Aaron Neathery of Austin, Texas, has created a wry and brilliant webcomic, Endtown, about what happens after the apocalypse. This is not your standard Mad Max scenario: the ‘good guys’ live in an underground suburb called Endtown, where they live on whatever canned food (mostly beans) they can scrounge from the shattered cities on the surface. Mutagens in the atmosphere have turned the majority of them into animals, making Endtown a fun mashup of Looney Tunes and Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.  Neathery riffs on such cartoonists as Chuck Jones and Walt Disney, populating his underworld with bureaucratic rats, drunken bears, and a corrupt mad scientist, Professor Mallard, who, if it were not for his foul mouth, would not be out of place on Duck Tales. Al, the main character, is human, but his wife, Gustine, has become a rhino – and, as Al discovers, sometimes it’s useful being married to a one-ton animal with the ability to smash through doors.

(Click to enlarge:)

The plot starts taking off when Gustine consults an oracle and discovers a way she can become human again, and she and Al travel to the Topside to find it. There, they run into mutant monsters, purification squads, and a host of even stranger threats. Almost every strip ends with a twist, keeping the suspense high.  Neathery’s signature wit underlies it all, keeping things from getting too dark or too portentous.

A talented artist with a confident line and a fine command of perspective, Neathery makes Endtown a treat for the eyes. Just check out this beautiful landscape and the crosshatching on these rhinos:

Fun, fast-paced, original, and tongue-in-cheek without ever getting pretentious, Endtown is one of the better webcomics out there. Be sure to check it out.

(Plus, there’s the occasional Star  Trek joke):