I couldn’t not have a comic today, being a generally obsessively punctual person, but felt the REAL LIFE CAREER-THREATENING NEWS was important enough to at least mention.
Here are a few easy things you can do:
- Educate yourself about how SOPA and PIPA work.
- Print and mail letters to your state’s senators and representatives, urging them not to support this. Physical mail is harder to ignore than email. It piles up. You can find representatives’ addresses here and senators’ addresses here. Remember that PIPA is a Senate bill and SOPA is a House of Representatives bill.
- Call your senators and representatives on the phone and urge them not to support the bills. See above links for phone numbers or click here to get a quick list of representatives based on where you live.
Unrelatedly, I totally busted my site today. I’ll be slowly massaging it back to health. God dammit.
Can they be about hamsters?
Of course not. We’d have to give F–kface star billing and the screenspace to match.
Ahh, knew it, the hamsters comment doesn’t make sense now.
nice prank willis, and good line Mrs. Bean
See, Malaya does have at least two good points about her.
But a good rack is not a mate make.
If it’s good enough for bicycles it’s good enough to mate with.
I… don’t understand
It means that boobs alone does not a life partner make.
They make a nice starter set though!
Couldn’t think of something to good to say about Malaya, Les? Well, other than the rack, that is.
She could have said something along the lines of “She speaks her mind.”
Or she could say that “She has a nice smile.”
…On her chest.
She’s like a breast of fresh air. I mean a breath of fresh ass!
She could have. She didn’t. I’d say that’s pretty revealing, wouldn’t you? When pressed for what she liked about Malaya, that was literally the first thing to pop into her mind.
aaaaand we have officially broken the internet to stop the government from breaking it for us. I’m not sure wether I want to reach for heavy-handed metaphor or conspiracy theory here, so I’m gonna go with the third option: This is part of a Batman plan to defeat the Arkham escapees in Congress.
Think of it like a firebreak.
You didn’t break your site. SOPA and PIPA did it for you!!!
Can it be about anything else?
Malaya is my least favorite character and I still kinda ship Robin/Leslie
No it can’t. All Malaya, all the time!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *glass shatters*
Mr President, according to our projections, in three days, every single comic will have her.
In a week, every panel.
In a fortnight? Every comic will be a single panel of Malaya looking pissy at the reader.
*Takes a deep breath* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! D: D: D:
WE MUST KILL SOPAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~! >:D
Luckily, we’ve developed a counter-measure. I have here a small sample of Character Development. It should reduce the annoyingness of Malaya. However, there is a 50% chance that it will have exactly the opposite effect, and make her three to four thousand times more annoying.
The choice is yours, Mr President. God help us all.
ARRHJHRJAUIRAIUARIUAUIUARUIARHAHAHHA AIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Sir, I’m afraid after that, it’s only a matter of time before she crosses over into reality.
Yeah, SOPA and PIPA will do fricking nothing to stop actual piracy.
Even disregarding the IP trick, there is already a Firefox add-on that will bypass the DNS issue, and the thing hasn’t even been voted on yet. If it passes, there will be entire browsers made available that do so.
Let alone the “tiny” detail that the MPAA & friends pull their statistics from the same places they get most of their movie ideas… Wipe them off, and serve them steaming as facts, regardless of what actual studies show.
Their ass?
Nope! From the steaming, gaping maw of their dread Lord Xenu. After Lord Cthulu has finished regurgitation-feeding it to him, that is.
They shamelessly rip their statistics off from other, older source material?
The plot thickens, and a kink in the “relationship” is noted. I’m excited to see where you go with this WIllis
Ha. Not even Leslie can think of anything good about her. Besides her boobs.
In fairness, they are very nice.
I lol’d at the “if you want every strip from now on to be about Malaya, good news!”
Well, you’ve gotta hand it to Willis, he knows how to motivate his fanbase.
Well, she does have a nice smile.
Because there’s obviously NO OTHER reason to like Malaya, right? ;D
I thought they shelved SOPA. :O
Yeah, but not PIPA
I think they pushed back voting on it, hoping that people would forget about it in the meantime.
Is it up for the vote again?
Only “until there is more consensus.” Translation: when we stop paying attention.
Unfortunately for them the internet never forgets.
Also it never forgives; we gotta make use of that fact.
In positive recent developments this weekend was the statement out of the White House that in their current forms SOPA & PIPA are unacceptable. Doesn’t mean a renogotiated version still wouldn’t be harmful but it does mean to keep the White House on the list of those to inconveniently inform about your objection to them.
Great comic, Willis! You cross over again, and I must violate SOPA & PIPA and repost this at http://www.randirhodes.com where I’m sure it will be much appreciated. You have a couple fans there herding folks this-away!
I finally caught back up on the archive and thoroughly laughed my ass off. Great comic today.
I’d almost swear that’s one of the most innocent smiles I’ve ever seen.
Damn, missed a Pop Tart joke opportunity.
*facepalm* Oh Leslie, bad form. I don’t even like Malaya and I thought that was a slap in the face to her. Make it a little more obvioous you’re only with her to get back at/get over Robin. Seriously, you’re first point after staring into her smile, in front of your mom, on your first date is her boobs? You could go on and on about how Robin was amazing and a genius even before you started dating her and Malaya doesn’t even get anything substantial?
Agreed and I wonder if this might turn Malaya against Leslie. If her last relationship is partially responsible for making her who she is I don’t think she’ll appreciate being a rebound fling. Unless of course she’s using Leslie as an experimental relationship.
It might not be just to get back at her. Maybe it’s just a raw lust thing. That’s valid.
I hate this SOPA/PIPA thing because it’s going to affect my life EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT, NOR HAVE I EVER LIVED IN UNITED STATES.
I guess as a foreigner all I can do is offer my moral support
Them’s the breaks. I chuckled at the fact the so called champion of liberty and rights did the exact opposite of what they touted for years.
OMG I KNOW. What’s worse, with all the protests, cartoons and editorials about it, I am crazy informed about something that’s going to totally fuck me over and I can’t do anything about it.
Sure you can! Corporate interests apply international pressure on American legislation all the time. No reason there can’t be international grassroots pressure against legislation with inevitable international ramifications. There are online petitions that you might be able to sign. And call the White House or U.S. Capitol where the switchboard can direct you to any member, even if you don’t know a name. Just say “get me the senator/representative from (insert a state).” Senators Al Franken and Ron Wyden are also at the forefront of the effort to stop this and would be good people to send support to.
It might just be Firefox, but the content of the first few comments is overlapping the comic itself. Anyone else having this problem?
I’m not getting that problem. I’m using Opera.
Nevermind, looks like it fixed itself. Gotta love Firefox.
I was having the same trouble on Chrome, but it’s also fixed itself.
I’m still having this problem, but there’s an easy work around. Right click the comic and select “view image”.
Had the same problem, and this worked for me. Using Safari.
The lesson here is that nobody uses Internet Explorer.
High five! /Opera
*high fives; rides motorbike into the sunset*
^THIS^
Oh man…I’ve never been a fan of Malaya, but her first in the second last panel has so much confidence and trust and eagerness…making the last panel really painful to read.
Her face *
Her FAAAAAAAACE?
Same here. Malaya’s expectant expression makes me want cry.
Actually, I’ve always liked Malaya. Don’t really know why, but I have. And seeing Leslie do something so insensitive to her, when she’s likely had enough trouble and difficulties coping in a healthy way with life stings.
I’m not excusing Malaya’s blatant disregard for the basics of civility. I just know how it feels not having anyone there for you.
Kind of a dick move there, Leslie.
Just a thought, but wouldn’t it be hillarious if the page where we’re threatened with strips of constant Malaya is the page he wins over the readers in regards to her. XD
the link to the wired for change website isn’t responding. How ironic.
I’m still kind of dissapointed we didn’t get to see when Robin met Mrs. Bean. I mean seriously, I demand a flashback of it.
What an odd thing to say about your date to your mother. And for a woman who has a problem accepting her daughters homosexuality, she absorbed that remark rather well, and even responded. Almost makes me feel sorry for Malaya.
I’ve called the offices of my senator and house rep about this at least 10 times now.
The girl who answers the phone for John Yarmuth recognizes my voice now. She seems nice.
How are they at Rand Paul’s office down there?
Y’know, they revised SOPA -and- PIPA and took out the DNS-blocking bits. Just putting that out there. :/
Of course, PIPA is still harmful. Just not to the extent that it used to be.
And it JUST NOW hit me that this is still threatening the livelihood of many webcomic artists simply for including so many references to pop culture. PIPA would make it so David wouldn’t be able to receive money through this site.
…That thought makes me sad.
A lot of the SOPA/PIPA advocates genuinely think Fair Use should be illegal, so they draft laws designed to stomp on it.
DAMN YOU SOPA!
She should totally have brought up Malaya’s lizard.
While this response does seem rather heartless, I could see one reason why Leslie might be responding this way:
To force the issue of her lesbianism. It would be petty, and would still be unfair to Malaya (since it treats her more or less like a prop), but she could be sending a message to her mother by emphasizing the physical side of her relationship. Sort of as a way of saying “Do you really want to know?”
Of course, a more extreme response in this vein would have been “She has a nice vagina,” but that might be a little too over the top.
Poor Malaya. Leslie’s been acting a bit nuts this whole time, but then again everyone goes a bit goofy when it comes to family issues.
Shoulda gone to IN-N-OUT Burger. Amber is a wise lady.
“would still be unfair to Malaya (since it treats her more or less like a prop)”
In fairness, this is exactly how Leslie and Robin’s relationship started out.
True.
Heh, broke your site to protest someone else (maybe) breaking your site… Not that this bill ever pass.
Updating WordPress broke my site. today’s strip is just extra tall, which isn’t that exceptional.
Could this story arc lead to Malaya not being a horrible person AND a horrible annoying character? I hope so. No character is beyond character development, so I hope it comes to Malaya.
Malaya has been ever-so-slowly developing since her first appearance. The fanbase’s opinion of her, less so.
Checking my webcomics has been an interesting exercise today.
Yeah, I noticed all the Anti-SOPA messages.
You have more avatars than there are stars in the universe, species on the planet, grains of sand on a beach, bullets in Touhou, people on the planet, hyperbole in this sentence, etc.
Leslie: *looks at Malaya* “she’s a nice… well she’s a good… she likes… I got nothin”
Wow… this just keeps getting more and more awkward. While I hate Malaya with a passion, I’m feeling REALLY bad for her at this moment. She’s stuck in the middle of someone else family issue, and finds out her only saving grace is her tits. Seriously, having to stand there and listen to the mother of the girl you’re into, demand a reason of said child the reason they’re dating is kinda messed up. Most people would at least ask you to leave the room first or something.
Mom did booze her up. And when it comes to scotch sharing is caring.
I thought that was AIDS?
Only if by that you mean Anytime I Drink Scotch.
I’m really looking forward to this fallout.
I understand that opposing SOPA and PIPA are important, but why weren’t people this worked up when the NDAA authorizing indefinite detention was being passed? Or when the Patriot Act was renewed?
priorities?
Because the NDAA can’t go after people’s porn.
Frankly by logistics alone they could only keep in indefinite detention a few tens thousands at the very most. Shutting down large chunks of the Internet affects the lives of billions of people.
A lesser disutility multiplied sufficiently becomes a greater disutility.
Besides when the alternative the Americans seem to have traditionally offered to “indefinite detention” is “we’ll just torture them to death instead”, I’m not even sure it’s humane to oppose the former, when nothing in American society indicates it cares to battle the latter.
I love how the last line of your protest text acknowledges how much your readers hate Malaya.
I’ve always kinda liked Malaya.
On the other hand, I’m also still shipping a little for Les and Robyn, even though the latter was a bit of an ass.
So, while I really like Batman, I can read Batman in his own comic, you can’t threaten me with Malaya.
Try positive motivation? “Protest SOPA, and Malaya will rebound with Robyn!”?
What? You mean more Hate Sex?
Thank you Willis. Explaining the bill above your comic is a far better way to do things then the 24 hour black out other sites are using. Education is the key, the black out will just piss off people who don’t know better.
The blackouts have an explanation on them, sir.
Enjoy a whole Twitter feed of cataloged illiterates: https://twitter.com/#!/herpderpedia
:This comment has been censored by Soggies…. may they forever rule:
The Faz advertising banner is creeping me out! Well done, I guess.
SOPA would be like Malaya. It would ruin everything it touched. Down with SOPA!
The politics of personal proximity. NDAA is a problem, but then that’s just an issue for people on Guantanamo or somebody who might get mistaken for a terrorist, not me. And the Patriot Act? Nothing new, they’re doing that stuff already. But take away a big chunk of the internets?!? DEAR GOD HOW CAN WE AVERT THIS TRAGEDY!!!
@Jim. Oops!
Do you somehow think that by not protesting SOPA, we’ll manage to overthrow the Patriot Act or NDAA? If you don’t think that, if you don’t think opposing *both* SOPA and NDAA are mutually exclusive, then your sarcasm is misplaced.
Er? I reject your frame and return to my original intent in response to a question about why people appear more worked up over SOPA/PIPA than NDAA or the Patriot Act renewal. Politics of personal proximity is my observation of the phenomenon, having seen it before. Offering this observation implied no intended judgment of importance for any of these over any other, so your assumption of any intended judgment on my part would be incorrect.
> Er? I reject your frame and return to my original intent in response to a question about why people appear more worked up over SOPA/PIPA than NDAA or the Patriot Act renewal.
Because SOPA/PIPA is more important, making a bigger change in a negative direction over the status quo than NDAA does.
> Offering this observation implied no intended judgment of importance for any of these over any other,
Really, there was no sarcasm embedded in your “take away a big chunk of the internets?!? DEAR GOD HOW CAN WE AVERT THIS TRAGEDY!!!”
Foolish assumption of what fellixe means. The point is that the NDAA didn’t get nearly the same backlash as SOPA has, yet the NDAA threatens the very cornerstone of Liberty.
> The point is that the NDAA didn’t get nearly the same backlash as SOPA has, yet the NDAA threatens the very cornerstone of Liberty.
IMO the ability to shut down free speech threatens Liberty even more than indefinite detention does. If China had to choose between tearing down its great firewall or allowing for speedy trials, i bet it would consider freeing the internet a MUCH more politically dangerous maneuver than the need to set up a few phony trials.
And besides NDAA doesn’t actually authorize anything that America wasn’t doing already. So, yeah, SOPA is more important, as it would actually be a move *towards* a tyranny, not merely an acknowledgment of the current tyrannical status.
False dichotomy, exhibit A
I swear, the comments overlaying the image make it look like there’s a webcam set up and people are commenting while her mom is agreeing.
Heya Walky-please don’t make Malaya into Shortpacked ‘Miko’ please?
I love Miko as a character but the way they keep writing her as being a hyperactive idiot who never learns is getting real old real fast. Even Jade Chan learned and retained the stuff she learned over the course of JCA.
I’m hoping Malaya doesn’t become the ‘character everyone loves to hate’ and she has an arc of growth and character development.
And yea Leslie…I know you were put on the spot that that’s not what Malaya was wanting to hear from you. Hopefully you can put a positive spin on it somehow, but as it stands that’s a Joe reason if I might cross universes for a sec.
A Miko has been in this strip for years! Her name is Robin DeSanto.
This universe has a Joe, too…
Speaking of annoying characters I’ve seen somewhere before… I was playing with my fresh bought 3DS, and whilst toying with one of the many functions I saw a picture flash up of someone who looked decidedly like Faz… Please say his power isn’t growing……
Faz enjoys this turn of development and will imagine you are a woman while Faz touches himself tonight
LOOOOOOOL n00b I’ve had mine since the day they came out! Now I can play Zelda and Metroid whenever I like, without any hax or roms or anything!
I genuinely like Malaya and have enjoyed all the storylines with her thus far. So, go SOPA, I guess?
So I guess this is what Sydney Yus has been up to, huh?
How are these acts even constitutional? This sounds like a pretty direct abrogation of free speech to me. And that’s assuming that the Persons With Power don’t decide to start anonymously posting contraband on sites they don’t like just to give them an excuse to take them down.
I miss the toy trappings of the old design (“Electronic! Really works on your computer”) and the Autobot insignia.
Fffff. Malaya is on the cast page. ALL HOPE IS LOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST.
I uh…. I Needed to use wiki tht day on something so completely irrelevent I dont even really recall so much what it was about, checking some release dates on old 80′s games or something.
And I ran into the ‘blackout’, and read that it was about sopa.
And then circumvented the redirect and used wikipedia.
Does that make me a bad person?