Phew. Today’s setup and dialog seem like a parody of 1960s TV shows. Maybe Rivera still believes her target audience consists mostly of Boomer Generation readers. Maybe she’s right (though I’ve never found any statistics from her syndicate). After all, who even calls cops “Fuzz” anymore?

I dunno. Is Mark just playing along by humoring Rusty with his aliens search? And why does Rivera deliberately make Mark out to be a clownish hypocrite, then mock him for it (panel 4)? I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh. As parents, we were sometimes guilty of “Do as I say, not as I do!” behavior.

Still, one can’t get over the notion that Rivera is set against maintaining Mark Trail’s traditional image as a steadfast source of parental rectitude. Since pre-Rivera Mark Trail’s morality was a 1950s-time capsule, that’s probably not too bad of an idea. Maybe we’ll get more clarity on Saturday.