I thought the same thing on the last comic and completely forgot to post about it.
Anonymous
4 years ago
As a long time lurker i already know how this is going to end ‘eventually’, but i just wanted to take this moment and commend you this excellent and enticing prologue. I for one am glad you decide to do this!
I really hate the robot, but in that good way you’re supposed to hate a bad guy. ?? You just want his ass kicked in the end. #LoveHumanity! Solidarity, my fellow meat sacks!
James Rye
4 years ago
Nice, that last panel looks really cool!
TheCK
4 years ago
And now I remember why I didn’t get into reading comics – the idea that you build suspense in a still strip that is meant to be read quickly in short order, is lost to me. I feel like it’s taking 3 weeks to see an ending we know was coming 10 miles away. I’ll bet if we can get another EMP off – the guy in the chair can take control. Followed Tim for over a decade here and still love the comic but humor is definitely the better genre for this type of delivery and layout. If you… Read more »
All of the past stories in my archives, when they were being released, also took weeks to tell. Now you can read them start to finish in minutes. Comics are “new” for 48 hours, then they’re in the archives for the rest of time. So you’re correct, the gag-a-day one-shots are more ideal for this type of delivery. They’re great for the short term. But they don’t age as well, either. They’re funny in the moment, but seventeen years later they don’t make any sense when no one has seen/remember the Dell commercial I was making a joke about, etc.… Read more »
To be fair, in the interactive stories we have demonstrated NOT being able to fully predict the events. How many times did we reach the good ending? And how often did we setup our heroes down the wrong path?
I’ve been reading the comic for almost 15 years, I think. I like the one-offs but I definitely prefer your stories… all of them. They are what keep me coming back ever other day to find out what’s happened.
With the comments it’s fun to come in and read everyone’s theories and join in the discussion from time to time.
I appreciate having something to look forward to, in this era of instant gratification binge-fest entertainment. Even Disney seemed to realize this as they released the Mandalorian weekly rather than Netflix-style all at once.
I could still consume it on my own time, on my schedule. I could wait for a story to be over and tear through it, or enjoy it piece by piece as it was delivered, deliciously anticipating the next installment.
I usually read the webcomics I like all on Fridays, usually at lunch at work, but I’m home under the weather today. You could wait a month like a comic book release? Personally, I’m quite enjoying this reboot of the characters.
You don’t know what is waiting. While also reading this I have been keeping watch for Goblins, Two Kinds and many others. I love all these long stories, but damn how hard it is when the author forgets to post for a couple months. Tim’s stories are cool as hell and do have an schedule so never feels like we are waiting too much. A moment of silence for the webcomics that simply died like Fanboys or Grim Tales.
Sayer
4 years ago
Zeke’s getting dangerously close to “boring invincible villain”.
I kinda thought this at the “jk extra shielding” part. I know why villains have to be written as more powerful, because there has to be some risk and stress in the storytelling. I just don’t like it haha.
Maybe that’s why I love me some One Punch Man =P
I’d be more disappointed if he didn’t have extra EM hardening after the last time around. Only a fool refuses to learn from past failures, and Zeke is most certainly not a fool.
The other side of that argument is Scott is no fool either. He’d find a way to up the EMP effect.
I guess it could also be argued that he did increase the effect, and that’s why he was able to do something to Zeke (that we don’t necessarily know yet).
https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-17/ On the linked page it is said that they are a new handheld design but with reduced range. Emps are like most explosives in that they are stronger the closer you are to the source of the pulse (or explosion) As such, a reduced range would also correlate to a reduced strength. At that point comparing the magnitude of the effects would require comparing emp strength at the point of origin of both emp devices, and Zekes distance from the point of origin each time. Zeke wasn’t completely destroyed last time eather, simply had enough damage to necessitate a… Read more »
A potential way to increase the strength of the emp with out increasing the range would be to use multiple from different sides (if the go off at the same time the overlapping electromagnetic pulses would be stronger).
Another alternative: sticky bomb version, have it stuck to zekes body for closer proximity (extra points if you can aim for where the sensitive components are located)
I’m not sure that Zeke falls under the “boring invincible villain” trope yet. He might be smug about it, but he DID just get a hole through his arm. He’s probably done fighting with that arm today. This is the first physically challenging (superior?) opponent our duo has had to face in a conventional brawl, and their lack of combat experience has a lot to do with why he almost seems to be making sport of the two of them. As it is, they fought him to a draw once, beat him once with him escaping, and then lost once… Read more »
Funnily enough, One Punch Man is one of few anime that actually got me emotionally invested and worried about the outcome of a fight. That certainly never happened with Dragonball. (I’d tell you which fight I mean, but you’ve already guessed it. It was *that* good.)
On the other hand, a tough villain is preferred to one with some silly weakness or they make a dumb mistake. There’s always the danger of falling into Jason Voorhees territory, but we’re nowhere near that yet, IMO.
LuckyFalkor
4 years ago
interesting no one pointed out; how the heck did Zeke, not hear Ethan reefing on and yanking out a spear from the wall.
even a normal human, let alone a robot, could probably hear that and in Zeke’s case probably at least counter a little bit.
still despite that, excellent page and comic overall.
I mean, we have seen Ethan practice with a lot of different weapons over the course of the previous issues. We know he is potent with them. How long do you think it takes for someone to withdraw a spear from a wall, twirl it around and stab it at someone who is 1 meter away?
Maybe the time it takes for Zeke to look up, lift his arm up to block the incoming strike?
Just because he’s a robot, doesn’t mean that he’s amazingly proficient at handling dozens of tasks in the background when he’s got something big taking up most of his computing power.
I mean, he is a Microsoft product, after all.
I’m surprised no one just sent him a spam email yet
Nah he did that a few issues ago, he doesn’t want to be typecast.
Leon
4 years ago
A wild Ethan appears
CombatMagi
4 years ago
100% honest I’m super surprised that Lucas actually found Ethan with how the dummy signal was set up… I’m going to say 75% chance that it isn’t Ethan and part of the trap. Either that or part of notZeke’s plan to gain his freedom.
The strengthened signal was supposed to lure Lucas to Ethan, it wasn’t required to be at a different location. The open door to Unconscious-Ethan’s cage was just a bonus trap from Zeke after Than offered to disable the kill switch, and either unfortunately or “unfortunately”, it backfired.
Tonkin
4 years ago
Speaking of a few strips ago, just realized that the fact they could trace Ethan’s dna sample back to him either A.) proves that there arent a bunch of dead Ethans strewn across time and space, or B.) the reason it took so long for them to find Ethan is that they had to search through a bunch of dead Ethans strewn across time and space
Eldest Gruff
4 years ago
So, Tim.
*steeples fingers*
Let’s talk animated Netflix series.
Eldest Gruff
4 years ago
Also. Makes perfect sense that he gets stabbed through the arm. XBox Series X is coming out in less than a year; the Zeke model of XBoxes get their new upgrades in the arm.
Halosty
4 years ago
Either Ethan is very strong or Zeke is made out of plastic. Actually… he is an X-Bot, right?
Alternatively: Extremely sharp spear, but it doesn’t look like it.
Ethan is strong as a slightly-trained Nerd. Zeke has some combat shielding and is strong enough for a good punch. The spear is sharp enough to pierce Ethan’s cage.
Lucas is probably 3/5th ripped because he’s clearly dedicated to training, Ethan is “nerd who hits the gym regularly”
Which is to say, Ethan can hold his own in a fight, Lucas can probably actually punch a hole in a door (which isn’t as hard as you’d expect)
Rolando
4 years ago
May I offer an opinion on characters’ looks? Just talking artistic design, something I have zero experience in. I feel all of them have evolved since 1.0. Better drawn, and with a style and expression that matches their current personality. (Starcaster is of a fine quality too. I’m really curious about your plans for that plot, in a “good uncertainty” way.) All evolved fine, except Ethan. He just doesn’t look right. The nose, some expressions. When he looks serious. I thought it was me unable to accept him not being as constantly goofy as in 1.0. But back then, you… Read more »
Rolan7
4 years ago
I can’t blame Ethan for aiming for Zeke’s head, considering Zeke is almost certainly murdering Lucas. I’ve reluctantly accepted that he meant his offer to help Zeke, and that he knows Zeke is more than a mere machine. That means he was willing to kill a person for Lucas. Again, not surprising, but I think it’s worth noting. (I may be annoyed at a scene in a TV show I just saw where a heart-of-gold rogue tried to shoot someone with a shotgun in cold blood, and it was treated as no big deal because the gun wasn’t loaded. He… Read more »
Well, he believes he is real, but he also believes he is still a machine, and therefore repairs are a lot easier. Plus, he was trying to murder his friend so you know if he can’t be repaired…
ReyMonoArdilla
4 years ago
You’ve got to cast defensively, Lucas, or you’re just going to fail your concentration checks.
Him.
4 years ago
So…the part about the superfluous signals was a bust then, huh. I guess Scott got lucky on the first try?
Less a plot hole and more a “well then, that’s surprisingly convenient”
rhedak
4 years ago
So I used to this this comic many years ago until I stopped after the end of the first series. Now I came back a few months ago to check if it still exists and was positively surprised. I caught up a month ago and am now checking back every update day (at least while the stories are going on, when the shorts are going on I am less interested). Just wanted to say great job keeping this going for so many years. I like the reboot as much as I did the first part although I was skeptical about… Read more »
TheRoamer
4 years ago
I’d like to give Tim a round of applause for his use of Shrodinger’s Gun. That spear was perfect for it.
24
Eh, I keep thinking of what to say about this part but nothing comes to mind. Oh well…
Also, First. Yay ?
Second! Lol
Whered the spear come from….
I just cant imagine theyd have weapons lieing around
It’s Zeke’s. He threw it three strips ago: https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-22/
It was stuck in the wall, waiting for Ethan to pull it out.
Go back three strips…
The spear was thrown by Zeke. See first panel of page 22.
I just love how Zeke has an air of Deadpool about him
I thought the same thing on the last comic and completely forgot to post about it.
As a long time lurker i already know how this is going to end ‘eventually’, but i just wanted to take this moment and commend you this excellent and enticing prologue. I for one am glad you decide to do this!
I really hate the robot, but in that good way you’re supposed to hate a bad guy. ?? You just want his ass kicked in the end. #LoveHumanity! Solidarity, my fellow meat sacks!
Nice, that last panel looks really cool!
And now I remember why I didn’t get into reading comics – the idea that you build suspense in a still strip that is meant to be read quickly in short order, is lost to me. I feel like it’s taking 3 weeks to see an ending we know was coming 10 miles away. I’ll bet if we can get another EMP off – the guy in the chair can take control. Followed Tim for over a decade here and still love the comic but humor is definitely the better genre for this type of delivery and layout. If you… Read more »
Only read once a month then? Don’t blame the author for your lack of control.
All of the past stories in my archives, when they were being released, also took weeks to tell. Now you can read them start to finish in minutes. Comics are “new” for 48 hours, then they’re in the archives for the rest of time. So you’re correct, the gag-a-day one-shots are more ideal for this type of delivery. They’re great for the short term. But they don’t age as well, either. They’re funny in the moment, but seventeen years later they don’t make any sense when no one has seen/remember the Dell commercial I was making a joke about, etc.… Read more »
To be fair, in the interactive stories we have demonstrated NOT being able to fully predict the events. How many times did we reach the good ending? And how often did we setup our heroes down the wrong path?
I’ve been reading the comic for almost 15 years, I think. I like the one-offs but I definitely prefer your stories… all of them. They are what keep me coming back ever other day to find out what’s happened.
With the comments it’s fun to come in and read everyone’s theories and join in the discussion from time to time.
I appreciate having something to look forward to, in this era of instant gratification binge-fest entertainment. Even Disney seemed to realize this as they released the Mandalorian weekly rather than Netflix-style all at once.
I could still consume it on my own time, on my schedule. I could wait for a story to be over and tear through it, or enjoy it piece by piece as it was delivered, deliciously anticipating the next installment.
I usually read the webcomics I like all on Fridays, usually at lunch at work, but I’m home under the weather today. You could wait a month like a comic book release? Personally, I’m quite enjoying this reboot of the characters.
For feck sake TheCK, where was the spolier alert warning? 🙂
I find it interesting that you’ve been reading for over a decade and yet Scott is ‘the guy in the chair.’
You don’t know what is waiting. While also reading this I have been keeping watch for Goblins, Two Kinds and many others. I love all these long stories, but damn how hard it is when the author forgets to post for a couple months. Tim’s stories are cool as hell and do have an schedule so never feels like we are waiting too much. A moment of silence for the webcomics that simply died like Fanboys or Grim Tales.
Zeke’s getting dangerously close to “boring invincible villain”.
I kinda thought this at the “jk extra shielding” part. I know why villains have to be written as more powerful, because there has to be some risk and stress in the storytelling. I just don’t like it haha.
Maybe that’s why I love me some One Punch Man =P
I’d be more disappointed if he didn’t have extra EM hardening after the last time around. Only a fool refuses to learn from past failures, and Zeke is most certainly not a fool.
The other side of that argument is Scott is no fool either. He’d find a way to up the EMP effect.
I guess it could also be argued that he did increase the effect, and that’s why he was able to do something to Zeke (that we don’t necessarily know yet).
Scott also refined the device from something that needed to be carried in a backpack, to something handheld.
So it’s more portable/easy to use, but one would expect it to be less potent.
https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-17/ On the linked page it is said that they are a new handheld design but with reduced range. Emps are like most explosives in that they are stronger the closer you are to the source of the pulse (or explosion) As such, a reduced range would also correlate to a reduced strength. At that point comparing the magnitude of the effects would require comparing emp strength at the point of origin of both emp devices, and Zekes distance from the point of origin each time. Zeke wasn’t completely destroyed last time eather, simply had enough damage to necessitate a… Read more »
A potential way to increase the strength of the emp with out increasing the range would be to use multiple from different sides (if the go off at the same time the overlapping electromagnetic pulses would be stronger).
Another alternative: sticky bomb version, have it stuck to zekes body for closer proximity (extra points if you can aim for where the sensitive components are located)
Lucas mains Tracer confirmed!!!
I’m not sure that Zeke falls under the “boring invincible villain” trope yet. He might be smug about it, but he DID just get a hole through his arm. He’s probably done fighting with that arm today. This is the first physically challenging (superior?) opponent our duo has had to face in a conventional brawl, and their lack of combat experience has a lot to do with why he almost seems to be making sport of the two of them. As it is, they fought him to a draw once, beat him once with him escaping, and then lost once… Read more »
Funnily enough, One Punch Man is one of few anime that actually got me emotionally invested and worried about the outcome of a fight. That certainly never happened with Dragonball. (I’d tell you which fight I mean, but you’ve already guessed it. It was *that* good.)
Blacksperm?
On the other hand, a tough villain is preferred to one with some silly weakness or they make a dumb mistake. There’s always the danger of falling into Jason Voorhees territory, but we’re nowhere near that yet, IMO.
interesting no one pointed out; how the heck did Zeke, not hear Ethan reefing on and yanking out a spear from the wall.
even a normal human, let alone a robot, could probably hear that and in Zeke’s case probably at least counter a little bit.
still despite that, excellent page and comic overall.
I mean, we have seen Ethan practice with a lot of different weapons over the course of the previous issues. We know he is potent with them. How long do you think it takes for someone to withdraw a spear from a wall, twirl it around and stab it at someone who is 1 meter away?
Maybe the time it takes for Zeke to look up, lift his arm up to block the incoming strike?
Just because he’s a robot, doesn’t mean that he’s amazingly proficient at handling dozens of tasks in the background when he’s got something big taking up most of his computing power.
I mean, he is a Microsoft product, after all.
I’m surprised no one just sent him a spam email yet
Don’t let the internet know he knows when super Broly is
Little surprised he has not had to be restarted yet, or the Incoming Updates slowdown has occured…
Missed opportunity:
“PLAYER TWO HAS ENTERED THE FAME”
“Entered the GAME” dang it!
Nah he did that a few issues ago, he doesn’t want to be typecast.
A wild Ethan appears
100% honest I’m super surprised that Lucas actually found Ethan with how the dummy signal was set up… I’m going to say 75% chance that it isn’t Ethan and part of the trap. Either that or part of notZeke’s plan to gain his freedom.
The strengthened signal was supposed to lure Lucas to Ethan, it wasn’t required to be at a different location. The open door to Unconscious-Ethan’s cage was just a bonus trap from Zeke after Than offered to disable the kill switch, and either unfortunately or “unfortunately”, it backfired.
Speaking of a few strips ago, just realized that the fact they could trace Ethan’s dna sample back to him either A.) proves that there arent a bunch of dead Ethans strewn across time and space, or B.) the reason it took so long for them to find Ethan is that they had to search through a bunch of dead Ethans strewn across time and space
So, Tim.
*steeples fingers*
Let’s talk animated Netflix series.
Also. Makes perfect sense that he gets stabbed through the arm. XBox Series X is coming out in less than a year; the Zeke model of XBoxes get their new upgrades in the arm.
Either Ethan is very strong or Zeke is made out of plastic. Actually… he is an X-Bot, right?
Alternatively: Extremely sharp spear, but it doesn’t look like it.
Ethan is strong as a slightly-trained Nerd. Zeke has some combat shielding and is strong enough for a good punch. The spear is sharp enough to pierce Ethan’s cage.
Lucas is probably 3/5th ripped because he’s clearly dedicated to training, Ethan is “nerd who hits the gym regularly”
Which is to say, Ethan can hold his own in a fight, Lucas can probably actually punch a hole in a door (which isn’t as hard as you’d expect)
May I offer an opinion on characters’ looks? Just talking artistic design, something I have zero experience in. I feel all of them have evolved since 1.0. Better drawn, and with a style and expression that matches their current personality. (Starcaster is of a fine quality too. I’m really curious about your plans for that plot, in a “good uncertainty” way.) All evolved fine, except Ethan. He just doesn’t look right. The nose, some expressions. When he looks serious. I thought it was me unable to accept him not being as constantly goofy as in 1.0. But back then, you… Read more »
I can’t blame Ethan for aiming for Zeke’s head, considering Zeke is almost certainly murdering Lucas. I’ve reluctantly accepted that he meant his offer to help Zeke, and that he knows Zeke is more than a mere machine. That means he was willing to kill a person for Lucas. Again, not surprising, but I think it’s worth noting. (I may be annoyed at a scene in a TV show I just saw where a heart-of-gold rogue tried to shoot someone with a shotgun in cold blood, and it was treated as no big deal because the gun wasn’t loaded. He… Read more »
Well, he believes he is real, but he also believes he is still a machine, and therefore repairs are a lot easier. Plus, he was trying to murder his friend so you know if he can’t be repaired…
You’ve got to cast defensively, Lucas, or you’re just going to fail your concentration checks.
So…the part about the superfluous signals was a bust then, huh. I guess Scott got lucky on the first try?
Less a plot hole and more a “well then, that’s surprisingly convenient”
So I used to this this comic many years ago until I stopped after the end of the first series. Now I came back a few months ago to check if it still exists and was positively surprised. I caught up a month ago and am now checking back every update day (at least while the stories are going on, when the shorts are going on I am less interested). Just wanted to say great job keeping this going for so many years. I like the reboot as much as I did the first part although I was skeptical about… Read more »
I’d like to give Tim a round of applause for his use of Shrodinger’s Gun. That spear was perfect for it.
It’s actually a Chekhov’s Gun. You could potentially argue that the Ethan-like shape in the box was a Schrödinger’s Gun, but not really the spear.