Daredevil: Born Again Trailer, My Thoughts

You just can't keep the Devil down. Especially if that Devil is named Matthew Murdock. And it was true for his Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart. From 2015-2018, Daredevil got his own show on Netflix, produced by Marvel Television. The series would start a whole sub-universe within the MCU that focused on several street-level characters: The Punisher, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, which led to the Defenders miniseries. 

The show would develop a passionate fanbase, who hoped the series would be revived in some form after it was cancelled by Netflix. Charlie Cox, who played Daredevil in the original series, would reprise the role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and cameo in Echo and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Vincent D'Onofrio would also reprise his role as Wilson Fisk in Hawkeye and Echo.

In March 2022, it was announced a continuation was in development. It went through changes and revamps, as series do, and filming got suspended by the 2023 Writer's Guild Strike. Cox and D'Onofrio are returning in their roles, but so are Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Hensen as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher. Let's look at the trailer!

Fisk: "You know, this...this is actually nice. The two of us, sitting here...shooting the breeze, enjoying some coffee (good coffee by the way)...we should do this more often."
Matt: "Yeah. We should."

Looks like we are getting a nod to the era in which Fisk became Mayor of New York City after the events of Secret Empire.

I imagine this is set after Daredevil's appearances in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Kingpin's appearance during the events of Echo, considering how that miniseries ended. 

I can imagine that ol' Rich just threw a bit of money around...and a bit of muscle. And that's why Matt is understandably skeptical of Fisk seemingly having changed.

"A line was crossed." My guess is that Daredevil killed someone. And nice little detail with the missing horn in his helmet forming a "D".

Fisk raises something interesting here. He claims that he and Matt are naturally violent men. However, I can also see that he is looking at Matt through the lens of his own ego. Fisk is himself a violent man at his core, but I can imagine that one of Born Again's themes is that even though Richard and Matt may seem similar in that aspect, they are actually very different. 

Introducing the newest supervillain tam sensation: The Rainbow Mask Gang!

The Daredevil theme in church organ is awesome. Very foreboding.

Matt in the club. 

Oh God...that dude on the white mask with the black beanie...that's Muse. He was an Inhuman serial killer who was, as the Jack Nicholson Joker would describe himself, a "homicidal artist", although I think they'll erase his Inhumanity like they did to Kamala Khan.

Frank Castle: YOU'RE ONE OF THEM! YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE COCAINE BEARS!

White Tiger!

Ooh, that guy is never going to walk normally ever again.

I just love that he has his own little Devilcave with all the different masks.

National Bagel Day

Happy National Bagel Day, everyone!

What is National Bagel Day, you may ask? Well, it's a day to celebrate...the bagel! Mmm...bagels...

Bagels have been around for far longer than you think. The modern bagel as we know it can be traced back to 1600s Poland, where they were given as presents to women in childbirth. Yeah.

The bagel may likely have derived from the pretzel, which was brought to Poland from German immigrants. It would go on to be a staple of the Polish diet. The word "bagel" derives from Yiddish world "beygal", which itself came from a German dialect word "beugel", which means "ring" or "bracelet". Which is rather appropriate for a food shaped like, well...a ring.

From there, the bagel would spread to Europe. Polish Jews immigrating to America would bring the bagel to the country, especially in New York City. The City that Never Sleeps had thriving bagel businesses controlled by the trade union Bagel Bakers Local 338. The innovation of automated bagel-baking machines would break the trade union's hold over the bagel-making business and help spread bagels all over North America. 

From there, bagels became a popular food to enjoy. It's not hard to see why. They're a quick little thing you can scarf down, and you can add all sorts of things to them. So enjoy yourself a bagel today! Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!

JLA #1 (January 1997)

If you're a superhero in the DC Universe, you naturally would have a goal to join the Justice League. After all, the League is the premiere team in this particular superhero universe. They're composed of some of the best and brightest heroes in the DCU. At least, it was supposed to be.

Back in the mid-1990s, the Justice League was in a bit of a slump. Starting in the mid-1980s with the notorious "Detroit Era", the League membership had become a regular mix of stalwarts and new character, as well as having many spinoff books (Justice League Europe, Justice League Quarterly, Extreme Justice, Justice League Task Force, etc). In fact, I took a look at the first issue of one of those spin-off books, Justice League Task Force, right here. The books didn't sell well, and the issues cluttered the comic stores. The JLA as a brand needed a freshening up, and fast.

DC decided to bring the JLA back to its roots, as it were. The group would be a gathering of their greatest and most iconic superheroes. As such, they cancelled all the spin-off books, as again, they were not selling well). In 1996, a Justice League team was formed in the miniseries Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare written by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza. But it would not be until this series that the JLA would be truly reborn. So, let's take a look at the true rebirth and return to glory of the Justice League in JLA #1!

The cover is a Howard Porter and John Dell piece. It's pretty neat, even though it's a bit basic. It's just showing the membership of the new League. I do think it fits, though. The whole point of this book is the birth of a new League. I do like the masthead logo. It's big, bright, and glorious. A fitting logo for a team returning to glory.

"THEM!"
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciler: Howard Porter
Inker: John Dell
Colorists: Pat Garrahy, Heroic Age
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Editor: Ruben Diaz
Executive Editor: Mike Carlin

The story begins in Washington, DC. In particular, the White House. The skies over the building suddenly went dark.

It's not someone playing a prank, it turns out that there's a big ol' flying saucer hovering over the building. And considering that this is the DC Universe, this is likely a regular Tuesday.

The members of the Justice League at the time (Nuklon, Metamorpho, Obsidian, and Icemaiden) discover the ship and wonder how it got past their own Refuge's detection systems. Yes, the League's headquarters at the time (The Justice League Refuge) was an escape pod from ship that was previously used by a supervillain called the Overmaster. As for how this saucer was able to evade them, I think they borrowed a cloaking device from the Romulans. Metamorpho isn't worried, because Superman is on the case. 

The spaceship drops what looks like a bunch of large eggs on the front lawn in front of the Man of Steel, the President, and a group of Checkmate agents. Mmm...eggs...

Superman examines the "eggs" with his X-Ray vision, but they're opaque to it. Basically, he can't see into them. Something emerges from these "eggs", but Superman suggests the Checkmate agents stand down until they know what is going on here. For all they know, it could be just a bunch of alien tourists doing some sight-seeing. The Metropolis Marvel turns out to be half-right. The "eggs" do indeed reveal a bunch of aliens.

Meet the Hyperclan. They're a group of superpowered nomads from another world. Said homeworld was destroyed, leaving this bunch the only survivors. They have been floating around the universe for millions of years, looking or a new home. They introduce themselves and give their origins. Their world was destroyed by environmental neglect and greed, and they want to prevent that happening to Earth. This announcement is watched by a group of superheroes: The Wally West Flash in Keystone City.

Page 6. Panels 4-5

Wonder Woman in Gateway City. The Kyle Rayner Green Lantern in New York City. J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter, in Denver. To show what they can do, they take the Sahara Desert and turn it into a forest.

Superman is interviewed about this, and in this interview, he raises a good point. The Sahara Desert is not some lifeless wasteland. It has an ecosystem of its own and just making it into a rainforest can do some potentially serious damage. Not to mention that this whole thing is a spectacle. There's no real point to it. The way the Man of Steel sees it, superpowered heroes are supposed to inspire people to become better, not make humanity into pampered lapdogs. However, some are basically all like "Aw, Superman is just jealous!" 

With the Hyperclan in action, new things are going down. One moment is especially important. The Hyperclan captured themselves a group of supervillains. One of them is an obscure villain called Judgment, who first appeared in Justice League America #96 (February 1995). He screams for mercy, saying what they are doing is illegal and inhuman. Protex, the leader of the Hyperclan, disdains the villain's hypocrisy. Here he is, screaming about the law while he used his power to harm and kill people indiscriminately. Criminals are indeed a superstitious and cowardly lot. As such, for his crimes, the Hyperclan eye beam him to death.

Page 10, Panel 3

This has driven several prominent supervillains into hiding. The executions seem to deter supercrime, and the Hyperclan's actions are gaining popularity. Up in the Refuge, Metamorpho grumbles about the group's names, saying that they sound like they came from a bad action figure line. I mean, he's not completely wrong. A-Mortal? Zenturion? Armek? Primaid? Zum? Fluxus? Tronix? To me, they sound like bad superhero comic names. Kyle teases Rex about his own codename, which makes Metamorpho ask if the then-new and only Green Lantern if he should be making sandcastles with the Teen Titans. Basically, he's telling Kyle to shut up.

The tower's sensors pick up some intruders heading towards it.

Page 11, Panel 5

The intruders hit the headquarters with an EMP. Said pulse shorts out the main system. And then they take out the backups.

Nuklon thinks it's the Hyperclan. Whoever the intruders are, they manage to breach the Refuge's hull.

Red alert indeed. The infiltrators are wrecking the satellite, and the gang need to get out of there. 

Metamorpho tells Kyle to use his ring to distract them while he helps evacuate. Diana gives him some backup. The League discover that the escape shuttles are wrecked. There's no time to repair them, so Metamorpho has to improvise. 

Page 15, Panels 2-5

Kyle and Diana give quite a fight, but they could not save the satellite. It goes up in a ball of fire.

Metamorpho heads towards Earth but gets fried by the heat generated by the friction from hitting the atmosphere. On Earth, the Hyperclan unearth an artifact.

Page 18, Panel 4

The Justice League make it safely to Earth, with Metamorpho the worst for wear. The next day, Superman and Flash are running (well, flying in Clark's case) down a street. Superman reports that he found the Leaguers and brought them to the hospital. Nuklon, Obsidian, and Icemaiden are badly hurt, but they could have been worse. Metamorpho is...well, the best term the doctors could use to describe his condition is...inert. Not exactly hale and hearty, but not exactly dead either. Afterwards, Superman activated the priority alarm.

Diana, Kyle, Wally, J'onn, and Clark gather up, the news pointing out that the Justice League's approval rating is still dropping, despite the destruction of the satellite, and people are angrier that the Hyperclan have been implied to be the cause of it. Protex did an interview accusing the League of trying to manufacture a confrontation with his group. 

Superman arrives, saying he asked Protex about it. The golden-skinned wannabe Oscar statue denied the Hyperclan were responsible, but Superman knows he's lying. Presumably because of his super-senses, but also, Clark is an investigative reporter in his civilian life. 

We get a nice little bit here with Kyle Rayner wondering if the Hyperclan have had a point about their actions. Maybe the League should do more. It makes sense that he'd be the one to raise this point. Remember, at this time, Kyle Rayner is the newest of any of the superheroes that appear in this comic. He would be more open to new ideas on superheroing than even Wally West. 

Aquaman hasn't responded to the alarm yet. Batman seemingly hasn't, either. But he did...an hour ago.

 Page 21, Panel 5

Superman noticed that he didn't pick up Batman's heartbeat. Which he should have done, considering his powers. Batman just mutters "the gadget" worked. The Dark Knight inquires if Superman can detect microwaves.

No, not the cooking kind of microwaves, the form of electromagnetic energy. It's not a problem for the Man of Steel. He notices that there is a spike of activity on the 7 hertz frequency. The sources are objects in orbit. It's the frequency the human brain operates on, which leads Batman to deduce there's mental manipulation at work. There's an invasion going down, and the League needs to hit back...and hit hard. 

I enjoyed this issue. It's clear that Morrison and Porter's goal with this book is to bring the JLA back to its former glory, and a group of superpowered aliens would seemingly be a perfect way to get the DCU's best and brightest heroes on the case. I do think the mystery of the Hyperclan's true identity is a bit rushed, though. I mean it's not hard to guess what Z'onn Z'orr alludes to. And I did feel a bit sad about the previous League being dispatched. I get why, but it still seems a bit sad. They were still Leaguers, after all. Yeah, they may not be regarded as part of a legendary era, but still.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2008 trade paperback JLA: Volume 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

National Save the Eagles Day

Ys Memoire: The Oath of Felghana Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

The Ys (pronounced "Yee-s") series of RPGs is not as famous as say Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, but it is a long-running series in its own right. Developed by Japanese game company Nihon Falcom, the first game in the series, Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, was originally released in 1987 for the NEC PC-8801, a computer primarily sold in Japan. The Ys series tells the tale of a young man named Adol and his adventures in the games' titular land. Over the years, Ys I would get many sequels that would be released on various computers and video game consoles. My first exposure to the series was the eighth mainline game: Lacrimosa of Dana. 

Ys Memoire: The Oath of Felghana is actually not a brand new game. It's a remake of the third Ys game, originally released in 1989: Wanderers from Ys. Oath of Felghana was originally released for Windows in 2005 in Japan, 2012 in the rest of the world. It would get ported to the PlayStation Portable and released for that handheld in 2010 in Japan and North America, and the rest of the world in 2011. This release for the Nintendo Switch (alongside PlayStations 4 and 5) is a remaster of that. Yeah, a remaster of a remake. Let's look at the trailer!

Is that a glove? I thought that was a glove. I had this great joke about the Infinity Gauntlet being fed up with Thanos's obsession with it. Now I don't get to use it. Darn.

You know, you don't need to do that with the spears, pal. You could just say that you can't welcome guests right now. This hotel sucks for that. I mean, the spears are pretty metal, but...yeah. Not for a hotel.

Adol was thinking "They really need to make repairs to this freaky palace."

C-C-C-COMBO!

A robot centaur with machine guns. Now that is a security system! 😀 

"You are a very bad doggy!"

Adol is a warrior, not a gardener!

For heaven's sake, Adol! Give those fairy...harpy...things their money! They just want their money!

The things Adol has to do just to visit a neighbor.

What would a palace need all those gears for? Does the owner have a thing for clocks?

Adol used Fire Punch! It's super effective!

That robot dragon looks like it came out of a Mega Man/Mega Man X game.

"Dude, I'm just here to find a bathroom!"

"That's nice. Where's the bathroom?"

Eh, the view really ain't worth coming all this way for after all. 1 out of 10, do not recommend. 

Well, this looks like fun. I enjoyed Lacrimosa of Dana, so I think I'll give this one a shot sometime. Hope it has a demo. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Old Rock Day

Happy Old Rock Day!

"What is Old Rock Day", you may be asking? Well, since you all asked so nicely, I'm going to tell you! Old Rock Day is a day for celebrating geology, and geologists. The word "geology" comes from Ancient Greece, and it basically means "study of the earth". A person who studies geology is known as a geologist. Geologists study the rocks of the Earth and other worlds, as well as how they change over time. This branch of science overlaps with other Earth sciences due to, well, everything living on Earth.

Humanity's interest in the Earth and its rocks stretches as far back as antiquity. For example, in 540 BC, Greek poet and philosopher Xenophanes would describe the fossils of fish and shells he would find out in the mountains. The more famous Aristotle would make observations of how the Earth changed, with his Lyceum successor Theophrastus that would make the biggest leaps in geological study with his work On Stones. And no, it was not about being stoned. Either the punishment or being high. Although getting an Ancient Greek philosopher high sounds hilarious.

Interest and research would continue on. In the Middle Ages, Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni wrote one of the earliest works on the geology of India, theorizing it was once a sea. Persian physician Ibn Sina and Chinese statesman Shen Kuo would also contribute greatly to the understanding of the Earth's geology during this time.

The first usage of the word 'geology' is credited to Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603. The first large-scale geological maps would go on to be made by British geologist William Smith based on his studies of fossil records in the late 1700s. This would cause him to be regarded as the "Father of English Geology". In 1785, Scottish physician and agriculturalist James Hutton wrote a paper called "The Theory of the Earth", which he presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Studying the geology of his native Scotland, he theorized that rocks could be used to figure out the natural history of the Earth. As such, he became known as the father of modern geology. 

In 1809, Scottish geographer and cartographer William Maclure became 'The Father of American Geology' when he produced the first geographical map of the USA. And from there, many more men and women worked to find the secrets of our world's history through its rocks and fossils. 

So, yeah. Geology has been quite important to help the world's inhabitants understand this big ol' ball of rock and magma we live on. Just something to think on. Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!

Perihelion Day!

 Today is Perihelion Day!

What is Perihelion Day, you may ask? Well, this is the day when the Earth is closest to its Sun. You see, the Earth's orbit is not circular, it's elliptical. As such, it's not at a constant distance from the sun in its orbit. The term "perihelion" was coined by German astronomer Johannes Kepler, using the Greek prefix "peri", meaning "near", and the Greek word for the sun: "helios". In Greek mythology, Helios is also a personification/god of the sun. The word literally means "Near Sun".

The Earth's orbit generally reaches the perihelion in January. Next year, the Earth will reach the perihelion on the 3rd. It doesn't have any effect on seasons, as that's caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis. 

So, yeah. Just something neat to write about today. At least, I think it is. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!