Our Kickstarter for the Volume 2 set is trucking along; we’ve passed another stretch goal adding 4 extra pages to the Analog and D-Pad book which will include a look at Omnitropolis, the role of super heroes in the city and some of the rules and hierarchy involved!
You’d think I’d have my hands full with one Kickstarter, but I’m a glutton for punishment I guess, because I’m also currently gauging interest for a softcover reprint of the giant 3-volume CAD 1.0 Omnibus!
I get asked a lot about reprinting it, and as crazy as this sounds… the best time to do it would be in combination with another printing project. I could have all the books made and shipped at once, and try to save people money with some combined shipping and such.
But first I need to see if there are enough people out there that missed these books back in 2015, and still want them. To keep costs down, we’d do softcovers, no slipcase, just the books reprinted.
I’ve got a poll running, and if you wanted this set of books, all you’ve got to do is drop a vote into the bucket so I can see what kind of demand there is
Smooth, Lucas.
He knows.
Someone is building bridges here.
Goddang Ben, you are smooth as silk.
I quite literally cackled reading this comic, not going to lie. 😅
To be fair, this level of awkwardness is about normal for gay couples talking about feelings.
It’s just couples. It’s normal for couples.
Having been in both, there is definitely more awkwardness in the gay couple conversations.
I think it largely stems from a relative lack of examples in media and culture for a long time. There’s plenty of examples of straight couples in media talking through their feelings and so people can unconsciously mimic what they’ve seen. There’s far fewer examples of that for gay couples, so you go in without that baseline for behavior.
I also strive to be so politically correct that I circle back around to being bigoted. There are differences between gay and straight relationships, and there’s nothing wrong with someone acknowledging one of those differences: gay couples have much worse representation in media, and it typically causes them to run into awkwardness like this much more often, because they feel they don’t have a well-established relationship standard modeled in their head that they can fall back on. Believe it or not, MM and FF relationships often have differences in their dynamics compared to FM relationships. Wild concept, I know. I’m… Read more »
“Someday we’ll look back on this and laugh, then nervously change the subject.”
Oh wait, we’re already there!
misread this as “nervously charge the suspect” for a second
Both can (but hopefully not!) be correct. 😅
A certain Alfred H. just lost his crown as the master of
I love this; I’m *95%* sure Ben is using subtext to say “I know you saved that girl’s life and I’m grateful, so I’m going to pretend I don’t know what that arrow was. Plausible deniability.”
And I’m 50% sure the next thing he says will be “On an unrelated note; unregistered vigilante superheroes, eh?” or something like that 😝
That is what I figure, but Lucas will go into a little too much detail while Ben tries to start a new conversation…
“by the way, you ever seen the paperwork for hero registration? I grabbed some cause it gets kinda funny”
Yeah, if he didn’t know, or at least suspect, he probably wouldn’t have mentioned the flash of light. Lucas is so nervous he’s basically just giving himself away to the guy trained in observing suspicious human behavior, though. I am going with “Oh, this is why you have been being weird, I totally see why you wanted things casual, and unless there is a real problem where I have to interfere, I will let you upend your own life on your own terms in your own time. Not going to push you to talk about things you aren’t ready to.… Read more »
That would be painfully sad. Not enjoyable at all.
I want Lucas to be happy, at least let them be in a good state for a bit…
Also Ben might be a good device to introduce them to a plot arch by letting something he heard at the precinct “slip” (totally not on purpose)
Maybe he truly doesn’t know? How often do you see big arrows of light blocking a car for just a second? He might not have seen more than a flash, or think his mind played tricks on him with the arrow shape, if he saw it at all in the sudden, chaotic situation. I think he suspects a hero thing, though he might not have the information to track down that it is a D-Pad signature. Lucas is exhibiting weird behaviour, though Ben can just as likely think Lucas is bad with such situations. Lucas saw a kid nearly die,… Read more »
I’m rather thinking that Ben doesn’t want to raise the subject. He knows that something is off, he probably have a very high suspicion that Lucas did it, but since Lucas opened up so candidly and he likes him, he does not want to raise the subject. So he’s as evasive as possible, hoping it won’t backfire any time soon.
(Of course it won’t 😏)
“Look, I know you’re giving me an out, but it’ll be a lot easier if I just admit that I’m an unregistered Super and that arrow was my power.”
Come on. Say it. You’ll save yourself a LOT of stress.
And end the drama of the story we are reading. 🙂
For all his advice to Ethan on how to play it cool, this is a train wreck of playing it cool.
But then, I guess there’s something positive to say about people who suck at lying: it’s not in their programming to deceive people.
He knows, seems like he’s one of the good ones though.
What a couple of goobers
Genius. Both know what happens, both knows the other know, but none will speak, because they don’t want to ruin the thing they have there.
So cute.
A delicious application of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell if I’ve ever seen one.
While I get you, I think gay folks wouldn’t appreciate the phrase.
I am Gay, and i am ok with it.
Gay folk has spoken.
Thank you for the awareness there! I did get through the Army ’03-’07 as a closeted bisexual medic. The military’s ban on open homosexuality was rough for a lot of good soldiers. Lots of old blood getting to vent whatever hate they wanted day and night with no repercussions. DADT was the protection for us that basically said it was okay to be gay, just stay off the dang radar. So we’d treat patients, and refer to counseling, and have to manage support groups; SPC Whatshisface would have his friend over to the barracks overnight but totally not his boyfriend,… Read more »
I may regret this later in the story, but I feel like I’m on team Ben at this point. I think he knows, and I think he’s choosing not to say a thing.
He’s probably going to be a little hurt that Lucas doesn’t share the secret identity thing, but he straight-up SAW Lucas save a life with that arrow, and if he’s worth the badge he wears that means more to him than any legal technicalities.
I think it’s a “game” of you-know-I-know-you-know. Since they aren’t actuallty on the opposite sides (being parts of the same relationship and all), there aren’t any, well, teams/sides to pick.
Lucas might have caught that Ben figured it out, but isn’t going to push it (with the “flash” comment), letting Lucas admit to being a super if or when he is ready to.
Or maybe he will, when he gets to calm down and collect his thoughts.
Not only that, but it was Lucas’s instinctual reaction that saved a life, without consideration for being exposed, that tells Ben a ton about Lucas’s character. Imagine having the opportunity to save a life but not doing so because of the risk of being exposed.
You think he knows?
The suspense is terrible. I hope it’ll last.
You’re a horrible person for saying that and I am also a horrible person for very much hoping it lasts as well. 😅
In sing-song voice:
“Somebody knows a secret.”
He’s gonna tell hiiiiiiiiiim
Ben’s Next Line:
“They’re gonna have to repaint the ARROWS on that street though…”
I do have to wonder. In this specific instance, even if it were absolutely clear that Lucas had a superpower he used to save the kid… _That_ couldn’t possibly be considered an illegal act anymore than it would be for someone standing closer to grab the girl and pull her out of the way. There was no unofficial pursuit, restraint, engagement, or detainment of a suspect. No acting on behalf of official authority figures. Sure if the exact power could be matched to someone wanted for questioning about off the books superhero activities, that would be another thing, but in… Read more »
Subtle
I actually can’t tell if he knows or not. Well done on that.
Welcome to tonight’s Jeopardy!
Your first answer: “Thank goodness for whatever that flash of light was.”
*buzz*
“Yeah… whatever that was.”
*MEEEEEEEEEEEEP* Wrong question!
The correct one would have been: “A flash of WHAT?!”
Congratulations! You just jeopardized your conversation.
(My brain does funny things on Saturday morning)
Tim has become such a talented writer and story teller over the years. These characters and their interactions are so believable.
We got a keeper here!