Shortpacked! by David Willis
Toys are serious business.
Convention appearances:
Calgary Expo Calgary, AB: April 26-28
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Multiplex
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
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©2005-2013 David Willis | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑
Cue the sad trumpets.
Actually they are sad trombones, and they aren’t needed anyhow because Malaya is pure awesomesauce.
You mean like this?
I was actually hoping that would be Pinkie Pie.
Sad panda is sad
The part that makes me happiest is how all the haters will be disappointed.
Agreed. Malaya 4-eva.
*facepalm*
Okay, so if Leslie’s husband were to freak out like panel 2 for her failure to reveal her lesbian-ity, what would the entire comment thread say? “What a dick.”
But when Leslie freaks out about Malaya’s straight-ity, everyone’s all like “yeah kill Malaya!”
I hate the Malaya character. But the haters really make me want to side with her because of their hypocrisy.
Wait, what? How can you possibly be so dense? You make up a story about these commenters in order to give you and excuse for disliking them and you call them hypocrites?
First of all, if you bother to read these comments sections, you’ll realize that opinions vary wildly here. Second, even if that didn’t happen, you can’t simply predict what other people might say about a situation based on what they said in an entirely different one, with different characters and different motivations.
Third, and this is basic human psychology, people are more likely to side with a character they know and like than with one they know and dislike or with one thay don’t know at all. So even if the situation you described were to happen it still wouldn’t mean the commenters are hypocrites.
Should be “they” instead of “thay” in the last paragraph. Stupid darkness.
If your primary joy in a series is for how others react to it, you are a sad waste of an egg.
You… you DO KNOW what webcomic you’re reading, right?
Always remember never to forget to remind yourself that the author hates you.
And ask yourself: WHY it is that he hates you just SO MUCH.
Perverse Sexual Lust?
“Always remember never to forget to remind yourself.” That broke my brain a little XD haha
Not primary, it’s just fun to see the whiners and angry people.
I predict that they are going to hate.
Who?
The haters. The hatred will be coming from the haters.
There must be a more concise way to say that…
Oh, them. Yes, they’re gonna do it for sure.
God damn it.
Yessir.
Where’s Faz when you need him…and Galasso. And Reagan.
All I know is that Galasso wouldn’t waste his time bringing back this sea hag.
he brought back Faz whose much worse.
Worship the faziness.
I know. I’m so disappointed that the most likeable character in this comic didn’t become a murderer. Damn you, Willis!
I dislike Malaya’s seeming non-chalance. Just sayin’
Hey, guys! Well oh boy, was that a fun wacky time we had last night, huh Leslie? Good thing you’re so forgiving! I’m sure everything’s fine now, though. I’m gunna make fun of that nerd over there now, seeya!
Yeah, I still don’t see this ending well either.
Ooh! Ooh! Maybe Mike will get involved! That’d be awesome.
–That is a really weird thing to type when your husband is also called Mike. >.>
Leslie is a better person than most of the readers, that’s for sure.
Hey, now, you really don’t know that. You can’t speak to how much the readership at large gives to community service or the public good. People are allowed to disconnect when it comes to fiction.
We know that Leslie had violent thoughts about a person that’s real to her. I’m sure some of the readership have done the same of real people, but can we agree that what percentage of the readership has done so is not clear?
sensitive much?
Now, answer me honestly. If I go back and check, am I going to discover that you’ve been clamoring for Malaya to die for ages?
And that is the point!
Look, I love Leslie. But being a dormat doesn’t make her a better person. It just makes her life awful. I, personally, am hoping for her to grow out of being a doormat.
^This. Upon opening today’s page, my reaction was simply: “*sigh*…And you were doing so well, Leslie. Right up until you forgave her and let think ‘it’s all okay’. Dammit.”
Yes, forgiving people and being nice is a horrible trait.
Well, it kinda is when it leads to the person you’re forgiving not actually changing and just keeping on treating you poorly. Forgiveness isn’t supposed to be a one-way street: The deal is they work to make amends, and you work to accept those amends. Just going “Oh no that’s okay never mind I forgive you for treating me like shit” and them then going “So we’re all good then? Cool! *Thumbs up*” isn’t productive or helpful to either party, though. It’s just telling them that the way they act doesn’t have consequences (and therefore they don’t need to change), because you’ll “forgive” them.
Whether or not that’s the case here, though, remains to be seen. I honestly do hope that Leslie at some point soon explains that, no, it is not okay that Malaya used her like that, and she’d appreciate it if Malaya didn’t just wander around pretending everything was fine because, you know what? It’s not.
And, who knows? Maybe Malaya would finally learn that it’s not all about her.
But we’ll see.
It is when it systematically makes you the victim/monkeybutt. It’s being horrible to yourself.
Wrong
Apparently she’s an underachiever that can’t follow through with what she really wants.
She and Robin were made for each other.
Leslie is sickeningly forgiving, and Robin is sickeningly propitiate. Malaya just takes the pardons and runs.
Between this, the whole Robin drama, and Ninja Rick, I don’t envy Amber’s scheduling woes right now.
Well, at least she won’t have to worry about Ninja Rick trying to murder Leslie anymore.
Yay, Leslie’s not a hypocrite!
Unfortunately she also isn’t a hippogriff.
Hold your hippogriffs!
You don’t know that! She could be polymorphed like one of the Wapsi Square monster girls.
I don’t think she’s a Hippocrates either.
Pretty sure she ain’t a hippopotamus either.
at least she has a good hippocampus.
She didn’t drown! She must be a witch!
So Malaya weighs as much as a duck?
Which means she’s made of wood…
Oak or Pine?
Birch.
Number one: the larch.
And therefore….
…
…
A WITCH!!!
She turned me into a newt.
…
…
…
Well, I got better.
Or she weighs as much as a rock ….. a very small rock …
Leslie!! BAD Leslie!
Stop dragging that character back into the strip!
She’s just too good to be good at evil.
D’OH!!
I’m honestly curious how far this strip was done in advance.
If you haven’t already, you should read his tumblr post about last strip!
Already read!
Mostly I’m just occasionally curious how much of the strip is done in reaction to his audience’s behavior and reactions. It probably happens sometimes!
Malaya was never going to die. The only thing I debated was whether to spell that out in Monday’s strip or hold it until Tuesday. For the sake of Funny, I held it until Tuesday.
A good idea is a good idea.
I find it funny how many people seem to think you just suddenly turn around and change your strip based entirely on fan reactions despite the fact that if that was true-
Malaya would be gone already.
Robin and Leslie would be a couple right now…
Ethan wouldn’t be gay and would be dating Robin.
Faz would be dead.
Robin would be dead.
Faz would have more strips about him.
Ethan would be dead.
Mike would be the main character.
Ninja Rick would be dead.
Amber would be dead.
Amber and Robin would be a couple and the stars of Shortpacked.
Jacob would be dead.
Ethan wouldn’t be gay and would be dating Amber.
I think I’ve made my point so I’ll just stop now…
That being said – you’ve saved Leslie in my eyes (although I never really believed she had killed Malaya anyway…)
I fail to see the problem here
Because it means Zombie Robin and Zombie Ethan would be cheating on Leslie and Amber respectively! C’mon, pay attention!
Er, Zombie Amber.
Upon whom Zombie Robin would also be cheating somehow I guess.
dammit, now all i want from this strip is more strips with the dead ghost of faz.
FAZper the creepy ghost. the creepiest ghost you know.. while grown ups might look with him with fright hes a real bozo you know!
Howz about Zombie Rick. That would be sheer awesomeness.
I never thought Malaya was going to die: that’d be a pretty pointless waste of a pretty entertaining character.
You forgot Ethan would be gay and dating Mike.
There’s nothing saying I can’t tell myself Malaya is undead now if I wanna.
Or like… that girl from Heroes.
Which one? Maya, the poisonous one?
The cheerleader. Then she could have been thrown from the helicopter but get over it and feel better soon after.
Which means we just get more practice throwing her off stuff.
Leslie, last panel: DAMN my forgiving nature!
This is why Leslie AND Malaya are the best.
“So we don’t have to deal with a murder trial plotline, and can get back to jokes about Batman?”
“Absolutely.”
Glad to see sexual frustration didn’t drive Leslie to homicide.
Wha? Murder trial?
They have a FORM, duh.
Did we really expect her to be that unforgivening? Poor Leslie not getting any, all that pent up sexual frustration.
Latter yet, still frustrated she bumps into Robin who is being her charmingly ditzy self. What ensue is a total reversal of their previous encounters … fade out …. fade in … as they cuddle Robin blurts out a very dangerous question, thus ensuring that the DRAMA continues.
Yay! Malaya lives!
This strip needs like ten times more Malaya.
Man, imagine if the next strip was just four Malayas talking to each other.
Then Robin wakes up and screams.
I would print that strip out, frame it, and hang it on my wall.
No screaming, she should make her horrified face!
Now I want to see Malaya in that scene from Battlestar Galactica on the Cylon Basestar where Boomer’s outside the Raptor alone and then all the 8s come marching out naked to meet her.
Awesome…
I really hope Leslie finds somebody stable, if only for a little while.
Actually, screw everyone else; this comic should just be all Leslie all the time.
“I’m Batman.”
“Sorry, Batman, but in response to reader input, we are retooling this strip in a more lesbian oriented direction.”
“I’m…Batwoman?”
“Nice try. The heels suit you, though.”
Nice.
I want this to be an actual strip.
Batman trained for years to be the best at everything. Even cross-dressing.
And he can credit his aptitude at crossdressing to his mentor, Rose al Gal.
which is just as well because i’m not sure where in this comic you would find somebody stable
Am I the only one that sees the weird spots on Malaya’s neck?
Apparently today’s strip needed 257 colors instead of the usual 256.
Your art program failed you!
Time for the force choke.
She got a rash from all that salt water.
And the Fandom Shrieked in rage.
But failed to go down with the Ship.
In fact rumor has it that the fandom was still at its table ordering food long after the ship had struck the rock and begun to go down.
Following up what I said yesterday, one difference between Mike and Leslie is that Mike really would have dropped Malaya in the bay.
For Malaya’s sake I will say that what she did STILL wasn’t as bad as what Robin did in the way beginning. Yeah Robin improved and so on but being bi curious is not as bad as stringing a girl along to fake gay so you can get some guy.
Sure Robin improved and I’m sure Malaya will to, in time.
Wait does this mean Akuma actually has a chance to date Malaya.
THE JOKE IS SO OLD NOW.
Not yet. We haven’t gotten every single reader that ever existed and ever will to say that.
If the majority of the fandom has already used it, the joke is past old. The joke has now been buried, dug up, re-animated, shot in the head, buried again, dug up again, re-animated again, had it’s head cut in half by a shovel, buried another time, dug up another time, re-animated another time, sliced in half…
Just like Marvel Zombies. Or memes from 4-chan, which aren’t nearly as funny as people think.
In other words, it’s about one-tenth as overused as a DoA meme.
I actually was going to simply write Ken but I actually thought the Street Fighter 2 thing was a legit law by now and if I actually get Ken’s name right I would be arrested by some large man with a handlebar mustache named Officer Buffstache, Webcomic Police.
It then occurred to me that I may simply be insane BUUUT I didn’t want to take chances.
Nah, just use any Street Fighter character, for a very good reason: Capcom has so blurred the lines about who was and wasn’t retroactively in the game, that it’s safer to just assume everyone was in it. Personally, I’m going with “calling him every female Capcom fighting character name until people do finally drop it, if only from the mental images it brings up.” Today’s name: Poison!
Question is, was Robin totally stringing Leslie along soley to get Ethan or did she subconsciously recognise her attraction to Leslie and use the Ethan thing as an excuse to be with Leslie? Before you dismiss this take into account two things, one, Robin was very much invested in Leslie very quickly and was upset when Ethan told her the truth, not because it busted her scheme but because it drove away the one person that loved her for being herself. Second, she’s apparently had a thing for Amber since she started at Shortpacked and she latched herself onto Amber much like she latched onto Leslie, Leslie was ahppy about it, unlike Amber.
Well Leslie at least you get to bitch about it XD will this will inspire Malaya to be nicer and actually do it… I doubt it XD Oh well more laughs XD
Well.
I could have told you this was coming.
No-o-o-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Yeah, I can’t say that I am AT ALL surprised that Malaya’s still alive (yeah, like LESLIE’s gonna kill her for reelz?) But it was nice while it lasted.
I expects a heap of NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’s from all the commenters who wanted her dead/gone forever.
She’s an artificial character, artificially infused into the strip to create some tension. And a poor man’s Mike, at that. We already have a character like Mike. We don’t need a less cool version of him.
I only laughed a few times at her, and that was usually the result of her accompanying character (like ultra car).
It wouldn’t be so bad if she was like E. Honda, but she’s practically the focal point of the comic these days. It’s not a love-to-hate relationship that most of us have with her….it’s an “OH LOOK, THAT GENERIC MEDIOCRE CHARACTER AGAIN. STILL.”
And that is my opinion on why we want to see her join Poochy the Dog (with attitude) up there in cartoon heaven. There’s nothing particularly interesting about her, and there’s a LOT of her.
She’s nothing like Mike.
Then why do so many people say she feels like a female Mike?
You could write an essay or huge list on why they’re not alike, but if we’re all making the same connection, obviously they’re close enough.
She’s like Mike in that they are both jerks.
However Malaya apparently feels guilty about it, but has trouble controlling herself and always just says whats on her mind – therefore she is apparently a worse person…
somehow…
Well, yeah, boring characters tend to be worse characters.
Worse people, not so much, but they don’t exactly get a lot of party invitations either.
Technically. However Mike is willing to become drunk and be nice for the sake of his woman.
So far the only thing I’ve seen Malaya feel guilty about is not “being a better person”, and she’s only expressed that around Leslie. So I really don’t think she’s connected her nasty, off-hand comments with “something to feel bad about” just yet. Also, that’s why she’s a poor man’s Mike. Mike actually invests himself in his meanness. Malaya doesn’t really care. This is the reason Mike tends to be preferred – if there’s gotta be pain, it might as well be from someone who’s not just causing the damage and leaving.
Mike is a cartoon supervillain. Utterly unrelatable and unrealistic. That’s what makes him so beloved by the fans.
Malaya is a run of the mill bitch. Everyone knows a Malaya. She’s realistic, and worse yet, we see ourselves in her.
Yup, you’re right. They’re the same person with different genitals.
Idiot.
To me, that cartoon supervillain excuse just seems like a cop-out. I actually do know real life guy who is very similar to Mike. He stays out of prison by either leaving no evidence behind or by choosing victims who can’t take him down without incriminating themselves… although, as far as I know he hasn’t set any people on fire
I maintain a good relationship with him by being an impressionable younger relative who picked up some of the softer evil behaviours, by not giving a shit about what he does when he’s not with me, and by only seeing him once or twice a year.
I like both Malaya and Mike as characters, but I like Mike more. Probably because real life Malaya spent my half of the rent and damage deposit instead of getting us an apartment, and then complained about how I was making her life difficult by wanting that money back. Real life Mike taught me the skills to convince her to pay me back without involving small claims court.
*Raises hand* I don’t think she’s anything like Mike at all.
Quick question – can you elaborate on what it means to be a generic mediocre character?
Most of your complaints consist of buzz word and phrases meant to provoke reaction without having any real meaning.
I mean aren’t generic and mediocre kinda the same thing?
Also – the focal point? She doesn’t seem to be taking any more space than anyone else – you know it’s quite common of people who dislike something to blow that something out of proportion and then when that something isn’t as bad as it seemed they refuse to acknowledge it because they somehow think it’ll make them look bad…
The hot topic lately is “Malaya: Like her or KILL HER OFF”, or so it would seem. I’m not flaming or provoking. I’m just stating my opinion.
I find her boring, not particularly funny, and doesn’t stand out like other characters do. In all the Willis comics over the years, she’s easily the least likeable character I’ve ever seen. Obviously some characters fade into the background, but she feels like a background character who’s trying to fight her way into the regular cast. And sucking at it.
The fact that she seems like a lesser Mike (a much beloved character) doesn’t help either.
This isn’t a peer reviewed journal, so I’m certainly not about to give a point-by-point analysis on why I think she sucks, lol. But there ya go.
Also she’s not a worse person, just a weaker character. You’re misreading.
I wouldn’t say she’s the focus of the strip at all. She and Leslie are the co-stars of this particular storyline, but everyone gets the occasional day in the limelight.
And it’s the first real Leslie oriented story since the fallout from breaking up with Robin. It’s good to have her get some focus as more than “Robin’s sad ex”. I like that she at least trying to move on, even if this relationship turned out to be a bit of a dud.
…retail has a high rate of employee churn in reality, and the fact that we have such a stable cast is UNrealistic.
Having Malaya show up is the most realistic thing this strip has ever done. Well liked, mature, emotionally healthy smart people rarely end up working retail for that long. Immature, bitter people are the norm.
Your bias is showing.
What bias is that?
16 layer Bias-ply I think.
I *do* tire of this
“Artificial character”?
That’s seriously what you’re leading off with? Seriously?
You can tell she’s artificial because the main complaint about her is she’s too realistic.
Please, she’s a poor man’s Ultra Car
I just wanna say:
I ate some bad fish last night and was sick today. I atupidly didn’t realize what it was and ate some chinese food today, which also turned out to be bad (both items got somebody else sick. They were theoretically “restaurant fresh”). I’m on the tail end of my vacation, and today was going to be the one day when I could plan something (rather than everybody else here doing the planning), and the result has been a very sick person whose stomach is acting like an unholy combo of Mike and Malaya.
And the comic made me laugh a lot, and that’s really awesome:-)
Thanks for being funny! Now excuse me, I gotta go expel some more intestine poison.
Geez, come on. Some things don’t need to be shared.
Just imagine what didn’t get shared!
Yes, I know, spewing from both ends and so on. Still, don’t you feel a bit embarrassed? Oh right, of course you don’t, because we can’t see you and you’re anonymous. What better place to share your every digestive blip?
Yeah, I probably will when the deliiiiiiiirium goes away.
Misery loves company. All things considered, the visuals are faaar less horrific than what Ridureyu is enduring right now. I’d rather he share this here than with travel companions who should be allowed to finish out their vacation on a high note–so long as it doesn’t mean leaving him to die.
I hope you’re better again by travel time, Ridureyu.
At least Leslie realizes that being bi-curious and questioning is not a crime
I think we all knew deep inside that Leslie; who has earned her place amongst the favorites of Shortpacked!’s extensive cast, would have never committed such a crime and that Willis a little more talented than to resort to such a cheap turn for the sake of a joke and getting rid of a character…
Well I knew Malaya wasn’t dead.
I was just hoping Les wouldn’t forgive her so easily.
Well, a given value of “forgive”. She’s obviously still angry and upset, she just failed to murder Malaya and kick her body out of the helicopter into the bay.
The is no middle ground. Every person you fail to murder, you have forgiven. That is the law, and that is how it must be.
I’d just like to use this moment to thank David Willis for creating Malaya and continuing to feature the character despite the whining of commenters.
Also, thank you for naming her pet lizard Fuckface. That was inspired.
Seconded in its entirety.
Oh, yes, David Willis has it so very hard with all the whining.
Pfft. Like he notices.
May I point out that I enjoy reading through comments which I’m not sure everyone does. You’ve posted several times in this and each time it was nasty passive aggressive crap…
First of all Willis is polite enough to respond to comments once in awhile when I am sure he has a life that he could and indeed does live outside of his webcomics of which I am sure many of us are grateful for. And I assume that pointless whining over his webcomic is grating – although at this point he’s probably desensitized to it…
Two; I enjoy and am thankful for David Willis’ hardwork and attempt to keep his webcomic entertaining. If he listened to half the whining I doubt it would be as entertaining because he’d never develop characters or finish storylines.
Finally – now I don’t care how you feel about Malaya one way or another , but going around doing exactly what you tell other people not to is not only obnoxious, but hypocritical too… and I’m sure you know I am referring to one post in which you claimed negatively (true or not) that another person was being passive aggressive,
Stop it – now… -_- please…
And you can respond with some random thing that makes me sound like I’m being the bully or that I’m taking everything way to seriously, but you know what – it wouldn’t change the fact that well it is a comic and some people do need to tone it down a little you quite obviously have some beef with something yourself so stop your high and mightier holier than thou crap and join in a real discussion rather than posting short nasty messages that if replayed to by the people you posted it to would only make you feel vindicated.
Because ya know what – if Malaya was half as obnoxious as someone like you I’d be calling for her blood too…
I doubt anyone needs any defense, but I been looking through all these comments and I keep seeing you popping in and being an ass and it’s driving me nuts. You don’t bring anything productive or anything funny – if you ain’t funny or productive than you’re just obnoxious.
Hate Malaya or love Malaya – at least everyone else is actually saying something instead of just jumping in to insult other people for daring not to hold the same opinion.
And also – personally I just don’t like your attitude…
I like how understanding Amber is being.
I know Willis doesn’t (or at least hasn’t yet) give us backstories for all the characters, but I’m really wondering about Malaya. Think we’ll hear more about where her attitude comes from?
I mean, Mike is as asshole Just Because, but with Malaya there seems to be a hint that she’s rather insecure and acting out as a form of self defense. And since she mentioned all the bad relationships she’s had, it seems to be hinting that Willis already has something in mind to explain her.
I guess the BIG question, psychology wise, is which came first: the attitude problem, or the bad relationships. Because if she’s used to being treated like dirt, it would go a long way to explain why she defaults to treating others like that; she doesn’t want to be hurt again.
But if she was always like that, it would probably explain why all her relationships failed to begin with. And maybe she’s deluded enough to not realize the common factor, and just write all guys off as a result.
Either would make an interesting story, and probably gain her a lot more sympathy and fans.
Maybe the Leslie/Malaya thing isn’t over.
Unless this leads to epic lesbo hatesex, I think it is over.
This would actually be a fine starting point for a gradually developing relationship, working it’s way from anger to forgiveness to acquaintance to friends to close friends to re-evaluating Malaya’s assumption of her straightness.
But apparently Willis planned from the start for Malaya to replicate Leslie’s earlier ‘coming out’ but in reverse, which probably means she straight for real, in which case the relationship is indeed dead.
Now I want to see Malaya in that Grace Park scene from Battlestar Galactica on the Cylon Basestar when all the other 8s come marching out naked.
It’s ok, Les. We all want to kill some people sometimes, but simply can’t. No one will judge you for it.
WTF I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONE. /sadface
Oh well it still works out. Leslie can still get back together with Robin and maybe Malaya won’t be so hard to deal with. I honesty didn’t think she was dead especially with the new header artwork that includes her. Seriously if they were going to kill off a character everyone hated Faz would’ve been dead years ago.
i disagree. faz is the best.
“Faz agrees with your words skull man! “
I really, really, REALLY hope that Leslie doesn’t summarily rebound to Robin. For the last several storylines Robin has been considerably more evil than Malaya could ever hope to be.
Faz has a huge cult following.
And Malaya continues to her Inverse-Robin Shenanigans, bravo Willis.
I think it’s pretty sad that people actually seemed to believe that leslie would commit murder, especially something so stupid as finding out Malaya is straight.
I’m curious to see where this leads. How mad is Leslie actually? Right now it’s about at it’s most irrational, with the shock and dissappointment at their strongest. Will she be more understanding once she calms down ina few days? Malaya looks happy and friendly, has this experience made her less defensive and less likely to lash out?
People don’t really believe that….it’s just believing in the power of positive thinking. You think hard enough about it, maybe it’ll come true.
i think it’s a little fishy seeing leslie as pleasant as she is. she must have some kind of outlet. i bet off-panel, she’s a serial killer.
I know you’re kidding, but really, THIS is her outlet right here. She tells Amber her dark fantasy as if it’s fact. It’s a nice way for her to express her dark urge without actually hurting anyone.
hello?
I’m really glad Leslie forgave her, even if she is understandably frustrated.
Malaya are actually my favorite two characters in this strip right now.
But what do I know? I’m a Derpy Hooves fan.
Thank goodness for this insightful commentary on what makes a comic entertaining. I damn near went right on enjoying it ignorant of the fact that it in reality wasn’t very entertaining at all. Whew, that was a close one!
If you want to disagree with people, do so, but cut the passive aggressive crap.
I think the word you’re looking for is “sarcasm.” People use it. If that bothers you, then I suggest you get over it. Because you’re really not in any position to complain about other people’s attitudes.
^ This
DAMMIT, WILLIS.
Leslie, this is the perfect opportunity to move on, reinvent yourself, and dare I say, get a new hairstyle…
Go kiss a hedge trimmer. The hairstyle gag is tedious.
Having a bad day?
Some people apparently think that if you repeat something enough times, it goes from not funny back over to hilarious.
Possibly they thought it was funny all along.
Those people might have grown up in a humour-deprived environment.
I’m not sure it’s a gag. If it isn’t, that’s…even more pathetic, really.
Ahahahaha, oh dear.
I do see where Malaya’s coming from, though. If she told Leslie the truth, which I really hope she did.
I think…this is actually the right decision. If Malaya WAS a lesbian and had a relationship with Leslie than her only good points would be completely defined by the fact that she was a lesbian. Sexuality has obviously been an important part of Willis’ characters before but it’s never defined them. Ethan isn’t DEFINED by being gay. Nor is Leslie, who began that way and then became an actual character. If this is Malaya’s road to becoming a GOOD character then I think fans could be perfectly accepting of that.
Wait – Ethan isn’t defined by being gay?
But I’ve been defining him based only on how him and I could get it on! Damn you for ruining it by reminding me he has other characteristics!
I’m kidding of course.
XD XD XD
You’re funny, sir.
Knew it wasn’t gonna happen. Until you see the body, cut off its head, stuff the mouth full of garlic, drive a stake through its heart, and then burn the lot and bury the ashes in consecrated ground, they ain’t dead.
You forgot “Destroy all time machines.”
Point. Most of my RPG experience has been in fantasy games without time-travel. However, your warning will remembered and used in future situations when possible.
(May be doing some Victorian Sci-Fi: thanks to H.G. Wells, time travel is a given in the setting!)
No no no! That’s the UNDEAD Malaya!
Your current gravatar is apropos for today’s comic!
What I find interesting about this is that it’s the first time Leslie’s gotten legitimately angry. Even when Robin emotionally manipulated her beyond the point of no return, she still reacted meekly, because for all her faults, at least Robin was honest with her about everything she did. But Malaya deceived her in order to get what she wanted, and that got Leslie pissed.
Your logic seems off – She’s mad at Malaya for Malaya being HONEST with her…
Malaya wasn’t really all that deceptive about his yet a lot of people keep saying she was – that is kinda confusing and perhaps a tad disturbing since it says a lot about people’s perception of deception.
Don’t attribute to malice what can be explained away as ignorance…
Actually she has a right to be cross. If you’re in a relationship to experiment, then rule of courtesy is to say so up front. that’s being HONEST.
Never said Leslie shouldn’t be cross – I’m saying people assume that Malaya “knew” she was experimenting, but judging by her reaction when they kissed she only realized she was experimenting after the fact.
Saying she was intentionally stringing Leslie along is taking the whole event out of context and just reaching for more reasons to claim Malaya is just deh evilz thing evar and deh worst thing teh evar happen ta Shortpacked EVAR – especially in comparison to what happened between Leslie and Robin…
Malaya seems to lack any real foresight honestly and she’s kinda a bitch, but she did seem to generally believe that she loved Leslie romantically and physically.
That may say a lot about her past than anything else that she can’t differ what appears to be respect and friendship from romantic feelings…
Perhaps the next twist is in fact one none of us have thought of – perhaps Malaya’s asexual?
I don’t know if she’s asexual (which while a real orientation, is fairly uncommon… And I don’t know if Willis wants to “one of every kind” the cast), but otherwise I think you’re right about Malaya.
As for Leslie, I think the difference between her reactions to what happened with Robin and what happened with Malaya is merely that Leslie has grown a backbone over time. She’s not a static person.
I want to see more of Malaya’s roommates. Particularly the huge guy with squinty eyes. Can we have this, Mr. Willis?
This is very likely.
awesomesauce!
Yay for Arnold!
So. . . are the comments always this. . . “enthusiastic”?
Absolutely not.
A lot of the time they’re not nearly as civilized.
Yeah, sometimes we almost get into YouTube territory.
At least we avoid getting anywhere near the 4Chan zone ….. >_>
“Picture this…”
“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
I like Malaya, she’s fun to read.
I knew it.
Called it. To that particular person that disagreed with me: I told you so.
Hmmmm~ I feel like being and ass so – Malaya was killed, but then Leslie somehow used her families money to build Malaya 2.0 using Malaya’s Brain (the body is at the bottom of the bay). This Malaya will eventually fall in love with Ultra Car and they will have – babies!
I knew Willis couldn’t do away with Malaya. She’s induces far too much fan rage and that is where he gets his power from.
He’s been averaging 56 miles per DAMN YOU WILLIS since his last tune-up.
There.
She’s alive.
Now for you opinions that were displayed in the last comic to swap.
Seriously, people, if you were wishing Malaya dead, you really need to take a step back.
Look, I really hate Malaya as a character, too, and I want Robin and Leslie back together, but I sincerely doubt Willis is going to have one of his characters OUTRIGHT MURDER ANOTHER. Humorous violence? Certainly, but straight-up have Leslie kill another woman because she wasn’t actually gay? Why would you EVER think that was a possibility?
Stranger things have happened. I remember Something Positive once disposed of a character by having her eaten by an alligator that lived in the ceiling. It was the most abrupt and bizarre conclusion to the current dilemma (a female HR director sexually harassing PeeJee.)
Poor old Leslie, though.
That was Something Positive though, things like that happen.
Eh, no. The midgit in somethingpositive being killed by rabid catgirls, then Jason finding a piece of his skull after getting home from the convention. That was strange. Alligator was just a plot-hole patch. Besides. Said midget escaped the alligator later on in the comic, after being swallowed by it. Or he’d never have been there to be killed by catgirls.
Pepito survived the trap door alligator. The woman who was harrassing PeeGee did not.
…you do realize people have been raging against “official” relationships between fictional characters since Little Women fans shipped Jo/Laurie? That said, why oh why didn’t Harry stick with Luna?! Grrrrrrrr…
“But everyone else is doing it!”
Link Link Link. It’s cool if I call you Link right? Anyway if yesterday taught us anything it’s that alot of these guy’s are highly Blood Thirsty.
I’ll admit maybe I got on my high horse a little about how it was disturbing for them to want to see a character dead but I’ve been there myself.
The name Tommy Turtle might not have alot of meaning to most people but to me his name brought nothing but wasted space the day Sonic # 169 came in the mail and I saw him vaporised I smiled a little.
Anyway thinkig about it I guess I can understand the hatred and wanting to see the character die but it doesn’t make it any less creepy reading about it.
Is it sad that I think it’s awesome that we have the same avatar? XD Yeah, it probably is. /fangirl
Personally, I just don’t find Malaya interesting as a character and think she’s an annoying waste of virtual ink, but I haven’t particularly wanted her to die. And yeah, you’re right, there’s no way in hell Leslie would ever actually kill her for real. Her or anyone (unless, possibly, they were surrounded by zombies and the other person was trapped and about to be eaten alive and killing them herself was the only merciful choice– which seems unlikely in this comic lol). And yeah, I knew Malaya wasn’t actually dead. But it was still fun to pretend for a day.
Next: Malaya gets involved in a deep, romantic relationship with Ultracar.
…I mean, I donno, who else is there?
Faz?
Like her or hate her you should have more respect for Malaya than THAT – Malaya/Ultra Car one true pairing!
“Damn, I guess I’m asexual after all.”
…
“ULTRA-CAR’S MANGLED BODY IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAY.”
Well, I must say, as frustrating as this all was for Leslie, it seems to have been a positive experience for Malaya, coming into work with a smile on her face, and greeting two of her coworkers — not just Leslie, but Amber too — with a friendly “hey guys!” That’s progress, and dare I say it, a bit of personal growth. She really IS trying to be a bit nicer, and not just to impress her would-be lover. Well done!
As for Leslie, the truth is, Malaya was her rebound girlfriend. Nothing was going to come of their relationship. It was always about trying to prove to herself and Robin that she was over her and moving on. She even admitted at one point that the way Malaya had annoyed and rubbed all of their coworkers the wrong, reminded of the way Robin had burned all of her bridges with their friends before they became lovers.
“You’re just like the girlfriend I just broke up with” is hardly the basis of a healthy relationship. And THAT I suspect was the real reason she couldn’t name anything she really liked about Malaya to her Mom beyond “she’s got a great rack.” I don’t know if this will lead to Leslie and Robin making up. Or even if it SHOULD. It’s been a year after all. Only time will tell I suppose,
Everyone’s acting like Malaya did something deeply wrong, like sleep with a man behind Leslie’s back and then post it on the intertubes.
Imagine how horrible and terrible a scumbag a person who did that to Leslie would be.
At the risk of getting into a Ross & Rachel “We were on a break!” debate, it wasn’t behind Leslie’s back — doing it publicly was supposedly an important part of getting the “World Peace” bill passed. It distracted everyone from the details — and it was only after they had already broken up.
Leslie had already broken up with Robin when she banged the dude. Seriously, p[eople speant so long assuming she cheated they missed the paert where it said she didn’t.
Wait, you mean Robin isn’t a werewolf?
It’s a good thing nobody did that, though honestly, that wouldn’t have been that bad. Not like donning a Leia outfit and seducing someone against their express professed wishes for no other reason than to prove they could seduce said person. That’s a depth that no decent person could sink to.
I understand why Leslie’s frustrated, but isn’t this the same thing that she did to her husband?
I believe he was gay as well.
So why didn’t it work out?
Ba-dum-ch.
Leslie do you have even an ounce of badness in your body?
Because only an ounce is all it takes to lead one to murder.
Humanity is damned lucky that everyone’s a perfect angel, that’s all I have to say.
Well, someone has to to take care of Fuckface.
No, seriously, I’m glad she’s not dead. Malaya is the most relatable character to me. I’m glad I moved on from being angry and bitter, but I still relate to her a lot.
So who thought she was dead, and complained that nobody gave a rat’s ass?
Gee, I think she never died.
So no one needs to fill out that form then?
quick question: how come all the character’s boobs are rounded EXCEPT for Malaya (which is pointed)?? Is she still on training bra??
Robin has pointy boobs too; it’s part of the Willis art-style “how to let people tell various characters apart” strategy.
That or it’s an homage to original-game Laura Croft, one or the other.
There was never any question that Malaya had survived. It’s not that kind of strip. Leslie’s not that kind of person. Amber’s also not the kind of person to say “Oh, that’s form 7b!” if she really believed Leslie killed Malaya. (And really, if Leslie HAD murdered her, you think she’d just announce it at her workplace the next day? Sometimes I worry, guys.)
Like it or hate it, this is Leslie. She’ll never be as loud and rude and selfish as she sometimes wants to be. More often than not, this is a good thing, and it’s especially a good thing in Shortpacked. The rest of the cast has “loud, rude and selfish” covered pretty well.
A nicer, gentler Malaya is a real wild card. How MUCH nicer has yet to be determined. The other two wild cards at the moment are Ken and Robin, both of whom may see this development as an opportunity. Either or both could be correct, especially if they play their cards right… or they could end up making their respective situations worse.
“There was never any question that Malaya had survived.”
Tell that to whoever put “Dropped a Bridge on Her: Malaya” on Shortpacked’s TV Tropes page.
I checked it out and looks like it is gone now.
Oh hey, I just really LOOKED at the new banner, and specifically where Leslie’s gaze falls. Portentous?
Don’t encourage the RobinxLeslie shipper in me. It took me forever to get it to stop bawling when they broke up.
My seething loathing at Malaya, however, is entirely based on her attitude, personality, and behavior rather than how she “gets in the way” my ship.
Having been where Leslie’s been (minus the homosexuality), I can understand how she would be REALLY hurt and REALLY want to drown Malaya, but I can also understand how she can forgive her due to the fact that she was so honest about it.
Well, on the upside, at least they weren’t married or anything by the time the news came out. Boy, that would’ve been uncomfortable.
Hm. Rather predictable and the punchline’s sort of weak. Well, Monday’s strip did perhaps put the bar fpr today a bit too high.
… Also, have you used something similar before? It seems a bit familiar.
No one really believed Leslie could really do that, did they?
I thought most would see it coming. It’s a big part of why I felt the punchline was sort of weak today.
Mike, on the other hand, could have gone either way.
Leslie just acted EXACTLY how I would have in the last two strips.
Good Leslie, good, not for you the path of hot vengeance which would lead even the dullest of police officers to your door. No obvious dumping of a mangled corpse from a helicoptor so easily traced to you.
Far better to feign forgiveness then let her twist and turn, then one night on a late shift SLAY HER WITH A FLAMING DRAGONUPPERCUT IN THE BACKROOM!
And Let Ryu take the blame.
And this is why I hate Leslie.
Thou shall burn in Hel!