Sageress, what are you talking about? No one involved in anything batman related has ever said anything like that at any point in time AND IF THEY DID IT SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER BE ACKNOWLEDGED BY ANYONE FOR ANY REASONS AND IS BEST LEFT FORGOTTEN, DEAD, AND BURIED.
Yup, I remember coming home after school to watch it, it came on at 430 every weekday (in syndication, of course). I would have watched it when it was new, but we didn’t have cable at the time.
As a followup, my favorite Batman one liner from the Justice League animated series (via WikiQuotes):
Clayface: You didn’t think I’d come here without reinforcements, didja?
Batman: Wish I’d thought of that. *door blows in behind him, revealing the rest of the Justice League, Batman smiles* Oh, wait. I did.
The question is did you beat it. (here is where i subtly brag) It takes a lot of effort and skill to complete 100%. (Yes, yes, yes. I am great. Worship me as you can never reach my level. Muahahahahaha!)
I haven’t played that game, but this talk of tunnels without touching the sides reminded me of the final level in Strike Suit Zero. *shudders*
…Okay, it wasn’t -that- bad, but it was more frustrating than I would have liked. Especially since the entire rest of the game is flying around in open space.
I always figured her for Amber’s voice in Shortpacked. I apply qualified VAs to all my webcomic headcanons.
Amber is Tara Strong
Robin is Wendee Lee
Ethan is Rob Paulsen
Galasso is Corey Burton
Mike is H. Jon Benjamin
Faz is Barbara Goodson
Leslie is Mae Whitman
Ought to think up some more for DoA. Only one I got is Michelle Ruff was Dina.
Not seeing H. Jon Benjamin as Mike either, although a lot of that may have to do with the cultural reference/callback/wordplay-heavy characters he’s portrayed recently.
The pants-shitting anecdote on the first episode of Aisha Tyler’s “Girl on Guy” podcast doesn’t help either.
Distance from the tree to the building seems a touch long, that’s the only part of today’s that’s even slightly difficult. As in, I could do all of this and I don’t even really exercise, just have an active job.
If you doubt it’s possible, watch Jackie Chan do it in several of his movies. It looks fake until you watch the out takes and see him fail repeatedly (ouch!)
I saw this when I was a kid, and even then I knew something was freakishly wrong.
The Force is strong within you. While Little Shop of Horrors is funny as all get-out, trust them instincts. They will serve you well.
Especially when the Dino-pocalypse occurs.
If I were Amazi-girl, I’d work out a kind of Peter Parker-Spiderman deal with Dorothy. Not, like, being the same person, but she could let Dorothy get the exclusive scoop on all the Amazi-happenings, while not revealing her secret identity. That way, Dorothy’s a good reporter (it might even be better than a one off story of revealing her secret identity), and Amazi-girl stays amazing.
I thought they went back to that in the new 52. He only jumps really high now again. Then again I only read the first few issues. Did he gain back his flight?
She will totally make it. I mean, she already jumped the shark a few panels back…
Too bongoy? That might be too bongoy. But Amber has quickly gone from being one of my favorite characters to one of the characters I am the least interested in.
It’s just too much, you know? Her panic attack after seeing Sal with Danny was the end of my tether. But instead of a break from the train wreck, we got the Blaine’n’Danny Show. And now we have Super Amber the Olympic-level athlete. I just can’t muster up the willing suspension of disbelief necessary for that right now. Like Sageress, at this point I just want her to get caught and get help.
But most of the fandom here (don’t know if that included you, Ducky) were able to banish disbelief, not just suspend disbelief entirely, to allow things like alien abductions, mindwipes, and top-secret quasi-military organizations like SEMME in Willis’ earlier strips.
That’s entirely different. For one, it relied upon a different story structure, something that relied on wacky insane antics. The first strip was about someone climbing outside a window to get a peek at girls. Wacky, and therefore not normal. DoA is a different creature. It relies on realism.
And for those who want Amber to get help. It is literally RIGHT around the corner. There’s not really not another way for this sequence to end. Amber is breaking. She’s going to get help. The only question is if she’s unmasked, by who, and who will know.
Bill, Mr. Random answered your question pretty well. DOA has always been a slice of life story. It’s Walky was an alien abduction story. If DOA becomes a super hero comic, I will retroactively suspend my disbelief.
Mr. Random, I want your prediction to be right so much. If the camera lens stays fixed on Amber’s story line and she doesn’t get some help (of any sort) soon I might have to take a few months off. Then I can come back and catch up in a single read through. This story arc is just breaking my heart.
DOA has never struck me as a super hero comic. But then I don’t read super hero comics, so what do I know.
I was going to post this in response to your Batman comment but it can go here instead: When the strip was more frequently light and a little silly Amber’s super heroics didn’t really even blip on my radar as anything other than fun to read and generally nifty.
But now the super heroics are juxtaposed with the rest of her story, which is some pretty stark realism. So it’s not that the Amazi-girl stuff is new (because of course it’s not). But as her story arc has become more serious the unrealistic stuff feels out of place.
“Dumbing of Age is supposed to be a slice of life story.” “DoA has never struck me as a super hero comic.”
Now, I don’t mean this to be snarky, and please read it as genuinely as possible, but I am not sure I will ever get used to folks telling me what kind of comic I’m obviously writing. I have never thought of my comic as either of those things. Other folks can categorize my strip in their brains as they wish, that’s their right, but I do kinda wish they wouldn’t hold me accountable to this contract I never signed. I am not writing “slice of life” and I am not writing “a superhero comic.” I am writing Dumbing of Age.
It sounds like the superhero part isn’t the thing bothering you the most. It sounds like it’s actually just how sad Amber’s storyline is, and that it’s a little too much to handle right now. Which, if it’s making you this uncomfortable, could just mean Dave is doing his job well. And as far as realism goes, he’s done quite a good job of building this up over the last three years. We’ve seen bits and pieces of Amber’s situation being revealed gradually, as well as more and more examples of Amazi-Girl’s athleticism over time. So far, nothing she’s done or anything that’s happened to her has been out of context or unrealistic. If she were to start flying around, then I’d be with ya, but so far this still feels like the exact same DoA I started reading three years ago.
Oh you’re absolutely right about how sad her story is. That scene in the stair well when she had the panic attack just killed me. And of course it’s gone down hill from there.
And that’s why I’m so frustrated with the super hero stuff. If it was toned down a little maybe Ruth would have been able to catch her and they could have talked. Or maybe Dotty would have been able to talk to her a few weeks ago and they would be friends now.
So I’m mad at her superness. And I am aware that that’s silly.
That was more Author’s Determination. Willis put his character, knowingly or not, in a position where uncertain attributes were at play. Amber is in great shape due to her vigilate exercises, and Ruth… May have played hockey? Either way we have seen some points where she had athletic ability, not many though, putting the chase into debate.
Therefore Willis had to determine to either let Amber get caught, or have her continue.
He chose.
We read.
We’re building towards a bigger climax.
An okay story uses an anti-climax, letting you off early.
A bad story keeps going on until it’s ridiculous.
A good story knows when the right point is to break.
A great story breaks at the peak.
I can feel the peak approaching, and I trust Willis.
He knows when to snap the tension.
It took me too long to figure out why this was a pun. Out of curiosity, how many people have an accent where “Squirrel” is one syllable and sounds like “Girl”?
Well, I guess as I’m saying it to myself, squirrel does have a second syllable when I say it, but it’s a “soft” syllable, if that makes sense. Like it’s all melted together.
No matter how many time I try, I can’t say “perfectest” without it being slow and stilted and tongue-twister-y.
Perfec-tist.
Pur-fe-est?
Purfe-kist?
Sometimes I realize that I give Walky far too little credit, and this is one of those times. Per-fec-test? Try saying that word five times fast.
Perfect-ist. (Or Pur-fict-ist, if you want to get picky.) It’s easy – just pronounce it like like ‘perfect’ flowing into ‘ficticious’ with an ‘ist’ instead of an ‘icious’.
Holy shit Dorothy, pipe the fuck down.
It’s just a fucking college newspaper. You’re stalking and chasing another human being for that shit.
What he fuck.
Walky’s right, Dorothy. The only thing that would be more appropriate in this situation is if Amazi-Girl were trying to get rid of a large cartoony bomb.
There’s no . in Herman B Wells. He made up the middle initial for the army. I went to library school there and never saw Amazi-girl, but Joyce I saw on a regular basis. That place is a large-ass triscuit.
I’m glad I went and checked to see if anyone else had made a Squirrel Girl comment before I said anything about the first thought that popped into my head while reading this like a jackass. Damnit!
She’s probably doing this most of the time that she’s not in class or gaming or sleeping, so she probably gets a fair amount of exercise to maintain and build upon what she must have done in track in high school.
I’m not sure why Amber’s ability demands a burden of proof while I can set into any ol’ Batman cartoon and understand Bruce Wayne can do this shit without a detailed day-by-day blow of his workout routines.
Lemme preface this by saying that I don’t have a problem with Amazi-Girl’s abilities. She may be stretching the bounds of strict realism a little bit, but hell, it’s a comic strip. Playing a little fast and loose with the realism for the sake of the awesome is allowed.
But Batman lives in a world where there’s a dude (more than one, in fact) who can no-shit fly – by no apparent mechanism – not to mention shrug off bullets, lift freight trains, and shoot heat rays out of his eyes, among other abilities (at some points including just about anything you can prefix with “super-“), just because *waves hands* light of a yellow star! Bruce ain’t nohow the least plausible thing in his world. Once you’ve suspended enough disbelief to allow for Kryptonians (and Amazons and Lantern Corpses and Tamaraneans and even some of the weirder members of the Bat-Rogues Gallery), an allegedly normal human exhibiting abilities a little beyond what an actual normal human could pull off isn’t a big deal.
But the Dumbiverse isn’t the DCU, or even the Walkyverse. There isn’t anyone who has real superpowers in the Dumbiverse – no omnipotent Cheese or flying Joyce or superspeedster Robin or even superscience inventor Joe, and the Aliens are only fiction – so if Amber’s showing abilities just a little beyond human norms, she is the one stretching the bounds of suspension of disbelief. Mine stretches that far, but maybe not everyone’s does.
So clearly what you need to do is show all the time Amber spends practicing to become the best at DDR.
Would you say the best Batman is The Animated Series? Many people would. I’m talking about the original run. Danny Elfman opening. Yellow oval symbol on his chest.
Well, there ain’t none of that stuff you listed in it.
Batman was just a regular guy in a world devoid of magic and aliens and Amazons. He was a dude in tights who had some gadgets and the hugest ax to grind. And I didn’t need Superman to show up four years later before I could believe he could do it.
In Amazi-Girl’s very first appearance way back in 2010, within the very first storyline, the very first “day” of the comic, she takes out three guys who are all twice her size and then leaps onto the top of a gazebo. It was a part of the world from literally day one. That is the Dumbiverse. I think it’s a little late for folks to be pulling the suspension of disbelief card.
Dunno, I never saw TAS. It first aired just after the point where I went off to college and basically stopped watching television. My impressions of Batman were formed first from Superfriends and later from the comic books (though I never got into the rest of the DCU; I was mostly a Marvel X-titles reader), so it’s part of my conception of Batman that, even if they don’t actually show up much or at all, Superman and Wonder Woman and Green Lantern and the rest of the Justice League are out there somewhere off-screen. And even without them, a fair few of the classic Batman villains – Clayface, Poison Ivy, most incarnations of the Joker – are way weirder than Bruce. And with Bruce, we have at least the allegation that he’s spent years training to be the best at everything, whereas I’m not sure what Amber’s been up to since that convenience store, but she seems to spend all her time that she’s not Amazi-Girling playing Dark Worlds of Evercraft or whatever.
Anyways, like I said, I don’t have a problem with what Amazi-Girl’s doing here. For me, she’s staying on the right side of the line between, “Dude, that was awesome!” and “Dude, that’s impossible!” I’m really enjoying this romp, and would be enjoying it more if I could forget that Danny and Blaine exist.
But there’s a difference, at least in degree, between the things we’ve seen Amazi-Girl do before – up to about the “reveal” and subsequent rail-grind – and what she’s doing now… and moreover, she’s doing it a lot more openly here. Before, we were getting a panel or two of her kicking a dude in the face, or being (somehow not really detailed) on top of a gazebo, or hurdling a hedge – which, except maybe the gazebo, are well within limits of things that require some degree of athleticism but are not extremely difficult – not action sequences of her doing a wall-running backflip or just straight-up leaping over people or parkouring through a tree onto a roof without slowing down. So while I’m thinking this is awesome, I can see why some people are going, “Wait, where’d this come from?”
(Though, sadly, I suspect for some of them, it’s because they’re going, “She’s a girl! A fat* nerdy girl! How can she be doing cool physical things?”)
((* She isn’t.))
(And, y’know, I’m not really sure why I’m arguing this anyway, because, like I said, I think this is awesome and fully support the drawing it forever idea, so screw it.)
It addresses the “suddenly” part, though. Amazigirl’s actual competent superheroics are only a surprise to people who just wandered here from Shortpacked!.
Honestly, I don’t think anything Amazi-Girl has done in the Dumbiverse even approaches the fight in This Man, This Manhattan, which probably should have killed her a couple times over, for necessary suspension of disbelief. But then, the Walkyverse is a place where disbelief is suspended for having a brawl in the streets with a giant mutant frosted honeybun already.
Y’know, I’d be enjoying these strips a lot more if Danny and Blaine bonding over badmouthing Amber weren’t hanging over them like some kind of Sword of Danocles.
Amazi-Girl is opening up distance on her pursuers. Onto the ledge, then up to the roof; drop down an access hatch that she has pre-scouted and into a convenient janitor’s closet (which can be locked from the inside) in the library where she can change back into street clothes and emerge later as just plain Amber. Amazi-Girl does it again!!
As an Australian, I thought it was a weak joke until I remembered that Americans don’t pronounce the “e” (Phonetically, Americans say ‘squirl’ as opposed to ‘squirrel’)
Willis cannot help putting genuine superhumans into his storylines – search your feelings, you know it is true! This will – eventually – turn into another battle for the fate of the world. Do not deny it! It is your destiny!
People have been mentioning AG’s curves, but her stronger build is reflected in her jumping / climbing ability. By contrast, Dorothy has stick arms and a cross country build. Lots of endurance, but not much in the way of upper body strength. Good move, taking to the trees AG.
In the romance novel, “Karma Girl” (rare siuperhero fiction) the journalist based heavily on Lois Lane unveils the secret identity of numerous superheroes as part of a revenge scheme against her boyfriend.
Then one commits suicide as a result.
Dorothy should be careful whose life she’s ruining.
I feel like that had to have been added recently. I only just caught it on this re-read, for one, and for another, there’s discussion up above about this being named the Herman B. Wells library.
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Squirrel Girl is amazing
a FLYING squirrel
That’s it! I’m outta here!
Well, at least there was minimal effort put into it.
Squirrellgirl.
Now in DoA.
Let’s hope not, she’s a little overpowered.
Only a little?
Squirrel Girl’s only weakness… an artist that can keep her in panel at all times!
Best superhero EVER.
Of course, superheros have the best puns and one-liners.
Except Batman.
Specially Batman. I fixed that for you…
“Time to put Mr. Freeze on ice.”
Sageress, what are you talking about? No one involved in anything batman related has ever said anything like that at any point in time AND IF THEY DID IT SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER BE ACKNOWLEDGED BY ANYONE FOR ANY REASONS AND IS BEST LEFT FORGOTTEN, DEAD, AND BURIED.
I like that movie.
Yeah I enjoy all flavors of batman. Clooney reminded me more of the Adam West brand of batman, light on darkness but high in cheesy fun.
But nothri, do you know what killed off the dinosaurs? DA ICE AGE!!!
Wait Baron! That’s not a pun! That’s an empty reference!
The LEGO Movie’s version of Batman begs to differ.
“We’ll wing it.” *pause* “It’s a Bat-pun.”
Not a fan of the Adam West version, I take it?
I wasn’t even born when the Adam West TV show aired.
Pretty sure at least 90% of the readership (me included) wasn’t either.
I’m one of the 10% then, hell I’m older than The Beverly Hillbillies.
I’m so old I remember attending a theatre showing of “The Outlaws Is Coming” starring the Three Stooges……and….wait for it……..Adam West!
Add me into the 10% along with Plasma Mongoose and vanjealous.
I was 11 when the feature-length “Batman” (with Adam West) came out.
Yup, I remember coming home after school to watch it, it came on at 430 every weekday (in syndication, of course). I would have watched it when it was new, but we didn’t have cable at the time.
So what? I watched it growing up in the early 90s. It was still on TV.
Oh, he’s had his moments. And I don’t mean Adam West’s.
As a followup, my favorite Batman one liner from the Justice League animated series (via WikiQuotes):
Clayface: You didn’t think I’d come here without reinforcements, didja?
Batman: Wish I’d thought of that. *door blows in behind him, revealing the rest of the Justice League, Batman smiles* Oh, wait. I did.
Holely rusted metal Aizat !
Four seasons of Archer suggests otherwise.
Amazi Girl’s parkour skills are amazing!
She’s been playing lots of Mario and Assasins Creed.
I see her as more a Mirror’s Edge fan than Assassin’s Creed.
Or Batman Arkham City.
Amazi-Girl got all the gliding challenges on the first go! Even the one where you need to get through that tunnel without touching the sides!
You know, I got flashbacks to Superman 64 during that challenge.
The question is did you beat it. (here is where i subtly brag) It takes a lot of effort and skill to complete 100%. (Yes, yes, yes. I am great. Worship me as you can never reach my level. Muahahahahaha!)
That tunnel was my mortal enemy for far too long before I defeated it.
I haven’t played that game, but this talk of tunnels without touching the sides reminded me of the final level in Strike Suit Zero. *shudders*
…Okay, it wasn’t -that- bad, but it was more frustrating than I would have liked. Especially since the entire rest of the game is flying around in open space.
It’s like going from Freespace to Descent, madness I say!
Chasing a Superhero IS like one of the top 5 most appropriate times for wordplay.
The other one being in bed.
#2 is while fighting a duel.
I believe #1 is whenever someone expressly says not to.
“Stop that right now, I mean it!”
*hands StClair a peanut.*
Didn’t we tell you not to?
And I think number 3 would be in song.
NOT the time for wordplay?
Dorothy will never get into politics.
She better not be writing her own speeches, that’s for certain.
…Robin DeSanto?
Amazi-Girl – Amazi-Squirrel – Squirrel Girl!
It all makes sense now!
…It doesn’t, but I’m still going to pretend this is in some way revelatory. Makes me feel clever. (blows bubbles on pipe)
Suck intelligence!
And that pipe makes you look quite dapper
Or a Squirrel Girl…oh god damn it.
You’re 4th to make that joke. You didn’t even make bronze…
I shall fry the Evergreen Fir into bacon and steal the gold.
That’s still potato.
Bad Aizat, no axe for you.
Ooooh, what if she spots Sal and mentally freezes?
Maybe she’ll assault her for no reason like she was planning.
She has a reason, it’s just not one that’ll help her in court.
She’ll fall out of the sky like a wingless bird.
She’ll ask for a hatefuck.
My Tara Strong sense is tingling…
Why don’t I have that sense?
Watching several episodes of Fairly Odd Parents, Ben 10, Powerpuff Girls, All of MLP:FiM twice over and Teen Titans helps with that.
Also Hello Kitty/spider bite.
I always figured her for Amber’s voice in Shortpacked. I apply qualified VAs to all my webcomic headcanons.
Amber is Tara Strong
Robin is Wendee Lee
Ethan is Rob Paulsen
Galasso is Corey Burton
Mike is H. Jon Benjamin
Faz is Barbara Goodson
Leslie is Mae Whitman
Ought to think up some more for DoA. Only one I got is Michelle Ruff was Dina.
I can not physically love this post enough….
Ew.
I could think of a few ways…..
Having a hard time picturing Robin with Rei Ayanami’s voice.
Yeah, I think the voice of Rei works much better with Dina.
Cos who wouldn’t want a Dinaquarium? 😀
As long as it is not full of Tang or anything, I’m OK with that.
Think more “Haruhi Suzumiya” / “Konata Izumi” / “Princess Rozalin” Wendee Lee.
Though she’s got range, I’ll give her that. She can even play a boy.
Not seeing H. Jon Benjamin as Mike either, although a lot of that may have to do with the cultural reference/callback/wordplay-heavy characters he’s portrayed recently.
The pants-shitting anecdote on the first episode of Aisha Tyler’s “Girl on Guy” podcast doesn’t help either.
I can dig H. Jon Benjamin as Mike’s voice, but that’s just because H. Jon Benjamin should be everyone’s voice.
I imagined Mike as being voiced by Kevin Conroy. Drunk Mike has Kevin Conroy’s Bruce Wayne voice.
You are a goddamned genius.
And Danny… is Vic Mignogna. *shudder*
I was thinking more Greg Ayres.
That’s a pretty good list, IMO.
This list only begs one question from me, and that is: which Rob Paulsen voice?
I vote Ethan sounds like Pinky.
Misread that as Herman B. Willis library the first time.
Is that the same H.B. Wells that wrote “The Time Machine”?
That would be H. G. (Herbert George) Wells who was the author of “The Time Machine”, “War of the Worlds”, and “The Invisible Man”.
Sorry, I have Drain Bammage. Sucks sometimes most of the time. (now let’s see if that HTML tag worked, it was on the list)
And it didn’t work. Imagine a line drawn through “sometimes”…
Like this?*I* see that as underline.
H.B.Wells wrote The Time Matinee.
I call crap on this.
Distance from the tree to the building seems a touch long, that’s the only part of today’s that’s even slightly difficult. As in, I could do all of this and I don’t even really exercise, just have an active job.
I believe this is possible, I don’t think she’d be able to climb a tree that fast.
She didn’t. She jumped from the wall to a branch, and from the branch to the roof.
And the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.
If you doubt it’s possible, watch Jackie Chan do it in several of his movies. It looks fake until you watch the out takes and see him fail repeatedly (ouch!)
Key point: He fails repeatedly.
She’s been there 3 weeks and does Amazi-girl stuff like every night. If I was a campus superhero, the first thing I would practice is escape routes.
Jackie Chan, who trained a lot longer than Amber, failed repeatedly.
But succeeded at least once.
And he’s not getting any younger.
If Dr Doom ever showed up, he will be DOOOOOMED!
Such wordplay…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYXAaHs8DY
If you insist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SkrYF8lCU
Can we talk about this for a minute?
I’ve never seen this play/ movie before
And this scene My inner singer loves this but something inside me wants to hate it.
You…never…
Oh. Oh, dear. This needs to be rectified.
The movie is Little Shop of Horrors (1986) it has a lot of awesome songs in it like these:
The Dentist Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOtMizMQ6oM
Mean Green Mother
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-K6nS8OAUE
I saw this when I was a kid, and even then I knew something was freakishly wrong.
The Force is strong within you. While Little Shop of Horrors is funny as all get-out, trust them instincts. They will serve you well.
Especially when the Dino-pocalypse occurs.
DOOM DID NOT GET BEATEN BY SQUIRRELS!
You can scream it all you want, it still hasn’t been retconned out.
OBLIGATORY 35583RD SQUIRREL GIRL JOKE HUR HUR
If I were Amazi-girl, I’d work out a kind of Peter Parker-Spiderman deal with Dorothy. Not, like, being the same person, but she could let Dorothy get the exclusive scoop on all the Amazi-happenings, while not revealing her secret identity. That way, Dorothy’s a good reporter (it might even be better than a one off story of revealing her secret identity), and Amazi-girl stays amazing.
I gotta agree with Walky on this. Superheroes and supervillains always love a nice corny pun.
DOOM DO NOT LIKE PUNS! PUNS ARE BENEATH DOOM!
Especially Corn-man. or would it be “THE KERNEL”?
Corn Cob Man? There’s a lot of sick people in this town.
“You can FLY?!”
“No. Jump good.”
Lest we forget, Superman’s original powerset only involved leaping buildings in a single bound.
I thought they went back to that in the new 52. He only jumps really high now again. Then again I only read the first few issues. Did he gain back his flight?
He did in the comics set five years ago, IIRC, but he could always fly in the ones set in the present day.
Fun fact: Singer Will I Am sang the beginning theme to Samurai Jack.
Like Wonderella, she can jump hella high.
“I didn’t know he could fly.”
IT’S NOT FLYING IT’S FALLING WITH STYLE.
FUCK! I was Just about to say that!
You win this round Yoto…..
The trick is that you have to miss the ground.
She can’t fly, simply glide on currents of wind.
Flying Amazi girl.
Good Idea LiaHansen. A Peter Parker arrangement just might satisfy Dorothy’s need for success and Amber’s need for secrecy.
Is it wrong to hope she doesn’t make it to the ledge
She will totally make it. I mean, she already jumped the shark a few panels back…
Too bongoy? That might be too bongoy. But Amber has quickly gone from being one of my favorite characters to one of the characters I am the least interested in.
This comment requires reasoning. Why do you say she’s become less interesting?
There’s only so much a character can be shat upon before they become boring. Now I just want her to get caught and get help.
It’s just too much, you know? Her panic attack after seeing Sal with Danny was the end of my tether. But instead of a break from the train wreck, we got the Blaine’n’Danny Show. And now we have Super Amber the Olympic-level athlete. I just can’t muster up the willing suspension of disbelief necessary for that right now. Like Sageress, at this point I just want her to get caught and get help.
*brofist*
Appropriate use of a fist bump there.
But most of the fandom here (don’t know if that included you, Ducky) were able to banish disbelief, not just suspend disbelief entirely, to allow things like alien abductions, mindwipes, and top-secret quasi-military organizations like SEMME in Willis’ earlier strips.
That’s entirely different. For one, it relied upon a different story structure, something that relied on wacky insane antics. The first strip was about someone climbing outside a window to get a peek at girls. Wacky, and therefore not normal. DoA is a different creature. It relies on realism.
And for those who want Amber to get help. It is literally RIGHT around the corner. There’s not really not another way for this sequence to end. Amber is breaking. She’s going to get help. The only question is if she’s unmasked, by who, and who will know.
Figuatively.
Bill, Mr. Random answered your question pretty well. DOA has always been a slice of life story. It’s Walky was an alien abduction story. If DOA becomes a super hero comic, I will retroactively suspend my disbelief.
Mr. Random, I want your prediction to be right so much. If the camera lens stays fixed on Amber’s story line and she doesn’t get some help (of any sort) soon I might have to take a few months off. Then I can come back and catch up in a single read through. This story arc is just breaking my heart.
if only there was some way to retroactively add Amazi-Girl into the earlier strips
DOA has never struck me as a super hero comic. But then I don’t read super hero comics, so what do I know.
I was going to post this in response to your Batman comment but it can go here instead: When the strip was more frequently light and a little silly Amber’s super heroics didn’t really even blip on my radar as anything other than fun to read and generally nifty.
But now the super heroics are juxtaposed with the rest of her story, which is some pretty stark realism. So it’s not that the Amazi-girl stuff is new (because of course it’s not). But as her story arc has become more serious the unrealistic stuff feels out of place.
I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t make much sense.
“Dumbing of Age is supposed to be a slice of life story.” “DoA has never struck me as a super hero comic.”
Now, I don’t mean this to be snarky, and please read it as genuinely as possible, but I am not sure I will ever get used to folks telling me what kind of comic I’m obviously writing. I have never thought of my comic as either of those things. Other folks can categorize my strip in their brains as they wish, that’s their right, but I do kinda wish they wouldn’t hold me accountable to this contract I never signed. I am not writing “slice of life” and I am not writing “a superhero comic.” I am writing Dumbing of Age.
Mea culpa and I apologize. For some reason I thought you had described DOA as a slice of life comic in your Tumblr at some point.
It sounds like the superhero part isn’t the thing bothering you the most. It sounds like it’s actually just how sad Amber’s storyline is, and that it’s a little too much to handle right now. Which, if it’s making you this uncomfortable, could just mean Dave is doing his job well. And as far as realism goes, he’s done quite a good job of building this up over the last three years. We’ve seen bits and pieces of Amber’s situation being revealed gradually, as well as more and more examples of Amazi-Girl’s athleticism over time. So far, nothing she’s done or anything that’s happened to her has been out of context or unrealistic. If she were to start flying around, then I’d be with ya, but so far this still feels like the exact same DoA I started reading three years ago.
Oh you’re absolutely right about how sad her story is. That scene in the stair well when she had the panic attack just killed me. And of course it’s gone down hill from there.
And that’s why I’m so frustrated with the super hero stuff. If it was toned down a little maybe Ruth would have been able to catch her and they could have talked. Or maybe Dotty would have been able to talk to her a few weeks ago and they would be friends now.
So I’m mad at her superness. And I am aware that that’s silly.
That was more Author’s Determination. Willis put his character, knowingly or not, in a position where uncertain attributes were at play. Amber is in great shape due to her vigilate exercises, and Ruth… May have played hockey? Either way we have seen some points where she had athletic ability, not many though, putting the chase into debate.
Therefore Willis had to determine to either let Amber get caught, or have her continue.
He chose.
We read.
We’re building towards a bigger climax.
An okay story uses an anti-climax, letting you off early.
A bad story keeps going on until it’s ridiculous.
A good story knows when the right point is to break.
A great story breaks at the peak.
I can feel the peak approaching, and I trust Willis.
He knows when to snap the tension.
“That voice…where have I heard that voice?”
“You’re in my way, sir.”
YOU FOOL!
“You’re in my spot”
*FLASHBANG*
“AHH! YOU FOOL! REYNOLDS, YOU THROW LIKE A GIRL!”
I will punch you in the soul!
This is the spawn point you ass-miner! I ought a shoot you in the eyes right now!
I am exactly where I’m supposed to be…
I am in charge here, I got the captain…THING!
I AM YOU KING!!!
I AM THE LORD OF TEKKEN!
…what the fuck? That…that wasn’t a Spoony reference.
Have none of you ever seen Rocky and Bullwinkle? Seriously?
Why isn’t this like Facebook and I can Like this entire conversation *dying of laughter*
Wack’d, if you seen his review on Final Fantasy 13, you get why I started referencing Spoony.
My favorite Spoony line ever XD
What’s a paladin?
Your knowledge of the land shall be great.
I’m not entirely sure!
I visited my school library multiple times…not a single time for the cafe
Who puts a food court/cafe in a library? You’ll ruin the books!
-grumble grumble-
Clearly that was the driving force behind the downfall of bookstores.
I vaguely recall there being a library attached to my school’s cafe.
There better be more word play in this story arc.
If you’re not doing wordplay when encountering a superhero, you’re doing it wrong.
I guess Dorothy’s not Keener on it.
Her boyfriend’s just gotta Walky her through it.
Better not drive the point too hard though, Lessick is more.
And if you’re dressed as a Superhero, people will have to send out an Amber alert.
That would serve as a Warner to the villians, at least.
You’re all horrible people, and I Blaine you for not stopping this sooner.
I guess we all should re-Joyce that these puns are limited to a single comment thread…
Don’t be daft. Eventually the world will Siegal the joy puns can bring.
I guess that Dotty was barking up the wrog tree in this instance.
It makes sense for AG to have squirrel-like powers cos she’s nuts. 😀
Ba-dum-tish.
Or she put a lot of points in AGI.
You mean DEX right?
Different RPG.
Ow.
Amazi-Moose and Squirrel.
Now say it with a Russian accent.
*Pottsylvanian
Amazi-Rocky and Bullwinkle?
Walky knows his shit ^^
Damn straight
sounds computer-y: AMAZI-SQRL
I am more impressed that Amber’s cape didn’t get caught in the tree than her making that jump.
CRIKEY MOSES, I think you just made a good point there.
Still don’t get why you have food courts in a library.
Otherwise you get things like this happening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZE3ccT7VC8
Or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL3Z6Lajzw4
Having just disturbed one of the goddamned drug-dealing squirrels from his place on our porch roof this afternoon, this does not endear Amber to me.
Now I want to see Amazi-Girl wearing squirrel ears.
Squirrel-nekomimi?
You want a squirrel-cat thing?
mimi.
I am not having any luck with GT LT brackets tonight. Take two:
(Japanese word for Squirrel)-mimi.
risu.
Walky knows his shit.
Just scrolled up a few comments and saw that someone else already posted this… damn.
Damn straight, you mean.
Yes
This may be the first time I’ve agreed with Walky on his shenanigans.
It took me too long to figure out why this was a pun. Out of curiosity, how many people have an accent where “Squirrel” is one syllable and sounds like “Girl”?
Me! (Pacific northwest, USA)
Well, I guess as I’m saying it to myself, squirrel does have a second syllable when I say it, but it’s a “soft” syllable, if that makes sense. Like it’s all melted together.
Most people with a General American accent.
How many people don’t? How else is it pronounced?
SKWER-rull (rehl?). Two syllables.
I didn’t get that it was supposed to match ‘girl’ until reading these comments. I take it some folks say “Skwerl” all as one syllable?
Most people
So if they fall and get hurt chasing her, does she have to go back and help?
She will leap over them and apply bandages as she flies by.
Walky has taken the Dashing Swordsman prestige class. http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0390.html
Dorothy.
Dorothy you’re not seriously going to try the same tree-jump are you?
oh no.
There is a LIBRARY with a FOOD COURT!?! I need to be there now!
No matter how many time I try, I can’t say “perfectest” without it being slow and stilted and tongue-twister-y.
Perfec-tist.
Pur-fe-est?
Purfe-kist?
Sometimes I realize that I give Walky far too little credit, and this is one of those times. Per-fec-test? Try saying that word five times fast.
Perfect-ist. (Or Pur-fict-ist, if you want to get picky.) It’s easy – just pronounce it like like ‘perfect’ flowing into ‘ficticious’ with an ‘ist’ instead of an ‘icious’.
Point: Walky
Hi, Spliced!
http://xkcd.com/37/ forced my brain to parse the tooltip text as “this is a large ass-library”. Curse you, xkcd!
Given the increas(ed/ing) prevalence of leggings, it can be both.
Walky gets it.
Are we sure Amazi Girl isnt Sal?
I mean I really can’t see Amber pulling this stuff off…
Damn you masked mystery!
Nitpick: There’s no period after the “B” in Herman B Wells. The dude’s entire middle name is the letter B.
Holy crap. Girl is ballin’.
Holy shit Dorothy, pipe the fuck down.
It’s just a fucking college newspaper. You’re stalking and chasing another human being for that shit.
What he fuck.
She’s got her heart in the right place
, miles and miles and miles of heaaaaaart!
You mean a vigilante who has engaged in multiple accounts of assault?
Perfect avatar for that. And for Intie too.
Walky’s right, Dorothy. The only thing that would be more appropriate in this situation is if Amazi-Girl were trying to get rid of a large cartoony bomb.
There’s no . in Herman B Wells. He made up the middle initial for the army. I went to library school there and never saw Amazi-girl, but Joyce I saw on a regular basis. That place is a large-ass triscuit.
I’m glad I went and checked to see if anyone else had made a Squirrel Girl comment before I said anything about the first thought that popped into my head while reading this like a jackass. Damnit!
Seriously, how does Amber stay in shape to do this stuff? I’m beginning to think she really does have superpowers.
She’s probably doing this most of the time that she’s not in class or gaming or sleeping, so she probably gets a fair amount of exercise to maintain and build upon what she must have done in track in high school.
How is it that Amber, who pretty much did nothing but play video games suddenly gain parkour skills and conditioning?
It’s only “suddenly” if you’ve
never
noticed
anything
Amazi-Girl’s
ever done.
i love you david
-pushes the avatars together- Now… Kiss!
That doesn’t really answer HOW she is able to do those things in th first place!
I’m not sure why Amber’s ability demands a burden of proof while I can set into any ol’ Batman cartoon and understand Bruce Wayne can do this shit without a detailed day-by-day blow of his workout routines.
Don’t you watch HISHE? That’s “because he’s Batman!” =P
Lemme preface this by saying that I don’t have a problem with Amazi-Girl’s abilities. She may be stretching the bounds of strict realism a little bit, but hell, it’s a comic strip. Playing a little fast and loose with the realism for the sake of the awesome is allowed.
But Batman lives in a world where there’s a dude (more than one, in fact) who can no-shit fly – by no apparent mechanism – not to mention shrug off bullets, lift freight trains, and shoot heat rays out of his eyes, among other abilities (at some points including just about anything you can prefix with “super-“), just because *waves hands* light of a yellow star! Bruce ain’t nohow the least plausible thing in his world. Once you’ve suspended enough disbelief to allow for Kryptonians (and Amazons and Lantern Corpses and Tamaraneans and even some of the weirder members of the Bat-Rogues Gallery), an allegedly normal human exhibiting abilities a little beyond what an actual normal human could pull off isn’t a big deal.
But the Dumbiverse isn’t the DCU, or even the Walkyverse. There isn’t anyone who has real superpowers in the Dumbiverse – no omnipotent Cheese or flying Joyce or superspeedster Robin or even superscience inventor Joe, and the Aliens are only fiction – so if Amber’s showing abilities just a little beyond human norms, she is the one stretching the bounds of suspension of disbelief. Mine stretches that far, but maybe not everyone’s does.
So clearly what you need to do is show all the time Amber spends practicing to become the best at DDR.
Would you say the best Batman is The Animated Series? Many people would. I’m talking about the original run. Danny Elfman opening. Yellow oval symbol on his chest.
Well, there ain’t none of that stuff you listed in it.
Batman was just a regular guy in a world devoid of magic and aliens and Amazons. He was a dude in tights who had some gadgets and the hugest ax to grind. And I didn’t need Superman to show up four years later before I could believe he could do it.
In Amazi-Girl’s very first appearance way back in 2010, within the very first storyline, the very first “day” of the comic, she takes out three guys who are all twice her size and then leaps onto the top of a gazebo. It was a part of the world from literally day one. That is the Dumbiverse. I think it’s a little late for folks to be pulling the suspension of disbelief card.
Dunno, I never saw TAS. It first aired just after the point where I went off to college and basically stopped watching television. My impressions of Batman were formed first from Superfriends and later from the comic books (though I never got into the rest of the DCU; I was mostly a Marvel X-titles reader), so it’s part of my conception of Batman that, even if they don’t actually show up much or at all, Superman and Wonder Woman and Green Lantern and the rest of the Justice League are out there somewhere off-screen. And even without them, a fair few of the classic Batman villains – Clayface, Poison Ivy, most incarnations of the Joker – are way weirder than Bruce. And with Bruce, we have at least the allegation that he’s spent years training to be the best at everything, whereas I’m not sure what Amber’s been up to since that convenience store, but she seems to spend all her time that she’s not Amazi-Girling playing Dark Worlds of Evercraft or whatever.
Anyways, like I said, I don’t have a problem with what Amazi-Girl’s doing here. For me, she’s staying on the right side of the line between, “Dude, that was awesome!” and “Dude, that’s impossible!” I’m really enjoying this romp, and would be enjoying it more if I could forget that Danny and Blaine exist.
But there’s a difference, at least in degree, between the things we’ve seen Amazi-Girl do before – up to about the “reveal” and subsequent rail-grind – and what she’s doing now… and moreover, she’s doing it a lot more openly here. Before, we were getting a panel or two of her kicking a dude in the face, or being (somehow not really detailed) on top of a gazebo, or hurdling a hedge – which, except maybe the gazebo, are well within limits of things that require some degree of athleticism but are not extremely difficult – not action sequences of her doing a wall-running backflip or just straight-up leaping over people or parkouring through a tree onto a roof without slowing down. So while I’m thinking this is awesome, I can see why some people are going, “Wait, where’d this come from?”
(Though, sadly, I suspect for some of them, it’s because they’re going, “She’s a girl! A fat* nerdy girl! How can she be doing cool physical things?”)
((* She isn’t.))
(And, y’know, I’m not really sure why I’m arguing this anyway, because, like I said, I think this is awesome and fully support the drawing it forever idea, so screw it.)
It addresses the “suddenly” part, though. Amazigirl’s actual competent superheroics are only a surprise to people who just wandered here from Shortpacked!.
Honestly, I don’t think anything Amazi-Girl has done in the Dumbiverse even approaches the fight in This Man, This Manhattan, which probably should have killed her a couple times over, for necessary suspension of disbelief. But then, the Walkyverse is a place where disbelief is suspended for having a brawl in the streets with a giant mutant frosted honeybun already.
Do we have to keep calling Amazi-Girl’s athleticism parkour? Does Spider-Man do parkour? Does Batman do parkour?
When I think of parkour, I think of idiots on YouTube breaking their limbs while trying to backflip off of the steps in front of their house. 😉
When I think of parkour, I think of Stan Lee.
Y’know, I’d be enjoying these strips a lot more if Danny and Blaine bonding over badmouthing Amber weren’t hanging over them like some kind of Sword of Danocles.
I think this arc will end with Amazi-Girl breaking Dorothy like Bane broke Batman
No, Dorothy should become Amazi-Girl’s sidekick. But I so should Dina. They could be Amazi-Gang!
…..Hoping she doesn’t miss that tree limb.
….or roof ledge. I meant one of those things.
They renamed the library after I left in ’04. I had no idea. DoA is educational!
Amazi-Girl is opening up distance on her pursuers. Onto the ledge, then up to the roof; drop down an access hatch that she has pre-scouted and into a convenient janitor’s closet (which can be locked from the inside) in the library where she can change back into street clothes and emerge later as just plain Amber. Amazi-Girl does it again!!
Isn’t she missing a certain piece, though?
With every comic that this chase goes on, I like Dorothy less. =P
Yup, agreed!
As an Australian, I thought it was a weak joke until I remembered that Americans don’t pronounce the “e” (Phonetically, Americans say ‘squirl’ as opposed to ‘squirrel’)
Willis cannot help putting genuine superhumans into his storylines – search your feelings, you know it is true! This will – eventually – turn into another battle for the fate of the world. Do not deny it! It is your destiny!
People have been mentioning AG’s curves, but her stronger build is reflected in her jumping / climbing ability. By contrast, Dorothy has stick arms and a cross country build. Lots of endurance, but not much in the way of upper body strength. Good move, taking to the trees AG.
Somebody actually understands body types! This is what I’ve been thinking during this whole chase.
In the romance novel, “Karma Girl” (rare siuperhero fiction) the journalist based heavily on Lois Lane unveils the secret identity of numerous superheroes as part of a revenge scheme against her boyfriend.
Then one commits suicide as a result.
Dorothy should be careful whose life she’s ruining.
…I only now got the Parks and Recreation reference.
I feel like that had to have been added recently. I only just caught it on this re-read, for one, and for another, there’s discussion up above about this being named the Herman B. Wells library.
Also, the episode where they named a library after Leslie only aired a few months ago.
…the Leslie B. library ? maan.
Hey! I’m reading the comic through again and I just now realized the library is named for Leslie Knope. Neat!