I’ve waffled back and forth over the years on whether to elaborate on Amber’s dad’s particular brand of evilness. I’ve known basically what happened, but have always been wary of tackling the subject. Blaine’s story is finished, obviously, so I realized explaining it’d probably be a “now or never” kind of thing, and so here it is. I’m certain I like it better told this way via infodump rather than via flashbacks. Nobody wants to have to endure that.
It’s not something I artificially pushed into this storyline. It kind of came out of Amber’s mouth naturally when other folks at the visitation tried to talk to her in my head. If you’ve been to a funeral of a family member, you’ll know the being-consoled-by-a-sea-of-strangers part is the bulk of the experience. I knew it had to happen, even if behind the scenes, and so the choice was whether to show this part of Amber’s trip to her dad’s visitation to you, or to leave it behind-the-scenes forever. I decided in favor of it. So, uh, “enjoy.”
*PWHEEE*
Dang, that’s what I forgot! Now to add in that sound effect and re-upload…
I’m glad you did because that alone got me laughing and I couldn’t stop.
That was the best *PWHEEE* ever. Of all time.
It was the PHWEEtest!
I wonder how eerie it would look if the PHWEE was sphincter-clench! green?
…oops.
That rocks! Kinda neo-Pennywise!
We ALL Float Down Here!
PHWEEE!
Could there be a PHWEEE! T-shirt? I’d wear it to EVERY occasion.
A comment so genius, it changed the face of this comic forever. Well done!
Amazing sir, the sound makes it a hundreds times more mike.
You may want to get your self checked out….
Thanks for this.
Mike is the best. Forever.
Yes! THIS! This is the best Mike strip in all of time!
Given the circumstances, I find his party behavior to be appropriate. And probably good for Amber, in this case.
Mike is indeed incredibly awesome.
Mike puts the FUN back into funerals.
I must invite Mike to my funeral
If you ask him to attend, he won’t.
Insist that he NOT attend, because your poor mother will be mourning your death and feeling very emotionally vulnerable, and the last thing she needs around is Mike…
…And he will see through your lies and instead send a very tasteful bouquet to screw with you.
(Your spouse/mother/whoever’s in charge of the funeral will be allergic to the flowers, even if they’ve never known themself to have flower allergies before. They will feel terrible about needing to throw or give away the beautiful display of condolences someone sent.)
let’s remember all the good things he did. He only hit you once. I’ve got nothing else….
Mike would argue that he did Amber’s mom, which is something he can’t possibly look down upon.
He was half responsable for the existence of Amber in the world… other than that I got nothing.
On the other hand, Faz.
they kind of cancel each other out.
Half? Let’s not give the man too much credit. His contribution, however necessary, was very small.
As is most guys unless they did the whole MPreg route.
He did graciously leave the planet. Perhaps a few decades or so too late, I’ll admit.
Tackled beautifully. Nice work, David.
I am so proud of Amber because that was great.
*casually sips water*
Hooray, she’s not sad any more.
she got over the whole crying thing quick. ain’t hormones something?
Why is it that whenever a woman’s emotions change for any reason (especially pregnant women) some man always (yes, always) has to blame it on hormones?
Because if someone rapidly shifts moods without an ulterior motive it is usually considered unstable and frightning. at least a juxtoposition like moodswing. If it is any consolation I probably would have said the same for a prepubecent man. I’m dumb and I didn’t realize i was being offensive. my sincerest apologies.
Moods shift rapidly constantly at a visitation. Because of the way human interaction works.
:T i see…now i feel likez a jerkface…
but now you know, and knowing is half the battle
apparently the other half is violence
Well yes. That’s how battles work.
No, 25% red lasers, 25% blue lasers. Well, I suppose you could argue that’s violence…
No it 40% lasers 5% ninjas and now 5% John McClane!
YES!! Always. Expect. NINJAS.
Nah. A TRUE jerkface would have jammed the comments page with 1000 words justifying his first comment and calling everyone commies.
Also…dude, it’s really not cool to imply that all adult women’s emotions work exactly like children’s.
A pregant woman’s mood works suspiciously like one of those magic 8-Balls.
^This.
Except that “Try again later” almost never works and there really should be a “Run for your life” result.
Also, in Yotomoe’s defense, even Amber wasn’t sure why she was crying. Pregnancy hormones making her unusually sentimental (for Amber) would be a valid guess. There are many other valid guesses, but that doesn’t disqualify that one or somehow make it inappropriate.
“Enjoy” we did, good sir. “Enjoy” we did.
So Faz is still just kinda staring at the body, huh? I guess this is a lot to take in.
dat background faz…it’s killin’ mah buzz.
For real. Once he’s pointed out it’s like seeing the un-unseeable eerie ghost-boy in the corner.
Now I’m picturing Faz shopped into various photos like the Slender Man, just standing in the background, with his typical smirk.
WAY more scary.
that should be a new thing. Putting Fazs everywhere. holding various charts about his sexual prowess.
And sometimes, Mike is so right he’s awesome.
That guy got a healthy dose of Reality Bukkake.
“Reality Bukkake”… that phrase is so perfect that I must find some excuse to use it now.
Feel free! Use it as much as possible!
Acceptance, the FINAL stage of grief. Amber crosses the finish line first.
Faz however, seems to be stuck some where on or before #1
How come I’m thinking that the “boy” she’s talking about is now a soldier deployed in Afghanistan? He comes back from patrol and puts away his gear and one of his buddies tells him he’s got a Skype call–and it’s…
Uh…yeah. Why are you thinking that? That’s oddly specific.
This makes no sense. What, have we seen a soldier in Afghanistan lately?
However, I think I would like to know what became of this boy…
My guess? Either Blaine assaulted him, too, or he escaped while Blaine was attacking Amber. Either way, he ran like hell, never came back, and went on to a completely unrelated life about this girlfriend he had in High School who had the craziest family.
…unrelated life with a story about, dammit.
Thank you. Thank you you wonderful wonderful man.
I’ll enjoy it unironically, thanks, because it’s clear that Amber’s catharsis here is melting lots of trauma off her. It may never be gone completely, but she’s having fun.
I don’t think it takes a lot of insight to read sexual jealousy into all this. Blaine may not have ever touched his daughter sexually, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both of his strip-documented violent episodes are triggered when Amber was starting a sexual relationship. Ethan may have missed the way Amber was looking at him during Ethan and Blaine’s first meeting, but Blaine probably didn’t.
Jeez, Ethan was really the MAN when Blaine showed up at the store, in light of that. Blaine’s basic sense of self-preservation was probably just barely keeping him from trying to lay Ethan flat again, and Ethan didn’t back down an INCH.
And Mike’s right. It’s really too damn bad that he never got to meet Blaine. That would’ve been pretty awesome.
(To clarify: of course Ethan wasn’t in a sexual relationship with Amber by the time of his second encounter with Blaine, but Blaine would have every reason to assume otherwise, given Ethan’s general protective air, the fact that he was still in Amber’s life, and the amount of time Blaine had to read the situation.)
This makes sense, since domestic violence is all about power and control. Blaine would seek to separate Amber from all of her major resources (ie other people). If Amber has somebody else, such as Ethan, protecting her and giving her advice, then she becomes less dependent on Blaine, which means she’ll be less vulnerable to Blaine’s whims and attacks.
I love you, Mike. So much.
Did Mike steal Willis’s shirt? Because that’s awesome.
I just demand an epic fight for Willis to get it back. (And I didn’t call him Walky, because I comic, that might confuse ppl who I was talking about.)
We’ve had a Ethan Vs Willis match, bring on Mike Vs Willis.
All I can say is I’m happy for Amber. (Confetti, Mike thinks of everything!)
I kinda feel bad for Faz; just standing there staring at the corpse of the man he never knew, but who he wanted too. Knowing that he was an asshole is still no consolation for never knowing him at all. He must feel like he wasted years of his life on a meaningless fantasy.
Why must I feel bad for Faz and why am I wishing him character development? He’s a sleaze…
I suppose in some ways me feeling more pity for Faz than Amber is a good sign of Amber’s growth as a person, but feeling bad for Faz for such an extended period of time is…
I mean I never really “hated” him in a serious sense; it was more like a long joke…
How I feel now…
It’s just off putting.
[throws confetti]
Think of it this way, he lost a father he was better off never meeting and gained a big sister who actually does care about him. Their relationship can only improve now that he won;t be creepy stalking and sexually harassing her.
How do we know that Willis won’t hit Faz with a Status Quo Is God Reset button after this is over?
Dude, you need to stop Trope-name-dropping.
Wow: I hope you don’t do that. Not that I’d stop reading or something; it’d just seem like a huge cop-out after this.
Then again I wouldn’t be surprised if he continued to be a sleaze; possibly a-bit-less-of-a-sleaze, but still kind of a sleaze. I mean he’s been one for so long it’s probably kinda his normal disposition.
What? How is that a response to what I said?
Xe was probably taking the opportunity presented by your commenting to directly address a dislike of the Reset idea to you.
That was exactly what I was doing…
sorry for any confusion…
But TVTropes Already Ruined My Vocabulary.
Just be glad there wasn’t a pothole with that trope. Otherwise some poor fool would have been lost to TVTropes forever.
Well, for one thing, status quo isn’t God in this comic. Stuff changes.
Because if you can say one thing about Willis’ comics, it’s that things -never- change.
Also, the fact that now we (and he) know(s) where some of the sleaziness comes from makes it, if not better, at least a bit more understandable.
Also, other people have probably said this already, but good choice not actually showing Amber telling Faz. It’s more powerful with us being able to imagine the conversation and seeing the aftereffects.
FUCK YEAH AMBER!!!!!! Okay, I’ve never been Ambers biggest fan, especially the last couple years but that was awesome. Seriously, who was that guy and why did he think she wouldn;t know what kind of man her father was?
I apologise if we’re not supposed to say the F word in the comments, I can’t remember if it’s allowed.
It’s possible Uncle Mustache just didn’t know that side of him. Many abusers are very good at hiding that side of themselves in front of other people.
And, I think if Willis is putting “asshole” in the comic, it’s okay to write “fuck” in the comments.
This. And usually phrases like that are meant to try to comfort the grieving. He meant it as a compliment.
Or at the least, as a condolence.
I get why he said Amber’s dad was a great guy, it’s that he questioned her when she said he was a piece of shit.
Possibly it’s the shock of someone actually saying it at a funeral. General approach to those things is that you only say nice things even if they were a piece of shit.
Well, if you go to the funeral of a good friend and his daughter (whom you may not know well or at all) tells you that friend was a sack of shit, you’d probably be taken aback too.
I don’t think Amber had anything to get over. I think she cried for Faz. David you pulled off an awesome script. Amber is saying what a lot of people of both sexes may want to say and never can. And now, Amber is free. Mike is awesome, the best Mike ever. Faz is…..remains to be seen.
I think you handled it the right way Willis, and I’m glad it came out. And it seems like talking about it has been helpful to Amber emotionally so it served a duel purpose: 1) info dump and 2) character development.
Oh, confetti!
Oh man I can’t imagine what Faz is feeling. Not having any clue who his father was up until this point he probably spent the last 20+ years idealizing the hell out of him now a) He’s dead and he’ll never get to meet him with the added mind fuck that his father was b) an abusive piece of shit. Enjoy your happy feelings for a little while longer Amber but eventually you have gotta go talk to that poor kid.
Faz…you’re killin me.
From behind, he looks like Slenderman’s shorter cousin…
Stoutman?
God, I am loving Mike right now.
But everyone pointing out Faz made me realize he’s still there in the background. We’re finding out the details of one of the reasons Amber never told Faz about their father, and she had a good point…but damn, Faz looks like he needs a hug right now.
I wonder how much confetti did Mike actually bring?
I have feeling he is going to need more.
It’s funny how when someone dies we feel like we have to say that they’re a good person even if we know they weren’t. It’s the “don’t speak ill of the dead” we keep.going back to. I never like to say someone should die or deserves to die or celebrate death of a person period. But people should understand it is ok to acknowledge the terrible things a person who died has done and get past the denial we all face at times.
I agree. When my grandfather died the person giving his eulogy praised him as a “lover of women”. In reality he was often creepy and lecherous, flirting with women much younger than him including his daughters and even me. It made me feel kind of sick that someone was trying to put a positive spin on that.
I wonder if any of the funeral goers are commenting on Mike. “Why is that wearing a hawaiian shirt? Why did he just punch the corpse? What does he mean death isn’t permanent? Why are his eyebrows angry all the time?”
*that guy*
So was this guy someone who actually knew Blaine personally and had no idea about what he was really like, or was he just a casual acquaintance going through the motions of offering generic comforting words to the bereaved?
Also, yeah, Faz still standing back there is a bit of a downer.
That is a good question sometimes we think we know people and then we find out if they aren’t who we thought they were it can be at best uncomfortable and at worst devastating.
Some dudes are bros, and these bros sometimes overlook or minimize the terribleness of other bro’s actions, because bros! If you like a dude, you can tell yourself a whole bunch that the terrible stuff they did wasn’t all that bad, and there is all this other better stuff, and let’s focus on that. Or you can decide it was the victim’s fault, because that’s easier than dealing with the truth about your bro.
I’ve seen it happen. It’s dumb and insulting. But it happens. And after a long time of feeding these lies to yourself, it can be a real shock when confronted with the ugly truth.
Chances are, mustache guy from today is going to keep on thinking Blaine was super awesome and that his daughter is being really annoying for bringing up all this unimportant stuff.
It’s not even a “bro” thing; my mother is verbally (and less often physically) abusive, manipulative, controlling, and is incredibly selfish and hypocritical – yet most justify it and treat her like she’s some kind of suffering saint (doesn’t help that recently she’s been ill which has become their new excuse – retcon the fact that she has ALWAYS acted that way). People have always walked on eggshells to keep her pleased and anyone who steps out of line is the enemy…
It doesn’t matter how often she snaps at them; she’s the victim (A part she loves to play – she’s one of those self-pity types who abusive others well acting like everyone else is so cruel so she doesn’t have to acknowledge what a horrible person she is).
Sad part is I’m forced to live with her because I don’t have a job (not by choice) so I have to hear the abuse and take abuse all the time and if I complain I’m just a “moocher” who is cruel to her… (This is someone who has told me to go and die more than once and makes sure I know how “worthless” I am frequently…)
That’s a bummer, dude. I hope you can get out of that household soon. Sometimes distance is the only cure.
Sounds like my aunt.
On the topic of whitewashing all the bad things about a person when they die: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLVsIpejFgM
A bit Aussie-centric but you get the picture.
Thank You for that link, it was top-notch!
Darn it, I was gonna post that link.
Oh my, your mom sounds like a friend’s mother. I’m sorry to hear about it… I hope it gets better for you soon!
Mom? Is that you?
Hearing stories like this makes me feel… well, sad and sympathetic, of course, but also very fortunate.
Isn’t it a very human thing though, solving cognitive dissonance by rejecting the conflicting information instead of accepting that you were essentially friends with a terrible person and you just never let yourself notice? I don’t think it’s even a bros thing, it’s like, a tendency of the mind to downplay the ugliness in the things we value.
Kind of dysfunctional, but not worth feeling insulted over, it’s just weakness, best for ourselves not to try to take weakness personally. We’ve all been weak at some point after all.
I tend to agree with this. Hell, there are lots of people I know who seem like great guys and gals in the contexts in which I know them, and I pretty well just assume that they’re great in other contexts too, because what else can you do? Assume everyone turns into an asshole as soon as you turn your back? Spend your life WONDERING? It IS true that good folks stay good folks most of the time, so it’s a somewhat useful generalization.
If he befriended Blaine after Blaine lost his family, he’d only have Blaine’s word about what kind of father and husband he was, and Blaine doesn’t seem like the sort who’s honest about his own faults. Even if he knew Blaine before that, he might not have had any reason to meet them.
But, yeah, there are two ways that could go: he could accept that Blaine was a monster after all, or he could assume that his daughter ended up a troubled young woman who makes up colorful stories. One involves challenging his beliefs and making himself uncomfortable and the other doesn’t. That doesn’t make the choice inevitable, but it does prejudice it.
Not to mention it’s not even a conscious choice most of the time. People generally don’t choose to be dickish, we accept our perceptions as reality because as you pointed out, the alternative would be to constantly second-guess ourselves, and that brings with it a potentially bigger set of problems. Questioning whether or not our perceptions are accurate happens mostly when our sense of reality is so skewed it is causing us problems that can’t be denied away. That’s why personal growth is so difficult and often painful.
Or sometimes abusers are very charismatic and good at manipulation. When two of my close friends broke up, I was shocked and appalled when she told me about how he had verbally abused her. Unlike the bro, I believed her and helped her as much as I could, but I never knew. How could I? Neither one of them wanted me to know. There was never anything in their behavior, alone or together, that made me or anyone else realize that their was a problem. It wasn’t until she realized there was a problem and left him that it came out into the open.
The stuff in this whole thread is particularly well put.
DAMN YOU, WILLIS!
YOU’RE MAKING ME FEEL EMOTIONS FOR FAZ! FOR FAZ!
(You know, outside of disgust and repulsion)
Oh Mike. You put the “fun” in funeral!
Seriously though, I always wondered what the extent of abuse Amber and her mother suffered at the hands of her father. I remember the earlier strips with Amber and the flashbacks, and she was such as broken woman. Its amazing how different she is now from the start of the strip. She’s never have been that blunt about her father before.
So, Blaine had most of his friends completely fooled, huh? Yeah. Better to not praise a jerk.
I am wondering what made this man think or say Blaine was a great man… O.o I am glad Amber’s mom did not wait for Amber to be hurt again to get her to a safe place, even if she didn’t notice the verbal abuse.
And it’s awesome to see Mike so suportive XD
Aww Faz
He might not actually think that. It’s just the sort of thing you say at funerals.
This was perfect, actually. We’ve been aware of this lingering background pain in Amber’s character for so long. It’s been too horrible to articulate. We’ve seen all the evidence of her abuse and how completely it has infected her life.
But now you’ve given her a voice to condemn her abuser. Suddenly she can tell the world exactly what kind of man her father was–including her father’s peers who were entirely unaware of his actions at home. If we did not already know Amber, we might say she was callous here, but we know that she’s not. She’s taking back the power he used to have over her.
And honestly, not surprised at all that there are people who thought her father was a great man. Domestic abuse doesn’t exactly come up often in office chatter. Nobody knows what goes on in a family behind closed doors.
Aw, Uncle Mustache doesn’t get a tag? I like how from this angle he looks half bald.
This confirms it if nothing else could: Mike and Amber are perfect for each other.
Also: Poor Faz… I wonder what he’ll be like in the aftermath of all this.
Also: I love this comic. Amber needs this. And I’m glad to be able to watch her get it.
Just when you thought Mike couldn’t be any more of a jerk, he does something like this…and totally redeems himself!
Simple fact: Many abusers are Villains With Good Publicity.
Troooooooooooooooooope
I swear, we should hold a TvTropes intervention.
“Plasma Mongoose, we’ve all written you a letter. Please put down the lampshade and listen for a moment.
We all feel that you spend too much time…hey, what are you doing? No, get off the computer, this is exactly what I’m talking about. What are you-
You started a trope page for our intervention letter?! You can’t do that! Yes, I know There’s No Such Thing As Notability, that’s not what I mean! Okay, look, I just started reading it, you can’t have found any…thirty tropes already?! I didn’t even get through the first sentence yet!
What could you possibly – Oh, so I’m a Know-Nothing Know-It-All, am I? AND a Jaded Washout, I see. Great. If you’re trying to upset me, you’ve failed. Dammit, do NOT add Bad Liar to the list, I’m warning you!…THIS IS NOT MY @#$% BERSERK BUTTON! ARGH!”
Well that sure was a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
and of Funny.
Did Not Do the Research: averted.
Too late, I have already embraced the Dark Side of The Tropes.
My guess is mustache dude is a coworker or something (wasn’t Blaine in the army at some point?)–someone who knew Blaine socially and liked him. A lot of abusers don’t come off as evil to anyone but those they abuse–that’s part of what makes them so terrifying and controlling: when their victims want to get away, they feel as though no one will believe or help them because X is “such a nice man” and they must be exaggerating.
At any rate, well done, Willis. It takes a soft touch to make a single comic page touch on the gravitas of abuse, in a funeral setting no less, and shift the mood to a good, unforced laugh at the end. And it’s a great reminder why Mike and Amber are so perfect for each other.
I like that Amber is so calm. He really can’t hurt her any more, not even in relating his abuse.
Willis, you are awesome. Just in case you wondered.
And it is really proof of the progress she made, and how good it is that she made it before his death.
Wow. One of the best strips evAr!
I’m kinda thinking Jacob is currently banging Amber’s mum in a cupboard.
Wow. That relativize Mike’s jerkassery. Next to Blaine, he’s a harmless prankster.
This is perfect.
Having just come from a funeral where highly inappropriate stuff was said and done, I lolled.
Absolutely nothing to do with todays comic. But I had to post to say…
CURSE YOU WILLIS! Last night your resent blog about the Dr. Biggles-Jones figure you built, lead me to clicking your diabolical wiki link in order to find our who she was, which lead me to clicking other links to other characters/events I didn’t know, which lead to me spending the rest of the night buried in the TFwiki instead of getting anything constructive done, or you know, sleeping.
This is CLEARLY your fault for MAKING me be curious about the good doctor, for supplying the link, and for the fact you’re a major contributor to the TFwiki…
Yeah, that’s what I’m going with. Not my fault, totally yours…
why do people keep wondering who mustache man is, he’s obviously John Cleese
Whoa.
Mind = blown.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that!
I can totally see it now.
BTW, where is Stacy? Maybe it’s too early to ask, but I would expect her to be quite visible at the funeral. Is she still at the store with Jacob?
She might even be ‘getting it on’ with Jacob in another room.
Pre-remarital hanky panky at your ex-husbands funeral? Stacy is living la vida loca
Mike looks awesome with that flowery shirt.
I want Mike’s shirt
And suddenly the Mike/Amber relationship makes so much sense.
Mike – Best boyfriend…ever?
Thanks Mr. Willis. I think this gives us a sense of closure about it.
… Ok, something is nagging me. Except I’m kind of scared of asking the question, because the answer might be horrifying.
In your blog post, why does one of the links from your statement that you’ve known all along what a bastard Blaine was lead to the comic where Amber tells Robin that she wasn’t a virgin before she slept with Ethan? Because the conclusion I’m drawing from that is making my skin crawl, and I’m really hoping that I’m reading the inferrence incorrectly.
Amber -just said- in this comic that her dad punched her in the face after finding her -in bed with someone-. She was having sex, so he physically assaulted her. I’m fairly sure that’s what Willis is getting at.
It’s been almost 14 years since my own father passed away and I did not go to the viewing save for the first day. After that, I felt that if someone told me one more time what a great person my dad was, I was either going to hit them or go on a rant like Amber’s.
This strip was cathartic. Thank you!
Of course poor Faz is standing there all alone. Nobody except Amber and Mike know who he is. Will balding guy next ask Faz “Did you know Blaine?” and get another part of his mind blown?
Y’know, I was kinda questioning whether those two should be together. This basically proves that, yes, yes they should.
My only regret in all this is that Mike didn’t get to meet Blaine while he was alive. In all his comedic sociopathy (another trope!), it’s easy to forget that Mike is a bona fide superhero, albeit an utterly dickish one with few scruples. I can only imagine the wrath that would be visited upon someone who hurt somebody he cared about, and Blaine would deserve every second.
I hate to add to the Tropes but, well, in regards to Mike, Good Is Not Nice.
I thought about that when I remembered that Blaine asked Ethan if he’d ever been in a war.
We see them talk at some point? Which strips did this happen in?
When Ethan threw Blaine out of the store right after Robin pulled the drama tag. I’d provide a link, but I’m actually supposed to be studying and I’m afraid to start going through the archives.
http://www.shortpacked.com/2006/comic/book-2-pulls-the-drama-tag/06-the-drama-tag/year/
GODDAMMIT!!!
Perhaps Mike will take Faz under his wing and show him how to behave.
They’re family now, right?
Someone fetch a Hazmat suit. Faz needs a hug.
…wait, does that make it a Fazmat suit?
Dammit, stop making me like Amber and Mike’s relationship! I wanted to keep hating it!
Sometimes it’s the things you don’t say.
Only Mike could be the life of a funeral. Wonder if a pinata would be pushing it?
Depends on what it’s shaped like.
One that looks like Blaine would probably be funny. One that looks like Amber or her mother so you can honor Blaine by pretending to BE him would be a little grim, even for Mike.
OH FAZ. Still looking at your dead father.
I feel like I should hate Mike for what he’s doing here but dang it every thing he does makes me like him more and more.
So…I don’t have a Twitter account and I can’t find a ‘Contact The Author’ button anywhere, so I’ll say it here and hope the message finds its way to Mr Willis if it hasn’t already. Transformers Prime is available to watch on Instant Netflix. That is all.
Now where’s the conga line? Every funeral for a *censored* needs a conga line!
In the last panel … is that a? …. yes! Yes its is!! …. it’s a Shrubbery!!!!
Well we did need a – now for something completely different – moment.
My question – open to all – is, what about all the other siblings and moms at the funeral? Will there be more awkward introductions and revelations? Faz meets anti-Faz, and if they do will there be an explosion of power-point charts and “thingies”?
I can’t get my eyes off Faz throughout the strip… it’s really sad
you know, I never doubted the evilness of Amber’s Dad, (& this is my own fault for failing to completely pour over the back comics to get the full story) but after finding out he worked for KB Toys, I have a full understanding of just how vile he was. Yes, I worked there when I was young & desperate… & I was fired for buying a Yoda.
I am so stealing Mike’s wardrobe for the next funeral I go too.
My girlfriend was in a similar situation. She didn’t get punched in the face, but there have been many bad nights. He died a few years ago, and other than Faz, basically this situation here. After the funeral, she had mentioned to me how she wanted to explain, in great detail, the various types of crap her dad did to her to all those people who said he was a good guy.
Friggin wish I had a Hawaiian shirt. The only consolation is that her best friend and I swapped stories about how much of an asshole that prick was.
This comic hit the nail on the gods damn head.
I’ve always wondered what the onomatopoeia would be for those party noisemakers.
Just a note to say “good on you” for this. My dad was a complete waste of flesh as well and, indeed, the best thing he ever did for us was die. It’s just too bad it wasn’t sooner.
I know how Amber feels. Yay, Mike!
I have only ever been to one funeral(my Grandpa’s) in my life(cross my fingers I don’t have to go to any soon) and it was when I was around five. It was extremely confusing because I didn’t know what was going on. I’ll I knew was that everyone was sad so I started crying as well. Looking at Faz kind of makes me feel like I’m back there again.
Also, love how Mike is so supportive in his own way.
My father was not a complete waste of flesh, but the difference was exceedingly small. Mike is right on!
As someone who was verbally abused as a child, I want to say “Thank You” for this page.