Editor’s Note:  My wife and I are going on a “short break”, as they say in England. That is, I’ll be on a brief vacation between today (Saturday) and Wednesday. Whether I will get time to post during this trip is unknown. She would prefer I leave all of my electronics at home, but I’ll see what I can sneak into my backpack. At worst, I’ll post a catchup after I get back.

Wait. Hold the phone! Stop the presses!  Just hold on there, Babba Louie! This ain’t how things are done. None of this makes sense. Anyone seeing today’s strip could assemble a list of errors, non sequiturs, and buffoonery. So I won’t bore you going through an obvious parade of absurdities.

More importantly, though, what is Rivera trying to accomplish here? Why does she lay out this series of improbable and outrageous events? Granted that many, if not most, of Rivera’s Mark Trail stories have been outrageous, goofy, or absurd. But this week’s strips take the proverbial cake.

Is this what the story was actually designed to lead us to:  The downfall of a politician who was bought by the big, bad transportation company in order to cover up major accidents that shine a light on corporate mismanagement and corruption? If so, it’s the fastest damn arrest of a state government official I’ve heard of, without the need for documented investigation, evidence, subpoenas, legal search warrants, or due process. It must be a proof of concept that Mark’s nighttime ride and livestream (echoing Paul Revere) really did make a difference.

And what’s with those red and blue geometric backgrounds in panels 3 and 4? Unreal! But that makes me still think this is some kind of nightmare dream that Mark is having on his train ride to Ohio. Else, Rivera has been getting into the mushrooms.