Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Mark Trail, from a distance


[Mark Trail, April 16, 2014.]

Mark Trail has a new artist: Jack Elrod has passed the ball to longtime assistant James Allen. And Mark is back home after catching a poacher. Mark has been driving about in a jeep, taking in the sights and sounds of Lost Forest. He has been driving since Saturday. In the panel above, he is talking to his wife Cherry.

As any Mark Trail reader knows, Mark’s relationship with Cherry is non-existent. The strip’s pattern: Mark heads out on an adventure, comes home, sits at the table with his family, and heads out again. It’s like the Odyssey without book 23. But the dialogue in the panel above marks a new intimacy between the Trails. What better way to show affection than to call as you drive alone and aimlessly, avoiding your partner’s company?

Is James Allen having fun with his own strip? I think it’s too early to tell.

Related reading
All OCA Mark Trail posts (Pinboard)

[Jack Elrod’s final daily strip ran on April 10. A Sunday strip appeared on April 13. In Odyssey 23, Odysseus and Penelope tell each other stories and make love.]

comments: 3

Slywy said...

I'm thrilled to see comics where people have black hair with blue highlights. For some reason, that reminds me of my childhood.

He must not be anywhere near, say, Shawnee National Forest or Voyageurs National Park, where most of the time you can't get a signal, let alone make obligatory, "I love you, and the fact you never want share what makes me happy, which clearly isn't your company" phone calls.

Michael Leddy said...

:)

Elaine said...

Maybe the new guy will introduce some Realism--say, a scene where Cherry has had to manage yet another domestic disaster without an ounce of help, and Mark Trail comes home just in time to point out that she should have handled it some other way, failing to notice that Cherry is gripping a [cast-iron skillet/carving knife/large rolling pin]....