So much for the boat, and so much, presumably, for the men chasing Mark and Ken…  Although I really doubt that a small fuel leak combined with a signal flare would create such a conflagration…

So again, as Mark Trail channels the A-Team, I guess we’ll have to get used to a lot of pyrotechnics…

Perspective and a closed aperture creates a deeper depth of field and makes mark look really burly in panel two, as he points the flare gun at the boat with the fuel leak…  stand by for another BOOOM, ladies and gentlemen… This is starting to remind me of “The A-Team” from the 80’s…  Stuff was always getting blowed-up in that show…

As Mark is about to go all-in on destroying yet another rental boat, we are now left to wonder what the next move will be… which of course will keep us tuning in.  See you tomorrow everyone!

With the Yacht off in the distance, the Sea-ATV’s take over!  Oh, things don’t look good for Mark now!!  With a resounding CLICK the wheels come down… Onomatopoeia is a useful device in comics… given that the reader has to imagine the sounds and the voices, it’s helpful to be guided…

But BLDDDK? What on earth is that?

An observation:  the dialogue in the Trail-past was awful, often times stilted and cringe-worthy… but now the lack of it takes all the air of the room…  perhaps Mr. Allen should enlist the help of a writer to go along with his (in)estimable artistic talent…

Wasn’t that the infraction that landed Anthony Michael Hall’s character in all-day detention?  He brought a flare gun to school to shoot himself (or the teacher?) because he was getting something less than an ‘A’ in Shop Class?  You mess with the bull, son, you get the horns…

As Ken checks on Mark’s welfare, (and why not a simple, “What in God’s name are you thinking?!?”) Mark returns it with a mere “I’m good – You?” As if they were meeting on a street corner some random Saturday afternoon…  So off they go, away from the boat that is quickly becoming an eco-hazard, hoping to not get caught by the bad guys…

Well, no WAY Mark is getting his damage deposit back now, and no way Editor Bill Ellis is going to let him rent another boat!!  Do boats have airbags?  Probably not, which means that Mark and Ken will be properly concussed, if in fact they can walk away from this.  What exactly is the strategy here??  We prefer to be marooned and surrounded by bad guys?  As compared to high-tailing it out of there??  Oh well, we shall see where the story goes now.

Chin up, boys and girls.  Mark has crashed before.  I am suddenly reminded that a plane making a hard landing on Slumber Mountain makes roughly the same sound… or at least calls for the same large font…

…that’s because it is… We were introduced to Ken and Kelly In June.  It’s nearly the end of October without an end in sight…

So as Mark rams the hull of the rental boat up on the (hopefully sandy) beach, it’s clear that he won’t be getting his damage deposit back…

How do you figure, Mark?  You stand a better chance trapped on a small island surrounded by gun wielding bad guys than you do in a boat that offers you at least a little cover?  What exactly do you expect to find there?

Leaking fuel into the ocean?  That’s criminal!  Very un-Trail!  Of course it’s NOT his fault… remember??

“Looks like the boat’s been hit?”  You think??  It’s a miracle YOU haven’t been hit, Ken…

Well, this is a fine kettle of fish, isn’t it?  Mark, for all your hot-dogging around, you have now put yourself in a real bind… but that’s OK, we need to move this along and find out who the real baddies are…  Considering Mark is used to dealing with occasional poachers, turtle egg stealers, two bit larcenists, and capitalists ready to repent, this is going to be a brand new challenge- pure, megalomaniacal, out-for-world-domination evil!   Takes on a whole new dimension- James Bond, where are you?  I can see it now- “The name is Trail… MARK Trail…”

Seriously, Mark, use your head!!  What have you learned from all your days in the woods? That Nature has endowed its creatures with their own special strengths and gifts- right now yours is SPEED!  Does the box turtle try to out run the fox?  no!  A turtle will pull itself into its shell and wait out the attack.  Does the Hare stand still when being attacked? No! it RUNS!!

And what do you have to show for all your guile (or lack of)?  Bullet holes in your back-end and probably in your engine, which will now allow yourself to be captured and well, who knows what-all… Well, it’s probably for the best as this story line needs to include the real villain, monologuing about world domination… and a hefty bill going back to Woods and Wildlife Magazine Editor Bill Ellis for yet another destroyed boat!!

Is that Ken squealing like the pig in the GEICO commercials?  or is is the final hench-man about to go under??  OK that’s a stretch… the pig goes “WEE, WEE, WEEEEE all the way <home,> and someone here said, “AAAHHH…” but it’s the best I can come up with before the coffee kicks in…

But really?  that boat is heeled over so far I doubt the prop is even making contact with the water…  but no matter, the laws of physics and naval architecture mean nothing in this world…