Well, he has a point. As someone pointed out yesterday, the cat is still alive. That’s more than I expected..Also pointed out yesterday, Sarah’s contribution to this effort is in question. And wasn’t it the cat who attempted to come to her rescue at the trial?.This is a difficult comic to follow. Really cute animals in some very un-cute situations. I suppose it’s not supposed to be funny..Though, going back to January 2009, some of those scenes were just that! The sand monster falling in love with Sam simply because he fixed one of its teeth. Sam telling his wife how easy she was to shop for since she mutated into a rhinoceros..But it did end with Sam’s buddy getting blasted for exposing himself to the “topsiders.”.Speaking of “topsiders,” if this adventure is in the “great wasteland,” doesn’t that make this colony of lizards “topsiders”?
See, if Wally had just flipped Phil on his back and rubbed Phil’s belly, Phil would have just gone to sleep. And Wally could have drawn on him with Sharpies™ and put Phil’s “hand” in a pail of warm water. Wally’s in for some seriously trouble, and is will have work off his debts. Hey, he is pretty good with a broom… He could really clean up in Rept-Town. JusSayin
Civilized is in the eye of the beholder. So far the lizards have shown quite a bit of civil behavior towards the outsiders. We have not seen how that colony works politically or socially so it’s hard to judge them.
I don’t see Sarah in the same light you do, Veteran, and wouldn’t compare her to Wally (who jumped into the middle of things at that restaurant Holly was working at the first day he ate there). There’s a difference between being under control and not caring. Wally has been very proactive from the beginning while Sarah has done nothing but complain and act “above it all” throughout. She’s challenging Jacob Jackrabbit as the most unlikable character (to me) in this strip, although Jacob still gets the nod because he’s been proactive himself…in stirring up trouble among Endtowners.
And what could be more “civilized” than beating up a child who was simply trying to follow orders?…These lizards need to take a dose of their own… Oh, wait! That’s why Wally is locked up.
It was once put to a British officer in British India that the practice of suttee—-throwing the widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands—-was a sacred tradition. His reply was along the lines of “We, too, have a sacred tradition. We hang men who throw widows on funeral pyres.”#Wally may not be in Endtown, but he has his own code that he lives by—-and, evidently, one part of that code is not to let child abusers pass by without comment.#Also, remember, Phil pulled a knife first, just as Wally started to verbally remonstrate with him—-and Wally knocked him out with a broom handle…
Civilized, is such an ominous blanket term. There’s no point to name specifics when it comes to how much damage has been done in the name of “Civilization”.If our era is ever remembered through the lens of time, how would we look to as yet unborn generations to come.Would they most certainly look upon us as barbarians?That we would call ourselves a just and free society in comparison to previous epochs of so-called “civilization”The word Humankind shouldn’t be an oxymoron, for all our greatness as a species, there is an overwhelming litany of misdeeds and compromise done to advance various religious and political ideologies.Eventually the time will come to pay for all we have done and even more so for the things we should have done but chose to ignore in the name of greed.As a Jew, I’m told not to believe in hell, but they didn’t teach me not to believe in Karma.In many of the comments I see a degree of belief the the lizard people are more like their reptilian ilk than as a humanoid.The slippery slope of anthropomorphism has arrived!From what we can observe all the mutants we’ve encountered we’re once human like us.Many have adapted to their new predicament, many have not. Some even went batcrap insane ultra right wing anthro, like the poor denizens of Endtown. Anyone else wonder how that’s working out?Would any of us be able to handle it, such a radical change occurring to our bodies overnight?We’d have no choice in the outcome, and then would either have to go crazy or adapt, survive, and even thrive.How much of our minds would remain human. We have all seen the mutants be able to reason, without much of the animal influence coming through (Gustine excluded)part of our identity is tied to our physical appearance.That said, how many of our inhabitants of this particular city are into the whole “I’m a lizard, go with what the mob thinks” thing. How much of their compassion and humanity remains after all this change is yet to be seen.Wally’s a survivor, let’s all hope anyone who’s with him will too.
sorry for the late comment in regards to this but have been so busy.
I’m really curious to know what exactly is outside the great waste since now we know its not everything and how long have the topsiders know about that and if for a while why the heck are they still in the waste.
Also not sure if anyone else comment like this, it is just a personal opinion and I’m bias because well its my favorite story of all time but I have really had a Nasuicaa vide about this story. I got it on the story arch when they went looking for the fruit but when it was mentioned that there was an end to the great waste I got it again. I don’t mean the movie (even though it is my favorite) I mean the full story line that was written in the manga.
I know you can find a bit of something in everything but just my own feelings putting together two stories that I love!
This debate about Wally’s behavior reminds me of the old saying that, “two wrongs don’t make a right.”Something is seriously wrong in lizardtown. When Wally tried to clear up a misunderstanding in his trial he was ordered to shut up lest his tongue get cut out. Between that, the way the avian boy was treated and Phil’s words towards Wally suggested that nonreptilian mutants are considered little more than animals with no rights whatsoever. I would not shed a tear if the Topsiders ended these guys.That said, Wally seems to have been carrying the idiot ball for much of his time underground. Most of the engineers I know have the intelligence to be careful when power is in the wrong hands (a normal situation in the corporate world). Wally should be holding his tongue, watching, listening and learning. The things he picks up could help him save himself and Holly and might even let him rescue other prisoners. Instead he’s just acting like a hotheaded fool.
One constant, from the beginning of this sequence, is a lack of acceptance of the humanity of Wally and Holly in the people they meet. Jim, Sarah, these lizard people, all refer to Wally as “Cat,” and not in the fun-hipster-slang way. It’s dehumanizing not to refer to someone by their name. Jim and Sarah do refer to Clive as “Clive,” but Wally is always “Cat,” even though, as a Topsider transport and a plasticised brain, Clive seems less human than Wally. (Even Clive refers to Holly as “Mouse.” He did ask for names but I’m not sure he got any.)
And you all forget that “civilized” only really means a city-based society, which has some levels of conduct needed to hold it together, but that’s all it is. Non-citizens usually don’t benefit from the privilages of the citizen, but have to comply with all the rules and more. And, the rules of a “civilization” can include slavery and cannibalism and whatever, as long as the city society endures. The Lizard folk may have specific codes of conduct, even well-codified laws, scrupulously adhered to, perfectly “civilized” , but it looks like those rules include rather nasty circumstances and outcomes for those on the outs.
This is why I like reading this strip. A good story AND good comments. “Lizardtown” does seem to fit my concept as I stated earlier that it’s similar to Greek/Roman civilization of preferential treatment of citizens (reptiles) over non-citizens(non-reptiles and strangers). Nevertheless, it isn’t totally disrespectful of those non-citizens. In retrospect, the best action Wally could have taken was to prevent the boy from going back into the kitchen to protect him. When Phil eventually would have appeared, he could have been publicly confronted. That would have had a much more positive action in Lizardtown if for no other reason than for the reason of not damaging the tools as earlier stated.
But this is Aaron’s story, so we must be content to let him tell it.
I’ve finally figured out why Wally is behaving like an idiot. He’s not stupid, he’s claustrophobic. During his first night in Endtown he dreamed he was in an underground coffin (that was before he got into that fight with Louie Lynx). With time (and the love of a certain mouse waitress) he seemed to get better, only flying off the handle when the rats took Holly. Since getting topside his actions have not been too unreasonable until he went underground. This place is a lot tighter than Endtown, no room for a simulated outdoors with streets, parks and canals, just stone walls that blend into roofs. The first thing that happened to Wally is that he’s locked into a detention cell with his fellow captives, and here he’s starting to lose it for the first time. http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2014/04/23#.U3f4AfldVqUI’m imagining the stress of being underground is wearing on him to the point where he’s stressed and having trouble thinking or restraining foolish impulses. Now he’s been tossed into another locked cell. This won’t be good.
Here, you’ve got a community where the citizens are all of one mutation. Those who control / run the community act on the superiority of this one mutation to any other. Most likely those who don’t agree just pretend to, to get along, to survive—-after all, life outside their community is post-apocalypticly harsh…#Think of it in comparison with Jake Jackrabbit’s “embrace your outer animal” campaign, and possibly its ultimate outcome.
dwandelt Premium Member over 10 years ago
Sez you!I don’t think I want to adopt their notion of “civilized,” thank you very much…
Ida No over 10 years ago
Guard: "And just to show you what sweethearts we are, we’ve got some muzak set up for you. Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, on loop. Enjoy."
salenstormwing over 10 years ago
“Civilized”. Riiiggght.
Dkram over 10 years ago
They’er as civilized as Komoto Dragons can get..\\//_
JusSayin over 10 years ago
And here we are. Let’s Vote. Put on your red shoes and vote the blues away.
. Vote ENDTOWN . Vote Doc Rat . Vote Hubris . Vote Kevin and Kell . Sincerely, . JusSayinCheapskate0 over 10 years ago
Well, he has a point. As someone pointed out yesterday, the cat is still alive. That’s more than I expected..Also pointed out yesterday, Sarah’s contribution to this effort is in question. And wasn’t it the cat who attempted to come to her rescue at the trial?.This is a difficult comic to follow. Really cute animals in some very un-cute situations. I suppose it’s not supposed to be funny..Though, going back to January 2009, some of those scenes were just that! The sand monster falling in love with Sam simply because he fixed one of its teeth. Sam telling his wife how easy she was to shop for since she mutated into a rhinoceros..But it did end with Sam’s buddy getting blasted for exposing himself to the “topsiders.”.Speaking of “topsiders,” if this adventure is in the “great wasteland,” doesn’t that make this colony of lizards “topsiders”?
JusSayin over 10 years ago
See, if Wally had just flipped Phil on his back and rubbed Phil’s belly, Phil would have just gone to sleep. And Wally could have drawn on him with Sharpies™ and put Phil’s “hand” in a pail of warm water. Wally’s in for some seriously trouble, and is will have work off his debts. Hey, he is pretty good with a broom… He could really clean up in Rept-Town. JusSayin
hugewolf over 10 years ago
Civilized is in the eye of the beholder. So far the lizards have shown quite a bit of civil behavior towards the outsiders. We have not seen how that colony works politically or socially so it’s hard to judge them.
scyphi26 over 10 years ago
Really? I have yet to see much evidence of that…
Guilty Bystander over 10 years ago
I don’t see Sarah in the same light you do, Veteran, and wouldn’t compare her to Wally (who jumped into the middle of things at that restaurant Holly was working at the first day he ate there). There’s a difference between being under control and not caring. Wally has been very proactive from the beginning while Sarah has done nothing but complain and act “above it all” throughout. She’s challenging Jacob Jackrabbit as the most unlikable character (to me) in this strip, although Jacob still gets the nod because he’s been proactive himself…in stirring up trouble among Endtowners.
Dragoncat over 10 years ago
And what could be more “civilized” than beating up a child who was simply trying to follow orders?…These lizards need to take a dose of their own… Oh, wait! That’s why Wally is locked up.
Coyoty Premium Member over 10 years ago
No torture. Lethal injection.If this is a colony, I wonder where their homeland is.
Aconite over 10 years ago
Please, stand still while we put the noose on your neck. See, we said, please. Civilized.
Robert Nowall Premium Member over 10 years ago
It was once put to a British officer in British India that the practice of suttee—-throwing the widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands—-was a sacred tradition. His reply was along the lines of “We, too, have a sacred tradition. We hang men who throw widows on funeral pyres.”#Wally may not be in Endtown, but he has his own code that he lives by—-and, evidently, one part of that code is not to let child abusers pass by without comment.#Also, remember, Phil pulled a knife first, just as Wally started to verbally remonstrate with him—-and Wally knocked him out with a broom handle…
ViscountNiklos over 10 years ago
Nobody talks to thier dinner like that… that just might get out of this mess…
jeffreysg over 10 years ago
“civilized” – You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Space_cat over 10 years ago
Civilized, is such an ominous blanket term. There’s no point to name specifics when it comes to how much damage has been done in the name of “Civilization”.If our era is ever remembered through the lens of time, how would we look to as yet unborn generations to come.Would they most certainly look upon us as barbarians?That we would call ourselves a just and free society in comparison to previous epochs of so-called “civilization”The word Humankind shouldn’t be an oxymoron, for all our greatness as a species, there is an overwhelming litany of misdeeds and compromise done to advance various religious and political ideologies.Eventually the time will come to pay for all we have done and even more so for the things we should have done but chose to ignore in the name of greed.As a Jew, I’m told not to believe in hell, but they didn’t teach me not to believe in Karma.In many of the comments I see a degree of belief the the lizard people are more like their reptilian ilk than as a humanoid.The slippery slope of anthropomorphism has arrived!From what we can observe all the mutants we’ve encountered we’re once human like us.Many have adapted to their new predicament, many have not. Some even went batcrap insane ultra right wing anthro, like the poor denizens of Endtown. Anyone else wonder how that’s working out?Would any of us be able to handle it, such a radical change occurring to our bodies overnight?We’d have no choice in the outcome, and then would either have to go crazy or adapt, survive, and even thrive.How much of our minds would remain human. We have all seen the mutants be able to reason, without much of the animal influence coming through (Gustine excluded)part of our identity is tied to our physical appearance.That said, how many of our inhabitants of this particular city are into the whole “I’m a lizard, go with what the mob thinks” thing. How much of their compassion and humanity remains after all this change is yet to be seen.Wally’s a survivor, let’s all hope anyone who’s with him will too.
kyofu over 10 years ago
sorry for the late comment in regards to this but have been so busy.
I’m really curious to know what exactly is outside the great waste since now we know its not everything and how long have the topsiders know about that and if for a while why the heck are they still in the waste.
Also not sure if anyone else comment like this, it is just a personal opinion and I’m bias because well its my favorite story of all time but I have really had a Nasuicaa vide about this story. I got it on the story arch when they went looking for the fruit but when it was mentioned that there was an end to the great waste I got it again. I don’t mean the movie (even though it is my favorite) I mean the full story line that was written in the manga.
I know you can find a bit of something in everything but just my own feelings putting together two stories that I love!
Darwinskeeper over 10 years ago
“This is a civilized colony”, yeah and I’m the King of Kansas.
Darwinskeeper over 10 years ago
This debate about Wally’s behavior reminds me of the old saying that, “two wrongs don’t make a right.”Something is seriously wrong in lizardtown. When Wally tried to clear up a misunderstanding in his trial he was ordered to shut up lest his tongue get cut out. Between that, the way the avian boy was treated and Phil’s words towards Wally suggested that nonreptilian mutants are considered little more than animals with no rights whatsoever. I would not shed a tear if the Topsiders ended these guys.That said, Wally seems to have been carrying the idiot ball for much of his time underground. Most of the engineers I know have the intelligence to be careful when power is in the wrong hands (a normal situation in the corporate world). Wally should be holding his tongue, watching, listening and learning. The things he picks up could help him save himself and Holly and might even let him rescue other prisoners. Instead he’s just acting like a hotheaded fool.
Robert Nowall Premium Member over 10 years ago
One constant, from the beginning of this sequence, is a lack of acceptance of the humanity of Wally and Holly in the people they meet. Jim, Sarah, these lizard people, all refer to Wally as “Cat,” and not in the fun-hipster-slang way. It’s dehumanizing not to refer to someone by their name. Jim and Sarah do refer to Clive as “Clive,” but Wally is always “Cat,” even though, as a Topsider transport and a plasticised brain, Clive seems less human than Wally. (Even Clive refers to Holly as “Mouse.” He did ask for names but I’m not sure he got any.)
stevegallacci over 10 years ago
And you all forget that “civilized” only really means a city-based society, which has some levels of conduct needed to hold it together, but that’s all it is. Non-citizens usually don’t benefit from the privilages of the citizen, but have to comply with all the rules and more. And, the rules of a “civilization” can include slavery and cannibalism and whatever, as long as the city society endures. The Lizard folk may have specific codes of conduct, even well-codified laws, scrupulously adhered to, perfectly “civilized” , but it looks like those rules include rather nasty circumstances and outcomes for those on the outs.
mr_sherman Premium Member over 10 years ago
This is why I like reading this strip. A good story AND good comments. “Lizardtown” does seem to fit my concept as I stated earlier that it’s similar to Greek/Roman civilization of preferential treatment of citizens (reptiles) over non-citizens(non-reptiles and strangers). Nevertheless, it isn’t totally disrespectful of those non-citizens. In retrospect, the best action Wally could have taken was to prevent the boy from going back into the kitchen to protect him. When Phil eventually would have appeared, he could have been publicly confronted. That would have had a much more positive action in Lizardtown if for no other reason than for the reason of not damaging the tools as earlier stated.
But this is Aaron’s story, so we must be content to let him tell it.
Darwinskeeper over 10 years ago
I’ve finally figured out why Wally is behaving like an idiot. He’s not stupid, he’s claustrophobic. During his first night in Endtown he dreamed he was in an underground coffin (that was before he got into that fight with Louie Lynx). With time (and the love of a certain mouse waitress) he seemed to get better, only flying off the handle when the rats took Holly. Since getting topside his actions have not been too unreasonable until he went underground. This place is a lot tighter than Endtown, no room for a simulated outdoors with streets, parks and canals, just stone walls that blend into roofs. The first thing that happened to Wally is that he’s locked into a detention cell with his fellow captives, and here he’s starting to lose it for the first time. http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2014/04/23#.U3f4AfldVqUI’m imagining the stress of being underground is wearing on him to the point where he’s stressed and having trouble thinking or restraining foolish impulses. Now he’s been tossed into another locked cell. This won’t be good.
Robert Nowall Premium Member over 10 years ago
Here, you’ve got a community where the citizens are all of one mutation. Those who control / run the community act on the superiority of this one mutation to any other. Most likely those who don’t agree just pretend to, to get along, to survive—-after all, life outside their community is post-apocalypticly harsh…#Think of it in comparison with Jake Jackrabbit’s “embrace your outer animal” campaign, and possibly its ultimate outcome.
Ida No over 10 years ago
Aaron’s running behind. Strip will update when he’s ready.