I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions, but I was asked what mine was at a New Year’s Eve party. “Prepare for the nuclear apocalypse,” is what I went with.
He claimed the news isn’t funny any more. And, considering how much of recent history has been pretty divisive, he might be right. On the other hand, if you go through his stuff, you realize pretty quickly much of it could never see the light of day if it was produced now. (And we won’t even talk about Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.)
I hear this all the time and I don’t believe any of it. I mean, his exact stuff probably wouldn’t, because it was a part of his time, but there’s plenty of “offensive” humor being produced now.
And if you think the 50s and 60s weren’t divisive, I don’t even know what to say.
Yeah, so I’d like to make my piece with some things first. A gun could also be useful depending on where I am from the point(s) of impact, but I don’t really want to get a gun.
According to our plans from back in high school, head for the gates of the nearest arms factory with a sun reflector and a cute member of your preferred gender.
Alternately, try to calculate the best location to leave a good blast shadow and pose dramatically.
I was going to say my plan is to hide out in a CostCo, but then I remembered that’s my plan for the ZOMBIE apocalypse, not nuclear apocalypse. It’s hard to keep these apocalypses straight.
It’s great for the zombies though…giant solid building with no windows, only one entrance that closes via a heavy steel door, and well-stocked with food, clothing, and other supplies.
Yeah, I had some concerns in the last hour or so about the entire world wanting 2017 to just GDIAF, already–I mean, once I thought about how such a thing might actually come about.
That whole “Be careful what you wish for” thing, and all that. :/
You think it’s a joke, but next year we’re all gonna realize this was foreshadowing for when a magic comet turns the Earth into a nuclear wasteland and the characters have to fight for their lives
I actually got the impression that she’s already on her way of letting him off the hook, with greeting him. She might still be angry, but it’s probably difficult for her to stay angry with him for very long, seeing he’s actively trying to help (even with something simple as holding the door).
Or she might just still be very angry but the niceness in her cannot not acknowledge Joe trying to help.
Silly question, but do these strips still have hovertext on them? I haven’t seen them work on my phone (my preferred viewing apparatus) for a few days now.
it’s a “I’m sorry your toe is broken and I was implicated in the event”
“And I kind of feeling generally unsure about myself n shit right now and am not sure what to do about how you’re mad at me”
Maybe it’s just me, but “someday soon we’ll all be nuclear ash” doesn’t sound too far apart from “someday soon we’ll all be judged by God who will gather up the righteous and condemn the wicked to eternal hellfire”.
Could you maybe be a little less eschatological, Sarah?
it’s different bc one of those is talking about ‘some people will be judged good and others bad’ and another is talking about ‘everyone will equally die’
That’s not true at all. Those close to Ground Zero could be instantly incinerated, those further out could get hit with third-degree burns and be killed by that over the course of minutes and hours, others further out could be trapped in collapsed buildings for days before starving to death….
Maybe she’s not talking about all of humanity. Maybe she’s just aware that there’s a nearby nuclear silo in Indiana, and so knows that everyone for 50 miles will be ash but that people in, say, Australia will be fine so long as they know how to off-road in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
….
IS there a nuclear silo in Indiana? I mean, corn fields just feel like the right terrain for that for some reason….
….
*Googles “nuclear launch sites in Indiana” and gets put on five government watch lists*
re: this and the above “would you (want to) survive a nuclear exchange?” – I grew up in the 80s. I’ve already spent a lot of time thinking about this stuff.
Me too. :/ Nothing like the certainty that you won’t reach thirty to really put a crimp in making any actual, you know, long-term career or retirement plans. Because why would you, after all?
I grew up in the 80s, and in close proximity to several military equipment manufacturers, as well as not that far from New York City. No need to prepare if you’ll most likely be incinerated…
Not a “nuclear missile” site per se, but Google “Nike Missile Site C47” to read about an antiaircraft missile site was meant to take down Russian bombers that looked like they were headed for Chicago. It’s listed on the National Park Service web site.
Mother Jones has already done the work for you. Of course, clicking on a link to Mother Jones will probably also get you on five government watch lists.
Wondering where the nearest nuclear site is? Wonder no more.
I didn’t go through anything like what Joyce went through, but, I’ve had something bad happen, and I’ve felt that “I shouldn’t still be like this” feeling. The “I should be over this by now” feeling. And I felt guilty about how “this isn’t normal” until my therapist told me “it’s normal for you”. There is no universal normal, everyone’s recovery is different.
I’m really glad Joyce has Sarah to remind her that she *will* get there one day. It’s scary and frustrating being stuck in that state. I’m really glad Joyce has good friends.
(hug) Amen to this. It was my biggest fear after my anxiety attack that I’d be afraid forever. Having someone to tell me it was only for now really helped. I’m glad your therapist was there for you.
Never actually seen it, just read summaries.
Though I have seen Threads, and Testament. And, of course, The Day After.
You know, cheery holiday movies.
And we will all go together when we go
What a comforting fact that is to know
Universal bereavement
An inspiring achievement
Yes, we all will go together when we go
Sad thing is, during the Cold War my country was to be bombed by both sides. If West attacked USSR would bomb us to create a radioactive wasteland barrier. If East attacked USA would do the same.
Actual mock warm-up statement made by Ronald Regan before a televised Presidential Address. Somehow leaked to the Russians who panicked because they actually thought it was real. I’m not sure if that says more about Regan, the paranoia of the Soviet authorities or just how dangerous things were getting during the early 1980s!
And we had thought US presidents wouldn’t get worse after the cowboy.
I distinctly remember a moment when the daily “lets train bombing the tank way through the river Weser” squad came in about two km lower than usual and for a few moments I though “this was it”. But miraculously no flash came and the bang was only the supersonic bang a lot closer than normal.
That was around the time us military threw bombs on Libya. 1985?
Even if she did, what could a therapist do here ? They’re not supernatural beings making things go better in a snap of fingers. Joyce IS on the way to healing, she’s well supported and she knows she can talk about it with trusted people. All she needs is time, and as Sarah just stated, she’ll eventually be there, at her own pace.
I just realized – if Joe wants to seriously improve his image/outlook on life, he’s going to need a new wardrobe. He has like three shirts that don’t say something that’s intentionally suggestive on them. 😐
I suppose it was too much to hope that Joyce wouldn’t end up getting her turn at the wheel of being a worthless sack of dogshit, but hey it’s Dumbing of Age after all.
Right sorry my bad I forgot that blaming people for your physical injuries that you caused and being a dickbag to them was actually hilarious and quirky.
I’ve been directly told by people here that being a victim of abuse makes you inherently doomed to a lifetime of inflicting violence and none of you fuckers stood up and said anything when that happened, so take your concern and shove it up your ass.
I never saw those comments, as we don’t all read all the comments every day. If I had I would have said that that’s bullshit. I have multiple friends who are victims of abuse, and I’ve talked with them through recognizing how that doesn’t make them doomed.
So I’m sorry you were told that on here, but that doesn’t make it okay for you to talk to me like that.
While I don’t agree with Joyce’s decision to blame her injury entirely on Joe, I don’t believe doing so makes her a dickbag nor a “worthless sack of dogshit”, as you phrased it. Especially in the context of this comic where all she does is greet him – coldly, yes, but that’s not a crime?
And, like, the rest of the comic illustrates perfectly why Joe is not her priority? She was worried and frustrated by her lingering trauma and how it was currently hindering her life (that is, by making her unable to be on her own). It’s perfectly understandable why giving Joe more than a passing greeting was not the first thing on her mind, and it’s not like she owes him anything more than that anyway.
Joyce started out as a judgemental homophobe, dude. She was first in line. Every character in this comic has treated someone badly at one point or another. Like in real life, people are often inclined to forgive crappy behavior if the person being crappy demonstrates they’re willing to put in the work required to be less crappy. Sometimes even when that ends up being a lengthy process, or when new layers of crappiness are revealed.
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a little too soon ¬.¬;
I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions, but I was asked what mine was at a New Year’s Eve party. “Prepare for the nuclear apocalypse,” is what I went with.
What’s to prepare?
We will all go together when we go
All suffused with an incandescent glow
But look on the (very) bright side: “There will be no more misery / When the world is our rotisserie.”
My first post of 2018 and I screw up the link. That was supposed to go to Tom Lehrer’s We Will All Go Together When We Go.
Tom Leher was a damn national treasure.
Um, he’s still alive according to Wikipedia.
But not producing new material. So, no longer as much of a treasure?
He claimed the news isn’t funny any more. And, considering how much of recent history has been pretty divisive, he might be right. On the other hand, if you go through his stuff, you realize pretty quickly much of it could never see the light of day if it was produced now. (And we won’t even talk about Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.)
I hear this all the time and I don’t believe any of it. I mean, his exact stuff probably wouldn’t, because it was a part of his time, but there’s plenty of “offensive” humor being produced now.
And if you think the 50s and 60s weren’t divisive, I don’t even know what to say.
He still is, but he also was.
WHY have I never heard this before? (well I have an idea why, but still…) This will be one of my new favourite songs!
please make sure to explore the rest of his work. a gem.
Yeah, so I’d like to make my piece with some things first. A gun could also be useful depending on where I am from the point(s) of impact, but I don’t really want to get a gun.
*peace, fuck.
Was that Autocorrect, or a Freudian slip?
According to our plans from back in high school, head for the gates of the nearest arms factory with a sun reflector and a cute member of your preferred gender.
Alternately, try to calculate the best location to leave a good blast shadow and pose dramatically.
I was going to say my plan is to hide out in a CostCo, but then I remembered that’s my plan for the ZOMBIE apocalypse, not nuclear apocalypse. It’s hard to keep these apocalypses straight.
It’s great for the zombies though…giant solid building with no windows, only one entrance that closes via a heavy steel door, and well-stocked with food, clothing, and other supplies.
I’d say the timing was eerily prophetic.
Yeah, I had some concerns in the last hour or so about the entire world wanting 2017 to just GDIAF, already–I mean, once I thought about how such a thing might actually come about.
That whole “Be careful what you wish for” thing, and all that. :/
She’s making so much progress though
Agreed. A while ago, she’d be trying to nuke humanity herself instead of just waiting for it to happen on its own.
Oh, wait, you probably meant Joyce. Nevermind.
Sarah never misses an opportunity to be pessismistic about things.
And yet, it’s an oddly comforting thought.
You think it’s a joke, but next year we’re all gonna realize this was foreshadowing for when a magic comet turns the Earth into a nuclear wasteland and the characters have to fight for their lives
A magic comet nuking us instead of us doing it ourselves would almost be a win.
So this comic is a prequel, then?
Who Wants To Live Forever?…
I don’t believe I actually SAW this. I know the Seal remake from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert better.
There’s a Seal remake?
I actually don’t know if I even want to look into that…
“I intend to live forever, or die in the attempt!” – Villa – “Blakes 7”
Joe will be nuclear ash too, but he’ll be better nuclear ash than before, bit by bit.
“The bomb drops tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love you, Tomorrow! You’re always a day away!”
Aw Sarah, that’s so sweet.
Even she had to do her equivalent of the thing Walky does.
I’m reminded of this Firefly scene by the way.
That panel three Joyce.
I feel that so hard.
I love you, Jocelyne, but you confuse me as to where my comments are.
Nuclear ash, on the other hand, has a pretty impressive lifespan, so we can be nonexistent and faintly dangerous *forever*.
Nuclear ash has a very very short lifespan. MOLECULAR ash that is radioactive as a result of nuclear detonation has a much longer lifespan.
So when the missiles fly, you can say to yourself, “at least I won’t have to worry about nuclear ash for long!”
Hmmm being radioactive molecular ash would do wonders for my plan to destroy the world, thanks! 😛
I wonder when Joyce will let Joe off the hook for what was also her fuckup.
I mean, I get it’s easier to blame someone than recognize it was an accident she was equally responsible for, but this is pretty icy of her.
I actually got the impression that she’s already on her way of letting him off the hook, with greeting him. She might still be angry, but it’s probably difficult for her to stay angry with him for very long, seeing he’s actively trying to help (even with something simple as holding the door).
Or she might just still be very angry but the niceness in her cannot not acknowledge Joe trying to help.
Yeah, grudging acknowledgment is still more than she’s shown him before now.
Silly question, but do these strips still have hovertext on them? I haven’t seen them work on my phone (my preferred viewing apparatus) for a few days now.
Yes. As for phone viewing, pressing near the navigation buttons works, so long as you don’t press the buttons, which do their job if you do.
Yes. I believe you press and hold the empty area to the right of the “end” arrow.
They haven’t been working for a few days on my i-phone, never had any problems before.
Eat Arbys.
Now that’s just depressing.
At, or an?
It won’t matter what, or if, you ate at Arby’s when the sun expands and turns the Earth into an incandescent blob.
Did Joe ever see Ryan last time ( http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/presidential/ ) And could Joe be feeling more protective of his frineds in this spot?
Aren’t they just going to the same class?
Yes, he and joyce share the class. His expression in the first two panels is more than “Here comes someone with a box full of
iguanaDVDs”, though.it’s a “I’m sorry your toe is broken and I was implicated in the event”
“And I kind of feeling generally unsure about myself n shit right now and am not sure what to do about how you’re mad at me”
Eugh.
Maybe it’s just me, but “someday soon we’ll all be nuclear ash” doesn’t sound too far apart from “someday soon we’ll all be judged by God who will gather up the righteous and condemn the wicked to eternal hellfire”.
Could you maybe be a little less eschatological, Sarah?
it’s different bc one of those is talking about ‘some people will be judged good and others bad’ and another is talking about ‘everyone will equally die’
That’s not true at all. Those close to Ground Zero could be instantly incinerated, those further out could get hit with third-degree burns and be killed by that over the course of minutes and hours, others further out could be trapped in collapsed buildings for days before starving to death….
You’re just a ray of sunshine, aren’t you, Reltzik?
A ray of sunshine as viewed from Mercury, that is.
Maybe she’s not talking about all of humanity. Maybe she’s just aware that there’s a nearby nuclear silo in Indiana, and so knows that everyone for 50 miles will be ash but that people in, say, Australia will be fine so long as they know how to off-road in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
….
IS there a nuclear silo in Indiana? I mean, corn fields just feel like the right terrain for that for some reason….
….
*Googles “nuclear launch sites in Indiana” and gets put on five government watch lists*
Most silos are in plains states.
re: this and the above “would you (want to) survive a nuclear exchange?” – I grew up in the 80s. I’ve already spent a lot of time thinking about this stuff.
Me too. :/ Nothing like the certainty that you won’t reach thirty to really put a crimp in making any actual, you know, long-term career or retirement plans. Because why would you, after all?
*Sigh* I really, really have not missed this. 🙁
I grew up in the 80s, and in close proximity to several military equipment manufacturers, as well as not that far from New York City. No need to prepare if you’ll most likely be incinerated…
Not a “nuclear missile” site per se, but Google “Nike Missile Site C47” to read about an antiaircraft missile site was meant to take down Russian bombers that looked like they were headed for Chicago. It’s listed on the National Park Service web site.
There’s a bunch of abandoned Nike sites around here. I’ve found a few of them hiking.
I searched for ‘abandoned Nike sites’ and found a couple near me.
Wowsers.
Of course if you live near a major target…
Mother Jones has already done the work for you. Of course, clicking on a link to Mother Jones will probably also get you on five government watch lists.
Wondering where the nearest nuclear site is? Wonder no more.
Hey, um.
Thank you. This hit home for me.
I didn’t go through anything like what Joyce went through, but, I’ve had something bad happen, and I’ve felt that “I shouldn’t still be like this” feeling. The “I should be over this by now” feeling. And I felt guilty about how “this isn’t normal” until my therapist told me “it’s normal for you”. There is no universal normal, everyone’s recovery is different.
I’m really glad Joyce has Sarah to remind her that she *will* get there one day. It’s scary and frustrating being stuck in that state. I’m really glad Joyce has good friends.
(hug) Amen to this. It was my biggest fear after my anxiety attack that I’d be afraid forever. Having someone to tell me it was only for now really helped. I’m glad your therapist was there for you.
I would like to see Joyce stop hurting. I would also like to see Sarah stop hurting.
Suggested song for this strip: “Never Quite Free” by The Mountain Goats.
And here I thought I was the only one constantly pointing at the links between this comic and John Darnielle’s work! 😉
Damn you Willis, now I’m remembering When the Wind Blows.
(And now you all are too, so feel free to damn me.)
Never actually seen it, just read summaries.
Though I have seen Threads, and Testament. And, of course, The Day After.
You know, cheery holiday movies.
I only saw When the Wind Blows. And I just realized this might be a good year to read On the Beach…
Ugh, shudder. It’s a very good book – one of the very few that haunted me after I read it.
Especially true for those of us who passed a Morse code requirement to get a radio license.
That’s right Sarah, always look on the bright side of life.
*starts whistling*
And we will all go together when we go
What a comforting fact that is to know
Universal bereavement
An inspiring achievement
Yes, we all will go together when we go
https://youtu.be/TIoBrob3bjI
If two certain loose cannons continue that path, you could be right, Sarah.
And toes take time to heal.
Joyce should just get Carla to build her a mecha-toe.
Big sis is big-sissing good.
Topical!
*plays Crawl Out Through The Fallout on the hacked Muzak*
Only Sarah would feel the need to explain and clarify nice and encouraging statements!
My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.
Just please, don’t get confused by the map and don’t start bombing Poland, we are just next doors.
Don’t worry, all you should have noticed is some radioactive plume drifting over Europe a little while back.
Sad thing is, during the Cold War my country was to be bombed by both sides. If West attacked USSR would bomb us to create a radioactive wasteland barrier. If East attacked USA would do the same.
And the bombs from both sides cross right over Canada… :/
Can’t we just stick to targeted assassination like civilized people? :\
Just duck and hope they all have properly working engines and you’ll be good!
…. actually, Canada would probably be safer if all the missiles crater on Canadian soil without detonating.
Um, there was a “radioactive plume drifting over Europe” a little while back. Russia denied everything. Eat at Wendy’s?
Actual mock warm-up statement made by Ronald Regan before a televised Presidential Address. Somehow leaked to the Russians who panicked because they actually thought it was real. I’m not sure if that says more about Regan, the paranoia of the Soviet authorities or just how dangerous things were getting during the early 1980s!
I was almost a grownup then. To me it said all one needed to know of how on bended knee our press treated Reagan.
And we had thought US presidents wouldn’t get worse after the cowboy.
I distinctly remember a moment when the daily “lets train bombing the tank way through the river Weser” squad came in about two km lower than usual and for a few moments I though “this was it”. But miraculously no flash came and the bang was only the supersonic bang a lot closer than normal.
That was around the time us military threw bombs on Libya. 1985?
1986. We didn’t get Gaddafi, but we did kill a baby girl who might have been his adopted daughter.
🙁
As someone living in Europe, I’m not quite happy about reading that…
But whose ass will your administration kiss then?
Trump will invent a portal gun for the sole purpose of being able to kiss his own ass.
I hope not. I’d hate to find out the hard way whether or not burgling the POTUS counts as treason.
Not unless you then turn the goods over to an enemy power, or use them to engage in warfare against the United States.
…. I mean, it’d be a FELONY, but it wouldn’t be treason.
Jina!
Well, annoying orange didn’t push the button yet so we are good.
altergevver now …
“Always look on the bright side of life …”
“Up here, we can be garbage.
Someday soon we’ll all be nuclear ash.
My secret is I’m always thinking of murder.
I am a lesbian.”
As far as freeform poetry goes, Willis is acing it of late.
Nope. Sorry, Sarah, you’re wrong. As long as Dina’s in the same blast radius as you, you’re fine
Well, unless Dina takes a trip out to a nuclear fallout shelter for the fun of it. Then you’re all screwed.
Explain yourself, knave.
Dina is immortal.
http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/15385502185/is-dina-going-to-die-again
More or less immortal than Immortal Kitten?
“This won’t be you forever” – that’s some marvelous, healing words there Sarah. Hope and friendship.
(Ten seconds goes by, part of Sarah’s brain screaming)
Followed by death of course!
Awww, another one of Sarah’s touching moments.
I hope this toe accident will bring Joe closer to Joyce.
Is she getting help yet? Sal told her to, but I don’t think she has.
Sal told her to tell trusted friends. She has done that. But no, she’s not sought a therapist.
MY question is, why hasn’t DOROTHY told her to see a therapist?
Even if she did, what could a therapist do here ? They’re not supernatural beings making things go better in a snap of fingers. Joyce IS on the way to healing, she’s well supported and she knows she can talk about it with trusted people. All she needs is time, and as Sarah just stated, she’ll eventually be there, at her own pace.
Lol! Sarah the ever optimist!
I just realized – if Joe wants to seriously improve his image/outlook on life, he’s going to need a new wardrobe. He has like three shirts that don’t say something that’s intentionally suggestive on them. 😐
I am nostalgic for the times when Dumbing of Age didn’t take place in a year with two cranky overgrown toddlers wanting to throw nukes at each other.
The 1960s?
Sarah always knows the comforting thing to say!
I suppose it was too much to hope that Joyce wouldn’t end up getting her turn at the wheel of being a worthless sack of dogshit, but hey it’s Dumbing of Age after all.
That’s… a different interpretation of this comic than the one I had.
Dude, what the fuck.
Right sorry my bad I forgot that blaming people for your physical injuries that you caused and being a dickbag to them was actually hilarious and quirky.
no, still what the fuck. you might be projecting a little there.
Projectile some bile mayhaps
You’re just way too extreme in your condemnation of characters. It’s honestly a bit concerning.
I’ve been directly told by people here that being a victim of abuse makes you inherently doomed to a lifetime of inflicting violence and none of you fuckers stood up and said anything when that happened, so take your concern and shove it up your ass.
I never saw those comments, as we don’t all read all the comments every day. If I had I would have said that that’s bullshit. I have multiple friends who are victims of abuse, and I’ve talked with them through recognizing how that doesn’t make them doomed.
So I’m sorry you were told that on here, but that doesn’t make it okay for you to talk to me like that.
While I don’t agree with Joyce’s decision to blame her injury entirely on Joe, I don’t believe doing so makes her a dickbag nor a “worthless sack of dogshit”, as you phrased it. Especially in the context of this comic where all she does is greet him – coldly, yes, but that’s not a crime?
And, like, the rest of the comic illustrates perfectly why Joe is not her priority? She was worried and frustrated by her lingering trauma and how it was currently hindering her life (that is, by making her unable to be on her own). It’s perfectly understandable why giving Joe more than a passing greeting was not the first thing on her mind, and it’s not like she owes him anything more than that anyway.
Joyce started out as a judgemental homophobe, dude. She was first in line. Every character in this comic has treated someone badly at one point or another. Like in real life, people are often inclined to forgive crappy behavior if the person being crappy demonstrates they’re willing to put in the work required to be less crappy. Sometimes even when that ends up being a lengthy process, or when new layers of crappiness are revealed.
Hopefully not TOO soon.
alt text heh. Yea i guess this was made about the time lord dampnut made his first nuclear threat, huh?
… I cried a little.