Rusty and his friends believe an alien ship may have crashed in Lost Forest. Mark tags along as the boys hunt for the crash site, only to uncover something more mundane, but also strange.
Wow, just how long is 24 hours in Lost Forest? Or how much activity can Cherry cram into one day? This is like that popular crime series, 24, where you just have to suspend reality to accept all of the stuff that happened to Agent Bauer in one full day.
Anyway, I am otherwise glad to see that the phone call was the transition I had hoped for. I have to say that this is not much of a collection of neighbors, given that there are only four people, and two of them share the same house, er, cabin.
I’m glad to see that Squirrelly Sandy changed from her previous red shirt, unlike most of the other characters who always wear the same clothes. Maybe that points to her transactional status in the strip. Maybe Squirrelly Sandy remembers what happens to Away Team members in StarTrek who wore red shirts (usually security).
This past week was dedicated to the search-and-recovery summary, which Mark initially tried to downplay. Skipping over several details, Mark told Cherry that they found the lost camper that he had earlier surmised, in a delirious state. Mark put that off to following the bad advice in the guidebook written by former TV comedian and presumed huckster, Tadd Crass. But Mark’s ongoing discussion led to his own disclosure that what the world needs now is not love, sweet love, but a retreat for training men in forest survival techniques, as conducted by a professional. Namely, Mark.
This entire story is thus, a bit perplexing. Did Rivera concoct Rusty’s alien invasion adventure solely for the purpose of jump-starting Mark’s survival course adventure? That would trivialize Rusty’s story, right? In other words, what started out as a “Rusty” story was actually just another Mark Story with Rusty as a plot device. I must remind myself that the name of this comic strip is Mark Trail. I shouldn’t lose focus!
It just seems that every time Rusty gets some story-time thrown his way, he becomes another Charlie Brown, facing failure and disappointment. It would be nice to see things go Rusty’s way once in a while. That’s not too much to ask, is it, Jules?
It took a few moments for me to realize that the title panel is meant to be a large leaf, overlapping smaller leaves that surround it. Sometimes I just miss the pattern, like the hidden images in those autostereogram (aka “stereogram”) patterns popular back in the 1990s. Well, today’s strip looks very decorative, in a 2-D sort of way. The poured leaves are surrounded by a heavy black border, that makes them look more like they were just a big cut out. Even the trees look more like paper cutouts. But this does fit in with what appears to be Rivera’s increasingly flattened, decorative style.
Getting back to the title panel, I don’t think constructing the strip’s title using leaf veins is successful. It’s just too busy and forced. A more successful result might have been made using the stems of leaves, or maybe a combination of leaf stems plus the leaves. Well, it works in my head, anyway.
I dunno, Mark. Does being a (former) comedian mean you can’t also be a survival expert? Does being a nature photographer make you a survival expert? Methinks you are showing your social bias, Mark. Les Stroud is a famous Canadian survival expert who also happens to be a musician and documentary filmmaker. So there!
Anyway, as we all likely suspected, Mark’s post-rescue chat leads up to his BIG IDEA: Start a MEN’S survival skills camp, which reminds me of that mountain STEM retreat created by Sid Stump. I don’t know about you, but I smell trouble, starting with Mark’s restriction to males. I expect Cherry will have something to say about that. Well, she should, right?
Why is Mark repeating information that Cherry already heard “last night” when the three of them were discussing the horsehead, the actor, and the guidebook? Oh right, this recap is just a standard convention used to help readers who forget these details.
Call me crazy, but how lousy does a guidebook have to be to make somebody delirious and confused? Did the guidebook recommend eating whatever mushrooms you can find in the woods? How can somebody be so confused that they couldn’t walk down a path or two until they found somebody’s house, or even find the car they drove in on? I mean, starving in Lost Forest? C’mon! This ain’t the Alaskan wilderness.
Okay, I get it. These are just minor details about reality that get in the way of the story. Plot-wise, the bottom line here is that Mark is talking himself into another one of his crazy ideas for a project he’ll try to sell to Bill Ellis and finally earn some money.
Yes, Mark, you wanted to protect “the little woman” from the ugly reality of what really happened, but you gave in pretty easily! The horrifying details start to spill out. Brrr! There are sure to be nightmares over this nasty business.
And once again, Rivera can’t resist dropping a narration box in panel 4 with a childish pun, even if it makes no (horse) sense.
A slow comic strip day, if not week. I thought we’d have another “here’s what happened” session. Oh well. Cherry hasn’t yet brought up her search for the Kudzu Commando and the need to salvage her reputation. Maybe now is the time, before she gets dressed for work. “Oh great. Then Mark can invite himself into her adventure and take control.” Hey, Mark: Get a job!
Regarding panel 4, is this parody? Satire? It’s like the epilogue of a 1950s family sitcom.
Dragging out this “reunion” interlude seems unnecessary. C’mon, Rivera, let’s just get on with the explanations! There are five days left to tell the Rest of the Story, but why is Mark putting out that silly “sitcom” excuse in panel 3 instead of telling Cherry what actually happened? Seems kind of patronizing to me. And I think Rivera should tell us readers what happened before the ambulance came. Perhaps Rivera is going to use this time to now have Cherry update Mark on what’s going on with the Kudzu Commando. There is time for both explanations.
Art Dept. What’s with the family house/cabin? The logs in panel 2 look like they were drawn on the wall, so to speak. The cabin in panel 3 looks more like a fake theater prop. Of course, the strip is meant to be reprinted in the micro-format of modern newspaper strips, but still…make the effort, Rivera! Oh, just call me cranky today!
Okay, the epilogue to Rusty’s adventure seems to be playing out as expected: Get home, run into Cherry, start in with excuses and then explanations. But I have one question: What’s in the container that Mark is carrying in panel 1? Perhaps he and Rusty stopped by Squirrely Sandy’s bakery in town. Wouldn’t that be a hoot!?
Something to keep in mind is that a lot has happened in one 24-hour period: First, Mark went with Rusty and his friends on that initial fact-finding hunt for a possible alien crash site in Lost Forest (September 25). They came home that evening (October 16) and spent time talking to Cherry about their finds and theories. Rusty went to bed but couldn’t sleep. He decided to go back to the “crash site”, whereupon he and Andy stumbled upon the lost camper Mark had predicted. Mark arrived and expedited the anonymous camper’s medical evacuation. Now they return to meet up with Cherry again, the next morning.
This past week saw the possible conclusion of Rusty’s alien crash search adventure as the lad—in company with faithful house pet, Andy—returned to the abandoned campsite in the middle of the night to uncover more evidence of an alien (Rusty’s hope) or a lost camper (Mark’s deduction). Why Rusty thought a midnight search would uncover more evidence than a daytime search is probably more a matter of drama superseding practicality. But it worked! Rusty and Andy were surprised by sounds and a dark form moving within the bushes. Spooky-wooky!
Mark, discovering Rusty’s exit from the house, lost time getting dressed before he could chase after him, but he arrived at the correct time to put himself between Rusty and the mysterious figure who turned out to be some anonymous crazy guy who had been following the bad tips in Tadd Crass’s camping guidebook. But did we hear from this dude? Nope! Rivera just moved us directly to a scene of an ambulance taking the poor guy away for treatment, as Mark and Rusty philosophized their way back home. While this looks like the end of Rusty’s adventure, one has to wonder: Is Rivera going to give us another week in the cabin where Rusty and Mark explain to Cherry what happened? Is this where we find out who this guy is and how he wound up in Lost Forest? Well, don’t you feel lost; just find your way to the strip below and follow along!
A nice tie-in to Rusty’s midnight search with a night-themed firefly topic! When I was growing up fireflies were very common in our yard and neighborhood. I think we called them lightning bugs. I bet some of you also liked to catch them and put them in a jar with a bit of twig-and-leaf, as if they would enjoy it. Up here in the north I rarely see fireflies. They may be more common in the rural area, but as they tend to like temperate zones, their rarity is not surprising. One surprising thing I discovered is that the female of at least one species of fireflies attracts males only to consume them for their toxic defensive chemicals. Oh, if you are going to follow Mark’s advice about keeping part of your yard “wild”, be sure to avoid using any chemicals in that area.
Art Dept. The customized title panel might have been more effective with a darker background. Nevertheless, this is an interesting topic drawn in Rivera’s usual sparse style.
In standard Mark Trail fashion, details and explanations get tossed aside as we jump directly into the epilog of this “adventure.” A shame that it turned out to be frustrating in several ways:
For starters, our mystery camper is notTadd (or Tad?) Crass, but some fanboy, whose name we never learned.
Second, we get no information on how or why this person wound up here. How was it possible for him to get lost in the first place? Even an ambulance was able to find the location without the apparent convenience of a road or address!
Was he really just under some mental duress? We never learned what is wrong with this fellow.
Next, we never learn why he was hiding in the shrubs. Was he being pursued? If he was lost, why wasn’t he at least in the open shouting for help or setting out signs for planes that pass overhead? Why not just hiking along a path until he finds something or someone?
Next, what did the horsehead mask have to do with him or the camping trip, other than act as a reference to Tadd Crass’s old TV show? From a plot standpoint, I reckon it was there to help Rusty make a connection and give him something decent to do for a change.
Finally, what was the point of this adventure? It wasn’t just to make that X-Files reference in panel 4, was it? That fellow could have had a very interesting backstory to tell us, leading up to this moment. What was the actual reason for the Tadd Crass details?
This could have just been a search for a lost camper. So having the Tadd Crass tie-in could add more interest if that part of the story was allowed to play out. Perhaps this “ending” is another red herring and the story will continue with Mark (once again) visiting somebody in the hospital to hear their story.
As a dad, I suppose Mark has a point for his protective behavior here, what with him putting the arm on that guy, who be Tad Crass or a die-hard fan (check out his shirt). Has he been surviving on magic mushrooms in Lost Forest?
I’m guessing that Tad’s characterization is a paraphrase of the “Chuck Noland” character played by Tom Hanks in Cast Away. So the horse head substitutes for Wilson, the basketball? Maybe I’m projecting a bit.
But as I feared, we have another weirdo coming out of the bush. I think Mark could start a successful business running a halfway home for lost nut jobs. Speaking of business, when is he going to get back to work? The Sunny Soleil Society must pay Cherry pretty well.
On Saturday’s strip we might find Mr. Lost Camper settling down to tell his story. Or maybe Mark gets the guy into a hospital. But we’ve now had three weeks dedicated to Rusty’s story. Will Rivera jump back on Monday for a week with Cherry or will she allow this adventure to continue?
Not sure we needed a recap of yesterday’s strip. The narration box crowds the panel and dilutes the action. Anyway, like father like son? There are some parallels between this story and Mark’s adventure in the nearby hills investigating bear incursions in the phony mountain retreat run by tech-guru-and-would-be-“King of the Forest” Sid Stump (began Feb 18, 2023).
Mark’s Adventure
Rusty’s Adventure
Investigate bear incursions in mountain retreat and find missing reporter.
Investigate alien incursion in Lost forest and locate alien or alien ship wreckage.
Mark uncovers evidence why bears are invading the retreat site.
Rusty and friends uncover evidence of some kind of presence in Lost Forest.
Mark goes into forest to search for missing reporter, aware that bears are likely present
Rusty’s research suggests Mark’s hypothesis of a missing and hurt camper might be correct. Decides to investigate in the middle of the night.
Mark surprised by bearded reporter Jebediah, appearing out of the bushes, hiding from a bear.
Rusty is surprised to find the “missing camper”, also bearded, appearing in the bushes.
Big bear chases Mark and Jebediah
Mark chases after Rusty
Just a coincidence? Or part of a deep-state conspiracy to simplify story development?
Why does Rivera continue to call this person a creature, when it is clearly a person? Perhaps it is meant to be understood from Rusty’s still-limited understanding. But I also do not understand Rusty’s reaction: “I just wanted to find some aliens! Shoo! Go away!” Aside from the old-school Mark Trail grammar, is Rusty talking to the guy in the bushes? Why shoo him away? Also noted: Why are there two small “Arf!” barks lettered at the base of the bushes in panel 1? Could there be a creature off-scene that we cannot yet see?
Well, I can’t wait to hear this guy’s story. Should be a doozy.
ADDENDUM: In panel 3 Rusty looks like a marionette.
Okay, are we to suppose Mark likes to cross-dress or can we just say he grabbed the first coat he saw and ran with it? Moving on, you would think that “after all this time” Rusty would have spent enough time in the woods that Mark would have a bit more trust and not be such a worry wort.
Still, you must build suspense however you can. In fact, panel 3 is actually a nicely designed dramatic composition, though perhaps it deserves a more significant threat level. But once again, Mark is hoofing it through the woods with his flashlight raised to the sky, as if checking for flying squirrels or alien spacecraft. I suppose we have to believe he is simply pumping his arms as he runs to the rescue. Will he trip over another tree root like he did when running from a bear?
Speaking of animals, that must be a nine-banded armadillo in panel 2, the only species known to inhabit the United States, at least in the south. See?! Anybody can sound smart with some good online searching. But it sure looks oddly placed in the panel, don’t you think?
Art Dept. As much as panel 3 has that from-below viewpoint that heightens Mark’s tension and suspense, Mark’s pose and overall appearance in panel 1 is somehow reminiscent of comic book characters from the 1940s, though it escapes me where I’ve seen it. Batman? Dick Tracy? Terry and the Pirates? Rats, does anybody have an idea? Maybe I’m just totally off base. Except for the last panel (and that armadillo), I think today’s strip is actually really visually interesting.
Time marches on a bit faster today, since Rusty is already at the “crash site” which took several hours of walking through Lost Forest to reach the first time…during the day! I give Rusty credit for recalling the correct path, not only since this is at night, but because Mark supposedly used his compass to help the kids navigate during their daytime search.
Still, just what does Rusty think he can find at night, without a flashlight? Yes, I know this wouldn’t be as dramatic and suspenseful in the daytime.
Whatever the case, we’ve obviously reached one of those dramatic highpoints where Rusty is surprised and unsure just who—or what—is staring at him from within the bushes. But it’s probably not a Klingon. I hope it’s not that flaky reporter—Jebediah—Mark ran into while on assignment to investigate bear assaults at that fake mountain retreat.
But scarier than having Jebediah pop out would be a Mime! Just look at those hands performing “The Wall.” Brrr!
Today is something of a recap of the Friday and Saturday strips. Fair enough, I suppose. It’s still funny that today’s action actually takes place between panels 3 and 4 of Saturday’s strip. Sharp-eyed readers (which should be most of you) will note that last Saturday, Mark was already heading to the doorway in the clothing we see Mark putting on today.
Do we see another unnecessary narration box in panel 1? It certainly is formal: “catch up with Rusty” would be better, right? I mean, we all know that Rusty is Mark’s son.
Instead of the narration box, Mark’s verbal statements in today’s panels better explain the situation. In addition, and perhaps totally irrelevant, we see another change of outside lighting, as Mark now casts a shadow, but from a full moon, not from some ambiguous source that Rusty experienced.
Nevertheless, this adventure progresses and that’s good.
Summary: We spent the week in bed with Rusty. Sort of. Rusty continued his online research after bedtime, only to come up with more reasons to suggest Mark’s idea of a lost camper might hold more weight than online reports of a crashed alien spacecraft. But Rusty still wasn’t satisfied and thought that a midnight on-site investigation, assisted only by Andy, might reveal more evidence, one way or the other. But as Rusty tried to quietly get out of the house, he was spotted from the kitchen by Mark, who happened to be up getting a glass of water. We ended the week with a sputtering Mark putting on shoes and coat, trying to catch up.
Analysis: Even though this was a week mostly spent in Rusty’s bedroom, the storyline did not seem to drag like the week before. In fact, it was an interesting week watching Rusty try to reason through the evidence, matching it against his own bias and that of his father. Readers have commented on Rivera’s often redundant and pointless narration boxes. In her earlier days, Rivera was more creative with narrations and didn’t always feel the need to explain the obvious. What changed? I agree that they are not needed most of the time. The narration box in panel 1 of Saturday’s strip in an exception as it provides an explanation for Mark’s appearance. However, why have a narration box in panel 4 for Saturday stating Mark was chasing after Rusty when the panel shows Mark chasing after Rusty!?
I’ll give Rivera props for coming up with an actually interesting Hallowe’en-themed Sunday nature topic. The title panel is also intriguing. Is the armadillo crossing over a split log, whose wood grain spells out “Mark Trail”? That’s my take, anyway.
Well, who could have seen this coming!? And what a non-surprise it is. Yet I have to admit that Mark’s expression in panel 3 is classic comedy. I wonder what that mysterious yellow light is outside of the front door where Rusty and Andy are exiting. Notice that Rusty and Andy even cast shadows on the floor. Could the front yard have motion lights? By the time Mark makes it to the front door in panel 4 the outside is dark as night, as one should expect. And he casts no shadow at all. Spooky, I tell ya!
Perhaps the special light in panels 1 and 2 is just artistic necessity so that Rusty and Andy can be seen against the night sky. Let me indulge myself a bit by imagining—based on Rusty’s belief in an alien crash—that it is a special light from an alien ship hovering over the cabin as it beams up our youthful investigator and his canine companion. Now, that would be one hell of an adventure!
(And I see that Downpuppy offered up a comment yesterday about Rusty’s penchant for getting kidnapped in the pre-Rivera stories!)
Art Dept: Interesting to see that Rivera shows Mark wearing full pajamas apparently made from the same cloth as his shirts. Maybe Mark purchases the material in bulk and has somebody in town making his shirts and PJs.
One might suppose that a pre-adolescent kid like Rusty would not have the moxie to take a hike in a forest in the middle of the night, searching for an alien or a supposedly lost camper. Well, it ain’t necessarily so. Many years ago my youngest son, who was 10 at the time, had the crazy idea to sneak out in the middle of the night and spend it at a friend’s place. He actually wound up sleeping in that friend’s family car, which was parked on the street!
Rusty clearly has a “go it alone” attitude like Mark. But is it enough? Well, Rusty is smart enough to take along Andy, a dog with a history of facing down bears. So I reckon Rusty has some smarts, after all. Now, will they be able to sneak away from the house without getting caught? Maybe we’ll find out Saturday.
I am surprised that Andy’s yawning is making me yawn! It’s midnight as I write this, so I think it is time to post this and then plod upstairs. I hope tomorrow will not be as gray and rainy as it has been for several days.
I’m trying very hard to avoid using the pun “Use the horse, Rusty. Use the horse!” Yet what we see here is more “science” or plain research than science fiction. Not that I have anything against science fiction. In fact, it’s one of my favorite literary genres. Anyway…
Just because this Tadd Crass character from 20 years ago now sells survival and camping equipment doesn’t mean he is connected to whatever is going on in Lost Forest. Does it? Glow sticks are not exactly an uncommon catalog item. And there is still little to show that somebody is actually lost, as opposed to somebody simply having camped there for a night and played around.
Nevertheless, I like the fact that Rivera is giving Rusty his due for once. You can see he’s trying to reason things out. But I hope the culprit doesn’t turn out to be one of Mark’s regular stable of crackpots looking for some kind of revenge.
So, fine. Analyst Rusty Trail interprets the swirling green light as a glow stick. Seems reasonable. But what about those three lights? They are obviously too big to be stars. And their arrangement is too ordered. While Rusty ponders whether Pop’s tuition is correct, maybe he and Mark are both right: Could be a lost extraterrestrial camper, filmed while signaling to his/her/its overhead ship. But I don’t think Rivera is prepared to take this strip that far into fantasy.
While fulfilling the tradition that Mark’s cabin is a crossing point for virtually every animal in the country, an apparent coywolf appears to be warning us to stay away. I’m not too anxious to cross his path.
The Daily Trail 