Endtown by Aaron Neathery for March 28, 2022

Nooooo! PLEASE! NOT WALLY!!!

…But yes, I hope “I” realizes that he’s started a war…

I..I..I..yi yi…

Ay ay, ay ay…cielto lindo los corazons.

That is not the conflagration that I (the reader) was hoping for. Son of a $#%& !! Also, #$%#& !

Kirby will be devastated!

I’m missing Duffy as he rises from face down in front of Marx, Alan & Terry watching as Wally burns down when we drop down to the last group of panels. Our artistic Storyteller never leaves out detail for no reason.

Ummm….oh dear. Poor Wally. I don’t have any words for this, other than if this is the way it has to be, then so be it….but it had better be a meaningful death.

I notice Marx is quoting Bugs Bunny.

If you can’t beat it from the outside….do it from the inside.

Cry havoc…

Ok. So a big blob of white “essence” was taken from “Wally” and consumed by The Bad Guy. Maybe just reclaiming a piece of itself and not destoying Wally’s spirit? After that, the empty “Wally” shell was burned up since no longer needed (and also more dramatic to cause despair in the survivors). Maybe real Wally is somewhere else—and was not consumed and replaced by the Thing? The Thing has no reason to show any mercy…but I can hope.

Well, Neathery continues showing off his artistic skills. That overhead image shows Marx, Alan, and Terrence casting faint shadows. We don’t see Duffy in that frame because the first frame establishes that he is well forward of the group.

Wally’s last words, back on Feb 16th: “But….those were dreams.”

“To die, to sleep—

To sleep—perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause.” – Shakespeare, Hamlet

Rest in Peace, Wally Walichinsky. I hope part of you survives, but it won’t be the same.

Didn’t see that coming.

Instead of going out in a blaze of glory, Wally’s consumed in an inglorious blaze after being used as a mouthpiece for Ted/I. For all his being wholly destructive and an utter terror, Ted/I is contemptible and mediocre at bottom. The being had been successful in wreaking destruction wherever he was, yet I kept on perceiving equal parts mediocrity as well as malevolence in Ted/I’s methods.

Wally!!!!! Nooooooooooo……

Is this the end for Wally? The degree of reality that events have in this particular setting is highly uncertain.

Here we see both Marx’s frequently displayed callousness and his love of pop culture references.

Oh Wally, not the end I ever envisioned for you. I noticed in the top panel I/Eye’s lower legs looked a lot like a cat’s hind legs, but in the last panel they looked distinctly humanoid again. What’s up with that?

Perhaps Wally is with Holly now and they both will return to the fight.

Well, Wally had a good run I suppose.

When Wally saw the damage the God/I was going to cause, he got angry. It BURNED HIM UP you might say.

So many possibilities. Wally has “ended” before (https://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2018/11/05). And Ravenscroft said all the Cardoodles would get together again alive. Of course, I defer to the author’s wonderful imagination and look forward to more of his epic storytelling!

Everything is better with some Bugs quote.

Goodbye Wally, goodbye Holly. It was interesting while it lasted. Wally is not universally loved by the other characters, but this seems to be asking for an armed response of cartoonish magnitude.

“ … this means war.” Groucho Marx (Duck Soup?) started it, Bugs Bunny borrowed it, and now we’re back to another Marx.

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed just changed.

I came in when Wally was the star. We’ve only been to Endtown once since that occurred, and that story was even more depressing (the cannibal story).

So, no, I’m in no hurry to return to Endtown.

I’m also disappointed that there will be no reunion between Wally and Kirby – just as there already was going to be no reunion between Wally and Holly.

Apparently, there are no happy endings for Endtown. I suppose the best we can hope for at the end will be a list of survivors. Here’s hoping there will be someone we recognize or remember among them.

As we saw in that last trip to Endtown, by the time we get a character that we can really identify with,

Neathery kills him off.

And I don’t think Wally is getting a fishing pole, like Walt did.

They may need to fight fire with fire. An I for an I.

The “this means war” quote may be from Duck Soup; but I think that the overall arc of Endtown really screams for another Bugs quote. From “What’s up Opera”……“this is opera, what did you expect….a happy ending?”.

Please forgive me but this has to be said: isn’t that a quote from Bugs Bunny?

Cool as a cucumber, smoking his see-gar!

And Marx is quoting Bugs Bunny!

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. If Wally’s a burner, the story’s a must!

Marx: “That was the last talking cat I had in my collection. And it was still in the original packaging.”

Marx lets Wally die, and people think I’m the badguy for wanting to punch him in the face for General Jerkiness and Flagrant Smugness. Yes, he’s facing off against an indescribable Eldritchian Horror that formed in the dark cracks between reality, but he’s still a Jerk. Plus, it’s what Wally did that one time when Marx let him fall out of an airship to impending death.

When we met Wally, he was out in the Wastelands, alone. From comments he’s made, he traveled all over, and was familiar with other outposts besides Endtown. If I remember right, a few strip characters along the way seemed surprised Wally survived so long on his own. He also is some kind of mystical character key-to all the dimensional kerfuffel. What if Wally was always infected(or some kind of psychic construct)? As we’ve followed him along, various disasters have followed Wally. Marx singled Wally out when they met, and gave Wally dittos to use. Eye/I entered Jim the Raccoon, which didn’t require dittos, but Wally was there, and the dittos acted without his knowledge. A lot of other destruction could have been caused by “whatever Wally is” using dittos. Things went bad for Ravenscroft in Eden, soon after he met Wally. When Wally passed out, it came out and attacked Kirbee and Chic. Wally was there for the toothbrush disaster. Now he was here, and his image tossed away. Did Marx intend for this to happen? another weird guess :-)

You know you have a fine story teller when the listeners become passionate about fictional characters in same! Thank you, Aaron!

I suppose it just ain’t an Endtown arc if a beloved character doesn’t die at the end! o.o

So, Is Wally really dead and gone? He was my fav of all of the characters and can’t imagine this going on without him. His introduction, scrabbling up those bricks to evade topsiders and their mutts was iconic.Losing Holly was hard and I miss many minor people too. What is Maude doing? And the koala? I do miss the town of Endtown, and the Dr., and some past plots.There are a few episodes I’m glad we don’t have to to go through again. I sure will miss Our favourite cat!I’ve been with this extensive tale from the beginning .

Classic Bugs Bunny line.

I don’t think Wally’s actually dead, he’s a Cardoodle, remember? They get blown up, burned up, squished by steamrollers, fall thousands of feet to the ground, electrocuted, float through the air smelling a fresh baked pie, etc.

It’s been a week since this was posted. I hope Mr. Neathery is OK.

“I’m the meanest, roughest, toughest hombre that’s ever crossed the Rio Grande – and I ain’t o namby-bamby!

Yosemite Sam!