“He may be a meatbag, but he’s MY meatbag.” – Zeke, probably
Quedzadrake
21 days ago
Now that puts a smile on my face.
HeroStevyn
21 days ago
Didn’t see this one coming. I like it!
Nsimic
21 days ago
Zeeeeeke!!!
So happy to see him
Nightdagger
21 days ago
Oh. Oh shit.
JozMk.II
21 days ago
Aaaaand that’s something I didn’t expect in the slightest. Not one bit. Haha, I bet Tim was privately smirking at all our wrong predictions of what would happen next. And even though it’s probably in vain, I’m going to try again! There’s gonna be an emotional moment where Ethan is collapsed on the floor, Zeke knelt down over him. Ethan will confess that he may not respawn this time, and Zeke will slowly realize the heavy gravity of the situation. It’ll be an emotional moment, bonding the heroes in dread, uncertainty, and sorrow, as Ethan slowly passes out and dies.… Read more »
I’m thinking it’ll trend towards your prediction, but the lightning based heroine will see her fellow hero with a pipe stuck through his gut and Zeke standing over him and misread the situation and attack Zeke.
Kefka1986
21 days ago
This was the BEST Christmas present ever 😭👍🏻
GUNnibal
21 days ago
And now I’m suddenly reminded of what happened to a certain penguin who had hurt Ethan 1.0 in front of Zeke 1.0.
Not sure whether this is correct (replacing “machine” with Zeke), or should this be “Zeke ex Machina”, so meaning would be that Zeke is the “intervening element” that affects the plot…
Well, Zeke IS a machine.
I therefore propose:
Machina ex Umbra
Machina ex Aether
Or Machina ex Machina, to keep the phraseology close to the original
trope.
Daniel
21 days ago
Well, this is very cool.
But… How?
This hanger is closed. Did he just waltz in and climb the platform, while everyone was distracted by their own fights?
Also, I would like to remind the crowd that:
1. Zeke probably don’t know about the serum thing.
2. Has no moral problems with killing, so it’s probably the most danger the Troll been in so far.
I think Zeke has dabbled as a vigilante to try and understand why Ethan cares about him and other people. What is the other hero doing at the moment, anyway?
Lucas? Last we have seen he was knocked out by Elijah.
GameBoy? Probably has to run up there, and wouldn’t make it in time to pause Troll/Ethan/both.
And there might be a limit to how many objects he can pause, or a strain of keeping them all paused – and Elijah and the tank have the higher priority in this case, all things considered (well, on a coldly logical level from the comfort of my chair, it’s possible for GameBoy to not think it through and act on different priorities).
chasing black hat. he had the real detonator and can ghost through walls. she was told to go after him because she is the only one who might be able to catch him, given the power sets of gameboy and d-pad are powers he could just ghost away from. if she has a energy attack or method of stopping him, or can call in a registered hero who can, she can use it, cause if that bomb unpauses he just has to push the button and boom
Zeke is a robot ninja, of course he comes out of nowhere. 😉
About your points:
1) Fair, no idea where it will go. I think one option is Zeke killing Ethan as painlessly as they can, and expecting him to respawn.
2) I wouldn’t exactly cry if Zeke killed Troll.
Right? At this point I’m just waiting for the shark to stop jumping around and land the KB.
Risky
21 days ago
Deus machinā
Groober
21 days ago
Deus ex machina. Perfect. ❤️
Verdiekus
21 days ago
Zeeeekkeeee!!! So did not see that coming but am super stoked about it! Well done Tim! Caught us all by surprise in a good way.
Crestlinger
21 days ago
So now Does Zeke (knowing about the respawn thing, but not knowing recent stuff) finish Ethan off swiftly to halt the pain, or keep him around to heal on his own. Either way keep thunder thighs AWAY from him.
Oh. Yeah, that’s an option. Does the Thunder hero (I forgot her name) know about Ethan’s respawn power? If not, she might return from wherever she is off to (chasing Blackhat?), see Zeke killing Ethan and assume they are working with the Troll, or at least are another supervillain.
Ben Dutchman
21 days ago
Someone call an optometrist because I did NOT see that coming
Soeroah
21 days ago
Some people don’t like when you can’t predict a twist
I am not one of those people
This made me very happy. I love that no one guessed this (publicly, at least). Well done, and yaaaay
Marty
21 days ago
Bravo Tim, great story line. True comic book hero entrance of Zeke.
Yeah but it removes yhe “ultimatum” people were talking about where he has to die before he falls in the vat. Plus its still in him. Its been a few seconds at best, he wont have lost a lot of blood, the pipe is holding it in, and you forgot the most important thing. This ain’t that kind of comic. Either his powers never didnt work, or he survives this injury. I dont think theres much point in killing him permanently, seeing as hes 1 THE main character, and 2 the comic is named after him. Im not sure why… Read more »
interesting statistic time:
As of me posting this, there are twelve comments referring to zeke by pronouns. One comment uses “they”, nine comments use “he”, and two (counting this one) use both.
‘Course, people forget things. I forgot at first too, whilst recapping today’s page to a friend.
As one of the people who used “he”, I feel called out, so:
I try to use “they”, because Zeke is effectively genderless and prefers it (as far as I know), but I guess in my mind they are male-ish, and if I don’t focus on it, I might unintentionally default to “he”. Hence the use of both pronouns in my earlier comment.
Andhaka
20 days ago
This I did not expect. Nice twist!
CuriousCat
20 days ago
I went back and looked; there were three figures on the floor (p14) so Zeke might have been here already as part of the Troll’s group.
They are distinctively non-human though. Unless they wore a mask of one of Troll’s followers (and full-body covering clothes), then it probably could work.
Solokov
20 days ago
The troll: Does anyone else hear boss music in latin?
Halosty
20 days ago
I feel like Ethan would have normally respawned by now. I still think his powers probably work, because even if the troll somehow managed a temporary power suppression goop (unlikely, his power is being green and maybe strong, not a supergenius) I doubt it would be permanent. I think it’s more likely a psychological limitation. It hurts, so normally he reflexively respawns when things get bad. Now that he thinks he can’t, he’s the one making it not activate yet. This might mean he can also delay it in the future if it makes sense (to get people to shoot… Read more »
You’re overthinking it. Ethan has to die to respawn. He hasn’t died yet. Therefore he has not respawned yet, if he still can.
We’ve seen this before, in the episode where the bomb in Zeke’s head went off. Zeke breaks Ethan’s neck (or otherwise severely injures him) but Ethan doesn’t die. He’s stuck lying on the floor twitching, unable to talk or move. Lucas has to kill Ethan with an arrow so Ethan can respawn.
Cmd1095
20 days ago
Well this is unexpected but super welcome, alright lets go Zeke what are you planning?
Also love how that revelation about Ethan’s deaths is still affecting him so deeply that he quotes it like this.
CTOWNS
20 days ago
WHOO nobody saw Zeke coming!
I’m gonna remind everyone that Zeke 2.0 displays an emotional state in the from of eye LED color. Full red can’t be a good sign for Troll.
Hotair
20 days ago
Omg omg omg! I did not see this one coming!
Rikunda
20 days ago
Now that Zeek is back… I think his powers really are gone.
You know you have presence when the Troll is at a loss for words.
some guy
20 days ago
I LOVE this twist! Zeke, buddy – it’s been to long. And what a perfect timing it was.
Now if something very bad was to happen to the Troll… I don’t think most of us would very much mind. Although I can imagine Ethan trying to stop Zeke and making a lecture about not killing even the worst kind of people like the Troll.
Damri
20 days ago
Deus ex machina!
MercuryGreen
20 days ago
He’s got a bar through his guts – and Zeke just stopped him from diving into the sludge.
It’s not exactly clear whose side Zeke is on…
James Rye
20 days ago
No one expected Zeke. What a twist. Also Zeke having more morals than the Troll. Zeke joining the ranks of vigilantes of this city with his own moral code and sense of Justice would be pretty cool.
There’s still a risk of the Thunder heroine returning, seeing Zeke kill Ethan (so he can respawn) and attacking them (if she doesn’t know about Ethan’s respawn powers), which might make them backslide. I hope it doesn’t happen. The backslide part, at least. (or at least not permanently – though I think it would also effectively waste Zeke’s character development until now)
24
Now THAT’S a twist I don’t anybody predicted! Woo!
I actually forgot Zeke existed… Damn what a great twist.
I’m trying to remember when he even last appeared. Guess I have to go scan the archives now.
Edit: June 2024. How time flies.
No way it is that long! :O
+ For real! :O
Such an unpredicted… and very fulfilling twist!!!
Out of all the possible outcomes, this one was nowhere on the list for me. I fcking love it.
“He may be a meatbag, but he’s MY meatbag.” – Zeke, probably
Now that puts a smile on my face.
Didn’t see this one coming. I like it!
Zeeeeeke!!!
So happy to see him
Oh. Oh shit.
Aaaaand that’s something I didn’t expect in the slightest. Not one bit. Haha, I bet Tim was privately smirking at all our wrong predictions of what would happen next. And even though it’s probably in vain, I’m going to try again! There’s gonna be an emotional moment where Ethan is collapsed on the floor, Zeke knelt down over him. Ethan will confess that he may not respawn this time, and Zeke will slowly realize the heavy gravity of the situation. It’ll be an emotional moment, bonding the heroes in dread, uncertainty, and sorrow, as Ethan slowly passes out and dies.… Read more »
I’m thinking it’ll trend towards your prediction, but the lightning based heroine will see her fellow hero with a pipe stuck through his gut and Zeke standing over him and misread the situation and attack Zeke.
This was the BEST Christmas present ever 😭👍🏻
And now I’m suddenly reminded of what happened to a certain penguin who had hurt Ethan 1.0 in front of Zeke 1.0.
Never did get resolution on the Ted storyline did we?
Deadpool (2016)
The Recruiter: This will not end well for me.
Deadpool: This will not end well for you.
I was forgetting there was another player in this game indeed.
O M G
Deus ex Zeke! <3
Not sure whether this is correct (replacing “machine” with Zeke), or should this be “Zeke ex Machina”, so meaning would be that Zeke is the “intervening element” that affects the plot…
God from (or out of) the Zeke.
Zeke from (or out of) the machine.
Seems like it works either way, or just Deus Zeke (God by means of Zeke)
Well, Zeke IS a machine.
I therefore propose:
Machina ex Umbra
Machina ex Aether
Or Machina ex Machina, to keep the phraseology close to the original
trope.
Well, this is very cool.
But… How?
This hanger is closed. Did he just waltz in and climb the platform, while everyone was distracted by their own fights?
Also, I would like to remind the crowd that:
1. Zeke probably don’t know about the serum thing.
2. Has no moral problems with killing, so it’s probably the most danger the Troll been in so far.
I think Zeke has dabbled as a vigilante to try and understand why Ethan cares about him and other people. What is the other hero doing at the moment, anyway?
Lucas? Last we have seen he was knocked out by Elijah.
GameBoy? Probably has to run up there, and wouldn’t make it in time to pause Troll/Ethan/both.
And there might be a limit to how many objects he can pause, or a strain of keeping them all paused – and Elijah and the tank have the higher priority in this case, all things considered (well, on a coldly logical level from the comfort of my chair, it’s possible for GameBoy to not think it through and act on different priorities).
No, Lady Thor. Last we saw she was chasing Black Hat.
chasing black hat. he had the real detonator and can ghost through walls. she was told to go after him because she is the only one who might be able to catch him, given the power sets of gameboy and d-pad are powers he could just ghost away from. if she has a energy attack or method of stopping him, or can call in a registered hero who can, she can use it, cause if that bomb unpauses he just has to push the button and boom
Zeke is a robot ninja, of course he comes out of nowhere. 😉
About your points:
1) Fair, no idea where it will go. I think one option is Zeke killing Ethan as painlessly as they can, and expecting him to respawn.
2) I wouldn’t exactly cry if Zeke killed Troll.
He may be one of the very few who could kill troll. 👀
Right? At this point I’m just waiting for the shark to stop jumping around and land the KB.
Deus machinā
Deus ex machina. Perfect. ❤️
Zeeeekkeeee!!! So did not see that coming but am super stoked about it! Well done Tim! Caught us all by surprise in a good way.
So now Does Zeke (knowing about the respawn thing, but not knowing recent stuff) finish Ethan off swiftly to halt the pain, or keep him around to heal on his own. Either way keep thunder thighs AWAY from him.
Oh. Yeah, that’s an option. Does the Thunder hero (I forgot her name) know about Ethan’s respawn power? If not, she might return from wherever she is off to (chasing Blackhat?), see Zeke killing Ethan and assume they are working with the Troll, or at least are another supervillain.
Someone call an optometrist because I did NOT see that coming
Some people don’t like when you can’t predict a twist
I am not one of those people
This made me very happy. I love that no one guessed this (publicly, at least). Well done, and yaaaay
Bravo Tim, great story line. True comic book hero entrance of Zeke.
Just when the fight was going really badly..
nice
“Troll you’ve dun goofed”
yeah only zeke gets to torment ethan and kill him! 😛
Tim you brilliant bugger….
Well done.
Temu HK-47 enters the fray.
Tim you absolute legend!
While this is a cool twist….he’s basically dead either way….
You don’t survive an iron rod being rammed through your spine without pretty much immediate medical treatment, and even then your chances are low.
He was still placing weight on his legs with the rod through him which must mean his spine is intact.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted for this. You’re right. Ethan’s injury is lethal regardless of if he goes for a chemical bath or not.
Yeah but it removes yhe “ultimatum” people were talking about where he has to die before he falls in the vat. Plus its still in him. Its been a few seconds at best, he wont have lost a lot of blood, the pipe is holding it in, and you forgot the most important thing. This ain’t that kind of comic. Either his powers never didnt work, or he survives this injury. I dont think theres much point in killing him permanently, seeing as hes 1 THE main character, and 2 the comic is named after him. Im not sure why… Read more »
I mean I was expecting him to die and respawn.
If he stays like THIS, even if he survives….then what? He’d be paralyzed, at best.
I’m not really sure if it matters if he hits the goo before he dies, other than it would probably hurt a lot.
Dying seems to reverse any sort of injuries, I’d assume that would include goo-related ones.
Did not see that coming.
not gonna lie i just went back through every page to see if zeke was watching or in the background and i did NOT spot him
ZEEEK! Awesomeness here
What a twist!
As awsome as this is, i DO hope we get some kind of explanation as to how and why Zeke is here at this moment 😛
Well.. guess he probably saw the Troll’s message and followed it H’uh? That’d make sense. Wasn’t exactly a private message was it?
Oh man, this would be the part where, if this was a movie in theaters, the audience would go nuts!
YAAAAAAY~!
DESTROYING YOU IS MY ANTI-DRUG!!
:O !!!!! and his first lines are so cute <3
Almost never comment on here but just wanted to say this is one of my favorite comics ever. Awesome surprise.
I must assume Zeke was hiding in the rafters this whole time. He (they?) *is/are* a ninja after all.
Zeke seems to prefer “they”, yeah 🙂 eeee I’m so happy for this page!!
interesting statistic time:
As of me posting this, there are twelve comments referring to zeke by pronouns. One comment uses “they”, nine comments use “he”, and two (counting this one) use both.
‘Course, people forget things. I forgot at first too, whilst recapping today’s page to a friend.
As one of the people who used “he”, I feel called out, so:
I try to use “they”, because Zeke is effectively genderless and prefers it (as far as I know), but I guess in my mind they are male-ish, and if I don’t focus on it, I might unintentionally default to “he”. Hence the use of both pronouns in my earlier comment.
This I did not expect. Nice twist!
I went back and looked; there were three figures on the floor (p14) so Zeke might have been here already as part of the Troll’s group.
They are distinctively non-human though. Unless they wore a mask of one of Troll’s followers (and full-body covering clothes), then it probably could work.
The troll: Does anyone else hear boss music in latin?
I feel like Ethan would have normally respawned by now. I still think his powers probably work, because even if the troll somehow managed a temporary power suppression goop (unlikely, his power is being green and maybe strong, not a supergenius) I doubt it would be permanent. I think it’s more likely a psychological limitation. It hurts, so normally he reflexively respawns when things get bad. Now that he thinks he can’t, he’s the one making it not activate yet. This might mean he can also delay it in the future if it makes sense (to get people to shoot… Read more »
You’re overthinking it. Ethan has to die to respawn. He hasn’t died yet. Therefore he has not respawned yet, if he still can.
We’ve seen this before, in the episode where the bomb in Zeke’s head went off. Zeke breaks Ethan’s neck (or otherwise severely injures him) but Ethan doesn’t die. He’s stuck lying on the floor twitching, unable to talk or move. Lucas has to kill Ethan with an arrow so Ethan can respawn.
Well this is unexpected but super welcome, alright lets go Zeke what are you planning?
Also love how that revelation about Ethan’s deaths is still affecting him so deeply that he quotes it like this.
WHOO nobody saw Zeke coming!
I’m gonna remind everyone that Zeke 2.0 displays an emotional state in the from of eye LED color. Full red can’t be a good sign for Troll.
Omg omg omg! I did not see this one coming!
Now that Zeek is back… I think his powers really are gone.
Zeke*
You know you have presence when the Troll is at a loss for words.
I LOVE this twist! Zeke, buddy – it’s been to long. And what a perfect timing it was.
Now if something very bad was to happen to the Troll… I don’t think most of us would very much mind. Although I can imagine Ethan trying to stop Zeke and making a lecture about not killing even the worst kind of people like the Troll.
Deus ex machina!
He’s got a bar through his guts – and Zeke just stopped him from diving into the sludge.
It’s not exactly clear whose side Zeke is on…
No one expected Zeke. What a twist. Also Zeke having more morals than the Troll. Zeke joining the ranks of vigilantes of this city with his own moral code and sense of Justice would be pretty cool.
There’s still a risk of the Thunder heroine returning, seeing Zeke kill Ethan (so he can respawn) and attacking them (if she doesn’t know about Ethan’s respawn powers), which might make them backslide. I hope it doesn’t happen. The backslide part, at least. (or at least not permanently – though I think it would also effectively waste Zeke’s character development until now)