Of course, Cartoon Hero-Man shows up at the nick of time. At least, that’s how I think Rivera imagines this particular aspect of Mark Trail. Mark makes a melodramatic, tough-guy “Arnold” appearance, wearing the same hunting vest as Connor, both items left over from Mark’s misrun fishing survival school (“For Men Only”).

Pre-Rivera Mark Trail felt a moral obligation to duke it out now and then, but without announcing it to the victim, or bragging about it. Now, Mark (again) spouts this macho cliché that was already trite when only the strip’s critics were saying it. That is the point, I think. Rivera can only treat this as parody. In so doing, Rivera robs the story of virtually any actual suspense and drama. As most readers probably agree, she is not really interested in genuine drama, anyway. But maybe this is what passes for drama in an age of “reality” TV shows such as “Big Brother”, “Survivor”, and “Race to Survive.”

Art Dept. A visual aspect of Rivera minimizing (or avoiding) “drama” can be seen in panel3. Up to this point, the difference in height between Honest Ernest and Rusty has supported Ernest’s dominating personality. But in panel 3, Rusty is nearly at eye level with Ernest. If there was a time when the height difference could have been used to really amplify Ernest’s threat, this was it. One obvious compositional solution would have been to show Rusty’s head just poking up from the lower corner, looking up at Ernest, just as Ernest would then be looking down. Another solution could be to show Ernest in full-face, looking down at “us”, as if we were Rusty. A variation of that scenario would have Rusty’s back to us, standing in silhouette, facing a taller Honest Ernest (not in silhouette) looking down at Rusty as he makes his threat.