Webcomic / Younger Days

Younger Days is a webcomic strip hosted on DeviantArt written and illustrated by Mexican artist dcrisisbeta (real name Fernando Rangel).

The comic strip tells stories which revolve around two main child characters, Sam and Max, who are cousins but who live as siblings with Sam's mother because Max's parents died in an accident some time in the past. Max still misses them very much, especially around the anniversary of their deaths.

The comic strip deliberately pays homage to the Peanuts cartoons and strips by Charles M. Schulz, while not attempting to copy their style directly (though the artistic influence is clearly there, and strays away from this later on).

Due to DeviantArt's limitations on playlist scrolling^reason scrolling only works for direct links, not hotlinking, meaning pressing either of the arrow buttons can give entirely different art and artists when it should go to the next image in the playlist, we cannot link directly to the first strip to start the Archive Binge as most other pages would. However, the playlists for the comic are sorted by year (which itself are in an archaic order anyway), and can be found here.

A post titled 17/07/22 has Fernando mention that keeping the strip going is still something they continue to work on, but real life priorities (as well as taking commissions and trying not to burnout) are their priority.

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Younger Days provides examples of:

• Alt Text: There is often an Easter Egg in the form of ciphers in the description or in the comic itself (normally when Max has a nightmare).
• Anachronism Stew: The technology level of the strip was originally firmly of the era the strip first published in; 2012-13, but later comics feature newer technology like the 3DS XL alongside the original 2004-era DS, as well as legacy flip phones existing alongside smartphones. There are also references to pop-culture that definitely don't fit the era either, such as the 2017 Halloween strip showcasing Ivan in a Mugman costume from Cuphead (the game wasn't released until 2017).
• April Fool's Day Episode: 01/04/2015
• Art Evolution: From its inception to the present, Fernando has refined his characters' looks and the background details very well to move into their own style, rather than solely being reminiscent of Peanuts.
• Baths Are Fun: Several comics feature characters enjoying baths together. One incident involves Pericles and Lola the dogs jumping into the bath.
• Bait-and-Switch: In 15/01/2015, Jowy finds out that to score a basket in basketball, it has to go through a hoop. The reader is lead to believe he quits in the second panel, but clarifies and says he's going to get a ladder.
• Beyond the Impossible: 08/01/2014 has Max swap clothes with Sam in the implied short time the lights are turned off. This is made more unbelievable when Max is wearing overalls.
• Bring My Brown Pants: 04/08/2014 has Max be scared of their dog while he's alone in the house, which causes him to wet himself.
• Big Brother Instinct: Not gender specific, but any of the designated older siblings take great pains to watch out for their younger ones. This is very well seen between Dan and Jowy, who aren't even related.
  • Inverted with Bill and Ivan. Ivan is the older brother, but Bill seems quite happy to have a sibling and is bending over backwards to make Ivan feel welcome.
• Brick Joke: 09/02/2017 has Mark compare Bill's "giving chocolate to someone" voice to that of a robot. On Valentines day, this is Exactly how his voice comes out (the text is stylised as such)
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Max hiding underneath his bed while he's alone in the house has him react to a sound, and says the following:
  Max: "What was that? Was it a burglar? Maybe a Monster? GASP Maybe a Monster-burglar."
• Call-Back:
  • This strip from 23/08/2013 has Sam pretend to be sick to skip school. 04/11/2013 has Max comment on this event but Sam is sick for real.
  • Jowy got punched in this strip attempting to kiss Sam off-panel, which happens again in this strip when Sam gets her haircut to be shorter after a disastrous Mothers Day cooking debacle.
  • The made up Overly Long Name for Dan mentioned here is reused here.
  • Sam and Max are wearing Pink shirts in this strip, which is a nod to an arc a few weeks prior where Sam tries to do the laundry.
• Captain Obvious: Sam thinks to herself in this comic strip, and asks herself what Max could get in a music store, asides from music.
• Cheerful Child: While perfectly capable of having his bad days, Max, and indeed quite a few of his co-stars, fulfill this trope quite admirably considering their backstories.
• Clothing Damage: Of the non-fanservice kind. Since they're kids, it is all but inevitable that it was going to happen, but these two take it to an art form.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Jowy has shades of this, though Anne may outdo even him in some places.
• Comedic Underwear Exposure:
  • A variation. 31/12/2013 has Max repeatedly asks her about what underwear she's wearing in a low voice at a New Years party. When she doesn't take the hint after the tenth time he asks, he's forced to point out that he can see her red underwear underneath, to which Sam acts suddenly embarrassed. Said pants are also not in frame either.
  • 28/03/2014 has Jowy not wearing glasses after his Dad ran over them. He spends the day walking about with no pants on, which is only pointed out when Dan mentions it. He acts more surprised than embarrassed at this, though.
  • 14/10/2022 has Knil, in his antsiness to go outside after a long bout of Chicken Pox, forgetting his trousers while exclaiming "Who knows what I missed!".
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Red Balloons are more fun that Blue Balloons apparently...
  • Jowy and Lili see an ambulance at the playground, and while they acknowledge the accident, Jowy can't help but want to ride in one too.
  • In 25/11/22, after Jowi and Knil meet for the first time, Jowi is excited to teach him more hiding spots, and Dan snarks that maybe he should teach him to keep his glasses on him, which Jowi points out that he Knil doesn't wear glasses.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Lili appreciates Dans haircut, to which everyone is confused by how Lili knows this when he wears a hood constantly. This references 30/09/2013 where Lili see's Dan with long bangs instead of a hoodie.
  • 28/10/2014 has the Dia de Muertos pumpkin introduced after Halloween as a form of Prop Recycling In-Universe in this strip (or rather, another one Sam remade).
  • Bill was introduced in a photo in 2013, 24/05/2015 has Dan make the connection to his face.
• Coordinated Clothes: 28/10/2015 has Max and Lili doing an unintended variant, as neither expected for the other to be angels for Halloween (Max as a Fallen dark angel, Lili, a more traditional holy angel).
• Crazy-Prepared: In preparing for a sleepover at Jowy's, Max packs a swimsuit, rain gear, and winter clothes.
• Crossover: with user JaredSteeleType. These three parts crossover directly into 17, 18, and 19/11/2019. They feature a kid called Ryouta who shares the same problem of Max and his inability to sleep without diapers.
• Dark Secret:
  • For several months, Max keeps his inability to tie shoes a secret, until this strip has Sam now knows too. It's then revealed that Sam doesn't really know either.
  • Max has what he considers one in the fact that he still wears diapers to bed. When Dan found out, Sam threatened him to keep it a secret or else, and it's the reason Max doesn't like to go, or have, sleepovers.
  • Sam strongly dislikes thunder, so much so Max has to calm her down.
• Disproportionate Retribution: 25/09/2013 has Max start to pour honey onto Sams' hair as a practical joke, and immedietely gets told that should he follow through, he'll "go bald overnight". Max wisely stops.
• The Dreaded: 23/08/2013's comic has Sam not wake up when their mother asks via Max due to "feeling ill". That is, until Max tells her that she'd better wake up or else, which gets her attention, knowing that an angry mother is not to be trifled with.
• Death Glare: These kids are masters of it.
• Did Not Think This Through:
  • In this comic, Sam pops a balloon while Max is watching a film, only for the drink he was holding to go all over her.
  • 14/12/2013 has Sam ask Jowy about how to be more feminine, and subsequently gives her a lecture on modern feminism that bores Sam.
• Distinction Without a Difference: In 30/11/2013, Dan calls Sam "numbskull", to which her corrects himself by saying "Lady numbskull".
• Easily-Overheard Conversation: Bill attempts to ask Lili out, but keeps talking himself out of it (and Mark isn't much help as he wants to play at a new arcade). Nearby, Lili hears the entire exchange, and giggles (Upsetting Sam, whose hair she was trying to fix), and misinterprets the entire thing as Sam growing her hair out for Bill.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The first strip is entirely in spanish. While the author does write Spanish in the descriptions of the comic strips, and then an english translation, even in future entries, this is the only strip where Spanish is the language of the comic and events have to be translated manually by the reader.
• Embarrassing Old Photo: Many times in the series, 01/01/2016 is a good example where Sam is laughing at a baby photo of Mom holding Max on New Years.
• Exact Words: Jowy interprets Dans rule for Basketball of "stop the other person scoring" by tripping him up.
• Everybody Hates Mathematics: A minor arc introduced in 20/02/2015 has Max blurt out various maths equations for people to solve. First he does it to Sam, then to Jowy.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: 05/11/2013 has Lili's hair be all in a mess, which Fernando strongly implies in the comments that it's because she was constantly thinking about Max, and forgot to do her hair.
• Facepalm: Done by Dan in this strip after Jowy asks if Max wants to play pirates with him....directly after being hurt falling off of a swing.
• First Kiss: Lili gives Max a peck on the cheek in 31/10/2014 after he finds Alex when Lili loses him. Given his smitten reaction, he's pretty surprised.
• Friendly Tickle Torture: 07/03/2016 has Max do that to Sam.
• Gilligan Cut:
  • 12/10/2013 has Sam proudly claim she's not scared of horror films to Max. The third panel makes it quite clear that she was lying.
  • 24/12/2013 has Sam and Max attempt to stay up to see Santa. They fall asleep, despite being prepared with sweets and flashlights.
  • 14/01/2013 Sam hates the cold, and then it starts raining.
  • After a day at the aquarium Sam and Max exclaim they won't be able to sleep because of all the excitement. Cue them sleeping in the third panel.
  • Mom warns Max to not draw in the car, lest he get sick. The following strip has him feel very dizzy.
• Goofy Print Underwear:
  • 29/03/2014 has Jowy wear star-printed underwear. Does the same thing in 04/01/2017, much to his mothers annoyance, because Russian kids walk around in the snow in briefs.
  • Max wears star-printed underwear in 10/01/2018
  • 23/08/2018 has Ivan wear the traditional heart-shaped example, something Riku points out.
• Gone Horribly Right: Dan always pranks Sam in an attempt to get a reaction out of her. When she starts hating his guts over a misunderstanding, he returns to Jowy and he points out that this is what he wanted.
• G-Rated Drug: Max has an... interesting reaction to drinking coffee, even a single cup. Though we never see the actual ensuing chaotic episode, the aftermath is usually treated in the same vein as a hangover for Max complete with What Did I Do Last Night? problems. Fortunately Sam is always there to enlighten him... with several pictures to use as visual aides.
  • And now energy drinks get added to the list, with Max doing... something at the Mall that caused him to be banned there after drinking a free sample of one.
• Growing Up Sucks: 22/07/2022 has Jowi mention that he hates change, and growing up means there's more rules to follow, which Dan doesn't exactly dispute or discourage Jowi from thinking. 26/07/2022 has Dan mention that not all change is bad, however.
• Halloween Episode:
  • 2013 has Sam get a rock in his sweets bag.
  • 2014 has Max being kissed by Lili for finding her younger brother Alex, who had gotten lost.
  • 2015 is a one-panel feature starring the main cast in costumes.
  • 2016 is much the same as above, but in different costumes.
  • 2017 is more of the main cast in costume.
  • 2018 is most of the cast in costumes. Shoutout to Jowy for the Dash cosplay.
  • 2022 has Sam and Lili as Pokemon trainers, Max in a Gengar hoodie, Alex in a Teddiursa getup, Jowy wearing a Pikachu headband, and Mark as a Lycanroc.
• Height Angst: Max overhears Dan about calling him small and childish, and gets very self-conscious about it.
• Homage: To the Kite-eating tree in 26/02/2015 when Max gets a kite stuck in it.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Bill, the bully Max succumbs to, feeds a litter of street cats.
• Holiday Episode: All are present (Christmas Episode, Halloween Episode, Valentine's Day Episode etc.) and then some. Being a daily strip, the comic regularly has the cast celebrate several different holidays over the year, including some lesser well-known ones (Mailman day, a Mexican holiday, and Childrens Day are a few examples). While more obscure holidays usually only get one or two strips devoted to them, major holidays tend to have whole arcs dedicated to them.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: Deconstructed. Max wants to test if the game Sam was playing on the DS improved her reflexes (as they have apparently claimed) in the 22/08/2013's comic. Understandably, Sam chases after Max for throwing a ball at her while playing on the console.
• Incredibly Lame Pun:
  • 07/10/2017 has Ivan make a dad joke involving Velcro shoes being a "rip off".
  • 20/01/2018 has Max groan at a pun Ivan made on the best day to cook...Fryday!
• Internal Reveal: 19/03/2016 has Sam tell Lili about Max's parents, and promises to keep it a secret.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • 06/05/2014 has Lili and Max out shopping for Fathers Day presents, to which Lili has to apologise to Max for his missing parents that "live far away".
  • Upon being told that his new buddy Sam is a girl, Bill proceeds to explain how that is impossible because girls are cute. While Sam is still within striking distance of him.
• Instant Sedation: Played for Laughs in 21/11/2014
• Invasion of the Baby Snatchers: Present even if the main cast doesn't recognize it. Currently there's a shadowy figure in the neighborhood that surreptitiously watching the kids. An innocuous comment from Jowy has tipped off the parental guardians to his/her presence.
• I Resemble That Remark!: 12/07/2015 has Max not wanting to sleep, and immediately yawns.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Uncovering this is by Max, with the help of Mark, is what initiates Bill's eventual Heel–Face Turn and acceptance by the rest of the cast.
  • Case in point, upon finding out Max was suffering bad dreams that were keeping him from sleeping, Bill took it upon himself to get the kid a dreamcatcher. He even chided himself when he later realized he'd forgotten to show Max how to empty the dreamcatcher.
  • He also shows a very caring and protective side once Ivan comes into the picture.
• Kids Prefer Boxes: 29/05/2017 in a nutshell.
• Kissing In A Tree:
  • 09/11/2014 has Sam sing it to Max about him and Lili's, much to the annoyance of Max.
  • 12/05/2015 has Max do it towards Sam, when Dan and Sam are going to go to the movies together.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: 12/10/2015 has Jowy and Dan wet their pants at a scary clown and a ghost respectively. In 14/10/2015, Dan quotes the trope, to which they agree to never speak of the incident.
• Like Brother and Sister: Max and Sam are raised together as siblings, even though they are cousins.
• Limited Wardrobe: Dan Really likes hoodies, in his own words.
• Lost in a Crowd: Invoked by Dan in this strip, as he hates how he blends into a crowd in the cold seasons.
• Love Dodecahedron: Centering on Sam of all people. At this point it would be easier to pick which boys aren't a bit smitten with her, with Jowy and Dan making intentional attempts to woo her with Valentines day gifts. Whether or not she realizes this situation, or is Oblivious to Love is another story.
• Luminescent Blush: Many times when Max and Lili share the screen together, although Lili does this when being asked about valentines day presents, after she initially denies doing so, and has a more obvious one here when asked to babysit Max.
  • Happens to Dan on 12/02/2017, something noted by Sam when they see each other.
• Macguffin: Referenced with the Macguffin Muffin, and later returns in this strip as an apparently rare item Jowi and Anne like eating (although him and Anne call them "magguffin muffins" here). Returns again in 01/02/2023 where Dan throws out a case of muffins, with Jowi mentioning the trope once more to a very angry Dan as he throws them away.
• Mama Bear: Picking on Max in the presence of Sam has been known to lead to bloody noses... as Bill found out the hard way.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: This seems to be the dynamic between Sam and Max. She's far more aggressive and physical while he tends to be thoughtful and more sensitive to other's emotions.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Max gets sick on the way to school, starts losing his speech, and then his reality breaks around him, leading to him crying helpless at his ghostly parents. While there have been sad moments prior to this comic about their parents dying, this is the first time it's depicted as a nightmare for Max.
  • 28/04/2016 has Max try to stay awake because of a recurring nightmare, which only gets creepier.
• Morality Pet: Mark can be seen as this for Bill. His introduction to the comic is what got Max to go looking for Bill's better side, while its been shown he's one of the few people capable of calling Bill out when he starts going too far.
• Mundane Utility: 25/01/2014 has Max ask what superpowers Sam would have and what they'd use them for. She responds with Fire-based powers, and she'd use them to heat up her bed before sleeping, which makes Max give her a Death Glare in response.
• My God, What Have I Done?: 22/08/2015 has Jowy find a $20 note, finds out it wasn't his, and returns his own $20 note to Bill (which it originally belonged to).
• Nerd Glasses A minor arc starting in 03/09/2013 has Sam realise she may need a pair. Subverted in the following days' strip, where Max reveals that the glasses had no glass in them. 05/09/2013 has her try the glasses to do Algebra puzzles, to no effect or help. 07/09/2013 has her try them on outside because it makes her look smarter, while 11/09/2013 has her use them in an attempt to solve Max's sudden existential crisis.
• Noodle Incident:
  • 27/08/2013 has Lili getting her ponytail stuck in the gates.
  • 15/10/2013 has Sam and Max arguing with no context before they both forget what they were arguing about.
  • 13/03/2017 has the house be a mess for unknown reasons, with Sam cleaning up.
• No Last Name Given: Almost none of the characters have a last name, with exception to Anne; whose last name (Momona) was explicitly said in 26/01/2017 by the teacher when joining Max's class. Double points for Sam's Mom who insists Max refers to her as such and is thus an intentional invocation of No Name Given in-universe.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Despite the comic keeping pace with the year, and indeed the characters having past memories to play with, none of the cast seems to have aged a day since the comic began.
• Not a Morning Person: August 20th, 2013's strip has Max hate mornings, and falls asleep at the door of Sam.
• Older Than They Look: as mentioned above, Max is officially 9 but looks much younger.
• Oh, Crap!: Max gets an epic one in these two strips.
  • Sam's no slouch either.
• Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: This strip and this strip has Dan assure Jowy that he isn't a Stalker with a Crush for Sam, and loudly yells "I don't like her" when she's right behind him. Sam, naturally, is not amused.
• Painting the Medium: 23/06/2014 has the heavy rain obscure the text as Max is holding an umbrella, drowning out Jowy and Dans' recounting of a TV show.
• Post-Kiss Catatonia:
  • According to the Description for 07/11/2014, Max and Lili stood blushing and staring at each other for almost an hour. A rare case where this happens several days later as an effect of Lili kissing Max on the cheek in this strip a week prior (Max was avoiding Lili up until that point).
  • Happens in 10/10/2016 after Lili kisses Max on the cheek to stop him running away from her.
• Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: One of the nastiest aspects of Max's backstory is this. Max's back is covered in a web work of scars from the car accident he was in prior to the start of the series that took his parents. He has massive survivor's guilt because of this and he hides the scars because they remind him of the accident.
  • Played with with Sam who bears a similar psychological scar to Max and also has a bunch of physical ones on her back. We're led to believe the connection is similar, only to find out that she got her scars falling out of a tree when she and Bill were much younger.
  • Ivan is similarly covered with scars and far more timid than you'd think. Only time will tell what his story is.
• Prop Recycling: Invoked In-universe. 01/11/2013 has Sam turn the now-out-of-season pumpkin into a Dia De Muertos skull.
• Running Gag:
  • Sam looking like a boy, much to the bemusement of everyone.
  • Sam and Max sleeping at bad times, often on each others shoulders.
  • Dan never showing his face.
  • Jowy getting punched by constantly attempting to kiss Sam.
  • Jowy being uncharacteristically good at sports, such as basketball.
  • Sam watching scary movies and getting scared of them.
• Shaped Like Itself: 29/01/2018 has Dan explain to Lili that the reason Boys keep secrets is because they keep secrets.
• Say It with Hearts: Lili often speaks like this, especially towards Max.
• The Scapegoat: Jowy once wound up taking the blame for breaking a window in Sam and Max's house with a ball. Fortunately Dan was willing to help him pay for it, which Jowy thought was a nice gesture since "You're the one who broke it!"
• She Cleans Up Nicely: 17/12/2013 and 18/12/2013 has Sam looking uncharacteristically girly. Subverted in that upon told how to keep the look, she rejects it on the grounds of being too hard to maintain.
• Shout-Out:
  • Even though it has long since become its own thing, the artstyle of the strip in it's early days was very reminiscent of Peanuts, and an early comic has Snoopy and his flying shed on Max's shirt simply names WWI Flying Dog. The first Halloween Episode in 2013 even had a reference to the classic "Charlie brown only gets a rock" gag when the kids go trick-or-treating, and 18/10/2017 references "The Great Pumpkin".
  • The costume Max is wearing in 27/10/2014 is Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls, while Lili's costume is Korra from The Legend of Korra (the following days's strip make this more apparent).
  • Anne dressing up as Elsa in 12/08/2019 after a hailstorm.
  • 02/01/2023 has Anne do the memetic conspiracy theory pose◊ Charlie does in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (for some context, they were working out where Max had gotten to).
• Slumber Party: An arc started in 26/06/2014 has Jowy host a sleepover with Dan and Max. Includes a strip on watching a movie with friends, telling ghost stories, revealing each others greatest fears
• Something Only They Would Say: 27/06/2016 has Sam and Bill meet up and Sam tells Bill a story involving climbing a tree and getting scars on her back.
• Right Behind Me: 13/07/2016 has this happen with Sam who forgot her coat, and Mom is right behind her.
• Team Mom: Dan considers Lili this, judging by her past actions of helping the main cast at least once before.
• Tempting Fate: This strip has San and Max glad they don't have to wear silly costumes like a pumpkin suit. Jowy wearing that exact outfit then comes onto panel.
• Thanksgiving Episode: Once per year, you know the drill:
  • 22/11/2013
• Troll: Sam's Mom in 30/07/2014 when getting new clothes for Sam, which get increasingly more girly. Weaponised by Sam a few strips later.
• Third-Person Person: Given it's a comic, this happens at least once to everyone in a given year. Dan, for example.
• Tom Boy And Girly Girl: The difference between Sam and Lili, more than likely a deliberate comparison. Explored in this arc starting from 13/12/2013.
• Under the Mistletoe: Lili kissed Max under some in 23/12/2013.
• The Unreveal:
  • Whatever makeup Sam was wearing in this comic strip, it scared the heebie-jeebies out of Lili.
  • Dan brings in a baby photo of him when he was a toddler learning to walk... with a hoodie on.
• Valentine's Day Episode:
  • 2014 has Max buy Sam a CD for valentines day. More as a family love than out of the other kind of love.
  • 2015 has both Max and Lili buy gifts for one another.
  • 2018 has Sam being heckled by Dan and Jowy, Lili and Max giving each other presents, while bill looks from behind the bushes.
  • 2019 features Sam getting chocolate from Jowy and Dan, Mark and bill exchanging gifts, while Max and Lili give a musicbox and a teddbear stuffed with Chocolate to one another respectively.
• Visual Gag: 21/08/2013's comic has Max wear a shirt with a mario-style mushroom on it while shouting at Sam for being on the DS all day. In the comments, Fernando revealed he left it ambiguous as to whether it means "Get a life" or "Grow Up!", as both work, given the mushroooms are identical in black and white.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: Sam being sick off-panel in this comic, which itself is a Call-Back to an earlier strip.
• What Did I Do Last Night?: What Max typically asks in the morning after having imbibed coffee the day before. Once Sam even got into the act.
• What Are Records?: 08/09/2013 has Max explain to Sam what a book is by saying it's "A PDF file printed in paper", to which she immediately understands the new definition.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Invoked by Sam in-universe when she and Max go to watch a certain movie about rabbits and get the reaction a child would have about it. Sam steers Max away from Beer in 29/12/2014 to avoid this problem.
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: 09/05/2014 has Sam frying eggs for Mothers Day and claims it can't be too hard. Cue a FWOMP and a burned breakfast.
• Worth It: This comic has Jowy being punched by Sam, and claims that it was worth it. The reason for said punch was because he called Sam cute with shorter hair and kissed her off-panel (something he'd done before).

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