Mark’s story just took another turn towards Cloud Cuckoo Land…again. This adventure (or nightmare) is like a chameleon that keeps changing its color every time it takes a step. “What would you do after you found the strongest woodsman, Sid: Have a fight to the death?Start a YouTube fan channel?”
Let’s give Sid’s declaration in panel 1 a moment of credulity. Why did Sid invite a bunch of soft, city geeks to the retreat? Was forcing Jeder into the forest part of the test? Jeb’s a journalist, not a woodsman, of course. In fact, we haven’t seen any woodsmen in the camp, which seems to contradict Sid’s boast. Okay, the moment is over.
And then we have clueless Mark, who seems to like channeling Gomer Pyle all too often. Mark should be pissed that he wasn’t asked to participate in this contest. If I was Mark, I’d also be upset about Jebediah admitting that his investigative results were just guesswork, not facts. No scheme to destroy the world.
Once again, Mark follows the Trail less used. What the hell is Mark talking about, anyway!? Is he trying to mislead Sid Stump about Jeb’s discovery? This is like one of those high school movies with the bully and his posse pushing around a weak and timid freshman. Mark is the upper class quiet guy who’s had enough and steps in to put the bully in his place.
Okay, that’s how it’s set up, which means that’s not how it will work out. But exactly how are they going to stop Mark and Jeb from leaving? Did Stump have the foresight to embed digitally enabled land minds around the forest? Will Mark do anything other than bluster about doing the right thing and shoving his integrity in Sid Stump’s face? Maybe they’ll just threaten each other to death.
A third straight week for Mark. Poor Cherry, we last saw her in the flooded rooms of the Sunny Soleil Society with Violet Cheshire, around April 22nd. I reckon we’ll spend yet another week in the woods.
So: How to explain today’s situation? Doesn’t “surrounded” mean trapped on all sides? Perhaps the phrase “confronted by” is more apt. Anyway, the enemy has invaded.
And why is Sid stump dressed like some combat-ready karate kid? Why are those three wearing bandoliers; are they expecting to fight off federal agents? And are those really guns in their hands? They sure look odd to me. Maybe these tech-weenies just came from a paintball session.
Given who showed up, Mark looks unduly worried. If he can’t take care of all three of those walking nerf balls, he should turn in his useless “fists o’ justice” or pass them on to Cherry.
The story took a few more turns the past week. Journalist Jebediah Jeter continued to explain to Mark his presence in the forest, due to threats from malevolent tech guru Sid Stump. Jeb said that “heknew too much,” so Jeb exiled him to the forest to be killed by a bear. But what did Jeb know too much of? Either that Sid Stump is using A.I. to flood the world with misinformation to create worldwide havoc, or that the A.I. scheme is really a scam and Stump’s realsecret plan is to con rich people into investing money into the project. We learned that Stump was aware all along of the dangerous geology in the area and was selling the camp as an experience with the thrill of danger. At this point, I’m not sure where the STEM concept fits in, except as some kind of public “cover.” Maybe a phony public cover story makes a good proof of concept for his A.I. misinformation plan!
I presume the incentive for investors to support Stump’s A.I. scam—or scheme—would be finding ways to capitalize on the instability generated by the misinformation: Taking advantage of the stock market or seeking political gain, perhaps?
But Jeb is now stuck in the forest, unable to leave, but protected by the bear that was supposed to kill him. Apparently, Jeb never thought about simply walking through the woods to get away or walking out with his Bear bodyguard by his side.
Mark did offer to give Jeb a ride down the hill. Unfortunately, Mark’s ignorance of how light functions at night created a new crisis. Sid Stump and the two NFT Bros were able to track them down because Mark kept his flashlight on while pointing it upward, like a spotlight. Stump was kind enough to give credit to Mark for helping make their discovery possible. And that’s how we ended the week with a classic “cliff hanger.”
Another really good title panel! Box turtles were plentiful where I grew up. As little kids, we sometimes fed them wet dog food. They looked cool, and we sometimes kept them as pets for a while, but I remember they were too much of a nuisance to take care of, especially when you are around 8. They weren’t dangerous and they usually closed up when we approached. We also had snapping turtles in the area, sometimes big ones. Now, those dudes really were dangerous! We fed them sticks that they would bite down on, then we tried to raise them up by lifting the stick. They’d ultimately let go, dropping down into the swampy area where they live, with a big splash. We’d haul our little butts out of there real fast. Yeah, we were a bunch of very young, stupid kids, laughing at the excitement and our fear.
Well, I said questioned the foolishness of Mark shining his flashlight directly up in the air. Who the hell does that, anyway? And zooming in on panel 4, we can see the two jerky NFT Bros form Sid Stump’s posse. But what the hell can they do, anyway? Do they carry guns, knives, or other weapons of destruction? Don’t see anything, so far.
So, maybe Jeb is a wuss, but Mark isn’t a runner. Besides, we should expect to see Protector Bear lumbering to the rescue…when the story resumes after a brief turn to Cherry.
Okay, the potential AI menace seems to be getting lots of press these days, as it is in the Trailverse. How did this wind up in Mark’s wheelhouse? I mean, Jeb is a journalist, right? It’s his story and his concern. Mark’s story is the bear. But things have gotten all twisted around. Now, the bear(s) has somehow taken on the task of protecting Jeb, instead of just killing him. Maybe the bear is on patrol at this moment. But just how the bear decided (or is even able) to become a bodyguard is not clear. Maybe that is what accounts for the bear’s incursions into the tech retreat.
Mark is clearly not going to run out on Jeb, and I fear that we might see a repeat of the car chase scenes from the Palm Springs adventure, as Mark and Jeb barrel down the hill in Mark’s speedy station wagon, chased by Sid Stump in a BMW M760i xDrive sedan, or equivalent. Gawd, I’m starting to think maybe going after redneck poachers isn’t so bad a storyline, after all. Well, Rivera could jazz it up by proposing professional poaching gangs, rather than backwoods hillbillies, as used to be the norm in this strip.
The Tech Bros sure missed the boat for a money grab with their phony NFT scam a while back. Now, it seems they (and the others) are being groomed to support Sid Stump’s AI scam. I can appreciate the ironic justice. So AI is the new geek toy in town; not that it is actually new, of course. Even I wrote basic AI programs over 30 years ago. But the technology is a lot more advanced; advanced enough to start fleecing suckers and suckering innocent people. Misinformationis going to be the coin of the realm once the election season really gets moving. And I reckon the cash will come in from those who benefit from the chaos and fraudulent voting claims.
In any event, once again (i.e. Cricket Bro in Palm Springs and Cricket Bro in Portland) Mark is in a situation involving computer tech, which has little to do with nature or his regular skill set. It’s like an old LP with a scratch that forces the stylus to catch and keep repeating the same bit of music. Of course, the bear is just a plot diversion, mere window dressing.
This is at least the third story where digital hanky-panky is taking place, and Mark is no computer nerd. Is he just going to hammer Sid Stump into the ground and call it good? I’ll note that Jules Rivera has so far ignored my sage advice about giving Mark a tech-weenie sidekick to at least give stories like this one a semblance of practicality. Since Rivera likes to retread characters, I think Diana Daggers appears to have some qualifications.
It seems Mark’s role here is going to be similar to the one in the Cricket Bro/Palm Springs adventure, where he assisted Aparna (?) to steal back her original app code while he kept staff busy with his mediocre boxing skills. I’d love to be wrong.
I stand corrected and applaud Rivera for adding some additional depth to this story. The issue is not so much the capability of AI as it is the capability of Stump to scam the campers. This could have been a sweet turnabout on the Data Bros. and their attempted scam, except for the fact that they—like the others—apparently have no money and hope to squeeze a spare million out of Stump. It’s quite funny in a way: everybody is secretly there for the same reason.
On the other hand, this explanation seems to contradict Jeb’s original statement that the issue was Sid’s secret plans to fill the world with misinformation. Of course, I think we all know Sid was grossly behind the times on that idea.
However, I’m also not clear on the geological issue expressed. Okay, the cliffs are unstable. So Stump attracted his marks with the challenge to brave dangerous terrain? Cricket Bro and Faux Professor Bee Sharp didn’t sound like they were aware of that challenge when they went over the side. Is Mark signaling for a rescue chopper?
Sorry, Jules, but you let the proverbial bear out of the bag last week. We already know why Jeter is stuck in the woods. That wuss of a reporter apparently doesn’t have the brains or stamina to simply walk out. On the other hand, optimistic Mark thinks that he, himself, is safe, not realizing that fraternizing with “the enemy” will not earn him bonus points with the management.
Meanwhile, the bear hunts for commenter Daniel’s picnic baskets.
Rivera must really like her “image” balloons, as she seems to be using them more often. But do we really need to be reminded of what a bear looks like? It doesn’t look very protective, anyway.
Also, I think today is a wasted “rehash” day. We learned why Jeb has been in the woods in Saturday’s strip, just two days ago. Even an old fart like me can recall things that far back. Something tells me that Tuesday may not get us much farther along with the plot. Just a hunch.
Tune in next time for “Bears are fine once you get used to the smell“, or “Yogi found his new Boo-Boo“
The Daily Trail 