Commenter Hannibal’s Lectern offered an interesting interpretation for the Sunday title panel: “I’m going to take a wild guess and say the title’s supposed to look like a seismograph trace, which ties to the earthquakes mentioned in the penultimate panel.“ There is a resemblance, even though the gridlines aren’t correct. Still, it was better than my idea, which was “I dunno.” Also, I like it when people know what the term “penultimate” means. Call me an elitist, if you like. My wife sure does.

Let’s move on to the storyline: Looks like we spend a bit of time watching the Tails enjoy some of the hotel’s perks. The contest begins “tomorrow”, but how many daily strips will it take to get to the story’s “tomorrow”? No idea! Lounging around the hotel could consume the remainder of the week, as Rivera seems to block out story scenes into weekly “chapters.” We might find that Rivera uses this week to get in more hotel hijinks with Cherry’s gambling, more jousting with the Grungey Boys, and maybe an insight into how Cliff is spending his time.

I have absolutely no idea how wet feet will help Mark in the contest, unless it is somehow useful in a logrolling event. But then, wouldn’t he use special shoes? I’m just really ignorant of these details!

That insect in panel 4 appears to be a damselfly, a close relative of the dragonfly. But that’s just a guess. I’m going by the way the wings are held to the side, which is the preferred position of damselfies when perched. And I have the feeling we just met the topic for next Sunday. Anyway, I was going to make one of those cheap snarky jokes about a “giant damselfly” ready to drop down and attack Mark and Rusty. But my “better self” prevailed. Aren’t you happy!?

Art Dept. Sometimes I can’t tell if Jules Rivera had a bad day or just had better things to do. While the overall panel layouts today are fine, I’m really put off by the amateurish depictions of Mark (and even Rusty). Check out this clip from September 2021 (the Zeeba Mussels story) for comparison. You can draw your own conclusions. I wager that those of you who pooh-poohed Rivera’s drawing back then would find it more preferable to what we’ve been seeing lately.