Endtown by Aaron Neathery for February 23, 2021

Sounds like the “mutants” accelerated healing follows toon logic.

Could that explain why when the dead were interred in Endtown, they covered the graves with cement so that the comic book word counterparts couldn’t return to Endtown? Could they return in alternate realities as themselves or as the cartoon characters they mutated into?

Dun Dun Dun!…

“My brother hit me on the head with a frying pan to see if it changed shape.” “What happened?” “The frying pan stayed the same.” “What about your head?” “I don’t remember.” -“NewsRadio.”

Hmmm, I guess Allie was not a double. Holly definitely survived several incidents even before she got to Endtown. Alas, Walt was not a double either. Chic must be a double, as his surviving Unity was nigh on miraculous.

OK. smart guy, now explain the toothbrush transformation world!

All of this seems to indicate they have surveillance of Eden. And I’m thinking that fan in Wally’s bedroom was part of it. (It always reminded me of the gadgets in No 6’s apartment in “The Prisoner”)

Did they not notice what happened to Ravenscroft? And the attack in Wally’s apartment?

We got lots of questions, dude!

Nearer the beginning, I would never have thought that this concept would be a big player in the universe of Endtown’s mechanics and story.

They used his name this time!

Well. By gosh and by golly if that explanation didn’t just make everything clear as mud…

So Wally’s survival before, during, and after Unity, is all part of him being the “star character” in the comic? What about Holly, then?

What about Kirby, for that matter?

Most of all, how are these Topsiders knowledgeable about all of this when, thus far, all Topsiders have been “kill the mutants, kill the mutants”!

All becoming clearer, now we’ve reached mud.

O.T.: Aaron, i hope you’re keeping safe & warm through your arctic weather!!

“And we know that Trixie/Holly Hollister is KEY! She’s on a MUG!!!”

So…seems obvious that Marx left the comic book sabotage in Topsiderville at the biscuit plant…but why? Marx seems on the edge(?) of omniscient/omnipotent..& wouldn’t need the help of a group of homicidal maniacs to “save” whatever the Hell “humanity” is.

“Biscuit/biosuit”, gotta love auto correct + inattention before pressing “Comment”

This is clear as a mud puddle!

Not sure why I keyed in on the word “capture” … but I did.

“Capture.” Wally can’t be that valuable as a collectible – he’s not in his original packaging.

Glad to see you back, Aaron!

And this saves you Topsiders how?? You’re not in the comic.

Ah, so Wally is the star, not Holly..

Maybe I haven’t had enough coffee yet this morning, but I’m confused by the Topsider’s rambling dialogue. Still no clear explanation (yet) of how or why Wally & Co are indicative of the “future of humanity”.

So many happy years of reading Endtown and hopefully many more to come and I can’t say I understand any of it! That’s OK, real life is only too understandable.

But what does it mean for the future of Wally?

If I was Tuffy I would be reaching for that shiv with the “capture” statement…

Well i guess that explains why the dittos are so attracted to him.

This implies Wally was one his world’s stars already and had adventures before merging with Cracky, maybe while working for Apex and in opposition to them.

Well, I guess this explains how characters killed off in soap operas resurface months or years later…maybe not as “miraculous” as they first appeared.

Ummm, does the topsider reallize Wally Wallechinsky is standing right in front of him??

Do the Topsiders know about Wally’s dittos? I haven’t heard them mentioned that I can recall. Could be a game changer.

“Wacky, whimsical situations” Imagine the horror of living that way if it’s also joined by background music, goofy sound effects (what is that percussive quick running sound?); and worst of all…a laugh track.

I remember WAY back when he was first introduced he was basically Macgyver kitty

Marx is not omnipotent, but he can jump realities and do things that can influence events ( start construction of Endtown, rig a rifle so it explodes). Marx has been watching and talking to Wally in dreams for some time. Is Marx training Wally for some purpose? Going from the past, I’d guess that Marx has big plans for Wally. However annoying or supernatural as Marx is, he seems to want to preserve humanity in some form.

This… development… actually gives Mr. Neathery a lot of options going forward. Almost any plot twist — however unlikely — can now be explained by this. Unfortunately, it brings us dangerously close to trope territory.

Wally in particular has just been openly acknowledged as a “weirdness magnet” (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WeirdnessMagnet) and we’ve already seen “contrived coincidence” rear its head (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ContrivedCoincidence).

Also starting to see a resemblance to “Jigsaw Puzzle Plot” here (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JigsawPuzzlePlot), which brings the risk of turning into a “Kudzu Plot” if there are too many contrived coincidences (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KudzuPlot).

Hoping Aaron is able to pull this off, and avoid the pitfalls of Arc Fatigue or (worse) the Chris Carter effect. The good news is, I don’t think most of us want the story to end.