Empty!

Just like for a dog there is nothing more exciting than what might lie on the other side of a closed door, we get our hopes up that the chest would be brimming with treasure!  Not so fast, Buckaroo!

Seeing that Doc can experience disappointment on this scale suggests that he hasn’t known disappointment at all…

… and we waste no time with this part of the story…

Cool Hand Mark… but what if this is like the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark?  And all manner of Angel, Archangel, Demon and such come flying out and heads start exploding and faces start melting?!

…the only question I have is why does JJ still have his backpack on?

Now that Mark has punched JJ (once!) into submission, and Leola has the gun, he seems to be ready to join “Team Trail…”  It would be funny if one had been following the story and missed ” The Punch” and now would be wondering “what the he**is going on?!”  Of course those of us who don’t miss a day still ask that question from time to time…

But yes, What in the world could be in that chest?  It’s a Treasure Chest, (as opposed to a boot locker,) so it must be treasure, right?  My guess is that our little friend, the creepy doll, is inside!!

This is weird… with Leola holding the gun it has been reduced in stature… compared to when JJ was wielding it…

And never mind that Leola is now pointing muzzle at Mark and Doc, with her finger on the trigger?  Given the look on her face, one could put other words into that speech bubble, like, “No more fancy stuff, Mr. Fisticufs…”

Doc is perplexed as always, and I am guessing that JJ is still out cold.  Mark is one of the original players of “The Knockout Game…” One punch is all it takes…  thankfully he only uses his powers for good.

Once again the astute readership called it!!

And with JJ distracted on the would-be gold, Mark lands a haymaker and sends the double-crossing bastard flying, backpack and all!!

Poor guy… what, was he expecting the scene out of National Treasure?

As JJ’s countenance continues to get more and more screwed up, Mark displays an expression I don’t think I have ever seen before…

Call it disinterested, lethargic Mark… where even the exclamation points in the speech balloon seem to be out of place!  Whereupon JJ displays (again) a massive dose of confirmation bias… We are seeking gold, therefore all that “glints” has to be gold…

Folks, folks, folks… Dialogue is on par… Bad, bad, bad…   Vultures portending doom!

JJ is employing classic motivational theory.  Always get more out of your people by threatening harm!  Have I told you that your job is at stake???

Again, Mark, as compared to what?  You spend a lot of time in mines, do you??

Oh, Doc.  You are indomitable.  Your enthusiasm, anyway.  Never mind that you are now being falsely imprisoned by this thug with a gun…  you are fulfilling a dream that you have kept secret for years.  Glad I noticed that Mark took a flashlight in with him, otherwise I’d have to wonder (again) where all the light was coming from…

Folks?  Hurry it up “Folks?”  What, is JJ from Minnesota?

The imagery of the futility of the wolves is meaningful here on a number levels, including what is trying to pass for an NBA team here in the Twin cities.  Not that I follow or care particularly, but it’s a good thing that the MN Twins are on a record-setting tear in the first half so that we can more or less ignore the Basketball team.  But then I am old enough to remember when we didn’t feel compelled to play all the major sports all the time…  But I guess we follow the money…  Just like JJ.

Criminality is the Criminal Nature of what is being proposed…  Threatening people with a gun qualifies for that, I suppose…

I guess we just didn’t see (Except for Mark) just how desperate JJ is…   But what’s with Mark removing his backpack?  Is he preparing to make a move?

By the way… Nice 3-D effect in the center panel, the way the gun barrel breaks the 4th wall… and we see that JJ has had time for a wardrobe change in the midst of all this- he and Mark are no longer Matchy-Matchy…

Really?  Mark, one can offer advice only from a position of knowledge and experience.  You have neither of these when it comes to what you are currently opining on…

Yea!  It happens to a lot of people… Just not me!! Ha Ha!  Like the wolves (with only two?) surrounding the Bighorn Sheep (entirely out of range…) JJ has neither the will nor the guile to pull that trigger, and Mark knows it!  Meanwhile, where is Leola?  Is it too difficult to include a fourth silhouette?  Is she hiding behind a pillar of rock, waiting to get the jump on JJ?  Or is she in on the whole thing??  Remember it was HER who so quickly blabbed the true intentions of the journey!

Funny when Mark runs into another human being that has to live with the crushing realities of life- food, shelter, transportation, making a living… Things he knows nothing about.

Funny too, how JJ’s countenance has evolved from maybe-bad-guy to sure-as-shootin’-bad-guy…

The facial hair and crooked nose were both dead giveaways, though.  That, and it appears that JJ brought a change of clothing, or perhaps the flood somehow dyed his shirt pale red?  Or pink like Mark’s?  Oops…

Welcome back Campers!  Oh, JJ, really?

It’s a pile of rocks!  Sure as shootin’… Oh, yes, that’s what JJ’s fixin’ to do with that gun, I ‘spose…

Doc, really? The dude’s got the drop on you!  Pointing a gun at you!  And you are still “glad to see that <he> made it through the flood?!”

Always cool, aren’t you Mark?  Ever in the face of danger, whether it’s being shot, blown up, or buried alive, you are always holding the torch for good… not to mention that you always “know” when something is awry…  But of course this plays into JJ’s world view- everyone has it better than him and thinking he deserves more… This is where envy will get you!

As Mr. Ring-tail takes in his daily meal, we see Cactus growing at altitude…

…as Mark (not to mention Leola) reveals once again their peevishness…

But Lo!  What joy can a rock pile bring??

Warming the cockles of the old man’s heart…

This trek/climb is emblematic of what we as the audience must (choose to?) endure in order to follow these “story” arcs.  Climb to the top, for what?  Jump out a window when there is a perfectly serviceable door?

Couldn’t we all!!

Mark your “canteen” looks to be about the size of a pint flask…  Which I thought you lost when you went face-down a while back…  Nice of you to share though…  And doc, this is nothing more than a heaping dose of confirmation bias– you want this to be “the way” so you are declaring all things “familiar…”

…is to kill his father-in-law.  If I am not mistaken, it was Mark who put the thought of this trip into Doc’s head…

With Accident-Prone Mark leading now, what could possibly go wrong… right??  A little slip and fall, it would all look so innocent-like…  and BOOM!  Lost Forest is his!!!  Mu-ah-ha-ha-ha!  Just that a little surprise would await him- the fact that Doc doesn’t own it either- it’s in some kind of Land Trust that has it set aside in perpetuity…  No Trail-wood!  No casinos!  No development of any kind… Well, there goes Mark’s dreams of laundering money for the Mexican Cartel…

What are we doing here again?

With Ol’ Doc Davis prattling on… and JJ lost to the raging waters,

Mark continues to play travel guide.  We have also seen more flora and fauna than one might expect to see in such rugged terrain.  Name that bird with the red spot on its crown?  Why, it’s none other than the Gila Woodpecker!

OK, Doc, settle down…

Doc, I mean it!  Shut your pie hole! Mark seems to be thinking as he snaps his head around and scowls… But wait!  Does the Trailian Sensory System  (TSS) detect that which mere mortals cannot?  Is there a threat?  Is the Primitive Panicky Primate Brain taking over the executive functions?  We’ll have to wait and see!

Doc is quite literally beaming in panel one.  Giving off his own light as compared to reflecting the sun’s rays, as it were…

Mark is maintaining his poker face…  The rear 3/4 view that we are all familiar with from the Trailverse clip art catalogue… Leola completes the picture.

Regarding comments about what the other Trails are doing back at the ranch…  Remember Mark and crew (despite the months it feels like) have been gone only a few days now.  Not that hijinx couldn’t already be ensuing or carnal desires sated, but if so, the family would be moving on that fairly quickly…

Can’t you just hear the music?

Mark knew this to be true all the time… the crooked nose, the facial hair… JJ wasn’t to be trusted!!  And well, campers, here we are.

And who is missing from the first panel?  Is Mark separating himself from Ms. Travelogue?  As she spouts non-sequitur factoids about death and flash floods?  Sort of reminds me of the scene in Rain Man where Raymond is reeling off statistics about plane crashes and resulting fatalities…

JJ is showing his true colors now… “Yea, see… “I’m separated from the party… yea… I have the map… yea, that’s the ticket…  I’ll get ALL the gold…”

So as the Bobcat stalks the Woodpecker, our silhouetted friends, now magically dried and coiffed,  stumble and stammer their way along, assuming that JJ actually wants to be found…

…and what a strange conversation…

Barney Google?  With the Goo- Goo- Googly Eyes?  Turns out he was the feature character in what is now Snuffy Smith, but was written out, rarely to be seen again…  Listen closely Mark, is Doc threatening a coup here?

Of course, we don’t give a fig for JJ himself… as the big cat breaks the fourth wall, looking pleadingly at the camera as if to say, “Please, write me out of this damn story…”

Got the shakes, there, Doc?  Again, who cares about JJ?  He was only good as the map holder, apparently.  That’s what happens when gold fever strikes…  it’s every man and woman for him/herself!