Endtown by Aaron Neathery for May 18, 2018

Well, that escalated quickly….

Suck it on out and play back at leisure. Too bad if it’s the wrong person. They will get a sincere apology in their eulogy.

In this case they probably hit at least a single, maybe even a home run, no apology forthcoming.

Really it’s quite painless however there are some minor side effects. Like some memory loss, bladder and or bowel control, drooling, uncontrollably flatulence, and possible death. Minor by most standards……Topsider standards.THROW THE SWITCH!!!!

Pull the lever, Kronk.

Mavis is strapped down, Jacob’s a tough guy. Nose to nose with Freeman, not so much.

Now, now Jacob, give Mavis a choice that she’d either answer the questions that’re put to her or the rat chappie at the mind extraction machine will extract them from her.

The mind extractor hasn’t been seen for a long time. Nice that they’ve dusted it off.

I’d love to have the job as the person in the marketing firm who designs the decal to go on the side of the machine.

“It turns ze brains… into guacamole.”

There was some speculation a while back as to who would become the new James Bond (after Daniel Craig). Tom Hiddleston was in the running until Ms. Broccoli declared him “too smug”. Can’t imagine how that was an issue, since Roger Moore made James Bond very smug.

ANYHOW… My point is that there was talk about making James Bond a female. I thought it was ludicrous. And now, after seeing today’s strip… I’m still not seeing it.

Still liking the story, though…

Is this the end of Mavis? I confess I’m not that familiar with the Mind Extractor, though it does seem ominous.

Even more concerning: Endtown is becoming like Gotham City as described by Jack Nicholson: “There are no good citizens”! We just hung the last “good guy” in town: Yes, his newspaper caused problems, but only because he was fed bad information. We know Velda is a “bad guy” because of what she did to Mavis – though Jake doesn’t know that. We don’t know a lot about Mavis but she’s about to lose her life (as we know it). For a while, we thought Jake might be the hero, however unlikely that might be considering his past. But he’s sure not behaving like a hero tonight.

We’ve even had aspertions cast upon Portia; her behavior during the Foxworthy hanging was disturbing, regardless of what she may or may not have known.

And Walt? We’ve seen about as much about him as we have Wally of late.

ARE THERE NO GOOD PEOPLE LEFT IN ENDTOWN?

Jacob knows that a mind is a terrible thing to waste.Mavis will probably become part of the food stock pile.You know: wieners, pupsicles,etc

RETCON problems: I thought the rats had no respect for Jake – and now, they’re doing his bidding?

Or are the rats pressing Jake once again? But that’s not what it looks like.

Everything is topsy-turvy.

To Quote Spaceballs “Suck! Suck! Suck!”

“Say hello to the MIND EXTRACTOR!”

“Hello?”

I think the extractor has been redesigned. The original unit didn’t need a mounted operator. And, I wonder if it’s symbolic in any way that this one is shaped like a big pig.

Any normal Endtowner should be unfamiliar with the side effects of extractors, since they were used principally by Flask and her minions. Gotta wonder if Mavis is abnormal.

“You expect me to talk?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”

“Our mind sifter can become a mind RIPPER if need be. It leaves the subject a vegetable, unfortunately. " ~ Kor

Did that thing walk in there?

All things considered you would think an appliance like that they would try to make it smaller.

I wanted to find a particular old Endtown strip, and rather than guess at the date, I clicked Random. And just by pure chance I landed on the one where Wally helped defend Cooper from Jake’s pro-mutant rally supporters. This occurrence may have helped turn Cooper against Jake later on.

https://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2011/08/05

This is the FIRST Endtown arc that I have followed from the beginning.

I began following Endtown in the middle of Unity. I have only anecdotal awareness of Flask, the so-called Milk Trials, and I have zero knowledge of Al and Gustine.

But the Pig Murders? I’ve been here from the beginning.

The problem is, I feel just as lost in this story as I did coming in the middle of the others.

What am I missing?

Out of the frying pan and into the mind extractor. Never a good turn of events.

Welp, I’m adding this moment to the pile

So! How do you like your brains? Fried, scrambled or sautéed?

It’s interesting I think to be spending so much time in the hellhole that Endtown has become, as more and more of its citizens seem to be getting dragged into the muck, because in most stories, you follow the protagonist, and only see as much of the hellhole as you need to in order to understand the hero’s quest.

Here, we’re stuck along with everyone else, watching the awful slowly unfold and wondering what comes next, if there’s any hope of a positive upswing, if there really are any good people left to help save the town from itself.

The main character of the story right now is Endtown itself, which is both excellent writing and challenging to read, since in order to pursue the vague hope of better times, we have to slog through the muck right along with the characters that we’re watching tear the city apart.

This is your brain.

This is your brain on drugs.

Any questions?

Don’t struggle, you’ll only damage your credit rating!