In the blissful land of… 2000? It’s supposed to be 2000 when this was published right? Anyway, in the blissful land of 2000, Mary wasn’t established to be a terrible person, so yes, Danny is totally Danning it up.
So I’m a bit confused. We all ‘know’ Mary because of her future persona.
So far, here she seems to be just a person who’s come to cheer up a friend.
Until the last panel and then it gets strange.
Someone who thinks they have killed their friend and believes that everything they believed in is wrong – is not broken?
But, someone who has lost their driver’s license is?
Mary does not have her priorities in the right place from the looks of it, and can’t see where religion or self righteousness have a lot to do with it. She is just nuts.
It’s an attempt (albeit a poor one) to make a joke. See, she’s saying that he’s not broken as though trying to cheer him up, but then implies that the lack of a driver’s license makes him a shell of a man. Roll on snare drum. Everybody laugh.
Yeah, a lot of us took a little time to realize that relentlessly perky joke machines are actually not very funny. Mary’s coming over out of kindness and trying to snap Danny out of his funk and refusing to accept his depressive reasoning. These should be good things, and yet even though she’s actually correct in everything she says (adjusting for sarcasm), she’s already coming across as painfully insensitive. It only gets worse from here.
Yeah, that is not a line to make jokes after. Especially not as a last panel, where the time between that line and whatever it can follow is more than long enough to make an impression. Maybe if it weren’t the last panel and her next lines were offering actual support, it would go over better, but… It’s Mary. Considering what we know’s coming next, I suspect even her attempts at actual support would go over like a slap in the face with a wet trout.
Honestly, I’m surprised she’s not fixating on that “everything I believed in is false” line.
Even with Willis saying it directly, I’m having a hard time imagining that anybody was supposed to actually like her. I mean that last panel is making me feel bad for Danny…
I didn’t even think it was possible to feel bad for Danny.
Leaving aside for a moment how awful Mary is (at least she’s just needling Danny, not anyone I have the tiniest spark of compassion for), I’m amused by the way she’s having to lean to see around the enormous speech balloons.
I’ve read all of Shortpacked, but never Roomies, It’s Walky, or Joyce and Walky. So of course, I’m super excited for this whole project. But now I was curious as to what makes Mary so… Awful? And now I see it. Mary, seriously, he’s responsible for a friend’s death, and you’re making a joke about him not having a driver’s license? No. Go away. Shoo. Get outta here.
They’re in a bedroom, she’s giving him a dirty look and he’s too dense to see it. Even back in the 90s, he could Dan things up.
Well, to be fair, do you want to do it with Mary?
Between what we know and the author commentary, Mary seems like a talking blow-up doll. That is, the worst of both worlds.
That sounds like a no to me.
It is a
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
In the blissful land of… 2000? It’s supposed to be 2000 when this was published right? Anyway, in the blissful land of 2000, Mary wasn’t established to be a terrible person, so yes, Danny is totally Danning it up.
1999 actually. And it doesn’t really stop her from being the Mary we know in-universe.
He got off lucky, really. If I recall correctly, nowadays, he’d be in jail for 10-20 years (at least in Texas), and that’s with NO deaths.
20 years in prison for a first DUI? uh, sure, that checks out.
You would think, based solely on these two strips, that Mary is a nice charming girl and Danny is just being a buttface.
Oh, how wrong you would be.
About Mary being the nice, charming girl that is, right?
Well, actually you would only be half-wrong.
Mary is nice, because she’s dismissing the fact a friend fo his just died?
Danny isn’t *just* a buttface.
Right now, she just seems like the spunky, designated female best friend, like in all the kids’ shows. This scares me. I’m scared.
So I’m a bit confused. We all ‘know’ Mary because of her future persona.
So far, here she seems to be just a person who’s come to cheer up a friend.
Until the last panel and then it gets strange.
Someone who thinks they have killed their friend and believes that everything they believed in is wrong – is not broken?
But, someone who has lost their driver’s license is?
Mary does not have her priorities in the right place from the looks of it, and can’t see where religion or self righteousness have a lot to do with it. She is just nuts.
It’s an attempt (albeit a poor one) to make a joke. See, she’s saying that he’s not broken as though trying to cheer him up, but then implies that the lack of a driver’s license makes him a shell of a man. Roll on snare drum. Everybody laugh.
Not to be mean, but was ‘bad sitcom logic’ part of the outdated kink list also, then?
Wow, I knew what Mary eventually does but… Seriously?
“Oh, you’re friend died? No big deal. Losing your license, though…”
That’s just… I mean… AGH!
Yeah, a lot of us took a little time to realize that relentlessly perky joke machines are actually not very funny. Mary’s coming over out of kindness and trying to snap Danny out of his funk and refusing to accept his depressive reasoning. These should be good things, and yet even though she’s actually correct in everything she says (adjusting for sarcasm), she’s already coming across as painfully insensitive. It only gets worse from here.
Yeah, she’s coming across better than Joyce did but only slightly.
Yeah, that is not a line to make jokes after. Especially not as a last panel, where the time between that line and whatever it can follow is more than long enough to make an impression. Maybe if it weren’t the last panel and her next lines were offering actual support, it would go over better, but… It’s Mary. Considering what we know’s coming next, I suspect even her attempts at actual support would go over like a slap in the face with a wet trout.
Honestly, I’m surprised she’s not fixating on that “everything I believed in is false” line.
It’s so weird seeing Mary…. smile.
She is trying to make a joke!
A poor one.
And at a VERY bad time.
Even with Willis saying it directly, I’m having a hard time imagining that anybody was supposed to actually like her. I mean that last panel is making me feel bad for Danny…
I didn’t even think it was possible to feel bad for Danny.
Leaving aside for a moment how awful Mary is (at least she’s just needling Danny, not anyone I have the tiniest spark of compassion for), I’m amused by the way she’s having to lean to see around the enormous speech balloons.
She’s actually leaning because the devil is sitting on her shoulder and he’s heavy.
I’ve read all of Shortpacked, but never Roomies, It’s Walky, or Joyce and Walky. So of course, I’m super excited for this whole project. But now I was curious as to what makes Mary so… Awful? And now I see it. Mary, seriously, he’s responsible for a friend’s death, and you’re making a joke about him not having a driver’s license? No. Go away. Shoo. Get outta here.
Something about the commentary tells me that Mary is not meant to be liked later on.
Right now I’m just like “Oh, you seem okay”.
Originally posted:
June 29, 1999