Rant. Yesterday was Earth Day. Yes, I forgot that, until now. My brain is a sieve. But I don’t write and draw this strip. Did Mark Trail (or Jules Rivera) say anything about Earth Day? No! You’d have thought it would get a mention, since the salvation of the Earth is kind of Mark’s Prime Directive. I mean, Rivera could have shoe-horned it into the story: Instead of having their dinner right away, Mark and Cherry and Rusty and Cliff could have stopped on the way back to the hotel and spent a small bit of time (4 panels’ worth!) celebrating (or at least acknowledging) Earth Day. But they didn’t do it. In my opinion, it’s a major oversight. You would have thought Rivera’s syndicate editors would have said something in time. And that’s all I have to say. Time to move on to today’s installment!

The story pivots to Rusty’s photo where a small, but significant morality event is recounted. And once again, Mark is shown to be self-centered. Is this deliberate or does Jules Rivera believe she is just writing a sarcastic quip? Shouldn’t Mark’s first remark be something more along the lines of “That’s pretty cool! Looks like our Rusty is growing up.”

Or, we could take his comment at face value. Mark is both happily surprised at the photos, yet bothered that he was left out of the experience until now. But once again, Mark comes across as hypocritical. After all, did Mark share his own experiences with Cherry during his investigation? Did she even know where he was half the time? I don’t think so. Mark could have said in panel 4 “Gee, I’m sorry I missed all that, Cherry. I got so caught up in my investigation that I forgot to check in with you!” Either way, as far as I can see, Mark comes out looking like a chump. But maybe I’m making too much of a petty issue.

Art Dept. I think Rivera made a mistake drawing a part of Cherry’s anatomy. Can you spot it?