It seems not so long ago that Mark was canoeing to Ben Miller’s Hidden Lodge on the Lake ( http://snarkitupfuzzball.nexiliscom.com/?p=3737 ).  It seems he’s doing it again! But just when you think that strips are being recycled within a couple of weeks, let’s play “Find Six Differences!”:

1. Ben is wearing deck shoes, not heavy woodlands boots!

2. His daughter is diving into the lake!

3. There are no woodland creatures staring mindlessly at the lake (or at Ben’s daughter)!

4. Ben has changed his shirt (it was white; now it’s hazard orange)!

5. “Ben, Buzz; Buzz, Ben.”, rather than “Ben, Mark; Mark, Ben.”!

6. Something else, I’m sure of it.

Whether you find the last difference, I think we can all agree that Mark sure loves to canoe!

Then again, what are the odds we’re really going to see a nubile young woman swimming in Mark Trail?  What are those Powerball odds?  Yeah, you go and drop a couple of bucks on that — it’s way more than a sure thing.

Mark Trail’s Sunday strip on 7 March gave us all quite a rush.  Hard on the heels of a TAPIR!!!! strip comes one about TORNADOES!  We haven’t seen excitement like that since the tsunami strip a couple of years ago.  And while it was filled with all sorts of interesting meteorological facts and safety guidelines, the freakingest bestest coolest part was the flying cow! And the flying truck! AND the flying car! Take THAT, Flash Gordon!

Oh, and those usually smug little verminous squirrels being scared out of their kidney bean-sized brains.  Take THAT, Skippy!

Did I mention Wilbur Weston’s long-lost “son,” Kurt, disappeared?  Of course Wilbur was distraught (since they’d been “bonding”), and even if the paternity test showed that he and Kurt weren’t related, he was still more than willing to be Kurt’s “friend.”  Tough luck, Dawn.

Then again, with a harridan like you for a “daughter,” can you “blame” him?

The Keanes start the next 50 years of cartooning with a naked Jeffy standing in front of his mother, proudly spouting “’cause it’s my birthday!”.

All rightie then.  I’m sure we can work with this.

And we can even work in a rather obtuse 7 March Bizarro cartoon, too:

You finally make it home, only to discover that your wife thinks you’re dead and has since remarried.  And then she comes over and steals your Glock!

At least you have your sax and the knowledge that you’re not alone — a lot of your associates in ComicsTown have crappy lives, too.

(Oh, yeah, Wally — trombones are not saxophones.  They are not sexy.  They will never be sexy.  Well, a “Rusty Trombone” might be an exception to the rule, but I’m not sure about that.)

Yeah, that’s about it.

It took an explosion from The Phantom to do it, but finally! Some action at Casa de Morgan!

…like a dodo.  Or an ostrich.  Or a kiwi.  Or an emu.  Or a rhea. Or a giant moa.

I used to be a wee bit embarrassed by having Dr. Ari act in such a randy manner, but considering the current story-line, with him consorting with a boozy, pill-popping married woman, perhaps I’m vindicated after all.

I also have to admit that I like the dialog in A3G.  There are some times when it is very “real,” less sensationalistic than RMMD or JP, and far less stilted than MW or MT (but what would MT be without that?).

That doesn’t stop me, though…

(Yes, I will snark on real peoples’ real conversations. You have been warned.)

In the meantime, Tommie and Ari’s conversation devolves…