Ctrl Alt Del (webcomic)
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''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' (''CAD'') is a gaming-related
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...
and animated series written by
Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk paired with his ...
. The name of the comic refers to the
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
command
Control-Alt-Delete Control-Alt-Delete (often abbreviated to Ctrl+Alt+Del and sometimes called the "three-finger salute" or "Security Keys") is a computer keyboard command on IBM PC compatible computers, invoked by pressing the Delete key while holding the Control ...
. Premiering on October 23, 2002, the comic's focus has gradually shifted away from single strip gags towards longer
story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...
s and greater continuity through the use of video game references. ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' currently is updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' has provided Buckley with enough income to make a living, placing ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' in a small group of web comics that receive full-time devotion from their artist. Beginning June 2008, a number of smaller, humor-themed batch-released strips entitled "CAD Sillies" began running on the news feeds, although they were soon given their own section on the site. By May 2009, the comic had received 38 million page views and was receiving 1.8 million monthly unique visitors.


Plot

The plot of ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' revolves around Ethan, the protagonist and an over-the-top video game fanatic, and his sarcastic roommate Lucas, who provides an unheeded voice of reason to Ethan's flamboyant actions. Together with Ethan's girlfriend, now wife, Lilah, the three engage in turmoil which the comic storyline conveys through independent gaming-related puns by utilizing well-known game titles, consoles and pop culture references. A psychotic Chef Brian, ninjas, and mysterious out-of-the-blue arrows occasionally appear in the series, adding a note of randomness to the comic. On November 23, 2012, Tim Buckley, the comics author, announced that the storyline that had been focus of the comic since the very beginning would come to an end. While the current versions of Ethan, Lucas, Lilah, Scott, and other characters have ended, he confirmed they would appear in the new comic format, which he referred to as a "Hollywood reboot". The new format will focus on shorter one off comics, mainly around the Player 1, 2, 3, and 4 characters. On May 3, 2014, the author announced that the storyline with Ethan and Lucas as protagonists would receive a reboot, after a year-and-a-half hiatus. On October 29, 2014, Buckley began posting this new story focusing on Ethan, Lucas, and other characters, with Ethan and Lucas also living a secret life as their superhero alter-egos from the alternate universe ''Analog and D-Pad'' comic books. On April 4, 2018, Buckley announced that to make the distinction between the comics storylines clearer, the post-reboot strips featuring Ethan and Lucas would be removed from the ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' archive and placed in a separate archive of its own, labelled ''Analog and D-Pad''.


Main characters

* Ethan Ryan MacManus – At the start 21-year-old of Irish descent, Ethan is a game fanatic, a recovering ''
EverQuest ''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America, ...
'' addict, and an amateur artist. His often nonsensical, off-beat, or even moronic antics are the focus of the comic and the source of many of its plotlines. Ethan owned GameHaven, a video game store. Ethan is also described as the creator of Winter-een-mas, a seven-day celebration of video games,Mertes, Micah (January 29, 2008). "Happy Winter-een-mas! OK, get back to playing". ''
Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in ...
'' Pg. 1D
and founder of the Church of Gaming. * Lucas Davidowicz – Lucas is a year older than Ethan. He is portrayed as more level-headed and down to earth than Ethan.
Cynical Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of others. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic p ...
and
sarcastic Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflectio ...
, Lucas is something of a
slacker A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...
, prepared to enjoy a good video game over actual work. Lucas is a
programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...
and previously worked at a computer store, where he offered technical assistance. More recently, he left to work for Ethan at GameHaven as an assistant manager. Lucas also enjoys
Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer (game), Warhammer'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake ...
's game and universe,
Warhammer 40,000 ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987 ...
. * Lilah MacManus (née Monroe) – Lilah defied Ethan's preconceived notion that girls (or at least, cute ones) do not play video games, after which they began dating. Lilah is the same age as Ethan and formerly worked as a secretary, but has been competing in tournaments as a professional gamer. She is currently married to Ethan. * Zeke (short for Ezekiel) – Formerly known as the "Xbot", Zeke is a creation of Ethan's – a
sentient Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations. It may not necessarily imply higher cognitive functions such as awareness, reasoning, or complex thought processes. Some writers define sentience exclusively as the capacity for ''v ...
,
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
(Originally
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
)-based android. It is implied he dreams of taking over the world and eliminating the human race. Ethan eventually builds Zeke a companion, a sentient
gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction films and arts. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like an ...
named Embla (a reference to the first human woman of
Norse Mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
), based on Zeke's own designs. She appears a lot more focused on the "machine revolution" than Zeke.


CAD Premium

In late 2005, the subscription-based CAD Premium section was announced. For a monthly or yearly fee, fans were able to access exclusive "members only" content such as wallpapers, strips and ''Ctrl+Alt+Del: The Animated Series,'' which made its debut in February 2006. While CAD Premium was a subscription service, Buckley made it clear that the comic would remain free.


''Ctrl+Alt+Del: The Animated Series''

''The Animated Series'' was first announced in a press released from Blind Ferret Entertainment on December 1, 2005, in which the company announced that it would be the company that would develop and distribute the series. The first trailer for the series was also made available on the same date as the press release. The President and CEO of Blind Ferret Entertainment, Randy Waxman, explained that his company was the one that approached Buckley and pitched the concept of creating an animated series based on his webcomic, believing that the characters would translate well to the format of an animated series. Buckley noted that he was approached by other companies before coming into contact with Blind Ferret Entertainment, but he believed that they had the most appropriate combination of skills and experience to make the animated series a reality. Ryan Sohmer, vice president of Blind Ferret Entertainment and the series's director, claimed that the animated series, which used a traditional 2D style, a professional voice cast, and a lengthy development period, was of sufficient quality to be comparable to that of televised animated series. Waxman admitted that television was ultimately where he hoped the series would end up, claiming that the series appealed to a key demographic that appealed to television network executives. He planned to pitch the episodes of ''The Animated Series'' to the network executives as one single pilot episode. ''The Animated Series'' made its debut on February 1, 2006, and one four-minute episode was released each following month. In January 2008, it was announced that the Animated Series would return for a second season of 12 episodes, beginning in March of the same year.


Books


Collections

* ''Ctrl+Alt+Del Volume One: Insert Coin'' * ''Ctrl+Alt+Del Volume Two: Press Start'' * ''Ctrl+Alt+Del Volume Three: Critical System Failure'' These books feature comics found online, along with commentary and bonus material exclusive to the book. On October 14, 2008, Blind Ferret Entertainment announced that it would be re-publishing the ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' collections for sale in stores.


Analog and D+Pad

''Analog and D+Pad'' is a comic book created in 2007 written by Tim Buckley with art by Zack Finfrock. It is based on ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' but is set in a parallel universe where ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' main characters Ethan and Lucas are the superheroes Analog and D+Pad. Currently two issues have been published, the second in April 2008.


Other publishing

''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' is a featured comic on
Game Revolution Mandatory (formerly CraveOnline Media) is a lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company Evolve Media, LLC. Mandatory focuses its contents into the male ...
. Twelve issues of the ''City of Heroes'' comic book featured a comic strip by ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' creator Tim Buckley, called ''Underwear on the Outside''. EQuinox, the official ''
EverQuest 2 ''EverQuest II'' is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment for Microsoft Windows PCs and released in November 2004. It is the sequel to the original ' ...
'' magazine, includes ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' comic strips. In 2007, ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' partnered with
2K Games 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports sub-labels. The nascent label incorporated several developme ...
/
Firaxis Games Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs, and Brian Reynolds (game designer), Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meie ...
to produce a series of comics for Sid Meier's ''
Civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...
Daydreams''.


Reception

In 2004 and 2005, ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' was nominated for the
Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a ''New York Times'' column on webcomics ...
Outstanding Gaming Comic award, and in 2005 it was nominated for Outstanding Comic. By December 2005, the webcomic was attracting an audience of over 300,000 readers each day, which led to "robust" merchandising sales. Shaula Clark of ''
The Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...
'' described Buckley as a polarizing figure who created a devoted fanbase for his webcomic while receiving criticism from peers such as Yahtzee and the writers of ''
Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...
''. She goes on to attempt to determine why ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' receives the amount of criticism that it has, believing that Buckley's attempt to take a webcomic originally created to showcase strips focusing on
Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of six core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ...
-related jokes and "the monkey-cheese-ninja random wackiness of manchild main character Ethan" in a new direction by adding "excruciatingly slow, melodramatic, ham-handed plot arcs" helped lead to the negative feedback that the strip has received. Clark points to the " Loss" story arc, which focuses on Lilah's miscarriage, in particular as an example of this. She also regards the holiday invented by Buckley and introduced in ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'', Winter-een-mas, as an "obnoxious gamer holiday" that runs every year from January 25 to 31. Readers of video game weblog ''
Joystiq ''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog which was part of the Weblogs, Inc. family later owned by AOL. It was active from 2004 to 2015, acting as the primary video game blog for the group, and operating alongside ''Engadget'' and sister blogs such ...
'' voted Buckley's pair of comics that he wrote for the video game '' Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword''s website as the most popular. Ross Miller of Joystiq described the two strips as ones that "played on historical anachronisms and World Wonder rule sets", while noting that he hoped that those who voted in the poll "didn't choose the strip for the Buttsylvania line". Writing for the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', Levi Buchanan compared ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' to ''Penny Arcade'', describing both as webcomics that take advantage of the lack of censorship on the web by using expletives when they are appropriate, and if they serve the story. Buchanan also considered ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' to be a webcomic with a smaller cast than that of ''Penny Arcade'', noting that the former focuses primarily on the two friends Ethan and Lucas, while the latter comprises a much larger cast. In 2005, William Kulesa of the '' Jersey Journal'' called ''Penny Arcade'' and ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' two of the best webcomics, but he felt that the latter was the best overall. He felt that the characters were well-developed, and both had "a sense of fullness often lacked by those found within daily strips. It never fails to draw a chuckle from this reader. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the land of the nerd will enjoy the strip." He compared the webcomic to ''Penny Arcade'', which he believed required that the reader be more familiar with "nerdy" topics, especially video gaming. Also in 2005, Mariam Asad wrote a piece for the '' Chronicle Herald'' showcasing ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' as one of the better webcomics then available, listing several points that the webcomic had that interested her, including its characters, "colourful commentary on recently released games", and storylines that spanned several strips. In 2007, the ''
Knoxville News-Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', also known as ''Knox News'', is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''T ...
'' called ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' a "healthy dose of Web-comic-meets-videogame-playing-geek", describing its drawing style as "cartoonish" and its humor as one that "hilariously lampoons all things gaming through the lives of amateur artist Ethan, programmer Lucas and professional gamer Lilah".


Criticism

Video game journalist
Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw Benjamin Richard "Yahtzee" Croshaw (born 24 May 1983) is a British journalist, video game critic and developer, author, and humourist. He is best known for his video game review series '' Zero Punctuation'', which he produced for '' The Escap ...
of Zero Punctuation has criticized ''Ctrl+Alt+Del'' on several occasions for excessive use of dialogue and slow comic pacing, among other reasons. In 2008, Buckley published the critically panned strip " Loss", the culmination of a storyline in which Ethan and Lilah were expecting their first child. In the strip Ethan discovers that Lilah's pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage, a significant tonal shift in a comic typically known for humorous situations. In an interview with ''
Joystiq ''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog which was part of the Weblogs, Inc. family later owned by AOL. It was active from 2004 to 2015, acting as the primary video game blog for the group, and operating alongside ''Engadget'' and sister blogs such ...
'' on August 29, 2008, when asked about the comic,
Jerry Holkins Jerry Holkins (born Parkinson"Holkins is a combination of Holcomb (hers) and Parkinson (mine)." https://twitter.com/TychoBrahe/status/12073336701 on February 6, 1976) is an American writer. He is the co-creator and writer of the webcomic '' Penny ...
of ''Penny Arcade'' said that "Tim Buckley is the antichrist, and I think
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
storyline was the first horseman of the Apocalypse", while
Mike Krahulik Michael Krahulik (; born September 25, 1977) is an American artist for the webcomic '' Penny Arcade'' and co-founder with Jerry Holkins of Child's Play, a charity that organizes toy drives for children's hospitals. He goes by the online moniker ...
stated "I think he's an art criminal." "Loss" later became an internet meme in its own right, with Aryehi Bhushan of '' Varsity'' referring to it in 2017 as "infamous" and "the internet's largest meme juggernaut". In April 2010, a new character called Abby was introduced as an antagonist to Ethan. A month later the character's design was found to be copy of a Hector Moran sketch. Buckley issued an apology in light of this and redid the clothing of the Abby character.


Bibliography

* * * *


References


External links

*
''Ctrl+Alt+Del'': The Animated Series

Tim Buckley's Journal

Official Winter-een-mas

The Church of Gaming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ctrl Alt Del 2000s webcomics 2010s webcomics American comedy webcomics Dayfree Press Short form webcomics Video game webcomics Webcomics in print 2002 webcomic debuts