If you missed this past week’s strips, you won’t be too far out of the loop. Mark started his pretense of filming the Rex Scorpius Show in the Tiger Touch Center, without knowing how to even run a video camera. But then trouble appeared when Mark got sidetracked by Tess taking a baby lion cub out of a holding pen to demonstrate its calming influence. This resulted in Mark holding an internal discussion with himself on the mistreatment of lion cubs and whether he should get involved. That took up most of the week.

Mark’s concern conflicted with Tess and Rex, who wanted Mark to film Rex holding a cub. Mark didn’t want to, thinking it would be exploitive, rather than evidentiary (for the undercover exposé). Mark offered up a weak excuse about not having enough battery life to film Rex holding a cub, but strangely enough, he said there was enough battery life left to get location shots of the Touch Center!

How Rex and Tess will respond to this transparent lie is something we’ll have to wait for Monday to discover. Anyway, if your newspaper doesn’t carry the Sunday Mark Trail…

Unlike the daily strips, there does seem to be a larger reader acceptance and even appreciation for Rivera’s Sunday nature strips. Rivera might even agree. I’ve read that she enjoys doing them the most; possibly because she has an affinity for nature and animals. I’m betting it’s also due to the fact that the drawing space allowed is much bigger than what is mandated for the dailies.

And following her habit, Rivera once again focuses on an animal that is popular in the state/location that is the basis of the current Mark Trail story. Once again, an animal is endangered by urbanization and farming. Mark makes a fair point about the horny toad eating harvester ants, but for that to matter, a farmer would need hundreds, if not thousands, of those creatures. That would not likely be possible or practical.

Hard at work you say? Spent too much time stressing over the Emmys? Couldn’t keep up with Bik Bok shorts? And couldn’t find time for Mark Trail?Fret not, dear reader. I’ve got you covered.

It’s been a Cherry Week! Rivera dedicated this week to Cherry searching for the suspect lawn (tainted by Honest Ernest’s lawn elixir) she believed could be the source of the pet rash. She was aided by Rusty and their canine witness, Lassie. I mean, Sassy! And what better way to search for a suspect lawn then to take a walk through the woods of Lost Forest. So they did.

Surprise! Surprise! They discovered a property along Lost Forest hitherto unknown to them, which is kind of odd when you think about it. The lawn was golf-course green, raising red flags in Cherry’s mind.

Rusty took it upon himself to carry Sassy over the property fence and across the lawn, when a menacing voice and accusing finger challenged Rusty’s trespass. Turns out it was Violet Cheshire, so  Cherry and Rusty feigned an apology and retreated to the woods. Looks like they missed a big lawn sign with a yellow triangle, similar to the logo on Honest Ernest’s lawn treatment bottles. And it looks like Cherry forgot to grab grass clippings to analyze. Well, before Mark’s adventure resumes on Monday, let’s check out today’s nature expository!

Yes, indeed! Try planting some milkweed seeds in your garden or along the house or garage. It’s enjoyable to watch Monarchs up close. And it beats a boring lawn of just grass and edged flower beds.

Okay, action fans! The simple overview is that Mark, Diana, and Rex arrived at the Tiger Touch Center, presided over by Tess Tigress, who was costumed in a fetching tiger dress. She was flanked by two male assistants in matching tiger shirts and caps. Their Hawaiian inspired greeting was brought down by snarky comments from Diana Daggers. This resulted in Tess banning her from the Center, whereupon a put-upon Mark was left to handle production for Rex’s intended on-location show.
The understory here (according to my team of literary experts after polishing off a case of beer) is that Diana deliberately created and reinforced this confrontation, resulting in the ban. This meant Rex would have to rely on Mark, something Diana wanted. As you might recall (and as Diana reminded Mark in Saturday’s strip), Diana manipulated Amy Lee into getting Mark to take this assignment so that Diana could convince Mark to help save Rex—being filled with self-doubt and lacking confidence—from the clutches of Tess Tigress and her cult. Quite the story, I think. Yeah, I know, I’ve been carping off and on about how this story sometimes seems to dip into Reality Show memes; but we can’t deny that they are part of our contemporary vocabulary, for better or worse.

He! He! Another pun title panel. But what elements make up that title (“Mark Trail”)? Is it what I think it is:  the stuff you bring plastic bags for when you take your dog for a walk?

I’m pretty sure we didn’t buy our house because of our pet(s). Never heard of anybody who bought property primarily to accommodate pets. Well, it could happen, I reckon. I am with Mark when it comes to a yard:  ditch the grass and go with native plantings. Less maintenance, less cost, and less hassle. And I’m 100% with Mark on the value of spiders. If you see a spider (inside or outside), that means there are insects and other bugs lurking around. Leave the arachnids alone to do their job. They’ll leave on their own when the food source dries up.

Oh, and thanks for your valuable contribution today as a lawn ornament, Cherry. You nailed it!

I won’t claim that this past week was a snoozer by any means; it was more like narcissistic arrogance. Even though Rex Scorpius had already told Mark he was tired and just wanted to go home and sleep, Mark acted as if Rex’s departure was an unsolved mystery that he needed to resolve. At least, that is the excuse Mark gave to Diana Daggers (remember her?) as he wandered over to Rex’s trailer and snooped around.

Assuming he had the right to do so, Mark started peeking through a window, only to discover that Rex was talking to his dog on the phone. Accidentally making a noise—as all peeping toms are required to do in TV shows and comic strips—Rex discovered Mark’s creepy activity. But Mark quickly distracted Rex by admitting that he, too, was a closet pet caller. So they decided to have a “four-way” conversation. Afterwards, Rex opened up about his depression and disillusionment. It was touching, in a way, if you define touching as something resembling getting hit on the head by a 2×4. Before we, hopefully, head out on Monday to the tiger zoo, let’s spend a few minutes reading Sunday’s nature lesson!

Pretty lame joke, Mark! Don’t quit your day job. Today’s strip seems more like a random collection of factoids with no overarching point to make, other than highlighting (no pun intended) another Texas lifeform. The National Wildlife Federation website claims that the nine-banded armadillo is, in fact, the only armadillo species in the U.S., and found throughout the southwest and even in the southeast. With regard to road-awareness, slowing down isn’t the only issue. When surprised, these “little armored” mammals tend to jump several feet straight up in the air, turning them into unintended highway suicide commandos!

In case you somehow missed this week’s strips or <sniff!> my postings, you could scroll down and enjoy my barely coherent analyses and grade-school humor. Or you can simply read the following summary and get on with your life.

This is a Cherry Week, so we return to the mysterious animal rash spreading throughout the Lost Forest community. Cherry showed up at Doc’s veterinary office with his prescribed healthy lunch and a bottle of lawn treatment she got from Honest Ernest. Suspicious that it might be the cause of the rash, Doc and Cherry spent the rest of the week evaluating the chemical. Apparently, this lawn treatment has some “corrosive” quality to it, as it quickly cleaned a penny faster than a bottle of soda pop could. Is Honest Ernest’s home brew the cause of the shared rash? It might be difficult to establish a solid link unless Honest Ernest’s lawn business is very popular, or these pets roam free and hang out together.

Now, will we get a second week for Cherry or will we return to Mark and the Tiger Cult? Ponder that mystery as you view the Sunday nature lesson, below.

Close readers of the Sunday strip should notice that Rivera tends to discuss animals and natural events that are related to the area where Mark’s current story is happening. I think that is a really good idea, as it also provides the opportunity to explore more aspects of that area’s ecology. This is an informative topic, though I don’t think the artwork is up to Rivera’s usual “Sunday” standard. For example, she could have drawn the scorpion and its meal options larger, with more detail (panel 4). They look too sketchy to me.

That the only dangerous scorpion exists in Arizona makes me feel queasy. Years ago, I spent a few weeks in Arizona visiting relatives. One morning, as I got dressed, I got STUNG (not bit!) by a scorpion that had gotten into one of my hiking shoes. This happened inside a house, mind you. Happily, it was not the dangerous species. But I was pretty nervous and depressed for a few days. I would add to Mark’s advice to not simply wear proper shoes or boots, but to shake them out each time you prepare to put them on!

Once again, here is the weekly recap for people too lazy, too busy, or just too pissed to read the dailies for the past week, but secretly hope that Jules Rivera will start drawing like Jack Elrod! This week Diana Daggers and Mark drove from the airport to one of Rex Scorpius’s video shoots. Still dressed in his “Yes, I’m a yahoo” faux western garb and talking like a rube tourist from Ohio, Rex dismissed Mark and got on to his assignment:  herding a gaggle of Canada geese hanging out on some goofball musician’s front yard (He might want to hook up with Reptilionnaire. I think they’re made for each other!) Mark was spellbound by what was otherwise a mundane task, when you have 4 or 5 other people helping you. In spite of Mark’s obsequious behavior, Rex again brushed him off and headed back to the motel for the night.

I’m not sure what Rivera’s point here is. Mark could have arrived on set as a straight-shooting, no-nonsense pro, giving Rex a favorable first impression as somebody he could work with and even depend on. Instead, Rivera portrayed Mark as a hick. Even this Mark Trail deserves better. If this is some kind of reverse-psychology stunt or Jedi mind-trick, it does not look promising. More promising might be today’s nature discussion.

What a surprising topic…!  Well, Mark didn’t exactly say how to get the geese off your lawn. If it were me, I’d find something they like to eat and throw it into a neighbor’s yard.

As for Mark’s smug closing comment, I’d say he is wrong. City dwellers (as if Mark would know) don’t have much of any territory, so territorial behavior doesn’t go far. Now, those who live in suburbs and rural areas definitely are territorial when it comes to their property. And they let you know.

In case you missed the strips this past week there was some rootin’, tootin’ silliness as well as some confessions and plot developments. Mark arrived in Houston International Airport dressed up like a dude cowboy at a square dance. He was met, not by Rex Scorpius, but by Diana Daggers, who happens to be the film producer for the Rex Scorpius Streaming Show.  After a bit of snarking on Mark’s wardrobe, they drove off in her car. Then Diana revealed the real purpose of Mark’s assignment.

While the tiger roadside zoo is real, Daggers got her friend Amy Lee to give the job to Mark because she wants his help saving Rex from the clutches of a cult that is behind this roadside zoo. Apparently, Rex has confidence issues that make him vulnerable. I get the feeling that Rex is a bit more than a paycheck to Diana, but that’s just a guess. The bottom line is that this story has taken on a decidedly more serious angle, while Diana is showing a few signs of humility. Well, that’s the week. And now for something else.

HahHah! Funny title panel today: Mark Trail=Shark Trail. The things you can do with seaweed!  Rivera must think (most of) her audience is informed enough to know the annual celebration day of sharks (as mentioned in the last panel), which is July 14 (Shark Awareness Day). Not me, I had to look that up! I thought shark awareness day was any time you re-watched Jaws.

Rivera’s points are all good, though I think most also apply (aside from “finning”) to just about every other sea-born creature. I have no idea how we will be able to clean up the plastics in the ocean. I do not understand why some countries continue to dump trash into the ocean, as if it will somehow dissolve in the water. We’ll probably find cures for cancer before we figure out how to safely deal with trash.

In case you were too busy to see this past week’s strips, the focus on pet rash was temporarily put aside, as was Mark’s preparations for the Texas Tiger Spa assignment. Instead, Rivera began fleshing out Cherry’s own storyline, which began with returning to work at the Sunny Soleil Society’s garden.

Cherry was just finishing planting native plants when Violet Cheshire turned up with Honest Ernest, who has expanded his business to include lawn care, if by “lawn care”, you mean covering it with chemicals, such as his latest concoction, “Lawn Libation.”  Catchy name.  For millennia libations of oils, water, milk, and other liquids have been poured over sacred objects or grounds as part of various rites and activities.

Anyway, it seems Cherry’s just-completed planting will once again get demolished, this time to put in an “English garden”, meaning a lawn. Well, “garden” is a common English term for a back yard. It’s the wrong word, but it’s too late to do anything about it.

Finally, Cherry acquired a bottle of Ernest’s Lawn Libation and had the prescient suspicion that this liquid might have something (or everything) to do with the pet rash running rampant in town. However, this seems to be rather obvious, don’t you think? Maybe it’s a red herring. Will we get a second week of Cherry’s story, or do we move on to Mark’s Texas tiger assignment? While we wait to see, check out the discussion, below!

Well, a straight-up nature talk on waskily wabbits! Cool. I’m guessing that the title panel is composed of “speed smoke” from the racing hare, as in Warner Brothers, the source of the most famous carrot-eating member of the family Leporidae. We get a lot of rabbits in our backyard garden (an actual garden, not a mere backyard lawn). Thus, we also get various neighborhood cats passing through. Fortunately, no lynx has shown up. Feel free to quibble on details.

If you want to skip over my diatribe, ignore the purple prose and jump down to the black text. You’ve been warned!

Jules Rivera’s aesthetic, coming out of non-mainstream art styles popular with online comics and graphic novels, has been a lightning rod for controversy, scorn, and even positive support. Her stories have also received their share of snark and appreciation. Not that that is new, of course. The legacy Mark Trail has long been a popular target for its cornball and illogical stories, its sometimes-uneven old-fashioned artwork, a reliance on cut-and-pasted poses, stilted dialog, and simplistic morals. Oddly, they have also been the strength of the original strip for many who cherished its sameness. It’s one reason why reruns of old TV shows are still very popular. Just ask my dad!

I think we should try to understand Rivera’s Mark Trail through her non-mainstream roots, but it is certainly a difficult task for many of us. I imagine it is similar to what the art world and general public of late 19^th century France faced when they first came into contact with Impressionist painting and its many followers. It was “the shock of the new“, as art critic Robert Hughes wrote about the birth of modern art.

I am both apologist and critic of the Mark Trail reboot. I admire Rivera’s gutsy efforts to bring the strip into a contemporary setting, as off-kilter, reactive, and nutty as you would find in any Florida-based piece of fiction. I liked her original artistic vision of the strip during its early months, before the art became more simplified and sometimes erratic.  In part, I see that due to unforeseen pressures of deadlines, but I could be completely wrong!

I am very glad to see Rivera giving Cherry greater visibility and her own adventures. In that way, she is more like the way Cherry was originally depicted when the strip first began, before she transformed into a conventional wife and mere supporting cast member. On the other hand, I am not a keen admirer of soap opera/sitcom elements that sometimes show up, especially during interludes between adventures.

That brings us to this past week, where Mark has fretted like a boy having to recite poetry in English class. Mark is plainly afraid of the offered assignment to investigate a roadside zoo in Texas. While Amy Lee tried to play up Mark’s love of adventure, it was Cherry who laid down the law and sent Mark whimpering like a hurt puppy back to take the assignment. Yet, Cherry acted like a preteen gushing over her teen idol when she learned Mark would be working with a Hollywood celebrity animal wrangler.

Is Rivera making fun of Mark and Cherry, casting them as a henpecked husband and a shallow wife? Or is Jules trying to use old TV tropes to connect with long-time readers? It is a dangerous approach, as many long-time readers clearly don’t cotton to Mark being made to look and act like an overly sensitive metrosexual who would prefer to stay home and listen to light jazz.  Anyway, while Rivera gets this party going, let’s spend a bit of time looking at today’s nature talk!

I’m fine with this approach. Far too much decorative concrete pavement appears in large cities.

Another fascinating week! As the Family Trail worries over the mysterious rash on their young dog (and the other pets in the area), Mark gets the usual inopportune call from Bill Ellis, this time with a choice of assignments that will require him to abandon his rash research:  Cover a rogue elephant that escaped from a rich dude’s private zoo and is rampaging across several states (!); or investigate a supposedly new-age recovery center for animals. The latter is presented as a “puff piece” of reporting. Neither assignment seems, on the surface, to have a lot of depth to it.  

Wanting something safe and easy while recovering from his vacation, Mark fell for Ellis’s trap and took the supposedly safe assignment, only to learn from Amy Lee, his recurring assignment editor, that this new-age treatment center is actually a dangerous road-side zoo. Yes, I thought that sounded whacko, only to learn from fan DownPuppy that road-side animal attractions were once popular along the old highways of America, before the Interstate system turned those highways and attractions into “Remember when” articles in nostalgia magazines. But before you forget, check out the Sunday nature chat:

I’m not sure that turtle eggs floating in the ocean is one of the better title panels that Rivera has come up with. But it may be the best that can be done with the subject matter. This PSA might go better if Rivera explained how/why such things as light pollution and carbon footprints affect sea turtles. Maybe by focusing on just one practical step we can take, rather than just present an ill-defined list, this kind of presentation could better create a measurable response in readers.

What began in the Lost Forest community as a widespread skin disease (possibly based on some kind of insecticide) on pets in the area quickly narrowed down to focus on the health of the Trail’s second dog, Sassy. That is to say, Rivera shifted our attention from Doc Davis’s clinic, overrun with sick pets, to the more tranquil Trail cabin. Will this mean that Doc once again gets tossed aside like an old bone for the rest of this story?
You will remember Sassy from the time when. . . well, we’re all pulling for her, right? So most of the week focused on Sassy’s rash, as Mark thumbed through what must have been one of Doc Davis’s vet medical journals to try and find cause and cure. Mark displayed his usual heroic strength in dedicating all of his time to a pursuit for which he is unqualified.  However, just at a moment of private conflict, Mark’s off-again-on-again boss, Bill Ellis, called with a new assignment (I think). Realizing that his Quest to save Sassy was just a self-serving fantasy, Mark sucked it up and returned to the real world of a paying job. Now, if you paid for the Sunday newspaper, you might as well dedicate some of your time to reading Mark’s Sunday nature chat!

Pre-Rivera Sunday strips seemed to focus more on discussions of wildlife and nature. Rivera generally follows suit, but more often she turns Sunday nature strips into PSAs. I’m sure a cave is a decent escape from an encroaching forest fire, but just how common are caves?  Moving upwind from a fire is a good bet, as is circling around a fire, if you can. Most web sites warn that trying to outrun a fire is dangerous, as fires can travel up to 20 mph. Moving downhill is safer than moving uphill. Here is a good reference I ran across: https://scoutingmagazine.org/2016/04/survival-strategies-help-escape-forest-fire/

If you missed the first panel of last Monday’s strip, you missed an interesting visual innuendo. Or not. In any event, if you missed (or skipped) this past week, read on.

Following the usual abrupt ending to a Mark Trail story, we got back to Lost Forest. No sooner did Mark and Cherry escape to the forest for a bit nature appreciation, then we learn that Doc Davis’s vet office was overrun by a multitude of pets suffering a similar rash affliction, but Doc does not know what it is or how they got it. For some reason, he has so far ignored the pets’ owners to see what they might have in common. Instead, he has asked Cherry to come in to help with the paperwork, since he also seems to have no secretary. Furthermore, Mark came charging into the vet practice with some kind of pet (perhaps a pig?) named Sassy, which also seems to be suffering from this rash. One hypothetical I offered is that this may be a result of “collateral damage” from good ol’ boy Honest Ernest, the redneck bug exterminator.

A particularly clever title panel this Sunday! While Mark can be as activist as he wants, I’m cynical enough to believe that this will not happen too often. Mostly, as nobody wants to be hit. I do think most drivers will naturally attempt to swerve, if possible. Some won’t bother. In lightly traveled locations, perhaps it is possible and even relatively safe to follow this advice.

And when did Mark move to England? I notice that the car is pulled over on the left side of the road. That should only happen if you are also driving on the left side of the road. Otherwise, it is extremely dangerous, especially near the top of what appears to be a crest in the road! I don’t think creating an even bigger traffic hazard is the right solution.

(edited to correct an embarrassing lack of proofreading) In case you were too busy this week, let’s review what you missed:  Some time must have passed since a runaway forest fire destroyed the Crypto Event, because the fire appears to be out, and investigators are on site. After an interrogation by an officer of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mark and Happy Trail were not only cleared of wrongdoing, but made to feel like chumps, out of touch and underpaid. We also learned that the Crypto Brothers somehow got out of town and escaped to what appeared to be Venice Beach, California. But Cherry wants to top off this splendid vacation with Mark by spending some quality time in a rose garden while Happy spends time with Rusty. Poor Rusty!

This story appears to be in the wrap-up stage, but Rusty’s own adventure is unresolved. Perhaps Happy Trail will team up with him and they will make an exciting discovery. Perhaps they will even have enough time to get the Sunday paper and read the nature chat for today.

It would be hard to dispute the topical relevance of the bald eagle as the subject of the Sunday nature chat. Rivera makes an interesting link with Franklin’s quote and the Eagle’s near extinction. On the other hand, I don’t believe Franklin’s belief influenced pesticide manufacturers or poachers. There are a few matters of grammatical style we could quibble with here, such as the unnecessary use of quotation marks in a speech balloon and the confusion of using the noun “opportunist” in place of the adjective “opportunistic.” I appreciate Rivera’s position that it is wrong to ascribe human morality to wild animals. As the blue singer Kurt Crandall sings, “Pets ain’t people.” Yet, we keep seeing the consequences of naive people confusing pets and wild animals (such as bison and bears).

In case you missed this week, lots of stuff caught fire! Cricket Bro’s car caught fire after it hit a tree, so Mark and Professor Sharp wound up saving him. Not sure Sharp would have done that on his own. Another forest fire appeared and started burning up the event site. Panic ensued. Cherry and Mark found each other and started looking for Rusty, who was still at the halfpipe when it inconveniently fell apart…on Rusty. While trapped, he saw The Seaside Specter staring down at him. Real or hallucination? Not sure, because it was Mark and Cherry who found him. Maybe. We only saw the aftermath of the rescue, so it remains to be said by Rusty who it was who pulled him out from under the halfpipe ruin. Meanwhile, we are not sure what happened to Happy, or even Cricket Bro’s brother. Finally, it seems Sharp’s attempt to stop the scam failed, as Rivera noted that the Brothers somehow sold lots of monkey NFTs. It’s enough to make you want to stay on this Sunday’s strip for a while longer. Keep your hands in your pockets as you read the Sunday strip!

An interesting take on the goat:  not the usual overview, but a case of ‘applied goatness’, I reckon. The West Coast is going to need a hell of a lot of goats to make a significant contribution to minimizing forest fires. Still, it’s a pretty clever idea. But will they be left on their own in the forests? Will they “go native” or become feral, wild goats?

Greatest “what” of all time? I’m not sure, but it’s something to chew on.

Joseph Nebus wrote a recent “What’s Going On In Mark Trail” blog which succinctly expresses many things I’ve been wading through the past year about Rivera’s take on the strip. And more. It is worth reading.

I still appreciate Rivera’s desire to add more complexity and storylines to the strip, but it can be hard to keep track of things in the constrained format of a comic strip. It’s calls for longer storylines, though readers (in general) seem to prefer quicker, shorter stories. I don’t mind length, as long as it is done to fill in and move the story. This past week saw Professor Sharp’s exposé of the Crypto/NFT scam broadcast during the outdoor celebration as well as Cricket Bro’s violent reaction, resulting in his attempt to literally run over Trail and Sharp. Instead, he crashed his car into a tree, resulting in a fiery explosion. Though Mark’s first thought is rescuing Cricket Bro, what will Sharp do?

Part of the complexity, as we have seen, is former opponents now acting more or less in concert with Trail, though with different motives and objectives. I think the currently popular portmanteau is “frenemy”. Cricket Bro, Diana Daggers, and Professor Bee Sharp have all opposed Mark, but recently played up to him, though Sharp’s relationship is more ambiguous and conflicted. In short, these are all shades of gray, not simply old-school black and white. Like the difference between “Dragnet” and “NYPD Blue.” Mark’s Dad may be the most complex and mysterious character in the strip, if you think about it. I’m hoping we see new opponents, so this doesn’t turn into a version of Batman fighting a circle of the same six villains.

A good Sunday topic, though it should have come out in April, when lawn-seeding time begins. I got over the “perfect lawn” syndrome years ago, just because it is a lot of work. Anyway, I agree with the content today, both philosophically and practically. We live in town, but our back yard is a combination pasture-and-garden. It draws in bees, lots of birds, butterflies, etc. The front yard is more clover than grass and looks just as nice.

It’s SUNDAY!  In this action-packed week, the Big NFT Show finally began. We haven’t yet seen the main event in progress; rather, we sat through various interactions of Family Trail members. I reckon all of the action this week probably took place within a 30-minute time frame:

• Mark and Pappy Happy discussed the impending doom when the crowd discovers the scam
• Mark and Cherry traded quips as Rusty was amazed at the large halfpipe in action
• Rusty then got gob-smacked by a trio of cute teens hanging out by the halfpipe until he found the courage to start a conversation with them
• Mark ran into Professor Sharp, who was on his way to reveal the scam-in-progress to the crowd. Mark tried to stop him. Sharp pushed his way into the event DJ’s booth and means to upload his thumb drive for all to hear and see. Can Mark stop him? Should he?

While we all wait for Monday to see what The Professor has to show, let’s look at today’s nature show.

Figured it would be spiders, today. And a web-based title panel is made to order. I used to informally study spiders. Trail is right; they are very helpful to humans, insofar as their pest-eating ability is concerned. In fact, if you find spiders in your house, it usually means there are even less desirable bugs around and the spider(s) is cleaning up for you. So don’t squash them, even if they look scary. Seems our fear of spiders (and snakes) may be an evolutionary holdover, though that is small comfort to people with strong phobias.

Just try to ignore them, unless they are dangling from a thread over your head where you sleep. In that case, you should run like hell, because you are probably a character in a murder mystery novel about to be murdered by a clever fiend who is most likely your uncle, in order to beat you out of your inheritance! Either that or quit wearing mosquito-themed pajamas.

In case you missed this last week, you’re not too far behind. Think of it like missing a week of a soap opera. Yeah, that’s about it. So, Happy Trail and son Mark stressed and opined over the ethics of worthless NFTs, crypto-whatever, and the Douche Brothers’ upcoming Crypto Conference. What would the crowd do if and when they discover the NFTs are worthless? Would they get mad? Golly gee-whiz!
I also penned a few thoughts on the possible aesthetic aims of the strip, itself. But you’re going to have to scroll down to find it. In any event, this week of padded plotting ended with a transition to Cherry taking Daddy Doc Davis to task for stupidly misusing a pressure cooker to make chili. Fascinating. There, that’s the whole nut. While you’re chewing on it, check out today’s nature exposé.

Overall, this is a nicely-drawn and interesting Sunday strip. And we know that Rivera really likes doing the Sunday strips. So, today’s strip tells us that no matter what we do, we @#($! the planet. Or ourselves. Aside from a wide-brimmed hat, is there any kind of sunscreen that is acceptable, since so-called organics are also suspect? But Rivera wants us do to the research!? Hang on there, Jules! Isn’t that what these Sunday strips are for? Why don’t you just tell us what lotion is safe and save us (and the planet) the trouble of making a wrong choice?!  I suppose if the long-term solution is that we just wear hats and still get skin cancer, at least, the Earth will be around for the rest of the animal kingdom.

As for today’s custom title panel, it’s a nice idea, but not a winning solution. I mean, just what is that ectoplasmic title supposed to represent: A giant fart? A jellyfish cape?  Better would be a series of bubbles spelling out the title. Ah, but that would also represent CO₂, which is bad. Hey! How about spelling out the strip’s name with an arrangement of melanoma spots on Mark’s arm?

This part week saw Mark reacting negatively to preparations underway for the impending NFT/Crypto Influencer event. As a scowling Mark walked along a forest trail (a part of the forest not still on fire, that is), a hooded presence made itself known. And that turned out to be Professor Bee Sharp! Sharp went on to explain that he was not here to praise the Crypto Brothers, he was here to bury them.

Sharp’s zeal to publicly bring down the Brothers and their phony crypto scam conflicts with Mark’s need to save his father before the poop hits the new half-pipe ramp. Unfortunately, Sharp is not concerned, and Mark is left with deciding what to do: Save the potential investors and see his dad possibly implicated, or save his Dad and see other people financially bilked by the Brothers. It’s the old Wisdom of Solomon thing. Mark cannot have it both ways, and Sharp is focused on only one solution. Still, there might be a way to accomplish both of their goals. If only they can see it. Until then, let’s see this…

Beaver engineering from space, huh? That has to be a big priority, right? In truth, we are talking about waterways impacted by beavers. Not like you can see the actual beavers happily deforesting patches of woods along the river and creating their own little dam/huts.

Rivera continues her tradition of title panels customized to each Sunday’s theme, though this week’s title has my head scratching. But then again, maybe beaver tales as a design motif did not work out.

I hope Rivera can afford more time on these Sunday strips. They are good, but there seems to be an over-reliance on the same imaging and compositional techniques each week, with space for more information replaced by a standard personal comment from Mark in the last panel.

Arraigned in yellow bedtime regalia like Nero Wolfe, Rusty read his cryptid book and came across a cryptid called SurfSquatch. Formerly a surfer, the dude paddled into a wave the wrong way and come out as some kind of night-surfing wookie who met and fell in love with another such creature. But like Cinderella, she upped and disappeared, leaving him alone and horny.

Where did she go? Though surfsquatches live along the shore and eat seafood, Rusty’s Surfsquatch decided to search in the forest, whereupon he fell victim to hunger and fatigue. Being lost, he next fell into a cave, where an orchestra of crickets was hopping by. So, he ate them, as they reminded him of shrimp. “Shrimp?!” thought, Rusty, “Why, Dad calls crickets land shrimp!” With that light bulb moment, Rusty got an idea for attracting the Seaside Specter. Rusty sought out cans of cricket protein that Cricket Bro had stored in the house, to use as bait. Not yet explained is what Rusty intends to do if he meets the Seaside Specter. Oh, wait. We saw that, already:  He ran. Well, before you run off, check this out:

Hey, at least Mark is doing something with his time in Oregon, other than playing slap-hands with the Bunco Brothers. I bet Rivera had fun drawing these bugs, too.

But speaking of lady beetles, there is an amateur South Australian band called “The LadyBeatles”, something of a local thing, with a Facebook presence and a YouTube video. They don’t seem to be interested in invading America like their male namesakes did nearly 60 years ago (ye gads!).

Hello, sports fans! Wait, if you really are a sports fan, you’re likely watching a game or a multi-hour pre-game program instead of reading this. That’s okay, I can wait a minute.

Right. So what happened this week, you ask? It was a week of basking in the sun of success for Mark, who overcame smoke, fire, and hostile readers to find and disable the power station that was sending dangerous voltage through downed power lines at the mill.  Not sure what happened to the fire, itself, though one panel suggested firefighters showed up to contain the blaze. Ultimately, an informal grievance committee of lumber mill workers complained to Mark that the Bogus Brothers were taking advantage of them by stinting on working conditions, fire procedures, and safety. They brushed off worker complaints, while even Pappy Happy could do nothing to help them. This started another fire, this time inside of Mark who grew even more concerned for his dad’s financial and legal welfare. Perhaps they would all feel better if they took a break and read today’s nature chat!

Yes, Mark. Go ahead and humiliate your son, just as you so often get humiliated these days. I notice that you did not mention your own (albeit reluctant) prior participation in a Yeti Hunt. Or was that one undertaken by your retired dad? It does get confusing.

Still, today’s Sunday strip seems like some kind of passive-aggressive putdown of Rusty’s ambition to hunt for the Seaside Spector. Why can’t poor Rusty get to enjoy his adventure without The Parents feeling the need to tell him there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny!? He’ll grow up to be cynical and anti-parent all too soon, Mark.