Dumbing of Age / Funny

Moments pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

Walky is a fountain for these.
- Walky's face at the end of this strip. And he gets it whenever he sees Dorothy.
  - I GIVE IT TO YOU!
- Fifty. McNuggets.
- Weiner mange.
- Pajama jeans.
  Walky: Humanity's ingenuity has climaxed.
- NUNCHAKU!
- What, you thought he was stupid?
- His name is Gary. They will get Man Married.
- "That was allowed?!" (And followup.)
- Dirk Lonestyle.
- "I AM A LIVING GOD!"
- He may have outdone himself reactions-wise here
- "Okay, but if she starts climbin' onto buildings, I quit."
- "BAM! Weenus-pointed! The Alt Text really sells it.
- His face when he realizes that not only does Joyce apparently still ship him with Billie, but she's got entire scenarios planned out in her head.
- Advising Dina to eat chik-a-fil: "Yes! Eat the Dinosaur, and absorb its power!
Mike is also a constant source of these:
- Mike gets angry.
- The entirety of Mike chaperoning Joyce on her date with Joe.
- I got you something and I promise it's not a punch in the face.
- "I dunno is your conscience also gay?" ◊
- "I can never tell if your on my side or not."
- Hi, we haven't been introduced.
- Why did Mike go after Walky? That's why.
- "Let's hope it's not becoming a crackwhore. "
- "Have you tried a strap-on?" Strange Minds Think Alike at it's finest.
- Mike interrupts an otherwise sweet moment as only he can:
  Mike: Billie was drunkenly mauled by a bear.
  Walky: ...What?
  Mike: ...She was drunk, not the bear.
  Dorothy: Mike!
  Mike: Fine, they were both drunk.
- Mike finds he can do more damage with the truth.
  Walky: Thursday you told us Billie was mauled to death by a bear!
  Mike: Yeah, and did anyone believe me?! No!
- Amazi-Girls attempts to interrogate Mike backfire.
  - the follow up.
- ALL HAIL SATAN. The stunned reaction of Joyce and Dorothy really sell it.
  Mike: Come on, I can't be the only one who wanted to do that.
- "so Mike, you hungry?"
- Mike having a Meta Guy moment. ◊
- Mike knows Amber well.
- "IS that really your go-to move.
- "Asking for an eight-legged friend"◊
"She's a sweetie and you're some kind of sex monster."
ALL SHALL BURN!
Did. She have. A CHEST WINDOW?
- And much later...
  Dorothy: ...I seem to have accidentally browsed backwards to a Google search for "Amazi-Girl nude".
  Daisy: That is new-fashioned sleuthing.
The line to get into Danny's room.
For the next five minutes, we don't know each other.
"Just promise me I'm not walking into some dumb teenage drama or sitcom misunderstanding."
This is pretty funny, but with context, it becomes even funnier. The previous strips had involved drama with Ethan being gay. In this strip, Ethan comes to a resolution...and then the punchline hits, releasing several weeks of tension at once. In addition, this was the day that Willis released the "Sexiest Man" poll.
FOOMP!
"Geez, Joe, your dad is just you with a beard."
- Or, if you think Joe's punchline is funnier: "I wish I could say he was only like this after the divorce."
Why the hell am I waving?
A worthy salute.
"I needed to leave."
Shoving stuff into holes.
Danny mentions needing to stay away from people Amber knows, due to recent events. And then, Sal, whom he has been forming a friendship with, shows up. The Alt Text really sells it:
man the writer sure hates this kid don't he
Joyce finds something interesting in Sarah's drawer.
"Well I've ruled out "karaoke microphone"."
- Even better in that this was set up in the previous book, when Sarah mentioned she has "toys".
  Joyce: Aw, c'mon Sarah, we can play with them together! You can shove 'em around if I get to make the noises!
  Sarah: Stop. Talking.
Danny and Ethan's I Know You Know I Know battle.
Ethan: I'm struggling to find a way to ask if you know about the thing-she-does without tipping you off about the thing-she-does if you didn't already know.
Danny: I hope to God you're thinking about what I think you are, because God help her if there's more than one.
- And then, for possibly the first time in the comic, Danny gets to the point:
Danny: —Okay, she's AMAZI-GIRL, all right? We're both talking about her being Amazi-Girl?
Ethan: Yes. Thank you. That was getting kind of stretchy.
excuse me, vinegar, i have this baking soda that i need you to look at
- Similarly Billie and Ruth's attempt to throw Mary off their trail backfires a bit.
  Billie: F-Fuck you!
  Ruth: Fuck you first!
  Billie: I'd like to see you try!
  Ruth: I'll throw you to the ground and— Okay, I think this is starting to backfire.
  Billie: Hey, I'm following your lead, but your lead is kind of doing it for me.
Joyce tries to brave the filthy shower stall... and she fails. But the character's commentary sells it.
Dina: She's fainted.
Other Rachel: The detritus has claimed her. She is part of the stall, now.
- The author commentary for book 5 makes it even funnier.
  Willis: Whenever I get on an airplane-because I am morbid as hell-I think about the last strip I uploaded to the website. Essentially, what would be my Last Strip Ever. This was one such strip, and frankly I'm a little sorry I lived. Joyce trips, dies, the end.
After strip upon strip of Joyce being disgusted by Walky's behavior, we find out that Becky, of all people, has quite a bit in common with him.
Joyce sends Becky off to the showers:
Joyce: It's going to be full of partly naked ladies, so, uh, feel free to do some window shopping, I guess.
Becky: I shall sample your finest wimmins.
The last panel of this strip in its entirety.
Becky: Hey, guess what, I'm a LESBIAN!
- Mike's confused reaction to it sells it.
- The follow up also deserves a spot here.
  Becky: Hey, Billie, I'm a lesbian! High five!
  Joyce: Oh why don't you just tell everybody?!
  Becky: That's the idea!
The comments for Outrage featured some particularly charged discussion, so Willis used a word filter to replace the word "bitch" with "bongo". The results speak for themselves.
While most of the strip is either a Tear Jerker or a Moment of Awesome (the latter due to Joyce showing off her remarkable character development), the fact that Joyce references Harry and the Hendersons of all things while breaking up with Ethan is pretty hilarious.
- Likewise, while most of this strip calling back to it is also a tearjerker with bits of heartwarming, we get this exchange;
  Joyce: Oh Ethan my poor gay baby... can I call you that, is that a slur?
  Ethan: I don't think so, but I'd shy away from the "Your Own Kind" stuff.
  Joyce: Y-yeah, I've learned a lot today but it might be a while before my vocabulary synchronizes.
Becky's attempt at an accent.
Proof that Sal is Walky's Twin.
Much of the comments section can be CMOFs in their own right. Such this strip, elevating Sal to being a Commander Contrarian.
Commenter: Don't pull the lever! *Sal pulls the lever.*
Commenter: EAT YOUR VEGETABLES *Sal goes for a doughnut*
Commenter: Don't Jump the shark! *Sal harpoons it instead*
Commenter: Just be good! *Becomes world's greatest villain*
Commenter: DON'T DO ANYTHING I TELL YOU! *obeys perfectly* Wait.
The comments to "Bunk" have these gems about Joyce finding Sal sleeping topless;
alt-text: Now when Joyce says she's seen the twins, she doesn't mean Sal and Walky.
Commenter: They're still called "Sal and Walky", though. She has family issues.
Commenter: Walky is her least favourite boob.
Commenter: But it's the one her family likes more.
Dina's first reaction to Ross MacIntyre.
Dina: His head looks like a giant toe.
- This resulted in a meta moment of funny when Ross' Fan Nickname quickly became "Toedad".
Any time Joyce has a freak out, particularly her bug eyed facial expression though the best example is her reaction to Dina saying she and Becky just had sex.
Dina has trouble interpreting a moment of silence with Becky, so she just goes for the direct approach. Becky's not complaining:
Dina: YOU WILL KISS ME.
Becky: Oh, good, God answers lesbian prayers.
Becky and Dina re-enacting Jurassic World on Sal's motorcycle.
Sal: You! Off! Shoo!
Becky: But we're Chris Pratt and his bestest raptor pal, Blue!
Dina: Rarrghl, I should have feathers and be the size of a dog!
Sitting down to dinner with her brother and sister, Joyce is a whole 20% certain John won't eat her.
"Pudding?"
Alt-text: *closes door* *Billie leaves webcomic forever*
- "Oh my god, they drugged the shit out of you, didn't they."
After Becky's Coming-Out Story, she and Joyce joke about how poorly Joyce's mother will react to them being alone in the same room.
Joyce: What's she gonna do? ...shoot me?
Becky: Ha, or make you pick up sticks in the back yard.
Joyce: Wh-what...? No! Picking up sticks never ends! There's always more sticks, Becky! There's. Always. More. Sticks.
Becky: Yeah, I think I'd rather be shot at.
Danny learning that Dina will let loose the raptor if provoked.
- The raptor meets its match.
  Walky: INDOMINUS REX ATTACK!
  Dina: (As Walky strides over her) That dinosaur is noncanonical!
- Ethan meets Dina's improved security measures
She could be facedown in a ditch somewhere!
Sydney Yuss as a waitress. "FOOLS FLESH IS FOR WINNERS!"
Galasso then fires Sydney. Not for being a terrible waitress who refuses to do her job correctly, but because her plan to cow the customers failed.
Even in a different universe, Robin remains... Robin. Like when she's convinced Leslie was sent by her rival to seduce her and produce incriminating photos...
Leslie: Wait... what photographs?
Robin: THESE photographs!
Leslie: That's a lockscreen.
Robin: Oh, oh, right. Damn.
Joyce: HELP! My butt is CONTAMINATED!
Alt-Text: You want to get Butt's Disease? Because that's how you get Butt's Disease.
Billy saying she got cookies from the Walkertons because they like her more than Sal? Definitely not funny. Carla's utterly shocked expression at hearing this.
Apparently Amber knows how to throw her voice (i.e. make her voice sound like it's coming from someplace other than her). When do we learn this? When she uses it to distract Sal so Amber can beat her at Mario Kart.
Danny: (with a scrunched up face) Did you just throw your voice?
Sal: (Off-screen) ...Dangit!
Amber: Ha ha! Fell into a ravine!
- And then when Danny says he's happy Amber and Sal get along, Amber mistakes it for being about Amber and her split personality. When Danny clarifies...
  Amber: ...Oh. Yeah, well, we'll see how well we get along after I put this banana down on her favorite shortcut.
In which Becky has Robin's number.
Becky: "Dear Head a' the House Agriculture Committee..."
Robin: He's gonna know it's not me.
Becky: "Urgent: what sound does a cow make???"
Robin: Well, maybe he won't.
"Blowjob Cat?" "Blowjob Cat."
Alt Text: THAT'S RIGHT BLOWJOB CAT GETS A TAG, ALL HAIL BLOWJOB CAT.
- Blowjob Cat then went on to win the next Patreon bonus strip poll.
Joyce fails her spot check.
Joyce: I was like, "Um, hey, Mary? Is there maybe somebody here you like?" And she said, "Yes. Oh, yes, there is." And then she went back to making out with the boy she was with when I'd interrupted them to ask.
Ruth, Billie, and Carla: [Stunned Silence]
Joyce: Yeah, that whole exchange was crazy awkward.
This.
Dorothy: Amber, is that you? Are you back?
Dina?: No, it is I, Dina.
Dorothy: Oh! So I assume you've heard the new revelation about Cromposaurus.
Dina?: Oh, yes, definitely. This new discovery excites me incredibly.
Dorothy: -_- [opens door to reveal Amber]
Amber: There's no such thing as Cromposaurus.
Dorothy: Nope.
Malaya has just become Sal's new roommate when she shows off her famous "TACT".
Malaya: (to Ruth) So she's the one you were fucking, right? (points to Billie)
[Beat]
Ruth: (with a huge forced smile) ...You will both behave or you will see EXACTLY how ill-suited I am for this job.
What did the Alt Text say when Malaya's iguana Fuckface finally appeared in Dumbing? "The best Walkyverse character has finally arrived."
"You wanted adulting lessons, and the first one is life is arbitrary and bullshit."
Following on the heels of a very harsh call-out on Dorothy, Walky casually mentions to Joyce that he'd seen Jacob's weenus in the shower. Cue 3 panels of progressively-larger Luminescent Blush.
Joyce discovers she needs a birthday gift for Dina.
Dina: Renounce magical thinking and embrace empirical evidence.
Joyce: You're getting a $5 Amazon gift card.
Becky backs Joyce into a corner with a promise. You can practically see Joyce's face when she realizes she doesn't have another way out:
Becky: I'll be fine. All I want from you is one thing. And you have to promise. We're sisters, right?
Joyce: You got it. Anything.
Becky: If I die, you have to marry Dina and do sexytimes stuff to her for me.
(Joyce is typing...)
Becky: Hey, it's biblical you gotta do that, pretty sure.
(Joyce is typing...)
(Joyce is typing...)
(Joyce is typing...)
Joyce: Ok
Becky: LOL
After nearly everyone else has learned that Amber is Amazi-girl, Billie still somehow thinks that it's Sal.
Walky: Billie, on the down-low? Amber is Amazi-Girl.
Billie: Amber was kidnapped along with you! Sal wasn't! Amazi-Girl saved you! Every single one of you told the newspaper that Amber was with you and then Amazi-Girl showed up later!
Walky: I know that's what we said...
An adult conversation regarding Character Development - both good and bad, takes a hard left turn at the end.
Becky: We needta find a way to precisely determine a person's zenith—
Joyce: (Sporting a manic smile) -- and then murder them!
Joyce, Walky, Sarah, Dorothy, Ethan and Amber getting kidnapped by Blaine and Ross? Not funny. Dina being with them and nobody noticing her for two minutes? A little more funny. Dina not being kidnapped but instead following them and duct taping herself to "follow social cues"? Hilarious.
Mike's death isn't funny. The fact that his death was foreshadowed in Something*Positive, however, is.
Becky's first cafeteria lunch as an official student is a momentous occasion...and also a bit sacrilegious.
After only a few brief moments of knowing a number of characters, Booster has them dead to rights. And then they flat out refuse to psychoanalyze Carla because they already know that's what she wants.
Sometimes it's easy to forget Joyce is Willis's Author Avatar. And then Willis smacks us all in the face with a big reminder like Joyce creating this 'verse's version of Roomies.
Walky and Lucy have begun dating, resulting in some renegotiation of boundaries.
Booster: Walky, you have a friend-updated-to-girlfriend here! Does that affect door permissions?
Walky: Always allowed, unless I'm takin' a two-sie.
Booster: (to Lucy) You are no longer allowed in for two-sies.
Becky explaining what she thinks is normal masturbation for her. Dina is obviously concerned.
Joyce gets to see her first comic published in the newspaper [1]. Joyce's reaction is funny, but for those who look, her comic is right below a strip that is a loss.jpg parody. And right above a 9 Chickweed Lane parody, one of Willis's favorite targets.
- Which ended up backfiring on Willis as Patreon subscribers voted for the 9CL parody's author as the next bonus step.
Mary's attempt at scaring Becky straight doesn't go so well. The only part that actually frightens her was seeing Peter's naked body, and the ending (which was supposed to show the perils of queerness) gets crashed by Billie and Ruth making out.
- Also given Mary's hand position relative to Peter's...ahem, peter, the fans concluded he had a small dick.
- And Willis had to tell people no, he will not consider putting a quote from Mary on the cover of Book 12, mainly because that would mean putting Mary on the front cover. Fans compromised by suggesting Ruth's instead.
  "In our defense, the sign on this sex altar says 'don't'."
While the circumstances leading up to it are a huge Tear Jerker, the actual moment Ruth broke up with Billie during the Halloween arc is kind of hilarious in just how abrupt it is.
Ruth: Billie we're breaking up g'bye
For the 25th anniversary of Roomies!! Willis put up various headers showing the characters as drawn throughout the years. Most are just interesting to look at, Mike's is actually kinda tearjerking...and then there's Ultra Car/Carla's. Without context it looks like a car suddenly got redrawn as a girl and it's hilarious.
When Booster asks Amber why wouldn't they be interested in her because, as Amber said, they're interested in people 'fucked up in the head', Amber retorts that they're into hot people that are fucked up in the head. When Booster merely replies yes, Amber is shocked to realize that they think she's hot. The expression on her face (and Booster's sheepish grin, for that matter), are priceless.
"Can I touch your butt? For science?" See also: Joyce's look of abject disgust.
Joe: I thought you'd never ask. I mean literally, I never thought you'd ask that.
Perhaps YOU should test your various senses on Joe's butt.
Sal needs Danny's help practicing the song "MMMBop" by Hanson...except she doesn't know the song title so she calls it "Doowop"...and what Danny heard was "Do WAP", as in the Megan Thee Stallion song. And he gave it the old college try, you have to give it to him.
more songs that should not be played on ukulele
This comic, while mostly just discussing whether Sal is in Joyce's comic or not, has an absolute gem in the 9 Chickweed Lane parody: "I'm fixed! Your matchless legs have cured me of my homosexuality!" The funny/worst part? It's not that far off from what really happened.
Joyce's squeal of delight when she finds out Becky and Dina plan to marry someday is so high pitched that dogs start barking.
- Joyce later calls Becky and Dina the "Futurewives" and still gets giddy with the idea of them having a wedding.
  "Omigosh it's happening it's happening futurewives is happening it's happening."
Jennifer starts to criticize Walky's choice of outfit for the breakfast with Raidah, saying that this friend group tries harder to look presentable. Then she gets a look of horror on her face when she realizes Asher wore the same exact outfit.
Asher: Hey, Walky, lookin' sharp!
Walky: Broclones, m'man! C'mon, Jennifer, tell Asher he looks nice.
- And as it turns out, Asher is wearing the same butt taco shirt Walky has.
Joyce's admission that she thinks Joe has a nice butt and she wants to bite it has her climbing up a tree to hide her mortification and claiming it was some sort of Anti-Joyce that said it.
Joyce: I lied about wanting to bite your tush when the truth is I wanna murder my face with it until I pass out, and now I'm hiding up a tree. I mean, Anti-Joyce lied about that.
- And then when Dina commends Joyce and Joe for getting together, citing that Joe is sexually experienced and Joyce desires carnal release, Joyce runs away.
  Joe: Damn it, Dina, I bet she's up that tree again.
- As it turns out, Joyce was hiding behind Joe's back, literally clinging to it. When she expressed her fear that Dina and Becky knew all along that Joyce wants to climb Joe like a tree, Joe points out that she's already climbing him. So she moves to the ceiling.
  Joe: Do I need to go get a broom to poke you down from the ceiling?
  Joyce: You should probably just start carrying one around.
After so many years of the titles of the volumes getting longer and more ridiculous quotes from characters, Book 12's title is just four words from Liz: "HER HUGS ARE TRAPS!"
"I never thought staring at actual naked people would be mostly getting pee-oh'd at how bullcrap hips are!"
- What sells this is Willis's commentary, both at the site itself and the patreon day before posting of this strip:
  Alt Text: still figuring out this mystery
  Patreon comment: i'm in this picture and i hope i have pants on
Walky and Joyce both shooting down and being grossed out by the idea of them as a couple, especially considering their Official Couple status in the Walkyverse.
Willis did a couple sketches on his Twitter of the Walkyverse and Dumbiverse versions of Walky and Joyce meeting. Dumbiverse Walky is horrified when Walkyverse Walky tells him he and Joyce are married, while Walkyverse Joyce is covering Dumbiverse Joyce's mouth saying it's best if she don't speak.
Asher noticing Ethan's attractiveness? Probably not a good thing, considering his role in both the robbery and the kidnapping. Asher's cigarette perking up when he notices Ethan? Hilarious.
- Amber's reticence about Ethan hooking up with Asher (for the robbery reason) is outweighed by the prospect of two hot guys making out.
  Amber: YOU LET THEM MAKE OUT OR I'LL BRICK YOUR PHONE FROM HERE.
  Booster: I knew I liked you.
- And Lucy is just as interested in hearing about Asher making out with a dude.
  "Who WAS it? Do I know him? DETAILS!"^note
Joyce trying to act like she's old enough to drink.
"I AM AN ADULT! TAXES! I KNOW WHO CARY GRANT IS!"

Funny / Dumbing of Age

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