I reckon that Jules Rivera wants us to think that Lost Forest is some kind of backwater where creating a necklace is akin to magic. Well, based on the people we’ve seen so far, perhaps she isn’t too far off the mark. Still, it’s a bit of a put-down.
So, the shrimp story has effectively split into two subplots: 1) Mark investigates the suspicious reptile pet shop in Nashville; and 2) another set-piece of Robbie trying to bully Rusty. Will this finally lead to an actual knock-down, duke-it-out confrontation between the lads? And who will throw the first punch? If there is a physical confrontation, I think it will be Rusty, finally fed up with Robbie.
I also find it difficult to see Robbie as the son of Ranger Shaw; rather, he is more like Honest Ernest. I wonder why Ranger Shaw hasn’t bothered to get a DNA analysis. Maybe that is why he often comes off as a nebbish; he might suspect but is too intimidated and cuckolded to do anything about it. Well, just a thought.
George, I have not commented in a while. I know I’m officially the Contrarian. However, is it my imagination, or is the artwork even getting worse? As I’ve said, I look at your comments daily, but her artwork and story line don’t even seem worthy for a look. At the risk of being redundant, this strip is not even remotely a Mark Trail strip.
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Hi, Mark! First it’s good of you to drop in! And I appreciate you sticking through my commentaries (no small feat). As to your point, I think we can diplomatically state that Rivera’s Mark Trail has undergone several changes over the years! (I’m poking fun for a bit) If you compare the art and writing in her first story (“Happy Trails“) to anything she is doing now, nobody can deny the differences.
I’ve always like her original artwork, because it was edgy and stylistic, but still somewhat naturalistic (even if not in the canonical Dodd Style), and creative in many ways. But remember: Rivera set out to redo and reimagine the strip; but not to just replicate what had been replicated over and over for decades. I appreciated her thinking and much of her earliest decisions. It’s a tragedy she abandoned most of this. Why she did is an unresolved matter.
But to be more non-diplomatic, Rivera’s current work is about as far from that first work as one can get. To me, it is like the difference between the 1930s Fleisher Brothers Popeye animation and the later King Features tripe of the 1960s. The current style makes me think of the flatness and simple colors of Bazooka Joe comic strips. Her stories, with their lack of serious drama, shallow story depth, and frequent attempts at injecting humor undermine attempts to take the strip seriously. A shame.
I’m waiting for the point in time where the main characters merge with RIvera’s “purple gang” (her standard background characters) and are no longer distinguishable. So, yeah, Mark. I’m pretty disappointed with what’s (not) going on nowadays. But I’ve paid my domain and site fees through next September, so I’m sticking it out at least until then.
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George, Glad you’ll be around for awhile! Your my 3rd read after Ballard Street and Calvin & Hobbes.
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I also thought Robbie looked like a junior Ernest. Jules presents him the same as when Ernest is angry and bullying, in his “I am a dick” panels.
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“Ratting out a rat doesn’t make you a rat.”
Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver
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Very nice! I wonder if Rivera watches old episodes? Never seen her post about it.
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