Endtown by Aaron Neathery for October 18, 2012

So. we don’t yet get to see Her Highness’ face. Hmmm…

Is Her Highness Flask?

I Think this could be Flask… Sent back in time to prepare End Town for the future…. though given that she says it has taken many centuries and will take many more then the only way it could be Flask is either that she is now imortal… or that she can skip forward in time to when she is needed…. We will just have to wait and see,

I think Her Highness (or is Her Lowness?) might be Flask or someone related to her she looks awful familiar, specially since Marx sent her back, as for the top hat guy on the third frame showing them the briefcase full of money (or gold) it looks like Abraham Lincoln, we can only guess at this point, I suppose.

“Silence is golden. Need more gold?”

Her highness suggests that maybe the constructions began during the age of Egypt. Logical. Perfect planning knowing what will happen in the future. “Her” future.Good oo. Aaron you are out on a HOTTROT again!!! I LIKE IT!!Blessed Be

Can’t be Flask, or at least not cat-Flask. Too many fingers.

but there are some things we dont know yet

the fact endtown started centuries ago must have something to do with the ORACLE

or am i the only one who thinks that one being a glass of water able to see the FUTURE something that doesnt fit with the all the mutants we seen so far ?

i cant guess who the duchess is but is posible the oracle is older than everything in endtown

and we still dont know about the virus origin so is posible well find out during this arc

I’m guessing it’s Flask in human form, doing her good work.Who said there can be no time travel. If Aaron Marx can reach into a dimension and get gum from Leonardo Da Vinci, surely he can send Flask back.So this is how Endtown was built, and how it was built so well but so secretly. What I want to know is: What did all the other mutant colonies do? And how and when was Prof Mallard let in on all of this?

“Also, not necessarily a mile down at this point. No dust covering the surface yet. May be accessed through a cavern or underground river.”We’ve seen the water leaving the colony through a grate, presumably down a falls, river or drain. It’s got to be coming in from somewhere. That gives two possible side entrances (there’s nothing that says that the current canal had water running through it during the initial excavation).

Cat-flask would look strange at this time when they seem to be 100% humanoid (but I have to say that our pipe smoking broad faced friend reminds me of a tall Hobbit! Ah for a pipe of Old Toby)

The Duchess seems very well-covered. As if she’s entirely covered, and afraid of outside contamination. And we may not see her face because it’s not exposed. She may be a predecessor to the Topsiders. If she’s not an alien guiding human history.

It always amazes me how AN can make things glow.Ooh! Shiny!

I know…. it’s Melodie!

GoldenRoyaCovered yesterday. After this probably ancestors.Okay on today.The Lady Arwen and the building of the Mines of Moria.Its a Silmarillion in the box.Taking centuries to complete. No wonder they had to wait for you know proper building techniques such as wood, nails, glass. And that guy is Abe Lincoln.And that voice balloon covered something.What are you hiding on her Mr. Neathery? HmmmmmmmPlacement Placement Placement.(And I am still waiting for the midgets to run out from underthere)Other than that WOWWOOWWOOOOOOW!This has gotten GOOOOOD!

I’m just going to imagine that is Flask and now I can call her Captain Black Flaskness, and pretend she is now immortal after a run in with Dr. Marx who owns a teal police box that travels through time and is smaller on the ouside than the inside.

Yes, I’m totally a geek, and I should probably be fed to some horrible mutant monstrosity in the wasteland.

On second thought.Just a large full draping dress.Does she have a bussel? They all did to make their butts look bigger. Attractive back in the 1800’s

Butts!!!!Now I am distracted.

But Flask did have a good look derriere. So she would not need too much enhancement. I mean the bussom is period correct. Very popular to be that well endowed.

The way Aaron drew the glow above the gold coins in panel four is one of the coolest effects I’ve seen in a b/w strip. The streetlamps are given a similar effect, but it just stands out with that open suitcase. Masterful.

It looks to me like it’s Flask and Aaron Marx who are in charge… the guy in the tophat definitely looks like Marx. and Marx totally told Flask that he loved her…. perhaps this is when he was in love with her?

Everyone seems to want the Duchess to be Flask; personally I’d find it more enlightening to the story if it wasn’t Flask. But regardless of yes or no, my quibble here is similar to what @Nabuquduriuzhur mentioned yesterday – here is an engineering project “many” centuries in the making that realistically would require technology from no further back than the mid 1800’s to even begin to make much headway. We aren’t just talking the pyramids which you can throw raw manpower at (and no way was history able to keep any of it secret), we’re talking air and cooling challenges that take modern materials science to overcome. Heck, I’m not sure even today’s tech would be capable of preventing collapses and cave-ins for a cavern that big and deep for a period of centuries.So either the universe of Endtown is many centuries in the future from our own, or its construction was started many centuries in our past. If t’s the future then AN was very unimaginative in presenting a centuries-later future (pre-distaster) that so closely resembles our present day, never mind an Endtown construction phase who’s culture and mode of dress so closely resemble our 19th century. So let’s assume AN means the past, and all the engineering challenges inherent with that idea.If that isn’t time travel, it’s something so close it’s hardly worth quibbling over.So why then even bother with building Endtown? Why not just go meddle with history and fix the problems that created the disaster in the first place? Heck, why even stop there?This is why Bronkster made his “no time travel” request – because it opens too many “what-if” doors. Time travel may as well be magic – conceivably you can do anything with it given the right circumstances, circumstances which can be manipulated with – you guessed it – time travel!Don’t get me wrong, AN tells a great story and I will continue to eaglerly gape at his wonderland – but at this point we have been shown our little rabbit hole is faaar deeper than we ever before suspected, and it would be ridiculous for anyone to argue otherwise.

Mr. Neathery sir, I know you have been told this a gadzillion times but I must say it again. I read several comics. Love them all but, this strip is the only one that I have thought about buying things. I will own the books and hopefully soon. You are a genius. It is the only story that I actually think about after I go offline. It’s a never ending story. A story without sound, movement or color. Yet it holds my attention better than any movie I have seen. I just wanted you to know that your hard work is not only known but loved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

There is no reason to believe that Endtown was completely excavated. When we met the Oracle we saw there were interconnected caves. The main work would have been leveling an existing deep cavern – first the floor, then later the ceiling. This woulld explain the temperature and air problems as well as many NATURAL deep caves are self regulated and ventilated.

Some complain that we can’t see her faceAlmost though they think our artist gyps us!This is one multi-period placeIt would be, if typed out, an ellipsis…=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books

I guess that prior to the offer of gold, these two were “free masons”.

Especially the SILENCE…

Perhaps our Duchess is Flask in a previous life. I mean, she definitely reminds me of Flask

After thinking about this I can come up with one solid reason why the Duchess can’t be Flask. Its predictable and as someone who has spent the past year or so struggling to anticipate the plot twists of this fine story, I can assure you that Endtown is anything but predictable.

I don’t know his name, but I love the second artisan; his expression hasn’t changed for eight panels! He just keeps on puffing away on his pipe, unconcerned with objections or the size of the funds. It’s hilarious!

First, let me say that your Endtown comic is nothing short of ingenious. Fantastic work, indeed!.Now, I realize that a new story has begun, but the ending of the last arc has left me with questions that I must ask for the sake of sanity.Here we go….Do Wally and Holly have their jobs back now that they’ve been released?Will the brain that Petey retrieved from the transporter be given a feminine robot body?How much time will Linda have to serve before she becomes the new Chief of Security for Endtown?Have Al and Gustine (from previous story) set a wedding date? Has Mr. Jackrabbit made any more progress with his “Anthro-political campaign”?And…one more thing….WHERE’S MY DIMENSIONOMETER?!!!

She does have Flasks’ bust.

You gotta love a comic that intrigues you so much that you read all the comments in the comments section about it too…

Flask a girl gave Petey2B a guy the nickname as “Melodie”No wonder the guy ran off. Butch, Handsome, Loverboy, BIG guy maybe hang around but MELODIE. What he’d do hummmm alot. Sing to himself. OMG a male SIREN destined to lure all females to removing their clothes.

Why assume that Flask has returned simply because a womanly shape has appeared? I don’t think we’ve seen the new iteration of Flask yet… wait for it…

Melodie??? Petey2B pet name??? Okay what date!! I don’t recall that panel.She would have responded with his name on hearing her pet name. She just freaked and all heck broke loose winding up with what we have now.“My name is Sue, how do you do, now your’re gonna die.”if you call me Melodie.To Dragoncat (cool name by the way)Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of Men?The Shadow do.In others words Welcome to the show!Mr. Neathery asked us all what to do about a few things. Over 200 posts later on a weekend. We got our answer. NOW BEGIN MORE QUESTIONS!!!!!!Gotta love it.

Oh and glowing eyes only happen if a light source is shined at them. Retina reflection. I have never heard of bio-luminesence mammal eyes. Sea creatures Yes. Mammals No.Glow in the dark? If I saw someone approaching with their eyes glowing in the dark I would definitely find an cross, some holy water, silver bullets or something and then run like hell.Flask eyes were not that cat like. They appeared normal round human type eyes. They infact reflect red due to the fact of the blood flow in the retinal area. IE Red eye reduction on camera.

Oh and about Flask’s bust. Her evening gown is a real winner. Yes you can see she is stacked and would grace anyones arm. Unfortuately if you check her expression she wishes it was Daniel Craig not Prof Mallard.And if it is her now. She is stuck with some guy in a top hat but he is hold a crap load of shiny things.Probably personal assistant.

To DragoncatYou are welcome.

There’s no reason (as stated before) that Endtown isn’t in some sort of natural cavern. That would explain the strata exposed in the bare rock ceiling when it’s drawn. I also remember someone finally mentioning the Oracle. That would be an expanation of how Endtown came to be. The Oracle would be the one entity that knows the future. Since it is a liquid, the Oracle cannot be contained except when it allows (such as in the glass in Endtown #2). The Oracle would have cerainly known what was going to happen and provide the means to protect humanity, if not the humans, because it chose to do so. I am certain we will find out the significance of the woman behind the veil in time and I also am a reader who is certain that whoever she is, it is NOT Flask.The river, for what else it may be could be the home of the Oracle.

Ummm…my sentiments exactly. Flask had a remarkable figure, but then so did premutation Linda and most other topsider females we’ve seen.

On the OracleThe one thing about viewing the future is the uncertanity. Nothing is positive in the future unless you know the past, go back to it and have pre-knowledge over what has to happen. There can be no change in the past without an devasting effect on the future.It cannot work without perfectly following the exact path. This has been covered in many other Sifi books. The Butterfly Effect is one. People journied back in time to hunt dinosaurs. They had to step on a walkway supported about the ground. NO CONTACT. Any contact could upset the time line. A hunter fell off. No harm no foul he thought. He came back to his world finding it on the brink of nuclear war and in total chaos. He finally admitted to falling off the walkway.On the bottom of his shoe was a tiny butterfly. Its death in the past caused rampant change to the future.Think of it this way. Go back in time and make sure your parents never meet. Will you still exsist? You may now as it is part of that timeline but return to your time. I think POOF.If the Oracle knew so much why not make adjustments to events to prevent what she already knew was going to happen. It would be like we know what Hitler did. Go back in time and have him killed in WWI. Think about it. Would things be the same.If the Oracle thing is right then all she is doing is preparing for what she knows for some reason cannot be stopped by any means. What ever is going to happen is going to happen. So the river is no Oracle. It is simply a under ground water supply tapped into during construction. Water would be a need so tap the ground water.

Sorry to be a killjoy on the Oracle thing. It is like Flask going back with all she knows to change the past so her and Petey meet never to part. What riffs would that cause. No attack on the complex, no fighting between her and Wally, no need for Aaron Marx to come into play.That is what makes this story so facinating. We are going in whole new route.The mysterious Duchess is human. Five fingers. All humans have five fingers. (Cartoonist rules) We never saw Flask as human without the mask of the Topsider.(OH no mention of them eh?)We may be privy to HOW things got to where they are now. Pre Apex, Pre Topsiders,Pre Aimsworth Radiation, Pre-mutagenic virus and seeing the foundations of the society that created these things. Set the base line. That was a burning question I had from the beginning I first viewed Endtown. HOW DID THIS ALL BEGIN? Now I think we are going to be told.

Tata for now kids.Back to tomorrow for the FRIDAY panels.They are always good.

Oh and Mr. NeatheryIf you did do a back view of her in that dress seductively looking over her shoulder please wait till the end of the month. I am a poor Trooper who gets paid end of month. But my funds will be sufficient to crush any bidders.Dahooooo. Thrown down.And you know I am serious.

Hey Hey Hey KiddiesHere is thoughtDuchess is the ORACLE.

Read it Read it. What she is saying and how it is said.Hmmmmmmm.

Oh and Mr. NeatheryOn that dress and pose request.Keep the tail.The last blast from Flask.My bid will be triple figuredSort of like Lauren Becall making an exit, stage left.(Shoot she can join me in the orchestra pit)Just one last shot.

Flask reminds me of Lauren Becall. Sultry, strong willed, husky voice, imposing, but still a woman.Gotta break out some old videos tonight.LOOK OUT OLD GUY FEELING YOUNG.

Wow it’s cool to see how End town began. And this woman says it been worked on by centuries. Looks like someone knew how life as they knew it would end.

The new story line is here, the new story line is here! I’m somebody, now.

If this little subterranean suburb has been in the making over a span of centuries, it makes one wonder what it’s original purpose might have been. I find it difficult to believe it was really meant from the beginning to be a haven for fuzzy wuzzys. ;-)

“How about retrograde incarnation?”That’s good, I like that! Can I use that?

And, for something completely different… There was a mention here of Monty Python and Graham Chapman yesterday. Well, in the Japan Times newspaper today, there’s a story on the upcoming Tokyo International Film Fest, and the one animated film slated to be included is A Liar’s Autobiography – The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman. Liar’s Autobiography has a 2012 release, so maybe it’ll be available in the U.S. by the end of this year (although IMDB has it as 4.9 stars out of 10).

I’m thinking not Flask. a mutant, possibly, but not Flask.

“See Veteran, TSOJ is a chain yanker of all of us, good on you for yanking back sometimes…and stealing his chocolates too”Great. First you want my chocolates, and now you’re after my chain. You people are weird…

It has always been the sort of unwritten cartoonist rule. A human character has to have five digits. All non human usually have just four. And yes our Aaron does draw the human hand remarkable well I can agree on that.I tossed the gown idea out there so he could make some money. I have contacted him before. I just like others to see his wonderful work. Like I have said before. I was mesmerized by the detail in the work. All the way down to the eye shadow and ever so slight blush. Beautiful. A photo helps but like any art it does not give one the full effect. Sooo much detail.And TSOJ if they get your chain they will have to remember one thing. You are on the other end. Their problem. Your solution. I have seen those movies where that guy uses that chain with a blade on the end. Trust me if I saw that swinging I would run away like a sissy girl and call in a airstrike.Domo arigato my friend. I bow with much respect. (And my Japanese is not so good)(“Melodie?”)Gotta go. Trip to Austin tomorrow.

It might be Flask after Marx sent her soul into the nether regions to be reincarnated. She may have ended up in the past to atone for her future misdeeds.

Dont those two engineers remind you of horseface and moleman?

Does anyone else think the builder on the left kinda looks like Weird Al?