Mark learns that his dad (Happy Trail) is being victimized in an Internet Catfishing scam that is depleting his retirement savings. Happy won’t listen to his friends, so Mark is forced to intervene.
What do you think? Is panel 1 a visual pun of my blog title? If so, Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!
The argument continues, as Mark pussyfoots around the issue. The point of scamming money from Happy was exposed before they even visited the gorilla sanctuary. And what about the drive back home? Did they not talk about it at all? We don’t know, because Jules Rivera also kept that part of the story tucked away in a secret folder. We seem to be treading water here; more soap opera than adventure. Well, Happy has previously played down his donations to Gail. Being smitten does tend to cloud the rational part of the brain.
Art Dept. In panel 3 Mark feels obliged to throw a zinger back at Happy as he looks across with a Doonsbury-inspired expression (well, the eyes, anyway). This type of cynical expression doesn’t really work well with Mark or with the general tenor of the strip.
Nevertheless, panel 3 is unnecessarily crowded, owing to fitting in Rivera’s popular arced background divider, the image balloon of Gail and her bag o’ cash, the traditional signature bubble-and-date, and Rivera’s all-too-common punchline narration box. That’s a lot to fit it around Mark and his comment. Compare it with its mate, panel 2, where Happy didn’t need that image balloon of Gail.
All during this past week, we were led to believe that Mark Trail had driven back from the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary on his own to confer with Niecy on his next steps to take. Mind you, he could have made this simpler by taking her with him and Happy. But the needs of the plot deemed otherwise.
So, this past week, Niecy dug up more dirty laundry on Gail and Guyler while Mark spent most of the week tearing his hair, wringing his hands, and invoking the wrath of Thor. Or something like that. At least, Mark is once again mainly concerned about his dad’s safety and possible impending marriage to the swindler, Gail Getz. Mark simply doesn’t know what to do, other than apparently leaving him at the Gorilla Sanctuary in the hands of Dreama (Gail Getz).
But all is not what it seems. Jules Rivera carefully kept hidden all week that Mark actually did bring Happy back home with him. Score some points to Mark for getting him away from Gail. So we discovered this on Saturday, when Happy suddenly popped into the work room where Mark and Niecy were situated, dapperly dressed (as Niecy noted) in an outfit that might have come from the Willy Wonka Clothing Emporium. His excitement about the wedding did not salve Mark’s worries, and the two were about to come to blows.
An interesting take on the 4th, as Jules Rivera promotes the wild turkey, what we know historically as being the favored bird of Benjamin Franklin. The old story was that Franklin proposed this bird as a better avian example for the country’s Great Seal than the golden eagle. However, it seems that his only known remark on this topic was a letter to his daughter. Interestingly, it was the United States that became the first modern nation to adopt a national bird, a seemingly mundane action that soon caught on with nations around the world. There were historical precedents, which the Founders were well aware of. Rome (a never-ending source of inspiration for the US) used an eagle as a “standard” for their military legions; but they were not the first to do so. Napoleon adapted the Roman eagle standard for his armies.
A real bird of courage? I don’t know if it is courage or arrogance, but they certainly seem to be some of the most stubborn, if not most nonchallant wild birds. For example, they have no apparent fear of dropping down onto a busy street to just stand there; or casually promenade down the road. Honk and yell all you want; they just don’t care.
Did I miss a day this week? I don’t recall any mention or scene of Mark and Happy coming back. Yet, here he is, all duded up. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to a wedding, but I don’t recall grooms dressing like Willy Wonka or the doorman at Harrods. Well, Bob Dylan and all that, I reckon.
Maybe Mark was right to not bring Niecy along with Happy to the gorilla sanctuary. Her hand-clapping approval of Happy’s attire is reason enough, but it also undermines Mark’s agenda. On the other hand, it looks like we might get back to some good ol’ Fists o’ Fury between these two dudes, just like in the very first Mark Trail story (by Jules Rivera).
But, I’ll give Rivera good marks today for finally writing an effective pun in a narration box (panel 2) that actually marries the content of the scene to the national holiday.
Talk about fails … I might be oversimplifying things, but wouldn’t the easiest solution be to just push Happy into the car and drive him home, then report the Gorilla Sanctuary to the DNR or the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service? After that, threaten Gail and Guyler with the police and prosecution unless they return Happy’s money. Okay, maybe that last part wouldn’t fly, but it’s worth a try. At least Mark is back to worrying about his dad.
To be fair, Mark didn’t really resolve the Tiger Touch Center scam, either. That happened when Gemma the rampaging elephant happened to show up and chase Tess Tigress away. Well, education doesn’t come cheap these days, so Happy’s financial contributions would just be the price of learning.
When this adventure is over, maybe Mark should look into a senior assisted living accommodation for Happy and put his remaining funds into an irrevocable trust with him as the trustee.
Art Dept. Panel 4 is another example of why it is good to live in a place that is not spelled F-l-o-r-i-d-a.
Really, now. Is a gorilla sanctuary more pure than a deer sanctuary or a tiger sanctuary? Just wondering. Now we’re spending all this time listening to Niecy’s litany of questionable activities that Gail and Guyler (do you remember the origin of his name?) have done, and … so what!? Is Mark just gonna keep huffing and puffing and wringing his hands over the gorillas?
(By the way, are real estate seminars inherently criminal enterprises? If you are talking about time shares or house flipping, maybe you got a point. But if selling cheap pantyhose is also a crime, places like Dollar General are in big trouble!) And if you see any allusions to contemporary politics or politicians in this current story, I would agree, given Jules Rivera’s own politics.
Sure, gorillas are important to protect—don’t get me wrong. But Mark seems to have lost focus on why they went to the sanctuary in the first place. The gorillas look morose and placid, but not necessarily ill, injured, or diseased. Is Mark going to sacrifice Happy’s happiness and fortune while he emotes and shakes his fist at Gail and Guyler? Is Mark going to at least call the DNR and have them send officers over to the Sanctuary? Mark needs to get off the stick and get going. As far as we know, Happy and Gail could already be married! Given Happy’s recent unstable behavior, that is a real possibility!
Okay, just where the hell are Niecy and Mark working!? Is that a mural behind them in panel 1 or are they really in a corner office on the 17th floor of a business tower? But then I stopped and looked more closely at the scene. I realized that they are sitting in the room where Mark and Niecy first found out who Dreama really is. The left “passageway” is actually a bookcase. The right passageway leads to the bumped-out three-wall Florida Room visible in panel 4 of yesterday’s strip. Jules Rivera could have spilled a bit more ink defining these spaces more convincingly. Okay, I think I’m good to go.
Ever since arriving at the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary, Mark has turned his attention to the animals and more or less put Happy’s money on the back burner. That shouldn’t be surprising. Interestingly, it appears that Rivera adapted her Tiger Petting Zoo story (“Puff Piece Zoo”) for this adventure, having Happy play the role of the smitten Rex Scorpius and Gail reimagining Tess Tigress. That means Niecy stands in for Diana Daggers, who was originally Rex’s backup support and information provider, until Tess Tigress threw her off the zoo property and out of the story. Now, we don’t really have an actual rampaging elephant to chase Gail into the sunset, but one of the gorillas might step in, when the time is right.
I wonder where Mark picked up that interjection, “criminy.” It’s really old-school, and my Oxford English Dictionary indicates it was in use back in the 17th century. Since then, it was popular for a while, but went out of favor around the 1920s. Maybe Mark picked it up from watching really old movies.
So, did Mark really leave Happy in the hands of Gail and Guyler!? Criminy!
Yes, they were shocked! Once again, Mark is caught off guard by useful information provided to him after the fact. Does he realize that it was almost certainly his impulsiveness that precipitated the current debacle? It must run in the family. Poor Mark. He must be having a panicky moment of déjà vu at the mention of “trouble with a roadside zoo.”
We could ponder why Mark didn’t bring Niecy and her laptop along so she could do her research on the way to the sanctuary, where it might have given Happy some just-in-time reasons to rethink proposing. Or Niecy could have given Mark a call to share her findings while he was still at the sanctuary. In either case, such practical considerations might have prematurely wrapped up this story.
But this is the nutty improbability that pervades movies and TV shows. People suddenly trip when fleeing bad guys; the detective leaves the office just before a crucial phone call comes through that would have cracked the case; the leading man shows up for an important dinner date but accidentally brought along a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck to impress the woman. We just gotta have these goofy plot twists!
So Mark got the important information late. Now what? Will Mark call Happy right away and tell him to get the heck out of that place as fast as he can? Or will he find out it’s too late and wind up taking Niecy with him to help pick out a wedding gift for the Happy couple? Perhaps an alligator purse that snaps shut.
Alligators: Speaking of animals showing up in this strip, it seems like gators have also been showing up in the news a lot recently, with several attacks down in Florida within one week. It is certainly tragic news to hear about. But my attitude is, why tempt fate? Avoiding rivers, ponds, swamps, glades, and streams where alligators, pythons, and other dangerous creatures are known to exist (or even thought to exist) seems like a no-brainer decision to me. That includes Niecy’s and Happy’s properties, with that always-hungry gator walking the grounds with impunity.
So Mark drove all the way back to his Dad’s place (or Niecy’s house?), just to talk things over with Niecy? What happened to WhatsApp? Or Zoom? That’s usually good enough when Mark calls Cherry.
Now that he is back, who is watching out for Happy, besides Gale (Dreama)? Mark seems to be out of his depth. I think this is refreshing in a way. And we’ve seen this a lot with Jules Rivera’s Mark Trail. He is not always on top of things, not always the Noble Hero of Moral Certainty. He messes up and makes wrong choices. His Fists o’ Justice don’t always perform as expected. Woman are not always (or ever) throwing themselves at him, as in his previous incarnations. He is not world-renown. In fact, since Rivera took over, he hasn’t even left the country! I’d like to see that happen some time.
And this must have been a bad hair day for Rivera, based on the art. But she is no Stephen Pastis when it comes to puns, either. I’m guessing that the “going ape” pun was meant to apply to Happy’s enthusiasm for Gale. As for Mark, he is just going crazy.
The underlying issue of the current Mark Trail story is, once again, fraud. It’s a frequent (and increasingly boring) motive of Mark Trail villains. Elder citizen Happy Trail has been smitten by an online catfisher who turned out to be another elder citizen named Gail. She runs a gorilla sanctuary and has already received several cash gifts from Happy. Aside from the sanctuary’s convenient location in Florida (for the sake of the story, as Happy also lives in Florida), it is a plausible location for the sanctuary.
Mark and Happy drove to the sanctuary to investigate. But Happy was really more interested in proposingmarriage to Gail, which he did almost immediately upon arriving. This surprised everybody and upset Mark’s questioning of Gail. Mark tried to put the brakes on the proposal, but Gail took advantage of Happy’s naiveté to push her own advantage. She had her son, Guyler, “show Mark around the sanctuary”, so she could work, undisturbed, on Happy. For reasons that only a story plot could appreciate, Mark agreed to be led away! Now, who is naïve?
As they walked around the site, Guyler revealed to Mark that the sanctuary was bleeding cash and nearly bankrupt. Thus, they needed donors and thus, their fraudulent fundraising tactic. Mark seemed to buy into the story, but I have my doubts. Guyler admitted they needed lots of money, which suggests the kind of funding you get from a foundation or a rich benefactor. They are not the types of resources you locate running low-end Internet scams. So, I think Guyler is running a scam on Mark to gain his sympathy and approval by appearing to secretly confess to their dire financial situation.
I sure hate mosquitoes, including flies, ticks, and gnats. I grew up in the south, where all of those pests are quite common. I thought living in a northern state would be cooler and less likely to be as infested. Well, it sure gets cooler, but otherwise, I was so wrong!
Well, who doesn’t hate mosquitoes, except animals that eat them and companies that sell anti-mosquito products? Anyway, if you are using insect repellents as Mark suggests, the best choices are products containing EPA-approved DEET or Picaridin. I’ve read that oil of lemon eucalyptus (CDC approved) is also really good for discouraging mosquitoes and ticks, but it’s not for children under 4. I use DEET, but have never tried OLE. I think I’ll have to try it out!
Cutting the lawn just before an outdoor event is also helpful, as it minimizes safe spaces for mosquitos to rest. A somewhat breezy day is one of the best natural protections against mosquitoes, because they are not very efficient flying in wind. Consider fans!
One could almost be sympathetic to Gail and Guyler, but as I pointed out yesterday, Gail tipped her hand a few weeks ago. Her attitude towards her unknowing donors was anything but grateful. So I’m not yet convinced that Guyler is genuine, either. Even his earlier comments paint a less than honorable portrait.
However, from a storyline angle, this is a plausible subplot with Guyler either confessing or gaslighting Mark, while Gail works on Happy, who doesn’t need much convincing at all. Mark has to figure out how much of this is a swindle versus the real deal. But I don’t buy Guyler’s “No place to live” line, as I’d think other gorilla sanctuaries in the States would take the animals.
Dig the pose of the gorilla in panel 4. I’m not sure what it is thinking as it “kind of” looks at Happy and Gail. And Jules Rivera’s narration box doesn’t logically follow the prior panels as far as I can tell.
I’m no zoo keeper and I don’t play one on TV, but those cages and barriers look awfully skimpy to me. They don’t line up with other gorilla sanctuaries I’ve seen (via photos). Those fences and gates don’t look strong enough to hold back a baby gorilla, much less a full-grown one. Well, if it isn’t an issue about gorillas escaping, I’d be concerned about humans (including children) climbing into the enclosures. Well, most people. I do have a list.
Guyler’s explanations seem to give Mark some cause to pause while he considers the situation in a different light. Still, it doesn’t add up, given what we have seen of Gail’s demeanor and behavior the week before (esp June 9th and 10th). Even Mark should have noticed the tells that Gail has been showing this week. Gail’s behavior didn’t sound like desperation back then, so much as connivance and chicanery. So I suspect that Guyler is just play-acting to what he perceives of Mark’s values and priorities. Just like any good swindler.
Once again, Jules Rivera seems to have type-cast Mark Trail into one “Catch the Swindler” plot after another. There’s got to be other kinds of adventures Mark would be interested in. In the Olde Days, Mark was at least interested in exposing poachers, cheaters, arsonists, and the occasional conspiracy nutjob. Hell, maybe Mark should join the FBI or the Secret Service if he wants to make catching swindlers and frauds his life’s work. At least, the FBI and Secret Service in his own parallel universe, that is.
I might be wrong, but I think the gorilla wants to knock some sense into Happy.
As the story develops, Gail thinks “take some time” means “walk around the sanctuary for a while and when you return we can find a preacher!” So the focus from here on is how long it takes before Mark uncovers the scam and proves it to his dad. This reminds me of the recent story (“$ is for upcycling”) where Olive and Cherry tried to make Peach realize that she was being scammed by design influencer, Holly Folly.
Well, if this was the Mark Trail in Days of Olde, he would probably take Guyler out back and knock him around a bit to get him to confess. Instead, he is treating Guyler as if he was a neutral bystander (panel 4), rather than one of the criminal conspirators.
Art Dept. I like that Mark in panel 2 exhibits a strong emotional and physical presence, defined not only by the intense yellow background but also by Jules Rivera’s line work that, for once, isn’t just outlining shapes. And speaking of outlines, what is that busyness going on around the gorilla’s torso? Is he getting electrocuted? Otherwise, I’m a bit concerned that the only thing separating that gorilla from the people seems to be a 3 foot wall.
Gail is quick on the uptake, I’ll give her that. At the same time, Happy Trail seems to be getting more confused by Gail’s acceptance of his proposal. What was he expecting, anyway? Jules Rivera really didn’t need to waste time and ink on Gail’s vaudevillian leer (panel 3), as if we are as slow on the uptake as Happy. And it’s as if neither Mark nor Happy can see her face.
Making matters worse, Mark seems to have so far been sidelined by Gail’s domination of Happy. What will Mark do to regain control of the situation? At this point, Happy is not helping; but just hustling him away will not fix things, either.
Looks like it’s three-to-one against Mark. This is one time when I don’t think his Fists o’ justice™ are going to help him out. Unless Gail turns out to be some male grifter-in-drag, that is.
Yes, gorillas do have intelligence, and the one in panel 1 seems to hold the opinion that getting away from these human nut jobs is vital to its health and wellbeing. I can’t disagree.
Well, let’s try to be fair here. Jules Rivera has taken Mark Trail and his family out of its 1950s “Father Knows Best in Lost Forest” scene and put it into the modern world with its modern complexities and contradictions. And the characters have reshaped themselves, accordingly. So Mark finds himself now caught up in family matters (there were rarely “family matters” before), where he is sometimes out of his depth. Okay, that happens in his reporting assignments, too. (Warning: The rest of this post is just more philosophizing gobbledee gook. Feel free to ignore it!)
And we have Rivera’s “indie” comic style which is more in tune with younger people who follow online comics and graphic novels. If you have looked at “indie” comics (ex. graphic novels or online independent comic strips), you’d see a great variety of styles. “Realistic” drawing is often opposed as being inauthentic, sterile, and non-emotional. You old farts like me may likely remember the Hippie comic books of the late 1960s (ex. Zap Comix and Furry Freak Brothers) which had a similar philosophical and artistic opposition to the “corporate” comic strips in newspapers.
Indie styles are to traditional (“corporate”) comic strips what the Abstract Expressionist painters were to naturalistic 20th century American and European art. “Authenticity” of expression and emotion is more important than authenticity of illustration. Accidents in drawing are accepted as part of the creative act (just they were in 20th century Surrealism).
PS – I didn’t see any increase in viewers following my clickbait title from June 8 (“Isn’t anybody worried that a gorilla is on the loose? But I can see why…!”), meaning nobody fell for such an obvious ruse or nobody knows this blog site exists. That’s okay, I reckon.
Mark and Happy drove to the Glamor Gorilla Sanctuary to see if it existed, if Dreama was a real person who actually worked there, who Gail is, and where Happy’s money was. Gail has a son, Guyler, employed as her assistant at the sanctuary. Guyler seems to be something of a nebbish.
In private, we discovered that Gail was a conniving schemer, certain she could grab even more money from the naïve, bumbling Happy Trail, if only his son, Mark, did not interfere. “If only” is not a good strategy, but Gail was determined to succeed.
After arriving at the sanctuary, Mark immediately got distracted by the gorilla pens and started peppering questions at Gail and Guyler about the living conditions and quality of the enclosures. Now, I wonder why he took this approach, rather than starting right in on Happy’s money. But it turned out that his non-stop, annoying questions cajoled Gail into confessing she is the fake Dreama.
Was Mark’s non-stop, annoying questioning part of his plan? If he thought it would keep Gail on the defensive long enough to get her to come clean about Happy’s money, he found out otherwise. Happy obliterated the direction of the conversation by impulsively proposing marriage to Gail. This sudden action shocked everybody. And I do mean everybody! Perhaps Mark forgot to go over his plan with Happy before arriving at the sanctuary. Maybe they should have brought Niecy along, as I recommended last week, to keep Happy preoccupied. Well, what will Mark do now? Tune in tomorrow!
Well, a hodgepodge of factoids for today, as Mark starts off with two disconnected facts, one being a question. And he finishes his discourse with his usual weak joke. But Mark overlooked other major influences on gorilla endangerment, such as poaching, disease, and other forms of human encroachment.
Everybody write to Jules Rivera to get Bill Ellis to send Mark back to Africa to investigate gorilla poaching. That could be a good story and might even provide a foundation for reintroducing Dirty Dyer.
Can’t anybody get their priorities straight around here? Did Mark drive Happy to the sanctuary so he could spend his time asking about gorilla enclosures or was it to find out where Happy’s money went (see May 30)!? I could make a joke about the apparent disappearance of fencing in panel 2 as a point about Mark’s questioning, but we all know that this is simply how Jules Rivera shows animals and people behind cages, fences, and jail cells. Frankly, I don’t know why it matters to Rivera to draw it this way, but that’s how it is.
As a matter of form, if Mark is curious about the gorillas and the grounds, maybe he should have been asking how Gail got them, where all the paperwork is, and what professional staff she keep on site.
Anyway, I reckon my hair would also turn white like Mark’s (panel 3) if my dad blindsided me by going all Movie rom-com on a strange woman whose personality was faked (as was his). Even Guyler, whose slacks changed from white to blue (as of yesterday!), looks gobsmacked by Happy’s actions. Seems like bringing Happy along was a really bad idea!
It’s a heck of a cliffhanger, I’ll give Rivera that! I can imaging Gail thinking “This sucker couldn’t make it any easier than if he just showed up with handfuls of cash and handed it over. Hmmm, I wonder how much I can get for that ring…?” And Mark must be thinking “There goes my inheritance!”
Now we know why Cherry doesn’t mind when Mark goes away
Man, what a pill. How can somebody go on and on and on about things he knows little about? For example, gorillas are very social animals and hang out in groups known as troops (panel 2). It doesn’t mean they are crowded together from lack of space.
I suppose being annoying may just be a tactic of some sort, but Mark sure is annoying! It’s like dealing with a precocious ten-year old. I’m not sure what the real goal of such a tactic would be, other than getting thrown out of the sanctuary. But even I might confess to being Lizzie Borden if that would make him shut up. At least the tactic seems to be working on Gail.
Once again, the text doesn’t mesh with the picture. In panel 1, Mark can’t wait to see the sanctuary, even though he is standing directly in front of it.
Yeah, this is starting to look like a rehash of the Tiger Touch Petting Zoo (or whatever it was called) story, run by Tess Tigress. Of course, Tess didn’t have a kid assistant who looks like he works part-time at a 1940s soda fountain, or possibly as a stand-in for Randy, the smart-alecky marionette on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (panel 4).
Jules Rivera isn’t much for subtle buildups in her stories, either. Mark and Happy jump right in with innuendo and interrogation. Well, maybe just Mark at this point. It’s not that they don’t have any justification, but from a story-building angle, it would be nice to have them lead up to the drama, to try and break down the defenses they must know Gail and Guyler have prepared.
Mark, especially, comes across as presumptive and arrogant, as if he knows anything about keeping gorillas or what the “code” mandates. Of course, the sanctuary will not meet code! That’s a given. And Guyler probably wishes he actually was pouring malts about now. In fact, I’d love one, myself, with lots of malt.
I’m starting to get confused (a common occurrence, I’m afraid). Apparently, Guyler has done some online research and thinks that Mark is an investigative journalist. Okay, I reckon that is more or less accurate. But why does Gail state that they will get Happy’s cash (panel 2)? Didn’t Happy already send it to her? Else, where’s the problem?
By the way, I like the way Guyler peeks through the venetian blinds, like a mobster in an old film noir crime movie watching out for the cops. Was this an intended reference?
And why does Jules Rivera state that Happy and Li’l Abner, I mean Mark, are now approaching the sanctuary (panel 3) when they are already there? Well, perhaps she means “entering the building” or something like that. My wife says I sometimes get too nit-picky (but most of the time, just the opposite).
Nevertheless, this fake Dreama sounds like she means business, and I do mean bad business. Yeah! I hope this isn’t just hot air on Rivera’s part. Let’s get to some real action! At worst, I hope this parent-child grifting duo doesn’t turn out to be just another Cheddersons act.
