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Is Andy making a value judgment on Rusty’s decisions?

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“Don’t worry, I have plenty of time to get it done!” is the surest sign of impending failure every time it is spoken in a book, movie, or comic strip. 

It probably won’t come as a surprise to most of you if I admit that I am a tad confused. Based on Mark’s discussion with Ranger Shaw the week before, Rusty had already been digging, though until that moment, we hadn’t seen Rusty doing any digging. So today he is going back to dig up game controllers. Perhaps the mental image of Rusty at work that Mark portrayed to Ranger Shaw was only a bit of hyperbole. Or maybe Rusty is going back for even more busted controllers. 

But will Rusty run into Mark and Ranger Shaw on their way back from visiting the site? 

Art Dept. I’d like to give Rivera credit for that gray squirrel, but really, that heavy outline just kills any impression of lightness and quickness. 

4 thoughts on “Is Andy making a value judgment on Rusty’s decisions?”

  1. I bet Rivera copied and pasted that gray squirrel from a previous Mark Trail strip. She probably has a library of “clipart” of images similar to the squirrel.

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    • Good catch! Yes, it could very well be clipart. In fact, cartoonists (in general) traditionally maintained clipart libraries that they could use directly or indirectly. It can save time and help produce more accurate images. Clearly, this would be more important for more naturalistically drawn strips. Since Rivera draws on a digital tablet, it can be a lot easier to use “clipart”, even your own. For example, after you draw one bee, just copy-and-paste as many as you need!

      But overreliance can have drawbacks: Prior Mark Trail cartoonist, James Allen, was often ribbed for over-using stock images of Mark’s head and pose.

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  2. So why is Rusty digging up broken video controllers? The entire premise of this storyline is really stupid. Come on, pre-teens dig for lost treasure or a secret cave. James Allen’s 100 watt bioluminescence makes more sense.

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    • Right on. I thought Rivera was going to go down the adventure trail with that ET crash story with Rusty and his friends. But that hope died when Mark was written into the story and took it over. Seems like every time Rusty goes off on one of his conspiracy-based adventures, one of his parents comes along to ruin it.

      Maybe Rivera might want to read some old Hardy Boys stories or go watch “Stand by me” for some ideas.

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