So, our blue-tailed skink shows up after its Sunday premier. Yet another Rivera shakeup!  I reckon that my joke of a short shrift of the video shoot in order to jump to the after-party panned out. But isn’t that a cop-out? I mean, the whole point of coming out here was doing the video, right? We were all hoping to see Mark look goofy, out-of-step, and unintentionally funny. Instead, all we got was a few partial views of equipment and crew in the desert. Like the windmills, we are left twisting in the wind. Well, perhaps the actual video will show up in a flashback later this story. But consider: James Allen sometimes employed story arcs that suddenly disappeared and never returned (e.g. Dirty Dyer in the Caribbean).

Speaking of rivalries and regarding my passing reference to “Pearls Before Swine” cartoonist Stephen Pastis, today’s panels remind me of a video posted on YouTube several years ago of him visiting the home of “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams and challenging Adams to a drawing contest. On entering Adam’s somewhat lavish house, Pastis quips “So, ‘Dilbert’ really built all this, huh?” It’s worth watching!

Overall, I’m liking the art, not trying to make direct comparisons to the prior artistic conventions. Don’t think we have any “clip art” going on here, anyway. One minor quibble for me is the typography. Is it me, or does it seem a bit harsh or heavy? Perhaps that is meant to overcome the size reduction that takes place for newspaper printing. So, here is a section of the black & white Saturday strip, courtesy of my newspaper and my camera phone:

Apologies for the poor photography. Frankly, I think it may read easier in the actual newspaper. On the other hand, I think this example also highlights how much color does to liven up and define the artwork. Compare this to last Saturday’s post and you can see a world of difference. I would have liked to make that comparison last Saturday, but I don’t get the paper until later in the morning. But I may make a similar comparison later this week, on the same day, if I can work out the timing. I may have to post a bit later in the morning.