Endtown by Aaron Neathery for July 29, 2015

in the beginning!

I think that may be Marx. What is in his left hand? A shoe? Hmmmm. Mad Marx. TopWebComics voting links in my profile. Thanks, JusSayin

Looking at the lead rider’s seat in panel four, I really hope that is a female. I will prolly delete this comment.

Head rider?…Maybe…. FLASK????

HORSIES!!

Joan d’Marx.Head ’em off at the pass!

I think the comic took a left at Willy Wonka’s Tunnel of Weirdness when we should have taken a right. This doesn’t look anything like Symbolism Blvd.

I’m a big fan of cavalry movies. So is this the cavalry? Or maybe the Golden Horde?

Missiles raining down, riders and horses both wearing goggles and breathing masks. And what are the riders carrying in their right hands? Odd way to carry a gun if that is what it is. What environment are we in now? BTW, excellent art work, especially the horses!

Y’know, it occurs to me…these are the first animals, as opposed to humans mutated into animals or monsters, that we’ve seen. Have we seen any others? Am I mistaken?

Zero guns appear to have two lenses. Are the riders carrying first-generation zero guns—portable, but not very? The pistol handhelds were maybe not developed yet. In the past somewhere, since missiles are still flying. Figure she’s leading the mob (and not being chased) because they aren’t shooting.

Notice the hair… Holly?

One is a pistol style zero gun , the other is more a machine gun style style – or assault rifle style. Love the detail of goggles and breathers on the horses.

The lead rider has got to be one of those who are immune, right?.So, is this a past of WALLY’S world, or one of the many parallels? Maybe, in a parallel, a weapon was developed that has the unfortunate side effect of stealing souls of those from other realities? Unfortunate for those souls, anyway. The people here may not care, as long as it doesn’t steal them..Could be some other unfortunate side effect, too. I have no idea what, though. And, whatever is going on, I wonder what kind of cosmic imbalance is developing? And what the consequences of THAT will be??.GO WALLY!! SAVE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE! !

The lead looks to be a lefty, too! So, who do we know who’s a lefty?

Cooool! Looks like a very entertaining arc coming our way.

I’ll hazard a guess that either Aaron Marx has a sister or this is a variation of Flask’s character…then again only Aaron Neathery knows and we Endtown fans have to wait and see what unfolds. Still, this is an intriguing story and Friday’s installment is eagerly anticipated by us all.

I don’t think he will “fit in” here. Looks way too different. What would they do to a man who looks like a cat wearing clothes?

All but the leader are wearing masks, so why isn’t the leader not wearing one? Maybe she is different from the rest somehow so that she doesn’t need one.

The charge of the nuclear light brigade.

Methinks this is Aaron Marx’s sister (see the Albert intermission)

I think Marx and the dittos are giving Wally a backstory update on his own world’s history. A much wider view view than he would have received as a soldier in the trenches.

Wow… Look at all the horsies…

We should be learning more about “I”. We might be getting backstory on someone we already know in the Endtown universe, or Joan up there is someone new. But, the idea is to find out who’s taking all the shoes. We should keep in mind that we’re looking for a shoe thief, not a waitress.

My first thought about our mystery rider was, “Leading or chasing?” It looks like she is brandishing an Uzi or some other form of conventional firearm while those following her (or chasing her) have some form of primitive zero gun.Now that I think about this, its possible that we’re actually seeing the Dutchess’ daughter. I mean she sort of looks like a female Marx and possibly a human Flask (though I’d need a better look to know that) so maybe a combination of the two.This might explain the horsies. Its possible that we are in a parallel universe where missile and weapons technology somehow advanced faster than vehicle technology so that we have a rocket propelled apocalypse while horses remained the state of the art for military locomotion. It sort of fits the mix of old and new that was in the Dutchess time. Wally might meet the Dutchess in this world’s Endtown.

horses wearing goggles?

Or maybe they’re using horses because vehicles are rendered useless by EMP weapons. Or are too easy for enemy missiles to zero in on and destroy.

I’m guessing that this is not the world that our version of “Endtown” took place in but in one of a parallel universe. If you remember Sparkplug’s flashback, everybody was still using conventional automobiles on the day the end came. This could be a world where even military vehicles didn’t have hardened electrical systems and horses suddenly became the only reliable transformation.Another possibility is that this is a world in which the internal combustion engine was never invented and the age of steam never ended. If horseless vehicles are all steam powered, the need for a boiler, expansion engine, condenser and water tank and fuel tank may have made ground vehicles large and cumbersome enough that horses would remain viable military transportation. If that were the case, developing protective gear (like gas masks and goggles) for military horses might have become a natural development.

War huh

It appears that the lead person is holding a board with a nail in it, like a rallying flag.

Wallt sees that it’s "two minutes past midnight, err heck! It looks well past midnight from up there..Aaron Marx, ala Paul Revere with that colonial like ponytail man..Leads the charge of some apocalyptic calvary whilst the bombs go off all around.A flashback for Wally?

I just do not get this comic.

Winter is coming.

I’m guessing the bombs are Amesworth weapons, and everyone on horseback, except for the lead rider, is bundled up and masked to avoid breathing the dust from the fallout. If they’re trying to avoid mutation, the vector may be at the airborne stage but not transmitted by contact, as it appears their skin is exposed. The woman isn’t masked, doesn’t have any air tanks, and has a different gun from everyone else, indicating they’re chasing her. Or she may be the commander, already exposed, leading the charge. If she’s this world’s Flask, she may be leading them to this world’s Endtown, either for refuge, if she helped build it, or as an assault as part of this world’s Topsiders.

I wonder if this is the teacher that Wally murdered, who is like Holly? (See 17 July 2015)

This comic is getting stranger and stranger and stranger. It’s getting difficult to keep up.

@David After Autumn Leaves. But what if there are no leaves?

I remembered seeing film of a 1960s Chinese atomic bomb test that involved cavalry riding horses wearing masks like those. … here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULZzwtPM2U

I’m not kidding – these look just like the ones in this video – amazing mushroom cloud too. I have to think Aaron Neathery must have had these in mind when he drew this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULZzwtPM2U

This looks like imagery from early Chinese nuclear tests. There is film of the Chinese army and horses in gas masks charging around a mushroom cloud during one of their first neclear tests. This must depict the the beginning of the end town.

Was I wrong to see a similarity to Marianne? In Delacroix’s painting symbolising the French Revolution, I see mirrored elements of the lead rider? No Phrygian cap, and suitable for work. Or maybe it is Sarah Connor Flask-Marx? Who gives birth to twins and Philomena (meaning greatly loved) and Aaron Marx are twins separated at birth to hide them from the Terminators who are loyal to the dark side. Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

I went off the rails back there.

Special forces in Afghanistan used a cavalry charge. I’m pretty sure there was a British soldier in WWII who went into battle with a longbow and a broadsword, too.

I still think the horses are being used because EMP fried any vehicles.

A lot of the outer worlds in “Firefly” used horses. Horses did not require the technological infrastructure and spare parts (which had to be flown in from the core) and were better able to adapt to rough terrain.

why does everybody else have goggles and gas masks except for the lead rider?