Rabid Rod continues to emote like Charles Nelson Reilly, as Mark probably starts thinking that working-from-home ain’t such a great idea. It sounds quite possible that naïve Rod just got things totally mixed up from the start.
For example, it couldactually have been a real bear chasing the journalist in the water who called in while he was being chased. Rod might have misheard his call: “Bear!<huff> Water! <puff> Bear…” or something incoherent like that. Or it could be actual ginormous water bears that inadvertently grew 10 feet tall because of radioactive pollutants in a nearby river. Either way works for a Mark Trail article.
But finally, let’s not overlook the message box in panel 4: A hint for the Sunday nature chat?
Preppy dresser Mark schools editor Rod Radagast in a fundamental biological difference between ursidae and tardigrada. If nothing else, Mark should feel relieved in the same way Rod should be embarrassed. Then again, any dude wearing granny shades is probably immune to such feelings.
So, we were all set up by Rivera with that “fighting bears” gag. I reckon either Rod Radagast (okay, so we see Rivera has read some Tolkien) did not properly explain things to Bill Ellis, or he thinks a water bear and a bear are the same thing, so no reason to bother being specific in his explanations. Not a good take for a magazine editor, he could have looked it up.
Optional visual analysis follows for those with more time and interest: Rivera employs yet another visual technique (Rod’s extended hand) linking present-time (panel 1) to a past action (panel 2). Rivera employs various solutions for presenting past events within the context of current time. Here are the ones I tend to see. Maybe you’ve seen others?
As we recently saw in the Texas roadside zoo adventure, the white-bordered image of Mark superimposes itself over the background scene to underscore that the latter is a recalled event. This is one of Rivera’s most common techniques.
From the family vacation in Oregon (03/24/22) comes another technique involving thought balloon bubbles floating across multiple panels to illustrate a past sequence of events. The narrated past action begins in panel 2 and continues into panel 3. Obviously, the amount of dialog and action meant that Rivera could not use the prior technique. Rod Radagast’s overlapping hand in today’s strip is a variant of this one, reinforced by the “quoted dialog” in the textbox.
Looking back to the Zebra Mussels story comes the following depiction (11/11/21). It may be unique but requires context. Earlier in the story (11/04/21), Diana Daggers lamented to Mark that she was angry to discover that her boss—Professor Bee Sharp—was investing her salary in NFTs and converting it into digital currency. Note that nowhere else in the strip for 11/11/21 is Diana mentioned or shown!
While Sharp reviews new photos for NFTs, the background scene is his own visualization of what Diana revealed to Mark. The link between present and past is not a highlighted body or thought bubbles, but the use of color and silhouette. And Sharp is clearly in the room twice: as a silhouette in the past and himself in the present (note the light on his shoulders). Perhaps Sharp’s “No problems on my end!” comment textually applies to the photos as well as his talk with Daggers as he recalls the earlier encounter.
So, is Rivera now setting up Mark just to get in her own snarky comments (panel 4)? Not sure that’s fair to the rest of us, Jules, unless we get a chance to write some of the plot in return. Otherwise, panel 2 shows us that the North America Syndicate has certainly opened its Mark Trail archives to Rivera to provide the necessary “prior knowledge” Bill Ellis mentioned earlier.
Still, we seem to finally be moving past this four-day-and-counting “I have to fight bears?” meme. We get it, Rivera! Let’s just move this train down the line.
I can tell you that the Paxlovid regimen has greatly shortened the intensity of my misery and pain. I can even walk up/down the stairs. But I’ll be officially isolated until at least Friday. I fear COVID will join the yearly vaccine lineup, along with pneumonia and the flu. But, on with the show!
Monday: Yes, exactly where did the STEM nerds set up their retreat? And what are they doing—leaving their food out in the open in picnic baskets? I don’t know about you, but if this strip was animated, I’d bet that Bill Ellis would come off like Max Headroom, the pioneering “A.I. TV avatar” of the 1980s. Otherwise, I think we’re back to another adventure in Crazy Time.
Tuesday: Somehow, I’m getting the feeling that Bill Ellis will say or do just about anything. But really, this is nuts. If there actually was a bear issue, wouldn’t somebody have already called a game warden or local park service? Somehow, “nature journalist” doesn’t come to mind when I think “RAMPAGING BEARS!” Then again, maybe it’s the result of the STEM nerds getting plastered every night and doing really stupid things, such as posing for selfies near bears, petting bear cubs, etc., like tourists sometimes do at Jellystone, er, Yellowstone Park. Anyway, this could be a prime audience for some Mark Trail Outbursts Of Rage!
By the way, I overlooked a prior bear engagement that Mark Ellis may have referred to. It began back around mid-April 2014 when Mark had a jeep accident by Obie Falls in Lost Forest and was pursued by a black bear. Adventure ensued. Check it out on our archives.
Editor’s Note: I came down with COVID on Saturday and feel like crap. But I’m also taking those paxlovid pills and hope they shorten this misery. Depending on how things go, I may have to post several days at once, later in the week. Just so you know, I wrote most of this stuff before the COVID hit me.
Despite an error-prone week of mixed up and missed postings on my part, I think we were still able to get the gist of Mark’s recent travails. Thinking he had a million-dollar idea for working from home, Mark’s attempt to sell an article on alligator migration and climate change met with sober disinterest from editor/corporate avatar, Bill Ellis.
Cherry, led to believe Mark’s idea was already a done deal, was surprised to learn otherwise. But Rivera cut away before we could learn whether Mark suffered the sometimes fate of Jiggs, the beleaguered husband in the old “Bringing Up Father” comic strip (which would likely not get published these days. Ah, the good ol’ days of slapstick humor).
Throwing a bone to Mark, Ellis suggested he take on an assignment to nursemaid a bunch of STEM “professionals”—presumably public school teachers of science, tech, engineering, and math—at a nearby mountain retreat. This will supposedly allow Mark to come home every night. Anyway, it’s clear enough Mark was around long enough to put together today’s nature lecture. So, check it out!
So, what I get from this is that the former versions of Mark Trail were the traditional alpha male type now in disrepute. Rivera’s take on Mark clearly fits the newer standard. Some quick online searches seem to confirm Rivera’s (Mark’s) explanation.
Mark finally does have a chance to work for a different magazine in F.E. & Cook’s bullpen of 17 magazines, “True Tech”. Hooray, at least. I wasn’t aware that Mark had any “Davy Crockett” in him, however. Ah, perhaps Bill indulges in some sarcasm, recalling Mark’s recent petting zoo investigation that involved a meeting between Rex Scorpius and a loose bear?
Well, this assignment does sound like something more in the line of a traditional Mark Trail story. I don’t know how the logistics are going to work out if this is some kind of mountain retreat, but I’m sure we’ll find out pretty soon. Home every night? I doubt it.
Editor’s Note: After reading this, please scroll down to read the post for last Sunday (February 12th, 2023) that I wrote but forgot to post. Sorry about that!
Mark (again) misses the unintended hint from Bill Ellis about how to further his career while staying close to home. But I suppose keeping up with modern times has never been very important in Mark’s work ethic. He’s been getting slapped in the face by characters monetizing themselves on the Internet for a few years now. Still, no awareness in Mark. It’s as if he believes that he still exists in a comic strip universe drawn with a Winsor & Newton #7 sable brush and Higgins Black Magic India ink. Okay, so a lot of Trailheads would like that, too.
Contrary to some opinions, I don’t think going back to Teen Girl Sparkle is a great idea. As there are many magazines owned by one parent company that hires Mark, how about having Mark work for magazine #6 or #9, for example? I thought one of the interesting notions of this multi-magazine concept was that Mark would get a variety of assignments from a variety of chief editors and trying to fit his work into different magazine formats. Lots of opportunities for variety and drama in that concept. Only, most assignments have come from Amy Lee at Teen Girl Sparkle, with one from Rafael Suave of Hot Catch magazine (the zebra mussels affair).
Editor’s Note: OOPS! Sorry, gang. This past was supposed to get posted last Sunday (February 12, 2023), but for some reason, it remained in the draft queue. Now, it’s totally out of synch. “How come you didn’t notice and chide me for it!?”
Another action-filled week (Feb 6-11), readers. Boy, if you missed it you, er, missed . . . that is to say, I don’t see how this made it into a family newspaper! So risqué! Even my wife blushed.
Wait a minute . . .
Oh, sorry. I was reading Luan by mistake. Let’s see now…this past week found Mark and Duke taking the De Bait Team’s powerboat back to Gator Alley so Mark could snap photos and instruct Duke on the connection between Global Climate Change, Pack Ice in the Atlantic, and Turtle Migration. Well, two out of three made it to the Global Finish Line. So, what is the joy in Mark’s heart for these alligators? He didn’t seem to be sharing the love when he was trying to push the grounded boat back into the water!
Mark sees the gators’ northerly migration and proximity to Lost Forest as a new way to sell articles while working from home. Mark seems to think this is a catchy, new idea. Reckon he’s been too busy the past few years to notice the once popular Work-From-Home trend in America, as well as the more recent “Get-Your-Ass-Back-To-The Office-Or-You’re Fired!” ultimatum now making the rounds. But Mark still has time to do his pro-bono Sunday nature mini-lectures, so here is his latest:
Frozen (not refrozen) food—especially seafood—will often be fresher than that found unfrozen behind a counter. I’m not sure why anybody would bother with animal control for an iguana. I’m sure they have their hands full, rescuing albatrosses or wolf spiders. Instead, let the iguana alone and maybe it will wind up as another animal’s tasty snack for the day.
I try to keep my snarky tendencies to a minimum, so I’m not going to go on a rant about how Bill Ellis always seems to look like some kind of puppet. Still, why does Mark take this guff from Bill Ellis?
Maybe Mark should start marketing himself to a wider range of nature magazines (such as National Geographic) that don’t depend on a tabloid luridness scale to evaluate worthiness. On the other hand, while gator migration is an issue, it is not a new one; so Mark’s story idea will go nowhere, unless he takes a hint from Ellis and finds an interesting hook.
I have a few slants to gin up some excitement, should Mark be interested:
Gators: It’s what’s for dinner
Another way global climate change can hurt your pets
As Mark sits at his All-in-One (I wonder if that’s a visual pun?), Bill Ellis delivers the bad news we pretty much expected. I’m surprised that Rivera didn’t draw Mark in panel 4 with a big fried egg on his face. That would have been great, and a welcome return to Rivera’s earlier, more creative panel designs.
To twist the Comeuppance Knife, for example, Bill could follow-up this letdown by proposing Mark assist Kelly Welly on her climate change assignment. That would be the proper sitcom solution that puts the dad/husband in his place and forces him to confront his arrogance. A soft-pedaled arrogance used to be a Mark Trail virtue, but Rivera has been body-slamming that punching bag ever since she started. It’s pretty beat up by now (cue Simon & Garfunkel), so I’m hoping for a more creative and empowering—to borrow a term—adventure to come out of this.
Well, on the plus side, Cherry is keeping busy, now that her gardening and landscape business seems to be in a slump after that she spilled the beans on that ugly Ernest-Violet love affair. Also, the artwork has remained at a consistently good level. So, I hope that Rivera moves quickly past this “hallmark” period.
As far as help around the house goes, what about Rusty and Doc? They’re around a lot more than Mark.
Anyway, if Rivera is going to emphasize their luvy-duvy ways, it might be even more interesting to see how it progresses. After all, Rivera did once show them both in bed down in Florida—exhausted and sweaty—in Mark’s very first adventure. Perhaps the syndicate came down on that. This is a family comic strip, right?
I wonder if the bald eagle might be saying “Enough, Mark! You’re not 10 years old!” But that’s not enough to stop Mark from blathering on, repeatedly, about something he wants but doesn’t yet have. This looks like an update to the old maxim, “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.”
Meanwhile, Cherry must keep pretty busy, constantly landscaping the property; perhaps getting some cabin remodeling along the way, as well. Of course, we do have to keep scale and distance in mind. Anyway, here are some lookbacks over the past 2 ½ years:
October 2020
August 2021
February 2022
The earliest shows a good-sized cabin with greenhouse in the back and prominent steps in the front. The middle example shows the greenhouse gone, with some kind of pavement sidewalk. The next example has no steps at all, and a dirt path-cum-driveway. Today’s representation has embedded flagstones. Yeah, I’m being pretty nerdy. So, what’s the point? I don’t know: Is Rivera making changes simply to suit the story? Does she just not worry about it? Or do I need another hobby?
Editor’s Note:Apologies for initially uploading yesterday’s strip. That’s what happens when you look at the original strip and forget to double-check what you are loading, yourself. I’ll blame it on my mind, distracted by an Italian conversation with a person in Italy that I was preparing for earlier today. Okay, on with the show:
Golly, gee! This is just like the “Mr. Wizard” show: “Mr. Wizard, so you are saying that if I hold my finger on a hot stove, I’ll burn my finger?” “That’s right, Kathy. We’ll do an experiment. Grab a snail from that terrarium and place in on that hot plate. Let’s watch what happens…”
I’m not sure about Duke’s assessment in panel 4. Seems to me that many people have been looking for a “ticket” to work from home and have done so. Only now, the pendulum is swinging the other way, and companies want them back. If Mark wants to work around home more often, perhaps he should quit his job of being the errant nature journalist and get a job at a local nature preserve. Otherwise, he can try and become a money-making Youtuber.
Frankly, I’m surprised Rivera has not made Mark think about this money-making possibility, especially after learning that some of his antagonists have been making dough that way. Anyway, I bet he gets his idea turned down; it sounds like that kind of setup.
Rivera’s style has been heavily criticized both for not upholding the traditional storybook style pioneered by Ed Dodd, and for its inconsistent quality. But it’s clear to me that she is taking more time in her compositions and execution. I think we’re seeing better quality and consistency, at least since the Texas roadside zoo massacre story ended back in December. And this a good direction to be moving in.
And as I (or we) suspected, gig-worker Mark took this boat trip to gather data for a story he will shop to his editor(s). His angle will likely be the effects of climate change, while hopefully excluding the erroneous notion of Arctic pack ice and rising water. Regular reader and commenter Downpuppy has provided knowledgeable comments on this point. But another reason for northern migration of alligators is loss of habitat due to human development.
You know, if this was a pre-Rivera story, it would almost certainly center on illegal gator poaching. That’s still a significant problem and it would be great to see Rivera combine the two.
Okay, Mark. get what: Climate Change creates rapids (as in panel 4)? I don’t see an obvious connection. More water just makes deeper rivers. As far as I am aware, rapids are due to changes in the inclination of the riverbed, along with the narrowness of a river section and the state of the riverbed (i.e., rocky). More water could lead to rapids, I presume, if there was not enough water to begin with. Have to agree with Mark about the gator migrations.
Still, I’m surprised Duke didn’t push Mark into the river after going into “Professor Trail” mode. Too pedantic and patronizing. I know, because my wife feels the same way about me.
Of course, Duke gave Mark his opening, as if he was one of those kids that used to show up on the Mr. Wizard television shows of the 1950s. This passage should have been presented in a more conversational or story-telling manner, rather than as an abbreviated version of the Sunday lectures.
Coming out of left field!? I’m pretty sure we all saw that coming. This sounds like the beginning of Mark’s next adventure; or maybe just a concern he’ll bring up with Cherry while he waits for his next assignment. Don’t know what he could do about, anyway. Alligators moving north is already old news in Wikipedia, but maybe Mark could find an angle for an article that he could sell to one of the magazines.
I don’t know about you, but every time I see Duke, I think he must be a wanted man in hiding, because his beard looks like a paste-on job. It doesn’t seem to sit right; it looks more like wool or yarn to me; anything but beard hair. Well, maybe it’s just that Rivera has a funny way of depicting beards. Or is it something else? Here is the beard on Cherry’s brother, Dirk, the survivalist. These beards remind me of those fake beards you see on the guys in the movie, “O Brother, Where Are Thou?”, hiding out from The Law after skipping out from a chain gang.
[edited down] Okay, the cryptid hunt was all downriver, not up. I reckon that, living along a river, you’d be more inclined to want to know what’s coming toward you (i.e., from upriver), so you might be less knowledgeable about what’s going on downriver. That might explain Mark’s lack of awareness regarding the croc cove, but I’m being kind. Many rivers flow north-south (more or less), so “downriver” matches what we inherently consider “down”. Maybe that’s from our reliance on maps? However, there are many rivers around the world that actually flow south-north. So, “upriver” is then moving south.
The most striking example is the Nile River in Africa, which flows over 4200 miles from the Sudan and Ethiopia, emptying out into the Mediterranean Sea after passing through Egypt. Reinforcing how geography influences our thinking, in pharaonic times, “Upper Egypt” meant the south, and “Lower Egypt” the north.
Otherwise, today’s strip is just a traditional Mark TrailNothingburger: superficial filler stuffed between two adventures, with cheese.
Yes, looks like “Cryptid II: Foiled Again” is over and the kids are safely back home. I’m still waiting to read about the post-adventure lawsuits. Seems like Rivera wants to milk the “Exploding Boat” trope for all its worth. And as far as worth goes, I think she’s moved into the red. So, I hope she’ll move on and let that boat cliché float away on its own.
Panel 1 uses a flamboyant technique for linking dialog balloons to the speaker. The design, itself, is interesting, though I wondered if it was done purely for that reason. My thinking is that Rivera uses the close-up circle of Mark as a visual transition to the panel 2 flashback. That is, we have the scenic view of Mark and Duke in the boat, then the focus on Mark, then his flashback. And recall that Rivera often uses visual cues in her panels, such as this:
As John and Paul sang “We’re on our way home” on the Let It Be album, so did we find Mark and the boys successfully escape the elderly crocodiles upset over getting interrupted in their retirement cove. Mark and the lads landed ashore where they found Duke, Jeannette, and Cherry. Cherry was surprised to find out that Mark had bugged her truck, supposedly so he could find his way back along the river that happens to run by Lost Forest. Yet Mark claims to be a woodsman. As expected, the boys were none the worse for wear and really enjoyed the adventure. De-bait team member Duke expressed surprise his boat was still intact, even as it looked to be drifting off on its own.
Is this the end of Rusty’s second (failed) cryptid hunt adventure? I’m guessing it is, except for maybe a few more days to wrap up loose ends. But wait! Mark Trail stories rarely wrap up loose ends. In fact, loose ends form a standard part of almost every Mark Trail story, going back for years. I think most Trailheads are still wondering whatever became of Tricky Dicky, I mean Dirty Harry, er, Dirty Dyer. Will Rivera resurrect him some day? Probably not, since Dirty was a more serious bad guy than the goofball villains that inhabit Jules Rivera’s version of The Trailverse. And speaking of loose ends, I’m surprised we don’t see more of Kelly Welly. I really thought Rivera would latch on to Kelly and give her a more prominent role where she could hold her own instead of always winding up as Mark’s foil.
We’ve been here before. Rivera did a Sunday strip back on June 6, 2021 about mountain lines (aka pumas) in general, but did highlight P-22. Well, today’s nature talk focuses exclusively on the now-deceased mountain lion. But referring to the animal as “Hollywood’s Best Leading Man” is misplaced, owing to the biological impossibility, even if the comment was meant as an innocent pun. “Hollywood’s Coolest Cat” might have been a better moniker.
So, why P-22 again? Turns out that P-22 was struck by a vehicle last November as it tried to cross a highway in search of food. He was later captured by authorities and examined. Veterinarians noted that, in addition to damage from the collision, his advanced age, infirmities, and debilitating ailments (e.g., kidney disease) led to the decision to euthanize him this past December. Comic strips are written several weeks, if not months, in advance, so Rivera wrote this shortly after P-22’s death.
The Daily Trail 