As the popular cliché goes, “there is a lot to unpack here.” But first, from a storyline POV, I like the idea of Kelly Welly coming in as a counterpoint to Mark. It is still not clear how this matchup is going to work. First of all, her backstory in Rivera’s reboot is that Kelly no longer works for the same magazine Mark does (or did). She freelances, has her own large online following, and now works for Cricket Bro. This certainly seems to fill a lot of checkboxes for being a “nemesis.” But I’m holding out for more info.

In this clip from 1/30/21, Kelly reluctantly gives Mark a compliment after deriding him for playing it safe and being a big shot. She holds a lot against Mark, but at the same time, shows some grudging respect for his position. So, the relationship was complicated then. How will it be handled now?

Art Dept. By the way, you might notice a strong difference in the art then, compared to Rivera’s art these days.  Her earlier style had a “graphic novel” sensibility that gave the strip a grittier vision than even the pre-Rivera artists. And then there is what we see today. When Rivera brushed this early approach aside, so did she also cast off the best examples of real drama and mortality in the strip.

Still, Kelly Welly’s appearance at least presents us with the opportunity for seeing a more dynamic and uncertain situation develop for Mark.  But what will actually happen? Every time I think it will, it didn’t. At the same time, don’t you think it is arrogant and hypocritical of Mark to cast suspicions on Kelly’s AI knowledge, after his own admissions of doubt and ignorance on the subject?