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The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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It is Saturday when I write this recap. The weather is not simply dreary, it is unpredictably dreary. Cold and gray, it snows a bit; then stops. After a while it snows a bit more, then stops again. Is that the sun I see trying to peek out of the overcast? Yes, for a moment. Now gone again. As I said, it’s unpredictable. And that is a fair description of the current story.

Mark and Cliff seem to spend more time away from the Woodsman Olympics than participating in it. In fact, Mark’s interview with the Solar Project manager the week before took up so much time that they missed the log-cutting event. We began the week with Cherry and Rusty at the log-cutting event, searching in vain to find Mark and Cliff. That’s the last we saw of them this week. When Mark and Cliff finally arrived, it was apparently at another location, and just in time for the Log Camp Boxing Event. Tad Crass was on site as the event moderator. He decided to change the contest on the spot to a “Tag-Team” boxing event, pitting Mark and Cliff against the Grungey Boys. His expectation was clearly to see Mark and Cliff publicly humiliated.

Mark sent Cliff into the ring first, no doubt to test the waters. And the waters proved too deep for Cliff, who was quickly overcome by a tag-team dirty trick. Mark jumped in to take over, facing off against Honest Ernest. But Tad Crass didn’t like the way things were going (that is, Mark was not getting hammered by Ernest), so he immediately changed the event on the fly once again to an “Extreme Boxing” match, involving everybody fighting in the ring at the same time. Just keep throwing things to see what sticks.

I know what you’re thinking. Well, I know what I am thinking, anyway. All of the planning and setup for this Olympics; all of the money spent on resources and bringing in contestants; and here is Tad Crass, turning it into a grudge match of personal retribution. One might think that Rivera is layering in a subtle satire on our political situation. But I can’t expand on that, in large part, because this is not a political blog and will not become one. Wait. I just stepped on my …er, let’s just get some fresh air and explore the Sunday nature topic, shall we?

Mark could be more consistent. Bluebirds are cool! Bluebirds are not cool because they drop down on their prey. Which is it!? I’m nitpicking, because I think these Sunday strips would be better if more space was spent on the subject and less space on Mark and his puns. Not needed, Jules! My unsolicited recommendation is to go with the old standard: Limit Mark’s appearances to only the first information panel and maybe the last panel. Mark delivers only one joke (okay, Mark’s line in the last panel wasn’t bad). Also, keep doing the custom title panels!

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Mark Trail used to epitomize—or at least advertise—“old-fashioned” morals and ethics. Not the phony kind that politicians trot out during elections, but the Norman Rockwell kind:  respect, compassion, politeness, tolerance, and a willingness to beat the tar out of anybody that said otherwise.

Okay, maybe not the last one, but don’t hold me to it. My point? Thanks to the generosity of Tad Crass and his silent partners, Mark and his family received an expenses-paid-for trip to Las Vegas, free lodging at a themed hotel, free meals, and a free muscle car rental (at a premium rate), just to participate in a contest to win a tidy little sum of greenbacks. So what did Mark do?

Instead of thanking Tad for his generosity, Mark decided to skip some of the competition in order to investigate Tad’s planned sports arena because it competes for the same land as a planned solar energy project. We are all trying to figure out what is illegal or unethical in this conflict (other than solar energy is good and athletic arenas are nice, but expensive). But something weird seems to be in the wind, based on the activity this past week and on comments submitted to Saturday’s blog.

Mark and Cliff drove out to the solar energy project HQ to interview the project manager. In the middle of the interview, two really tall, big guys also showed up. They identified themselves as former MMA fighters now working as Woodsman Olympics security and it was their job to make Mark and Cliff return to the competition. I suppose it might have something to do with a commitment by Mark and Cliff, who are there on Tad’s dollar. There was some verbal back-and-forth that quickly turned to threatened physical force by the security guys. That led to the expected fight.

One might expect trained professional fighters would make quick work of Cliff and even Mark. But this is Mark’s adventure strip, so he and Cliff somehow overcame the two guys long enough to get to their car and bug out, supposedly to return to the competition, anyway! The two MMA-security guys quickly recovered and were hot on their trail in their own van.

Mark’s Spidey Sense® about something suspicious must be on the mark, because the bad guys blurted out “They know too much!” as they chased Mark and Cliff. This is a clear indication that more is at stake than just a sports arena. But Mark’s luck held out again as the pursuit van rolled over on a sharp turn before they could catch up. Mark gloated as he left the van and its occupants behind, apparently uninterested in their condition. Am I being too hard on Mark?

This lizard is also known by other names and exists in parts of several western states. One characteristic that may be difficult to illustrate successfully is the appearance of light-colored spots across the main body, while the tail may reverse the coloring of the skin and the spots. I’m guessing this is the reason for the “spots” around “Mark Trail” in the Title Panel. When the Roadrunner (seen in Saturday’s strip) is not avoiding Wile E. Coyote, it enjoys a good meal of Great Basin Collard Lizard.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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We’re back for Mark’s weekly segment, where we expected him and Cliff to be besting the other contenders back at the Woodsman Olympics. Instead, Mark was more bothered by hanky-panky going on in the desert, so he convinced Cliff to play hooky with him and go interview the Solar Energy Guy. It’s heartwarming to note that Mark doesn’t care one bit about getting Cliff into any trouble for not showing up at the Olympics. But Cliff is clearly a “go along to get along” kind of guy, and he has little enough to do in the story, anyway. After all, he even gets along with Mark’s rivals, the Grungey Boys!

They drove out to the “Solar Project” building to interview the project manager, Joe Jitters, who spent his time complaining how Tad Crass was trying to ruin his municipal solar energy project so that Crass could build his profit-generating athletic center. In case you were wondering, I already wrote about this issue before. What I since discovered is that at least 85% of the land is federally owned and managed for public use, conservation, and authorized development. So there shouldn’t be a problem here, right?

The climax of the week was the sudden appearance of two “Woodsman Olympics Security Officers” who somehow not only knew that Cliff and Mark were not at the event, but knew where they were. How!? I’m thinking Mark must have unknowingly rented his car from “Crass Car Rentals,” where every vehicle has a tracker installed.  The security guys claimed Mark and Cliff were breaking the “I promise to compete” clause of their participation contract. Now they have to immediately return to the event site! Jules Rivera left us with a Cliffhanger: What will Mark do now? I think his only choices are:

  • “Geez. Sorry, guys, our bad. Ooh! Would you look at the time!? Cliff and I are leaving right now!” OR
  • “No way, Jose! I’m going to destroy Tad’s plans for an evil stadium of profit! So try and sue us!” (Cliff mutters “What do you mean by ‘us’, Mark?”) OR
  • Mark takes off his jacket and says “Say hello my little friends, the two Fists o’ Justice!” (Cliff begins to sing “One fist of iron, the other of steel, if the right one don’t getcha, then the left one will…” ).

It’s difficult to come up with a great custom title panel each Sunday. Rivera often hits a good one, but today is a swing and a miss; but at least it is customized. Well, red-winged blackbirds are almost as ubiquitous in the States as Mark’s face is on these Sunday strips. I could do with less Mark and his asides and more Nature.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Well, the happy-go-luckier side of the Trail Family—Cherry and Rusty—went on a nature hike to enjoy the environment and provide an opportunity for Rusty to get some good nature photos he can use to win a scouting badge.

This trip turned into a morality play (or perhaps a 1960s family sitcom), as Rusty started out vowing to get photos he could brag about, but ended up just appreciating the hiking experience for its own sake, while disavowing his earlier bragging attitude he linked to being like Robbie. It was a real Hallmark Moment (cue the strings).

As for the hike, unfortunately nothing unusual happened. Rusty’s moral lesson is the best we’re going to get. The two even got back to the luxury hotel in time to get their breakfast burrito pie in a room the size of an auditorium (as be ware of eve hill noted. BTW, there are some other interesting comments posted to Saturday’s blog. I was going to say that I was jealous and wished I had thought of them first, but then I recalled Rusty’s self-awareness lesson. Rats. So all I can do is salute the cleverness of my readers and commenters. Bastards! 😊).

Well bravo to Jules Rivera for her history-linked nature chat for today! The giraffe was a gift from Caesar’s current main squeeze at the time, Cleopatra, the seventh (and last) Ptolemaic queen in Egypt to bear that name. And today is the Ides of March, the day in 44 BCE (two years after Julius went to the trouble of shipping the animal to Rome) when Caesar was assassinated. Some gratitude! By the way, I’ve watched nature-cams of giraffes at watering holes in Africa. One animal usually keeps its head raised at all times to provide a lookout while the rest drank. They would take turns as lookout.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Returning to their “luxury hotel”, Mark cogitated on why Tad Crass put on the Woodsman Olympics. Clearly, there must be a nefarious purpose! It’s a fundamental rule of bad guys. While Mark randomly searched online, Cliff pointed to a page citing a real estate dispute Tad is involved in with a solar power company for a parcel of land near the site of the “Olympic” contest. Disputes over land use are common and there is nothing illegal about such actions. But Mark was still sure something was rotten, waiting for him to discover. That’s a fundamental rule of Mark Trail!

Mark thought a midnight drive out to the contested site might help him figure out an angle to use against Crass. But access to the land was locked. Once again, Cliff came through with an idea: Property taxes! If nothing is being done to the land, paying property taxes for it is just throwing away good money. Sure. So what? Crass does not own the property! In fact, Tad’s dispute is who gets to purchase the land! Unfortunately, Jules Rivera seems to have gotten lost over the details of land purchase, land use, and property taxes. This is throwing the plot into fantasy land. Anyway, the issue is not in Mark’s wheelhouse, so his involvement is dubious, at best.

Mark finally hypothesized that the Woodman Olympics was some kind of hustle by Tad Crass to sway the Las Vegas city government to allow him to purchase the land, instead of the solar energy company. Again, this is extremely weak. It suggests that the City Council of Las Vegas is filled with people even dimmer than Cliff and Mark. But to give Rivera the benefit of a doubt, we can also see this as an unrealistic expectation of a corrupt and dim Tad Crass. We’ll see.

We have another Sunday Quickie: An average topic with mediocre visuals, two completely wasted panels (the second and last panels), and an over-reliance on a throwaway joke. Interestingly, Rivera covered the bighorn rams before, from a different angle. And more interestingly, it appeared during Mark’s investigation of Tad Crass’s activities in Utah involving wild horses and a secret data center (3/24/24, “Horsin’ Around”). Could this really be just a coincidence?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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This was a week of artistic explorations, or so it appears to me. One day was a salute to old-school comic books, another day was a homage to Japanese cinema. Sandwiched in between was the usual filling of self-parody, quick scene changes, and vague hints of a plot. A sort of “champions’ dinner” was held in which Mark again spotted grifter and would-be data center king, Tad Crass. I think it is amazing that Crass would invite, or permit to be invited, the guy who led to the destruction of his secret data center in Utah, causing a significant loss of money, prestige, police action, and likely lawsuits. But maybe that is the reason Mark was invited?

Anyway, not much actually transpired, though we learned that Tad Crass is the person who is apparently in charge of the event. Crass gave a short dinner speech, where not much was said. But it was enough to make Mark curious and want to investigate. “Investigate what?” you may respond. Well, it’s another case of Mark sticking his nose into something that is none of his business. As I pointed out yesterday, other than being at an outdoor event, there is nothing in this story so far that links to the issues that Mark usually gets involved in. You know: Lost Forest, Nature, the Environment, Survival Skills, UFOs, etc.

Thanks, Mark. You do much better talking about legitimate environmental concerns, even if you hog too many panels.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Lucky for you all, I’m not in a very loquacious mood. Oh, I could say it had something to do with being out Saturday night at a George Harrison tribute concert with The Missus. Or I could blame the temporary crappy keyboard I’m using because my once good mechanical keyboard broke down. I’m not even particularly angry with the past week’s strips, either. <Sigh!> Well, let’s see how things go.

Mark’s Woodsman Olympics were put on the back burner for Cherry, as she got bored and took Rusty back to their hotel. Her goal for the rest of the day was a nice, luxurious bath. Rusty, on the other hand, is a typical adolescent. Therefore, he decided to go exploring outside and find something interesting to photograph. Ignoring his mom’s dictum about staying in the hotel’s rear garden (he is an adolescent, remember!?), Rusty decided to explore the grounds beyond the outer walls, so he easily slipped through a security chain only meant to stop incurious adults.

Unfortunately for Rusty, a “pirate” security guard (remember them!?) on patrol discovered him engaged in the act of taking photos of a scorpion. Rusty was hauled back to his room where the security guard told Cherry the hotel would not press charges if he could scrub her back. Just kidding! The guard did, in fact, take Rusty back to the room with a proper warning given to Cherry about Rusty not going back behind the garden. And that was the week. Some excitement, huh?

So Jules Rivera found nothing local to talk about? I reckon she missed reading commenter Hannibal Lectern’s discussion of Las Vegas’s advanced water reclamation processes that would have made a nice Sunday topic. Instead, we get another hawk talk, and not even a local hawk! This hawk, like most Sunday topics, would be a lot more impressive if it was not relegated to background duty in favor of Mark’s continuous and dominant appearance in virtually every panel! Talk about ego.

This is contrary to the practice of prior Mark Trail artists who usually limited Mark’s mug to the first and last panels, preferring to give the majority of face time to the Sunday Topic. The old ways sometimes are better, including the habit of avoiding inserting lame puns into the last panel.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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The story finally began to unfold this week. After a day of leisure at the hotel’s pool—where we saw no gambling, eating or drinking—everybody bussed out to the site of the Woodsman Olympics. The actual running of the event was highly abstracted (as in omitted), perhaps to not confuse readers with too much reality. Cliff fulfilled his main role by reminding Mark that he was signed up for the logrolling contest. He then disappeared for the rest of the week.

The story moved on to the main hook of the week:  the Mark versus Connor logrolling contest, because why not? Jules Rivera informed us that Connor (and presumably his teammates) got to practice ahead of time, though it is clear neither Mark nor Cliff did any preparation. No matter, as Mark Trail is always in tip-top shape for whatever situation or event comes before him. Right?

After Connor’s failed attempt to use a foot-splash technique to try to make Mark lose his balance (this is a legal tactic, by the way), Mark gave Connor a foot-splash right back, sending him into the pool and losing the event. Not much rolling, however. From an action point of view, it was disappointing. Afterwards, when Mark (accompanied by Cherry) went to shake Connor’s hand to show no hard feelings, Connor unsurprisingly rebuffed Mark and huffed off. See Saturday’s post for details.

Okay, that summarizes this past week. No doubt, we’ll see more exciting Olympic action like this for at least a few more days in the coming week. But I predict that before the week is out, something will happen that drags Mark away. CAVEAT: In the interests of transparency, I confess that in any situation where there are only two results (like flipping a coin) and the odds are 50-50, I am usually right around 15% of the time. Don’t bet your rent money.

The title panel is a clever design, but the connection seems weak. Sure, scorpions have a mating dance, but most all animals have mating rituals, including homo sapiens sapiens. Still like the panel, though! Jules Rivera makes Mark look like a dancer in Saturday Night Fever who just woke up from a 48-year coma.

Speaking of fever, I once stepped on a scorpion while vacationing in Arizona. It had crawled into a shoe and I forgot to check. Of course, it stung me when I put the shoe on. I had visions of suffering permanent delirium, turning into a scorpion monster, or maybe even just keeling over. While I did get a small fever, most of my fear was justifiable paranoia, as the scorpion turned out to be harmless to humans.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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After spending the prior week watching Rusty getting screwed out of a Woods Scout badge by his rival, Robbie, you might have forgotten what Mark’s current story is all about. Well…

Recall that Cliff invited Mark and the family to a “Woodsman Olympics” contest in Las Vegas. Some unnamed entity is sponsoring the event and had enough money to fly the contestants and their families over and put them up at a pirate-themed hotel. Mark and family arrived at the hotel to find Cliff already there. As they chatted, the sky darkened and meatballs fell from the sky when The Grungey Boys made a surprise appearance. Seems that they also entered the contest! They lost no time in accosting Mark, hoping to pick a fight. We all know there is no love lost between them.  Connor, especially, was prepared to go one-on-one with Mark right then and there.

To the consternation of longtime Mark Trail readers who keep wanting to see Mark exercise his Fists o’ Justice, Mark instead got a security guard to get rid of the troublemakers. Well, we’ve all seen how Jules Rivera portrays Mark’s fighting skills, so there really isn’t that much to hang on to.

Interestingly, Cliff hung back from the tuanting, but returned when it was over. Cliff explained his non-involvement by stating that he got along with the Grungey Boys. But that doesn’t say much about standing up for his friend, Mark. Apparently, Cliff’s neutrality did not weigh on Mark’s mind.

So, boys and girls, are we all excited about the contest!? I’m wondering if the Grungey Boys will try to sabotage Mark’s equipment or just create an “accident” for him? There has to be some amount of skullduggery! Perhaps we will see additional members of the Mark Trail Troublemakers Troop enter the contest (I’m thinking Cricket Bro, with his steroid-enhanced torso).

Rivera normally crafts a custom title panel around the Sunday topic. I fail to see any connection today. However, today’s topic is linked to Mark’s current location, so that’s a plus.

While reading up on this tiny fish (about 1 ½ inches long), I learned that they have a doubtful future. Their fertility rate is low and natural disasters keep making things worse. But the most shameful thing I read was the deliberate destruction of fish, eggs, and environment by a trio of deplorables who broke into the federally protected area. If that wasn’t bad enough, even though they broke federal laws, two of them only got probation. One was a felon and got a year in jail, only because he had a shotgun.

This is an interesting topic worthy of reading about, but it is marred by harried and dull artwork. The final panel is completely witless.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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While Mark and Cherry were completing their nature walk and phone call with Cliff, Jules Rivera gave us a partial vignette of Rusty’s life. Rusty was taking his own nature walk when he spied a peregrine falcon on a tree stump and snapped a photo. He sent the photo to friends on his “chat group,” expecting them to really appreciate it. At least one sure did.

Days later, he went to his “Woods Scouts” meeting, run by the inept and corrupt Ranger Shaw. In a touching show of nepotism, Ranger Shaw awarded a merit badge to his son, Robbie, who submitted Rusty’s falcon photo as his own work. Rusty was a touch peeved at Robbie’s perfidy and confronted Ranger Shaw. Rusty’s defense was somewhat lacking, as he didn’t have his phone with him. His two lackluster friends, Ian and Ernie, also failed to stick up for Rusty. For his own part, Ranger Shaw relied on his nepotistic and incompetent character, failing to question Robbie or do any kind of investigation. Instead, he accused Rusty of being jealous and petty over Robbie’s success.

Cherry came to pick Rusty up from his humiliating meeting, and he revealed the treachery done against him. But Rusty had the good sense to tell his mother to stay out of his business. Instead, Cherry cheered him up a bit by revealing that they are all going on a vacation to Las Vegas, which has some woods and animals he can photograph. Woohoo. But why any kid Rusty’s age would get excited about going to Las Vegas is a real mystery to me.

As usual, Mark “photo bombs” the Sunday panels, as if his absence might make us forget that he is the source of this information. Fat chance of that! It would be much nicer if Jules Rivera held a tighter rein on Mark and let his subject have the starring role.  This is supposed to be about Nature, not Mark, Jules!

The normal online nature sources report that the American Wigeon is a “dabbler duck”, meaning that it prefers skimming water surfaces for vegan food, rather than diving as other ducks do. There doesn’t seem to be a lot to say about wigeons, which may be why Mark spends so much time harping on the green band that extends around the eyes and the nape. But the top of the head is white, which is why this duck is also known as the baldpate duck. They seem to be vegetarian, except for females in breeding season, when they consume snails, water beetles, and other small bugs to provide protein for the eggs.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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I’m definitely not going to review the week I’ve had up here. That goes outside of what this blog is about. And that’s all I’m going to say. I think Mark Trail will understand.

Speaking of Mark (and who else would we be talking about?), he and Cherry continued their phone call with Cliff all week, discussing a trip to Las Vegas for a Woodsman Olympics, an event Mark never heard of, even if Cliff did. And Cliff also had an invitation for Mark. Turns out it’s an all-expenses paid trip for Mark and the Family Trail, with the chance to win an amazing $5,000.00 grand prize! Maybe that paltry sum balances out with the added cost of the flights, the lodging, and the food.

OOPS! Major Retraction: I may have to toss out a lot of what I wrote this past week. My original research on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest was faulty. I thought that it was just one, large area. Upon reading the fine print (motivated by the map in today’s strip), I discovered the HTNF actually sits in several, non-continuous areas across Nevada and a bit of California. It appears that the closest part of this HTNF to Las Vegas may be in Spring Mountains (not to be confused with Mountain Springs). But it’s okay if you are confused. Like me.

So, Mark and Cliff won’t have to go too far, anyway. I think. Still, this olympic event smells, but I’m a skeptic by nature, and a part-time cynic on weekends. So, of course something will go wrong: Another forest fire, a casino scam, or maybe a clever trap set for Mark by one his standard-issue villains. The last villain Mark dealt with that worked a scam in a mountain forest was Sid Stump, who also had a cameo in the AI scam story in NYC. Perhaps Sid is running this event to get back at Mark. If so, I give Mark permission to unlimber his Fists O’ Justice for a good cause, because Sid Stump is a pathetic bad guy.

Rivera continues her tradition of linking the Sunday nature page to some aspect of the location where Mark is or is heading. It’s a nice bit of continuity. So we get a PSA for the non-contiguous Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (HTNF). By the way, I’m not sure I would call all of those animals local Nevada animals, given their actual geographic distributions; but with my confusion about the HTNF, I’m going to let it all slide.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Sure, go ahead and say that “George is taking this stuff way, too seriously. It’s just a comic strip and not all that great, anyway!” Well, I’m retired, so it’s this or I have to learn golf or pickle ball! Thanks, anyway! And I prefer biking! In the winter, I shovel snow! At this point, I can handle all of that! In fact, I manually shoveled sidewalks of four houses on Saturday, thank you!

Moving on:  It’s traditional for Mark Trail to spend a week at home after an assignment, before getting the call to head out on another job! Jules Rivera carried this tradition forward, minus Cherry’s hopelessly clinging “Mark! Come back soon, dearest!” scenes of Olde!

Oh, another tradition that Rivera thankfully dropped (which I like to remind you of at least once a year) is the use of exclamation marks after every line of dialog that is not a question! I bet a number of Trailheads see this as one of Rivera’s mistakes, because we need those silly conventions to snark on!

Also in the pre-Rivera Days of Yore, Mark sometimes got overseas assignments (e.g. Africa, Nepal, and even the Pacific)! But so far, Rivera has yet to place Mark outside of the contiguous 48 states (Florida doesn’t count)! For shame, Rivera! At least get Mark involved in something in South America or Canada!

So, what Mark Trail traditions of old do you miss the most and would like to see again? And I’m not talking about the style of the art, itself!

Presto Chango! Mark was back home this week! The first three days found Mark chatting online with Venus Verité about the flood and her hoping to get work with Bill Ellis! The rest of the week was the now-standard post-assignment Mark and Cherry Nature Hike! Of course, before the nature hike could be consummated, I mean completed, Mark got his traditional phone call! But it was not Bill Ellis! Rather, it was his De-Bait Team pal, Cliff! Cliff invited Mark to a Woodsman Olympics! This was revealed in Saturday’s strip, so we’ll have to wait for more details to unfold! And that’s the week, folks!

In spite of this useful information and Mark’s awareness of the impending flash flood, he didn’t seem very prepared when it came. I’d have thought he’d have some kind of emergency backpack at the ready. But he did get everybody to safety! Also, I’d recommend a radio that also offers a hand crank for power.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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It looks like another Mark Trail Adventure has come to a watery end. After leading the wet and anxious hunters up a hill to safety, Mark and the group sat down, soaked and tired, and took stock: Venus Verité was the only person who managed to get dressed and also the only person who managed to have a phone. So she called emergency services. Meanwhile, the rivalry between Mark and Tess continued, as she baited Mark and falsely claimed credit for saving everybody. There were two further events that caused readers here and elsewhere to scratch their heads:

In the first instance, Mark made a phone call to Cherry, but the phone he used didn’t match in color with the phone that Venus had. Seeing that everybody else was in their pajamas or union suit, we have to wonder where it came from, unless the color change was an accident. In the second instance, some anonymous background people started to drift into the panels, apparently being other campers who also foolishly ignored the weather reports. Nobody in Mark’s group seemed terribly put-out, which diluted the seriousness of the incident. Soft endings are typical for Rivera’s stories.

Rivera did not spend time on the larger-scale implications of the flash flood and its effects on the area. While not critical to the story, it might have added some useful information about a serious and sometimes deadly event. Alternatively, it could made a good lead-in for a Sunday strip, but that did not happen today, either. My wife says I just expect too much from life.

Creating a custom title panel for every Sunday page has been a regular feature since Jules Rivera took over. While not every title panel hits a home run, many are inventive, if not at least interesting. and this one is especially effective, while being quite simple. Why? A capybara literally barks out the name of the strip, echoing the animal’s characteristic warning call that Mark explains later in the strip. Some readers might see this as a “Welcome!” sign, whereas others might find it a just-in-time “Warning!” sign.

“What is a capybara and why has the Internet fallen in love with them?” Sounds like one of those phony online ads you see on your email server and places like YouTube. I’m on the Internet more than I want to admit, but I haven’t seen any love being directed to capybaras. Have you?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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The flash flood continued this past week and worsened, as Mark finally cajoled the team to move to higher ground. Again. Tess remained a flood denier and it seemed like Shania was just uncertain and angry. At times, the sequence of actions seemed confused. Were they going up? Walking in a circle? Not moving at all? It wasn’t always easy to tell. Jess and Tess were at the tail end of a human chain designed to safely ascend a hill. But once again, the drawings were confusing. You’ll just have to go back and look.

Even though it appeared they were ascending, somehow Tess managed to get swept up in the flood waters. Perhaps it was rising very quickly. But swept away she was, even when she seemed to be floating on top of the water. The moment of truth: WWMD? Well, this is Mark’s strip, of course, so he showed up at the waterline (along with the others), found a large tree branch lying around, and jumped in the water to save Tess. Yet, this week ended with Tess blaming Mark.

Is this the end of the story? Could be. It’s a safe bet that it’s the end of the camping trip, since the team lost everything in the deluge.

Now, I wonder which Bill Ellis magazine this story will appear in? Regular readers know that Jules Rivera used to have Bill Ellis assign a story to one of the several magazines he supervises. Not any longer, it seems. None was mentioned this time around. Still, some of  you may appreciate that this is more like the good ol’ days when Mark only interacted with Bill Ellis and his one magazine, Woods & Wildlife. Well, I liked the idea of multiple magazines and editors, as it could have presented an opportunity for different types of assignments and opportunities. Sadly, Rivera never really fleshed out this idea and it gradually disappeared, like so many of Mark’s friends in the past.

Nature webcams can be interesting. We watched the birth and growth of a pair of hummingbirds one summer, up to the point where they literally flew the coop, er, nest, never to return. I suppose I could criticize this public-service announcement by suggesting it would have been handy had Mark listed what the web link was or just explained to those not that web savvy, how to search for it. Other than that, it’s a good Sunday nature subject.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Peach Pitt’s dreams of “fashion fame and fortune” under the imprimatur of online influencer Holly Folly were resolved this week; just not in the way Peach originally hoped.

Arguments and denials were the focus of the first half of the week, as Peach rejected the authenticity of photographic evidence Olive and Cherry gathered from the local dump. Of course, this drama could have been avoided had Olive brought Peach to the dump, but stories need drama, right?

Then Rusty showed up at the cabin with a video postcard from Mark. Somehow, his pre-recorded message calmed everybody down. Peach finally agreed to read Holly’s business contract and prepare to negotiate some of the clauses. The expected phone call from Holly finally arrived.

Holly blew up when Peach admitted that not only had she not signed the contract, but she had questions. Holly’s temper tantrum resulted in Peach telling Holly where to stuff her contract. Peach hung up, effectively killing the deal and hopefully ending this story.

From an environmental standpoint this story did at least introduce readers to real-world issues related to “Fast Fashion” clothing and provided a simple way to combat it: Don’t buy it. I’ve cut way back!

The title panel has a good layout, though the imaging of the title is a bit flat. It’s just my outstanding opinion, of course, but I think it would have been punchier if it was slanted to the upper right.

This is a good topic, and timely for those of us who live in places that get snow. What is interesting is that, in spite of the fact that they two birds are not related, they have superficial similarities, what biologists call convergent evolution (of similar features across different lineages), possibly due to similar behaviors and environments. Otherwise, today’s nature strip looks like an elaborate setup to get Mark into a tux for his New Year greeting!

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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It was a tough week for Mark, having been informed by his weather app that a big storm is forming in the area and could cause flash flooding. Seems the camping spot Tess picked out is right in the path. Mark brought this up with Tess, but got off on the wrong foot by putting forward his feelings as justification, before showing the information. This ticked off Tess, who ripped him a new one. She also dismissed his data when it was finally brought up by showing her weather app had no such warnings. Of course, Mark could have simply said he’ll sit this one out. What was there really left to do? He got his interviews, went on some hunts, and ate a bunch of pork chops. But Mark Trail is still under contract with King Features Syndicate, so he will still go, come hell or high water!

The next morning they began packing the car. Reba and Shania were present. Tess and Jess were not yet present on scene. This gave Mark an opportunity to take the two gals aside and give them his gloom-and-doom pep talk, hoping they would agree with him and vote to call the trip off. But Reba reacted the same as Tess. Shania expressed some uncertainty. This was not going as Mark as hoped. Tess will almost certainly learn of Mark’s behind-the-scene treachery.

We’ve already spent several weeks reading Cherry’s adventure and learning about fast fashion and its effects on the environment. So why does Jules Rivera devote a Sunday page to repeating this information? Well, curious readers, Rivera is using the topic to pivot to a more general screed on the pollution effects of plastics and dyes in our oceans. Floating islands of rubbish, discarded clothing, and other garbage certainly do exist and create problems for sea life, shipping, and beaches.

Now, I have no idea what Mark is getting at in the last panel. Style over substance? What substance? Is Mark suggesting that more expensive clothing doesn’t also get discarded and sometimes wind up in landfills and floating garbage pits?

Here we see again Rivera giving mixed signals. Why is Mark holding a model WWI biplane and smiling as he concludes his ominous message? Why is there a deer in panel 4 expressing surprise? Rivera used to brag about how much time and effort she puts into the Sunday page. That certainly isn’t evident in today’s work. It looks rushed and simplistic. Ed Dodd thought it important enough to hire an artist whose only job was to prepare the Sunday page. Unfortunately, I don’t think Rivera gets paid anywhere near enough for that luxury.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Having survived the afternoon hunt with the Hog Huntin’ Heroines (as published the week before), Mark began this week’s installment writing up his notes at the home of Jess and Tess. Mark pondered the implications of Tess’s “errant” rifle shot that came too close to him and Shania and wondered if Tess was getting careless. He didn’t consider that Tess might be leading up to a final confrontation.

Jess dropped into Mark’s room and ribbed him about his paranoia and reaction to Tess having a little fun with her gun. Still, he invited Mark to a sit-down evening dinner of pigging out on a tableau of pork dishes, compliments of Tess’s shooting. Curiously, Mark got all giddy at seeing the spread, as if he had never seen or eaten pork before. He was actually disappoined that Cherry, Rusty, and Andy could not also be here to see the spread. Things must be more dire at the Trail Cabin than I thought. No wonder he accepts every job that Bill Ellis gives him, no matter how odd or absurd.

As Mark chowed down on chops, Tess invited Mark to an overnight camping/ hunting trip, which caused Mark to pause and ponder his survival chances. Tess slyly watched him calculating. But for some illogical reason, Mark figured that he might as well go in spite of any possible danger, since he’d get to eat more pork when he returned. Of course, Mark could have eaten more pork without going on the trip, but this story requires some drama, dammit! So Mark simply has to go!

Yes, we’ve covered much of this already, but it’s still good information. Funny that Mark doesn’t answer his rhetorical “Is hunting the answer?” to controlling the invasive feral hog problem. Hunting is currently one of the common techniques used. Contraceptives are in the works, but it’s an uphill battle.  

There are two other noteworthy items in Mark’s nature chat today: 1) Mark is carrying a rifle. He didn’t bring one on his latest assignment, nor did he borrow one to use. I don’t believe Rivera has shown him hunting. 2) Mark makes much of the diseases found in feral hogs and the importance of proper cooking techniques to make them safe to eat. Yet, this past week, Mark seemed completely oblivious to the danger, never bringing it up or thinking about it. I wonder why?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Two weeks ago Mark went into the field with Tess Tigress to meet her fellow hog hunters, who took turns revealing their hog-hunting origin stories. That week ended with the sighting of a wild hog as the gals prepared to go into action. The actual kill shot took place off-camera, a decision that Rivera repeated this past week and remarked on by one of our newest blog followers. Not showing the actual kill shot could have been an editorial decision by Rivera’s syndicate or Rivera, herself.

This past week saw the hunting party at another location, ready to unlimber their guns in the pursuit of more wild hogs. A good part of the week was something of a jumble with regard to time, sequence, and action, but I’ll try to at least present a general idea. Or you could just read the prior six days of strips (my commentary, optional) and skip this.

When a trio of wild hogs was spotted, Mark got out in front of the hunters to take pictures, but thought better of it and retreated to safety. Then Shania got out in front of the group to get a shot, though Reba warned her to be careful. Apparently she wasn’t and one hog bore down on her.

 At this point, time, space, and sequence get confusing. 1) Shania panicked and ran as hog ran at her. She didn’t shoot hog, but tripped. 2) Reba yelled advice but didn’t shoot. 3) Hog’s movements seemed to slow down for no reason. 4) Mark stood in background, beside Tess. 5) Mark reacted by somehow managing to run and jump in a tree on far side of Shania just in time. 6) Hog’s location unclear. 7) Mark yelled for Shania to grab his hand. She did. 8) Hog seemed to be staring. 8) Tess took a shot, but hit tree Mark and Shania are in. 9) Tess shot again and killed hog (not shown in the strip). 10) Mark and Tess end up on the ground, complaining of Tess’s wild shot. 11) Tess brushes off complaint. 12) No word on the action or whereabouts of the other two hogs seen with this hog.

From Tess’s actions and expressions, I’m thinking that her supposed lack of memory of Mark or her former fake tiger petting zoo may be an act. And she is really setting Mark up for revenge.

WebMD says pumpkin (seed or seed oil) might relieve benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostrate). The NIH offers a detailed, scientific discussion on medical use of pumpkin seed oil: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8681145/

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Back at Peach and Olive’s cabin, Cherry was helping them prepare “Upcycle” clothing while Peach was working on a promo video. There is still dissension in the ranks about working with Holly Folly. When Cherry found out that Holly was hooked up with Cricket Bro, she got visibly concerned. But then Holly emailed Peach with an offer to buy her clothing line for a big price. Cherry and Olive noted Holly’s connection to “fast fashion” and its ecological damage as a reason to turn the offer down. Peach was all but ignoring them, because she wants to succeed, is enamored by Holly’s good fortune, and wants a bit of that good fortune for herself. It looks like this could be a real ethical conflict for them to work out, if Rivera doesn’t turn it into just another farce.

The surf must have been pretty good when Rivera knocked out this reheated potato. I think I’m on the right track, based on the unimaginative and roughly drawn title panel. Mark already made a big deal about the land bridge at the start of his Happy Hog Hunting Honeys story. Yeah, land bridges are helpful and good, but they are not Edward Hick’s Peaceable Kingdom, either.

Shucks! Pay no attention to me; I’m just nerding out here.  It’s really fine for Rivera to do some promo work for land bridges. They have a good purpose. But as this land bridge was somewhat covered earlier, Rivera could have spent this time on how one gets a land bridge designed, approved, and paid for. You know, like if you want to get one for your community or region. Another reason for my generally slack opinion today is based on Mark’s face in panel 2, which looks like it was slapped together with some kind of online interactive Mr. Potato Head program. But guess what? I threw out that “Mr. Potato Head” line as an off-the-cuff snark. But then I thought, “Is there really such a site?” Well, of course there is! Silly me. There are several, and they are not as customizable or fun as I had hoped.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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During the week prior to this, we watched as Mark Trail arrived at the home of Tess Tigress (who does not remember Mark Trail at all) to conduct an interview with her and then go along on a wild hog hunt with her Hog Hunting Heroines. But he was continually distracted, first by the size of Tess’s house (because her new husband, Jess, is a millionaire); then by their heartwarming story of how the couple met, fell in love, and went hunting together, for ever after; then by Jess’s large collection of mounted trophy heads. Finally, Mark suited up for an afternoon of hog hunting. He did not bring a weapon.

And in this past week, Mark and Tess arrived on location to meet the other two women in the hunting club. Mark got the chance to question each of the women about how they got into hunting and how they formed their group. There was an understandable similarity of motivation: an unfortunate encounter, requiring the women to take action, especially as the husbands were either away or incapacitated.

This week ended with the group hearing rough sounds in the bushes that (surprise!) turned out to be a wild hog appearing in a clearing. Rivera’s narration box boasted of a “hog-hunting hootenanny!” in the past panel, as the group turned to face a single razorback. Will the women flip a coin or will all join in?

This is at least the second time that Jules Rivera has dedicated a Sunday page to the exploding whale incident. The last time was July 9, 2023. You can find it in my archives. Maybe Rivera forgot about it last  year? Or she has decided to make it an annual event. In any event, today’s strip fortuitously appears on the same date it occurred in 1970. I have to admit, this version is better illustrated and explained then Rivera’s 2023 account.

If you view my July 9 post, check out the comments. Daniel Pellissier conveniently included a YouTube link of a contemporary local news story on the whale detonation!