Looks like Bill Ellis was as good as his word. And it didn’t take too long for Mark to get that call. I wonder if that giant uppity raccoon is wondering whether Mark has at last become well known outside of his family and his small group of rivals, since the agent didn’t feel the need to verify Mark’s last name. But I reckon it is a good thing that Mark’s phone uses a normal ringtone for incoming calls, rather than a sound clip from ZZ Top or a voice screaming “ANSWER THE PHONE!” And a tip of the Gratitude Hat to Jules Rivera letting us know that this new adventure wasn’t suddenly ending today. It’s little gestures like that, that make all the difference.

Art Dept. I hope I’m not the only one disturbed by panel 4. I’m still going “Wow. Oh, Wow.” So, the orange talking head bubble zaps back to the phone, avoiding the ambiguity we saw the other day. All to the good. But then, we get what might be Rivera’s reintroduction of one of the more popular Mark Trail gaffs: The dialog balloon points to the wrong person (I think). Well, it confused the heck out of me for a moment. But this looks more deliberate than accidental. Don’t you agree? One difference from the older gaffs was that I don’t think they were deliberately trying to pull our leg (but tell me if you have a different opinion).

The second point is Mark’s head. What is going on there? The inking job make it look like Mark has long hair strands running down one side of his head. And that blue stroke of hair across the top of his head is just strange. In fact, the more I look at today’s strip, the more I think somebody else drew it, or helped draw it. Even the drawings of the cabin are in a different style.

I’ve brought this up before, so remember that there is nothing wrong, per se, with guest artists filling in. It’s been a practice in comic strips for well over 100 years, going all the way back, at least, to Mutt and Jeff. So, my supposition about a ghost artist is merely based on curiosity. Curiosity and being a smarty-pants. No, my supposition is based on two points: Curiosity and being a smarty-pants. And filling up this page. Grrr! My supposition is based on…oh, forget it.