Note: In case you missed it, Monday’s blog was delayed until earlier this afternoon because the Comics Kingdom site was offline. Scroll down to see my late Monday post, if you dare.

Mark has his undies in a knot over potential hanky-panky between Rex and Tess. So what!? If those two want to get familiar, it’s not any of Mark’s business. A crisis is building, even if it is enlarged by Mark’s over-reactive temperament.

As some of you know, the Comics Kingdom site went down last night (I stayed up late, hoping it would come back up). It was still down when I returned from class today, so I took a photo from the morning paper to use, instead. But as I was writing this post, the CK site came back on, so I also posted the color version. They provide an interesting visual comparison. You can tell how much Rivera is tied to working online in color, due to the lack of hatching or other B&W modeling techniques done in ink. This is not a criticism, just an observation.

Also, this is the third week running for Mark’s story, rather than returning to Cherry’s adventure after two weeks, which has been Rivera’s common pacing.

Anyway, I’m wondering if this strip is taking hints from Gilligan’s Island, where whatever is needed (or worn) conveniently shows up in somebody’s hut? Where did this roomy caravanserai come from? Where did Mark’s laptop come from? Okay, maybe it came from the vehicle they drove in. But if so, why is Mark zooming Diana? Isn’t she waiting out in the car? Wouldn’t Mark have seen her when he went to get his equipment? Or did Diana walk all the way back to camp? Or did she take the car? If so, when did Mark get all this equipment? So many questions and so few answers!

“This place is trouble. Volunteers who don’t get paid, tiger cubs that get held, and people that touch each other. What next, dancing!?” Mark is starting to sound like a hardline Baptist preacher. What he doesn’t look like is a producer filming a show. Methinks Tess has Mark’s number.

Optional:  Some thoughts on the writing in Mark Trail. Read at your own risk, or skip it, entirely!

A good adventure story almost always features a hero who suffers through obstacles (such as traps, villains, and lust) along the way to a hard-won victory. The original Mark Trail was a traditional adventure strip based on Mark going up against poachers, cheaters, mistaken identity, forest fires, bank robbers, and Nature, itself. The current iteration of Mark Trail is more or less in the same tradition, though it follows a quirkier path that many find unsatisfying, both in its story and art. So, I’m focusing on story today.

Jules Rivera’s approach to storytelling falls more in line with modern satirists, such as Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, and A. Lee Martinez, who pair crazy characters with crazy plots. Good satire is hard to pull off, which is why I don’t think you see it too often. Until Gary Trudeau got tired of it all, Doonesbury was a successful satirical comic strip with continuous storylines. And it took time for Trudeau to find his groove. Pogo was another great satirical strip, though too sophisticated for many readers. Yet, neither could be called “adventure strips” in the same way as Prince Valiant, Rip Kirby, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, or the original Mark Trail, to name a few. And none of them could be labeled satirical, either. I believe Rivera is attempting a significant goal, combining adventure with satire (think Don Quixote,  Gulliver’s Travels, or Indiana Jones).

On the other hand, Rivera has made positive enhancements to the strip, such as creating more complex plots, focusing on larger issues than hillbillies stealing dogs, and hosting concurrent storylines that flesh out Cherry, Rusty, and even Doc Davis, as actual characters. That is, these family members are no longer merely space-fillers or running jokes as they were in the original strip. I think playing down (or poking fun) at Mark’s macho heroics is fine and probably compatible with younger generations. But I do bristle when Rivera goes extreme and makes Mark look like a shrinking violet or a clueless rube.  In fact, this modernizing Mark Trail is what really sets off lots of readers who were happy to see the strip remain entrenched in its old-fashioned, white bread, 1950’s world as it has been, until two years ago.

Frankly, I think Rivera’s earliest efforts (such as her first story, introducing “Dad”) were more successful than recent stories. The hook of having Mark work for a collection of different magazine editors is also an inspired idea, though Rivera has not really taken advantage of its potential so far. I just don’t think Rivera has found her groove yet. Perhaps King Features could pair Rivera with a professional writer to mentor her. It would be worth their investment.

As far as story development, shouldn’t Rivera have the characters at least look into this organization for such basics as certifications, training, licensing, etc.? At the least, Rex should be asking Tess these questions on camera, rather than reacting like she just put her hand somewhere else.

Just like the old Mark Trail, Rebooted Mark also fails to capture (on video or camera) current action and dialog. At least Peter Parker thought enough to set his camera on auto to capture images of his fights with Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin! Time to step in and take charge, Mark, since Rex is too smitten. Roll film!

In today’s installment, Mark continues to just stand around (on what looks like a Christmas Tree railroad track), instead of filming the “therapy session”, as Tess suggested. Way to (not) go, Mark! This will truly be some kind of documentary.

And apparently, today’s strip is an “edited” view of the actual therapy session, since Rex does not mention his dog. If only we had complete video footage to look at …! Mark? Mark?

Home chores and new window inserts kept me too busy yesterday, so today is a double-header.

Okay, the story is finally moving along as Tess explains her Touch Center in more detail. (But quit fantasizing about the cub in panel 3!)  And Mark is finally capturing video of activities. That’s some progress, at least. Maybe Tess actually believes this is a valid therapy technique. Or maybe she is a good con. They do seem to be very popular these days.
But Rex hasn’t got a lot to say. Odd, since they are supposedly filming an episode for his show.  Perhaps that is meant to suggest his distracted state. Well, I think this adventure would pace better if Rivera cut down on the gag-a-day format for lame puns. They should be dunked!

At last, an actual crisis to deal with. Suddenly the temperature dropped some 30 degrees as the story takes a walk on the darker side. Mark doesn’t seem to understand what the word “volunteer” means with regard to wages. At the same time, Tess exhibits a quick change from politely flirtatious to accusatorily defensive. We’ve seen that anger suddenly flare up before. Meanwhile, Rex must have forgotten that he is supposed to be filming a show. What we have here is failure to communicate.

Now hooooold on there, Baba Looey. . . I mean Mark! Tess might be doing something wrong in the way she runs her Tiger Touch Center, but making eyes at Rex is just biology in action. Same for Rex. Aside from Tess, the only other person doing something wrong is squishy Mark, who so far refuses to film the cubs, undermining why he is there.

Diana Daggers may be giving Mark a story about this place being a covert cult and it could turn out to really be a case of jealousy. It’s possible that Diana may still be recovering from Professor Bee Sharp’s stinging betrayal and fixated on Rex on the rebound. Based on her surreptitious photographing of Mark’s abs while on their boat during the zebra mussel adventure, it’s not too big a stretch to see that she could be interested in Rex. Even Tess has noticed some of Rex’s physical attributes.

Lemme see if I understand this logic:  There is not enough battery life to record Rex holding a cub for a few minutes, yet there is enough battery life to film the rest of the Touch Center? Hmmm, pretty weak excuse, Mark. Is Tess really as naive as you think she is? At the least, I’d expect Tess to suggest “Mark, you’re a pro, right? Just put in your spare battery!” “Uh, spare battery?”  Uh-oh.

Anyway, Mark is clearly a victim of his own self-righteousness by not filming Rex holding a cub. He seems to assume that he really is filming an episode of Rex’s show, rather than filming evidence of possible animal abuse. I would have thought he’d be filming every damn thing he could. But if he continues to avoid filming the very things that are wrong, he might as well go to work at the Hallmark Network. I’m not sure where Rivera is going with this.

As Rex, Tess, and an animal handler conveniently stand in the distance and just stare, Mark gets to film the tiger cubs, who seem to be having a good enough time on their own. I’m not sure where Mark acquired all of this information about tiger cubs and zoos, but we can assume it happened in between the published strips, during times when . . . you know, comic strip characters take care of personal business best not published.

I’m fantasizing public bathrooms for comic strip characters, with waiting lines and cross-strip conversations. That could make an interesting strip all by itself. Anyway…

While on the throne, some comic strip characters would leaf through Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, while Mark must have skimmed information on roadside zoos from websites. Maybe Rivera was inspired by the Netflix series, Tiger King.  I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Tess will not later hire a hitman to take out Mark or Rex. Diana, on the other hand, better watch out!

Yeah, okay. This is a bit weird. I wasn’t aware that lions (or cubs) could show distinct emotions, such as sadness or fear (as in panel 3). They do seem to have some limited facial expressions, from what I could find out, but most of them appear to consist largely of big, open mouths that say “I’m coming to eat you!”

Seems to me that Tess is using her “therapy” more to project her own feelings of loneliness onto Rex. Mark has a point, though, but I’m not ready to call in the ASPCA until we find out about the parents of these cubs and where they sleep.

Just a thought: You think this might wind up like the original Jurassic Park, after the dinosaurs escape?

Mark discovers a flaw in this supposed covert plan when he realizes he should have gotten briefed on how to use a video cam, first. Or perhaps my own off-the-cuff hypothesis is shedding its few layers of plausibility, and all of this is really just ad-hoc chaos. But if that is the case, it seems unnecessarily foolish. We know that Daggers deliberately asked Mark to help her save (rescue) Rex. Why would she deliberately do something dumb that puts Mark into an untenable situation?
On the other hand, Tuesday’s strip ended with a decent-enough pun. But moving on . . . .

Seems to me if Mr. Know-It-All Mark Trail knows the separation age for tiger cubs, he should also be able to tell their age. Call me befuddled, but I’m not sure how Mark suddenly became multi-tasking when a few “moments” ago, he wasn’t even sure how to turn the video camera on.

I suppose that the raised eyebrow stare Mark displays in panel 4 is only supposed to provide us a symbolic confirmation of Mark’s sly plan, and we should not assume it is an actual expression, as it would be something that Tess Tigress could easily see. She might then respond “Mark! Are you trying to imitate Jack Nicholson? Ming the Merciless? Or are you planning something sneaky?”

Well, I can’t say I’m impressed with the layout of this place so far. Looks amateurish. A fair clue this place could be a scam.

We’ve already had a week of Mark and Rex at the gate to the touching zoo, and we’re still here. You’d think somebody would, at least, have had to go to the bathroom. Unlike the sober, straight-forward Mark Trail of Sunday, we’re back to the Kramer version of Mark Trail.

Well, I think I already planted my flag in the hypothetical ground that Diana’s expulsion was deliberately staged and this danse des imbéciles of Mark’s is just a pose to fool the zoo staff to overlook his actual undercover investigation. So, we’ll see who turns out to be the real fool here.

Okay, I’m sure you all saw this coming. Diana was play-acting—after a fashion—as a troublemaker, in order to deliberately get ejected and ensure Rex had to rely solely on Mark. Mark can then save Rex from what looks like a one-sided infatuation.

Clearly, this pose didn’t take much effort on Diana’s part. She must have learned enough about Tess Tigress to know what would get her angry. And so far, Rex hasn’t tumbled to the true motive for Diana’s ejection. Well, we’ll get back to this story in a week, but after Sunday, it’s time to return to Lost Forest and the Mystery Rash.

As this plays out, Diana ups her role as the sarcastic, cynical sidekick to the point where Tess starts slipping out of her hippie-dippie animal spirit guide persona to something more resembling angry members of the Sunny Soleil Society.

Well, how will this “tiff” get resolved, Mark? Do you quit acting like a city boy on vacation and save the project from sinking? Will Rex step in to calm things down? Again, is this play-acting or did Mark and Rex overlook Diana’s personality (again)?

Here I was, thinking this was going to develop into a classic piece of théâtre de l’absurde, or at least a faint echo. Instead, it seems to be dissolving into just another staged reality TV show. Again, these contrasting and conflicting attitudes could just be a ruse to hide the actual purpose of their visit, so I’ll try to keep my composure intact and reserve judgement. Yeah, right. I can do that…!

I am curious, however, about what is “behind” that floral gateway prop. It looks as if there is nothing but bare ground all around. However, I’m thinking that this vague staging is a deliberate setup by Rivera and that we will see The Big Touch Center Reveal within the next two days.

Mark continues to play the rube. He acts surprised they arrived at the very place they were driving to. Why?

Diana’s role seems to be increasingly limited to playing “the sarcastic sidekick.” However, I can certainly see why Diana has some concerns about Rex, as he looks smitten with Tess. Okay, then. We’ll let this little show play out some more to see how much of this play-acting is really just acting.

That is, will Mark eventually (as in “the nick of time”) shed his Gomer personality and get serious? Will Diana be ready to unlimber her concealed Glock?

Finally, a few remarks on the art. Overall, it is of a consistently decent quality (in spite of the fact that it does not look like Elrod’s old-school art. Panel 3 is curious: Diana’s pose as she approaches Tess is really well done, with a display of relaxed counterpoint that we don’t see so much. On the other hand, Mark’s expression in panel 3 looks like some old geezer who got asked a science question.

“Over-the-top” is good in this case. It would have been a drag if it looked like an actual zoo. The “theater of the absurd” is a standard approach Rivera has used in her stories, and a good approach (as also seen in literature and movies).

Tiger Touch Center must be a fairly exclusive zoo if Tess Tigress really has the time to personally welcome every arriving guest. Kind of like Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island. And like an island, this place looks to be in the middle of nowhere.

While wet-blanket Mark takes on a pose of indifference, Diana curiously remains a silent and ignored partner. Is this a strategic pose on her part to encourage Rex to bond more with Mark? It seems likely, given her admission to Mark when she picked him up at the airport.

Okay, did these two even go to sleep last night? I could be guilty of talk radio punditry if I pursued this line of questioning any further, so I’ll let you all deal with it.

But why is Mark so mystified about the trip to a roadside zoo? Doesn’t Mark remember that this particular zoo is the reason he is here in the first place!? Well, at least he no longer sports that dorky bandana around his neck.

No reason to get into the science of canine perception of images on small-scale video screens, just as there was no reason to fret over the “universal translator” in StarTrek. They are necessary plot devices to help move the story along.

It is also surprisingly silly to assume that Rex could not have brought his dog with him while doing his show. I’m sure that kind of thing happens all the time. In fact, my minimal research confirms it is quite common. And how many times have we seen Mark “chat” with Andy on his smartphone? Irrelevant, as this is just another plot device, put here to provoke male bonding.

This is still a bit creepy. Yeah, the two dudes are bonding over their dogs and their messed-up lives. To Mark’s (the commenter, not the guy in the flannel shirt) point, this contemporary interaction would likely have never occurred in vintage Mark Trail, simply because it would be looked on as something only females did. But in the Gen Z World, that is not the case. Change is sometimes hard for us, especially when the change is dramatic and surprising. Like personal pronouns.

This is all getting very creepy. Mark says he is not spying on Rex, but then pretty much shows that he has been spying with his stupid suggestion of a four-way pet call. Is Rivera being sarcastic in panel 4 about making friends, I wonder? I sure hope so.  If I was Rex, I’d send Mark packing back to Hicksville. If I read Joseph Nebus correctly in his “Another Blog Meanwhile“, he suggests that Rivera is attempting to emulate a Jack Elrod style of writing through her use of certain words—especially interjections—and putting greater emphasis on exaggerated poses. She is doing that.

Nebus’s hypothesis is that this look-back might be a deliberate appeal to old school Trailheads and might help them appreciate the strip again if they look at it with this idea in mind. It’s a tempting idea.`

I think most Trailheads would agree to the general assessment of the pre-Rivera version of Mark Trail as a person and world caught in a time freeze of the 1950s with often hokey stories, simple morals, and TV-style action. As Nebus rightly says, a lot of readers enjoyed the strip specifically for reasons like these. Certainly, online commenters enjoyed poking fun at the old Mark Trail. As I wrote many months ago, this could be a major reason they dislike Rivera’s version:  Because it could appear to be a deliberate parody, a continuous snarking, of Mark Trail (the comic strip), thus usurping their fun. Just a thought. Yet, I do think Rivera’s vision is larger than simply poking fun at a legacy strip and its long-time readers.

I still think Mark is acting very creepy in this story.