Is that a planet colliding into another one behind him??  Good thing we get to see this action in color, otherwise we’d miss out on half the fun…  In almost 3-D quality, Gabe launches himself out of the way of the falling column…  With Mustache and double chin intact, he appears to have saved his sorry ass one more time…  Do you think now we can get back to the “hidden beach” and the Helldiver airplane with the disappearing and reappearing skelton?

So, how long have we been in the cave?  Since February 1, Ladies and Gentlemen.  That’s right about 100 days…  in human time…  not sure how that translates into Trail-time, but good lord…  time for an alien space ship to land and abduct them.  That’s the only way I can see out of this…

Just like Donald Trump’s…

And it’s difficult to tell whether what is rippling under Gabe’s T-shirt is fat or muscle… I’m betting fat, since it’s harder to image him becoming ripped simply due to terrifying stress… or manufactured stress, for which this strip is famous…

Funny how, even in throes of sheer terror, the kind that would have your entire life flash before you, thought balloons have complete sentences…

It just occurred to me that the approach here is not unlike a storyboard for a movie– where countless drawings envision every detail in order to get timing and scenes just right!  So as we are being asked to wade through these scenes, second by second, we can imagine this all being done to create a full length feature staring Mark Trail!  Casting, though… casting is key…  Who would take on the challenge of playing Mark Trail in the flesh?  Ben Affleck?  Fresh off his “Batman v. Superman” experience, this would seem like a natural…  Like Mark, Ben seems to be perpetually 30 years old, even though he’s half way through his 40’s…

Well good lord, Gabe, don’t stop running!!  Just to watch the column come down on top of you??  Oh dear, what’s to become of Ol’ Gabe?   Monday can’t come soon enough…

Oh Carina, you aren’t the first girl to fall for The Trail…  and you won’t be the last.  As you stand in the passageway, faintly reminiscent of… oh dear readers, you fill in the blank… and as you cop a Trail-feel in panel two, Mark is oblivious to your advances…And what’s with the  hooked arm and clenched fist?  Odd posturing, there Mark…

Gabe, what is your deal- OK I get it, you saw yourself with Carina when this all started, and now that you have invited your “Old Friend” Mark Trail to write an article, a cheap ploy to help you maintain your grant,  he really has horned in and ruined your plans…  so now you are content to be buried alive, martyred on the alter of unrequited affections?  Is there anything more sad than someone who will not save himself?  Is desperation the most difficult thing to witness?  Maybe the ol’ ticker just gave out… too much stress and excitement for one who appears to have gone to the buffet for seconds too many times…

From George Atkins.  Brilliant:

So Carina made a run for it, having apparently abandoned her colleagues to die, only to be surprised/shocked that they are still alive. And while the two hapless souls are running towards her and a possible exit (from the tunnel or the story?), the ever-informative and scheming Mark hopes to confuse Gabe by looking off to the side, yelling “Over there, Gabe!” Or maybe the injury has left Trail addlepated; and he not only does not hear Carina yelling out to them, but seems to be confused by who and what is clearly in front of them.
You see Dennis, it is not just the readers who are confused here, but the characters, themselves. From one sequence to the next, they have no idea what they are supposed to be doing, where they are going, why they are in the cave, or even if they are really supposed to get out of the cave. I’d think they would welcome Jefe and his automatic rifle about now. And point it towards Allen.

***yawn***

…and what were we doing a year ago?  Why, it was Wally and the Beavers!

…and a year before that??  This was Allen’s Maiden Junket with a focus on the Trails…

I don’t know what exactly happened here, but this is interesting… could it be that the death of Jack Elrod in February, 2016 has left poor Mr. Allen adrift?  A competent artist but with little skill in storytelling?  Jim, (it’s OK I call you Jim?) I’m sorry if you see this, but really?  This is becoming just about unreadable…  I mean, Josh, the Comics Curmudgeon, doesn’t even comment on you anymore… It’s like whatever made Mark interesting has left the building…  I can’t believe that I am actually pining for a shot of Rusty and Cherry!  Here’s a hint… there needs to be a Villain.  Oh, I know, it’s Jose Jefe and Human Trafficking, but good lord, man, they are such a distant memory that they can’t even be considered part of the plot line anymore… Even the movie San Andreas, which mostly featured man against a rumbling and unsympathetic earth had character development, back story, love interests burgeoning- some things to keep us interested…

So whither thou goest Mr. Allen?  Find yourself a script-writer and get this train back on the tracks…

Yes, I am back to the notion that Mark is Superman… what with his restorative powers…

By now he is back to normal, no longer needs Gabe’s assistance and is in fact leaving Gage in the dust- literally- of the crashing columns being brought down by the constant tremors…

Please be sure to let me know where you live!  I have had a few responses, but not enough to complete my study!

An astute reader from last week, rustysrealdad, (ha!  just saw that name for the first time!  priceless!) noted that Gabe must have sweated is mustache off… thank goodness it’s back…

So with Mark’s arm wrapped around the now-noble professor, they are making their way out of the cave of crystals, laid to ruin by Madre naturaleza (Mother Nature…) Good thing that they were able to witness the beauty before the whole thing came crashing down around them!

How about, ‘I got this?’

With what I thought would be the strength of 10 Grinches +2,  Gabe hoists the column off’a Mark.  But he asks Mark to help him, broken ribs and all?  Weird.  But Gabe seems able to muster the strength that many “big men” possess, if they can only summon it in times like this…

So let’s see how mobile Mark is with smashed innards.  We should know that by Friday…

Thanks again for your comments… funny, but it would seem that many (at least a couple) of you are from Minnesota… what is it about us?  Trying something new- can you send me your name (first is fine, or just a handle…) and location, submitted in the form below?  Thanks!