What was it that Ralph Kramdam used to wail after messing up once again on The Honeymooners? “Me and my biiig mouth!” Fine. I misread the tea leaves. I thought for sure that Saturday was the end of the story when Mark mentioned writing up an article with Happy. Reckon I should have waited for the dust-up to settle down.
It looks like we are moving into Part 3, in which actual work gets done. If that’s what happens, I’ll need to rejigger the story’s grade.
In any event, I’m anxious to see this investigative journalism get into gear. Will they be checking online for filed paperwork and inspection reports? Will they wade into the river to take water samples by the resort to get analyzed by a proper lab (as opposed to going to Doc Davis)? Will they have to face off against the gator while they sneak around the resort grounds? Or does all of this palaver really just mean “Let’s write that article“, after all?
The polluted lake story ended yesterday, or so it seems. Of course, we could have another week for the epilog, a standard feature of Rivera’s stories. As for the week, itself, as Cherry’s peacock story appears to have ended, Chet and Brett Chedderson (patiently waiting on the sidelines all week so Mark could help trap the wandering peacock) returned on stage to renew their verbal assaults.
Insults flew from both sides as Happy Trail finally sided with Mark. The result was that the entire Trail family was thrown off the resort, permanently. No doubt, Happy Trail paid a fair amount of money for his charter membership fees, but tried to save face with the “I’ll see my own self out” trope dripping from his lips as they left. Maybe not quite that dramatic! Happy apologized to Mark for not sticking up for him earlier on (i.e. when Mark flew off the handle, accusing the Cheddersons of environmental sabotage, without having done any actual investigation). Then Cherry and Rusty conveniently disappeared from the strip for the last three days as Rivera focused on their father-and-son Hallmark greeting card moment.
And that leaves us with this: What was the point of this story? Was the premise of mysterious lake pollution and a new golf course just an excuse to bring in Happy Trail? The first half of the story, focusing on discovering the source of the lake pollution was just fine, as is. Happy’s appearance could have provided Mark with a colleague to help with an investigation.
But Mark’s plans (and the story) were sidelined and ultimately undermined when Happy Trail revealed the real reason he showed up was to invite them to the new golf club and water park that he just joined (even though he lives in Florida). And that’s when the story began to go sideways. If I was a writing teacher (thank goodness for students I am not!), I’d give the story a D. The focus on water pollution got twisted into a morality play about parenting. The pollution angle became secondary or forgotten. However, this is an adventure strip about nature and human interactions with the environment. It is unique in that regard. If we want to read strips that focused on human relationships, there are plenty of those already available. But there is only one Mark Trail strip. Why waste it on mere humans?
Rivera’s underwater drawings are often better executed and more evocative than what shows up above the water. Take the image of Mark raising his forefinger in panel 4 … Please! Did that come from a “Draw Mark Trail” contest submission!?
Seriously, does Mark/Rivera expect everyday people to run chemical tests on tap water? Well, it might be a good idea, but Mark should have included some information on where test kits can be obtained. I’m surprised Mark and Cherry don’t have their own side business: Mark Trail’s Tap Water Test Kits.
The Daily Trail 