As far as we can tell from the dialogue, pithy as it is from time to time, there might have been less than an arm’s-length transaction between Mitchum and his “cousin,” or somehow they were in cahoots and therefore would have benefited at the cost of Riverway (née Petroxx) and its other stakeholders, but to just scuttle a project without the consent of the Board (assuming there is one) is highly irregular…

But who is this “cousin?”  And why would he care necessarily?  He sold the land to Mitchum, so presumably he “got his…”  It’s just so frustrating when the world of business (legitimate, mostly) runs into the mind of Mark Trail and his creators.  Easy enough to have Mark square off against people engaged in poaching or other illegal activities, but when we try to work the everyday into the story line, it all gets terribly confusing!!

So, let’s do another quick cut back to Lost Forest, catch up on what’s been going on there and see what else materializes…  I don’t envy James Allen.  Let’s hope his plot generator hasn’t lost power…

…to  the scene where the bad guys are taken into custody- on Mark’s word, of course…  I wonder if there will even be a trial.  When does the insurance adjuster get a call to inspect what’s left of the SWAN??  So many details that I am glad we will not have to endure…

So sad, Justin, so very sad… That there are those who put profit ahead of people and relationships!  Strange how you were able to rise to such a prominent level in the Corporate Firmament without leaving a single enemy in your wake.  Certainly possible, but not very likely… that is unless you were deposited into your seat as a result of family…  but no mention of that, so we shall have to wonder.  And wonder whether the mine project will now be scuttled in favor of maintaining the pristine nature of the Great Dismal…

Oh Justin…  really?  How does it feel to be a walking caricature in a cartoon??  Hard to tell if he’s sweating or if he’s broken out in hives…  But think about it, Justin… This isn’t over…  far from it!  You will have to testify against Mitchum and live in fear the rest of your life that he’s going to get out and come after YOU!  The person who spoiled all his dreams!!!

How much blood has been let here, anyway??  That is unless Vince slit BGwB’s throat??  Why don’t you try loosening your shirt collar, big guy? Let a little more blood up to your cranium!

Good thing, too.  We’ve been on the Great Dismal through quite a few moon phases and as much as I love a good eco-mystery (wait, is there any other kind here??) it’s time to move on.  So yes, Honey, Baby, blechhh…  thank you for saving my ass, again, what would I do without you?

I can hardly wait to see the next story where we bring the entire trail brood along- Rusty included just to see what trouble we can find!

And I wouldn’t turn your back on him, Mark…  save the honey-ka-fuddling for later, you have two baddies on board and unless they are tied up, they are not going to just lay down… Oh wait, that’s right.  This is the Trailverse.  When bad guys get hooked, they lay flat like a halibut…  And Justin…  Where’s Justin?  He was about as useful as a brick to a drowning man.  Watch him emerge and pick up where Mitchum left off…  that would be AWESOME…

OK, this doesn’t even make sense…  “A Bow and Arrows??” on a boat?  Just propped up in the corner like that?  How about a rope?  There’s usually plenty of that on board…  or is it a tie-back to the very brief encounter with Mitch, the fellow who came by to engage in a little “Target Practice???”  And good Lord, she’d have to be as fast as Oliver Queen in order to pick up said bow, notch an arrow, draw, aim and fire…  all in one fluid motion…

And apparently a pretty good shot if indeed she only meant to wing him and not to impale…  But a glancing blow like that?? Would that really elicit the howl that Mitchum is emitting?  Whatever.  This is just silly.  Still it IS Cherry to the rescue.  A meme in the making if ever I saw one…

Such drama!  Mercury in Retrograde, Full Moon, Cherry is in all three panels of today’s installment… our evil-doer is getting more evil by the second (I mean it really looks like he’s going to shoot Mark…) and we are left hanging again…

But let us not lose heart, dear readers.  Mark is Immortal.  We know that.  He hasn’t aged a lick in 60 years (or however long he’s been around) and do we really think some overzealous capitalist is going to get the best of him??  I think not!!  Or at least I hope not…  hang in there; tomorrow’s another day!!

That’s Mark’s move!!  The Crab-kick!  Only it’s being unleashed on Mark!!  And now Mitchum has the drop on him…  I guess we can’t call Mitchum “Ol’ One-Punch,” now can we??  What about the bad guys of yore who got punched and instantly submitted?  Not in Allen’s Trail-verse… these guys come back, almost like their lives depended on it…

Over?  Really?  I think not.  Mitchum might have the gun, but he’s terribly outnumbered.  Considering BGwB is currently being subdued by Vince, that still leaves Cherry and Justin below-decks, and even if Justin is a wimp, Cherry certainly isn’t…  Time for a winch-handle to the cranium!

Mark has a pretty long fuse these days, but it’s nice to see he still brings it when he needs to…  And there’s Vince, nothing but calm and strong, BGwB in a hammer-lock…  But let’s ‘Mark’ it, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the third story arc, and nigh on 100 days into it, and Mark finally gets to deliver a blow under the James Allen Regime.  He seems to have been all bottled up, sort of like Forrest Gump visiting Jenny in her Dorm room and finding “release” for  the first time…

Well, with the odds evened up (and then some,) we can now be confident in knowing that right makes might, the Earth is back on its axis and spinning in the correct direction.

You gotta love the last words coming out of Mitchum’s mouth, right before he gets sucker-punched by Mark.  It’s classic Trail, the “What th-“ as in, surprise so complete that only the sound of the digraph gets out, not the final ‘e.’

Welcome back, Mark!

If there is anything bad guys hate more, I am not aware of it.  Logic and reason.  To have the foundation of their motivation undermined, to have everything crumble underneath them, has to be a very uncomfortable feeling…  Look how shook up Mitchum is!  He doesn’t even answer Cherry and Justin’s argument.  All he can come up with is a “Shut up, Lady,” and “Why is this boat not moving?” Little does he know that the reason the boat isn’t moving is because BGwB has been immobilized…  Quietly…  Sneakily…  Off camera.

Oh, dear, this story is starting to resolve…  Mitchum will be hauled off and charged with any number of felony counts and Justin will “decide” to not build the mine, having fallen under the Trail-Spell and having now seen the light…  I guess our paper and our paint just won’t be as white from now on…

Mitchum, did you learn this at negotiation school?  From watching Dallas on TV growing up?  Enough with the monologuing already!  If you are going to shoot someone just get on with it already!

If the tests are correct?  You are certainly betting a lot on the come here, boy…  and the tests are just preliminary?? He really does have all this backwards doesn’t he?  And he’s back  the to holding the gun in his right hand… what’s up with that??

And with Cherry looking on with that now-familiar look of “What the Hell?” it can’t be long before she springs into action…

All this ennui is starting to get to me…  “***sigh*** it’s time I severed our Partnership, Justin…”  Riveting, just riveting…  I can barely look away.  I am losing sleep over whether Mitchum will be foiled and Cherry will be returned to Mark.  Well, not really.

But them Justin utters that time-honored line, “You don’t have to do this…” or something like that…  It’s what every bad guy hears while his victim awaits their fate… It didn’t work in “No Country for Old Men,” and it’s not going to work now…

Mitchum is starting to get rattled, ladies and gentlemen!  And Justin is becoming ever more the irritant…  It would seem, though, that BGwB is in no hurry to go retrieve “his buddy…”  Notice how we haven’t invested anything in the way of naming these two scoundrels for hire…

But What’s Cherry up to?  Is she bound and gagged, sitting and waiting patiently for “her man??” Not likely, as we have seen the new Cherry take matters into her own hands more than once, and we have yet to see the new Mark Trail lay low any baddies…  but we are hopeful, right?  Mark has to get his punch back, or the balance of the Trail-verse will be off for good.  James Allen, if you are reading this, please send us the old Mark, the one with chiseled fists and daring-do…

Geesh!  Stifle already!  Nice full moon!  Lit up like daylight!  Not good for sneaking up… but there they are, ripe for the taking, but how?  There’s been no plan made, so is this a total improv operation??

And Really… Who the Hell is BRUCE, anyway?  That has got to be the dumbest name for a boat ever…  Why not ROBERT?  Or TED?  Maybe those were already taken.

Have to admit, I am a little bored with this whole story.  It’s OK, you can say it.  We really don’t care about Cherry, much less this idiot industrialist clique…  Let them squabble all they want, it’s all intramural anyway.  And with the SWAN blown to bits, we only have this ugly shark boat to draw…

Sleepy, languid, unflappable…

And Mark, if you say “Flat-Bottom” one more time I am going ask that Vince take you out with the pole…

Ever wonder whether Mark is going to catch on the fact that every time Editor Bill Ellis calls, his life or someone he is close to is put in mortal danger?  Maybe just once Mark will say, “Uh, no thanks, Bill, everywhere you send me I end up in a tight spot…”  And what does Bill do when Mark is away?  Editing?  Editing what? Are there other feature writers at Woods and Wildlife??  Now were he the Publisher, then he would have other duties… But editors needs stories to edit.

Vince, you are all of the above, and with any luck, you will help Mark get his mojo back…  Not to mention the size of your hands…  good Lord.  The fist you are making around that pole suggests that your left cross could really pack a wallop…  let’s hope we get to see that in the next day or two!  And let’s hope that Mark can follow that lead.

The look of grim determination (or dread) on Mark’s face in Panel three is a new one.  So layered is our hero now, we really have to pay attention!

Seriously??  “Sure wish we had a phone so we could call for help!”  What?!?  I suppose the plan for Cherry and Justin involves “losing” them in the swamp…  I imagine a great many people have gone missing here without a trace- sort of like the Meadowlands of New Jersey…  Where allegedly Jimmy Hoffa, for Teamsters boss and tool of Organized Crime fame is stashed…

Yes, Mark, no time to waste.  So be a fool and go rushing in!  Or not.  Stand there and demur…

And of course, no mention of Justin Holland, a “good and reasonable man…”  Just Cherry Baby…  Which I suppose is a positive turn in the Trailverse… for in another time, Cherry would be regarded as just another upright biped that would attempt to communicate with Mark and confuse him with “feelings” and such.  But now we sense actual longing and concern emanating from Trail…  so guys, please keep your voices down, you might actually have the element of surprise on your side, unlike the ORCA…

But are they armed?  What exactly are they going to do once they get to the boat?  Talk some more?  Remember the age-old adage, “you can’t argue with crazy…”

…but it’s not really in my nature to do so…  Still, since you have information I need, then I guess I have no choice but to take you up on your offer of further assistance…  And Vince, what’s with this outsized sense of duty?  I mean you don’t know these people from Adam, and you are about to put yourself in mortal danger??

And my how brave we look in the third panel- did Vince have a comb? How does your hair snap back into place, Mark, with your superman-spit-curl all perfect and everything?  And such a determined look- almost a scowl!

Between Slavers and Bounty Hunters and Alligators and Malaria, I’ll take the gators and the skeeters…  What a life that must have been.  The bravery and the hardship, the faith and hope that drove them on.  It’s difficult to imagine there was a time when all that was commonplace, when an entire way of life was propped up by a labor force paid nothing and held against their will…  And don’t think it was just the South.  The North and Great Britain were buying cotton by bale.  The Cod fishery off the coast of Northern New England was delivering a ready supply of protein to feed the slaves on the Cane plantations in the Caribbean to support the Rum industry…  An entire world was getting wealthy off the labor of Vince Wilkins’ Forebears…

I do recall now, however, that Vince was privy to the entire plot… and therefore could, by process of elimination, determine who was good and who was evil… So long, BGwPT, your goose was cooked before you ever left the dock…  And we also know now that Vince is on the side of good, since only good people “do a little fishing…”

…as I questioned earlier in the story, we wondered (OK, I wondered) who was “watching” Mark and Cherry enter the Great Dismal. Based on the profile (albeit reversed) in panel 1, it was none other than Vince Wilkins, Construction Company owner, eyeing the Trails as they steamed into the swamp…

Nice of you to ask about BGwPT, Mark, but as it appears he “did not make it” and as it appears that Vince can easily determine good from bad and who to save and who to let drown and become Alligator fodder, you find yourself in the ancestral home of Mr. Wilkins, citizen, entrepreneur and all around good guy…  And besides, Mark, Swamp People probably find the location of Lost Forest just as curious, all high and dry… And do people really use phrases like “actual residence?”  How about “that’s where I call home and live most of the time…”  But of course real estate is precious in the confines of the 1/2/3 panel format, and we have to move the story along.  Even in the Trailverse…