Never probably in the history of the internet have Mark and Chuck shared the same page.  I am proud to bring them together…  Never occurred to me how much these guys have in common- the least of which is not their propensity to bring down bad guys with their fists of steel and the occasional crab-kick…

Now of course the problem is back- the crabby bear with the pinched paw…  And inasmuch as this blog is all about “What Would Mark Do,” right now Mark, you need to be asking yourself, “What Would Chuck Do?”  Jeez, I don’t know…  I doubt whether Walker Texas Ranger ever had to fight off an angry bear…  but who knows??  <check this out Mark, this might give you a clue…>

Cutter’s Bluff… you never looked so good!  Is it me, or does it look like Mark is about to break into song??   Meanwhile back at the flat tired Jeep, Cherry and Dusty (but not Rusty) are just as worried as can be!!  And there’s Mark all slinged-up and sauntering.  Yes, SAUNTERING through a “rye field…”  If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye…  Holden Caulfield, where are you??

Sorry gang, a little delirious today.  Brain firing in random sequences.  Not to dwell on Mark’s bare bodkin, but seriously.  We haven’t seen this much flesh in all the years leading up to this moment…

Offered thought:  “Does Mark have a Total Gym at home?  Does he know Chuck Norris or Christie Brinkley??”

And finally from the Comics Curmudgeon:  “Mark Trail is in newspapers everywhere walking around with no shirt on, which seems like it should be at least as big a news story as this missing plane thing.”

OK, Mark you are navigating by looking at the rising sun…  basic skills.  But your thought makes no sense.  The more I read it the less sense it makes…  Knowing which way is which (sun rises in the east…) is only one step in knowing which direction you need to go…  One needs to orient oneself to the map (mental or otherwise) and then establish the bearing…  Never mind the fact that you know this land, are familiar with where major landmarks are relative to home (I recall you pointing out every animal and geographical feature leading up to your current predicament…) you should be focused on landmarks in order to get a bearing…

And are your squinting in panel one?  Grimacing from your shoulder pain? You can’t really see the tracks with your eyes closed, can you Mark?  But such a build!!  Holy cow.  This may be the first shirtless example of our hero…

And completely as an aside to this current story, I don’t think that James Allen has drawn Rusty since taking over the strip… Since April 11, not a single shot of the shape-shifting imp…

Well of course it’s an angry and unreasonable and wounded bear that keeps coming after Mark when clearly Mark did nothing to rile or threaten it… And the bear was wounded by… Poachers again!  Well, I hope these are interesting poachers, since this is exactly the same entry point as the last 100 story arcs in the Trailverse…  But some things have not changed.  Dusty could have just called Mark, but instead planned to make a day out of delivering the news that there are poachers about… I mean, what else is there for a Ranger to do?

As for story ideas, why not take on the Keystone XL pipeline, or Climate change, or something topical like that?  I know, it’s all very risky since Mark Trail would have to take a stand on these controversial items and weigh in the “Settled Science” aspect of it all…  Keep the carbon in the ground, or let it out and allow man to continue to seal his own fate… Keep the carbon in the ground and make us all figure out how to power our devices with wind and solar energy…  We need to know where you stand on this stuff, Mark.  We really need to know.

Broad daylight again; when last we saw Cherry, it was pretty dark out… Did she spend the entire night pondering the flat tire and it took her until daybreak to think to call Ranger Dusty??  Well at least she changed into real BLUE Jeans before she headed out… And she appears to be more adept at holding and using a cell phone than Mark and that Newspaper guy are…

But again time is a confusing concept.  Dusty says he “was planning on coming by tomorrow to speak with Mark.”  Does that mean literally after another sunset, moon rise, moon set and sun rise?  Maybe it’s just that the people who colorize this strip need to be able to read English and understand what backgrounds to put in.  Or is it that the Sun always rises on Cherry?  No, because she arrived at Obie Falls in the dark…OH so confusing!!

… an Escalade?!? What the?  That’s a $60,000 vehicle if it costs a dime!  NVOS.  No visible means of support.  Is Mark on salary at the magazine?  Doubt it, and if he is it can’t be much.  Cherry doesn’t work, and I can’t imagine that Doc Davis’ patient docket is that full…  so how is it that the two are driving around in such finery??  I mean, look at the WHEELS on that truck!  They have to be 22’s at least!!  Total after-market upgrade!

And now that it’s dark again, the plot really thickens.  No way Mark will be able to hear Cherry over the roar of Obie Falls…  Good of her to notice right away that the Jeep has a flat, but then based on her ride, we can see that wheels and tires are her thing…

…on Lost Forest.  When last we saw Mark, there was a full moon rising, bathing our hero in its glow.  Now we are back at the big house and it looks to still be full daylight.  And Cherry has seen fit to wear her pink jeans with matching pink belt and pink blouse…

More thought balloons.  C’mon… doesn’t anyone talk out loud to no one in particular anymore?   I miss that.  And boy, that’s an interesting expression in panel two.  From outright concern in panel one to what?  Is that anger, frustration, suspicion?  Panel three is pure resignation, as if you can hear the heavy sigh that accompanies the realization that, again, Cherry will either sleep alone tonight or, this time, she will go out in search of her man…

Paybacks are a bitch, Mark…  by now Cherry is so used to you NOT coming home she’s barely giving your absence a second thought… “probably chasing some tail,” or “on some bad guy’s trail,” she’s no doubt thinking to herself as she rolls over an hugs the pillow…  “but that’s my man…”

Meanwhile, back in the tree, Mark’s backside is growing impossibly numb as his opportunities to shift position are extremely limited…  looks like he managed to shinny himself a little farther up that tree…  He sure is in a pickle, though.  Trusty dog back home, cell phone with improbable range and coverage is in the jeep, shirt now turned into a sling, exposing the left haymaker…  looks like Mark might be sporting a wife-beater t-shirt…