Wow. Those of you who predicted that she was Flask were right! Now my question is when did she arrive at this reality and what is she planning to do? And hi Marx! o/ Is that the same Marx? Did he have to take a different route to meet her in this new world? Or is this an Alternate Universe Marx?
Marx is Marx across the universeAnd Flask remembers pasts which were much worseShe’s not regretting, “no, not anymore”This speaks of Flask who knows, and knows the scoreBeneath that hood are eyes tapetum-paleBeneath the cloak, a meter’s twitching tailAnd ears pressed flat, a face at ease and proudFolks here, I’ll bet, will stand and shout out loud!=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books
A detail in panel 3The rows of lamps you can seeGlow off in the darkThey’re part of the sparkOf Endtown’s artistry=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books
This is certainly one of the best webcomics out there. Like in all good things, surprises are not always pleaseant, though after a while the big picture reveals itself as a more mature and interesting whole. I most sincerely thank Mr. Neathery for his work and promise to reward him in a more pragmatic way than words.
Dead, but not dead. Cat face, but four fingers, not three. And I’m sure there’s a tail somewhere under all that dress. Well, when faced with facts we can not explain, sometimes all we can do is accept their existance with as much grace as we can muster and push on. Next stop: Monday…. ;-)
What a Twist! Let me go put my hula skirt on to help explain how big a twist it is. But Flask is alive and kickin’ and runnin’ around with Marx and the world is good once more.
Aaron, frame 4 is beautifully drawn! I’m in love with the cat again – especially the eyes. Didn’t like who she had become, but now that she’s “fixed”. . .nice job. I’m really looking forward to this storyline, it should make for an interesting year or so.
I just remembered… Duchess was the name of the cat (voiced, I believe, by Eva Gabor) in Disney’s “The AristoCats”!Does this mean Flask has some kittens running around somewhere? ;-)
wow… I called it yesterday. interesting. I’m not usually that good at predicting stuff like that. I not only called that the Duchess was Flask, but that her companion there was Marx and this is in the middle of his love story!
No comment.For once.Pretty kitty is back.And smiling.This time for a different reason.Two decades, seal the city and wait and the process will begin again. Hmmmmmm. Interesting.His best two characters back on the board.
Oh and some band wagon jumpers.Now that she is fixed she is gorgeous. Back in love again.I never stopped.Even when she was bad I had an driving desire to help her. I could see there was good in her. It was just crushed by all that baggage. Buried in self pity, driven by longing for answers, and a past she could never relive. She was always the most gorgeous thing on the board.Just her dark side made her unapproachable.Remember my old story. I knew there was good in her even though she teased me, humiliated me, made fun of me I could still see the good. It was just buried under false believes. Once those believes are ripped away and there you stand exposed, naked to reprisals you expect the worse. Then someone holds out their hand, takes you in, and tells you its okay. Beauty grows.Strong stuff there.So it was with Flask. I could see it but was unable to help it. Marx did. Now the outer beauty matches the inner beauty that was always there.Now lets see what the surface is like.
Much as I hate to be the messenger boy for my group, myemail pal Dora Dingle says she that has apologize for yesterday’s tirade about Flask thinking she has bought the farm. Obviously, my dim-bulb of a member doesn’t the true meaning that this is Aaron Neathery’s world and we’re just playing in it. So on behalf the group, please express ourheart-filled apology!
Philomena’s expression is only slightly outdone by Holly when she told Wally welcome home. Both of them beautiful.Now for a bad joke: If Aaron and Philomena get married, are they liable to be sued if they open a store? (AM/PM)Let the groaning begin.
So the Duchess really was Flask afterall. I guess my perfect record for predicting Aaron’s plot twists is still intact ;^)>. Nice to see a contented Flask for a change.
In a way today’s development makes me wonder. It would open up all sorts of conerundums if Flask and Marx traveled back in time to create Endtown in “this” reality (the same one written about in Endtown 1.0 & 2.0) I find myself hoping that this is them traveling to a new reality and recreating an Endtown there.
Steam punk Endtown.Love the 19th century elevator, what is the light source?Now Philomena’s name fits the era she inhabits – cool stuff. Who says Aaron N does not foreshadow (I think it was me)?
I was expecting a new story. I’m tired of the time-travel/multi-dimensional, omnipotent/omniscient/omnipresent marx stuff. I know it’s just a comic strip and a work of fiction, but one of the main things a fiction writer has to do is get us to suspend our disbelief and Neathery has ceased to do that for me for now and since it is just a comic strip I can drop it and check back later to see if there’s a story I like better.
Hey, Logan. You have to be L’amour fan. Did you ever read his fantasy? Anyway, this is scifi/fantasy. I mean intelligent animals, viruses that change people into something else haphazardly, etc. Why is Marx a stretch?
So Flask is responsible for Endtown, and this story wasn’t the beginning of a new story, but the end of Flask’s story—-and Flask’s story now has more false endings than a Robert Zemeckis movie. Who’s up for Monday?
To Tue.No it has not except a reference back in Vol 2 with Sparkplug.He creates or harnesses the Aimsworth devices creating the Zero weapons. The virus appears just after that. He has left Apex working on equipment to difuse the effects of the Zero weapons. His attempt is to save his family.The virus appears to beginning its rampage as Spark finds out what and why everyone is being summoned to receive “Medical Screening” which is basically gathered up and zapped with the Zero weapon (Rather large one). He gets his cure treatment to work and heads home in the background you can see monsters, mutated anthros all running about. He gets home only to find………..get Vol 2 it is well worth it. So the exact origin of the virus is not known. It has been conjectured to be a side effect of the Zero weapon. Released by another side fearing Apex having the Zero weapons. Pre emptive strike if you wish. This story line may lead us into the early days of this story. We may get to learn all the players envolved such as the Topsiders, origins of things, as we have now seen with the early development of Endtown.It will be interesting to find out and should be one hellofa. ride.Sit in the audience with the rest of us and enjoy. Oh and TSOJ still guards his chocolates but does leave his guard down occasionally. Just watch out on the ice cream. He never leaves that unguarded.
As far as this just being a STRIP.I do not see that way. What Mr. Neathery has done is to create for our enjoyment actors and actresses and a story. Sure you may see a drawing but does that make the character any less real? Does what the character say affect you? The the actor or actress has done their job. You are enjoying a show of epic proportions. All these actors and actresses are “acting” to the direction of the director. Mr Neathery. So to me they are as real as those we see on TV, Movies, Videos. Their situations, angst, feelings feel real.A story should move you to feelings. If it does then the author, director, actor and actress has done their job well.I have seen real life actors and actresses not even come close to what we all witnessed Flask go through. There may be a few but that performance was Oscar material in the real world.So have a heart. A STRIP come on. If thats the way you feel about it okay. But I see a different world. Its lessons do transfer. Remember that the next time you console someone after a tragic event or just try to cheer up someone sad. Marx and Flask showed you how and trust Veteran I know personally it does work.
If there are an infinite number of parallel realities, and the closer ones are similar, then Flask has succeeded in destroying the Topsider colony with the air ship more than once. Marx’s interest in intervening was solely to burn the hate out of this “cancer”-Flask and get her back into the recycle stream. Her form and memories have been set in stone, so either she gets recycled intact every few decades, or she’s now effectively immortal. She’s been inserted into a parallel universe far enough behind the others as to allow “refurbed”-Flask to start her work on creating Endtown several centuries ahead of The End. Then, at some point she’ll need to step out of this parallel reality to avoid the “same person, two different places” issue. Afterward, a new “cancer”-Flask will be spawned and Marx will need to decide whether he will recycle her as well, or not.Parallel realities that get a “refurbed”-Flask (or someone else that was equally “cancerous”) get an Endtown. In those that don’t, the mutants need to find another way to survive, with either an alternative to that colony, or to an alternative to Mallard. Presumably, the mutants don’t survive in some parallel realities, and in others, where “cancer”-Flask wins, the Topsiders don’t.This leaves the question of who, or what, Marx is. He’s obviously not “god”, because he’s not out to stop The End or save humanity from itself. He’s not a deus ex machina per se, because he’s really only after Flask. (Wally, Holly, Linda, Petey, the Brain and post-rocket Endtown are collateral repairs, and not necessarily on his to-do list.) If Marx is selectively choosing which “cancer”-Flask to save from any given parallel reality, then there are others that don’t get saved and go up in flames. He’s not “infinite” as he claims (he’s not interfering in every single parallel reality), and he’s not “all-powerful” (he’s not stopping The End or eradicating the mutagen) as some here have complained. We may never know his origins or limits, but that was also the case with Tolkien’s Tom Bombadil, who serves as Marx’s blueprint. What he is, is one of several recurring characters that Aaron Neathery has developed in his previous works. Just as Al, Gustine, Sparkplug Sanders, Jake Jackrabbit and Eden Amesworth (to a very limited extent) have made the transition from the earlier strips, so too now has Marx. Marx was a dimension hopper previously, and he’s a dimension hopper now. For those readers unfamiliar with him, he may seem out of place in Endtown, but he’s not something that was just dreamed up at the last minute to get Aaron out a fix he’d written himself into. Rather, Marx found himself a role to play in rescuing a broken doll, cleaning it up, repairing it, winding it back up, and giving it to a new owner, Endtown-style.
I’ll take this opportunity to tell everyone that hasn’t been reading the Endtown wiki that we do have chapter titles for this story arc.Countdown (as most already know) started with Mallard waking up to the alarm call.Homecoming starts with Marx opening the dimension portal to Endtown.
JennerI agree with you.EPILOGUEFlash back to things she said in the past. How much she owed to Endtown for taking her in. Her statement to Mallard. Survivial of Endtown is my revenge.Flask learned this was not a way to go. She realized how much she missed blinded by lost desires.She served Endtown. Maybe with an iron hand but was dedicated to it.Her love is Endtown. Her “revenge” is to prepare Endtown for what is coming. The dark unknown figure behind a mysterious construction progress. A cog in the machine.She travelled down a dark path coming out into the light to now serve, build, prepare.She can live out her new life dedicated to building a legacy that will outlast her. Her actions never to be known publicly but known to her and she is satisfied.This is I think is a final wrapup. The EPILOGUE of Captain Philomena Flask. Chief of Security, Endtown. Monday episode will tell.
Hey surfstuff55Mouse pads would be so coolGot that email from Aaron. Thanks.He is rather a pill but live and let live. If it gets out of hand we can all pummel him fiercely.There are enough of us around to quite him down.And I like the way you think. All of this is part of the master plan. If it is your destiny to go back to the past then there is no effect on a timeline. It is what is needed to be done. I still think this though is an epilogue probably to be returned to later. I think Aaron is going to move on.I mean I like construction but two decades of watching Endtown being built would hmmmmmm a little dull. I think we are going to return to Endtown shortly to continue. Wally is probably better now with Hollys care and coffee. There is still the Linda issue to contend with. No one is at the helm of control for security and the rats need someone new to salute. Jackrabbit if he finds a crack is going to go ape crap wild and that will not do Endtown any good to launch into open warfare with Topsiders with that Satellite up there. That smile at the end of Friday episode said it all. Finally at peace. Can do something to help. Love what you love the most. Endtown. Dedicated to service and helping. You know I travelled a similar path which is why I am where I am now.I did make my suggestion to him. See what he does. Hope he gets better.
To mrshermanI can agree on that. You can count me in on that bid. I was going to suggest he do some portraits of his characters. I think they would be a seller. And you are the first.I just love that smile. Her expression says it all. That is such a MonaLisa smile.
Does any one else notice this.On my lap top. When I have it in the normal view position I see the side of Flasks face with her hair covering her right eye so you only see the one. I tilted my screen and there was her full face the hair now just a faint whisper. I could see both eyes and their expressions.Is it just me or have other seen it too.It could just be my screen but the effect is soooo cool.
Interesting note on that if that effect is real.An etherial effect. It is the soul of Flask inhabiting a willing receptor. Marx sees it as Flask. Anyone else sees it as human. Five fingers female human face. A Flask ancestor if so receptive to the soul of Flask. After all Flask and the Duchess have the same demeanor. Strength of character.Hey its Endtown. As of now I believe anything is posssible.I still freak out about that effect. I used a desktop but the result was not the same. Is it possible to create that effect on a computer. I used my other lap top and it did the same thing. As I folded the screen to close it the image changed like those old time things when you would turn or move the image changes. Hey TSOJ you know computer stuff is that possible to create a shift image effect?
Oh and the AM/PM store was just too funny.But Marriage.I dont see that happening with her.Too strong of a woman to be attached like that.Those kind will let you around but never ever try to dominate them. Strong fiercely independant ladies. My wife is one. Only allowed marriage as the means to an end. She gets everything without a court fight but never has she been dominated by anyone. She will stand toe to toe and trade punches and never will YOU see her cry. I have because toughness only goes so far. So I am there to catch her, brush her off, dress the wounds, and be in her corner. SOOOO If Flask thinks she can get some kind of real sweet deal marriage could be in the future but to Marx? As I posted before her LOVE is Endtown. She is “married” to it for now.
Of course it just depends on your view of marriage.Equality is the key. Rarely happens. Even the vows the church uses states that. We in ours omitted OBEY on her side. Enough said.Gotta get back to COD MWIII.New MOH Warfighter due out Tuesday. So getting my warface back on. Had an instructor at the DPS academy tell me let me see your warface. I gave it to him. He pulled back. I told him he was lucky. In my military past few have seen it and lived.
I am not convinced of time travel yet. Alternative reality works better for me. Several dimensions over from our usual Endtown, without time travel the world in that place has not fully developed their Industrial Revolution as far as “ours”. It is still the same place, but apparently mass mutations have not begun there yet, and even though they seem roughly as advanced as our 1850s. Flask being accepted as a Duchess, and from one of the three royal houses, indicates mutations are not cause for disintegration. On another note, the lamps on the bridge are from a more modern era than the streetlamps. Perhaps they are high UV lamps to kill bacteria and promote other light loving fishies. Or perhaps they were from a more modern time.What if the Luddites had won their wars in this world?JusSayin
The big word in that joke was “If”.I would like to bring up the converations of “Deus ex machina” and who the guy Flask rescued was. This part is entirely based on other viewers input and I’m simply seeing if the parts fit.How about the “D.E.M.” is actually the Dimensionometer? Aaron Marx merely found it and figured out how to use it. He is also the one who was saved by Flask. He most likely was injured and scarred while captive. After loosening the earpiece he heard the P.T’s coming and led them away from Flask, either finding the dimensionometer then, or more likely, having found it earlier activated it somehow. It took him a long time to learn how to use it, coming back to the present existence shortly before saving the group. He may have been watching what was going on for a while, intending only to save Flask but for her being surrounded with the rest of the group caused him to have to make the decision to save all of them. His behavior on the ship would be to keep himself emotionally distant from the rest of the crew minimize his affect on them. It obviously didn’t work because like everyone else, he has human limits. Flask wouldn’t recognize his healed face, especially if he had repair work done. The Dimensionometer has time positioning as part of its capabilities, Aaron doesn’t. There would probably be a limit as the device most likely can’t travel forward in time beyond present existance. It can go into the past and return, but can’t go into the future because it hasn’t happened yet. I specified time positioning as time really isn’t just “when”, but also “where”. Take only yourself back in time a few seconds and you could very well end up in deep space because the Earth is no longer where it was a few seconds ago.Now my own perspective.Parallel universes, as this device can apparently acces is a problem to me. Not their existence, but what causes a universe to split. Common conception seems to be every time something happens, a universe is created where it didn’t happen. My opinion only, but I think it would take something universally eventful like the creation of a black hole. I can’t see myself creating a new universe dependant upon how many squares of toilet tissue I use.Aaron Marx is free to be human again. His actions, although benefitting several people were centered around the person he loved. A human action. Above all, his concern was with the one he loved most.A very human behavior. Look back through the stories. They’re all about relationships. Endtown is the stage. We, the audience are discussing the play. How different is that from meeting at the alehouse after seeing one of Shakespeare’s plays at the Globe Theater? What would they have talked about compared to us?
To TSOJBravo Bravo Very well said.That is why time travel is very dangerous going back.You would have to match every detail to not affect the future.Like you said it would snowball.I am impressed.
Well, that’s kind of another thing. I shouldn’t have to wade through 200 comments here and a forum and the author’s old website to try to figure the story out. I should be able to pick up the archive at day 1, read the story through and figure out. There is an awful lot of thinking being done by fans of “just a cartoon.” I like the story, the art and the concept but I am just a casual reader. It’s kind of like how some people can tell you every nuanced meaning of every detail of The Lord of the Rings. It was a good story but I really don’t care about the difference (for example) between the various families of elves and their genealogies. And really, the comparison between Marx and Tom Bombadil may be at the crux of my problem. I thought the Tom Bombadil interlude a colossal waste of time and one reason I never waded through the trilogy until the last few years. Oh well. I like this strip as I said before. But I’m not as into it as many of the fans here are.
To both you and Veteran, It took a while for me to see it. It wasn’t visible until I moved the drawing to my other screen. It is prettty basic. To draw the whole face then cover it up with hair or cloth is easier than drawng part of the face. What happened next is credit to the imaging device used to upload the picture. Either the intensity of the light or quality of the camera allowed the drawing of the whole eye to appear when viewed under certain conditions, such as at an angle. It’s a great effect, no matter what the cause.
To mrsherman and surfstuff.I knew something was there. And shoot if he can even get this to the screen he is better than I would ever be. I still cant figure how to put an avatar instead of the damn question mark. I feel like the Riddler. I have a hard enough time typing much less drawing, copying, uploading. He is a genius. I just did not state it with as much vigor as you. But now I can see how that would work. Bright intense light does bring up images unseen. I did not know it would transfer. I have used this technique in accident investigation looking for the faint skid marks of a tire. They can be seen but you have to use a very bright light at a angle to bring it up. Visual to the eye but never got it to show up on a camera shot. Of course we only use the best low bid digital cameras money can by. They give me the number, the type camera and send me to Sams Wholesale. Works okay little Canon quickshots. We’ll see you all Monday.
GoNordrike about 12 years ago
IT’S FLASK! AND MARX! AWESOME!!!!
JanBic Premium Member about 12 years ago
Flask and Marx it is!
SapphireDragonStudios about 12 years ago
Wow. Those of you who predicted that she was Flask were right! Now my question is when did she arrive at this reality and what is she planning to do? And hi Marx! o/ Is that the same Marx? Did he have to take a different route to meet her in this new world? Or is this an Alternate Universe Marx?
dirtyoldlady1 about 12 years ago
TA DAAAA!!!! Blessed Be
Level_Head about 12 years ago
Marx is Marx across the universeAnd Flask remembers pasts which were much worseShe’s not regretting, “no, not anymore”This speaks of Flask who knows, and knows the scoreBeneath that hood are eyes tapetum-paleBeneath the cloak, a meter’s twitching tailAnd ears pressed flat, a face at ease and proudFolks here, I’ll bet, will stand and shout out loud!=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books
Level_Head about 12 years ago
A detail in panel 3The rows of lamps you can seeGlow off in the darkThey’re part of the sparkOf Endtown’s artistry=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books
mr_sherman Premium Member about 12 years ago
Okay. I was soooooo wrong! So much for my Oracle theory.Flask is back. How many of us like that?Me! Me! Me!
Ida No about 12 years ago
This is why the initial excavation work went so well so long ago. Egyptians love cats.
frogsandravens about 12 years ago
Whoops! Misled by the gloves, I guess!
Tyrnn about 12 years ago
Utterly confused now. >.<
Manocat about 12 years ago
This is certainly one of the best webcomics out there. Like in all good things, surprises are not always pleaseant, though after a while the big picture reveals itself as a more mature and interesting whole. I most sincerely thank Mr. Neathery for his work and promise to reward him in a more pragmatic way than words.
DADOF3 about 12 years ago
Dead, but not dead. Cat face, but four fingers, not three. And I’m sure there’s a tail somewhere under all that dress. Well, when faced with facts we can not explain, sometimes all we can do is accept their existance with as much grace as we can muster and push on. Next stop: Monday…. ;-)
Superfrog about 12 years ago
“More cogs for the Machine”?
Jenner Premium Member about 12 years ago
I just want to kiss her.
guillegr123 about 12 years ago
That’s the beginning of the end…town!!!??? Man, you dis-made my friday, hahaha… Now I’m waiting for monday :S
Arcaton about 12 years ago
@Three Steps Over JapanAre you a Harold Lloyd fan perchance?
Ah Wonderful Aaron! Flask redeemed……
rudym300 about 12 years ago
Flask has five fingers yesterday
Dkram about 12 years ago
Long and winding road..\\//_
celeconecca about 12 years ago
I’m looking forward to the trip!
Herb Thiel Premium Member about 12 years ago
Too much. I can’t suspend my disbelief any longer. I’ll come back in a couple of months maybe and see what’s going on.
Francis362003 about 12 years ago
To the ones that didn’t believe me. I told you so, but Marx is a big shocker to me.
crookedwolf Premium Member about 12 years ago
She looks lovely.What a twist. I am SO enjoying this.
dwandelt Premium Member about 12 years ago
Had to be a Friday…
Jenner Premium Member about 12 years ago
Well, that does sort of explain why the Duchess fell asleep in a sunbeam.
salenstormwing about 12 years ago
What a Twist! Let me go put my hula skirt on to help explain how big a twist it is. But Flask is alive and kickin’ and runnin’ around with Marx and the world is good once more.
Now… bring the Duchess her royal bowl of milk!
finder10030 about 12 years ago
Aaron, frame 4 is beautifully drawn! I’m in love with the cat again – especially the eyes. Didn’t like who she had become, but now that she’s “fixed”. . .nice job. I’m really looking forward to this storyline, it should make for an interesting year or so.
DADOF3 about 12 years ago
I just remembered… Duchess was the name of the cat (voiced, I believe, by Eva Gabor) in Disney’s “The AristoCats”!Does this mean Flask has some kittens running around somewhere? ;-)
Otera about 12 years ago
wow… I called it yesterday. interesting. I’m not usually that good at predicting stuff like that. I not only called that the Duchess was Flask, but that her companion there was Marx and this is in the middle of his love story!
Ida No about 12 years ago
“Who knows, this could be the real end of the arc”Ok, count of hands! How many people still think this is the start of a new story arc?
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
No comment.For once.Pretty kitty is back.And smiling.This time for a different reason.Two decades, seal the city and wait and the process will begin again. Hmmmmmm. Interesting.His best two characters back on the board.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
Oh and some band wagon jumpers.Now that she is fixed she is gorgeous. Back in love again.I never stopped.Even when she was bad I had an driving desire to help her. I could see there was good in her. It was just crushed by all that baggage. Buried in self pity, driven by longing for answers, and a past she could never relive. She was always the most gorgeous thing on the board.Just her dark side made her unapproachable.Remember my old story. I knew there was good in her even though she teased me, humiliated me, made fun of me I could still see the good. It was just buried under false believes. Once those believes are ripped away and there you stand exposed, naked to reprisals you expect the worse. Then someone holds out their hand, takes you in, and tells you its okay. Beauty grows.Strong stuff there.So it was with Flask. I could see it but was unable to help it. Marx did. Now the outer beauty matches the inner beauty that was always there.Now lets see what the surface is like.
Lyons Group, Inc. about 12 years ago
Much as I hate to be the messenger boy for my group, myemail pal Dora Dingle says she that has apologize for yesterday’s tirade about Flask thinking she has bought the farm. Obviously, my dim-bulb of a member doesn’t the true meaning that this is Aaron Neathery’s world and we’re just playing in it. So on behalf the group, please express ourheart-filled apology!
mr_sherman Premium Member about 12 years ago
Philomena’s expression is only slightly outdone by Holly when she told Wally welcome home. Both of them beautiful.Now for a bad joke: If Aaron and Philomena get married, are they liable to be sued if they open a store? (AM/PM)Let the groaning begin.
Storm F-1/4 about 12 years ago
So cool!
Dragoncat about 12 years ago
She’s BA-AAAAAAAAACK!!!
RoseLaflesh about 12 years ago
I love the Flask reveal.
EeyoreBlue about 12 years ago
Thank you A.N. – if not time travel then parallel dimensions perhaps, or alternate doorways to the same universe? very fun…
awesome person about 12 years ago
Building endtown?
Darwinskeeper about 12 years ago
So the Duchess really was Flask afterall. I guess my perfect record for predicting Aaron’s plot twists is still intact ;^)>. Nice to see a contented Flask for a change.
Darwinskeeper about 12 years ago
In a way today’s development makes me wonder. It would open up all sorts of conerundums if Flask and Marx traveled back in time to create Endtown in “this” reality (the same one written about in Endtown 1.0 & 2.0) I find myself hoping that this is them traveling to a new reality and recreating an Endtown there.
pam Miner about 12 years ago
I am bamboozled so far.
BeniHanna6 Premium Member about 12 years ago
Love it! My favorite girl is back. Just hope she still has a strong unyielding spirit.
Bogy Premium Member about 12 years ago
So, this appears to be the end of the last story, tying up a loose end, instead of the beginning of a new story
JanBic Premium Member about 12 years ago
Steam punk Endtown.Love the 19th century elevator, what is the light source?Now Philomena’s name fits the era she inhabits – cool stuff. Who says Aaron N does not foreshadow (I think it was me)?
mr_sherman Premium Member about 12 years ago
…..and she definitely has lips.
Coyoty Premium Member about 12 years ago
I wonder if Flask is like Marx now, existing in more than one universe and connected to them all.
Herb Thiel Premium Member about 12 years ago
I was expecting a new story. I’m tired of the time-travel/multi-dimensional, omnipotent/omniscient/omnipresent marx stuff. I know it’s just a comic strip and a work of fiction, but one of the main things a fiction writer has to do is get us to suspend our disbelief and Neathery has ceased to do that for me for now and since it is just a comic strip I can drop it and check back later to see if there’s a story I like better.
scsurfer about 12 years ago
Hey, Logan. You have to be L’amour fan. Did you ever read his fantasy? Anyway, this is scifi/fantasy. I mean intelligent animals, viruses that change people into something else haphazardly, etc. Why is Marx a stretch?
Robert Nowall Premium Member about 12 years ago
So Flask is responsible for Endtown, and this story wasn’t the beginning of a new story, but the end of Flask’s story—-and Flask’s story now has more false endings than a Robert Zemeckis movie. Who’s up for Monday?
Tue Elung-Jensen about 12 years ago
Did the origin of the virus get revealed at any point btw?
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
To Tue.No it has not except a reference back in Vol 2 with Sparkplug.He creates or harnesses the Aimsworth devices creating the Zero weapons. The virus appears just after that. He has left Apex working on equipment to difuse the effects of the Zero weapons. His attempt is to save his family.The virus appears to beginning its rampage as Spark finds out what and why everyone is being summoned to receive “Medical Screening” which is basically gathered up and zapped with the Zero weapon (Rather large one). He gets his cure treatment to work and heads home in the background you can see monsters, mutated anthros all running about. He gets home only to find………..get Vol 2 it is well worth it. So the exact origin of the virus is not known. It has been conjectured to be a side effect of the Zero weapon. Released by another side fearing Apex having the Zero weapons. Pre emptive strike if you wish. This story line may lead us into the early days of this story. We may get to learn all the players envolved such as the Topsiders, origins of things, as we have now seen with the early development of Endtown.It will be interesting to find out and should be one hellofa. ride.Sit in the audience with the rest of us and enjoy. Oh and TSOJ still guards his chocolates but does leave his guard down occasionally. Just watch out on the ice cream. He never leaves that unguarded.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
Hey out thereHave not heard from SapphireDragonStudios lately.You need help? We are here?We do love you.Or are you digesting this too.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
As far as this just being a STRIP.I do not see that way. What Mr. Neathery has done is to create for our enjoyment actors and actresses and a story. Sure you may see a drawing but does that make the character any less real? Does what the character say affect you? The the actor or actress has done their job. You are enjoying a show of epic proportions. All these actors and actresses are “acting” to the direction of the director. Mr Neathery. So to me they are as real as those we see on TV, Movies, Videos. Their situations, angst, feelings feel real.A story should move you to feelings. If it does then the author, director, actor and actress has done their job well.I have seen real life actors and actresses not even come close to what we all witnessed Flask go through. There may be a few but that performance was Oscar material in the real world.So have a heart. A STRIP come on. If thats the way you feel about it okay. But I see a different world. Its lessons do transfer. Remember that the next time you console someone after a tragic event or just try to cheer up someone sad. Marx and Flask showed you how and trust Veteran I know personally it does work.
Atrius5000 about 12 years ago
I- us-we, called it, ladies and gentlemen.
Ida No about 12 years ago
If there are an infinite number of parallel realities, and the closer ones are similar, then Flask has succeeded in destroying the Topsider colony with the air ship more than once. Marx’s interest in intervening was solely to burn the hate out of this “cancer”-Flask and get her back into the recycle stream. Her form and memories have been set in stone, so either she gets recycled intact every few decades, or she’s now effectively immortal. She’s been inserted into a parallel universe far enough behind the others as to allow “refurbed”-Flask to start her work on creating Endtown several centuries ahead of The End. Then, at some point she’ll need to step out of this parallel reality to avoid the “same person, two different places” issue. Afterward, a new “cancer”-Flask will be spawned and Marx will need to decide whether he will recycle her as well, or not.Parallel realities that get a “refurbed”-Flask (or someone else that was equally “cancerous”) get an Endtown. In those that don’t, the mutants need to find another way to survive, with either an alternative to that colony, or to an alternative to Mallard. Presumably, the mutants don’t survive in some parallel realities, and in others, where “cancer”-Flask wins, the Topsiders don’t.This leaves the question of who, or what, Marx is. He’s obviously not “god”, because he’s not out to stop The End or save humanity from itself. He’s not a deus ex machina per se, because he’s really only after Flask. (Wally, Holly, Linda, Petey, the Brain and post-rocket Endtown are collateral repairs, and not necessarily on his to-do list.) If Marx is selectively choosing which “cancer”-Flask to save from any given parallel reality, then there are others that don’t get saved and go up in flames. He’s not “infinite” as he claims (he’s not interfering in every single parallel reality), and he’s not “all-powerful” (he’s not stopping The End or eradicating the mutagen) as some here have complained. We may never know his origins or limits, but that was also the case with Tolkien’s Tom Bombadil, who serves as Marx’s blueprint. What he is, is one of several recurring characters that Aaron Neathery has developed in his previous works. Just as Al, Gustine, Sparkplug Sanders, Jake Jackrabbit and Eden Amesworth (to a very limited extent) have made the transition from the earlier strips, so too now has Marx. Marx was a dimension hopper previously, and he’s a dimension hopper now. For those readers unfamiliar with him, he may seem out of place in Endtown, but he’s not something that was just dreamed up at the last minute to get Aaron out a fix he’d written himself into. Rather, Marx found himself a role to play in rescuing a broken doll, cleaning it up, repairing it, winding it back up, and giving it to a new owner, Endtown-style.
Ida No about 12 years ago
I’ll take this opportunity to tell everyone that hasn’t been reading the Endtown wiki that we do have chapter titles for this story arc.Countdown (as most already know) started with Mallard waking up to the alarm call.Homecoming starts with Marx opening the dimension portal to Endtown.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
JennerI agree with you.EPILOGUEFlash back to things she said in the past. How much she owed to Endtown for taking her in. Her statement to Mallard. Survivial of Endtown is my revenge.Flask learned this was not a way to go. She realized how much she missed blinded by lost desires.She served Endtown. Maybe with an iron hand but was dedicated to it.Her love is Endtown. Her “revenge” is to prepare Endtown for what is coming. The dark unknown figure behind a mysterious construction progress. A cog in the machine.She travelled down a dark path coming out into the light to now serve, build, prepare.She can live out her new life dedicated to building a legacy that will outlast her. Her actions never to be known publicly but known to her and she is satisfied.This is I think is a final wrapup. The EPILOGUE of Captain Philomena Flask. Chief of Security, Endtown. Monday episode will tell.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
Hey surfstuff55Mouse pads would be so coolGot that email from Aaron. Thanks.He is rather a pill but live and let live. If it gets out of hand we can all pummel him fiercely.There are enough of us around to quite him down.And I like the way you think. All of this is part of the master plan. If it is your destiny to go back to the past then there is no effect on a timeline. It is what is needed to be done. I still think this though is an epilogue probably to be returned to later. I think Aaron is going to move on.I mean I like construction but two decades of watching Endtown being built would hmmmmmm a little dull. I think we are going to return to Endtown shortly to continue. Wally is probably better now with Hollys care and coffee. There is still the Linda issue to contend with. No one is at the helm of control for security and the rats need someone new to salute. Jackrabbit if he finds a crack is going to go ape crap wild and that will not do Endtown any good to launch into open warfare with Topsiders with that Satellite up there. That smile at the end of Friday episode said it all. Finally at peace. Can do something to help. Love what you love the most. Endtown. Dedicated to service and helping. You know I travelled a similar path which is why I am where I am now.I did make my suggestion to him. See what he does. Hope he gets better.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
To mrshermanI can agree on that. You can count me in on that bid. I was going to suggest he do some portraits of his characters. I think they would be a seller. And you are the first.I just love that smile. Her expression says it all. That is such a MonaLisa smile.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
Does any one else notice this.On my lap top. When I have it in the normal view position I see the side of Flasks face with her hair covering her right eye so you only see the one. I tilted my screen and there was her full face the hair now just a faint whisper. I could see both eyes and their expressions.Is it just me or have other seen it too.It could just be my screen but the effect is soooo cool.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
Interesting note on that if that effect is real.An etherial effect. It is the soul of Flask inhabiting a willing receptor. Marx sees it as Flask. Anyone else sees it as human. Five fingers female human face. A Flask ancestor if so receptive to the soul of Flask. After all Flask and the Duchess have the same demeanor. Strength of character.Hey its Endtown. As of now I believe anything is posssible.I still freak out about that effect. I used a desktop but the result was not the same. Is it possible to create that effect on a computer. I used my other lap top and it did the same thing. As I folded the screen to close it the image changed like those old time things when you would turn or move the image changes. Hey TSOJ you know computer stuff is that possible to create a shift image effect?
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
Oh and the AM/PM store was just too funny.But Marriage.I dont see that happening with her.Too strong of a woman to be attached like that.Those kind will let you around but never ever try to dominate them. Strong fiercely independant ladies. My wife is one. Only allowed marriage as the means to an end. She gets everything without a court fight but never has she been dominated by anyone. She will stand toe to toe and trade punches and never will YOU see her cry. I have because toughness only goes so far. So I am there to catch her, brush her off, dress the wounds, and be in her corner. SOOOO If Flask thinks she can get some kind of real sweet deal marriage could be in the future but to Marx? As I posted before her LOVE is Endtown. She is “married” to it for now.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
Of course it just depends on your view of marriage.Equality is the key. Rarely happens. Even the vows the church uses states that. We in ours omitted OBEY on her side. Enough said.Gotta get back to COD MWIII.New MOH Warfighter due out Tuesday. So getting my warface back on. Had an instructor at the DPS academy tell me let me see your warface. I gave it to him. He pulled back. I told him he was lucky. In my military past few have seen it and lived.
JusSayin about 12 years ago
I am not convinced of time travel yet. Alternative reality works better for me. Several dimensions over from our usual Endtown, without time travel the world in that place has not fully developed their Industrial Revolution as far as “ours”. It is still the same place, but apparently mass mutations have not begun there yet, and even though they seem roughly as advanced as our 1850s. Flask being accepted as a Duchess, and from one of the three royal houses, indicates mutations are not cause for disintegration. On another note, the lamps on the bridge are from a more modern era than the streetlamps. Perhaps they are high UV lamps to kill bacteria and promote other light loving fishies. Or perhaps they were from a more modern time.What if the Luddites had won their wars in this world?JusSayin
mr_sherman Premium Member about 12 years ago
The big word in that joke was “If”.I would like to bring up the converations of “Deus ex machina” and who the guy Flask rescued was. This part is entirely based on other viewers input and I’m simply seeing if the parts fit.How about the “D.E.M.” is actually the Dimensionometer? Aaron Marx merely found it and figured out how to use it. He is also the one who was saved by Flask. He most likely was injured and scarred while captive. After loosening the earpiece he heard the P.T’s coming and led them away from Flask, either finding the dimensionometer then, or more likely, having found it earlier activated it somehow. It took him a long time to learn how to use it, coming back to the present existence shortly before saving the group. He may have been watching what was going on for a while, intending only to save Flask but for her being surrounded with the rest of the group caused him to have to make the decision to save all of them. His behavior on the ship would be to keep himself emotionally distant from the rest of the crew minimize his affect on them. It obviously didn’t work because like everyone else, he has human limits. Flask wouldn’t recognize his healed face, especially if he had repair work done. The Dimensionometer has time positioning as part of its capabilities, Aaron doesn’t. There would probably be a limit as the device most likely can’t travel forward in time beyond present existance. It can go into the past and return, but can’t go into the future because it hasn’t happened yet. I specified time positioning as time really isn’t just “when”, but also “where”. Take only yourself back in time a few seconds and you could very well end up in deep space because the Earth is no longer where it was a few seconds ago.Now my own perspective.Parallel universes, as this device can apparently acces is a problem to me. Not their existence, but what causes a universe to split. Common conception seems to be every time something happens, a universe is created where it didn’t happen. My opinion only, but I think it would take something universally eventful like the creation of a black hole. I can’t see myself creating a new universe dependant upon how many squares of toilet tissue I use.Aaron Marx is free to be human again. His actions, although benefitting several people were centered around the person he loved. A human action. Above all, his concern was with the one he loved most.A very human behavior. Look back through the stories. They’re all about relationships. Endtown is the stage. We, the audience are discussing the play. How different is that from meeting at the alehouse after seeing one of Shakespeare’s plays at the Globe Theater? What would they have talked about compared to us?
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
To TSOJBravo Bravo Very well said.That is why time travel is very dangerous going back.You would have to match every detail to not affect the future.Like you said it would snowball.I am impressed.
Herb Thiel Premium Member about 12 years ago
Well, that’s kind of another thing. I shouldn’t have to wade through 200 comments here and a forum and the author’s old website to try to figure the story out. I should be able to pick up the archive at day 1, read the story through and figure out. There is an awful lot of thinking being done by fans of “just a cartoon.” I like the story, the art and the concept but I am just a casual reader. It’s kind of like how some people can tell you every nuanced meaning of every detail of The Lord of the Rings. It was a good story but I really don’t care about the difference (for example) between the various families of elves and their genealogies. And really, the comparison between Marx and Tom Bombadil may be at the crux of my problem. I thought the Tom Bombadil interlude a colossal waste of time and one reason I never waded through the trilogy until the last few years. Oh well. I like this strip as I said before. But I’m not as into it as many of the fans here are.
mr_sherman Premium Member about 12 years ago
To both you and Veteran, It took a while for me to see it. It wasn’t visible until I moved the drawing to my other screen. It is prettty basic. To draw the whole face then cover it up with hair or cloth is easier than drawng part of the face. What happened next is credit to the imaging device used to upload the picture. Either the intensity of the light or quality of the camera allowed the drawing of the whole eye to appear when viewed under certain conditions, such as at an angle. It’s a great effect, no matter what the cause.
Vet Premium Member about 12 years ago
To mrsherman and surfstuff.I knew something was there. And shoot if he can even get this to the screen he is better than I would ever be. I still cant figure how to put an avatar instead of the damn question mark. I feel like the Riddler. I have a hard enough time typing much less drawing, copying, uploading. He is a genius. I just did not state it with as much vigor as you. But now I can see how that would work. Bright intense light does bring up images unseen. I did not know it would transfer. I have used this technique in accident investigation looking for the faint skid marks of a tire. They can be seen but you have to use a very bright light at a angle to bring it up. Visual to the eye but never got it to show up on a camera shot. Of course we only use the best low bid digital cameras money can by. They give me the number, the type camera and send me to Sams Wholesale. Works okay little Canon quickshots. We’ll see you all Monday.