Okay, we’re certainly back into the kind of weird world of chaos and absurdity for which Carl Hiaasen is famous, though I think it might be too far out even for him. Well, maybe not for writer A. Lee Martinez, but we lack his monsters and deities. And certainly not too much for Jules Rivera. But it must be too much for Mark Trail, who once again finds himself not in control of the situation, but having his butt saved by the two naïve nerds he is supposed to be saving.

But just trying to make sense of this situation gives me mental cramps. I think I’m going to have to just nod my head, accept that absurdity is real, and wait for the situation to resolve itself. I fail to grasp

1. Why Prof Bee was waiting to follow Trail
2. Why he gave chase and ran him off the road
3. Why Trail was challenged about including Aparna and ReptMan
4. Why Bee appears to suddenly accept their flimsy excuses, in spite of Diana’s warning
5. Whether anybody actually in control here?
6. Whether the creators of Japanese anime will like the influences going on here.

We can expect Mark will make it to Cricket Bro’s mansion. What happens after that is a subject for another day. And we have three more days of strips this week to get Mark there.  So far, it has taken eight days of strips for Mark just to drive “half-way” (an educated guess), which means we might as well be watching an episode of 24. In spite of that, I have to admit that the story does not seem to be dragging. Confusing, yes. Anyway, it might be time for another Mark Trail Time Lapse to occur, where the Thursday strip finds the crew already inside Cricket Bro’s house, confronting the insect entrepreneur, himself.