Was it just the two employees of Cricket Bro who were behind this conspiracy, or was Cricket Bro the leader of it? Mark certainly thought so earlier (1/27). But Mark is being rather vague or misleading about the reason for their actions in panel 3. I reckon he refers to their climate change denial.
Say, is that a tree swallow in panel 4? Or a Florida Scrub-Jay? It lacks the chestnut-colored breast of a bluebird. I’m no ornithologist, so I’m happy to be corrected. In any event, it looks as if the bird is studying Mark as if he was a worm about to become the afternoon snack.
Reader Daniel Pellissier commented yesterday whether we will ever see Mark actually write up one of his reports. Perhaps Bill Ellis records their conversations and transcribes them for publication? Mark, the so-called photojournalist, certainly did not appear to be taking photographs during this assignment.
Art Dept. Rivera normally handles the close-up panels well enough, considering her style. But as usual, Rivera also relies on sketching generalized “flora” in a minimalist fashion that defies identification. For a nature-based strip, Rivera could spend some time adding more substance and texture to the bushes and trees to at least create a more representational illusion of leaves and bushes. It is not beyond her skill.
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?
Hoo-boy, you almost missed real drama! It seemed for a moment that Rivera had taken a turn for the serious. But no worries, she quickly spun back to her tried-and-true habit of absurdity and jokes.
The week began with Cherry, her two sisters, brother Dirk, and Rusty sitting at dinner. Afterwards, Peach took out the garbage. Here we learned for the first time that the Trail cabin sits on a plot of land with a small descent behind it, resulting in the cabin having a raised stone foundation with a rear deck and steps! Just think of all those Trail cookouts we missed seeing.
So thisis the point where things got serious: As Peach walked down the steps, she saw Rick, standing at the bottom, his car parked beside him, in the backyard. Yet, nobody heard it drive up. When Peach told Rick once again to leave, he displayed his gun and shoulder holster and threatened everybody inside. As a terrified Peach was being forced into the car, Cherry came out to see what was keeping Peach.
The hoped-for serious drama gave way at this point: While Cherry faced Rick and urged Peach to move back, Dirk suddenly appeared. Quickly scoping the situation, Dirk whistled and his “feral hog friends” suddenly appeared and started ramming Rick’s car before he could drive away. Of course, Rick’s escape attempt failed as his car was heavily battered and he was knocked senseless. The gang pondered calling the police, as Dirk offered some of his homespun hillbilly wisdom.
Are we at the end of Cherry’s story? Once again, it has that feel. I bet that next week we’ll see Cherry drop Olive and Peach off at the airport as Mark arrives to get picked up, symmetrical bookends to the start and end of both stories. As for Brother Dirk, he will likely just disappear on his own and maybe change his phone number.
Okay, I usually appreciate Rivera’s customized Sunday title panels, and today’s contribution is almost there. At the very least, it is creative. As is common, Rivera’s Sunday topic links, geographically, to Mark’s current storyline. That makes the Sunday strips more interesting than just reading about random animals or locations.
I have no major issues with this content, though panel 3 is redundant. Rivera could have used that panel to show us another mating example. And then there is the weak, forced humor in Mark’s asides. <Sigh!> He’ll never have a future hosting late night TV shows, so Mark should leave the jokes to the professionals.
It was too good to be true, a hallucination brought on by an overoptimistic hope that Rivera might have finally attempted to deal with a serious issue in a serious manner. In the immortal words of the late, lamented thinker, John Belushi, “But, NOOOOOOOOOO!”
I reckon that Rivera just couldn’t handle the strain of changing her tune. Or maybe she did not care to. It seems that Mark Trail is destined to remain a simple parody strip of itself, dedicated to playing fast and loose with the strip’s traditional focus on nature, wildlife, and old fashioned values.
Some self-parody or even a bit of satire now and then is good. It shows humility. But here, it is more like a scratched record where the needle gets caught, repeating the same phrase, over, and over, and …. Maybe the paucity of traditional, serious adventure strips these days motivates Rivera and her syndicate to play Mark Trail more for laughs. But Mark Trail is sui generis, a one-of-a-kind strip with a tradition of focusing on nature and humanity’s relationship with it. And we already have a plethora of gag strips.
Well, I figured Dirk would step in, again acting in Mark’s place. But that was so predictable. I hoped that Rivera would have Olive make a stand, gun in hand, and draw down on Rick. I don’t know why Rivera keeps presenting strong women, but leaving them helpless or useless. Consider the fate of Diana Daggers, former kickass bodyguard and driver for Professor Bee Sharp.
It certainly looks as if the Moment of Drama has given way to the Moment of Inanity, as Dirk’s feral hogs (maybe wild boars?) appeared out of nowhere and automatically attacked Rick’s car. Smart pigs!
But the timeline seems truncated. It’s as if Rivera left out some important steps. Yesterday, both Peach and Rick were preparing to get into the car, with Cherry standing by the steps. Today, brother Dirk is already down the steps, alongside Cherry. Peach is still outside, but Rick is in the car, trying to get away! And lo and behold, here come the feral hogs! So much for packing heat, Rick.
The drama we saw the last two days seems to have just been a ruse, as the strip returns to its normal emphasis on oddball characters, light stories, and mediocre jokes. Disappointing.
Are you wondering if I’m going to make a crack about Cherry’s hips in panel 2? That would be grabbing low-hanging fruit, so to speak. But feel free to ponder why Rivera made the choice to draw Cherry that way. It’s about consistency, not sexism!
If you read yesterday’s strip, you know that I asked whether Rivera can keep up the dramatic mood she sprung on us (and on Peach). Well, today is a mix of inanity and drama.
First of all, how can Cherry’s trash bin be tricky to find when it’s right beside the steps in plain sight? Are we to think these outdoor scenes are really supposed to be dark? Or does Cherry think Peach is an idiot? Inanity! Rivera could have made up a simpler and more likely reason: “Maybe she got distracted by the great views we have of the stars. I’ll go check.”
Secondly, Rick’s car magically appears in the back yard, though I believe Rivera had to take some liberties for the sake of the scene: Cherry descends the steps, only to discover the danger Peach faces as she is forced into the car. There is another loophole.
In short, real danger continues to hang over the story. What will Cherry do next? What will Rick do, now that Cherry is on the scene? And I wonder where Dirk is.
Well, Peach’s problem has taken a sharp dramatic turn. I’m frankly surprised that Rivera chose one of Cherry’s innocuous adventures to include a threat of actual danger. I’m suddenly very interested in how Rivera continues this story.
Forget what I said about the possibility of Rick renouncing his ways. ThisRick is a man with real mental issues, in possession of a gun and threatening Peach and her family. The story could go several ways, but I hope that “goofy”, “contrived”, “slapstick”, or “absurd” are not likely options.
Art Dept. The artwork today is inconsistent, but improves. Panel 1 is overburdened with heavy black lines and roughly-drawn steps. Rick’s head/face keeps changing again, but he does look convincingly menacing in panel 3 (while also looking ten years older). Panel 3 suggests a film inspiration, but I fail to recall anything specific. I just don’t get to that many movies.
Rivera made a very good decision in panel 4 to zoom in on Peach’s terrified expression and contrast it with the darkly shaded background. It would not have been as effective a scene if Rivera used the same composition as panel 3, where Peach has to share the space. Can Rivera keep this up?
Okay, perhaps Mark and Cherry actually do have more than one house, because this is the first I have ever seen of a two-level Trail cabin (with a stone foundation, yet)! And we’ve never seen the Trump cabin sitting on a slope, either. I’m gobsmacked.
Also curious is the changing imagery of Peach’s ex-boyfriend, Rick the Poacher. For example, here is Rivera’s first version of Rick (12/17/24): Decidedly more blonde, certainly younger looking, sporting a different nose and ears. In short, a really different face! And a different drawing style. Can I explain this? Nope!
On the other hand, Rivera’s pun in panel 2 is better than her normal puns. Well, Rick sounds pretty determined, but will he be able to demonstrate he is a rehabilitated man worthy of Peach’s renewed attention? Gads, I hope this doesn’t turn into rural version of Mary Worth.
Let’s all sit down and enjoy family dinner! Mark is still down in Florida. But where is Cherry’s dad, Doc Davis? Did he permanently move into his vet office? In the pre-Rivera period, Doc Davis was a standard fixture at home, like a wall painting or end table. But at least Doc was present and even talked from time to time. I suppose Rivera could invoke the usual “artistic license” of not having enough room in the panel to show Doc, or claim he finished dinner early and then retired, as some people do.
When we last saw the siblings, they were at the weekend farmers market. Peach’s ex-beau, Rick, showed up and tried to strong-arm her back to Florida. Really Big BrotherDirk (and stand-in for the absent Mark) intervened to send the bipolar former boyfriend on his way. Of course, he is not really leaving, so we’ll see him return fairly soon. It is that conflict between Rick and Peach that is the whole point of this adventure. Anybody want to predict how the story will end?
I’ve been challenged to produce a vigorous analysis of this past week. I must be slipping, as I thought all of my weekending summaries are vigorous in one form or another. Well, let’s see how things go…
First, a brief recap the week, day by day (I’m ignoring the omnipresent bear puns):
Mon – Mark reacts to learning Cricket Bro is behind the kidnapping attempt. He is put off to learn that the kidnappers do not know who he is. This could have been important, as it suggests Mark’s participation was not anticipated by Cricket Bro. Tue – The kidnappers reveal they are here to grab Rita because of criticism against a post of Cricket Bro. Wed – The kidnappers support the manatee-weather conspiracy and spout nonsense about Max. Thur – Rita pounds the kidnappers on climate change. The kidnappers thought wearing bear costumes would protect them from arrest. Fri – The police are called and Max is finally released into the “freshwaters” of Florida. Sat – The police arrive to take the kidnappers. Our gang commiserates over the slow acceptance of climate change in the general public. Max is shown listlessly floating and shrunken.
This week’s strips suggest we have reached the end of the story, though it left the door open for dealing with Cricket Bro. Will this take place in one of Mark’s subsequent, off-the-books revenge stories? Wait a minute. Has Mark ever had one of those stories? Frank Miller could whip one up, I’m sure.
Now, what was this adventure really about? Was it really about protecting Max the Manatee? We can all agree that it definitely wasnot about protecting manatees, in general. As previously noted, there was virtually no face time with Max until the last two weeks. Even then, it was brief and desultory. None of the usual safeguards, procedures, or professional assistance for manatees was depicted or mentioned. Then there were the late revelations by the kidnappers about Cricket Bro’s involvement and his objective to stifle scientific/political views contrary to his own.
We were misled—well, I was misled—by the initial emphasis on protecting Max the Manatee. This was really a kind of bait-and-switch story. Mark was hired as a bodyguard, not a reporter. His job was to bring his Two Fists O’ Justice to any conspiracy nut who interfered with Rita and Skeeter getting Max back into his natural waters. I wonder if Bill Ellis knew this? And this conspiracy was either initiated or supported by Mark’s earliest “nemesis”, Rob Bettencourt, aka Cricket Bro.
When seen in this light, I believe the story makes more sense, though it is still superficial and lacks any suspense. Then again, we can claim that Rivera’s stories have never been about actual suspense and drama, excluding Mark’s first adventure. Thus, criticism about any lack of suspense and drama is redundant and unwarranted. What do you think?
It’s kind of depressing that Mark would spend so much space and effort discussing the groundhog’s weather prediction nonsense. But then again, I’d probably be more depressed if I thought there were people who still do believe this. What’s that, you said..? There are such people!? Oh, right: “Manatees can control hurricanes.” <Gag!> Where is my bucket?
I’m concerned that people in this adventure strip seem to have trouble knowing which way to face when communicating. In panel 1, we see Mark doing the Big Wave as he faces the waterfront. I thought he was still waving at Max. But no! Mark is waving at the two hapless kidnappers who are, technically, behind him, to his left. In fact, Skeeter and Rita are also looking out, across the water. This is the same orientation problem that we saw yesterday.
I’m floating a theory that ol’ Max the Manatee might actually now be ol’ Max the Ex-Manatee! Take a look! Go on. Look! In panel 1 he seems to have floated back to the shore and shrunk by a good ten feet. He looks more like a child’s pool float. What gives?
I do not understand the need to bring Max back, nor show him suddenly next to the shore, compared to his position yesterday (panel 4), after the gang said goodbye. Why is Max in the panel at all? The real point ofpanel 1 is to trash-talk the two failed kidnappers. Furthermore, the rest of the conversation is about climate change, not Max or the endangered status of manatees. This just reinforces my earlier conviction that this story told us next to nothing about manatees, their issues, and their need for guardianship by qualified professionals.
Reader Be Ware of Eve Hill commented on the possibility of a decline in the art of this strip related to the resignation of Tea Fougner, Editorial Director of King Features Syndicate. I mentioned her departure on January 6. My current answer is “Got me!” My understanding is that Fougner was instrumental in bringing Rivera in to update the strip. Given that the art has fluctuated over the past several years, I’m not inclined to believe a causal link to Fougner’s departure. I’m more inclined to think a new director will arrive and promote a different agenda, which might be a bigger concern. King Features owns the Mark Trail strip and Rivera is just the current hired caretaker, as was James Allen before her.
Rita refers to the “freshwaters” of Florida. Really!? This event must have taken place in the 1940s, since I read that these days the “freshwaters of Florida” are polluted from pesticide and fertilizer runoff, which has killed a lot of the sea grass that manatees depend on, and are a leading danger to the survival of the manatees in Florida. Guess they missed that piece of information.
I think we’re all surprised to find that Max the manatee is actually still alive, after been ignored for most of this adventure. And I wonder how they got Max safely back into those “fresh” waters, as Rivera perhaps decided her readers do not need to know how much time, effort, and care is actually required to do accomplish this! So much for this strip’s focus on environment and nature.
First Question of the Day: Why does Rita ask Mark to take control of the kidnappers, since Skeeter already has the situation in hand? Second Question of the Day: Why are Rita, Skeeter, and Mark facing away from Max in panel 3 as they see him off? Third Question of the Day: Is this the end of the adventure, or does Mark go on to pursue Cricket Bro?
Now, don’t wait. Operators are standing by 24 hours a day by to take your comments!
Burglars!? What is Mark talking about? And just who is responsible for this mistatement, Mark or Jules Rivera? Does Rivera make Mark say this for the sake of the alliteration or is Rivera, herself, confused?
Well, this “save the manatee” story has certainly taken a turn to the offbeat. And that is not necessarily a compliment. In spite of Rita’s environmental assertion (panel 1), this story has spent little time on actual environmental or biological issues. And that is not good for a strip like Mark Trail.
This story continues to focus on the fake hurricane conspiracy and the two conspirators. And today’s strip is clearly just an excuse for a lame anti-Florida “joke.” In short, no actual story development.
Art Dept. Fairly rough work. Mark looks out of proportion in panel 1 and is barely recognizable in panel 2. Perhaps that image supports the reason for depicting regular characters in the same clothes in order to assist recognition.
This pivoting is confusing. First, it’s manatee-controlling weather. Then it is Rita’s climate change position. Now, it’s the weather again, but apparently from a secret government machine outsiders know about. Isn’t that the way it always is with these conspiracies!? Well, I’m not going to waste time going through this mess.
Art Dept. The one thing I will comment on is Rivera’s interesting use of perspective today, providing us a bottom-up view of Rita, Skeeter, and Mark in panels 1 and 4. Perhaps viewpoint is the more accurate term, as the lower view reinforces the illusion of foreshortening.
Frankly, Rivera could have produced a much better story that focused on the dangers to manatees from nature and human actions. I’m not going to expound on it here, but you can see my summary in the comments section for yesterday, as a response to an observation from commenter Daniel.
RRRRRRIIPPPPP! That’s the sound of me tearing what’s left of my hair off of my head. Has Rivera lost the point of this simple storyline? Let me help you out, Jules. Here is a recap:
TheWhether Men is a group of conspiratorial nutjobs who think manatees can control hurricanes, so they threatened tosteal Max the Manatee for their own nefarious purpose. Rita and Skeeter hired Mark as their Protection Detail while they transport Max back to his watery home. They were first ambushed at a gas station by two conspirators dressed in bear costumes. Mark forced them to flee. Mark and his companions then drove to their destination and began unloading Max, whereupon the same two bear-bozos showed up again, demanding Mark hand over Max! Not Rita! Got it, Rivera?
So, what’s this revelation (panel 2) from NutJob #1 all about? Why would anybody kidnap someone because of a disagreement over their online posts? Clearly, Rita is not the only person posting scientific climate change information. Does Cricket Bro intend to kidnap everyone who disagrees with him? Sure, Cricket Bro is a duplicitous, self-serving conman, but there’s nothing in his character we have seen to suggest he would engage in felonious kidnapping. But I live to learn.
________________________________________________________ Breaking News: There are unconfirmed reports that Max the Manatee was attacked and eaten by a 16 foot Burmese Python while lying unattended alongside a local shoreline. Max had been under the care of Storm Brain, a local science-based nonprofit organization. Security consultant Mark Trail could not be reached for comment. State and federal officials will investigate the situation.
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.
The Max the Manatee Story did not come to a conclusion as some may have hoped. All but ignoring Max, the story kept its focus on what regular commenter Daniel Pellissier called “a new low…the source of absurd conflict between dufus Mark and two fourth-rate henchmen for an internet grifter. ” A sterner critic than I, Daniel even rated the incompetent bear-boobs two additional levelslower.
As for this past week, after losing track of the bear-suited kidnappers earlier, Mark and his two companions drove on, talking about the thwarted kidnappers. We finally got a glimpse of Max in just one panel. But before the trio could set up the equipment to get the Max into the water, those two “fourth rate” henchmen suddenly showed up—still in costume!—to demand Max. We were treated to a rare, highly stylized display of Mark’s famed “Fists o’ Justice” and the opportune drop of a “frozen” iguana onto the head of one of the bad guys. Apparently forgetting about Max, Skeeter and Rita walked over to watch the fisticuffs.
Afterwards, Skeeter identified the two bear dudes (sans head masks) as employees of “Cricket Bro Inc.”, adding a new layer of distraction for Mark, clearly more interested in his personal achievement and the opportunity to once again confront “his old nemesis.” But what about Max the Manatee, you ask? Oh, please. The “good guys” aren’t really concerned, so why should you be? Just focus on the Bigger Picture!
And that was the week that was.
The smalltooth sawfish is found in sub-tropical and tropical waters, barely present in the United States, but found in southern Florida and the Keys, on the Gulf side. I’m not sure why Mark feels the need to issue a non-sequitur (panel 5) about their feeding habits. In addition to algal bloom, accidental or deliberate fishing, and net entanglements are major threats that helped put them on the Endangered list.
Sometimes I fear that I am descending into a Pit of Snarkiness, that this blog is becoming just an extended version of one-offs, such as we find on ComicsKingdom. Not that some snarkiness is bad. I enjoy a well-crafted dig. But I don’t want to get to the point where all I’m doing is taking potshots. So, do let me know if you find me losing my focus. Don’t hold back. I can take it!
Now, on to today’s silliness episode!
As Mark winds up his defense of Max, Rivera continues to turn this story from the rescue and rehabilitation of a manatee into a story about two second-rate kidnappers and their conspiratorial nonsense. Meanwhile, Max (rememberhim!?) has as much screen time in this story as the box of tools on the shoreline. Remember that?
So how did Skeeter and Rita know about the falling iguana if they were supposed to be busy with Max? No way that job is already completed, even in Comic Strip Time! What I’m trying to say here is that I believe a better approach would have been to show Mark fighting the kidnappers as we observe Rita and Skeeter feverishly working in the background to launch Max to safety. It could have been dramatically depicted in a single panoramic panel. Somehow, I just don’t think that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will give this story its stamp of approval.
While I always like to see new opponents and bad guys show up in this strip, it is curiously amusing to see Cricket Bro reappear. What could be his connection to a conspiracy about manatees controlling storms? There has to be a financial payoff involved in this grift. So I hope this plotline gets fleshed out in a meaningful way. For once.
Oh dear. Where to start? We get confirmation that Max the Manatee is just an excuse for the story and not the focus of the story. The idea that people would start a fist fight while dressed in clumsy bear costumes could only happen if they were: a) drunk; b) stoned, or c) stupid. If Rivera’s intentions are to treat this sequence as a cheap parody of Vintage Mark Trail, then she succeeded.
This “rescue from ambush” (by a falling iguana, of course) is an old movie and TV trope. Rivera used a similar setup before (“Thanks-alotl for the E-Waste “,7/2/24 & 7/3/24), when Mark was fighting the E-waste dumpers in Lost Forest and was about to get brained by Honest Ernest after Connor snuck up from behind to trap him. But Andy was the surprise “frozen iguana” who bit Connor, breaking his hold and allowing Mark to continue fighting.
Tip for Rivera: Narration boxes look less clunky when they are stretched to fill the width of each panel, especially where there is no dialog.
Update: Readers Downpuppy and Be Ware of Eve Hill each provided a reasonable correction to some of my interpretations from yesterday. The covered box on the ground in panel 1 likely contains the tools to get Max out of the truck; not Max, himself. And the gesture of the bear bozo on the right in panel 4 was more likely the familiar “hit-the-palm” gesture suggesting impending physical violence. I always appreciate readers taking the trouble to keep me grounded in reality. Now, on to today’s strip!
Note to Mark: Histrionics and name-calling won’t convince those dudes, Mark, especially when your explanation employs another thing they probably don’t believe in! And a fist fight won’t do much more than put them out of action for a bit. Education would be a better approach, but as we saw in your fishing survival school, Mark, teaching is not a strong point. Maybe those two goofs are true believers who find facts and logic inconvenient. If so, you might as well go ahead. Knock the stuffing out of their costumes!
Moving on: I’m impressed with the ability to get Max the Manatee out of the truck and on the ground without visible equipment. But maybe it was used and is already moved out of the way.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, too: How much time actually passed between yesterday’s strip and today? Because, realistically, getting a manatee out of the truck and safely on the ground would probably take at least a good 30 minutes, excluding the time needed to set up the equipment. Perhaps the two “Bear Bozos” were too amazed at how complex the process to move a manatee actually is and just watched. But only now did they recover their wits. Otherwise, I’m stumped.
The Daily Trail 