Mustang management (or its demise) is a complex and divisive topic in the west. Rivera presents a pretty simplified and one-sided argument. The costs to adopt or purchase a horse from the BLM appear to range from $25 to $125, though I’ve seen notifications that the BLM will pay people to adopt the mustangs. I’ve seen nothing to support a $1.00 price. Frankly, the BLM is anxious for people to adopt or purchase these mustangs, for a variety of reasons. No matter. This is not exactly a new issue, though it is probably one most people are likely not aware of. Hence, Dagger’s emphasis to spotlight the issue.

Story wise, while Mark gets a briefing to help him with his assignment, it’s not clear what his role actually is. Will he go undercover as a mustang adopter? Will he attempt to interview BLM officials, ranchers, and animal rights groups? Maybe sneak around at night to set the penned mustangs free?

Visiting with family and old friends this past month has upended my daily posts and my normal self-indulgent lifestyle. So, here are three days in one post to catch up.

Diana Daggers! For three years Mark has been dealing with the same group of malcontents, grifters, and opponents, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon. I’m not against a repeat performance now and then, but it suggests lazy thinking.

Anyway, what’s this about “the cost of life in California“? First of all, shouldn’t that be “cost of living“? Also, does Mark claim that Lost Forest is now in California? Or did the horses escape to San Diego?

No matter what Mark’s morals are, it seems that the people who write the paychecks have their own opinion on the wild horses. Will Mark press for his own point of view or will he toe the company line?  That being said (or written), if we’re going to keep seeing the same stable of opponents, let’s make Diana Daggers Mark’s official sidekick. This format of opposing personalities is a standard meme one finds in virtually every team of adventurers, cops, and other partnerships in TV and movies. I only ask that Rivera gives Daggers more story time and something to do besides goad Mark on, then do a quick fade.

Why is Mark talking to himself out loud? Normally, this kind of discussion appears in a thought balloon, not a dialog balloon, where Mark might be seen as somewhat mental by any passersby. Or security.

Whatever experiment Rivera was engaged in regarding a revision of this strip’s visual style seems to have been chucked aside as we return to the over-the-top exaggerations in image and words that became standard as far back as the “LA Confidential” story, where Mark first faced off against his now-perennial gang of opponents and grifters:  Cricket Bro, Professor Bee Sharp, and Sharp’s one-time assistant, Diana Daggers. But here, Daggers reprises her role as an Airport Welcome Wagon. She is a true hustler and plays both sides of the road. 

As movies will deviate from their origins in a book, it seems clear that this adventure will soon turn away from anything remotely serious and drive pell-mell through the dusty roads of chaos and absurdity. In short, this will probably be another typical story in the Rivera Trailverse. Buckle Up! 

Nothing says “I love you!” like a postcard with a cheesy drawing of … hey, wait a minute! Who sends postcards these days!? And I can’t even begin to understand the so-called punchline in panel 3. 

So, is this Mark’s assignment:  Research the effects of the wild horses in Utah as noted in panel 1? Seems to me that there are scientists who already handle that type. I would have thought Mark would be reporting on that research.  Then talk with ranchers, farmers, animal rights groups, environmental groups, etc., to gain additional perspectives to incorporate into the report. But perhaps I’m being too literal, and Rivera only meant that Mark would be doing more or less what I just wrote.

Art Dept. I’m not concerned that Rivera likely “photoshopped” the airplane and mountain scene in panel 1. After all, cartoonists (especially those drawing adventure/drama strips) have been doing this for many decades. My point is that there may be a design flaw in panel 1. Mark is presented in a “call-out” circle, whose extension goes back to the plane, but seemingly from the cockpit. Pretty sure Mark is not the pilot! Unless Rivera is once again satirizing the “ambiguous dialog box” meme of old, then I think it would have been clearer if she had simply flipped the plane horizontally, so that the call-out could originate from one of the passenger windows. Am I being too picky or nerdy?

Yesterday I queried whether Mark was being depicted as a jerk or a distracted goof. Perhaps I should have added “self-centered, arrogant opportunist.”  It has been Rivera’s position to often portray Mark as out of his depth, agonizingly out of touch, or just plain square. 

To put this in a more positive light (not a strong light, I grant you), Mark is … uh, at least appealing to Cherry’s practical nature. And consider those poor horses, running amok without Mark’s calming presence. Shoot, I’m being cynical again.

Just who is Mark looking at in panel 2? It sure isn’t Cherry. You’d think he was some shill selling giant scissors in an infomercial. They don’t even look like standard line cutters, though I’ll grant you it can be difficult to always be authentic in the limited confines of a comic strip panel. Anyway, I’ll let you spend a few happy moments dissecting Mark’s comments in panel 2. 

The bigger question is Mark’s attitude towards Cherry. When he had moral issues with how to treat the wild horses, he consulted Ralph, not Cherry. He spent the rest of the day and evening with Cherry, not bothering to bring up his assignment, until now. Do we assume Mark is just an inconsiderate jerk, as he is pictured? Or, perhaps distracted?  That seems out of character. What is Rivera’s objective?

Hoo-boy. Perhaps the comics syndicate published this out of order? This is only February 12. Or is this Valentine celebration going to last for 3 days!? Sure, we can expect a slight break in the story for the sake of the holiday, though holidays are something that Rivera rarely recognizes in the strip.

Second, what’s with this “Rusty is staying with my Dad tonight” remark? Last I recall, Doc Davis lives in the same home as Mark, Cherry, and Rusty. Is this why we never see the Doc anymore? Perhaps he sleeps at his clinic.

Sure, Mark is married to Cherry. They have a home, a family, and jobs. They indulge in senseless chit-chat. Their stories often include a percentage of fluff, or filler. Such is today’s installment. Do these two wide panels serve an integral purpose to the story, such as functioning as a transition from one context to another? 

Monday’s installment could show Mark landing in Salt Lake City; or maybe we’ll just see the Trail Family’s dinner time. This could be Rivera’s take on the standard Mark Trail Departure Dinner of stacks of flapjacks. Eat fast, Mark, and get on with the story!

This is where Ralph belongs, in the tree alongside the window of Mark’s office. That’s where we first learned about Ralph and his relationship with Mark. Mark has spent this week talking through his conflicting feelings about the wild/feral horses. Some internal conflicts take time to work through, and this has provided Rivera a way to demonstrate her awareness of some of the current problems concerning the horses.

But we have yet to learn what the specific situation is with the “rampaging horses” of Salt Lake City. Are they running roughshod through the Salt Lake Tabernacle? Are they running amok through the countryside, destroying valuable farmland or range in their wake?

This sounds reminiscent of the rampaging elephant subplot of the tiger petting zoo story, except that here, the rampaging horses are the main subject, rather than a subordinate clause. Still, this has to be a transitory event that will likely be over by the time Mark makes his way to Utah.  I’m curious how Rivera will develop this story. 

In the old days before Rivera, there would be some greedy land speculator or Big Rancher behind this plot, exploiting the controversial free-roaming mustangs in order to ruin land and crops of small farmers and ranchers. They would get put in a financial bind and have to sell their land cheaply to recoup their losses. 

While Mark plods through the colorful landscape, Rivera lets us know that he is, indeed, aware of some of the complexities surrounding the wild horses. But Mark is mature enough to realize that he doesn’t know everything and is willing to listen to somebody close, somebody that Mark feels a kinship with, somebody that will give him good advice…

…oops. Sorry, Cherry! But it’s great to see Ralph once again. He’s been absent for quite some time. I’m glad to see Rivera is reviving some of the original memes that made her version of the strip stand out. Exactly how Ralph wiggled his way from behind Mark to get into the tree in front of Mark is something of a mystery.

Another Note:  Once again I am going on a road trip for a few days, starting Tuesday. It is quite possible that you will not find my scribblings on Mark Trail consistently up-to-date until Friday. Eventually, the waters will calm and equilibrium will be restored. But do check in regularly, as I’ll post when time and opportunity permits.

Is that really what Ellis wants? Well, we never got to hear anything definite from him, but it’s possible Rivera simply decided to exclude some of that phone conversation to evoke a sense of drama and uncertainty. She needn’t bother. Uncertainty is certainly a certainty in Mark Trail.

Art Dept. I continue to be impressed with how Rivera is designing the panels in this story. Even the scenery evokes a more mature, naturalistic sense than we saw in the just finished Fishing Fiasco story. The shaded coloring of the trees and attention to natural details here are a welcome addition. I still dislike Mark’s clown beard, but I’ve learned to mostly ignore it.