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The Story in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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If you are new to Mark Trail or just behind the curve, I’ll catch you up with Mark’s current adventure. That is, today’s post is really a “Story in Review.”  

After rescuing a paranoid and delusional camper named Connor who got “lost”, mentally and physically, in Lost Forest, Mark was inspired to start a “Survival Retreat” to teach men proper camping skills instead of having to rely on dangerous tips in phony survival books (such as the one Connor used). Mark’s friends at the De-Bait Team fishing lodge were recruited to help out. They recommended that Mark’s retreat could also be useful to help men express their emotional & relationship issues. Unwisely, Mark agreed to this needless complication.

Mark began the first day with a fishing class held indoors, not an auspicious decision. He had three insecure students, including Connor, who complained and blamed Mark for everything. Cliff pushed the idea of going for a hike so the guys could talk out their feelings. It was vetoed by Mark. After Connor impaled his finger on a fishing hook, the class self-destructed. Mark and Cliff rushed Connor off to the hospital.

Then Cherry and Violet arrived at the ER with Honest Ernest to get him rabies shots because he got scratched by a bat due to his bad judgment. You see the symmetry between these two events? Cherry spotted Mark, so they wound up consoling each other. Mark had a sudden revelation that his own fishing activities (over the years?) must have been an excuse to suppress his inner feelings. It’s a wonder he didn’t fall down on his knees and beg Cherry for forgiveness.

I’m guessing that Mark’s confession was necessary for Rivera to help pull the story together and push the real plot of this adventure. It also gave Cliff the opportunity to rub it in: “That’s what I’ve been telling you (see above) … hikes get men talking!” Frankly, this seems incongruent, since Rivera’s version of Mark Trail has never been one to hold back on expressing feelings, even in this very adventure!  And now that you’re caught up, prepare yourself for the nature chat, below.

That’s a good cloud title panel. Rivera is back to one of her go-to topics: The environment. It’s a timely message, though I wonder if Rivera wrote this during the Oregon Trails story (Feb-Jul 2022), which featured an NFT and virtual coin scam.

Who uses “knowing winks” any more?

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Has anybody seen Mark fishing in the last three years? Mark’s closing question yesterday gets fleshed out today:  Men need a way to expose their emotional side, and hiking is a great way to do that. Thanks, Cliff!

Well, really!? When I’m hiking, I’m pretty focused on the hike. There’s no time or energy left over for expressing inner feelings (except if I stumble, in which case I express some choice inner feelings). On the other hand, fishing is a more passive, peaceful activity. It offers a much better opportunity to exchange thoughts and feelings with another angler, all without huffing, puffing, and tripping over exposed tree roots. Sorry, Cliff.

Okay, Rivera had to have some kind of “moral to the story” for this subplot. Yet that doesn’t explain how Mark and Cliff can fix the botched fishing seminar. Maybe when they get back they will find that Duke took matters into his own hands and moved the rest of the class (all two of them) outside along the river, getting them to cast their baited hooks into real water. Maybe they’ll catch enough to hold a class fish fry.

Somebody, please make her stop this inane dialog!!

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A lot of stuff apparently happened that never made it to print (until now), such as the rebellion of the other students, um, campers. And frankly, none of this makes sense, unless you are writing a story for which you have little or no firsthand knowledge (i.e. fishing and conducting seminars). Except for young children, nobody is going to quit or get the willies because one over-emotional idiot hooked himself. Accidents happen and Mark should have warned his “campers” to expect them when messing with sharp objects. “Afraid to fish”!? One of the students is a park ranger, for goodness’ sake!

A reader might be tempted to believe this is yet another instance of Rivera putting the boot to the machismo mythos. Look, I’m all for shaking up the Mark Trail Apple Cart of conventions, as I have been from the start. However, you don’t have to keep beating the same drum, over and over. Rivera, how about taking just one of Mark’s adventures seriously? See what you can do with that.

Anyway, “No!” Mark is not stating hard questions. For the most part, Mark is not even asking questions. The only question asked (panel 4) does not make any sense. And it’s a non sequitur. Instead, we continue to see an ongoing series of sophomoric, overused puns. So, stop it, Rivera, and get on with the story!

Mark lightens the mood with mockery.

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Gosh, it must have been about six or seven hours since they last saw each other at breakfast this morning. I reckon stressful situations can make even unexpected meetups more dramatic, so we can give the goo-goo eyed pair a pass. Still, I’m not sure it’s nice to be in a hospital under almost any situation.

I’m still expecting to hear ranting and lawsuit threats by Saturday.

Who opened a window to let that robin inside?

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Continuing with yesterday’s surprise of Cherry and Mark running into each other at the hospital, today’s strip moves from Rom-Com dialog to Support Group blather. I swear, the expressions of Cherry and Mark in panel 1 look like Cherry caught Mark fooling around with somebody else. Her face does not say “glad to see you!” And Mark just looks kind of guilty.

Their jarring images are somewhat mollified in panel 2. Cherry still looks odd, perhaps from the difficulty Rivera had attempting to portray Cherry’s face seen from slightly behind her right shoulder. Tough to draw! Mark shouldn’t look too worried, though. Connor just has a finger fishhook injury, so we shouldn’t have to worry about a doctor coming out to report that the finger had to be amputated.

I’m curious how Mark’s storyline continues after the hospital. The class is in shambles. For some reason, Cliff decided to come along and hold Mark’s hand rather than take over the class so that the other two “campers” won’t have their entire day is ruined.

Ho! Ho! Ho! A Double-feature Catchup

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Monday: Is Rivera hoping to be ironic or satirical? My local medical clinic is larger than this “hospital.” Connor must have taken up 50% of the beds when he was a patient. I reckon those other two cars mashed into the parking lot belong to the doctor (or P.A.) and receptionist/nurse.
But also interesting is pondering why, at this point, Connor is identified by Rivera as a camper—which is not the case—rather than by his name. If anything, Connor is a student. Mark should be miffed that Cliff wasn’t around when all of those bad things happened.

Tuesday: This hospital must be based on Dr. Who’s Tardis, because it sure looks bigger inside than out. Putting my blog off for a day ruined what would have been an otherwise obvious prediction of what appears in today’s strip:  The nexus of Cherry’s and Mark’s storylines as they converge in the hospital, both incidents based on self-induced accidents by two self-centered boneheads.

How Cherry, Violet, and Ernest managed to walk through the waiting room without seeing Mark is not only implausible, but poorly thought-out, as it gives away Cherry’s surprise in panel 3. It dilutes the suspense for us readers, too. We want to enjoy being surprised, even when we expect it. This is like wrapping a Christmas present, but leaving one side unwrapped so you can see what it is.

Art Dept. What’s all this, then? Looks like some preliminary rough drawing (e.g. Ernest in panel 1) made it through to the final strip. And poor Mark must really be suffering from the stress of his class, since he looks like an old man in panel 3. Perhaps it was a good day in California for surfing? However, the other figures in panel 1 look just fine. In fact, I very much like the contrast Rivera made between the stiffness of Mark and Cliff and the more casual postures of Violet and Cherry. There’s symbolism in that.

A Gift Box of Greetings to You All

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Thank you for spending some of your time reading these blogs about Mark Trail, the legacy “adventure” strip where the adventure is sometimes either pondering “What would Mark do?” or just bringing yourself to read the daily panels. Clearly, I enjoy writing these blogs, though I’m not always sure why. My predecessor, Dennis, once claimed (I think) that he posted blogs for his first three years without knowing whether he had any readers. Now that is dedication, or extreme Trailheadedness. I’ll likely continue—as I can—until I’m turned out, my brain turns to mush, or the strip takes that final turn towards retirement. To be clear, I’d prefer to see most legacy strips retired to make room for new ones; some, more than others. Many legacy strips have been republished in book form, so that should be good enough. Interestingly, that is not the case for Mark Trail.

Anyway, The Daily Trail will catch up with Mark on Boxing Day with a double-feature. Until then, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Zartosht No-Diso, Mongolian Independence Day, or just want to sleep in, make it a great day. We all should have at least one a year.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This was the week where a solution for removing bats from the Great Hall was thrust upon Cherry when Honest Ernest suddenly showed up in his trademark yellow jumpsuit. Violet confirmed hiring him to remove the bats. Cherry was less than impressed.

Cherry questioned his knowledge and preparedness, even offering him her gloves for protection, since Ernest had no protective clothing on. Naturally, he had the situation under control and declined Cherry’s offer. Ernest retrieved a pest-control sprayer from his work van and entered the Great Hall. Not surprisingly, the bats once again fled, one of them nicking Ernest in the face as it flew out. In spite of his attempts to play it down, the gals insisted on taking Honest Ernest to the hospital for rabies shots.

While this story may not exactly be a barnburner of drama and action, it has the advantage (like other adventures of Cherry’s) of being more or less a slice of daily life, however nutty the people are. Her stories are grounded in the local landscape of her community. I wish Rivera would open up the community even more and expand the cast of characters and storylines. She has made a start with Jeanine, Georgia, her mysterious brother, and Squirrely Sandy. C’mon, Rivera! Don’t sell Cherry or your readers short. Cherry does not need to face off against the same cast every time. New characters simply have to inspire new ideas and storylines.

Anyway, while we wait two weeks to find out what happens, Mark has another Sunday topic to present. Take it away, Mark!

So, Mark focuses on reindeer over Christmas holiday. Seems like an appropriate subject! I listened to an NPR interview the other day that discussed reindeer and covered most of these points with regard to their surviving the cold. Another point the interviewer went into was the sophisticated “heat exchange” setup within their thin legs to them from freezing and breaking off.

Normally, Rivera’s punchlines are like bad “Dad jokes.” But I think this one hit the Funny Bone. Well done.

Done in by a bat and a hat!

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Rivera continues her portrayal of Honest Ernest as the archetypal primitive male, brash and always ready to rush into any situation based on sheer bravado. When faced with a setback, he attempts to brush it off as a minor annoyance. Well, that has been a male stereotype since, uh, forever. The ancient Greek warrior Achilles tried to brush off a Trojan arrow shot into his heel as just another workplace injury (“Just don’t call OSHA!”). That didn’t work out too well in the end for “swift-footed” Achilles. But in our current setting, Ernest got snicked by a bat and doesn’t get to brush it off. Instead, he is put his place (or into his van, if you will) by the women and rushed to treatment.

As longtime readers (Trailheads) know, it was standard practice in the pre-Rivera era to populate panels, whenever possible, with wildlife scampering around the scenery. Rivera continues that tradition, but almost always has the animal facing the reader, oftentimes with what appears to be some kind of human-like expression or emotion. I’m not sure what the motivation is, nor if I’m interpreting it correctly.

Even I feel sorry for Ernest!

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The CDC confirms that a scratch from a bat can spread rabies, if the bat is rabid. Since identifying and catching the specific bat that scratched Ernest is impossible, it can’t be tested, so unlucky Ernest is in line for a series of shots and additional treatment. Will Ernest take it seriously enough to get to the hospital? At least doctors don’t inject the vaccine in your stomach muscles anymore.