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The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Hoo-boy, you almost missed real drama! It seemed for a moment that Rivera had taken a turn for the serious. But no worries, she quickly spun back to her tried-and-true habit of absurdity and jokes.

The week began with Cherry, her two sisters, brother Dirk, and Rusty sitting at dinner. Afterwards, Peach took out the garbage. Here we learned for the first time that the Trail cabin sits on a plot of land with a small descent behind it, resulting in the cabin having a raised stone foundation with a rear deck and steps! Just think of all those Trail cookouts we missed seeing.

So this is the point where things got serious:  As Peach walked down the steps, she saw Rick, standing at the bottom, his car parked beside him, in the backyard. Yet, nobody heard it drive up. When Peach told Rick once again to leave, he displayed his gun and shoulder holster and threatened everybody inside. As a terrified Peach was being forced into the car, Cherry came out to see what was keeping Peach.

The hoped-for serious drama gave way at this point: While Cherry faced Rick and urged Peach to move back, Dirk suddenly appeared. Quickly scoping the situation, Dirk whistled and his “feral hog friends” suddenly  appeared and started ramming Rick’s car before he could drive away. Of course, Rick’s escape attempt failed as his car was heavily battered and he was knocked senseless. The gang pondered calling the police, as Dirk offered some of his homespun hillbilly wisdom.

Are we at the end of Cherry’s story? Once again, it has that feel. I bet that next week we’ll see Cherry drop Olive and Peach off at the airport as Mark arrives to get picked up, symmetrical bookends to the start and end of both stories. As for Brother Dirk, he will likely just disappear on his own and maybe change his phone number.

Okay, I usually appreciate Rivera’s customized Sunday title panels, and today’s contribution is almost there. At the very least, it is creative. As is common, Rivera’s Sunday topic links, geographically, to Mark’s current storyline. That makes the Sunday strips more interesting than just reading about random animals or locations.

I have no major issues with this content, though panel 3 is redundant. Rivera could have used that panel to show us another mating example. And then there is the weak, forced humor in Mark’s asides. <Sigh!> He’ll never have a future hosting late night TV shows, so Mark should leave the jokes to the professionals.

We now return you to your normal Trailverse viewing.

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It was too good to be true, a hallucination brought on by an overoptimistic hope that Rivera might have finally attempted to deal with a serious issue in a serious manner. In the immortal words of the late, lamented thinker, John Belushi, “But, NOOOOOOOOOO!”

I reckon that Rivera just couldn’t handle the strain of changing her tune. Or maybe she did not care to. It seems that Mark Trail is destined to remain a simple parody strip of itself, dedicated to playing fast and loose with the strip’s traditional focus on nature, wildlife, and old fashioned values.

Some self-parody or even a bit of satire now and then is good. It shows humility. But here, it is more like a scratched record where the needle gets caught, repeating the same phrase, over, and over, and …. Maybe the paucity of traditional, serious adventure strips these days motivates Rivera and her syndicate to play Mark Trail more for laughs. But Mark Trail is sui generis, a one-of-a-kind strip with a tradition of focusing on nature and humanity’s relationship with it. And we already have a plethora of gag strips.

… And the verdict is not good.

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Well, I figured Dirk would step in, again acting in Mark’s place. But that was so predictable. I hoped that Rivera would have Olive make a stand, gun in hand, and draw down on Rick. I don’t know why Rivera keeps presenting strong women, but leaving them helpless or useless. Consider the fate of Diana Daggers, former kickass bodyguard and driver for Professor Bee Sharp.

It certainly looks as if the Moment of Drama has given way to the Moment of Inanity, as Dirk’s feral hogs (maybe wild boars?) appeared out of nowhere and automatically attacked Rick’s car. Smart pigs!

But the timeline seems truncated. It’s as if Rivera left out some important steps. Yesterday, both Peach and Rick were preparing to get into the car, with Cherry standing by the steps. Today, brother Dirk is already down the steps, alongside Cherry. Peach is still outside, but Rick is in the car, trying to get away! And lo and behold, here come the feral hogs! So much for packing heat, Rick.

The drama we saw the last two days seems to have just been a ruse, as the strip returns to its normal emphasis on oddball characters, light stories, and mediocre jokes. Disappointing.

The jury is still out

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Are you wondering if I’m going to make a crack about Cherry’s hips in panel 2? That would be grabbing low-hanging fruit, so to speak. But feel free to ponder why Rivera made the choice to draw Cherry that way. It’s about consistency, not sexism!

If you read yesterday’s strip, you know that I asked whether Rivera can keep up the dramatic mood she sprung on us (and on Peach). Well, today is a mix of inanity and drama.

First of all, how can Cherry’s trash bin be tricky to find when it’s right beside the steps in plain sight? Are we to think these outdoor scenes are really supposed to be dark? Or does Cherry think Peach is an idiot? Inanity! Rivera could have made up a simpler and more likely reason: “Maybe she got distracted by the great views we have of the stars. I’ll go check.”

Secondly, Rick’s car magically appears in the back yard, though I believe Rivera had to take some liberties for the sake of the scene: Cherry descends the steps, only to discover the danger Peach faces as she is forced into the car. There is another loophole.

In short, real danger continues to hang over the story. What will Cherry do next? What will Rick do, now that Cherry is on the scene? And I wonder where Dirk is.

Some serious shite going on!

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Well, Peach’s problem has taken a sharp dramatic turn. I’m frankly surprised that Rivera chose one of Cherry’s innocuous adventures to include a threat of actual danger. I’m suddenly very interested in how Rivera continues this story.

Forget what I said about the possibility of Rick renouncing his ways. This Rick is a man with real mental issues, in possession of a gun and threatening Peach and her family. The story could go several ways, but I hope that “goofy”, “contrived”, “slapstick”, or “absurd” are not likely options.

Art Dept. The artwork today is inconsistent, but improves. Panel 1 is overburdened with heavy black lines and roughly-drawn steps. Rick’s head/face keeps changing again, but he does look convincingly menacing in panel 3 (while also looking ten years older). Panel 3 suggests a film inspiration, but I fail to recall anything specific. I just don’t get to that many movies.

Rivera made a very good decision in panel 4 to zoom in on Peach’s terrified expression and contrast it with the darkly shaded background. It would not have been as effective a scene if Rivera used the same composition as panel 3, where Peach has to share the space. Can Rivera keep this up?

Multiple surprises today!

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Okay, perhaps Mark and Cherry actually do have more than one house, because this is the first I have ever seen of a two-level Trail cabin (with a stone foundation, yet)! And we’ve never seen the Trump cabin sitting on a slope, either. I’m gobsmacked.

Also curious is the changing imagery of Peach’s ex-boyfriend, Rick the Poacher. For example, here is Rivera’s first version of Rick (12/17/24): Decidedly more blonde, certainly younger looking, sporting a different nose and ears. In short, a really different face! And a different drawing style. Can I explain this? Nope!

On the other hand, Rivera’s pun in panel 2 is better than her normal puns. Well, Rick sounds pretty determined, but will he be able to demonstrate he is a rehabilitated man worthy of Peach’s renewed attention? Gads, I hope this doesn’t turn into rural version of Mary Worth.

Do Mark and Cherry own multiple homes or did Rivera really just mean to write they are having “dinner at home”?

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Let’s all sit down and enjoy family dinner! Mark is still down in Florida. But where is Cherry’s dad, Doc Davis? Did he permanently move into his vet office? In the pre-Rivera period, Doc Davis was a standard fixture at home, like a wall painting or end table. But at least Doc was present and even talked from time to time. I suppose Rivera could invoke the usual “artistic license” of not having enough room in the panel to show Doc, or claim he finished dinner early and then retired, as some people do.

When we last saw the siblings, they were at the weekend farmers market. Peach’s ex-beau, Rick, showed up and tried to strong-arm her back to Florida. Really Big Brother Dirk (and stand-in for the absent Mark) intervened to send the bipolar former boyfriend on his way. Of course, he is not really leaving, so we’ll see him return fairly soon. It is that conflict between Rick and Peach that is the whole point of this adventure. Anybody want to predict how the story will end?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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I’ve been challenged to produce a vigorous analysis of this past week. I must be slipping, as I thought all of my weekending summaries are vigorous in one form or another. Well, let’s see how things go…

First, a brief recap the week, day by day (I’m ignoring the omnipresent bear puns):

Mon – Mark reacts to learning Cricket Bro is behind the kidnapping attempt. He is put off to learn that the kidnappers do not know who he is. This could have been important, as it suggests Mark’s participation was not anticipated by Cricket Bro.
Tue – The kidnappers reveal they are here to grab Rita because of criticism against a post of Cricket Bro.
Wed – The kidnappers support the manatee-weather conspiracy and spout nonsense about Max.
Thur – Rita pounds the kidnappers on climate change. The kidnappers thought wearing bear costumes would protect them from arrest.
Fri – The police are called and Max is finally released into the “freshwaters” of Florida.
Sat – The police arrive to take the kidnappers. Our gang commiserates over the slow acceptance of climate change in the general public. Max is shown listlessly floating and shrunken.

This week’s strips suggest we have reached the end of the story, though it left the door open for dealing with Cricket Bro. Will this take place in one of Mark’s subsequent, off-the-books revenge stories? Wait a minute. Has Mark ever had one of those stories? Frank Miller could whip one up, I’m sure.

Now, what was this adventure really about? Was it really about protecting Max the Manatee? We can all agree that it definitely was not about protecting manatees, in general. As previously noted, there was virtually no face time with Max until the last two weeks. Even then, it was brief and desultory. None of the usual safeguards, procedures, or professional assistance for manatees was depicted or mentioned. Then there were the late revelations by the kidnappers about Cricket Bro’s involvement and his objective to stifle scientific/political views contrary to his own.

We were misled—well, I was misled—by the initial emphasis on protecting Max the Manatee. This was really a kind of bait-and-switch story. Mark was hired as a bodyguard, not a reporter. His job was to bring his Two Fists O’ Justice to any conspiracy nut who interfered with Rita and Skeeter getting Max back into his natural waters. I wonder if Bill Ellis knew this? And this conspiracy was either initiated or supported by Mark’s earliest “nemesis”, Rob Bettencourt, aka Cricket Bro.

When seen in this light, I believe the story makes more sense, though it is still superficial and lacks any suspense. Then again, we can claim that Rivera’s stories have never been about actual suspense and drama, excluding Mark’s first adventure. Thus, criticism about any lack of suspense and drama is redundant and unwarranted. What do you think?

It’s kind of depressing that Mark would spend so much space and effort discussing the groundhog’s weather prediction nonsense. But then again, I’d probably be more depressed if I thought there were people who still do believe this. What’s that, you said..? There are such people!? Oh, right: “Manatees can control hurricanes.” <Gag!> Where is my bucket?

As the Alan Parsons Project sang, “Where do we go from here?”

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I’m concerned that people in this adventure strip seem to have trouble knowing which way to face when communicating. In panel 1, we see Mark doing the Big Wave as he faces the waterfront. I thought he was still waving at Max. But no! Mark is waving at the two hapless kidnappers who are, technically, behind him, to his left. In fact, Skeeter and Rita are also looking out, across the water. This is the same orientation problem that we saw yesterday.

I’m floating a theory that ol’ Max the Manatee might actually now be ol’ Max the Ex-Manatee! Take a look! Go on. Look! In panel 1 he seems to have floated back to the shore and shrunk by a good ten feet. He looks more like a child’s pool float. What gives?

I do not understand the need to bring Max back, nor show him suddenly next to the shore, compared to his position yesterday (panel 4), after the gang said goodbye. Why is Max in the panel at all? The real point of panel 1 is to trash-talk the two failed kidnappers. Furthermore, the rest of the conversation is about climate change, not Max or the endangered status of manatees. This just reinforces my earlier conviction that this story told us next to nothing about manatees, their issues, and their need for guardianship by qualified professionals.