Read This: A tribute to the awesomely uncool adventures of Mark Trail

Fictional nature writer and adventurer Mark Trail has been a staple of the funny pages since 1946, when he was first created by Ed Dodd. These days, although his circulation has dwindled and some of his remaining fans are reading his strip ironically, Mark endures into the 21st century thanks to current writer-artist James Allen. Through the decades, Mark Trail has been built around a few basics: lovingly drawn wildlife, stiffly drawn humans, obscure nature facts, an abiding respect for Mother Nature, and a healthy dose of mayhem, including plenty of explosions and fistfights. Corny as it is, the strip obviously made a big impression on writer Jeff Moravec, who has teamed up with artist Kevin Cannon to create a terrific tribute called “Mark Trail And Me” that starts as a comic strip before morphing into text. (It’s hard to read below, but this should give you some idea of how it looks, and then you can go read it at the link, above.)