Endtown by Aaron Neathery for February 02, 2012

Oh, no! Petey down in flames as well! Definitely not looking good for our team.

Unnerving, how each day will come With a feeling foreboding and numb Petey’s bitten the dust The whole crew has gone bust And we’re gnashing, and wailing, and glum But we’re told to have faith, and I do And I keep subtle hints here in view While we’re anxious, a bit We’re not ready to quit Or at least, I am not. How ’bout you? =|====/ Level Head Vote for Endtown 2.0 And for Doc Rat, too The Endtown Forum

PETEY down, too!It just gets worse.Hopefully the Friday cliffhanger will have a spark of hope.

Well, Flask’s not dead yet, I believe. It’ll be interesting to see how she handles this.

You get an A for effort at least, Petey. And inside the PT, Flask is probably like “FML”

Two left-handed topsiders… doesn’t that violate their purity laws in some way?

And are Dittos the spirits of the Amesworth dead? I really hope we don’t have four more here. Reallyreallyreally hope.

It’s just getting worse and worse. I’m not surprised any more, as it’s already exhausted all the escape options in the plot that I can think of. So, now, there must be ones I CAN’T think of. Not the obvious ones, to do with battlefield tactics. I mean options on a higher plane, the next level up in scope. I’m missing something here. There’s really something I haven’t picked up on.

As long as this is not some dream sequence that will restore everything back to the way it was once the dreamer awakens.

So, what happens now? I’m not willing to give up on our heroes yet, but I think they’re finally out of quarters….

Alright folks, I’m going to say right now that I do not believe Wally, Holly and Petey are all dead. There has to be a reason why Flask, the only one left, is being shown these things, and I think it started when she and Wally were looking up in the sky last Friday. That, I believe, is the point of disconnect between reality, and whatever this is. As TSOJ has said, the “ask Linda” segment on the underground is ‘cannon’, and the icon shows her in an Endtown security uniform. If she really has a future in Endtown, then she’s not dead, and then neither are the rest. Bringing it to this point and having this be reality would be the worst ending in the history of endings, so I am discounting that outright as a possibility.

That’s why at this point, I’m at peace with what we’ve seen today. (Started thinking this yesterday, actually, figuring Petey would be next in line right after Wally and Holly). Now, I’m just waiting for next week.

I’ve not completely lost hope yet as there have been some things that don’t seem quite right, but, hope is diminishing more and more.

I admit, I’ve held off commenting lately because the darker tone of recent strips has left me feeling a bit too depressed, and thus, unwilling to get too emotionally involved. For the sake of my emotions and time, I can’t speculate too much about what will be the case because I can’t afford to speculate at all. Just like one with an unstable stomach is forced to stay safely on the ground and be a detached observer while others experience the thrills and shrieks of a break-neck roller coaster, I am forced to be content to observe a bit more detached than I might otherwise like. (Nonetheless, I will continue to observe.)

However, I keep thinking about some earlier strips in which all seemed irrevocably lost, and yet through intricate (and likely in the view of some, slightly contrived) plot devices, our heroes and their city were saved.

I don’t hold out hope for exactly such here. Yes, it would be wonderful if Mallard had installed some perfectly-timed trap door under the exact spot in which Wally and Holly were apparently shot, or if Al had thought to grab Sam’s radiation immunization device from Hillside and thereby made all Endtowners impervious to the topsiders’ zero guns, or if Captain Kirk, on an inter-temporal mission from an alternate timeline, had Scotty beam up the heroic mutants at precisely the right moment, or if …, or if …, or if … . However, I don’t expect such here. (I would be more than happy if such were the case, but I’m not holding out for it.)

I think we can safely assume that Endtown will survive (unless Aaron is already feeling tired of this comic and wants to retire from this enterprise, which I think we can all agree is (very thankfully) quite unlikely). Nonetheless, this serves as a reminder that unlike the town, we have no such guarantee for any of its inhabitants. As always, congratulations on such excellent and powerful storytelling, Aaron. Thank you.

Did he fall or did he “dive”?Blessed BE.

Been waiting all morning to sit down by my computer and is once more hopping tomorrow will bring some light. LIke someone said yesterday: their cloths usually don’t vanish… or do they?

Well…. that Friday cliff is getting bigger and bigger!I do hope Aaron has an ace up his sleeve when it comes to Wally and Holly but if he doesn’t he is the maestro in this universe that we are absorbed in! Can’t wait to see what happens! I do hope we get to see more of Wally, Holly, Petey, Flask and Linda but if not I’ll shed a tear and keep on reading.

In panel 4 . . . I’m seeing two splash-downs. Did Petey jettison something nearer to the Topsiders?

I have to admit, it would be interesting if this is all some sort of “worst case scenario” prediction ability that Flask has which is what makes her both so unstable, and at the same time so valuable that Professer Quacks puts up with her.

also, that’s not two splashdowns, or rather, not splashdowns from two objects. Petey bounced.

Scenes like this don’t happen in Marmaduke every day. Aaron nearly killed himself doing the night sky in these panels. Artwork quality’s been great this week.

If this was written by George Lucas instead of Aaron Neathery I would be worried.

Crap.

@Fred WarrenIf it was written by Lucas there’d be no worries – just a rewrite if it didn’t go down well….and a Special Edition and a Directors Cut (98%??)… and Ewoks .

He’s just killing them all off to show how awful the world is, six years after Armageddon (if I remember the setting correctly). Although there is Linda’s column on the forum, it could be taken down and a 404 message put in its place.

The only “out” I can see at this point is whatever Flask & Wally saw from inside that P.T…

Hope I’m wrong on this, but I think the strip ends tomorrow.

Oh he lost his little wheel…

So some speculation for tomorrow, for the friday cliffhanger, well the only ones left are the transport and Flask. One or the other will be seen to get it.

Yesterday I did that subjective escape clause. I am still betting on a variation of that, as it covers so much territory.

I fully agree that there was a story disjunction between last Friday and Monday. SOMETHING happened, we’ll probably find out tomorrow – and how or why will happen Monday and we’ll once again be whimpering through the weekend. :)

Whoa… whimpering is right.

If what JerseyCajun says is true about Linda being pictured in an Endtown uniform, then there has to be a way out. I don’t like the idea of this being only some kind of illusion or dream. Aaron is too good a story teller to rip us off like that. But DirtyOldLady’s idea has merit, The Monster with the Teddy Bear was introduced into the story for some reason. I’m trusting Aaron to surprise us yet!

Excellent story line, Aaron. Wally & Holly’s deaths tore my heart out (lost my wife back in ’92.) Did not see that coming.

For everyone else, three things that I’ve taken note of:

1. Flask and Wally were looking out the front of the transport, and something shocks them. What did they see? Why was that moment important?

2. Flask and Wally were looking out the front of the transport, then suddenly, Wally, Holly & Linda are trying to escape by running away? Wasn’t Wally going to try to get Flask to join them?

2. Petey was too far away to be of any help. How did he go from far away, to dive bombing the transport?

Can’t wait to see what happens next. :O)

Koalinda’s on their side now. She must know a thing or two about beating her former allies.

A thought — This week could be a vision of the ORACLE back in Endtown which would prompt a rescue effort (with everything reset to an earlier point in time).

If you look closely you will see that almost everyone in this world is left handed. I asked Aaron about that once, but didn’t get an answer.

Hope it won’t be like the second episode of “Space 1999,” which kind of implied that everything afterward was an illusion.

Flask is safe, such as it is—the topsiders want her alive so they can…discuss things with her.

It does not bode well for all involved, does it? It’s the end of the world as they know it, and I’m not feeling fine.

Ya know, it seems that anytime I comment on Endtown it’s to blow more fanboy air up Aaron’s skirt (so to speak), but it’s because the praise is so deserved. I’ve read comics all my life (with silly childhood fantasies of being cartoonist >sigh<) but have never been so involved in a strip until I stumbled onto this one. The art and storylines mesh so perfectly to create an experience that is much more than a “read and move on to Garfield” situation: Endtown has become an essential part of my day (except Saturdays and Sundays, sadly). I have no idea how the events of the past few days will or can be resolved, and I’m not yet certain how to feel about it. I may have the fallen into the typical “Hollywood Syndrome” of hoping for a happy ending, although Aaron’s writing rarely drops to that standard. But for the moment, I’m withholding my grief until I have confirmation it is needed. (the only time I cried over a comic was when Farley the dog died).Damn you, Aaron, you diabolical genius.

petey new body seems really hard maybe it can protect his brain and the fact he didnt get his memory back nor we didnt see a flashback could mean petey is still alive

Don’t forget to Vote today!!

Vote Endtown

Vote Doc Rat

All you can do is wait and read on….Ya bunch of weenies.

I cast my vote for Endtown 2.0! Thanks for the link!

If you read his profile, he’s a full-time doctor in Australia. From most of his comments, I would also speculate that he knows Aaron from more than just this website.

Are we really losing Petey too! ?

How dense could I be? The answer is so perfectly obvious that it’s been right under our noses and we have been totally blind to it! The clue is in yesterday’s strip. In panel 1 the dust pile appears to be glowing! Don’t you see; they have all become one with the force! They’re rubbing sparkley elbows with Yoda and Obiwan. Now Flask will be carted back to TS Central where she will come to her senses and throw the evil emperor down some infintely deep reactor shaft just before she’s blasted by the guards. The arc ends with our heroes, all shiny and transparent (and no longer mutants), back in Mallard’s lab knocking back bean juice shots.

My lord, I’m nuttier than Flask. Aaron, you have got to get us out of this “pit of despair”.

Okay, just back from completing my duties as a citizen of Endtown, i.e. I voted.As to today’s strip, it’s what I expected. Question now is: Does Friday start doing in Flask and leave that hanging for the weekend?With all the daily laugh type of comics I see in the papers and most of which BTW are not all that funny, I really have to ask….Why is Endtown not in syndication!?!?! The artwork is great, the storyline has no competition that I can find, and it always pulls some feelings from its readers. What’s happened to Wally, Holly, et. al. is one thing; the lack of. . .notice? . . .that Aaron’s little masterpiece receives is beyond me. Get out there an vote guys and pass the good word along to whoever will lend an ear.See y’all tomorrow.

OK something was going on on Last Friday, hopefully that has something to do with the fate of our heros.

Colinda was the prettiest girl in all the bayou land. And all the boys who danced with her, tried to win her hand. Her mama always chaperoned Colinda day and night. She didn’t want those Cajun boys to hold her daughter tight!

Interesting thought.It could just as easily be the other way around. Perhaps in the majority of cases it’s the Left-Hand Sibling that doesn’t survive.And what about somebody like me? I’m ambidextrous but of a particular kind. I do all the “active” things [like throwing a ball or throwing a punch] with my right hand; but everything “artistic” [writing, drawing] is done with my left.They say the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, and vice versa.And what about the evil reputation that goes along with left-handedness? We even get the word “Sinister” which refers to the left.

my fingers are cramped from being crossed so hard…..

I really don’t like the path this story is taking. Bummer squared.

If seeing Petey shot out of the sky doesn’t trip Flask’s trigger and generate a response then nothing ever will again.

I thought PETEY was hit and bounced. Examining panel three I see a grey object hit with two beams while PETEY is hit with one. PETEY and something else (the rocket?) hit the ground in panel four.

Well my question got answered. No topsiders laying down on the job so Wally made a cleam miss.Topsiders = 4, Endtown = 0If that rebel rousing newsman back in endtown doesn’t want to contribute to the demise of all mutants, it looks like some serious training is in order. The occasional raid for beans has not left them well enough trained to take on the topsiders percision fire.

Third day of triple digits.Good job all!

You know, what Wally and Flask saw last Friday might have been the Ghost of Endtown Yet to Come, and what we are seeing are the shadows of things that may yet be, but have not, as of yet, come to pass. But, if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the cat and mouse (and koala and andriod) will die. Who knows, worked for Dickens….

Grasping at straws, I know, but they keep getting shorter and shorter.

We all know Friday’s are not for resolution. Here comes the cliff…..

Don’t know whether to stay up or put off the inevitable ’till tomorrow.

392 comments so far this week. I bet we can top 500 for the five days.

I’m certainly willing to help.

The Topsider logo seems very similar to the logo of Sparkplug’s old company.

sparkplug should show up again the dittos couldve saved him

the way the dittos were showing him his past every night made me think all the dittos are just 1 mutant ……sparkplug son

OH thank you for a ray of hope. I had forgotten about the little kid who lives underground and sends her "feelers: out and got her teddy bear back. She probably likes them because they found it for her and were willing to give it back. So there is life there and maybe they slide under (a surprize to them) maybe that little kid had been following them, sensed their danger and grabbed all 3 with her feelers. I hope so!

darn it petey, why? WHYYYY?!