I think I’m taking this way, too seriously!

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Boy, am I confused. It must be a time warp or I’m warped. Let me see if I can figure this out:  Cherry and Violet have 24 hours to resolve the homeless kitten situation. Let’s assume that the deadline began a few hours before Cherry called Mark, who was still on the island. Mark had to wait for the next ferry back to the mainland, get a ride to LAX, wait for the next flight out, land, then take a taxi, Uber, or horse & buggy to get back home. That has to be at least ten hours of travel time. With Cherry’s own delay, there couldn’t be more than 12 hours left. Probably less.

But wait! It was night when Mark finished his assignment, so it would have to be the next morning when he got home. That would mean the 24 hours is nearly up, right? Oh, my head. Must. Stop. Thinking. Logically!

When Cherry talks about “these kittens” she appears to point to her mental image of the kittens, as if Mark can actually see them. But you know, when I look at Mark’s and Rusty’s staring faces, that just might be the case. I reckon you have to be careful with what you are thinking in the Trailverse. No wonder Mark avoids other women like the plague!

And just like that, we’re back in Lost Forest!

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It’s nice to see that Rivera wants to make sure (panel 1) that we know that the person welcoming Mark and Rusty inside that “Lincoln Log” cabin is Cherry, though one could be forgiven for thinking they might have stepped into the wrong cabin, seeing as how it is much smaller and different than other illustrations.

In fact, here is what the cabin looked like when Rivera started, back in October 2020. The resolution here is a bit poor, due to this being a copy of a copy of a digital copy. If you look through the strips since Rivera started, you will see that the Trail home changed several times to handle whatever the visual need was at that time.

According to the official history, the cabin actually belongs to Doc Davis (and maybe Cherry), not Mark. Mark just married into it. Did Doc sell his share in the home to Mark? I don’t know. But over time, Mark has managed to become Master of the Cabin, sidelining Doc Davis to his bedroom and occasional screen time.

Rusty exuberantly reacting like a real kid in panel 3 instead of like his socially deprived presentation in the pre-Rivera strips adds the only bit of reality and humor to this otherwise traditional hokey homecoming (which is closer to the pre-Rivera spirit).

Art Dept. My Lincoln Log joke is unfortunately reinforced by the really cartoony landscape, where Rivera didn’t even try to provide any semblance of reality. No wonder the cabin looks different: Maybe this is just a symbolic representation, like a dream or a kid’s play set. Well, at least Lost Forest escaped the hurricanes and floods.

Come to think of it, that would make a great storyline for the strip, where the characters have to deal with the dangers and after-effects of a large-scale natural disaster. It would be a great time to finally show a serious side of the strip, dealing with real physical, emotional, and social problems. How about it, Rivera?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Was this a week or what?! Let’s recap: Following Wingit’s rescue the prior week, this past week gave us the story’s epilog, as Mark delivered it on the phone to Bill Ellis. Ellis called Mark a hero. Debatable. Mark said that Wesley Wingit survived several days in the cave on crickets. Unconfirmed. We also discovered that Wesley had actually broken his hip. Not mentioned earlier! And we also learned that Sammy Spotter got a large enough bonus from the movie studio to quit the business and become an international bird watcher. Then Cherry called and interrupted Mark’s debrief to ask him to take Rusty to Washington DC for a school trip. That’s a bit strange, since school trips are usually conducted by the school.

Now, what did we not learn from Mark’s after-action report?
1. How did the Studio know Wingit disappeared if nobody went in the mansion earlier?
2. Why were the lions so pacified?
3. Where did the actors go who were also supposed to be inside the mansion with the lions?
4. How did Wingit get trapped in the cave in the first place?
5. How did he break his hip?
6. How did they get Wingit out of the cave with his broken hip?
7. What happened to the envelope that was lying on the ground beside Wingit in the cave?
While you view today’s nature topic, feel free to think up some answers and post them in a comment.

Okay, drawing webs is not one of Rivera’s strengths. She could have easily “woven” the strip’s name in the actual webbing in panel 1, if she had taken the time. I think the Joro-spider looks like a bee with eight legs and no wings. If you are interested, look up the Japanese legend of Jorogumo, the shape-shifting, fire-breathing female spider.

We witness the two stories crossing paths in the night.

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I’m sure glad that Rivera saw fit to put in that helpful circular graphic in panel 1 so we ignorant boobs can understand the technical complexities of putting somebody on hold while switching lines. Yes, I’m taking notes, Jules. On the other hand, there is so much visual clutter in panel 1 that it looks like an attack of the Bubble Monsters. Run, Mark, Run!

Rivera is apparently setting us up for Cherry’s story to resume on Monday. But I have to ask:  How complicated is this “box-o’-kittens” situation, anyway? Cherry needs to dedicate another whole week to the kittens!? She already has several people involved, including Violet and Doc Davis. And now, there is Victoria Vex, Violet’s mother and “owner” of the Sunny Soleil Society. Vex gave them 24 hours to get those kittens out of the building. This should be entertaining. Well, there’s hope.

Bill Ellis gets put in his place.

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Bill Ellis is a crudely-drawn example of how trivially the word “hero” gets employed these days. A hero puts their life on the line to save others or end an existential threat. That cave rescue did not measure up to either situation. If anything, Mark could be accused of reckless endangerment and child abuse for taking Sammy Spotter and Rusty into a dark, strange cave where he suspected Wesley Wingit had gotten trapped. That plotline could have been framed as a dramatic and danger-filled scene. Instead, Rivera presented it like an amusement park water ride.

If there was any situation where Mark could be called heroic, it was when he decided to enter a house known to contain freely roaming lions in search of a person possibly trapped or hiding inside. As it turned out, housecats could have posed more of a danger to Mark, but that doesn’t change Mark’s initial action. Of course, we never found out why those lions were so docile or why they ignored Mark’s wanderings. Will we learn anything more in Saturday’s closing strip?

Yesterday’s Hidden-in-Plain-Sight Laugh: The thing that caught my eye yesterday was the eagle, which looks like it is sporting a pair of spectacles. Tell me I’m wrong.

The wrap-up continues

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I think we can at least admit that Rivera goes the extra mile in putting closure to Mark’s adventures, something that her predecessors rarely bothered with. Interestingly, Mark and Company haven’t even left the island yet, and the Studio has already responded to Sammy. Never mind that the concept of keeping this rescue quiet from the public seems to me to run counter to any studio’s desire for free publicity.

By the way, I think Rivera has indulged in a little visual humor, unless my eyes deceive me. Did you spot it, too? Let me know. I enjoyed it. I’ll post the answer in tomorrow’s blog, if I remember.

Mark’s post-adventure debriefing continues.

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Rivera has at least one thing correct (panel 1):  As usual, crumbum Mark claims all the credit for the successful completion of his assignment. In panel 4, Mark boasts about his superior values and magnanimity.

Here we might take issue with Mark’s grammar in panel 4. “A lesser man than me”, or should it be “A lesser man than I”? The choice of which example is correct can raise the hackles of many readers, writers, and know-it-alls. Walls of rectitude protect each position. I grew up having been taught the “hidden verb” rationale, so I lean towards “A lesser man than I (am).” Nevertheless, current usage is current usage and from what I can tell, either choice is considered acceptable, except by people who don’t accept it. A lesser blogger than I might criticize Rivera, but I won’t. Instead, I’ll just move on.

Mark may be wrong about abusing animals and treating them like  movie extras (panel 2). Movies use animals in different roles all the time. But frankly, unless the lions were tranquilized, they didn’t appear too bad off. They had room to roam, food to eat (whatever happened to those actors supposedly locked in the house with the lions?), and no kids throwing popcorn at them.

Mark continues his rescue recap with Bill Ellis.

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Okay, I understand. Rivera moved some portions of the events from real time to this epilog summary. We find out details just as Bill Ellis does, although the only legitimately new information is in panel 4.

There was no rock “pillow” in the original rescue panels (October 11), as we see today in panel 4. Also, the broken hip wasn’t brought up before, but it explains Wingit’s being carted away by EMTs on a stretcher. I’m really anxious to see Mark explain how they got him out of that cave!

I would bet that some of you are wondering how Wesley wound up on the other side of the cave wall in the first place. But more than likely, you’ve already figured it out.

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.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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It seems we reached the end of another unfulfilling story. We had a few weeks of strips showing Mark prowling through a mansion filled with indolent, senile lions in search of clues, followed by Mark and Sammy Spotter prowling around a nearby stream to locate a cave where they believed director what’s-his-full-name might be trapped. But first they retrieved Rusty, to give him something to do and brag about back home.

This past week we saw our Gang of Three paddling kayaks into the cave, where they survived a freak wave designed to create some faux drama. At this point, Rusty finally earned his stripes. In this remarkably well-lit cave, Rusty spotted an opening in a cave wall. Using his vaunted tree-climbing expertise, Rusty looked over the cave wall and spotted a man lying in the next chamber. Lo and behold, it was missing movie director, what’s-his-full-name! Somehow, they got him out of the cave and onto dry land where an EMT squad appeared and prepared him for the hospital. Exactly how he was trapped or whether he had any kind of physical injury was never mentioned. Finally, a real mystery!

Mark told director what’s-his-full-name that he was not the only one getting rescued today. Mark condemned his harmful lion exploitation, so he was taking control of the animals. Mark will turn them over to animal rescue services, much to the consternation of director what’s-his-full-name. Still, I’m sad to discover that Sammy Spotter was not a criminal mastermind after all.

Looking ahead, I reckon 24 hours must be up by now, so we’ll soon find out what Cherry and Violet have done with the kittens before Mother Cheshire returns! Until then, lean back and enjoy some nature.

Mark invokes his inner “Batman” in this Rivera Revisit of bats. It seems Jules just can’t get enough of them. Was today’s strip inspired by Mark’s recent Catalina Island foray into a cave, or a homage to his earlier cave adventure under the pen of James Allen? Hard to say, but there’s a whole lot of other animals, plant life, and environmental issues out there to cover. There shouldn’t be any need to recycle Sunday topics at this point, given Rivera’s short turn at bat (did you catch my Rivera-inspired pun?).

So many questions. Will we get answers?

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Exactly how was Winget trapped? Couldn’t he have just climbed that wall and swim out? I reckon that if he had a broken limb (which was not suggested), the rescue team would have taken care of it. But they don’t look like they are wet, suggesting Mark somehow got Wingit out of the cave. Since they did not bring along any special equipment, Wingit must have avoided broken bones. Too bad Rivera did not illustrate that part of the rescue. But that falls in line with Rivera doing her best to avoid any scintilla of drama and suspense.

Next, were those lions really being exploited? After all, they seemed to be in good shape, had plenty of food, and the run of the mansion and its grounds. Doesn’t sound much different than a zoo.

Exactly how did Mark assume authority to commandeer the lions and decide their fate? For all we know, Wingit leased these lions from a local preserve, and they are going to want them back.

Finally, what about that envelope?

BONUS QUIZ! What’s “different” about Mark in panel 1? If you have the time, look closely!

Wesley Wingit found lying down on the job!

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Okay, some phony drama in panel 1: “…a strange voice nearby…” Strange, as in, “it doesn’t sound human,” or that Sammy doesn’t recognize Wingit’s voice? As we have seen, this overall “bioluminosity”, or some other magical cave lighting, washes out any real semblance of mood.

Still, it’s clever of Mark—whom we saw in the James Allen days becoming quite the mountain climber—to let Rusty have the honor of climbing the wall and discovering Wesley. Now he can claim that Rusty did, indeed, function as his assistant. That should justify Rusty’s portion of the flight and hotel expenses.

Spotter is also spot on with his survival question in panel 3. But how does Mark (Rivera) respond? And what about that suspicious envelope alongside Wesley?

Art Dept. I’ll give Rivera credit for the dramatic perspective view in panel 1. Well done! I only wish the dialog had matched. And how about those kayaks!? Isn’t it interesting how closely the real Wesley matches Mark’s memory bubble that Rivera has shown several times?

What’s the difference between a cave and a tree? Apparently, nothing!

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What’s that hackneyed cliché, “the plot sickens…” That groan in panel 1 may lend some weight to regular reader Daniel’s quip yesterday about a possible guest appearance by former adventure story co-star and cave-clickbait, Caria. Mark might have second thoughts about Rusty looking into that convenient hole in the wall to see what is going on in the next passageway.

Meanwhile, Rivera continues pitching this comic strip to . . . uh, well, I’m just not sure who. This does not strike me as the kind of strip a “younger reader” would find appealing. For one thing, the Wackiness Level is just not high enough, if that is what Rivera is shooting for. Rivera’s early statement about wanting to get Mark involved in more current environmental issues has only intermittently been attempted over the life of the strip. Showing Rusty as some suddenly “aware” boy affecting a TV sitcom eyewink as he delivers his punchline (panel 4) strikes me as uncharacteristic of him and smarmy.

Wooo! This was one scary close call, wasn’t it!?

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Interesting. A wave from nowhere rushes through the cave; a cave that seems well lit. Perhaps that’s just more artistic license. This sequence could have displayed some real drama, had the cave been dark and we could only see indistinct forms, thanks to the helmet lights.

But once again, any sense of actual drama is trivialized. To make the point, Rivera organized today’s strip in a joke-a-day format, as she often does (panel 4).

Another story day lost to self-pity

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This is at least the second time Sammy Spotter has whined about only being a bird watcher, rather than the film’s animal wrangler, as he was originally described (can you guess the date?).  Like me, you might also be wondering just what view Mark has seen that merits his excitement. Maybe he just likes dark cave entrances.

Some of us might be sitting around the digital fireplace right now (preferably Nick Offerman’s 10-hour marathon), pondering just how this Wesley Wingit character got trapped in the cave in the first place (assuming Mark is correct). Did Wingit get a foot trapped in a giant clam? Did a cave boulder suddenly roll atop him, with a rising tide? Maybe Wingit got lost in a maze of twisty passages, all alike. As this is a family strip, I doubt he will show up as a floater.

Anyway, if the rescue gets complicated, Rivera could resort to a Gilligan’s Island dux ex machina, where the castaways simply made various props and costumes show up as needed.

Pointless Comments

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Yes, now that Mark has taken care of his extracurricular, time-wasting duties, they finally get around to entering the cave where they assume Wesley is somehow trapped. By the way, did Mark and Sammy consider the possible reason for Wesley’s entrapment and the possibility that they, too, could get trapped for the same reason? If so, Rivera did not choose to tell us.

Except for panel 2, today’s strip is full of comments that are pointless or patronizing.

Either Sammy Spotter (panel 1) is really slow in finally figuring out why they rented all of that gear or Rivera believes her readers are! On the optimistic assumption it is the former case, perhaps we might have to change our mind about Sammy being the criminal mastermind that I theorized last Friday. And Mark asking if Rusty is ready to explore the cave is a bit late in the game. That question should have been asked back at the beach, where Rusty could have declined and retreated to the hotel.

Panel 3 shows Mark patronizing Rusty, who is just a kid enjoying an adventure. That doesn’t mean he isn’t mindful of what they are doing. Rusty’s comment in panel 2 is quite appropriate for a kid his age. Rivera got that part right. If Mark wanted Rusty to express an “adult” point of view, why did Mark treat him as a kid and leave him back at the hotel beach in the first place?

Anyway, Mark is only “rescuing” Wingit because he is getting paid to do it. Apparently, that is the right reason. Lesson learned?

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Two hands clapping to commenter Daniel for his clever geographic pun in Saturday’s comments. Moving on to this story’s progress: Mark revealed to Sammy Spotter that he found a camera and a production script in the mansion, both of which might hold clues to Wesley’s whereabouts. Mark said nothing about the lions to Sammy, which is surprising, given their physical and geographical status.

Sammy’s review of camera photos led them to a nearby cave on a nearby waterway, suggesting Wingit might be inside. This hypothesis was reinforced by notes in the production schedule. Whether Sammy should have had his own copy of the production schedule was never brought up. In any event, they discussed the situation while at the cave’s entrance, whereupon Mark found some keys he believed were for the mansion. This was more confirmation for their cave hypothesis. And then crazy set in.

Mark realized it was time to pick up Rusty from his surfing lesson! That’s strange, as earlier in the story, Mark was content to let Rusty stay on his own at the hotel. But he didn’t mind letting Wesley sit/float/sink in his cave while he retrieved Rusty. Sammy thought this was odd. So do I.

This brings up an important point: Is Mark taking this assignment seriously or maybe just doesn’t know how to set priorities? The situation sounds ludicrous:  Mark investigates a house filled with lions while his son takes a surfing lesson near (I presume) their hotel. In the middle of his assignment, Mark has to leave to get Rusty (But what if the lions ate him!?) and then bring him back to the site of the mansion. Now all three of them are going to explore an unknown water-filled cave to look for Wesley Wingit. What could possibly go wrong with that!?

Today’s nature supplement is straightforward and interesting. The normally customized title panel has a sleek look to it. Heck, Mark even forewent the usual lame-o bad pun ending for an acceptably groaning dad joke. Still, it’s an improvement.

Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time to deal with Wesley!

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Okay, so being trapped in a cave is not a really big deal for Mark, huh? We can interprete his behavior in different ways:

  1. Mark is a super dad and cares for his own kid above anybody else, even his assignment
  2. Mark is an irresponsible dad and thinks it is just fine to bring Rusty into a possibly dangerous environment
  3. Mark figures Wingit made his own mess, so feels no great responsibility to save him
  4. Since Wingit is no longer in the mansion, Mark’s primary mission is complete, anyway

Who knows which is right and whether another reason will float to the surface of this turgid pool?

Art Dept. Today’s strip displays signs of assembly line drawing, though I might be misreading things. Mark’s face in panel 2 looks like it was put together from stored parts, like an identikit or Mr. Potato Head, especially the mouth, which doesn’t quite fir the angle of the face. By the way, Mark’s watch in panel 1 disappears in panel 3. In fact, panel 1 is the only time Mark’s watch has even appeared.

Less obvious is the “lineup” composition that Rivera likes to use (panel 3) for groups. You can find numerous examples in the strip if you care to go back and review. Of course, part of the reason for this is important: Rivera needs to visually clarify which characters are speaking in a group. One downside is that the composition can sometimes look unnatural and awkward.

Today, Mark and Sammy stand side-by-side in the foreground, talking to Rusty and the surfing instructor standing in the middle ground. This arrangement forces Mark and Sammy to look back over their shoulders.  Clearly, a more realistic and still clear composition would have been to show Mark and Sammy facing Rusty, with their backsides to us. Not a difficult composition, even for Rivera.

Also, how and why did Rusty change his clothes from the relatively short time ago when he began his surfing lesson?

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.