Throwing chairs and overturning tables? Really!? Didn’t take much. Sure, such things can happen, but it looks a bit extreme. These people could not have that much invested in these guys, right? I’d expect this kind of panic would be more likely if people were reacting to the Nasdaq Composite suddenly dropping 20%.
On the other hand, I could definitely see this reaction coming from amateur investors conned into sinking their savings into Cricket Bro’s AI project and seeing their retirement funds evaporate. In any event, it’s quite the drama going on at Cricket Bro’s digital soiree! Woo-hoo!
What will fill out the rest of the week? Will the crowd rush the Crypto Bros? Will they burn down the convention hall? Will they come after Mark, thinking he’s part of the scam?
What a week this was for Lost Forest race fans! The Grungey Boys Nighttime Lawn Mower Race was once again in progress. Hidden behind some bushes, Rusty, Olive, and family muscle, Dirk, were on hand to view the action. But they did not come as fans. This was the night Rusty would put an end to the destructive actions of the Grungey Boys in Lost Forest! You might say it was a race against slime. Or you might not. Just make up your mind.
Why it’s called a race is unclear, since there was always just one riding lawn mower, always ridden by Honest Ernest. And just how fast does a riding lawn mower go, anyway: 8 mph!?Woo! Do you get the impression that artist Jules Rivera may not be taking this adventure strip—or its readers—seriously?
Still, the race had to be stopped! Being a family strip, rest assured that nobody got hurt, unlike in the old Mark Trail days before Rivera took over. Back then, people really did get hurt and some died. They had a different notion of “family viewing.”
Anyway, Rusty came with a large barrel of water. When the time was right, the three tipped the barrel, pouring the water down the slope. Even though much of the water had to have gotten soaked up by the ground on the way down, apparently enough made it onto the forest floor where Ernest was racing. At first, the water just splashed as Ernest zipped along at 8 mph. But thanks to the scientific process of combining water, silt, and clay particles, the forest floor become saturated and squishy, creating mud. And that’s all it took to stop the races. Really! Honest Ernest and his friends were stymied by the mud and couldn’t figure out what to do. Not real sharp tools, those guys. We ended the week and this “Nickelodeon“-level adventure with Rusty celebrating the scientific success of his cause-and-effect plan. Keep in mind that, in the past, most of Rusty’s plans did not work out, so it’s noteworthy that this one did. But it was a low bar.
Up here in the big city, feral hogs chase away the rabbits and raccoons that keep eating up our garden…so they can eat it up, instead. Okay. Not really. But unless that is feral hog scat spelling Mark Trail in panel 1, it is not one of Rivera’s more creative custom titles. Had to be a tough challenge, though.
Okay, the miracle of the mud occurred, after all. Enough to ruin the evening for the Grungey Boys.
Moving on, I am amazed to see in panel 1 what looks like another misdirected dialog balloon. It shows Honest Ernest berating his companions for doing something only he has been doing! The content of the dialog balloon suggests that one of the other two dudes should be berating Ernest. I don’t get it.
Furthermore, how does grabbing your cap or covering your mouth help extricate this lawn mower from the mud, as Rivera states? We’ve seen text boxes in the past that describe actions that do not appear to be happening. I might be overthinking this or Rivera under-thought it.
Anyway, it’s Saturday, so it looks like this story has reached its climax. The Grungey Boys are no doubt too unsettled to realize they could simply make a new path or go some other place. But it’s a major win for Rusty Trail, even if his understanding of science is wrong. This victory will certainly help improve his otherwise poor win-loss record. By the way, say good-bye to Dirk. He’ll disappear like free beer at a ballpark. Such is his mysterious way.
Art. Dept Addition: Here is today’s installment, as it appears in the newspaper. Again, much appreciated increase in the use of actual tonal contrast over Rivera’s previous habit of just raw lines.
Olive comes through with a scientific solution. Good on her! It also helps that this “lawn mower” (of course, we’ve all noticed it never seems to have a blade beneath it) runs over the track more than once to help accelerate the mud production. So sure. Somehow enough of that water made it down through the grass and into the dirt to produce enough mud to bog down the mower. Well … why not. Let’s give Rusty a break for once. Will this really work? Wouldn’t Ernest just cut a new path around it? Wait, too much logical thinking here.
Art Dept. I do think the wet tracks forming in panel 1 are quite naturalistically presented. Not so much the ambiguous and sketchy scene in panel 3. At the same time, I’m continually amazed at how objects can get bigger or smaller for no apparent reason. The mower that Honest Ernest rides today is about half the size it was from yesterday (panel 1 for June 5). Perhaps an optical illusion based on the point of view, you think?
As for that panel 1 in yesterday’s strip, the overall concept is good, but the execution doesn’t match up. Look closely at Olive. I’ll wait …………… And are those three actually above Ernest? Or are they looking up from a hole or gully? That’s one of the challenges in drawing a bird’s eye scene like this: elevations are tricky. But some more line work or hatching might have helped better suggest the elevation.
Well, a lot of artistic license (andour expected imagination) went into today’s strip. As I feared, Rivera shows the trio taking the lazy and guaranteed-to-fail approach of pouring water from the top of the rise, down the slope, and into the path of the oncoming riding lawn mower. Instant mud bath? Forget it!
What a shock it must have been for them to see this pathetic and incompetent attempt produce nonegativeeffect on Honest Ernest at all. They’d have been better off pouring the water on Honest Ernest!
Art Dept. Very disappointed to see Rivera once again revert to her technique of drawing completely flat flora like that of a high-school play. I can hear you say: “At night, forms lose volume and definition!” To which I respond: “So what!?” Those sketchy lines barely resemble bushes and trees! Rivera could use a bit more of her artistic expression and add more definition so it at least looks like she cared.
And what do you think of the improbable sequencing of time and events going on here among the panels? Does it bother you?
The riding lawnmower is decently illustrated, even if it looks more like a riding lawn tractor to me. As if I’m an expert on lawn care.
Rusty’s devilish plan is revealed … to nobody’s surprise. I hope they brought along a lot of water barrels, because they’ll need a lot if they want to muddy enough ground to discourage the Grungey Boys’ hijinks. Maybe that’s why they got Dirk to come along, to carry those heavy barrels. Being the Family Muscle seems to be Dirk’s major role in the strip.
How long do they think this mud will last? I mean, it just rained a day or two ago, right? But the ground is just fine, now. So this doesn’t seem like the killer plan Rusty imagines. I’d have expected one of the adults in the room to pull Rusty aside and say something like “Rusty, you know all that mud you saw the other night? That was from a big rain storm. You think we can do the same thing with just a few barrels of water? Nah! We’d probably get better results by stretching a muddy clothesline across the path, about chest-high. Better yet, we come back during the day, dig a big hole, fill it with mud, then cover it with sticks, leaves, and dirt. At night, they might not notice it until they are falling in.”
A tip of the grungy cap to regular reader Be Ware of Eve Hill for her rapid, multiple-post catchup. Unlike other blog lords, I do not demand constant and unconditional obeisance. I recognize that—for some reason or another—there are occasionally more important priorities than your daily dose of The Daily Trail. “As long as you return.” (Read that statement in the low, dramatic voice of James Earl Jones.)
I’m still confused how this is a “race”, unless they are doing individual time trials. On the other hand, it sure doesn’t take much to entertain these dudes, does it!? Their motivation still eludes me.
It would be easy to nitpick various contradictions in today’s strip. The Bigger Picture, however is that Dirkis here! He’s becoming increasingly pulled out of his self-imposed isolationist/survivalist compound to get involved in family affairs. He’s getting more face time than Doc Davis!
If you manage to remember when Rivera last focused on this adventure, Rusty had come up with an idea to discourage the Grungey Boy’s races and save the forest. I’m not exactly sure how it will be done, and I don’t want to muddy the waters with a lot of tomfool guesses, so tune in tomorrow.
Art Dept. Although I often find heavy outlining of characters distracting, I admit that Rivera’s use of outlining in panel 3 greatly reinforces the naturalism and enjoyment of the foreground figures. In some ways, the trio has the look of a woodcut, through their bold lines, straight-line hatching, and solid forms. Compare them to the images in panel 4 or even panel 1.
Panel 4, with its raised point of view, has a totally different feel to it. Perhaps the raised position of the three not only projects a commanding overview, but also implies their assurance of success. Then again, maybe I’m getting flashbacks to the Wizard of Oz film scene where Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion are spying on the guards at the Wicked Witch’s castle.
For those coming in late, the “Grungy Boys” are middle-age delinquents with a fascination for causing destruction in Lost Forest. Head Grungey Boy in yellow, Honest Ernest, has fallen in stature over the years, from an optimistic ne’er-do-well with a business and a wife, to a divorced loser with a revenge chip on his shoulder against the entire Trail family. The guy with the Richard Simmons haircut is Connor, a whiny incompetent who got into trouble after following a fake survival book by fraudster Tad Sass. Connor was rescued by Mark and Rusty, but became a major headache in Mark’s doomed fishing survival class. The third member (panel 1) is an anonymous goof with a funny mouth and cap.
For some reason, Jules Rivera calls this action a demolition derby. It was originally explained as a race. Yet in neither case is there ever more than one riding lawn mower present. Yeah, don’t look for the logic.
We can expect some action coming up from Rusty and his aunt, Olive Pitt, who have been trying to find a way to stop the Grungey Boys from damaging Lost Forest.
You say you didn’t get to the strips this past week but want to catch up by spending your Sunday reading about them? Well, sit back, because I’m your huckleberry!
In the fast-paced world of Mark Trail, we have occasion to find solace in the bucolic, casual pace of life in Lost Forest. As has been the habit in Mark Trail stories for decades, as Mark’s adventure (in New York City, the own that never sleeps) came to an end, we immediately jumped back to Lost Forest (the town that never wakes up). The loose storyline of Rusty and Cherry’s sister, Olive Pitt, getting involved in stopping the hijinks of the Grungey Boys latest outrage continued. They have been holding riding lawnmower races in the woods. Rusty is upset at the possible damage to the forest and wildlife.
Because Cherry was heavily involved in overseeing the installation of a new water heater (as if this should take days!), she had no time to fix a proper dinner. So she whipped up some “pizza bites.” At the dinner table, Rusty was preoccupied with how to stop the Grungey Boys, but Mother Cherry tried to redirect his attention to “kids activities.” Typical mom.
Later that night a rainfall turned the ground muddy and gave Rusty an idea. Rusty brought up the idea of mud with Aunt Olive the following morning. So, what is this muddy plan to stop the Grungey Boys’ races? Alas, we may have to wait a fortnight to find out, in case we jump right back to Mark for a few weeks. Well, don’t look at me: This is Mark’s strip!
As usual, Rivera created a customized title panel that works pretty well this week. On the other hand, the content is nice, but simple. I don’t know why the duck in panel 4 has a heavy outline. Is it to reinforce the spatial separation from the mother duck and chicks in the background? Well, it makes the male duck look flat.
I’m not sure if it is worth noting, but the colorful plumage of wood ducks is limited to the males, as it is for many other bird species. That’s for mating purposes, of course. It’s curious that we humans turned that around and made women the traditional “attracting” gender. Although the wood duck population has increased over recent years, it is the second most hunted duck species, after mallards.
Ah, another one of Rivera’s “To be continued” signs in panel 4. You might normally think this signals a break in the continuity. The standard Mark Trail Mix is one week for the Second String (Cherry, Rusty, or Doc) and then at least two weeks for Mark. The times I recall her using this sign, the same storyline continued the following Monday. But this is a secondary storyline, so maybe we’ll see Mark on Monday.
As for this current storyline, at least we have some movement. Since both Olive and Rusty have backpacks on, it seems likely they are going on another forest walkabout, which fits in with Rusty’s plan.
If we switch back to Mark, we’ll also have a week of Mark and Cherry hiking around the forest or yakking before he gets involved in another assignment or story. Hey, maybe Mark will get involved in Rusty’s scheme, just like he did with the Grungey Boy’s first appearance (“Thanks-alotl for the E-Waste”).
Okay, maybe I was too optimistic when I saw that “The Forest needs a hero!” oath roaring out of Rusty’s mouth a few days ago. Alas, Rusty is not Robin, the Boy Wonder or Bilbo Baggins; just an 11 year-old kid with a vivid imagination and a developing sense of right and wrong. It’s not a bad combination to have. But he doesn’t have the experience or maturity to know what to do with it. It’s not a fault. He’s trying.
But I don’t think we can look forward to Rusty creating clever traps in the forest like Macaulay Culkin did in Home Alone, playing the incredibly inventive kid, Kevin, who could put together funny traps and pratfalls faster than Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland could assemble a fully decked out stage show from items found in a barn. Over the weekend.
One question on somebody’s mind out there is likely to be “Will the Grungey boys act even stupider than Rusty thinks, and try to hold their lawnmower races on wet, sloppy ground?” My response would be “Have you ever seen a demolition derby?”
Extra: Have you been “following” or “enduring” the on-again, off-again, on-again adventure strip “Mara Llave: Keeper of Time“? Well, seems like Mara ran out of time, as the strip has disappeared from the Comics Kingdom web site, after 3 years of erratic submissions, dropped storylines, and ever-changing art styles. Too bad, as the premise was interesting, though a clear offshoot of Dr. Who.
Alas, Rusty’s fighting spirit has already begun to wither. So sad. But not to worry. Mother Cherry steps in to soothe Rusty’s despair with her patronizing remarks and foolish fibs, like Parson Weems’ made up morality stories about George Washington.
Maybe if Rusty eats some more pizza bites…? Naw, he doesn’t need more pizzas, he needs more pizazz!
This is another “one of those days” when you have to wonder who is drawing the strip. Rivera’s style is already pretty stylized and expressionistic. However, what we see here is a different order, a different style in some respects.
Even some of our popular critics will have to admit the drawings of Cherry look like somebody trying to draw like Jules Rivera and not pulling it off. Each attempt at Cherry is more garish than the previous one. About the only thing that comes off looking normal is Rusty in panels 3 and 4. However, I don’t think we’ve seen such a highly motivated, aggressive Rusty before.
Rusty may sound like a cheap action movie trailer in panel 4, but I’m okay with that, if he can deliver the goods. So far, he hasn’t shown much ability in that department, but I’m going to give him the benefit of a doubt. Maybe Rusty has found his calling and will try to do what the hapless and hopeless Ranger Shaw cannot do.
OOPS! I found this blog for 5/13/25 in my draft folder. Not sure how it got there; I was sure I published it. So much for being sure.
Cherry’s been busy with the water heater drama? Doing what!? Unlike the “Snarkey Boys” (the commenters) over on CK, I’ll resist the obvious double-entendres. Yet the question remains. Duke has his own crew there, and unless she is fixing meals and running to the hardware store for parts, I don’t get it. Maybe she is one of those home owners who feel they need to supervise the hired help to ensure they don’t steal the family silver or take 3-hour lunches on the clock.
Do you suppose the yellow stuff on those bites is meant to be cheese? Hmm. That might help explain why we don’t see Doc Davis around the dinner table very often. Well, I’m hoping that this story gets off the dinner table real soon and back on the road!
Art Dept. Once again, Rivera employs a “Here’s looking at you, Trailheads!” posed animal. Readers have long argued over the purpose of these staged poses: Is the animal surprised by us “intruding” into its comfort zone? Is the animal somehow communicating a cynical comment about the strip or about us readers? Or is it possible that Rivera is just messing with us for no particular reason? I see a college paper in the works here.
Good news: Goodbye, Manhattan and Hello, Lost Forest! We can turn our attention back to the matter of … uh, exactly what was going on, again back home? Hmm, I think it had something to do with Rusty and Olive Pitt running into the Grungey Boys playing with a riding lawnmower some place in the woods of Lost Forest. And Honest Ernest was threatening them. Yes, and the always-usefulRanger Shaw was unable to do anything about it, due to some possibly made-up rule about jurisdiction. Shaw had previously confessed to Mark about his indirect abetting of the Grungey Boys’ prior activity, destroying electronic equipment left behind to litter the forest.
Anyway, lots of inaction today as Rivera seems intent on pacing this non-story to match the tempo of Ravel’s Bolero. If nothing else, it provides another piece of the homespun hominess that Rivera likes to put in to give more family context to the strip.
I reckon everybody there who goes outside to play or just walk around must carry a backpack (as we see Mark and Cherry do), possibly filled with emergency supplies, in case of a natural disaster or accident. Hmmm, not a bad idea, come to think of it, if you live in a forest.
Art Dept. The Trails must continually rebuild their cabin, as it looks different every time it is depicted. In most cases, it is always too small. But maybe this is a new meme: The transforming Trail Cabin! Otherwise, we’re back to the familiar 2D set designs that pass for nature (including the robin). And the people. Oh, yeah, I’ve written about the human form in Mark Trail before, so I won’t go into for now.
Well, hypocrisy lives on in Lost Forest, and Cherry’s patronizing scold flies out of her mouth in panel 2. Apparently, only Mark has the proper moral authority and power to lay fist-to-face against any troublemaker in Lost Forest. That is, Mark’s and Cherry’s disapproving rebuke in panel 1 is ironic, given Mark’s penchant for getting into fights at the drop of a hat. As if Mark has never been arrested, either.
Cherry seems to treat Olive as a child. Clearly, Cherry’s opinion of her sisters is somewhat low: Danger! Danger! The woods are dangerous! And a short while ago, Cherry feared that Peach might have a problem locating the trash bin at the foot of the stairs. Seems to me that Olive handled herself quite well and put the Grungy Boys in their place. Is Mark jealous?
So, exactly how will Mark sort out any troublemakers? Five will get you ten that it involves some amount of physical argumentation. I don’t get this entire sequence. Since Olive was defending herself and Rusty, why should she fear getting arrested? Why are Mark and Cherry so uptight? Help me out here, people!
There was a book written in 1884 called Flatland, a satirical story where all life forms were geometric shapes. Today’s strip reminds me of the conceptual framework of that story, as the figures and landscape here look like overlapping flat planes. Panel 1 is the principal example, with Rivera’s common “stage prop” flora and weirdly formed figure of Mark. More on that, shortly.
So it is Monday as Rusty and Olive share their story with Mark. How will the rest of the week shape up? Mark’s own adventure will almost certainly not begin until next Monday. I’m not even sure I remember what it’s supposed to be. Wait … oh, yeah. Mark gives a talk to a tech conference in New York about the influence of AI on the environment. But will Rusty’s mention of the Grungy Boys throw a monkey wrench into Mark’s plans? Can he resist getting in a few more punches for old time’s sake? Can he ever think of another method of behavior modification?
Art Dept. Now, the image of Mark in panel 1 presents a common technique of “Starring Role overrules Nature.” For example, in movies where most of the characters would have to wear a hat, mask, or other facial obstruction because of a local condition, almost invariably the movie star’s head or face would be unobstructed, so as to be seen very clearly. Here, a “flattened” Mark greets Olive and Rusty, who are physically behind Mark; yet Mark faces us, while his eyes look sideways to suggest he is really facing them. Of course, in the real world, Mark would likely be facing the two arrivals, so we would see the back or 3/4 view of Mark. Why not just draw it that way, then? At the very least, Rivera could have drawn a more realistic image of Mark twisting his head back over his shoulder.
Sure, this is a nerdy bit of trivia that many readers may not notice or care about one way or the other. At least I’m not hitting Rivera for the disappearing ground behind the cabin.
Not that I would promote violence for the sake of violence or even for the sake of ratings, but who can resist enjoying the sight of Honest Ernest taking a strong right to the face? I think we have to give Rivera “artistic license” for a right cross knocking Ernest’s head to the right instead of the left. Well, we just gotta see that face!
I’m glad to see that Olive has maintained her hard edge and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. Of course, Rivera plays up Honest Ernest’s bullying and patronizing behavior for effect. With Olive and Peach now living in Lost Forest, this certainly changes the dynamics of the local cast. I hope.
As Honest Ernest implied, this situation certainly is something of a repeat performance of the situation illustrated in the adventure labeled as “Thanks-alotl for the E-Waste.” But there is some logic to this, as Ernest, himself, admits when he says they are just reacting to what happened to them before. In other words, this isn’t just a case of Rivera being too lazy to think up a new plot.
But to play Devil’s Advocate, are the Grungy Boys actually breaking any laws? Are they illegally destroying natural habitat? Or are they just horsing around on a riding lawnmower, like kids on ATVs? They don’t appear to be littering, in spite of Olive’s assertions in panel 4 of Friday’s strip.
Hoo-boy! I didn’t see this one coming. I was prepared to dismiss the Wednesday strip as just more of the same. For the most part it is. But what was that BZZZ?
Well we found out today. It seems that the so-called Grungy Boys must be riding electric lawnmowers in Lost Forest. After all, gas-powered mowers don’t buzz, right!? Does this make the dudes green? Well, it’s hard to call this a race when only one person is riding.
Now, what’s with putting in the incompetent Grungy Boys once again as the vilains du jour? C’mon, Rivera! They are just wannabe 3 Stooges. Perhaps they are sufficiently “bad” for somebody of Rusty’s age and may just become the stock bad guys for his adventures.
Art Dept. When I first looked at Panel 1, I thought Rusty and Olive were looking down at elves because of the ridiculous disparity in proportions between them and the Grungy Boys. Ouch! Rivera could have chosen the viewpoint she employed in panel 3, where the same figures could have been depicted without the problematic proportional distortions.
But then I was amazed at how boneless the Grungy Boys are depicted! They look like the rubberized progeny of Gumby. It doesn’t help when they are also depicted as flat figures with no apparent volume.
Regular reader Daniel Pellissier commented yesterday on a general improvement in the artwork, especially the water scenes. Indeed, Rivera does a good job with that. The above-ground scenes also seem better handled in regards to composition (e.g. panel 1), figures, and general ambiance. However, it is still unfortunate that the flora are treated merely as background and stage-scenery. It would be nice to at least show more articulation, if not better resemblance to actual types of trees and bushes.
Today’s submission looks like we are going to have another week of filling in space before a new adventure begins. As scintillating as it may be to watch Rusty once again moan about his inability to prove the existence of cryptids to his friends, there likely won’t be much to say on a daily basis.
As you might recall⏤assuming you have not dozed off⏤we went through a full week of Mark and Cherry going on a nature walk, then a full week of Mark talking on the phone with Bill Ellis about a new assignment. Now, it looks like we might get a third full week of fluff!
I sure hope I am wrong. But if not, I may gather the strips for the rest of the week and post a combined blog on Saturday. Before you write, I recognize the illogic of that statement. I clearly cannot know what the rest of the week’s strips will show before they are published. I’ll let you know tomorrow.
The Daily Trail 