Snark It Up, FuzzBall!

A wonderful hallmark of Mark Trail is its consistency:  there will be giant animals, and stilted dialog, and Mark Trail spouting stilted dialog about giant animals.  What else can you ask for in this crazy, frenetic world?

The Comics Curmudgeon’s [Old Man] Muffaroo tossed us Forest Friends a magical thing today:

…a special meta-feature for all you true fans out there! A look inside the creative minds that bring you your sequential art, day after day:

MARK TRAIL’s 22 PANELS THAT ALWAYS WORK

1. Giant bird on a branch
2. Giant birds flying
3. Giant squirrel looking up
4. Huge close-up of Kelly Welly
5. People standing around talking
6. IT IS RUSTY!
7. Distant shot of Dinkyburg
8. Giant… gopher!
9. Huge close-up of Mark
10. Pancakes
11. Fist o’ Justice!
12. Huge close-up of Kelly Welly again
13. Giant quail
14. Cephalopod doing anything
15. Marmaduke on the couch again!
16. Driving the station wagon
17. Somebody listening to another person talking
18. People standing around not talking
19. Walking through the forest
20. Giant squirrel on the ground
21. Elrodball
22. Rusty… in danger!

Inspired by Muffaroo’s comment, I figured it was time to issue Card #2 in the Mark Trail Bingo! series.  (You can find Car #1 here:   http://snarkitupfuzzball.nexiliscom.com/?p=2974 ).   I still may have to tailor a Bingo! card specifically based on Muffaroo’s keen observations:

And yes, YES, YES! I did do a Muffaroo Special Edition! (I have no life, but I still manage to enjoy myself.)

Laugh if you will at the weekday edition of Mark Trail, but marvel at the really cool world of nature on Sunday! And this week, not just one cephalopod…but cuttlefish and squid and nautilus (YOW!) and octopus! Tentacles a-plenty!

…there really isn’t a whole lot of action when a plot revolves around a blind dog sniffing for a jacket imbrued with his master’s funk.

Anyway, Butch the Blind Dog is missing! And so is his master’s jacket! Oh my gosh! What will Mark Trail do?!

…and the wildlife is crafty.

Mark Trail? Not so much…

…our intrepid Nature Guy has met his doggie intellectual match! No, really!

…good to see you again, Mark!

I kid, I kid! We should all know by now that the sheer presence of Mark will lead to intriguing insights! Interesting solutions! An utter lack of contractions!

…or, maybe not.

Well, maybe not, but how often do we see RCMP in the comics?

Well, The Mystery of the Gold Bird Band ends with no punching, and pretty much not a whole lot of explanation either.  Maybe something new and exciting and punch-worthy is waiting at the other end of this telephone!  (The dialog in Panel 2 is supplied by the Comics Curmudgeon hisself,  Josh F., so how can excitement not be waiting in the wings?)

On the other hand, the dialog in these panels are supplied by CC’s “Illustrator Steve,” so there is a definite possibility of a no-go unless Mark sprints really, really fast:

That’s our Mark!