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Pretty much every time we’ve seen Violet she has been outdoors. In fact, about the only times I recall her being inside are when Cherry first met her at the Sunny Soleil Society Headquarters and later on, when she was feeling sorry for herself in a booth at Planet Pancake. So, call me unsympathetic.
Anyway, I think Squirrelly Sandy speaks for all of us regarding this “adventure.”
Leaving aside (for the moment) Violet’s failed logic, Sandy’s theatrics, and Jules Rivera’s patronizing comment, one is left with … radioactive squirrels from Planet X.
We learn that, in spite of the continuous complaining, posturing, and smugness by Violet towards Cherry, she reluctantly felt the need for Cherry’s approval and companionship. She just has very odd ways to cultivate that need. But it might explain how Cherry still has a job with the Sunny Soleil Society after all of their confrontations.
On the other hand, this is yet another story that Rivera could have developed into a more complex and interesting adventure. She could have employed literary mystery-story devices such as red herrings, more complex and enigmatic clues, traps (real and imagined), more characters to provide additional suspects and atmosphere, and a more “deductive/detective” reveal of the culprit. Could this add another month of storyline? Sure, yet a well-scripted story is not a chore to read. But it does take more effort to compose.
Oh, wait! There is so much that is problematic here:
If you feel inspired, click on the Leave a Comment link and suggest some answers. Or propose pertinent questions I overlooked.
How the heck would Squirrelly Sandy know she was the last target? Otherwise, Jules Rivera seems to be making a color-pun in panel 4, equating violet with purple for the sake of the story. In reality, purple has a slightly reddish tint which is lacking in violet. They are not the same. Feel free to look it up for yourself.
I think Rivera should have written “Fun Fact: The word purple also means violet!” in panel 3. Why? Because the idea is to point a finger at Violet. But this could be just another red herring. What do you think?
And what about those squirrels in panel 2?
Right. The squirrels are Sandy’s Lost Forest Irregulars, eh? There is a lot of contrary information online about whether peanuts (legumes) are good for squirrels. The consensus seems to be that raw (or salted) peanuts should be avoided, but roasted nuts are fine. And give them in moderation.
Anyway, how the #@(!! are the squirrels going to assist with the search? Are they trained search-and-rescue rodents? Did they graduate from Lassie U? Perhaps they have interrogation techniques we have not realized. I’m reserving judgement at this point.
With Rusty and his adventure tucked away in bed, we finally return to Cherry’s goal to find the Kudzu Crusader and help clear her name. She must have thought Mark was too tired or too busy with his own “important” plans to bother him with her trivial problems.
I suppose we do have to suffer through some nonsense and recaps to remind readers that Cherry has her own storyline in progress. Do you think the Sunny Soleil Society is paying Cherry for this extra-curricular investigation? As I recall, Violet originally blamed Cherry for this—as did a lot of the town—because of several anonymous insulting notes. Makes sense to me.
As for Squirrelly Sandy, I’d probably keep my distance, no matter what. Anybody letting wild squirrels run loose in their shop (a bakery, no less) and over their body probably is nutty, or infected. I’m with Violet on this one. Thanks, Sandy, but we’ll keep in touch over the phone.
ON THE PLUS SIDE: Rivera shows us much more of Lost Forest and its inhabitants than we saw in the past. This place is called Lost Forest, but there is no end to the number of people who find their way there. Except for Mark Trail’s former reporter nemesis, Kelly Welly, who seems to have gotten lost along the way. She was here when Rivera first took over, but she has been mostly absent ever since.
This past week was dedicated to the search-and-recovery summary, which Mark initially tried to downplay. Skipping over several details, Mark told Cherry that they found the lost camper that he had earlier surmised, in a delirious state. Mark put that off to following the bad advice in the guidebook written by former TV comedian and presumed huckster, Tadd Crass. But Mark’s ongoing discussion led to his own disclosure that what the world needs now is not love, sweet love, but a retreat for training men in forest survival techniques, as conducted by a professional. Namely, Mark.
This entire story is thus, a bit perplexing. Did Rivera concoct Rusty’s alien invasion adventure solely for the purpose of jump-starting Mark’s survival course adventure? That would trivialize Rusty’s story, right? In other words, what started out as a “Rusty” story was actually just another Mark Story with Rusty as a plot device. I must remind myself that the name of this comic strip is Mark Trail. I shouldn’t lose focus!
It just seems that every time Rusty gets some story-time thrown his way, he becomes another Charlie Brown, facing failure and disappointment. It would be nice to see things go Rusty’s way once in a while. That’s not too much to ask, is it, Jules?
It took a few moments for me to realize that the title panel is meant to be a large leaf, overlapping smaller leaves that surround it. Sometimes I just miss the pattern, like the hidden images in those autostereogram (aka “stereogram”) patterns popular back in the 1990s. Well, today’s strip looks very decorative, in a 2-D sort of way. The poured leaves are surrounded by a heavy black border, that makes them look more like they were just a big cut out. Even the trees look more like paper cutouts. But this does fit in with what appears to be Rivera’s increasingly flattened, decorative style.
Getting back to the title panel, I don’t think constructing the strip’s title using leaf veins is successful. It’s just too busy and forced. A more successful result might have been made using the stems of leaves, or maybe a combination of leaf stems plus the leaves. Well, it works in my head, anyway.
I dunno, Mark. Does being a (former) comedian mean you can’t also be a survival expert? Does being a nature photographer make you a survival expert? Methinks you are showing your social bias, Mark. Les Stroud is a famous Canadian survival expert who also happens to be a musician and documentary filmmaker. So there!
Anyway, as we all likely suspected, Mark’s post-rescue chat leads up to his BIG IDEA: Start a MEN’S survival skills camp, which reminds me of that mountain STEM retreat created by Sid Stump. I don’t know about you, but I smell trouble, starting with Mark’s restriction to males. I expect Cherry will have something to say about that. Well, she should, right?
Why is Mark repeating information that Cherry already heard “last night” when the three of them were discussing the horsehead, the actor, and the guidebook? Oh right, this recap is just a standard convention used to help readers who forget these details.
Call me crazy, but how lousy does a guidebook have to be to make somebody delirious and confused? Did the guidebook recommend eating whatever mushrooms you can find in the woods? How can somebody be so confused that they couldn’t walk down a path or two until they found somebody’s house, or even find the car they drove in on? I mean, starving in Lost Forest? C’mon! This ain’t the Alaskan wilderness.
Okay, I get it. These are just minor details about reality that get in the way of the story. Plot-wise, the bottom line here is that Mark is talking himself into another one of his crazy ideas for a project he’ll try to sell to Bill Ellis and finally earn some money.
Yes, Mark, you wanted to protect “the little woman” from the ugly reality of what really happened, but you gave in pretty easily! The horrifying details start to spill out. Brrr! There are sure to be nightmares over this nasty business.
And once again, Rivera can’t resist dropping a narration box in panel 4 with a childish pun, even if it makes no (horse) sense.
A slow comic strip day, if not week. I thought we’d have another “here’s what happened” session. Oh well. Cherry hasn’t yet brought up her search for the Kudzu Commando and the need to salvage her reputation. Maybe now is the time, before she gets dressed for work. “Oh great. Then Mark can invite himself into her adventure and take control.” Hey, Mark: Get a job!
Regarding panel 4, is this parody? Satire? It’s like the epilogue of a 1950s family sitcom.
Dragging out this “reunion” interlude seems unnecessary. C’mon, Rivera, let’s just get on with the explanations! There are five days left to tell the Rest of the Story, but why is Mark putting out that silly “sitcom” excuse in panel 3 instead of telling Cherry what actually happened? Seems kind of patronizing to me. And I think Rivera should tell us readers what happened before the ambulance came. Perhaps Rivera is going to use this time to now have Cherry update Mark on what’s going on with the Kudzu Commando. There is time for both explanations.
Art Dept. What’s with the family house/cabin? The logs in panel 2 look like they were drawn on the wall, so to speak. The cabin in panel 3 looks more like a fake theater prop. Of course, the strip is meant to be reprinted in the micro-format of modern newspaper strips, but still…make the effort, Rivera! Oh, just call me cranky today!
Okay, the epilogue to Rusty’s adventure seems to be playing out as expected: Get home, run into Cherry, start in with excuses and then explanations. But I have one question: What’s in the container that Mark is carrying in panel 1? Perhaps he and Rusty stopped by Squirrely Sandy’s bakery in town. Wouldn’t that be a hoot!?
Something to keep in mind is that a lot has happened in one 24-hour period: First, Mark went with Rusty and his friends on that initial fact-finding hunt for a possible alien crash site in Lost Forest (September 25). They came home that evening (October 16) and spent time talking to Cherry about their finds and theories. Rusty went to bed but couldn’t sleep. He decided to go back to the “crash site”, whereupon he and Andy stumbled upon the lost camper Mark had predicted. Mark arrived and expedited the anonymous camper’s medical evacuation. Now they return to meet up with Cherry again, the next morning.
This past week saw the possible conclusion of Rusty’s alien crash search adventure as the lad—in company with faithful house pet, Andy—returned to the abandoned campsite in the middle of the night to uncover more evidence of an alien (Rusty’s hope) or a lost camper (Mark’s deduction). Why Rusty thought a midnight search would uncover more evidence than a daytime search is probably more a matter of drama superseding practicality. But it worked! Rusty and Andy were surprised by sounds and a dark form moving within the bushes. Spooky-wooky!
Mark, discovering Rusty’s exit from the house, lost time getting dressed before he could chase after him, but he arrived at the correct time to put himself between Rusty and the mysterious figure who turned out to be some anonymous crazy guy who had been following the bad tips in Tadd Crass’s camping guidebook. But did we hear from this dude? Nope! Rivera just moved us directly to a scene of an ambulance taking the poor guy away for treatment, as Mark and Rusty philosophized their way back home. While this looks like the end of Rusty’s adventure, one has to wonder: Is Rivera going to give us another week in the cabin where Rusty and Mark explain to Cherry what happened? Is this where we find out who this guy is and how he wound up in Lost Forest? Well, don’t you feel lost; just find your way to the strip below and follow along!
A nice tie-in to Rusty’s midnight search with a night-themed firefly topic! When I was growing up fireflies were very common in our yard and neighborhood. I think we called them lightning bugs. I bet some of you also liked to catch them and put them in a jar with a bit of twig-and-leaf, as if they would enjoy it. Up here in the north I rarely see fireflies. They may be more common in the rural area, but as they tend to like temperate zones, their rarity is not surprising. One surprising thing I discovered is that the female of at least one species of fireflies attracts males only to consume them for their toxic defensive chemicals. Oh, if you are going to follow Mark’s advice about keeping part of your yard “wild”, be sure to avoid using any chemicals in that area.
Art Dept. The customized title panel might have been more effective with a darker background. Nevertheless, this is an interesting topic drawn in Rivera’s usual sparse style.
In standard Mark Trail fashion, details and explanations get tossed aside as we jump directly into the epilog of this “adventure.” A shame that it turned out to be frustrating in several ways:
For starters, our mystery camper is not Tadd (or Tad?) Crass, but some fanboy, whose name we never learned.
Second, we get no information on how or why this person wound up here. How was it possible for him to get lost in the first place? Even an ambulance was able to find the location without the apparent convenience of a road or address!
Was he really just under some mental duress? We never learned what is wrong with this fellow.
Next, we never learn why he was hiding in the shrubs. Was he being pursued? If he was lost, why wasn’t he at least in the open shouting for help or setting out signs for planes that pass overhead? Why not just hiking along a path until he finds something or someone?
Next, what did the horsehead mask have to do with him or the camping trip, other than act as a reference to Tadd Crass’s old TV show? From a plot standpoint, I reckon it was there to help Rusty make a connection and give him something decent to do for a change.
Finally, what was the point of this adventure? It wasn’t just to make that X-Files reference in panel 4, was it? That fellow could have had a very interesting backstory to tell us, leading up to this moment. What was the actual reason for the Tadd Crass details?
This could have just been a search for a lost camper. So having the Tadd Crass tie-in could add more interest if that part of the story was allowed to play out. Perhaps this “ending” is another red herring and the story will continue with Mark (once again) visiting somebody in the hospital to hear their story.
As a dad, I suppose Mark has a point for his protective behavior here, what with him putting the arm on that guy, who be Tad Crass or a die-hard fan (check out his shirt). Has he been surviving on magic mushrooms in Lost Forest?
I’m guessing that Tad’s characterization is a paraphrase of the “Chuck Noland” character played by Tom Hanks in Cast Away. So the horse head substitutes for Wilson, the basketball? Maybe I’m projecting a bit.
But as I feared, we have another weirdo coming out of the bush. I think Mark could start a successful business running a halfway home for lost nut jobs. Speaking of business, when is he going to get back to work? The Sunny Soleil Society must pay Cherry pretty well.
On Saturday’s strip we might find Mr. Lost Camper settling down to tell his story. Or maybe Mark gets the guy into a hospital. But we’ve now had three weeks dedicated to Rusty’s story. Will Rivera jump back on Monday for a week with Cherry or will she allow this adventure to continue?
Not sure we needed a recap of yesterday’s strip. The narration box crowds the panel and dilutes the action. Anyway, like father like son? There are some parallels between this story and Mark’s adventure in the nearby hills investigating bear incursions in the phony mountain retreat run by tech-guru-and-would-be-“King of the Forest” Sid Stump (began Feb 18, 2023).
| Mark’s Adventure | Rusty’s Adventure |
| Investigate bear incursions in mountain retreat and find missing reporter. | Investigate alien incursion in Lost forest and locate alien or alien ship wreckage. |
| Mark uncovers evidence why bears are invading the retreat site. | Rusty and friends uncover evidence of some kind of presence in Lost Forest. |
| Mark goes into forest to search for missing reporter, aware that bears are likely present | Rusty’s research suggests Mark’s hypothesis of a missing and hurt camper might be correct. Decides to investigate in the middle of the night. |
| Mark surprised by bearded reporter Jebediah, appearing out of the bushes, hiding from a bear. | Rusty is surprised to find the “missing camper”, also bearded, appearing in the bushes. |
| Big bear chases Mark and Jebediah | Mark chases after Rusty |
Just a coincidence? Or part of a deep-state conspiracy to simplify story development?
Why does Rivera continue to call this person a creature, when it is clearly a person? Perhaps it is meant to be understood from Rusty’s still-limited understanding. But I also do not understand Rusty’s reaction: “I just wanted to find some aliens! Shoo! Go away!” Aside from the old-school Mark Trail grammar, is Rusty talking to the guy in the bushes? Why shoo him away? Also noted: Why are there two small “Arf!” barks lettered at the base of the bushes in panel 1? Could there be a creature off-scene that we cannot yet see?
Well, I can’t wait to hear this guy’s story. Should be a doozy.
ADDENDUM: In panel 3 Rusty looks like a marionette.
Okay, are we to suppose Mark likes to cross-dress or can we just say he grabbed the first coat he saw and ran with it? Moving on, you would think that “after all this time” Rusty would have spent enough time in the woods that Mark would have a bit more trust and not be such a worry wort.
Still, you must build suspense however you can. In fact, panel 3 is actually a nicely designed dramatic composition, though perhaps it deserves a more significant threat level. But once again, Mark is hoofing it through the woods with his flashlight raised to the sky, as if checking for flying squirrels or alien spacecraft. I suppose we have to believe he is simply pumping his arms as he runs to the rescue. Will he trip over another tree root like he did when running from a bear?
Speaking of animals, that must be a nine-banded armadillo in panel 2, the only species known to inhabit the United States, at least in the south. See?! Anybody can sound smart with some good online searching. But it sure looks oddly placed in the panel, don’t you think?
Art Dept. As much as panel 3 has that from-below viewpoint that heightens Mark’s tension and suspense, Mark’s pose and overall appearance in panel 1 is somehow reminiscent of comic book characters from the 1940s, though it escapes me where I’ve seen it. Batman? Dick Tracy? Terry and the Pirates? Rats, does anybody have an idea? Maybe I’m just totally off base. Except for the last panel (and that armadillo), I think today’s strip is actually really visually interesting.
Time marches on a bit faster today, since Rusty is already at the “crash site” which took several hours of walking through Lost Forest to reach the first time…during the day! I give Rusty credit for recalling the correct path, not only since this is at night, but because Mark supposedly used his compass to help the kids navigate during their daytime search.
Still, just what does Rusty think he can find at night, without a flashlight? Yes, I know this wouldn’t be as dramatic and suspenseful in the daytime.
Whatever the case, we’ve obviously reached one of those dramatic highpoints where Rusty is surprised and unsure just who—or what—is staring at him from within the bushes. But it’s probably not a Klingon. I hope it’s not that flaky reporter—Jebediah—Mark ran into while on assignment to investigate bear assaults at that fake mountain retreat.
But scarier than having Jebediah pop out would be a Mime! Just look at those hands performing “The Wall.” Brrr!
Today is something of a recap of the Friday and Saturday strips. Fair enough, I suppose. It’s still funny that today’s action actually takes place between panels 3 and 4 of Saturday’s strip. Sharp-eyed readers (which should be most of you) will note that last Saturday, Mark was already heading to the doorway in the clothing we see Mark putting on today.
Do we see another unnecessary narration box in panel 1? It certainly is formal: “catch up with Rusty” would be better, right? I mean, we all know that Rusty is Mark’s son.
Instead of the narration box, Mark’s verbal statements in today’s panels better explain the situation. In addition, and perhaps totally irrelevant, we see another change of outside lighting, as Mark now casts a shadow, but from a full moon, not from some ambiguous source that Rusty experienced.
Nevertheless, this adventure progresses and that’s good.
The Daily Trail 