There used to be a weekly live show on a local public radio station here called “Mark Trail Theater” where locals would act out the week’s strips. It was a kind of tongue-in-cheek spoof, with overly-dramatic “acting.” But it was all in good fun.

It’s a different thing altogether when the strip spoofs itself. Now, I don’t wish to be hypocritical, because in the past I’ve supported several of Rivera’s jabs at TrailVerse Traditions. Sometimes you have to cut down some old trees to make room for the new ones. On the other hand, there is a danger of going too far, where parody becomes the paramount feature, overtaking the strip. That seems to be what is going on here.

When pre-Rivera Mark got into a bought of fisticuffs, it was usually in dramatic situations involving typical bad-guy villains who wanted to get Mark out of the way. Getting into fistfights with rent-a-cops is not at all the same thing, even if the rent-a-cop started it. There is nothing really dramatic going on here; it’s more a sequence of overreaching, overreaction, and overdoing it. The fact that Rivera spends at least two days on this one action changes what used to simply be a hands-on solution to an immediate problem into a spotlighted plot feature, complete with Rivera’s commentary to make sure you don’t miss her point. “I’ve got two fists o’ justice for ya!” is the kind of hokey dialog you might hear in an old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, but without his unique delivery.