Mitchum is starting to get rattled, ladies and gentlemen!  And Justin is becoming ever more the irritant…  It would seem, though, that BGwB is in no hurry to go retrieve “his buddy…”  Notice how we haven’t invested anything in the way of naming these two scoundrels for hire…

But What’s Cherry up to?  Is she bound and gagged, sitting and waiting patiently for “her man??” Not likely, as we have seen the new Cherry take matters into her own hands more than once, and we have yet to see the new Mark Trail lay low any baddies…  but we are hopeful, right?  Mark has to get his punch back, or the balance of the Trail-verse will be off for good.  James Allen, if you are reading this, please send us the old Mark, the one with chiseled fists and daring-do…

Geesh!  Stifle already!  Nice full moon!  Lit up like daylight!  Not good for sneaking up… but there they are, ripe for the taking, but how?  There’s been no plan made, so is this a total improv operation??

And Really… Who the Hell is BRUCE, anyway?  That has got to be the dumbest name for a boat ever…  Why not ROBERT?  Or TED?  Maybe those were already taken.

Have to admit, I am a little bored with this whole story.  It’s OK, you can say it.  We really don’t care about Cherry, much less this idiot industrialist clique…  Let them squabble all they want, it’s all intramural anyway.  And with the SWAN blown to bits, we only have this ugly shark boat to draw…

Sleepy, languid, unflappable…

And Mark, if you say “Flat-Bottom” one more time I am going ask that Vince take you out with the pole…

Ever wonder whether Mark is going to catch on the fact that every time Editor Bill Ellis calls, his life or someone he is close to is put in mortal danger?  Maybe just once Mark will say, “Uh, no thanks, Bill, everywhere you send me I end up in a tight spot…”  And what does Bill do when Mark is away?  Editing?  Editing what? Are there other feature writers at Woods and Wildlife??  Now were he the Publisher, then he would have other duties… But editors needs stories to edit.

Vince, you are all of the above, and with any luck, you will help Mark get his mojo back…  Not to mention the size of your hands…  good Lord.  The fist you are making around that pole suggests that your left cross could really pack a wallop…  let’s hope we get to see that in the next day or two!  And let’s hope that Mark can follow that lead.

The look of grim determination (or dread) on Mark’s face in Panel three is a new one.  So layered is our hero now, we really have to pay attention!

Seriously??  “Sure wish we had a phone so we could call for help!”  What?!?  I suppose the plan for Cherry and Justin involves “losing” them in the swamp…  I imagine a great many people have gone missing here without a trace- sort of like the Meadowlands of New Jersey…  Where allegedly Jimmy Hoffa, for Teamsters boss and tool of Organized Crime fame is stashed…

Yes, Mark, no time to waste.  So be a fool and go rushing in!  Or not.  Stand there and demur…

And of course, no mention of Justin Holland, a “good and reasonable man…”  Just Cherry Baby…  Which I suppose is a positive turn in the Trailverse… for in another time, Cherry would be regarded as just another upright biped that would attempt to communicate with Mark and confuse him with “feelings” and such.  But now we sense actual longing and concern emanating from Trail…  so guys, please keep your voices down, you might actually have the element of surprise on your side, unlike the ORCA…

But are they armed?  What exactly are they going to do once they get to the boat?  Talk some more?  Remember the age-old adage, “you can’t argue with crazy…”

…but it’s not really in my nature to do so…  Still, since you have information I need, then I guess I have no choice but to take you up on your offer of further assistance…  And Vince, what’s with this outsized sense of duty?  I mean you don’t know these people from Adam, and you are about to put yourself in mortal danger??

And my how brave we look in the third panel- did Vince have a comb? How does your hair snap back into place, Mark, with your superman-spit-curl all perfect and everything?  And such a determined look- almost a scowl!

Between Slavers and Bounty Hunters and Alligators and Malaria, I’ll take the gators and the skeeters…  What a life that must have been.  The bravery and the hardship, the faith and hope that drove them on.  It’s difficult to imagine there was a time when all that was commonplace, when an entire way of life was propped up by a labor force paid nothing and held against their will…  And don’t think it was just the South.  The North and Great Britain were buying cotton by bale.  The Cod fishery off the coast of Northern New England was delivering a ready supply of protein to feed the slaves on the Cane plantations in the Caribbean to support the Rum industry…  An entire world was getting wealthy off the labor of Vince Wilkins’ Forebears…

I do recall now, however, that Vince was privy to the entire plot… and therefore could, by process of elimination, determine who was good and who was evil… So long, BGwPT, your goose was cooked before you ever left the dock…  And we also know now that Vince is on the side of good, since only good people “do a little fishing…”

…as I questioned earlier in the story, we wondered (OK, I wondered) who was “watching” Mark and Cherry enter the Great Dismal. Based on the profile (albeit reversed) in panel 1, it was none other than Vince Wilkins, Construction Company owner, eyeing the Trails as they steamed into the swamp…

Nice of you to ask about BGwPT, Mark, but as it appears he “did not make it” and as it appears that Vince can easily determine good from bad and who to save and who to let drown and become Alligator fodder, you find yourself in the ancestral home of Mr. Wilkins, citizen, entrepreneur and all around good guy…  And besides, Mark, Swamp People probably find the location of Lost Forest just as curious, all high and dry… And do people really use phrases like “actual residence?”  How about “that’s where I call home and live most of the time…”  But of course real estate is precious in the confines of the 1/2/3 panel format, and we have to move the story along.  Even in the Trailverse…

RELAX…  And of course it’s been fun watching your clothes dry and hair return to its “natural” state, all in a trice…

Love the architectural detail on the Wilkins house…  that eyebrow dormer is classic!  Rarely seen on a log home…

Mark, you know exactly what Vince is talking about!  Your “home” isn’t really yours either…  Lost Forest, that place you lay your head down in between junkets, might as well be considered “ancestral” too, considering we have no idea where you come from and what put you on this earth…

At first I thought I had overslept, by about a week… but we fast forward to Vince Wilkins’ crash pad where we find a still dripping Mark Trail starting to “Come Around…”  Apparently Vince was “punting around” near the blast site and found Mark bobbing around in the flaming wreckage and pulled him to safety.  BGwPT is gone now for sure…  Fine with Mitchum, that’s one less witness to have to worry about, take care of or pay off…

Yea, I bet your ears are ringing, Mark.  Considering how close you were to the blast and the fact that there isn’t a piece of the boat left you couldn’t fit into a suitcase, it’s a miracle you aren’t dead.  But like I have said and have to keep reminding myself, the strip is named “Mark Trail,” and unless James Allen wants to bring Mark back from the dead, he has to keep him alive.  But seriously, when do the cumulative effects of all the sustained head trauma start to manifest??  Or at least the psychological effects of all the beatings begin to emerge??

Well, Mitchum is certainly back to smug mode…

Mitchum, you really are evil, aren’t you?  I underestimated your ability and willingness to kill people.  “If you husband is still alive…” Not to mention the fact that you stranded BGwPT somewhere in the swamp where he’s sure to become gator meat…  And BGwB is OK with all this?  Maybe he and PT don’t go back that far, maybe they hooked up in stir and came out thinking they could do “jobs” together but that there’s not a lot of history or loyalty here…  and is thinking that now he doesn’t have to share in whatever fee Mitchum has promised…

Could it be all those years playing understudy to Jack Elrod, waiting for him to hand over the wheel??  Poor Mark!  I mean what did he do to deserve all the danger he’s been placed in since he went off on his local adventure where he finds himself treed, with an injured shoulder, overnight, by an angry Black Bear with a sore foot…

So as Mark calls out for his Cherry, we see that there is only so much buoyancy we can count on… And even if he remains afloat, face down isn’t going to do it…  and isn’t <<gurgle, gurgle>> a more accurate noise when face-down in the water, not ‘UUUNNNHHH?’

But good gravy, people, these are violent and desperate times we live in, right?   Is there nothing a person won’t do once intoxicated by the potential for profit??  Murder?  Mayhem?  Thy name is Mitchum!

I will say one thing for James Allen.  He sure likes to blow sh*t up…  And judging by the silhouettes, I’d say that BGwPT took more of it than Mark did…  in fact he may have shielded him somewhat…  Only this time there is an extra ‘O’ in B O O O M…

Empty Vessel you say?  Never an Empty Vessel when Mark is around.  His cup always runneth over even in the most dire of situations.  One might assume that they are both dead or stunned to the point where drowning is a given, but don’t lose faith, dear readers, people have been known to survive these kinds of things in the Trailverse…

Let’s just say for argument’s sake that the keel on the Swan is fixed and the overall draft is 8 – 10 feet… and that the water there is at least a few feet deeper so as not to damage said keel,   it makes “punting” out to the boat depend on having a pole at least 20 feet long… And Mark, wouldn’t it have been better to knock BGwPT out and leave him stranded with the Alligator?  Rather than have him along as a constant nuisance and threat??

Plus I would imagine that BGwPT knows something Mark doesn’t…  that the ignition is rigged to blow the whole thing into oblivion…  this information asymmetry does neither of them any good, though, as Mark forces them both back onto the boat…  And Speaking of getting back on the boat, did someone think to leave the ladder down?  Otherwise, they will need Jedi powers to get back on board…

I still don’t understand this whole “hostage taking” thing…  how this makes anything any easier… if the goal is to get Justin and his “friends” (and their ilk) out of the way, he’s going about it in a very clumsy way…

BGwPT must be thinking…

Your boat??  Really, Mark??  OK, so it’s yours to use, but that’s about it.  And let’s hope it’s well insured without any exclusions for losses related to terrorist acts…   But it’s great how BGwPT just stands there, all bald-pated and slack-jawed, with all the fight taken out of him…

But what about the dude Vince Wilkins who appeared briefly looking for boat motor parts, who was “punting” around in his backup boat??  How does he feature?  Does the Bull Shark swim upstream in the brackish waters and wreak havoc with those who are bent on doing bad??  Oh the suspense!!

Wouldn’t your cousin’s interests be unaffected??  Unless he sold you the land on a Land Contract or something and there are still payments to be made??  OK, I know I over-think these things and there is only so much detail one could fit into the daily frames before it would become completely stalled and unreadable… Sort of like Star Wars Episode I, II and III (not IV, V and VI) where we were treated to a terribly boring story line about how Jedi Knights were dispatched to break an impasse over what?  Embargoes and Trade routes?  <<yawn>> and that set the tone for the entire movie…  complete with votes of no-confidence in the Galactic Senate  <<double yawn>> and Jedis protecting Politicians (OK, now that’s just stupid…)

But I digress.

Certainly one thing that’s nice, though, is that Mitchum feels compelled to share everything about his motivations, which certainly helps move the story along…  “So don’t ‘Buddy’ me,” says Mitchum…  “I have a plan and I am going to execute on it!”

Age can be so deceiving in the Trailverse.  Hard to make a positive determination…  but if Mitchum and Justin “started” Riverway (nee Petrox) Chemical “15 years ago” and he doesn’t look to be a day over 30… And once again it becomes very clear that Mitchum hasn’t completely thought this one through as far as what to do with all the people involved…

But oh, Justin, turning on the Ol’ Droopy Dog / Sad Puppy Dog Eyes routine…  do you think that’s really going to work?  Clearly you are in league with a mercenary heart and there’s only one thing that’s going to move him- and that’s money.

BGwPT will NEVER be able to show his face at the bad guy union hall again!  Bested by a Nature Writer!!  Who is right handed and bats left!!  Right finger on the trigger, left arm akimbo, Mark you certainly cut quite the intimidating profile…

Yes… Meanwhile, back on the SWAN…  BGwB, formerly a demolitions expert with the Navy SEALS, has rigged the explosives and handed the modern-day plunger to Mitchum…  And goodness, what a demanding sort you are, Mitch, calling out that BGwPT is putting you terribly behind schedule…

Are Cherry and Justin knocked out?  Tied up?  C’mon people, where’s the struggle?  You only got one Bitch-Slap in you??

You are so confused, aren’t you??  “I’d better help him out?”  What?  Help him see the error of his ways, get him to turn away from his life of crime?  Pursue a life on the grid??  I guess Mr. Ponytail has high-tailed it out of the swamp and has left his gun behind.  Does Mark use the gun on the Gator?  Of course not, he grabs a big stick to “Scare the Gator Away…”  Forgive me, but I doubt highly whether that Gator is going to respond to that in the way Mark anticipates…  But nevertheless, with the magnum wedged smartly in the back of Mark’s waistband, he grabs the stick and takes a whack…  But what’s this?  More left-handed-ness…  With Mark’s right hand at the bottom of the stick, this is the posture that would be assumed by one hitting from the first base side…

So with the Gator’s work done and now dispatched, Mark will go waive his gun in Mitchum’s face and save the day?  Seems like we are still at something of a stalemate here…  it’s a battle of wits between two guys who are unfamiliar with how evil really works (witness the cluster that is unfolding on the boat vs. the undying virtues of one Mark Trail)  But we all know how this is going to turn out… or do we?  Death has visited the Trailverse from time to time…