are there any comics with as much lost potential as dumbing of age?
this comic could be really damn good. there's a lot of good comic layouts, a lot of the characters and motivations are shown off well, and there's plenty of decent setup for future plots.
But it's blown so badly with terrible attempts at over-dramatizing, fucking up the most basic of idioms, trying to paint all christians or parents as inherently evil, or pandering.
This page, for example, is a simple edit, removing the last two panels of the page.
>>84209280
I liked Shortpacked when it just about dumb toy store shit, before the drama tag got pulled forever.
That's partially why Dumbing of Age threads keep popping up.
We see the potential, but it's ruined by Willis having no idea what he's doing.
He claims to be avoiding "Hallmark Channel" dramatics, but he's just going full Lifetime Channel instead.
I don't think this comic has potential, and I don't think the characters are good. Every single page you people go "this is how this page should have been" based off of some imagined version of these characters that doesn't actually exist. They've always been shit and always will be
>>84209280
Exactly, it's bizarre how close Willis gets to making something... well, "good" might be a strong word, but at least competently written, only to completely miss the mark by trying to cram political correctness, church bashing, and WACKY LESBIANS!!11! into every nook and cranny
>>84209486
well, the issue is that every time willis has a hint of development and decent drama, he butchers it with more wacky antics or pandering to SJW.
>>84209280
>anything drawn by willis
>potential
you faggots are pure cancer
>>84209595
>judging something without giving it a fair chance
oh, I wasn't aware you also posted on tumblr.
>>84209280
Paranatural. It used to be pretty entertaining before it slowed to a crawl in favor of reaction images over pacing, writing and effort. He also seemed to get rid of backgrounds completely because they're too much work
>>84209559
This.
Take the whole "breaking into Becky's house" thing. That could have gone a lot of slightly different ways that would have actually made for some actually decent character development. They could have been sneaking in to pick up some of Becky's old things and family mementos, you could have had some nice, touching moments with Becky reflecting on her family life, or even just remembering how Joyce was there for her as a friend when things got rough.
Instead the motivation for the break-in is that Becky is apparently so fucking incapable of living as an adult that she doesn't even know her soc or keep any identifying cards or documents on her, we get the stupid TRIGGER WARNING bullshit that spoils any shock about the revelation of her mom's suicide, and instead of just leaving the house with a simple quiet look back or a something like "I've got everything I need" we get wacky jokes about granola.
It takes so little effort to fix some of these strips.
>>84209720
>that page
desu joyce's dad is one of my favourite characters.
>>84209720
>Never in all my life, have you so vehemently defied me.
People don't talk like that, Willis. I don't care how Christian they are,
>>84209857
That's an edit, anon.
>>84211705
im aware.
the original page was still good, showing that the dad still supported his daughter.
>>84209280
There is no real potential in DoA, it's just not a comic Willis can write well. I enjoy It's Walky and early Shortpacked but DoA is terrible. Sometimes you experiment and fail, and then sometimes people keep reading your excuse for a comic and paying you.
>>84212166
DoA could be good in another writer's hands, though.
hell, look at how many edits /co/ does that not only fit in the theme of the comic, but capture the characters willis is trying to write.
>>84212194
>DoA could be good in another writer's hands, though.
You mean like Tom Batiuk?
>>84212257
>>84212194
I see your point but at what point do we swap out so much stuff it isn't DoA anymore?
>>84212257
>>84212284
Funky Winkerbean man.
>>84212313
you don't have to.
>joyce: super devout christian finding herself in the real world for the first time
>becky: super devout christian who is also gay, dealing with the fallout
>carla: trans girl tired of living up to expectations, wanting to be herself
>walky: kid who's never had to try finding himself challenged for the first time
>dorothy: honours student trying her hardest to get into yale
>ethan: self-hating gay guy
>billie: alcoholic trying to cope
>ruth: traumatized alcoholic starting to form bonds
I could go on. pretty much every character in DoA has the potential to be a robust character, if not for willis constantly throwing in terrible dialogue. even the wacky hijinks is fine, if it's written better.
>psychotic dad trying to take becky away
okay, now write the dad actually being mentally unstable, show what got him to the point he was.
>bitchy dorm-mate
if you want her to be against carla because she's trans, show her actually doing so instead of carla being a bitch and mary overreacting.
>>84212388
Yeah, but that would require DoA not to involve Willis, because who the hell could collaborate with Willis and get him to accept changes? The autistic manchild is a prerequisite for it being DoA and as long as we're stuck with him DoA won't grow.
>>84212284
The guy who does this comic.
>>84209625
Honestly Paranatural should just go on Hiatus and shift to a dump format every week and a half or so. The Hitball arc has fine pacing, and the Train arc reads good in hindsight, but Zack cannot keep up at a fast enough rate.
If he had the speed of an established manga, Paranatural would be fantastic, but Zack is just one, relatively inexperienced guy.
>>84212476
hence, 'wasted potential'
>>84209486
OP's pic is literally one of Willis' strips with two dialogueless, reaction panels removed.
>>84212331
>>84212551
never heard of it.
>>84209280
god i hate Becky's stupid fucking dot eyes so much
>>84214732
It's not just on her, but I think it's a pretty terrible visual choice for the characters that have it. I don't think he has to give all of them irises, but the characters with sclera look so much better.
>>84209280
Are they both boys or girls. That one with the striped shirt looks straight up like the protagonist from Undertale.
>>84215884
The one in the striped is a short-haired mom, the red-haired one is a kinda butch lesbian (at least so much as she hates dresses and long hair).
>>84215944
She's more tomboyish than butch. Soft butch maybe, but at that point you're splitting hairs.
>>84216316
joyce's brother/sister and gay? brother, as well as her dad, are pretty much the only reasonable christians shown so far, while her mom has been growing increasingly unreasonable and bitchey.
>>84217806
The mystery brother has never shown up in the comic so we can't know what his deal is.
>>84217847
I'm talking about the one in the new arc that was sympathetic to joyce and stood up for her and becky.
ethan found out the other brother shown(not the missionary) was trans.
>>84217866
You're talking about Josh/Jocelyn. John is the missionary. Jordan hasn't appeared in the comic.
>>84218006
wait, it was the same brother/sister as the one from the meet-the-parents arc?
shit, I didn't even realize.
>>84218026
Not surprising considering how long ago the meet-the-parents arc took place.
>>84218091
I just marathoned the comic the other day. joyce said she has like 9 brothers, I had assumed it was a different brother.
>>84209386
>That's partially why Dumbing of Age threads keep popping up.
Well, that and the fact that Dave Willis has a Dobson-tier shit personality
So this is pretty much the dumbing of age thread right?
Well I got your new (parody) comic right here.
>>84220014
unitarianism confuses me, with how much the different major religions conflict with each other.
>>84209280
Mspaintretard edits are pretty good at this
>>84220464
even if shittly edited
It's about an hour to the new comic.
Place your bets on where we cutaway next.
My money's still on Mary/Carla/Ruth/Billie/whoever.
>>84220485
>and that is a dark road she is not prepared to go down on
Technically true I guess
>>84222153
I don't know, Mary/Carla has kinda peaked, Ruth/Billie and Mary's blackmail can't conclude until after Joyce/Becky, and Dina/Sarah and Ethan/Danny kinda petered out. My bet is he's going to ramp up Sal/Amber, possibly using it to set up Sal coming to terms with Malaya and Malaya and Marcie hooking up.
>>84222374
Oh, right, Sal/Amber is a thing.
Goddamn, you need a flowchart to map out all the character interactions.
>>84222153
I don't see how he could not show some congregation reactions. We already saw that they are against her, but I'm guessing the dress strip will confirm that she's a monster in their eyes.
However, since it's Willis it'll cut to Danny and Dina.
>>84209595
This.
>>84209611
Fuck off Willis. Everyone knows you're the one who spams your shit comic here.
>>84222425
Not really, Willis like to keep things in pairs or threes. He also usually only has one or two main plotlines at any given time.Personally I hope for more Dina and Sarah, that pairing is surprisingly likeable.
>>84222471
willis is allergic to criticism. you think he'd call his own comic wasted potential and point out all the flaws?
>>84222495
Maybe Willis has finally broken down and developed multiple personalities to express the feelings he can no longer suppress?
>>84222631
We're all Willis, now.
>>84222722
One of us might be his wife, trying to piece together a method to reach through his madness.
Tonight's patreon strip. I'm a little bummed they're going back to school. I thought the church conflict had a lot of potential, really- it would have been potentially interesting to see Hank actually stand up for his daughter to an adult outside the family, and I would love to see the fallout with his wife. In competent hands, I think the pain that comes from seeing your child grow up in a way that you don't agree with could make for a good dramatic story. But it's Willis, so instead we get the bitter harpy that is Joyce's mom.
>>84223946
That is an odd way to draw teeth.
>>84223946
Good god, you're right. This could have been a chance for Joyce to stand up for her mother, but instead they cut straight to everybody in the car. Are they even packed? Did they go home, grab their shit, and split?
But nope, it's just Willis making Becky a quirky red-headed lesbian, interjecting non-sequiters that make no sense out of context. Replace panels two and four with a textless version of panel one and you'll see what I mean.
>>84223946
Does Billie not know how timezones work?
>>84224051
are it, anon?
![Super_Punch-Out_ARC_Bear_Hugger[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/NdhfarP.png "Super_Punch-Out_ARC_Bear_Hugger[1].png")
>>84223946
>>84222446
>I don't see how he could not show some congregation reactions.
>However, since it's Willis it'll cut
I was hedging my bets, I really didn't expect a cut...
>>84224051
Reminds me of pic related
>>84224051
>>84224127
>>84224167
The teeth are fine, if a bit weird. Can we talk about how unsettling it is when Willis mixes the black-eyed characters with the regular-eyed characters, especially considering that he's using a smaller version of the black eyes as Billie's iris and pupil?
>>84224127
>>84224167
The big difference is that those are plus signs. They represent the gaps of their teeth. Becky just has dots, that don't imply anything and don't go fully across her mouth.
>>84223946
Becky looks like she's going through a psychotic break in that last panel
>>84223946
i like the copy pasted body with the slight angle change on the head
>>84212871
And you think it's good? You're beyond saving
>>84209280
>>84209611
>>84210112
>HURRR DUURRR CHRISTFAGS AND *FAMILIES* ARE NOT BAD HUUURRR DUUUURR IM GOING TO IGNORE THAT CHRISTIANS ARE THE LITERAL PLAGUES OF THIS WORLD HUUUURRRRR DUURRRRRRR
>>84225111
that's some impressive hyperbole, mate. how much practice did that take?
>>84225144
probably like...
>a million years
>>84225169
you've not been alive for a million years, nor has homo sapiens. you have that hyperbole down to a SCIENCE!
>>84225144
>>84225169
Fu** you two.
Go back to /pol/!
>>84223946
I've said this to myself every arc, but this is so stupid. Time zones wouldn't give her an extra hour, and the transition to Becky correcting herself doesn't make sense without 4th-wall-breaking knowledge a la Deadpool.
>>84225228
Anon, you can swear on the internet.
>>84223946
guess the spoilers were wrong? I thought joe was supposed to come intervene in an argument.
>>84225282
I am not going to lower myself to the levels of you christfags. I am too intellectual for that.
>>84225328
Ah. I appear to have fallen for the proverbial bait.
>>84225328
>you literally cut my head off with all that edge
>>84223946
I wonder if her face hurts.
>>84225328
beautiful.
>>84225305
>Joe shows up an hour after they've left and makes awkward small talk with Carol
>he still manages to fuck Josh before heading back to campus
>>84225305
Yeah, that's a disappointment. For a while there it looked like we might've gotten a good story for once.
>>84225537
*I'll
>>84225605
my god... he's...
>the hyperbole messiah
>he is risen
>>84225537
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1NUposXVQ
>>84225743
I'm not even the same anon you've been talking to.
>>84225897
I'm guessing he quoted the wrong person.
>>84212388
>becky: super devout christian who is also gay, dealing with the fallout
more like
>becky: super lesbian lesbian who is also a lesbian and dealing with the lesbian
>>84209280
Your second sentence doesn't describe the Dumbing of Age I see on this website at all. . .
Americans get buttmad at Christians forgetting that most "Christians" in the US are cultists.
ROMAN CATHOLIC OR BUST NIGGAH
Also make more edits
>>84227277
Roman Catholic? You mean that heretical cult glorifying the Bishop of Rome over the other members of Pentarchy?
>>84225502
You can only hold a smile for so long; after that, it’s just teeth.
She doesn't look happy. She looks psychotic. The kind of desperate smiles you see on somebody barely holding it together. Surely on some level she knows she's not going to keep landing on her feet and that it's all going to come tumbling down around her ears.
Also make more Mary&Carla romance edits
>>84228373
>mary will never be this stacked
>>84228373
This is good shit, anon.
>>84209280
You know that meme webcomic, homestuck? the one with the shitty fanbase full of disgusting and obnoxious teenagers?
Underneath that, it's a story about a huge multiverse that propagates itself through a video game where the players become mythical figures and complete grandiose, nearly impossible tasks in order to create a new universe to live in because their old one was fucking destroyed by that same game.
No, wait, shit, it's about a bunch of bisexual aliens that fuck all the time or something. My bad. I got confused, I guess the fucking author did too.
>>84227371
>>84228373
This is all I ever wanted.
>>84209280
It doesn't need to tell Christians they're inherently evil, Christianity already does that for them.
>>84228373
Now how do you work the dialogue for Mary's apology? Her defining characteristic is being a judgmental fundamentalist.
