Poor, deluded Mark. So provoking, yet so clueless. There he sits, a reporter without a story, trying to convince himself that, while he got kicked out of an interview because of his aggressive approach, at least he could save face and fight his way past some rent-a-cops.

Aside from not concentrating on his assignment, Mark can’t keep his memory straight either. On the way to this burger pit, he already talked on the phone with Diana and she gave him a pass on the interview debacle. So there’s no reason for him to be feeling sorry for himself.

A question thus arises, is Rivera deliberately making Mark act forgetful, or is she just not too concerned with story continuity?

Back-seat driver Dept: Could Rivera have written a more concise narration box in panel 1: “Mark dreads meeting with his boss after the interview went sideways.” There are just too many “his”, as is!