I am sure that the astute among you noticed that I have not attempted to categorize (correctly at least) this current saga…  I was so fairly convinced that this story would eventually lead us back to Dirty Dyer that I kept the “Dirty’s Revenge” thing going…  Only to be proven (for now at least) wrong.  But this is just as good.  Seriously.  Didn’t see this coming (kudos to you James Allen) and today’s installment (almost) makes up for the weeks upon months of slow-drip plot development…

Funny that Mark encountered and recognized Mr. Big-Arms first in yesterday’s strip, but now has Jefe by the shirt placket, delivering an epic right cross, knocking him into the next frame!  Good that Mark has invested in blue jeans that have a stretch component, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to admire his well developed lower half…  How long has it been since Mark was allowed to punch a bad guy?  Too long, my friends, MUCH too long.

If my high school level spanish taught me anything is that there needs to be agreement between gender and plurality…  It’s MIS amigos!  not mi amigos!  And if we want to be even slightly authentic perhaps a “Vamanos amigos” as opposed to “Let’s go” would have added a nice touch…  making the “mi,” “mis” or “my” superfluous…

So I guess Rusty and Mara were shut out of the front door and Mark and Capt. Jose are fortunate enough to have rolled up to the back, where the bad guys are making their escape…

But Wait!  Mark knows this guy?  Do we?  I will be really embarrassed if I missed this connection, but honestly I am at a loss.  Unless he’s one of the coyote that were seen trafficking humans and blew up the cave entrance (and only exit) in the Chihuahuan desert, trapping Mark, Professor Gabe and Carina?

Bingo!  The arms should have been the clue! I was sort of sniffing at this before but hadn’t made the connection!

Part 2?  Might be Part n… Mark has never been known for his use of the pre-frontal cortex… where reasoning, discretion and executive decision making emanates…

…but still resplendent in his faded red, now pink, chamois cloth shirt and blue jeans (wait… aren’t we in the tropics?) he throws the stoner-van door open and makes his move.  Except, wait…  didn’t Mara and Rusty get the door slammed in their face?  No, Mark, they aren’t “in there…”  Rusty’s phone is, and there will be a talking to about that lack of discretion, but for now, I would say that the kids are relatively safe…

“Captain Jose?”  Do you not have a surname?  Honestly, the writing here is really, ummm, bad.

Seriously, the 10 minutes I just spent reviewing the recent strips is 10 minutes I will never get back…  But I am trying to sort through the names here…  The only one for sure is Juanito the Mule…

From what I can tell, Jose (yes there is another one… like that’s the only name in all of Me-he-co that James Allen could come up with…) But he also goes by Jefe (which, again is spanish for ‘boss’) So is Juanito calling the real boss (at which we get our first full, unshadowed look) Jefe?  While Jose/Jefe calls him ‘Boss?’  Seriously…

Who’s on first?

OK, at least he’s back to being the feckless, clueless, insipid kid we all love to mock and abuse…

And in moves Raul, with nothing more than a dime-store badge!  Although we can’t see what is in his right hand…

…but it’s apparently enough for Juanito!  SLAM goes the door and we avoid a hostage taking opportunity!  Rats!  That would have carried this story line into the summer at least!!

As Mara speaks wisdom and suggests a less risky path, Juanito pops out from the shadows and lays a Cheshire-cat grin on his victims… Hostage situation?  You betcha!

And since when did Rusty sport the blue highlights in his hair??  What- is he a junior Mark Trail?

We can only hope, right?  Happy new year, Campers.  I have been hiding in the tall grass waiting for something to happen, but three’s my limit…

“Great!  You found them!” says Joe, “Well, Raul, I have a very angry and anxious Mark Trail with me…”

Where’s the new library?  Are we suggesting that the only library fell into disrepair and now the poor people of Santa Poco have nowhere to turn when they want to borrow the latest Tom Clancy thriller?  That’s right, Raul.  Fools rush in.  That includes Rusty, Mara and now you…

Suddenly Ol’ Sleepy Joe is on the case… barking orders.  Mark’s expression remains unchanged even as Joe suggests that this might turn into a hostage situation!  I am sure he is conflicted about this… thinking wistfully of carefree days without a stepson in his charge…  Or days when he could smoke a pipe and still stand for Earth and Conservation!

Mark fails again.  But then it was probably not his idea to take Rusty on full time with actual legal custody.  Had to be Cherry.  Mark’s casual approach to ensuring that no harm comes to Rusty is a time-honored trope in the Trailverse…  Rusty has spent more time bound and gagged than any youth in comics history.

Or for your sake, Joe!  Really… Mark leaves the kids in your care and custody and this is what happens!  Raul, yes, one of the best… at what?  Crashing through windows for no reason??

Well Mark,  what did you expect?  You can’t trust anyone these days… everyone is out for a score…

We can only hope that there will be punching before the year is out…  but judging by the look on Mark’s face, he might just plant a hook on Joe’s chin right now!

Well, I am sure that one of us was on top of this development…  Which means that Raul is also undercover and Juanito and Becky are BAD…

Some observations:  Joe looks like Doc (remember him??) from the side… and the look on Professor Carter’s face suggests that he’s been had, and the look on Mark’s face (of utter bemusement) suggests that he’s been here before…  Never mind that his adopted son and disposable character Mara are both walking right into the lair…

Ok, I admit, I am still trying to figure out who is on which side of the ball here…

Raul’s expressions today, bordering on concern for Rusty and Mara’s welfare, have me confused… since he has been, of late, brandishing throwing knives and six-shooters…  So he calls Jose… what, tomorrow?  Next year?  Will that help answer my questions?  Not likely.

As we blow past the Christmas Holiday and into Boxing Day, Kwanza and whatever else get celebrated this time of year, we find ourselves (still…)  wandering through the miasma that qualifies for a Mark Trail plot line…

I guess O’l Rusty doesn’t know how or when to lock his Smart Phone!  10 demerits!

…and I’m not sure what the hell Juanito is afraid of- two pesky kids, a cell phone that has but one contact in it (‘MOM’) or the shadowy boss man who will no doubt be anxious (at least) that his liar is about to be penetrated…

Sneak in and do what, Rusty?  Exactly what is your plan?  This isn’t The House at Pooh Corner, you know… You can’t just leap out from your hiding place and shout, “A-ha!”  And is that Raul in the background, looking to gain positional advantage?

Why am I channeling Scooby Doo at this moment?  Oh, I don’t know… maybe because there hasn’t been an original thought in the Trailverse is quite a while!

So it’s Cherry that is going to put the children’s lives in mortal danger?  Are these “Poachers of Antiquity” really going to add kidnapping and murder to their rap sheets?  Maybe!  We still don’t know who the Boss-Man is…

Mark is calling Rusty’s cell phone which is currently being used to Trail (ha!) Juanito and the stolen artifacts…  using the Snap-n-Rap app… or something like that…

I think we refer to this as a plot twist… although it now takes months to get to one in the Trailverse.  One of my favorite twists from the old days was when the old man with the indian artifacts spilled maple syrup on the wicker “pack-baskets” used to hide the (apparently) highly valuable and prized arrowheads and stuff… which led a bear, and Mark Trail to the cache where they were buried… and justice prevailed!

OK, well, here we go.  It’s NOT Dirty Dyer (witness… no eye-patch) It’s some other random baddie…

…and this is not the first time that we have been confused about who we are calling Jefe…  Spanish for Boss… unless it’s being used ironically and with derision in this case… Recall the Cave adventure and the Coyotes (human traffickers…) There was all kinds of confusion over who was in charge there…

I thought for sure that by skipping yesterday and reading both today we’d have some closure here… some reveal.  Nope.

From what I can tell, there are three people in the room?

Maybe more??  Are you asking Jose a question or asking if it’s Jose?  Who knows…

Why reveal a plot twist quickly when you can leave the audience twisting indefinitely?

So, let’s take stock:

In:  Becky, Juanito, Jose, Raul

Question mark:  Professor Carter

Suspicious by Nature (ha!):  Mark Trail

Lost Lambs:  Rusty and Mara

Drum roll, please…

Living in the shadows… who can it be now??

Backpack guy/mule walking through a seedy section- witness the badly boarded up windows…

And who is behind the gated entrance…  could it be… Dirty Dyer?!

The ‘UUNNGGHH’ and the ‘CRASH’

Like the Sturm und das Drang…

And of course, there are the kids!  Mara towering over Rusty… in height and intellect.