Mark Trail - Suddenly in the Past

James Allen continues to shake things up in the vintage comic strip Mark Trail. Note the way he ends a long-protracted (but never dull) sequence involving Mark and two friends finding their way out of a cave. I already noted what happened when they found a water passage (Mark Trail Goes with the Wind).

Mark Trail has always featured closeups of animals in their natural environment, so it's a perfect way for Allen to build some tension before showing Trail breaking the surface.

His two companions soon follow, and the story arc ends here:

Then the very next day this sequence appeared...

Meanwhile, two years before!? That's one heck of a transition.

It confounded me, but James Allen's been at the helm of this strip for me to know I can trust his narrative skills. This will all make sense. I just have to keep reading.