Starting April 11, 2014, Jack Elrod’s name no longer appears on the daily serialized version of this strip…  Elrod signed the Sunday edu-ma-cational version of Mark Trail, but this James Allen fellow has been signing the daily strip ever since…  which so far is producing drech like this:

The Google reveals that James Allen has been with the strip as Elrod’s assistant, and that Jack Elrod is retiring two days after his 90^th birthday.  Yikes…  and here’s more than you ever wanted to know about Mark Trail and the Genesis of the Strip…

But back to our “story…” Growler the Goose, Rex the ill-tempered Grizzly (what? We can’t have a HAPPY BEAR in our midst??)  And even though Mark is prone to voice his every thought, he can’t even let the four winds know of his secret- that he feels “fortunate” to be sponging off the Davis Family…