Well, here it is, already Saturday. And we end the week with a bit of continuity and a smaller bit of humor. I’ll admit that I fail to see the humor. For reasons not yet clear, Rivera turns Cherry into an obnoxious wiseacre, as seen on TV. Totally unlike Cherry, unless there is a character transformation going on. One thing that also struck me in the last panel is how Cherry’s expression and pose resembles Jules Rivera.
Otherwise, I wonder whether Holly is going to screw over Peach and not give her due credit in her new fashion line. Or perpetrate something else equally unfortunate. Why do I think that, you ask? Isn’t Holly being genuine, transparent, and generous? Yes, she sure seems like that. Therefore, something bad is afoot.
Frequent reader and commenter, Daniel Pellissier, wrote on Wednesday “I am trying to envision an environmental/outdoor theme here.” I think Jules Rivera offered a response to Daniel in panel 4. It might be something of a stretch, however.
Is Holly wearing some kind of teardrop headband, or does she just constantly sweat? Whatever the answer is, I’m trying to envision a storyline here and failing. Granted, this is only reaching the end of week 1. That’s fine. I am curious (aren’t we all!?) about what the actual story will be. It seems as if Cherry’s adventures become more and more a kind of soap opera.
But as week 1 is just laying groundwork, what about next week? Cherry normally gets just one week in a row before turning over the reins to Mark. So will we have to wait until mid-November to learn more? Hell, I’m still wondering about the peacock and the dinner!
Editor’s Note: A commenter on ComicsKingdom brought up a point that we have discussed in the past, that being Olive’s haircut, especially how it falls to one side or the other. It is an exaggerated version of a mohawk cut known as a deathhawk cut, from its association with goth culture and deathrock music. So it fits with Olive’s personality. Deathrock, by the way, is different from death metal, which my youngest son prefers. So much for music education. Anyway, the point here is that Olive’s hair flops left or right, as needed (check yesterday’s strip). And that’s all there is say about it. So, moving on to today …
When I saw the gal’s name, it all clicked into place: Outgoing, exuberant blonde woman wearing pink with a scarf wrap. Holly Folly was the companion of Professor Bee Sharp in Mark’s adventure where he uncovered a phony mountain retreat run by digital con man Sid Stump (category: “Bear Necessity”).
Seems like the Trail family just can’t get any relief from the small cast of recurring pseudo-villains and troublemakers, even though Holly’s participation in her debut story was generally friendly, if brief.
Rivera trots out another trendy term, “cottagecore”, a word most of you have probably already Googled. I did, and I don’t see anything in these items for sale that bring about a celebration of idealistic rural life or pastoral fashion, especially shirts with geometric designs. But, Holly clearly sees more than I can. I’ll give her that!
I guess they’ve run out of oddballs in Lost Forest Village, so now they’re trucking them in from elsewhere. And I’m not too sure what the spot is on the end of the woman’s nose: An inking mistake, perhaps, or is she on the way to audition for one of the reindeer in a production of “Rudolph: The Musical”?
Perhaps this Amazeballswoman sees something we can’t see in these “fashions,” to want to buy them all. Well, it’s her money. Now I can understand the cynical stare of Olive Pitt. She’s probably thinking something like, “Oh goodie, another poser. Happy to take your money, though.”
“Amazeballs” is slang going back at least as far as a YouTube video in 2008 (according to the Oxford English Dictionary, though the term appears to originate in the US). It’s made the top of the list of the most annoying words more than once. A scorching condemnation analysis appears in a 2012 column in Slate, adding fire to the word’s origins and infamy ( https://tinyurl.com/4eatcs57 ). Like most slang, the word is now considered outdated, except possibly among older hipsters, such as Millennials and Gen Z.
Either rents are cheap in Lost Forest, or it’s become a ritzy artist’s enclave where people come to spend lots of money. Who knows? But, the sisters are working it out, so that’s all that matters. Doesn’t appear that there is any specific story starting this week, just some family time and living the life in Lost Forest.
And that’s okay for a short bit, but we’re not here to simply watch people go about their humdrum lives. That’s why Mary Worth and Arlo & Janis exist. We expect to read impactful stories dealing with environmental issues, and enjoy the occasional bop on the top of some miscreant or doofus.
I’m waiting for those three months to pass by quickly, so Olive can take the gloves off and start kicking booty. But at the rate time seems to pass in Mark Trail, it will be Spring 2026 before Olive makes a move.
(Yes, I ripped off another click-bait headline because I was too tired to think of anything better.)
Today Rivera makes a timely, strategic pivot back to Cherry and her sisters who are once again setting up shop at the local farmers’ market. (The last time they did this, Peach Pitt’s psychotic boyfriend showed up and caused a scene that Cherry’s brother Dirk had to settle) I’m not sure why Cherry is exhausted with setting up jewelry, since it looks like her sister, Olive Pitt, is taking care of it. And it looks as if the t-shirts are already hung, as well. Still, I reckon it’s nice of Cherry to volunteer. No?
Side note: I bet there are some of you out there who probably think Olive’s punchline in panel 3 would have been better had it stopped at “You sell better when you’re hopped up.” But we here at ThyTrailBeDone like to maintain higher standards, so we abstain from using R-rated humor. Okay. Maybe “standards” is too strong a term. And “higher” is really relative, based on where you are standing and what you are looking at. But it is aspirational!
Getting back to the strip’s current activity, I wonder if is this going to be a continuation of an existing storyline or the start of a new one. The last storyline was about the peacock owned by Violet Cheshire’s mom, which escaped just before a big dinner event for which Cherry had been commissioned to create a cage for said bird. Mark engineered a trap to catch the peacock, which was then taken by Honest Ernest to return to Violet. And that’s pretty much where things stood. So far, no word on the fate of the cage, the dinner event, or the peacock’s impression on the friends of Violet’s mother.
I’m shocked, shocked to see Tess Tigress back in the country, apparently unburdened by legal technicalities. But as we’ve seen in this rebooted strip, nobody gets killed, hurt badly, or truly punished. Poor Mark! No matter what he chooses to do, he keeps running into the same gasbags, cons, double-dealers, crooks, and troublemakers. Maybe he just needs to get out more and meet a better class of criminals.
Okay, we knew where this was going. It is interesting to see that Tess’s former identity and costume was used in her online photo, rather than the recent group photo with hunting garb. Perhaps Rivera wants to ensure that her readers make the right connection. But what other connection could there be?
In other news, is Cherry turning into a real Suzie Homemaker? I wonder how long it will be before she starts sporting a pearl necklace.
Art Dept. Rivera does some decent staging today. The overriding principle here is the alternation between Mark and Cherry, as they take turns being the visual focus in each panel (cM-Cm-M-C). What also makes a bit interesting is the variety of layouts Rivera uses in the panels.
It is a happy day, indeed, to see Jules Rivera revisit the old Mark Trail trope of the ambiguously misplaced dialog balloon. Hah-Hah. Look at that bird (is it a European Robin!?) shouting “ARGH!” So funny. Okay, it might be a little cute. But fortunately, Rivera doesn’t do this very often. Moving on…
Today’s strip is a filler, certainly not moving the story along, even though we’re only in the prologue stage. But let’s give Cherry (or Rivera) her due for keeping a popular southernoath (panel 1) in the public domain, where some readers might assume Cherry’s statement is the result of having spent the prior evening binge-watching The Beverly Hillbillies.
But I’m still a bit disappointed that Rivera chose to not have Cherry participate in this assignment. It would have been a nice change from her usual Sunny Soleil Society stories. That is, Bill Ellis could have given both Mark and Cherry their own, separate assignments. Instead, Rivera kept it conventional. Looks like we’ll have Cherry once again cleaning Violet Cheshire’s boots and putting up with Honest Ernest.
I reckon Bill Ellis will never know how lucky he was that Cherry did not recommend her brother, Dirk, as a better replacement than Mark! He would certainly provide a special touch to that group.
We also see a more sinister-looking, less personable Ralph the Rat Snake (maybe?), who has nothing to say to Mark. And I’m not surprised, given how little time Mark has spent with him. Hissssss!
Okay, gang! After reading today’s strip, is there anybody here who has figured out the group’s leader? It sure isn’t Diana Daggers. The one illustration we saw of the group certainly does not lend itself to close identification of anybody in particular. As the group is based in Texas from a preexisting book club, we can safely rule out Kelly Welly, who doesn’t fit the look, anyway.
So who does that leave? Clearly, this isn’t anybody new.
Unless Rivera is looking back down the Trail Timeline to one of those earlier female opponents, I’m guessing this will turn out to be Tess Tigress. After all, her phony “Tiger Touch Center” was located in Texas. She also has a background in using rifles (or shotguns). And even though she had reportedly fled the country to avoid prosecution, there’s no reason she wouldn’t come back, even under a different name.
But, that’s just a guess. And my track record has been pretty poor, lately.
Well, is this turning out to be a joke, after all (as I feared)? What could have been an interesting plot has turned on itself and appears to be going back to the Same Ol’ Same Ol’. But in spite of Cherry’s handoff and Mark’s self-assurance, Bill Ellis is running the show and wants a female’s point of view. I’m pretty certain that ability is not in Mark’s backpack. And this leads us back to Kelly Welly, unless Ellis comes up with a different solution.
Something is tragically—or stupidly—mixed up. As I stated yesterday, reporters are observers and recorders, as we all know. So why is Jules Rivera putting out this obviously preposterous proposition of Cherry having to hunt feral hogs as part of the assignment? Is Rivera setting us up for some kind of a joke at the end of the week? Is Bill going to clarify: “I was just kidding, Cherry! Of course you don’t have to hunt feral hogs. You just have to tag along with three women who do!”
I know some of you are going to think about that final narration box. No, not the fact that it is again present, but its contents: “Yep. That’s canon.” It seems to be a loose application of the term “canon”, which normally refers to an accepted, recognized body of work in literature or music. There are also different applications of the term that refer to laws and rules that do not apply here.
This different, personal use of the term seems to be popular on social media, where a speaker feels something is a “significant event”, “official”, or just true. As cultural outsiders, the rest of us would have probably just written, “Yep. That’sa fact.”
Art Dept. Try to ignore (or block out) Cherry and Mark in panel 1. Those are some wickedly stylized trees and landscape in panel 1. They could belong to a completely different comic strip. In fact, I think they are better than the flora Rivera has been drawing recently. Now, I’m not saying they are more realistic or representational, not in the least. Rather, their surreal appearance suggest a wholly different vision. If Rivera were to apply that aesthetic consistently to the strip, we could see a remarkably different version of Mark Trail.
To ask the question she did, Cherry must have strange ideas about what Mark does on assignments. And I don’t know why Ellis fumbled his response by implying she actually might have to shoot hogs. Heck, if Cherry was like that, we probably wouldn’t be seeing Honest Ernest around anymore.
Taking both statements together, I don’t get the point Rivera is trying to push here, other than Cherry doesn’t like hunting animals. And we already learned that. Maybe two more days for Q&A before Bill throws in the towel and moves on to Kelly Welly.
Well, snark was the popular choice in my informal survey. Thanks to all who played along. And any of those entries would have worked out better than the original comment. As for me, I voted for “We don’t need no stinkin’ narration boxes!” I had seriously thought of coming up with a dramatic comment, such as “Is Cherry walking into a trap?” or “Watch out, Cherry! Ellis likes to use hunting decoys!” But in the end, I thought Cherry’s response was about as much of a cliffhanger as we’re likely to see. So let’s see what’s hanging today …
Once again, Rivera has come up with an interesting, if goofy, storyline that could have some depth to it, as well as an off-the-wall group of characters. Okay, the premise seems absurd: Members of a female book club need to start hunting feral hogs. And once again, Ellis is shilling for Teen Girl Sparkle, one of the few rags in his publishing empire for which Ellis believes Mark (or Cherry) is suitably matched. That doesn’t say much for Mark’s credibility as a serious nature journalist, does it?
I also believe you are already ahead of me on what Cherry’s hesitation is all about. Will she or won’t she inform her brother? And will she take the assignment, knowing that if she turns it down, Bill will just move on to another call, with Cherry losing a paycheck. There is another question that I wonder if Rivera has put into this story: What about her job with the Sunny Soleil Society: Will Violet Cheshire give her the time off?
Art Dept. I can’t, in good faith, give a passing grade to the drawing found in today’s strip, or other recent ones. I mean, panel 2 is, frankly, an embarrassment. Not that panel 3 is much better. But I also don’t see any signs of a garden there, either.
A writing assignment!? Did Cherry sign up for the Bill Ellis Correspondence Course, “Make money by writing at home, in your spare time!”? And Mark’s “in a while” comment (panel 1) sounds like Cherry had done this before. Anybody recall that earlier time?
But I’m not sure Jules Rivera’s snarky comment in panel 4 is really appropriate. Cherry’s response wasn’t an overlay dramatic answer, so the sarcasm was uncalled for. I’d have thought Rivera could have come up with something more useful or clever; or maybe not say anything at all.
So, here is that fourth panel again, but with an empty narration box. Let’s have a class project of our own: Assume Jules got called away because of a report of good surfing waves. But the deadline looms and it’s up to you to finish today’s strip in time!
If you think a narration box is unnecessary, just report “We don’t need it!” If you think the narration box could have a better snark or maybe a comment that might move the story along, what would it be?
Meanwhile, I’m still wondering what happened with the peacock and that dinner. Aren’t you?
Wow! I certainly didn’t see this call coming! I’m not sure whether to be excited or fearful. Will Mark be the one this time to see off Cherry as she goes on assignment? Will this be a Mr. Mom story? And why wouldn’t Bill Ellis call Mark’s rival, Kelly Welly, who also fits the female profile? There’s a lot that could happen as a result of this phone call, so it may be best for me to just shut up and wait for the dailies to resume on Monday. Looks like we’re moving into uncharted territory!
Art Dept. After all this time, I can’t get over how Mark’s facial anatomy changes so easily from frame to frame. Not sure why. Rivera recently posted on BlueSky “It’s been five years since I took over Mark Trail and my cartoon son has never looked better.” I’d beg to differ, and I’d have to ask, which image did you have in mind?
From the appearance of Mark’s hair in panel 4, I’m going to guess they actually found that big bush I suggested yesterday. As far as things go, it’s a bit late in the week for Mark to get a call from Bill Ellis. Normally, a Bill Ellis conversation consumes at least two days of strips. Oh, I just realized: Rivera could dedicate most of next week to Ellis’s phone call!
Maybe Mark and Cherry wouldn’t get interrupted so often if a) they left their phones back at the cabin (which they’ve done before); or b) they didn’t spend so much time on nature walks.
Art Dept. The art today is disappointing, not only with regard to odd human proportions here and there, and the inclusion of another flattened cutout animal image, but also the persistent use of those vague, autumn-colored trees. But golly gee willikers, Rivera could at least take the trouble to make the foliage look more naturalistic. On the other hand, from a purely design point of view, I think the drawing of Cherry’s hair in panel 3 is a nicely stylized arrangement of black and red contrasts, enlivened by the curves and pointy shapes in the hair. But it kind of sticks out from the rest of the drawing, which could not keep up.
You remember what I wrote on Monday about the relationship of Nature to humans and vice-versa? Well, maybe we need to put that thought aside for a while. And for the record: No. I cannot explain the anatomy of that yellow tree in panel 1.
Art Dept. As we know, consistency is not part of the Mark Trail aesthetic. For example, various aspects of Mark’s head and face can change from day to day, panel to panel. Take Mark’s eyebrows. Please! I can’t figure out if Rivera is using Mark to channel Groucho Marx, Eugene Levy, or Ayushmann Khurrana. I’m leaning towards Groucho, who infamously painted on his moustache and thick eyebrows. Just check out panel 2, where Mark’s left eyebrow wraps around the head, but is completely flat. This is repeated in panel 4, where the eyebrows are also almost 50% taller.
Jules Rivera continues her campaign to move Cherry Trail away from the one-time self-reliant, “put up your dukes”, creative thinker that she once was. Instead, we see total panic take over today. Now, I admit that arachnophobia is a real condition. But, living in the forest as she has been doing for many years, Cherry should already know that the venomous brown recluse usually builds nests in darker, isolated locations, not out in exposed, open areas. She’s more likely to run across that spider in a closet of her cabin, in a work shed, or a woodpile.
There are several reasons this phobia has persisted through the centuries. One leading hypothesis is that it is based on longstanding reinforced cultural and social influences. Many people also seem to have a general dislike of spiders and get rid of them, perhaps because they think of them as insects, in spite of the fact that spiders are not insects, but help control insect populations, even in the home. But there are positives to keep in mind!
Less than 1% of the 43000 spider species around the world are venomous. Also, the spider is a popular subject in literature and storytelling. Anansi is a spider of great importance in African folklore and storytelling, often used to teach life lessons or just entertain. The spider as trickster and instructor is also found in various Native American cultures. We have the modern superhero, Spiderman, whose powers originated from the bite of a radioactive spider. Oh, I don’t want to forget to mention the 1930s pulp-era vigilante, The Spider, a more violent version of The Shadow. Certainly, his name was chosen to reinforce fear in the criminal underworld he worked against. He did not dress as a spider, however.
Wow, Cherry’s exclamation in panel 4 was really unexpected, right!? I mean, who would expect that after all of this nature talk, something ironic would occur?
One might be given to thinking that, after so many years being married and living in Lost Forest (even ignoring the pre-Rivera years), Mark and Cherry would have long run out of platitudes and affirmations about nature by now. However, one high note is that we can hope Mark admonishes Cherry for her destruction of a spider’s (temporary) domicile and meal factory. Mark can’t play favorites, can he?
Art Dept. I’m glad to see, at long last, a bit more variety in panel layouts. We get a bird’s eye view in panel 1 (complete with the required bird) and a worm’s eye view in panel 2 (minus the worm, because it must have been consumed by the cardinal).
But there is more to this than just adding different viewpoints!
The first two panels visually emphasize Mark and Cherry as figures within nature, as they rhapsodize over its many splendors. This reminds me of classic Chinese landscape painting, where nature predominates and people are just very small travelers and nature lovers.
The last two panels zoom in on Mark and Cherry to deliver the unneeded joke. The focus shifts to Cherry’s personal interaction with, and reaction to, the spider web. So, the position of Nature moves from the macro to the micro. And very importantly, it is in the service of reinforcing the dialog. Now, that is good design!
Nerdy Art History Note: Am I saying that Rivera was influenced by Chinese art or philosophy? I have no idea. It is a rather grandiose comparison, after all. It may be nothing more than the commonality of ideas that transcend time, place, and ethnicity. If you are not familiar with Chinese landscape painting, do an online search for “Travelers Among Mountains and Streams” by Fan Kuan, a painter of the Northern Song dynasty. Find some good images. You’ll likely need to view separate detailed images to find the travelers.
Nature walks are becoming the new “flapjack dinner” post-adventure Mark Trail ritual. There is some merit in that, insofar as it promotes a more healthy lifestyle than wolfing down flattened pieces of fried dough smothered in liquid sugar and butter. Not that a plate of hotcakes and bacon isn’t a wonderful breakfast from time to time. Yum Yum!
Mark and Cherry’s nature walks might even encourage readers to get off their duffs and enjoy the diversity of lifeforms, the smells of flowers and leaves, and simple pleasures of a walk in the woods or even a local park. So, do you feel adventurous yet?
I’m not going to predict the rest of the week, but … oh well, we can at least assume this week will consist of Mark and Cherry hanging out with each other until one or both of them gets called on by their bosses. Or their relatives. Or something happens. I just hope we don’t see another bear this week.
Art Dept. It’s already well into Fall down in Lost Forest, though I think Jules Rivera is a bit premature. Easy mistake to make, living in southern California. That landscape sure looks to be one of the scruffiest areas in Lost Forest! I can’t say I appreciate the 2D interpretation of vegetation we see here in panel 1, as if the trees were cut out of construction paper and pasted onto the panel. The landscape in panel 3 is almost surreal, or rather, a heavy-handed attempt to create a George Herriman-style landscape, as if Krazy Kat lived in the American southeast, rather than the southwest. I might be looking at this with a too historical eye.
The Daily Trail 