Mark Trail meanders along its bewildering way. Mark turned up in the Rio Grande on June 22 after a long journey through caverns measureless to man. And then the strip went back in time: “Two years ago, not far from Hawaii.” An insipid couple, whom we have come to know as Darling (he) and Honey (she) are sailing to New Zealand. “We’ll be in New Zealand soon!” says Darling. (Good luck with that.) Long story short: Darling and Honey take a break to sleep away the night on a tiny island, “not far from Hawaii.” While carrying firewood from the boat to shore, Darling is bitten by what will turn out to be a red imported fire ant. I’m guessing, but a later strip shows something that looks like an ant, and it’s bright red.
[Mark Trail , June 28, July 1, July 2, 2016. Click for larger views.]
Back in the present, Mark is planning a vacation with Cherry, just the two of them, to Hawaii. Today, however, we’re back on the tiny island. But look: that’s not Honey in a green hat and bikini, two years back in time. It’s Abbey Powell, a real person at the USDA who appeared in a Trail story in 2015. She’s back. Follow that bird!
[Mark Trail , July 13, 2016. Click for a larger view.]
James Allen has given considerable attention to the female form of late, first with Honey and now with Abbey Powell. (Browse for yourself.) It’s a pity that Allen’s artistic imagination allows only one color for bikinis and hats: that makes things unnecessarily confusing. At least Honey and Ms. Powell have been granted different hat bands. But still: it’s all too doppelgänger-y.
Allen has assured his readers in a comment on today’s strip that Abbey is going to tell us what happened to Darling and Honey. I assume that they got in big trouble with the red imported fire ant, aka RIFA, either by bringing ashore the firewood that introduced the invasive species to the tiny island or by being bitten to death, or both.
It’s enough to make someone say “uunngghh.” Cough. Cough.
Related reading
All OCA Mark Trail posts (Pinboard)
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Mark Trail , all too doppelgänger-y
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comments: 4
Those must be different from the Imported Red Fire Ants we have in these parts, eh?
We’ll have to wait and see. :)
Is there a map version of these journeys? I'm lost. :)
They don’t call it Lost Forest for nothing. Honey and Darling were not far from Hawaii. I assume Abbey is on the same island. Maybe Mark and Cherry will be shipwrecked there. One can only hope.
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