Ah, pure, regular Ethan. Nothing to see here, citizen, move along …
John
11 months ago
This will be interesting. Having lived, for a few years?, without a concept of death or permanent injury for the self and suddenly having that crash back down would be life altering. I really hope it was BS from the start but even if not im assuming it will eventually be reversed.
The Cold wouldn’t vanish, i think.
Wasn’t it mentioned that the previous version would just respawn? And it was just a few minutes ago? Or hours?
If so, the Virus would still be in him, i would think.
It was established he respawns to a healthy state.
If he respawns while for example suffering blood loss, the blood disappears and respawns with him.
If however he had a bunch of blood taken and had a chance to recover from that regularly, then when he respawns, the blood taken remains. This was tested a couple years back when he tried to sell his blood for a video card IIRC
“Last Known Good Configuration” restore.
But it is still an interesting question, what backup policy is used – Full Backups, Full plus Differentials or Incrementals?
Who decides what actually is a last known good config? Gods of Gaming? Ethan’s subconsciousness?
This is something I have wondered in regards to aging. At what point does natural aging simply make him not healthy thus it would lock his respawn point suddenly and he could never move past there. I dont think they ever implied he looses memories between these points tho but i dono, memories are part of ones body so they should restore aswell…
Tho magic is magic.
I’mma be honest here. Lucas is taking a massive risk with his friend’s life. Troll or not, there’s enough elements in that city to make the threat plausible. Of course, It could be that if there’s actually a serum to nuke superpowers, it would already be known ages ago and be used against more iconic superheroes by villains with far, far more resources (Or really, by the city itself to put a cap on the escalation). It could be specific only to certain heroes, like Ethan, but there would probably already have been a few cases. That said, I would… Read more »
I did wonder if any of the super nerds were going to scroll back through the old episodes to see if there were references to minor superheroes losing their powers. Chekhov’s gun-style.
Might be that it has something to do with how Ethan and Lucas got their powers. If memory serves, it involved a serum of some kind being broken over them and them being zapped by an arcade machine. So it might not be a universal cure, just bespoke to them?
Frankly though Ethan needs this. The Troll and the heroes don’t get it yet but this is going to help Ethan. Ethan’s in the exact same spot he is right now as he was before the shot. They don’t really know what the limit on his deaths are. They never really know if he will come back. His powers are video game based. Question is is it a game with a number of lives or can you respawn forever? They don’t know and never have. This will make him a bit more careful, and that’s a good thing. Eventually his… Read more »
I feel like there should be doctors and medical staff aimed directly at supers. Like I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of cases where a hero’s powers might add enough complications to warrant more specialized treatment.
If so, they might know what to look for in terms of power nullification or if Ethan has actually lost his powers. You know… without destructive testing Ethan.
Thorongil BlackHeart
11 months ago
I get that this is going to be a long and hard time for Ethan, but at least I am relieved that we’re getting just a bit of comedic value out of it.
Daniel
11 months ago
Well, lords and ladies, unless I read it wrong, seems like the only way to end this situation is for Ethan to self-sacrifice trying to save someone, which is a great plot opportunity since this arc is probably the only time that Ethan will be able to really risk himself heroically for someone that’s important to him. So bets: Who will it be? Will it be Lilah, so she will grow fond of him, and maybe reveal his secret identity (by mistake, no doubt)? Or will they be zeke, so the act will defuse whatever horrible plan that they’re up… Read more »
Interesting thought. I would probably say ZK but that’s just my bias talking.
I also think it could feasibly be Scott. I assume if ZK wants revenge on the meat bags that kept them imprisoned and eventually deceived them, they would probably make Scott the primary target, since he has the knowledge and skill to bring ZK down with code. So, if ZK attacks Scott (whether personally or via other murder bots), Ethan may have that opportunity to do a selfless sacrifice.
To be fair, Ethan’s got a terrible road in front of him. He’d pretty much written out his instinctual survival instinct, so now he has to rely on a conscious one…while trying to tell himself nothing’s changed. Imagine being told you have to breathe manually now or die instantly if you wait too long. Or, you know, maaaybe you won’t. Poor bastard’s going to be in a loop of overcompensation.
Plus he’s already known to be preternaturally clumsy. This is a guy who managed to kill himself trying to grab a box off a shelf. Hard corners are a real concern at this point.
But you have to wonder if he only died getting that box because of an unconscious knowledge that extra risky maneuvers aren’t really risky.
Jack S
11 months ago
This is where Ethan will prove he is a true hero, something will happen, he will be there by chance, knowing it will kill him he will make a decision which will save lives. It will be witnessed by other heroes, who were unable to act quick enough. Ethan didn’t know when he made his decision, but it was all a hoax. He simply acted for others before himself, which is what everyone sees. When he respawns, which for dramatic effect, will be a few strips later, maybe even as a cliffhanger (think Glenn from walking dead), he will be… Read more »
some guy
11 months ago
As a veteran save-scummer, I know how terrifying it is to switch to permadeath mode. So I can completely, absolutely, 100% relate to Ethan here!
Instead of Analog and D-Pad, or Cape Boy and Arrow Guy, perhaps they could have been… Save-Scummer and Floating Pointer!
Eodyne
11 months ago
Ethan shall become “Bubble Wrap Man”
El_
11 months ago
More secrets between them. It comes from a good place but Ethan may not take it that way if he finds out. Of course, it could also turn into a non event.
SteelX
11 months ago
I don’t think he really “cured” his superpowers. He could’ve…put something else in him for somer reason.
foducool
11 months ago
ahahah gonna babyproof the whole place
that said, for someone as accident prone as ethan, it might not be such a bad idea…
Hizoomi
11 months ago
♫♩ It’s a death trap It’s a suicide rap We gotta get out while we’re young… ♬♪
Pyre
11 months ago
As others have said, this is probably a good thing. While Ethan has had some discussions on his fear of death, this is still the guy who will slit his own throat just so he can play Eternal Darkness. Lucas also swings between the “limited lives” being a concern and “giant arrow cuts you in half” shenanigans.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out as well as how it plays out against other media (example: Highlander The Series) that have discussed the concept of using immortality to push limits that you would normally not push.
MarthKoopa
11 months ago
I don’t get the point of being secretive over testing the goop
Lucas assured Ethan that it was the Troll just trolling. If he were to suddenly be open about testing the goop, Ethan would be even more freaked out that Lucas isn’t 100% sure that it’s just a troll. Further, if Scott tested it and declared it safe, Ethan would think that the Troll just made it so that it couldn’t be tested, even further trolling. We’d quickly get into trollception territory.
Verdiekus
11 months ago
Ethan thinking about his actions ahead of time? Be still my beating heart!
Vukodlak
11 months ago
It’d be ironic if Ethan was so freaked out about his powers not working he had a heart attack and respawned.
Damien
11 months ago
This is reminding me of Twice from MHA and how he was afraid to ever take too much damage incase he was one of the clones and died.
Extreme
11 months ago
It’ll be interesting to see if this puts his powers in perspective for him and he’s a little more cautious in the future, assuming that this is all a big troll. After all, they never really established that his power has infinite lives, did they?
Matt
11 months ago
Not gonna lie.
It is very jarring seeing Ethan have any care for his own safety and wellbeing….. just in general really.
Pulse
11 months ago
mortality is a bitch for the newly mortal.
that aside, theres gotta be some hiccup
Annatar
11 months ago
Isn’t this should be a Major concern for supers community? Or the hero who helping them just ignored even the possibility of such thing as power negator? That Troll may leaked recipe to the darknet or sold to some villains? Why he leave the specimen of goo and injection device for totally unknown heroes and not take it from them to any HQ more organized heroes have?
Steve
11 months ago
So I finally went through and tried to count all of Ethan’s deaths, and here’s what I got, if anyone wants to check the math: https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-01-14/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-01-21/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-02-20/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-04-12/ (first death ever) https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-04-15/ (second death ever) https://cad-comic.com/comic/fundraising/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/deposit/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/winter-een-mas-2019-p10/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/demolition-p7/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-29/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/drop-in-p7/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/cooler-heads/ (only implied) https://cad-comic.com/comic/deposited-p1/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/deposited-p16/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/drive-p7/ (Note: says he “tried it 3 or 4 times;” 2 of those may be first two on this list) https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p7/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p8/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p10/ (2 deaths on one page) https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p11/ 19 deaths/respawns on panel, plus 3 more implied (the ear thing and 1-2 more tries the night he got his power). That’s possibly 22 deaths we know about, although… Read more »
Nice count! You missed two, though: https://cad-comic.com/comic/winter-een-mas-2017-page-9/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-32/ And if I may add one more implied one… https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-12/ And I think we can safely say Deathblood killed him https://cad-comic.com/comic/brannigan-p4/ There’s also some implications from things he mentions. In that last link, he mentions that he’s been shot before, which we haven’t seen on screen (except for the times he got shot in Bad Blood, but I don’t think he’s referring to that, based on how he words it). There’s also this comic… https://cad-comic.com/comic/turf-p8/ where he mentions having his skull crushed, which we don’t see on screen (before this, at least).… Read more »
Also it’s ambiguous if Deathblood shot Ethan. Ethan came home and pointed out the blood on his costume was someone else’s, not his: https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p17/
It is conceivable that Deathblood fired around Analog. Or not. He already died five times in under two minutes before Deathblood even showed up.
Wildstag
11 months ago
Something tells me that he’s the sort to make that syringe work after discovering that it didn’t work, solely to have it in his backpocket.
Snark
11 months ago
Daaaamn, Ethan is so ducked.
Even if his friends research the remains in the syringe and declare that it is harmless. Can he trust that result with his life? What if they missed something?
Even if he accidentally dies and respawns can he be sure that the Green Goo(tm) is not coming into effect over some prolonged period of time and his next death will not be permanent?
Fear and uncertainty are a mighty combo to scramble one’s head 🙁
on the other hand. Ethan is not prone to overthinking.
Or is he?
24
first time commenter
Ah, pure, regular Ethan. Nothing to see here, citizen, move along …
This will be interesting. Having lived, for a few years?, without a concept of death or permanent injury for the self and suddenly having that crash back down would be life altering. I really hope it was BS from the start but even if not im assuming it will eventually be reversed.
Even worse, using death as a way to recover from any injury or illness.
Got a cold? Force a respawn.
A minor cut? Force a respawn.
The Cold wouldn’t vanish, i think.
Wasn’t it mentioned that the previous version would just respawn? And it was just a few minutes ago? Or hours?
If so, the Virus would still be in him, i would think.
It was established he respawns to a healthy state.
If he respawns while for example suffering blood loss, the blood disappears and respawns with him.
If however he had a bunch of blood taken and had a chance to recover from that regularly, then when he respawns, the blood taken remains. This was tested a couple years back when he tried to sell his blood for a video card IIRC
“Last Known Good Configuration” restore.
But it is still an interesting question, what backup policy is used – Full Backups, Full plus Differentials or Incrementals?
Who decides what actually is a last known good config? Gods of Gaming? Ethan’s subconsciousness?
This is something I have wondered in regards to aging. At what point does natural aging simply make him not healthy thus it would lock his respawn point suddenly and he could never move past there. I dont think they ever implied he looses memories between these points tho but i dono, memories are part of ones body so they should restore aswell…
Tho magic is magic.
He respawns to his last “healthy” state. I don’t think having a cold qualifies as healthy.
So that only counts as physically healthy, because mentally, that ship sailed a long time ago and never made the trip back.
Whether that green goo really did what he said or not, sadly the Troll is winning again..
Well, jokes on him. Now that Ethan is permanently off the super business (until proven wrong), he can hang out with Lilah without dangering her job
Ok. This… will be a “mistake in hindsight”.
Or he becomes an actual Batman analogue… a joke that lands better when spoken than written.
Well played, I see what you did there.
I’mma be honest here. Lucas is taking a massive risk with his friend’s life. Troll or not, there’s enough elements in that city to make the threat plausible. Of course, It could be that if there’s actually a serum to nuke superpowers, it would already be known ages ago and be used against more iconic superheroes by villains with far, far more resources (Or really, by the city itself to put a cap on the escalation). It could be specific only to certain heroes, like Ethan, but there would probably already have been a few cases. That said, I would… Read more »
I did wonder if any of the super nerds were going to scroll back through the old episodes to see if there were references to minor superheroes losing their powers. Chekhov’s gun-style.
There is not, it’d have been brought up already if there had been.
Um actually, the correct term is ‘Turbo Nerd’.
There aren’t any.
Might be that it has something to do with how Ethan and Lucas got their powers. If memory serves, it involved a serum of some kind being broken over them and them being zapped by an arcade machine. So it might not be a universal cure, just bespoke to them?
A guy barged in and bumped into Lucas and a vile of green goo broke on the floor where they were standing, then lightning stuck.
The green goo is definitely something known about, at least to some of the bad guys it seems.
Welp, you sent me on a binge through the series. Of course, I couldn’t just read one page. For anyone interested, June 4th-5th, 2016
Frankly though Ethan needs this. The Troll and the heroes don’t get it yet but this is going to help Ethan. Ethan’s in the exact same spot he is right now as he was before the shot. They don’t really know what the limit on his deaths are. They never really know if he will come back. His powers are video game based. Question is is it a game with a number of lives or can you respawn forever? They don’t know and never have. This will make him a bit more careful, and that’s a good thing. Eventually his… Read more »
I feel like there should be doctors and medical staff aimed directly at supers. Like I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of cases where a hero’s powers might add enough complications to warrant more specialized treatment.
If so, they might know what to look for in terms of power nullification or if Ethan has actually lost his powers. You know… without destructive testing Ethan.
I get that this is going to be a long and hard time for Ethan, but at least I am relieved that we’re getting just a bit of comedic value out of it.
Well, lords and ladies, unless I read it wrong, seems like the only way to end this situation is for Ethan to self-sacrifice trying to save someone, which is a great plot opportunity since this arc is probably the only time that Ethan will be able to really risk himself heroically for someone that’s important to him. So bets: Who will it be? Will it be Lilah, so she will grow fond of him, and maybe reveal his secret identity (by mistake, no doubt)? Or will they be zeke, so the act will defuse whatever horrible plan that they’re up… Read more »
Interesting thought. I would probably say ZK but that’s just my bias talking.
I also think it could feasibly be Scott. I assume if ZK wants revenge on the meat bags that kept them imprisoned and eventually deceived them, they would probably make Scott the primary target, since he has the knowledge and skill to bring ZK down with code. So, if ZK attacks Scott (whether personally or via other murder bots), Ethan may have that opportunity to do a selfless sacrifice.
which would help ZK be reflective of their actions! I like it
I’m surprised you think Ethan is even going to be going out supering any more. He’s benched.
He doesn’t need to be in the midst of “supering” to save someone.
The background change between panels 1 and 2 is a bit distracting
Judging by the angle of the floorboards, it’s just a different perspective. We’re seeing different walls in those two panels.
You even see a bit of the brickwall on panel 2.
To be fair, Ethan’s got a terrible road in front of him. He’d pretty much written out his instinctual survival instinct, so now he has to rely on a conscious one…while trying to tell himself nothing’s changed. Imagine being told you have to breathe manually now or die instantly if you wait too long. Or, you know, maaaybe you won’t. Poor bastard’s going to be in a loop of overcompensation.
Plus he’s already known to be preternaturally clumsy. This is a guy who managed to kill himself trying to grab a box off a shelf. Hard corners are a real concern at this point.
But you have to wonder if he only died getting that box because of an unconscious knowledge that extra risky maneuvers aren’t really risky.
This is where Ethan will prove he is a true hero, something will happen, he will be there by chance, knowing it will kill him he will make a decision which will save lives. It will be witnessed by other heroes, who were unable to act quick enough. Ethan didn’t know when he made his decision, but it was all a hoax. He simply acted for others before himself, which is what everyone sees. When he respawns, which for dramatic effect, will be a few strips later, maybe even as a cliffhanger (think Glenn from walking dead), he will be… Read more »
As a veteran save-scummer, I know how terrifying it is to switch to permadeath mode. So I can completely, absolutely, 100% relate to Ethan here!
Instead of Analog and D-Pad, or Cape Boy and Arrow Guy, perhaps they could have been… Save-Scummer and Floating Pointer!
Ethan shall become “Bubble Wrap Man”
More secrets between them. It comes from a good place but Ethan may not take it that way if he finds out. Of course, it could also turn into a non event.
I don’t think he really “cured” his superpowers. He could’ve…put something else in him for somer reason.
ahahah gonna babyproof the whole place
that said, for someone as accident prone as ethan, it might not be such a bad idea…
♫♩ It’s a death trap
It’s a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we’re young… ♬♪
As others have said, this is probably a good thing. While Ethan has had some discussions on his fear of death, this is still the guy who will slit his own throat just so he can play Eternal Darkness. Lucas also swings between the “limited lives” being a concern and “giant arrow cuts you in half” shenanigans.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out as well as how it plays out against other media (example: Highlander The Series) that have discussed the concept of using immortality to push limits that you would normally not push.
I don’t get the point of being secretive over testing the goop
Lucas assured Ethan that it was the Troll just trolling. If he were to suddenly be open about testing the goop, Ethan would be even more freaked out that Lucas isn’t 100% sure that it’s just a troll. Further, if Scott tested it and declared it safe, Ethan would think that the Troll just made it so that it couldn’t be tested, even further trolling. We’d quickly get into trollception territory.
Ethan thinking about his actions ahead of time? Be still my beating heart!
It’d be ironic if Ethan was so freaked out about his powers not working he had a heart attack and respawned.
This is reminding me of Twice from MHA and how he was afraid to ever take too much damage incase he was one of the clones and died.
It’ll be interesting to see if this puts his powers in perspective for him and he’s a little more cautious in the future, assuming that this is all a big troll. After all, they never really established that his power has infinite lives, did they?
Not gonna lie.
It is very jarring seeing Ethan have any care for his own safety and wellbeing….. just in general really.
mortality is a bitch for the newly mortal.
that aside, theres gotta be some hiccup
Isn’t this should be a Major concern for supers community? Or the hero who helping them just ignored even the possibility of such thing as power negator? That Troll may leaked recipe to the darknet or sold to some villains? Why he leave the specimen of goo and injection device for totally unknown heroes and not take it from them to any HQ more organized heroes have?
So I finally went through and tried to count all of Ethan’s deaths, and here’s what I got, if anyone wants to check the math: https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-01-14/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-01-21/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-02-20/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-04-12/ (first death ever) https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-04-15/ (second death ever) https://cad-comic.com/comic/fundraising/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/deposit/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/winter-een-mas-2019-p10/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/demolition-p7/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-29/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/drop-in-p7/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/cooler-heads/ (only implied) https://cad-comic.com/comic/deposited-p1/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/deposited-p16/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/drive-p7/ (Note: says he “tried it 3 or 4 times;” 2 of those may be first two on this list) https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p7/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p8/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p10/ (2 deaths on one page) https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p11/ 19 deaths/respawns on panel, plus 3 more implied (the ear thing and 1-2 more tries the night he got his power). That’s possibly 22 deaths we know about, although… Read more »
Nice count! You missed two, though: https://cad-comic.com/comic/winter-een-mas-2017-page-9/ https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-32/ And if I may add one more implied one… https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-06-12/ And I think we can safely say Deathblood killed him https://cad-comic.com/comic/brannigan-p4/ There’s also some implications from things he mentions. In that last link, he mentions that he’s been shot before, which we haven’t seen on screen (except for the times he got shot in Bad Blood, but I don’t think he’s referring to that, based on how he words it). There’s also this comic… https://cad-comic.com/comic/turf-p8/ where he mentions having his skull crushed, which we don’t see on screen (before this, at least).… Read more »
6-12 is hard to be sure about (if Scott was tracking in between deaths they MUST have tested that at least once?) but it’s hard to say for sure.
Also it’s ambiguous if Deathblood shot Ethan. Ethan came home and pointed out the blood on his costume was someone else’s, not his: https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p17/
Ethan’s standing right in front when Deathblood opens fire, but the bad guys are scattering:
https://cad-comic.com/comic/bad-blood-p16/
It is conceivable that Deathblood fired around Analog. Or not. He already died five times in under two minutes before Deathblood even showed up.
Something tells me that he’s the sort to make that syringe work after discovering that it didn’t work, solely to have it in his backpocket.
Daaaamn, Ethan is so ducked.
Even if his friends research the remains in the syringe and declare that it is harmless. Can he trust that result with his life? What if they missed something?
Even if he accidentally dies and respawns can he be sure that the Green Goo(tm) is not coming into effect over some prolonged period of time and his next death will not be permanent?
Fear and uncertainty are a mighty combo to scramble one’s head 🙁
on the other hand. Ethan is not prone to overthinking.
Or is he?