Yeeeah break the trope, Tim! Let Lucas and Ben have a happy life in the background… it’s getting a little darker out there every day, I think we could use a little light.
I said in the 1990s that, in my lifetime, a city would be destroyed by a nuclear weapon. Now it seems likely enough that Norway, Finland, and Sweden all have provided ‘if war comes’ information to all of their citizens. And the Russian has changed the use of force for nuclear weapons to ‘If anyone fires even conventional munitions inside Russia (ignoring the fact his forces have been doing this), protocol will require a nuclear response both to the firer but also to the country that provided the equipment’. Some happier content, even if one gets it a bit at… Read more »
A Finn here. “if a war comes” is nothing new we just got the updated version and to us it’s been 80 years of when. In 90’s after USSR collapsed rest of Europe drastically down graded their militaries, we have been keeping it up, modernizing it, never abandoning the old doctrine.
To us it’s “war will come, eventually.” remember we are one of the few European nations with full conscription, a lot of shelters and more than enough will to make the other guy bleed.
I know I’m probably wrong, but I can’t but help shake this feeling that Ben is The Troll…. You have to admit that it would be the ultimate troll…. and in Infernal Demons, p25 we don’t know for sure that that was the true Troll. I mean, there were a few other people trying to claim the title, and the one we focused on was “NotTheTroll.” It could be very much so that we haven’t had the final battle yet.
No, I don’t think anyone would admit that. It’d just be bad writing and the least sensible plan ever, nothing ultimate about that. Let’s ignore most of the obvious issues, and pretend Troll really did manage to magically fix his face after the fall, changed his entire physiology to look like Ben (big guy) instead of his every other appearance (whiny kid), and did somehow convince a minion to mutilate himself and take the (life?) sentence for him. And that he did suddenly do a complete out-of-character reverse on literally every kind of tactic and motivation he’s had so far.… Read more »
I know this is a stereotype, but I have a had time imaging any LGBTQ person being that hard core of a troll. Snark on the internet sure, but wanting to ruin someone life? Doesn’t fit for me. LGBTQ folks know what that feels like.
My thoughts, exactly. I’m trying to enjoy the moment and praying we don’t get tropey, especially since Ben *is* a cop and should be more equipped than your average non-superhero to deal with villains.
Tim
13 days ago
Just to say that a lot of time, gay romance in the media had felt forced to me.
And this time, it just feels like a beautifull piece of romance between two human beings.
It does to me. In fact, I think you helped me understand my own feelings about LGBTQ representation in Media these days, and how it feels forced. You’re absolutely right. Thank you!
Great, so we can have representation, but only when we act EXACTLY like cishet couples? We can be gay, but only if we do it in a straight way?
Screw that. And screw all the bigots who demand it.
Here I am trying to enjoy a nice gay thing and you have to come in and celebrate how STRAIGHT it supposedly is. Maybe I’m still sore from mourning our dead yesterday, but no. This isn’t FOR YOU.
Blablabla.You’re exactly the type that is actively damaging tolerance and inclusivity because of your vile toxicity unto others.
Go cry somewhere else and let everybody else enjoy the wholesome romance between two people whose personalities and character actual revolve around much, much more than some activist’s narrowminded views of sexual identity.
dude. Shut it. Go back to history, and see that what you’re saying is the EXACT phrases that have been used against any activist. Literally. This is what was said about MLK Jr., Malcolm X, Ghandi. “you aren’t doing it the right way! You’re making everyone hate you and hurting the cause!”
Literally, just go read Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham jail”.
See, what you all seem to fail to grasp is that you’re not some oppressed minority that has to sit in the back of the bus and have your civil rights be non-existant or trampled upon. Y’all got the exact same rights as everybody else. Same opportunities, same potential, same voice, same voting power. Just like everybody else. So now you get all worked up just because there are people who don’t want to play along in your fairy tale land of pronouns and make-belief. Well too bad. Nobody is ever going to be forced to play along with those… Read more »
I think the point of thier comment is that this feels like a true romance, not just a gay couple shoved in to a story for no reason. We are getting to see how this love story evolves and thier joys and sorrows. That’s what makes it good.
It’s because it’s gotten “standard”. I mean no offence but LGBTQ, transgender, disabled and I’m sorry but also black people have just all become boxes that have to be ticked off in order for a movie to be acceptable lately. And don’t get me wrong I really don’t mind any of these to be shown in a movie but lately it just feels like they have to be in or it’s not “correct”. I remember watching this movie “Strange World” with my kids. It has a mixed race family, a gay son, a dog with only 3 legs and at… Read more »
Even when you’re being patted on the back you still have to be the victims. Will no one thing of the poor straight people? Always getting “canceled” even when you’re not?
There may be some media out there like you described, but there is also a lot of stuff that works stuff in subtly or casually. It really is important to have media with representation*, so that people can feel seen.
*I’m not saying it has to include everything all at once like you described for Strange World, just that it exists across the span of media. And isn’t some “token” inclusion, but feels natural for the story.
yes! As said I really don’t mind seeing a gay relationship. It just feels odd when the main characters of a show happen to be mixed race lesbians in a wheelchair with a blind cat. Just work em in. Have the lead be gay, fine and then someone at work who happens to come in with some message be in a wheelchair to also show that they can function in a regular job. But how they are doing things lately it just feels pushed. But the same goes with a lot of things. Like commercials. Commercials for laundry detergent now… Read more »
As a queer disabled woman – with all the best sympathy in the world as to why – you’re wrong. There are a LOT of people out there in reality who have two, three, four, any number of different traits that are considered vulnerable or minority in our society. People exist across the gamut of all combinations of size, colour, abilities, sexuality, culture and faith. And our stories matter too. We’re just not as often successful enough to make media vs how many of us exist in reality. So I appreciate that it isn’t necessarily representative of the real world… Read more »
I had the same feeling with Strange World. I actually liked the movie, but the thing with the representation (which was worse than you described, if you include the other characters in the movie) felt too artificial to me too and it actually distracted me a little.
It is called “tokenism” and has been a problem since the 70’s, really. (I mean, it is why the single black kid in South Park is called ‘Token’). And you’re talking about what the feeling really is. If we shoehorn people into demographics just to sell a show, movie, or book it diminishes the actual people who are that demographic. it makes ALL attempts to add people to representation seem trite and reduces people who are represented by these token characters to less than the main character. The biggest issue that a bunch of us who work with this stuff… Read more »
Ben being a man fits the comic more because it would feel different if it was a woman police officer. In this way, Ben gets to appear in a more protective role(because we still have internal biases about this stuff).
There’s a difference between representation/diversity, and pandering. Sadly the studio execs don’t know the difference, but the viewers can, and it just hurts the cause for equality _because_ it feels so forced and stuffed down your throat.
Even the slightest representation gets seen as excessive by people who are used to only seeing themselves on the screen. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-think-minority-groups-are-bigger-than-they-really-are/ I’m sure it does FEEL like “they’ve just gotta please certain people“. I wonder who you think the certain people are. The people who installed this idea in your head say they’re Jews, but you’re not supposed to think that. Yet. If you feel mad right now, I hope it’s at the people who are exploiting your feelings in order to promote bigotry. And yes there exists checklist-inclusion and tokenism. You know who speaks out about it? The people… Read more »
I’d argue the opposite conclusion : since the actual number of “minority populations” is way smaller than perceived, why should they be over represented in every piece of media ? Which is kind of the push we are seeing with any project lacking “proper representation” being criticized, like recently, what happened to Black Myth Wukong, as dumb as it sound (yes, in a game where you play a Monkey helped by a pigman, fighting various creatures like rats, frogs, spiders, bulls and so on, people managed to complain about a lack of representation…). Or historical figures raceswapped…just because ? Let’s… Read more »
I’m going to throw some non-random numbers at you: 59% of the US identifies as white. An analysis of the top 25 highest-reaching direct-to-streaming and top 25 highest-reaching linear TV premiere episodes released between January 1 and May 1 of 2024 shows that 61% of the leads were white. So if any group is being over-represented… sounds like it’s still white people.
Fair enough, I had no actual number in mind, which is why I went totally random, and it is interesting to have actual meaningful numbers in the discussion. Honestly, I was even expecting the real numbers to be even more disproportionate, 2% feels like a pretty close margin. That being said, I was mostly being an ass and making a point to that other person being quite disagreeable, not the smartest thing I have done, it’s been a bad day. All in all, my actual POV is similar to the first comment of this chain, I simply absolutely disagree with… Read more »
Which is exactly my stance, I never had any issue with minorities, nor do I have any now.
I have issues with individuals, and executive decisions, and with using said checkboxes as a shield against criticism and insulting your audience.
And also with the other side of this issue, with actual racists derailing the real and genuine conversations or complaints that should be happening with their distasteful rant and deranged conspiracy theory.
I understand the idea of “checkboxes” needing to be ticked sounds like some sort of false, unnatural approach more like bookkeeping than creative development. But consider that media, as a whole, has been extremely white for a long time. It’s been the default setting. And so during this period of transition we find ourselves in now, where we’re all trying to bring a little more balance to the table, some writers/casting directors might need a checklist/memo of sorts, simply to remind themselves not to let their brains coast on the default setting we’ve lived with for so long. Can it… Read more »
That is also very fair, these conversations need to happen, sadly, as I said in other comments, there are both tendencies to overcorrect but ALSO overreact to anything looking even remotely “woke” (oh, how I dislike this term and the way it is used ^^). Too often these conversations are derailed or started in bad faith, which makes it comforting that the comment here and your overall audience seems more level headed about it. And of course, there is the whole issue of big companies trying to appeal and pander to one “side” or the other to make a buck… Read more »
It’s unfortunately easier to come across as arguing “in bad faith” when you’re on the kicked-down side of the equation, and spend more of your time trying to convince people that the inequalities involved actually exist and matter than managing any sensible discussion of how to then adjust and improve on the situation! Members of a given minority under discussion tend to be more frustrated with the experience and then get misread as hostile. But it’s always worth listening to those voices, and the more that people listen and include us in the conversations, the calmer we can be.
Not to mention what characters play which roles. It is still disproportionate the types of roles people of color and people of the LGBTQ population play some nefarious or evil or “bad”character.
Okay shall I just ask then if we are actually seeing all races represented “equally” (according to “people who identify as”)? Should we start counting how many female actors VS male actors there are in each movie. Then also add in the disabled and the LGBTQ and whatever else someone can come up with next. I had to tell my kids recently: just cuz one of you goes to a birthday party of a classmate doesn’t mean that we have to take the other one to a playground “cuz otherwise it’s not fair they have to stay home”. You might… Read more »
Again, you’re giving off the occasional dogwhistle here – “what someone can come up with next” is NOT an appropriate way to discuss groups of people who have both existed and been near permanently marginised for several thousands of years. The childish playground comparison is also inappropriate given the comparison you’re making is to people’s right to appear in media as valid real members of humanity. This representation is so important because it has a knock-on effect (due to how it impacts public sentiment) across all other aspects of our existence – equal pay, healthcare, life. Disabled people especially have… Read more »
Adding onto what Tim said, I think as consumers we all need to realise that the pendulum has to swing the other way before it normalises in the centre. We’ve had under-representation for decades and we still have it in most areas and along most lines. To actually normalise stories with proper IRL diversity inherent in them in a natural way, we have to keep intentionally pushing for their focus more while they’re still under-funded, under-sold and under-focused.
We shouldn’t downvote this user – they’re absolutely right. The OP comment read to me like someone who hasn’t yet unpacked how much the world still caters for their demographic over all others, both in what gets greenlit and in who is able to push through the barriers to create it all. Change is always uncomfortable for those with the unfair share. It seems like the OP was discomfitted by seeing people unlike them on their screens so frequently nowadays but hasn’t properly considered that, for the majority of us, this was the default experience in media all our lives… Read more »
helps that both have depth of character, and not token ones being gays for sake of being gays
Zii
13 days ago
The most wholesome twist ^__^ be still my heart
Gotta second that “dont kill Ben off” please Tim
7eggert
13 days ago
Christmas has officially just happened.
Sorry kids,
this year ist’s just just Mr. Coca-Cola bringing the presents.
Nightdagger
13 days ago
Oh no. There’s still one comic day left this week, and the volume’s name is “Secrets”, and if we’ve learned anything from past arc names, it’s never about who or what we think it’s about, is it?
FAR more likely that he’s part of the Troll’s army than Deathblood at this point, he doesn’t have the build for it.
I hope he’s neither though, but I also hope that we’re not seeing the end of CAD 2.0 with Ethan’s death, finding out his superpower actually is gone, and Lucas finding a bittersweet “happily ever after”.
KliwX
13 days ago
For two weeks I have been afraid that Tim would crush Lucas heart (and mine as well) but now I’m have tears for a different reason…
Since Ethan is a main character (the title is Analog and D-Pad, unlike the Starcaster Chronicles, which, even if Cort dies, could continue – I think Tim said something to that effect, too), I’m pretty sure Ethan still has his respawning power. Maybe it will not kick in immediately after he dies or something, but it is there.
I’ve been reading your work since Ethan was periodically stabbed by ninjas (just realizing now that the respawn power has been Ethan superpower since the beginning and ninjas his nemesis).
This story arc is my favorite story in all CAD. Good to see Lucas in a healthy relationship for once.
Thank you !
Mahow
13 days ago
Like alot are saying here: Please don’t kill Ben, pretty please don’t.
My friend, this is the perfect Greek tragedy lining up.
I’m along for the ride on this one. What if there is a long arc here that turns our hero into a villain after losing the love of his life only to be saved in the end by of all people Ethan?
Don’t ask the artist to save your feelings, let him tell his tale, for good or ill.
(personally I think there is something else planned)
I would like the trope / mold/ cliche, for this specific relationship and these comic characters, to be broken.
Just let Lucas and Ben have their solid foundation. Bad shit can happen, sure, but just let face it together and come out stronger. It’s well written, well established….
This is the Way.
Frank
12 days ago
Oh boy… last time I had tears in my eyes from reading a webcomic was…
let me count…
never.
Literally.
Verdiekus
12 days ago
Yay!!!
(Please don’t kill off Ben.)
JdW
12 days ago
Let’s just hope he’s not some NY teen’s Uncle Ben, as that would not end well…
Cedric
12 days ago
something tells me this is a daydream/dream and not real
No. Don’t you dare, Cedric, don’t you dare! My poor heart wouldn’t be able to take it!
Lol
Rune
12 days ago
and now….to the fridge with you
Jamie
12 days ago
Oh I can see it now, Ben ends up dying because Ethan hesitates to throw himself in between Ben and a bullet or something because Ethan isnt sure if hes immortal or not, and that hesitation is enough for Ben to take the bullet and succumb to it. Near immediately afterwards Ethan dies and respawns.
Steve
12 days ago
“As for your irresponsible friend in the cape, on the other hand…”
Presumably Ben’s been able to figure out both of them, right?
They never met (I’m pretty sure of that, also Lucas stated that, when he and Ethan argued about what Ethan thought was him taking up the cape again, and Lucas saw as his relationship with Ben, “You’ve never even met Ben!”, here https://cad-comic.com/comic/secrets-p16/ ).
So unless Ben looked him up (which is possible, Lucas and Ethan co-own their gaming store, he wouldn’t probably be too hard to find out about, starting with knowing Lucas), he might not know about him.
insaril
12 days ago
OMG <3 I’m Crying <3 This is wonderful <3
Yesssssssssss
My take on this is that Ben doesn’t actually have feelings for Lucas and is just working undercover to dig up dirt on the two vigilante heroes..
Check him for a wire, Lucas! ;p
ThatMageGuy
12 days ago
Ben is the paladin that one should strive to be.
That is the ideal Lawful Good right there.
Officially my favorite character in this comic, effective immediately.
VibrantEvolution
12 days ago
no people don’t show Tim we care! If we get emotionally connected he’ll kill him for sure! 😭
Aeroprism
12 days ago
Been avidly checking daily for this story to unravel, I was really hoping for something like this.
Thank you. So wholesome.
william
12 days ago
waiting for the moment this all ruined by the end of chapter twist… god damn troll is Ben
Kevin Greenbaum
12 days ago
When you beat a game with multiple possible endings and get the best ending on the first try.
DaWombat
12 days ago
Just so happy for them!!! After the disaster of a relationship Ethan lived through in this universe and then the fallout of with Zeke, it feels like an overdue reward for us as readers and them as characters.
Some guy
12 days ago
Awwwwwwww
rathdrgnknight
12 days ago
I’ve followed this comic for years. I think this is one of the most meaningful and beautiful pages you’ve done, Tim. It made me tear up. Thank you for this storyline. It’s so sweet.
I know this is usually a huge death/fridge flag in the superhero genre of comics, but holy crap I’m going to enjoy it for the time being. Thank you.
Paula
12 days ago
Aww, so sweet. I was not expecting this at all.
'Drew Bergy
12 days ago
Bravo! I’m glad you addressed this situation in a mature manner, and I appreciate all the story so far. Thank you Tim!
Cmd1095
12 days ago
He’s just so damn wholesome! A walking green flag of a man. Lucas lucked out with this one…
And that just makes me veeeeeeeery worried about his fate
Phire
12 days ago
I’m a little concerned that the entire reason Ben was made as a police officer in the first place, is so he there’s a justifiable excuse to get him killed….
Angrylittleman
12 days ago
Aww this is sweet. Thank you for this Tim.
Venic_zaku
12 days ago
No one’s cutting onion, but why are my eyes leaking.
Acher4
12 days ago
Awwwwwwwww 😀 😀 😀
SvarroVarro
12 days ago
❤️❤️ Yes!! 😁✊
Austin
12 days ago
From the side Ben looks like Ethan with a mustache.
Marcus
11 days ago
time to aladin this shit up and go on a magic arrow ride! then maybe a mustache ride… we will see where it goes.
ThatGuy
11 days ago
Do not, and I mean, do NOT kill this man off!!! Lucas has been overdue for some happiness of his own and it’s literally in his hands by this shield-wearing badass! We have enough tragedy as it is.
Predrag
11 days ago
Awwwwww
Marvin
7 days ago
squeeeee!
Alekazam
6 days ago
I STILL don’t trust him. He knew the whole time, thought he just wanted a casual relationship, and still took actions I find manipulative to get more out of him.
You don’t cook breakfast for a one night stand, hell you don’t do half the shit this guy does for a God damn fling. He’s playing the cop game. He’s trying to figure out their whole operation before striking.
24
D’awww, I wasn’t expecting to tear up slightly while smiling this morning.
Dammit Tim what’s secretly wrong with Ben,/please don’t kill him off. <_<
A happy ending would be a nice change, but significant others in super hero stories don’t tend to have happy endings.
Either they get targeted by some villian and die or the hero leaves them to keep them safe.
Would be nice if Tim didn’t continue the trope, but let’s just enjoy the nice moment right now.
Ben isn’t some useless, generic “Mary Jane”, he’s a beefy police guy, so there’s a chance he will survive the “last 2 weeks to retirement”.
But guess who’s not coming home tonight… 😛
Yeeeah break the trope, Tim! Let Lucas and Ben have a happy life in the background… it’s getting a little darker out there every day, I think we could use a little light.
I said in the 1990s that, in my lifetime, a city would be destroyed by a nuclear weapon. Now it seems likely enough that Norway, Finland, and Sweden all have provided ‘if war comes’ information to all of their citizens. And the Russian has changed the use of force for nuclear weapons to ‘If anyone fires even conventional munitions inside Russia (ignoring the fact his forces have been doing this), protocol will require a nuclear response both to the firer but also to the country that provided the equipment’. Some happier content, even if one gets it a bit at… Read more »
A Finn here. “if a war comes” is nothing new we just got the updated version and to us it’s been 80 years of when. In 90’s after USSR collapsed rest of Europe drastically down graded their militaries, we have been keeping it up, modernizing it, never abandoning the old doctrine.
To us it’s “war will come, eventually.” remember we are one of the few European nations with full conscription, a lot of shelters and more than enough will to make the other guy bleed.
give em the ol’ perkele perkele if they try to mess with them saunas, brotha!
Yeah, no kidding, huh? My family and I could use some more light too. ❤️
As Jane says in “Mr and Mrs Smith” (movie) – “Happy endings are just stories that haven’t finished yet.”
We neither want to bury the gays OR fridge the SO…
It’s a good thing nothing bad has happened to older men named Ben in comic books.
Least-bad-case scenario, he gets Grimmed, rather than Parkered or Reillyed.
Explain, please? I think I get “Parkered” (if it refers to Spiderman’s uncle), but not the rest.
I know I’m probably wrong, but I can’t but help shake this feeling that Ben is The Troll…. You have to admit that it would be the ultimate troll…. and in Infernal Demons, p25 we don’t know for sure that that was the true Troll. I mean, there were a few other people trying to claim the title, and the one we focused on was “NotTheTroll.” It could be very much so that we haven’t had the final battle yet.
No, I don’t think anyone would admit that. It’d just be bad writing and the least sensible plan ever, nothing ultimate about that. Let’s ignore most of the obvious issues, and pretend Troll really did manage to magically fix his face after the fall, changed his entire physiology to look like Ben (big guy) instead of his every other appearance (whiny kid), and did somehow convince a minion to mutilate himself and take the (life?) sentence for him. And that he did suddenly do a complete out-of-character reverse on literally every kind of tactic and motivation he’s had so far.… Read more »
I know this is a stereotype, but I have a had time imaging any LGBTQ person being that hard core of a troll. Snark on the internet sure, but wanting to ruin someone life? Doesn’t fit for me. LGBTQ folks know what that feels like.
My thoughts, exactly. I’m trying to enjoy the moment and praying we don’t get tropey, especially since Ben *is* a cop and should be more equipped than your average non-superhero to deal with villains.
Just to say that a lot of time, gay romance in the media had felt forced to me.
And this time, it just feels like a beautifull piece of romance between two human beings.
Well done !
Because usualy it’s GAY romance. Here’s a romance just happens to be gay. Does that make any sense?
It does to me. In fact, I think you helped me understand my own feelings about LGBTQ representation in Media these days, and how it feels forced. You’re absolutely right. Thank you!
Great, so we can have representation, but only when we act EXACTLY like cishet couples? We can be gay, but only if we do it in a straight way?
Screw that. And screw all the bigots who demand it.
Here I am trying to enjoy a nice gay thing and you have to come in and celebrate how STRAIGHT it supposedly is. Maybe I’m still sore from mourning our dead yesterday, but no. This isn’t FOR YOU.
Blablabla.You’re exactly the type that is actively damaging tolerance and inclusivity because of your vile toxicity unto others.
Go cry somewhere else and let everybody else enjoy the wholesome romance between two people whose personalities and character actual revolve around much, much more than some activist’s narrowminded views of sexual identity.
dude. Shut it. Go back to history, and see that what you’re saying is the EXACT phrases that have been used against any activist. Literally. This is what was said about MLK Jr., Malcolm X, Ghandi. “you aren’t doing it the right way! You’re making everyone hate you and hurting the cause!”
Literally, just go read Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham jail”.
Oh look, another one with the same dumbass attitude.
See, what you all seem to fail to grasp is that you’re not some oppressed minority that has to sit in the back of the bus and have your civil rights be non-existant or trampled upon. Y’all got the exact same rights as everybody else. Same opportunities, same potential, same voice, same voting power. Just like everybody else. So now you get all worked up just because there are people who don’t want to play along in your fairy tale land of pronouns and make-belief. Well too bad. Nobody is ever going to be forced to play along with those… Read more »
I think the point of thier comment is that this feels like a true romance, not just a gay couple shoved in to a story for no reason. We are getting to see how this love story evolves and thier joys and sorrows. That’s what makes it good.
It’s because it’s gotten “standard”. I mean no offence but LGBTQ, transgender, disabled and I’m sorry but also black people have just all become boxes that have to be ticked off in order for a movie to be acceptable lately. And don’t get me wrong I really don’t mind any of these to be shown in a movie but lately it just feels like they have to be in or it’s not “correct”. I remember watching this movie “Strange World” with my kids. It has a mixed race family, a gay son, a dog with only 3 legs and at… Read more »
It’s really sad that you have to keep apologizing for writing such an obvious thing. Otherwise you’d be “toxic” and get canceled.
Yes, thank you! I was actually surprised seeing 10 upvotes. I was mentally prepared for some serious backlash 😅
Even when you’re being patted on the back you still have to be the victims. Will no one thing of the poor straight people? Always getting “canceled” even when you’re not?
Congrats, this is the world you have been creating.
Enjoy the result.
There may be some media out there like you described, but there is also a lot of stuff that works stuff in subtly or casually. It really is important to have media with representation*, so that people can feel seen.
*I’m not saying it has to include everything all at once like you described for Strange World, just that it exists across the span of media. And isn’t some “token” inclusion, but feels natural for the story.
yes! As said I really don’t mind seeing a gay relationship. It just feels odd when the main characters of a show happen to be mixed race lesbians in a wheelchair with a blind cat. Just work em in. Have the lead be gay, fine and then someone at work who happens to come in with some message be in a wheelchair to also show that they can function in a regular job. But how they are doing things lately it just feels pushed. But the same goes with a lot of things. Like commercials. Commercials for laundry detergent now… Read more »
As a queer disabled woman – with all the best sympathy in the world as to why – you’re wrong. There are a LOT of people out there in reality who have two, three, four, any number of different traits that are considered vulnerable or minority in our society. People exist across the gamut of all combinations of size, colour, abilities, sexuality, culture and faith. And our stories matter too. We’re just not as often successful enough to make media vs how many of us exist in reality. So I appreciate that it isn’t necessarily representative of the real world… Read more »
I had the same feeling with Strange World. I actually liked the movie, but the thing with the representation (which was worse than you described, if you include the other characters in the movie) felt too artificial to me too and it actually distracted me a little.
It is called “tokenism” and has been a problem since the 70’s, really. (I mean, it is why the single black kid in South Park is called ‘Token’). And you’re talking about what the feeling really is. If we shoehorn people into demographics just to sell a show, movie, or book it diminishes the actual people who are that demographic. it makes ALL attempts to add people to representation seem trite and reduces people who are represented by these token characters to less than the main character. The biggest issue that a bunch of us who work with this stuff… Read more »
I always thought his name was Tolkein… 😉
Apparantly it turns out later that it is.
I actually didn’t know that word. Googled it. Always up for learning more 🙂
Ben being a man fits the comic more because it would feel different if it was a woman police officer. In this way, Ben gets to appear in a more protective role(because we still have internal biases about this stuff).
There’s a difference between representation/diversity, and pandering. Sadly the studio execs don’t know the difference, but the viewers can, and it just hurts the cause for equality _because_ it feels so forced and stuffed down your throat.
Even the slightest representation gets seen as excessive by people who are used to only seeing themselves on the screen. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-think-minority-groups-are-bigger-than-they-really-are/ I’m sure it does FEEL like “they’ve just gotta please certain people“. I wonder who you think the certain people are. The people who installed this idea in your head say they’re Jews, but you’re not supposed to think that. Yet. If you feel mad right now, I hope it’s at the people who are exploiting your feelings in order to promote bigotry. And yes there exists checklist-inclusion and tokenism. You know who speaks out about it? The people… Read more »
I’d argue the opposite conclusion : since the actual number of “minority populations” is way smaller than perceived, why should they be over represented in every piece of media ? Which is kind of the push we are seeing with any project lacking “proper representation” being criticized, like recently, what happened to Black Myth Wukong, as dumb as it sound (yes, in a game where you play a Monkey helped by a pigman, fighting various creatures like rats, frogs, spiders, bulls and so on, people managed to complain about a lack of representation…). Or historical figures raceswapped…just because ? Let’s… Read more »
I’m going to throw some non-random numbers at you: 59% of the US identifies as white. An analysis of the top 25 highest-reaching direct-to-streaming and top 25 highest-reaching linear TV premiere episodes released between January 1 and May 1 of 2024 shows that 61% of the leads were white. So if any group is being over-represented… sounds like it’s still white people.
Fair enough, I had no actual number in mind, which is why I went totally random, and it is interesting to have actual meaningful numbers in the discussion. Honestly, I was even expecting the real numbers to be even more disproportionate, 2% feels like a pretty close margin. That being said, I was mostly being an ass and making a point to that other person being quite disagreeable, not the smartest thing I have done, it’s been a bad day. All in all, my actual POV is similar to the first comment of this chain, I simply absolutely disagree with… Read more »
Right. So be mad at the executives who are trying to use real people and real problems to profit from it, not the minorities.
Which is exactly my stance, I never had any issue with minorities, nor do I have any now.
I have issues with individuals, and executive decisions, and with using said checkboxes as a shield against criticism and insulting your audience.
And also with the other side of this issue, with actual racists derailing the real and genuine conversations or complaints that should be happening with their distasteful rant and deranged conspiracy theory.
I understand the idea of “checkboxes” needing to be ticked sounds like some sort of false, unnatural approach more like bookkeeping than creative development. But consider that media, as a whole, has been extremely white for a long time. It’s been the default setting. And so during this period of transition we find ourselves in now, where we’re all trying to bring a little more balance to the table, some writers/casting directors might need a checklist/memo of sorts, simply to remind themselves not to let their brains coast on the default setting we’ve lived with for so long. Can it… Read more »
That is also very fair, these conversations need to happen, sadly, as I said in other comments, there are both tendencies to overcorrect but ALSO overreact to anything looking even remotely “woke” (oh, how I dislike this term and the way it is used ^^). Too often these conversations are derailed or started in bad faith, which makes it comforting that the comment here and your overall audience seems more level headed about it. And of course, there is the whole issue of big companies trying to appeal and pander to one “side” or the other to make a buck… Read more »
It’s unfortunately easier to come across as arguing “in bad faith” when you’re on the kicked-down side of the equation, and spend more of your time trying to convince people that the inequalities involved actually exist and matter than managing any sensible discussion of how to then adjust and improve on the situation! Members of a given minority under discussion tend to be more frustrated with the experience and then get misread as hostile. But it’s always worth listening to those voices, and the more that people listen and include us in the conversations, the calmer we can be.
Not to mention what characters play which roles. It is still disproportionate the types of roles people of color and people of the LGBTQ population play some nefarious or evil or “bad”character.
Yep! *Appropriate* balances in representation also matter.
Okay shall I just ask then if we are actually seeing all races represented “equally” (according to “people who identify as”)? Should we start counting how many female actors VS male actors there are in each movie. Then also add in the disabled and the LGBTQ and whatever else someone can come up with next. I had to tell my kids recently: just cuz one of you goes to a birthday party of a classmate doesn’t mean that we have to take the other one to a playground “cuz otherwise it’s not fair they have to stay home”. You might… Read more »
Again, you’re giving off the occasional dogwhistle here – “what someone can come up with next” is NOT an appropriate way to discuss groups of people who have both existed and been near permanently marginised for several thousands of years. The childish playground comparison is also inappropriate given the comparison you’re making is to people’s right to appear in media as valid real members of humanity. This representation is so important because it has a knock-on effect (due to how it impacts public sentiment) across all other aspects of our existence – equal pay, healthcare, life. Disabled people especially have… Read more »
Adding onto what Tim said, I think as consumers we all need to realise that the pendulum has to swing the other way before it normalises in the centre. We’ve had under-representation for decades and we still have it in most areas and along most lines. To actually normalise stories with proper IRL diversity inherent in them in a natural way, we have to keep intentionally pushing for their focus more while they’re still under-funded, under-sold and under-focused.
We shouldn’t downvote this user – they’re absolutely right. The OP comment read to me like someone who hasn’t yet unpacked how much the world still caters for their demographic over all others, both in what gets greenlit and in who is able to push through the barriers to create it all. Change is always uncomfortable for those with the unfair share. It seems like the OP was discomfitted by seeing people unlike them on their screens so frequently nowadays but hasn’t properly considered that, for the majority of us, this was the default experience in media all our lives… Read more »
helps that both have depth of character, and not token ones being gays for sake of being gays
The most wholesome twist ^__^ be still my heart
Gotta second that “dont kill Ben off” please Tim
Christmas has officially just happened.
Oh no. There’s still one comic day left this week, and the volume’s name is “Secrets”, and if we’ve learned anything from past arc names, it’s never about who or what we think it’s about, is it?
What’s Ben hiding?
Love! 😅
Optimisticly: Ben’s secret was that he knew the whole time, as already revealed.
I think the double meaning is more about what Ethan is up to. Lucas has no idea he’s putting his life at risk, and he probably wouldn’t approve.
A blood red costume and loads of guns in his closet.
FAR more likely that he’s part of the Troll’s army than Deathblood at this point, he doesn’t have the build for it.
I hope he’s neither though, but I also hope that we’re not seeing the end of CAD 2.0 with Ethan’s death, finding out his superpower actually is gone, and Lucas finding a bittersweet “happily ever after”.
For two weeks I have been afraid that Tim would crush Lucas heart (and mine as well) but now I’m have tears for a different reason…
Is someone cutting onions near you? Definitely onions. Yup. 🥹
Well since this wasn’t the cliffhanger, who wants to bet “Oh no Ethan is bleeding out after a heroic sacrifice, will he live?!?” is coming.
Since Ethan is a main character (the title is Analog and D-Pad, unlike the Starcaster Chronicles, which, even if Cort dies, could continue – I think Tim said something to that effect, too), I’m pretty sure Ethan still has his respawning power. Maybe it will not kick in immediately after he dies or something, but it is there.
Awwwwwww
That’s exactly what was going through my mind. 😊
I’ve been reading your work since Ethan was periodically stabbed by ninjas (just realizing now that the respawn power has been Ethan superpower since the beginning and ninjas his nemesis).
This story arc is my favorite story in all CAD.
Good to see Lucas in a healthy relationship for once.
Thank you !
Like alot are saying here: Please don’t kill Ben, pretty please don’t.
My friend, this is the perfect Greek tragedy lining up.
I’m along for the ride on this one. What if there is a long arc here that turns our hero into a villain after losing the love of his life only to be saved in the end by of all people Ethan?
Don’t ask the artist to save your feelings, let him tell his tale, for good or ill.
(personally I think there is something else planned)
I would like the trope / mold/ cliche, for this specific relationship and these comic characters, to be broken.
Just let Lucas and Ben have their solid foundation. Bad shit can happen, sure, but just let face it together and come out stronger. It’s well written, well established….
This is the Way.
Oh boy… last time I had tears in my eyes from reading a webcomic was…
let me count…
never.
Literally.
Yay!!!
(Please don’t kill off Ben.)
Let’s just hope he’s not some NY teen’s Uncle Ben, as that would not end well…
something tells me this is a daydream/dream and not real
No. Don’t you dare, Cedric, don’t you dare! My poor heart wouldn’t be able to take it!
Lol
and now….to the fridge with you
Oh I can see it now, Ben ends up dying because Ethan hesitates to throw himself in between Ben and a bullet or something because Ethan isnt sure if hes immortal or not, and that hesitation is enough for Ben to take the bullet and succumb to it. Near immediately afterwards Ethan dies and respawns.
“As for your irresponsible friend in the cape, on the other hand…”
Presumably Ben’s been able to figure out both of them, right?
They never met (I’m pretty sure of that, also Lucas stated that, when he and Ethan argued about what Ethan thought was him taking up the cape again, and Lucas saw as his relationship with Ben, “You’ve never even met Ben!”, here https://cad-comic.com/comic/secrets-p16/ ).
So unless Ben looked him up (which is possible, Lucas and Ethan co-own their gaming store, he wouldn’t probably be too hard to find out about, starting with knowing Lucas), he might not know about him.
OMG <3 I’m Crying <3 This is wonderful <3
Yesssssssssss
Ben [low whisper]: Hail Hydra…
in the nicest way possible, screw you
That went SHOCKINGLY well for this comic.
This was wonderful. Nicely done, Tim.
Man that tugs all the heartstrings. Well done!
Awwww
My take on this is that Ben doesn’t actually have feelings for Lucas and is just working undercover to dig up dirt on the two vigilante heroes..
Check him for a wire, Lucas! ;p
Ben is the paladin that one should strive to be.
That is the ideal Lawful Good right there.
Officially my favorite character in this comic, effective immediately.
no people don’t show Tim we care! If we get emotionally connected he’ll kill him for sure! 😭
Been avidly checking daily for this story to unravel, I was really hoping for something like this.
Thank you. So wholesome.
waiting for the moment this all ruined by the end of chapter twist… god damn troll is Ben
When you beat a game with multiple possible endings and get the best ending on the first try.
Just so happy for them!!! After the disaster of a relationship Ethan lived through in this universe and then the fallout of with Zeke, it feels like an overdue reward for us as readers and them as characters.
Awwwwwwww
I’ve followed this comic for years. I think this is one of the most meaningful and beautiful pages you’ve done, Tim. It made me tear up. Thank you for this storyline. It’s so sweet.
I know this is usually a huge death/fridge flag in the superhero genre of comics, but holy crap I’m going to enjoy it for the time being. Thank you.
Aww, so sweet. I was not expecting this at all.
Bravo! I’m glad you addressed this situation in a mature manner, and I appreciate all the story so far. Thank you Tim!
He’s just so damn wholesome! A walking green flag of a man. Lucas lucked out with this one…
And that just makes me veeeeeeeery worried about his fate
I’m a little concerned that the entire reason Ben was made as a police officer in the first place, is so he there’s a justifiable excuse to get him killed….
Aww this is sweet. Thank you for this Tim.
No one’s cutting onion, but why are my eyes leaking.
Awwwwwwwww 😀 😀 😀
❤️❤️ Yes!! 😁✊
From the side Ben looks like Ethan with a mustache.
time to aladin this shit up and go on a magic arrow ride! then maybe a mustache ride… we will see where it goes.
Do not, and I mean, do NOT kill this man off!!! Lucas has been overdue for some happiness of his own and it’s literally in his hands by this shield-wearing badass! We have enough tragedy as it is.
Awwwwww
squeeeee!
I STILL don’t trust him. He knew the whole time, thought he just wanted a casual relationship, and still took actions I find manipulative to get more out of him.
You don’t cook breakfast for a one night stand, hell you don’t do half the shit this guy does for a God damn fling. He’s playing the cop game. He’s trying to figure out their whole operation before striking.
Hackles still fully up. ACAB