Jules Rivera has outdone herself. I don’t mean the panoramic view of the train station, which is reasonably good, even though it looks like an architect’s rendering. I mean the sudden change of time and location. Many of us recall how the pre-Rivera Mark Trail could instantly jump from home to some faraway land, whether it be Nepal or some Pacific Island. Are we now in Florida (where Happy lives) or wherever the hell Lost Forest is located?

Now, is riding a train the adventure of a lifetime!? Maybe, if you’re 8 years old or have been secluded in a basement for 30 years. Or does Rivera refer to the fishing trip as the big adventure? I shouldn’t think so for Happy or Mark. So, is Rivera being sarcastic or mocking the story?

Finally—and I don’t mean to nitpick every detail, but I have to do this one:  Five hours on a train (dead engine or not) is not horrendous, unless your destination is only 1 hour away. But I admit that Happy finally does look like an old codger (panel 3)!

Really though, Mark and Happy are on a train going north to Ohio. Now, we don’t know specifically where Lost Forest is located, though it has to be close to Florida. Creator Ed Dodd’s own real Lost Forest was in an Atlanta suburb. But this leads me to an alarming finding:

Average travel times from Atlanta to Cleveland (to pick a location in Ohio): 

Ride the train: About 27 1/2 hours.
Drive your car: 10 1/2 hours.
Fly: Less than 2 hours. Okay, this last estimate may be optimistic.

Maybe Mark was correct to be suspicious. Did we find the small hitch?