Reader Be Ware of Eve Hill commented on the possibility of a decline in the art of this strip related to the resignation of Tea Fougner, Editorial Director of King Features Syndicate. I mentioned her departure on January 6. My current answer is “Got me!”  My understanding is that Fougner was instrumental in bringing Rivera in to update the strip. Given that the art has fluctuated over the past several years, I’m not inclined to believe a causal link to Fougner’s departure. I’m more inclined to think a new director will arrive and promote a different agenda, which might be a bigger concern. King Features owns the Mark Trail strip and Rivera is just the current hired caretaker, as was James Allen before her.

Rita refers to the “freshwaters” of Florida. Really!? This event must have taken place in the 1940s, since I read that these days the “freshwaters of Florida” are polluted from pesticide and fertilizer runoff, which has killed a lot of the sea grass that manatees depend on, and are a leading danger to the survival of the manatees in Florida.  Guess they missed that piece of information.

I think we’re all surprised to find that Max the manatee is actually still alive, after been ignored for most of this adventure. And I wonder how they got Max safely back into those “fresh” waters, as Rivera perhaps decided her readers do not need to know how much time, effort, and care is actually required to do accomplish this! So much for this strip’s focus on environment and nature.

First Question of the Day: Why does Rita ask Mark to take control of the kidnappers, since Skeeter already has the situation in hand?
Second Question of the Day: Why are Rita, Skeeter, and Mark facing away from Max in panel 3 as they see him off?
Third Question of the Day: Is this the end of the adventure, or does Mark go on to pursue Cricket Bro?

Now, don’t wait. Operators are standing by 24 hours a day by to take your comments!

Sometimes I fear that I am descending into a Pit of Snarkiness, that this blog is becoming just an extended version of one-offs, such as we find on ComicsKingdom. Not that some snarkiness is bad. I enjoy a well-crafted dig. But I don’t want to get to the point where all I’m doing is taking potshots. So, do let me know if you find me losing my focus. Don’t hold back. I can take it!

Now, on to today’s silliness episode!

As Mark winds up his defense of Max, Rivera continues to turn this story from the rescue and rehabilitation of a manatee into a story about two second-rate kidnappers and their conspiratorial nonsense. Meanwhile, Max (remember him!?) has as much screen time in this story as the box of tools on the shoreline. Remember that?

So how did Skeeter and Rita know about the falling iguana if they were supposed to be busy with Max? No way that job is already completed, even in Comic Strip Time! What I’m trying to say here is that I believe a better approach would have been to show Mark fighting the kidnappers as we observe Rita and Skeeter feverishly working in the background to launch Max to safety. It could have been dramatically depicted in a single panoramic panel. Somehow, I just don’t think that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will give this story its stamp of approval.

While I always like to see new opponents and bad guys show up in this strip, it is curiously amusing to see Cricket Bro reappear. What could be his connection to a conspiracy about manatees controlling storms? There has to be a financial payoff involved in this grift. So I hope this plotline gets fleshed out in a meaningful way. For once.

Okay, you got any observations or snarks?

Oh dear. Where to start? We get confirmation that Max the Manatee is just an excuse for the story and not the focus of the story. The idea that people would start a fist fight while dressed in clumsy bear costumes could only happen if they were:  a) drunk; b) stoned, or c) stupid. If Rivera’s intentions are to treat this sequence as a cheap parody of Vintage Mark Trail, then she succeeded.

This “rescue from ambush” (by a falling iguana, of course) is an old movie and TV trope. Rivera used a similar setup before (“Thanks-alotl for the E-Waste “,7/2/24 & 7/3/24), when Mark was fighting the E-waste dumpers in Lost Forest and was about to get brained by Honest Ernest after Connor snuck up from behind to trap him. But Andy was the surprise “frozen iguana” who bit Connor, breaking his hold and allowing Mark to continue fighting.

Tip for Rivera: Narration boxes look less clunky when they are stretched to fill the width of each panel, especially where there is no dialog.

Update: Readers Downpuppy and Be Ware of Eve Hill each provided a reasonable correction to some of my interpretations from yesterday. The covered box on the ground in panel 1 likely contains the tools to get Max out of the truck; not Max, himself. And the gesture of the bear bozo on the right in panel 4 was more likely the familiar “hit-the-palm” gesture suggesting impending physical violence. I always appreciate readers taking the trouble to keep me grounded in reality. Now, on to today’s strip!

Note to Mark: Histrionics and name-calling won’t convince those dudes, Mark, especially when your explanation employs another thing they probably don’t believe in! And a fist fight won’t do much more than put them out of action for a bit. Education would be a better approach, but as we saw in your fishing survival school, Mark, teaching is not a strong point. Maybe those two goofs are true believers who find facts and logic inconvenient. If so, you might as well go ahead. Knock the stuffing out of their costumes!

Moving on:  I’m impressed with the ability to get Max the Manatee out of the truck and on the ground without visible equipment. But maybe it was used and is already moved out of the way.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, too:  How much time actually passed between yesterday’s strip and today? Because, realistically, getting a manatee out of the truck and safely on the ground would probably take at least a good 30 minutes, excluding the time needed to set up the equipment. Perhaps the two “Bear Bozos” were too amazed at how complex the process to move a manatee actually is and just watched. But only now did they recover their wits. Otherwise, I’m stumped.

Art Dept. Less said, the better.

If they have already located a proper location to return Max (see yesterday’s strip), why are they still wasting time inside the truck looking up bear costumes? And wouldn’t those “whether men” post on their own conspiracy group’s web site?

Given that the photo in question (panel 2) is two people in full costume, I don’t see how any identification can be made, even if names were attached. Anyway, this distraction does not move the story along one iota.

Why does Rivera continue to focus the story on the would-be kidnappers while disregarding Max the Manatee? These three have all the concern of a moving crew delivering furniture. To me, the real drama is Max’s current health. What if Max’s condition worsened as a result of the dawdling, jostling, and negligence? Isn’t that worth focusing on? It provides sufficient suspense and drama for this story.

Keep in mind that Mark is the guy whose very existence is based on preserving nature and wildlife. It looks as if Jules Rivera has lost sight of Mark Trail’s Prime Directive!

Art Dept. Rivera continues to swing back to her sketchy, barren style. She must have been watching StarTrek when drawing this, because in panel 3 Mark looks like that early version of Mr. Spock when Capt. Pike was in charge of the Enterprise. Minus the five o’clock shadow, of course!

Several readers await the return of the “Vintage” Mark Trail, meaning the work of Dodd and Elrod. Keep waiting, people. On the other hand, other vintage strips are online at ComicsKingdom, including Krazy Kat, Thimble Theater, and Rip Kirby, the latter being one of the best strips for drama, adventure and superb drawing in the naturalistic style. All three strips have also been reprinted, at least in part, in lavish hardcover books, though several volumes are currently out of print. No such books have been made for Mark, though!

And so we are back … in Florida. The amateurish handling of Max the Manatee that we have observed continues as the trio seems to have extemporaneously decided on a spot to release him!

I realize that Rivera has to simplify things somewhat for the sake of the story and format, but shouldn’t Max be a more significant part of the story, rather than just a reason for the story? In reality, there are only a select number of facilities authorized to rescue and transport manatees in Florida, all under the supervision of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Yet, there have been no people from either of those agencies present, nor have they been mentioned. Thus, my comments at the start of this adventure on why these two characters could have been from one of those agencies, which would provide more authenticity. Much of the story could remain the same, including the goofy kidnapping attempt. Some extra time and space could have been allocated for the characters to discuss and demonstrate proper handling and supervision of the manatee, including how they select the best spot to reintroduce Max into his watery habitat.

“Gosh, darn! If we could only dump Max the Manatee, we would catch those fleeing bear bandits!”

In thrillers, mysteries, and crime dramas—at least on TV—it used to be that the perps were the ones who act stupid. Apparently, times have changed. Well …

…maybe it’s just me, but wasn’t the main goal here to avoid the bad guys, rather than chase them?

And doesn’t Max the Manatee need to return to his native habitat as quickly as possible?

Maybe I’m getting too old, but I just don’t get this part of the story. Mark thinks it’s okay to risk the health of Max the Manatee so he can chase a couple of costumed idiots into the bushes. Where are his supposed pro-wildlife priorities? What the hell would he do if he caught those bozos?

You know, Skeeter might be a first class moron, but at least he brought a camera along, which is more than I can say for “Mark Trail, nature journalist and wildlife photographer.” This makes Garfield look good.

Is this the secret to Mark’s Two Fist O’ Justice: Arms that bend like pipe cleaners? Anyway, looks like the snack stop is a bust as Rita and Skeeter come back empty-handed. I was sure looking forward to some of those Cheetos.

We can overlook the comedic art for a few moments while we consider the plot development … okay, that’s long enough. Still, Rita does raise a good point (panel 3), but Mark is more interested in responding like a dork, while making no sense. This includes his offhanded remark in panel 1 about “bearnappers.” Of course, these would-be abductors are not trying to kidnap bears, which is what the word implies. Perhaps Mark intends to follow up with a more helpful explanation tomorrow that doesn’t include a bad bear pun.

Art Dept. Another thing I’ve been noticing over time is Mark’s increasingly large eyebrows, reaching epic Groucho proportions. Maybe you noticed, too? Here he is in February 2024. I might be overstating the case a bit, as sometimes they are thin and sometimes they get fatter. Maybe it’s the amount of humidity or the time of year. It’s not a project I’m overly excited to perform, so I’ll just let this stand as an unsubstantiated observation.

Rivera likes to employ a “one step-back, two-steps forward” technique used by writers and producers of serialized stories. As we see here, the first panel recaps prior activity. This kind of “as we saw last time…” technique normally finds its greatest value when the interval between installments is long enough for the summary to be helpful. However, Rivera uses this recall technique even when the interval is just one day, as we see here.

Does Rivera believe that her readers have that short of a memory? A cynical belief, if true. Or is Rivera employing this technique just to pad out the story?

Aside from my simple deconstruction, I think a bigger issue here is Where The Hell Are Rita and Skeeter!? After getting knocked down by the faux bear, did they just get up and head inside the store to buy Hot Cheetos and Big Gulps? They’ve had plenty of time to “recover” from getting pushed to the pavement.

But what happens if Bear #2 successfully steals the truck (along with Sam the Manatee)? Will Mark commandeer a car to follow it? Or maybe he will heroically leap onto the rear of the truck as it’s driving away and try to make his way to the cab.

Art Dept. Rivera normally has a decent sense of proportion and depth, but I don’t know what to say about panel 1 (see the January 3 strip for comparison). It’s like Rivera took saved images and simply pasted them onto the panel with little regard for cohesion. The less said about the flora, the better. Anything else (the strip or this blog) worth bringing up, dear readers?

Breaking Industry News: Tea Fougner, Editorial Director of King Features Syndicate, has left her position and the company, possibly for a variety of reasons (see comments for details). Fougner was responsible for bringing in Jules Rivera as part of a general shakeup of the syndicate and its online comics site. Will her replacement exert any influence on the future of Mark Trail? I imagine that Mark the Contrarian Commenter will be salivating at the possibility! (Source: The Daily Cartoonist.)

Well, if being right was money, I’d probably be poor. Now, if you bet against my prediction on the diversion, pay up! Then again, I think this situation was about as predictable as the return of Haley’s Comet. Apparently, Mark doesn’t follow astronomy, so he followed the diversion, instead. And what did he do when he finally discovered he’d been fooled? He stood still (panel 3) and issued a monologue for the sake of a joke.

The more clever of you readers will have also discerned that Mark apparently left the truck unlocked. All along we have seen an alarmingly shoddy regard for proper security measures, starting with hiring Mark instead of professional security. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an “inside” job. Ah ha! Another prediction and you heard it read it here, first!

I reckon that all of those prior instances of running from bears (as any sane person would do) pays off for Mark as he easily unmasks this absurd fraud, who didn’t even put up a fight. Yet Mark’s dramatic boast in panel 3 is uncalled for, given the hokey amateurishness of this assault and the obvious bear costume. Well, we’ll have to wait to find out if this Whether Men attack includes a follow-up. However, I doubt even a well-made bear costume supports variable emotional expressions like we see in panels 1 and 2.

Art Dept. Props for Rivera’s attention to details regarding the filling station in yesterday’s and today’s strips. Rivera even included those bump-outs atop the roof posts showing the pump numbers. It’s too bad that this attention did not extend to other elements in the panels.