The answer to Yesterday’s Question:  Well, I’m sure you all must have seen it! It’s a small detail, but a recurring, if not consistent, feature in Mark Trail panels prior to the takeover by Jules Rivera! In fact, it was the butt of recurring jokes, as well for Trailheads! And it was something that Rivera seems to have deliberately avoided doing in her strip and still avoids it in most cases! Mark the Contrarian Commenter was close: The answer is related to the dialog! Got it, yet? It’s the exclamation point at the end of every bit of dialog! If you go back in pre-Rivera strips, you’ll see that practically all dialog that was not a question ends with an exclamation point. Perhaps it became a running joke for Allen, as well. I don’t know. But in yesterday’s panels, all of the dialog ends in exclamation points. Of course, in this case, the dialog was based on surviving a crisis, whereas in the old Mark Trail strips, that was not often the case. Okay, that’s all. On to today’s installment.

The element of time is often fluid or, at least, ambiguous in comic strips. How long were Mark and Cricket Bro floating in the water, alongside the shore, until the rescue boat conveniently showed up? Seems that the boys had time and opportunity enough to go the extra ten feet to get out of the water. But, the story requires some kind of closure, right? Part of that closure is the required reunion of most of the central characters. On the other hand, we also have the apparent fadeout once again of Diana Daggers. She seems to always get the short end of the stick. Maybe this is a new inside gag that Rivera is pushing.

Perhaps Rivera has been doing a long-term piling on of marginalization and lack of respect in Diana Daggers until she ultimately can’t take it any longer and becomes a new version of Chris “Dirty” Dyer. Or, maybe it’s just my imagination, running away from me. But this strip needs an actually dangerous opponent, rather than just the standard bench of goofballs!

That is to say, it’s a good thing that Mark has some swimming cred and can adapt his technique on a needs basis. This really isn’t that long of a distance. On the other hand, with all of that wet clothing weighing them down, perhaps a sidestroke is the proper energy-saving technique. As for Cricket Bro, his only technique seems to be bobbing up and down and making wild claims he probably won’t remember or make good on.

As for his remark, “If we get out of this, I’m gonna give you a million dollars”, I’d hope Mark holds him to that pledge; but I think he’s too much of a sap goody-goody boy scout to do so. How about just telling him, “Keep the money. How about just staying out of my life, like forever, Cricket Bro!?“

Question: How does today’s strip resemble the pre-Rivera period?

Well, we see there are no nasty surprises under the water coming after the guys. So far. Panel 2 is curious: Did somebody dig out this cave and create an archway? Not that it measures up to the professional standards of ancient Roman engineers, but natural openings don’t tend to have articulated archways. And even though the cave has a Spanish name and conquistadores were known to be in this general area (assuming we are somewhere in or around Georgia), I don’t think they stayed long enough to undertake any construction.

It’s quite the underground river, even if it ends pretty quickly. Given that we are reaching the end of the week, I reckon that Mark’s melodrama may soon conclude. However, if the underground river terminates as a waterfall or something like that, I’m gonna be annoyed, since Mark doesn’t seem to be aware of that fact. And that’s pretty darned strange, since this is in his own “back yard”!

Art Dept. Compared to earlier in the week, today’s installment is more confidently and successfully composed and drawn. Well, I’m afraid the images of Cricket Bro still look like they were scribbled in as an afterthought. But the layouts flow with a good sequence of action-oriented views.

First off, D.D. Degg at The Daily Cartoonist caught a great subject-matter duplication in both the 9/13/26 Mark Trail Sunday strip and the 9/14/26 Ripley’s Believe it or Not panel. Both strips feature raccoons, but specifically, Jimothy, the short-spine celebrity raccoon. You can view Degg’s article here. Scroll down the page to see the topic. Interestingly, Ripley’s is published by a different syndicate. However, the real coincidence is the closeness of their publication dates, in spite of the fact that Rivera’s Sunday panel was likely drawn a few months earlier. Okay, moving on to today’s Mark Trail:

At last. At long last, we have some drama and danger. I’ve been hoping to see something in this otherwise superficial skit! And I’ll admit that—taking Jules Rivera’s drawing style into consideration—panel 1 presents a real sense of danger as these two figures disappear into the darkness below. And it is a plausible event, given the already-demonstrated instability of the cave floor.

Now, moving on to the other two panels, the situation gets murkier, and lighter. First of all, the dramatic darkness Rivera exposed Mark and Cricket Bro to was dispensed with in the other two panels. Perhaps Rivera didn’t realize what she had going in panel 1 and just returned to the “eternal daylight” she prefers. Or she didn’t care. But this daylight lessens the dramatic continuity. I think we all had similar reactions to James Allen’s cave adventures. Anyway, it’s a shame, since darkness has been one of humanity’s longest and most frightening environments, especially in strange places. In any event, the drama and danger of darkness is replaced by another dramatic element: the “surging underground river.”

Okay, so sure, an underground river is believable. Falling into a river, in general, presents the well-known danger of being swept away and drowning. But Rivera could have had both darkness and the river. In a related point, why did the surging flood waters from above stop (panel 2)? Did all of the cave water pour into the underground river at once? Or was it just a design decision by Rivera? It looks like she still has cave waters flooding around the opening, instead of falling into the hole (panel 2). Call me picky, but I don’t think that’s how flowing water works in reality.

An underground river can certainly be a problem, depending on the current and depth of the river. My patented, superficial research methodology shows that underground rivers tend to be between 3 and 10 feet. So, they can be a real danger to life, especially if you cannot swim or if you are encumbered by heavy clothing and equipment (or you are also in a dark environment!).

When Rivera first took over this strip in late 2020, she commented about her love of the classic three panel joke-a-day format and how she wanted to use that whenever possible. Well, she’s certainly made good on that aspiration over the years, and today is no exception. Marks fulfills the 3-panel punchline format by delivering his sarcastic retort to a scared-witless Cricket Bro.

Is this the new style of Heroic Rescue, where the hero goes in front, then tells the rescue victim to grab the rope behind him!? Normally, a classic hero would stay behind and ensure the rescue victim is first holding on to the rope and/or safely tied to it. Then the hero pulls them out! I must be behind the times.

Still, it is surprising that Cricket Bro can find it in him to let go of that column long enough—even when engulfed in a current of water threatening to wash him away—that he can throw out some self-deprecating humor! I didn’t know he had it in him, truth be told.

However, Cricket Bro must be ignorant of anatomy or too scared to think straight. Now, I’m no anatomist, myself, but I know that pecs (pectoral muscles) are chest muscles, not upper arm muscles (biceps). So let’s hope he didn’t get pectoral muscles grafted to his arms! BTW, there are such things as pectoral and bicep implants. They can be very useful after suffering physical damage, but they are sometimes done for cosmetic reasons! You have to be pretty vain to put yourself through that much pain and expense.

Art Dept. Don’t ask me to explain the crawfish in panel 1. I’m not sure how it can swim sideways, much less swim on top of the water. This kind of symbolic imagery is something we would see in early symbolic art, as found in the tombs of ancient Egypt. If Jules Rivera wanted to show some sea life swimming by in a somewhat realistic manner, an eel or catfish would have been a better choice.

Well, looks like we found out where those other two rescuers disappeared to:  As suspected, they are outside, manning the rescue rope. Good on them. Meanwhile the chronological overlaps continue today. Mark still has his chisel out and is not pulling himself out by the rope. Cricket Bro is standing to the left of Mark in panel 1 even though he was hugging a cave column in Saturday’s strip. But he returned to the column in panel 3. Also in panel 1, Mark reacts as if this is the first moment he realizes that there is a flood. It’s like viewing a distorted causality loop of overlapping, repeated actions. It’s like viewing a distorted causality loop of … Oops! Sorry for that. Lucky I caught it in time.

Well, this could be explained as a “Monday recap” of the past week, except that we’ve seen several time overlaps, already. Anyway, the flood is overly dramatic and overly expansive, with what appears to be a strong mysterious current pushing it along. Sure would like to know where all of that velocity got generated. This cave is not exactly slanting down at an exaggerated angle; nor is it a vertical shaft. However, it would have been a more dramatic and realistic situation if the people were, in fact, trapped in a vertical shaft with rising water. Rivera Jules would not have had to create a dodgy tidal current. Instead, the naturally moving water would simply spill over and fill the shaft from which these people were trying to escape. Now, that would be really dramatic and create a realistic timeline to escape before they all drowned.

But it didn’t happen that way, and we are left with this situation. It also makes me think (and that hurts my head at times):  Mark Trail’s cabin sits in something of a valley, right by a river or lake (not sure which). I wonder if Cherry and Rusty are grabbing kitchen bowls to bail out the cabin?

The outside view in Friday’s strip certainly didn’t look like the kind of rainfall that would produce today’s flash flood. But I suppose the geography of the immediate area could be something like a western arroyo that quickly accumulates and focuses water, sending it along its path like a runaway train. Anybody remember that pre-Rivera story involving Mark and Doc Davis that featured a near drowning in an arroyo from a flash flood?

This would have been the perfect time for Range Shaw’s rescue team to be on hand to help, but they seem to have disappeared. It begs the question of why they were depicted in the first place if they could not be around for their moment of glory. Did Jules Rivera forget about them or did she suddenly decide they were an unnecessary detail? Perhaps they are the mysterious force holding the recue lines that simply disappear out of the mouth of the cave. In any case, the pathetic Cricket Bro seems to have bungled his own rescue and now barely hangs on to what is apparently a stalagmite or cave column. What will happen next? It is certainly a mystery, though I’m pretty sure what the opinion would be for the majority of readers.

Art Dept. Even artists have good days and bad days. When I look at yesterday’s and today’s panels and compare them to the panels earlier this week, I wonder if this is the same person doing the drawing. Say what you will about Rivera, she usually has a basic understanding of human anatomy. I can’t—I won’t—claim that for the person who drew today’s panels. And it’s also a shame, as the two-panel spread provided enough room to build a dramatic scene of danger and resistance. But while panel 2 certainly suggests drama and danger, the visual execution undermines it.

I reckon that Jules Rivera has decided that Diana Daggers’ role in this story is to be the Group Nag. However, it would be nice if Diana conjugated her verbs more accurately: “The rains are coming!” Coming!? Maybe it’s the dark shades she constantly wears.

However, it has come to pass that rain is, indeed, falling, and water is moving into the cave; where it can now flow. But chronological issues still complicate the storyline.

Yesterday, the rescuers supposedly freed Cricket Bro, just in time! But today, Mark is still hammering and chiseling away as Cricket Bro still looks to be trapped! On the other hand, it appears that the rest of the crowd decided that exiting the cave is the better part of survival, as they are not to be seen.

Maybe “I told you so!” (panel 4) is the moral of this story, a consequence of disregarding warnings and expertise in favor of self-adulation and greed. In that sense, this story is like the old medieval morality plays in Europe that popped up around town to instruct and warn people.

But when I did start to play, they ran for the exits! And that’s another reason why I’m writing this blog instead of making albums and going on tour. It’s a big change, of course. But that’s the story of my life: drastic changes of direction instead of a well-planned continuity of purpose.

Thus we arrive at a definition of Continuity (excerpted from the online Collins Dictionary)

• A continuous flow, series, or succession; unbroken, coherent whole
• The practice of creating and maintaining a smooth and continuous plan or record of the physical details of a film, TV program, etc.
• The script or story of a comic strip

Based on these definitions, Mark Trail’s current story merits a basic “C”. Sure, the bare bones of the story remain intact. But details wander or get mangled. Yesterday, Mark was trying to push tools into Cricket Bro’s hands to extricate himself. Today, it is Mark that is doing the work. And who knows where Ranger Shaw schlepped off to? Looks like Jules Rivera found something for Diane Daggers to do:  She is now the team’s meteorologist!

On the other hand, I’m afraid that panel 3 reduces the story’s intrinsic value to a solid, if embarrassing D. It’s one thing to create a pun based on actual conditions or a situation in the current strip. But producing a bear ex machina, simply to fashion a terrible pun is lazy and might incur some kind of Comic Strip Code of PUNishment. Also, I can’t say much for the bear’s depiction. I really first thought it was some kind of woodchuck!

If these strips were not produced weeks in advance, I’d almost swear Jules Rivera read my post yesterday and decided she had to give Diana Daggers a bit more panel time. Or, you can call me prescient.

How can anybody look at the obsequiousness of Mark “Spiderman” Trail on his knees, practically begging Cricket Bro to cut himself out of the hole, and not be embarrassed!? Remember, it wasn’t long ago that Mark was adamant that Cricket Bro not try to extricate himself because of the instability of the limestone base! Hoo boy, I can’t fault Cricket Bro’s ranting at this point. Is Rivera implying that all “experts” are frauds and fools? Or just Mark?

The logical flaws in this sequence are more fragile than the cave floor. Where are the restraints to hold Cricket Bro from falling through? Why isn’t Mark doing the work, now that he has the tools? Why did Ranger Shaw stop working? Where are the other helpers who came with Ranger Shaw?

Well, finally, Diana Daggers shows up (once again) to exclaim “I told you so!” This is a wasted use of the character, which seems to almost always be the case. Daggers may as well go find work in another adventure strip that appreciates her potential. On the other hand, since her role has mostly been limited to being “assistant of X”, why not milk it for all it’s worth and make Diana an employee of Bill Ellis’ corporation, where she works alongside Mark on his assignments? Kind of like the 1960s The Avengers. She could be the “muscle” and data research specialist of the team.

So much for continuity with yesterday’s strip. We’re not going to really discover what Ranger Shaw (in disguise as a “professional” cave rescue team member) meant yesterday when he berated Mark with his “No, not like that!” admonition. Perhaps Jules Rivera felt inspired by a comedy bit she heard and was so taken by it that she couldn’t help from inserting today’s joke strip into the storyline. Or maybe she just needed to pad out the week.

The somewhat hard edge Rivera initially gave to this adventure strip when she took over some six years ago morphed into the parodic dramedy format that it currently still presents. It is a waste of time to ponder such dialog as Mark asking Jadsen to help, while getting a hammer and chisel, apparently for Cricket Bro to help cut himself free. But I still wasted time typing that statement. I mean, if a hammer and chisel is needed, why isn’t Mark going to do it? He’s supposed to be qualified, right?! And what about Ranger Shaw’s two assistants? They are less helpful than Jadsen, who at least has been recording this sorry affair.

And still, I ask: Where the hell did Diana Daggers go?

There seem to be some people missing in action; Diana Daggers being one. We can see Jadsen in the background in panel 1 recording video, along with the purple people who are supposedly there to help Range Shaw rescue Cricket Bro. Behind Jadsen and the purple people appears to be a lake; something that has not been depicted in this location previously. Perhaps the angle was wrong or something.

Why is Ranger Shaw taking such a long time to carve out the rock around the stuck Cricket Bro? Limestone is not a hard rock to cut. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the limestone is in multiple layers and liable to fracture and make things worse. On the other hand, I’ll repeat that a block and tackle or plain everyday rescue rope could have been used to pull Cricket Bro out, towards the entrance. I’m also surprised that Jules Rivera didn’t have Ranger Shaw and his helpers putting ropes around Cricket Bro to ensure that he doesn’t accidentally fall through if the floor opens up on him. I’m even surprised Mark didn’t come up with that idea.

For some reason, Ranger Shaw is hot to contradict Mark (panel 3), or maybe just stop his line of discussion for some reason that I expect we’ll learn about tomorrow. Mark may as well go home, since the cave rescue team is on the job and his weight only adds to the danger of another floor collapse. At the very least, he and Jadsen should be told to move up to the entrance, along with the others.