I have said it before, and I’ll say it again… Hell, I have probably even used this title before…  but really?  Look at the three pictures of Mark Trail.  It could be three different people, but for the annoying and always-available pink chamois-cloth shirt…

I don’t know that I ever particularly cared about Mark and his family, but now I have generated actual disdain… I know… Lighten up, Francis…

Who if Geoff talking to in the left hand frame?  And Rusty, best ever?  Greatest of All Time?  (That’s what GOAT stands for, you know, when you see it- took me a while figure that one out…)  Mr. Wizard, get me out of here…

Now that we are all focused on the Crowleys and their growing family, while also enduring another close-up of Dopey McDope-face…

Little Kevin’s dream just came true!

But wait, little guy… I am sure there is paperwork to fill out!!  But then I am sure that this isn’t the Crowley’s first rodeo with adoption.  I’m sure it will all work out fine…

Now can we just get the hell out of here?  And can we find someone who can draw??  That final panel doesn’t even look like Mark!!

Here’s an idea- just start running old Dodd-Elrod strips on a daily basis.  The sense of relief would be palpable across the Trailverse.  This latest story has everyone a little twitchy…

Eric begins his long confession and ultimate redemption:  3 days worth!  But why is Kevin looking so guilty?

Eric continues:

“Decided to come back?”  I think it was the fire, ma’am, that made Rusty and Kevin decide to come back…  And do you really think you wouldn’t have noticed a falling, flaming tree on your own?

Because that’s what kids do these days… shake hands!  I think a friendly shoulder punch or back slap might have been more typical…

Good thing that the ‘Rona hasn’t invaded the Trailverse, otherwise the whole camping trip would have been called off…  Now there’s an  idea… Mark Trail, Sheltering In Place, Day 100…

As we enter the long “Minnesota Good-bye” portion of our story, we are, unfortunately, treated to full frames worth of our story-specific characters…

I always though it was Rusty that would make the most seasoned of us cringe and turn away, but Mr. Crowley’s face is hideous!  Not to mention Mrs. Crowley’s grammar!  How about “Saved our lives?”  “Our and Eric’s?”  Really?

And what exactly is covering Kevin’s head?  Is that hair?  Hard to believe that Mr. Crowley would tousle it, Heaven knows what is growing in there…

Perhaps it’s just me, but I believe we were to have the impression that the lighting strike combined with a drought produced forest fire of epic proportion…

…but no, apparently not…

…it was brought under control by four dudes from the Forest service…  So, given the relative lack of severity, what exactly did they all “make it out of” anyway?

Or Zombie Apocalypse??  The first frame looks a little foreboding if you ask me… 

…And of course it’s ALL_ABOUT_KEVIN… Good Lord.

Is this where we get off?  The end of the story?  I’d say “yes!” except that means we have to warm to the notion that there is another, and another after that…  Funny how I used to feel anticipation at the end of a story arc… now I just feel dread.

As we return to our story, we are really picking up some steam!

OK,  maybe not.

Everyone seems to be well versed in the various directions found on a compass face…  How about, “Let’s get back to the car, away from the fire??”  But I don’t see Mark in the last panel…

Well, I guess everyone knows everyone else, at least by their last names…  And buddy, don’t make promises you can’t keep!  Fires and Pandemics are hard to “control,” as we have learned of late!

It’s called an airplane, dumb-ass…  Yea, heaven forbid you should suit up and meet the fire head-on…

By the looks of it, the stream can be hopped over by even a child… Is Mark suggesting that it’s going to stop a raging forest fire??

I am tired of Kevin, the freckle-faced Opey wanna-be…  now fawning in supplication to Mark…  and his supposed expertise…

It’s only when one considers this strip in groupings that we realize just how tired and lazy the dialogue is…

“We had better get back…”

Oh thank goodness, we are all about to be accounted for…

“Need to head back…”  Really?  Gee, that would never have occurred to me…

As Rusty &  Kevin make their way through the hellscape that has become our daily encounter with the Trailverse, they happen upon the Asshole in  Training (Eric) and his reluctant mom…

… who of course have to be menaced by a falling, flaming tree…

But even as Eric and the Missus dive in a full layout to avoid being crushed, we have to wonder what has become of Mister and Mark…

Thank goodness for Rusty… there’s time for reconciling later, people, we’ve got to get a move on!!