Full Ctrl+Alt+Del four-panel comic titled Misinformationalized where Ethan dramatically lectures a customer about spreading gaming rumors.

Misinformationalized

2010reaction imageclassic

Published October 16, 2026

A 2010 Ctrl+Alt+Del comic in which GameHaven owner Ethan rants at a customer about video game rumors got chopped into a two-panel reaction image where he just throws his arms up in exasperation1. By 2015, Tumblr users were pasting Shovel Knight characters and other mascots into Ethan's silhouette and using the edit as a general-purpose freakout image2.

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Overview

Misinformationalized, also known as You Hear About Video Games?, is a two-panel reaction image carved out of a Ctrl+Alt+Del strip where GameHaven store owner Ethan lectures a customer about unverified gaming rumors2. Editors stripped out the original dialogue and middle panels, keeping only the opening question and Ethan's final arms-in-the-air flail, which reads as pure exasperation when divorced from the context of a video game screed1.

Typical edits replace the first panel's dialogue with any mundane conversation starter, so Ethan's dramatic reaction becomes a punchline about being asked for the time, hearing a hot take, or receiving minor news2. The joke lands because Ethan's gesture is wildly disproportionate to whatever setup the editor pastes in, which doubles as a jab at the original comic's earnest treatment of gaming message board drama2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Ctrl+Alt+Del webcomic / 4chan and Tumblr (viral spread)
Date
2010

Cartoonist Tim Buckley posted the original Misinformationalized strip to the Ctrl+Alt+Del website on November 19, 2010, as part of the ongoing GameHaven storyline1. In the full comic, Ethan grills a customer about why rumors should not be trusted and ends with his arms raised in frustration, a pose that reads as a stock exasperation gesture once the preceding dialogue is cut1.

The exact origin of the first edited version is undocumented, though speculation points to 4chan as the likely birthplace of the trimmed two-panel template2. An archived post from January 16, 2012, on the British hardware forum Overclockers UK is the earliest known appearance of the two-panel edition being used as a situational reaction image2.

How It Spread

After the Overclockers UK sighting in early 2012, the two-panel cut circulated as a general-use reaction image on forums and image boards whenever someone wanted to show a mock overreaction to a trivial question2. The format benefited from being source-agnostic since the surrounding comic context fell away, meaning posters who had never read Ctrl+Alt+Del could still deploy it without explanation2.

On December 2, 2015, Tumblr user acedefectiveinvestigations published a redraw that put Shovel Knight antagonist Plague Knight in Ethan's pose, and the post picked up more than 2,400 notes over the following six months2. That Plague Knight edition kicked off a run of character-swap variations on Tumblr, where fandoms slotted their own favorite characters into the exasperation pose and tagged posts under You Hear About Video Games?2.

Timeline

2010-11-19

Tim Buckley posts the Misinformationalized strip to Ctrl+Alt+Del, featuring Ethan lecturing a customer and ending with the arms-raised panel[1].

2012-01-16

The earliest archived two-panel edit of the comic appears on the British Overclockers UK forum as a reaction image[2].

2015-12-02

Tumblr user acedefectiveinvestigations posts a Plague Knight version mimicking Ethan's gesture, which gathers over 2,400 notes within six months[2].

2016

Additional character-swap edits based on Misinformationalized surface on Tumblr under the You Hear About Video Games? tag[2].

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