Jules Rivera nicely closes out this chapter of the story, featuring the panel that we previewed in its original black & white format in my April 1^st blog. I’m even okay with the puns today, because they seem to fit the context better, without shouting.

This might be the formal ending to this odd adventure, even though it leaves questions unanswered and more holes than a bag of donuts. But I expect we’ll see at least another week of wrapping things up.

If the strip—Mark Trail—focuses on issues of nature, wildlife, and the environment, how does this story shape up, disregarding the Sunday pages?

1. We saw Rusty’s attempts to get some good animal photos to present to his somewhat biased scoutmaster, Ranger Shaw. This included a brief hike in a desert nature reserve, more or less.
2. We watched Mark become aware of a land conflict between Tad Crass and the developer of a solar energy farm. The solar farm was intended to supply energy to some or all of Las Vegas and apparently needed a specific plot of land. Tad Crass wants the same land to build a sports complex. The subtext here is Business disses alternative energy. Okay, but the story paid scant attention to the Solar Farm project. It didn’t bother to explain how it would be implemented, how it would benefit the citizens, why that particular piece of land was worth fighting over. The Solar Farm simply became a plot device. The same could be said for the Sports Complex. It would have been nice to at least let both parties justify (to us readers) their positions. That is, shouldn’t this story also attempt to be informative?
3. Heck, even the Woodsman Olympics competition was severely underwhelming and almost irrelevant. Sure, expanding all of this would make the story longer, but that doesn’t mean it would be less interesting or exhausting to follow. The extra detail could make it more interesting by providing some depth and meaningful context. Might at least help the storyline!

I don’t want to give the impression this is an issue only with Rivera. There have been numerous stories in the past where Nature is just a prop: for example, the Mexican vacation adventure (“Dirty’s Revenge“) by James Allen, where Rusty and his friend, Mara, get caught up in an artifact smuggling scheme in Mexico.

So far, Tad Crass is showing the kind of inspired off-the-cuff thinking and BS that is getting to be all too common these days. And he doesn’t seem to be making any headway. Jules Rivera gave Tad the “Simon Legree” sneer in panel 3 to make sure we understand who the Bad Guy is here. Maybe that explains the startled look on Mark’s face, as well. Mark returned to his expression of indifference in panel 4, which should get a rise out of Tad. No doubt, he will think it is a negotiating tactic and try to up the bargain.

Art Dept. Speaking of Mark’s face, I’m kind of twisted in my grasp of Mark’s head in panel 1. I don’t get the anatomy. The neck looks like the head has twisted around from the back. It’s a very odd look. The problem I’m having might be exacerbated by Rivera’s decision to draw Mark’s head in profile, rather than a three-quarter rear view that his torso exhibits. As we have seen before, Rivera tends to avoid drawing heads from that angle, opting for flat profiles (see also panel 3). But that approach can lead to awkward results.

Yep, snaky Tad Crass hopes to buy some good publicity for reasons that are not very clear, by bribing Mark. The scene builds to panel 3 with its extreme facial close-up. It’s conceptually a good progression to the deal. Well, it would have been more impactful and dramatic if Jules Rivera had spent more time on that face, giving it some dramatic shadow and making it look less sketchy. Close-ups and dramatic dialog demand attention and detail.

I wonder what that better offer is:
Perhaps a job to be Tad’s publicist?
Maybe a college scholarship for Rusty when he comes of age?
Maybe a family season pass to the Chedderworld Golf Resort?

Mark is high on his horse, but apparently forgot that the Q&A can go both ways. I don’t believe he asked the Solar Farm company why they can’t pick a different location for their project. It’s not as if there isn’t the same amount of sunlight a few miles down the road. And in spite of Mark’s accusation in panel 4, I’m not really sure what underhanded tactics Tad Crass is using here. He certainly expresses the stereotypical “Big Business” trope of greed and disdain for environmentalism.

I’m just fine with solar energy, especially when the alternative is another sports complex. However, if Tad wants to use his Woodsman Olympics event to help his offer, that’s just business. It’s not what I would come up with in his place, but I’m not Tad (thank goodness). However, the only underhanded tactics I’ve seen so far are those used against Mark (and Cliff, too. Remember him?).

Art Dept. Jules Rivera seems to have a loose brush with regard to the consistency of character faces. The face (and even the head shape) of Tad Crass, for example, has gone through several permutations over the past several days. Even today, he shows a part in his hair in panel 2 that is missing in the other panels. Perhaps all of the facial variations have more to do with reflecting different emotions? I’m trying to come to terms with his face in panel 3. It’s like a face filled with gelatin, giggling around under Tad’s skin as he shakes his fist. It’s quite maniacal looking.

On the other hand, I do like the confident pose Mark displays in panel 4. It’s a good negotiating tactic, giving the impression he has the upper hand in the discussion.

Sometimes it’s just hard to believe Mark Trail almost talks sense; even when it is right in front of us! No hysterics and no theatrics, he even sounds all grown up. On the other hand, Tad Crass makes little sense. In panel 1, Tad suggests that he created the Woodsman Olympics to distract Mark from his land scheme. Why does this make no sense? All he had to do was not invite Mark in the first place! But it’s like those early James Bond movies where the villain brings Bond into his lair and reveals his secret plans before trying to kill him. Tad wants to be the one opponent to beat Mark Trail.

Well, that “distracting whomever” bit (panel 3) may be a stretch, if that is what Crass calls influencing the city council. So we see in panel 4 that Mark finally delivers the obvious question that we’ve been harping on all this time. What will Tad have to say in response?

It makes me wonder:  Could there be something else hitherto unrevealed? Is there something underground, perhaps, that Tad really wants to get his hands on (e.g. rare earths)? Thus, the stadium would be the distraction for the City Council to focus on. Could Tad Crass really be that clever? I shudder to think.

No, Jules Rivera! Mark is not “walking with Tad”; he is being manhandled by Tad’s security goons!

So, when was the last time Mark mentioned his family? Was it when they checked into the hotel? And why is Mark being manhandled by Tad Crass’ security goons? Cliff shouts at Mark as if he is being led away by palace guards to his appointment with destiny. I’m not sure what Rivera is trying to suggest here with this heavy-handed approach, unless it is another setup for Mark to take advantage of.

I think we can all appreciate the look of apprehension on Mark’s face in panel 2 when Cliff tells Mark he will “update” Cherry. Mark might be having a flashback. Some readers here may not be aware that this iteration of Cliff <NoLastName> appears to be a modern recreation of a prior character named Cliff McQueen, a forest ranger who got engaged to Cherry Davis while Mark was still figuring out how to make his move. But events intervened and killed the relationship, opening the way for Mark. (By the way, I got this information from the fabulous historical work on Mark Trail by Mark Carlson-Ghost. Mark certainly had a large cast of characters back then. You can read about them here: https://www.markcarlson-ghost.com/index.php/2020/11/21/mark-trail-history/)

I’m a bit slow, sometimes. I see that Tad’s secure offices have been constructed next to the stadium. Now, that looks like a pretty substantial edifice, which makes me wonder how much jack Tad Crass and his investors have put into this project. Could the site of these Olympics be the actual site being fought over with the solar farm project? Or was this office building already here and Crass simply leased it?

Also, I’m struck by how indifferent Tad Crass is to the current status of his Woodsman Olympics. We haven’t seen any referees, judges, or assistants, though we must assume those people exist. You wouldn’t know it, however. Still, we have to remember that this is a modern comic strip; not a novel. So Rivera is more or less forced into making broad statements about things. But she could have done more.

Art Dept. I’m envious of the clothing here, as they seem to keep changing colors over the days; except for Mark’s. It also looks like the guards switched positions between panels 1 and 3. Taken all together, it’s hard to not think Rivera is deliberately playing around to tweak the noses of her readers.

Ah, what a week, fellow readers and deniers. The Boxing Circus that began the previous week continued this past week, with the match once again changing format, this time into a free-for-all (“rumble”), as Tad Crass pressed his aim to humiliate the man trying to undermine his land-grab scheme; the same man he illogically invited to participate in this Woodsman Olympics and provide an opportunity for the land-grab plan to be exposed: That man is Mark Trail.  All in all, this doesn’t seem like a well-thought out scheme, like showing up at a Taylor Swift concert and expecting to buy a ticket at the door.

Anyway, acting referee and moderator, Tad Crass, seems to be making this up as he goes along. His erratic changes are intended to demonstrate an increasing pressure to humiliate Mark in public. Instead, Mark and Cliff (remember him…?) changed their own strategy. They made their way around the rink to where Crass was standing. Then, in an amazing display of “in plain sight maneuvering,” Mark plucked Crass’ microphone off a lectern and began to incite the boxers to stop their fighting. Tad and Mark jostled each other for the microphone, as Mark revealed Tad’s aim to steal secret plans for egg salad . . . oops, sorry, wrong plot. Mark revealed how this Olympic event was just part of a plan to help Tad grab some the land originally intended for the solar farm project.

We don’t know what the reaction of the fighters or the public was, as Tad persuaded Mark to step into his office for a quiet talk. What will take place therein? Not sure, but it most likely will entail some attempt to buy Mark off.

Moving on to the nature subject du jour, at least we see Mark wearing a more tasteful hat. The idea that badgers and coyotes sometimes hunt together was interesting news. However, in spite of the “19 mph” legend in panel 5, that badger does not look like it is doing anything more than taking a walk. I expected to see just a bit more effort on its part! Badgers also exist around the world. In England, the badger is famously known as a character in the delightful book, “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. You can paste that last bit of info over the insipid dialog in the last panel.

Well, the free-for-all rumble is all but forgotten, as are the Grungey Boys. Instead, Mark and Tad hold an impromptu argument/negotiation in public; if you want to call a desert “public.” Well, there is something of a stadium with some viewers in it, I reckon. I half expected all of the other contestants to get frustrated by this chaos and simply pack up and go. It would make a great single-panel strip!

And we have arrived at the transition we’ve been waiting for:  An invitation to Tad’s office where he will try to buy off Mark in some way. This is what we saw, implied in the unfinished panel that Jules Rivera posted elsewhere, and that I reposted on April 1^st.  As for the boxing match, with Tad Crass stepping away, who is going to run the contest and judge the winner?

Art Dept. The accidentally colored-over tail of Mark’s dialog balloon underscores the haste that is clearly visible in the drawing of panel 1. Yet the other two panels are comparatively more carefully delineated, suggesting that Rivera was in a hurry, but returned later, when she had more time. Or maybe it’s the other way around, and the hasty panel was inked in last.

<Lots of self-indulgent musings today!> The drawings of Mark in the first two panels are pretty well conceived and executed, especially the bottom-up view of Mark in panel 2. Jules Rivera used to feature varying perspectives more often, but she still brings it out when needed. And this views suggests a sense of the dramatic that the image of Tad fails to provide in panel 4. That seems to be a deliberate choice: Tad Crass’ image lacks that dignity. It’s just an angry guy. I can’t go any farther on this; it may just be projection on my part.

Take panel 3: a seemingly incompetent drawing. How can we reconcile these conflicting drawings? We’ve seen time and time again that Rivera is less successful in drawing figures in the “middle ground”, that space between the close-up and the more distant view. So, I have to assume this is a deliberate choice on the part of Rivera. Could Rivera have drawn Mark and Tad more competently, less childishly? Yes! But could this childish drawing in panel 3 be meant to symbolize their childish behavior? Well, if my earlier interpretation of Mark’s and Tad’s faces have any merit at all, then I can’t totally dismiss this idea about panel 3. But I have nothing secure to go on.

Okay, that’s about it. I wonder how Rivera will wrap up this scene on Saturday. Will the fighters stand by Mark or by Tad? Will they just wonder what the heck is going and wander off, looking for the next competition? Or maybe they will descend enforce on Mark and Tad and give them both a sound drubbing for wasting their time and ruining the contest.

“’GENTLEMEN’!? Why, these are bloody woodsmen, Mark!”

These panels might make more sense after Happy Hour.  Why does Mark want to stop the match? I presume it is so he can reveal Tad Crass’ real estate fight. Which would accomplish what? Are the fighters going to quit and throw away their chance to win a lot of money?! I don’t think so!

I wonder where that large curtain and lectern came from, because it was not part of the setup that we saw when the contest area was first depicted in panel 4 on March 31 (Go ahead and scroll back to look. I’ll wait for you..).

And I know you’re gonna have questions about how to interpret the rink in panel 1 and panel 3, as well as what the heck Mark and Cliff are doing. For some reason, it didn’t occur to them to simply hop out of the rink and walk around it. Poor Tad Crass; he looks like he lost his marbles (panel 2) and doesn’t know what to do. That must have been what made it possible for Mark and Cliff to walk right in front of him without being recognized. I’m not sure I have the skill or patience to interpret the details in panel 3, so I’ll leave that to you all. But even the turkey vulture looks frustrated.

I’d sure like this story to have a sense of real drama and maybe some danger (I reckon the car chase might have offered something if it hadn’t abruptly ended just after it began!). However, we just have this, instead.

Today we see Tad’s free-for-all rumble in action, apparently comprised of little kids and Hobbits, based on Tad’s large size. Well, perhaps Tad’s been taking growth hormones?

Now, I don’t quite get the conversation going on here. “A distraction to keep Mark quiet.” Huh? Are Mark and Cliff somehow under the impression that they must remain in this rink? I think not! But they don’t seem to know any better. Clearly, Mark must not care about winning the contest, so why worry about this sham fight?  All Mark has to do is step out of the rink and walk (or run) over to wherever the microphone Mark refers to is located (Note that the “image” in panel 4 shows a lectern with a mounted microphone; something we have not seen). Mark could also walk around to the other side of the rink, pull Tad’s feet out from under him (as happened to Cliff), and grab his microphone!

And just what is Mark going to broadcast to the people watching this competition? “Hey, everybody! Tad Crass is engaged in a land battle with a solar farm business for rights to a particular piece of land!” Nevertheless, the obvious comeback here (one I previously mentioned) is: There is plenty of open land in the area, enough for both sides! This may just be a comic strip, but it would have helped the story to at least include a reason why the two sides are fighting over the same parcel of desert. Did I miss something?

Art Dept. A small observation: Mark and Cliff’s hats were originally colored blue (or a variant tint). Since last week they appear as white with purple shading. Perhaps backup head gear?

First, it’s tag-team; then it’s extreme boxing; and now it’s rumble time. It just seems like the point of this match keeps changing minute by minute! Mark is worried about being overwhelmed; but I think it will be more by the continuous changes rather than the number of contestants.

Speaking of which, I was wondering who all those background (purple) people were, just wandering around the contest area. It seems they are the other contestants. So why does Mark thinks they are all just coming after him and Cliff? The point—if there is one—of a rumble is that everybody fights everybody. I think. Anyway, nobody seems in much of a hurry to start fighting. They’re probably all thinking to themselves “What kind of lunatic is this guy, running the Woodsman Olympics?!”

But, go ahead; I can’t stop you. I know that the pressure to say something has been building in you. You see the increasing insanity going on here: How unrealistic it is, defying the very laws of logic, physics, and content of the Treaty of Versailles. I speak, of course, of the boxing rink drawing in panel 3. So just go post your snarky analyses! At least it will save me the effort of thinking up something to write.

Some tag-team boxing event. Just when it gets started, Jules Rivera switches it up. This could have at least been a good opportunity to get in some sharp parody. Instead, it’s a short tease and suddenly everything will change.

Alas, brothers and sisters. There are times when I must agree with the position of reader Mark, the Contrarian Commenter concerning the current handling of this strip, and this is one of those times. It’s one thing to promote a completely different stylized look to this legacy strip, as Rivera has done; but quite another to just lazily draw outlandish anatomy, mismatched proportions, and sloppy lines. Say, is that really Honest Ernest, Plastic Man, or Paul Bunyan fighting Mark in panel 2? As for panel 3, I don’t see Ernest at all. It must be a cartoon stunt double! Have we come to a point where comic strip characters now have stand-ins? Sheesh!

But maybe Jules Rivera got encouraged by enforcers from her syndicate to push this story along a bit faster.  Otherwise, what gives with Tad Crass’s sudden panic to change the contest rules?

Art Dept. There is one exception to the otherwise forgettable art today, and that is Mark’s pose in panel 3. It has a more self-assured pose and appearance that stands out from the rest of the strip. Even Mark’s face looks different, more like the pre-Rivera Mark Trail. I can almost believe that Rivera happened to see an earlier strip and borrowed the pose for today’s installment. I’m probably wrong, but if I’m right, I’d love to find the source. However, I don’t happen to have a Mark Trail comic strip library to draw on. Of course, it would be great if KFS published all of the old strips in book form, like we’ve seen for many other vintage strips. However, that is probably not practical or economic at this time.

Mark and Cliff seem to be in a different competition area from where Cherry and Rusty are waiting in vain. I reckon that chopping wood wasn’t Mark’s favorite activity as Cherry claimed. One would think that after being married for however many years they care to claim, that Cherry would have a better understanding of Mark’s likes. Clearly, he prefers boxing … with his cowboy hat, no less!

If you think panel 1 looks like fan art from a 12-year old and that Mark looks like a real goofball in panel 2, I’d agree. It’s the “why” that is intriguing. In the Trailverse, we have a non-traditional woodsman olympics, held in a location with buildings of conflicting scales, where Mark has no idea which events he signed up for or when they are scheduled to take place. 

As far as why this boxing event exists in a woodsman olympics, it should be apparent that Rivera put Mark into this situation where she can trade off of (or make fun of) Mark and his “fists o’ justice.” It’s a simple way to inject more “action” into the plot, even if it is unrelated to the story; much like various action scenes in movies discussed in Saturday’s voluminous comments.

Regarding this contest, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mark matched up against Grungey Boy Honest Ernest. But you know what would be really interesting: To see Mark matched up against Cliff!

Mark certainly has put himself (and Cliff) in a precarious situation, vis-à-vis the competition. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tad Crass had Mark and Cliff ejected from the competition, though it still raises the question of why he accepted Mark’s application in the first place. Based on last week’s action, Tad certainly has not forgotten who Mark is.

Mark’s pursuit of Tad’s apparent skullduggery will also not likely mollify Cherry and Rusty, who could have found better things to do than hang around a wood chopping competition on their own. But that is not likely to happen, of course. Like Mighty Mouse, Mark will arrive to save the day! Or not.

If this was a live-action story, we’d be hearing a dramatic low-frequency rhythm gradually building up in intensity and volume as the contest continues and suspense builds. At the last moment the sound of a high performance car would fill the air along with some heroic music like Raiders of the Lost Ark, as Mark’s car suddenly appears from behind a sand dune, fishtailing and coming to a climatic stop alongside the competition area. Cherry and Rusty stand up and cheer as a grim Tad Crass and contest judges approach Mark and Cliff. The dramatic music returns.

Art Dept. I’ve discussed Jules Rivera’s convention of having characters appearing to look over their shoulders as they watch action going on behind them (panel 1). I presume it is either done because Rivera doesn’t want people to forget who the characters are; or she doesn’t much care to draw people from behind. Well, I don’t think there is any danger in readers not recognizing Cherry or Rusty from just about any angle. I just think it is a cheap copout.