Well, on the plus side, Cherry is keeping busy, now that her gardening and landscape business seems to be in a slump after that she spilled the beans on that ugly Ernest-Violet love affair. Also, the artwork has remained at a consistently good level. So, I hope that Rivera moves quickly past this “hallmark” period.

As far as help around the house goes, what about Rusty and Doc? They’re around a lot more than Mark.

Anyway, if Rivera is going to emphasize their luvy-duvy ways, it might be even more interesting to see how it progresses. After all, Rivera did once show them both in bed down in Florida—exhausted and sweaty—in Mark’s very first adventure. Perhaps the syndicate came down on that. This is a family comic strip, right?