Last night in #stripcreator, I observed that kaufman's Punderdog had a habit of fighting crime by talking about it in the past tense. Of course that led to something like this. Feel free to expand on the idea.

Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 1 (of 8) by evil_d 11-13-02

You kidnapped me! You're a bad man, Mr. Passive Voice! You will be released when the ransom has been paid by your father! Fifty billion dollars will not be missed by such a wealthy businessman! And my revenge on him will be realized! Hahahahaha! You won't get away with it! Retroactive Man will have rescued me! Seeing that fool try will be enjoyed by me!

Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 2 (of 8) by evil_d 11-13-02

Potential Lad! It's the Retroactive signal! We're indoors -- how can you tell? Let's just hurry now! I'll see the signal retroactively! To the Retromobile! Do you know how to drive? Yes, but I've never done it!

Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 3 (of 8) by evil_d 11-13-02

I will have known it! Mr. Passive Voice has kidnapped a little girl! I must save her! I could help! Stay back for now! I will have handled this! Passive Voice! I've already released your prisoner! What? You shall be cursed, Retroactive Man! You will be made to pay for this!

Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 4 (of 8) by evil_d 11-13-02

Now, our battle shall be joined! It already has been! I punched you five seconds ago! No such thing was--OW! How was that done? *crash* Then I threw you across the room!

Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 5 (of 8) by evil_d 11-13-02

Had enough, Passive Voice? My might is not being a match for yours! But you will still be defeated -- by UPPERCASE BOT! *WHAM!* oof! UPPERCASE BOT DESTROY HUMAN! ...I will have had a bad feeling about this...

[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 6 (of 8)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 7 (of 8)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man and Potential Lad 8 (of 8)']

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

You are a genius, and I hate you for it.

[this is good]

Future perfect.

I know I'll get static for this, but Potential Lad should be grounded.

On behalf of Kali, I give it eight thumbs up!

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What others say about boorite!

Wow... I usually make it a point never to make comments in the RMDC forum but this series was bloody great. Outstanding.

Of course, this is coming from a grammar nerd, but I've found that it's best to take praise when you can get it and only ridicule your fans BEHIND their backs.

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"Old" is the old new.

Pardon my use of the pluperfect subjunctive, but:

SCROD!

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ken.kaufman@gmail.com

I wasn't expecting such a positive response. Thanks, guys.

I looked back at my IRC logs and discovered that it's actually Brad who deserves credit for coming up with the name "Retroactive Man":

[00:15] hey kaufman... can you explain http://www.stripcreator.com/view.php?ID=101633 to me?
[00:16] he dammed the torrent without even trying
[00:16] oh... okay.
[00:16] you know, much of his crimefighting seems to be retroactive
[00:17] he always talks about what he did but he never does it... sort of
[00:17] true
[00:17] uses the past tense a lot
[00:17] Retroactive Man.
[00:17] the power of words ;-)
[00:17] that's a great idea for a series, actually
[00:17] Retroactive Man will have come to the rescue!
[00:17] Ha ha,
[00:18] Subjunctive Man might have saved the day.
[00:18] I'm too tired to add anything to this.
[00:19] Double Negative Man might not haven't, etc. Please fill in the rest.
[00:21] Poor Subject-Verb Agreement Man save the day.
[00:24] Captain Monosyllabic says "Grrr." about your obvious rip-offs
[00:25] Captain Obvious gripes about Captain Monosyllabic stepping on his property
[00:25] Potential Lad could save the day.
[00:26] The day was saved by Passive Voice Man.

By the way, kaufman, even after you gave me that explanation, I somehow still didn't really get that strip until earlier today. Now that I do, I think it's pretty funny.

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

I didn't hate it.
5 mehs.

My head hurts.

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...Trot and Cap'n Bill were free from anxiety and care. Button-Bright never worried about anything. The Scarecrow, not being able to sleep, looked out of the window and tried to count the stars.

kaufman, scrod is the past pluperfect, not the pluperfect subjunctive - pluperfect subjunctive would be scrowed, continuing that bizarre conjugation.

so NYAAAH you stinky butt!

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AIM: HeeeresWiL | RAAR! TOBOR WILL DEFENSTRATE YOU!

[list=1][*]pluperfect means past perfect, so "past pluperfect" is a repetitive redundancy, unless you mean so far in the past that bunner doesn't remember it.

[*]If you don't think "scrod" is the proper pluperfect subjunctive, try telling that to a Boston cabbie.

[*]Speaking of Boston cabbies, a friend of mine once flew up from Georgia to Boston, and on the cab ride from the airport to the hotel, the cabbie asked her why she was in town.

"I'm here for the Mensa convention," she explained.

"Mensa, isn't that the organization for smart people?"

After she confirmed that it was, he asked her where she came from. When she told him Georgia, he was surprised: "But I thought all the people in Georgia were illegitimate."[/list=1]Disclaimer for the Georgians here: Opinions of the cab driver are not necessarily those of the author.

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ken.kaufman@gmail.com

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

excellent.

It doesn't not even suck at all.
I like it too.
Hear hear!

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Do you want ants? Because that's how you get ants.

Because you didn't not ask for it....

Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (1/13) by evil_d 11-14-02

Retroactive Man, what's my origin story? Well, Potential Lad, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much.... No, no, I know about the facts of life. I mean, when did I become your sidekick? What made me become a crimefighter? I don't remember any of it. Well, I suppose I must have taken care of all that retroactively. You don't remember either, do you? No time to talk now! The Retrophone's about to ring!

Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (2/13) by evil_d 11-14-02

I retroactively know that when I retroactively answer the Retrophone, it will be the Mayor calling to tell me that trouble's brewing here at the abandoned high school! We could search faster if we split up! In the basement.... Hmm... what's this strange device? Who could have built it? Don't not stop going right there, Retroactive Man! *gasp* ...my old enemy, Doctor Negative!

Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (3/13) by evil_d 11-14-02

You ain't never getting the best of me no more, Retroactive Man! You didn't fail to fall into my clever trap! Now, don't fail to taste my wrath! Retroactive Man? What's going on here? Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (4/13) by evil_d 11-14-02

Doctor Negative, you scoundrel! What could you have done with Retroactive Man? I didn't not send your precious Retroactive Man to the one place where his powers won't not be able to help him -- THE PAST! Ha ha ha! You realize that "won't not" cancel each other out, so you just said that his powers *will* be able to help him, right? No I don't not! Christ. Are you even a real doctor? I'm not not an unreal doctor!

Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (5/13) by evil_d 11-14-02

Look here, Doctor Negative. I don't think you realize the terrifying things I could do to you. Why, I could -- hey! Well, at least that's -- what now? Oh, hell.

[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (6/13)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (7/13)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (8/13)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (9/13)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (10/13)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (11/13)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (12/13)']
[Click to view comic: 'Retroactive Man & Potential Lad Travel Through Time (13/13)']

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

arghh! I havn't replied to this yet?
These are super ass kicking comics.

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Batman created by Bob Kane

The also punch ass!

Bwahahahaha!!!

It occurs to me that an episode with Retroactive Man meeting The Artist Formerly Known as Prince might have potential.

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ken.kaufman@gmail.com

He should fight captain obvious.
"I'm shooting you with my ray gun!"

moof, my mistake. Past pluperfect is a tense involved in time travel, in speech about a past trip into the future in which both that past and "future" already happened. Conjugating screw into that is beyond me at the moment. Pluperfect subjunctive is right, but I still think it should be "scrowed", boston cabbies be damned.

And in other news, you are pardoned for using the pluperfect subjunctive in the first place.

[size=1]

...

if only there was a little more kaufman in all of us.[/size]

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AIM: HeeeresWiL | RAAR! TOBOR WILL DEFENSTRATE YOU!

Like a Saturday Night Live sketch, the Retroactive Man comics will keep going long after they've stopped being funny. I've got some vague ideas for another series, but for now, here are a couple of one-shots, including the fan-requested meeting with TAFKAP!

Retroactive Stories: Formerly Known As by evil_d 11-19-02

Hello there, citizen! Hello, Retroactive Man. I'm the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. I guess I'll currently know you as Prince, then. Can't do that. Legal problems with my record label. You know, for a nominal fee, I could retroactively rough up the label executives for you. Sounds great! I assume you'll accept a post-dated check?

Retroactive Stories: The Origin of Retroactive Man by evil_d 11-19-02

Ah ha! My pawn captures yours using "en passant"! Checkmate! Damn! You win again. Oh, my! I think that bolt of lightning that struck me as I made that final move gave me superhuman powers! What are you talking about? You didn't get struck by lightning. It's not even raining. Fine, I'll take care of getting struck by lightning later, then.

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

Just so I can beat a dead horse a bit more, I was under the impression that only languages like Latin and French even had a "pluperfect." In English it's just called "past perfect," although it means the same. Am I wrong here?

Oh, and by the way this is possibly my favorite series ever created by an sc.com user -- except maybe my CC: 146 entries. And sorry, evil_d, the new ones are still funny, so don't turn in your application for SNL cast member just yet.

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peddling the funny around since 09/24/2002

Don't say I never did nothin' for ya, boinky.

24 comics is a bit much for the forums, so I'll just give you the first and let you follow the links.

Brush up on the history of Captain Obvious first with deucepm's six-part series The Life of Captain Obvious.

Retroactive Man/Captain Obvious Crossover (1/24) by evil_d 4-29-03

Potential Lad! There's trouble brewing down at Davy Jones' Distillery! Let me guess. You retroactively know that because the mayor is about to call. No, I can see the distillery from our window. It looks like there was an explosion inside. But did you like my pun? Trouble *brewing*? Because it's a distillery! Get it? Shut up and go save the fucking day.

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

Sigh, Retroactive Man was my hero.

Great comics, as usual. You should quit your job and disown your friends and familly so you can sit at your computer and make more.

Potential Lad is being a bit of a dick, isn't he? 8) What happened to him?

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"Old" is the old new.