Oh, Cherry. The very last thing you need to worry about is Mark in a chemical spill zone. Even while you are talking like a young gal answering a question in a beauty pageant (panel 4), Mark is even now evading the law with his father in a car driven by his friend, Rex Scorpius. They could be in Kentucky by now. In any event, I don’t think you’ll be eating any freshly caught steelhead trout or walleye for a while.
In case you missed this week, Mark fell back on old habits. If, for some reason, you thought that an adventure comic strip that focused on preserving nature and the environment was a proper example of professional and ethical behavior, this week’s strips might alter that perception.
Mark and Happy attended an official press conference run by some caricature of an Ohio state senator. Not to be overlooked, Mark and Happy made their way up front and immediately started throwing accusatory and leading questions at the senator. The over reactive senator felt obliged to call on a squad of transit police—who were present for no apparent reason—to arrest Mark and Happy.
Mark decided he wasn’t leaving peacefully without getting answers to his questions. Thus, he and Happy squared off against the cops, in full view of everybody. Fists met jaws and Mark and Happy quickly fled the building, only to be met by Rex Scorpius and his mother, idling by the curb in his muscle car. How convenient! Seems they somehow knew Mark and Happy would be there, would get in trouble, and would need rescuing. Maybe they were reading the comic strip, too.
The police chased the quartet of scofflaws as they sped away, out of town. Along the way, Happy and Rex’s mom shared a nostalgic moment about the ’70s. The chase culminated in a cinematic car jump across a missing section of bridge. Such an attempt would spell doom to any other vehicle not equipped with a JATO rocket. There you have the week! And here you have the Sunday lesson!
Gawd, another invasive species found in Florida. We need to build a wall down there! Anyway, today we have another clever title panel. The topic is not relevant to the current story this time. In fact, it harkens back to Cherry’s and Georgia’s story about beehives depleted by an invasion of Varroa mites (June 2023). Since Mark and Happy’s train adventure was just “leaving the station” at the time, the following Sunday strip of June 18 was about the impact of trains on wildlife. I wonder if today’s topic suggests that we’ll return to Cherry for a week to see what’s going on with her?
How do you like Rivera’s carefully crafted description, “Mark and Rex’s high-speed car chase…”? I think that what she really means is something like “Mark and Rex’s felonious attempt to evade law enforcement.”
Speaking of the law, I don’t think the laws of physics allows a car to jump up in the air like that from a flat surface. But why am I asking such a pointless question? This is a comic strip! Maybe Rex’s mom really did watch The Dukes of Hazzard back in her glory days.
So, let’s see now:
Nope. Uh-uh. Sorry. Maybe this works if this is some kind of kinky dream Mark is having until Happy shakes him awake to get off the train. Otherwise, all we have here are two scofflaws on the lam, with two accomplices. Nice.
A miracle? I think not. Deus ex machina is more apropos and at least has a long, distinguished history in theater and movies. But an even better description would be “ridiculous plot contrivance.” I mean, the night before—and it was at least one night before—Rex cut out to take his mom to the airport for her new life in California. Here it is, another day, and she’s still in Rex’s car. I can’t wait to find out how this came about, to say nothing of how Rex knew what was going on. Unless the press conference was televised. In any event, this should now make Mark a wanted man in at least two states.
By the way, reader “be ware of eve hill” commented on the synchronized fisticuffs of Happy and Mark in yesterday’s strip. With its comic book sound effects, it brought to my mind the 1960s Batman TV show. Synchronized fighting was one of their shticks, along with written sound effects. Here is a snippet from one episode, with the Dynamic Duo dishing out their own fists o’ justice. The visual sound effects appeared on TV as full-screen cards after the hits, so I couldn’t show it. But you get the idea.
It’s my week for misteaks. Reader Downpuppy corrected a mistake I made yesterday in identifying the volatile senator as a United States senator, especially as the cartoon politician (that’s a joke, kids) had originally identified himself as State Senator Sam Smalls. Somehow, I must have gotten distracted and thought that this hyperactive and performative politician was a US senator. Not sure how that would have happened, but the editorial We regret our error. And remember, this is just comic strip fiction.
(So, let’s see if I can get through today’s blog without another giraffe!) Okay, I’m sure some of our long-time Mark Trail readers might remember sitting down with one of your kids to read the current Mark Trail strip together while enjoying a glass of milk and freshly baked cookies. It’s a tradition that might still be going on:
Dad: “Well, let’s see what’s happening today with Mark Trail, shall we, Mary? Oh, look. Here he is with his father, defending his journalistic integrity to get to the truth. And isn’t it nice to see the warm bonding and happiness between a father and his son?
Daughter Mary: “Ugh! Oh, Dad. Mark Trail is just a relic from the Cretinous Age of Male Domination, perpetuating vigilante-style machismo in a juvenile display of masturbatory violence.”
Dad: “Huh? Uh, well, no, sweetie—er, can I still call you that? This is the rebooted Mark Trail, deliberately separating itself from the original strip. This Mark Trail is an urban-aware, millennial-conscious take on the old-fashioned male-dominated world view you object to. This is a new Mark Trail.”
Daughter Mary: “Hmm, okay, Dad. I think I can see that, I think. That might explain Mark’s lack of civility and his disregard for law and order. I’ve been looking at it for a few weeks and he certainly hasn’t done much investigating. He’s kind of like a Twitter feed, isn’t he? In fact, all of these characters act stupid. Dad, is this strip supposed to be irony or parody? Are we supposed to root for Mark and his dad beating up cops or are we supposed to see this as a meta-level parody and condemnation of the original Mark Trail?”
Dad: “Well, that’s a pretty good question, daughter. Frankly, I don’t understand it, myself. I think maybe this rebooted Mark Trail is meant for younger people. So, I was kind of hoping you’d be able to tell me!”
Oopsie, for sure. Reader “be ware of eve hill” noticed that I had “accidentally” reposted yesterday’s strip today. I could justify that by saying I was making a point, but I think I just grabbed the wrong one. Hell, they all say the same thing, so waddaya want!? Such irony.
I don’t know if Jules Rivera has no clear understanding about the separation of powers or anything about areas of jurisdiction, but I’m pretty sure that U.S. senators cannot order local transit police to arrest people, especially on such a specious charge. We also have transit police carrying billy clubs! What is this, the 1930s again? Then there is the B-Movie dialog by one cop: “All right, buster, yer comin’ with me!”
So, when is a comic strip like a vinyl record? When it keeps repeating itself. With the record, there is usually a scratch that causes the sticking loop. What is Rivera’s excuse? We now have three consecutive days that essentially repeat the same moment. I don’t know why Rivera is spending so much time paraphrasing the same scene over and over, when she could be moving the story along or at least adding nuance and complexity. For example, why not get the purple press people involved by asking questions or protesting the arrest? Their totally passive appearance and lack of activity give the lie to Senator Smalls’ idea of any kind of a riot-in-the-making.
I noticed that one of the anonymous purple press people (between Mark and Happy) has shed its cocoon and is waking up at a most volatile moment. Hope he has his camera running.
At first I was going to comment on the unlikelihood of a US senator actually reacting this way, but we live in the Reality TV World of the 21st century. The senator’s description of Mark’s questioning may be on target, but his reactions are farfetched. Even for a senator.
Of course, Mark has his “The World Depends on Me!” ego in high gear: “Our environment depends on answering my questions!” Well, I think these two people deserve each other. What I don’t get is why Jules Rivera has Mark act like a street activist, rather than a journalist.
And it seems premature for Mark to be going into Accusation Mode before anybody has heard what the speakers are going to say and before any actual investigation is underway. It’s almost as if Rivera wants to get this story finished as soon as possible, so it’s like she’s skipping half of the chapters.
Where to begin? After the prior week’s high-level interview with tiger-pal Rex Scorpius, followed by Cherry’s phone call of concern and alarm, Mark and Happy spent some time taking pictures of dead fish in a river as evidence of the harm caused by the chemical spill from the train derailment. Then they went to a press conference led by Senator Sam Smalls and immediately dominated it by throwing out a series of leading questions and accusations about deliberate sabotage by train or government officials; accusations that the train was (secretly? recklessly?) carrying dangerous chemicals; and declaring that everybody knew the entire train system was unsafe, anyway. Perhaps Mark was still a bit steamed by his train’s breakdown.
Not that the content of the questions was improper, but the way they were phrased and at whom they were directed seemed misplaced. Mind you, Mark had no specific evidence for some of his questions, since he only arrived the day before and only had pictures of dead fish (that he never bothered to show).
This episode of off-the-cuff ambush-journalism seems a bit unusual for Mark, who—in past stories (such as the zebra mussels assignment)—felt it necessary to actually dig for information before going into action. By that, I don’t mean getting ready for a rough-and-tumble fist fight, as Mark and Happy were ready to do in Saturday’s strip when two cops started moving in to eject them from the press conference for their behavior.
Does Jules Rivera think that research and analysis are too boring or slow-paced to be interesting for readers? I submit that long-term viewer interest in TV shows like the CSI and NCIS franchises emphasized lab work and data analysis as central parts of those shows and were exciting in their own way. Rivera should take note! Speaking of taking note, check out today’s strip:
Rivera continues her creative idea to link Sunday nature topics to the current adventure, whenever possible. And she continues her tradition of customized title panels with this superhero comic book style title panel, as well. But really, now. N95 masks will not protect you against gas. You need, at a minimum, a chemical cartridge respirator mask.
Does Mark Trail think he is hosting a “Gotcha!” television interview program? Does he realize his aggressive behavior is about to make him knock down a miniature 2-D purple person cutout placed in front of him (panel 1)? Has Mark no concern for his fellow journalists?
Aside from Mark’s fusillade of unsubstantiated accusations and his illogical thinking that a senator who just flew into town would even know about any of this, we have the ridiculous picture in panel 4 of Mark and Happy squaring off against two uniformed people who I presume are actual transit police. That is, they have the power of arrest. Once again, Mark decides he is morally justified picking a fight with the cops. Remember, Rex Scorpius only said that authorities tried to burn off the spillage, but it got out of hand. He did not state that they deliberately blew the train up.
Of course, Senator Small’s reaction to Mark’s outburst is also over the top, but perhaps the US Senator is there to symbolize unnamed “authorities” and to also prevent comparisons with, and a possible libel lawsuit from, local New Palestine politicians in the real world.
So, what is the purpose of this theater of the absurd? Why have Mark act and react in the ways we’ve seen him the past few weeks? This is not investigative journalism. His actions fall more in the line of aggressive activism. Maybe Jules Rivera should just have Mark quit his nature journalist job and become a professional global environment activist, where he can be paid to show up at any calamity or problem around the world.
The Daily Trail 