We’re back for Mark’s weekly segment, where we expected him and Cliff to be besting the other contenders back at the Woodsman Olympics. Instead, Mark was more bothered by hanky-panky going on in the desert, so he convinced Cliff to play hooky with him and go interview the Solar Energy Guy. It’s heartwarming to note that Mark doesn’t care one bit about getting Cliff into any trouble for not showing up at the Olympics. But Cliff is clearly a “go along to get along” kind of guy, and he has little enough to do in the story, anyway. After all, he even gets along with Mark’s rivals, the Grungey Boys!

They drove out to the “Solar Project” building to interview the project manager, Joe Jitters, who spent his time complaining how Tad Crass was trying to ruin his municipal solar energy project so that Crass could build his profit-generating athletic center. In case you were wondering, I already wrote about this issue before. What I since discovered is that at least 85% of the land is federally owned and managed for public use, conservation, and authorized development. So there shouldn’t be a problem here, right?

The climax of the week was the sudden appearance of two “Woodsman Olympics Security Officers” who somehow not only knew that Cliff and Mark were not at the event, but knew where they were. How!? I’m thinking Mark must have unknowingly rented his car from “Crass Car Rentals,” where every vehicle has a tracker installed.  The security guys claimed Mark and Cliff were breaking the “I promise to compete” clause of their participation contract. Now they have to immediately return to the event site! Jules Rivera left us with a Cliffhanger: What will Mark do now? I think his only choices are:

• “Geez. Sorry, guys, our bad. Ooh! Would you look at the time!? Cliff and I are leaving right now!” OR
• “No way, Jose! I’m going to destroy Tad’s plans for an evil stadium of profit! So try and sue us!” (Cliff mutters “What do you mean by ‘us’, Mark?”) OR
• Mark takes off his jacket and says “Say hello my little friends, the two Fists o’ Justice!” (Cliff begins to sing “One fist of iron, the other of steel, if the right one don’t getcha, then the left one will…” ).

It’s difficult to come up with a great custom title panel each Sunday. Rivera often hits a good one, but today is a swing and a miss; but at least it is customized. Well, red-winged blackbirds are almost as ubiquitous in the States as Mark’s face is on these Sunday strips. I could do with less Mark and his asides and more Nature.