Still on vacation, but I had some down time to do the Sunday post. I may wait until Wednesday to post the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday strips.

To say this story went off the rails would be a fitting punishment. What began as a father-son fishing trip in Ohio got interrupted by a breakdown of Happy and Mark’s train (a portent of things to come). Then an explosion at a train station connected with the derailment of another train carrying toxic chemicals influenced Happy and Mark to investigate the incident. This led to reconnecting with Rex Scorpius and his mother, who happened to be living nearby. Mark’s aggressive questioning of a state senator at a press conference led to assumptions of a coverup, the senator’s call for Mark’s arrest, a fist fight with cops, and Mark and Happy’s escape. Whew!

They were spirited away by Rex and his mom with police in pursuit. Later discussions among the four at a remote location led Mark to come up with the goofy idea of livestreaming a report inside Rex’s car, speeding down a highway.  He predicted this scheme would somehow attract more listeners and help expose the chemical spill coverup and the senator’s corruption.

In fact, “Professor” Bee Sharp came online to spill the beans that the state senator was bribed by the Duck Duck Goose transportation company (that owned the train) to cover up any malfeasance. Sharp, who had been hired by DDG to be their official PR face, revealed to Mark that DDG bribed the senator with a wildebeest that he kept in his backyard. An absurd idea, especially if we take this story seriously, which we tend to do, despite Rivera’s tradition of writing goofy stories. This brings us to this past week.

Mark and company sped to the senator’s house. Surprisingly, the senator was also listening to Mark’s livestream report (how he knew this is never explained) and sent the cops to arrest him. The cops, the senator, and Mark all arrived at the house same time, of course. Mark told the police that the wildebeest was a bribe. So, on the say-so of Mark Trail (virtually unknown in Ohio) and the presence of a wildebeest on the senator’s property, the local police arrested their own state senator. Surprisingly, they did not arrest Mark, Happy, Rex, or his mother! Well, let’s take a rest and view today’s nature chat.

Okay, that’s a cute title panel. Today’s topic is not likely known by many people who are not into surfing, though Rivera, herself, is a surfer. Nevertheless, I found it interesting and informative. Well, I found several articles about aggressive sea otters and surfers, but none mentioned the algae connection. On the other hand, I found an informative page on “Environmental Health News” about sea otters and algae blooms. Turns out sea otters often envelope themselves in algae for various reasons, but infected algae are infecting and killing sea otters and sea lions. (https://www.ehn.org/algal-blooms-sea-otters-2651321061.html). But there was no link between the poisoning and the aggressive behavior noted. Still, Rivera may have access to better resources than I do. I do not even play a biologist on TV.

Miss this week’s strips? As the Fugitive Four stood around their campfire, Mark Trail continued to agitate about his failed attempt to get to the bottom of the train explosion and make sure people knew what was really going on. I’m not convinced Mark knows, either. There was a lot of talk about having to “get the truth out to the world”, or “It’s a smear campaign”, and “We got way too close”; all sounding overly conspiratorial, like what you would hear at a fraudulent election symposium. Realizing he had virtually no online presence, Mark came up with a completely weird idea to stream a live report while sitting in the back of Rex Scorpius’ car, speeding down a highway in the night. That was the hook:  Speeding car = massive online curiosity = opportunity to get the word out.

While they were underway, Mark made his presentation, while Happy kept Mark updated on viewer counts. Surely, if it wasn’t for Mark Trail’s online oratory, nobody would know what’s going on, right? But how can Mark even know what’s going on back in Ohio when he’s on the run in a speeding car, very likely in another state? Oops, perhaps I’m not supposed to bring up finicky details like that.

Suddenly, faux “professor” Bee Sharp texted in (I suppose) and requested live access to Mark’s stream. Sharp declared that his image and presentation had been faked by Duck Duck Goose (DDG) using A.I., made to falsely testify that the trains were safe. Conman Sharp had been scammed! Oh, the irony! He added that state senator Smalls was bribed by DDG, not with money, but with a wildebeest, of all things.

Well, it seems that Mark’s idea must have had some merit, because his viewership increased, and Bee Sharp was even swayed enough to jump in. Such is the crazy world of Mark Trail.

I don’t believe today’s title panel meets Rivera’s usual standard for creativity and style. I really don’t mean to be negative. However, while the information is good, the execution of the panels looks rushed: the environment is really abstracted. Even the animals—where Rivera normally spends more time—look very simplified. That bobcat eating dinner in front of a bush in panel 5 has that highlighted outline that is so obtrusive. It adds nothing to the animal’s verisimilitude or relationship with the environment. In fact, the outlining helps flatten the image. However, it’s nice to see that Mark does have more than one shirt!

The week started out so peaceful and self-congratulatory, as the four scofflaws (Happy, Mark, Sally, and Rex) stood around a campfire (where did they get those tents, anyway?) and shared happy thoughts. But all too soon, after scanning his social media sites, Happy reported that they were being sought by the police for inciting a riot (and eluding, I presume), which surprised the always self-contained Mark. “We have to tell the world the truth!” Happy exhorted, as if they were the only journalists in a world of reporters and investigators too lazy or corrupt to figure out what transpired.

We also learned that the Duck Duck Goose shipping company owns the derailed train carrying the chemicals. On top of that, the company hired “Professor” Bee Sharp to be their public spokesperson and pass around the corporate baloney. Mark is really pissed. But he’s pretty much blown whatever credibility he had. As is typical for Rivera, she mockingly refers to their situation as “Dilemmas for the ages.” I wrote briefly about Jules Rivera and her ongoing campaign (from my point of view) to convert Mark from his traditional nature reporter/adventurer persona into a more reaction-oriented environmental activist not above crossing legal lines. Kind of a male Greta Thunberg, perhaps.

Flash! I just read (on Saturday) that Isaiah Wartman, former campaign manager for an infamous Republican politician, was one of several people found guilty in an Ohio court of running a fraudulent charity for victims of the East Palestine train derailment. I wonder if Rivera has enough lead time to work that into her story.

Rivera continues to produce customized title panels as well as Sunday topics that are linked to the location that is the focus of the current story. At least the Ohio River (and its supported states) is not going through the problems that the Colorado River is. So, this is an obvious cautionary discussion.

In case you missed this week, Mark fell back on old habits. If, for some reason, you thought that an adventure comic strip that focused on preserving nature and the environment was a proper example of professional and ethical behavior, this week’s strips might alter that perception.

Mark and Happy attended an official press conference run by some caricature of an Ohio state senator. Not to be overlooked, Mark and Happy made their way up front and immediately started throwing accusatory and leading questions at the senator. The over reactive senator felt obliged to call on a squad of transit police—who were present for no apparent reason—to arrest Mark and Happy.

Mark decided he wasn’t leaving peacefully without getting answers to his questions. Thus, he and Happy squared off against the cops, in full view of everybody. Fists met jaws and Mark and Happy quickly fled the building, only to be met by Rex Scorpius and his mother, idling by the curb in his muscle car. How convenient! Seems they somehow knew Mark and Happy would be there, would get in trouble, and would need rescuing. Maybe they were reading the comic strip, too.

The police chased the quartet of scofflaws as they sped away, out of town. Along the way, Happy and Rex’s mom shared a nostalgic moment about the ’70s. The chase culminated in a cinematic car jump across a missing section of bridge. Such an attempt would spell doom to any other vehicle not equipped with a JATO rocket. There you have the week! And here you have the Sunday lesson!

Gawd, another invasive species found in Florida. We need to build a wall down there! Anyway, today we have another clever title panel. The topic is not relevant to the current story this time. In fact, it harkens back to Cherry’s and Georgia’s story about beehives depleted by an invasion of Varroa mites (June 2023). Since Mark and Happy’s train adventure was just “leaving the station” at the time, the following Sunday strip of June 18 was about the impact of trains on wildlife. I wonder if today’s topic suggests that we’ll return to Cherry for a week to see what’s going on with her?

Where to begin? After the prior week’s high-level interview with tiger-pal Rex Scorpius, followed by Cherry’s phone call of concern and alarm, Mark and Happy spent some time taking pictures of dead fish in a river as evidence of the harm caused by the chemical spill from the train derailment. Then they went to a press conference led by Senator Sam Smalls and immediately dominated it by throwing out a series of leading questions and accusations about deliberate sabotage by train or government officials; accusations that the train was (secretly? recklessly?) carrying dangerous chemicals; and declaring that everybody knew the entire train system was unsafe, anyway. Perhaps Mark was still a bit steamed by his train’s breakdown.

Not that the content of the questions was improper, but the way they were phrased and at whom they were directed seemed misplaced. Mind you, Mark had no specific evidence for some of his questions, since he only arrived the day before and only had pictures of dead fish (that he never bothered to show).

This episode of off-the-cuff ambush-journalism seems a bit unusual for Mark, who—in past stories (such as the zebra mussels assignment)—felt it necessary to actually dig for information before going into action. By that, I don’t mean getting ready for a rough-and-tumble fist fight, as Mark and Happy were ready to do in Saturday’s strip when two cops started moving in to eject them from the press conference for their behavior.

Does Jules Rivera think that research and analysis are too boring or slow-paced to be interesting for readers? I submit that long-term viewer interest in TV shows like the CSI and NCIS franchises emphasized lab work and data analysis as central parts of those shows and were exciting in their own way. Rivera should take note! Speaking of taking note, check out today’s strip:

Rivera continues her creative idea to link Sunday nature topics to the current adventure, whenever possible. And she continues her tradition of customized title panels with this superhero comic book style title panel, as well. But really, now. N95 masks will not protect you against gas. You need, at a minimum, a chemical cartridge respirator mask.

This was a week of fussing over the phone. Cherry saw a news item reporting the train explosion that Mark and Happy witnessed during their forced layover at a train terminal, so she called Mark and tried to force Mark (and Happy, who never really factored into Cherry’s worries, but we’ll assume the best) to come home. Mark spent the week dodging details, claiming he was fine, and pushed his inherent need to “get to the bottom” of the incident and make sure everybody knew what was going on.

I don’t know how long a day is in the Trailverse, but it must be about 30 hours or so. They were already halfway through the day when the explosion occurred. Then they were in a hotel ready to call it day when they went to visit Rex Scorpius (exactly how they got there is unknown, unless they called an Uber or rented a car), who told them what he knew about the train incident. Then back they go to the hotel, to spend time talking with Cherry. Heck of a day.

Mark is sporting a nice beach shirt, rather than his out-of-place red-check flannel. Today’s nature lesson is informative (at least to me!), despite the opening and closing puns. Even they are not as abrasive as past puns.

Following the mysterious train explosion and getting chased away by transit police, Mark and Happy “took refuge”—as Rivera put it—in a local motel. With their train apparently stopped because of the other train explosion, their second and final day of fishing was also ruined. That fact, by the way, was forgotten as the two Trails focused on discovering the reason for the explosion.

Mark got in touch with one of his newest friends, Rex Scorpius, the animal trainer (an occupation Mark thinks makes him a nature expert). Rex was coincidentally nearby, visiting his mother, and knew something about the explosion. So Happy and Mark visited Rex at his mom’s place. While Rex happened to be helping his mom move to Los Angeles, he told Mark that—in spite of the fact that the explosion just occurred today—he knew why it happened: The train derailed, causing dangerous chemicals to spill out. The “authorities” tried to do a controlled burn to eliminate the spill, but it got out of hand and caused the explosion.

This was a lot of information for Rex (or anybody) to discover in a short time, all the while looking at the wreck from a distance, using binoculars. Maybe Rex has some abilities far beyond those of mortal man. He is, after all, a nature expert. Meanwhile, Mark and Happy vowed to carry on the investigation as Rex had to leave with his mother. But before you have to leave, let’s investigate today’s nature talk. You won’t need your binoculars, but you might need a respirator mask.

Based on an earlier statement this week about this exploded whale by Mark, today’s topic should not be surprising. It is rather light on science and nature, but an interesting and humorous tale of misguided optimism with tragi-comic results.

Whale + Dynamite = Moby Ick? Rivera makes another groaner PUNch line in the last panel. Of course, dynamite was not really used to capture or carve up whales in either the book or the movie of Moby Dick. In fact, it would have been absurd, since the point of whaling is to capture a whale in order to harvest its blubber and meat. I wonder how many people today have heard of Moby Dick, much less saw the movie (I did) or even read the book (I did)? Okay, I’ll stop. It’s just a silly pun. Hah!Hah!Hah!

Wrapping up this past week, the mysterious train explosion continued to be a mystery. Happy Trail, possibly spurred on by some past failure or personal incident, goaded Mark into running across the platform with him, towards the exploding train to investigate it. Why? Perhaps a father-son fishing event seemed less exciting, especially as they had already missed half of it.

Anyway, as Mark and Happy trotted across the platform and Mark started taking photos of the wreck with his phone, a transit cop ran up behind them shouting that they did not have permission to take photographs and had to turn over the phone. Never mind that the cop’s demand is probably not even legal. In any event, quick-thinking (for a change) Mark tossed his phone-like charging case towards the transit cop to make him think Mark was obeying. Then Mark and Happy continued on their way, though it wasn’t clear where they were going at that point. Doesn’t seem likely they are going to get to “investigate” the exploding train. Still not sure why Happy thinks they could do this.  Heck, the way this story is exploding in all directions, I would not be surprised if it turns out that Happy spent a few years in his early life as a railroad inspector and still has his badge and union card!

I’m not sure what the timetable is for this adventure, but while we wait for a connection, let’s train our attention on today’s nature seminar!

Okay, this looks like good advice for the family pooch. Of course, instead of buying booties (which I wonder whether dogs really like), why not just take Muffles down to the park or to a field to run around on some grass? As for soundproofing a room, I wonder if Mark bothered to price soundproofing tiles and similar add-ons? Whoof! Perhaps Mark only means to minimize outside noise. Certainly playing music or a movie could help. Put the music or movie on “Repeat”, since there are always fools who will shoot off their fireworks all night long.

A week of stops and starts, or at least a stop, then a possible start, then a probable stop. Then a boom. Happy Trail’s ill-thought plan to take Mark on a train north to Ohio for a two-day fishing trip went south when the engine stalled for half a day, somewhere along the route. While they waited, Happy revealed there was to be a surprise ceremony to award a certificate to Mark in honor of his grandfather, Forrest Trail. He was involved in environmental activities back in the 1960s that helped usher in the EPA. For some reason, Mark seemed pretty ignorant of his grandfather’s work. Kind of strange in a family devoted to environmental causes, if you ask me (go head, ask me!). Can you picture Mark trying to give a talk about his grandpa at the ceremony?

Art Note:  Speaking of “picture”, check out the Wednesday and Thursday strips. Rivera chose to show Forrest Trail looking something like a pre-Rivera version of Mark Trail. On Thursday, I displayed a gallery of Mark Trail faces over the decades, from the strip’s artists. I think the early and current versions by Rivera are pretty shocking in the amount of change they show over just two years. Check ‘em out!

Anyway, while Mark and Happy were outside of the stopped train (possibly later in the trip) getting in some stretching, a loud explosion took place, revealing that “a train has exploded.” Was it their train or another train? Don’t know, yet. But we do finally have some actual suspense and the chance for some serious drama. Let’s hope Rivera comes through for us. But first, let’s dip into the Sunday Nature Chat.

It seems that “killfish” is a generic term for over 1K different species (in several taxonomic families) of small fish that appear in waters around the world and are also popular (if involuntary) participants in aquariums and fishbowls. Many are picturesque, but long life is not a characteristic of killfish. It may be that their short lifespans allow multiple generations to more quickly evolve, building up their immunity to the toxic pollutions Mark is talking about.

By the way, that’s a well composed and executed last panel! Almost a shame to have a dialog balloon.

As my mentor and predecessor, Dennis Williams has told me more than once, I tend to go on when I write. Guilty as charged. I do, in fact, edit my work, but still …. If you think I have gotten something wrong or just babble on too much, feel free to say so.  But I try to leave things unsaid and let you discover them. As a former reader, posting observations, criticism, and questions was a part of the fun.

Okay, on to the matter at hand:  This week Rivera finally got the “Something Fishy” adventure (as I am calling it) under way, when Mark agreed to Happy’s father-and-son fishing trip. It took about two weeks of comic strip postings this to get this sorted out. Saturday was the start. Happy had lined up a 2-day train ride that would have taken only a few hours on a plane. Mr. Cheapskate Trail believed that saving about $100.00 was worth a 27-hour train ride that ultimate broke down after 5 hours.  So, while they wait for the repairs, Mark can go over today’s topic with Dad. Enjoy!

As usual, Rivera crafted a custom title panel for the Sunday strip. It’s a nice tradition that requires more creativity and work, though cartoonists normally omit the title panel or just use a stock image. One reason for this common omission is that newspapers sometimes delete Sunday title panels in order to squeeze and orient the strips to fit other material on the page.

Today’s topic is a well-known issue, the plight of the bees. Rivera takes a more personal view, focusing more on what we can do, if we are lucky enough to have a home with a yard and not have some dictatorial HOA getting in the way.

Unless you like romantic double entendres, not much took place this week. In short, Cherry and Mark took one of their post-assignment nature walks in Lost Forest, apparently looking for the place, opportunity, and mood to behave like birds and bees for a little while. Unfortunately for them, Mark’s phone interrupted the mood and he ensured it was doomed by answering it.

Happy Trail called and excitedly told Mark they are going on a fishing trip! Woo-hoo! This sounds to me like some kind of take-off on one of Mark’s favorite old scams promising Rusty he’ll take him fishing, but never delivering. In fact, Rivera already mocked that meme last December (see “Father Knows Least”).  Now what will come of Happy’s phone call? Perhaps it will wind up as yet another interrupted activity when Mark gets yet another phone call from Bill Ellis conning him into taking on yet another outlandish assignment.

A very interesting topic today, and new to me, in spite of the fact that I grew up on the East Coast sometimes battling jellyfish on the beach. I like their nickname, “By-the-wind Sailor.” Their other name, velella, comes from a Latin word for sail (“velum”), because of the small, stiff sail on their top, causing them to float whichever way the wind blows.

But Rivera should have made it clearer that they are not true jellyfish, according to a six-year old who said they didn’t look enough like jelly. Just kidding. Actually, they are only related to jellyfish and are really multi-creatured, colonial organisms (Note: The Man-o-War is also not a true jellyfish, but another “colonial organism”, which all sounds just weird to me). The velella have also been found off the coast of Great Britain.