Endtown by Aaron Neathery for June 24, 2016

D.A.M.N.:"(

Request accepted, dispensing light.

Smoking will kill you!

To all of those who dismissed the idea that these robots used energy weapons, I was right. Machine guns require ammunition. Ammunition has weight. Energy weapons can use a power source that might be small enough to be carried aloft. The flying robots are probably cutting edge Apex technology and would have equipment and weapons not available to ground troops just on the off chance that a trooper would lose his equipment due to death or accident. You can put a self-destruct command in a robot, where it would be hard to be sure that a human would self-destruct in the same situation.Also, these events must have happened in the days leading up to the destruction of the known world by the overzealous soon-to-be topsiders. There wouldn’t be that much time to develop the zero guns and other energy weapons favored by the topsiders. That would explain why the security forces of Endtown used projectile weapons. The energy weapons preferred by topsiders were not commonly available even to the military.

Drone 2: “Ooops. Missed. How’d that happen?”

Okay, NOW he’s toast. Literally.

I dislike cliff hanger Fridayswill he find a way to survive or not?will it cut away to another scene and leave us in more suspense?Stay tuned for another thrilling episode Monday MondayPS I really hope he survives

He could have used a blindfold, a lighter, and probably a plane ticket to somewhere else.

Didn’t Ernie Kovacks say that in “North to Alaska?”

Farewell, Fox, we hardly knew you.

Well Done!

Not only does he go out with class but he took one with him for an honor guard. There are worse ways to go.

Wasn’t that the fox we saw at the oracle at the end of the milk trial loop?

hard to tell under the cowl.

“Wait!!” fox asks the drone…..“I have a request…..”Drone….“Yes.”Fox…..“Not to be shot”…..(bats eyes making cute fox expressions trying to look like Nick from Zootopia)Drone…..“Ummmmmm…..No.” Drone begins hum as weapons charge……On the side…..those guns just lit up prepping to fire…..Jim Dandy to the Rescue??Oh the agony have to wait for the next installment…..

How sad.But talk about going out in style !

NOOO!!!! He didn’t say “Simon says”!

If that fox is Aaron Marx, he should be able to absorb that drone’s attack like he did with a missile about 4 years ago. See July 16, 2012 Endtown for watching Aaron absorb a missile.

Why do we see this scene? I thought this was Holly’s backstory. If Holly and Doc are are the lamb, Holly should not have witnessed this. The scene cuts away to this Holly, and she is hiding in a storm drain and watching, or something like that. Perhaps the first fireball (?) got Holly and Doc to turn around. THAT’S HOT! (/spoiled brat off) Holly was kind of selfish in this phase of her life.

Curiosity, why are some so fixed on Aaron Marx?

Guy has (had) brass b…

I think that this is Marx. Just going by the bowtie.

We may never know if he was Aaron Marx, part of the Marx continuum or just a random smart alec, but I love that last line. If he wasn’t a Marx, the real Aaron Marx would have been proud.

… and the fox said, “give me a light” and the drone provided light.Sorry, just illuminating the strip with a little light humour…I’m a baaaaaad boy!But it looks very much like my prediction has now come true.

I’m hoping Doc is there to grab him before he is struck.

Mac may be misreading Aaron Marx but he does have a point. Super powerful characters are difficult to use well because they have potential to destroy the conflict and suspense in the story. I remember when Flask and her team were cornered in 2012, the rocket mission had become a major fiasco and there seemed to be no way out and I was beginning to wonder if Aaron was planning to write them out of that corner or just write them off and start back in Endtown with other characters. As glad as I was to see the crew in one piece, I felt somewhat cheated by the way Marx and his airship pulled it off. Maybe if I had seen it happen I’d feel differently.One of the best super powerful characters was Dr. Manhattan from “The Watchmen”. His aloofness, a result of his unique way of perceiving time, kept him from overpowering the story. I wouldn’t say that Aaron Marx is quite as well written as Dr. Manhattan but his loss of Flask (to another version of himself) showed that he had limitations.My interpretation of the end of the Milk Trial was that drinking from the Oracle showed Marx that Endtown was facing a crisis and that the best way to solve it was to put Jake Jackrabbit in charge. The fact that he wasn’t able to prevent the riots from happening may be proof that, though he can fly, is able to swallow explosions and travel between different realities. Even though he could hypnotise Holly and the rats, he wasn’t able to do the same to Mallard, in fact Mallard snatched his dimensionometer away from him.As I said, MacEwanMouse has a point, powerful characters can corrupt a good story. I think Marx does have some limits, both in what he can do and what he is willing to do, but the limits of his abilities and willingness to act aren’t well spelled out and its hard to know how well written he is or isn’t.

I don’t think they’ve invented Zero guns yet. The earlier guys in the Hazmat suits were using flamethrowers and normal projectile (bullet) guns. I think if they’d had Zero guns then, they could have contained the outbreak.