Sad! That green-screen background in Panel 4 is the giveaway they didn’t want us to see. After more than 70 years, we now see that the glorious Lost Forest, the caves, the boats, even the animals in Mark Trail were all faked on a Hollywood sound stage. And all of the human characters are just paid actors (I think they are on the 25th version of Andy). Over the decades, actors have come and gone, to be replaced by different actors. This helps explain why the major characters in the strip look different over time. And this time around, they didn’t get their actors from Central Casting!

It’s just a theory, of course. Mark and Ranger Shaw must track down that suspicious dealer legally selling blue diamond shrimp! How dare he!? And Ranger Shaw—nobody’s idea of a Jeopardy contestant—seems embarrassed (panel 3) that his kid didn’t spend his allowance, instead, on normal things young boys enjoy, like vaping and porn. But Mark is actually correct: A dealer that sells one kind of exotic animal will sell others. Insightful observation, indeed, Mark! Of course, diversity of inventory is a standard strategy virtually all business owners understand and follow.

However, the clincher to Mark’s “accuse first, find evidence later” strategy is revealed in panel 1, where Mark has already all but claimed the dealer is likely a crook for selling shrimpy shrimp that can be turned into an invasive species in the wild. So they’ll need to visit the shop and see whether they can find more evidence of wrongdoing. I’m thinking that, other than watching cave disaster videos, Mark enjoys crime reality TV shows.