Finally! Jules Rivera managed to get Mark out of the cabin and on the road again. And right off the bat, Happy Trail calls for one of Peach Pitt’s custom t-shirts. I wonder if that farmers’ market is open every day or did Mark leave on the right day? <Sigh!> I think I’m spinning my wheels today.

Art Dept. I’m not sure what to think of Mark’s auto in panel 1. It looks like Jules Rivera is experimenting with a woodcut style drawing, based on the blocky feel to the car; the use of flat, heavy “hatch” lines that thin out on one end (e.g. radiator), and contrasting with thin parallel lines on the side of the car. The window glass doesn’t come off very well, and the zip lines behind the car to denote movement are too short. However, I wish Rivera would have extended this woodcut style to the entire panel.

Now, the use of popup portrait bubbles is a device Rivera often uses to highlight somebody from inside of a structure when the view is external. It’s a good technique, though I think also putting Mark in his own bubble is overkill. Yes, it adds a visual symmetry with Happy, but it makes the panel more crowded and lessens the impact of Happy’s bubble.  Mark could have been shown inside the car. However, I’ll give Rivera extra credit for drawing Mark’s seat belt! It’s an easy detail to forget or omit in this situation.