Rusty’s show-and-tell at school fins Robbie’s Diamond Blue Shrimp more exciting than the turquoise rock Rusty brought. Mark gets suspicious at how easy it is to acquiare these ornamental acquatic species and learns they can become very invasie when released into the wild.
So I ask you, what’s mysterious about these dwarf shrimp!? They are well documented. In fact, Mark devoted this past Sunday to talking about them! Did he already forget that? As for that dialog in panel 1, <Yuck!> It sounds like he’s reading aloud from something online. Even Ralphthe Rat Snake can only look on in wonder.
Mark thinks that the cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi) may become an invasive species. Well, they are already considered so in various parts of the world, including Hawaii. In fact, online sources state that Hawaii already has a strong law against importing ornamental fresh-water aquatic species, such as these Neocaridina.
What does Mark intend to do with this information, anyway? Is he going to raid pet and fish stores to liberate or sacrifice these dwarf shrimp for the salvation of our oceans and waterways? Or maybe he’ll ensure they only infect waters in countries like North Korea and Russia? If not that, then what? I reckon he can at least write an article about them. Maybe get paid, too.
What we do know is that, once again, Mark takes the story away from Rusty and gives it to himself. So it would appear, and Jules Rivera is either too enamored over Mark or too indifferent to Rusty to balance the books and let Rusty try to carry the ball.
We can grade this past week as “Mark Trail Lite”, and that’s saying something for an adventure comic strip that already stints on real drama and suspense. After Mark’s and Cherry’s most recent dramas came to a close (without any major injuries, death, or prison sentences), it was time to once again focus on Doc Davis. JUST KIDDING! As far as I know, Doc could have moved to Florida to be nearer to his former wife. No, we are focusing once again on Rusty (who might want to ask for a raise, given the increased attention he’s been getting, lately).
Rusty had a small turquoise stone that he brought back from his trip to Nevada. He figured the kids in school would be as impressed with it as he is, so he brought it in to a show-and-tell. But Type-A brat, Robbie Shaw, pushed ahead of Rusty—which put Rusty off his feed—to go first and show off his exotic Blue Diamond mini-shrimps. Rusty was discomfited. Of course, we didn’t get to see Rusty’s presentation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the kids started yawning while looking at a small, blue rock.
When Rusty got home, he whined to his dad about getting upstaged by Robbie. Mark told him that show-and-tell is not meant to be a competition and gave him a slap on the back of his head for being a Wuss.
(Okay, Mark did not really do that. But Happy Trail—Mark’s dad—might have done that to Mark a few times when he was growing up, based on their later fisticuff sessions.)
Anyway, Mark got suspicious when Rusty mentioned the special blue shrimp Robbie showed off. Mark realized they are (or could be) an invasive species if let loose into the wild. Of course, the shrimp were not let loose into the wild. But Mark—who apparently has nothing else going on—thinks that the commercial availability of these shrimp (especially to kids) merits a special Mark Trail Investigation. He’s going to find out that there are lots of specialty shrimp, fish, and other species legally for sale in the United States. Mark might go apoplectic at this, which should be fun to watch.
Apparently, these shrimpy shrimps are very adaptable and can (and do) survive in the wild. You might not guess that, based on their detailed care and feeding instructions. However, with the fact that Mark makes no big deal about their availability for purchase here, I think we can move Rusty’s story along a bit and assume that Mark’s investigative antennae are really focused on the ease of purchase by children, who can become indifferent, bored by, or forgetful about their pet shrimp and just toss them into a nearby sewer, stream, or river. In short, they could act like a lot of adults when it comes to dealing with unwanted pets.
Mark must really be bored. However, he did just reveal the reason for his suspicions: The blue diamond shrimp can be invasive if they are released into non-native water environments. As a member of the species Neocaridina davidi, the shrimp are native to parts of South East Asia, around Taiwan, and off the coast of China. However, selling and owning these shrimp (they are bred in a variety of colors) is totally legal.
So there is no conspiracy going on and no attempt to violate international laws. Mark is just overreacting. I suspect he’ll wind up making an appearance at Rusty’s school where he’ll lecture (and bore) the students on the dangers of releasing pets into the wild. Shucks, anybody who lives near Florida probably already knows about that stuff! <Yawn!> Even for Jules Rivera, this is pretty light fare for a Mark Trail story. But the plot could go another way and make it a bit more interesting:
This is the kind of investigation that Rusty could undertake on his own and then present to class. It’s too minor a problem for Mark to bother with. He should just point Rusty in the right direction and then get out of the way. Rusty would be the protagonist of the story, not just a plot-device for Mark.
Rusty’s involvement would also help rebuild some of his lost confidence; to say nothing of putting Robbie on the defensive. Okay, that last part is not necessarily a virtue, but these are kids, after all. And Rusty can use a victory!
Mark thinks an investigation is needed because Robbie owns some blue shrimp!? Jules Rivera—and by extension, Mark Trail,—seems ignorant of the fact that blue shrimp can legally be purchased by anybody, throughout the United States. Case closed, Mark.
So when the heck is Mark going to get off his lazy butt and get an actual paying assignment?
Art Dept. Do I need to point out (in panel 1) that Rivera also seems ignorant of—or indifferent to—basic perspective, since logs on either side of a doorway cannot be simultaneously seen at an angle? That is, we should only be able to see the ends of the logs on one side, only. Else, we’d have to assume the wall curves away from the door on both sides. That might be the case for a house ready to collapse in on itself.
When RustyTrail was (re)introduced by Rivera, he was portrayed as a relatively normal kid with the usual stereotypical glitches, such as shyness (around girls, anyway), a penchant for fantasy, and trying to not adopt all of his dad’s habits and hobbies (such as fishing). Rusty has lately taken on additional personality traits, such as unusual stubbornness and whining. The latter has been his go-to reaction, lately, especially when it involves Robbie Shaw.
Exactly how Robbie “beat” Rusty in show-and-tell has not yet been revealed, though Jules Rivera may give us a flashback this week. Of course, we might blame Rusty for his own downfall, based simply on his understanding of what show-and-tell is for, and for his apparent lack of preparation. We’ll have to see some evidence. After all, turquoise really is just a blue stone, so presentation is important! However, I’m also surprised that Mark “Mr. Wildlife” Trail did not seem to know about blue shrimp!
Art Dept. Panel 1 does not work as well as it should, visually speaking. Rivera has used the circular headshots quite often when showing people speaking from within a structure. This technique is often used to provide the current context for the conversation (such as inside of an airplane), where Rivera can mash two panel spaces together to create a more scenic composition. There is a lot of visual competition going on that gets in the way.
First of all, the composition has too much clutter, including the pileated woodpecker that eats up so much space! What is more important here: The bird or the conversation? Second, the circular headshots would normally be linked into the cabin by “tails” running from the circles to the cabin, just like the dialog balloons. That insures we know where the speakers are. Third, Mark’s dialog balloon could have been more efficiently designed to display his words on only three rows instead of four. This could have resulted in more open space for the scene. Fourth: In this case, the scene could have been better composed by omitting the encircled heads and just tagging the cabin with the dialog balloon. This would more clearly put us, the readers, in the foreground with the woodpecker, while Mark and Rusty’s conversation goes on in the background. It would be like a common cinematic technique of hearing a conversation before seeing the speakers, as the camera zooms in from the distance and ultimately reveals and focuses on the actors.
In case you were wondering, my goofy cryptid-driven fantasizing on Monday was inspired by the books of Rick Riordan, author of the youth adventure books featuring young protagonists like Percy Jackson. Rusty has had a fascination for cryptids over a long time and has gone on a few cryptid hunts, though they always seem to be treated as page-filler for Mark’s and Cherry’s stories.
Anyway, the Tuesday strip shows that I was somewhere in the ballpark about Robbie being involved in Rusty’s show-and-tell. And Robbie’s blue diamond shrimp might be a clue for what is coming this Sunday. If so, Mark may inform Robbie that the recommendedminimum water capacity for this type of pet shrimp is a five-gallon tank. Frankly, I’m not even sure what Robbie is holding, as it seems to be only about ½ inch deep. Show-and-Tell might be a little odd for middle school students, but perhaps it is a science class.
As is usual, Jules Rivera cannot resist ruining whatever mood the strip is building by inserting one of her “let’s keep it cute and funny” puns in panel 4. It does not end here.
Robbie may be underhanded, deceitful, a bully, and a liar (the apple doesn’t fall far, I think), but he does have confidence. Unfortunately, Rusty does not exhibit much confidence, and Robbie knows how to exploit that weakness. It may be justified, but Rusty certainly loses his cool around Ranger Shaw’s untrustworthy son.
At the same time, Rusty will have a tough time making his small bit of turquoise stone look as interesting to the class as living blue shrimp! Now, if Rusty (for example) had some legitimate Navajo jewelry to illustrate how turquoise can be employed and shown off, he could make a big splash with the class.
It’s a new week in the Trailverse and time for new adventures! I know what you’re thinking: How on earth will Jules Rivera top the action and suspense of Cherry’s Bats in the Belfry story or Mark’s Caving with the Kooks adventure? I don’t know about you, but I’m glad we had last week to recover, so I’m ready for the next blockbuster drama! Watch out, Flash Gordon!
Apparently, Rivera has adopted a common “misdirection” approach to suspense, presenting a seemingly mundane activity, one undertaken by the Trails and other families during the school year, just to present a false sense of calm before the storm.
Yet, even now, we see some hint of suspense beginning to take root: Rusty has a stone of turquoise, something I’m sure that few people outside of Nevada have ever seen, much less heard of. No doubt, it’s a magical stone once used in secret ceremonies by an ancient indigenous people, now gone extinct. I’m thinking that a student in class (perhaps Robbie) will accidentally rub the stone in a way that causes it to vibratefuriously, glow brighter and brighter, then suddenly expel a ferocious cryptid, bent on eating everyone in the room!
Hold on, I need to catch my breath.
Okay, I’m better. On second thought, maybe Rusty’s fellow students will simply laugh at his boring blue stone, sending him running back into the woods to reclaim his King of Raccoons throne.
