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Two. Two. Two strips in one!

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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.

And they call it “Cryptid Love”

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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.

Whoopsie!

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Well, here I am eating my words, or at least blushing for forgetting to take into consideration that the Sunday chat subject (i.e. catfish) could also apply to upcoming panels!

And we learn that Cherry’s two sisters are now going to live somewhere in Lost Forest. Does that mean they will figure into some of the ongoing stories of Cherry, and maybe Mark? That could present some needed variety in Cherry’s stories. As Rivera defined her, Cherry was originally pretty feisty, but her personna has flattened out lately. This seems to be a lot of what happened to the “original” Cherry of Ed Dodd’s days, when she was an outdoor gal, frolicked with a pet bear, and camped in the forest. Later, she got more domesticated and less interesting. Rivera’s Cherry is not yet the stay-at-home figure of old, and I see no reason to believe she will evolve that way.

But Olive still retains a lot of her independence and aggression. At least, she is drawn that way. So, I hope she can hold on to her personality if she is going to be a recurring figure in the Lost Forest landscape.