I mean I have said almost all of that verbatim to my best friend in all the world once after they did something I thought was absolutely heinous. Seems relatable to me.
Well, i would not agree that its bad, sure, it would be less clunky if it said “but i dont even want to be….” and skipped as much as. But that said, who do fire on point lines like that when you are that upset? It kinda make the character more real. 🙂
I don’t think this is a legit opinion. This guy posted the same post once already. But when it dropped to the bottom of the page for being ‘newest’, just *had* to post again as a reply to the first person, so that everyone could see his opinion and react.
idk, Ethan’s sentiment is fine but the wording feels awkward to me. Reading it in my head didn’t work, and saying it out loud feels extremely awkward. I think the “even” and the “so much as” are redundant, they’re both communicating that being in the room is the least of interactions and even that’s too much. “Even want so much as” would read less awkward, but the “so much as” can probably be dropped to make the sentence feel way more natural. That said, sometimes in an emotional moment people blurt out an awkward phrasing while their mind searches for… Read more »
hmm, next few parts are going to very interesting on what this means for their friendship. With Ethan calling Scott a murder, and the very real lack empathy between Scott and Ethan on why they have those positions.
It will be interesting to see how this is properly address because it not just this incident but are series of incident were Ethan would do whatever he wants in regards to relationship and how to conduct himself as a hero, while Scott is so scared of losing those he cares for.
There was complete empathy on Ethan’s part for the reason Scott had his position. He specifically mentions Scott’s sister by way of saying he understands why Scott feels the way he does (while simultaneously questioning whether she would agree with his position or Scott’s re: Scott’s actions). Ethan understands Scott’s position. He disagrees with it, but he understands where Scott is coming from. Scott continues both to blithely ignore Ethan’s perspective, and to blithely ignore the seriousness of his actions to someone with Ethan’s perspective. “There’ll be time to argue later” presumes there is an argument to be made, and… Read more »
He doesn’t know how Scott feels. He can try to imagine it, but he doesn’t. You can’t ever understand another’s grief. Even if you both lost a mum or a sister or whatever, every case is substantively different as reactions are very personal. It’s hubris to think otherwise. And bringing up his dead sister is out of line IMO. That’s dirty pool and should not have been done. Scott’s concern is the threat that’s running around. It’s a valid concern because nobody knows what ZK may do even if we ignore the fact he still hasn’t accounted to any authority… Read more »
Scott seems to me to show obsessive focus which could be a character thing (or being a bit Aspergers or something) or it could be the result of post traumatic stress – he’s seen a lot of that. He coud literally be a messed up person from trauma and need mental health help. Yet nobody has any empathy for that part of Scott’s arc. It doesn’t excuse his conduct, but it ought to be considered as to whether he also is injured (emotionally) and his actions are driven by the fears and anxieties those sorts of traumatic injuries leave.
True, but he is willfully choosing to keep his mind closed on the topic. He ignores that Zeke has been growing, abiding by the agreement to stay where they ask, and has jumped thru the hoops. He still only seems to see him as murderbot, so it is hard to feel anything for people who refuse to move forward at all. Remember he has been back there in the cave for months and you dont see him even wanting to associate with ZK. Would you be so empathetic to someone who didnt see a person of color as a human… Read more »
It’s not *quite* the same thing as that. Scott’s dead wrong, of course – but I’d be hard-pressed to say that his faults represent a moral failing or lack of empathy. If anything, Scott cares too much, because he’s willfully putting himself in grave danger, and sacrificing his only remaining friendships in this world, for literally everyone else in the world. He’s almost the textbook definition of the “smart guy hero.” The problem is, it’s very, very hard to understand that something which is nonhuman could think and feel and have a self in the same way that a human… Read more »
Okay I grasp what you are saying and to an extent I agree with you. However there is the issue of method. Let’s change this from stand alone computer to a human. A child or autistic person that does not have normal social queues. They know how to hack anything and at one point had access to launch all the nukes. Do you put an explosive collar on their neck and not tell them or the one trying to rehabilitate them. Just to be sure. Or do you use a different form of containment that cannot be accidentally activated? This… Read more »
Oh, I’m firmly in Team Zeke. I 100% believe that Scott was wrong, and that there were better ways of handling it. For your analogy – waiting a very long time, if ever, to grant internet access; still maintaining a GPS log and perimeter, and rather than having that perimeter trigger an explosion, have it notify supers (at least A&D) so they can intercept. Make it clear to the child that there are rules and boundaries, and that trust has to be earned. The problem comes that, to be able to grasp that those strategies are far, FAR better than… Read more »
I think Scott’s use of language is the key issue I have with even taking his stance as “understandable, and even the norm”. I actually see how most people would likely hold the opinions that Scott does. However, Scott’s position is one where one of his best friends is spending large amounts of time with a machine that even Scott admitted is acting more advanced than its coding should allow. His friend is respecting the machine’s pronouns and telling Scott that it has real intelligence – that it has wrestled with moral arguments and come to acceptable stances on its… Read more »
Genetically engineered bomb monkey or an AI will need the thing most people do grasp the importance of. Socialisation. We teach children who and how to trust and how to be cautious. If you just grant intellect and just command it and experiment then it will become antisocial. Do this to a typical human child and they will be antisocial. The solution is not a zoo. Yes you might have to lock the bomb monkey/AI away for a time as he/she/it/they learn what we all take for granted. The problem with the nukes versus a man holding a gun is… Read more »
The extent to which we can empathize with a non-human entity directly scales with the degree to which we can communicate with them, and I’d argue this applies more reliably even than passing the test of biological makeup. Case in point: I’ve always liked cats, usually owned them, and I understand their body language. But after I started watching some videos of cats using fluent.pet button sets to communicate, I started to realize I’ve substantially underestimated their intellect and emotional range. They can understand abstract and relative concepts, actions, time, and even appeasement. (I always assumed that when cats were… Read more »
I thought I replied, but it doesn’t seem like I did… From what I got, it was ETHAN’s sister that died, Scott is his brother-in-law or something. So I would say that “don’t use my sister as an excuse, because you know she would have never agreed to that” is not entirely out of line…
IMO, bringing up Carlie was not out of line. First of all, Carlie was not just Scott’s wife, she was Ethan’s sister, so he has just as much right to invoke her name as Scott. They have both lost the same loved one, and though people have different responses to trauma, they are equally valid. Secondly, it’s a fair point. Scott’s ethos has been warped to the point that anything that protects humanity is justified, and Carlie is no longer there to ground him. It’s a common trope where a person’s actions done for the sake of someone else don’t… Read more »
Off cause there is an argument to be made – and Scott will be mostly at the receiving end.
But also there is a wounded person outside without a reasonable plan nor opportunity to have a life as a part of the society. No money, no income, no home, no free power socket. Begging will not work, and they also can’t just ring at a church door and ask for shelter. So what are the options? And what are the good options?
I was on board with robloughrey, but you actually made a valid argument that I didn’t think about. If you kill someone, and then after their heart is stopped for a period of time the hospital uses a defibrillator and resuscitates them, you’re not a murderer, even though you actually killed them. That’s an interesting point that I never really thought about (and I guess that’s not a bad thing that I never dug that deep into the ins and outs of murder charges). Scott is indeed an attempted murderer, not a murderer.
Eldest Gruff
2 years ago
That’s… probably the kindest thing he could say.
With everything that’s happened – the lies, the betrayal, the attempted murder, literally everything – “You’re my closest friends, and I love you.”
Takes a bigger man than I know how to be, to say that.
Yes, it’s incredibly well done on Ethans end. Establishing that this is important to him and he is serious by the moment of silence, reassuring his friendship as the very first thing he says, and then ending by “right now”, which also makes clear that while he will need (maybe a lot of) time, he thinks it is fixable.
Deescalating while escalating, and even though all probably done without thinking, in these 3 panels he lays the foundation for Lucas and Scott to work on fixing this.
Tim’s storytelling has improved over the years to reach the level of this particular comic. The combination of perspective, the effective use of silence, and a depth to Ethan’s response that feels credible, among other smaller touches… they all just work together. Very well done, Tim.
GUNnibal
2 years ago
That hole is gonna take some serious patching up. I feel like one of the previous ark’s name would fit this one too – Demolition.
Patrick Mnoholitny
2 years ago
congrats Scott, you were so worried about a out of control possibly murderous robot, and your actions have created an out-of-control Possibly murderous Robot.
It’s a trope as old as Oedipus. Trying to stop an event in a cruel way (spiking an infant’s feet and abandoning him/rigging a bomb to explode on a geofenced trigger) leading to creating the event (angry man with sore feet (“Oedipus” literally means “swollen foot”, referencing his injury) chucks javelin back at road-raging charioteer, killing him, never knowing he’s killed his birth father/robot survives bomb, now has concrete personal reason to hate and mistrust humans).
Snowfae
2 years ago
Crazy to look back at the early comics, then read this. You’ve come a long way Tim. 😀
Rupert! I tried to go back and read the archives last year for nostalgia’s sake, but with the way it’s sectioned into different categories now I couldn’t figure out a way to just read the archives in publication order.
Just go back to the front webpage (www dot cad-comic dot com) and just hit “|<< First” without hitting any other button first.
When you ‘dive deeper’ into any comic page (by clicking on the comic itself, expanding the author’s script, or opening the comments) moving back and forth will move you within that series. If you stay on the surface level, then moving forward and back moves you chronologically, regardless of series.
Scott just won’t stop. Which is in character here but it really paints a light on how he thinks.
Even this anger and devastation Ethan is showing doesn’t cause him to deviate from what he thinks is important.
Lincoln James
2 years ago
“Later on we can decide whether my actions, including the ones I’m exhorting you to help me with right now, are evil, but first, you must help me do these things, okay?”
Sounds kinda like NOPE TO ME
Matt
2 years ago
When the joking, light-hearted character stops joking and light-hearted….shit just went sideways, up and down.
I think that’s more Scott than Ethan. Ethan is dead-set in believing that Zeke can be good if given the chance. Scott hasn’t once tried to connect with Zeke and only saw the negatives and did things his way with no regards to others (same as the Master did). That being said, I don’t think Scott will go evil either, but he’s got some serious soul-searching to do.
Daren
2 years ago
Really loving the artistry in this entire arc, Tim, especially these last few pages. This page in particular is in my top 5 of faves of all time. From the first panel down to the last, each one carrying such exquisite detail:
Ethan’s face showing tears of betrayal and hurt covering a barely contained rage in his body language, Lucas’s expression as he realizes that he done f’d up for real, Scott’s adherence to logic and fixation on the existential threat, all culminating in Ethan ironically showing the greatest maturity of them all… Just so good!
Humsterr
2 years ago
Yeah, it’s way off topic, but I noticed how Ethan is better dressed than Lukas in this one. Or at least as good. You see that fitted pants that are exactly the right length? Yeah, it’s not something you can just pick up, Ethan had to be taught by Lukas to choose these, I am sure. And it’s not all, shoes that complement his hair color, a turquoise t-shirt that does not clash with blue pants and, finally, a black jacket that is good for every occasion. While Lukas is wearing — what — brown hoody and white shoes? Eh,… Read more »
That actually makes sense honestly as there was not much and imagine he would have wiped his mouth after causing Ethan to respawn – Any blood that came from Respawning Ethan would have blipped out of reality as he did (covered early on)
Well, it wasn’t Ethan’s blood, but his own (see page 11-12), so the blipping out of reality isn’t relevant here. Maybe he wiped his cheek after/while Ethan respawned, but it still feels a bit like an oversight. But I guess I’m just nit-picking. Overall great storyline! Apart from how our three friends are going to proceed, I’m perhaps even curious about Zeke’s fate…
Lucas *does* have blood on the right side of his mouth. you can’t see it in the small panels on the right, due to the size of the panels, but the first panel on the left shows it.
Crises do not create character, they reveal it. Ethan may play the fool, but he was forced to be the only adult in the room this time (from his perspective).
ThatGuy
2 years ago
Been there. I have two best friends and they kinda did me dirty (no ill intentions, they just didn’t think things through). I wanted nothing more than to punch their teeth in, but I did what Ethan did and said I didn’t want to be around them for a while. It’s all water under the bridge now and we made a silent promise to never bring it up again. Seeing this just reminded me of that incident. I’m confident they’ll all patch things up. All 4 of them (one more literally, of course.)
Arcslayer
2 years ago
Scott is in full on panic “only I can fix this” mode. He doesn’t even consider being angry at Ethan for stopping him once already. This is seriously good writing!
Right? He didn’t even really process that Ethan knocked the phone out of his hand. He assumes (once again) its just more of Ethan’s impulsive behavior but that “of course its totally obvious that I’m right and you just need to do what I say right now…” The other reactions are great too. Ethan starts with the shut up and Lucas as is his norm is looking out for the relationships here and starts to warn Ethan. Ethan either had it already or Lucas just prompted him to choose his next words carefully which he did beautifully as noted by… Read more »
This might sound weird, but one of the ‘good writing’ bits is the use of profanity.
I’ll never forget one class I had. The writing teacher allowed every student one curse a semester. Just one. Reason being, overusing profanity dulls its impact, in addition to being a crutch for the writer. Removing profanity pushes the writer to expand their vocabulary and use different methods to develop characterization.
But restrict it, only to drop it *just* at the right moment, and it sends a powerful shock to the reader.
“Shut the fuck up, Scott,” says far more than any punch could.
Not sure if it actually comes from somewhere, but, a friend’s dad was fond of saying “an F-bomb used all the time causes it to stop being a bomb”
Number51x
2 years ago
Wow, that page could have gone so much worse. Don’t know how Ethan found it in himself to say that in that moment.
Ogre
2 years ago
Scott got someone killed, an tried to kill something else. No remorse. That’s pretty incredible. He’s VERY lucky neither one of them attempted retribution. Zeke running away should begin to help provide additional evidence that the threat is lower than it once was.
Scott got someone killed? If you’re talking about Carly, I’m quite certain they said he tried to save her, took a bullet for her, but it didn’t matter and she still died. I wouldn’t call that getting someone killed. Unless you meant something else.
Just re-read the whole series. Standing ovation, sir! I’m waiting on pins and needles for Wednesday’s comic!
Vandril
2 years ago
It can be hard to see, but I believe Ethan is crying in the first panel.
Extreme
2 years ago
Where’d the phone go?
Epsilon
2 years ago
God all of this is fantastic, from the word choice to the framing and positioning of characters. Fantastic. Though I am truly loving the well thought out character and scene discussion in the comments.
JJ What?
2 years ago
Jeez, the dialogue Tim writes is usually pretty decent, wtf happened in that last panel??? **cringe**
Michael L Livote
2 years ago
Bravo Tim! Best story arc I’ve seen from you so far. I’m eagerly awaiting the next upload with baited breath!
analogHyperdrive
2 years ago
What floors me is that Scott still thinks he can just… order them around? Even after Ethan literally slaps his phone out of his hand, he still somehow thinks he can just say “we need to deal with the threat” and think Ethan will go along with it? Or as Lucas is killing Ethan, he can just be like “You need to go out and get this phone next to the robot”. I’m confused by his complete assumption of the support of people who have been all but screaming the opposite. His fucking everything up at every single oppertunity is… Read more »
Drakin
2 years ago
I miss the nonsensical early days of this comic. Ethan getting shot by random arrows while screaming “I regret that I have but one life to waste playing video games!”
24
This is so good
Jeez, the dialogue Tim writes is usually pretty decent, wtf happened in that last panel??? **cringe**
I mean I have said almost all of that verbatim to my best friend in all the world once after they did something I thought was absolutely heinous. Seems relatable to me.
Im not getting what your problem with that is. Reads like something a mature Ethan would say?
Well, i would not agree that its bad, sure, it would be less clunky if it said “but i dont even want to be….” and skipped as much as. But that said, who do fire on point lines like that when you are that upset? It kinda make the character more real. 🙂
Alfred wasn’t saying -you- were upset, he was referring to the fact that the character is upset, hence the brevity of his statement.
I don’t think this is a legit opinion. This guy posted the same post once already. But when it dropped to the bottom of the page for being ‘newest’, just *had* to post again as a reply to the first person, so that everyone could see his opinion and react.
Not just a troll, but a dumb troll.
idk, Ethan’s sentiment is fine but the wording feels awkward to me. Reading it in my head didn’t work, and saying it out loud feels extremely awkward. I think the “even” and the “so much as” are redundant, they’re both communicating that being in the room is the least of interactions and even that’s too much. “Even want so much as” would read less awkward, but the “so much as” can probably be dropped to make the sentence feel way more natural. That said, sometimes in an emotional moment people blurt out an awkward phrasing while their mind searches for… Read more »
Sorry you’re a bit late for your seat at the troll table. We could maybe fit you in around 9:30?
#ThatsBait
hmm, next few parts are going to very interesting on what this means for their friendship. With Ethan calling Scott a murder, and the very real lack empathy between Scott and Ethan on why they have those positions.
It will be interesting to see how this is properly address because it not just this incident but are series of incident were Ethan would do whatever he wants in regards to relationship and how to conduct himself as a hero, while Scott is so scared of losing those he cares for.
There was complete empathy on Ethan’s part for the reason Scott had his position. He specifically mentions Scott’s sister by way of saying he understands why Scott feels the way he does (while simultaneously questioning whether she would agree with his position or Scott’s re: Scott’s actions). Ethan understands Scott’s position. He disagrees with it, but he understands where Scott is coming from. Scott continues both to blithely ignore Ethan’s perspective, and to blithely ignore the seriousness of his actions to someone with Ethan’s perspective. “There’ll be time to argue later” presumes there is an argument to be made, and… Read more »
He doesn’t know how Scott feels. He can try to imagine it, but he doesn’t. You can’t ever understand another’s grief. Even if you both lost a mum or a sister or whatever, every case is substantively different as reactions are very personal. It’s hubris to think otherwise. And bringing up his dead sister is out of line IMO. That’s dirty pool and should not have been done. Scott’s concern is the threat that’s running around. It’s a valid concern because nobody knows what ZK may do even if we ignore the fact he still hasn’t accounted to any authority… Read more »
Scott seems to me to show obsessive focus which could be a character thing (or being a bit Aspergers or something) or it could be the result of post traumatic stress – he’s seen a lot of that. He coud literally be a messed up person from trauma and need mental health help. Yet nobody has any empathy for that part of Scott’s arc. It doesn’t excuse his conduct, but it ought to be considered as to whether he also is injured (emotionally) and his actions are driven by the fears and anxieties those sorts of traumatic injuries leave.
True, but he is willfully choosing to keep his mind closed on the topic. He ignores that Zeke has been growing, abiding by the agreement to stay where they ask, and has jumped thru the hoops. He still only seems to see him as murderbot, so it is hard to feel anything for people who refuse to move forward at all. Remember he has been back there in the cave for months and you dont see him even wanting to associate with ZK. Would you be so empathetic to someone who didnt see a person of color as a human… Read more »
It’s not *quite* the same thing as that. Scott’s dead wrong, of course – but I’d be hard-pressed to say that his faults represent a moral failing or lack of empathy. If anything, Scott cares too much, because he’s willfully putting himself in grave danger, and sacrificing his only remaining friendships in this world, for literally everyone else in the world. He’s almost the textbook definition of the “smart guy hero.” The problem is, it’s very, very hard to understand that something which is nonhuman could think and feel and have a self in the same way that a human… Read more »
Okay I grasp what you are saying and to an extent I agree with you. However there is the issue of method. Let’s change this from stand alone computer to a human. A child or autistic person that does not have normal social queues. They know how to hack anything and at one point had access to launch all the nukes. Do you put an explosive collar on their neck and not tell them or the one trying to rehabilitate them. Just to be sure. Or do you use a different form of containment that cannot be accidentally activated? This… Read more »
Oh, I’m firmly in Team Zeke. I 100% believe that Scott was wrong, and that there were better ways of handling it. For your analogy – waiting a very long time, if ever, to grant internet access; still maintaining a GPS log and perimeter, and rather than having that perimeter trigger an explosion, have it notify supers (at least A&D) so they can intercept. Make it clear to the child that there are rules and boundaries, and that trust has to be earned. The problem comes that, to be able to grasp that those strategies are far, FAR better than… Read more »
I think Scott’s use of language is the key issue I have with even taking his stance as “understandable, and even the norm”. I actually see how most people would likely hold the opinions that Scott does. However, Scott’s position is one where one of his best friends is spending large amounts of time with a machine that even Scott admitted is acting more advanced than its coding should allow. His friend is respecting the machine’s pronouns and telling Scott that it has real intelligence – that it has wrestled with moral arguments and come to acceptable stances on its… Read more »
Genetically engineered bomb monkey or an AI will need the thing most people do grasp the importance of. Socialisation. We teach children who and how to trust and how to be cautious. If you just grant intellect and just command it and experiment then it will become antisocial. Do this to a typical human child and they will be antisocial. The solution is not a zoo. Yes you might have to lock the bomb monkey/AI away for a time as he/she/it/they learn what we all take for granted. The problem with the nukes versus a man holding a gun is… Read more »
The extent to which we can empathize with a non-human entity directly scales with the degree to which we can communicate with them, and I’d argue this applies more reliably even than passing the test of biological makeup. Case in point: I’ve always liked cats, usually owned them, and I understand their body language. But after I started watching some videos of cats using fluent.pet button sets to communicate, I started to realize I’ve substantially underestimated their intellect and emotional range. They can understand abstract and relative concepts, actions, time, and even appeasement. (I always assumed that when cats were… Read more »
I thought I replied, but it doesn’t seem like I did… From what I got, it was ETHAN’s sister that died, Scott is his brother-in-law or something. So I would say that “don’t use my sister as an excuse, because you know she would have never agreed to that” is not entirely out of line…
IMO, bringing up Carlie was not out of line. First of all, Carlie was not just Scott’s wife, she was Ethan’s sister, so he has just as much right to invoke her name as Scott. They have both lost the same loved one, and though people have different responses to trauma, they are equally valid. Secondly, it’s a fair point. Scott’s ethos has been warped to the point that anything that protects humanity is justified, and Carlie is no longer there to ground him. It’s a common trope where a person’s actions done for the sake of someone else don’t… Read more »
Off cause there is an argument to be made – and Scott will be mostly at the receiving end.
But also there is a wounded person outside without a reasonable plan nor opportunity to have a life as a part of the society. No money, no income, no home, no free power socket. Begging will not work, and they also can’t just ring at a church door and ask for shelter. So what are the options? And what are the good options?
Attempted Murderer, thank you.
Nope his actions definitely resulted in murder, it just didn’t stick.
That’s the definition of ATTEMPTED murder, man: Actions that result in murder, but didn’t stick.
I was on board with robloughrey, but you actually made a valid argument that I didn’t think about. If you kill someone, and then after their heart is stopped for a period of time the hospital uses a defibrillator and resuscitates them, you’re not a murderer, even though you actually killed them. That’s an interesting point that I never really thought about (and I guess that’s not a bad thing that I never dug that deep into the ins and outs of murder charges). Scott is indeed an attempted murderer, not a murderer.
That’s… probably the kindest thing he could say.
With everything that’s happened – the lies, the betrayal, the attempted murder, literally everything – “You’re my closest friends, and I love you.”
Takes a bigger man than I know how to be, to say that.
Yes, it’s incredibly well done on Ethans end. Establishing that this is important to him and he is serious by the moment of silence, reassuring his friendship as the very first thing he says, and then ending by “right now”, which also makes clear that while he will need (maybe a lot of) time, he thinks it is fixable.
Deescalating while escalating, and even though all probably done without thinking, in these 3 panels he lays the foundation for Lucas and Scott to work on fixing this.
Tim’s storytelling has improved over the years to reach the level of this particular comic. The combination of perspective, the effective use of silence, and a depth to Ethan’s response that feels credible, among other smaller touches… they all just work together. Very well done, Tim.
That hole is gonna take some serious patching up. I feel like one of the previous ark’s name would fit this one too – Demolition.
congrats Scott, you were so worried about a out of control possibly murderous robot, and your actions have created an out-of-control Possibly murderous Robot.
It’s a trope as old as Oedipus. Trying to stop an event in a cruel way (spiking an infant’s feet and abandoning him/rigging a bomb to explode on a geofenced trigger) leading to creating the event (angry man with sore feet (“Oedipus” literally means “swollen foot”, referencing his injury) chucks javelin back at road-raging charioteer, killing him, never knowing he’s killed his birth father/robot survives bomb, now has concrete personal reason to hate and mistrust humans).
Crazy to look back at the early comics, then read this. You’ve come a long way Tim. 😀
See, the thing that makes this webcomic different from all the others, is that it’s got a melon as a third character.
Rupert! I tried to go back and read the archives last year for nostalgia’s sake, but with the way it’s sectioned into different categories now I couldn’t figure out a way to just read the archives in publication order.
Just go back to the front webpage (www dot cad-comic dot com) and just hit “|<< First” without hitting any other button first.
When you ‘dive deeper’ into any comic page (by clicking on the comic itself, expanding the author’s script, or opening the comments) moving back and forth will move you within that series. If you stay on the surface level, then moving forward and back moves you chronologically, regardless of series.
I mean, it kinda does if you count Scott?
Scott just won’t stop. Which is in character here but it really paints a light on how he thinks.
Even this anger and devastation Ethan is showing doesn’t cause him to deviate from what he thinks is important.
“Later on we can decide whether my actions, including the ones I’m exhorting you to help me with right now, are evil, but first, you must help me do these things, okay?”
Sounds kinda like NOPE TO ME
When the joking, light-hearted character stops joking and light-hearted….shit just went sideways, up and down.
What if Ethan becomes the master?
I think that’s more Scott than Ethan. Ethan is dead-set in believing that Zeke can be good if given the chance. Scott hasn’t once tried to connect with Zeke and only saw the negatives and did things his way with no regards to others (same as the Master did). That being said, I don’t think Scott will go evil either, but he’s got some serious soul-searching to do.
Really loving the artistry in this entire arc, Tim, especially these last few pages. This page in particular is in my top 5 of faves of all time. From the first panel down to the last, each one carrying such exquisite detail:
Ethan’s face showing tears of betrayal and hurt covering a barely contained rage in his body language, Lucas’s expression as he realizes that he done f’d up for real, Scott’s adherence to logic and fixation on the existential threat, all culminating in Ethan ironically showing the greatest maturity of them all… Just so good!
Yeah, it’s way off topic, but I noticed how Ethan is better dressed than Lukas in this one. Or at least as good. You see that fitted pants that are exactly the right length? Yeah, it’s not something you can just pick up, Ethan had to be taught by Lukas to choose these, I am sure. And it’s not all, shoes that complement his hair color, a turquoise t-shirt that does not clash with blue pants and, finally, a black jacket that is good for every occasion. While Lukas is wearing — what — brown hoody and white shoes? Eh,… Read more »
While I am on the topic, ZK is wearing the exact same color pants that Ethan is
And a bit more of the off-topic – shouldn’t Lukas have blood on the right side of his face (as on the previous two pages)?
That actually makes sense honestly as there was not much and imagine he would have wiped his mouth after causing Ethan to respawn – Any blood that came from Respawning Ethan would have blipped out of reality as he did (covered early on)
Well, it wasn’t Ethan’s blood, but his own (see page 11-12), so the blipping out of reality isn’t relevant here. Maybe he wiped his cheek after/while Ethan respawned, but it still feels a bit like an oversight. But I guess I’m just nit-picking. Overall great storyline! Apart from how our three friends are going to proceed, I’m perhaps even curious about Zeke’s fate…
Lucas *does* have blood on the right side of his mouth. you can’t see it in the small panels on the right, due to the size of the panels, but the first panel on the left shows it.
Yes, I think Tim actually added this in the past 24 h. Thanks Tim!
I don’t notice outfits much but Ethan’s really stands out in panel 1, yeah. It looks really good! I love open jackets like that.
I get my well-fitting jeans by “I ordered them online but they don’t fit me, here try these”.
It’s weird when Ethan’s the most mature guy in a room.
Don’t worry. He’ll get back to the same guy we know and love that painted a face on a watermelon to have a third character.
Crises do not create character, they reveal it. Ethan may play the fool, but he was forced to be the only adult in the room this time (from his perspective).
Been there. I have two best friends and they kinda did me dirty (no ill intentions, they just didn’t think things through). I wanted nothing more than to punch their teeth in, but I did what Ethan did and said I didn’t want to be around them for a while. It’s all water under the bridge now and we made a silent promise to never bring it up again. Seeing this just reminded me of that incident. I’m confident they’ll all patch things up. All 4 of them (one more literally, of course.)
Scott is in full on panic “only I can fix this” mode. He doesn’t even consider being angry at Ethan for stopping him once already. This is seriously good writing!
Right? He didn’t even really process that Ethan knocked the phone out of his hand. He assumes (once again) its just more of Ethan’s impulsive behavior but that “of course its totally obvious that I’m right and you just need to do what I say right now…” The other reactions are great too. Ethan starts with the shut up and Lucas as is his norm is looking out for the relationships here and starts to warn Ethan. Ethan either had it already or Lucas just prompted him to choose his next words carefully which he did beautifully as noted by… Read more »
This might sound weird, but one of the ‘good writing’ bits is the use of profanity.
I’ll never forget one class I had. The writing teacher allowed every student one curse a semester. Just one. Reason being, overusing profanity dulls its impact, in addition to being a crutch for the writer. Removing profanity pushes the writer to expand their vocabulary and use different methods to develop characterization.
But restrict it, only to drop it *just* at the right moment, and it sends a powerful shock to the reader.
“Shut the fuck up, Scott,” says far more than any punch could.
Not sure if it actually comes from somewhere, but, a friend’s dad was fond of saying “an F-bomb used all the time causes it to stop being a bomb”
Wow, that page could have gone so much worse. Don’t know how Ethan found it in himself to say that in that moment.
Scott got someone killed, an tried to kill something else. No remorse. That’s pretty incredible. He’s VERY lucky neither one of them attempted retribution. Zeke running away should begin to help provide additional evidence that the threat is lower than it once was.
Scott got someone killed? If you’re talking about Carly, I’m quite certain they said he tried to save her, took a bullet for her, but it didn’t matter and she still died. I wouldn’t call that getting someone killed. Unless you meant something else.
I think he meant Ethan?
Just re-read the whole series. Standing ovation, sir! I’m waiting on pins and needles for Wednesday’s comic!
It can be hard to see, but I believe Ethan is crying in the first panel.
Where’d the phone go?
God all of this is fantastic, from the word choice to the framing and positioning of characters. Fantastic. Though I am truly loving the well thought out character and scene discussion in the comments.
Jeez, the dialogue Tim writes is usually pretty decent, wtf happened in that last panel??? **cringe**
Bravo Tim! Best story arc I’ve seen from you so far. I’m eagerly awaiting the next upload with baited breath!
What floors me is that Scott still thinks he can just… order them around? Even after Ethan literally slaps his phone out of his hand, he still somehow thinks he can just say “we need to deal with the threat” and think Ethan will go along with it? Or as Lucas is killing Ethan, he can just be like “You need to go out and get this phone next to the robot”. I’m confused by his complete assumption of the support of people who have been all but screaming the opposite. His fucking everything up at every single oppertunity is… Read more »
I miss the nonsensical early days of this comic. Ethan getting shot by random arrows while screaming “I regret that I have but one life to waste playing video games!”