No, this is not a reenactment of General MacArthur fleeing Corregidor in the early days of WWII. But I imagine the sentiment of the title is in Mark’s mind.

But I know what you’re thinking:  Why does the boat have to “take off”? It’s not grounded on the beach any longer and the gators can’t jump into the boat. So, what’s the big deal, other than the need for Mark to climb in?

There is a casual familiarity these days where adults and parents no longer get to be called “Mr. Trail” or “Ms. Trail”. We’re all on the same level, regardless of age, education, or number of TikTok (or BikBok) followers. In any event, seems like this rescue is more for effect than reality; in spite of the sun ray effect in panel 3 that apparently symbolizes a significant action. I reckon the kids think so. If Mark is worried, he’s probably worried that Rusty will actually panic and gun the boat, leaving him behind. So, the kids have an adventure to tell their parents and friends. And most likely, those parents will wonder whether to bring a lawsuit against Mark for child endangerment. But that wouldn’t happen to Mark Trail, would it?

Okay, they are alligators, to be sure. But the Little Orphan Annie exclamation in the title has some basis in fact. According to the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia (but backed up by the Online Etymology Dictionary) the origin of the term “alligator” likely derives from the phrase el lagarto (“the lizard”), a term used by the Spanish conquistadors to refer to the reptiles because they were too busy taking over the New World to bother with taxonomy. Of course, they were not biologists and taxonomy had not yet been developed, anyway. So it is a clever comic strip pun.

As expected, Mark has to make a run for it before the gators wake up and attack him. Looks like one did in panel 3, “chomping” at Mark. Ah, but the term “chomp” means to bite, and it’s clear the gator missed Mark. Perhaps “Snap!” would have been more apt. Oh my, this is what happens when you get diverted into word origins. It’s like an addiction! I’ll give Rivera a pass for “triathlon“.

Seems to me that Mark could simply jump onto the foredeck of the boat as it moves out. What’s the big deal here? This would still qualify as a dramatic conclusion to the escape. But I am seriously concerned that Rivera appears to have dumbed down this mise-en-scène. I told you I’m serious, so I get to throw serious terms around. Sure, it’s just a fancy-shmancy name for “all that stuff in the panels.” But there are standards to uphold…!

Now what’s with these supposedly dangerous alligators? They behave more like some kind of honor guard or a ring of admirers, for all the danger they have presented. Since gators can’t normally climb vertical or obtuse planes (e.g. the sides of the boat), I don’t see much danger to the kids, other than boredom or exposure to the elements. Well, perhaps Mark is making the best of a bad situation and playing up the (not really) danger angle in order to give the kids some excitement, instead of getting bored waiting for a rescue. Didn’t anybody bring along a cell phone?! Incredible!

Well, I was truly wrong in thinking that Cherry would appear on the scene by today.

Design-wise, Rivera has crowded the panels with redundant caption boxes. It used to be that she used them rarely, and with more finesse. Here, they only perform a pedestrian role of repeating what we can already see. It’s not as if we cannot follow the art, even as she has resumed some of her sketchy style, as seen in panels 1 and 3.

I certainly don’t wish to kvetch too much, but maybe I will. Why pad the story line with unnecessary repetition, such as this rehash of yesterday’s strip? It isn’t as if this is that new adventure comic strip, “Mara Llave: Keeper of Time”, which only posts new strips every few weeks. I think Rivera should be able to depend on readers to remember what happened the day before! Surely, Rivera could have added some new story content to fill out the week (for example, Mark avoids a gator’s bite by kicking it in the snout. Uh, wait. Mark can’t do that, right? It would go against his ethics and mission, perhaps.) Anyway, I reckon we’ll see the rescue party show up in time on Saturday.

Moving on to the drawing, this segment of the story reminds me a bit of old comic book adventures of the ‘40s and ‘50s, at least in the melodrama and some of the exaggerated drawing. Mark’s arms in panel 4 look as if they had been run over by the boat, itself. But the shifting viewpoint in every panel does help reinforce the action and dynamics of the unfolding crisis.

Mebbe Mark will and mebbe he won’t. But he better have some “Hercules” in his DNA, because these types of boats weigh a half ton or more! Still, I’m glad to see that Rivera at least recognizes that trying to push such a large water craft isn’t exactly like putting out your surfboard. So, mebbe Cherry, Jeanette, and Duke will suddenly pull up in the pickup and at least scare away those ‘gators?

This accidental grounding has definitely put a damper on time for the cryptid search, though we might expect it will be an acceptable substitute as prime storytelling back in school. Well, Rusty might have a different opinion, if the search does not continue.

Also, at some point those alligators have to get over their surprise and shock and start looking at Mark as a late-night snack. Push faster, Mark!

I really thought things were coming along, well, swimmingly, with regard to resolving this pesky boat/gators problem, when Rivera decided to move the water farther back, then give Mark apparent super strength. And also a third-rate punchline that makes no sense (to me).

But no way is somebody going to manually push a 15-foot grounded powerboat stuck in sand back into the water without assistance. And if Rusty is going to drive out the boat, doesn’t he first have to turn it on? Does he know how to do that, with somebody else’s boat? Well, details.

So, will Cherry & Company show up by Thursday’s strip? It would be kind of pointless to show up as they spot the boat churning away in the distance. That might happen in real life, but who wants that? This is an adventure strip. If you want real life, go read Peanuts.

Schulz died almost 23 years ago, but his strips continue to be recycled, like the nonstop reruns on Me TV. I reckon that is just fine for fans too cheap to go out and buy all of the reprint books available, so that the newspaper can give the slot to an up-and-coming cartoonist. But that is not what editors care about.

Artistic license in play, or is the tide rising around Mark’s supposedly grounded boat? Let’s look at the evidence:

The January 14 strip (near right) shows the boat clearly on the beach, with the lapping water and gators around it. The boat is definitely grounded.

But in yesterday’s strip (far right), the water seems to be encroaching on the beach and around the boat. I hope I’m not all wet, but today, the water is clearly all around the craft! Clearly, they may be able to escape by simply waiting for the water to rise some more, whereupon they can then get out without having to get out (of the boat), if you catch my drift.

On the artistic front, Rivera has been pretty consistent in her work of late; perhaps not in the style old-time fans wish for, but at least, not indulging in the odd elongations and extremes that have infiltrated her panels. Rivera has even resumed working in different viewing angles and compositions like she did in her early days. In panel 1 she even uses a gradated fill for the background forest, something she rarely does. But it is night, so the fill takes on the illusion of a foggy background. Unfortunately, the mood is jarringly broken in panel 4, with that bright, sky-blue background. Perhaps that is done to underscore Mark’s positivity?

Okay, Rivera! Is this an alley or a horseshoe-shaped cove? Perhaps “cul-de-sac” would be more apropos?

I wonder if today’s strip is an insider-salute to Rivera’s predecessors. Why? All of the text entries end with an apostrophe! Anyway, I have to correct Rivera once again:  This is not Mark Trail’s cryptid hunt. It is Rusty’s cryptid hunt. Mark is simply the driver, who is screwing things up.

Since Mark can sometimes communicate with animals, perhaps he can convince some of the reptiles to give the boat a push.

Over the past few days, I’ve noticed that not much attention has been given to Mark, whereas the campfire crowd talks as if the kids went on this boating trip alone.  It’s like an assumption that Mark is otherwise irrelevant, hapless, or helpless.  A cynic might proclaim that this is just feminist politics intruding into the story.

So, the cove isn’t too far away? Then I repeat: How come the Trails didn’t know about it, already? Is Rivera actually suggesting that this river is far away, yet Jeanette and the other local kids still made it to this launching site? And is this some kind of dead zone for smart phones? I haven’t seen anybody pull one out to try and call Mark or one of the boys. You can’t tell me that nobody on that boat has a phone! Especially the kids.

Well, I hope Duke carries a gun so he can let off a few shots and maybe scare the crocs away.

Call me naïve or call me a taxi, but it seems that a family as focused on the environment as the Trails would certainly know their local river fairly well. I’ve known citizens in New York that have never been inside the Empire State Building, or in London that have not visited the British Museum or Tower of London. Yet they weren’t architects or historians.

On the other hand, perhaps Mark did know about that location and deliberately went there. After all, if you are looking for a bassigator, perhaps it would tend to hide among the true alligators!? But as it is night, unexpected events overcame the hunting party.

Why does Cherry insist on holding her phone up all the time? Does she want to bore everybody with photos of the family vacation in Oregon? Show a report of subscriber numbers for the comic strip? Reveal secret photos of the illicit affair between Honest Ernest and Violet?

It also seems a bit late in the game for Duke to recall the dreaded horseshoe-shaped cove, when he could have warned Mark about it before he left. And why didn’t Mark already know about it? He lives here, too! Still, the story is moving along. More or less. This should signal a change of scenery, back to the grounded boat. However, that would mean making the dramatic change on a Friday, rather than Saturday. Therefore, I think we can expect at least one more scene at the campfire as Cherry’s anxiety levels rise and her phone’s battery dies. Or something like that.

The dialog reminds me of what you might hear in a commercial, as if Cherry is hawking some kind of product that Jeanette should buy in order to get cleaner hair, cleaner skin, or a cleaner carpet.

Anyway, that must be some tracker if it can identify the subject (Rusty) by name. Of course, if Cherry zoomed out a bit, she would likely get a better idea of where the boat is. But zooming isn’t always foolproof. If it’s like the typical online map you use when driving, manually zooming out is a great way to put your map in the wrong location. While driving home from Virginia recently, an errant movement of my finger changed the route and sent me heading to Chicago, rather than Wisconsin. I lost an hour just getting back on track while touring the backroads of southern Illinois.

Anyway, how will Cherry know Mark and the kids are in trouble, especially if nobody knows there is a tracker in Rusty’s backpack? Do trackers have alert buttons on them? I have no idea. You would think Cherry might do something more obvious, like call Mark.

There they are. Talking in short sentences. Like Jack Webb. Just the blab, ma’am.

To build up suspense, Rivera emphasizes the light-hearted bantering of parents and friends as of yet unaware of the plight of the frightened members of the cryptid search party, marooned on a boat, surrounded by crocodiles. Yet, I’m still perplexed how the campfire crew will affect a rescue, given that they apparently do not have another boat on hand. However, the de-bait team must surely have another boat or two that can be pressed into service.

But, man (so to speak), that is the neatest s’more I’ve ever seen. How did they get the melted marshmallow to conform to the graham cracker’s shape so cleanly? Don’t tell me that “Mr. Back-In-My-Day” trimmed his s’more!?

Two squirrels get frisky in the foreground, but the threesome misses the action and the implied hint. They have their own priorities. Practical Cherry’s chatter also serves a purpose: To activate the premise for the rescue of Mark and the kids, even though she doesn’t realize it as yet. Golly, how could I forget the tracker she placed in Rusty’s backpack (see the blog for January 2^nd)? No doubt, you did not! So how will they accomplish the upcoming rescue? And by the way, does Mark know about all of these wild men Cherry waited for?

I’ve noticed over time that Cherry’s face goes through several shapes. Not sure why. She looks a bit older in panel 3 than in panel 2, reminding me of somebody that might have come out of an old Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy comic strip. Sorry, my mind wanders.

This should set up Mark really well with those kids’ parents.

I wonder who gets to push the boat back into the water? Perhaps the de-bait team will once again show up to save the day, if that swarm of alligators holds off long enough. The only thing worse would be that they are in a dead zone and nobody has a signal.

Is Mark wearing some kind of inflated suit? It sure looks big and stiff. Okay, I suppose Mark sometimes does seem like a Gilligan (as faithful reader Daniel commented), but as for today, he is going all “Robin” on those alligators. But “holy sea cow”!? Not even close, Mark! The original Steller’s sea cow was discovered and hunted to extinction in the 18^th century. Nowadays, “sea cow” is often used as a nickname for manatees, who are herbivores. Anyway, Mark should have yelled out something more appropriate, such as “Holy swimming luggage!”, so that the kids could at least have responded “Huh?”

The gators certainly look threatening, like a swarm of hungry sharks. Of course, Mark has had some history, at least with the gator’s cousin, the crocodile. Here is one encounter, during his trip to Nepal, hunting the Yeti:

Talk about stiff. Well, at least the figures have some shading. Still . . .

Hoo-boy. I’m worn out just looking at all of the thrashing and krashing. I’m still confused whether the churning waters come from some weather incident or supposedly from the gators, which seems improbable. Mark must indeed be a Gilligan for piloting his boat into this dangerous area, losing control, and krashing. So, will the de-bait team win its bet to file an insurance claim for a lost boat?

What now — does a bassigator suddenly show up and save Mark and his passengers from the very hungry alligators?

Artistically, a dramatically impressive panel 1. But where the hell are they!? The Atlantic or maybe Lake Superior? I don’t recall that the body of water that has always been depicted alongside the Trail’s cabin was anything other than a peaceful lake or river, assuming that is where they are. Then again, there is that river course somewhere near Lost Forest that has the capacity to hold cargo ships.

Did the boat really collide with a gator, or did they just run into some bad weather? Or maybe they hit a gator in rough water? You’d think Mark would have checked weather conditions before leaving, right?

Another interesting first panel on this one, again with a somewhat dramatic scene of the boat powering through rough water. Not to press a comparison farther than I can lift a house, it reminds me of some boating pictures by the 19^th artist, Winslow Homer. Wait! Not in terms of artistic merit, but simply in terms of subject and dramatic effect. Check out Breezing Up and Gulf Stream. Again, it’s not a comparison of style or artistic merit. For that, no comparison can be made.

As for Mark, we continue to see how judgmental and out of touch he is, just like many parents. Mark is just an Everyman, I reckon. And maybe that’s the way Jules Rivera sees Mark Trail:  Not the heroic savior of nature who always makes women swoon and always knocks down the bad guys, but a regular guy with a job who only rises to the occasion when the situation calls. I think of James Stewart’s Destry Rides Again or Bruce Willis in the Die Hard movies.