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Mark doesn’t take Cricket Bro’s bait.

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Okay, go with the flow? Cricket Bro’s new persona reminds me of a couple of people:  one person is the fictional character “Flash” (Lord Flasheart) in the BlackAdder series IV (“Blackadder goes forth”), a pompous, vain figure and womanizer. Cricket Bro’s pose in panel 1 could be right out of that sitcom. The second person is an infamous, equally self-centered, contemporary character, who is unfortunately not fictional. I can’t speak for Rivera on whether Cricket Bro’s current persona is based on either person, but I would not be surprised either way.

Regarding the story development, I’m feeling a bit optimistic here, based on the hypothesis that this story is going to be a real cross-eyed, absurd tale without the pretense of actual danger or suspense. The very room these people are in, for example, remains mysterious. What is it all about? There is that unusual chair; the mirror on the wall behind a pedestal holding a plant (?); and the way Kelly Welly silently stands, as if mirroring the pedestal and plant.

Mark walks and talks to himself!

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Is Mark talking for our benefit (as opposed to using standard thought balloons) or is he recording this for his blog site? Let’s give Mark some points for deciding to blend in a bit by wearing a summer jacket. At least we know that Mark actually is capable of modifying his attire when needed. Oh, there was that time when he sported cowboy boots, a kerchief, and Stetson hat to trick out his lumberjack attire. 

So, Mark discovered The High Line elevated walkway in West Manhattan. Good for him! We can see in panel 2 and panel 3 that Mark must be very impressed by the walkway, given those elaborate triple emenata lines extending above his head. I wonder how he’ll react if he goes far enough north and discovers Central Park?

More Passing the Time

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Howdy Trailheads and other people who think that what was good in 1956 is still good enough for today
Sorry, I have no commentary today because today’s strip is largely a repeat (continuation) of yesterday, but without any new information.

I’ll publish Wednesday’s and Thursday’s strips together. That will leave Friday and Saturday to close out the week, so I’ll likely post both of those days together, as well, unless something changes in the content.

Meanwhile, you can use your extra time wisely to read through as many earlier postings of mine as you can tolerate. Take notes if you wish, as I respect carefulness in others, though I have little of my own. Feel free to post your own comments (find the link) and put in your two-bits worth of your own on virtually any aspect of the comic strip or my writing. I don’t ask you to be kind, but I do ask you to be respectful, apolitical, and without words that would get your mouth washed out with soap by your parents.

Like Rick the bipolar poacher, Mark enjoys a good drive across the grass.

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Well, Cherry’s adventure seems to have ended last week with a thud, along with a drop in my blog’s stats for the week. Perhaps I was a bit too optimistic in my thinking Rivera was actually considering going “serious.” Or perhaps it was me, failing to take Rivera on her own terms, rather than mine.

In any event, it’s time for some of the usual end-of-story cleanup. Will Mark actually wind up at the Lost Forest airport when Peach and Olive are departing? I just don’t understand why Rivera doesn’t coordinate with me!

Apparently, Mark has already ditched Rita and Skeeter, based on the fact that he is back with his car rental. And we’re back with Rivera’s oft-used 3-panel gag layout. I don’t know if Bill expects Mark to write something up or which magazine will publish it, but I hope he isn’t expecting any photos.

Thought experiment for the day: Ever wonder what Bill Ellis does after work or on weekends?

Mark gets his ego bruised.

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As Charlie Brown always sighs, “Good Grief!” I reckon we can all just admit that poor Max the Manatee was never anything more than a prop, and the “save nature and wildlife” angle of Mark Trail seems to be a sham. Clearly, Mark is more concerned with his own petty feelings, rather than his job. Sounds something like real life.

Now, as I wrote earlier, I’m happy to see this story expand to include this mysterious connection with Rob “Cricket Bro” Bettencourt (even though I’d like to see new nemeses show up, in general). I state “mysterious” with regard to Cricket Bro, because Rob could not have known Mark was going to be on this assignment. However, I think Jules Rivera should complete the current Manatee Max story arc first.  If this was real life, Mark, Skeeter, and Rita would all be getting citations and federal court dates for mishandling a protected species.

Art Dept. Have you noticed those triplet lines emanating from Mark’s head in panels 1 and 3? Typologically, they reflect an emotional reaction. Mort Walker, in a half-joking book he wrote called “The Lexicon of Comicana” classified these emotive lines as plewds, a category of emenata. Cartoonists have used them since the early 20th century. They also appear in early b&w silent cartoons. Just a bit of cartoon history for you, free of charge!

Say, do you think Rivera has a ghost artist filling in for her? Some of these figures just look so different than Rivera’s usual work. But she can be quite loose with her representations, I’ll admit. And check out Mark’s pants in panel 3.

We now return to normal people.

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After two weeks of bungling amateurs down in Florida, it’s a comfort to return to a place of normality, tranquility, and bundles. Even the artwork has improved!

Cherry might want to back off of her excitement just a bit, because she only brought eleven baskets, based on the content in panel 1!  Olive Pitt’s cynical comments on being in the sticks is ironic, given the trailer court where they grew up (that is, trailer courts tend to be isolated pockets of civilization).

So, will this peace last through the week? Given the reason for Peach and Olive’s visit (see my posts for the week of 12/ 16/24) and the fact that we usually only get one week of Cherry’s stories at a time, I’m going to predict that trouble will make an appearance very soon.

It’s an interesting symmetry, if it pans out:  Mark flies down to Florida to find trouble. Trouble comes up from Florida to find Cherry and her sisters.

Oops! I spoke too soon.

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I reckon I stepped in it again, as this story is not over. We have another week to get through. That happens. Most of the time, we get two weeks of Mark and one week of Cherry. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes, Mark’s story goes longer, as it is doing now.

But once again, we have Rivera exhibiting her sarcasm for all to see (panel 1). There was really nothing daring about that rescue. In fact, it was pretty painless, from what we could tell. As for eating crickets, I’m at a loss to figure that out. Mark made the first claim even before seeing Wingit, and here he is repeating this odd statement. One other thing: It sure got dark pretty fast, based on the color of the sky, something that newspaper readers will possibly find confusing.

We have a winner in the Saturday Quiz! In case you missed the comments, regular reader Be Ware of Eve Hill figured out what was different about Mark’s appearance in panel 1: It was that his watch magically reappeared. This time it is on his left arm, even though it was originally on shown his right arm before it went missing for several days.

Mysteries (in my head) abound

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Nice find, Sherlock! I wonder if Mark used keys to get into the lion mansion? We did not get to see that particular action, nor were keys mentioned earlier. Of course, such trivial items are not usually a subject of discussion in a story like this, unless they turn up in an unusual spot. I checked back and in the September 14 strip the narration says Mark broke into the mansion. I must have been distracted by other matters to not notice that detail. How did he break in? There didn’t seem to be any damage to the door. Does Mark carry burglar tools?

Still, I’m suspicious. It seems that Sammy has been directing Mark the entire time, including to this cave. Part of that is to be expected, of course. As Sammy discussed back in the August 29 strip, Wingit’s movies are just a scam for studios to take tax writeoffs, while earning him a good payoff. Sammy complained that the discovery of lions in a house of actors would create a studio-ending scandal. But this is surely false, because the tradition in Hollwood is any publicity is good publicity. Well, except when people really get killed.

Why does Sammy have no idea what the movie production schedule is, in spite of the fact that he is part of the production team? That is strange. And today, they just happen to walk to a spot where Mark spots a set of house keys on the ground.

Art Dept. The “moonlight” reflection effect in the water is nicely done, but not very convincing, considering we are looking at the entrance to a (dark) cave. Hmm, panel 3 shows us part of the lion mansion in the background. That’s interesting, considering that the mansion was also in the background of yesterday’s strip, when Mark and Sammy were on the other side of the water, above the cave’s entrance.

Could it be madness?

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Sure, Mark. You must investigate this rash assumption in order to earn your fee. But there’s no need to yell!

Why should people assume Wesley Wingit is trapped in a cave? First he’s believed to be trapped in a mansion; now it’s a cave. What’s next, trapped in the wait line to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland!? What is this obsession with a “trapped Wingit”? Is Wingit some kind of a Wingnut? (Okay, I beat Rivera to that pun I’ve been saving up.)

But maybe all of this is just bad press from Wingit’s detractors. Or detractor! Sammy Spotter is the only person from the movie studio we have heard from or seen. As I recall, he was Bill Ellis’s sole contact for this assignment! It could very well be that Spotter is behind some kind of unexplained criminal scheme. Or maybe this is a revenge conspiracy. Mark does have several enemies in California, including the wealthy Rob “Cricket Bro” Bettencourt, who could be financing this operation.

(Wait, Sammy did not use Wesley’s full name in Panel 4. He may wind up with a reprimand and a fine from SAG for his improper name credit.)

I confess that maybe I’m guilty of suggesting a level of subtlety and complexity not present in this silly story. Maybe I’m just wishing that there was something more, something complex and devious. Something interesting.

Drama finally makes an appearance

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Who knew the Sunny Soleil Society was owned by one person!?! Well, I suppose it could be. This is a new wrinkle in the story. I reckon Madam Drama showed up, after all. It’s not often we get to see a new character. Victoria Vex is certainly correctly named.

I’m guessing this cartoonish Victoria Vex symbolizes the popular perception of HOAs as authoritative and unsympathetic. Remember that the Sunny Soleil Society was originally defined in this strip (see 4/27/21) as managing the HOA for the local Lost Forest village. Violet is the overseer of the company. Looking back, Violet, herself, was more imperious and decidedly more capably “hands-on” than she appears these days (see 4/30/21).

Art Dept. As in most comic strips, the main characters get refined or redefined over time. It is a natural evolution. For example, here is what the Trail family originally looked like back in an early publicity drawing from late 2020 (click the image to see better details):

These are not quite the cartoonish characters they appear as these days, with the possible exception of Doc Davis. Unfortunately, these characterizations did not last very long.

OOPSIES! Here come Saturday and Sunday!

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I just posted the blogs for Saturday and Sunday. That is, I think I either fell asleep for two days or had a server issue. I discovered Saturday and Sunday’s posts in the DRAFT folder, not online.

So, scroll below to catch up on catching up!

Still don’t know why Cherry called on Doc Davis.

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First off, the contrivance and pacing of the dialog into three panels is not warranted, just for the sake of a forced joke. I’d have rather seen panel 3 become panel 1 and move on with two more panels to push the story some more. I don’t think we’d lose any context for the remark.

Art Dept. I don’t wish to be merely critical. Even if I am. So, why are everybody’s slacks tight fitting? This is a standard design choice in Mark Trail. But isn’t it about time that Doc Davis, at least, started wearing “comfortable fit” slacks that don’t look like leggings?

Why does Rivera show Doc and Cherry standing so closely, side by side in panel 1, with their bodies facing us, while their heads are turned toward each other? And that proximity looks like some geezer hitting on a younger gal.

I think panel 2 is well done, though drawing Cherry’s mental image balloon crowds Doc Davis out of the frame. Panel 3 is quite another story. It’s a room of shifting perspectives!

Doc looks like a slightly smaller version of Andre the Giant, fully covering the door behind him. When we see that Cherry is virtually the same height as Doc, one has to wonder. Let’s suppose it must be artistic license or the “needs of the story”, but the kitty box is drawn with a perspective that matches nothing else in the room. But we need to see the kittens, right? Drawing the scene from a higher viewpoint could have resolved that issue much better, but would also present more challenges in foreshortening the figures.

And now we return to Lost Forest, deer decoys, and Cherry’s kittens!

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While Mark, Rusty, and Sammy Spotter presumably make their way to Catalina Island, Rivera returns us to Cherry’s drama of the six kittens. Based on Doc Davis’s reaction, finding kittens is either a rarity in Lost Forest or maybe he’s never seen that many kittens at one time.

So what is Rivera driving at? Is she setting up a scenario where the kittens need to get vaccinated and then taken to the pet shelter? The kittens don’t look like they are running away, so shouldn’t a search for a possible mother cat be undertaken? But then again, if a mother cat is found, then what? Regardless, they have to be removed from the premises to protect them from the dangerous lawn spray. Clearly, this is a tricky situation for Cherry.

Based on the content so far, I predict this will be yet another short story for Cherry. Shorter stories seem to have become the norm, in contrast to her earlier, longer episodes, such as the incident of the statue and the bees (“Sunny and the Bees“).

Mark and The Hard Way

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Hmm, as we saw on July 6, it was Ranger Shaw and his partner who arrived to take care of the Grungey Boys. All Mark did was confront them (for good reason) and had a short knock-fest. They demonstrated either an unwillingness to use their weapons or an ineptitude in their application. In any event, the rangers took the Grungey Boys into custody and turned them over to the cops.

Shouldn’t Ranger Shaw be concerned about Mark taking the law into his own hands, especially as Mark boasts about his ethical confession in panel 4? Well, this has actually been Mark’s status for pretty much his entire comic strip existence, as it has been for most heroic personalities in our various media over the millennia. Throughout human history we have looked to heroes and avengers to settle the score and right the wrongs that we cannot, but wish we could. That belief makes for great books and movies.

But maybe I’m being too hard on Mark Trail. He could simply be indulging in a case of self-congratulations and boasting. That’s not too bad. Some people give to charities, others do volunteer work. And people like Mark just look for wrongs to right.

Time to play “Who’s got the biggist?”

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Ah, little boys with their toys. This reads like a cheap action movie from several decades ago, where the so-called actors were likely local yokels picked up in a gym. All of this macho preening is nothing new here. Rivera’s Mark Trail is a continual parade of comical bullies, childish taunting (on both sides), and quick fights. Again, nothing terribly new here, but sadly, nothing terribly new.

It is interesting to see how Connor, the whining, accident-prone camper preoccupied with the fear of divorce, suddenly exhibits a boastful, almost menacing manner (panel 2). In fact, he looks more like Honest Ernest with that trimmed Fu Manchu and movie-villain eyebrows. Yes, it’s quite a change from his look of shock in panel 1.

In fact, I think it really is Honest Ernest and the syndicate colorist misidentified the figure as Connor. Note that the shirt is buttoned up to the collar, whereas in panel 1, Connor has his shirt unbuttoned. The really confusing part is the hair, which looks a bit more like Connor’s.

Mark gives free reigns to his emotions

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First, a note: Based on more research and enlightening commentary posted by some of my readers (e.g. Downpuppy), I’ve learned that the issue of whether free-roaming, untamed horses (to use a neutral term) are invasive or native to this country, whether these horses should be called wild or feral, and whether they should even be “managed”, is very contentious. Those terms carry a surprising amount of political and social baggage, sharing space with the science. 
I must admit that Mark’s reactions yesterday (and today) may not be simply based on an assumed ignorance (I might claim that for me). Mark’s reactions could be based on understanding and accepting the untamed horse as a reintroduced native species, rather than an invasive one. Hence, his shock. So I must disavow most of my snarky commentary from yesterday (which I otherwise liked) and hope Rivera does a good job dealing with the complex issues surrounding these horses, at least within the limits of an adventure comic strip story! But for now, it’s on to today’s strip:

So we have yet another day of Mark emoting over his horse friends. One thing I don’t get is why Mark thinks he has to write negatively about them, unless Rivera has not yet reported all of his conversation with Bill Ellis. From what I’ve read, Ellis should want Mark to put a positive spin on the horses.

Art Dept. The repeated arrangement of Mark (more or less) on the left side looking (more or less) to the right helps visualize Mark’s singular train of thought across the four panels. The coloring of panels 1 and 4 acts as pendants to the different coloring of panels 2 and 3, the latter being designed that way to emphasize Mark’s imagining of the horses in his memories. In short, I believe today’s strip is well-designed.  

Rivera’s art follows a more conventional mode of representation, save for Mark’s fingers, which seem as if they don’t have real bones in them. Otherwise, this should be good enough to satisfy all but the more diehard Trailheads. I do hope the story holds up, as well.

Another potential lawsuit in the making?

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Hmmm, yet another week with Mark. Frankly, I’m surprised to see this story continue. Mark’s comment in panel 4 is questionable, at best, and can lead to a person’s injury or death. Usually, the best way to help a wild animal in need is to call the proper authority and let them take care of it. For example, picking up a bat is not an honest mistake; it is reckless and dangerous, as we just saw. Wear gloves first!? How about “Don’t touch it”? As a survivalist teacher, Mark is guilty of providing bad and misleading information similar to the bad information in Connor’s fake survival book that Mark raged against.

NB: The CDC and Mayo Clinic state that a potential rabies patient must actually undergo a series of shots. Better than dying, however, as untreated rabies is almost always fatal! Bats are the number 1 cause of rabies in the Americas.

Getting back to the strip, I wonder where Rivera is taking this story? I’m no writer (as you can tell), but since Rivera seems reluctant to include actual survival/camping lessons in this story, what is left to do? I think it is time for Mark to get that old, familiar phone call from Bill Ellis and go back to work.

The Week in Review and Sunday Nature Chat

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The week-before concluded with Cliff and Mark at the hospital so Connor could get his finger fixed from a hooking accident. They ran into Cherry and Violet, who were there with Honest Ernest. This ER meetup saw Cliff pushing the “express your feelings!” mantra on Mark, while Connor and Ernest were literally out of the picture and forgotten for the week. Mark started to wonder whether he was suppressing.

This past week, we found Cliff and Mark back on the job taking Eli, Ranger Shaw, and a repaired Connor on a hike. What survival techniques were discussed or demonstrated? Oh, dear readers, don’t be naïve!

On the hike Connor had a mini-meltdown that turned into an impromptu group hug around Mark, who was decidedly uncomfortable with this forced situation. Can’t blame him. As they broke to return to the fishing lodge, Eli had his moment in the sun when he spotted a bat (order: chiroptera) lying on the ground, so he touched it and got scratched on the hand…sound familiar? What are the odds!? This week ended like the prior one, with Cliff and Mark (back) at the ER.

Was this Adventures in true feelings meant to poke fun at the presumed troglodyte Trailheads who miss the old strip? Rivera should know that males and females do not always express emotions the same way. But it never seemed to me that Mark has had problems expressing his true feelings, even to Cherry; at least since Rivera took over. So I hope this week puts an end to Mark’s survival retreat. I also hope Rivera gets this adventure strip back on track, with Mark putting the hurt on people and companies taking advantage of animals, nature, and the environment. But if expressing inner feelings is your drama of choice, try Garfield.

A classic animal-centered Sunday topic with a clever visual pun in the title panel, connecting a Ford Motor Company logo style with a running mustang (I presume). Wikipedia has a decent article on horses, if you are curious.