A brief recap: More squabbling between the boys this week, as Mark tried to distract them with questions about mythological creatures having a link to real creatures. I think. But you probably knew that, right? Of course, a boat ride to find a cryptid would not be terribly exciting without a crisis of some kind, and two boys wrestling on the aft deck will not do it. What could go wrong!?

In a bow to Mark’s well-earned reputation with boats (especially borrowed boats), our last view was on Saturday showing this borrowed boat crashing into something, with alligators nearby. Was Mark distracted by his own teacher pose, or perhaps by cruising at night without a search light? Reckon we’ll find out tomorrow, but for today, Mark presents the Sunday nature chat.

Reusing that “see ya later” joke so soon, Rivera!? I think panel 3 is hilariously ironic, showing Mark and the boys boating around gators while questioning how you would handle yourself. Mark answered that on Saturday.

Moving on, Rivera continues to customize the Sunday title panel each week, and this one is a pretty good take-off on the effect of trees reflecting in the water. This title panel is actually a sacrifice in time and imagination by Rivera, as newspaper editors sometimes edit how much of a strip to print or even how they display it. They need as much space in the Sunday Funnies as they can get for those preschool puzzles and fill-in-the-dot panels that eat up so much more of the page space. The title panel is thus a sacrificial panel.

Anyway, this is a curious theme:  alligator viewing in the wild. There really are not that many places you can do that in the US, outside of zoos. Still, if people like spending tons of money for the chance to get up close and personal with dolphins and whales, I reckon they can do it with gators. As for me, I’ll depend on the safe distance provided by my TV set.