Well, shucks! I reckon that Mark still doesn’t get it. Clearly, he thinks the problem was just the timing. So, taking Rusty fishing later in the day or evening must be the right ticket. When I was around Rusty’s age, dad sometimes took my brother and me to the steel pier at Virginia Beach at night, where we would fish all night long until about dawn. Now, that was an adventure! But getting up at the crack of dawn? I would have been with Rusty on that one!
Perhaps Rivera is channeling TV sitcoms, where the dad has his heart in the right place but is clueless when it comes to raising kids.
Rivera gets knocked for her art, but I think there is more honest emotion and affection in Cherry’s face in panel 3 than you’ll find in any of the pre-Rivera images of Cherry. Of course, consistency is tough, and the awkward image of Mark in panel 1 is not easy to overlook.
I reckon Rivera has finally put to bed the long-running joke we’ve enjoyed of Mark never getting around to taking his son fishing. Seems Rusty has moved on, while Mark—and the rest of us readers—have been stuck in the past. Time to quit looking backwards.
Okay, so Mark is fixated on the obvious and incorrect problem. Didja notice that whenever Mark walks, it’s more like he is marching?
And Rivera is on to Mark’s mental myopia. But from Cherry’s responses, it doesn’t sound at all like she was on that trip. So, who were the other people on the boat? Cliff and some of the de-bait team?
All right, now. The image of a fish floating on top of the water in panel 1 suggests that maybe Rivera has been looking at ancient Egyptian art, like the detail of a tomb wall painting, on the left.
(detail from a portion of a tomb painting stripped from the tomb of Nebamun. Egypt, New Kingdom, c. 1400 B.C.E).
Anyway, it’s clear from Cherry’s own mental imagery that she may also be mistaken in her diagnosis. Either Mark or Cherry could be correct, but as a clueless father, myself, I’m thinking they are both wrong.
What do you think? Leave your answers in the Comments.
This week Mark got a hard lesson in reality when his a priori assumption that, after presumably years of being asked by Rusty to go fishing, his son would hold onto that desire as he grew older. In this case, Rusty clearly has other aspirations and goals, but fishing at 4 AM is not one of them. Mark was apparently not aware of that change. It’s like the Harry Chapin song “Cat’s in the Cradle” about an older father lamenting his uselessness when his grown-up son had acquired the same habit he had as a younger dad of never making time to be with his son. Now, the son has no time for his dad.
Mark seems oblivious to that lesson and instead, is hung up over the idea that the real issue is Rusty just hates fishing. Okay, I’m going out on a limb here, second-guessing Rivera’s motive for this small morality play. Will Mark be able to update his thinking and build a more realistic relationship with Rusty?
Or is it really just that Rusty is moving into the rebellious phase of teenage life and it is up to Mark to bring Rusty back into the fold of Mark’s Family? Perhaps we’ll find out this coming week.
SIDEBAR: I am driving across the country to Virginia on Monday morning, which will take 2-3 days. I know it will be tough, but you may have to wait until then for me to catch up on the strips. Be brave and stay strong, dear readers!
Usually, we can count on Rivera’s Sunday strips for presenting actually useful information on interesting topics. But I have to say that I think this strip does not reach that bar. It’s kind of like some student’s weekly report: “Our friend, the muskrat”. Okay, the muskrat is a builder—like a beaver—and has a general similarity of appearance. But also smells. So, is telling them apart really the important point here, when they both live in different habitats?
Sorry, Mark! Rusty is no longer an 8-year old boy, hanging on to every empty promise you made. After years of putting him off, I think Rusty has new aspirations. And I’m not sure that the idyllic image in your head of you two enjoying a heartwarming father-and-son fishing trip matches up with the cold reality of a chilly predawn boat ride. This isn’t the 1950s anymore, and Rusty doesn’t wear a coonskin cap.
On a positive note, it’s at least interesting to see that Rivera has invested the Trail family with a more complex set of relationships, wherein Rusty seems more like a real kid. Maybe Mark might score more points with the kid by taking him on one of his assignments. After all, Mark has done so before, in his earlier incarnation, that is. But take note: The trip to Oregon was a vacation, not an assignment.
Onomatopoeia. This is the literary convention of creating and using words that mimic sounds, such as “squeak”, “hiss”, and “Ka-Boom!” Rivera’s noteworthy contribution is the creation—or use of—everyday words as sound effects. While “SLAM” is a standard sound effect label, “WALK” is one of Rivera’s own, along with earlier instances, such as “STOP!” (for a car coming to a quick stop) and “CLENCH!” (for a fist clenching), as used in earlier stories.
Now, “WALK” certainly seems to suggest a deliberately aggressive walk, resulting in a distinct sound of feet slamming the floor. Rusty’s posture suggests such an interpretation. It is more interesting than the traditional “STOMP! STOMP!” But is it more than this? It could be a symbol for a sound that we must complete in our head; we each may have our own impression of that sound. Or maybe it’s a bit of satire. Your thoughts?
Finally, it is interesting that Rivera uses a similar visual “syntax” for both sound effects. The bordered orange “SLAM” effect actually appears like a fittedoverlay to Rusty’s door, implying that the sound fully incased it. An inventive solution.
Sometimes the passage of time seems glacial and sometimes it just jumps. Yesterday, Rusty was chillingout on the family sofa. Today Rusty is simply chilled while out on the family boat. Didn’t Mark and Cherry teach him anything about dressing for the weather? Sheesh!
Hey, there seems to be four people in the boat. Perhaps Cherry and Doc Davis came along for moral support.
I’m not sure if Rusty sees this little vignette in an historical light, but he certainly has a deer-in-the-headlights look as he realizes that his downtime is about to be sunk by Mark’s surprise attack of agreeing to take him on that long sought-for fishing trip that no longer seems important.
At the same time, in spite of the fact that Mark Trail (the strip and Dad) has been dragged into the 21st century, Mark seems oblivious to the cynicism of contemporary youth, or that kids no longer accept empty promises. It’s the age-old story of a father being too busy to be around, and by the time he is, the family has grown up and grown past him. Still, we can hope for a better outcome.
Uh-oh. The revived drawing style didn’t last long. We’re moving back to stick figures again, along with lame humor. I suppose with that setup line in panel 3, Mark’s phone will ring in tomorrow’s strip.
I also thought it was amazing that Mark could open the front door simply by pushing on it. Either he is really strong or that’s one crappy door frame! Then I looked more closely and noticed the door has no lockset.
Mark is nice and chipper on his walk. And why not? He’s done with his assignment and it’s a nice day. But does Mark have “people”? Doesn’t he mean “family”? He didn’t get elected the mayor of Lost Forest, did he?
Anyway, today’s strip is a very nicely drawn sequence, similar to Rivera’s earliest submissions. There are none of the usual attenuated, “Etch-a-Sketch” figures that we too often see. Rivera is also once again providing interesting backgrounds. I think if Rivera would maintain this style, much of the disparagement against the strip would fade away.
America lost its bid to win the World Cup and Tess Tigress lost her bid to keep her questionable Tiger Touch Center. It fell apart, not so much from Mark’s investigations as from Rex Scorpius’ dismay and disgust and Gemma the Rampaging Elephant’s inopportune appearance, resulting in the destruction of the Center and Tess’s abandonment and flight to a foreign country.
Mark spent this week filling Bill Ellis in on the aftermath of his assignment, though I assume Mark sent his article in to Amy Lee for publication (this is much more information that we normally never got from earlier Mark Trail stories). The tigers were all liberated by Mark, Rex, and Diana and seeded out to various legitimate zoos. “Broken-hearted” Rex resumed his Internet show and apparently now has the hots for a zookeeper in California (of all places). The abandoned employees were left to fend for themselves and likely wandered off into the desert. Mark is not a social worker. Gemma plodded off into history. But the whereabouts and whatabouts of Diana Daggers have been left to the imagination. So, you are now up to speed and can relax a bit with today’s nature talk!
The customized title panel makes a clever link to the just-completed Tiger Touch Center story. Otherwise, this comes across as something like a student’s PowerPoint presentation, “Our friend, the elephant”. On the other hand, the drawing is fairly good here. We could have dispensed with the faux Wild West reference panel and used it more wisely to impart more useful information.
For example, it seems that elephants like music, especially classical music. For some time now, Paul Barton has been playing classical piano alongside rescued elephants living at “Elephants World” in Thailand, for therapeutic support. Barton’s YouTube video of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata played for Mongkal the elephant is enlightening and heartwarming.
Rivera finishes out the week and, hopefully, finishes out this post-game coverage of the Tiger Touch Center/Save Rex ScorpiusAdventure with a typical Trailism, “There’s no place like home…with my dog, Andy.” Rivera illustrates this homey scene using a below-horizon view in panel 3. By itself, a good idea, but some details merit attention.
Looking at Andy’s face, I get the impression he is a bit nervous and anxious to be somewhere else. He doesn’t look comfortable. Maybe Andy has reason for anxiety: One look at Mark’s denticulate face gazing upon the back of Andy’s head gives the impression that crime is not the only thing Mark might want to take a bite out of!
Still chatting with the self-proclaimed “world’s best editor”, Mark provides additional follow-up information. Also, this is a clear one-up on former Mark Trail artists/writers who were content to close out just-completed adventures within a few panels of Mark arriving home.
Would any of Mark’s updates have been put into his article, or did Mark discover this information only after his deadline? Deep thinking required!
Theoretically, this tiger adventure should come to a welcome close on Saturday. What do you suppose the finale will be?
Three tigers? There were only two in the cage of the secret trailer. There are only two in panel 3. So where is that third cub? Anyway, we see that ol’ Rex is sure quick on the rebound.
Regarding Rivera’s new technique of “recap balloons”, as I’m temporarily calling them, I notice that she uses the standard quotation format of only adding closed quotation marks to the last consecutive “paragraph” (panels 3 and 4), as seen in the panel 4 recap balloon. Noteworthy from a grammatical point of view, perhaps, but it looks awkward in a comic strip. Few readers would even get it or appreciate it. Putting close quotes in every recap balloon would look more consistent.
Okay, so this must be “Epilog Week”, as Mark and Bill Ellis flesh out the aftermath of this tawdry episode. Bill seems fixated on the elephant, in spite of the fact that Mark was actually there to investigate Tess’s tiger zoo operation. And where is Amy Lee, Mark’s assignment editor for this adventure? As for the losers who Tess recruited, I predict many will just find another charismatic charlatan to follow.
One possibly new development in comic strip anatomy (as far as I know) is the text balloon acting like a text box (panels 3 and 4), but with quotation marks. This is another method of distinguishing the present time while referring to the past, like the outlined Mark in panel 2. However, as a meme, its function is not so obvious. Perhaps italicizing the font (or changing the font) would help distinguish it from normal text balloons.
Still waiting to hear about Diana Daggers and/or Rex Scorpius!
It might be interesting to see Mark focus his Sunday spotlight on Ralph the rat snake. At least then, Mark might pay more attention to him. Those two haven’t had a good chat for a very long time! (At least, since August 20, 2021) Earlier on in the strip, Mark periodically communicated with Ralph and a few other animals. I rather liked the Dr. Doolittle shtick, as it gave Mark an eccentric quirk where you weren’t sure if this was real or just a fantasy in his mind.
Once again, Rivera uses a white border, this time around Mark in panel 2, to emphasize that the background image is a visual recollection, not current action. As a reminder, on the right is an example from the Trail Family vacation in Oregon, on June 30, 2022.
Mark debriefs Bill Ellis, very likely entertaining him with exaggerated claims about the significance of his personal involvement and importance in this adventure. Meanwhile, for those who like to contrast Rivera with her predecessors, let’s pay attention to the abrupt jump from Texas to Lost Forest, completely omitting the aftermath of the Tiger Touch Center debacle. That’s spot-on Classic Mark Trail story closure for you!
Did Touch Center employees get their last checks? Did Tess outrun Gemma or wind up as toe jam under her feet? Did Rex go back to his regular job or become an alcoholic, singing to his dog? Did Diana Daggers kick Mark in the gonads for failing to get enough video for the show? And did Gemma find her way back home, without anybody once again able to capture her?
This past week saw the termination of several enterprises: The Tiger Touch Center; Tess Tigress’s hopes to keep Rex; Rex’s hopes to escape his meaningless life; Gemma’s revenge on Tess Tigress; Diana Dagger’s growing irrelevancy; and Mark Trail’s lack of purpose.
When looked at objectively, it isn’t as if Mark had much meaningful influence on this adventure. Rex was already scheduled to visit the Touch Center, and did so; he became enchanted by Tess, in spite of Mark’s warnings; Rex only disowned Tess after Gemma came storming into the Touch Center. Sure, Mark provided the necessary backstory for Rex, so we can give him a little credit. Gemma pretty much put “PAID” to Tess and her operation. As I’ve said before, Mark is not suitable for relationship-type problem adventures. Anyway, it’s possible we will see this adventure closing down this coming week, just like the Touch Center, itself.
In spite of the fact that Rivera did not appear to embed a tribute to Charlie Brown on Saturday (she could have had Rex exclaim “Good Grief!” in Saturday’s panel 1), let’s see what she has to say today.
A nice sentiment, but I wonder if the impact is quite so significant. It seems more like a feel-good suggestion to help us believe we’re making some kind of positive contribution to the future of humanity, since our governments are reluctant to do anything. Could it be because of the stranglehold of corporate interests (i.e. contributions)? Naahhhh!
Well, who doesn’t love pumpkin pie? But making a pie directly from unprocessed pumpkin pulp is a lot more work than opening a few cans of FestalGolden PiePumpkin filling. Mark also brings up compositing, but that also produces methane. I’d go with Rusty’s recommendation.
As I wrote earlier, Diana Daggers has been getting shafted more and more in these stories. From a once-potentially deadly ass-kicker with a sharp tongue, she is now reduced to a compliant and innocuous chauffeur with little to do.
So, Diana—in her new, excitingchauffeur role—suddenly appears at the usual opportune time. At least she is not wearing livery. In the background, Gemma must have already dealt with Tess, since there are scavenger birds circling overhead. She is probably plodding back to her home. And nobody cares.
But why does Mark want to bring along two growing tigers, presumably still in a cage? They take up a lot of space, and Diana isn’t driving a Ford Explorer, you know. And what about all of those cubs, Mark?Are you leaving them behind for the coyotes? Maybe we’ll learn the answers to these, and other, questions next week.
I’m sure many of us have wanted to see some deserving politician or other chiseler literally run out of town. Maybe in small towns that is still possible, I hope. Still, Tess must have Olympic-level training behind her, as even with a full-length dress, she is outpacing Gemma. On the other hand, our desperate pachyderm has just crossed four States, so she might be a tad run down.
But how did that cage of tigers remain undisturbed after Gemma ran through the trailer? They certainly don’t look upset. As all tigers now originate in SouthEast Asia, they could be progeny of Buddhist tigers trained in meditation.
There will be a little more soul-searching and cleanup, but I think this story is all but concluded. In most cases, Mark would contact State conservation agents to rescue the abandoned animals. However, owing to the State they are in, Mark and Rex might be told to simply release the animals and let them fare on their own.
The Daily Trail 