Ah, little boys with their toys. This reads like a cheap action movie from several decades ago, where the so-called actors were likely local yokels picked up in a gym. All of this macho preening is nothing new here. Rivera’s Mark Trail is a continual parade of comical bullies, childish taunting (on both sides), and quick fights. Again, nothing terribly new here, but sadly, nothing terribly new.

It is interesting to see how Connor, the whining, accident-prone camper preoccupied with the fear of divorce, suddenly exhibits a boastful, almost menacing manner (panel 2). In fact, he looks more like Honest Ernest with that trimmed Fu Manchu and movie-villain eyebrows. Yes, it’s quite a change from his look of shock in panel 1.

In fact, I think it really is Honest Ernest and the syndicate colorist misidentified the figure as Connor. Note that the shirt is buttoned up to the collar, whereas in panel 1, Connor has his shirt unbuttoned. The really confusing part is the hair, which looks a bit more like Connor’s.