C’mon Cherry – you know the drill… Mark has to leave Lost Forest in order to keep the story lines moving… there are bad guys and now a Chiropterologist waiting for him to enter their sphere in order for their own lives to become more interesting…  No concern of yours is going to get in the way of that…  Makes me think of the Movie The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey.  What if Mark became aware that his entire life was on display for the sole reason to provide entertainment for the masses?  Would he ever mug for the camera?  Would that level of awareness (I know it’s a stretch) change the way he behaved?  And how prescient was that movie (1998)- to predict that we would soon become a Reality TV Nation? about to elect our first Reality TV President??

More panels from the library… we have certainly seen this series of images before…  Mark announcing that he is about to leave and Cherry showing “concern…” Still shocked that Mark hasn’t heard from Bill Ellis about that boat he blew up… I guess consequences are for us mere mortals…

…or even empathy?  As Doc shows off using his big words, he anticipates the questions coming from (at least) Rusty and points out that the 5-dollar word coming out of Doc’s mouth , Chiropterologist, means that he studies bats…

Classic scene in Panel one… In fact I am sure I have seen this exact configuration before– with Cherry in slight repose on the arm of the log chair, Mark hunched over, in his naturalist khaki ensemble, fire blazing and Rusty looking on from a relatively distant corner of the shot…  Andy asleep and farting in front of the hearth.  Warm days (recall the shirtless scenes from earlier) must give way to chilly nights in the Georgia Mountains.

Looks like Ol’ Doc has gone in for Just for Men- Touch of Gray on the Ol’ eyebrows…  a rather striking look, I must say.

Still confused, unless there are multiple Cuevas de Los Muertos… seems the one we are interested in is in Texas… Good to know that Mark will be able to stay in the lower 48 and avoid international waters… at least for now.

…only to tell Cherry that he is out of there- just a soon as he can pack his bag!  A hug and a kiss and he will be heading to the airport to join his “Old Friend” en La Cueva del Muerte.

The usual suspects are gathered to bear witness to the telling… it’s good that the word balloons pop out of the house, otherwise, they wouldn’t know what is going on!  The palette seems a bit muted… perhaps a harbinger of danger that lies ahead.  Let’s hope that Mark has already called Bill Ellis and received permission.  Man, he really is Bill’s bitch, isn’t he?

Seems innocent enough…  What possible danger could this assignment put you in?  Go spelunking through a hibernaculum and come out with a story that practically writes itself??  One downside I can see immediately- you will have to climb down off your perch and put some clothes on…

So, with the application of Occam’s Razor, where the simplest of explanations holds the most water, Mark will now go visit his old friend Gabriel and see what trouble he can find… Cue the music- he’s off on another adventure…

That’s Public Service Announcement, boys and girls… and a quick read of the literature suggests that humans are neither the cause nor would we be readily impacted by this situation, so while the small furry creatures are indeed cute and it’s sad to think that they are dying in droves, there might be more important causes to go after?  Mark will for sure go to Bill Ellis now and ask for a travel voucher… and we will no doubt get to meet Jose and Jefe, the two baddies in the cantina…

…and never above (or below) doing a little fact-checking, here’s a map showing spread of this dread disease from www.whitenosesyndrome.org …

…hey man… you missed Nebraska!

I know that you have special powers and all, the greatest of which is the fact that this strip is named after you, and therefore you have immortality and United King Syndicate on your side… But seriously, this is really getting to me.  And put a shirt on.  Your freakishly toned body has me more than a little weirded-out.

“If by ‘honest’ you mean that I told her this morning that I was going on ‘a little hike’ when in reality I was risking my very life in a solo free-climb…” then the answer is yes… And by the way, if Mark now has a body and temperament suited to that activity, then Gabriel certainly has a physique suited to “crawling around in the dark,” as Mark so eloquently puts it…

But there seems to be a little sadness in Mark’s “Ha Ha Ha…”  As if he secretly wishes that he hadn’t taken the deal by which he could remain a kept man- the whole package, as it were, even if under the James Allen regime they get to sport awesome, hard bodies with suggestions of actual intimacy…  a deal that includes pretending to be father to that Rascally Rusty, whom we mercifully don’t have to see very often…

And thanks to which/whomever kind reader(s) chose to take a long drink from this hose on the last day of 2015… you put me over the  top, stats-wise.  Part of the fun in this is seeing how many people come to take a look at this nonsense.  I don’t do anything promotion-wise, so by now it’s all word of mouth or somewhat random Googling.  Thanks everyone for stopping by and staying with me!  Happy New Year to you all…