Something I discovered on Netflix, it’s just good enough to watch, but easy enough to forget…  Arrow features a guy names Oliver Queen who is “marooned” on an island off the coast of China, but is inhabited by a mercenary outfit bent on starting WWIII.  There he learns all manner of survival and fighting skills…  and stops being the feckless billionaire scion and becomes what will be a force for good once he returns to civilization… Anyway, as the name implies, he has mad archery skills, much like Mitch here…

Mitch is a bit of a show-off, though, isn’t he?  Where on earth does this go?  Sort of a quick climax, don’t you think??

I guess that’s what counts as diversity in the Trailverse…

Oh Mark, it’s so nice when you turn all falsely modest for all our benefit…  Even the smallest amount of self-awareness would tell you that sometimes you shine too brightly for the rest of us…

… the Adult fun can continue.  No sign of the lad, apparently Longbow is a grown-up activity.

Yes, Mark, even though we have never seen cherry’s ears out from under that henna’d mop, I am sure she has them and that they work just fine.  Your repeating Mitch’s advice only makes you look like a control freak…  And of course she scores a bulls-eye.  Remember how Cherry demonstrated her rifling skills for Wes??  Girl’s got aim!  In a zombie apocalypse I’d for sure want her around!

Nice shootin’, Mitch!  The target in panel one looks to be fairly crudely drawn and in the wrong color scheme, but all is right in panel three with the arrow buried deep!  I like what Mr. Allen did with the dialogue- kept Mitch talking all through his demonstration and he still managed to hit the bull’s-eye!  Are you just showing off now?  I suppose that makes this a little more fun…

Notice how none of Mark’s friends are even the slightest bit portly or unkempt?

From the Master:

I got a lot of unsolicited feedback last week when I ignored Mark’s suggestion to Cherry that, after he finished fishing with Rusty, “maybe we could have target practice with the longbow.” Much of this feedback implied that “longbow” was a euphemism for something, probably something sexual in nature, and I refused to acknowledge these suggestions, for obvious reasons. Anyway, I’ll bet today’s strip sure has all you sickos feeling pretty foolish! Nothing erotic going on in today’s strip, just a couple of dudes talking about aligning their bodies and “release.” Mark originally proposed this as an activity he and Cherry could do together, but she’s actually nowhere to be seen, thank goodness.

Well, there has to be a character beyond the family fold to introduce drama; around which to fabricate a new story line…  and it might as well be Mitch Wilson.  Damned if he doesn’t look like Dirty Dyer’s long lost brother, or at least has the same taste in hair and eyebrow coloring…

But yes, such an honor to be called to the Lost Forest Preserve, to give of one’s time, to provide what might otherwise be considered a professional service, free of charge, all to the greater benefit of the Davis/ Trail clan…

Readers of this page and this strip will know two things:  1)  It’s only of late that Rusty has actually been able to wet a line…  for years going on decades, Mark toyed with the lad’s very core in making promises he could not keep- Mark would return from an “adventure,” promise to take Rusty fishing, and then be called away on an assignment before he could make good on his promise…  and in our own sick way, readers sort of reveled in that disappointment and pain… 2)  Now that Rusty DOES get to go fishing, he has as hot a hand as can be imagined… almost a fishing prodigy- savant, if you will- whether it be Snook or Tarpon or Trout, the kid’s got game…  who the heck needs school when he could probably go on the circuit and earn a living right now…

So yes, in the Trailverse, no one goes “fishing” and gets skunked…  it’s all about “catching.”  Life is good…

Not that I ever doubted, but here’s a link to further explain what Mark is up to…  But this tip would suggest that there is an abundance of decaying fish and resulting oils discharged in to the water post spawn…  but I really don’t know what I am talking about here, since I only just learned this on the internet and don’t know thing one about fly fishing…

One thing I do know, however, is what a fly fishing vs. a spin-casting rod and reel look like, and Rusty is using the latter, not the former, which is sort of cruel, Mark…  Good lord… at least give the boy the tools he needs to be successful…  but still, life in Lost Forest is a perpetual holiday, isn’t it?  Is Rusty Home-schooled?  Does he even show up on a census?  Is there any proof in the public record that he exists at all??

That’s about all I have to offer today…

Enjoy the scenery, everyone.

“Will you be taking the Jeep today, sir?  I have anticipated your desire to take Master Rusty fishing, and have loaded your gear. Shall I bring you your luncheon Creekside or shall I prepare the noon meal in the main dining room??”  Ever get the feeling that there is a hidden staff at Lost Forest?  They never seem to have to do any actual chores… they just eat, sleep, fish, talk, ride, explore… but never do we see them cooking, cleaning, mucking, roofing…

Well, we can certainly see that we are in the 21^st century now…  I am pretty sure Mark has never before instructed his adopted son to “buckle-up…”

OK, I can take the first part of this scene literally, but I am sure we have stumbled upon Mark talking dirty to Cherry in the last part…

“Target Practice?”  with the “Long Bow?”  Oh goodness… the mind boggles…  I am glad that Cherry is all in on the coming activities, and now she has a few hours to prepare the “target…”

I will not eat them in a bar.  I do not like green geese and ham, I do not like them, Mark I am…  What’s up with the geese?  Too much green ink left over from the African Odyssey?  We will call it “Range Rover Green,” and it would seem that it’s made its way into the very core of these migrating fowl.

There is certainly comfort in old rituals… like Mark suggesting that he and Rusty go fishing, like reading an actual newspaper.  Getting ink on one’s fingers…  I bet Mark has a stack to go through, piled up and awaiting his return.  Does he see himself?  Testifying before congress?  Does he read the funnies?  The Sports page?  I mean really, what would even remotely interest this man of such limited dimension?

And yikes…  I could go a while without another close-up of Rusty…

Can’t you just hear it?  Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA??  As Mark continues to hold forth and opine on his latest adventure… And offer of words of gratitude… Andy has checked out and Cherry, Doc and Rusty would just wish he would stop already…  Kind of makes you wonder what they talk about when Mark is away… or whether they talk at all.  But of course Mark will keep on talking until he has sent everyone to bed, and Cherry is sound asleep where he won’t have to endure her advances…

Yup, living in the good ol’ US of A… Rent free and care free!

Now I really wish that Mark had followed Jacob Hickman to Sumatra!!  But here we are in the rutting season, and Mark has grown back his rack…  and only has eyes for Cherry.  How nice.

Well, get it on, you two, the clock is ticking before Mark will have to go off on another adventure…