Worse. Trolls do not strike at singular targets if they can.
I have two theories about Nicole. She is either a part of the Troll’s plot to destroy Ethan’s self-esteem. Or she is a hero playing bodyguard to a known Troll target.
If it was me, I’d write what I wanted to write, and trust my writing process, and the only time I’d ever go back is if someone mentioned something that literally was an accidental contradiction.
You know, along the lines of, “No, Nicole CAN’T be Deathblood, because Deathblood is left-handed and Nicole is right, and who has “changing your dominant hand” as a superpower??” I’d be like, “Oh, shit, OK, let’s squeeze in a comic where I say something about her being ambidextrous.”
I like wild theories and creativity. Though I always want to have some logic to it. With these theories I always feel it is as likely as Ben suddenly revealing he’s the troll. I feel people have been raised in a world where everything is connected. In movies and series this is especially prevalent, where you can ‘solve’ the plot in a single stroke and everything is resolved. You need less characters if the new love interest is also secretly the big bad, and can advance their character growth at the same time. It goes to ridiculous lengths these days.… Read more »
I second this; it is an interesting coincidence that Nicole turns up around the same time as the Troll escapes from prison, but it’s perfectly *narratively* plausible the two events are completely unconnected.
Her appearance just leads to a rift between Ethan and Lucas at the worst possible time. Perfectly good drama, but she’s ‘nothing more’ than a toxic partner.
Man people really don’t want to just face the reality that a shitty person exists
Acher4
21 days ago
No!
Matt Braddock
21 days ago
Well, that’s a development I did not expect.
Oyee
21 days ago
No! I hope things shake out on that 🙁
GUNnibal
21 days ago
The only good thing I can see about this development is that Ben should be mostly fine when it comes to his work. I assume that Internal Affairs are looking into who among the police could have helped the Troll to escape, and Ben can’t possibly have anything to do with that, so… plausible deniability, I suppose.
When it comes to his mental state, on the other hand… Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.
I really don’t think he is fine when it comes to work.
What makes you think he couldn’t have been involved? Even if Ben himself might have an alibi for during the escape, he easily could have given others confidential info they could use for the breakout. And the login data proves he did access that information. At the very least he’s a suspect.
He might be cleared when it comes to aiding the Troll directly, but just letting Lucas access his account is already enough to land Ben in deep trouble.
… I mean… they are focusing on relationships lately, and Scott took a solid step towards Deathblood’s side of things with how he handled Zeke, so… I’m prepared to ship it.
In more concrete and less snarky terms, I don’t think that would logically align with the plot.
First, why would Ben hear Ethan’s story and then leave his laptop open for Lucas in the first place?
Second, why would Ben be upset in this scene? And why tell Lucas at all, considering you now know he’s besties with your boss’s target?
It wouldn’t be a kick in the pants IMO, it would be a disappointing plot hole that has no real setup to justify the reveal and only adds confusion.
Gonfrask
21 days ago
How that jail break is not on the news? Murderer, cult leader, city danger…I mean…he is not a low level criminal. It has been kept in secret? Or is a very recent event?
Even is Ethan or Lucas don’t usually see the news, quite sure a reporter would have warned Analogue.
Absurd theory: Nicole is indeed Bloodbath, and somehow knows the Troll target Ethan. She is using him as a bait to give the Troll some justice, that will lead to a Troll’s follower massacre, some of them just innocent fools without critic thinking
Actually Troll is still pretty low level. For Analog he might be the biggest threat of his life, but for a superhero city regularly (?) attacked by skyscraper sized eldritch abominations a guy mostly making dildo jokes really isn’t that noteworthy, even if he did kill someone once. He’s dangerous, but nowhere near city danger levels.
How would I know about them, if they didn’t make the news? I do know I rarely see jailbreaks in the news, so presumably there are at least some that go mostly unreported.
Also us not reading it in the comic doesn’t have to mean the news in the comic isn’t covering it. It’s possible the news is also still learning about it (and news about to hit the fan). Or there might have been a news report already, and Lucas just missed it because they were occupied with other things.
“How would I know about them, if they didn’t make the news?” I legit laughed out loud for that. Hard enough that I wrote it out.
I do think it’s more likely the second part, though – that the news is covering it and Lucas just hasn’t seen it yet. Though… I feel like Scott would be pretty dialed in and as soon as the news broke would have flagged Lucas and Ethan. That’s slightly more of a surprise to me.
they probably kept it off the news because the troll enjoys attention, the spectacle. much like internet trolls, if you “feed” them by giving them any attention, positive or negative, it just makes them do more. by keeping the jailbreak quiet, they are denying the attention he would seek, whether its from positive sources like fans and cult followers, or negative like from police and heroes. either source would play into his hands and he could use it to manipulate how people react to him. positive sources he could claim he is a victim in all this, throw false accusations… Read more »
ThatGuy
21 days ago
Ooooh, boy. Lucas “accessing” those files came back to bite them as we knew it would. But I can’t say I expected his escape this soon.
Between Ben being inspected and Nicole being a control freak, neither of the heroes are in a good spot right now :/
ears
21 days ago
Well, fuck. I was against Lucas actually using the police database lookup back then. Looks like I was right.
naustghoul
21 days ago
Hrmmmmm… My initial was ‘fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu’ but now I am thinking about it a little more and he can spin the IA investigation off as something that happens, this was a one time deal not worth your career (or prison) over, then he will do it anyway to save Lucas sacrificing himself in the process. This is a classic hero arc being built in front of our faces.
…
Unless he is leading Lucas around by the nose and is really a subversive villain in the background serving up beignets to throw him off…
So… theoretically, when they investigate the escape, they’ll see it doesn’t actually come back to Ben and he’ll get a slap on the wrist for poking his nose where it didn’t belong.
Unless the troll minions had set up some sort of trap so that if information on the Troll was accessed through an unsecured connection (say… if someone was looking up info at home instead of on the locked down police server), it would forward that information to them.
How do you imagine they would see that? Other than actually catching the Troll and getting a direct confession from him, there’s no real way to prove Ben wasn’t somehow involved. The only thing they can prove is that Ben did do a very suspicious log-in. They only have Bens word on what actually happened, but no real way to verify it. And Ben did leak confidential information. We know it was only to Lucas, and what he used it for, but there’s no way for the investigation to know that. For all they know, Ben let in an accomplice… Read more »
I think the real danger here is to Lucas and Ben’s relationship. When Ben allowed Lucas to look, Lucas did so knowing that what he did could possibly get Ben in hot water. That’s probably why Lucas felt OK with using it – because he wasn’t going to do anything other than talk to him. But Ben doesn’t know what Lucas did, and now it appears to Ben that Lucas was careless and abused that trust.
Kevin Greenbaum
20 days ago
And there it is, the moment of chaos we’ve been waiting for.
JozMk.II
20 days ago
Ethan is actually the Troll. He wanted to step back from crime fighting for a while, so he got himself arrested, broke out, and is now dating a domineering woman so no one suspects it’s him. And Nicole is actually Lilah in a wig and on stilts
This makes so little sense that it has to be a joke.
Gino
20 days ago
I’m curious of the timeline between the Troll seeing Elijah, his jailbreak, and Ethan’s match with Nicole…
Nik
20 days ago
Whelp.
There goes shoe number two.
Zyxian
19 days ago
Uh Oh !!!
Phire
19 days ago
I’m curious if we’re going to hear HOW someone as uncharismatic, insane, and not all that bright could have escaped from what I would assume is a prison designed specifically for “super” villains.
I mean he doesn’t even have the charisma or cunning intellect the Joker does.
24
I thought they were going to break-up. I can’t tell if this is worse.
Worse. Trolls do not strike at singular targets if they can.
I have two theories about Nicole. She is either a part of the Troll’s plot to destroy Ethan’s self-esteem. Or she is a hero playing bodyguard to a known Troll target.
Sometimes, I wonder if Tim changes his narrative just slightly due to things he reads in the comments 😀
Tim wrote this page likely back in March or so, so… doubtful.
Doubtful, but never completely certain. We have nothing to confirm Tim isn’t capable of seeing the future and/or time travel.
If it was me, I’d write what I wanted to write, and trust my writing process, and the only time I’d ever go back is if someone mentioned something that literally was an accidental contradiction.
You know, along the lines of, “No, Nicole CAN’T be Deathblood, because Deathblood is left-handed and Nicole is right, and who has “changing your dominant hand” as a superpower??” I’d be like, “Oh, shit, OK, let’s squeeze in a comic where I say something about her being ambidextrous.”
I like wild theories and creativity. Though I always want to have some logic to it. With these theories I always feel it is as likely as Ben suddenly revealing he’s the troll. I feel people have been raised in a world where everything is connected. In movies and series this is especially prevalent, where you can ‘solve’ the plot in a single stroke and everything is resolved. You need less characters if the new love interest is also secretly the big bad, and can advance their character growth at the same time. It goes to ridiculous lengths these days.… Read more »
I second this; it is an interesting coincidence that Nicole turns up around the same time as the Troll escapes from prison, but it’s perfectly *narratively* plausible the two events are completely unconnected.
Her appearance just leads to a rift between Ethan and Lucas at the worst possible time. Perfectly good drama, but she’s ‘nothing more’ than a toxic partner.
Or she is the troll in disguise 😉 He know who Ethan is after all
That’s what I think too!
Where did the Troll find that out? (I honestly don’t remember.)
The only way this is possible is if the Troll gained powers similar to Mystique.
Otherwise not a chance in hell he could disguise THAT well.
Does the troll know? I don’t remember that
Man people really don’t want to just face the reality that a shitty person exists
No!
Well, that’s a development I did not expect.
No! I hope things shake out on that 🙁
The only good thing I can see about this development is that Ben should be mostly fine when it comes to his work. I assume that Internal Affairs are looking into who among the police could have helped the Troll to escape, and Ben can’t possibly have anything to do with that, so… plausible deniability, I suppose.
When it comes to his mental state, on the other hand… Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.
I really don’t think he is fine when it comes to work.
What makes you think he couldn’t have been involved? Even if Ben himself might have an alibi for during the escape, he easily could have given others confidential info they could use for the breakout. And the login data proves he did access that information. At the very least he’s a suspect.
He might be cleared when it comes to aiding the Troll directly, but just letting Lucas access his account is already enough to land Ben in deep trouble.
That’s also assuming the comic follows real police protocols. Most times they don’t for entertainment purposes.
entertainment is IA caring at all. Real is IA is a toothless plushie.
Oh my god, what if BEN is a troll minion?
I mean, I doubt it, but holy hell, that’d be a kick in the pants.
If he is it would be one of the dumbest ‘twist’ in comic history , and retroactively ruin all the interesting things he brought to the story.
We might as well fire Tim at that point and just toss dice to see what happens next, it’s not like logic matters anymore. Let’s see…
*roll* Deathblood…
*roll* Marries…
*roll* Scott!
Wow, what a spectacular development!
… I mean… they are focusing on relationships lately, and Scott took a solid step towards Deathblood’s side of things with how he handled Zeke, so… I’m prepared to ship it.
In more concrete and less snarky terms, I don’t think that would logically align with the plot.
First, why would Ben hear Ethan’s story and then leave his laptop open for Lucas in the first place?
Second, why would Ben be upset in this scene? And why tell Lucas at all, considering you now know he’s besties with your boss’s target?
It wouldn’t be a kick in the pants IMO, it would be a disappointing plot hole that has no real setup to justify the reveal and only adds confusion.
How that jail break is not on the news? Murderer, cult leader, city danger…I mean…he is not a low level criminal. It has been kept in secret? Or is a very recent event?
Even is Ethan or Lucas don’t usually see the news, quite sure a reporter would have warned Analogue.
Absurd theory: Nicole is indeed Bloodbath, and somehow knows the Troll target Ethan. She is using him as a bait to give the Troll some justice, that will lead to a Troll’s follower massacre, some of them just innocent fools without critic thinking
First Ben is Deathblood, now Nicole is Deathblood? This comment section is ridiculous.
Throw enough mud and surely some will stick. If you bring up all possibilities, and usually someone/thing will be right.
That assumes that Tim doesn’t put in a totally unexpected twist of course.
That kind of denial. . Are you Deathblood?
That’s the kind of question I would imagine Deathblood would ask…
Thought that the “absurd theory” and the use of “somehow” (as in certain las trilogy) would mark it as mainly a joke 🤔
I’m Deathblood, and so’s my wife!
It all makes sense now!
Scott is Deathblood!
You’re all Deathblood trying to confuse the comment section to cover his tracks!
Actually Troll is still pretty low level. For Analog he might be the biggest threat of his life, but for a superhero city regularly (?) attacked by skyscraper sized eldritch abominations a guy mostly making dildo jokes really isn’t that noteworthy, even if he did kill someone once. He’s dangerous, but nowhere near city danger levels.
Still though, when have you ever been living in a city or town where a jail break doesnt make the news?
How would I know about them, if they didn’t make the news? I do know I rarely see jailbreaks in the news, so presumably there are at least some that go mostly unreported.
Also us not reading it in the comic doesn’t have to mean the news in the comic isn’t covering it. It’s possible the news is also still learning about it (and news about to hit the fan). Or there might have been a news report already, and Lucas just missed it because they were occupied with other things.
“How would I know about them, if they didn’t make the news?” I legit laughed out loud for that. Hard enough that I wrote it out.
I do think it’s more likely the second part, though – that the news is covering it and Lucas just hasn’t seen it yet. Though… I feel like Scott would be pretty dialed in and as soon as the news broke would have flagged Lucas and Ethan. That’s slightly more of a surprise to me.
they probably kept it off the news because the troll enjoys attention, the spectacle. much like internet trolls, if you “feed” them by giving them any attention, positive or negative, it just makes them do more. by keeping the jailbreak quiet, they are denying the attention he would seek, whether its from positive sources like fans and cult followers, or negative like from police and heroes. either source would play into his hands and he could use it to manipulate how people react to him. positive sources he could claim he is a victim in all this, throw false accusations… Read more »
Ooooh, boy. Lucas “accessing” those files came back to bite them as we knew it would. But I can’t say I expected his escape this soon.
Between Ben being inspected and Nicole being a control freak, neither of the heroes are in a good spot right now :/
Well, fuck. I was against Lucas actually using the police database lookup back then. Looks like I was right.
Hrmmmmm… My initial was ‘fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu’ but now I am thinking about it a little more and he can spin the IA investigation off as something that happens, this was a one time deal not worth your career (or prison) over, then he will do it anyway to save Lucas sacrificing himself in the process. This is a classic hero arc being built in front of our faces.
…
Unless he is leading Lucas around by the nose and is really a subversive villain in the background serving up beignets to throw him off…
…
Or he is an alien.
Definitely an alien!
*Joker voice: ‘And here we Go.’
Ruh Roh, Raggie!
So… theoretically, when they investigate the escape, they’ll see it doesn’t actually come back to Ben and he’ll get a slap on the wrist for poking his nose where it didn’t belong.
Unless the troll minions had set up some sort of trap so that if information on the Troll was accessed through an unsecured connection (say… if someone was looking up info at home instead of on the locked down police server), it would forward that information to them.
How do you imagine they would see that? Other than actually catching the Troll and getting a direct confession from him, there’s no real way to prove Ben wasn’t somehow involved. The only thing they can prove is that Ben did do a very suspicious log-in. They only have Bens word on what actually happened, but no real way to verify it. And Ben did leak confidential information. We know it was only to Lucas, and what he used it for, but there’s no way for the investigation to know that. For all they know, Ben let in an accomplice… Read more »
I think the real danger here is to Lucas and Ben’s relationship. When Ben allowed Lucas to look, Lucas did so knowing that what he did could possibly get Ben in hot water. That’s probably why Lucas felt OK with using it – because he wasn’t going to do anything other than talk to him. But Ben doesn’t know what Lucas did, and now it appears to Ben that Lucas was careless and abused that trust.
And there it is, the moment of chaos we’ve been waiting for.
Ethan is actually the Troll. He wanted to step back from crime fighting for a while, so he got himself arrested, broke out, and is now dating a domineering woman so no one suspects it’s him. And Nicole is actually Lilah in a wig and on stilts
This makes so little sense that it has to be a joke.
I’m curious of the timeline between the Troll seeing Elijah, his jailbreak, and Ethan’s match with Nicole…
Whelp.
There goes shoe number two.
Uh Oh !!!
I’m curious if we’re going to hear HOW someone as uncharismatic, insane, and not all that bright could have escaped from what I would assume is a prison designed specifically for “super” villains.
I mean he doesn’t even have the charisma or cunning intellect the Joker does.
He smiled at Elijah’s arrival, so he must have used him, somehow.
Although if Elijah ends up sliced in two, D-Pad could find himself the subject of a frame-up.
Oh smeg…