The taming of the Joe.
But in all seriousness, I can see a lot of reasons to take Joyce at her word that she wants to be the pacesetter here as a matter of personal comfort, rather than their being any malicious intent.
Moonlighter
2022-12-03 11:58:21 +0000 UTC
Everyone can argue about Dorothy and Joyce until they're blue in the face, but I just want to say that I'm enjoying Joe's facial expressions as he attempts to navigate into uncharted territory.
Giant Speck
2022-12-03 11:33:55 +0000 UTC
I'll be rather honest: I'm getting some "trophy" vibes here, and I'm not very fond of that. Hope to be wrong, though.
Ninshubur
2022-12-03 08:53:23 +0000 UTC
What Joes tries to say is that he wants to hold hands and look at dinosaurs
Bagge
2022-12-03 08:47:11 +0000 UTC
Fuck, I just realized
Dorothy is Ms. Brightside, holy shit lmao
The lyrics all FIT
Sajuuk-Khar
2022-12-03 08:46:23 +0000 UTC
God yes the Jojo vibes are IMMACULATE I love them
Also, Dotty, goddamn. Go to Yale or something if it bothers you that much.
(No, seriously, go to Yale. I know you have connections and shit here but like, Yale is your dream, you have strategized towards it, and as much as you hate it your people are showing you: they can do okay without you there. Go to Yale, because it’s your destiny.)
Sajuuk-Khar
2022-12-03 08:03:55 +0000 UTC
I know. I hope she realizes it soon as well.
Andrea Andrew
2022-12-03 05:57:21 +0000 UTC
Joe sure is on pins and needles
darklion
2022-12-03 05:22:38 +0000 UTC
Dorothy's gonna have to start asking why she's getting so upset about this...and maybe it'll be a realization in the end.
C
2022-12-03 05:14:22 +0000 UTC
Walking home from work late and I’ve got me a big smile on my face thanks to this. Not needing to blow a gasket about ships or anything, just happy to see Joyce confident and happy with friends that she knows care about her. Thanks Willis!
mirror
2022-12-03 05:11:59 +0000 UTC
Complex tangle of emotions, as usual. My take:
Joe: First panel is all "make good impression on Joyce's best friend". Second panel: "oops, wtf?". Panels 3, 4: Joe's insecurity about this is always ready to take over, but he will not run from Joyce, having declared his love. Panel 5: "Joyce is holding my hand, and wants to drag *towards* the hostile Dorothy. I do not understand."
Joyce: Panel 1: "Look, Dorothy, I have tamed Joe! I can be friends!" Panel 2: "oops, wtf?". Panel 3: it's not clear that Joyce knows the "just friends", since she doesn't repeat the word "just" in her affirmation. She is also reverting to the optimistic glowing smile. Panel 4: "I will fix things! Whatever Dorothy is thinking, she is wrong!"
Dorothy: still hostile, but she has not explained herself. She may have thought she was repairing things with Joyce by bringing her the sketch pad, but she doesn't have all the data. Whatever popular category her feelings about Joyce fall into, she is not happy that Joyce is taking a big step without her.
Art: Very nice cinematography, with the camera switching from Dorothy's view of the smiling couple to a side view to show the motion. The borderless frames 2 and 5 have Joe in a fixed place, but with left-to-right motion supplied first by Dorothy's storm-off and then by Joyce's "c'mon"/drag.Panel 4 zooms in on Joe being insecure and secure at the same time.