Really, now. Is a gorilla sanctuary more pure than a deer sanctuary or a tiger sanctuary? Just wondering. Now we’re spending all this time listening to Niecy’s litany of questionable activities that Gail and Guyler (do you remember the origin of his name?) have done, and … so what!? Is Mark just gonna keep huffing and puffing and wringing his hands over the gorillas?

(By the way, are real estate seminars inherently criminal enterprises? If you are talking about time shares or house flipping, maybe you got a point. But if selling cheap pantyhose is also a crime, places like Dollar General are in big trouble!) And if you see any allusions to contemporary politics or politicians in this current story, I would agree, given Jules Rivera’s own politics.

Sure, gorillas are important to protect—don’t get me wrong. But Mark seems to have lost focus on why they went to the sanctuary in the first place. The gorillas look morose and placid, but not necessarily ill, injured, or diseased. Is Mark going to sacrifice Happy’s happiness and fortune while he emotes and shakes his fist at Gail and Guyler? Is Mark going to at least call the DNR and have them send officers over to the Sanctuary? Mark needs to get off the stick and get going. As far as we know, Happy and Gail could already be married! Given Happy’s recent unstable behavior, that is a real possibility!

Okay, just where the hell are Niecy and Mark working!? Is that a mural behind them in panel 1 or are they really in a corner office on the 17^th floor of a business tower? But then I stopped and looked more closely at the scene. I realized that they are sitting in the room where Mark and Niecy first found out who Dreama really is. The left “passageway” is actually a bookcase. The right passageway leads to the bumped-out three-wall Florida Room visible in panel 4 of yesterday’s strip. Jules Rivera could have spilled a bit more ink defining these spaces more convincingly. Okay, I think I’m good to go.

Ever since arriving at the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary, Mark has turned his attention to the animals and more or less put Happy’s money on the back burner. That shouldn’t be surprising. Interestingly, it appears that Rivera adapted her Tiger Petting Zoo story (“Puff Piece Zoo”) for this adventure, having Happy play the role of the smitten Rex Scorpius and Gail reimagining Tess Tigress. That means Niecy stands in for Diana Daggers, who was originally Rex’s backup support and information provider, until Tess Tigress threw her off the zoo property and out of the story. Now, we don’t really have an actual rampaging elephant to chase Gail into the sunset, but one of the gorillas might step in, when the time is right.

I wonder where Mark picked up that interjection, “criminy.” It’s really old-school, and my Oxford English Dictionary indicates it was in use back in the 17^th century. Since then, it was popular for a while, but went out of favor around the 1920s. Maybe Mark picked it up from watching really old movies.

So, did Mark really leave Happy in the hands of Gail and Guyler!? Criminy!