The thought bubbles that connect panels 1 through 3 provide a nice visual lead-in to the flashback, though I’m stuck wondering why Cricket Bro feels compelled to discuss this incident with Mark and Cherry. Did this event take place after he and Mark were school mates? Because the flashback suggests it took place on the coast (i.e. California or Oregon). Maybe not a big deal, anyway.

Okay, we have two parodies of nouveau entrepreneurs:  Young, aggressive, rich, narcissistic, and amoral.  Like Mark Trail villains of the past, these two have “Punch Me!” labels stuck on their foreheads. The question is whether Mark will be the agent of humiliation or Cherry. But I suppose it can be a team effort.

So, let’s move on, shall we? We’ve seen enough of their backstory. No reason to beat it to death, like the backyard barbecue that took three weeks to cover. It’s now Thursday, so there are just two days to get the Trails settled in. Wherever that is. After all, Rusty has to break out of his non-essential “extras” role and then get into his co-starring role to go hunting cryptids.