Diana winds up and throws a zinger across the plate, while Cliff gets a bit of wood on it. But if Cliff bought the pancakes, why was Mark carrying them? And why was it Mark who initially offered them to Diana in yesterday’s strip? Did Cliff just suddenly elbow his ol’ buddy aside and move in on Diana? Or did Cliff just improvise when Mark froze in front of Diana, once again? I reckon Mark and Cliff must have also stopped off at Mark’s cabin along the way so he could pick up his vest. Well, no need to be too picky here, because the action is more interesting.
This scenario might actually work out for the best: If Diana warms to Cliff, good ol’ first-gear Mark will have an assignment once again and get to keep his job. I can’t believe that walking off of an assignment would look good for his future job prospects. Fortunately for Mark, panel 4 suggests that Cliff is making good progress. I’m not sure if those crosses above Diana’s head are Blue Angels flying in a loose formation, or some kind of symbol representing “Okay, I’m interested!” Now if Diana doesn’t invite Cliff inside to go over docking procedures, maybe those three can put together a plan of action. Please, somebody in Lost Forest needs to have an actual plan (which is more than I can say for our current city council. Luckily it’s election day.).
The Daily Trail 
Thanks so much for this blog, George. I didn’t realize the high quality of the strips you’re posting until clicking on one now, so you’ve given me a greatly preferable option for reading the comic without being tempted to indulge in the overly negative comments section at CK. And your daily commentary is interesting too.
Thanks, Cellardoor! I hope you’ll stop by often. I know what you mean about CK; a little snark goes a long way, and I’m guilty of getting in a little of that from time to time. But please feel free to offer your own insights or react to mine, as you like. I can take it!
I used be a commenter here when the blog was run by Dennis, the site’s owner and founder. I think I hounded the poor guy so much that he finally shouted “Uncle!” and made me take over, though he still posts from time to time. Okay, I might be a bit fuzzy on the details of the handover, but he wrote lots of interesting stuff during the Allen years, as you can see in the archives.
I’ll check out the older archives later, time permitting. Thanks for the heads up!
I feel your commentary is generally fair, even if you’re obviously not quite as big a fan of JR’s updating as I am. I will admit to having some issues with the quality of her artwork sometimes, especially since we know what she’s capable of, but I could never say that at CK without it being taken totally the wrong way. Even though Jules says she’s immune to the negative comments (which I know she finally stopped reading at CK), I really wonder if all that negativity didn’t affect her enthusiasm that was evident at the beginning, thus resulting in the more recent lack of effort sometimes.
Anyway, glad to have somewhere to read the strip that doesn’t bum me out daily. Thanks again!
Perhaps, but if you look at my prior posts, I think you’ll see I’ve been a pretty good champion of her strip, overall; though I do take issue where I find it…(as if this we were debating a draft of the US Constitution or something! It’s just a comic strip, after all!)
Yes, the consistency of the art has been an issue, and I think her earlier work shows a finer, more nuanced style that has hardened. Perhaps it is the schedule of deadlines, I don’t know. You bring up a good point about the CK comments, however. From what I’ve read, she’s always displayed a determined, solid attitude about herself. But I would hope that she doesn’t worry about CK too much, since it is only about 10 people, for the most part. And she has only to come over here and find a much more positive—if objective—viewpoint, as you were kind enough to point out. Indeed, I know she visited this site at least once and commented favorably. That was earlier t his year.
Anyway, enough about me. I appreciate your insights. Don’t be a stranger!