Congressman Gowdy!  Well, this has to be grandson of the famous broadcaster and outdoorsman Curt Gowdy, who along with Roone Arledge made ABC sports into what it is today (or at least what it was before the world of media became so multi-dimensional…) Curt once remarked, “I should have paid ABC to let me host “American Sportsman…”  Why, there’s even a National Park in Wyoming named after him!

And how would your constituents feel about that, Congressman?  A Conservation effort in Africa?  What about that bridge that is crumbling in your district?  And it sounds like Mark would only consider leading this “Conservation Effort” if “properly funded” – read-  “I will need the 5^th Armored Division at my beck-and-call should things get dicey…”

Checking in with THE MASTER, it looks like I missed the OBVIOUS Reference…

Were rhino poachers behind the Benghazi attacks? Why won’t the media tell us the truth?

Mark Trail, 9/30/14

My goodness guys, it has been a while since Mark has seen his family, but sure, why not stop by Washington, D.C., on his way home and do a little testifying about animal poaching and then hobnob with actual congressman Trey Gowdy, who’s taking valuable time away from his job of chairing the House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi to do a little rhino-horn chat! Why are real elected humans appearing in this strip all of the sudden, instead of random fake baldheaded senators? Well, it’s possible that Trey Gowdy is desperate to woo environmentalist constituents and overcome his extremely low scores from the League of Conservation Voters, and so has paid good money to appear in this tree-hugger comic strip. But Mark’s cutting aside about getting proper funding for any conservation effort probably means that isn’t the case, since Congressman Gowdy is super not in favor of the government spending money. So I have to assume that his carefully rendered face and somewhat too blond hair are appearing here primarily because “Gowdy” is an objectively hilarious name.

Invited by congress, huh?  Could it have been your old friend Senator Hudson Mason??  The guy who is in the pocket of BIG OIL?  …and have you even bothered checking in at home??  Seriously.  I don’t care who or what you are saving, Mr. Trail, you might let your family know you are back in the country…

Elephants and Rhinos?  Painting with a pretty broad brush there, Mark…  But I suppose if you have the floor you might as well make the most of it.  Although in delivering an unfocused message, you don’t make a very clear call for specific action…  “Conservation efforts…”  What exactly does that mean?

Yes mark, since you spent so much time (not) actually interviewing Jacob about his “work,”  I am sure this will be an in depth, hard-hitting piece… Or are you going to make this more of a first person affair, drawing attention to am making tribute to yourself and your own exploits in the bush?

Oh, Lori, wipe that tear from your cheek.  You aren’t the first lady to be separated from her man or swept (unwittingly) into Mark’s arms only to be left at the proverbial alter…  go home, dive into your work, (ewww) and seek counseling.  Learn from your experience here…  the next man in your life need not be one who “needs help.”

A guy like Trail…  what do you know about him, Jacob?  That he was capable enough to get on a plane, make a couple of connections, land in Africa and weasel his way onto a Safari that ended in death?  A guy that can throw on a nice suit and tie and look like a banker at the drop of a suitcase?  In case you can’t tell, dear readers (yes, readers with an ‘s’ since The Daily Trail now has followers that outnumber the fingers on one hand…) I am disappointed.  I really would rather have Mark follow Jacob to Sumatra, but alas, it’s not to be…

Yup, I haven’t spoken to my family in years…  They are pains in the ass- the whole lot of them.  At one point I considered that my failing, but then realized that I can’t own everything…  People grow up and either learn to overcome any perceived disadvantage or they don’t…

…comma.  Separating consecutive adjectives! A continuing <comma> uphill battle!  How dramatic!  And Sumatra!  What’s going on there?  I will tell you what- In Sumatra they have established RPU’s- Rhino Protection Units!  And how right you are, Jacob, a conservationist’s work is NEVER done…  Do you leave a residual force in Rwanda, just in case the poacher population re-establishes itself??  You know, it’s almost like fighting terror…

Will Mark invite himself?  Oh, Golly let’s hope so…  We hardly know you, Jacob and your work is SO important… but Sumatra is across the Indian Ocean… Will Bill Ellis spring for another plane ride?

Go ahead! Say it!  It’s Global Warming!  That’s what’s driving the locals out of the fields and into the black markets…  OK, just kidding.  But we really are being all PC about this- not naming the “markets” that are creating the demand for the horns that give the poachers a reason to get out of their cots in the morning…  But in the same breath not being afraid to call out the corruption that wracks the local enforcement efforts!

And Goodness!  Such a face on Poor Jacob Hickman!  He looks like Ed Dunlap after he had his arrowheads and what-not stolen from him…

Sorry to fixate on the red whistle, but there it is again…  and if Kaden is in “Club Jacob” then so must be Taurus?  Based on his outfit and how it is accessorized?  Well, it’s a good thing that Jacob is skilled in the ways of the wilderness…  but a “survivalist?”  Does that mean he’s a “Prepper,” one who has dug himself a bunker and stored in it all manner of non-perishable foods?  Cigars and Whiskey?  A gun to keep out those who “didn’t believe?”

“So yes… before I devoted my life to the Rhinos’ plight, I was Stateside selling used cars… and realized that my life was a sham- every car I sold had a history that I couldn’t bring myself to tell my customers, for if they knew, they would never buy…  I was good at it- too good!  So with a fat bank account and a deficit in my Karmic balance, I struck out and stumbled on the worthiest and most selfless cause I could find… The White Rhino…”

Survived the crash?  How about kidnapped by the poachers?  Boy, Mark, for a writer you can be awfully dense…  lovable, but dense.  Funny you didn’t RUN INTO HIM while you were out gallivanting in the bush… like two ships, apparently.  And Yes, Boys and Girls, don’t even THINK of heading to Africa unless you are accompanied by a man with a red whistle hanging around his neck- that tells you that he has been through training and holds the highest level of White-Client-Protection skills… Even though, as we saw, it was Mark that did all the protecting…

So this is where it ends?  You have no questions for Jacob Hickman?  The object of your story?  No background, no point of view?  No “and what do you do now to save the Rhino?”   I suppose that James Allen wants to wrap this story up.  I can’t blame him… It was June 7^th when Editor Bill Ellis called Mark to tell him he was going to AFRICA!  That’s over 90 days and a good 30 days past the usual story time- the usual Meant Time to Lost Forest (MTTLF) is around 60…

And now I am picturing the Rhino with notches on its belt or its bedpost… one for every vehicle run off the road?? And look who’s all smiles in panel two…  yes, Lori Tompkins, that’s who, after a ride or two on the Trail-go-round, and realizing that her life will no longer be held back by that Guy with the Gambling Problem, she is positively aglow!

Ed Carlson?? What kind of a name is that for a bad guy?  Sounds like a high school chemistry teacher from Anoka… oh wait, there is precedence for that, isn’t there?  At least in a certain fictionalized account…

And back in some city in Rwanda, which we know because it’s the same restaurant that brought Mark, Chris (um… Dirty) and Lori together, and because in the background we see a lady carrying her (what- Laundry??) on her head… Nice that these two kids can continue to hang out for days… doing what?? Now that we have the “new Mark,” the mind absolutely races…  two handsome people, on another continent, for all anyone knows who are meant to be together…  yikes… calling Cherry, Calling Cherry- by the way Mark, did you call Cherry?  I know that would be an expensive call, but still…

And now for the plot twist to end all plot twists…  Jacob Hickman!  What the… recall that Jacob Hickman’s truck was found at the bottom of a cliff without him in it… unexploded we presume, but that the “worst was feared” as it pertained to his current location and condition… and now he just turns up how many days (or weeks) later waving to Mark from across the linen tablecloths, like they are old friends.  Of course Mark is famous, depending on the circles traveled, and Jacob, we presume, was expecting him…  OK, then… let’s start writing that story!