Dumbing of Age

*deep breath*

Danny: In the original universe, he was an everyman whose morality and whiny demeanor were ascribed to him for plot reasons. Here it's the opposite, with his personality perpetuating the plot rather than being shaped by it. Besides that he's the same.

Joe: In the original, he saw women as disposable sex objects before a series of crushes and friendships reshaped his views and made him into a decent (if still relentlessly horny) person. Here, he's complex enough to integrate morality into sexuality right off the bat.

Joyce: More emphasis on her naivety and religion, less on her being a romantic nutball. (Character development means she's far more well-rounded these days.)

Sarah: Pretty much the only thing she retained was her sarcastic demeanor and aspirations to lawyerhood. Beyond that, completely different. (Never got a shot at character development, disappeared in the shift to It's Walky!.)

Ruth: Was originally depressed and cynical, is now a tyrannical violent nutbar.

Billie: Was originally an partygirl whose story arc, like Joe's, was about taking a healthier approach to her indulgences. Not explicitly an alcoholic in the original, but seeing as her early stuff partially revolved around the morality of drinking it makes sense here. Her journalistic interests are far more emphasized—which, let's face it, isn't hard.

Sal: Was originally upbeat and carefree before life went apeshit and turned her into a broody, angsty creature of the night. Given that she was sent to boarding school in the hopes of reform, she clearly didn't have that early stage.

Walky: About the same.

Dorothy: Was a mere plot point in Joyce & Walky!. Had the same basic traits but, as with Danny, it was a case of plot wagging the character.

Daisy: Ascended Extra, so hard to judge. Certainly what little we saw of her doesn't contradict anything from the new 'verse.

Dina: Her social ostracization is much more prominent in DOA, so her demeanor has been tweaked to match, becoming much more stoic. She's also far less concerned with being accepted than she was in the old 'verse.

Jason: Also about the same.

Alex: Basically prototypical DOA!Amber, except far more glued to his computer to the point where we saw him standing up a grand total of once. He's a mere cameo here.

Professor Alan Rees: Also just a cameo here. Just as well, he was pretty flat in the old 'verse.

Penny: Basically an even more diabolically insane version of DOA!Ruth.

Ron: Jerk in the Walkyverse, seems decent here.

Ryan: More love-'em-and-leave-'em in the Walkyverse than the straight-up rapist he's depicted as here.

Dexter and Monkey Master: Were real.

Am I forgetting anyone?

EDIT: No, we really never see Robin taking an active interest in politics or being in charge. Her motive is pretty much "sure, why not".

edited 17th Jan '13 8:41:07 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Thanks. It is plain obvious many of the differences come from David being a better writer now.

You forgot Beef, Tony, Sal's mute friend and Sarah's ex-friends. But I guess all of these are rather minor for any difference to be noticeable. I am curious about Sarah's junkie friend, though.

Also, one thing about Joe, isn't he a Transformers toy collector in the Walkyverse? Although I guess this aspect of him is more emphasized on Shortpacked?

As for Ruth, she seems to still be depressed and cynical. It is just being tyrannical violent nutbar overshadow that. I figure more will be known latter.

PS:Alex is the computer teacher, right?

edited 17th Jan '13 8:55:17 PM by Heatth

Beef and Tony have bit parts, and Sarah's friends are OC.

Marcie didn't have much in the way of characterization outside of muteness.

Joe is a nerd in the old universe, and was from the start, but until Willis takes a firm stance on whether he is now I don't count that as a change.

Well, Ruth was violent in the original, too, and that was swiftly overshadowed by her depression. So it's the reverse here, I guess. (Also, Ruth was Billie and Walky's babysitter in the original, and Ruth and Billie were close friends. That history, obviously, has been removed.)

Alex is the computer teacher, yes. He was a student in the original, an unwitting, agitated confidant for anyone in proximity. "Do I have a 'talk to me' sign on my back?"

edited 17th Jan '13 8:59:06 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Wait, Sarah's junkie roommate is an OC? Her role was major enough I thought she was one of the recycled characters.

Ah, sorry. No, Dana's from the original.

She appeared roughly three comics. Willis pretty much just reused the name and character design. She was just "Sarah's generic friend", as was her DOA!boyfriend Carl.

The rest of Sarah's ex-friends in DOA are OCs.

Oh, I forgot Sierra. She was Tootsi in the original. Her new personality, like Marcie's, was largely structured to match her original wardrobe, since she didn't have a personality.

It's important to note that, while Willis named and gave rudimentary details to dozens of characters in It's Walky!, only about 10% were actually important, and the rest were just name and squad number for the sake of SEMME's employees being consistent instead of faceless extras.

edited 17th Jan '13 9:10:09 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Oh, okay, thanks.

Also, I missed your edit about Ruth last post. So, Ruth kinda feels like a different character by having different aspects of her character emphasized over others. Which is about the same thing that happened to Ethan, Amber and Joyce, if I understood right. That is quite clever.

Anyway, thanks again for you elucidation in the Walkyverse characters Wack.

No prob. I also added an edit.

Ruth in the original was violent defensively. Mostly she dealt roughly with Joe for bullying her brother Howard (who hasn't appeared yet if he exists.) Beyond that, she was mostly just sad and mopey and desperately trying to claw her way out of a pit of despair. So I would argue that she's been far more rejiggered than Ethan, Amber or Joyce.

edited 17th Jan '13 9:12:35 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Read the edit. I kinda figured that many of the characters reused were pretty minor. I was just curious to see which one were they and how much so. It is not immediately obvious, after all. If the relevance for Dumbing Of Age was a good indicator, than Daisy would be a bigger character than Beef in Walkyverse, which I was lead to believe it is not the case.

I see.

Another forgotten person: Mary. That is the crazier fundie girl, right? The commenters keep calling her name whenever she appear*

so I guess she used to be important? Was she as much of a jerk back than?

Btw, new page.

edited 17th Jan '13 9:22:04 PM by Heatth

Oh, yeah. I forgot Mary had appeared beyond a cameo.

And I remembered Ron, of all people. *facepalm*

Mary hasn't really changed, I don't think. She turned out to be a hypocrite in the original so I guess we'll wait and see how that turns out.

Beef starts out a big deal and then gets Demoted to Extra to the point where his whole arc becomes about being neglected. Still more important than Daisy, though.

edited 17th Jan '13 9:25:54 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Where is Mary from, btw? Roomies? Its Walky?

So, Beef is like a reverse Zangief*

? I find amusing he was a serious character in the first place, actually. I mean, everything I know from him*

name, appearance and being supposedly Walky's brother

seems like a joke.

Edit:So, I've just read that page of Shortpacked. More specifically David's comment bellow it. I didn't know I was talking with someone so important.

edited 17th Jan '13 9:39:05 PM by Heatth

*blushes*

Beef was a joke too, but that didn't stop him from having real emotions, especially given what's revealed about him towards the end. (Granted, until that reveal, he's pretty much a joke, though we get hints of what's going on in his head early on.)

Mary is originally from Roomies!. She later shows up in a single It's Walky! plotline.

edited 17th Jan '13 9:44:13 PM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

At the rate Dumbing Of Age is going, it'll take ages for him to appear if he's ever going to. One thing that I had forgotten about Roomies and It's Walky is that they used to take place more or less in real time. A year in real life meant a year in the comic, and Howard entered college a year behind Danny and Joe.

...Although on second thought, Sal and Walky were also a year younger, so that may be irrelevant.

Introduced early in Roomies, dropped off the radar for a long time, then made a reappearance late in It's Walky.

Sarah actually did the same thing. She reappeared towards the end of It's Walky as a lawyer, who was employed in multiple prosecutions of SEMME. She was frustrated that Joyce continued to always be happy to see her, despite the fact that she kept being involved in screwing Joyce over.

edited 18th Jan '13 6:52:38 AM by Desertopa

...eventually, we will reach a maximum entropy state where nobody has their own socks or underwear, or knows who to ask to get them back.

Clicked this thread for some reason. Ended up binging entire comic. It's better than what I was expecting. Some of the characters are on the flat end, but they are pretty interesting, and are taking arcs you don't normally see, which is good. Joyce is interesting to read, and she comes across as a bit hyperbolized, but oddly familiar at the same time. Like I could see her existing. I also like Sarah. I identify with her a bit, since I had friends who were self destructive folks.

Yeah. Couldn't care less for Walky and his sister though. And Billie. And Dina. Um yeah.

edited 18th Jan '13 8:25:56 AM by MrAHR

Read my stories!

Joyce was apparently based on the author himself, when he was her age. As hyperbolized she was sincerely based on someone who exist. That also probably explain why she so sympathetic, despite the author obviously not sharing her world-view.

As for the flat characters, I figured the plan is to have this comic going for years and years, so the author is just taking his time to develop his big cast. You mentioned Dina, for example, who indeed have not much personality so far, but her character arc have just started moving its gears.

I don't understand why you mentioned Billie, though. I mean, sure, I can understand why you wouldn't care for her. Billie doesn't have a much likable personality, after all. But out of everyone in your list, she is easily the most developed and well rounded. It just strike me odd to mention her in that context.

Sorta what happened to me, yeah.

She just bores me. I don't hate her, I'm just not interested in anything she does.

And I am willing to be in here for the long haul. Seems like he's avoiding nasty status quo issues, so I look forward to seeing what happens.

edited 18th Jan '13 8:22:05 AM by MrAHR

Read my stories!

I can understand why you find her boring. I just found odd for you to list her along with more genuinely (so far) flat characters.

Funny you mention that. David Willis' other comic is having an arc mocking Status Quo Is God*

just now. But, yeah, even his comedic focused comic avoid being stuck in the Status Quo for too long. He is kinda good avoiding not leaving the comfort zone, I guess.

edited 18th Jan '13 8:30:06 AM by Heatth

Ah. Well, she does nothing for me for different reasons. Sorry for the confusion mate. I also don't have much interest in amazi-girl, but that's cause I find it rather overly silly. I am fine with Amber though.

Read my stories!

I have the same problem with Amazi-Girl, myself. I have nothing against silliness, but she is kinda out there compared with the down to Earth setting. It kinda feel weird. I kinda want to know why a nerdy girl would be so efficient fighting petty crime alone. But at the same time I wonder if this would make her even more unbelievable.

It is rather amusing how she is the only character who become sillier in the transition from the Walkyverse.

She said she took field and track or something, so there is that.

Read my stories!

Also, SP has shown that Amazi-Girl is more thought out than most female superheroes. She's essentially emulating a member of the Bat family rather than <insert female superhero here>.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

AMAZI-GIRL IS IMMUNE TO CRITICISM!

Not sure what you are talking about. DoA!Amazin-Girl is a Batman-like "superhero", i.e., I normal dude who acts at night to beat up random criminals. SP!Amazin-Girl is only a woman's empowering fantasy.

edited 18th Jan '13 9:03:20 AM by Heatth

Yeah, but SP!Amber's idea of AG's equipment is "more realistic superheroine than the cliché", so it's reasonable that Do A!AG would go that way too, especially if she's actually Amber.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

So, not to be a nooblet, but what's the average update time of this strip?

Read my stories!

This strip updates at 12 midnight Eastern U.S. time, Mon. - Fri.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."