Over the past few days, I’ve noticed that not much attention has been given to Mark, whereas the campfire crowd talks as if the kids went on this boating trip alone.  It’s like an assumption that Mark is otherwise irrelevant, hapless, or helpless.  A cynic might proclaim that this is just feminist politics intruding into the story.

So, the cove isn’t too far away? Then I repeat: How come the Trails didn’t know about it, already? Is Rivera actually suggesting that this river is far away, yet Jeanette and the other local kids still made it to this launching site? And is this some kind of dead zone for smart phones? I haven’t seen anybody pull one out to try and call Mark or one of the boys. You can’t tell me that nobody on that boat has a phone! Especially the kids.

Well, I hope Duke carries a gun so he can let off a few shots and maybe scare the crocs away.

Call me naïve or call me a taxi, but it seems that a family as focused on the environment as the Trails would certainly know their local river fairly well. I’ve known citizens in New York that have never been inside the Empire State Building, or in London that have not visited the British Museum or Tower of London. Yet they weren’t architects or historians.

On the other hand, perhaps Mark did know about that location and deliberately went there. After all, if you are looking for a bassigator, perhaps it would tend to hide among the true alligators!? But as it is night, unexpected events overcame the hunting party.

Why does Cherry insist on holding her phone up all the time? Does she want to bore everybody with photos of the family vacation in Oregon? Show a report of subscriber numbers for the comic strip? Reveal secret photos of the illicit affair between Honest Ernest and Violet?

It also seems a bit late in the game for Duke to recall the dreaded horseshoe-shaped cove, when he could have warned Mark about it before he left. And why didn’t Mark already know about it? He lives here, too! Still, the story is moving along. More or less. This should signal a change of scenery, back to the grounded boat. However, that would mean making the dramatic change on a Friday, rather than Saturday. Therefore, I think we can expect at least one more scene at the campfire as Cherry’s anxiety levels rise and her phone’s battery dies. Or something like that.

The dialog reminds me of what you might hear in a commercial, as if Cherry is hawking some kind of product that Jeanette should buy in order to get cleaner hair, cleaner skin, or a cleaner carpet.

Anyway, that must be some tracker if it can identify the subject (Rusty) by name. Of course, if Cherry zoomed out a bit, she would likely get a better idea of where the boat is. But zooming isn’t always foolproof. If it’s like the typical online map you use when driving, manually zooming out is a great way to put your map in the wrong location. While driving home from Virginia recently, an errant movement of my finger changed the route and sent me heading to Chicago, rather than Wisconsin. I lost an hour just getting back on track while touring the backroads of southern Illinois.

Anyway, how will Cherry know Mark and the kids are in trouble, especially if nobody knows there is a tracker in Rusty’s backpack? Do trackers have alert buttons on them? I have no idea. You would think Cherry might do something more obvious, like call Mark.

There they are. Talking in short sentences. Like Jack Webb. Just the blab, ma’am.

To build up suspense, Rivera emphasizes the light-hearted bantering of parents and friends as of yet unaware of the plight of the frightened members of the cryptid search party, marooned on a boat, surrounded by crocodiles. Yet, I’m still perplexed how the campfire crew will affect a rescue, given that they apparently do not have another boat on hand. However, the de-bait team must surely have another boat or two that can be pressed into service.

But, man (so to speak), that is the neatest s’more I’ve ever seen. How did they get the melted marshmallow to conform to the graham cracker’s shape so cleanly? Don’t tell me that “Mr. Back-In-My-Day” trimmed his s’more!?

Two squirrels get frisky in the foreground, but the threesome misses the action and the implied hint. They have their own priorities. Practical Cherry’s chatter also serves a purpose: To activate the premise for the rescue of Mark and the kids, even though she doesn’t realize it as yet. Golly, how could I forget the tracker she placed in Rusty’s backpack (see the blog for January 2^nd)? No doubt, you did not! So how will they accomplish the upcoming rescue? And by the way, does Mark know about all of these wild men Cherry waited for?

I’ve noticed over time that Cherry’s face goes through several shapes. Not sure why. She looks a bit older in panel 3 than in panel 2, reminding me of somebody that might have come out of an old Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy comic strip. Sorry, my mind wanders.

This should set up Mark really well with those kids’ parents.

I wonder who gets to push the boat back into the water? Perhaps the de-bait team will once again show up to save the day, if that swarm of alligators holds off long enough. The only thing worse would be that they are in a dead zone and nobody has a signal.

Is Mark wearing some kind of inflated suit? It sure looks big and stiff. Okay, I suppose Mark sometimes does seem like a Gilligan (as faithful reader Daniel commented), but as for today, he is going all “Robin” on those alligators. But “holy sea cow”!? Not even close, Mark! The original Steller’s sea cow was discovered and hunted to extinction in the 18^th century. Nowadays, “sea cow” is often used as a nickname for manatees, who are herbivores. Anyway, Mark should have yelled out something more appropriate, such as “Holy swimming luggage!”, so that the kids could at least have responded “Huh?”

The gators certainly look threatening, like a swarm of hungry sharks. Of course, Mark has had some history, at least with the gator’s cousin, the crocodile. Here is one encounter, during his trip to Nepal, hunting the Yeti:

Talk about stiff. Well, at least the figures have some shading. Still . . .

Hoo-boy. I’m worn out just looking at all of the thrashing and krashing. I’m still confused whether the churning waters come from some weather incident or supposedly from the gators, which seems improbable. Mark must indeed be a Gilligan for piloting his boat into this dangerous area, losing control, and krashing. So, will the de-bait team win its bet to file an insurance claim for a lost boat?

What now — does a bassigator suddenly show up and save Mark and his passengers from the very hungry alligators?

Artistically, a dramatically impressive panel 1. But where the hell are they!? The Atlantic or maybe Lake Superior? I don’t recall that the body of water that has always been depicted alongside the Trail’s cabin was anything other than a peaceful lake or river, assuming that is where they are. Then again, there is that river course somewhere near Lost Forest that has the capacity to hold cargo ships.

Did the boat really collide with a gator, or did they just run into some bad weather? Or maybe they hit a gator in rough water? You’d think Mark would have checked weather conditions before leaving, right?

Another interesting first panel on this one, again with a somewhat dramatic scene of the boat powering through rough water. Not to press a comparison farther than I can lift a house, it reminds me of some boating pictures by the 19^th artist, Winslow Homer. Wait! Not in terms of artistic merit, but simply in terms of subject and dramatic effect. Check out Breezing Up and Gulf Stream. Again, it’s not a comparison of style or artistic merit. For that, no comparison can be made.

As for Mark, we continue to see how judgmental and out of touch he is, just like many parents. Mark is just an Everyman, I reckon. And maybe that’s the way Jules Rivera sees Mark Trail:  Not the heroic savior of nature who always makes women swoon and always knocks down the bad guys, but a regular guy with a job who only rises to the occasion when the situation calls. I think of James Stewart’s Destry Rides Again or Bruce Willis in the Die Hard movies.

Turns out that Rivera may just just be playing around with the “Mark Crashes Boat” meme, so “Krash!” now means “boat runs into gator!” From the size of the wake behind the boat in panel 1, I think Mark is running at a pretty fast clip, possibly too fast for nighttime boating.

Like many parents, Mark decides a lie is easier than the truth. But what’s the big deal here? The boys are old enough to deal with a bit of reality, unless Mark is worried one of them might turn him into the game wardens for running over an endangered animal. But if Mark wants to maintain that lie, he should be slowing down a bit. Perhaps he isn’t because if he did, they’d see how calm the waters are and then realize that he was telling them porkies. If you don’t know what that phrase means, you can bloody well look it up. I learned about it from an old British cop show.

On the graphic front, Rivera’s art has been pretty consistent in style and quality the past few weeks, in spite of the opinion many have about the quality (or lack thereof) of the art, itself.  But I do share the fear of the art becoming more cartoony over time. Don’t think that’s possible? Check out the panels on the left:

Those panels are from January 2021, just two years ago. Quite a difference, right? Looking back through our archives can be pretty educational. Notice how much more “painterly” the art looks, especially in panel 2, compared to current images. The shirt even looks like a real shirt, the way it lies on the body. Notice how the collars roll and how the shirt pattern tends to flow along the torso, The fire in the background actually creates reflections on Mark’s face. Amazing! But back then, Rivera clearly spent more time on the strip and created lots of creative scenes. Why did it change? I don’t know. My best guess has been the time commitment versus the deadlines.

Ian isn’t the only person confused. Mark creates a false comparison based on a faulty premise: “If the narwhal turned out to be real”. It is the unicorn that is the mythological creature that Mark (Rivera) should have said, of course. The narwhal(e)’s existence was not questioned in the past. Mark’s giving the wrong idea to these kids.

But what I had hoped would not happen, did. I suppose that every Mark Trail artist has to have a krack (or krash) at the “Mark Destroys a Boat” meme. And it would have to take place in some alligator-infested waters (unless that is a set of custom luggage floating in the river). Well, it would be a real bummer if it turned out that Mark ran over the last surviving bassigator!

Jokes aside, “krashing” a boat in dangerous waters is a bad deal. Did Mark run over an alligator? That could land him in real trouble with federal authorities! I wonder if this is this going to be a turning point in the story where we see some actual danger and suspense, rather than the usual outlandish situations.

A question to readers: Do you think my posts are too long, too short, or about right?

I wonder: Are the insects in panel 1 some kind of metaphor for Rusty and Robbie?

So you didn’t want any friction on your father-son event, Mark? Whose bright idea was it to invite the other kids along? And why agree to do that if your aim is to build up your relationship with little carrot-top?

Ian’s memory is a bit off. Unicorns were not inspired by narwhals, though the tusk of narwhals during the European Middle Ages was thought to come from unicorns and possess medicinal/magical power. Anyway, the narwhal reference is a blessing for Mark who hopes his recitation on the subject (perhaps we’ll read more about it on Sunday) will distract the kids while Mark glides across the water to. . . someplace.

Robbie’s jealousy is not based on Rusty’s supposed popularity with girls after all, but on academic performance! Wow, didn’t see that one coming! But Rusty missed an opportunity to patch things up with Robbie by being sympathetic. Instead, he chose to twist the knife. Clearly, this will add additional friction and conflict, common ingredients in any adventure.

So, I missed something earlier. In the December 28 strip, Rusty greeted two friends, one being named Robbie, who is Rusty’s rival. I thought his name had not yet been mentioned. But maybe I only saw it subconsciously when I came up with a possible Rob Bettancourt-Mark metaphor. Still, I would have made the connection anyway, it was so obvious.

I dunno though, from his exaggerated expression in panel 3, Rusty seems more interested in the girls in the front row applauding him, rather than the general class appreciation. Would that mean Robbie is merely jealous of Rusty’s growing popularity?

Okay, Rivera, it’s getting tedious. For one thing, “see you later Bassigator” makes no sense, since Rusty is trying to find the cryptid, not wish it farewell. Yeah, I know. . . humor.

Mark still plays the Clueless Dad role. Sure, the old Mark Trail was likely clueless, as well. But he never had to worry about it, since the old Rusty was mostly a cardboard cutout.

I have questions:  Just where is Mark taking the boys? Do Bassigators have favorite watering holes? And why invite a bunch of Rusty’s friends, when failure could result in great embarrassment to Rusty?

Finally, why did Mark state that they would be back soon? Doesn’t he think the boys might now realize that this hunt is phony? I sure hope that Rivera’s plot does not have one of Mark’s friends plant a fake Bassigator for them to discover.

“I’m a woodsman.” So what? I think “I’m a sailor” might carry more weight in this situation. Hey, maybe Popeye could make a guest appearance. Anyway, it’s been a week and they still have not left the dock! Furthermore, exclamation points are running riot!

But this is the local river or lake (not sure which), so Mark’s heroic pledge seems as pointless as Cherry’s need to track their movement. Oh, it’s humor. Well, we are at a juncture in the plot. If this were a book, we’d be reading the last page of a chapter where somebody states, “So, what could go wrong?”