Ctrl + Alt + Del
Ctrl + Alt + Del (CAD) is a webcomic written by Tim Buckley. It was first published in October 2002. Its name comes from the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del, which is well known to Windows users . The comic deals with the typical "gamer cliché" based on a shared apartment that is inhabited by four young people. A new episode is currently appearing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
action
The two gamers Ethan MacManus and Lucas Davidowicz move into a new apartment together. Scott moves in with Ethan and Lucas because of an advertisement from the previous flat share. Ethan tries to get rid of Scott first, but Lucas makes it clear to him that this does not make sense because Scott, unlike Ethan, can pay his share of the rent. With Scott, his pet Ted, a penguin, also comes to the flat. Ethan is not fond of either Scott or Ted. He doesn't like Scott because he uses Linux and Ted because he's a penguin. Then Lilah moves into the house. Lucas immediately befriends her. Ethan can’t believe that there’s a girl who plays video games and looks good too. After Ethan played a video game ( Soul Calibur ) with Lilah, he immediately fell in love with her.
Shortly thereafter, the heating goes out, and Ethane gets upset about the cold. In order to win something nice from the winter cold, he invents a new festival: “Winter-Een-Mas”. However, he becomes fanatical about this festival and treats his friends as subjects. The festival is repeated annually and becomes an integral part of the comics.
The following episodes describe in short episodes the daily routine of the four, whose activities mainly relate to computer games. You buy new hardware, take part in tournaments and have to cope with normal life on the side.
Characters
Ethan MacManus
- Ethan Ryan MacManus is one of the main characters and has been there since the first episode. He is a 21-year-old Irishman and is addicted to computer games like no other, which means that he can hardly distinguish between reality and games. He is the inventor of the Winter-Een-Mas festival and builder of the robot Ezekiel. He is also the founder of a "religion" called The Holy Church of Gaming . Ethan works as a video game seller at the video game store Gamehaven , where he mostly does nothing but play. In the meantime, due to some circumstances, it has got Gamehaven overwritten.
Lucas Davidowicz
- Lucas Davidowicz is Ethan's best friend and has been with him since the first episode. He is 23 years old and more interested in the normal things in life, but also enjoys playing computer games for his life. He has a sarcastic, almost cynical character. Most of the time he's busy trying to get Ethan out of the problems he's dealing with. Otherwise, he works in customer service at a computer store, where he spends most of his time with his boss to scare off “unworthy” customers. After Ethan is overwhelmed with the management of Gamehaven after the transfer, Lucas lets Ethan hire him on his terms and has since primarily taken care of the accounting at Gamehaven.
Scott
- Scott is a 23 year old web designer who uses Linux . He first appears in the episode of December 3, 2002. He moved in because of a complaint from the former flat-share residents and is rather in the background. He has a pet penguin named Ted and has mastered the art of meditation. He doesn't get on very well with Ethane, who adores Windows.
Lilah Monroe
- Lilah Monroe (later McManus) is the friend and later wife of Ethan and a passionate video game player. It first appears in the January 14, 2003 episode. At first, Ethan cannot believe that Lilah actually exists. When he realizes that there is indeed a girl who loves video games (almost) as much as he does, he immediately falls in love with her. In the meantime, she is expecting a child with Ethan, which she loses. On November 3rd, 2008, Ethan and Lilah get married in Jamaica, after a series of comic books about the difficult relationship between the two after the loss of their child.
Ezekiel (Zeke)
- Zeke is a humanoid robot that was built on the basis of an Xbox . He was created by Ethan when nobody had time to play with him. It got its name from a graffito that someone had sprayed on his backside while Xbot, as Zeke was still called back then, was looking for a human name. After Ethan accidentally throws a depth charge at him, a short circuit causes Zeke to briefly become angry and destroy the entire house in which Ethan and the others live. In the process, he himself is destroyed, except for his head. Some time later, Zeke is repaired by Ethan and then upgraded with an Xbox 360 . Despite the repair, however, part of Zeke's malevolence remains, which shows itself in his growing contempt for all humans and especially for Ethan and which in a recent time travel episode results in a future version of Zeke wiping out a large part of humanity, the rest enslaved and kills the future Lilah.
Ted
- Scott's pet Ted (a reference to Tux ) is an intelligent-looking penguin . Like Scott, he mostly stays in the background. Ethan has an unfounded hatred of Ted and tries to kill him several times. Ted made his debut on the December 6, 2002 episode.
Winter-Een-Mas
Winter-Een-Mas is a festival in honor of video games. Ethan is the founder of this festival, he is the king of Winter-Een-Mas. As symbols of his majesty a valid scepter one, at the end Xbox - controller is attached and a crown controller icons are on the. Winter Een Mas is celebrated every year in the last week of January. The whole of January is considered the winter Een Mas season in which to prepare for the festival. Every video game genre is represented by a "Winter Een Mas Spirit" who visit the earth in a gigantic game controller. A different genre is celebrated every day.
- Day 1: Action + Adventure, symbolized by an adventure hero who looks like Indiana Jones
- Day 2: First person shooter, symbolized by an overtired gamer
- 3rd day: Fighting games, symbolized by a slightly damaged martial art fighter
- 4th day: Real-time strategy, symbolized by a plump " nerd "
- Day 5: Racing games, symbolized by a racing driver
- Day 6: Role play, symbolized by a scantily clad elf
- Day 7: Sports games, symbolized by a beer-drinking sports fan
Winter-Een-Mas is partly celebrated (especially by CTRL + ALT + DEL fans) in reality. In the winter of 2010–2011, for example, Ubisoft reduced the prices of download games offered by 30% exclusively for the winter Een-Mas period.
Cross references
Lucas and later Ethan (thrilled by the chain swords) play Warhammer 40,000 ; The respective episodes also deal with common clichés about these games. After Ethan destroys Lucas Necron Army, he begins with Warmachine . He can also inspire Ethan with this, but this time with the aspect of steam engine-powered robots and pirates.
Printed publications
The first volume of the CAD books Ctrl + Alt + Del Volume One: Insert Coin was published in 2004 and contains the first 150 episodes, as well as related author comments and bonus material. The bonus material includes episodes not published as webcomics and the first sketches of the characters.
The second volume, Ctrl + Alt + Del Volume Two: Press Start , was published in 2005 and contains an additional 150 episodes, commentary on each comic and bonus material such as tips for creating your own webcomic.
Ctrl + Alt + Del Volume Three: Critical System Failure was published on February 7, 2007 and is offered with softcover but also as a limited edition with hardcover . The extras in this volume include the story of how Scott and Ted met, as well as some exclusive sketches and comics.
Ctrl + Alt + Del: The Animated Series
In 2005 the planning of an animated series based on the CAD comics was announced. The series is produced by Blind Ferret Entertainment and distributed via the paid service CAD Premium. The series includes episodes that were not released as a webcomic. The episodes appear at the beginning of each month and each run for about 5 minutes.
CAD Premium
Ctrl + Alt + Del Premium is an area where registered members get exclusive comics, wallpapers and other things. You can also download Ctrl + Alt + Del: The Animated Series there . CAD Premium is chargeable.