Well, I’m trying to figure out how Cliff’s hand works in panel 2. First off, the angle of arm-to-face looks awkward, and the hand looks too small for his face. Now, consider the hand, itself. Clearly, it cannot be Cliff’s left hand. So it is his right hand, which puts his thumb on the outside of the palm. Agreed? Okay, let’s move on. Consider what is supposed to be his thumb. How does the thumb wind up flexing below the palm, where it looks more like a broken finger? Don’t take my word for it; try it yourself, or ask a friend to. Perhaps Cliff is one of those rare people born with an underdeveloped thumb (thumb hypoplasia).

Let’s get into the story. Jules Rivera omitted the conclusion of yesterday’s face-off, so we’ll never know if the security guard was as reluctant to get involved as he looked, or if the Grungey Boys wanted to avoid the law and so quickly left. It seemed like it would have been a good opportunity for Rivera to get in some cheap laughs. Today we learned the likely reason why Cliff didn’t back up Mark against the Grungey Boys (panel 2). Does Mark think Cliff’s memory isn’t very good or did he forget Cliff’s own involvement in that doomed fishing class he mentions in panel 3? It might have produced a more effective panel to have Mark start off reminding Cliff of Connor’s accident and then show Cliff jumping in to finish the rest of the explanation, demonstrating that he did remember. A more dynamic panel results, though it would mean getting rid of the narration box.

Those of you who dislike the way Rivera employs narration boxes (count me in that group at this point) will probably not appreciate the box in panel 3. In fact, it doesn’t make any sense to me! Shouldn’t it say something like “Now Mark is not letting Connor off the hook” or maybe “The Grungey Boys are not letting Mark off the hook.” What is Rivera trying to say!? Help me out, people!