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The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chatx

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This week turned into a search-and-rescue mission, if we want to be generous with our interpretation. Robbie, Ian, and Ernie went hiking through the woods to try and find Rusty to apologize for shaming him by not sticking up for him when Robbie got awarded for a photo that Rusty took. Still, Ian and Ernie supposedly hadn’t realized their treachery until overhearing Cherry politely reaming out Scoutmaster Ranger Shaw for Robbie’s deceit and Ranger Shaw’s complicity.

The boys found Rusty in a clearing with Rusty in some kind of overlord position surrounded by a group (or “gaze”) of raccoons. As the kids began to apologize, Rusty kept his disdain for them visible. At this point, Jules Rivera added some commentary about the raccoons becoming agitated, though it was difficult to tell, owing to the crowded panels. But the boys grabbed Rusty from inside the circle of raccoons, which then ran off. One of the rescuers turned out to be Robbie, which left Rusty perplexed and Robbie making excuses. Well, it’s kids. What can you say?

So if there really was some kind of raccoon rebellion going on, we’ll just have to go with it. Rivera could have given more panel space to make it more obvious. But any actual danger was largely absent and only implied. Again, it’s the symbolism over the reality, as a few raccoons hissing at us human readers must suffice for the impression of danger. Though Ian and Ernie apologized for their earlier behavior, Robbie did not. Maybe there will be a few follow-up strips in a few weeks to close out the adventure.

The chicken makes for an unusual Sunday topic, but it has its wild side, as well. Actually, the time and path of the chicken crossing the ocean to get into the Americas is still debated. They could have come into South America via Polynesian sailors and settlers long before the Europeans showed up. Domestication of the chicken has been observed in archaeological finds in China that go back to around 6000 BCE. There actually are large groups of feral chickens in Florida, America’s favorite dumping ground for exotic pets and formerly domesticated animals. But the chickens have been left in the wild since the early days of the Spanish explorers (i.e, conquistadores) and are becoming a larger nuisance these days. I’m surprised that the Burmese Pythons, alligators, Nile Monitor Lizards, and other predators (mostly imported and released) running around Florida are not doing a better job of keeping the feral chicken population under control.

“Say, let’s build a campfire and roast some grasshoppers for a snack!”

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Jules Rivera turned the story around really fast. Rusty’s “Lord of the Animals” delusional reign popped like a birthday balloon. And he now feels like he owes gratitude to the guys who let him down and indirectly helped put him into this silly situation in the first place. Is all forgiven?

But as we know from past experience, Rivera shies away from actual danger at every opportunity and turns every story into farce, a submission, or a TV sitcom plot.  Even the reaction of the so-called “feral” raccoons was a whiff and a miss:  They were either docile or facing away from Rusty as they hissed. I think they were just angry that Robbie, Ernie, and Ian showed up, so they threw a short hissy fit and fled. And Rusty doesn’t seem to be bothered any longer by Robbie’s theft or his friends’ complicity.

This is Saturday, so we’ll return to Mark’s troubles on Monday. I’m not sure there is enough of Rusty’s adventure left to return to after a few weeks, so we may see a short epilog and transition to a new storyline back in Lost Forest.

Rusty never saw this coming until it was nearly too late!

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Racoons are getting feral? “I don’t think that word means what you thinks it means, Jules Rivera!” Feral animals are creatures that were once domesticated, but released into the wild to revert to their untamed nature. Like feral pigs (hogs) or cats. Raccoons are just wild animals.

So, Rusty has, indeed, been “rescued”, just not by his mom. It begs the question, though, why Rusty also believes he was saved, when yesterday, Rusty was still haughtily sitting amidst his loyal raccoon subjects. Apparently, it all turned on a dime as Rusty’s raccoons suddenly rebelled against him, leading to his immediate downfall. “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” and all that. But that’s the nature of wild animals, Rusty. Thus endeth the lesson.

Now, moving on to the other main issue in this story: Has Robbie learned his lesson? Is he going to ‘fess up? Seems he helped extricate Rusty from the Wild Bunch and is now trying to put up a false front of denial. Well, Robbie might come clean about the photo, but his nature will not really change. He’ll continue to be a PITA and conniver, because his character is locked in and Rusty needs opponents to overcome, just like Mark and Cherry do. The Trails: One. Big. Happy. Trail Trouble-Solving Family!

The tension builds as Rusty enjoys seeing his friends squirm

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Okay, this is moving from eerie to silly, but I reckon that fits the normal progress we see in Mark Trail stories. But where did Rusty’s “branch antenna” disappear to in panel 2 (only to return in panel 3)? Maybe an artistic oversight. There’s no reason to think Jules Rivera is riffing on “My Favorite Martian”,  a TV show she probably never saw.

But today looks like Rivera is just over-indulging in the eeriness she crafted, rather than moving the story along. At the very least, Rusty should have gotten to the point and had his say to his friends, rather than continuing on with his “gone feral” routine.

Is Rivera’s panel 4 teaser message meant to prepare us for Rusty actually getting bitten, which would then require a battery of painful shots? I doubt it. Well, there was the time Honest Ernest got bitten by bats and had to get anti-rabies shots; and Connor impaled himself with a fishhook. Both wound up in the hospital at the same time. So, I reckon there can be real consequences in this comic strip.

But still, I can’t see Rusty getting bit. What would be more likely to happen is something like Range Shaw and Cherry suddenly appearing and chasing away the raccoons. We’ll just have to see, won’t we!?

Discussions get off to a “rocky” start.

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Jules Rivera continues to take her story into new territory as Rusty’s behavior becomes more focused on his new persona and “friends.” Rusty acts both patronizingly (panel 2) and disdainfully (panel 4) to his fellow scouts, even as Rob’s own cynicism seems to dismiss the entire scene. Again we see the ominous orange sky continuing to flavor the stressful situation, until it suddenly gets replaced by a normal and more familiar featureless light blue sky (panel 4). Is there a symbolic intent to all of this? It seems out of character to the strip to start thinking along this line.

Ian’s apology about being ignorant of the photo’s authorship is undone by the fact that Rusty had originally sent the photo to him and Rusty’s other friends, as we see in this lookback on January 26, 2026:

It’s little wonder that Rusty is not gushing with happiness at their apology and lack of faith. He seems to enjoy rubbing it in their faces, as well. It’s so unlike the Rusty we all know, right?

But is this real or is it Memorex? That is, is Rusty really winding up his friends (to borrow a useful British phrase) to get even for their behavior? It sure looks like Rusty’s getting his money’s worth out of seeing most of them freaked out and distraught. There are three days left to finish this chapter of the story. But there is still the issue of Robbie and the stolen photo, the hoodwinked scoutmaster, and the merit badge. We should need another week to resolve all of that and conclude the story. But it will have to wait for a few weeks following our return to Mark, Happy, and gorillas.

Nobody would believe it:  Rusty becomes King of Raccoons!

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I’m not sure what to make of this orange sky we’ve been seeing for two straight days. Is Jules Rivera pulling out the classic “forest fire” plot device from the old days? But Mark isn’t around to save the boys, if that’s the case. Maybe it could be that the colorist just has a lot of extra orange ink. I dunno!

Anyway, I’m on board with Ian taking lead on the search, since it’s clear that Ernie doesn’t know how to hold a compass (panel 1). But that scene in panel 3 should give the boys the willies. Here is Rusty, sitting Buddha-like under some trees, with a collection of sticks stuck in his head like some kind of animal spirit. Even his face looks oddly transfixed. His response to Ian’s observation in panel 3 is unnerving and a bit scary. I’d almost expect to see dramatic lighting and tiki torches on either side of Rusty. Frankly, I didn’t realize Rivera had it in her!

Rusty is surrounded by a bunch (a “gaze”) of raccoons. They aren’t exactly worshipping him, but look like they are searching for something; perhaps bits of food Emperor Rusty has thrown out to his “subjects.” This all reminds me of scenes from some horror film where a kid has been taken over by a malevolent demon. In this setting, that demon kid would maniacally laugh and then order his raccoon subjects to attack the scouts to satisfy his lust for revenge! Well, I could be wrong, of course.

The forest scouts are on their mission of discovery and repentance

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“With friends like these …” as the cliché goes. Sure, they’re just kids with undeveloped brains and too much emotions, so perhaps we (or I) shouldn’t be too hard on their prior betrayal of Rusty. As a quick review (because I tend to forget, as well), we have (L to R) Robbie, Ian, and Ernie in panel 1. Perhaps this information will matter at some point in the future (Wednesday night at a bar’s trivia contest?), though I’m not really sure.

Still, I’m perplexed, mixed up, probosculated. These are kids who presumably have been growing up in and around Lost Forest. Yet, Jules Rivera portrays them as if they are a bunch of city kids anxious to try out their “scout knowledge” in Raw Nature, hiking into the woods to find Rusty. But I’ll give them points for relying on manual skills rather than taking the expedient route of just calling Rusty on his smartphone, like 99% of kids would do.

That dedication—if my interpretation proves true—should be something Rivera makes a big deal out of as part of her push for more appreciation of Nature. In fact, I’m half expecting the boys to start looking for footprints and other physical signs of Rusty’s presence. Maybe they’ll be able to follow the sound of screams if Rusty gets too friendly with Rocky the Raccoon and winds up with a big bite on his hand.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This past week we turned from Mark Trail’s efforts to protect Happy from being scammed by the owner of a Florida-based gorilla sanctuary to focus on Cherry’s satisfying weeding session at the Trail cabin (if this was the prior version of the comic strip, we’d call this the Davis cabin, since it was owned by Cherry’s father, Doc Davis. Curiously, he spends most of his time somewhere else in Jules Rivera’s reboot).

Cherry’s weedy satisfaction was interrupted by the arrival of Ranger Shaw and Rusty’s scouting “pals”, Ian, Ernie, and Robbie. They wanted to talk with Rusty to learn why he wasn’t coming to scout meetings. Cherry told the boys to go to play somewhere. She then confronted Shaw and confirmed Robbie’s badge-earning eagle photo was actually taken by Rusty. As you may recall Ranger Shaw denied Rusty’s claim at the scout meeting where Robbie got his badge. Ernie and Ian further humiliated Rusty by saying nothing in his defense.

Ranger Shaw expressed shock and embarrassment by Cherry’s testimony. Did he mean it? I don’t know, but he certainly has a history of questionable actions. A letter of apology signed by Ranger Shaw and the boys and delivered to Rusty would square things, Cherry decided. Well, I think they’re getting off too easy, especially Ranger Shaw. AFAIC, he should resign, but that isn’t likely. This just looks to me like more of Cherry’s drift towards complacency and irrelevance.

Meanwhile, the boys had been secretly eavesdropping. Ernie and Ian felt bad enough to want to immediately go find Rusty and apologize. Unsurprisingly, Robbie continued to deny he stole Rusty’s eagle photo. Life is such a drama at that age. Well, that was the week!

The title displays a nice, old-fashioned look, almost calligraphic, suggested by the poses of the two lizards. I read that brown anoles may actually eat young green anoles, given the opportunity. Neither type is venomous or harmful to humans. Both are kept as pets, but we are all better off letting them eat insects and other bugs.

What’s with the purple-barked trees? They can’t be Manzinitas, because they don’t grow in that climate and soil. I thought it could be a Natchez Crape Myrtle tree, but the trunk looks way too substantial. Then I thought it might be a Gumbo Limbo tree, which sometimes has a reddish sheen, but the bark looks different. Anybody know?

A Call to Action and Contrition!

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Rather than show Ranger Shaw approaching the boys and telling them what has to be done, Jules Rivera focuses on the boys, as they figure out what is going on and what they need to do. So the week ends with a call to action and contrition.

The boys are acting true to form as we suspected. Are Ian and Ernie really just now realizing that everything that has happened was because they did not stick up for Rusty in the first place? Robbie looks like he is turning out to be a real false friend, not just a sarcastic jerk. Sure, Robbie has always been jealous of Rusty, maybe because he doesn’t think his dad measures up to Rusty’s dad. Or maybe he’s just becoming a bigger jerk and even more jealous.

I’m also a bit surprised that Ian and Ernie didn’t bother to call Robbie out on his declaration of innocence. They got the same photo on their phones as Robbie did. So it will be interesting to see how Robbie’s dad handles the situation.

You know, I can almost see Robbie trying to push his own version of the situation: “Dad, I was secretly following Rusty on his nature hike, to practice my scout tracking skills, you know! While Rusty was taking photos of the bald eagle, I took photos of the eagle, too! So I didn’t steal his stupid picture. Mine was better, anyway!”

But I reckon we’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out, as this week’s chapter has come to a close. We’ll almost certainly cut back to Florida on Monday for Mark’s ongoing troubles with Happy and Gail, the catfishing owner of the  Glamor Gorilla sanctuary.

Ranger Shaw gets a soft landing and a roadmap to redemption

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This is all very nice, I’m sure. Cherry rose above the occasion to give Ranger Shaw an out and save face. Well, I admit that I was expecting—even hoping for—a bit of fire and brimstone from Cherry. She certainly looked like she was ready to dish it out a few days ago. Too bad Rusty wasn’t here to provide his own opinion on this arrangement, but Cherry is his mom, after all, and he can always say “No way!”

Otherwise, it looks like this story is headed for the finish line, as soon as the apology letter is delivered, read, and reacted to; and Rusty’s relationship with Rocky is finally resolved (with a bite?). Speaking of Rusty, are we going to cut back to him while on his current hike? Will he suddenly show up behind the guys with Rocky on his shoulder, foaming at the mouth?

Question: Who is that woman in panel 3? She’s dressed like Cherry and has an identical hairstyle. Other than that, I have no idea.

The velvet gauntlet has been thrown!

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Okay, Cherry isn’t wielding the Hammer of Thor, but isn’t mincing words, either. And now that Cherry has supported Rusty’s accusation, will Ranger Shaw counter her claim? Or will Ranger Shaw bring the boys over and make them come clean? After all, it is quite easy for Rusty to show his picture with the earlier timestamp. The question I have is whether this gets cleared up on Saturday. That would be fast work and out of tempo with the pace of this storyline. Actually, I think that Rivera will instead cut to Rusty, hiking along a trail with his new companion, Rocky Raccoon.

As for the boys playing in the front yard, they are actually doing what I’d expect all curious boys to do: Stand around and try to eavesdrop on the adults!

Art Dept. As reader Daniel P. commented yesterday, that darned fence disappears and reappears. Frankly, I’m not sure where it even came from. I don’t recall ever seeing a fence around the property before. Has anybody else seen it, outside of this story?

I like the tight pacing and changing viewpoints of the panels today:  A two-panel panorama opens to include the boys in the background looking across, back to Cherry and Shaw in the foreground; then a tighter focus on just Shaw and Cherry as she makes the accusation; and finally a close-up of Cherry in panel 3 as she piles onto the accusation.

Finally, I should have said something, yesterday, about Wednesday’s panels. The second and third panels feature individual shots of Cherry and Ranger Shaw facing each other, like double portraits from the Renaissance. Even Cherry’s mental image of Rusty is sneering in Shaw’s direction! It’s another example of good pacing in the action, as the separate panels infer a slight time distinction to dramatize Ranger Shaw’s reaction and response to Cherry.

Ranger Shaw tries to put pressure on Cherry. Foolish man!

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I’m not sure I disagree with Ranger/Scoutmaster Shaw’s request in panel 3, so hear me out. It seems normal enough to want to know what’s going on with Rusty, especially if the troop is genuinely concerned for him. However, his request in panel 1 seems a bit high-handed and monopolistic. Excluding Rusty’s mother from their talking to Rusty is a no-win position, which makes Cherry’s comment in panel 2 an unusually polite way to say “Not in this universe, Bubba!”

So, while I accept the validity of Shaw’s request in panel 3, he cut off his own legs in panel 1. I do not know why Jules Rivera chose to make him look antagonistic, when he should have looked humble or apologetic. I suppose it’s to play to the plot. Shaw has to look arrogant. It certainly undercuts his expressed motive, surprised that he could not assert a non-existent authority over Cherry. It’s little wonder that Cherry told the kids to go play somewhere else so she can have a “Come-to-Jesus” talk with their scoutmaster!

What do you think about today’s strip?

Rusty skips one meeting and it’s “Call out the scouts!”

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Well, we don’t know what day of the week this is supposed to be, but I’m guessing that school is out for the year. So, where is Rusty? Has Rusty finally crossed that special hormonal point in time where he is interested in hanging out with girls!? LOL! Who am I kidding?! Rusty’s on a hike, and I think it is even money he is with his adopted wild animal friend, Rocky Raccoon (not to be confused with the Beatles song on the White Album). But poor Robbie may have to be satisfied with picking on one of the other boys.

I’m curious how Scoutmaster Shaw and his scouts got to the Trail’s cabin. Did they walk all the way from their meeting place that Cherry had to drive to when she dropped Rusty off a few week ago? If so, good on them. Physical Fitness badges for everybody!

I’m also curious who the tall kid is in panel 1. Is he supposed to be Ian?  He must have had a sudden growth spurt. Or maybe not, as he seems to have shrunk back down in panel 4. Maybe this is an optical illusion of some kind, or maybe he’s standing on a log.

Who is that tall, dark stranger?

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It’s nice to get away for a while from the sturm und drang of Happy’s romantic escapades and financial chaos and return to the more pastoral and peaceful activity of weeding the yard. Or “garden” as Jules Rivera calls it? Perhaps she is using the British definition of “yard.” Otherwise, it looks like a pretty small garden. But who am I to criticize? I don’t garden, but I have listened to “Gardener’s Question Time” on BBC4 radio.

Anyway, here we find Cherry, happily working alongside a rabbit decoy or cutout in the foreground, probably installed there to scare away … uh … well, maybe “scare away” is a bit optimistic. Perhaps it is just another parody by Rivera of the long-standing tradition of inserting animals into scenes. If so, this joke went stale over five years ago … Wait. Somebody just told me it’s supposed to be a real rabbit.

Rivera used the peacefulness of the first two panels to set the stage for the dramatic, voiceless stranger in panel 3, though perhaps that silhouetted figure is not quite as tall as today’s blog title suggests. This person sports a wide-brimmed hat as he stands arms akimbo, at some kind of entrance gate that we have never seen before. I tell you, Cherry is one busy gal!

Rivera refers to this mystery person as “another kind of species”, which makes no sense. First off, “kind” is not a scientific term within biological taxonomy (Yeah, I know she was just making a pun!) Second, the figure certainly doesn’t look like a different species of human, unless it is just a cardboard figure propped up at the entrance. Snarky comments aside, I think we can all figure out who this is, right!? And no, it is not The Shadow. Too bad Rusty isn’t around.