You’d think Andi would have more experience hiding these kinds of things.
Amanda can pretty solidly operate at the level of "30 minute sit-com detective".
You’d think Andi would have more experience hiding these kinds of things.
Yeah, I’m still waiting for the explosion.
So far, so good, though.
I’m glad this side of Amanda is really showing through, this time. She really does have a strong sense of loyalty.
So far, the downside of that has been shown off a lot. We’ve seen jealousy, anger at perceived betrayals, an us vs. them mentality, and a definite ability to hold a grudge and fight against people whom she thinks wronged her. We’ve seen so much of it that it’s practically come to define her character.
However, there have also been a lot of quieter moments that indicate that she really values her friends and family. She stuck up for her mom. She fought for Heather and Keisha. She’s making an effort to behave around Todd’s family (including Selkie!). She even spoke up for Selkie (her nemesis, sure, but a fellow orphan in trouble) when Truck was attacking her.
Andi has a lot of influence over Amanda. A LOT of influence. She’s the Mom that realized she made a huge mistake by giving Amanda up, and wants her back to be together forever. A.K.A. a little forgotten “orphan” girl’s dream come true. Amanda loves her, and she’s making an effort to change for her. Maybe part of that is because she REALLY doesn’t want to screw up, and let her mom think she’s a bad kid. I think a lot of it, though, is because she loves her. If Andi can help her keep that temper under control (Which it seems she’s been trying to do) I think there’s hope for the kid.
Holy cow, Amanda is taking that a lot better than I thought. But as she said she had already deducted it. This was just a confirmation – and possibly a test to see if Andi was going to lie. Hurray to Andi for not breaking down, and for complimenting Amanda, and hurray to Amanda for not blowing up. Growth for both of them!
They have both grown alot. I think a hug is in order.
Amanda good girl breath maybe push for extra treats and take your time to process it all.
Can I just say I kind of LOVE Amanda here? “If a doctor had lied about that, you’d be super rich from the lawsuit. And you’re not. So there.” 😀
(And Amanda shows herself to be VERY “not-stupid” with that deduction!)
Kids often “test” adults to see if they will tell them the truth and not “talk down” to them – despite Andi’s many faults, she is doing very well at being honest with Amanda and not talking down to her. This must have been hard to admit but she respected her daughter enough to tell her the hard truth. I especially like the way that is visually illustrated in this installment, with Andi sitting down so that she is at/a little below eye level, which I know from experience is very important when talking to children.
I like how this recent arc has more fully developed Andi and Amanda and made them more sympathetic. I can’t help but feel that the two of them kind of “fit” with each other, which makes me optimistic for the both of them and for their place in this wonderful non-traditional family.
When I was a kid, I just assumed adults were stupid. Now that I’ve grown up, I can only confirm my 8 year old self was right.
I always assumed that they didn’t fit as much as , “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Have I ever mentioned how much I love your water-colory emotion backgrounds?
Also the snowy night outside the window adds a very nice touch
You like it so much that you appear to have made it your “avatar” here.
Man, I love this scene. Just… everything. I love Amanda. I love Andi. I love you, Dave. This is perfect, and there need to be more scenes like this.
There doesn’t have to be screaming drama with large fallout for a moment to be emotionally powerful. Sometimes, the reverse packs a much bigger punch.
Well well, look who doesn’t have her father’s difficulty reading people. I like this quality of Amanda, the real intelligent detective. And good for Andi for not backing down, I expected her to run away.
I think it’s going to be Amanda to crack Patricia, not Andi at this rate.
She knows how cell phones work. I wouldn’t put it past her to find “Ma” in the contacts on Andi’s phone, and call up (Probably to tell her off, tbh) when her mom’s not paying attention.
I hope!
And to be honest, I will laugh out loud if she does this.I really hope she does.
I can just see that conversation…
Paranoid Patricia: “How did you find me??? Your mother put you up to this, didn’t she??”
Amanda: “Psht. Yeah, right. I know how to use a cell phone. I’m eight, not stupid.”
Being a bully she sure does know how to cut a person with a mere comment. I think Patricia wouldn’t stand a chance.
Re: panel 4; one purse, two purse, red purse, blue purse.
Re: panels 1 & 3; one Amanda, two Amanda, red Amanda, blue Amanda. Honestly you’d think Dave would have done that on purpose. …oh, wait…
Anyone else reading Amanda’s facial ques in the third panel as more like “duh I already knew that” more to herself then to andi? Amanda is a smart kid and doesnt give herself enough credit i really love how Andi is really impressed by her daughter.
It would make sense. When she was first told, there weren’t many suspects she had to choose from. But she loved her mom and didn’t want to think anything bad about her. All signs pointed to it, and while it was painful, she was happy that Andi came back for her so she was able to push it aside. She probably was able to see why her dad’s side of the family was so angry afterward, but that doesn’t mean she wants to see them go at her mom like they did when Mari and Theo finally got to meet Amanda.
“I just…figured I was being stupid.”
You not stupid Amanda, I think you just weren’t ready to face the facts yet. Not that I can blame you kid; this is tough stuff.
exactly. while deep down inside she *did* know there was still a huge part hoping that there could be some other explanation….any other explanation. kids are like that, if a truth is too scary or horrible they refuse to believe it until they have no other chance left.
my reaction to this page is: D’aaaaaww!
The second panel has me wondering what Amanda is thinking of. Resignation could be a lot of it, finally hearing her mom confirm what happened, but I’m curious if there’s something else. Amanda isn’t made of stone, she probably met or saw her fair share of kids who came from folks who really couldn’t be the parents they wanted to be if the situation were ideal. I could be very wrong, but maybe it’s the thought that her mom had her reasons even if she doesn’t know them just yet.
Well, we observed before that Amanda had all the info she needed to figure out what happened. Looks like she was just resisting putting it together or refusing to admit to herself that she had. That personal realization is probably what’s keeping a blowup from happening now. Amanda’s been subconsciously dealing with this for a while. As others pointed out on Friday, Andi telling the truth instead of dodging is a good thing big picture.
I was expecting Selkie to retort about Amanda being “non-stupid”…
Actually, I have a feeling Selkie may be observing this entire exchange. I mean, the comic is named after her and all. I really hope this all comes back to her, at least.
The results of this conversation will have a huge effect on Selkie’s life whether she’s overhearing it or not. So this isn’t at all a side issue.
Gotta say I love panel 2 showing the emotional fade from one to the next with the blue sort of seeping in.
me too, but to “me” i think Amanda’s facial features should be reversed between panels two and three… to me panel two is a “resigned with the knowledge of something unpleasant” face and panel three is and “angry scowl” face… they don’t track with what she’s saying at the times of those panels… to me it should go more like this: panel one “surprised face” because Andi told the truth about it, panel two her with that “instant reaction of angry that it happened at all” face, but then leading into panel three, the whole “resigned to reality, blech” face…
Woopsie! oh yeah… i forgot, the background colors versus the facial expressions: red background being an “angry” emotion color, and the blue background being a “blah, depressed” color… see how they don’t match the emotions on her face?
Looks to me like angry/upset surprise, then resignation or that moment when you let new info affect how you store info about things, and finally put-out resigned annoyance.
Good. But I doubt I could easily forgive Andi for such a deep betrayal. Then again I can be pretty petty when I wish. XD So yeah.
I don’t know. Given she’s known it this whole time maybe she has…or it being out in the open will help her.
It’s still a giant betrayal. No amount of apologies can properly fix it. :/
Totes love this comic. Is it just me, though; or does Amanda’s hair change length a lot during the course of this one strip? 🙂
Didn’t see that one coming, but kudos to Amanda!
Flawless logic, Amanda.