Hahaha, Kelly… “Trail of Destruction…” I guess this isn’t the first time Mark has gone on a rampage. Why does Kelly look like a zombie, though? With only the whites of her eyes showing in the first panel? The last panel is stirring. Very dark, very brooding.

I will say this about Kelly- with her angular features and long-in-the-jaw profile, she not the siren of old. She looks more like someone you’d want on your side in a scuffle.

Well, there you have it… Mark, this is your story, no one else’s. Now if we can only follow along without getting lost!

Haha… I see what you did there… a little pop-culture reference to a TV show that overstayed its welcome! Certainly can’t accuse Mark Trail of that, can we??

Meanwhile, back to The Fugitive, errr, I mean Mark Trail…

Can’t really make out what’s in the foreground of the first panel above… Some large winged creature? A Seed pod of some kind? Anyway, as Mark and Cherry catch up on the latest, they have both earned some bruises and scrapes… at least Cherry (likely) will not have any scrapes with Local Law Enforcement…

More BuB (Blown up Boat) references… as this is clearly now Mark’s legacy, thanks to the Allen era. I doubt mark ever blew up a boat under Dodd/Elrod…

Yes. Plot twist indeed. In the old days, Mark couldn’t get rid of Kelly if he wanted to, but now he calls on her for help? What? Kelly with the power of a ka-jillion followers on her insta? What’s that gonna do in the face of Federal charges? Get him a Presidential Pardon?

With not just his boat, but an entire fleet of boats aflame, Mark drags himself ashore to await his fate… This is so odd. Mark is on the other side of right and wrong. Actions and decisions have consequences… What will they be?

But not without smashing “Happy Sails” one last time…

Well, this brings a new definition to the notion of a Fireworks “Cake!”

Good bye, Happy Sails. See ya, helicopter. Adios, cruel world… What, is Mark going to hitch a ride with Mr. Shark? Learn how to breathe underwater (we saw him talk there a while back…)? Arriving with a Bang, I’d say, Ms. Rivera!

So no, no bullets, just eardrum-melting, brain-scrambling levels of sound. Seems a bit cruel and unusual, doesn’t it? And while I have steered clear of the political in this blog, clearly another example of the militarization of the police. Yet another reminder of toothpaste that we can’t get back into the tube, the Genie we can’t coax back into the bottle.

Happy Trails, indeed!!

All I can surmise from the last panel is that Mark is now getting shot at… We keep breaking new ground here, don’t we? So, as the Police give chase and the shark keeps pace, what will tomorrow bring?

“Armadillos are tourists who came to Florida and never left… Like Everyone else in Florida!” Ha!

But meanwhile, Mark is in some deep shite…

Remember that Mark can talk to the Animals… Sort of a Latter-day Dr. Dolittle… Except I think that Dr. Dolittle had more respect for private property and authority… And now is the time that Mark confers with the Shark… I wonder what wisdom he will impart?

Where do we start to rack up the charges? Mark, you are in some deep shite… Even the Bull Shark agrees. And this doesn’t even depend on Mark’s dad pressing charges. Mark’s actions and related consequences stand on their own.

Time for a head scratch and a reckoning I suppose. No longer “Famous Mark” as in, “Hey, I’ve read and enjoyed your articles for years…” but rather “Infamous Mark” who will soon need the best Legal Team (no) money can buy…

Speaking of Soul: if you have Disney+, I highly recommend the recent offering. Very good.

Going back a a ways, there was talk of Manatees… I stumbled on this clip (or not, considering the way that the internet works) and thought it fantastic… Mother Manatee with twin calves…

But let’s return to the scuffle…

Who is this guy anyway? One of Mark’s Dad’s Henchmen? And I though Mark had ruined the boat a while back by running it into a pier?

And who are we rooting for here? Mark? Not a very sympathetic character these days…

Daddy is pissed and sending in reinforcements…

Feel like I am watching an old Batman scuffle… Where I learned how to sound out all my short vowels- BAM! BIFF! SOCK! Not to mention the odd diphthong- POW!

So with a quick grab and flip, Baldy is going to get eaten by shark(s)?

And Mark, pray tell, where exactly is home these days? You options seem to be dwindling…

Stolen property, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, and now…

…Assaulting a Peace Officer (of some kind or another)… While a wading bird (looks like a White Ibis, except that the bill is all wrong- more Flamingo like?) cheers him on? I hope Mark enjoys prison, because that’s where he’s going.