The outside view in Friday’s strip certainly didn’t look like the kind of rainfall that would produce today’s flash flood. But I suppose the geography of the immediate area could be something like a western arroyo that quickly accumulates and focuses water, sending it along its path like a runaway train. Anybody remember that pre-Rivera story involving Mark and Doc Davis that featured a near drowning in an arroyo from a flash flood?

This would have been the perfect time for Range Shaw’s rescue team to be on hand to help, but they seem to have disappeared. It begs the question of why they were depicted in the first place if they could not be around for their moment of glory. Did Jules Rivera forget about them or did she suddenly decide they were an unnecessary detail? Perhaps they are the mysterious force holding the recue lines that simply disappear out of the mouth of the cave. In any case, the pathetic Cricket Bro seems to have bungled his own rescue and now barely hangs on to what is apparently a stalagmite or cave column. What will happen next? It is certainly a mystery, though I’m pretty sure what the opinion would be for the majority of readers.

Art Dept. Even artists have good days and bad days. When I look at yesterday’s and today’s panels and compare them to the panels earlier this week, I wonder if this is the same person doing the drawing. Say what you will about Rivera, she usually has a basic understanding of human anatomy. I can’t—I won’t—claim that for the person who drew today’s panels. And it’s also a shame, as the two-panel spread provided enough room to build a dramatic scene of danger and resistance. But while panel 2 certainly suggests drama and danger, the visual execution undermines it.