s point A.
Point B; The comic you cite is Danny responding to whether he “needs” to know Amber’s identity. You can tell by her expression and the general situation that she didn’t feel comfortable telling him [as she was afraid of rejection]. Danny replied that he didn’t need to know [with the No, Absolutely Not] which to me read as “I’m not going to ask you to go out of your comfort zone, tell me when you are ready”.
Now, he could have done better and pursued it while reassuring her that he would still like her and that it didn’t matter except to make things a bit less complicated. But that’s not in his character that he’s awkward and is afraid to pursue things.
It’s a character flaw that he totally gets beat up on for, but it doesn’t make him an arrogant piece of shit.
I think the best thing for you to do with his character is to stand back and recognize that he’s an object of Amber’s affection and the situation [and his obliviousness] is making her suffer but it’s a situation she manufactured herself and one she perpetuates rather than having ended it [at the risk of being rejected] a long time ago. Danny is oblivious and he has flaws that are making the situation worse but he’s far from obnoxious or entirely at fault here.
You’re misinterpreting my argument. I agree that both Danny and Amber have fucked up. Amber is at fault as well. I’m actually not blaming Danny for not knowing these things about Amber, as he has no reason to. I’m saying that as a character, he is nowhere near as sympathetic as Amber, and it provokes an instinctive rage and feeling of protectiveness over her as a result. All I’m doing is explaining why Danny gets so much hate from me (and probably other readers as well).
As for how Danny has contributed to the situation beyond that, I’ve said it in bits and pieces scattered throughout the comments section. I’m not really feeling up to collecting them all here, so if you’re interested, I recommend just going through my posts (I don’t really expect you to do that, but idk).
I would like to address this though:
“The comic you cite is Danny responding to whether he “needs” to know Amber’s identity. You can tell by her expression and the general situation that she didn’t feel comfortable telling him [as she was afraid of rejection]. Danny replied that he didn’t need to know [with the No, Absolutely Not] which to me read as “I’m not going to ask you to go out of your comfort zone, tell me when you are ready”.”
I actually had this same little quibble with begbert2 up there. Another strip seems to support my interpretation more.
Which Danny didn’t realizing he was telling to the proverbial Mary Jane.
Again, here it feels like you’re assuming he should know that he’s saying this to Amazi-girl [in which case it would be “Don’t tell me”] as opposed to telling a friend about a crush [“Actually, I think it’s kind of Romantic that I don’t know”].
I’ve scanned a few of your posts but I can try a ctrl+f after this and post a reply on the bottom.
Not at all. All that extra strip was, as I said, evidence supporting my interpretation, which was not “oh man, I should back off before she gets uncomfortable”, but “wow, this is so cool, I have a superhero girlfriend and I don’t even know who she is, nor do I want to because secret identities are hawt!”.
The thing is though that it’s different circumstances;
In the first, he’s saying he definitely doesn’t “need” to know her identity right away. She seemed pretty uncomfortable about giving it [“Y-you…” obviously stuttering].
In the latter, he’s telling a friend that he thinks the superhero angle is ‘hawt’. He’s sitting down, talking and getting to know her at a pace that seems pretty normal to me for what you pointed out yourself “probably less than a month”. Secretly hoping that her real name gets revealed in a dramatic manner and not wanting to know her as a person regardless of her name are two very different things.
I also replied to your comment around the end, incase you haven’t seen it but I don’t think I missed a lot in terms of posts.
I hope Amber as Amazi-girl now says something similar to Danny with the same nasty glares. Poor Amber, after the crap with her dad Danny does this to her.
Things I hate about the page: *Danny’s lack of tact.
*Danny glaring at Amber.
*Danny’s solution to having romantic feelings for two people is to COMPLETELY cut someone out of his life.
I hate when people cut someone out of their life instead of attempting to deal with their own damn emotions. It is usually just like this too, a jerky “we shouldn’t hang out any more” without even discussing what the problem is with the other person. He hasn’t even TRIED to think through what his emotions are or what they could do to maintain their friendship he is just giving up on it completely.
1. This is the only opening line. He gave a pretty neutral line. He could have opened with some “You’re really nice” or “I’m sorry but…”s but this is like ripping the plaster off.
2. She came up to his parents who he hasn’t seen in months, suddenly pretending to be his girlfriend after he had told her that he didn’t want to pursue a relationship.
3. He was hanging with her as a friend for months. Then she pretended to be his girlfriend and he realized during this that he actually did like her romantically as well. It’s unfortunate perhaps but it would be really hard to return to the friendzone after that.
You’re assuming here that this is his first and only line. If it was “I never want to see you again” and then riding off into the sun set, then yeah, it’s a bit of a jerk move.
Instead, he waited until they were alone and said clearly and quickly that he doesn’t think they can be friends. Now, unless Amber freaks out, then she has all the time in the world to ask him why and find out how he feels.
As far as things go for breaking up a friendship under these circumstances, this is probably one of the better ways to do it. Many more would probably just avoid her [or send a text message or otherwise make it clear after this line that they didn’t want to say any more].
He’s shown disapproval for people flinging at him, forcing him to lie to his parents just to help them save face. And also for not wanting to cheat on his girlfriend.
He was never forced to do anything. Re-read the the strip. He *agreed to* the plan for Amber to be his “girlfriend”. He could have called it off then and there, but he didn’t. And it accomplished exactly what it was intended to accomplish.
But OH NOES! In the process, he found out that maybe he likes Amber a little bit more than he realized. This made him feel awkward, and in Danny’s world anything that makes Danny uncomfortable is to be unceremoniously rejected, whether it is free sexy times with a hot cheerleader, his best friend’s entire lifestyle, or the not-so-subtle hints from his girlfriend that she’s breaking up with him. So because he might like his friend a little too much, she gets unceremoniously frogmarched off the plank.
I don’t understand all this Danny hate. I mean, I admit it, Danny is stupid, very stupid, but the reason he is stupid is because he hasn’t realized yet that Amber is Amazi-Girl. Danny is stupid for not figuring that out yet. that deserve a facepalm, but not all this hate.
But Danny’s decision make sense, from the perspective of someone who believe Amber and Amazigirl are two different person. Danny had been dumped, had got his heart broken and he know how horrible it felt and he doesn’t want at any cost to hurt someone else like that.
Here is what has happened, during that moment, Danny has realized he had started to develop feeling for Amber, the one he know is really Amber and he know that if he want to remain faithful to Amazi-girl, he has to cut short to those feeling growing in him. He love amazi-gilr and don’t want to do anything that might risk to break that love.
Danny is stupid because he doesn’t understand the reason he starting to develop feeling for Amber are the same one he has developed for Amazi-girl. Danny is conflicted, thought his love was true and doesn’t understand why he is growing for someone else. But he also know that love isn’t just about feeling, but about responsibility. He does what he think is right to remain faithfull to amzi-girl.
Danny is stupid for not having connected the dot yet. But he doesn’t deserve to be hated for trying to do the right thing, for trying to preserve to his love for Amazi-girl and not betray her.
Well, it’s also a bit extreme. He could’ve just said something like “Amber, regardless of what happened now I have feelings for someone else but I hope we can still be friends.”
It’s more complex than that. Danny had already stated to amber he only wanted to be friend with her. What Danny hadn’t expected is that he would be starting to develop real feeling for amber. It’s something that is out of his control. He want to cut short not so much to reject Amber, but so that he doesn’t develop more feeling for her.
The last thing he want is break Amazi-girl heart and he thought the wize thing to do was to go pre-emptive on the feeling he had started to grow on Amber.
Add to that that Danny had also early on started to develop feeling for both Amber and amazi-girl and after having frequented both for a while, decided he had to made a choice and choose amazi-girl. he thought he was done with that choice but is now realizing that might not so much be the case.
Exactly. He has feelings for “both” girls. So how the hell do you justify treating someone you have feelings for, even if you’ve decided not to be with them, in as callous a manner as this?!? If this is how you treat your friends, Danny, I’m happy to be your enemy.
He had developped feeling for both amazi-gilr and Amber. After a romantic night together, he chose Amazigirl. Now he is trying to deal withhis conflicted feeling by trying to remain true to Amazigirl.
it’s not a callous manner. He is picking the only option he have to not grow further feeling for Amber. I mean, let’s make the crazy supposition that amazi-Gilr and Amber are two different person. what option would he have?
Uhmmmm, the amazingly groundbreaking, heretofore un-thought of option of being NICE about it! Showing some understanding and compassion for someone that’s supposed to be his friend? I dunno, common courtesy, maybe?
And how the way he said it wasn’t nice in the first place. there is not a lot of nice way to say “I prefer we cease to see each other because I might be starting falling in love with you and I don’t want to cheat my girlfriend”, without actually saying he might be starting to have feeling for her, because he know that is only going to hurt more.
the way Danny put it “I don’t think we should hang around together anymore” has absolutely zero meanness in it. I don’t see what else Danny could have said to her without admitting he is starting to fall for her, something that can only hurt more.
A “thanks for what was obviously a bail-out from my nosy parents who thought I was still with Dorothy and would’ve wanted me to answer for that” would’ve been nice.
He didn’t really ask for that in the first place. He even tried to deny he was with Amber. You are aware that is is Amber who asked to him to help her, right?
Exactly. We have the (somewhat) omnipotent view, and know quite a bit about a fair number of people’s problem. Danny only knows what he sees and is told. (And arguably he could use glasses.) So to properly assess his character and what would be a reasonable reaction from him, we have to ignore all the little details that he’s not privy to.
I hadn’t considered this angle, actually! The two of them have exchanged a few Meaningful Looks and blushes during their little charade for the sake of Danny’s parents, haven’t they? And when Danny was forced to open up about his feelings, there was definitely more at play than just placating his folks, wasn’t there?
This actually makes his last line in this strip more reasonable. He has to choose between the girl he’s already committed to and the girl he’s suddenly feeling attracted to. He’s trying to be a good boy and nip it in the bud as succinctly as possible. He’s cutting off the temptation to cheat on his girlfriend, whom he’s rightly making his priority.
Which leads us right back to the fist-through-the-wall frustrating fact that the girlfriend and the Other Girl are one and the same person.
Good catch; don’t think anyone had pointed that angle out yet.
I think Danny is totally in the right here. I also think we can’t keep the fact that Danny hasn’t recognized Amber for Amazi-girl just because we know. No one else has figured it out ether and before someone says he has spent time with both of them. Dorothy got a very clear view of Amazi-girl as well as knows Amber, Dorothy is generally considered smarter then Danny but she hasn’t figured it out ether and she is a reporter noticing details about someone is her job so Danny while he is oblivious does also have this up his sleeve HE doesn’t want to know who her identity is! so he is most likely ignoring anything that represents Amazi-girl in Amber, and when she does revel herself i would not be surprised if he says something along the lines of “I knew it!” and the explain how.
I’m getting so tired of people saying “WELL NOBODY ELSE HAS FIGURED IT OUT YET”.
First of all, Ethan (and presumably Mike) has.
Second, have we seen Dorothy pursuing her leads yet? No? Then why the hell would she be able to make the connection right off the bat seeing as she’s only met Amber in any meaningful context ONE TIME?
The counter argument to this is that they both knew her in Highschool. For all we know, they helped her put the costume together. We could totally get an awesome prequel comic where we finally see why she dons the mask.
Hint, hint to any authors who read the comments to their comics, pretty please.
My first thought here was, “well, it didn’t take him long to screw it up”. Then I realized that this could go several ways, depending on what happens next. If he tells Amber that he is seeing someone else, and doesn’t want to cheat on her, he could come out of this looking like a champ, since, of course, Amber would know exactly who he is talking about.
Still can’t believe he hasn’t figured it out yet, however. She may be wearing a costume and mask, and disguising her voice, but one things girls do is tend to have a unique smell, a mixture of shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, make up, skin treatment, perfume and whatever else they apply. He should have picked up on that, if nothing else.
Has Danny been physically close enough to Amber to be able to tell that there is no difference? I mean, I know what you’re talking about, but you really have to be at their neck to afford that level of differentiation. (Wait, did I use that word correctly?)
While I would agree that most people would pick up on the fact that the two coincidentally smell the same, I wouldn’t be at all surprised that Danny wouldn’t because he is so inexperienced with women. The only woman he’s been that close to before is Dorothy, so he might not realize that one’s scent is a fairly unique trait.
you know what I don’t buy danny not realizing amber is Amazigirl. Not because of him not being oblivious because he is but Danny in previous universes as well as this one has admitted to having a thing for girls in glasses so i don’t buy that he’s never imagined Amazigirl wearing glasses.
One thing that occurs to me is that shortly after meeting Amber it was pointed out to him that she’s a Dorothy clone – a fact that he’s joked about later, so it’s obviously stayed on his mind. Given that, he may be constantly reminding himself that yes, he has a type, and the fact that all the girls in his life look alike does NOT mean they’re the same person. To him it might be more like “Amazi-girl looks like Dorothy” than “Amazi-girl looks like Amber.”
They’ve been together for approx. a month (probably less). His “love” (read: obsession) for her should most certainly NOT be more important than anything else.
I can’t blame the guy for choosing his girlfriend with someone who’s just proven (to him) that they don’t respect his relationship, or his wishes (he told her flat out that this situation was making him uncomfortable). Not to mention, it’s not as though Danny and Amber have been friends for much longer than he and Amazi-girl have been “dating”.
There’s a lot of people here who have the opinion that Danny is f—ing it up big time here. Personally, I think that even if it ends up horribly, you do NOT violate the trust of your significant other.
DOA book 1 came in the mail today! I basically squeed like a fangirl because of the hand-sketched doodle of Amazi-girl. The Amazi-Girl Strikes poster hasn’t arrived with it, so I suppose it will be delivered some time in the near future? My Scott Pilgrim poster is still a bit lonely, hanging on the wall with that piece of empty wall next to it.
Alright, I get people who are saying that, in Danny’s mind, he’s with Amazi-girl, and Amber is butting in… but still. My first reaction would be “now we have a moment to talk, can you explain what that was all about?” instead of Danny’ing it up and just telling someone to screw off. He and Amber were friends. Surely he could take that little bit of time to find out what was going on?
Amber chose to be obtuse rather than honest. Obviously this was because her dad was baring in on her and she needed an out, which is perfectly reasonable. But it also means that Danny’s been operating in an information void throughout this whole deception. As far as he knows Amber’s just suddenly doing this despite his protests. He has no idea why. He has to be asking himself, “what if my girlfriend sees us?”
What she said was “Play along…for now. So, instead of waiting for the promised expanation, Dumbass Danny just jumps straight to cutting her out of his life. He should be asking her “Now, why did I just go along with all of that?”
Consider it from his point of view. Out of the blue one of his platonic friends of the opposite gender rushes up, starts hanging all over him, pretending to be his girlfriend. And after a few minutes, it becomes rather blatant that she’s NOT acting. This is completely, utterly out of left field.
I’m frankly surprised he managed to keep it up this long.
Of course, I expect her to hand him her mask, which she has readily available in her pocket…
DANNY STOP ACCIDENTALLY BREAKING UP WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND. I am mostly just mad because of how hurt Amber looks now. 🙁 What a rough day for her.
I am waiting for Amazigirl to dump him after this fiasco, then Danny hooks up with Billie, who tells him Amazigirl is her roommate, at which point Danny and Billie try to court Sal into a threesome. #fanfiction [Ruth is still here, so this can never be canon because Billie/Ruth trumps Billie/Danny.]
We can be nicer this time. Instead, let’s just say she gets stuck in an alternate dimension with vampires and gets to be a badass vampire hunter and have her own spinoff comic series, but instead of staking vampires you can kill them with punches to the face.
And then she gets hit by a vampire driving a truck. 🙁
He’s very honest and authentic. I guess that’s more important to her than intelligence. His kindness is kinda either way he was pretty rude to her on several occasions. So yeah, similar interests and earnestness is pretty much all of which I can think.
More like she realizes that he doesn’t understand that they’re the same person, refuses to tell him, and then forces him to act unfaithfully to the person that he believes he’s dating.
This comic causes a fight in my brain. It’s asking “Why are you doing this Danny?” even though I know why and it’s a good reason. And I know it’s hurting him to do this because Amber is a great friend to him.
Read the comments and as not to double reply, opted to respond down here as I mentioned in the first reply.
You conceded the Clarke Kent Parody point, which is a large part of the complaints and why I feel so easy about writing this off.
To other points;
The main new argument I saw was the implication that Danny was obcessed with her. I don’t think this is quite fair; I think Danny’s more just at that stage of romantic maturity where holding hands is still a *big deal* probably on par with kissing in the minds of most. This is something that I think most go through in early on [girls and boys alike] but Danny never really grew out of it. It’s a flaw definitely, but it goes pretty far to explain both why he’s feels so commited to Amazi-girl [he takes it seriously even if it seems small in perspective] and why he thinks he needs to drop this now since he feels he cheated on her with Amber here.
Outside of this, I think it can be summed up like this;
Danny is awkward at Dating, he doesn’t know how to treat girls and when he does stumble onto one, he clings and is dependant as all hell. He’s also sort of dense and has low self-esteem.
Amber has a lot of anger issues which she works out by dressing up and beating people who do bad things. She is nervous and deeply afraid of rejection and let Danny believe the Amazi-girl Fantasy because she was afraid he’d reject her [which if you’re being fair, I don’t think he would have. Especially not early on].
I think both are fairly flawed but sympathetic enough. The reason it’s easier to blame Danny is because he’s not being hurt at all here [not yet at least]. Amber is freaking out and dealing with this while he’s content to be dating Amazigirl. However, it should be maintained that it’s because she chose/is choosing to keep up the lie.
The interesting thing about this comic is that it has broken down this delicate equilibrium and could just as easily end with it being revealed and all ending well or with Danny get hurt as well [if only by realizing what was happening this whole time].
If it ends well, I think Amber has more room to grow. If it ends completely, then it might be because Danny realizes that he’s been lied to and it’s not his fault which would open up growth for him [maybe he’s not awful?].
I suspect Willis will do a bit of both with the narrative forcing Danny to stand up and grow a spine and showing Amber that she’s not awful.
So, because I’m a huge nerd with time to kill before the update, I went back through all the strips with Danny in them and sort of applied a reverse Bechdel test.
The only times he is not talking/thinking about/to some girl he’s romantically/sexually interested in are when he goes to yell at Roz for making the sex tape and he gets a call from his mom and talks to Joe about church. All of his character development is centered around his relationships with his various girlfriends. First there was Dorothy, the woman Danny planned the rest of his life around*. She dumped him, he got depressed**… and then he met Amber. They started crushing on each other. At some point, Amber informed Danny that Amazi-Girl chased down the guys that assaulted him and kicked their asses. Danny concluded this must mean she likes him, so he waited out in the place where they first met until nightfall***. Thus started the stupid Amber/Danny/Amazi-Girl thing.
So basically, Danny’s number one priority is to have an exciting love life. And when he’s deprived of that? Petulant whines. Seriously, what’s to like about him?
However, I do agree with you that there’s room for growth. Maybe one day, Danny will be able to evolve into a less awful version of himself. For now, we’ve just got to keep him at the front of the party and switch him out for more powerful mons until he reaches that level.
*Holy shit, was Danny channeling Joyce back then or something?
**Incidentally, his first encounter with Amazi-Girl was shortly thereafter.
***This is all after only meeting her once, by the by, and they didn’t even really have a conversation.
That’s basically it; He’s a reversed gendered Superhero’s girlfriend. Which in itself is sort of interesting to me, if only for the reactions.
I will say Danny’s priority is far from “Interesting Love Life”, I’d say it’s more a view of “Life is only meaningful from the view point of a strong relationship”. He turns down Billie because he felt like he was ‘taking advantage’ of her only for Joe shut him down on that point.
I think the way it went basically comes from him going from everyman [though I only vaguely remember Roomies!] with little characterization to what he is now to give him something as a character. This interpretation lends him some characterization outside of “beleaguered everyman” but does indeed require him to constantly be in a relationship of looking for one.
As for pure likability? I think he’s got an interesting dynamic with Joe [Jacob highlights this] and has been established in a way that he has room to grow in a way that’s interesting [As you said yourself]. I wouldn’t want to date him but I don’t think “Obnoxious” or some of the harsher terms is fair.
Now for a contrast; I put down Scott Pilgrim because I found him unlikable and his cheating and inability to end his already sort of relationship made it unpleasant for me to read. Having been made to watch the movie, I think I made the right call.
Danny is relatively bland, definitely has flaws but as you said he’s not awful at heart and has room to grow. The actual damage he hasn’t done anything knowingly to hurt anyone else. Most of what he’s done has been pretty well intentioned even if he’s also a giant ball of moping to friend a week after he’s dumped by his three year long girlfriend [who he clung to like a dryer sheet].
So overall, I’d say Danny’s flawed, moderately interesting [though likely no one’s favourite character] but relatively well intentioned and not really worth the hate here. Meh at worst and solidly readible at best.
You’re probably not going to be back to read this, but I thought it deserved a reply anyhow.
The funny thing is, we seem to agree on a lot of points, we just look at them way differently. You’re far more charitable with your opinions, while I all but condemn him. It’s been pretty interesting talking with you. I didn’t expect to get such a satisfying discussion out of this page… kind of just a lot of begbert2 getting mad at me*. ; ^ ;
So yeah, thanks for the talk! I hope we get to have another at some point.
*Which sucks, because I’ve always enjoyed reading their comments, both here and on SP!. Of course, I could just be reading too much into it.
I just noticed the update but I tend to leaf back at the stuff I wrote. It was definitely a fun chat.
I’m sort of sporatic about commenting on comics [I think I commented on two other comics here, once a week ago and the other like three months ago] but I might pop in again to say hi.
And I wouldn’t worry too much about it; I can’t speak for him but I don’t think it’s worth holding a grudge for the sake of a different opinion over the internet. Provided it doesn’t get to be a pattern, I suspect it’ll mend itself soon enough.
It’s nothing personal – you keep saying absurd things about Danny being some kind of monster; I keep trying to poke holes in anybody’s posts that make such an absurd claim. There’s just a lot of overlap there. 🙂
Ok so, as much as I hate to admit it. Of all the characters I relate to danny the most. I have a lot of the same problems and in this same situation I’d prolly do the same, he likes amber. He really does, but he is LOYAL. To a fault prolly. So right now he feels as if he has betrayed his parents for lieing to them (though we as readers know that danny and amber are going out he doest know amber is amazigirl, clark kentitudeness and what not whatever. so not really a lie but to him and his lack of knowledge he did the right thing as a friend playing along with her because she obviously had a reason for it) anyway lost my point right and he feela he is betraying amazigirl, so the only RIGHT thing he can think of is separate himself from amber, because he LIKES HER and has admitted as such to her. She is now a threat to his loyalty to his girlfried. So from his standpoiint he has to separate himself from her to prevent himself from acting anymore disloyal than he feels he already has. I actually have to give him credit, He may be a dense as hell indevidual, BUT, he actually is thinking of someone other than himself here, hes thinking of amazigirl. From the stanspoiint of how he thinks she qould feel of him hanging out and dlirting with another girl. I agree he lacks tact here but i can relate… I have about as much tact as a brick through a church window myself.
Aaaand the next two strips reinforce how Danny feels. I DO hope this works out for the better though. Being dense is hard, for both the people around a dense individual and the DENSE indevidual him/herself. :/ I’m still sailing this ship through though.
You know guys, a lot of you are saying how stupid Danny is for not realizing that Amber was Amazigirl. But not so long ago you all didn’t recognize her either. Oh yes, I need only look back to last month to see reams of comments speculating that Amazigirl was everyone from Sal to Ultracar (which isn’t even a thing is this timeline!). And don’t even try to pull some kind of “oh, I was kidding, I knew all along” excuse on this one. It would be such a transparent lie to cover up your own foolishness.
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Story arcs like this one make me glad I don’t update TV Tropes ad aprecate those who do.
“and appreciate” even, yeah.
It’s okay. We’ll always be there for you, unless internet goes down.
No, I’ll be somewhere else, even if the internet is up
For all those who are going “What is Danny doing wrong?”, it starts with three words he did not use at the beginning of his sentence.
See how much less Danny it is if he were just to say “I’m sorry, but…”
That’s all it would take. Just a hint of vestigial politeness and courtesy. Just the smallest glimmer of consideration, or some hint that he is able to think of the feelings and welfare of a person that is not his miserable self.
“Empathy…do you speak it, motherf*cker?”
except saying ‘but’ kinda negates everything said before it.
I’m not saying he’s not letting her down either way, but the way it is done matters. It’s the difference between asking someone if they could please be quiet and telling them to STFU.
Or in this case, it’s the difference between apologizing for the need to establish some personal distance from her, and telling her to GTFO without so much as an OKTHXBYE.
I don’t appreciate apologies for things people do anyway.
Most other people do. That’s why most other people think Danny is being a callous and thoughtless POS right now.
Keep in mind that Amber just pulled him into a weird, uncomfortable role-playing game in front of his family, with no explanation or apology. If empathy is important, then we need to show some for Danny and understand why he feels used.
True enough — but remember Danny has a thing for Amazi-girl and Amber knows it, since she *IS* also Amazi-girl. Her “weird, uncomfortable role-playing game”, while it was also a ploy to avoid her father by being somewhere in public around other people, might also have been *HER* first step in revealing to Danny that she was in fact the woman with whom he is infatuated. Remember that even superheroes spend most of their time in their “civilian” identity. When Superman revealed himself to Lois Lane, the result was “Lois and Clark”, not “Lois and Superman”.
I’m convinced that there’s a way this ship can still sail.
I expect this is probably the point where, things actually get clarified. Barring Danny having totally awful luck and actually being inept [as opposed to just falling hard for the Clark Kent Effect], Amber’s probably going to just reveal it here.
That is barring Danny either not referencing Amazigirl or else getting more angry than he should.
I think he’s gotten more flak than he deserves as a character but this will definitely be either a saving moment for him or else it’ll be the point where I do start to feel like this plot is dragging and making me sad.
Do we even want it to, is the question?
I mean, when Danny came out with feelings for Amber, I just melted. Seriously, I teared up a bit. That was the first time I started shipping it.
Now, partly due to what’s going on, and partly due to reading the comments, reality is crashing back down around me, and I honestly think the best thing for the both of them… okay, the best thing for Amber is to ditch Danny. She needs to find someone who is actually a stable person, not someone who just looks it.
The best response to this is “so could Danny. And Ethan. And Joyce.” and so on all the way through the entire list of characters [excepting maybe Walky&Dorothy who seem to be balancing eachother out alright].
I can see them working, if this subplot ended. Amber if anyone stands to gain from it, since Danny looks up to her both as Amazi-girl and her regular self. But her pre-existing fear of rejection is preventing this from happening.
So, we get dysfunction and angst and plot as opposed to happy healthy relationships and candy.
It’d be a boring story otherwise.
Yes, that is true. It still hurts seeing Amber getting hurt though, y’know?
(wow, I never cared about amber this much in the walkyverse, wtf)
Not glaring at her like an asshole would help, too.
Seriously.
I sometimes have moments where I want to punch fictional characters. Right now, I want to suplex Danny.
His eyes basically say it in panel 4.
It seems to me that the whole episode is due to his empathy. He clearly wants to spill the beans that he is not Amber’s boyfriend. But he kept it to himself for her sake (He didn’t know she was hiding from her father but he must have guessed something was up). But now some time has passed and his parents have gone, he is afraid of betraying Amazi-girl, which he totally would be based on what he knows.
He kept it to himself for his sake, as her being his “real” girlfriend kept him from looking like a total delusional loser in front of his parents. The moment he had nothing to lose, he pushed her overboard.
I don’t think that’s fair. Initially he was quite reluctant to play along with this ploy. His approach to his relationship status vs parents was simply to try and sidestep the question.
Actually what he did wrong can be summarized by the three words he DID use at the start of his sentence.
+1
He’s mad at her, and he feels she’s been inconsiderate and unempathic.
The problem is that he’s uninformed, not impolite. Which is partially his fault, partially Amber’s, and partially caused by the situation itself.
Good point. “I’m sorry” would show he thinks about the other people, too.
Speaking of empathy, I take it that you didn’t pay attention to his emotional state in the third panel. Or how he’s gotta be feeling right now.
Oh, god, I can already imagine what sort of tropes are being abused at this very moment. I know at the very least someone’s about to use “Wham Line” or “What the Hell, Hero?”.
I haven’t actually checked yet, please no one prove me right
It can’t be “What the Hell, Hero,” as Danny is no hero.
That’d require a tactical Mike strike.
Is there a “Living Down to Expectations” trope? Danny should be the poster boy for that.
OMG NOOOOO!…
Don’t make me go back there to read any more…
That place will suck out more hours of my life (again) than a ‘casual stroll’ through ‘That Other Wiki™’… LOL
“Idiot Ball”?
“Dramatic Irony”.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
my first reaction. I knew it was coming, but I wished it hadn’t/
DANNYED IT UP AGAIN
|=(
There is only so much Dannying I can take before I can’t take Danny anymore… And we hit that point MONTHS AGO.
We’re not gonna take Dan, we’re not gonna take Dan, we’re not gonna take Dan-Danny more …
DAMN IT DANNY
My thoughts exactly
Verdammt nochmal, Danny. I don’t have enough hands to do a appropiate facepalm for THIS situation.
First words out of my mouth, out loud as I read this comic…
“Aaaaaannnnnnnnnd…. there it is.”
“Dan’d it up pretty quickly, he did.”
But, after thinking about it – the poor guy it is still thinking he’s going behind AG’s back. So I doubt there’ll be any real forward movement in this story until he goes back to have to heart-to-heart with AG about the situation.
So, in his mind, he’s actually doing the correct thing for someone in his situation – he’s just being NOT tactful/eloquent about it.
And if Amber continues not to come clean to a boy she has learned is effortlessly clueless she’s the one doing wrong between them, not him…
I am torn. Does Amber need to tell Danny about Amazigirl, or about not being totally in her right mind?
Pretty much the same for me (and I agree on his concern about going behind AG’s back, but that’s more a (dys)function of Danny not realizing the obvious. I mean, he was doing some heavy petting with AG not too long ago, you’d think he’d figure it out). For me, the telling part of today was opening up the page and seeing 340 comments by 7am. Woooo!
Yea, as much as I dislike Danny as a character (and how has he not figured out Amber is AG by now!) this is at least partly on Amber for trying to have her cake and eat it too. Now that it’s revealed that AG is Amber’s crutch for dealing with some emotional issues I’m a little more sympathetic, but I still wish AG would disappear, she keeps screwing with my willing suspension of disbelief.
It’s like his fucking brain doesn’t even work.
it’s just we’ve hit Peak Danny
HE’S DANNING AT A PROFFESSIONAL LEVEL.
This isn’t his peak, it’s more his rising action. You’ll know when he hits his peak. That’s around the time when someone dies to save his ass.
Bazinga!
Seconded.
It all depends on who it will be.
((It’ll probably be Jacob.))
Someone better call the fire department to deal with that Epic Burn!
Why is his most consistent character trait being a dumbass?
wow, spot on =p
You’re implying he even has one. Danny has no brain.
There’s just a smaller Danny who lives in his head.
Is that who does all of the Dannying?
The only possible explanation for this level of Dan.
And a smaller Dan inside that one’s head… It’s Dans all the way down.
DANNY YOU DICKFACE!
Danny the Douchebag.
Danny the Dumbass
Danny the Danner.
Danny the Dipshit.
Danny the Dildo
“Why do you call him that?”
“Because he’s always got his head up his ass!”
Danny is his own dildo then?
yep! It’s his one talent that he’s good at (besides screwing up life)
So… he is good at screwing himself then?
So… he’s got his foot in his mouth and his head in his posterior?
Doesn’t sound very healthy.
I misread this as “Danny the DiDio
You’re not alone.
Danny the Doofus.
Danny the Delirious, Diabolical, Despicable, Deplorable, Delinquent, Devious, Delusional, Deranged, Deficient, Demonic, Dumbass, Dehumanized, Drunkard, Damnable.. Dehydrated… De… uh, Darkwing Duck…
Fuck that guy
Hey, HEY! Let’s not be dissing Darkwing Duck here!
Danny el Pendejo
Harsh.
Dammit danny.
Disturbing turn of events.
GOD FUCKING DAMN IT DANNY
YOU OBLIVIOUS SON OF A FUCK
Damn you, Willis!
^This. I was saying to myself “Jesus H. Christ, Danny,” when I realized that the whole painful situation is Willis’s doing. [“This emotional roller coaster brought to you by DAMN YOU, WILLIS!”]
way to dan it up
And he Danny’d it up again.
I think even Britta face palmed over this.
Urge to yell at Danny… rising…
Number of people who are surprised by this outcome: 0
Number of people who still like Danny now: Still 0
Number of times Danny has not fucked up in some way: Still 0 as well
More shoes and availability for him, then.
I’m starting to like him more as people keep decrying him.
So, you’re a Danny hipster?
Exactly. Danny’s not the one who’s been lying and playing games in this relationship.
But he’s the one who explicitly asked for the lies.
When?
Huh. Looks like I remember something that didn’t actually happen.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
I’m with Tom. Danny might be billing oblivious, but he’s doing what he thinks is the right thing. He now seems to have realized Amber has feelings for him, but he is dating amazi-girl. He thinks it would be better for Amber to be away from him, because he doesn’t want to lead her on (which Amber has kind of been doing, both as Amber and Amzi-girl).
He’s not being an idiot or mean, he’s trying to be a good boyfriend.
I don’t usually jump in on the convos, but I have a different interpretation of what’s happening here. I don’t think he’s trying to spare Amber’s feelings, I think he’s trying to avoid cheating on Amazi-girl with Amber.
I’m kind of on the fence. On the one hand, I think it’s ridiculous that he’s slept with Amazi-girl and hung out with Amber so much and doesn’t realize they’re the same person, so there is definitely some disapproval of Danny boiling up for me… But on the other hand, I agree that Amber is also being ridiculous by not ‘fessing up about her secret identity.
I guess the thing that would tip the scales toward blaming Danny more would be if Amber straight up told him, and he didn’t believe her because he was *just that thick*. I don’t think that’s how it’s going to play out, though.
wait wait hold on he’s had sex with amazi-girl?
I have no memory of this at all
Unless it happened unannounced during this last timeskip – which I think is unlikely – no, he hasn’t. They’ve made out, but they explicitly did not have sex.
I dunno. I totally take it as a Clark Kent thing/parody. I don’t read comic books really, but I do have the rule engrained in my head as something that exists which can be parodied. I mean how long have stories played up the “In love with your secret identity” thing for years deadpan? Danny is trying to be a good guy but he’s falling for the same thing that a lot of people fall for in comic books.
Hear here. Also, he’s being a nice guy by waiting until they’re alone before bringing this up. AND he’s not letting this drag on and on once he realizes there’s a problem.
Number of people who knows everyone else’s opinion on Danny: 0.
In the face, Amber. Just kick him right in the faINTHEFACE
Just, Chun-li rapid fire kick him.
took a second to find this, but i hope it will do : http://i.imgur.com/I46h2m1.png
That being said I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
Nicely done.
There it is.
God Dannit, he Danned the whole thing to Dan.
This is the best possible way to explain what happened just now.
Danny. How are you so bad at this. How.
He’s practiced hard at being the worst at everything.
Then he failed. He’s not the worst at being the worst.
Pure natural-born talent. 😛
I mean, this would actually be a smart and understandable decision if Amber and Amazi-Girl were two different people. Which everyone (not just Danny) seems to believe.
But Danny is the only one who’s spent quality time with both.
*Draws an X on my computer screen over Danny* “Bad Danny. No.”
.
Why did I use a sharpie….
From his perspective… Yeah this is the right choice. He obviously has feelings for Amber, and he knows that. Hanging around her is just playing both hers and Amazigirl’s heartstrings around.
NOW IF ONLY HE COULD FIGURE OUT THE BLOODY OBVIOUS MAYBE I WOULDN’T BE SO MAD ANYWAYS.
I’m glad you said this. I don’t hate Danny for his words, but I kinda hope Amber kisses him, since he wanted to figure it out Spiderman style, I think he said. Or, you know, he gets glasses.
Personally it’s a smart decision on Danny’s part and even if he DOES figure out she’s Amazi-girl, that just kinda adds a whole new depth to their relationship. He seemed ok being lied to but when the truth gets out it’ll be impossible to know how he’ll take it.
There are no smart decisions on Danny’s part. Even if everything turns out well in the end, it will always be despite Danny’s intentions and actions, never because of them.
Very good point. I hope that he is using up all of his Dannyness so that when the moment of truth finally arrives…
Hrmm… that is actually gonna be a painful set of story development. Amazigirl will no longer be a larger than life figure for Danny. And all the issues that led her to donning the Amazigirl outfit, which she almost dropped the voice for and discussed with Danny, may boil over. Unlike the heroes in hero comics, there is only so far she can go before destroying herself. The fact that her father noticed some of her gear in her closet is actually coming back up to worry me. If he starts actively stalking her, it won’t surprise me if he makes the connection and uses it against her. And if I recall, Ethan also knows the truth, right? I mean that isn’t a big deal, but it is proof that not everyone lives in the same state of Danny and Billie mentality.
Seriously, with her realizing she has her father’s temper and enjoyment of inflicting pain, plus whatever else happened, this thing with Danny needs some form of… resolution? If not, she is going to be leaving herself more vulnerable than she already is. Gah, I think I just hit a self-induced thought spiral on this. I’m starting to realize that she has been looking for an excuse to fight a lot. The guys tagging the street sign come to mind. Lots of stuff played for laughs, none of it quite so funny anymore.
If it keeps rolling like this, I pity the spiders tomorrow.
We’ve got one vague line that might mean Ethan knows.
Wasn’t that vague to me. I’ve assumed ever since their heart to heart about Joyce that Ethan has known all along who Amazigirl is.
Raine, that’s exactly what I think. I don’t understand why everyone is getting SO mad at him for this, because I mean, he’s trying not to cheat on Amazigirl and that’s commendable.
BUT HOW DOES HE NOT SEE IT
Uhhh, his psyche doesn’t wanna?
I disagree. Given his history, I’m thinking he just fears happiness. He is not obligated to stay with Amazagirl. The responsible thing to do is contact Amazagirl and apologize for using her emotionally. After that he can decide which girl he wishes to pursue but he has no obligations. Danny’s greatest flaw is neglecting himself.
I mean they were kinda hot and heavy for a bit, a while back (and in Willis time it was probably earlier in the week), so you’d think he’d be smitten enough with AG to remember fine details about her appearance, physical things that don’t change between Amber and AG, like lips, boobs and dat ass, and presumably recognize them on Amber.
You hit it on the nail. From his perspective, Amber’s trying to get him to cheat. I’m curious how this conversation will go.
Ah, there’s the part where he Dan’s it up.
*Dans
He’s either figured it out and realised she was playing him or he’s too dense to get it and thinks he’s too tempted to cheat.
I’m betting on the latter. He’s too Danny to see through her disguise.
He’s also not TRYING to see through Amazi-girl’s disguise. He’s trying to avoid the mistake he made with Dorothy and gettig too close and involved, keep some mystery in there.
I’m HOPING on the latter. I can empathize and even applaud his decision if that’s what he’s doing. If it turns out he’s figured everything out and just decided Amber is too crazy (or something) to be with I’ll be firmly in the “run him over with a truck” camp. Except if that happened a character I like a lot more will die saving him, so never mind.
And this is why they call him Danny, folks. Because he’s just so goddamned Danny.
The Danniest!
Why are people pissed at him? He’s dating another girl and has feelings for Amber. He wants to stay loyal to his girlfriend, so he’s removing temptation, which is especially good since he knows Amber is interested in him. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a workable one, and probably the best he’s capable of.
People are pissed because he’s a fucking idiot and hasn’t realized she’s Amazi-Girl yet.
So you let her down gently. Or better yet, you realize that Amber IS your girlfriend like any human being with any cognitive abilities would have done by now.
Let’s just consider the fact that nobody can tell they’re the same, for some reason, and expecting Danny to is unfair?
^ This,
But also the fact that even if we are to assume Danny is just kinda stupid and doesn’t realize it, I can’t condone someone cutting someone out of their life. This is coming from a guy who doesn’t have a lot of friends, and DEFINITELY not a lot of romantic situations. It DESTROYS my heart to replay all the times someone says we couldn’t hang out. So yeah I’m just kinda projecting that onto him. Also I just don’t like Danny that much.
That, and the fact that Danny has all the grace and tact of a slingshotted watermelon to the face.
Amazing Race fan? 🙂
Just the one anigif.
I dunno, Yotomoe. Amber’s actions from Danny’s perspective all indicate a girl (and kind of an ex-girlfriend at that, however brief the relationship) with feelings for him going to aggressive lengths to hang around him and lie regarding their relationship. And he not so long ago had the epiphany that he actually does have stronger feelings for her than he realized. Assuming he legitimately loves Amazigirl and doesn’t get the connection between her and Amber, it would be reasonable for him to assume that Amber will continue to pursue him despite his relationship status and now he realizes that he would be very tempted to reciprocate those feelings despite himself. In that situation the responsible thing would be to cut ties with her. Still has no tact about it, though.
+1
Danny is the ONLY member of the cast to know both of them. Everyone else has only had brief, in the dark, interactions with Amazi-Girl, and none of them knew Amber at the time. (and yes, a couple of them were in lit rooms at the time they met her but it was still brief and they still didn’t know Amber). If Ethan ran into Amazi-Girl and didn’t recognise her we’d likely think he’s nearly as stupid.
No, I think Ethan knows quite well…
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/looped/
I was making a theoretical comparison, Anderhail.
Yeah, it was supposed to be down one post, but I clicked on the wrong reply button. I’m Dannying up my vision, lol
No one has gotten a good look at her, or really knows anything about her. As I mentioned on another strip, Dorothy’s got all the info she needs to figure out Amazi-Girl’s identity, and that’s just after chatting her up for less than a minute. Danny spends a lot of time with “both” girls, so either he’s incredibly incompetent or an asshole.
Yet she hasn’t made the headline yet, so either her information is insufficient, or she is really really lazy.
There could be any number of reasons why she has not yet pursued her lead. Regardless, I think Willis would show her doing so if it had already happened.
How much more gentle is he supposed to be? This is ending a friendship with UST(so it’s basically a breakup), there’s no such thing as a good way to do it. People will be hurt no matter what, and Danny’s method so far doesn’t seem bad.
(And yes, he should have figured it out, but Eyss points out that problem)
How much more gentle? More than zero. That would be a good start.
You’re cutting a friend out of your life completely. And she has a crush on you. How do you make that not completely suck? Oh, also, you’re a teenager and this is your first time breaking up with someone. Good luck, Danny’s doing about as well as I did my first breakup.
You could apologize. Make sure they realize that it is your bad and not theirs. Be polite. Be abashed. Be empathetic. Most people pick up more rudimentary social skills than this before they hit puberty. It isn’t rocket science.
If he tried and failed to be considerate about this, we might cut him some slack. But he’s not even trying. Worse, it doesn’t even occur to him that he should try. Danny is feeling put out, so he acts like a crabby baby to whoever is near-by.
That Amber finds attractive qualities in him at all speaks more toward her still-healing emotional damage than it does to his character.
You are neglecting the fact that sometimes social skills can be shut down by emotional distress and confusion; I’m willing to bet that after the hand holding scene in Galasso’s that Danny felt a spark for Amber but in his irrational and emotional state sees his feelings for her as a threat to his relationship with AG, so he blames her for being so likeable and available (I did say he’s not on an even logical keel right?) so he pushes her away, both by being rude and by literally telling her to go away
He’s had one sentence on the subject so far. Maybe he’ll go asshole, but for now maybe don’t expect that one line to fulfill everything that the conversation needs to say.
That one sentence WAS GOING ASSHOLE. No need for further damage.
I’m with Vikt here. There’s totally the possiblity of a conversation afterwards but sometimes, when you are awkward about saying something like that you need to open the conversation with it. In better situations, it ends with civilized conversation and a general “It’s just circumstances, you’ll do really well you’re since [X, Y and Z]”.
If he’d started with apologizing and telling her how awesome she is, he might have just started building up her hopes or else he might loose the nerve to say so himself. Opening with this guarentees that it’s out there and they can work from there.
“Make sure they realize that it is your bad and not theirs.”
So he should lie?
She knew he was uncomfortable from the start. Why do you hold Danny to this standard and not Amber?
With a situation like the one that Danny has here, it’s probably more important to be perfectly clear than sugar coat and risk the point being missed. Sometimes you just gotta be blunt.
Danny is the only member of the cast to spend considerable time with both Amber and Amazi-Girl. They look exactly alike and her mask doesn’t cover that much. In one of their first strips together he noted many changes Amazi-Girl was making to try to hide the fact she is Amber from him. He’s had clue after clue after clue waved in his face, he has all the information, it’s so goddam obvious and he still has no clue. We can’t even pretend he’s faking it for fun anymore.
THAT is why everyone is pissed at him. That is why Danny became a verb.
Yet we accept the Daily Ply’s staff not recognizing Superman, and don’t hate Jimmy Olsen.
By PLY I mean PLANET
Who is this “we” you are talking about?
….people LIKE Jimmy Olsen?
You think Jimmy doesn’t know? Oh, he knows. He always knew. He’s just amazing at hiding the knowledge from everyone.
Jimmy Olsen is the TRUE master of trickery.
I agree. I’ve always been partial to the theory that just about everyone at the Daily Planet know, they just humor Superman.
Hell, a few years ago (during. . . Countdown, I think), the comics confirmed that Jimmy has known “for a while.”
He can crush concrete with a casual gesture, and one-punch a train. If he wants me to pretend I can’t tell he’s just put on a suit and started calling himself “Clark”, I’ll go along with it…
I hate when people compare this comic to other comics, as if they are not set in completely different settings and contexts.
It’s Tropes. There’s certain normalities of story telling.
There’s a huge diachotomy of how a narrative works and how life works. Willis might parody a few but he abides by alot more.
Saying “It works like X in Y, ergo DoA is a Good/Bad story since it does/n’t do the same” is fallacious.
However, the argument that he’s either playing the Comicbook “Clark Kenting” effect to the hilt which is common to most stories with Superheroes which he’s clearly alluding to or he’s parodying it through Danny’s complete obliviousness is a completely valid interpretation/argument.
Superman has super hypnosis. That and there are many other factors that he puts in place to hide his identity such as speaking in a quieter and more timid voice and he slouches a little and wears slightly oversized suits to make himself appear out of shape. Just saying.
See Danny, this is why your parents don’t like you.
….why, Danny? Just… WHY?!
I GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT FOR ONE GODDAMN WEEK AND THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE UP FOR IT?! You can burst into flames for all i care.
Oh, and by the way, FLUTTERSHY IS WORST PONY.
(not really. But if I’m ranting at Danny i might as well insult his favorite.)
Ouch.
Vote for Vinyl Scratch for dj president
Danny u sad little man
So uh, what did he actually do WRONG?
He continued to breathe and walk the Earth.
She’s his friend, and clearly something is wrong, and as soon as they have a moment alone he jumps straight to “GTFO you make me uncomfortable”.
Leaving aside the whole Amazi-girl thing, Amber is his friend. She’s acting super weird. The correct response is to ask what’s going on and let her explain.
Even if he’s already jumped to the conclusion that this was some sort of weird hitting on him scenario, even if it’s important for him to establish straight away that he’s uncomfortable and she’s crossed the line, nobody with a modicum of empathy jumps straight to “get lost”. It’s classless.
I think what Amber did was kind of weird and manipulative. I can see why Danny’s uncomfortable. But if he were to remove his head from his own colon he’d be in a position right now to listen to Amber and help a friend who’s having an epicly bad day. Instead he Danny’d.
Exactly. They’ve known each other enough for him to know that her behavior was out-of-character, and she made it perfectly clear to him when she interceded that Something Was Going On. Even if he felt uncomfortable and put upon during the whole thing, their friendship should have given her enough credit with him for him to at least ask “Ok, WTF is going on here?” instead of jumping straight to “GTFO”.
It’s called “benefit of the doubt”, Danny, you idiot. Just like the incredible benefit of the doubt you were given when the rumpled cheerleader emerged from your room. You don’t get to just receive it…you have to give it out as well. And also stop being such a put-upon whiny drama queen about every obstacle or inconvenience life throws at you.
Remember when the guy from the other universe didn’t bother figuring out what was wrong with his other friend?
I think it had something to do with a truck.
That’s a strange way to put it.
You mis-spelled ‘Best.’
The best pony is Epona, ok. I’m tired of people gettin’ it wrong.
Please. The best pony is Sodomuffin.
((That’s still a thing, right?))
We’ll always have sodomuffin.
SCREW YOU! Oh wait, I’m an Applejack kind of guy. Continue.
…but Fluttershy loves you anyway. Because she’s nice like that.
Also, holy shit, Danny. Just…my god, do you have any skill at social graces whatsoever? Do you ever NOT fail your spot checks?
Fluttershy is Very Disappointed in Danny.
For all the Danniness here it actually does make sense from his point of view. He likes one girl but just realized and admitted he is attracted to another, who is also attracted to him. Time to back off and pick one. And with Danny’s loyalty of course he’d pick Sal
THEIR LOVE TRANSCENDS UNIVERSES
Even though it didn’t work out in the other one either.
Which is great because he’s even worse there and she’s MUCH worse.
oh god this will be painful
Can’t blame him though guys, think about it. Obvious lookalike aside, as far as he’s concerned, he’s having all these feelings for a girl while he’s dating another girl. He’s trying to do the right and fair thing to Amazigirl and Amber. Now, I feel like this scene’s gonna end with Amber revealing her secret, but who knows!
Ah man, that’s what I get for not reading comments, I posted the same thing two down.
and you’d still be like…the 4th guy who’s said that.
How deep is that creek?
Yes just add some danny’s jelly and you’ve got the worst decision of wording to danny it
…
what?
It appears to be a handful of assorted vocabulary.
wut
If you were in love with a girl, and accidentally developed feelings for another, wouldn’t you want to space yourself from the girl. I gotta say I’m on Danny’s side for this one, it’s not fair for Amber to make him crush on two people.
Out of context, sure. In context, it’s slightly less sympathetic when literally the only reason you’re choosing the lady in the mask to the lady in front of you is because the masked lady has no semblance whatsoever to your ex.
And it makes you look even more gormless when said masked lady LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE PERSON WHOSE SEMBLANCE YOU’RE TRYING TO AVOID.
Yes!!
Can I follow this with a ‘damnit danny’? I feel that is the proper response.
DANIEL WILCOX, YOU GO TO YOUR ROOM AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE.
Also someone get Joe to beat him up. Geez.
Send him to the corner…of PAIN!
Danny, please don’t make me mad at you.
too late for that one, dontcha think?
Well, I have faith that Danny to not screw it up but why he keeps on screwing it up……hold on a sec, I think now I understand why Danny kept screwing things up.
I told you weeks ago. Your first mistake is putting faith in Danny. I WARNED YOU. YOU’VE BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF!!!
Some have trouble accepting Danny.
31 comments already? I look forward to reading the “Danny Hate Train”
another 29 comments in just TWO MINUTES!! – PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, WILLIS!!
People enjoy watching train-wrecks.
There were far more than 31 by the time this was posted. The hate train posts are accumulating less at the speed of a train and more at the speed of a starship from Star Trek. The U.S.S Dannerprise.
In my fanfic, Amber reveals she’s Amazi-girl to Danny so they don’t have any problems.
+1
That’s going straight to my headcanon.
I had the same idea. Let’s co-write it.
That wouldn’t help. Then Amber would see that his brusque and tactless whininess isn’t merely a result of being in awkward situations with stressful conflict, but instead is pervasive to his very core.
Being around Danny is simply toxic, like working in a building with asbestos ceiling tiles.
In my fanfic, there are no emotional plot holes. Also, Dina gives her the idea because she’s known all along.
In my fanfic, Danny dies in a traffic collision, and Ruth and Billie get it on all the time.
((Wait, did I just say that out loud? No, no I didn’t.))
Best fic ever, or BEST FIC EVER?
We’ve still got a few hours before that’s jossed.
Amber reveals that she’s been deceiving him all this time, and they don’t have any problems? She’s not a victim here.
Danny, as a geek/nerd or whatever you want to call it, would probably understand the need for a superhero to keep their identity secret, even from someone they’re dating.
Drama relies on people not doing the obvious, intelligent thing.
“Hey, I’m crazy for you, so I’m going to share a big secret with you.”
“Hey, you’ve trusted me, so I’m going to keep your secret and not blab it to all and sundry.”
“Hey, I heard you’re prophecized to kill your son, so I thought the best way to prevent it was to tell you, not to, say, betray you to your worst enemy and kidnap your son.”. (Stupid Wesley)
Man, that would work out so well. Kind of hope that Amber turns out to be Amazi-girl, but nah, that’s a bit too easy.
WHY DANNY? WHY?
Danny is a puppet and Willis is obviously using his penis to play the part.
So THAT’S why I always thought he was a DICK.
Well he is wearing a hoodie.
Well he is……
Now I imagine Willis, sitting in an evil overlord throne, not wearing any pants, and using his dick as an arcade style joystick to control Danny.
Well, what do you know, it’s already time for my daily mindwipe!
Why!? Why would you share that!?!?!
Holy dumbass, Batman!
God damn, Danny, I liked you.
I never understood why people hated you, but god damn, I was fooled by a friggin’ Webcomic Asshole.
May Mike punch you in the testicles.
I understood that some people hated him for his idiocy, but I never understood why people think he’s an asshole.
Danny will die alone.
*face palm* Someone please call Ruth
This should end with the first panel from todays’ Roomies!.
Or the last panel from yesterday’s.
Why the hate, guys? Let’s look at the situation here:
1. Danny has a girlfriend – Amazi-Girl.
2. He doesn’t know that Amber is Amazi-Girl.
3. Given the dialogue of the September 15th comic, he’s likely developing romantic feelings for Amber.
If you’re in a committed relationship and you start to develop feelings for another woman, there are two responsible things to do: you can confront those feelings head on, admit them to both women, and try to make a friendship work, or you can walk away from the friendship. While the first option is preferable, it’s a LOT harder and will fail in a lot of cases anyway. In short, he may be taking the easiest responsible way out, he’s far from taking the scummiest path.
we’re all just mad cause he’s taking the “STUPIDEST” path lol
Dramatic irony sure colors how you perceive characters, eh?
How can it be stupid? We only think it’s stupid cause Danny doesn’t know what we know, it’s the perfect case of dramatic irony.
The only reason he doesn’t know what we know is because he’s stupid. He has all the information he needs to figure out the obvious and he still has no clue.
If no one else in this universe can figure it out, why would he?
Nobody else has spent much time with BOTH of them. For everyone else Amazi-Girl shows up, does something then runs off, for Danny she hangs around and they talk and make out and then he goes and hangs out with Amber.
No one else in this universe has spent significant time up close and personal with Amber in both of her guises. (Except maybe Ethan and Mike, pre-DoA – and Ethan, at least, knows. Not sure if Mike knows, but he seems to know everything, so.) Danny was friggin’ making out with Amazi-Girl a few days ago, and had Amber cuddled against him just recently. He should have at least noticed that they smell a lot alike. The only reason he hasn’t figured it out is because he doesn’t want to figure it out.
We are as one, John. We are as one.
All of yall are just mad because you ship Damber and I do too, but this just means that their gonna have a compelling arc before they finally end up together and their relationship will be all the better because of it, it’s my favourite part of storytelling when people have to overcome for love instead of just tripping on it.
I ship Danny/that truck from Roomies!.
(Their relationship will be brief, but have a lot of impact on him.)
^ +1
I absolutely do not ship Danny and Amber. Or Danny and Amazi-Girl. And I resent my position being reduced to a mere shipping tantrum.
It’s stupid because Danny does know most of what we know, plus a bunch of stuff we don’t know, but either can’t or, more likely, won’t use that information to reach the blatantly obvious conclusion. And after refusing to recognize that Amber and Amazi-Girl are the same person, he’s being a dick to the real girl so that he can keep dating the fantasy version of her.
I hope Amazi-Girl dumps his stupid ass.
Aaaaand like five other people said the same thing while I was typing. I really need to be less verbose.
In your defense. I’m pretty sure you could equate like…all the comments to generally saying 2 things.
Your ethier with us, or against us!
Because people are really, really bad at looking at this objectively, from the standpoint of the characters.
Danny is stupid for not knowing it is Amber! Except… Dorothy has around as much reason to see through the disguise, having seen Amber both in and out of costume numerous times, and having information she could reasonably have derived the answers to Amazigirl’s identity from. Oops. Don’t let that get in the way of a good “dannying it up”, though, because he’s stupid because reasons.
Well that and Dorothy hasn’t really got a prolongued look at Amazi-Girl in good lighting. But yeah, people are more mad that he’s DOING it and not why.
She saw her in a perfectly well lit room, though. It wasn’t like it was dimmed.
True but atm Joyce was kinda drugged and she wasn’t around either Amber or Amazi-girl enough to tie the two together, unlike Danny who’s in the constant presence of BOTH of them.
“numerous times”
Evidence?
In any event, she’s been busy with other things. Her story for the paper is not the top priority.
She chased her and also met her at the party where Joyce was drugged. She has also met Amber.
Evidence being what she stated when chasing Amber, that she knows her hair color, build, what building on campus she is running to, and about her highschool track and field.
I get that she is busy, but roughly a few weeks have passed, likely, since the party. She has had time to figure it out if she applied herself.
I replied to you below, but we haven’t seen Dorothy doing anything regarding the story yet. She’s been doing other stuff. Stuff she probably values more.
Not everyone’s lives revolve around Amazi-Girl. Just Danny’s.
This is true. Amber can totally salvage this.
I’ll be very disappointed in Amber if she still wants to salvage this.
Awww, but don’t you wuv a widdle wuv stowwy?
Danny doesn’t have time to love. He’s too busy being self-absorbed.
whatchu talkin’ bout Wilcox
Well, this is Danny we are seeing. Nobody should be surprised.
I guess I get to be the first to say “DANN you, Willis!”
i see what u did there 😉
GOD DAN IT!
GODDAMMIT DANNY
Danny has the worse case of ‘Lois Lane Syndrome’ I have ever seen.
Good for Danny for doing his best to avoid the temptation to be unfaithful to his girlfriend.
Of course, if he just used half a brain to figure out that Amber and Amazi-girl are the same person he wouldn’t have this problem. Hopefully, Amber sets him straight.
If u think of it in an alternate comic danny suddenly kisses her while his parents are there… the more people wonder
w-what?
Danny there are infinite decisions and you keep picking the worst damn one…
Danny, I’m going to have to ask you to explain why you are doing this in a way that makes sense.
Because he doesn’t want to be unfaithful to Amazi-Girl.
You shouldn’t cheat on your girlfriend, Kernanator. And with a rack and glasses like those you know Danny wouldn’t be able to help himself.
Also Danny prefers large posteriors and he is incapable of deception, and his fraternal relations will not possibly suggest otherwise.
Remember, Amber just ran up and pulled him into a weird, uncomfortable role-playing game in front of his family. She had her reasons, but from his point of view, she used him.
It’d be nice of him to ask her what’s going on, and give her a chance to explain why she was acting so oddly before unilaterally telling her to bog off though.
Dammit Dan, you’re too Dan for anyone’s good.
He’s so Dan, He’s Dan Macityre.
Danny…think. Do you think pursuing a romance with a masked vigilante is going to end well? The girl that likes you is right in front of you…do it. Don’t do what I did.
I think it’s more, he feels like he cheated, and he’s trying to do this to make it right
“Don’t do what I did.”
…Aizat, did you romance a masked vigilante at some point?
DON’T BECOME ME, DANNY.
DON’T BECOME ME…
Sort off. I rather not talk about it.
…then why bring it up at all?
A girl who he likes. Not the, a. He’s already happily in a committed relationship.
Can you imagine the kinds of criticism he’d be getting if he just decided to dump Amazigirl for Amber on the spot right now because she lacks the inconveniences of the girl he was madly committed to all of 2 hours ago?
Or wait, I read that wrong.
So a girl who likes him, not the. The distinction remains the same.
No one wants that to happen. What they want is for Danny to stop being willfully ignorant and/or brain-dead and make the freaking connection already.
Later fed up with danny’s dumb assery amazi girl dramatically removes her mask
Amber: screw you danny!!
Danny:….amber?!!….why are you dressed up like Amazi girl?
Amber: oh for the love of…
* takes out ds. Send message to danny’s.
Message: i am amazi girl!!
Danny: oh my god…..And you stole her DS too!! What is wrong with you!!
You win the comments for today.
Danny then calls the police on Amber for doing something to Amazi-girl.
Danny: “I haven’t seen Amazi-girl in weeks, Amber! Fess up! Where is she!?”
Amber: “SHE’S PART OF ME YOU IDIOT!”
Danny: “YOU ATE HER!??”
And as Danny stands there dumbfounded, Amber facepalms. And that is the signal that Ruth and Mike have been waiting for.
Simultaneously, Ruth scythes Danny’s legs out from under him and makes a spirited attempt to remove his femurs as Mike appears to repeatedly punch Danny in the face with a fistful of nickels.
(And the fandom rejoices.)
+∞
People not being able to tell that Amber is Amazi-girl seems to be an in-universe rule, so is Danny necessarily any more stupid than the rest of the cast for not picking it? We have omniscient perspective on DoA *plus* notes from ‘God’ (Willis), which gives us a pretty significant advantage.
It’s hard to be genre savvy when you don’t know you’re a character in a story.
I am waiting for the posts about how Dorothy is a moron for not seeing through the costume. She is supposed to be one of the smartest characters in the comic, and she is fooled by the mask and hair tussle just as much as everyone else is.
Don’t say she hasn’t had the chance, either. Not only did she chase after Amazigirl in an extended encounter, she also met her at the party, not in a situation where she couldn’t get a good look at her, and has also met Amber. She has every reason to see through such a thin disguise, but doesn’t, because it’s a comic with a fucking superhero in it, and that’s how it has always worked.
Dorothy has met Amber (out of costume) a total of two times, one of which was this.
Since the confrontation, Dorothy has been preoccupied with many things other than her story for the paper. She has not pursued her leads yet, and she does not know Amber very well, so it is completely understandable that she has not worked it out.
Danny cannot claim the same, so until it is shown that everyone else in this universe is as oblivious as he, we are well within our rights to think he is stupid as all get out.
That’s fair. That said, the only people even implied to know about it would be Mike and Ethan. Dina could potentially know, but that is not really stated one way or another that I know of.
Fuck if I know how oblivious most folks are, but Ethan and Mike know her much longer than any other cast members, so they’d have fair reason to recognize Amazigirl right off the bat.
In my headcanon, Dina figured it out immediately, and just hasn’t mentioned it because she doesn’t see anything worthy of comment about her roommate moonlighting as a masked vigilante, and thinks everyone else finds Amazi-Girl’s identity equally obvious, anyway.
+1
Dina’ll get mugged or something, and Amazi-Girl will swoop in to save her, and Dina will be all, “Oh, hello, Amber. Thank you for beating up that criminal. Did Ruth tell you that there will be a floor meeting at seven?”
Ethan and Mike don’t know?
I think they basically said they “read the newspaper”, so they more or less said they knew, without directly stating it.
Oh, I gotcha.
Still, Danny and Amber have been spending loads of time together. Other comments expound on the details. For now, I’m too allergic to cats to think of much else to say.
When Dorothy makes out with Amazi-Girl and still can’t figure out who she is, I’ll stop cutting her the slack I’m not giving Danny here.
Clearly Amber should be dating Dorothy.
on the other hand danny hasn’t made out with amber without the mask so no real comparison to be had
No, but he knows way more about Amazi-Girl than any other character except perhaps Ethan, and has also spent more time with Amber than any other character except perhaps Dina.
Danny you damn moron. XD
Now I’m scared that if Amber admits she is Amazi-Girl, he will break it off with both of them. I really loathe Danny, but he could destroy Amber emotionally. She is so much better than he is.
It’s hard to say, but he has already been pretty understanding about Amazigirl not being ready to talk about certain things yet. He would probably understand this, though given the level of dishonesty involved, he would potentially have good cause to break up with her. He is crazy about both of them, though, so it’s a crap shoot.
Let’s say Amber reveals her secret to Danny and admits that she really is Amazi-girl.
Danny being Danny, what makes you guys think he’d even believe her?
See Kenny’s comment a few up from you.
DAMNIT Now I hate my own name!!!!!
If my name were Tomb, I’d be a little put out, too!
No, no, wait, that’d be awesome.
Well, if she wants to show him, she DOES have the mask on her right now. So that is good. Right? RIGHT??
No, I guess it is not.
It’s on her now. He is trying to be true to his girlfriend and also not lead a friend on. This translates to “dick” to shippers, I understand, but he’s trying. She can come clean and bring her boyfriend to meet her mom, or she can chicken out on him. She does have the mask, yes, she would have had no chance to stash it anywhere.
I was more concerned that it wasn’t a good thing, but I am now wondering which pocket she keeps it in. She took it off with her left while replacing her glasses with her right, so I wonder how much she has practiced this.
Having actually been in a superficially similar situation myself at college (but without the whole superheroine / evil dad overtones), I can kinda sympathise with him. But he’s still handling it really badly.
Hey now, Danny is just trying to do the right thing and not cheat on his girlfriend Amazi-Girl. There’s probably no good way to break things off with Amber and at it is best to be honest.
And yes, Amber/Amazi-Girl is one and the same person but Danny has the magically enforced blindness everyone in any comic with superheroes has. Not fair to hate him for it.
Danny does “dan” things up … often, but this isn’t one of them.
Well, I mean. If Amber isn’t Amazigirl, the whole “let’s pretend I’m your girlfriend in front of your parents” thing is maybe kinda creepy.
I KNOW RIGHT
also Dan kinda realized in the whole pretend girlfriend situation he does have feelings for her but he wants to be faithful to AG
Amazi-girl’s a lucky lady.
DIE!!!
She really didn’t see this coming? *laughs*
Does it reflect poorly on me that I laughed at the last panel?
you ain’t the only one. … though that means you or I reflect on each other?
For those doing the Danny Hate Dogpile, also consider that from his point of view, Amber’s acting like a clingy crazy person. They agreed to just be friends, he told her there’s someone else he likes (even though AG and Amber are the same person, yes; no one’s arguing the idea that Danny’s not thick), they seemed to be cultivating a comfortable friendship… and then while Danny’s parents come to town, Amber suddenly seems to be doing her darnedest to ram a relationship down Danny’s throat.
Danny doesn’t know about Amber’s dad. He doesn’t know about the brawl on the girls’ floor. He doens’t know about her freak-out in the stairwell. All he knows is that suddenly a girl is acting like she’s trying to force him to be her boyfriend.
Hopping universes for a moment, do you recall how another Danny reacted to that same behavior when it was from a girl named Joyce?
So I agree that the meathead’s a little dense for not making the Amber-Amazigirl connection, but c’mon. Cut the guy a little slack. He’s freaking out over her bizarre behavior. He has no reasonable way of knowing that SHE’s freaking out over her scene with her dad. I think they’re a cool couple too, but I don’t see Danny doing anything morally or socially inexcusable here, circumstances considered…
Woah, hadn’t considered that.
Now that you mention it, this situation is rather reminiscent of Roomies Joyce…
So it seems that secerts will be revealed next time we see them
…if you ignore the fact that they both know that Amber is doing him a solid favor by covering for him in front of his parents. A favor he is singularly ungrateful for.
…and he is unwittingly covering for her vs Blaine, and as far as he knows Amber has just randomly shown up, uninvited, and decided to playact as his GF for no reason at all, which, although serendipitously welcome for the hour or so the act was sustained, is something I think we could all agree would be really weird and creepy if someone (male or female) did that to you in real life.
(All the same, I think the first reaction in a case like this is to say … “ok, now, just what the hell was THAT all about?”, rather than immediately defriending them)
…and I go write that without having somehow read this. Duoh.
He’s not freaking out. He’s quite calmly being a dick. Wouldn’t a more reasonable reaction be “Now that we’re alone, just what the hell was that all about?”
FINALLY! I’d been reading loads upon loads of comments hating on Danny and it boggled my mind how no one seemed to realize that from Danny’s standpoint, Amber was basically pulling a Joyce on him (not that he’d see it in those terms in that universe, of course).
Also, in my head canon I believe that mind-fuzzing everyone she meets to keep them from realizing she’s actually Amber is Amazi-Girl’s superpower. (Not really, but I find it fun to pretend.)
Called it dannys shuning her , now amazi-girl is going to be fucking pist at him,or stock him
“where do you stock your Dannys?”
“aisle 3, miss, right next to the shoe section.”
DANNNNNY YOU PIECE OF-
Actually, I’m gonna hold off judgement for now. As far as he knows, he’s cheating on his girlfriend and Amber has no emotional issues whatsoever.
Let’s just wait for tomorrow before we all get mad. I have a feeling….
Well fuck……..
In the last panel, Amber’s face is totally saying “Holy flying meal discs, Batman! He really hasn’t figured it out yet!”
DOUCHE.
Not really… Danny’s just… dumb… really, really dumb.
He’s both.
Jesus, Danny. What is your problem? No, wait, you don’t need to tell me. Your problem is that you’re obsessed with your image of what a perfect romantic relationship is, to the point at which you willfully ignore and destroy anything which will clash with that ideal image, even if it comes at the cost of your friends’ or, heck, even your own girlfriend’s happiness (see: your disaster of a breakup with Dorothy). And no, the identity of Amazi-girl and your ignorance of it does not excuse this at all. Even if Amber wasn’t Amazi-girl, you do not summarily un-friend someone over a CRUSH. FUME.
“Your problem is that you’re obsessed with your image of what a perfect romantic relationship is, to the point at which you willfully ignore and destroy anything which will clash with that ideal image….”
You say that like it’s a bad thing ;^)
Oh wait. Been there, done that, and got the T-shirt. And it was a bad thing.
Yup. This whole Twilight-esque ‘My world revolves only around the comforts of my One True Love and I can’t be arsed to maintain other relationships’ thing Danny has going on is striking rather close to home. Argh. Argh argh argh.
YOU FOOL!!!
Just throwing a hypothetical out there.
Say there’s a guy who starts a truck and accidently hits a small animal that was sleeping under the wheel. He couldn’t hear, see, or know the animal was there in ANY way, and noone was there to warn him.
Is it wrong for people to still be mad at him for letting that happen, though?
Is the small animal Danny?
No, The small Animal is Amber. Danny’s drivin’ the truck.
Oh, I thought the small animal was feelings. I was gonna point out that Amber was there to warn him, but didn’t.
Aw, I wanted Danny to get run over.
Man, that guy must be such an idiot for not seeing the small animal that was OBVIOUSLY there the whole time. What an asshole.
But seriously, I’m not understanding why everyone is shitting on Danny here. He’s finally NOT being passive and standing up for something he cares about. As for him not figuring it out: even if he might’ve noticed some similarities, he’s too guileless himself to suspect that either Amazi-girl or Amber would be deceiving him and would’ve dismissed them as coincidences. After all, wouldn’t Amazi-girl have revealed her real identity to him, her boyfriend, if it were true? As he sees it, Amber’s now endangered his relationship and therefore isn’t really being a good friend to him. Why, then, is he the bad guy here?
THANK you!
That was kinda my point. However at the same time, He’s kinda hurting Amber who’s gone through SO MUCH SHIT right now. As per the metaphor, if the owner of the small animal runs up, even though it wasn’t the guy’s fault, I don’t think there’s an amount of “I’m Sorry” that can really make it ok.
Wasn’t trying to argue with you but add to what you said; apologies if that wasn’t clear!
But in response to this comment: As much as it sucks for the owner of the animal, it’s not fair to blame the guy if he really couldn’t have known. Just as it’s not fair to blame Danny for hurting Amber in this case when there is absolutely no way he could’ve known that’s what he was doing. She never told him about any of the shit she’s dealing with; all they’ve really talked about are safe topics. So if Amber is getting hurt by Danny, it’s because of how much she’s hidden from him (please note that I am NOT saying she deserves it, or that she didn’t have a good reason to keep things from him).
I figure the analogy is more like he’s deliberately choosing to hit the small animal at the front of the truck because he’s so skittish about not hitting the bigger and more loved animal at the back when instead he could have just stopped the truck from moving. I also figure that the analogy has gotten away from me.
The analagy is because he doesn’t know that he’s hurting Amber. He’s just going about his business but he’s really crushing Amber and is to oblivious to realize it.
Um, no… are you suggesting this has happened, and either you’re mad at the person for doing it, or the person was you and others are mad at you for it having happened?
Because seriously, fuck that noise.
DANNY.
Clark loves Lois, but Lois loves Superman.
Amber, will you take the Batman path, or the Superman path?
The Batman path is getting a string of sidekicks and having vague but highly disturbing sexual subtext with them, right?
I think the Batman path involves becoming the best at DDR.
And the Superman path is continuing a relationship with them in this manner to the point where you’ve married them without revealing your identity, right?
Danny is actually my second-favorite character… I guess because, while a bit blunt and tactless, his responses are pretty much exactly what I would do in such a situation. He’s a pretty moralistic guy… Unfortunately, he perfectly sums up the saying ‘nice guys finish last’… Over and over and over again. But still, I enjoy reading strips about Danny.
Of course, he is a tiny second fiddle to Dina.
wow, thats pretty brutal seeing Amber go from worshipful adoration to looking like shes about to shatter like a mirror.
Actually, people consider it a worst case scenario that Danny is too stupid to realize Amber is Amazigirl and tries to break off with the former being true to the latter.
But what if it’s a “Last Tango in Paris” realization? There is nothing left pursuing without the mystery?
Not to beat a dead horse but damn you Willis.
DANNY NOOOO!!!
idk, i want there to be more honesty in this weird two-and-a-half-way relation-friend-ship-zone, but i can just see danny snidely muttering to himself inadvertently (because if danny’s anything, it’s not advertent) within earshot of someone who, say, writes articles for the college paper whose name i’m too lazy to look up at the moment.
and then, you know, hijinks. (one could only hope said person would be dorothy.)
damn it willis now i feel like all my speculation echoes of “in my fanfic.”
JUST TELL HIM ARGLFARGL
Why should Arglfargl be the one to do it? He’s been adamant about not getting involved in other people’s business until now.
God Dammit DANNY!!!!
I just returned from vacation and look what I saw, Danny bombed it again. Good going Danny you insensitive prick.
Oh Danny booooy, the hate, the hate is caaaalling…
DAMN IT DANNY
GOD DAMNIT, DANNY, HOW DARE YOU . . . Not cheat on your girlfriend?
To the best of your knowledge at least.
There are alternate methods of not cheating on your girlfriend than dumping your friend who has actually tried to help you be with your girlfriend, simply because of your attraction to that friend.
Elucidate, please. The way I see it, he has limited choices. He can break up with AG, if he has developed feelings and attraction towards Amber and wants to pursue it, if he is committed to this thing with AG and he doesn’t want to lead Amber on or risk doing something he considers wrong, he can cut off the friendship with Amber and remove any possible temptation, or he can tell her they’ll only ever be friends and try to spend less time alone with her to minimize the chance that he’ll do something he ought not. None of them are going to make Amber happy.
Or, considering Amber is aware that Danny is dating Amazi-girl, he can say “I have a girlfriend, so sorry if I’m accidentally leading you on, but we can’t be romantically involved right now” and just continue being friends and ignore any temptation like a normal monogamous person (at least, I’m guessing that’s what monogamous people do). Depending on how things go, he might then break up with Amazi-girl and start dating Amber, stay with Amazi-girl and continue platonically hanging out with Amber, or get involved in a two-person menage a trois.
That would have all worked better if she hadn’t just pulled a Roomies! Joyce in a clearly desperate bid to force him to choose her – unless it was a show of stalkerish delusion as to what their actual relationship is. Either way some space is now needed. And if she’s the stalker option, then firmness is necessary.
It was not a “desperate bid to force him to choose her”. It was her hiding from her abusive father.
Well yeah but HE doesn’t know that.
I would be surprised if Danny knows how to tie his own shoelaces.
Sure, but begbert2 seems to be set on Amber being the next Joyce. I can’t tell if they’re just looking at it from Danny’s perspective, or if it is their actual opinion though, so who knows.
I was viewing the situation from Danny’s perspective, using only the information available to him.
I don’t feel the need to describe Amber’s position because she’s not the one the frothing mobs are incoherently declaring an asshole.
It was helping him get out of the awkward position he put himself in with his parents by claiming to have a girlfriend that they couldn’t meet and he wouldn’t tell them anything at all about.
And you can tell by the look on his face that that was exactly the sort of help he wanted in getting out of that self-inflicted ‘girlfriend in Canada’ situation.
No, wait, you can’t, because to him Amber’s Joyceish arrival was, and is, a bigger problem by itself.
Got myself an account today & all, just for Danny’s sheer inability to roll with life & do a mate a solid, as far as he knows.
GODDAMNIT DANNY
Breakdown imminent.
And there he goes “Dan-ing” it up….YET AGAIN!!!
Damnit Danny. You had one job. ONE JOB.
*grumbles*
His job is to Dan.
If he Dans that, he doesn’t Dan.
If he Dans, he doesn’t Dan Danning and therefore doesn’t Dan.
Danned if he Dans, Danned if he Dansn’t.
I can’t wait to hear how he follows that.
“What you just did was fucking creepy, and I don’t need a stalker right now”?
Last strip:”hmm, it has potential… that’s it don’t screw this up….”
Today:”HEEEEERES DANNY”
He can’t hang out with you anymore.
He’s too afraid of cheating on you with you and if you met you then you’d know that you’re really quite a gal! You wouldn’t want him to cheat on you. Not if you don’t want you to break your neck, anyway, because I don’t know if you know this about you but you’re DANGEROUS.
Dick move, Danny. Dick move.
Amber, quick! Tell him you are Amazi-Girl before he Danny’s it up completely!!!!! @O@
Yeah, that’d be a great plan except Danny would then think Amber was lying to him just to get him to “cheat” on Amazi-Girl.
Either that or next time he meets Amazi-Girl, if she tries to reveal her identity, Danny will think that Amber is just dressed up as Amazi-Girl to try to get him.
Really, Danny’s kinda especially screwed on this one…
DAN YOU WILLIS!
Thank you.
I’m calling it now. Amber will be mean to Danny as Amazi-Girl to get him to like Amber as Amber more.
IT’S WHAT CLARK KENT WOULD DO!
Clark Kent would eat superbeans and blow it.
GOD DAMMIT DANNY
DAMMIT
I JUST
DAMMIT
danny. you already have a bridge. I don’t think I need to say what you should do next
Throw his would-be stalker (at least to the best of his knowledge – he wasn’t there for dear ol’ Dad) off of it?
GODDAMMIT DANNY.
This though seems so “out there” to me that the only way to start this is, “In my fanfic” so….
In my fanfic, Danny considers his parents reaction to Amber, suddenly realizes that his parents have always cared more about who he dates than they do about him and, despite his growing feelings for Amber, decides he’s had enough. Despite the pain, he breaks up with Amber just to deny his parents one more person to compare him unfavorably to.
You know, that seemed a lot more reasonable and healthy in my head….and not at all passive aggressive. Never mind.
“This thought” D’OH
Hang on, I’ve got this.
This time?
Will I fail at linking again?
Fanservice%20FTW – 1335 (gif 358×269 988.0KB)
Just where is the win for Danny? Abandon AG for another girl, one who’s recent behavior is a little psycho? Amber could have ended all the drama by cluing Danny in that she is AG, but being AG is more important to her than Danny. Reasonable, considering what’sgoing on in her life. If Danny had asked Amber if she was AG, would she admit it or deny it. I’m betting deny it. She has poisoned the relationship from the start. See the short story “I’m a fool” about a guy who starts a relationship on a lie, then has no way to back out when it blossoms. That is where Amber is. Even if she now claimed to be AG, would he believe her?
probably not because he’s danny, either that or he would have a luke skywalker moment and she would rip of his hand, just for effect…
So, I’m pretty sure Danny is right on this one.
He thinks he’s dating another girl because Amber hasn’t come clean about the Amazi-Girl thing to him. In his eyes, Amber just came out of nowhere, and basically forced him to pretend that she was his girlfriend in front of his parents- that is, she made him tell a bald-faced lie to his parents, just to cover for her in some weird situation that he couldn’t possibly know about.
The man is just trying to be faithful. If Amber would just be straight with him, this wouldn’t have happened.
And DoA Danny finally becomes as unlikable as Roomies!Danny. It had to happen eventually, I suppose.
How was Roomies!Danny unlikable? Specific strips/story arcs?
all of them
Any of the strips involving him and Joe or him and Ruth, to be more specific.
The Danny and Ruth arc was the one that made me hate
Danny the most, but Danny and Billie was a close second.
At least Dumbiverse Danny hasn’t killed anyone yet.
I don’t know. I kind of like him at the beginning of It’s Walky. Mostly cause he stopped appearing at that point.
Thanks for once again confirming my suspicions that this is just a running gag.
He’s a self absorbed condescending ass who is aggressive about all the wrong things while passive about all the wrong things. He’s unintentionally horrible.
In a way Danny is the worst because he doesn’t ever seem to get when he’s being terrible, even when it’s explained to him. Mike, Joe, Walky all of them can be pretty big jerks when they want to be but they’re at least aware their behaviour is bad. Danny? never seems to occur to him that he’s anything but absolutely right.
Goddamnit Danny, now you have no positive energy to bring back to Joe.
I want to punch this ass in the face
DAMNIT and i get his face as my icon
Do you intend for your audience to hate Danny as much as it seems to, Mr. Willis? Because if so, I’m doin’ it wrong–he’s my favorite character!
He truly is brainless.
I would remind folks that there is a protocol for the inevitable response to this strip, established long, long ago (in webcomic terms, anyway.) It is:
All caps. (Yes, you are shouting.) No punctuation other than a full stop at the end. As in:
DAMN YOU WILLIS.
We return you now to your Wednesday, already in progress.
For some reason, I suddenly had an image of the cast doing their own version of “Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?” as Amber tries to insist that she’s Amazi-Girl, and the rest of the cast insists that that’s ridiculous and Amazi-Girl is someone who’s so much larger than life, as she reacts with bafflement to all the things they think Amazi-Girl does. (The original song included claims that the Scarlet Pimpernel ate breakfast in the nude, rode a camel across the moors, carried several whips, was a priest in disguise that gave absolution day and night, a thrill in the sack, didn’t bathe, and other such ridiculous claims. )
That would probably happen if she only told Danny, Billie, and maybe Walky.
I have to agree. If he hasn’t figured this out by now, he’s waaaaaaaay to dumb for her.
All his brain capacity is hard at work *preventing* him from realizing.
Have to say I do like how Danny’s getting all the rage for not making the connection that Amber is Amazigirl, but Amber is getting a free pass for, you know, not fucking saying two simple words (“I’m Amazigirl” or alternatively “I’m Amber”, depending on current state of costume) that would resolve the stupid double identity bullshit adequately?
If he’s thick for not working it out himself, she’s still equally thick for not comprehending that it’s causing problems.
Maybe she doesn’t want to be his nerd-fetish, but treated as an actual woman? Amber’s a cool person. Can’t that be enough?
Yeah, and he rejected her already. She thinks the only chance she has with him is as Amazigirl
Sure. So have Amazigirl dump him, and be with him as the actual woman. So hard.
Of course it’s a hair late for that to happen and for her to avoid being rebound girl, but that’s entirely her own fault.
Danny already sorta dumped her once for being too similar to his ex. If Amazi-Girl dumped him too then she’d be too similar to TWO of his exes.
He’s already told her he doesn’t want her to tell him.
No, he told her he didn’t want to ASK. He told her flat-out that he wanted her to tell him at her own pace.
Nope.
Oh, you mean that comic where he corrected her misinterpretation of his question? Where he absolutely didn’t want her thinking that he was asking who she was? Not seeing how that supports John’s statement.
Looking back (at the entire Danny tag archive), I was wrong about him telling Amazi-girl that he wanted her to tell him at her own pace. He actually told *Amber* that he wanted to not figure it out at all for a while, until something stupid and comic-booky revealed it. So in a way that would have supported John better, and in a way it shows that we’re *both* right – he prefers a “don’t ask AND don’t tell” policy.
Though by his stated plan, if he wants to figure it out, he should be out kissing random girls. Might conflict with his fidelity position.
Yeah, this was the strip I was thinking of. It’s also a large part of the reason that I think that it’s not so much that Danny can’t identify Amazi-Girl as that he won’t. He’s being willfully obtuse to keep his little fantasy going. And that, in turn, is why I’m treating it as something blameworthy rather than just Danny not being very bright, and not buying any of the “but since Danny doesn’t know…” excuses that people keep offering for him. He doesn’t know because he doesn’t want to know, and so he gets to eat the consequences of that.
Well, this moment is the kind of moment he wanted to learn that.
Actually, I interpreted his subsequent questions about herself (but *not* asking for her actual civilian identity) to be an attempt to rectify his flat image of her. That is to say, I think that he actually listened to Amber and tried to act on her advice to think of Amazi-girl as a woman and not just a cartoon superhero.
Of course, that would requires us to assume that Danny isn’t Satan’s brain-damaged brother, which is clearly impossible.
To me it reads “heck naw, I want you to remain a complete mystery to me”. To you, it’s a correction. The strip John referenced supports my interpretation more.
‘Remain a complete mystery to me – but answer all my questions except the one that reveals your secret identity.’
Yep, that makes sense.
I think Danny’s parent’s have had enough of him already.
Y’know, it’s not often that Willis throws a cliffhanger at us mid-week. So, I think that Amber just needs to bust out her domino mask, hand it to him, and walk away….
“Where did you get this? Have you been stealing from Amazi-Girl?”
BTW: I love that bridge. I think I had at least one “first kiss” (and certainly many memorable ones!) if not ON that bridge, well, within a stone’s throw of it. 😀
Oh my god he’s such an idiot
I have a sneaking suspicion that next comic will have Amber telling him that she was AG the entire time, running away before he can say anything….Then we will reach peak Dannyness.
Has anyone thought of the alternative? What if Danny made the connection that Amber is amzi-girl while praising her to his parents and is upset that she has been lying to him. Or feels hurt because she didn’t trust him enough as her boyfriend or as his friend to tell
Except he explicitly told her not to tell him who she really was.
What’s with all the hate at Danny? He went over it with Amber as Amber before, he said he’s got hots for Amazi Girl, and she put on the costume and enabled his fantasy. As far as he knows, Amber is Amber and the costumed girl is the costumed girl. He sees clear as day what Amber wants from him, and he’s not up for it, because – far as he knows – he’s with another girl. He can’t do stuff like this behind her back. He’s acting like a decent human being. That he didn’t connect the dots is ancient comic book tradition – think Peter Parker or Clark Kent old. Amber can solve it in three seconds. If she wants to be with Danny as Amber, she should just come clean. If he then gets mad and walk away, I’ll join all the “Damn you Danny!” chants. Until then, it’s all on her.
Actually if he gets mad at her for lying to him and messing with his head for weeks, I wouldn’t even hold that against him. If he fails to come back after he’s had a chance to cool down that’s different of course.
All the hate (at least all mine) isn’t because he’s about as sharp as a brick, not quite as smart as a box of rocks, or even dumber than a stump. It’s because he’s a selfish, insensitive, tactless PRICK! Don’t you think anybody with two brain cells to rub together and make a spark of static electricity would have at least the dim idea to find out what the hell is going on before cutting a good friend out of their life? Not Danny, just gotta Dan it up one more time.
Not like he stuck his fingers in his ears and went “du-dee-dee-duh-duh, I’m not listenin”! He said his piece, tackless as it sounded, ball’s in Amber’s court. We don’t know yet what will happen in 2 seconds.
He isn’t acting solely out of principle, he is aware of the feelings growing between himself and Amber and is attempting to cut them off before they intensify and put his actual relationship in danger or further hurt Amber. I’m sorry, but it is foolish to be “nice” in this case if you look from Danny’s perspective because it will only lead to trouble. Break-ups are the same way, if you let someone off easy and try to be considerate, it only makes it harder because it sends out mixed signals.
Besides that, he’s likely focusing much less on Amber injecting herself into his day than the intimate moment they shared at Galassos. He essentially admitted to himself that she was a threat at that point and has been looking for the best time to leave since that moment.
………. D-D-D-D-D-D-DAAAAAAAAAAANNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
I TOLD YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN! I TOLD YOU! I WILL MURDER YOU WITH A FUCKING BEAR!!! BRAAAAGWIHBENOEIFUNIEDMOPIOUWNBIFUON!!!!
… He was so close, damn it…”
Please, I’m busy enough as it is. No time for side work.
Unpopular opinion: I don’t hate danny.
He’s an idiot teenage boy who is navigating life.
I have friends like him. I set them straight, they remain oblivious, I do it again, they learn.
Danny will learn.
Jesus Christ, give a college kid some slack, he’s an idiot, but he’s not evil.
Agreed. I root for all of them. Even (God knows why) Mike.
OH MY THOR. I cannot believe this comment section. I read the comic, and the thought that blasts through my mind is FINALLY!!! Finally Danny is standing up for his principles, growing a spine, being loyal to his real girlfriend, and letting somebody know straight up that what they just did was not cool.
I mean, put aside that Danny didn’t instantly recognize that DS girl is a superhero (because so many geeks are physically fit) and that, having failed to instantly make he connection he proceeded to make separate mental images for the two roles and never bothered to seriously consider that the one girl he had randomly run into at this school happened to be its superhero too. Yes, that was “stupid”. (How stupid is debatable, but at the very least he failed a spot check.) But that’s also in the past. In the situation he’s in now, Danny’s finally manning up and doing the right thing – and he’s handled the situation a lot more politely than I would if this pushy girl I was casually hanging out with suddenly pulled a Roomies Joyce on me and told my parents we were a couple.
So yeah. Danno is suddenly being awesome.
And then I scroll down to the comment section.
A deluge of kneejerk hate at his failure to, what? Thank her for basically accosting him and thrusting herself into his family? OH MY GOD THE HORROR. Along with yet more of the irrational Danny hate that stopped being funny months ago. Yeah, months. Yes, the guy was too clingy and said the exact wrong thing for Dorothy to dump him, and then failed a rather obvious spot check (obvious to us, who read Shortpacked and know this comic’s cast list), but after those events he’s basically acted in a consistently exemplary manner, in his dealings with Billie, with shoe-hunting Dotty, and now with increasingly-clingy Amber. Not bad for an idiot teenager.
Pheh to the lot of you. From where I sit, you’re all danning it up more than Danny ever has.
This is the only one of Damn You Willis’ strips I’ve read, so I have nothing to compare any of the characters to. I HATE DANNY! Period. He is a tactless, thoughtless, insensitive moron. Getting run over by a steamroller, then backed over to see if they got him, and then run over again in the getaway, is too GOOD for him. I got no patience for assholes, and Danny is an unwiped one.
Okay.
I suspected it from the start, but now I’m finally fully convinced.
The vast majority of Danny-haters are just pretending. Sure, hating him for being thicker than a concrete bunker is understandable, but that thing about him being a huge jerkass? Just an in-joke. Like how we pretended, for I don’t know how long, to not realize that Amber is Amazi-Girl.
So thank you, anifreik, for being so obvious about it. Now I can stop waiting for someone to give a reasonable explanation for all the hate.
Personally I just find him obnoxious. But my dislike for him is basically just dependant on what he’s doing at the moment. Like when you already don’t like someone, every thing they do wrong becomes MORE prominent. At least in my eye.
I was serious. If he dropped forever from the strip it would please me immensely. Being a dumbass is forgiveable, he can’t help it. Being spitefully obnoxious is totally within his control.
Which is probably why he NEVER acts spitefully obnoxious. Ever.
Every time that I’ve tried to get a straight answer as to why people hate Danny, they either reply with things that would make him an asshole if they were true, but aren’t true, or things that are true but doesn’t make him an asshole. If I ask for specific instances of him being horrible, I either get instances where he isn’t being horrible, or replies like “he’s always horrible”.
The worst part is, I want to be angry ‘cuz of Danny’s incredible Amber/Amazi-Girl blindness, but I can’t. All the irrational Danny hate, serious or not, has killed “being angry at Danny” for me. It’s not just a dead horse, it’s minced meat with bits of fur and hooves sticking out, and people just keep kicking it.
So if you truly are serious, then I’m sorry, but neither you nor anyone else has given me any reason to believe it.
Yeesh, it’s just like yelling at someone on your favourite sports team. We yell because what else can we do =p
Wow. Didn’t see that one coming.
I think part of what frustrates me so much about Danny and Amber is that the latter has bent over backwards trying to please him, and the former just sits there without giving anything back.
Amber has not told Danny who she is for a couple of reasons:
1) Danny has already rejected her for Amazi-Girl, therefore, she is worried he’ll break up with her if he knows the truth.
2) Danny explicitly told her not to tell him.
Now remember, Amber has gone through abuse and/or neglect, as well as been dumped by her best friend on account of his being gay, and harassed by said friend’s mom for “turning her son gay”. I don’t know about you guys, but when I’ve been dumped, I generally have a very hard time being around that person. It’s painful. And yet, Amber has had to deal with that with Ethan, with no breaks, no time away for her to recuperate from this ordeal. So it’s to be expected that she wants a normal, not-gay boyfriend that she has stuff in common with. Couple that with the whole AG coping mechanism thing, and you see that her life is just one precarious balancing act that she has to jump through hoops for just to maintain.
And of course, there are those of you that say it’s her fault, that if she didn’t want this to happen she should’ve just told him from the beginning. But what makes you think, from her perspective, that Danny would stay with her if he knew the truth? Especially since Amazi-Girl is the product of a truth so horrible, that there’s little chance anyone would want to be involved in the tragic, fucked up mess of a life that she possesses*.
But what about Danny? There’s good evidence his parents are verbally/emotionally abusive, and also perhaps neglectful. I don’t know how much of an effect on Danny. Maybe their criticisms of him have lowered him to the point where he’s become this dependent, yet somehow still completely arrogant asshole. I can’t say for sure, and no one else can either. However, everything I wrote above about Amber? Backed up by tons of evidence. I’m not going to make any presumptions about Danny’s emotional well-being, because there’s really no reason to.
So yeah, I blame Danny for being an ignorant piece of shit more than I do Amber. His self-centered attitude has contributed a good deal to this situation in a way that I can’t sympathize with.
*Not my personal opinion, just a common worldview of abuse victims that Amber almost certainly applies to herself as well.
*slow clap*
Well, I don’t think either of them are really at fault here. At least, neither of them more than the other. You raise a very good point I hadn’t considered, about how Danny’s kind of trapped Amber by more or less telling AG not to reveal her real name to him. It leaves her in a very bad position where she feels she really cannot be honest with him. Danny, meanwhile, is trying to placate meddling parents and also protect his relationship with Amazi-Girl, who (rightly) is his priority over just-a-friend Amber.
The fact is, both of these kids are in a vulnerable and confused place right now and it’s colored their behavior in negative ways towards each other. They’ve made some poor decisions due more to their ex’s and the current emergencies running in their lives, and their selfish inability to be honest with each other is coming back to haunt them. But I don’t see laying blame as being necessary here; I don’t think either one of them is particularly worthy of vilification. Danny’s just trying to be honest and upfront and fair to the girl he’s already making out with at night; Amber’s trying to build their friendship up to the point that she can tell him she is that girl he’s been making out with at night without it being catastrophic to their relationship. Mix their parent issues into that and we get this huge mess. I find it difficult to blame either of them for it, at this point.
It’s cute how so many folks are so protective of li’l Amber, but she’s not completely blameless here. And while folks like me like to point out that Danny gets a bad rep, the fact is he brought his half of this train wreck moment on himself. These two are both messed up for their own reasons, and those flaws are feeding off each other in negative ways.
My question at this point is, what is Amazi-Girl going to say to Danny tonight, now? Is Amber going to try and suck up her hurt and continue her costumed alter-ego’s relationship with the guy? Or is she going to let the situation lead Amazi-Girl to dump Danny? Either reaction is right and wrong, and either one will have deep effects on Danny.
Juicy stuff.
I agree that they’ve both brought this on themselves. The reason I side more with Amber than Danny has to do with this little portion of my comment:
“His self-centered attitude has contributed a good deal to this situation in a way that I can’t sympathize with.”
I just can’t sympathize with Danny. At all.
Other than that, we’re pretty much on the same page here.
…No
Danny’s desire to pursue a relationship with Amazigirl, deliberately ignorant of her identity, is a kind of objectification. He doesn’t want her to be a real woman, he wants her to be his unrealistic fantasy. He has principles such as honesty, but he’s using “amazigirl” without much consideration for the PERSON she represents.
I agree with what you said regarding Amber, and I’m not trying to assign blame for the current situation. I just find Danny to be a worse person, more selfish.
“Danny’s desire to pursue a relationship with Amazigirl, deliberately ignorant of her identity, is a kind of objectification. He doesn’t want her to be a real woman, he wants her to be his unrealistic fantasy. ”
What? Where do you get that from? You are not in Danny’s head (or Willis’s one), but you are abit jumping to conclusion, there.
You are talking about a couple that has got a lot of occasion to talk and see each other. At some point, Danny made the decision to choose Amazi-girl rather than Amber and that was after having got a lot of chat (through Nintendo DS) with Amazi-girl. I don’t think she is just some super-heroine Fantazy for him. They really got together after they started to get to know each other.
So assuming he’s got purely altruistic motivations for his decision to decline to know her name, he’s still choosing to try to date her because of her superheroine status. That’s a bit more benign, I suppose this comic isn’t supposed to be realistic and I need to suspend my disbelief sufficiently to accept that a man can for unselfish reasons decide to date someone who is a vigilante with a secret identity AS that secret identity.
He’s dating a superhero! I’d say it’s more romanticisation than objectification; it’s like dating a Rockstar or Author or some other celebrity. It’s sort of the opposite of objectification as where Objectification is treating someone as less than an object, Danny here is clinging to the idea of Amazi-girl being larger than life and awesome.
I think it’s a pretty universal feeling which goes accross both genders and shows up with people crushing on celebrities.
Now does this take away from the relationship? Maybe a little. Danny does definitely get on with Amazi-girl for who she is but he likes the idea of dating a superhero as well.
Does this make Danny an awful and/or woman objectifying person? I don’t think so. He’s definitely awkward with dating and has explicitly said so in the past but he means no harm and clearly has a lot of respect for Amazi-girl. I recall him saying that he’s ridiculously awkward about coming off as sexist to the point of feeling awkward flirting.
The problem here which people keep overlooking, is that he has fallen for the Clark Kent effect of not recognizing Amazi-girl without her mask. Which is sort of dumb but an accepted story telling cliche.
Now he does have issues on the other end that he’s clingy, dependant and self-esteem issues that put him pretty far from the ideal boyfriend. Which is why Dorothy dumped him. But I don’t think it’s fair to call him Obnoxious or deliberately sexist/hateful/what have you.
Objectification is treating someone as if they have no agency, merely an object of desire and nothing more. It’s not treating them as “less than an object”. Don’t know where you got that definition.
Rose-colored glasses are never a good thing. He’s placing her on a pedestal, and his fixation on her is affecting his relationships with other people.
Actually though, I’m pretty sure the whole Amber/Danny/Amazi-Girl subplot is meant to be a deconstruction of the Clark Kent cliche. Danny and Amber are reenacting it in an incredible display of escapism because they are having an abysmally hard time coping with their lives right now.
…So yeah, Danny’s not awful. Not at heart, at least. How he conducts himself on the outside however…
Less than an object is mistyping because I’m tired, but I meant “like an object” or “less than a person”. I think I combined the two. I do think a distinction should be made though between “a base object” and crushing on a member of a band or an actor or something like that. I recognize that idolizing someone is treating them like an idol which could be interpreted as objectificiation. However, I don’t feel comfortable putting every friend whose ever had a crush on a famous person in the same category as the [thankfully few] people I’ve met who see other people as objects for their pleasure.
But I do agree that rose-coloured glasses aren’t good. However, all we have here is that he thinks it’s romantic to date a Superhero. He’s never really said or done anything to imply that he doesn’t respect her as a person as well. Maybe he sees her as a way cool person who’s too good for him, but that’s a self-esteem problem that he’d have dating regular Amber too.
I’m able to zone out his ignorance of “haha Clarke Kent cliche” and I think with tha perspective, the rest of his actions seem pretty alright to me. I think people here are reacting like this is the first and last words he’s giving to her, when it seems more likely that he’s ready to stick around and explain why [assuming Amber doesn’t freak out but Walky might want to pad this plot].
“He’s placing her on a pedestal, and his fixation on her is affecting his relationships with other people.” I would say that’s the bane of the start of any relationship. Most relationship (with super heroes or not) always start with “He/she is so perfect”. The partner will often cast his other half in a perfect light.
They decided to date after passing an night together talking and playing video games, so yes?
Just to point out I have a bit of a different talk on Danny asking Amber not to tell her secret ID. Maybe I am getting it wrong, but the way Amber said “Y-You need to know who I am now?” sounded a bit like “you already want to know my secret ID, isn’t that a bit early?” And Danny, for me reacted in way that meant “oh no, you will reveal your ID to me when you feel ready”.
That’s what that exchange meant, for me. At least that’s how I perceive it. Then again, I might be wrong about that, tough, I am not Willis. But people interpretating that has Danny saying “I don’t want to know your secret ID at all ever” is an interpretation I didn’t expect.
That’s how I read it as well.
Arrogant? Self-centered? Danny? What comic are *you* reading?
Seriously, I think that somebody’s been handing out hallucinogens and has been leaving me out. Which is a darned shame, because it’s obviously some good shit.
Why do I think that Amber is at fault here? For the same reason that I think Jem is at fault with her problems with Rio – she’s 2/3rds of a love triangle of her own making. Simple as that. And while Jem was rightly annoyed that Rio was cheating on her with herself, Danny is taking the high road and trying to avoid that. There are several ways that Amber could handle this (like, staying a casual friend as Amber until Danny finds out, or just telling him), but pursuing him romantically in both modes is NOT putting him in a fair position.
Does she have decent reasons for doing what she’s doing? Debatable – she did NOT have to introduce herself as Danny’d girlfirend to his parents. Being a friend would have saved her just as well. But she DID take the Roomies-Joyce approach, and in doing so she’s painted Danny into a corner: she’s overtly romantically pursued him in both modes. He’s made it quite clear he’s not going to go the Rio route, and has made it clear that he doesn’t want Amber to try to put him in that position. And yet she did. And that’s that – he can’t allow this to continue. Which brings us to where we are.
And he managed to do all this without being arrogant and self-centered at all – not wanting to cheat on Amazi-girl is in large part thinking of her.
Good thing I’m not talking about this specific instance then. What Danny is doing here makes sense based on what Danny knows. That much we can all agree on. However, if you had taken a moment to actually read my post and expand it beyond the narrow scope of this particular strip, it might make a little more sense.
I read your post, shortly after rereading the entirety of Danny’s interactions with Amber and Amazigirl in the tag archive (which I did to be able to more accurately respond to another post.)
Danny remains one of the most selfless people in the comic. He’s not the brightest bulb in the drawer, but he’s not out there to get things for himself at the expense of others. Not now, and not at all since that moment where Dorothy finally got around to mentioning she didn’t want him around (after knowingly letting him follow her to college).
So yeah.
Responding to this separately;
You’ve cited a lot of stuff that Amber knows and Danny doesn’t and couldn’t.
Let me rehash your argument;
Danny, not realizing the two are one in the same, decided that he would rather date one Amber’s one identity over another. This isn’t a flaw I don’t think; if two people like you and you like one more, then you should be allowed to date the one and try to keep on good terms with another.
This has caused Amber some anxiety because she feels her regular-self is too boring for Danny and so she maintains the illusion to keep dating him while trying to win him over to her regular self as well. She has her reasons [or character flaws] which incline her to go down this path.
Now, they’re probably a few weeks into their relationship both dating and as regular friends. It’s very understandable at this point that Amber wouldn’t want to talk her family and neurosis with Danny yet. This is fair but this also means you have to take into account that Danny doesn’t know any of this stuff.
Ergo, here you have Danny doing all her can for Amazi-girl [who he has been loyal to] and trying to maintain a friendship with Amber who he’s just realized he can’t hang out with without this looming air of a crush. This is awkward and difficult but yeah, it’s not obnoxious or a flaw here.
That’s point A.
Point B; The comic you cite is Danny responding to whether he “needs” to know Amber’s identity. You can tell by her expression and the general situation that she didn’t feel comfortable telling him [as she was afraid of rejection]. Danny replied that he didn’t need to know [with the No, Absolutely Not] which to me read as “I’m not going to ask you to go out of your comfort zone, tell me when you are ready”.
Now, he could have done better and pursued it while reassuring her that he would still like her and that it didn’t matter except to make things a bit less complicated. But that’s not in his character that he’s awkward and is afraid to pursue things.
It’s a character flaw that he totally gets beat up on for, but it doesn’t make him an arrogant piece of shit.
I think the best thing for you to do with his character is to stand back and recognize that he’s an object of Amber’s affection and the situation [and his obliviousness] is making her suffer but it’s a situation she manufactured herself and one she perpetuates rather than having ended it [at the risk of being rejected] a long time ago. Danny is oblivious and he has flaws that are making the situation worse but he’s far from obnoxious or entirely at fault here.
You’re misinterpreting my argument. I agree that both Danny and Amber have fucked up. Amber is at fault as well. I’m actually not blaming Danny for not knowing these things about Amber, as he has no reason to. I’m saying that as a character, he is nowhere near as sympathetic as Amber, and it provokes an instinctive rage and feeling of protectiveness over her as a result. All I’m doing is explaining why Danny gets so much hate from me (and probably other readers as well).
As for how Danny has contributed to the situation beyond that, I’ve said it in bits and pieces scattered throughout the comments section. I’m not really feeling up to collecting them all here, so if you’re interested, I recommend just going through my posts (I don’t really expect you to do that, but idk).
I would like to address this though:
“The comic you cite is Danny responding to whether he “needs” to know Amber’s identity. You can tell by her expression and the general situation that she didn’t feel comfortable telling him [as she was afraid of rejection]. Danny replied that he didn’t need to know [with the No, Absolutely Not] which to me read as “I’m not going to ask you to go out of your comfort zone, tell me when you are ready”.”
I actually had this same little quibble with begbert2 up there. Another strip seems to support my interpretation more.
Which Danny didn’t realizing he was telling to the proverbial Mary Jane.
Again, here it feels like you’re assuming he should know that he’s saying this to Amazi-girl [in which case it would be “Don’t tell me”] as opposed to telling a friend about a crush [“Actually, I think it’s kind of Romantic that I don’t know”].
I’ve scanned a few of your posts but I can try a ctrl+f after this and post a reply on the bottom.
Not at all. All that extra strip was, as I said, evidence supporting my interpretation, which was not “oh man, I should back off before she gets uncomfortable”, but “wow, this is so cool, I have a superhero girlfriend and I don’t even know who she is, nor do I want to because secret identities are hawt!”.
The thing is though that it’s different circumstances;
In the first, he’s saying he definitely doesn’t “need” to know her identity right away. She seemed pretty uncomfortable about giving it [“Y-you…” obviously stuttering].
In the latter, he’s telling a friend that he thinks the superhero angle is ‘hawt’. He’s sitting down, talking and getting to know her at a pace that seems pretty normal to me for what you pointed out yourself “probably less than a month”. Secretly hoping that her real name gets revealed in a dramatic manner and not wanting to know her as a person regardless of her name are two very different things.
I also replied to your comment around the end, incase you haven’t seen it but I don’t think I missed a lot in terms of posts.
Oh the difficult life of a superhero…
Oh uhm Nightmare Scenario…has one made the assumption that Danny actually has figured out Amber is AmaziGirl and is tired of the charade?
No maybe not enough in-comic time has passed…?
I hope Amber as Amazi-girl now says something similar to Danny with the same nasty glares. Poor Amber, after the crap with her dad Danny does this to her.
To be fair, he doesn’t know about any of that.
And *she* knows that he doesn’t know.
Things I hate about the page: *Danny’s lack of tact.
*Danny glaring at Amber.
*Danny’s solution to having romantic feelings for two people is to COMPLETELY cut someone out of his life.
I hate when people cut someone out of their life instead of attempting to deal with their own damn emotions. It is usually just like this too, a jerky “we shouldn’t hang out any more” without even discussing what the problem is with the other person. He hasn’t even TRIED to think through what his emotions are or what they could do to maintain their friendship he is just giving up on it completely.
1. This is the only opening line. He gave a pretty neutral line. He could have opened with some “You’re really nice” or “I’m sorry but…”s but this is like ripping the plaster off.
2. She came up to his parents who he hasn’t seen in months, suddenly pretending to be his girlfriend after he had told her that he didn’t want to pursue a relationship.
3. He was hanging with her as a friend for months. Then she pretended to be his girlfriend and he realized during this that he actually did like her romantically as well. It’s unfortunate perhaps but it would be really hard to return to the friendzone after that.
You’re assuming here that this is his first and only line. If it was “I never want to see you again” and then riding off into the sun set, then yeah, it’s a bit of a jerk move.
Instead, he waited until they were alone and said clearly and quickly that he doesn’t think they can be friends. Now, unless Amber freaks out, then she has all the time in the world to ask him why and find out how he feels.
As far as things go for breaking up a friendship under these circumstances, this is probably one of the better ways to do it. Many more would probably just avoid her [or send a text message or otherwise make it clear after this line that they didn’t want to say any more].
This is like watching someone kick a puppy.
The irony of your avatar makes this post zen to me.
Thank you.
God you jerks, what has he done wrong now?
He’s shown disapproval for people flinging at him, forcing him to lie to his parents just to help them save face. And also for not wanting to cheat on his girlfriend.
The bastard!
+1
He was never forced to do anything. Re-read the the strip. He *agreed to* the plan for Amber to be his “girlfriend”. He could have called it off then and there, but he didn’t. And it accomplished exactly what it was intended to accomplish.
But OH NOES! In the process, he found out that maybe he likes Amber a little bit more than he realized. This made him feel awkward, and in Danny’s world anything that makes Danny uncomfortable is to be unceremoniously rejected, whether it is free sexy times with a hot cheerleader, his best friend’s entire lifestyle, or the not-so-subtle hints from his girlfriend that she’s breaking up with him. So because he might like his friend a little too much, she gets unceremoniously frogmarched off the plank.
I don’t understand all this Danny hate. I mean, I admit it, Danny is stupid, very stupid, but the reason he is stupid is because he hasn’t realized yet that Amber is Amazi-Girl. Danny is stupid for not figuring that out yet. that deserve a facepalm, but not all this hate.
But Danny’s decision make sense, from the perspective of someone who believe Amber and Amazigirl are two different person. Danny had been dumped, had got his heart broken and he know how horrible it felt and he doesn’t want at any cost to hurt someone else like that.
Here is what has happened, during that moment, Danny has realized he had started to develop feeling for Amber, the one he know is really Amber and he know that if he want to remain faithful to Amazi-girl, he has to cut short to those feeling growing in him. He love amazi-gilr and don’t want to do anything that might risk to break that love.
Danny is stupid because he doesn’t understand the reason he starting to develop feeling for Amber are the same one he has developed for Amazi-girl. Danny is conflicted, thought his love was true and doesn’t understand why he is growing for someone else. But he also know that love isn’t just about feeling, but about responsibility. He does what he think is right to remain faithfull to amzi-girl.
Danny is stupid for not having connected the dot yet. But he doesn’t deserve to be hated for trying to do the right thing, for trying to preserve to his love for Amazi-girl and not betray her.
Well, it’s also a bit extreme. He could’ve just said something like “Amber, regardless of what happened now I have feelings for someone else but I hope we can still be friends.”
It’s more complex than that. Danny had already stated to amber he only wanted to be friend with her. What Danny hadn’t expected is that he would be starting to develop real feeling for amber. It’s something that is out of his control. He want to cut short not so much to reject Amber, but so that he doesn’t develop more feeling for her.
The last thing he want is break Amazi-girl heart and he thought the wize thing to do was to go pre-emptive on the feeling he had started to grow on Amber.
Add to that that Danny had also early on started to develop feeling for both Amber and amazi-girl and after having frequented both for a while, decided he had to made a choice and choose amazi-girl. he thought he was done with that choice but is now realizing that might not so much be the case.
Exactly. He has feelings for “both” girls. So how the hell do you justify treating someone you have feelings for, even if you’ve decided not to be with them, in as callous a manner as this?!? If this is how you treat your friends, Danny, I’m happy to be your enemy.
He had developped feeling for both amazi-gilr and Amber. After a romantic night together, he chose Amazigirl. Now he is trying to deal withhis conflicted feeling by trying to remain true to Amazigirl.
it’s not a callous manner. He is picking the only option he have to not grow further feeling for Amber. I mean, let’s make the crazy supposition that amazi-Gilr and Amber are two different person. what option would he have?
Uhmmmm, the amazingly groundbreaking, heretofore un-thought of option of being NICE about it! Showing some understanding and compassion for someone that’s supposed to be his friend? I dunno, common courtesy, maybe?
And how the way he said it wasn’t nice in the first place. there is not a lot of nice way to say “I prefer we cease to see each other because I might be starting falling in love with you and I don’t want to cheat my girlfriend”, without actually saying he might be starting to have feeling for her, because he know that is only going to hurt more.
the way Danny put it “I don’t think we should hang around together anymore” has absolutely zero meanness in it. I don’t see what else Danny could have said to her without admitting he is starting to fall for her, something that can only hurt more.
“Danny, I’m happy to be your enemy.”
The motto of Roomies.
A “thanks for what was obviously a bail-out from my nosy parents who thought I was still with Dorothy and would’ve wanted me to answer for that” would’ve been nice.
He didn’t really ask for that in the first place. He even tried to deny he was with Amber. You are aware that is is Amber who asked to him to help her, right?
“Thanks for making me lie to my parents to bail you out from losing face, you crazy stalker. Why wasn’t being friends good enough for you?”
Now, that’s being a bit unfair to Amber. She really needed a break from her dad, there. Tough Danny don’t know that.
Exactly. We have the (somewhat) omnipotent view, and know quite a bit about a fair number of people’s problem. Danny only knows what he sees and is told. (And arguably he could use glasses.) So to properly assess his character and what would be a reasonable reaction from him, we have to ignore all the little details that he’s not privy to.
“Because my crazy dad I’ve been trying to tell you about at my own pace was gonna kill me”
SO THERE
[come on, tell me you can’t help yelling just because WE know all the details they don’t]
I hadn’t considered this angle, actually! The two of them have exchanged a few Meaningful Looks and blushes during their little charade for the sake of Danny’s parents, haven’t they? And when Danny was forced to open up about his feelings, there was definitely more at play than just placating his folks, wasn’t there?
This actually makes his last line in this strip more reasonable. He has to choose between the girl he’s already committed to and the girl he’s suddenly feeling attracted to. He’s trying to be a good boy and nip it in the bud as succinctly as possible. He’s cutting off the temptation to cheat on his girlfriend, whom he’s rightly making his priority.
Which leads us right back to the fist-through-the-wall frustrating fact that the girlfriend and the Other Girl are one and the same person.
Good catch; don’t think anyone had pointed that angle out yet.
Fuck you Danny, and not in the nice way.
I think Danny is totally in the right here. I also think we can’t keep the fact that Danny hasn’t recognized Amber for Amazi-girl just because we know. No one else has figured it out ether and before someone says he has spent time with both of them. Dorothy got a very clear view of Amazi-girl as well as knows Amber, Dorothy is generally considered smarter then Danny but she hasn’t figured it out ether and she is a reporter noticing details about someone is her job so Danny while he is oblivious does also have this up his sleeve HE doesn’t want to know who her identity is! so he is most likely ignoring anything that represents Amazi-girl in Amber, and when she does revel herself i would not be surprised if he says something along the lines of “I knew it!” and the explain how.
I’m getting so tired of people saying “WELL NOBODY ELSE HAS FIGURED IT OUT YET”.
First of all, Ethan (and presumably Mike) has.
Second, have we seen Dorothy pursuing her leads yet? No? Then why the hell would she be able to make the connection right off the bat seeing as she’s only met Amber in any meaningful context ONE TIME?
The counter argument to this is that they both knew her in Highschool. For all we know, they helped her put the costume together. We could totally get an awesome prequel comic where we finally see why she dons the mask.
Hint, hint to any authors who read the comments to their comics, pretty please.
The counter-counter argument is, again, Danny has been spending time with her constantly, both in and out of costume.
My first thought here was, “well, it didn’t take him long to screw it up”. Then I realized that this could go several ways, depending on what happens next. If he tells Amber that he is seeing someone else, and doesn’t want to cheat on her, he could come out of this looking like a champ, since, of course, Amber would know exactly who he is talking about.
Still can’t believe he hasn’t figured it out yet, however. She may be wearing a costume and mask, and disguising her voice, but one things girls do is tend to have a unique smell, a mixture of shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, make up, skin treatment, perfume and whatever else they apply. He should have picked up on that, if nothing else.
Your mistake is thinking that Danny could at one point not be doing something wrong.
Woah, I tried to “+1” this, but it said I’d already made that post, so it deleted the duplicate.
Lame.
Has Danny been physically close enough to Amber to be able to tell that there is no difference? I mean, I know what you’re talking about, but you really have to be at their neck to afford that level of differentiation. (Wait, did I use that word correctly?)
While I would agree that most people would pick up on the fact that the two coincidentally smell the same, I wouldn’t be at all surprised that Danny wouldn’t because he is so inexperienced with women. The only woman he’s been that close to before is Dorothy, so he might not realize that one’s scent is a fairly unique trait.
you know what I don’t buy danny not realizing amber is Amazigirl. Not because of him not being oblivious because he is but Danny in previous universes as well as this one has admitted to having a thing for girls in glasses so i don’t buy that he’s never imagined Amazigirl wearing glasses.
My take on it is that Danny is currently to emotionally confused to even think of questioning Amber’s actions. But that’s just me.
Sorry, I replied to the wrong person. I thought you were Rahzy
One thing that occurs to me is that shortly after meeting Amber it was pointed out to him that she’s a Dorothy clone – a fact that he’s joked about later, so it’s obviously stayed on his mind. Given that, he may be constantly reminding himself that yes, he has a type, and the fact that all the girls in his life look alike does NOT mean they’re the same person. To him it might be more like “Amazi-girl looks like Dorothy” than “Amazi-girl looks like Amber.”
Oh SHOOT he Dannied it up gosh Dan it.
Am I the only one who thinks Amber-as-Amazi-girl has no choice but to break up with Danny now? Because this whole interaction is contemptuous.
I think Amber has to say Danny that she is Amzi-Girl. At this point, Danny has clearly proved that Amazy girl can trust him.
Oh yeah, this would be the first person I chose to confide my secret identity to. NOT!
He just showed her that her love for her was more important than anything else.
They’ve been together for approx. a month (probably less). His “love” (read: obsession) for her should most certainly NOT be more important than anything else.
I can’t blame the guy for choosing his girlfriend with someone who’s just proven (to him) that they don’t respect his relationship, or his wishes (he told her flat out that this situation was making him uncomfortable). Not to mention, it’s not as though Danny and Amber have been friends for much longer than he and Amazi-girl have been “dating”.
Sorry, should be “choosing his girlfriend over someone”
Olala.
It’s Danny!
There’s a lot of people here who have the opinion that Danny is f—ing it up big time here. Personally, I think that even if it ends up horribly, you do NOT violate the trust of your significant other.
DOA book 1 came in the mail today! I basically squeed like a fangirl because of the hand-sketched doodle of Amazi-girl. The Amazi-Girl Strikes poster hasn’t arrived with it, so I suppose it will be delivered some time in the near future? My Scott Pilgrim poster is still a bit lonely, hanging on the wall with that piece of empty wall next to it.
That is all.
If you’re Robin from Far Away, then your poster got returned to me this morning, along with somebody else’s. It’ll have to be put out again! Dangit.
Aw, that explains it. Well, let’s hope it goes through this time.
BTW, I finished the book. It was a great read!
<3 Amber.. o-o.
Alright, I get people who are saying that, in Danny’s mind, he’s with Amazi-girl, and Amber is butting in… but still. My first reaction would be “now we have a moment to talk, can you explain what that was all about?” instead of Danny’ing it up and just telling someone to screw off. He and Amber were friends. Surely he could take that little bit of time to find out what was going on?
My take on it is that Danny is currently to emotionally confused to even think of questioning Amber’s actions. But that’s just me.
Danny asked her what this was all about just as you describe, and even reminded Amber that he’s involved with another girl to boot, right here:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/liar/
Amber chose to be obtuse rather than honest. Obviously this was because her dad was baring in on her and she needed an out, which is perfectly reasonable. But it also means that Danny’s been operating in an information void throughout this whole deception. As far as he knows Amber’s just suddenly doing this despite his protests. He has no idea why. He has to be asking himself, “what if my girlfriend sees us?”
What she said was “Play along…for now. So, instead of waiting for the promised expanation, Dumbass Danny just jumps straight to cutting her out of his life. He should be asking her “Now, why did I just go along with all of that?”
Good point. Hadn’t noticed that.
God Dammit Danny…
You just keep Fucking it up!
“You see Amber, I’m already seeing someone and well… she isn’t you”.
Consider it from his point of view. Out of the blue one of his platonic friends of the opposite gender rushes up, starts hanging all over him, pretending to be his girlfriend. And after a few minutes, it becomes rather blatant that she’s NOT acting. This is completely, utterly out of left field.
I’m frankly surprised he managed to keep it up this long.
Of course, I expect her to hand him her mask, which she has readily available in her pocket…
It’s not completely out of left field. He and Amber already discussed why he wouldn’t be dating her.
Am I allowed to point out that we’ve seen NO-ONE connect Amber to Amazi-Girl? is Danny so bad for being one of many?
Ethan
DANNY STOP ACCIDENTALLY BREAKING UP WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND. I am mostly just mad because of how hurt Amber looks now. 🙁 What a rough day for her.
I am waiting for Amazigirl to dump him after this fiasco, then Danny hooks up with Billie, who tells him Amazigirl is her roommate, at which point Danny and Billie try to court Sal into a threesome. #fanfiction [Ruth is still here, so this can never be canon because Billie/Ruth trumps Billie/Danny.]
Wait so where is Ruth in this fanfic of yours? Something about a truck?
We can be nicer this time. Instead, let’s just say she gets stuck in an alternate dimension with vampires and gets to be a badass vampire hunter and have her own spinoff comic series, but instead of staking vampires you can kill them with punches to the face.
And then she gets hit by a vampire driving a truck. 🙁
But the question still remains.
What does Amber like in Danny?
He’s very honest and authentic. I guess that’s more important to her than intelligence. His kindness is kinda either way he was pretty rude to her on several occasions. So yeah, similar interests and earnestness is pretty much all of which I can think.
He seems normal.
Since we have positive and neutral, I can chime in with something a bit more negative;
Danny’s best quality is availability. He looks up to her and is shy and nervous himself.
Amber fears rejection and doesn’t feel comfortable in herself. So having someone who is also shy AND thinks she is awesome is a pretty good catch.
Not a huge fan of Danny, but let’s be fair.
Sure, he doesn’t realize that Amazigirl and Amber are the same, despite looking identical.
He figures Amazigirl is Dorothy getting back together with him secretly. I mean, it looks just like her!
That’s something i never thought of before.
Now I understand Mr. Willis’s twitter name.
“Amber! What does the fanbase say about his Danny level?”
“It’s over nine-thousaaaaaaand!”
“What?! Nine-thousand?!”
(I am so, so sorry)
Don’t be. 😀
Poor Danny. Despite having reasons for doing what she did, Amber was being really unfair to him… and obviously enjoyed it.
Love the progression of facial expressions in this one.
Oh yes! Poor Danny, a girl obviously likes him
And he likes her too..but likes her alter-ego more!
But being the butt he is can’t for the life of him realize that they are “one in the same”
…the nerve of her!
More like she realizes that he doesn’t understand that they’re the same person, refuses to tell him, and then forces him to act unfaithfully to the person that he believes he’s dating.
+1
Has Danny always been this… special?
Since the beginning of time.
*cries* WHY MUST YOU DO THIS DANNY? I really hope she tells him that she’s Amazigirl. COME ON AMBER DO IT YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER!!!!
This comic causes a fight in my brain. It’s asking “Why are you doing this Danny?” even though I know why and it’s a good reason. And I know it’s hurting him to do this because Amber is a great friend to him.
wowza, I’ve made 35 comments on this strip (not counting this one)
I think begbert2’s mad at me ; – ;
Read the comments and as not to double reply, opted to respond down here as I mentioned in the first reply.
You conceded the Clarke Kent Parody point, which is a large part of the complaints and why I feel so easy about writing this off.
To other points;
The main new argument I saw was the implication that Danny was obcessed with her. I don’t think this is quite fair; I think Danny’s more just at that stage of romantic maturity where holding hands is still a *big deal* probably on par with kissing in the minds of most. This is something that I think most go through in early on [girls and boys alike] but Danny never really grew out of it. It’s a flaw definitely, but it goes pretty far to explain both why he’s feels so commited to Amazi-girl [he takes it seriously even if it seems small in perspective] and why he thinks he needs to drop this now since he feels he cheated on her with Amber here.
Outside of this, I think it can be summed up like this;
Danny is awkward at Dating, he doesn’t know how to treat girls and when he does stumble onto one, he clings and is dependant as all hell. He’s also sort of dense and has low self-esteem.
Amber has a lot of anger issues which she works out by dressing up and beating people who do bad things. She is nervous and deeply afraid of rejection and let Danny believe the Amazi-girl Fantasy because she was afraid he’d reject her [which if you’re being fair, I don’t think he would have. Especially not early on].
I think both are fairly flawed but sympathetic enough. The reason it’s easier to blame Danny is because he’s not being hurt at all here [not yet at least]. Amber is freaking out and dealing with this while he’s content to be dating Amazigirl. However, it should be maintained that it’s because she chose/is choosing to keep up the lie.
The interesting thing about this comic is that it has broken down this delicate equilibrium and could just as easily end with it being revealed and all ending well or with Danny get hurt as well [if only by realizing what was happening this whole time].
If it ends well, I think Amber has more room to grow. If it ends completely, then it might be because Danny realizes that he’s been lied to and it’s not his fault which would open up growth for him [maybe he’s not awful?].
I suspect Willis will do a bit of both with the narrative forcing Danny to stand up and grow a spine and showing Amber that she’s not awful.
So, because I’m a huge nerd with time to kill before the update, I went back through all the strips with Danny in them and sort of applied a reverse Bechdel test.
The only times he is not talking/thinking about/to some girl he’s romantically/sexually interested in are when he goes to yell at Roz for making the sex tape and he gets a call from his mom and talks to Joe about church. All of his character development is centered around his relationships with his various girlfriends. First there was Dorothy, the woman Danny planned the rest of his life around*. She dumped him, he got depressed**… and then he met Amber. They started crushing on each other. At some point, Amber informed Danny that Amazi-Girl chased down the guys that assaulted him and kicked their asses. Danny concluded this must mean she likes him, so he waited out in the place where they first met until nightfall***. Thus started the stupid Amber/Danny/Amazi-Girl thing.
So basically, Danny’s number one priority is to have an exciting love life. And when he’s deprived of that? Petulant whines. Seriously, what’s to like about him?
However, I do agree with you that there’s room for growth. Maybe one day, Danny will be able to evolve into a less awful version of himself. For now, we’ve just got to keep him at the front of the party and switch him out for more powerful mons until he reaches that level.
*Holy shit, was Danny channeling Joyce back then or something?
**Incidentally, his first encounter with Amazi-Girl was shortly thereafter.
***This is all after only meeting her once, by the by, and they didn’t even really have a conversation.
That’s basically it; He’s a reversed gendered Superhero’s girlfriend. Which in itself is sort of interesting to me, if only for the reactions.
I will say Danny’s priority is far from “Interesting Love Life”, I’d say it’s more a view of “Life is only meaningful from the view point of a strong relationship”. He turns down Billie because he felt like he was ‘taking advantage’ of her only for Joe shut him down on that point.
I think the way it went basically comes from him going from everyman [though I only vaguely remember Roomies!] with little characterization to what he is now to give him something as a character. This interpretation lends him some characterization outside of “beleaguered everyman” but does indeed require him to constantly be in a relationship of looking for one.
As for pure likability? I think he’s got an interesting dynamic with Joe [Jacob highlights this] and has been established in a way that he has room to grow in a way that’s interesting [As you said yourself]. I wouldn’t want to date him but I don’t think “Obnoxious” or some of the harsher terms is fair.
Now for a contrast; I put down Scott Pilgrim because I found him unlikable and his cheating and inability to end his already sort of relationship made it unpleasant for me to read. Having been made to watch the movie, I think I made the right call.
Danny is relatively bland, definitely has flaws but as you said he’s not awful at heart and has room to grow. The actual damage he hasn’t done anything knowingly to hurt anyone else. Most of what he’s done has been pretty well intentioned even if he’s also a giant ball of moping to friend a week after he’s dumped by his three year long girlfriend [who he clung to like a dryer sheet].
So overall, I’d say Danny’s flawed, moderately interesting [though likely no one’s favourite character] but relatively well intentioned and not really worth the hate here. Meh at worst and solidly readible at best.
You’re probably not going to be back to read this, but I thought it deserved a reply anyhow.
The funny thing is, we seem to agree on a lot of points, we just look at them way differently. You’re far more charitable with your opinions, while I all but condemn him. It’s been pretty interesting talking with you. I didn’t expect to get such a satisfying discussion out of this page… kind of just a lot of begbert2 getting mad at me*. ; ^ ;
So yeah, thanks for the talk! I hope we get to have another at some point.
*Which sucks, because I’ve always enjoyed reading their comments, both here and on SP!. Of course, I could just be reading too much into it.
I just noticed the update but I tend to leaf back at the stuff I wrote. It was definitely a fun chat.
I’m sort of sporatic about commenting on comics [I think I commented on two other comics here, once a week ago and the other like three months ago] but I might pop in again to say hi.
And I wouldn’t worry too much about it; I can’t speak for him but I don’t think it’s worth holding a grudge for the sake of a different opinion over the internet. Provided it doesn’t get to be a pattern, I suspect it’ll mend itself soon enough.
It’s nothing personal – you keep saying absurd things about Danny being some kind of monster; I keep trying to poke holes in anybody’s posts that make such an absurd claim. There’s just a lot of overlap there. 🙂
Ok so, as much as I hate to admit it. Of all the characters I relate to danny the most. I have a lot of the same problems and in this same situation I’d prolly do the same, he likes amber. He really does, but he is LOYAL. To a fault prolly. So right now he feels as if he has betrayed his parents for lieing to them (though we as readers know that danny and amber are going out he doest know amber is amazigirl, clark kentitudeness and what not whatever. so not really a lie but to him and his lack of knowledge he did the right thing as a friend playing along with her because she obviously had a reason for it) anyway lost my point right and he feela he is betraying amazigirl, so the only RIGHT thing he can think of is separate himself from amber, because he LIKES HER and has admitted as such to her. She is now a threat to his loyalty to his girlfried. So from his standpoiint he has to separate himself from her to prevent himself from acting anymore disloyal than he feels he already has. I actually have to give him credit, He may be a dense as hell indevidual, BUT, he actually is thinking of someone other than himself here, hes thinking of amazigirl. From the stanspoiint of how he thinks she qould feel of him hanging out and dlirting with another girl. I agree he lacks tact here but i can relate… I have about as much tact as a brick through a church window myself.
I completely agree, and I feel the same way. I relate to Danny a little too much.
Aaaand the next two strips reinforce how Danny feels. I DO hope this works out for the better though. Being dense is hard, for both the people around a dense individual and the DENSE indevidual him/herself. :/ I’m still sailing this ship through though.
I have lost all sympathy for Danny. In this exact moment.
LOOK OUT EVERYBODY!
THE ABSOLUTE PROOF DANNY DON4’T WANT TO KNOW AMAZIGIRL SECRET ID!
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/color/
NOT!
Damn it, wrong strip. sorry (feel free to delete that post (or not))
You know guys, a lot of you are saying how stupid Danny is for not realizing that Amber was Amazigirl. But not so long ago you all didn’t recognize her either. Oh yes, I need only look back to last month to see reams of comments speculating that Amazigirl was everyone from Sal to Ultracar (which isn’t even a thing is this timeline!). And don’t even try to pull some kind of “oh, I was kidding, I knew all along” excuse on this one. It would be such a transparent lie to cover up your own foolishness.
And apparently ultra car can’t be written out as one word on this board. Weird.
………apparently we aren’t allowed to type the name of Joe’s artificially intelligent means of conveyance anymore.
oh god. I thought that woman who looked like Amber was a bait and switch. That WAS her mother. and she just almost made Joes half-sibling!
Well, least he’s hot.