I’m surprised to see Rusty brought Robbie along, given their long history of rivalry. Otherwise, all I can say is “Thank Goodness!” there is a snag in this otherwise boring swimming story. Given that a fence has been (partially) erected with a warning sign, we might be lucky enough to see some kind of toxic spill or industrial pollution that Mark can investigate and give us a more interesting story to read.
Art Dept. Apparently, Rivera believes it is important to show the shocked expressions of the gang after they arrived at the swimming hole, though Cherry looks more like a teenager that just got goosed by her boyfriend. In any event, it’s another one of Rivera’s oddball examples where everybody is facing away from the object they’re reacting to. Now, is there any reason they couldn’t all be showed facing towards the fence, as people do in real life?
Surprise, shock, or disappoint could certainly be implied through body language, just as much as through facial expression. Here is a simple example of what I’m talking about. You’ll have to just imagine a fence in front of this dude.
Other compositional solutions come to mind here, but facing away from the fence is not one of them. Another missed opportunity.
And yeah, I know the station wagon in panel 1 looks off, like one of those old school ColorForms stick-ons.
The Daily Trail 
I actually laughed out loud when I read your description of Cherry. She does not look disappointed.
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The art happens because she doesn’t have a process beyond slapping lines down until it vaguely looks like something, followed by drawing whatever over those lines because she doesn’t understand basic forms or shape language. Someone who was actually capable of aesthetic analysis would be capable of recognizing that instead of acting like these mistakes were made by choice as a matter of “artistic license”.
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Art Dept. Why do Mark’s, Cherry’s, and Rusty’s open mouths in panel #3 appear filled with white? It looks like they’re sucking on eggs.
I agree, George. It would be more fitting if their expressions showed disappointment or anger instead of shock.
Rivera’s artistic choices are certainly… different.
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