Okay, so being trapped in a cave is not a really big deal for Mark, huh? We can interprete his behavior in different ways:

1. Mark is a super dad and cares for his own kid above anybody else, even his assignment
2. Mark is an irresponsible dad and thinks it is just fine to bring Rusty into a possibly dangerous environment
3. Mark figures Wingit made his own mess, so feels no great responsibility to save him
4. Since Wingit is no longer in the mansion, Mark’s primary mission is complete, anyway

Who knows which is right and whether another reason will float to the surface of this turgid pool?

Art Dept. Today’s strip displays signs of assembly line drawing, though I might be misreading things. Mark’s face in panel 2 looks like it was put together from stored parts, like an identikit or Mr. Potato Head, especially the mouth, which doesn’t quite fir the angle of the face. By the way, Mark’s watch in panel 1 disappears in panel 3. In fact, panel 1 is the only time Mark’s watch has even appeared.

Less obvious is the “lineup” composition that Rivera likes to use (panel 3) for groups. You can find numerous examples in the strip if you care to go back and review. Of course, part of the reason for this is important: Rivera needs to visually clarify which characters are speaking in a group. One downside is that the composition can sometimes look unnatural and awkward.

Today, Mark and Sammy stand side-by-side in the foreground, talking to Rusty and the surfing instructor standing in the middle ground. This arrangement forces Mark and Sammy to look back over their shoulders.  Clearly, a more realistic and still clear composition would have been to show Mark and Sammy facing Rusty, with their backsides to us. Not a difficult composition, even for Rivera.

Also, how and why did Rusty change his clothes from the relatively short time ago when he began his surfing lesson?