As Mara and Rusty are left to their own devices…

…they spy with their little eyes Professorial Assistant Becky.  That, after having spent almost no time with her at dinner one night before they went chasing after Toucans…  Well, I’m guessing that Rusty might have had other things on his mind, but that’s all that Mara would allow…

Good golly, these “stories” just plod along, don’t they?

All this talk of naps is making me sleepier that I normally am reading this strip!

Clearly rusty has learned from his father well… how to engage in ways that make people want to sleep!

Yes, si, don’t bet on it, Jose.  This is the part where the “kids go missing” and the fun begins!!

Oh yea… that’s right.  Professor Carter has an “Assistant.”  She made a brief, almost cameo appearance at dinner one (last?) night, TWO MONTHS AGO, but we haven’t seen or heard from her since…  And everyone keeps asking about her!

Professor Carter is confused?  How do you think the rest of us are doing?!

Making our way through the jungle, Joe piles it higher and deeper, a regular PhD!

Super Creepy?  That has to be Mara…

Again, any thoughts what we are spying in the foreground?

And I still don’t know what Joe is talking about from yesterday- the “room” they won’t be allowed to go into…  But if wandering down dark passageways that branch off is your thing, then I guess this going to be the bomb…

I just noticed that one of the things that differentiates men from women in the Trailverse is lip color…  beyond the normal secondary sexual characteristics and physical manifestations, Mara is sporting lipstick?  Lip Stain? Natural pigmentation?  Why, it appears that Rusty and Joe don’t even have lips, amIright?

So far this has all been a horrible tease…

And I’m not even going to try to guess what these critters are…  Any guesses?

Like Molasses in January, so are the days of the Trailverse…

Ha!  See what I did there?  The Tapir is indigenous to the Yucatan?  I guess so…

So Joe was indeed found napping…  And while one of them is being polite (Mara) the other (Rusty) is being a tad bit whiny…  At least that’s my guess.

And in totally unrelated news, anyone pining for a good, old-fashioned story about poachers getting caught, you can read about it here:

Please see ‘TIP call leads to couple with 253 crappies’ at http://e.startribune.com/Olive/ODN/StarTribune/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=MST%2F2018%2F08%2F01&entity=Ar02406&sk=6FEADAAD&mode=text

Don’t ask me what steps one and two are… but this is where it’s bound to get, uhmmm… interesting.

… As interesting as things get in the Trailverse.  No idea what Mark wants to talk to Dr. Carter about- his past, illicit relationship with Cherry?  His business model? Where to get a good street taco in these parts??

Sounds like Joe suffers from a medical condition… probably why he is now making his way on the Yucatan…  Culturally OK to take a siesta!!

And the look on Rusty’s face tells all- that he knows what’s next- he and Mara will no doubt fall into some kind of a trap!

What would be great now is if that little doll would leap up and bite Rusty’s nose off!   I am sure he could be fitted with a prosthetic schoz- I mean, look at Michael Jackson!

…or maybe one of his Dopey-Style ears.  Either way, little guy, take your pick!!  Man does not live by margaritas and cigars alone…

Actually, I think that the Black and white version is a little bit creepier!

And it’s another long walk for a short drink of water…

Yea… I am sure it’s just Bill and Ted having an Excellent Joke on everyone!

The battle in the foreground seems a bit far-fetched, until you see this…  It’s surprising that the Jag can get the upper hand, especially when it’s chosen to go in the water!!

Good lord, how gullible can these three be?  Of course I am assuming that Mark is being taken in by all this, too…  And Rusty is offering up his disbelief…

I think Dr. Carter also majored in pulling legs…  A BS Artist from way-back…

For the love of Mike, Mark, haven’t you been paying attention?!

The doll keeps local robbers away!  That’s the point!!

And it would seem that a shit-faced doll is more effective…  Shaken?  Stirred?  Blended?  Salt on the rim?  Top shelf or rail?  I wonder.

And the Jaguar goes, “Really?”

What is with all the withering, awful renderings of the human hand?

And since when are Rusty’s eyes blue?  I guess I have never noticed that before…  And would confirm that his genes lie outside of the coal darkness that Mark represents…

So, I get it… the unsophisticated and hyper-super-stitious locals are kept at bay by this little warrior doll steeped in legend.  OK, Rusty, you realize that your words are highly prophetic and you have now pretty much guaranteed that you will be spending the night in the trailer with the little man?

Is Dirty behind this somehow?

Boy, you really can’t miss a day of this riveting storyline, can you?  I’ll tell you what, though… if this little doll animates and attacks, I’m done.

And apparently we are now sampling further into the realm of animated, lethal wooden dolls…  and a 1975 production called “Trilogy of Terror.”  Here’s more about it…

It would seem that Mr. Allen’s “muse” is the internet coupled with questionable tastes in movies.

What would you say it is, Rusty?

Once viewed, this little figurine cannot be unseen… and will haunt the viewer for the rest of his born days.  Many people have remarked similarly upon viewing your face, Rusty Trail…   its misshapen and transmogrifying nature has left many a reader looking nervously away, hoping that they don’t have to encounter it in the future…

In case anyone wants to make the connection between this awful strip and a timeless Movie Script, here’s your reference…

And what were two students doing at Faculty parties?  Besides, this all supposedly went down in the mid-to-middle 30’s, which is eighty-plus years ago!  This timeline is getting squishier by the day!

I’d love to be going along with this, but like I said, it’s really annoying when this “story” relies on all that has gone before it.  It’s one thing to stand on the shoulders of giants, it’s another to plagiarize.  There’s no “homage” going on here, just theft.  Seriously.  Knock it off.

Seriously- invest in a writer, before you start getting into serious trouble with all your “sampling” of existing story lines…  Not that anyone even reads this strip anymore…

The wince on Dr. Carter’s face reveals the pain he feels when he realizes he has no actual stake in the value of any of these artifacts… …and while you are at it, learn how to draw hands…

Indiana Jones…

Check out the wings he sprouted in the first panel!  What th…?!

I can see it now.  Total ripoff from Raiders of the Lost Ark…  Right down to the melting faces…

I’m not even sure what that means…

Individually?  Each one worth several hundred thousand dollars?  To whom?  King Tut?  And why are we continued to be fixated on the MONEY?!  What about the historical and or cultural significance of all this?  Or are we just all mercenaries?  I know that it’s a balancing act to keep the grant money flowing, but seriously.  And Rusty is caught up in the middle of all this, heavily influenced by the adults in the room, not the mention the writer that is putting words in his mouth…

I love the first panel… Mark is cradling probably half a million dollars in his hands…  and since he isn’t on Woods and Wildlife business, (where is Editor Bill Ellis, anyway?) he probably couldn’t get the magazine to cover for his clumsiness this time…