Good news: Goodbye, Manhattan and Hello, Lost Forest! We can turn our attention back to the matter of … uh, exactly what was going on, again back home? Hmm, I think it had something to do with Rusty and Olive Pitt running into the Grungey Boys playing with a riding lawnmower some place in the woods of Lost Forest. And Honest Ernest was threatening them. Yes, and the always-useful Ranger Shaw was unable to do anything about it, due to some possibly made-up rule about jurisdiction. Shaw had previously confessed to Mark about his indirect abetting of the Grungey Boys’ prior activity, destroying electronic equipment left behind to litter the forest.

Anyway, lots of inaction today as Rivera seems intent on pacing this non-story to match the tempo of Ravel’s Bolero. If nothing else, it provides another piece of the homespun hominess that Rivera likes to put in to give more family context to the strip.

I reckon everybody there who goes outside to play or just walk around must carry a backpack (as we see Mark and Cherry do), possibly filled with emergency supplies, in case of a natural disaster or accident. Hmmm, not a bad idea, come to think of it, if you live in a forest.

Art Dept. The Trails must continually rebuild their cabin, as it looks different every time it is depicted. In most cases, it is always too small. But maybe this is a new meme: The transforming Trail Cabin! Otherwise, we’re back to the familiar 2D set designs that pass for nature (including the robin). And the people. Oh, yeah, I’ve written about the human form in Mark Trail before, so I won’t go into for now.