If’n you don’t shut up about it, we will turn you in!!

But how will JJ find the money to bring his truck loan current… heck, to even put fuel in his truck?  Will word get out that he lost his shit with his clients and threatened their lives?  And has the voodoo doll terrorized Rusty and Cherry back at Lost Forest?  These, and many other questions will be answered on the next episode of… The Daily Trail.

I think it’s funny that JJ (I think it’s JJ…) vocalizes what was on everyone’s mind…

But I am sure what made it especially awkward was Mark feeling compelled to explain every little nuance about the desert…  because for some reason, we seem drawn back to it every other “adventure…”

While they camp, and while there appeared to be a lot of daylight left where they could have put some miles between themselves and their disappointment, we get to eavesdrop on their conversation the next morning…

It still strikes me as odd that they have the pack space to each haul a family-sized dome tent… and if that’s Leola speaking on the right, I think the word you are searching for is dirty, not dingy…  dingy would be the fault of your washing machine, most likely…

…getting punched in the face, or getting browbeaten like a 7 year old…

Oh goody…  three days and nights on the trail, with nothing to think or talk about other than abject disappointment and the fact that nothing has changed… and the knowledge that nothing will probably ever change…

Do we think that JJ will take off his pack when he goes to sleep?  And will Mark ever have to shave?

Out of the mine/cave and back into the light, JJ starts to plead his case…

Why he continues to wear his pack is puzzling… but at least it’s a distinguishing factor when viewing the group in long-angle silhouette… As Mark continues to scold him and remind him of how “irresponsible” we was to do this!  Wait ’til mark runs into Dirty Dyer and his flame thrower… I doubt the same sermon is going to have a similar effect…

Enough with the waterworks!

Now let’s just get back to our sad little lives, more keen and wise for the experience!

What’s it been?  Less than a week in Trail-time?  There are days I wish my own life would slow down a bit!  The days, weeks and months melt away a little too quickly these days…

Really?

Well, I guess remorse comes in its many forms…  and unless JJ is an accomplished method actor, then I suppose we should take him at his word…

If this story is wrapping up, then I guess we should all be grateful!  This one didn’t feel as drawn out as some others…  Now we need to snap our fingers and have the Lost-Forestians say farewell and goodbye to Leola and JJ, both of whom we will likely never see again.  Heck, Leola didn’t even have a chance to fall for Mark and Mark didn’t have to expound on the fact that he’s a “Happily Married Man…”  Small wonders, I guess…

It doesn’t help!!  And Mark, your “feeling” face is a might off-putting…

Small cave?  Seems large and well-lit to me…  I mean, you ARE standing up and seem to have plenty of shoulder room!

OK, let’s wrap this up.  Punch lines that last a week are (unfortunately) typical, but nonetheless tedious…

… through some emotions…  Shock, Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Acceptance.

You can see them all on his various expressions…

Easy there, big guy, don’t hurt yourself!  That head-swivel is reserved for those a little younger than you…

All righty then!  Enough with the Mark-splaining…  This is getting more tedious than usual!

And I can’t stop looking at how she is drawn in panel one…  What happened to her hips?  JJ isn’t saying much either…  At least not while Mark is man-splaining away…

Poor Doc!  He had such high hopes!  The disappointment on his craggy face is obvious, even from a rear-three-quarter angle…

And it would appear that this stranger was a very a patient sort…

Such is life…  This Bearded Stranger also appears to have been a Confidence Man…  playing on the hopes and dreams of others- including JJ, Doc and Leola… Mark was the only one of the group to keep his head on straight…

Now what to do about JJ?  Now that he has shown his true colors?

Yes, the chest is empty…

…but for a “framed newspaper?”  Because that’s what you did with newspapers back in the day, right?

The robbers all escaped…

… until they didn’t, or at least two didn’t escape… because they were shot.  But given the age of the “Bearded Stranger” then, and Doc now, I am guessing he is dead.  So tell us Mark, tell us what you “understand” now…

Empty!

Just like for a dog there is nothing more exciting than what might lie on the other side of a closed door, we get our hopes up that the chest would be brimming with treasure!  Not so fast, Buckaroo!

Seeing that Doc can experience disappointment on this scale suggests that he hasn’t known disappointment at all…

… and we waste no time with this part of the story…

Cool Hand Mark… but what if this is like the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark?  And all manner of Angel, Archangel, Demon and such come flying out and heads start exploding and faces start melting?!

…the only question I have is why does JJ still have his backpack on?

Now that Mark has punched JJ (once!) into submission, and Leola has the gun, he seems to be ready to join “Team Trail…”  It would be funny if one had been following the story and missed ” The Punch” and now would be wondering “what the he**is going on?!”  Of course those of us who don’t miss a day still ask that question from time to time…

But yes, What in the world could be in that chest?  It’s a Treasure Chest, (as opposed to a boot locker,) so it must be treasure, right?  My guess is that our little friend, the creepy doll, is inside!!

This is weird… with Leola holding the gun it has been reduced in stature… compared to when JJ was wielding it…

And never mind that Leola is now pointing muzzle at Mark and Doc, with her finger on the trigger?  Given the look on her face, one could put other words into that speech bubble, like, “No more fancy stuff, Mr. Fisticufs…”

Doc is perplexed as always, and I am guessing that JJ is still out cold.  Mark is one of the original players of “The Knockout Game…” One punch is all it takes…  thankfully he only uses his powers for good.

Once again the astute readership called it!!

And with JJ distracted on the would-be gold, Mark lands a haymaker and sends the double-crossing bastard flying, backpack and all!!

Poor guy… what, was he expecting the scene out of National Treasure?

As JJ’s countenance continues to get more and more screwed up, Mark displays an expression I don’t think I have ever seen before…

Call it disinterested, lethargic Mark… where even the exclamation points in the speech balloon seem to be out of place!  Whereupon JJ displays (again) a massive dose of confirmation bias… We are seeking gold, therefore all that “glints” has to be gold…

Folks, folks, folks… Dialogue is on par… Bad, bad, bad…   Vultures portending doom!

JJ is employing classic motivational theory.  Always get more out of your people by threatening harm!  Have I told you that your job is at stake???

Again, Mark, as compared to what?  You spend a lot of time in mines, do you??

Oh, Doc.  You are indomitable.  Your enthusiasm, anyway.  Never mind that you are now being falsely imprisoned by this thug with a gun…  you are fulfilling a dream that you have kept secret for years.  Glad I noticed that Mark took a flashlight in with him, otherwise I’d have to wonder (again) where all the light was coming from…

Folks?  Hurry it up “Folks?”  What, is JJ from Minnesota?

The imagery of the futility of the wolves is meaningful here on a number levels, including what is trying to pass for an NBA team here in the Twin cities.  Not that I follow or care particularly, but it’s a good thing that the MN Twins are on a record-setting tear in the first half so that we can more or less ignore the Basketball team.  But then I am old enough to remember when we didn’t feel compelled to play all the major sports all the time…  But I guess we follow the money…  Just like JJ.