As Mark gestures hypnotically in panel 1, . . . wait, that’s Mandrake’s hook. I suppose that Mark’s gesture is just a “howdy!”  Too bad, too, since it seems Ellis gaslighted Mark with his fake powderpuff description. What the hell is a road-side zoo, anyway? Do they even have those in the States, or is Mark off to some foreign country where there is no American Embassy? Still not sure what the actual assignment is, but I hope we at least get to see some new faces this time out.

But, why Teen Girl Sparkle magazine again? When Bill Ellis introduced Mark to his new business arrangement back in October 2020, there was an extensive array of special-interest magazines he could be working for. Instead, Rivera seems to have fallen back on the worn-out cliché that “same” is better than “new”.