Endtown by Aaron Neathery for August 30, 2012

Is the last panel Flask spotting Petey?

Oh wow. I wonder if Petey was a human who was immune to the mutagenic virus, and that’s why he’s a human head in a PT?

Wow, this also makes me realize how much more danger Al was in back when he was at the surface with Gustine. That guy at the very beginning of Endtown 1.0 should better be glad that he got dusted for a rash. Otherwise he might have been the meat in the bin at that last panel here.

Did they eat them? Curious minds want to know. Surely they weren’t raising prime rib in that little community. or chicken.The Endtowners were getting beans? Why was that all that was available? How about beer? I cannot imagine any man going without his beer. This diet must be as difficult at the Endtowners.Blessed Be

…“if they weren’t still breathing”

O. M. G!!!!!

Ugh! Creepy! THis bit was horrifying. AM looks different, serious and protective of her. And older. THe last panel with that hand grasping the ! It makes me very glad I can’t see inside that cart.

Just when ya start to have a degree of sympathy for the plight of the Topsiders … WHAM! Glad I’m reading this late at night and not during breakfast.

She could take it up with the Great Leader, but he’s washing and re-washing and re-washing and re-washing his hands. Then he checks all the locks and light switches. Then he washes his hands again. And again.I’m seriously contemplating the idea that all Topsiders are seriously, dangerously and incurably mentally ill. That puts a different light on the whole matter.That is at least speaking for this group of humanity. Maybe in other countries it’s different.

The topsiders quit being human a long time ago.

It seems that there is something more to this feral kitty than meets the eye. She seems to have an actual conscience.

Blackie’s former lover, the human head that was driving Al and Gustine’s personnel transporter, was a mutant by due of being immune to the mutagen. Of course – WHY didn’t I guess that? That’s why an apparently human Topsider was being used in the manner of a mutant animal. When Flask was in the process of killing Linda (was that only three days ago?) by making a hole in her biosuit and letting in the mutagens, she said something very significant. She commented about a particularly vulnerable spot on the ear piece of the suit, a design flaw that allowed the suit’s integrity to be breached if a certain pressure were applied to a certain point. She said this in a way suggesting it was not widely known but that she had very personal and specific knowledge. We will soon learn whether this happened to Blackie or her lover. Blackie mutated in her sleep, while out on a mission, then had to flee? Or her lover was found to have a hole in his suit and was not mutating?Weird: The Topsiders want to eliminate those immune to the virus – the very things they desperately hope to become. “We want to evolve, but not like THAT. That’s cheating!”

Would it be best to take thoughs who are immune to it be studied and take some of their blood and create a vaccine?That would be a good thing.

That is seriously disturbing.

Well, guess I’m glad to see Flask isn’t just plain evil. . .she’s just seriously broken.

“‘Tis but a scratch. I’ve had worse.”

How are they “mutants” if they are immune to mutation? Wouldn’t that make anyone with a different level of immunity to a disease a “mutant” relative to someone else without that particular immunity?

poor poor kitty……

Some really good discussion today. Mr. N should be proud. The issue with most (all?) eugenics projects is that although the stated goal is “to improve the human species” the unstated part is “to an ideal which includes us and/or our religion/culture”. The ideal therefore is not one particularly suited for the genetic survival of the species. The above-stated things like a 3rd eye or…resistance to the mutagen… would be evolutionary bonus but not aesthetically acceptable to TSers. And so must be eliminated. By the way, the TSers and Daleks should have coffee some time.

Oh, God! This is really making me ill. The visual images in my mind…put there by Mr. Neathery. Very disturbing. What a brillant story teller you are Mr. Neathery.

Sorry, BRILLANT. Stupid typo’s. :O)

BRILLIANT! the system here will not take the brackets that I put around the I in the corrected spelling. Sorry about that. :O) AHHHHHH!!!

No, they weren’t being used for a food souce. That would introduce a whole new level of disease and infection. Instead they were probably candidates for vivsection to find w]out exactly why they wer immune.

Okay, so…“that’s what they CLAIM they’re doing” referred to seeing what makes the immuned tick. The TSers don’t really care what makes them tick? They’re doing it just for the fun of carving them up!?!

That seals it, I’d rather be an anthro than an immune.

Hank.

Wow. I always wondered if there were some humans who didn’t mutate at all. So are the topsiders actually looking for a cure or just getting rid of the ones who are “not like them”? Reminds me of the TV show “Walking Dead” – everyone has the virus that turns you into a zombie, but it only happens if you die or you’re killed – so there’s no way to fight it. Great job Aaron! You always get the thought juices flowing!

I’m still curious about the ‘other holdouts’ besides Endtown that were briefly mentioned in Endtown 1.0… There are other communities out there. Other societies that now don’t have the protection of Dittos…

They might be doing that…cloning or test tube fertilization. But the disaster is only about 6 years old. Even if one makes an assumption that the TS group was already doing this…the mutagen was a later development. Any clones or testtube projects would only be about 6 years old…not adults yet.

Interesting to note that Hank got dusted by the Topsiders almost immediately; is that a plot error, or did he avoid a fate worse than death because of that birthmark on his back?

The first panel is one of the most evocative scenes, EVER, and I say this having been witness to Mr. Neathery’s many emotion-provoking panels. I know a professional photographer who claims, “If you can’t see the eyes, the picture is worthless.” Here, then, is the exception to that rule.

This is a great comic strip! No wonder Endtown got 3,126 votes so far.

Yep, Flask is just a little bit Bat-Sh1t crazy. And so would anyone else with any bit of conscience who started to see living sentient beings for what they are and not monsters.

Certainly an interesting speculation. And the part about the need for closeness? You might be right on the mark there.