Ctrl Alt Del (webcomic)
Ctrl+Alt+Del is a gaming-centered
web comic written by Tim Buckley, known online as Absath. CAD's tagline is "Tragically l337", a nod to
The Tragically Hip. It premeired on
October 23,
2002, and is currently updated every
Monday,
Wednesday,
Friday and
Saturday. The strip features a pair of gamers as the main characters, along with a
Linux junkie and a gamer girl who is the main character's girlfriend. A good deal of the
humor in this strip is completely
random, with the rest being mainly game-oriented. There is very little
continuity between strips, with the main character Ethan getting killed in several randomly
violent ways and returning unscathed the next day. There are occasional story arcs, but those again have little effect on continuity as a whole.
There are several in-jokes, the most notable being the arrows. There are several strips where Ethan is killed (or at least gravely injured) by randomly shot arrows. An explanation has never been given, and likely never will. Amusingly, the February 28, 2003 strip turned the tables, with Ethan shooting an arrow at and killing Absath. (He was present in the comic to talk about the fact that it was the 100th strip.)
Ctrl+Alt+Del also features a post-New Year's holiday called Winter-Een-Mas. Absath has actually detailed the holiday - the season lasts all of January, much like the Christmas season, but the actual holiday itself is January 25 - January 31. Every year at Winter-Een-Mas, something in the air makes Ethan crazier than usual. He puts on a crown and walks around claiming to be the king of...something. No sane thought touches his mind during Winter-Een-Mas, no logic can penetrate his brain. The silliness generally resolves with threats from Lucas.
Characters
Main
- Ethan - A twenty-one year old game fanatic, amateur artist and near-alcoholic. His antics and insanity are the focus of the strip, and have resulted in many an amusing story arc. He is currently dating Lilah, although some wonder as to how he manages it. He also works as a sales clerk at Game Haven.
- Lucas - Twenty-two years old, Lucas could be described as level-headed and down to Earth, but really only in comparison to Ethan. He's a slacker at heart, always ready to choose a good video game over anything that requires actual work. Cynical and sarcastic, Lucas is a programmer, and currently works Customer Service at a local computer shop.
- Lilah - Smart and beautiful, Lilah is smashing the stereotype that girls (at least, pretty ones) don't play video games. She's twenty-one and unemployed as of yet, and is currently dating Ethan. Though calm and responsible (even by normal standards) she finds herself strangely drawn to Ethan's silliness.
- \Scott - A twenty-three year old web designer and Linux junkie, Scott firmly believes that Microsoft is evil and that Linux will someday come into its glory. He is quiet, intelligent, and introspective, and a devout practicioner of meditation. In a house like his, can you blame him?
Secondary
- Ted - Ted is a penguin. He moved in when Scott did, a homage to the original Linux penguin, Tux. He likes fish and cold. He hates Ethan, and Ethan hates him with an equal passion.
- Barry - Barry is twenty-six and manages the Game Haven where Ethan works. Though goal-driven, he is very easy-going - you'd have to be, to employ Ethan. He's always in a good mood, because he's living his lifelong dream: running a video game store.
- Rob - Rob is a nineteen-year-old Counterstrike freak. Ethan hates him. Lucas hates him. Lilah hates him. Pretty much everyone hates him, because all he does is talk about Counterstrike, on and on, and always the most inane "you-had-to-be-there" tales. Unfortunately for everyone, Rob doesn't realize that he's that annoying, despite people flat-out telling him on several occasions.
- X-Bot - The X-Bot is a mad creation of Ethan's. Put simply, it's an anthropomorphised X-Box console. It walks, talks, thinks, and eats bandwidth.
- Chef Brian - Chef Brian is insane. That's all there is to it. He has no backstory, no context, nothing. He is simply a mad piece of comic relief.
External Link