Okay, are we to suppose Mark likes to cross-dress or can we just say he grabbed the first coat he saw and ran with it? Moving on, you would think that “after all this time” Rusty would have spent enough time in the woods that Mark would have a bit more trust and not be such a worry wort.

Still, you must build suspense however you can. In fact, panel 3 is actually a nicely designed dramatic composition, though perhaps it deserves a more significant threat level. But once again, Mark is hoofing it through the woods with his flashlight raised to the sky, as if checking for flying squirrels or alien spacecraft. I suppose we have to believe he is simply pumping his arms as he runs to the rescue. Will he trip over another tree root like he did when running from a bear?

Speaking of animals, that must be a nine-banded armadillo in panel 2, the only species known to inhabit the United States, at least in the south. See?! Anybody can sound smart with some good online searching. But it sure looks oddly placed in the panel, don’t you think?

Art Dept. As much as panel 3 has that from-below viewpoint that heightens Mark’s tension and suspense, Mark’s pose and overall appearance in panel 1 is somehow reminiscent of comic book characters from the 1940s, though it escapes me where I’ve seen it. Batman? Dick Tracy? Terry and the Pirates? Rats, does anybody have an idea? Maybe I’m just totally off base. Except for the last panel (and that armadillo), I think today’s strip is actually really visually interesting.