<Sigh!> Will this desultory dialog mark the content of the week? (To paraphrase Rusty, see what I did there!?) Rivera tends to parse her stories into weekly chunks, a simple and convenient technique that functions as book chapters. But do we need an entire chapter devoted to this phone call? That is to say, if Mark is off on some important and potentially dangerous assignment (according to Bill Ellis), is distracting Mark with Peach’s bipolar ex-boyfriend a really good idea right now?

Long-time readers of Mark Trail know that Mark has a long history of dealing with poachers, so even just mentioning the word is enough to set him off, as we see here!

Historical Note: Interesting use of the slang, “moxie” in panel 4. I remember it as a popular term often used in MAD Magazine when I was growing up. In case it isn’t obvious, the term refers to personal audacity, nerve, or spunk. The term originated in a once-popular beverage of the same name that was advertised as “nerve food” and a health beverage.