“This hike was a bust.” What a quitter! Ah well, is this another busted adventure? The gang could not have walked very far before finding the horsehead mask. Yet, they somehow thought they needed some kind of GPS or compass to avoid getting lost. This suggests that Lost Forest is not very large or that Rivera decided to omit about four hours of hiking between the Thursday and Friday strips. It begs the question: Shouldn’t they just keep searching? And I agree. Stopping now would be a drag. By the way, this plot has nothing to do with the environment or ecology, right? Whoah! This is the Mark Trail adventure strip. Why can’t Rusty get involved in environmental matters like his parents?
Let’s get to another of the issues, shall we? (I’ll leave you to discover another one.) In panel 4, Mark says “I don’t know, Ernie.” Ernie!? WTH? Mark has been talking to his own son, Rusty! Has Mark spent so little time at home that he forgot what Rusty looks like? We might be able to make that case for the pre-Rivera iteration of Mark Trail. Another possibility is that Mark’s brain is working slowly and is only now reacting to Ernie’s outburst in yesterday’s strip.
Nevertheless, Mark’s lame joke in panel 4 is a clear setup of things to follow. For those of us who might be misled by Rusty’s all-too-easy surrender, Rivera has taped a “To be continued” sign to panel 4.