Well, shucks, drop my trousers and call me Cheeky. Doesn’t Honest Ernest present a nice contrast to the affected sophistication of his wife and the Sunny Soleil Society? Still, I’m surprised that Mark and Cherry are “surprised”, unless it has to do with the quantity of hokum in this yokum.  

Long-time follower of this blog, Mark, periodically expresses his ongoing frustration with the stories and the artwork. Certainly, it looks less accomplished comparing it to the former version using the same set of aesthetic values. Sometimes it just looks less accomplished, even based on Rivera’s standards. Take Ernie, here. He certainly looks like a literal blockhead, especially in panel 3. One wonders if Rivera is trying to make a visual pun based on Ernest’s personality. In support of this theory, I offer a definition by that 18^th century British man of letters, words, and odd gestures, Samuel Johnson:

“hátchet-face n.s. An ugly face; such, I suppose, as might be hewn out of a block by a hatchet“

If you wanted to visually portray somebody’s personality, how would you do it? Walt Kelly, the creator of Pogo had a knack for that. The jury is out on this one.