Could this be the moment of truth? Plus, a validation for Rivera!

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I appreciate the fact that Rivera was able to telescope Rusty’s departure from the story in such an efficient and encapsulated fashion (panel 1). It’s a technique she should employ more often to keep a story moving along. And how Mark was able to get somebody else to pay for Rusty’s airfare and expenses for doing nothing more than hanging out should earn him an award for his powers of persuasion or maybe just bald-faced deception.

Anyway, Sammy Spotter seems a bit melodramatic, which is to say, annoying. But I love how he and Mark just showed up at the lion mansion without having any special equipment or even an obvious plan. Hmmm, I suppose they will just have to wing it?

In other news: Cherry’s concurrent story of a collection of kittens suddenly appearing from out of the bushes is mirrored in a video I just found on YouTube. Truth and Fiction meet? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lN2MAvsOEnw

Rusty Resets the Agenda?

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Well, the crisis thermostat is really boiling over now! Or maybe it’s freezing over? Heck, I’m just not sure what Rivera is driving at. Is this a real crisis or not?

Instead of hurrying on to solve this really big deal problem (at least for the movie studio), our intrepid group takes the time to drive out of their way to view some old houses. And now they dawdle by the shore, coddling Rusty.

Perhaps after they spend a few hours hiking around the mountains to find a Catalina fox or shrew, they might find the time to take a detour to the “lion house,” only to learn that the missing movie director snuck away to the Bahamas with one of his “production” assistants.

An island with mountains you say? How unusual, Rusty!

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I’m still trying to come to grips with the justification for this entire storyline. One would think that a house filled with free-roaming lions and human actors would constitute an imminent threat requiring quick and decisive action. Nothing could be further from the truth. Then there is the fact that the entire enterprise is not about rescuing the actors (who cares about them!?!), but on finding the missing director who set up this ridiculous scenario, in order to protect the reputation of the movie studio.

I cannot stop thinking that there might be something entirely different going on here than we are led to believe. Is Sammy Spotter being honest? Are the lions actually in a cage inside the house? Or are they old, toothless beasts ready for their last roar? Is Mark being conned into participating in some kind of secret Reality TV show? Is he being set up to be a fall guy? Or maybe it’s something even worse, planned by one of the clown criminals from his earlier adventures? Perhaps I’m just hoping for something spicy. Don’t let me down, Jules!

Now we’re getting somewhere…!

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Mark and Rusty arrive on the 600-passenger Catalina Flyer, or a similar catamaran ferry, with the famous Catalina Casino in the background. It’s a good enough composition, though the scene suffers from an uninteresting sky. Sure, everybody is glad that Mark did not pilot the boat. But they haven’t disembarked yet!

Art dept. Rivera referenced pictures of the images she combined in panel 1. This is a long-standing and common practice in comics, especially in adventure strips that rely on recognizable locations and objects. In the days before the Internet, cartoonists kept physical files of photos and drawings of useful objects, locations, animals, people, etc. This was standard practice in the earlier Mark Trail strip.

For example, the Catalina Island Fox (and cacti) in the foreground appears to be a reversal of this photograph I found in an online search. The challenge for the artist is ensuring that the drawing matches the overall style of the strip as close as possible in order to lessen the accusation of mere cut-and-paste laziness. I believe I mentioned that the depiction of the famous “Meme” houses of San Francisco is another example.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Cherry called in her dad, Doc Davis the Lost Forest Veterinarian, to consult on dealing with her box o’ kittens found in the bushes of the Sunny Soleil Society. Doc warned against pet shelters, having too few funds or adoptees available. He suggested getting someone to foster the kittens until they get old enough to offer up for adoption. Just who would adopt any of them is another thing. About that time, Violet Cheshire showed up and started gushing over the cute kittens, until she developed a sudden allergic reaction. It should be noted that she did not sneeze around Banjo Cat. So, is that an inconsistency in the story?

Not necessarily, but we’ll have to wait to see if Rivera picks up on this point. Not all cats produce enough allergens to affect people and not all cats affect people the same way. That’s just to say “it depends on the cat (or kitten).” And that’s a common problem with most allergies. I know that, as I went through 20 years suffering indoor/outdoor allergies, including getting weekly shots and inhalants. Not a lot of fun. But most of them disappeared about as suddenly as they came on. We’ll likely be waiting a few weeks before we learn more about Violet’s reaction, as we should now get two weeks of Mark’s current assignment. But first …

Rivera continues to force puns on us, shooting twice for a basket. On the plus side, this another topic germane to Mark’s current assignment on Catalina Island. On the negative side, the artwork looks pretty spartan. Even the title panel is hardly more than an idea.

You know, if Rivera did not put Mark in virtually every panel (and there’s really no need for that), there would be much more room for the subject(s) to shine!

I’ll let you grammarians have fun with the actual text; I don’t wish to hog all of the fun!

Violet experiences a CATastrophe!

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So, Banjo Cat didn’t give Violet the sneezies like these kittens appear to do? That’s a tough break for Violet and for Cherry, if the diagnosis is accurate. Where will the plot go, then? Too bad that we’ll have to wait for another two weeks to find out, unless Rivera has revised her usual schedule of Cherry=1 week and Mark =>2 weeks.

Art Dept. It may just be another case of artistic license, but that animal looks pretty large to be a kitten.

Wait until Violet learns about litter boxes.

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This story is moving along at the pace of a garden snail, or so it seems. And the Big Plan is:  Cherry and Doc con Violet Cheshire into fostering the kittens. Okay, then what? Do they hold an “Adopt a Kitten” event to unload these little fur balls? They should do it in a hurry, while the kittens are still in their cute phase.

The doc delivers.

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I presume that Doc Davis is going to be as good as his word and take his own advice? He can foster those kittens in his private bedroom hidden somewhere in a corner of the Trail cabin that we never see. That’s after he spays and neuters the kittens, of course!

Art Dept. Things improved today. Even the squirrel.

Oh. I almost forgot Rivera’s punchline of the day (panel 4). But I’m going to try harder.

Does Rivera now have an assistant!?

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Do you think Cherry’s stories have become more simplistic and vacuous? If so, why?

The current plot involves Cherry finding a pack of possibly abandoned kittens. What to do?!? That Cherry has no idea about animal shelters around Lost Forest is a bit surprising. Of course, what to do with stray cats and kittens (to say nothing of dogs) is certainly a real world problem with no easy solution. Spaying and neutering kittens is one step, even if it means returning them to the wild. Finding families to adopt the kittens is not easy. We’ll have to wait and see what happens and whether Cherry’s over-the-top reaction (panel 3) has any justification.

Art Dept. Who drew this stuff? Is Rivera just knocking these panels out while waiting for the surf to come in? I’m sure that the door in panel 1 must have been traced from my grandson’s 5th grade drawings. As far as panel 2 is concerned, I wonder if Rivera let somebody else use her drawing tablet. Did you notice Cherry’s amazing kitten box whose size varies panel to panel?

Then there is the very different depiction of Doc Davis in panel 2, as if drawn by my grandkids. Is there a genuine reason for this sort of inconsistency? Most of Rivera’s critics seem to think she can’t draw or doesn’t care (for examples, search for comments on this site by Mark, “the contrarian commenter”). I’m more inclined to the latter reason, which is worse.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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So after landing at LAX, Mark and Rusty met up with Sammy Spotter, the animal wrangler. They spent a lot of time in the airport hashing over the reason why actors and a director are trapped inside a house filled with lions. Apparently, Director Wesley Wingit deliberately makes movie flops so that his studio can write them off as tax losses to save money. Kind of similar to the Mel Brooks movie, The Producers. I don’t imply Rivera took the idea from Brooks; butthatit probably really happens.

In any event, Spotter is given to hysterics (okay, similar to accountant Leo Bloom in the movie), while Rusty cons him into taking an out-of-the-way detour to the so-called meme houses in Santa Monica for a look-see before continuing on to the lion house on Catalina Island.

While I’m on the subject of their ad-hoc visit, it suddenly came to me yesterday afternoon that the reason Mark and Rusty stupidly stared and yakked at us in panel 3 of Saturday’s strip may be because Rusty was taking a selfie video he wanted to post. You can just see his raised right arm. So I think we should interpret that panel either as if we were Rusty’s smart phone, or more properly, if we were viewing Rusty’s video already posted online. If that is correct, Rivera’s panel makes more sense and is a clever (though not original) design. Okay, admit it: You already figured that out!

The Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California (of which Santa Catalina Island is one) hosts six varied subspecies of island fox. They live nowhere else in the world. But once again, Mark finishes up the Sunday chat with another pun.

Enough story padding for a full-sized mattress

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Why is Sammy still in his “I’m looking for Mr. Trail” pose (panel 1)?

Call me a skeptic, but I don’t see how they will get to Catalina soon, seeing as how they’ve already spent so much time hanging around the airport. And now it’s a detour to the “meme houses.” Well, why not? It’s only a short distance in the opposite direction of Catalina Island, so time is clearly not the issue it first appeared to be.

But why are Rusty and Mark breaking The Fourth Wall by talking to us? And talking nonsense, no less. Do they think we should care!?

“The last time, ever I saw his face . . . .”

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Maybe some continuity issues here (panel 1), or maybe Sammy Spotter is just conditioned to returning to his original pose in times of stress. Either way, it is weird. Also weird, why are they holding their briefing session in the airport, rather than in the car on the way to their assignment?

And why does Sammy Spotter feel he can’t go into the house, alone? There are several actors already in there—we were told—, and Spotter is an animal wrangler! It doesn’t add up, even if I’m not a mathematician.

I invite your comments on Spotter’s main worry (panel 3).

In the end, it is all about the money. Count on it!

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“Wingit”, wing it. Got it. Not sure I want it. The mystery of why the lions are in a house with actors becomes clear. What next, snakes on a plane?

Art Dept. The overall drawing is a bit sketchy and blocky. Another thing I’ve noticed over time has to do with how Rivera chooses to show Mark when “looking back” in what would normally be a three-quarter rear view (panel 2). Normally, Mark’s face should show a rear side-looking profile, where facial features are mostly unseen. This photo gives you an idea of what I mean.

Instead, Rivera shows a side profile as we see him reacting to Sammy Spotter. It isn’t that she doesn’t know how to draw that, as Rivera has drawn people from multiple viewpoints. Rather, she wants to emphasize Mark’s angular profile as much as she needs to show Mark’s expression. In short, artistic license overrides the naturalism we expect to see.

Aren’t we special…!?!

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I forgot to mention how nice an image Rivera drew of Rusty yesterday. Check out yesterday’s panel 2, showing a relaxed pose and an optimistic, inquisitive expression. No cynicism, no distorted features, no empty-headed stare; just a nice looking kid.

And today continues the weirdness, as we learn that wrangler Sammy Spotter will, indeed, take part in the search and rescue of movie director Wesley Wingit. And only Spotter and Mark can do the job! In what way, we don’t yet know, bringing into question the role of an additional person. No matter, we’ll soon find out.

For the sake of my good feelings about yesterday’s drawing of Rusty and my growing impatience with Rivera’s irrelevant narratives, I’m ignoring panel 3 in today’s strip. You should, too.

Well … except for the suitcase. What’s in there? Mark wears the same clothes every day. Maybe he just buys multiples of the same shirt and jeans. Maybe he brought along large white gloves, a whip, and colorful costume so he can take on the persona of a circus tiger tamer. Mark obviously likes cosplay, as we’ve seen him decked out in his “Western Dude” attire.

“Old school” what…?

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Animal wrangler Sammy Spotter certainly seems the excitable type.

But I think it is time for a recap:  Animal wrangler Spotter called editor Bill Ellis to help find movie director, Wesley Wingit, who has gone missing inside a house he filled with lions and actors. The police are not up to the task and we assume, neither is Spotter. Instead, they get nature photographer and journalist Mark Trail to handle it. Perfect! What could go wrong?

Okay, it doesn’t make much sense. Anyway, how come nobody seems concerned about the actors in the house? Those lions must be pretty tired and old. Or well fed.

How can Mark show Rusty around when they haven’t landed?

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I suppose I should have thought more about this “week-long” plane ride (including today’s strip) that I criticized the other day. I might have recognized that Rivera extended the flight for the entire week to suggest the lengthy flight, itself. However, there was nothing in the dialog or body language of Mark and Rusty to reinforce this interpretation. Now, there were several ways to portray a flight. Rivera chose an approach that focused less on the plane and more on conversation, ignoring flight attendants, drink service, and looking out of the window.

The blowout of Mark in panel 1 is a nice way to focus on a person talking inside something (like the plane), while looking at the thing’s exterior. The panoramic view of a plane landing at LAX is also a good compositional idea, though it suffers from crowding too much text along with an extraneous owl in the panel. The chosen view also seems too close to suggest the expanse of the airport. Emphasizing the airport by showing it from a greater distance would reinforce the idea of airport. I think the Theme Building would still be recognizable from a greater distance.

I find it interesting from the point of view of tempo, that the landing scene in panel 1 suggests a somewhat fast-moving tempo. But that tempo disappears when we return to the inside for more Trail Talk.

The Week in Review and the Sunday Nature Chat

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Mark and Rusty are flying out to LA this week and then boating across to Catalina Island, possibly in Monday’s strip. Rusty—not up on his geography—thought they would be staying right in Los Angeles, so he was greatly disappointed. For some reason, Mark’s promotional chat about possibly sighting some rare species of animals on the Island did not thrill the lad. Perhaps Mark thought he was in James Allen’s Mark Trail universe, where that Rusty would be salivating at the chance to search for the elusive Catalina Shrew.

Well, that’s the story, such as it went this week. I wonder if we’ll get to spend another six days of Mark and Rusty making their way to Catalina Island. Or will Rivera follow tradition and simply time-jump Mark and Rusty right to the lion house?

As she commonly does, Rivera provides a Sunday nature chat linked to the current storyline. Rivera reports the standard public information for this unique shrew, which is not much. As the shrew exists only on Catalina Island, it doesn’t have a high public profile. How can we help save the shrew, you ask? You might be able to help by donating to the Catalina Island Conservancy (https://catalinaconservancy.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/), which is a registered non-profit charity. I don’t know how to designate a donation to any particular program, but the charity could certainly inform you.

And the soft sell goes on….

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Rivera is still playing softball, and I don’t mean women’s softball where the pitchers hurl big yellow balls across the plate as if they were shot from cannon. I mean that Jules just spent the entire week devoted to Mark’s largely one-sided promotional pitch, resulting in a long, loping arc that does not appear to translate into a story arc. And like that softball, Mark and Rusty are still in the air! But you have to hand it to Rivera, this is sure some Class A story padding.

No cabin attendants passed out drinks and cookies. No jerk stood up and started attacking the staff for not serving steak and onions in Economy. I count this as a missed opportunity for Rivera, where Mark could have intervened in the assault and had just cause to use his vaunted Fists o’ Justice. That would have been a lot more satisfying than this Boorish Dad routine.

So why didn’t Mark tell Rusty about Catalina before they left? Rusty would have changes his mind. Then, Mark could have brought along somebody actually useful. There must be a reason why Rivera has Mark preferring Rusty over a skilled assistant.