I’ve been challenged to produce a vigorous analysis of this past week. I must be slipping, as I thought all of my weekending summaries are vigorous in one form or another. Well, let’s see how things go…

First, a brief recap the week, day by day (I’m ignoring the omnipresent bear puns):

Mon – Mark reacts to learning Cricket Bro is behind the kidnapping attempt. He is put off to learn that the kidnappers do not know who he is. This could have been important, as it suggests Mark’s participation was not anticipated by Cricket Bro.
Tue – The kidnappers reveal they are here to grab Rita because of criticism against a post of Cricket Bro.
Wed – The kidnappers support the manatee-weather conspiracy and spout nonsense about Max.
Thur – Rita pounds the kidnappers on climate change. The kidnappers thought wearing bear costumes would protect them from arrest.
Fri – The police are called and Max is finally released into the “freshwaters” of Florida.
Sat – The police arrive to take the kidnappers. Our gang commiserates over the slow acceptance of climate change in the general public. Max is shown listlessly floating and shrunken.

This week’s strips suggest we have reached the end of the story, though it left the door open for dealing with Cricket Bro. Will this take place in one of Mark’s subsequent, off-the-books revenge stories? Wait a minute. Has Mark ever had one of those stories? Frank Miller could whip one up, I’m sure.

Now, what was this adventure really about? Was it really about protecting Max the Manatee? We can all agree that it definitely was not about protecting manatees, in general. As previously noted, there was virtually no face time with Max until the last two weeks. Even then, it was brief and desultory. None of the usual safeguards, procedures, or professional assistance for manatees was depicted or mentioned. Then there were the late revelations by the kidnappers about Cricket Bro’s involvement and his objective to stifle scientific/political views contrary to his own.

We were misled—well, I was misled—by the initial emphasis on protecting Max the Manatee. This was really a kind of bait-and-switch story. Mark was hired as a bodyguard, not a reporter. His job was to bring his Two Fists O’ Justice to any conspiracy nut who interfered with Rita and Skeeter getting Max back into his natural waters. I wonder if Bill Ellis knew this? And this conspiracy was either initiated or supported by Mark’s earliest “nemesis”, Rob Bettencourt, aka Cricket Bro.

When seen in this light, I believe the story makes more sense, though it is still superficial and lacks any suspense. Then again, we can claim that Rivera’s stories have never been about actual suspense and drama, excluding Mark’s first adventure. Thus, criticism about any lack of suspense and drama is redundant and unwarranted. What do you think?

It’s kind of depressing that Mark would spend so much space and effort discussing the groundhog’s weather prediction nonsense. But then again, I’d probably be more depressed if I thought there were people who still do believe this. What’s that, you said..? There are such people!? Oh, right: “Manatees can control hurricanes.” <Gag!> Where is my bucket?