Mark and the Cops

At last we've got some implications of violence, not just perverse sex.

Frolf Factor

Sam's dad likes to travel on dark trails.

Let's Play Doctor

Doctor Dark Trail. Nasty!

Brief Critical Observation

The characters in this strip are restless; they jump all around during their conversations. But here's two strips from a few days apart -- I mean, these are two separate visits -- and it seems kind of lazy on the artist's part. Or is it just characterization of Mark to show that he's the kind of guy who turns a chair around and sits on it with his arms on the back?

Still enjoying a Tender Interlude

She can't still be Cherry after all these years...

A Tender Moment

Oh That Rusty!

Mark is Getting Busy

I think he suffers from priapism.
Click on the image if you want to know what he's saying, but I'm warning you: you aren't going to like it.

Sam managed to convince the conspirators

Maybe it's because she can suck the lead out of a pencil. And now we know where she gets it from.

Click on the image so you can read what they're saying.

Mark and Sam's Dad Comfort Each Other

Such manly men! They don't show their grief at her apparent loss.




Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read the words!

Sam Stays Spunky

Then ends up bargaining for her life.

Party Time at Buzzard's

Now I'm thinking maybe there's a DieHard element to this. Or Sam is like that Russian nuke technician in Goldeneye, only this comic strip implies a lot more naughty stuff.

Come Not Between the Dragon and His Wrath

I don't trust that karate talk. Watch out for the roundhouse, Dad!

Buzzard's Billy Club

This plot development is really disgusting, but I like how Buzzard's language is getting more and more slurred and garbled. Look for him to speak completely phonetically and idiotically in future appearances.

This is Starting to remind me of Pulp Fiction, somehow

Or maybe Silence of the Lambs. Either way, it's really freaky.
If you haven't been reading Mark Trail -- first of all, shame on you; why not? -- you might not realize how wildly unmarked the dark trail is about to become for a few days. As we saw earlier when I dumped one of the villains in the landfill (oh that's going to come back and bite me in the butt again!), it's a whole new level of challenge when I'm doing stuff to the characters that isn't happening in Mark. It was a lot easier when I was just revising the word balloons with innuendoes and non-sequiturs (hah! I think I remembered how to spell it).

Mark my Words

There is nothing likeable about this pathetic, despicable character.

Airotic Asphyxiation is for the Birds

Over The Top

Over and Out, Sam!

I Can Feel It Coming In the Air

Really Everyone in this Strip is a Sick Freak

Sam Explains her Favorite Game, Airotic Asphyxiation, to Mark

Buzzard is a big Stupid Weirdo

Passin' Time (perverted passion time)

Return of the Mile-High Club, and more!

Here's another in the series of ideas rejected in the original Mark Trail brainstorming session. Do I need to point out that most of these are actually better ideas than was chosen for the strip? That I throw away ideas every day that are better than an idea that has provided Dodd and Elrod years of gainful employment?

The Dark Trail takes an Intellectual Turn. This can't last.

All speeches are direct quotes from Shakespeare's MacBeth, as I'm sure you recognized.

Bonus Features, including a web-only special

Finally leaving the landfill

Bonus Feature

Thanks Andrew for inspiring the bonus feature today. This shows that the Dark Trail defies the rules of logic, as well as the bounds of common decency and common sense.

Still at the landfill