“Anybody remember to bring the beer?”

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Anybody notice that the steering wheel changed from one side of the boat to the other by the time we get to panel 3? Or are Mark and Diana just taking turns driving the boat? Still, they must think something is near, because Diana is holding a camera in panel 4. Well, it might be a camera, though there is no telephoto lens. Looks more like an old-school Instamatic.

And Jules Rivera found an opportunity to make a “Mark and Rusty fishing trip” joke. Mark must have followed Cherry’s advice and made nice with Daggers. He seems to be unusually calm this morning, dressed in his standard red check shirt. Interestingly, Diana shows a note of concern about Rusty coming along. But Mark is just wistfully daydreaming, of course. He doesn’t really want to bring him along on this specific trip. Nevertheless, Mark should show more surprise that Diana would be that thoughtful. Of course, her comment is more likely meant to be understood as “Where are your brains, Trail!? This is a dangerous assignment.”

Well, a few more questions should pop up to any Mark Trail reader:

  1. How and when did Lost Forest wind up on a shipping route?
  2. Why begin the search there? And search for what:  A container ship with zebra mussels that just came in from a secret port in China where they cultivate zebra mussels to ruin US waters?
  3. Wouldn’t Mark already know if zebra mussels were a problem in waters around Lost Forest?
  4. Is Mark using a speedboat!? We know they can hurt manatees, but will they hurt lake and river aquatic animals, as well?
  5. And who let Mark handle a boat? Maybe he is one of those people who is only careful around his own equipment.
  6. And is that a wolf spider in panel 3? Hard for me to tell, but it resembles one. Anybody out there a better amateur arachnologist?

Well, this looks like a good start, in any event. I know I’m certainly looking forward to what they find around that bend in the river ahead of them.

The Weekly Recap and Sunday Nature Talk

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This past week saw the official kickoff for Mark’s new adventure, “There Will Be Zebra Mussels.” Mark drove his bespoke station wagon to the airport to pick up Diana Daggers, Mark’s unexpected and unwanted video producer for his new assignment. Starting right in, Mark expressed his fears and doubts to Diana, while she kept her icy cool cynicism and simply told Mark that California was old news and to get over it.

After dropping her off at the Log Cabin Hotel (or whatever it’s called), Mark spent the rest of the week helping Cherry’s with her landscape business and fretting about a possible reappearance of Professor Bee Sharp. In spite of Cherry’s feel-good reassurances of Sharp’s noninvolvement, it appears that Mark does have good reason to be concerned about Professor Bee Sharp’s return. Perhaps Mark is anxious because he does not normally deal with psychos, a group for which Sharp is clearly a charter member.  Daggers, on the other hand, appears to be more task-oriented and indifferent, as any professional for hire would be. If the job calls on her to harass and threaten Trail, she does it. If the job calls for her to work with Trail, she’ll do it. It’s all just business for her. But Bee Sharp seems to be a different animal. Still, in spite of Sharp’s behavior, he does not seem any more dangerous than, say, some ignorant hillbilly with a shotgun pointed at Mark’s head while he is tied to a chair. Mark is just psyched out, which is something he is not comfortable with. And that is a dangerous position for him to be in.

Today’s Sunday strip is about small insects, specifically those that look dangerous, but wind up actually being helpful. Another nicely done title panel, by the way. Regarding spiders, there are at least 3,000 species of spiders in the US. The four spiders Rivera refers to are black widows, brown recluses, hobo spiders (which seem to be focused in the Pacific Northwest), and Sac spiders. The brown recluse and black widow are the biggest threats to humans of all ages. In fact, there are least ten spiders that are venomous in varying degrees to humans, but still capable of causing pain. As Rivera points out, most spiders are found wherever their food is found, so they can be good insect managers, even in the home. But keep the kids and pets away from them.

Rivera provides a very nicely drawn bee in the last panel! And you always have to finish your instruction with a small joke, don’t you Mark? And I’m fine with that, by the way; it’s not pervasive.

Tell me if I’m wrong, but one thing I noticed in Rivera’s Sunday strip is that she crowds less text into the panels than her predecessors often did. That might be because Rivera is aware of the fact that people are more used to short, digestible chunks of data, as we usually see on social media. It could also be because she is aware that space for comic strips, even on Sunday, is severely limited and liable to more shrink; thus, making reading more difficult. I swear, the way our newspaper shrinks the Sunday Zits and Blondie strips is a crime. It’s like trying to read the condensed Oxford English Dictionary without its included magnifying lens.

Maybe Mark just wants more stroking

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First off, where did this “nice” video come from? If they were getting along at some point, we didn’t see it and Mark didn’t say anything to Cherry about it. Funny that she didn’t ask how that video got made. Of course, Diana is a producer and videographer; so it is possible she could have constructed that video without Mark’s participation.

The final panel is quite a production, in itself. If anybody was unsure about Professor Bee Sharp’s status in this strip, panel 4 is a clear answer. He is clear villainy. It reminds me of some early MAD magazine art, back in its EC days; specifically their parody of Batman.

Hey, the black & white newspaper image is not bad, in itself. It’s pure “bad guy” aura. But who—under the age of 40—reads newspapers anymore? The comparison with MAD is a stretch, I reckon. I’m not implying that Rivera was directly inspired by Wally Wood’s drawing (though that would be cool if true). To be honest, the comparison is not even unique. We see that lighting effect especially in film noir and horror movies of the 1950s. So, what’s my point, then? Got no point! I just liked the comparison.

Anyway, I don’t get Mark’s continued anxiety over “The Professor”. While Mark never really got in his “Two Fists of Justice” licks back in California, he certainly could have, except for the constant interruptions. And it’s not like Sharp knocked Trail out or anything! So, does Mark have some kind of bee phobia? Does the color yellow make him feel cowardly? Do power cars fill him with dread? Is it he just can’t deal with whack-jobs?

Oh, Cherry, clearly, they will meet again. Your intuition is not serving you well.

There remains other questions:
1) Is Diana still working for Bee Sharp and setting up Mark for a trap? Bee’s comments in panel 4 suggest not. This could lead to a grudge match of Trail+Daggers v. Sharp. Maybe Sharp will bring a friend (Cricket Bro?)
2) Did Diana innocently post where she and Mark are heading so that Sharp is able to pursue them?
3) Why does Bee Sharp hate Mark so much in the first place: Jealousy? Dirty Dyer’s brother?
4) And what the heck happened to Cricket Bro, anyway? Seems like everybody deserted him, including his two thugs.

Well, with all the handwringing, I feel like I’m losing track of the story, which has still hardly gotten off the ground.  If Rivera follows her standard practice we’ll see a second week of Mark’s story. Perhaps we will also see some movement in the storyline. And let’s be done for now with the self-doubts and feel-good therapy. Jules, the comics page does not need another soap opera strip!

Finally, I enjoy the reader comments! I appreciate your observations, information, and even corrections! They add useful breadth to these posts. And they help keep me on my toes. Mille grazie!

One helluvan understatement?

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Sometimes Rivera is pretty good drawing animals, and sometimes they come out looking more like a boy scout carved them out of a block of pine for a merit badge. But really, “a rocky start”, you say, Cherry!? Seems to me that threats and attempts at physical violence leave “rocky start” behind. Still, I suppose that Cherry is just trying to play down Mark’s fears, as he takes Cherry’s point about laying on the charm to Diana. Say, that was my advice a few days ago…Well, maybe not the best advice; it might have gotten him decked by Diana, now that I think about it.

As I was also reminded, Mark’s shirt is just the uniform for Cherry’s lawn and landscape service. I suppose he’ll return to his tried-and-true red check shirt, just like the old Mark Trail and his denim shirt with the dual button-down pockets. Clothes (and costume) create identity and status, as we see throughout history. Why shouldn’t comic strip characters have their own visual status and signifiers?

Rivera has been criticized for injecting too much humor into the strip, as if it were a standard gag-a-day comic. I’m not going to go through all of her strips to date to see if that is quantitatively true, because I believe the criticism is more based on perception. In an otherwise serious adventure strip, humor stands out. I believe the term for movies and tv shows like this is dramedy, something combining drama and comedy, but in more of an organic manner. That would be shows like Ally McBeal, Six Feet Under, and more recently The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Orville, and The Ranch. You could probably name 20 more, as I don’t watch that much TV. Anyway, my point is that I believe this is the approach that Jules Rivera has taken with Mark Trail: A basic adventure strip, with comedic or absurdist elements. Early on in Rivera’s tenure, I made a connection between her and the off-beat crime drama books of Carl Hiaasen. She read that remark I made and agreed.

Thus, I think readers who expect this strip to be the sober, all-business strip of old are going to continue to be put off. “Dramady” is the new Serious, unless you are Jason Bourne. For myself, I like the hybrid approach, though I hope that the serious aspects of the adventures do not get flattened by too many oddballs.

ANNOUNCEMENT: While I’m on the subject of oddballs, I have signed up for a class in Italian at the University of Minnesota (audit, only). It starts the day after Labor Day. Unfortunately for me, the class meets at 9 AM, which is around the time when I usually get up. I tried to get into a later section, but they were full. But that also means I won’t be getting this blog updated most days until at least Noon or later. Until recently, I used to post these strips after midnight, when Comics Kingdom updates their daily feeds. That’s not likely to continue, either. So, if you see bits of Italian starting to appear here and there, you’ll know why.

As for Cherry’s closing double-entendre comment, I have to admit it was well crafted. A Presto!

Rivera gets her “snark” on, again

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Wait—what’s this? Mark is wearing a different type of shirt with a different color, to boot? Did the Earth change its rotational direction? At last! I have to admit, they both look like Fantastic Four cosplay characters.  In other news, it is now clear that it was Diana who flew into Mark’s town and checked into that “log cabin” hotel. “Welcome to Hollywood“, indeed!

Luckily, Mark not only has a snake to help work out his feelings of doubt, he has his life-mate, Cherry. And she is not going to let him slide by. While some might call this more classic story padding, it is really plot development: Not in action but in motivation and causation. The earlier version of Mark Trail tended to keep Mark’s concerns and feelings fairly basic and easy to figure out:  Aloof—check. Curious—check. Angry—check. Bemused—check. Now Mark’s feelings are more nuanced, if not sometimes stuck between shifting gears.

But a little bit of anguish goes a long way. As I have written before—and several others have also opined—we don’t want to see Mark become a basket case of emotions, neuroses, and self-doubts. Yes, it’s fine to make him more “realistic” and less of an idealized boy-man hero, but he is still a symbol for doing the right thing; for protecting nature against the predations of greedy humans; and for the notion that an individual can still make a difference. He has to rise above his doubts and fears and get the job done. That clearly did not happen in the California story, where Mark was more or less a passenger in a careening series of escapes and dubious activities. And we now have some of its after-effects (and some characters) infiltrating and affecting the the current assignment. As for that last part, I think it is an interesting and good story device.

As for the exploding boats riff, it’s a good rejoinder to Mark’s “time bomb” fear. If Rivera wants to inject her own jibes at some Mark Trail tropes, that’s fine. In his final year, James Allen clearly enjoyed taking swipes at his critics, the Internet, and social networking. And Stephen Pastis certainly enjoys taking potshots at his own persona.

Something of a rant

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Once again, where the heck are they? What building are they entering? It looks like a log cabin with glass doors. Is it some kind of boutique hotel?

The carping and sorting out continues from the previous two days. Some critics are crying “foul!” or maybe “fowl!”, and think this is merely more story padding. A bit, perhaps. But there is definite tension between these two and that cannot be glossed over. That is why Diana was placed in this assignment, right? Conflict sells.

It’s only natural that Mark finds himself overwhelmed by circumstances from time to time. However, Mark should be able to ultimately rise to the occasion and overcome his fears, not drown in them. When looked at in context, Professor Bee was more bully than brawn; more sociopath than psychopath; more Goofus than Gallant. Rivera has had plenty of time and space to assign foibles and doubts to Mark. Now, it’s time for Mark to “man up” and get on the offensive. This is Mark’s assignment and Daggers is merely his production crew.

I might be getting even pickier, but why does Mark have to recite Sharp’s full name and honorific to Diana? It would be more natural for Mark to refer to him as “Sharp”, or “The Professor” (unless he wanted to avoid a comeback remark about MaryAnn). If readers don’t already know who he is, what does his full citation serve? Could it be for the benefit of that ridiculous Canada Goose that keeps popping up? The least it could do is give some advice to Mark, like other animals.

But ending on a positive note, the landscaping in panel 1 is very well executed; and more than expected in a daily comic strip. The coloring may have something to do with it. But I appreciate the effort that went into it.

Opening Shots

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I’m pretty sure we’ve seen this setup in movies before, where the hard-bitten cop having to work with the just-released, cynical mouthy criminal. You remember that one, right?

Still, Diana Daggers has a point: Time to man up, Trail. You’ve been the All American Nature Boy Hero for decades. Sure, you’re decided to no longer be that monolithic symbol. That’s good. It’s okay to have doubts; just don’t let them rule you. Hang in there, Mark. Stay alert and don’t let Daggers psych you out. By the way, you should have kissed her, as I advised, and put Diana on the defensive!

Okay, I think this is one of the more interesting starts for Mark’s new adventures. Aside from Dagger’s “Welcome to Hollywood” remark, I’m still not sure where they are. If they are in California, why did Mark pick Diana up at the airport, rather than the other way around? Otherwise, what is the reason for Diana’s closing comment? I don’t think that Barn Owl knows (and remember, Rivera already covered owls on a Sunday in the early days of the California adventure, so I don’t think we’ll see it on Sunday).

Rivera makes several fast cuts in these four panels, changing the angles, space, and proximity, just to keep things moving along. The third panel, as seen from a space behind the two riders, but ‘outside’ of the car, is a nice inventive viewpoint, though I have to take issue with those front seats, which look like they were carved from wood. Mark must have rented one of the “base” models of that car. And though I did not mention it before, that shoulder belt in the last panel of Monday’s strip looks more like a towel or maybe even a large piece of tree bark. But, I’m carping over details again.

Still, I’m eagerly waiting to hear more specific plans about the assignment. I wonder, truly, if they’ll wind up back at Cricket Bro’s office building? That would be a hoot! (Sorry for the pun. Okay, I’m not).

Honk if you like Zebra Mussels!

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Okay, did Rivera forget to publish about a month’s worth of strips? At what point did Diana become a cooperating (?) partner with the person she was seething to break in half just a few weeks ago? Are we to believe Mark’s assignment is local, so he just drove over to an airport to pick up Diana? Ah, so many questions and so few answers. This is like Cherry’s sudden turnabout with Violet Cheshire, right? Hey, at least Diana has something of a personality, which is more than could be said for the reptile kids.

I see that our “animal of the week”, known for loud honking, is no competition to Diana’s broadcasting voice. Maybe Mark can turn the tables on Daggers and plant a big passionate kiss on her lips when she gets in the car and say “Glad you could make it, Diana. I’ve missed you!” Now that could be interesting!

Here is a query: What and where is this “Tom Hill Airport”? I’m guessing it is fictional. There are lots of Tom Hills on Google, but I’m going to hazard a guess that this name refers to the 19th century landscape painter who eventually moved to San Francisco and painted majestic scenes of American landscape, such as Yosemite, New Hampshire, and Utah. Hill preferred dramatic landscapes, as did many artists of the time, including Alfred Bierstadt and some of his colleagues in the so-called Hudson River School (Asher B. Durand, Fredrick Church, and Thomas Cole). Just a guess, mind you. Anyway, I don’t get to trot out my rusty art history background very often. So deal with it!

In closing, a note to Jules Rivera:  Traditions are just fine, but can Mark please change his shirt once in a while? Sure, I bet he has a closet full of red check shirts, but we’d still recognize him in a different shirt. For example, Dilbert changed from a shirt and funky tie to a polo shirt and badge. We still recognize him. Or, is Mark colorblind?

The Weekly Recap and Sunday Nature Chat

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Perhaps my Sunday blogs should be entitled “For Those Who Came in Late, along with the Sunday Nature Chat”, since my intention is to give a summary of the past six daily strips. Then again, I’m not sure if this recap serves any useful purpose to anybody. Are there readers who just read this summary and skip over the daily posts? Well, sometimes writhing this provides me with a way to think over the week and refine or revise my observations. And sometimes, I have nothing new and this becomes just a weekly summary. What do you think?

But getting on to the recap, we had a week of Cherry playing nice with Violet Cheshire of the Sunny Soleil Society, the HOA that ruined Cherry’s original landscape installations. These two women are now working together to restore the Society’s garden, which includes unveiling a statue memorializing a local pioneer (as in Daniel Boone-era pioneers). Who it is or why it is important has yet to be unveiled; but when Violet unveiled the statue, they discovered a beehive around the head of the statue. Panic ensued when the bees started swarming around Cherry and Violet. Violet thought they were killer bees, so she beat a hasty retreat to her headquarters, eventually followed by a less concerned Cherry. Violet confirmed her inability to handle stress and displayed a rush to judgement by demanding that the bees should be destroyed, even though Cherry just wanted to relocate them. Rivera warned us that this might reopen the rift between Chery and Violet, teasing us with troubles ahead. I reckon that Cherry’s attitude was based on pragmatism, rather than revenge, as she could see the HOA as a source for additional work. We’ll see how that pans out. So, that’s the week in review. And now, on to Sunday’s nature chat!

Well, I learned that the formal non-Latin name is “Canada Goose”, though we all use the more common adjectival “Canadian Goose”. Today’s Sunday strip is informative, even within the confines of its limited space. That discussion about headwinds and sharing headwind duty was news to me. But the fact that Canadian geese are disruptive and a nuisance is not news to most of us, I bet. Aside from the “Miracle on the Hudson” crash, a US Air Force radar plane crashed in 1995 after geese killed its engines on takeoff, killing all crew members.

So I want to know whose hand that is in front of Mark in panel 2. From its position in front of Mark’s body, it certainly cannot be his hand. Hey, maybe it’s a “V for Victory Hand-on-a-Stick” prop?

In spite of Mark’s remark about the V formation, I don’t think the geese were thinking of “victory”, any more than Beethoven thought of the Morse code when he composed his famous Fifth Symphony (the code hadn’t been invented yet). For that matter, there is no evidence Samuel Morse considered Beethoven’s symphony when he co-created his famous “Morse Code” (with help from the otherwise unknown Afred Vail) and assigned the pattern ***— to the letter V. And don’t forget, readers, that V is also the Latin character for the number 5! For all that, it appears that links to “victory”, Beethoven, and Morse Code first came together in WWII. Of course, somebody may have seen a relationship between the Morse V and Beethoven’s fifth symphony long before WWII; however, I’ve not found any documentation to show that. But what a great set of associations, eh? Uh, getting back to the strip, I see that Canadian Goose eggs make up the title panel, with a parent goose coming out to warn us away. Some snarkers might consider this a warning about the new Mark Trail, in general!

Just when you thought it was safe to come in out of the bees….

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How the Sunny Soleil Society ever put this woman in charge of anything is a mystery. Clearly, she cannot handle stress. From her first violent reaction to Cherry’s petition about native plantings; to Violet’s melt-down at Planet Pancake after Dirk’s feral hogs destroyed the roundabout flower bed Violet installed (after first destroying Cherry’s original plants); and to her current melt-down over the bee swarm, Violet has proven to be one foundation less than a stable house. Doesn’t look like she was even stung!

And are those even killer bees? We have not heard from Cherry, and I expect she is better qualified to identify them than Miss CrankyPants. Thus, Cherry’s sensible solution of hive relocation is met with abject disapproval from the rabid Violet Cheshire. Clearly, she is not a real fan of nature, which has been somewhat obvious for some time. The textbox in panel 3 further suggests that this crisis may culminate in a parting of the ways for these two strong-willed women. After all, Cherry, you still have a business to run, correct?

But if Rivera follows her usual formula, Monday will see a return to Mark’s new assignment. We won’t be hearing from Cherry for another two weeks, at least; unless she makes a guest appearance for Mark’s departure. Might be more interesting to see Mark make his “See ya later” comments to Rusty or Doc (remember him?). That would give Rivera the chance to indulge in some more Mark Trail satire, as she can have Rusty say “Can we go fishing up the creek for bass when you get back, Dad?” And it would give Trailheads another opportunity to chuckle and snark at that old Mark Trail trope.

Of course, I’m not sure this 21st century version of Rusty has fished since he was young enough to fill in for Opie Taylor. He’d more likely call out “Hey Dad, you were supposed to get me that %@*#$? autograph of Professor Bee Sharp the last time you left, REMEMBER %@*#?$!! This time I want a picture of you and Diana Daggers. Don’t come home without it!”

Can Cherry beat Violet’s time for the Beehive 100 Yard Sprint?

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I suppose we had to have one comic strip day where everybody got to chuckle at Violet’s reaction, because now, Cherry decides caution is the proper road to salvation from the bee attack. I don’t think that Violet would lock the door of the Sunny Soleil Society’s building before Cherry could get in, would she? In her panic-driven state, anything is possible, especially when you think killer bees are going to destroy you. But it looks like neither of them thought to hide under the tarp they pulled off of the statue and wait for the bees to settle down. Well, panic is not a proper mental state for logical thinking. So, why did Cherry not think about it, given that she seems to have a more grounded handle on the situation?

And did we really need a day’s worth of panels just to show that Cherry decided it was also a good idea to get away from a bunch of angry bees? I spoke of story padding and did not think we had seen any. Until now.

Uh-oh, images of the old Romper Room children’s TV show just invaded my potted plant of a brain. That’s what I get for staying up late. I’m not sure why, but it must be the bees, because one segment of that show consisted of a segment called: Mr. Do Bee, a person dress up in a “giant bee costume” who instructed children on what they should and should not do. Instruction was given in pairs of simple imperative statements, such as:

Do bee a story pusher!
Don’t bee a story padder!
Do be do be do.

Okay, the third line kind of slipped out.

Killer Bees or Kill Her, Please?

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Panic is an unfortunate, imprecise, and desperate reaction we humans experience in the very places and times where it is least useful. It is the “survival instinct” run amok, as it were. And it is easy to chuckle and nod our heads at Violet’s predicament, as we view this flight of panic as if it was a comic strip version of The Birds. Of course, Violet Cheshire is imperious, shallow, self-absorbed, and a poser. But she’s not above getting her hands dirty, as we saw in her first meeting with Cherry.

With all that, there are more deserving villains in the Trailverse than Violet, so I suspect that she is simply overreacting (as is her nature) and we’ll find that these are not the infamous killer bees, but simply a horde of honey bees who didn’t much care to be disturbed. And we can understand the bees’ reaction to Violet and their aim to move her as far away from their home as they can. Nevertheless, we should not pass up an opportunity to laugh at any misfortune of pretentious snobs. We can’t see Cherry in these panels (as the proper focus today is on Violet and the bees), but I’m sure she is enjoying the situation. I suspect that in tomorrow’s strip Cherry will put an end to this farce by telling Violet that they are just common honey bees.

From a visual point of view, I think Rivera has done a pretty good job drawing the bees these past two days, though I think she could have blurred the wings of the close-up bees, like the way we see hummingbirds, for example. Drawing those smidgy bees takes a lot of time, even though Rivera is working digitally and can (and did) copy some of her bee images. But there’s enough variety to make the copying less obvious.

And I dig those horizontal bands in the middle column, though I think it is more for the sense of tension the colors provide. Yet that is a weakness for the obvious reason that the comic strip is black & white in newspapers. Furthermore, if these bands (or lines) were meant to suggest a sense of urgency or panic, wouldn’t diagonal lines be a more obvious way to go about it? As far as the newspaper version goes, the lines are fairly faint, but consistently drawn, suggesting more a general swarming and flight. What do you think?

Finally, in the prior incarnation of Mark Trail, Trailheads sometimes criticized occasional padding of storylines with pointless dialog and dragging out scenes far too long. Can we make the same claim here? I think the situation is more complicated:  The bee incident ties into last Sunday’s killer bees strip and makes an obvious visual/written reference to Mark’s villains (Profess Bee Sharp and Diana Daggers) in his own storyline. Cherry’s adventure has not so much ended, as taken a different turn. In a good piece of classical music there are usually variations in tempo, intensity, and theme. So I’ll make the musical analogy that this week’s strips are like a divertimento, a lighter piece of music that could be played as an interlude between more serious works. We’ll see how that analogy plays out.

More on the beehive-headed statue

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Giving credit where credit is due, commenter cellardoor on ComicsKingdom.com made a great point by referencing what is certainly the inspiration for the “accidental” statue + beehive combination Violet and Cherry uncovered.

It is a statue by the Paris-born, New York artist Pierre Huyghe, entitled Exomind (Deep Water) that was part of a recent traveling exhibit at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. As Rivera lives in San Francisco, I think the connection is a lock.

By the way, the beehive is real and is part of the statue’s assemblage—not an accident of nature. Thus, it is allowed to evolve naturally. The hive is monitored by cameras, 24×7, even when the statue is in transit between museums! For the record, these are Buckfast honeybees, not South American killer bees.

Now we know who the statue is: It’s the Mystery Singer!

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Okay, I’m sure everybody is wondering:  What the #@(!? Is that thing on top of the statue? To me, it looks like a set of Samsonite luggage that somebody opened, or maybe a collection of seat cushions. Who is this person, then? It appears to be somebody dressed in typical 18th century frontier clothing, holding a telescope in his left hand and something not quite defined in his right. Perhaps a folded map or AAA TripTik? Well, it must be my imagination running away with me, because the statue in panel 3 reminds me more of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. Even that unidentified object in its right hand looks more like a small ax.

I searched online for natural bee hives and found a variety of really oddly-shaped structures, in a variety of locations, some of them similar to the one on the statue. Unlike the hysterical Violet (who is, after all, following Mark’s advice about avoiding bee attacks), Cherry seems unfazed by the swarm. I’m also thinking that these must not be the dreaded killer bees of Sunday’s fame. There goes another one of my outlandish theories.

Still, Cherry is right to question the hive on top of the statue. It certainly seems like a most unlikely location. I suppose it makes for some good press, er, storytelling, though it would have been more interesting to see the bee hive growing under the frontiersman’s crotch.

Two mysteries remain: Who is the subject of the statue? Who, if anybody, affected to have a bee hive placed on top of said statue? A beekeeping web site notes that bees are partial to some kind of odd color combo of yellow and ultraviolet. And they are partial to fast-moving objects! So, looks like Cherry’s decision to hold fast while Violet runs off with her yellow hat was a good idea.

Wait a minute…Violet + yellow hat! Is this a coincidence or is Rivera a lot more subtle than people give her credit for? The BIG OBJECTION to this otherwise absurd notion on my part is that we are not sure if Rivera is responsible for the colors used in the dailies. Does anybody know for sure? I have read that KFS has staff doing the colorization of the dailies, but not necessarily under the direction of the strip artists. I am trying to find out, but it does make any kind of analysis (or goofy theory-making) based on color something of a shaky foundation. I’ve often wondered about this colorizing, since it is not normally done for daily publications, as we all know. Like Ted Turner’s colorization of old movies, it seems to be more of a marketing tactic.

“OK, LADIES, DROP THE TARP AND MOVE AWAY FROM THE STATUE!“

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Well, well, well:  Bees, bees, bees! Is that the same house in panel 1 they were walking away from yesterday? Reckon so, no matter. Clearly, the Sunny Soleil Society had already been around these parts for some time before Cherry got into trouble with them over one of her landscaping projects. Wait… how long ago was that? I reckon in comic strip time, it had to have been about 2 or 3 weeks ago, right?

And here they are, the two former combatants, ready to uncover what appears to be some kind of statue of some “forest pioneer”. But what garden is she talking about? The surrounding grounds are not well seen, but what we do see appears to be pavement.

Back to the unveiling, it seems that this statue must have also been restored or replaced, if this is a proper unveiling. And where is the rest of the staff for such an important moment? The only other person belonging to this association that I recall is a middle-aged man in a kitchen that we saw in one daily strip back just after Violet tossed Cherry out on her ear. But that was about it. Who he was or what his job was is a mystery, except maybe as a springboard to help move the plot along.

Say! This must be one of those old Mark Trail traditions that Rivera snuck in on us—the temporary character, who is there to fulfill a short-term role and then disappear, kind of like the red-shirted security dudes on those “Away Teams” in the original Star Trek episodes, whose role was to die early on in the episode.

Anyway, looks like the unveiling revealed a large swarm of bees. Could they be those “killer bees” that Mark told us about a few days ago? Exactly how or why they wound up under this tarp, much less how they survived, is likely going to be a major part of this ongoing Sunny Soleil Society story, I’m afraid.

From a drawing point of view, I think the perspective view in panel 2 is dramatic and very well executed. The third panel’s “statue view” is a popular framing technique seen in movies and TV, where the drama is not so much the view but what is viewed.

It looks like Rivera has decided to continue Cherry’s adventure with Miss Cheshire, er Miss Violet, rather than ending it along with Mark’s adventure. This could be an interesting approach to have continuity on one hand, balanced against Mark starting another adventure on the other hand. But even there, Rivera has maintained continuity through the appearance of Diana Daggers. I know that Professor Bee Sharp has been brought up elsewhere as a possible additional element in Mark’s new assignment; and the appearance of killer bees (i.e. Killer Bee Sharp) here is hard to overlook. Still, Cherry had nothing to do with that particular adventure; and how or why the Professor would get involved in the Sunny Soleil Society’s work is a big stretch.

So, who is this honored forest pioneer? And what does the Society have to do with forest pioneers, anyway?

And now for something completely indifferent

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Okay, fellow Trailheads. I reckon Cherry got Rusty off to his scout meeting without problems or worthwhile conversation. We are back to the Rarified World of Violet Cheshire, whom Cherry deigns to call “Miss Violet”, as if they are on some ante-bellum plantation with magnolia trees and happy slaves singing in the fields. And I’m thinking that Cherry’s response in panel 1 is a not too subtle reference that the self-absorbed, upper class Violet, with her southern belle image, misses. Or not. Perhaps she did get it, as Violet puts out her own burn against Cherry in panel 4.

I’m especially taken with how well Violet “cleans up.” Not only does she look younger than when she was originally portrayed, but her features are softened. For a gross comparison, here is how she looked at Planet Pancake, after Dirk’s hogs feasted on her butterfly plants. That could have been Violet’s mother.

The first panel could have been a source of scenic enjoyment, but that enjoyment is marred by an almost medieval lack of proper depth and proportion. For example, the dark green trees are least as tall as the house, but they look pretty close to the women and one could imagine the trees are only about 7 feet tall. Both can’t be true.

Artists traditionally divide space into background; middle ground; and foreground. Clearly the forested moutains are in the background, leaving the field and trees to mark the middle ground. That leaves us wondering if the house, road, and women are in the foreground, or if the house is part of the middle ground. But if you look at the road and track the spaces of the women and the house, it would seem either the house is too small or the women too large. In short, more ambiguity.

I think a lot of this spatial ambiguity could probably have been fixed by moving the two women to the right foreground and showing only their shoulders and heads.  They would constitute the new foreground. I hope you can visualize that. Of course, I’m getting into the weeds and making this more academic that it deserves. This is just a comic strip, something that will be published in newspapers with a general height of less than two inches. Such subtle refinements that I’m referring to probably will not even be noticed.

Otherwise, I’m hoping today’s strip closes out Cherry’s involvement with the Sunny Soleil Society, as I don’t see where there is anything more to develop in the story, unless Rivera just wants to explore two people getting on each other’s nerves. Your thoughts on this?

The Weekly Recap and Sunday Nature Chat

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(Added some edits to correct grammar and clarity)

This past week continued Mark’s video conference (started the prior week) with Bill Ellis and Rafael Suave, Editor of the fishing rag “Hot Catch.” The hot assignment is an investigation of zebra mussels, which, for the laid back and smug Rafael means getting the goods on some big-time, evil companies that are exploiting the mussels’ spread for some nefarious purpose.

As commenters have noted, the only practical reason a company would do this is to help sell their own zebra mussel eradication solution. I suppose it would be a quite the coincidence if one of the companies turned out to be owned by Cricket Bro, given that Diana Daggers has somehow also wormed her way into this assignment as a videographer. That fact has naturally given Mark conniptions, based on his prior association that Rafael may or may not have known about. I’m guessing he did.

As Amy Lee did, Rafael patronizes Mark and goads him into taking the assignment. Mark is left to ponder his fate and consult his moral avatar, Ralph the Snake. Since Ralph is a stand-in for Mark’s conscience (filling in for both the “good” and “bad” avatars that pop up on characters’ shoulders in various cartoons and movies), it is no surprise to Mark when Ralph points out that Mark is no less a potential danger to himself than is Diana. DOH!

The former Mark Trail would never need to get in touch with a “Ralph” because the former Mark Trail did not have moral/ethical dilemmas; at least, none that were expressed. The former Mark was always steadfast, focused, morally grounded, emotionally conservative, and liked shirts with two pockets. And that is okay for a leading character. That is, after all, the genetic makeup of virtually all heroic types in American films, books, and comics for most of the 20th century. That may be one reason why so many readers prefer the former Mark Trail, in the face of the current trend of heroic figures that expose warts, self-doubt, questionable ethics, and excessive vigilantism.

And with that, we move to Sunday’s nature talk.

As is expected, Rivera continues to create the title panel based on the Sunday topic. It is not a surprising solution, though showing the bees moving out of a hive to form the title might have added a bit of humor. Rivera’s exposition on “killer bees” plays down their lethal effect on humans, which is fine, though they can still be very harmful and painful. In fact, their real danger lies in the fact that they can attack in large swarms. I read that repellents, such as DEET, have no effect on them. So, take Mark’s advice to heart.

I noticed that Rivera avoids using the commonly preferred name, “Africanized honey bee”, unless she is suggesting (by its absence) that the term “Africanized” is pejorative. That could be why she uses the terms “European” and “Hybridized” as descriptive labels. Interestingly, the hybridization of the African honey bee with European honey bees took place in Brazil back in the 1950s, and their distribution seems to be confined to the Americas. Since this particular species was created in Brazil, maybe we should just call it the “Brazilian killer bee” and go with that, though “Americanized killer bee” is fine, too. “Hybridized honey bee” is really not descriptive, but does sound like something a corporation would come up with, to distract from their harmful effects on other bees and people.

“Why can’t I just cover fishing tournaments any more?”

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As Jules Rivera channels Stephen Pastis (note panel 4), I have to wonder how the logs of that log cabin got to be so flat. Or, is Mark leaning against his house, lying “on” it, or what? But Ralph the Snake looks cool. And Mark looks so, so pink. As an outdoor person, I wonder why he doesn’t have a bit more tone in his skin by now.

Well, dear Readers, we wrap up the week with Mark continuing his dialog with Ralph the Snake over how his new assignment is going to be a really bad thing. Mark is turning out to be an even bigger complainer than I am! Anyway, Rivera has decided to draw out this tease to stoke Mark’s fears and our anticipation. Will he go? Of course! He’s Mark Trail.

It’s interesting how quickly the villain in the California story changed from the immature Cricket Bro (childhood foe Rob Bettancourt) to the more psychotic Professor Bee Sharp and his muscle, Diana Daggers. Like so many others in the history of Mark Trail, we may have seen the last of Cricket Bro, as well as Reptilionnaire. Can’t say that I’ll miss them.

But if Diana and Professor Bee are actual Trail villains, how are they supposed to be on the same team with Mark? Mark may have real cause to wonder. Yet, I predict (my correspondence course in Becoming A Prophet may finally be paying off!) that Professor Bee is just a red herring. Diana will confess to having been coerced into a bad relationship and forced to take on the role of a “heavy”; a role that she now disavows. In short, she has taken a liking to Mark and will become another one of those vulnerable women who can’t help throwing themselves at him. Not that we’ve seen any of those women since Rivera took over.

Will this vision pan out? Truth be told, I only audited that Prophet course. And I dropped out.

Hey, Ralphie Boy!

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Ralph the Freudian Snake makes his triumphal return to the strip, signaling to Mark that his problem might be closer than he thought; or so the snake implies.  He’s got a sharp tongue that snake.

This is a more interesting take on a comic strip character having a conversation with himself than the usual series of thought balloons. Ralph brings up some interesting questions, such as: What is his purpose; why the name “Ralph”; and why not a beaver or fox? You may recall that Mark’s first re-appearance under Rivera’s pen (October 13, 2020) is him making a video about scarlet king snakes. Coincidence? Maybe a favorite animal for Rivera? Nevertheless, it’s an engaging feature.

These animal talks seem to occur during a crisis of conscience, rather than just small talk, such as the conversations Mark had with some sharks and gulls while running off with Daddy’s boat back in January 2021. And we have another crisis of conscience today. It’s surprising that Rivera didn’t take advantage of that in the Cricket Bro story that just completed, given Mark’s “bedroom” full of reptiles.

And Ralph shows he can be quick with the sarcastic remark when called for, as Mark’s expression in panel 3 suggests that he realizes Diana is not the only dangerous person going on this assignment.

Flattery? Sure, that works!

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Well, when humiliation and embarrassment won’t work, make an appeal to vanity! And Mark must have a lot of that, based on his fantasy-fed decision-making process in panel 3. I still think he better have a chat with his snake buddy before signing on. This looks like it’s going to be a take on the popular “Yin/Yang” partner format, especially popular in cop TV shows and movies. But please, no dancing and singing, okay!?

Now, what’s this about a conspiracy of “scary-powerful companies” helping to spread zebra mussels!? What’s in it for them? Are they the ones marketing solutions for expelling or reducing zebra mussels? That would make sense, of course. In any event, since this is not a normal role for companies to take (those that interact or depend upon public sales, for example), then it looks like we have the makings of an interesting adventure. I admit that the “scary company” angle is intriguing. Do you think so?

But, yeah. I can see that people still find it difficult to accept this new version of Mark Trail. It’s sometimes wacky world, flexible drawing style, and anti-hero values can look like a slap at old-time readers. Maybe they are. And I know that it can be painful. I was depressed when the old Popeye cartoons got taken over by studios that had lesser talents and smaller budgets. And it sure showed! I just had to stop watching them. Joseph Nebus’s Another Blog has been posting discussions of these later Popeye cartoons, discovering interesting techniques, jokes, and actions Nebus theorizes (if I understand him correctly) the artists and writers sometimes put in to help make up for the poor animation and weak stories. Okay, I see that and I get it. But it’s hard to watch them, all the same.

On the other hand, here we are getting a more in-depth, complex personality for a leading character than before (I’m not sure we can exactly say that Mark had much of a personality before), and a leading character that is not always on top of the situation (okay, maybe he is on the bottom a bit too often). He also has a more interesting family who have their own issues, as well. And remember, these were things Trailheads use to complain about for not being in the comic strip! We used to laugh at Mark’s face always looking the same (probably due to tracing one of the character sheet reference drawings over and over). Now we complain that Mark’s face keeps looking different. We Trailheads are a fickle lot!