Oggi è il mio compleanno e ho 71 anni. But I’ll let it go at that.

Rusty is continuing to shrink back into his “vintage” Rusty persona, which is a great loss to us. I had high hopes that he had enough moxie to follow through on his adventure. But, Rivera seems intent on emasculating all of the male characters. I don’t think that’s necessary, if the intent is to enhance Cherry’s presence and worth. She clearly has enough self-confidence on her own without having to make Mark, Rusty, and the “rest of the boys” look like misfits and punks. As I have written before, it is fine to take Mark down a few notches from his prior idealistic, straight-arrow, classic male-hero persona and give him some actual feelings, personality, and faults. But there is such a thing as going too far. Surely, Mark can be seen as self-assured and confident without being arrogant or elitist.

I really think Rivera could use an assistant so she can spend more time on the art, which is clearly suffering from the never-ending deadlines she has to meet. All of the prior Mark Trail artists had assistants (even Allen), so it would be a great idea for everybody if King Features paid Rivera enough to take on a full-time assistant. Write to them and insist they do this.

As for today’s strip, I hope Mark just walks away with Cherry and Rusty and takes the vacation they actually planned on. Forget these dweebs! If Dad can’t look out for himself, he needs to get out of the business.

“Cricket Bro deals Mark a crushing blow”? Huh? Did he kick Mark in the gonads? Although I generally support Rivera’s work, I do wish she would stop making Mark out to be some kind of temperamental, man-boy, especially when called really bad, hurtful, and obscene names like “nerd.” OMIGOSH!! The shame! I suppose one has to have standards, but for heaven’s sake, Rivera, what’s with this constant belittling of Mark and his inability to suffer any kind of criticism or jest? I wonder if he also just wet his pants? I’m surprised you don’t have Cherry stepping in to put Cricket Bro in his place.

Jules, please get away from indulging in so much of this kind of pointless and plotless soap opera slurry. And—“I beg your pardon!” is that bear bringing salmon to grill? Somebody grab some lemons!

“Sell NFTs”, Mark? I’m just a slow boy from Virginia, but it wasn’t too long ago that Cricket Bro was not only selling NFTs, he was creating them! Well, we have to keep in mind that Rivera created the two Bros and this NFT biz for the purpose of satire. I think.

There really are “NFT Influencers” all hyping the Metaverse, marketing digital products, and buying/selling NFTs. According to an information site (https://peertopeermarketing.co/metaverse-marketing/) “Gucci sold a virtual bag for $4115, and Digital Coutour sold a dress (also digital) for $9500.” Nike purchased a “digital collectables company” to create and sell (to real people) virtual sneakers for users’ avatars. I kid you not. This site is an interesting read.

So, what’s with the “lure them in” blather in panel 3? From what I’ve read, NFT Influences are more than happy to chat with you, work on your product or idea, and take your money. It’s why they exist.

I have no idea what Mark is visualizing in panel 3, do you? But I do know that this week is proving me right:  Rusty’s adventure is a lot more interesting than this so-called business meeting. And how is it that Mark suddenly knows so much about harvesting crickets, anyway? That’s Rob’s expertise, right? Still, if we take the story at face value (the only excuse I have come up with), Mark makes a good point in panel 4. And that point reveals the scam. I’m thinking the Crypto Bros will want to spin the implication of Mark’s question a lot differently to keep their patron (Happy) satisfied.

So, Mark needs to visualize a granola bar just like Crypto Bro Jadsen Sterling needs to visualize a cricket!? Why do we care about that, anyway? I don’t think we readers have to wonder what a granola bar and a cricket look like.

Taking this story at face value, it isn’t too difficult to begin to see the scam element of this scheme. Even Mark seems to be nearing the Shores of Clarity with his last question, which certainly has hit a nerve with Jadsen. Either that, or Jadsen thinks Mark’s response is just a bad joke.

Ah well, we can only hope that Rusty’s story will at least continue on in the format of Cherry’s stories: 1 week for Rusty, and 2 weeks for Mark.  So, gird your loins and settle in, dear readers. And it seems that the Crypto Bros are grilling at night! Is that even permissible!? I’m sure that Steven Raichlen must have some kind of rule about that in one of his books.

Regarding the current storyline, let me shout “NOW HOLD ON THERE!” Happy Trail is suddenly au fait with crypto terminology and related BS? Wasn’t he the grieving sad sack back in Florida, realizing he had been taken advantage of by his “new” family members? And here he is now, shilling for them, like some kind of TV infomercial tout at 2 AM. And Mark, who should at least have a modicum of understanding by now, once again reacts like the country rube he portrayed in his Palm Springs adventure with Reptilionnaire and Cricket Bro. Yet Mark was the one lecturing Pappy Happy on the dangers of NFTs, crypto, and block-chaining!

A few notes on the art:  Some good, if subtle, touches in the art today: 1) the balcony seems to sport a semi-transparent wraparound, so the lower bodies of the people are realistically obscured. The panel shows a composition with the surrounding forest (except for the owl). In panel 2, the Bros and Happy are at the far end of the balcony and looking at us, like a faux “break the fourth wall” kind of thing. It simply means Mark shares our viewing angle. Nice concept!

The poor dear! At the first sign of possible danger, our intrepid “Hardy Boy” turns to mush and wails for his mom to rescue him. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall that the old Rusty freaked out so early on in his Mexican adventure, at least not until near the end. But then again, That Rusty had a partner.

Okay, this must mean another plot twist is being thrown in. Rivera must not think Rusty has enough personality to keep readers’ attention on his own, so he is going to get a partner, I suppose. If true, I think it is a mistake. Give Rusty just a tad more maturity and reasoning and he’d be golden.

If this was Mark or Cherry, we’d be pretty pissed, I think. But I think it fits right into a kid’s imagination. Now, as far as what Rusty sees, I suppose the reality is it could just be a malformed tree or some other inanimate object; actually, the Seaside Specter; or worse, somebody pretending to be the Seaside Specter, which would humiliate Rusty. I’m hoping it isn’t one of those boring people back in the house thinking this would be a fun prank to play on the kid.

The art has been okay the past several days, though I’m still not sold on this flattened style, where there is virtually no effort at shading, hatching, or other techniques to suggest solidity or even light and dark. This visualization becomes even starker when the strips are viewed in their B&W newspaper format. The online coloring really influences the panels in a way that softens the starkness of the lines. I suppose a good question is whether Rivera envisions this comic strip as inherently B&W or as a color strip that has to be unfortunately printed in B&W.