The Verse which is the setting of five Web Comic series by David Willis: Roomies!, It's Walky!, Shortpacked! (which now has its own page), Joyce And Walky! and Dumbing of Age (which also has its own page).Roomies! began in 1997 as a Slice of Life webcomic concerning the adventures of Danny Wilcox, Ordinary College Student, and his Kavorka Man roommate Joe Rosenthal. Other important characters included Danny's love interest Jennifer "Billie" Billingsworth, his mixed-race Broken Bird ex-girlfriend Sal Walters, and the sheltered, semi-well-adjusted Joyce Brown. The strip gradually developed both Cerebus Syndrome and a love for theatrics, culminating in Joe and Joyce being kidnapped by aliens.At this point it re-branded itself It's Walky! and began to focus on the adventures of a Government Conspiracy called SEMME, dedicated to dealing with extra-terrestrial threats to Earth. The titular David "Walky" Walkerton, a hyperactive member of Squad 128, found himself fighting alongside Sal, Joe and Joyce, all of whom were inducted to SEMME and placed in his squad, with Stuffy Brit Jason Chesterfield, Jerk With A Heart Of Jerk Mike Warner and even-more-hyperactive Robin DeSanto rounding out the central cast.After a random collection of Where Are They Now Epilogues, DW launched Shortpacked! in 2005, which revolves around the adventures of Straight GayStraight Man Ethan Siegel and Meganekko Amber O'Malley as they work at the titular toy store. By the third strip, it has linked itself back to the Walkyverse when Robin DeSanto, still just as hyperactive as before, seeks employment there; not too much later, Mike Warner also joined the cast. In the same year Joyce And Walky! a Dom Com centering around the Official Couple of the verse, debuted, playing out the affairs of characters after the retirement of It's Walky!. Only strips published on Saturdays were available to the public; Tuesday and Thursday material were for subscribers only.This strip was put on hiatus in 2010, and later that year got a soft reboot into Dumbing Of Age, which transplants characters from all of Willis's other comics into Indiana University and strips off the sci-fi elements, thus going back to the original premise of Roomies! ...and so the circle is complete.Joyce & Walky! got taken out of mothballs on May 13, 2012, with three updates since then. Willis says he's unsure how long updates will keep up.The cast of these series is vast, but the main players in each can be boiled down to:
Roomies:
Danny Wilcox, an ordinary college student with a tendency for unbridled panic.
Joe Rosenthal, Danny's womanizing best friend and dorm roommate.
Jennifer 'Billie' Billingsworth, a Troubled, but Cute student with a reputation as a party girl.
Mary (Mary Paul in Walky!), Sal's hypocritical 'best friend' whose moralizing towards Billie is proven hollow when she has an abortion.
Ruth Lesse, a cynical grad student who had been Billie and Walky's babysitter as a teen.
Sal Walters, Danny's moody, mysterious ex-girlfriend, who shows up just long enough to tell Danny goodbye because she's moving on to...
It's Walky!:
David 'Walky' Walkerton, a hyperactive, bubble-headed medical lab attendant turned alien hunter who was once Billie's best childhood friend and is actually Sal's long-lost twin brother.
Steven 'Beef' Walkerton, Walky's fraternal twin brother secretly Switched at Birth with Sal.
Jason Chesterfield, the uptight British squad leader, and the only non-abductee amongst Squad 128.
Mike Warner, violent-minded Jerkass who delights in torturing those around him.
Their main opponents are the Purple Aliens ('Alien' being the actual name of their homeworld), lead by Head Alien; the British Ninjas from a secret organization led by Jason's father Dargon Chesterfield and Jason's former lover Penny Worthington; and the Martian Empire.
Joyce and Walky:
Becky, Joyce's new best friend. She is generally more sane and easy-going than Joyce.
Dorothy, Walky's over-achieving ex-girlfriend who dumped him for not being studious enough. She's moved into Walky's neighborhood and is having second thoughts about her decision all those years ago.
D.J., Danny and Sal's hypothetical kid from the future. Other universes sending help for other versions of him, only to end up in the mainline continuity, is the impetus for most of the plot.
Art Evolution: This is what the first strip of the entire canon looked like. This is the latest strip of Dumbing of Age. Same artist.
Ascended Extra: Billie—started as a background character living with Ruth and was revealed to be both her childhood friend and the Roomies! cast's One Degree of Separation to Walky a year or so later.
Book Ends: The comic begins and ends with Danny on the phone with his girlfriend and scolding Joe for climbing up out the window to the girls' dorms, trying to get him to think of the consequences. The first time, Joe's response shows his obliviousness to the concept of dealing with your actions; the second time, Joe has actually considered the potential ramifications (if only the favorable ones) and decided to do it anyway.
Can't Get Away With Nuthin'': Drink one beer, and you'll proceed to get totally drunk and a close friend of yours will GET KILLED saving you from your own stupidity.
Also lampshaded and averted much, much later ( "Alcohol killed Ruth." "No, Ruth killed Ruth.")
Fallen Princess: Billie, a former Libby-esque Cheerleader, has a hard time adjusting to her loss of status upon entering college where no one cares how "cool" you supposedly were in high school.
Famous Last Words: Ruth's "Act with integrity... No regrets!" was echoed throughout the series, even by characters who didn't know her.
Irony: Ruth learned her "act with integrity" motto from her adulterous father.
Info Dump: From this scene in Roomies! issue two, for those unfamiliar with the comic:
Joe: What are we doing tonight?
Danny: Joyce wants to see a movie.
Joe: Joyce? You mean that studious, churchy girl? The Joyce who followed you home and claimed you as her own? Even though you're dating Sal, who's currently still in high school?
Berserk Button: Well, a lot of them, but honourable mention to Dina, who had been steadily falling into despairing over her own uselessness when one of the Britjas pressed it when he was setting up a bomb to destroy S.E.M.M.E.'s intelligence and research files.
"Hey, kid, don't take it personally. It's just a bunch of science."
Using The Sound of Music as torture goes from being just plain Suckiness Is Painful to having a subliminally-painful, Scanners-like effect on abductees imprinted on them in youth, and Joyce's immunity becomes a plot point.
Death Is Cheap: Averted, despite the heroes having access to a Martian Resurrection Chamber by the end of the comic. Only one person can use it at a time, the process takes nine months, and you need a sample of DNA from the subject. And the martians are very thorough when it comes to preventing their enemies from returning, so most of the SEMME agents who died in the finale are staying dead. It's very fortunate that Joyce happened to have...acquired some of Walky's genetic material shortly before the battle.
Disproportionate Retribution: Before coming to the main universe Dargon Chesterfield condemned his home universe to eventual heat death by intentionally refusing to evenly trade energy from the universe he and the rest of his organization were traveling to. All because The Wanderer didn't leave him enough time for Jason to be born there, thus making him detectable by the other universe's version of The Wanderer.
The Wanderer: No! Our universe will die a slow energy death! What motive do you have against the countless innocents that inhabit your native world?!
Dargon Chesterfield: You robbed me of my heir. I will rob you of your future.
Ditto Aliens: Justified - we never see the Purple Aliens or Martians outside of their protective suits.
Walky: No mind wipe for you. Ever. (tosses mind-wiper to the ground, it bounces) Well, if that broke it would've been really cool.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: Walky, especially in the gender-bending reality-warping storyline.
Everythings Better With Monkeys: Monkey Master, who hates being called a monkey - he's a giant robot ape, after all; also, Walky's obsession with monkeys, and especially his favorite childhood toy, Mister Monkey.
Eyepatch of Power: Dargon Chesterfield milks this trope for all it's worth. After she kills him, Penny even takes it to wear herself.
Expy: Sal is amazingly similar to Rogue of the X-Men. She speaks with a Southern accent, discovers her long-lost brother is her teammate, is one of the strongest members of SEMME, is emotionally conflicted and constantly switching sides, and even wears gloves.
Beef is very obviously supposed to be a pastiche of Duke Nukem.
Genre Savvy: Danny. While talking with Sal, he mentions that he's planning to ask Billie to marry him. Sal asks if she can see the ring. His response? "Hell no. I know how this works. I show you the ring, and Billie walks around the corner."
"Get Out of Jail Free" Card: Averted: when Sal was incarcerated, she could easily have broken out if she'd wanted to, but remained because she knows she deserved it, and eventually had to escape when swept up by circumstances.
Becomes a fine Brick Joke. In the last panel of the last stripwe see a flash-forward of Joyce and Walky sitting together in old age - the giant mug is still right by Walky's side.
Godly Sidestep: The Big Cheese claims to know which religion is the correct one, but refuses to tell anyone, claiming that if you don't figure it out for yourself, you won't understand the answer.
Government Conspiracy: SEMME. Eventually revealed to be involved in an even bigger conspiracy with the Martians and JFO. Dargon Chesterfield created SEMME specifically so that he could build an army out of the abductees, who were themselves the product of a joint effort between Linda Walkerton and the Head Alien.
Knight of Cerebus: The Wanderer, in his first full appearance. He even provides the page quote.
Ladykiller In Love: Joe, first with his crush on Joyce and then with him starting to fall for a nerdy girl in a chatroom. It sets off his character development arc, and he eventually becomes a more well-rounded person because of both instances.
Lets Wait Awhile: Though in Joyce and Walky, it's not so much "Wait until the time is right to have sex" as much as "Wait until Joyce can think about sex without going catatonic or psychotic."
Loads and Loads of Characters: At least 90% of the characters on that page up there were introduced for or major players in this one. The unofficial stats page lists 247 named or otherwise identifiable characters.
More than Mind Control: Beef, the long-lost Walkerton sibling, was part of the squad that supposedly got brainwashed when they went to England to investigate the JFO. Only he wasn't brainwashed. Merely disgruntled.
Never Bareheaded: Dina is never seen without her trademark safari hat, even when sleeping or suspended upside down. In the entire series, she takes it off exactly once: when she is about to die.
Not So Harmless Villain: The Head Alien is a pretty funny guy... who also happens to singlehandedly ruin several characters' lives.
Obfuscating Stupidity Dizzy and hyperactive as he is, Walky is not nearly as dumb as he acts, (he was a straight-A student) but he prefers to play the fool to avoid responsibility. (And he has trouble breaking the habit of a lifetime when responsibility is ultimately forced upon him.)
Only Known by Their Nickname: Walky is called "David" a small handful of times in the strip's entire history (mostly by his mother.) Doubly ironic as everyone calls him "Walky", which is a nickname he doesn't even like (he insists people call him "Walkerton") due to its association with repressed memories.
Billie also qualifies.
Pet the Dog: The only time Mike shows any display of emotion for his fellow human beings other than abject hate (as long as he isn't drunk) was when Dina died in front of him.
Shoot the Dog: Sal shooting Tony, in a Story Arc appropriately entitled "Kill Your Friends".
Shout Out: Walky seeks inspiration for how to effectively lead his team, and it comes crashing through a window. Turns out Willis was making references to Batman even before he started parodying him explicitly.
Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: Joyce has doubts of God's existence, so she uses the Power Booster Rod to contact The Wanderer, who is utterly baffled as to why she would think he would be able to answer.
Take That: A story takes place in a time-frozen small town in Canada, taking place in large part in a high school, where a fish can be seen floating in midair. c.f. Avalon.
Another take that to Avalon in the announcement of Dumbing of Age:
"I do intend to finish [Joyce and Walky!], and not, like, end everything with a text story where everyone becomes lesbians."
The Atoner: Sal. Somewhat subverted, since this is usually defined as wanting to go out and do something to atone. Sal sits in prison when it is implied she could break out, and is forced to escape by circumstances.
There Are No Therapists: Lampshaded at least once. After the series ended, Willis even did a storyline about it.
There Was a Door: Sal. It became a Running Gag with her. She even Lampshades it while using a door as a blunt instrument on Billie.
Sal: "Folks're always tellin' me to use the door."
Throw Away Country: Invoked by the Head Alien, who figures no one would notice if he just froze Canada. "Goddamn was I right!"
Time Stands Still: The Head Alien creates a device that can do this and tests it on Canada.
Took A Level In Bad Ass: Billie actually dares to challenge Sal over Danny and manages to give a surprisingly good account of herself due to martial arts training and a childhood spent fighting with Walky.
Totem Pole Trench: In this '' strip, Joyce and Dina use a more specific version to pretend to be Jason.
The Unmasqued World: The Aliens come out of hiding and attack Denver about halfway through the series.
Unpredictable Results: The Head Alien's time-freezing ray, which at first seems to just cause Gender Bender but makes reality gradually more wibbly the longer it lasts. The fact that the ray was used to freeze the Cheese, who is functionally if not literally God in the Walkyverse, may have had something to do with this.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: Willis had way too much fun with Joyce and Walky's. By the time it was released it had the force of a small thermonuclear device.
Unstoppable Rage: Often - usually after Head Alien has pushed one of them a little too far.
Upper Class Twit: Subverted: Jason is British and upper class, wears a bowtie almost all the time, and had a rich and powerful father, but is in fact more serious and competent than most of his squad.
We Named The Dog Indiana: Joyce's dogs, Walkies and Daniel. Both times, she had been mindwiped of the respective boy's existence, and it was unintentional. When introducing Walky to her parents, they believe Walky was named after the dog. He retorts with an Indiana Jones reference.
You Say Tomato: Walky cracks up because of how a British character pronounces his name.
Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: After Danny asks if he, Joe, Rachel and uber-nerd Howard are on a suicide mission, Joe outlines why it's not and explains intangibility by bringing up Kitty Pryde.
After the End: The comic's tagline describes J&W! as "post-apocalyptic." Given that said apocalypse was averted, it's debatable how well the description fits.
Alternate Universe: Hoo boy. The villain's entire plot revolves around building an army out of the future kids of potential pairings, and that's just for starters...
April Fools' Day: 2008 had Ultra-Car getting hit with a missile, Joyce and Walky inside declaring their hatred for each other, and Head Alien and Monkey Master having a Dance Party Ending.
Burger Fool: Sal ends up as one when forced into the working world.
Call Back: Sal calls Joyce's use of her jetpack cheating when recounting one of their It's Walky!-era fights to Becky. Later, whilst fighting the brainwashed alt-future kids, Joyce gleefully refers to the use of her jetpack as cheating as she and Walky fly into battle.
The Cameo: Joyce logs onto a pony chatroom in the hopes of finding a new friend to be her maid of honor, only to become discouraged and give up. Amber is on the same forum.
Cerebus Retcon: We get an explanation for the duct tape restraints. Apparently it worked on the abductees when they were kids and they just never felt the need to upgrade. (Hey, no one said it was a good explanation.)
Crossover: With Shortpacked! for the wedding. Robin is authenticating, and Mike is invited. They bring Leslie and Amber as their plus-ones and they all show up in Ultra-Car.
Grand Theft Me: HAII eventually pulls this on Dorothy as one last resort.
Goggles Do Nothing: The alt-future kids all wear goggles, but mostly on their foreheads. What purpose they serve is never explained, but given that the kids bitch at each other for stealing each other's looks they're probably just there for esthetic reasons.
Got Me Doing It: Joyce now also uses "wiigii" instead of "woo-hoo", and probably picked it up from Walky.
Friendless Background: Jason's employers are very happy that he comes from one of these.
Happily Engaged and Living Together: The titular duo. While Joyce does become a tad paranoid when Walky starts hanging around Dorothy, their relationship is remarkably drama-free and all of their arguments are petty and short-lived.
Hope Spot: The multitude of alternate-future kids have been chained up by Head Alien II, but one (D.J. Wilcox) escaped. The others think he'll be of some help, until...
HAII: I see the hope on your faces, and I know the reason for it. Hell, I put it there. You know, to taunt you, if only for a few minutes. That's right—I let D.J. Wilcox escape.
Hypocrite: Joyce edges into this territory when she has a mini-freakout over Walky and Dorothy hanging out. Walky points out that she pined after both Danny and Joe and he doesn't take issue with them being around.
If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Her: Walky threatens Jason with this when he finds out he and Sal have been sneaking around. Jason is unimpressed.
Jason: You may be superhuman, but I remember you have a soft neck.
Left for Dead: Head Alien II does this for Sal and D.J., in spite of Monkey Master's insistence that D.J. still has vital signs and he should finish the job.
Married to the Job: Jason, kind of. While he does love his job, his issues are mostly unrelated to that and he considers his career choice is a convenient scapegoat for said issues.
DJ: I shouldn't be interacting with you to begin with. I only initiated it for my own selfish reasons. So I deserve any ire thrown my way. This was stupid, plain and simple. But hey, principals mean diddly squat without the experiences to back them up, right?
Revenge: Joyce and Walky are ready to flee HAII's army when Machete mentions he killed Sal, at which point they charge back into battle. Jason is a little less rash but follows them when Machete says HAII recorded the killing and watches it over and over.
Right Through the Wall: Joyce and Walky. It gets Becky's dad on their case and, well, Becky...
Becky: What's that noise I sometimes hear in here? Stampeding cattle?
Rubber-Band History: The Alternate Universe arc starts with a replay of the The Unmasqued World arc of It's Walky, except Joe and Joyce are together now and Walky is nowhere in sight...and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Schedule Slip: Multiple, which resulted in the finale only being half-finished.
Self-Serving Memory: Joyce has got a bit of a case of this with regards to her relationship with Danny in Roomies!.
Joe: Everything's going to be completely different, isn't it?
Danny: Yep. And I'm completely ready. ... Nothing can possibly go wrong!
Joe ducks under the table, than cautiously pokes his head up
Joe: Nothing happened.
Danny: Told you everything is different.
And Played Straight a moment later—after Danny's big speech about how he feels ready for any challenge life lobs at him, D.J. shows up and claims to be his son.
Under The Mistletoe: Joyce and Sal freak out when they find themselves under it in the Dec. 2005 wallpaper.
Wedding Day: Danny and Billie's wedding, though the duo are out of focus in favor of highlighting Sal and Joyce's hostility towards each other regarding how their relationships with Danny ended up. The comic also ends on one—or is about to, anyway—between Joyce and Walky themselves.
Sorry, took "wedding crasher" a wee bit too literally.''
With This Ring: Joe fumbles it at Danny and Billie's wedding, sending Sal and Joyce scrambling to beat each other to get it, much to the irritation of the bride and groom. Sarah beats both of them to it.
, It's Walky!
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