…but everything I have been able to find on the internet suggests that there simply isn’t a lot of open water in the GDS… That, and we now know that the boat’s name is SWAN.  That’s breaking news…

I went back to check to see whether we had seen the stern before, but this turns out to be a new angle on things.  I wanted to make sure that Mark and Cherry hadn’t added that after taking “ownership” of the vessel.  Has kind of a graffiti quality to it…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mitchum is smoldering and scheming about a way to bring harm to the man who would dash his dreams on the muddy shoals of the Great Dismal Swamp…  Can you feel the tension?  I can’t…

Am I to understand, then, that Riverway chemical is a private concern?  With exactly two shareholders?  And that there exists a set of documents that would automatically transfer all ownership to the surviving shareholder upon demise of the other?  That’s a fairly precarious setup if ever I saw one…

But now we understand that Mitchum DOES have skin in the game and that he is not merely a toady in the grand scheme of things…  But it does suggest that Justin has the final word on any decision making that goes on, and therefore stands to quash the dreams of this Young Turk…

But who am I to criticize?  Swamp Murder appears to be somewhat On-Trend to Trend-forward, as this story in the NY Post would suggest…

See how fast that smile on Ol’ Mitch disappears once Justin Holland is out of the room…  He’s a phony, through and through…  as for the Stewardess, oh, I mean ‘Flight Attendant…’ I swear her face must hurt by the end of the day…  Not that she wasn’t pleasant or friendly, but her smile still haunts me 12 hours later…  Just huge and fake and all teeth and gums and everything…  She’s like most of them though, never figuring on having to do this thankless job for as long as she has, she’s staring down the tunnel toward a modest retirement with flying privileges but never any empty flights or seats to take advantage of them…  But I digress…

So, Mitch…  Is it really the company’s money you are worried about?  Do you have some of you own skin in this game??  Drink your coffee, bide your time, scheme your schemes.  Time to check in with your REAL boss…

There’s something not quite right about this whole setup.  Justin certainly cuts a wimpy profile, even as he shape-shifts in the second panel, and he seems almost intimidated by “Mitchum…”

“Just making sure we are on the same page…”  I understand that a person who has invested time and energy into a project doesn’t want to see it unplugged for any reason, but I get the sense that there are other forces at play here…  Promises made and that need to be kept otherwise Mitchum could find himself in a world of hurt…  I think there are bad guys behind the scenes that have something on “Ol’ Mitch” and would be very disappointed to find out that the Mine is being called into question…  Oh, the plot thickens!!

Five letters- R-E-L-A-X.  RELAX.

But look  how chipper Mitchum is when he points the map of the swamp and the result of the “land deal” he mastered…  Sorry to break it to you, kid, but this isn’t YOUR COMPANY.  Whatever labors you invest, whatever fruits result for harvest, everything belongs to the COMPANY.  Until your name is on the building, it’s entirely up to management and the capricious whims of the Board how and whether you will be rewarded…  unless you can scrounge the capital to buy the land and build the mining facility yourself, you have very little say in anything that goes on here, despite your enthusiasm and talent…

And good heavens…  look at how long Mitchum’s right arm is in panel one…  It’s almost unnatural…

Not that people should report to the boss’s office and stand at attention, but what exactly is ‘Mitchum’ communicating here??  “Yeah, I’ll come to your office, Justin, but I don’t have to show you any respect…”  Recall that he is just “back from vacation” and maybe hasn’t completely “returned?”

But faithful readers will recognize the Mitchum Archetype right away- we last saw him in the Senator Hudson Mason/ Johnny Walker combination- The person who would be in charge is being manipulated by a crafty underling…

But how comforting to have the phrase “a little fishing” thrown in…  and how funny for Mitchum to have already figured out Mark’s motivation- although not so surprising, since Mark is about as deep as a kiddy-pool and nearly as transparent…