So this is what Rex was hinting at in yesterday’s strip: Unnamed authorities tried to burn the spilled chemical, but it got away from them. Got it! I guess that means mystery solved! Nothing left for Mark to do but move on to the next story, right?
Trivial Observations:
Don’t Mark’s comments in Panels 1 and 2 seem out of order?
Did you know about the 1970 exploding whale of Florence, Oregon, before you googled it? I did not! Wikipedia has a good account. Maybe Mark learned about this event from one of Happy’s stories about his grandfather, Forest Trail.
Art Notes:
Why do open mouths in Mark Trail often appear solid white? I’m guessing it is a stylistic feature, like Little Orphan Annie’s blank eyes.
The Daily Trail 
Here is a news story about the yucky incident — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPuaSY0cMK8
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Ah, the exploded whale. Ugh. Well, hope the “authorities” paid for the ruined car. A new car like that had to have cost around $3500. It might be 1970, but it sure looks like it was so far in the past. Heck, that was one year after I graduated high school!
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That was me – not sure why WordPress hid my username. Maybe the link to the Wiki on East Palestine/Norfolk Southern?
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Hid your name? I can see it plainly enough on the regular reply page. Maybe a time-delayed hiccup in page refreshing.
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There was a WordPress commenting issue where the whole username would appear as “[1]”. At least, that’s what happened on another WordPress blog I frequent.
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She’s been following the East Palestine/Norfolk Southern derailment story pretty closely, so it’s not clear how Mark can affect anything
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Ohio_train_derailment
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Sure, who could forget that, as well as the stubborn and furtive attitude of the railroad. According to the article, local police were not originally told of the nature of the spill. Bad situation and way above Mark’s pay grade.
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