“Gosh, darn! If we could only dump Max the Manatee, we would catch those fleeing bear bandits!”

In thrillers, mysteries, and crime dramas—at least on TV—it used to be that the perps were the ones who act stupid. Apparently, times have changed. Well …

…maybe it’s just me, but wasn’t the main goal here to avoid the bad guys, rather than chase them?

And doesn’t Max the Manatee need to return to his native habitat as quickly as possible?

Maybe I’m getting too old, but I just don’t get this part of the story. Mark thinks it’s okay to risk the health of Max the Manatee so he can chase a couple of costumed idiots into the bushes. Where are his supposed pro-wildlife priorities? What the hell would he do if he caught those bozos?

You know, Skeeter might be a first class moron, but at least he brought a camera along, which is more than I can say for “Mark Trail, nature journalist and wildlife photographer.” This makes Garfield look good.

Is this the secret to Mark’s Two Fist O’ Justice: Arms that bend like pipe cleaners? Anyway, looks like the snack stop is a bust as Rita and Skeeter come back empty-handed. I was sure looking forward to some of those Cheetos.

We can overlook the comedic art for a few moments while we consider the plot development … okay, that’s long enough. Still, Rita does raise a good point (panel 3), but Mark is more interested in responding like a dork, while making no sense. This includes his offhanded remark in panel 1 about “bearnappers.” Of course, these would-be abductors are not trying to kidnap bears, which is what the word implies. Perhaps Mark intends to follow up with a more helpful explanation tomorrow that doesn’t include a bad bear pun.

Art Dept. Another thing I’ve been noticing over time is Mark’s increasingly large eyebrows, reaching epic Groucho proportions. Maybe you noticed, too? Here he is in February 2024. I might be overstating the case a bit, as sometimes they are thin and sometimes they get fatter. Maybe it’s the amount of humidity or the time of year. It’s not a project I’m overly excited to perform, so I’ll just let this stand as an unsubstantiated observation.