Endtown by Aaron Neathery for January 25, 2012

Nice goodbyes. Now let’s figure out how to get out of this.

Again, just to maintain visibility – Aaron is building up medical bills and needs our help with them. Suggestions for assistance include commissioning large pieces of art from him, making a donation from the Endtown Underground, nominating Endtown for the Ursa Majors, buying the $2.50 comic, and telling your friends and family to come here and read Endtown.

The cat and the mouse living in his head will thank you.

I agree with TSOJ. Please do what large or little amount you can do to help recompense this wonderful man who has made us laugh and cry.

Huh they are giving up??

Amazing storyline.

you know, I just cant wrap my head around Mallard just letting Flask handle it. I wonder if he’s going to pull an ace out of his sleeve. I dont think he really trusts her anyway.

Mallard built Petey’s current body, so there may be a few surprises in store yet. And what about the transporter they are currently in?

’Til death…

Having now received a couple of rather worried emails, I just want to allay fears that the strip is coming to an end. Don’t worry.. It’s not.. I have plenty of stories left to tell. Hang tight..

We won’t worry that the strip is coming to an end, Aaron,but we WILL worry about YOU, till you get better. I hope youfeel better soon, man……

This is what makes this strip so captivating. Just when you think the storyline has reached a climax, the page turns, the screws tighten just a bit more, and the master storyteller touches a level of emotion you most likely never associated with a “cartoon”. These 4 panels are totally superfluous to the storyline, they don’t tell us anything we didn’t really know already; but in the exposition of the moment and to the crafting of skin and bones onto these wonderful ink and paper images, they are not only powerful but absolutely essential. This is what makes Wally and Holly come alive in the readers mind, just as vividly as they exist in the mind of their creator. This is what compels you to turn the page even though, in all likelihood, the next page holds the potential for devastating sorrow. This is how life is breathed into a set of 2 dimentional images, and where there is life there is hope.

I don’t think it’s good-by yet. We still have two unknowns that could come into play. One is Petey and his duel with the Mutts. The other is the Transporter and possibly the other Transporters, with their human brains.

Sorry TSOJ. I didn’t see your response before I posted mine.

It has now been 26 frames since we last heard a peep from our beloved Captain. She simply must come up with a more memorable set of last words than “It’s not fair!” Come on Philomena, you can do better than that! Linda is defiant, Wally and Holly are devoted, even the TS got to be condesending. The good Captain must have a snarl or two left in her…

Is it just me or does the phrase “Let’s roll.” come to mind here?

I think when Petey talked to the transporter was a clue, also Petey looked like he had something in mind. Get well Aaron!

Aaron, I have sent you $3 with for your comic. I love your comic and appreciate your work.Summer

So sad and heartfelt. ;-; Really, at this moment I’m not sure if anything other than a deus ex machina can save them. I wasn’t really concerned for Endtown itself ending (Endtown’s a big place with certain threads that aren’t wrapped up yet – like Jackrabbit’s mini-cult-in-progress), and even if the whole cast here were to die there would likely be an Endtown 3.0 afterwards. It is definitely starting to look like not everyone will make it, though. For all we know, maybe no one does. But I shall wait and see if something does save them in the end. As David said, there are a few factors that could turn this around – Petey with the Mutts, the PT and its little hovercraft – but even those seem far-fetched. Also, the Topsiders clearly intend to de-brain or kill Wally, Holly and Linda, but that one Topsider did imply that he was going to keep Flask alive (for now). But Flask has been in a perpetual BSOD (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeroicBSOD) since then, so I guess whatever they plan to do is worse (at least in her mind) than death or de-braining?

Also, I forgot to mention that I’m starting to feel a bit of sympathy for Linda. This is a pretty crappy situation for her. I figured that the Topsiders wouldn’t be less likely to kill her than any other mutant – but they sure aren’t treating it as an act of “mercy.” Also, Linda’s ignorance to the plan implies that they used her and considered her disposable from the start. She must certainly feel betrayed. Sucks for everyone in that PT. <crosses her fingers and hopes everyone makes it out alive!>

I suppose the real trick would be getting the TS’s guns to join the mutants’ side. That might just save them.

I wonder if the Transporter has been listening to what’s been going on inside of him/her.

I wonder if he/she remembers having a child of his/her own that he/she will never see again. What better motivation to…

A – Rev up and blaze a trail through the barricadeB – Rally up the other transporters and start a brand new UnionC – Hope that Petey has made to the satellite and did something to make it malfunctionD – Cue any mutant monsters burrowing undergound to come up for airE – All of the above.

Far be it from me to tell people how to raise their children, but I find it rather intriguing that the odd PG-13 swear word (the only ones I’ve ever seen used is “hell” and “damn”, and they even use those ones in church. frequently.) would prevent somebody from recommending the strip, while they make no mention of things that actually matter, like violence. It’s OK to make people dead, to reduce them to dust or to remove their brains, just for the love of God don’t let them swear…

Dadof3: It wasn’t you to whom I was replying. And I know the violence isn’t really violent, but people do die in it (like Linda’s buddy did), and IF somebody were to call this strip “adult oriented” I should hope they’d be more concerned about stuff like this than they would with very, very mild language. The only language I’ve seen that could even remotely be considered “racy” were the words “hell” and “damn” (again, words that are frequently used in church, often in the same sentence). Everything else was “bleeped” in that cartoony way of using nonsense characters, such as when Wally shot the Z-gun out of Flask’s hand…

Jenner’s first post today said it all. It is the bravest of things, to look your own mortality in the face, and grimly step forward to deal with it. Is it easier with a loved one by your side? I would like to say yes, in the majority of times, but in this case, worry for your love might preclude that for yourself. Many that live deserve death; Wally and Holly deserve life. Aaron, can you give it to them?!?

As I ponder this marvelous strip, I like Aaron’s artistry and the story line. I’ve read the Lord of The Rings trilogy and this comic strip is on a par with them for their depth of being truly adult stories. Though Petey is no Frodo Baggins, he’s still a small character that will do big things.

That last panel is totally heartwrenching.

There’s only one comic distributor in the US and they have ridiculous requirements. It basically boils down to if you aren’t a large comic publisher, you can’t get a contract with them..And books in bookstores don’t sell. They sit there. .You want Aaron’s comic to sell? Post the link on your websites, talk it up on your blogs, tweet about it, post it on facebook, put videos on youtube, word of mouth to your friends and contacts will do him the most good.