# The new Mark Trail **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [October 16, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144 "2020-10-16T22:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/1 "2020-10-16T22:42:33Z")
In this ever-changing world there are still some things that one might think would never change. “Mark Trail” for example. This 3-panel comic strip has been running since 1948 and seemingly fell into a black hole in which time stood still. Mark and his friends looked just as they had 72 years ago, and the stories moved at an agonizingly slow pace. For instance, say Mark is chasing a bunch of poachers in the nether regions of Lost Forest. He swerves to avoid hitting a beaver, his Jeep overturns, and the next thing you know, his leg is stuck and he’s being menaced by a hungry bear. It would take Mark at least six weeks to find a way out of that fix! Well, big changes have taken place at Lost Forest, and some of the faithful ain’t too pleased about it… > **[The new Mark Trail is here, and he's lit](https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-new-mark-trail-is-here-and-hes-lit/)** > > The new Mark Trail is here, and he's lit ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/2 "2020-10-16T23:00:33Z")
What th’?! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/3 "2020-10-16T23:04:32Z")
Look Ok to me. Kinda fun. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/4 "2020-10-16T23:14:23Z")
Obviously, her pacing is off. Mark made it all the way inside and answered the phone in just one strip. That’s a full week of strips at least - one to make it to the front door. One to wonder what the buzzing noise is inside. One to open up the door and notice that the buzzing is louder. One to locate the phone on the table (with the various phone closeups - buzz, Buzz, BUZZ). One to pick up the phone and enter his password/use face recognition. And then finally on Saturday to reveal who had called. This is Mark Trail - she’s careening wildly from moment to moment. You need to draw out the suspense. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/5 "2020-10-17T00:19:45Z")
Wow, that’s a complete change of art style. The old school Mark Trail had a very notable look, this is just not the same. I’m going to miss Old-School Trail punching bad guys and their moustaches after weeks of buildup, but a modern take with less weirdly out-of-time characters could be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/6 "2020-10-17T02:38:13Z")
I wonder if they will still have the talking animals… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/7 "2020-10-17T02:38:26Z")
Wow. loving and following it now. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/8 "2020-10-17T12:59:40Z")
I miss James Allen. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/9 "2020-10-17T14:00:07Z")
I love the reboot! I tried to bond with the old Mark Trail about once a decade, starting in the early 60’s, but never managed to get into it except for the Sunday ‘nature education’ strip. Those were pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/10 "2020-10-17T17:12:15Z")
The question I have about the new strip is, will we still be able to immediately identify the bad guys by their giant Elvis-like sideburns? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/11 "2020-10-17T18:12:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I miss James Allen. He was a little bit fired. [https://joshreads.com/2020/07/soapy-meta-drama/](https://joshreads.com/2020/07/soapy-meta-drama/) ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/12 "2020-10-18T12:01:15Z")
Just curious if I’m the only one who had to look up what the linked story title’s use of “lit” meant here? I didn’t understand why Mark Trail would be drunk. > **[It's Lit](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/lit-meaning-origin)** > > An old slang word made new again ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/13 "2020-10-18T12:54:12Z")
For those who miss James Allen, he’s doing a strip called [Edge of Adventure](https://www.gocomics.com/edge-of-adventure/2020/10/18), which proves that he _can_ draw in a style that doesn’t look like clip art from the 1940s. It’s early, yet, but I kind of like the new Mark Trail. The old one was never all that enjoyable, except for the dubious nostalgia value of reading a strip whose basic understanding of the world didn’t seem to have progressed since 1952. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-mark-trail/923144/14 "2020-10-18T15:39:19Z")
I enjoy Edge of Adventure. The antagonist killed Sam’s girlfriend, and Sam beat him to death. Allen said that Sam is tougher than Mark Trail. He is concentrating on detail in aircraft at the moment. His animal drawings were very good in MT. He was acting badly in political posts, so I understand his being asked to leave.