Endtown by Aaron Neathery for August 28, 2013

ooo one of the first, I’m never one of the first….. Any who! I wonder how this fits into Marx’s plan?

Maybe Cooper should join them and make it three sane people…

Marx said something about Jake being the leader Endtown needed in the days ahead.

My guess is that this state of affairs is temporary. Exactly how temporary remains to be seen. The indications are “… but long term nevertheless”.

Everyone Three Words: Endtown. Action. Figures. Whatcha think? Collect them, trade them, have battles with them. Vote with your pocketbook at the auction site, the bookstores and Cafe Press. I see these guys and gals as action figures instead of plush toys. Remember those old lead army guys? I hear a certain country has an abundance of lead.Oh yeah, vote at TopWebComics too. I apologize Wabbit, the voting links still work for me. I think if you have an account there, just signing in registers your vote. Perhaps Level_Head or JanBic can answer your question earlier.

Vote Doc Rat JusSayin

Wally: “Thanks for the talk, Cooper. And remember, if you’ve still got beer rations, I’m still available any time.”

I hope Wally gets over to the hospital straight away. I hope Holly is still there, asleep. Wally is not Too bright. He should stay close by even though he thinks it’s safe to leave.Yes, she threatened to leave him, but she is/was in a deranged state.He needs to ask her about the baby. Once she is stable, either fix up the house or start packing for the dangerous trip topside.

Does anyone know how Aaron is doing? The last I heard, he was still having health problems.

Ok, I’m really close to just stop reading the comic. I loved the story so far, but lately it shifted to “How direct democracy is so much better than a representative one”.The High Council system seems like the perfect way for a group to take over the town: we saw that the council only need a relative majority to make decisions. That means it only takes three people to deport all Typhoid Maries from Endtown, for instance – and everything with the certainty of anonimity. Add that the five members are chosen at random and that they might as well be all Jackrabbit lackeys. So much for your perfect democracy.

I don’t live under a rock and I don’t think our democracy is perfect. Hell, I live in Italy, I know what corrupt politicians can do to a country. But that doesn’t mean that there’s a better system than ours. Democracy without politics is a fairy tale. We live under the illusion that politicians are worse than common people. Guess what: they aren’t!Jackrabbit and Allgood didn’t even need to rig the system – it was doomed to fail because of the way it was designed.

Waiting for better storylines and for all of this to end.

On the subject of revenue raisers – and unseasonal ones at that – could one suggest Christmas cards using some of the art work already auctioned – Flask with the candy cane and so so short Santa robe come to mind…..

Ok, Andrea Guidetti, a few things wrong with that.First: it’s 12 people on the High Council not 5.Second: that makes 7 people needed to get something to pass.Third: sence the council can’t talk to eash other with out all of them hearing, there are no back door agreements.Fourth: sence it SHOULD be random who is picked to do it, then it’s near impossible to get 7+ people with the same views unless most of Endtown think that same way. So there should be no stacking of the deck.Fith: this system is only flawed in how many people could get to the picking system. The mayor could, he would take poeple off the list for helping him. That shows that there IS acessess to the system. It should have NO way to acessess it directly.Sixth: Any system of governing a body of people is flawed as soon as you add humans to the system.

Well if Wally needed a push to join Holly and leave, Cooper gave it to him. Given the risks involved I don’t think its a good idea but adventure is part of the strip, and in the words of Sam Starfall.“See! That’s how you have an adventure! Make a stupid decision and follow thru!”

The problem with the HC system is that you need a bureaucracy to run it., i.e. to handle the selection, notify the people involved, etc. Since it’s all done behind close doors it become simple for that bureaucracy to rig the system. How would anybody know if the members of the HC are actually selected at random since the public doesn’t see it happen or even know who’s on the council?

Cooper……..Get help from WHERE??Oh, sure the other five settlements will send folks a running when they hear Endtown is having issues.That is not going to happen.Let’s see……..for help to arrive they only have to dodge Topsiders, avoid being detected by the satellite, expend a huge amount of their resources just to get to Endtown then see if they will be allowed entry or just gather on the surface and wait for the hammer to fall when the Topsiders go “Look at the gathering in the Great Waste. What the hell is that about? Missile strike the location.” Again Wally is offered the opportunity to leave……..is that really a solution?Like Andrea said living in Italy. Democracy is not a perfect system but you stay to make it better. I agree. There is a not a huge migration from Italy just because the government has problems so why would thousands flee Endtown just because the High Council system has failed and Jacob is running to be a leader. Can not others run? The point I see is this. Do the folks of Endtown continue to mope around bemoaning their fate or stand up to make a difference. That is what responsibility and irresponsibility is all about.It will be interesting to see where the author is going with all this.

Well, once you find the moral center of a literary work—-and, what with the way continuity comes together on comic strips, that can take a while after the premiere—-that charcter becomes the focus wherever things happen to go in the plot. Are Wally and / or Holly the moral center of Endtown?

I’ve seen Endtown less as a community and more as a lifeboat—-and you just can’t run a lifeboat by taking a vote on everything. They’re in a bad situation that isn’t likely to get better for awhile yet. Suppose they start voting people out of Endtown?#The classical Greeks practiced “ostracism”—-not what it means in English today, but, in fact, taking a vote on whether or not some leader or prominent citizen should remain in the city or leave. Apparently it was a preferable option to political murder…

I just can’t figure out where this story arc is going…dang Aaron is such a great story teller,,,one minute I can see the direction and bam!! he changes it!! Great job Aaron…keep it up!

Thing is, Cooper…What kind of help can anyone provide for those who don’t realize (or possibly CARE) that they need help?

So the road trip won’t just be to escape Endtown, but to see what’s out there besides the local wasteland and monsters and Topsiders and ruins. There IS more out there. We know there are people called Lucranians who have a high technology and are salvaging the ruins. (They aren’t aliens or from another universe, BTW. They’re as much a part of the world as Endtown, according to Aaron N.) Help can come from unexpected places.

Prediction – For the Little It’s Worth:.War is coming. .Topsiders control the surface, the sky, and the heavens. The underground havens are fixed in place, and regardless of their tricks, you can’t hide the ingress and egress of scouts and etc. from the entrances forever. Just mapping the where, when, and frequency of your encounters with the scouts will point the way..Well, seismic wave studies would ‘pop’ giant caverns, too.

Mr. Neathery has ‘flair;’ expect the first salvo to be dramatic. Perhaps another cobalt device piped down into a nearby town by surprise. Others would then be on alert they can be found; they must react or be destroyed..Evidence to date puts the balance of military power in the hands of the Toppers. For a credible defense, the remaining towns have to unite as a common force – enter Jacob, who, with or without Marx, might have already been greasing the skids with his ‘liberation theology’ in the other havens.

The war will no doubt take on a strong “religious” character. Bigger question: does rabbit go all-in with peashooters and a handful of “I-Done-Made-It-Myselfs!” homemade disintegrators against the remnants of a modern war machine? Or does he have something special up his sleeves? An “equalizer.”.Virus does the work; suits aren’t up to spec, fragile even when they are … all you need is something to work the ‘fabric’ and you can claim the field. Do they have something wickedly delicious in mind, or did inter-dimensional Marx leave a present or two behind?

If so, Toppers run and leave the fight to mutts and drones. War bogs down to stalemate with havens surrounded and under siege. Then stage is set for “Mighty Morphed Power Rangers” to return and save the day with mystery relics salvaged from the distant world beyond..Or not.

Could be another “And now for something completely different…”

If you know anything from history. In a hostile municipality, you may have a very narrow window of oppourtunity to escape. Take only what you absolutely need and get out

@DarwinskeeperYou’ve got me thinking of Flask in a woollen striped Eton Bathing Costume c.1930 …. no frillies though, a males costume. With an ’ole for the tail.

AEIOUGGGHHHHHH! it’s a Denis Bloodnok moment

1. What type of “animal” is Cooper? Looks like a in the face but has arms and legs, so he’s not a fish.2. Staying in Endtown would be an “endgame” plot wish. There has to be more discovery, more places to go. 3. When Albert left the council did he just go home? He seemed to understand a little of what’s going on.Part of the charm of Endtown is to go along for the ride. And usually cry at the end of the story arcs. Very few writers can do that to me.

“Looks like a fish in the face”

The role that Marx seems to be playing now reminds me of Hari Seldon (Asimov’s Foundation Series)…

Alright-Tee then…Let’s start the show!!

Every other time I click on a new comic I get a 404 error. GoComics is in the toilet…..

How did the fish guy know that holly wants out?