“Sure, Venus! Since Mark is a nature photojournalist, he’d just love to support even more competition for jobs with Bill Ellis. I’m sure he’ll give you an amazing referral.”

But as a supposed wordsmith, Mark can sometimes be casual with his adjectives. Venus Verité may have come through to help Mark complete his article with her photos, but is that being a lifesaver? No doubt, he is using the term in its metaphorical sense. But it’s a poor pun, all the same.

I might be slow but I don’t know what Mark is talking about with “spreading the word” in panel 2. Does he mean spreading the word about their flash flood, or about flash floods in general? I reckon he doesn’t mean spreading the word about the Hog Hunting Heroines. The less said, the better?

As a side note I do try to resist being too thorough or detailed in my posts, though the length of my posts argues against that aspiration <sigh!>. That is, I want to leave things you can bring up, if you are inclined. So if you have reactions to any post of mine or see anything in a strip that is worth a word or two, feel free to post a comment! The more you comment, the less I’ll feel inclined to include in my posts. Is that a win-win? One warning: There might be a short delay in your comment getting posted, as we had an issue with trolling a while ago and I had to enable some screening features.

As more and more strangers mysteriously appear in the background (testifying to the fact that Tess Tigress and the Hog-Hunting Heroines were not the only foolish campers), Rivera wraps up another Mark Trail adventure. We must assume that emergency services will eventually show up and everybody will get back home. Practical issues such as finding or replacing personal belongings, equipment, and ruined SUVs are not the stuff of adventure stories, it seems. Well, this kind of “suddenly, the end!” is typical for Mark Trail stories:  Survive a landslide in Nepal one day, eat flapjacks with the family the next day.

What are we to take from this flood disaster story, other than Tess’s narcissism and Mark’s pragmatic defeatism? Well, we got a flash flood story that downplayed any actual serious effects. Nobody was seriously in danger. Nobody died. No crop fields were destroyed. No animals lost their lives. Whatever property was destroyed or lost is simply ignored. Was there a widespread disaster or was it just the campground? That “river” of floodwater behind the group certainly suggests something much, much bigger. But that’s a subject for a different comic strip, perhaps. In short, Jules Rivera did a bit of disservice by treating the flood as just fodder for Mark in yet another contest of wills with the opponent of the month.

But, it’s time to say “Adios, amigos!” to this group of forgettable characters as we are also left wondering what the point was for introducing Venus Verité into the story. Was it just so she could be the person with a working phone? Hard to support, since we saw Mark using a phone that didn’t look like the phone Venus had. Was it to add some uptown spice to a warming tray of country hicks? Or was Venus added to the story because Jules Rivera wanted to pay homage to a friend or idol of hers? Shucks, I don’t know. I’m just asking.

Give the man a break, Cherry! Mark is on assignment. The immediate danger is past and he is safe. You can just move on to your own next job. Speaking of which, I wonder whether Cherry is now a full-time employee of the Sunny Soleil Society or still just an independent contractor. She used to have her own landscaping and gardening business, as you may recall, but that seems to have dried up. That’s a shame, as it shuts down other story options.

Anyway, get off the phone, Mark! I’m sure other campers need to get in touch with their significant others, too! You can see them standing around you, Mark, waiting for you to hang up. And given that there isn’t a source of electricity out there, that battery is likely already low.

Oh, By The Way. No doubt, you have noticed something a bit unusual in panel 4. There seems to be another flood survivor! Is this just an absent-minded flub by Jules Rivera or is she introducing another character into the story at this late date?

Appearing to contradict himself, Mark downplays the seriousness of the situation and the plight of his fellow campers, all while modestly praising his rescue of Tess Tigress: “<Sigh!> It was just another heroic rescue. Nothing unusual.” Mark’s account seems to have gotten altered just a bit in the retelling, based on panel 2. “It was a one-handed rescue while I knelt on the shoreline. Easy peasy.” To be fair, don’t we all downplay serious activity to “spare” our friends and loved ones a lot of worry?

(Wait:  Am I saying that Rivera is offering a pertinent critique on (or parody of) the Human Condition that desires to be recognized and appreciated for a personal action, above and beyond, while simultaneously pretending it was a trivial thing that anybody would do? Hmm … that might be too deep for the readers. Better cue the sitcom laugh track for panel 4.)

BTW, where did Mark get that phone? Up until yesterday, only Venue Verité had a phone, and it’s red.

There is a lot to unpack here, which is more than we can say for Mark and his group, since the flood seems to have washed away all of their packs, camping gear, hunting equipment, and transportation.  As usual, in times of crisis, everybody asks, WWMD? The ever-optimistic Mark always knows what to do … well, Venus Verité does, in this case. Mark’s big idea is to conquer wet clothing, rather than hunt for lost baggage or vehicles—if they are still present—to see if they will start or have emergency kits. But Mark is certain help will get there soon, as if Emergency Services would give top priority to a group of hunters foolish enough to go camping in the path of a predicted flash flood.

Art Dept. I know what some (or most) of you are thinking: Was Rivera on something when she drew this? Take Panel 1 (please!). Cartoony characters stand around gaping at a landscape that might have come from an LSD trip or a German Expressionist painter. Arms flex in unusual ways. Panels look as if they are in a post-nuclear war wasteland, bereft of flora, fauna, and natural landmarks. But, perhaps the drawings are meant to symbolize the group’s feelings of isolation, despair, and loss. If not the group’s, then ours?

As Jess and Tess cuddle in the background in panel 1, it is comforting to see that Jules Rivera injected some moments of reality in today’s installment. The gang realizes that the flood has taken virtually everything. But once again, Venus Verité was the only one prepared. She came out of her tent already dressed and thought to bring her phone. I would have thought—given the impending disaster that Mark had been going on about—that Mark would have had an emergency “Go!” bag in his tent, at the ready. Why he didn’t or wasn’t better prepared is something yet to be explained.

But for the love of Mike, why does Rivera constantly make Mark seem like a reincarnation of Gomer Pyle? He often acts like a hick or gets befuddled by the modern world, as if he had gone to sleep in 1959 and just woken up. Well, he did just wake up, right? Perhaps a better question for Mark in panel 3 would be “That’s just what I need, Venus! Where did you get it?” To be fair, Venus could simply have said “Oh, I have a working phone right here!” instead of acting all “East Coast Elite.” But I reckon that is how she is supposed to be. In short, the hunters are all hicks, but Venus Verité is urban and urbane.

Art Dept. I wonder when Mark became a middle-aged couch potato (panel 2)? Yuck! I think Rivera should have expanded that “Me too!” dialog balloon (which should have included a comma) to cover Mark’s flabby torso. If we’re going to admit that Mark’s union suit is all soggy and baggy, how come Venus looks like she got off the plane? Oh, right: Urban and urbane.

So perhaps we must assume that Mark was trying to think on the run: “Tess is caught in the flood! Quick, pick up that branch. Let’s see…Tell Jess to take this branch of mine to he hold out for me after I collect Tess. No, wait. Too complicated. I’ll jump in with the branch, grab Tess, and have her hold on to it as I swim against the current and drag her out to safety.” Or something like that.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tess also blamed Mark for the lost and/or ruined equipment, cars, guns, and hog carcasses, and try to sue him for damages. Heck, maybe the trauma will restore her lost memory, as well. This might be a good time for Mark to make an exit, stage right!

“You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of images and text, but of uncertainties. A journey into a changing land whose boundaries are the stuff dreams are made of. That’s the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Trailverse!” (The spirits of Rod Serling and Raymond Chandler will get me for this mashup.)

Okay, speaking of craziness, I’ll award a gold star to anybody who can explain how “everyone else made it to safety” if everybody else simply came back down the hill to the flood in order to see Tess swept away. Of course, Mark has to rescue her, so there he is in panel 1, walking like an Egyptian. But Tess is floating on top of the water, not in it. Perhaps she happened to land on a branch that is propping her up.

It’s a crazy Twilight Zone world. Mark has conveniently found a branch. Fine, we can go with that. Mark tells Jess to grab the branch while he goes after Tess. Again, the concept is sound. So why is Mark still holding onto the branch in panel 3?  And if he is “bounding toward the water to save Tess”, why he is running in a different direction from where Tess is?

The laws of time and space work differently in the Trailverse, perhaps something like a Moebius strip. I hope Venus is getting some good shots for her “Hog Hunting Heroines Horrific Hunt” article. But if Mark spots a giant boat float by with a bunch of animals looking out the side, he’s about to have bigger problems!

Art Dept. No, I don’t know why Mark is looking up in panel 2.

In terms of plot, today’s sequence makes logical sense:  For one thing, it appears to be in the correct order, compared to yesterday! There is a flood, people are trapped and trying to escape. Somebody falls into danger. All very standard “disaster movie” fare. No matter how much they walk, they either are not getting far, or that flood is really moving and rising quickly. And from what we know of flash floods, especially in open, dry spaces such as canyons and arroyos, that is a reality.

At the same time, some details undermine the action. For example, panel 3 shows the flood threatening to engulf Tess Tigress, which takes place in panel 4. But the last panel also shows one of the tents, suggesting they have not really made any progress moving up!

Next, the textbox in panel 2 states they are moving “through the surging currents.” I’m confused, but I was under the impression that they were moving away from the surging currents.

Art Dept. That squirrel has got to go! It totally ruins the scene. Although the other layouts are fine, the artwork is really, really sketchy; so much so that in panel 4, the barely-visible head of Venus Verité looks like a painted ball! We’ve been following Jules Rivera’s work long enough to think that she is deliberately drawing expressively, rather than naturalistically. I’m suggesting Rivera’s art—often simplistic, sketchy, even crude—may not be this way from a lack of talent or from lack of trying (even though I’ve suggested that from time to time).

Think of a standard song such as Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walking”, sung in a normal pop fashion with easy-to-understand lyrics. Now go listen to the same song interpreted by the band, Megadeath. It’s a completely different vibe. Unless you understood the lyrics, you might not recognize it at all. Clearly, Megadeath’s aim is something other than a straightforward cover of a 1966 pop song. I think that’s what I’m getting at. Okay, so this goofy idea popped into my head. And I could be totally wrong.

I’m not sure Mark’s logic in panel 1 is accurate. Whole chains of people certain can get washed away, depending on the circumstances. But it’s a good group psychological trick to minimize panic. And it is a shame that Jules Rivera again undercuts the drama and value of Mark’s advice by indulging in buffoonery in panels 2 and 3. A flash flood is a dangerous situation, a guaranteed bit of drama and suspense, made to order. So why piss on it?

This confusion is further exacerbated by a contradiction between the dialog and the imagery in the panels. That is, the dialog follows a chronological sequence, but the images definitely do not. Let me demonstrate (ignore the dialog for the moment):

Panel 1: Everybody climbs the hill as their campsite is flooded and washed away.
Panels 2 and 3: Jess and Venus stand around, not linked arm-in-arm or climbing, while they joke.
Panel 4: The entire crew stands around their campsite at the bottom of the hill.

Now, consider the dialog once again. Logic indicates a more accurate sequence of panels should be P4>P2>P3>P1. We’d have to change the message box in panel 4 to something more applicable: “The group agrees to bug out!”  Like so:

I think the revised sequence builds drama with Mark’s warning coming at the end.

Okay, I’m not sure if Tess is levitating a blanket or if the blanket is glued to her back and hands. It’s impressive. For a moment, I thought that shape was the big square tent we saw yesterday, just poorly framed behind “In-Denial” Tess. But there is only sky behind her, and no ground line. You decide!

It’s possible that this crisis could break up the Hog-Hunting Heroines, as Shania and Reba are losing their faith in Tess. And sure, they realized too late that they should have secured the hog carcasses. Tess or Jess should have been aware. I mean, any hunter in the Real World would know not to leave the kill on the ground so predators can snatch or feed on them. This group is just not ready for prime time.

But where the heck is Venus Verité? Is she even awake? Maybe she is half-way up the mountain, taking photos of the disaster.

Art Dept. Before revising this section, I went into detail on problems in panel 3 with regard to Mark’s figure. I think you can all see the problems here. Not sure if it is a technical or a technique issue. But I think it could have worked better with a look-down point of view. This would also have required a two-panel spread to make it work, especially to show the oncoming flood waters Mark is indicating. But that would mean ditching the nice headshot in panel 4. By the way, did the rain wash away Mark’s nose?

ADDENDUM: What a surprise when I opened my newspaper this morning to find that the comics pages are now in full color! And this is the second day of color, but we only discovered it today. My wife was “gobsmacked.” Let me explain: Our newspaper company closed its in-state printer and went with an out-of-state printer for all of its publishing. Maybe that facility has more up-to-date printing services, though I’m pretty sure our newspaper moved away from linotypes and flatbed machines some time ago. Does your newspaper print hardcopy comics pages in color?

I’m going to start off with the most obvious question you all must have: “Does Jess sleep with his hat on?”  … Hmm … Okay, maybe that’s not the most obvious question. I’ll rub my big toe and look at a photo of Ringo Starr as I try again to perceive your primary concern:

“What in #(@! is that duck doing in panel 4!?”  Well, it ain’t flying! And it doesn’t fit the perspective of the scene in any way. So is it even floating!? The duck doesn’t even seem to recognize it’s raining. In short, I’ve got no good answer. Nothing from history, contemporary culture, or song lyrics comes to mind. Wait, there is something: I’m reminded of Colorforms, a toy first popular in the late 1950s and still around today. Vinyl shapes (e.g. people and objects) are placed and stick onto shiny surfaces with printed scenes. Most of you probably played with them. Some of you may still do that! But the point is, you can literally stick the characters onto the scenes with little or no regard to perspective, location, or common sense.

Well, that’s it. It’s the only thing that comes to mind. I don’t know what was in Rivera’s mind, though.

Next, who is Mark yelling at in panel 1? All the tents and people are behind him! Panic can make you do silly things. And what high ground is Mark referring to? Based on what Mark said earlier (December 19^th), they are already camping on high ground! The only higher ground we can see is the big mountain behind them in panel 4. Like the low-volume rain, we have to remember that this is supposed to be drama, not a documentary. So I am probably wrong for trying to make sense of things that are irrelevant.