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Mark Trail

This article is about the American comic strip. For the radio adaptation of this comic strip, see Mark Trail (radio).

Mark Trail
Author(s)
  • Ed Dodd (1946–1978)
  • Jack Elrod (1978–2014)
  • James Allen (2014–2020)
  • Jules Rivera (2020–present)
Illustrator(s)
  • Ed Dodd (1946–1950 daily)
  • Tom Hill (1946–1978 Sundays; 1950–1978 daily)
  • Jack Elrod (1950s–1978 assistant; 1978–2014 primary)
  • James Allen (2014–2020)
  • Jules Rivera (2020–present)
Launch dateApril 15, 1946
Syndicate(s)Post-Hall Syndicate (1946–1987)
King Features (1987–2020)
Publisher(s)Fawcett Publications, Standard/Nedor/Pines
Genre(s)Adventure
The Mark Trail studio was on the second floor of Ed Dodd's home in the Lost Forest at the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, Georgia. At work are (l. to r.) Ed Dodd, Jack Elrod, Tom Hill and Rhett Carmichael. The 130-acre Lost Forest was the model for the fictional Lost Forest National Forest in the strip. Dodd's house was located on Marsh Creek, a tributary of the Chattahoochee River. To see this image at full resolution, go to the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest.

Mark Trail is a newspaper comic strip created by the American cartoonist Ed Dodd. Introduced April 15, 1946, the strip centers on environmental and ecological themes. As of 2020, King Features syndicated the strip to "nearly 150 newspapers and digital outlets worldwide."[1]

When Mark Trail began, it was syndicated through the New York Post in 1946 to 45 newspapers. Dodd, working as a national parks guide, had long been interested in environmental issues. The character is loosely based on the life and career of Charles N. Elliott (November 29, 1906 – May 1, 2000). At the time a U.S. forest ranger, Elliott would go on to edit Outdoor Life magazine from 1956 to 1974. Dodd once said that the physical model for Trail was John Wayt, his former neighbor in north Atlanta.

  1. ^ "Mark Trail". www.comicskingdom.com.

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