Well, as motivation goes, this plot is weak beer. Exactly how much land does Tad need for his AI Data Center? From what we’ve seen, an acre should do it, excluding space for the main building. So give Crass ten acres for everything. That’s still not so much land that it requires a wholesale transfer of horses. At worst, a stout fence around the property would take care of things.  Now, if Crass was instead trying to develop a large residential/commercial site with multiple condo complexes, upscale shopping, and other amenities, he would at least have a more realistic reason for moving the horses down the road.

But this AI Data Center site is peanuts. In fact, looking back at Mark and Diana’s escape from the fire, they had trouble just finding their way out of the immediate area, as if it had already been surrounded by natural borders. Aside from Artemis, did anybody see any wild horses moving through the area?

I think Mark’s callous remark in panel 4 is puerile, coming from a person in denial about his own involvement, acting as if the destruction was Divine Providence. It looks more like a reincarnation of the Monkey Wrench Gang. Okay, readers, this looks like the end to the story, meaning that the rest of the week will be the post-assignment wrap-up. But, I could be wrong.

After helping instigate this destructive fire, Mark and Diana have the moxie to actually return to the  site and review the results. I have to say that panel 1 has the oddest smoke I’ve seen, assuming that is what those weird light blue shapes are.

Well, the other shapes are a bit weird, too. The narration box mentions a plain fire and I’m not sure what that means, unless it suggests comparisons with a fancy fire, perhaps?

Moving on, how do you think will this week play out? Will Tad Crass show up with police reinforcements? Will we have a week of Mark and Diana apologizing to Bill? If I was Bill Ellis, I’d have a whole lot of questions for those two. I’m sure you do, too. Why not post a few?

They keep horses in pens!?! I thought that was what the “bad guys” did, while Happy Hooves provided safe pasture and personal care for the mustangs. But their negligence is on display, as Clayton admits Artemis has broken out of her pen more than once. Sad!

So the trio—as we may refer to them at this point—are safe for the moment. Diana continues to gloat over the misfortunes of Tad Crass and his now-ruined AI data center. It’s ironic both that Diana feels avenged by the destruction of an AI data center by fire and that Rivera injects an accusation about artificial intelligence creating wildfires(panel 3).

When I run a simple online search, I find numerous real-world experiments and studies dedicated to using AI to help predict and fight wildfires. What would be even more ironic (if not absurdly funny) here is if it turned out that Tad’s AI data center was getting ready to start up its own fire detection study. That might be a plot too far.

So, where this storyline goes from here on is a mystery. Will Mark and Diana be arrested for trespass and criminal mischief? Will Mark, Diana, and the magazine empire that Bill Ellis works for be sued for the destruction of the data center? Is this story really about evil AI data centers, rampaging horses, or horse mistreatment? So far, we’ve seen absolutely no evidence for any of this, except for Artemis’s broken pen.

Now, exactly how did Diana and Mark arrive at Tad Crass’s Plainsight, Inc.? Perhaps in a car left back at the company HQ … where the fire is!

I might be presumptive, but I’m pretty sure Artemis knows the way home on her own, as most horses will. So a better use of Mark’s and Diana’s time might be saving their own transportation. I wonder if anybody called the fire department?

But hat’s off to Artemis, at least, for showing Diana and Mark where the large secret stone arch gateway exit was located. There are probably several readers who were hoping they would not find the exit. Shame on them! 🙂 Newspaper is pretty flammable, and there is the danger that this wildfire could spread to other comic strips.

In fact, I seem to recall a similar incident in Pearls Before Swine, where Rat threw a lantern at Pig, who ducked. The lamp crossed over and crashed into the Gasoline Alley strip setting fire to several automobiles, which in turn spread their flames into other legacy strips, including BC, Mary Worth, Peanuts, and Garfield. Unfortunately, they were all fire-resistant and survived. They still get published.

Today’s dialog and action reminds me of an old Warner Brothers cartoon with the catch-phrase: “Which way did they go, George?” Anyway, I’m not positive how Mark and Diana got misdirected, though I suppose a fire will make almost anybody panic and run off in whatever direction seems to be away from the fire. That oft-mentioned secret path seems to have escaped both Mark’s photography and whatever scouting Diana should have done beforehand.

Unfortunately, Mark’s “Golly, gee whiz!” expression in panel 2 and his stupid pun in panel 3 help undermine the drama building in this story.

Is it just me, or does it not seem like the proverbial overriding fear horses have for fire would have already sent Artemis running for all she’s worth towards the exit, leaving our two bunglers far behind? Is Mark’s legendary animal magnetism on women so strong that it also affects mares and prevents them from acting on their natural instincts until Mark says otherwise?

Art Dept. The visual highlight today (and yesterday) is the attention Rivera gave to depicting native grasses.

First of all, glad to see that Rivera limited today’s strip to two panels to better emphasize the scope of the scene and the action. Now, I’m no energy expert, but wouldn’t dedicated electric transformers usually be in a protective cage of some sort, especially if they are so fragile?

The main plot point here is the brush fire created by the helicopter’s accidental destruction of the transformers. What, exactly krashed? And how is the helicopter is still flying? Whatever the contact, copters are difficult to fly in any situation, much less after an accident like this. Should we believe that a flexible movie screen did all this damage merely by brushing over it?  Did the copilot fall out?

Whatever the answer is, Mark Trail helped bring about this destruction and fire as a result of his trespass. At least, that is how lawyers are apt to put it to a judge if Mark gets arrested.  I reckon Mark has moved on from just destroying boats.

However preposterous the cause of this calamity, a grass fire is a dangerous and serious affair. A flying wind machine seems like the last thing you want to have near it. But, maybe the helicopter’s downdraft could be strong enough to blow out the fire if it is positioned correctly?

Some random observations: Aside from the rather well-drawn image of Mark being buffeted by the copter in panel 3, the rest of the art is pretty sketchy, especially panel 4. Tad looks pretty maniacal in panel 2. And there seems to be another typo, this time in panel 3: “…buy and sell resources of the land!” I’m thinking Rivera meant to write “off”?

Okay, that emerging live feed screen is an interesting idea, but impractical. Where would somebody use such a screen? Given the very high hourly cost of helicopters, it is definitely over-the-top. But, hey! It’s a comic strip, so Rivera can have her dux ex machina for its “James Bond Villain” effect.

And it appears that the story is taking on a bit more drama, after all! Tad Crass and his security were not asleep at the wheel as it seemed, and probably had Mark and Diana spotted the moment they showed up. Mark’s counter quip in panel 3 implies that buying and selling resources is not based on talent. I beg to differ. Successful buying and selling takes real talent. In addition, Crass did put together an AI data center. Finally, Crass anticipated Mark and Diana’s next move and lay in wait. Crass may be unethical and a crook, but he doesn’t lack for talent. Perhaps Mark should look in a mirror and consider what his talents are:  breaking the law, sneaking onto private property, assault, arrogance, and impulsive behavior. Oh, and writing nature articles.

I didn’t spot any machine guns on the copter, so I wonder if Crass has ground security about to make their appearance.

Do they have to stop running to deliver their one-liners? Hoo boy! I forgot that Cherry’s story just completed a few weeks ago, so she gets a week off as Rivera continues Mark and Diana’s adventure. Mark’s comment in panel 2 is a bit surprising. Thinking does not seem to be one of Mark’s major concerns, and he doesn’t spend much time or energy on it, as we’ve seen. But in panel 3 Rivera/Diana takes another jab at the government for their apparently inhumane use of helicopters to herd horses.

Left unsaid here is that ranchers also use copters to supervise and manage their cattle herds. But as I noted before, the mustangs may just be public misdirection for Tad Crass’s other questionable activities.

Today’s quiz: Do you think today’s  helicopter is the same as Saturday’s? I know I’m being a bit pedantic and I’m not in any way knowledgeable on helicopters. I just see details and differences. So, Rivera probably had two different resources for her images and wasn’t too concerned with accuracy. That’s hardly unique in comics. Thus, I reckon the proper response to me is “So what?”