Today is April 21, the traditional day of the founding of ancient Rome by Romulus and Remus. One way the Romans tracked time was to count from the founding year of the city (“ab urbe condita”). Thus, this year makes Rome 2774 years old! To a Roman, that would be MMDCCLXXIV auc. Now, cut me some slack. How many opportunities do I get to trot out my otherwise wasted graduate school education?

And it’s not as if Mark or Reptiliannaire (remember him?) bother to celebrate Rome’s birthday! Heck no. As we see, Mark is too busy worrying about why he is at a party with so many screwballs, such as the guest of honor who is running to the foreground in his sandals to perform for…people behind him?

Okay, Jules got me. I guess I didn’t exactly see where this strip was going. But now we know what—or who—the Killer Bee is. Speaking of which, does everybody here have a name (and costume) that sounds like a Batman villain? Are you intrigued how Cricket Bro’s public announcements are reaching the ears of people more than 15 feet away?  Are we not also intrigued by the woman in the background holding a camera in her left hand and a smart phone (i.e., a camera) in her right? And the one person here who should be taking photos for an article is not!

Rivera is building a social climate that is as kookie as episodes of the British TV series “The Avengers”, when Diana Rigg played Emma Peel. Well, Rivera lives in California, so I reckon she is entitled to exploit the state’s reputation for weirdness.

When looking back from the time Jules Rivera took over this strip, we have watched Mark confront his cluelessness and discomfort with modern social mores and environments, as if he just awoke from a coma that began back in the 1970s. But as Cricket Bro has demonstrated, Mark is no longer the star of every situation; sometimes he is just a bit player. Still, I’m befuddled like Mark, wondering where and when the Big Problem for him to resolve will appear.

Quiz-Time, faithful readers: What is the clever trick Rivera is playing on us Trailheads regarding a popular Mark Trail comic strip motif?