Meh some folks might be ok with being a “kept man or woman” It would drive me batty, but there’s famous examples, even in the White House right now. (I think, Maybe I heard she isn’t living there?)
I honestly can’t see any supervillain vibes. All I see is a woman trying to control the situation in a very dangerous way. The “call me asap” text and then “you called in 30 seconds, that is too long, you’re cheating on me,” is a short ways away. She might be super, but there’s nothing in my mind that is signalling this right now. All can be done with classic psychology. Ethan’s desperate for companionship, nor is the most mentally strong, making it relatively easy. What are the vibes that are telling you it’s a super? I really can’t see… Read more »
It seems like you’re approaching the situation from a real life point of view instead of a comic book life point of view. In a comic book, blatant personality red flags often hint at a super villain trying to act “normal” and/or they’re used in building a backstory between a villain and a hero. In real life we don’t even begin to think super villain unless the person with the huge red flags is also super rich, CEO of a corporation with a bad rep, military dictator, etc.
That’s…a stretch. In comic books, personality red flags can hint at a super villain identity, but that’s far from a given. Take J. Jonah Jameson as a case in point. He’s practically the poster child for obsessive, toxic antagonism. He lies, he smears, he stirs public panic. But he’s not a supervillain, and he’s not in league with them either. He’s just a petty man with a long-running grudge…and a regrettable mustache, which even Captain America felt compelled to comment on. See also Liz Allan, Flash Thompson, Debra Whitman…(Spidey really has suffered more than his share of toxic interpersonal dynamics,… Read more »
(P. S. Your depiction of narcissism and control is on point, Tim. I’m intrigued to see what happens when she goes full DARVO. 👀 Sad thing is, it happens IRL. A lot. 🥺)
True, though it feels like this time around Tim’s going for the serious angle, which I’m all for. I feel like this touches a subject that doesn’t get talked about enough – and needs to be talked about.
Last edited 1 hour ago by The Legacy
Kasaix
12 hours ago
More red flags than a (insert spicy reference here) parade.
I just hope Ethan will listen, and not start a fight over it.
… I give it pretty good odds that Nicole has predicted Lucas pulling Ethan aside and has been working out how to either a) manipulate Ethan after the conversation or b) have Ethan defend her, starting an argument.
As an aside, I was _really_ hoping she was just pushing for a one-night stand that would leave Ethan alone, upset and confused after the fact, but in a place to get over it. This looks *worse*.
The “I really wish I didn’t help him get that app.. and kept him on the one-night-stand apps.” look. XD
JozMk.II
12 hours ago
I doubt this is the case, but it almost feels like Tim is making Ethan’s latest relationship endeavor intentionally painful, in order to make Lilah seem more appealing to people like myself who otherwise dislike her. It’s certainly having that effect to some extent.
Mostly that she was just kind of there in CAD 1.0, as a love interest and at-times mom figure for Ethan, without otherwise having much else to stand out as her own character. Plus I personally prefer more of the superhero arcs and less of the relationship/romance drama, and worry it’ll shift even more toward the latter when Ethan and Lilah inevitably end up together and perhaps even marry somewhere down the road.
Gonfrask
12 hours ago
Well, Lucas clearly knows.
Darkhorse
12 hours ago
At least she’s interested in him. More than I can say of some. Further red flags: – Brought food for Ethan and not for Lucas, while there’s a big chance he would be there. This puts him last in her ranking order. – She barely acknowledges Lucas, and interrupts his initiation of further conversation to spend her energy on Ethan. – Further controlling Ethan by commenting on his clothes. Basically she’s saying he’s dressed like shit, and wants to control even what he wears. Some other red flags could be that Ethan doesn’t know what to feel yet, which can… Read more »
*Is* she interested in him? Or is this a game to her, enjoying pushing his buttons and making him dance? It honestly feels like the latter to me.
Though I’m not the best at social cues, heh.
Interested might not be the right word. What I mean is that at the very least he’s a focal point in her life. There’s some investment, while in some cases they only want to be invested in.
There’s a good chance it is just pretend at the start, flipping the script soon enough. Like you say, it might just be the hidden levers and buttons she likes to push.
Yep. Narcissists often have very low self-esteem, and controlling people is how they find joy in life. The emotion of love for a narc can be… odd.
Amy
12 hours ago
NGL the vibe I’ve gotten the past few updates is that she thinks Ethan is transfemme. I think she’s reading his comfort sweatshirt as a dysphoria hoodie.
So. Trans woman here. If a woman came to me and gave me a hoodie to hide my body without me outright explaining I have body dysphoria, I would be kind of weirded out.
Like, even if that was the case (very very likely not). This all is still horrifically controlling and covered in red flags.
Matt Braddock
12 hours ago
OK, how much are y’all willing to bet she’s Captain Prime?
I swear that half the commenters are playing a “wrong answers only” game. Ben is obviously not Deathblood and Nicole is obviously not Captain Prime. And yet every time one of them shows up, we’re made to suffer these “guesses”
It’s been a while since I read strips with Captain Prime, but I remember that she talks differently than Nicole. I remember Cpt Prime being more direct and practical in her wording, while Nicole is a bit more… carefree and sing-songie here. So, I’m curious.
Troll knows about Analog, he doesn’t know about Ethan.
He’s also in jail, has other things going on (if the last Elijah page is any indication), and this really doesn’t match Trolls style.
Seriously, why is it so impossible to consider the possibility of new characters simply being new characters? Just because chat is incapable of making up characters doesn’t mean Tim is.
Even Dr. Eldritch seems more likely, if only barely.
Captain Prime isn’t a control freak, she’s just extremely impatient with people she considers rank amateurs screwing up (such as when she bailed them out from ZK), or showing her up, like A+D did with The Black Hat. I’d say her thing is just being against unregistered vigilantes in general.
ZFTX
11 hours ago
This is just weird, especially from my [female] perspective!
Oyee
11 hours ago
What I’m curious about is what she plays and if she rages. When can we see that trainwreck? 😀
Happywyvern
11 hours ago
TFS Goku: Is this a Red Flag?
TFS Piccolo : Crimson…
There’s a good chance she’s some sorta cape. My first through was Captain prime, and while the hair style and build match, i’m not sure the colours do, but that could just be the lighting from Prime’s first appearance. Captain Prime also has some facial scars that aren’t present on Nicole, but that could also just be the author not wanting to do that.
I wouldn’t be too harsh on her, while she seems assertive and maybe even a bit dommy, she hasn’t done anything wrong. Ethen has gone along with everything so far, and so he might enjoy it. He did say he was a Teemo bottom after all.
Ethan is certainly capable to displaying dislike for something, he complains about things all the time. He didn’t complain to Lucas, while alone with him either. So saying he secretly hates it and is being rolled over, is taking it a bit too far.
Sure it’s unhealthy and toxic, but being a narcissist is not a crime and so far Ethan seem to cooprate. So far, she still didn’t do anything really bad on purpose.
I guess it’s just a matter of few panels, tho
She hasn’t crossed any lines yet. There are people who are legitimately into strong assertive people like that. There really isn’t any way to know until he says he doesn’t like something, then seeing her reaction to that. Until then people are just assuming the worse.
Tomn
9 hours ago
I’m kinda amazed how many ridiculous contortions people are willing to go through to justify Nicole being potentially Captain Prime when it’s incredibly obvious they’re not the same person or even ethnicity. “Maybe it’s just the lighting at night”? My guys, Lucas and Ethan are both as lily-white as Nicole and didn’t look like that at night.
Like, what, you can remember only one other notably assertive woman in the comic so it must be the same person?
This is how old superheroes could get away with using a domino mask to hide their identities.
Ironically the ‘insert controller into port 2 so psycho mantis can’t read your moves’ Is Very appropriate for how to deal with the controlling nature of this one. On further rumination ‘psycho mantis’ Fits also as the females bite the heads off the males when mating at a certain percentage.
Paula
8 hours ago
I understand if you are running in the morning you need to wear comfy sporty clothes, but I find hilarious that she is talking about what Ethan is wearing (and about buying him new clothes) when she herself is dressed like that.
Apart from that, the whole scene was weird and I loved Lucas’ face.
Very much a “do as I say not as I do” type of control. I’ve been with people who are very similar. It’s not nice. Took me a long time to break away from that type of abusive relationship
WAhydrohead
7 hours ago
Run
Richard Weatherfield
7 hours ago
Okay this is starting to creep me out. If the roles were reversed here and Ethan was dong this to Nicole this would definitely not be okay.
Nik
6 hours ago
Run Ethan.
Run away now.
Daniel
6 hours ago
And now she knows where he lives. Well, the good news is that Ethan can quite easily fake his death
wilddeath
6 hours ago
so many red flags…. its a field of red…
some guy
5 hours ago
Okay, by this point all the red flags are starting to have baby red flags.
foducool
4 hours ago
uh oh, red flags
Willess12
4 hours ago
Guys, hear me out, I know it’s a little far-fetched, but I have a theory.
I think Nicole is actually Ben.
It would explain why she ignores Lucas, she doesn’t want him to figure out the truth. And Ben is a cop, so an authoritative personality makes sense for him.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out: that mustache Ben has is definitely fake. That’s why he never heard it called a pornstache before. If you remove the mustache, he kinda sorta almost vaguely looks like Nicole.
24
She gives me supervillain vides so much. Maybe a newly moved to the city supervillain?
Could be. Unfortunately, I’ve also met real people like this. The true supervillains of our real lives, you could say. 🫠
Meh some folks might be ok with being a “kept man or woman” It would drive me batty, but there’s famous examples, even in the White House right now. (I think, Maybe I heard she isn’t living there?)
I honestly can’t see any supervillain vibes. All I see is a woman trying to control the situation in a very dangerous way. The “call me asap” text and then “you called in 30 seconds, that is too long, you’re cheating on me,” is a short ways away. She might be super, but there’s nothing in my mind that is signalling this right now. All can be done with classic psychology. Ethan’s desperate for companionship, nor is the most mentally strong, making it relatively easy. What are the vibes that are telling you it’s a super? I really can’t see… Read more »
It seems like you’re approaching the situation from a real life point of view instead of a comic book life point of view. In a comic book, blatant personality red flags often hint at a super villain trying to act “normal” and/or they’re used in building a backstory between a villain and a hero. In real life we don’t even begin to think super villain unless the person with the huge red flags is also super rich, CEO of a corporation with a bad rep, military dictator, etc.
That’s…a stretch. In comic books, personality red flags can hint at a super villain identity, but that’s far from a given. Take J. Jonah Jameson as a case in point. He’s practically the poster child for obsessive, toxic antagonism. He lies, he smears, he stirs public panic. But he’s not a supervillain, and he’s not in league with them either. He’s just a petty man with a long-running grudge…and a regrettable mustache, which even Captain America felt compelled to comment on. See also Liz Allan, Flash Thompson, Debra Whitman…(Spidey really has suffered more than his share of toxic interpersonal dynamics,… Read more »
This is not super-villain vibes. This is regular, IRL villain vibes. Unfortunately.
She’s just an overbearing control freak
Wednesday’s and Friday’s comic, I made a reference that it reminded me of Sara from one of the earliest comics ever published (https://cad-comic.com/comic/priorities-man-priorities/).
Short-bottom t-shirt in this comic? Yep… welcome back Sara… I mean, Nicole! 😳 Poor Ethan… https://cad-comic.com/comic/yesm/
(P. S. Your depiction of narcissism and control is on point, Tim. I’m intrigued to see what happens when she goes full DARVO. 👀 Sad thing is, it happens IRL. A lot. 🥺)
Oh wow, I had forgotten all about her. That was back in the era where a super dominating gf and the passive gamer boy bf was considered funny.
True, though it feels like this time around Tim’s going for the serious angle, which I’m all for. I feel like this touches a subject that doesn’t get talked about enough – and needs to be talked about.
More red flags than a (insert spicy reference here) parade.
I think the look on lucas’s face says it all.
He’s probably thinking “Oh shit, I see EXACTLY where this is going, I just can’t say anything with her around.”
I just hope Ethan will listen, and not start a fight over it.
… I give it pretty good odds that Nicole has predicted Lucas pulling Ethan aside and has been working out how to either a) manipulate Ethan after the conversation or b) have Ethan defend her, starting an argument.
As an aside, I was _really_ hoping she was just pushing for a one-night stand that would leave Ethan alone, upset and confused after the fact, but in a place to get over it. This looks *worse*.
Yup, that’s “aw hell…this isn’t good…”
The “I really wish I didn’t help him get that app.. and kept him on the one-night-stand apps.” look. XD
I doubt this is the case, but it almost feels like Tim is making Ethan’s latest relationship endeavor intentionally painful, in order to make Lilah seem more appealing to people like myself who otherwise dislike her. It’s certainly having that effect to some extent.
Whats wrong with Lilah?
Mostly that she was just kind of there in CAD 1.0, as a love interest and at-times mom figure for Ethan, without otherwise having much else to stand out as her own character. Plus I personally prefer more of the superhero arcs and less of the relationship/romance drama, and worry it’ll shift even more toward the latter when Ethan and Lilah inevitably end up together and perhaps even marry somewhere down the road.
Well, Lucas clearly knows.
At least she’s interested in him. More than I can say of some. Further red flags: – Brought food for Ethan and not for Lucas, while there’s a big chance he would be there. This puts him last in her ranking order. – She barely acknowledges Lucas, and interrupts his initiation of further conversation to spend her energy on Ethan. – Further controlling Ethan by commenting on his clothes. Basically she’s saying he’s dressed like shit, and wants to control even what he wears. Some other red flags could be that Ethan doesn’t know what to feel yet, which can… Read more »
*Is* she interested in him? Or is this a game to her, enjoying pushing his buttons and making him dance? It honestly feels like the latter to me.
Though I’m not the best at social cues, heh.
Interested might not be the right word. What I mean is that at the very least he’s a focal point in her life. There’s some investment, while in some cases they only want to be invested in.
There’s a good chance it is just pretend at the start, flipping the script soon enough. Like you say, it might just be the hidden levers and buttons she likes to push.
Yep. Narcissists often have very low self-esteem, and controlling people is how they find joy in life. The emotion of love for a narc can be… odd.
NGL the vibe I’ve gotten the past few updates is that she thinks Ethan is transfemme. I think she’s reading his comfort sweatshirt as a dysphoria hoodie.
Well this is certainly a case of viewing everything through a very specific and narrow lens.
So. Trans woman here. If a woman came to me and gave me a hoodie to hide my body without me outright explaining I have body dysphoria, I would be kind of weirded out.
Like, even if that was the case (very very likely not). This all is still horrifically controlling and covered in red flags.
OK, how much are y’all willing to bet she’s Captain Prime?
Does she look like a past known example of Captian Prime to you? https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-05-08/
I swear that half the commenters are playing a “wrong answers only” game. Ben is obviously not Deathblood and Nicole is obviously not Captain Prime. And yet every time one of them shows up, we’re made to suffer these “guesses”
I have questions about their vision.
It’s been a while since I read strips with Captain Prime, but I remember that she talks differently than Nicole. I remember Cpt Prime being more direct and practical in her wording, while Nicole is a bit more… carefree and sing-songie here. So, I’m curious.
Also, and it’s a minor detail. They look absolutely nothing alike. What is wrong with everyone?
… how much does the Troll know about Analog…?
Troll knows about Analog, he doesn’t know about Ethan.
He’s also in jail, has other things going on (if the last Elijah page is any indication), and this really doesn’t match Trolls style.
Seriously, why is it so impossible to consider the possibility of new characters simply being new characters? Just because chat is incapable of making up characters doesn’t mean Tim is.
Even Dr. Eldritch seems more likely, if only barely.
Captain Prime isn’t a control freak, she’s just extremely impatient with people she considers rank amateurs screwing up (such as when she bailed them out from ZK), or showing her up, like A+D did with The Black Hat. I’d say her thing is just being against unregistered vigilantes in general.
This is just weird, especially from my [female] perspective!
What I’m curious about is what she plays and if she rages. When can we see that trainwreck? 😀
TFS Goku: Is this a Red Flag?
TFS Piccolo : Crimson…
What episode or movie was that from?
TFS means Team Four Star. A YouTube team that has edited Dragonball Z….and hilariously so. Worth watching.
I know what TFS is, I’m a subscriber, just didn’t remember when they said that
Dragonball abridged. Episode 60 if I remember correctly.
Crapbaskets, I got beaten to posting this!
Oh, you guys say that too
There’s a good chance she’s some sorta cape. My first through was Captain prime, and while the hair style and build match, i’m not sure the colours do, but that could just be the lighting from Prime’s first appearance. Captain Prime also has some facial scars that aren’t present on Nicole, but that could also just be the author not wanting to do that.
https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-05-08/
This isn’t the only time we’ve seen her. We’ve seen Prime in daylight:
https://cad-comic.com/comic/coverage-p5/
It seems very, incredibly unlikely.
I wouldn’t be too harsh on her, while she seems assertive and maybe even a bit dommy, she hasn’t done anything wrong. Ethen has gone along with everything so far, and so he might enjoy it. He did say he was a Teemo bottom after all.
Ethan is a pushover who avoids conflict and wants to please everyone. I know that type because I’m one myself.
And let’s just say. This will end badly, because she’s the kind of woman who’d force herself on him and he’s not someone who’ll be able to fight back.
People underestimate just how bad this whole situation really is.
Ethan is certainly capable to displaying dislike for something, he complains about things all the time. He didn’t complain to Lucas, while alone with him either. So saying he secretly hates it and is being rolled over, is taking it a bit too far.
As a survivor of emotional abuse, I can say I saw the red flags on the very first panel of Nicole’s introduction.
If you think this is healthy behaviour in a relationship, especially a new one, you have issues
Sure it’s unhealthy and toxic, but being a narcissist is not a crime and so far Ethan seem to cooprate. So far, she still didn’t do anything really bad on purpose.
I guess it’s just a matter of few panels, tho
She hasn’t crossed any lines yet. There are people who are legitimately into strong assertive people like that. There really isn’t any way to know until he says he doesn’t like something, then seeing her reaction to that. Until then people are just assuming the worse.
I’m kinda amazed how many ridiculous contortions people are willing to go through to justify Nicole being potentially Captain Prime when it’s incredibly obvious they’re not the same person or even ethnicity. “Maybe it’s just the lighting at night”? My guys, Lucas and Ethan are both as lily-white as Nicole and didn’t look like that at night.
Like, what, you can remember only one other notably assertive woman in the comic so it must be the same person?
This is how old superheroes could get away with using a domino mask to hide their identities.
Isn’t Lucas Latino?
Ironically the ‘insert controller into port 2 so psycho mantis can’t read your moves’ Is Very appropriate for how to deal with the controlling nature of this one. On further rumination ‘psycho mantis’ Fits also as the females bite the heads off the males when mating at a certain percentage.
I understand if you are running in the morning you need to wear comfy sporty clothes, but I find hilarious that she is talking about what Ethan is wearing (and about buying him new clothes) when she herself is dressed like that.
Apart from that, the whole scene was weird and I loved Lucas’ face.
Very much a “do as I say not as I do” type of control. I’ve been with people who are very similar. It’s not nice. Took me a long time to break away from that type of abusive relationship
Run
Okay this is starting to creep me out. If the roles were reversed here and Ethan was dong this to Nicole this would definitely not be okay.
Run Ethan.
Run away now.
And now she knows where he lives. Well, the good news is that Ethan can quite easily fake his death
so many red flags…. its a field of red…
Okay, by this point all the red flags are starting to have baby red flags.
uh oh, red flags
Guys, hear me out, I know it’s a little far-fetched, but I have a theory.
I think Nicole is actually Ben.
It would explain why she ignores Lucas, she doesn’t want him to figure out the truth. And Ben is a cop, so an authoritative personality makes sense for him.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out: that mustache Ben has is definitely fake. That’s why he never heard it called a pornstache before. If you remove the mustache, he kinda sorta almost vaguely looks like Nicole.
Pffft! Nuh uh! It’s obviously that Gameboy kid. They only look different because of the lighting!
Awww. She’s so nice 🙂