An advisory notice: I am not a professional comic artist critic, though I play one on the Internet.
Well, just when I thought we would have some decent continuity with Cherry’s story, we get today’s load, uh, upload. Hoo-boy, this is another big disappoint. Go ahead, zoom in on panels 1 and 3 (for example) and tell me what you see. I’ll wait … As much as Rivera has turned out some good art over her nearly 4 years drawing and writing the strip, she has also posted her share of dreck. Like today. Again, I don’t know why, but there it is.
Is Rivera just trying to see how much she can get away with? Does her Syndicate not even care? I’m almost to the point where I’d just as soon put this strip out to pasture and start following Garfield. And you all know how much I just love Garfield.
The Daily Trail is probably the only online daily review of Mark Trail. Well-written sites such as Comics Curmudgeon and Joseph Nebus only cover the strip periodically, if very amusingly. This site’s creator, Dennis Williams, carved out a good niche for himself by focusing on just one strip and maintaining a nearly-daily schedule for some seven years. You can go check out the archives here and enjoy his writing.
Yes, I get discouraged with the strip, as you all do. I wonder how much longer I can keep hoping for improvements. How much longer can I keep thinking of new things to say and avoid becoming just another snarker, like those cats over at Comics Kingdom. Well, it’s fine and fun to write snarky comments, but focusing solely on that was never my intention.
In my naiveté, I thought Rivera would settle down and take this strip seriously, like her predecessors did; like I do. There is a possibility that Rivera does take this seriously and deliberately writes and draws this strip to make some kind of a point; whatever that is. I know several long-time followers of The Daily Trail moved on after Rivera took over. Shy of something dramatic happening, those former readers aren’t likely coming back. In any event, I’m just trying to work through all of this, while being transparent, as is our current social virtue. This isn’t “good bye and thanks for the fish“, but I am raising a flag. All comments appreciated.
The Daily Trail 
George, looks like your as nonplussed as me at this point on the merits of this strip. I can’t imagine being able to come up with a daily blog on this drivel. I take off my hat to you. You are correct, died in the wool Trail Heads have long since abandoned Rivera’s rendition of this once classic 78 year old strip. Which now bears absolutely no resemblance to the art, theme nor character which Dodd created. He would be rolling in his grave as I’m sure would Elrod.
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I’d have to agree with that, Mark: Dodd and Elrod would certainly wonder what has happened. They might agree with some of the changes, given the current times we live in. But I do think they would be puzzled by the art and characterizations.
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Panel #1: Why did Rivera draw a giant robin sitting atop Violet’s office? 😂
Panel #3: Sitting in for Jules today is 7-year-old Mikey. Nice bear, Mikey! Make sure to get your parents to display it on the refrigerator!
Agreed, George, those panels were a little off. Panel #1 had a questionable foreshortening design layout which flawed the readers’ perspective. And what’s up with that tree? Berries but no leaves? As for panel #3, has Jules ever seen a bear before? Why do the bear’s legs resemble stovepipes? Is the bear chewing on a tan glove?
As you said the other day, Jules doesn’t make much money creating Mark Trail. Sad to say most cartoonists nowadays have more than one job. I’ve read several creators in the GoComics comments lamenting that they don’t make much money off their comic strips. Perhaps Jules prioritizes her other job?
I’ve noticed an awful lot of comic strips have been in reruns lately. Is it a symptom of contemporary comic strip economics?
I’d hate to see you end this blog out of frustration, but it would be hypocritical of me not to understand. There was a comic strip that I used to enjoy, but the cartoonist continued to make decisions that made the comic strip intolerable. I recently made the decision to stop reading that comic strip, A comic strip that I had been reading since the day it began.
I like your blog because it isn’t just snark. You try to be fair and share with your readers how you believe the cartoonist could improve their product. It’s too bad if Jules doesn’t read it because your advise appears to be sound. Almost all soap opera strips are snark magnets. I’d like to see one taken seriously by the readers.
For what it’s worth, this blog made me start reading Classic Mark Trail on the Comics Kingdom. I was enjoying it until the last Comics Kingdom website “redesign”. Apparently the strips I was reading are still someone in the archive. I just have no idea what the actual dates of the strips I was reading were.
Cheers. 🤟
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Thanks, sincerely. I appreciate your comments and encouragement. Yeah, you are right about the spate of sabatacals in comics. It’s sad and depressing and seems a bit self-indulgent. Some cartoonists have been “on sabatacal” for years. Really. And as you know, some cartoonists don’t really draw or write their strips. That is not new. Bud Fisher, who became rich with “Mutt and Jeff”, had assistants doing almost everything, even while he was raking in tons of money from the strip and merchandising: An early version of Jim Davis. And nothing wrong with making money, of course. I’ve read that George McManus, the creator of Maggie & Jiggs, worked his butt off to produce a year’s worth of strips in just half a year so he could take the rest of the year off. And fans didn’t have to settle for reruns. Win-Win!
As for those newspaper strips that go on annual or perpetual sabbaticals and vacations, I’d drop them in favor of bringing in new talent. Let the new kids on the block actually produce new work to earn their money.
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