Mark Trail practices family values!?! Whose family, Ma Barker’s? Mark seems to have no fear of skirting and breaking the law when it suits him. And as much as I like a good action scene, decking somebody with his two fists o’ justice doesn’t automatically infer rightness or truth. And isn’t “revenge” often a method for seeking “justice”? Well, enough of this faux philosophy!
That is sure a weird looking version of the Trail cabin behind the fake Fox in panel 4. But, hah-hah-hah… Rivera once again tries to poke fun at the cliché of wild animals running amok in Mark and Cherry’s front yard. That’s funny, maybe twice a year. The rest of time, Rivera should stick to drawing real animals, if she’s going to bother at all.
Mark provides fatherly advice for taking a serious approach to the topic of electronic waste in our environment, while Rusty provides comic relief. All well and good. But will the environment topic, itself, be treated seriously, or once again used merely as a story prop?
While the real point of the wild horse story in Utah revolved around an A.I. data center, we learned very little about what actually took place with wild animals and we learned even less about why data centers may be bad for people and the environment. That is to say, virtually nothing. Wasted opportunity.
As this is an environmentally-conscious adventure strip, we should expect to see Rusty researching and assembling the project (without slandering Robbie), along with providing some basic discussions of the topic along the way. One could even imagine Robbie viewing the exhibit at the fair and feeling guilty enough to admit to Rusty he was sorry for being careless with his game components. Yeah, right.
Regular reader “Be aware of eve hill” enjoyed the thought balloon of Robbie sticking his tongue out at Rusty in panel 2 of yesterday’s strip. I agree that it is a funny gag. More often I think we are laughing at the strip, itself; so it is nice to be able to laugh along with Rivera for once.
Okay, Mark does have a habit of ending the careers of people: Tess Tigress, Sid Stump (I think), Senator Smalls, and Tad Crass all come to mind. None were specifically for revenge, with the possible exception of Tad Crass. Mark’s technique seems to be consistent: Goad the targets enough so they make a fatal mistake and destroy themselves.
This could turn out to be a memorable father-son discussion.
From the looks of things, it’s likely that Rivera is going to drag this conversation into Saturday. And frankly, I don’t want to see Rusty’s Revenge Face all week long, so I hope Mark can quickly settle things down and get this story moving along. I don’t know what Rivera is making Rusty think, regarding what Mark can to do. But so far, this story is running along the line I suggested back on May 7 … and that’s a bummer, because I’m not a storyteller.
Nevertheless, there are some real issues that may or may not get explored here, such as … uh, wait. Given the fact that real and important issues were mostly just implied or given lip service in the wild horses adventure, it’s doubtful things will be different this time around.
Anyway, where is Cherry? She hasn’t been seen in the strip since early April, when she, Doc Davis, and Violet Cheshire had a good laugh over the antics of Banjo Cat.
Hmmm, are they outside of the cabin or inside? I ask because Mark still has his jacket on, not that we know what season this takes place in. Maybe they just like to keep a cool cabin.
Now remember, dear readers, this is (supposed to be) Rusty’s adventure, so don’t expect the usual nail-biting suspense and drama of one of Mark’s stories, though that could happen. But it won’t. Anyway, Mark usually ingratiates himself into Rusty’s adventures, even if Rusty is naïve enough to sometimes invite him in on his own, as he does here. Poor Rusty.
Okay, will Daddy Trail wisely counsel Rust on the dangers of seeking revenge or will he simply say “Sounds great! Where do we begin?”
Art Dept. Now isn’t that a great image of Rusty in panel 4? I’m serious. Strongly defined expression, good facial proportions, and even decent lines. The green color is an effective background, along with those “emotion rays” (for wont of a better name) shooting out from behind Rusty, a motif frequently used by Rivera, but going back to Japanese anime at least as old as the Samurai Pizza Cats of the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, back home in the Davis/Trail cabin, Andy (panel 1) must either be standing on the dinner table or possess the ability to levitate. Well, who cares about reality or even the laws of physics, anyway? All we have today is Mark talking nonsense: • No, Mark. You did not chase wild horses. You illegally trespassed, helped instigate a prairie fire that destroyed private property, and escaped responsibility. • Disbelieve slides and slide projectors? Again, Mark boasts of his disdain for technology and history. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get to see his after-dinner slide show with the family: “Check this out, family! This picture shows the helicopter that was chasing us as it hit a transformer and set everything on fire! And this next picture shows the smoldering ruins of the company the next day. How neat is that!?!”
This week we returned to the adolescent adventures of Rusty Trail. He is in school and about ready to announce his topic for the upcoming school science fair. But troublemaker and underhanded “friend”, Robbie, neglected to prepare a topic, having wasted his time playing computer games all weekend. Robbie easily cons Rusty into revealing his topic (the axolotl salamander, subject of the prior Sunday), which Robbie then submits to the teacher before Rusty does! Rusty is suitably angry at Robbie for stealing his idea, though he should have been angry at himself for being so gullible. Fortunately, Rusty quickly came up with a better topic—electronic waste—based on his knowledge of Robbie’s game-playing habit.
There were also discussions during the week about the direction and quality of the drawing, so feel free to browse and catch up, if you are interested. There is at least one thought that the style has become more childlike, possibly because of the subject matter; or because Rivera may simply be directing the entire strip towards an even younger audience.
Cartoonists have traditionally maintained physical picture archives of objects they can reference for drawing, tracing, or adapting. In pre-Rivera Mark Trail, James Allen often reused images of Mark’s head, saving time and ensuring consistency of appearance. I don’t know whether they were photocopies pasted onto the drawings or tracings from reference sheets. Same result. But the sameness of the images became a source of criticism by fans. But there’s more:
Pictorial recycling can be infinitely easier when your sources are digital, as we see in today’s strip: The bees buzzing through the panels today are from the same bee images Rivera used in Cherry’s earlier bee stories, simply copied-and-pasted as needed.
Ooh! Rusty is really hot under the collar (an emotion excellently illustrated in panel 1!). But he proves to be a quick thinker and comes up with an idea much more topical and arguably more important—if less cute—than axolotls.
The plot of this storyline starts out as another (pre)teen rivalry between frenemies. We’ve seen in the past how Robbie takes every opportunity to stick it to Rusty. Will this tension continue to be the driving force of this story? Well, of course! I don’t expect we’ll see Robbie giving Rusty a High Five for a quick recovery and a superior topic. Nope. If anything, we can expect some sabotage along the way.
Art Dept. Have you noticed a small but increasing use of digital screentone patterns to suggest shadow (panel 2) or possibly mood (panel 3)? This technique normally replaces the more time-consuming manually-inked crosshatched lines. Rivera normally does not bother creating hazy or shadowy ambiance or even suggesting volume, preferring to use flat shapes and colors. I think it is a positive addition that I hope will eventually make its way onto the characters.
I’m trying to not take credit for making such an obvious prediction for this plot development. I’m guessing 95% of you made the same prediction. So for that other 5%, “I TOLD YOU! AND I WUZ RIGHT!”
Alas, in panel 4 Rusty internalizes: “That little thief!” What kind of kid talks like that?!? Maybe an adult does when talking about a kid. No, somebody like Rusty is more apt to mutter “Thanks-alotl, you g#dd@mn #(@)ing prick! Just wait until lunch, pond scum!” But like network TV, you have to clean up language in comic strips for the delicate minds of people who enjoy getting offended as an excuse to become offensive.
In spite of Rivera’s appreciated upgrading of Rusty’s personality and image from his past incarnation, he is still a gullible, insecure adolescent (like many kids in real life). It’s clear that Robbie is “Eddie” to Rusty’s “Beaver.” How will Rusty get his revenge? It can’t possibly be that the teacher will make them team up…?
Okay, this dialog is not moving the story along; it is merely two kids bickering. I don’t know why Rivera believes Rusty should score a point (“touché”) in his response, since Robbie already admitted he didn’t have any idea of what an axolotl is. So why should Robbie also know its taxonomic classification? Seen in this light, the conversation could be interpreted as “Rusty tries to ridicule Robbie.” In panel 4, Robbie’s body language indicates that it doesn’t seem to be working. Touché, Robbie!
Art Dept. There is a fundamental difference between the drawing of Rusty and that of Robbie. Where Rusty’s head (for example) appears quite naturalistic and animated, Robbie’s smooth head looks like it came from a stylized marionette or a china doll. At least it is a bit more defined than the yellow smiley face. The differences in style and facial definition are off-putting. I could be reading too much into this. What do you think?
The Daily Trail 