So, Rivera takes her shots at NFTs and their creators. I wonder if this satirical interlude was based on her own personal experience or that of a friend? In any event, I wonder also if the volatile Professor Bee Sharp (the actual goat this week) will suddenly mutate into Killer Bee Sharp and deliver several well-placed and well-earned stingers to Cricket Bro’s head. That might also help make up for Mark’s own neglect at serving up his usual brand of justice when he was in California.

We have a week of Rivera parodying NFTs and their seedy, single-minded entrepreneurs, using the convenient made-to-order idiots, Professor Bee Sharp and Cricket Bore. Somebody on CK questioned the identity of the animal in panel 1. Did that query intend to suggest that the two goose heads were somehow part of the head of that animal? We have to wonder whether Rivera deliberately composed them with that in mind. In any event, they certainly are two very tall geese! Frankly, I have no idea what that lumpy brown animal is. I hope somebody will educate me and the rest of us. By the way, is it me, or does it look like Professor Sharp is exposing himself to the goat in panel 2?

Unfortunately, I think there are some qualitative differences in today’s strip, especially compared to previous days. Let’s compare panel 2 today to yesterday’s strip (I am also using the second panel):

Wednesday’s panel is the left. Compare the photographer in both scenes. On the left, notice how his hand displays reasonably realistic bone structure, knuckles, and “feel.” On the right (from today), the photographer’s body takes up about the same amount of space.

But his hands today display no sense of bone structure or knuckles; they look flat and clumsily drawn. There is also a disregard for detail in the today’s face, compared with the one from yesterday. The camera looks out of proportion. As for the other two figures in today’s panel, they are also drawn in a clumsy, amateurish manner. Sharp’s head looks like somebody with a toupee that is falling off. Cricket Bro’s head and left arm are an effort.

Now, as long-time readers know, I have largely been a champion for Rivera’s art and overall approach, not only for the overall style, but also for her often-interesting compositions and expressive details that help define mood and action. However, what I see today bothers me, insofar as I don’t know if it is due to rushed deadlines, less-skilled assistants, or something else. Everybody has bad days and this may have been one of them. Rivera is usually much better than this, so when I see what appears as slapdash work, it saddens me, in part because it provides fodder for the complainers who prefer the 19^th century illustrative style of the prior Mark Trail cartoonists…which they also complained about (as did I).

Finally, this awkwardness is odd, since it is not apparent in the other two panels, save for that weird juxtaposition of animals in panel 1. In fact, I like panel 3 a lot for its composition, facial expression, and the excellently-drawn foreshortened arm. The panel is first rate. So, what are your thoughts? Am I off the mark?

And who knows, but maybe a lot of NFTs are created as simply and simplistically as this example, then sold on the NFT market for hoped-for buckets of money to gullible investors. And “there is a sucker born every minute”, a phrase P.T. Barnum reportedly coined. Evidence says Barnum didn’t originate that line, but that’s not the point here, anyway.

Should we assume that the tête-à-tête going on in the background of panel 3 is some interpreted reimagining (for visual effect) of a phone call between the “Professor” and Diana? Or perhaps it represents a future contact between these two friends that Bee Sharp is playing in his head as he looks at a bunch of pictures, and trying to determine if he’ll make enough money to buy an island he can call his own? The fact that the two figures in the background are in silhouette while the real Bee Sharp is in the foreground makes it clear (as mud) that they are avatars of some recent or future communication. But, I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop, because there has to be a point to this week-long detour, other than farce for the sake of farce.

Oh, I do like the way that Rivera distinguished the plural form of “NFTS” in Diana’s dialog by bolding only the letters N-F-T. The word would normally be written as NFTs, except that full caps are always used in the strip; hence the bold font formatting. Okay, so you noticed that, too. I still like the effort.

(I didn’t intend to write this much, but I must be making up for yesterday!) I think we can all see “SCAM” written in large letters with this operation. Whether Cricket Bro is just into defrauding the public or is also fine with scamming Sharp is open to consideration. I reckon we’ll find out. However, a bigger question is “why should we care?” That is to say, isn’t all this beside the point? Yeah, we see how Diana’s salary is being “invested” in this “blue sky” venture. But do we need all of this information?

It is easy to criticize the panels this week as an unnecessary digression from the main story and even from Diana’s concerns about her relationship. Even if the strips this week reinforce the questionable ethics of these characters, couldn’t this have been handled in just one or two days? Or are we going to see four more days of the goat eating Professor Sharp’s lab coat? (And doesn’t he ever have classes to teach!?)

I do like the goats-eye view seen in panel 3. I appreciate that Rivera designs unusual compositions now and then, something not easy in the small panels she has to work with.  Rivera is also famous (or infamous) for her narration boxes, as in panel 1, where the character appears to interact with the narration box. In a sense, this is a “breaking the fourth wall” event between the character and the reader, or writer. Some people do not like this, though Rivera wisely keeps this convention to a minimum. Breaking the fourth wall is certainly not Rivera’s invention. Dagwood, for example, often turns to face the reader when the the lightbulb goes off in his head. George Burns, on the TV show he did with Gracie Allen, often broke the fourth wall to talk directly to the audience. So, I think there is a solid foundation for using this shtick. Finally, I wonder if “Greta the Screaming Goat” is a reference to the Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, who is also famous for her blunt, strident delivery. Not an insult, either. Just a thought.

Okay, I’m waiting for inspiration ……. still waiting ………… looking for some inspiration here …….. any time now …………………………………………….. DOH! Nothing here, must resort to academic verbiage:

The sequential narrative form, as manifested in this current model, presents the reader with an unorthodox and systematic interpretation of comic strip qua comic strip. All structural tendencies that focus our attention on the absurdist dialog and jejune illustration define a paradigmatic shift underlying—as only the most prevalent and domesticated mental constructs of the last fifty years can—the inherent morality of a discordant environment bereft of any historical and social insigne. Logically, to borrow a mathematical premise that had long ago been found wanting, a complete mental restructuring of heterodox memes as implied in these panels must . . .  

Oof, I can’t go on.

The best take I have today is that I like the face of Cricket Bro in panel 3. It reminds me of the face of “Superduperman”, a parody of “Superman” drawn many decades ago by the late, great Wally Wood for MAD Magazine. I don’t mean a deliberate copying, of course. It’s probable that Rivera has never seen this particular cartoon. I just mean that the face of Cricket Bro, in its pose and expression, shares a similar kind of happy egotistical narcissism with the dude in the blue and red costume.

Otherwise, I got nothing.

Okay, so my ruminations and predictions may not exactly have been up to the level of predicting the movement of subatomic particles, but still, it’s nice to be at least partially right. So Cricket Bro and Professor Sharp are involved in this NFT racket. This should prove very interesting!

However, I’m not sure what is going here, though it looks like Jules Rivera had several skunk drawings left over and decided to bomb them into today’s strip. Otherwise, I’m as perplexed as Sharp is, to tell the truth. It does appear that a photo shoot is in progress. I don’t know if NFTs are actually created this way, but why not!?

Next, what is this moniker, “Lewks”? Cricket Bro is actually Rob Bettancourt, Mark’s childhood nemesis and recent tormenter. But, I suppose anybody can get a nickname, and “Lewks” must be Rob’s. Rob’s “place” looks rather different from the large, white Palm Springs mansion we originally saw. Rob (or Lewks) is rich enough to have two, we must assume.

I bet you are wondering, as I am, whether that pocket protector loaded with pens in Sharp’s pocket is real or just a prop, like the fake ties boys used to have to wear during photo day at school.

I suppose bringing pancakes is just a Lost Forest kind of greeting. That is, nobody really expects you to eat those large, soggy, cold slabs of dough. They are local symbols of friendship and community. Opening the box is like opening the conversation. Mark and Cliff are the round slabs of dough.

Well, a very interesting image of Diana in panel 2, actually showing her eye(s) and looking uncharacteristically pensive. Meanwhile, Cliff and Mark continue to audition for a reality show on The Hallmark Network. Mark’s comment in panel 4 is a True Trailhead Reference to the long-ago conflict between him and Cliff for Cherry’s affections. I suspect this might be Rivera nicely reaching out to long-time readers, since they are the only ones who would get the reference.

Speaking of friendship, yesterday it was “friends”, but today, it is just “my friend”. This leads us once again back to the most likely suspect, er, friend:  Professor Bee Sharp. If that is the case, can Cricket Bro be far behind? And will this NFT subplot converge into the zebra mussel investigation?

Full points to new reader “cellardoor2122” for his prescient comments yesterday on whether Rivera would focus on the link between NFTs, crypto-currency, and environmental pollution, as opposed to a more simplistic plot of Diana simply being hoodwinked. The jury is out on whether Cliff should be razzed for his lax grammar. Still, except for the articulated finger, that’s a pretty good drawing of Cliff in panel 2.

And bonus points (of a sort) to Rivera for making Mark Trail more up-to-date on technical—if arcane—types of environmental problems than just the usual everyday issues he normally fights, such as poachers, animal abductors, and zebra mussels (Surprisingly, Mark doesn’t seem au fait on the zebra mussel). While bitcoin and crypto-mining are illegal in several countries, they are legal everywhere else, including the US. Who knows? Maybe Rivera will establish a link between NFTs and that “Duck Duck Goose” shipping company. And if the NFT business does get linked into the story, will we see the reappearance of the Herp Hacienda Gang? Or Cricket Bro? Was Cricket Protein Powder just a cover story? The mind reels at the possible connections!

Anyway, what is Diana really fretting over:  Her so-called salary issued in the form of digital images or the fact that she finds her friends are part of a controversial boutique investment fad? And who knew Diana had friends?

“And get off the set, Dr. Phil!” There’s a new team in town to guide and support people under stress, and who….oh, wait. It’s just Mark and Cliff. I reckon Mary and Phil can keep their jobs. But Diana, you might want to contact those Mary or Phil, instead of pouring your soul out to these two blockheads! But is this stunning news, Jules?  Shouldn’t Mark be jumping up and down and howling with merriment at this point? Ah, but Mark is still The Good Guy. Good guys don’t kick you when you’re down, do they? Anyway, we already have enough soap opera comic strips.

I don’t believe non-fungible tokens are actual money, by the way; but unique digitized images you buy using real or virtual currency.  It’s an investment fad, in other words. We’ll see what Rivera’s primer has to say.  Frankly, if Diana is getting paid in NFTs, she should keep a very close watch on the market and sell her NFTs during the next NFT spike. Clearly, she needs a new “partner” who isn’t trying to fleece her, which seems to be the raison d’être why people make and sell NFTs.

So, is Diana’s crisis going to be a significant side-trip in this story? Will it quickly be knocked aside by ongoing events? Or, will Diana take the dramatic step to actually abandon the zebra mussel assignment and effectively leave the storyline, completely? I’ll hold all bets, but cash only.

Speaking of the art (as I was in some recent comments), I think today’s work comes across very nicely:  clean lines, good compositions, and uncrowded panels. However, we do get a bit tired of Rivera’s animals looking at the viewer. We get it; it’s a riff on the Mark Trail animals meme, and also suggests we viewers are physically interrupting the space. But let’s move on, okay?

Unfortunately, I have to give a pass to the coloring, nice as it may be, since I am not sure who is doing it, or specifying it. Those decisions can vary from cartoonist to cartoonist. I’d also like to compare the actual black & white newspaper versions more often, but they are always too fuzzy, due to the low quality of the newsprint. In any event, color certainly enhances our interpretation and appreciation of the strip.

Moving on to the story, Cliff finds out it isn’t about him, after all. And Rivera reveals yet another interesting plot twist, as it turns out that Diana was just putting up a false “tough gal” front, which quickly collapsed (as did Mark’s own ethical stance) with her admission of mission failure. But it’s not for the current assignment!

Panel 2 shows this to be the case, since she apologizes to Mark for being preoccupied with her own problems. Does it have anything to do with Professor Bee Sharp? We saw him at the start of this adventure, after reading one of Diana’s posts. He was not a happy bee.

Anyway, once The Bad Guys show up, Diana should regain her focus and maybe Mark will finally let loose with his fabled fists of justice.

Diana winds up and throws a zinger across the plate, while Cliff gets a bit of wood on it. But if Cliff bought the pancakes, why was Mark carrying them? And why was it Mark who initially offered them to Diana in yesterday’s strip? Did Cliff just suddenly elbow his ol’ buddy aside and move in on Diana? Or did Cliff just improvise when Mark froze in front of Diana, once again? I reckon Mark and Cliff must have also stopped off at Mark’s cabin along the way so he could pick up his vest. Well, no need to be too picky here, because the action is more interesting.

This scenario might actually work out for the best:  If Diana warms to Cliff, good ol’ first-gear Mark will have an assignment once again and get to keep his job. I can’t believe that walking off of an assignment would look good for his future job prospects. Fortunately for Mark, panel 4 suggests that Cliff is making good progress. I’m not sure if those crosses above Diana’s head are Blue Angels flying in a loose formation, or some kind of symbol representing “Okay, I’m interested!” Now if Diana doesn’t invite Cliff inside to go over docking procedures, maybe those three can put together a plan of action. Please, somebody in Lost Forest needs to have an actual plan (which is more than I can say for our current city council. Luckily it’s election day.).

“Cakes”: That’s pancakes to the rest of you! So, Diana is now staying in a B&B? In the September 1 strip (check our archives), Mark drops Diana off at some “log cabin”-like hotel with fancy glass doors. Unless the back of that building has a different architectural style, it sure doesn’t match this place. Okay, maybe she moved. Like taking potty breaks, it’s not that important to the story. Perhaps.

I’m not sure what’s with Diana’s imperialistic attitude, but I suppose it fits her personality. We can assume this is the day after Mark abandoned Diana while she was still in his own boat. It appears that Cliff and his De-Bait team have signed onto the zebra mussel affair, so I expect we’re going to have an ad hoc “let’s work together again” meeting around the picnic table as Mark hopes those huge discs of empty carbs will make Diana agreeable. And he is bringing along his backup team. Mark and Diana may need that extra help once the Company Goons from the “Duck Duck Goose” company descend on Lost Forest.

Finally, I can’t help wondering if everybody in the Trailverse prefers cold, soggy pancakes. The box doesn’t look insulated, but I reckon it’s one of those unspoken conventions where we must assume the food always stays hot, and the box includes cutlery, syrup, butter, and a napkin. I like hotcakes, as well, but I like waffles better, because they have those little squares that hold the syrup and butter so you can see and taste them as you shove each piece into your drooling mouth.

Hah! I think I’ve got it. This part of the story is an homage to Little Orphan Annie, right? We have the big capitalist, DaddyWarbucks, played by Chedderson; we have his assistant (i.e. ward), a gal who wears glasses that makes it look like she has no pupils. But we’re missing a dog. As in the old Annie strip, these two are complaining about reporters (ie “socialists”) who want to take “Daddy Warbucks” Chedderson down because he is a capitalist exploiter of resources and people.

Well, that’s one interpretation. Another is that we have a shipping owner who can only think about moving his ships and finds anything else a distraction or an obstruction. His assistant realizes he is easy to manipulate, though we do not know her motives at this time. But she does have Cherry’s knack for finding help in weird geezers who live in out-of-the-way places and probably thought Deliverance was a documentary. What will you do, Boffo? Run Mark over with your Combine? Throw him in the baler? Force him to plow the “back 40” manually?

Printing or lettering error aside, I wonder how this Chedderson fellow puts up with an assistant who seems content to spoon out information on a “need to know” or “need to ask” basis. And whose online comments, one muses, did she find, since she just reported that Mark has virtually no online presence. Who would be publicizing what was supposed to be an undercover operation? Could it be Diana Daggers, trying to keep her public image relevant?

Well, there is clearly a “show and tell” aesthetic going on in this story, as everybody who has something to say also has to hold up pictures when they’re describing something. And this gal seems to have an unending supply of displays!

Well, will we ever hear the end of “…who has won many conservation awards” every time somebody introduces Mark’s name? At first, it seemed like this “Mr. Chedderson” actually knew of Mark Trail, the way he loudly exclaimed his name in panel 1. It is cleverly written in the former official “Mark Trail” font (which I don’t have). But by panel 2 Chedderson doesn’t know Mark. It must be some kind of visceral reaction in people when they hear Mark’s name. It causes them to repeat it back in a loud voice, like the announcer on “Let’s Make a Deal” who exhorts contestants to “COME ON DOWWWWN!”

This is starting to be fun comic strip melodrama. It certainly seems like those two people are weighing the pros and cons of how to get rid of Mr. Nuisance and his spy boat; and Mark’s lack of online presence appears to be a major criterion. All for zebra mussels?!

Or is the Duck Duck Goose Company actually oblivious (there is that word again!) to them and more concerned that Mark might find out something about their company’s illicit (pick one: human trafficking/fentanyl/rare animal/counterfeit Pokémon cards) smuggling operation?

Say, wasn’t the prior job of that woman in panel 4 the researcher on “Criminal Minds”?

Well, it looks like Cliff’s warning is not so far off the mark, after all. Poor Mark:  He has moved on from being “Mr. Obvious” (thank goodness) to “Mr. Oblivious” (uh-oh!)

Not only did Mark not appear to identify zebra mussels correctly on the cargo ship, he seems to have failed to identify Cliff’s boat as “the rescue boat”. Mark even failed to ask how Cliff just happened to be passing by. Now, he failed to grasp the fact that his own boat’s registration can identify him, a concept understood by the apparently nefarious Duck Duck Goose company, in their San Francisco-style Victorian.

Still, Cliff did not identify his boat to Mark as “the rescue boat”. Why is he keeping Mark in the dark? Finally, why did “Criminal Minds Gal” identify only Mark’s boat? Mystery abounds!

Hard part over? Let’s see now:  Mark swam underwater for a few minutes to take pictures of a hull covered in barnacles (so it appeared). I didn’t see anybody take pictures of the cargo ship, itself; so how will he prove what ship it is? Can he even prove where the photos were taken?

So you call that an investigation, Mark!? No interviews, no follow-up, no verification of the ship’s route or manifest? Maybe a fishing magazine just doesn’t have to meet the higher criteria of a more serious investigative organization…such as QAnon. Now, would a company really send out thugs to beat up Mark, as Cliff warns? Sure, they do it in movies and books all the time: “Nice cabin you got there, Mr. Trail. Be a shame if something were to happen to it.” On the other hand, I suppose the shipping company could try to hurt Mark professionally. They could finance an exposé of Mark’s most recent adventures, for example.

Yeah, lay on thick, Mark, if you want to hook this group and pull it into your assignment. “It was too close to call”, huh? Maybe, if you were an octogenarian angler in a rowboat, perhaps. Anyway, I don’t think it was the case of the cargo crew spotting you underwater, Mark, since they could not have missed the two boats floating alongside their ship!

In any event, we can count on Cliff’s vocal support for Mark’s testimony to gain the approval and participation of the squad. Unless they do not participate, in which case I have to wonder what their purpose is to the story:  Friends or foes.

I suppose that if these vets have been on deployment for a long time, they may not be au fait on the zebra mussels, in spite of the fact that they have been in our waters since the late 1980s. Anybody looking them up on Wikipedia or browsing online photos might get a feeling of dread seeing how they spread and cover so much territory and so many objects. Still, all of this talk of zebra mussel gloom and doom would have been fine in a Mark Trail story 20 years ago. But today, it’s like we walked in on an old episode of MASH.

Still, no problem is too old, too arcane, or too broadly based for Mark Trail to kick it in the gonads with his Boot of Justice. Or was that his Fist of Justice? Mark’s prior attempts to resolve problems in the old-fashioned Heroic Style of “rock’em sock’em” have not been impressive. Maybe he’ll finally get a chance to knock the living daylights out of at least one nefarious, crooked shipping company magnate. Or maybe the guys who deployed the anti-pirate firehoses.

Really, was it “a tough break” for having to walk home? This comes from one of the military vets who have clearly experienced worse than a lack of transportation (unless they think Mark lives in Canada). Well, Naomi’s comment does provide the opening Mark needs to make his case and keep the story moving along.

But Mark’s “cover story” isn’t the only sin of omission here, is it? Cliff isn’t exactly coming forth with how he happened to find Mark in the first place. So, will Cliff reveal the actual facts behind this string of events? Isn’t the real reason Cliff picked up Mark so he could introduce him to the group, who just happened to be waiting around. I’m thinking that they already have a mission, and it may overlap Mark’s. Remember, Cliff and another crew member were following Mark’s boat to begin with, so there is something going on behind this convenient setup.

Er, that’s a rather funny looking zebra mussel; like it is covered with its own invasive parasites!