The Trails are not the only people just back from a vacation! I fear Thursday’s strip will go down as either another Ghost-Artist Fiasco or a Deadline Disaster. Either way, the art looks slapdash. On the positive side, Rivera has decided (wisely, I think) to put Mark back into one of his own adventures and—hopefully—let Cherry and Doc Davis take command of their own mystery. But as we’ve seen before, the walls separating one story from another don’t always hold. Instead, Mark and Cherry have routinely interacted in each other’s business.

Does Rivera think our memories are so bad that we need a summary of the prior day’s strip? As for expensive medicine, sez who?!? Has Doc already determined the proper treatment?

What is more interesting is that Mark is willing to walk away from a paying assignment. However, realist Cherry will have none of it!