Mark must really be bored. However, he did just reveal the reason for his suspicions: The blue diamond shrimp can be invasive if they are released into non-native water environments. As a member of the species Neocaridina davidi, the shrimp are native to parts of South East Asia, around Taiwan, and off the coast of China. However, selling and owning these shrimp (they are bred in a variety of colors) is totally legal.

So there is no conspiracy going on and no attempt to violate international laws. Mark is just overreacting. I suspect he’ll wind up making an appearance at Rusty’s school where he’ll lecture (and bore) the students on the dangers of releasing pets into the wild. Shucks, anybody who lives near Florida probably already knows about that stuff! <Yawn!> Even for Jules Rivera, this is pretty light fare for a Mark Trail story. But the plot could go another way and make it a bit more interesting:

This is the kind of investigation that Rusty could undertake on his own and then present to class. It’s too minor a problem for Mark to bother with. He should just point Rusty in the right direction and then get out of the way. Rusty would be the protagonist of the story, not just a plot-device for Mark.

Rusty’s involvement would also help rebuild some of his lost confidence; to say nothing of putting Robbie on the defensive. Okay, that last part is not necessarily a virtue, but these are kids, after all. And Rusty can use a victory!

Mark thinks an investigation is needed because Robbie owns some blue shrimp!? Jules Rivera—and by extension, Mark Trail,—seems ignorant of the fact that blue shrimp can legally be purchased by anybody, throughout the United States. Case closed, Mark.

So when the heck is Mark going to get off his lazy butt and get an actual paying assignment?

Art Dept. Do I need to point out (in panel 1) that Rivera also seems ignorant of—or indifferent to—basic perspective, since logs on either side of a doorway cannot be simultaneously seen at an angle? That is, we should only be able to see the ends of the logs on one side, only. Else, we’d have to assume the wall curves away from the door on both sides. That might be the case for a house ready to collapse in on itself.

When Rusty Trail was (re)introduced by Rivera, he was portrayed as a relatively normal kid with the usual stereotypical glitches, such as shyness (around girls, anyway), a penchant for fantasy, and trying to not adopt all of his dad’s habits and hobbies (such as fishing). Rusty has lately taken on additional personality traits, such as unusual stubbornness and whining. The latter has been his go-to reaction, lately, especially when it involves Robbie Shaw.

Exactly how Robbie “beat” Rusty in show-and-tell has not yet been revealed, though Jules Rivera may give us a flashback this week. Of course, we might blame Rusty for his own downfall, based simply on his understanding of what show-and-tell is for, and for his apparent lack of preparation. We’ll have to see some evidence. After all, turquoise really is just a blue stone, so presentation is important! However, I’m also surprised that Mark “Mr. Wildlife” Trail did not seem to know about blue shrimp!

Art Dept. Panel 1 does not work as well as it should, visually speaking. Rivera has used the circular headshots quite often when showing people speaking from within a structure. This technique is often used to provide the current context for the conversation (such as inside of an airplane), where Rivera can mash two panel spaces together to create a more scenic composition. There is a lot of visual competition going on that gets in the way.

First of all, the composition has too much clutter, including the pileated woodpecker that eats up so much space! What is more important here:  The bird or the conversation? Second, the circular headshots would normally be linked into the cabin by “tails” running from the circles to the cabin, just like the dialog balloons. That insures we know where the speakers are. Third, Mark’s dialog balloon could have been more efficiently designed to display his words on only three rows instead of four. This could have resulted in more open space for the scene. Fourth: In this case, the scene could have been better composed by omitting the encircled heads and just tagging the cabin with the dialog balloon. This would more clearly put us, the readers, in the foreground with the woodpecker, while Mark and Rusty’s conversation goes on in the background. It would be like a common cinematic technique of hearing a conversation before seeing the speakers, as the camera zooms in from the distance and ultimately reveals and focuses on the actors.

It’s a new week in the Trailverse and time for new adventures! I know what you’re thinking: How on earth will Jules Rivera top the action and suspense of Cherry’s Bats in the Belfry story or Mark’s Caving with the Kooks adventure? I don’t know about you, but I’m glad we had last week to recover, so I’m ready for the next blockbuster drama! Watch out, Flash Gordon!

Apparently, Rivera has adopted a common “misdirection” approach to suspense, presenting a seemingly mundane activity, one undertaken by the Trails and other families during the school year, just to present a false sense of calm before the storm.

Yet, even now, we see some hint of suspense beginning to take root: Rusty has a stone of turquoise, something I’m sure that few people outside of Nevada have ever seen, much less heard of. No doubt, it’s a magical stone once used in secret ceremonies by an ancient indigenous people, now gone extinct. I’m thinking that a student in class (perhaps Robbie) will accidentally rub the stone in a way that causes it to vibrate furiously, glow brighter and brighter, then suddenly expel a ferocious cryptid, bent on eating everyone in the room!

Hold on, I need to catch my breath.

Okay, I’m better. On second thought, maybe Rusty’s fellow students will simply laugh at his boring blue stone, sending him running back into the woods to reclaim his King of Raccoons throne.