Rivera paces today’s strip the same as yesterday’s but in doing so, the overall pace of the story has slowed down, since we have to wait until tomorrow to learn about Rick’s reactions. I’m betting today’s and tomorrow’s strips could have been consolidated into one. We could cut out panels 2 and 4 as extraneous. We really don’t need to know who or what this “famous buck” is that Rick poached. That it was poached is good enough.

Art Dept. On the other hand, I’ll give points for the background coloration in panels 3 and 4. Their somber tones help reinforce the drama. In fact, I was going to mention that yesterday, since panel 4 did not have a tone-setting background, in spite of its darker content.