Poinsettia Day

 Happy Poinsettia Day!

What is "Poinsettia Day", you may ask yourself. Well, a poinsettia is a species of flowering plant native to Mexico and Central America. In the wild, poinsettias have a range from Mexico to Guatemala, growing in tropical dry forests. Sadly, their homes have been threatened by unregulated deforestations. 

German scientist Johann Friedrich Klotzsch was the first European to describe the flower in 1834, when it was known as the "Mexican flame flower" or the "painted leaf". However, the poinsettia was actually first cultivated long beforehand by the Aztecs. The Aztecs would use the plant to make red dye for clothing as well as an antipyretic (fever-reducing) medicine. In fact, King Montezuma would adorn his palace with poinsettias, seeing them as a gift from the gods. 

So, where does the name "poinsettia" come from? Well, it came from Joel Roberts Poinsett, who was the United States' first ambassador to Mexico. A botanist, he introduced the flower to the United States in the 1820s. 

An urban legend regarding poinsettias is that they are very toxic flowers. Yes, exposure to the plant can cause some to develop skin rashes, and ingestion can cause diarrhea and nausea, but poinsettias are not remotely as dangerous as believed.  

Poinsettias are a flower associated with Christmas. When did this start? In 16th century Mexico. Legend goes there was this young girl named Pepita or Maria. She wanted to provide a gift to celebrate the birth of Jesus. However, she was very poor, and could not buy a gift. An angel inspired her to basically gather some flowers and put them on the church altar. Those weeds would sprout poinsettias. In the 17th century, Franciscan friars in the country would use poinsettias in their Christmas celebrations, the star-shaped flowers seen as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem, and the red coloring symbolizing Jesus's crucifixion. 

In the United States, Paul Ecke Junior would be responsible for the association between poinsettias and Christmas. The grandson of a German immigrant named Albert Ecke, the Ecke family were in the business of selling poinsettias. Ecke Junior would send poinsettias to various TV stations across the country to display from Thanksgiving to Christmas as a way to promote his family's business. He himself would even appear on The Tonight Show. 

In 2002, Congress passed a resolution recognizing this day as National Poinsettia Day. This day also honors Joel Poinsett, who died on this day in 1851. 

So, yeah. This day actually has a very fascinating history. I hope you had some fun learning it. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time! 

World Pear Day

Happy World Pear Day, everyone!

Pears are a fruit native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. They are grown and consumed around the world. The pear is part of the genus Pyrus and the family Rosaceae. Pears are often harvested in the summer and autumn. 

Humans have consumed pears for centuries. China has cultivated pears since 2000 BC (in fact, it's believed that the genus Pyrus originated there), and there's evidence that people have eaten pears in prehistoric times. The Ancient Romans also consumed pears. They introduced the pear to Britain.

Pears can be consumed in a variety of ways. They can be made into jellies and jams, they can be canned, and pears can even be used to make cider like apples. I wonder what pear cider tastes like. I imagine it tastes like pears and regret.

 Pears are a very versatile little fruit, so enjoy one today! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time! 

Silver Surfer Annual #2 (1989)

In the time of Ancient Greece, the philosopher Plato wrote the works Timaeus and Critias. In these dialogues, he mentioned a continent called Atlantis. A fictional island continent, it was meant to be an allegory regarding the hubris of nations. While Atlantis would be a minor bit of Plato's work, it would be a massive source of inspiration to writers for centuries. Just goes to show you never know what will catch on.

Naturally, comic books would also latch on to the idea of an advanced island civilization that ended up lost under the waves. Heck, both the Marvel and DC Universes have Atlantis as part of their worlds, and have major superheroes connected to them: Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Aquaman respectively. 

In the Marvel Universe, Atlantis and the surface world do have a bit of a... contentious relationship, kind of like Namor himself has with his fellow superheroes. In 1989, the surface world would find itself seemingly under siege from this ancient city. 

The story begins in California, in particular with the Dreaming Celestial, buried under a mountain. It's been lying here since the events of the 1985 Eternals maxiseries, doing its thing...dreaming. The Dreaming Celestial is having some sort of bad trip, not helped by the events of Fantastic Four #323. The Celestial turns and groans. This causes an earthquake that registers 3.9 on the Richter scale. But this is the Silver Surfer's annual. And he is busy doing what he does best: surf the space ways! Catching those Cosmic Waves, bro!

(whoa)

The Surfer's board suddenly goes a bit wild, which Norrin finds...weird. He and the board are supposed to be one. The board is supposed to obey his commands. It's like something is trying to pull the board towards a particular destination. Our man examines the board and notices that there's some bacteria-like life forms clinging to it, like barnacles on a ship's hull. 

Page 8, Panel 3

"Ugh, who put a loogie on my board?!"

Norrin finds it unlikely that these things are the cause of his board troubles, so he tries to burn them off with the Power Cosmic. These little critters are resilient, though. As such, it has no effect. Norrin realizes that the particles are trying to take him somewhere, so he figures he might as well let them take him and his board where they want to go. They take him to a strange cloud, nothing like the Surfer has ever seen before. There's something strange about this cloud. 

(Batman hmmmm)

Norrin uses the Power Cosmic on the cloud, transforming it.

Page 10, Panel 4

"I'm back and prettier than ever! OH YEAH!"

Yup, Ghaur is back! Remember him from my reviews of the 1980s Eternals maxiseries? Well, he was seemingly killed after the events of Eternals #12 (September 1986), but it turns out his consciousness did survive...in the form of the bacteria-ridden cloud the Surfer had encountered. He saw the Surfer passing by as his destiny, recapping how he ended up there. Ghaur and the Surfer duke it out.

(fight fight fight)

The mad Deviant is not at his full power, but he still is able to match the Surfer and his Power Cosmic well. However, Ghaur has a new plan, and he has no desire to waste his time battling Norrin. He traps the Surfer in a plasma field and flies off. I think he's just running away because he don't want to get Norrin's silver hands.

(run away)

The Surfer considers pursuing him (realizing Ghaur intends to return to Earth) but remembers that he has his own problems. Mainly that his own homeworld is being dragged into the Kree-Skrull War, as shown in his own book at the time. Not to mention Earth has its own fair share of superheroes. They've taken him down before, they can do it again. Still, it would be nice to at least warn them, ya jerk!

(Just saying)

Ghaur makes his way back to Earth, his destination is Lemuria. But not the Lemuria that was the home of the Deviants. This Lemuria is the home of Atlanteans that worshipped the seven-headed snake Elder God known as Set. 

(The more you know)

The Lemurians are not happy to see the former Priestlord, and blast at him. Ghaur goes through the Lemurian forces like a hot knife through butter. There is someone there he has to see: Llyra. 

Page 21, Panel 1

"This had better be good, as I'm wearing my power swimsuit." 

Ghaur takes Llyra with him. Since he freed her from imprisonment in Lemuria, she warns him that she has no intention of serving any man. However, Ghaur says that his plans have an accord with hers, mainly a desire for the Serpent Crown. Ghaur learned of the Crown thanks to his consciousness being expanded during his time as a space cloud. His mind came into contact with the mind of Set within said Crown. We get a brief recap of the Crown's history up to that point to its most recent appearance encountering the Thing, Dr. Strange, Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Man. But Ghaur has guaranteed Set's victory. 

In space, evidently the Surfer listened to me, because he transmits a warning to Doctor Strange and Elizabeth "Talisman" Twoyoungmen. And as this happens, the Dreaming Celestial turns, having nightmares about the decimation of humanity...'

I did enjoy this story, but it is mainly setup. We get to see the return of Ghaur and hint about his plans. I did enjoy seeing the recaps of the Serpent Crown's history up to that point. 

Marvel Comics Presents #26 (August 1989) (Hulk's story)

Since Thanksgiving was this week, I haven't really had an opportunity to write a comic review. Luckily, I was able to scrape together this little review of a short story. It's not one for the holidays, but I work with what I got. Before we begin, I have to talk a little bit about the crossover storyline Atlantis Attacks.

Atlantis Attacks was a crossover storyline that unfolded over various Marvel titles' Annuals in 1989. This was a format started last year with the Evolutionary War crossover. However, unlike the previous crossover, Atlantis Attacks was a more serialized crossover. You want to read what happens next? You have to get all the Annuals to read the whole thing. Well, in 1989, anyway. It was a format that Marvel would use over the next few years, but the format would undergo modification. Later, storylines would involve smaller numbers of Annuals. For example, The Punisher Annual #4 (1991) was part of a crossover called "The Von Strucker Gambit" that also involved Captain America and Daredevil's Annuals from that year. 

Atlantis Attacks was a crossover that focused on the return of the evil Elder God known as Set after the events of Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (1982). The title itself is a bit misleading, but that's a tale for another time. At this point, the Hulk (who was back to his original gray appearance) was working in Las Vegas as a legbreaker named Joe Fixit. As a result, he was not really involved in the crossover. This short tale here was his entire involvement in it. This is Hulk's story in Marvel Comics Presents #26!

The cover is a Paul Gulacy piece. It's...alright. In the tradition of the series, the cover just shows the main characters of the stories contained within. Hulk is looming in the back cover. Coldblood looks cool, though. Not much to say about this cover, really. 

"Splashdown"
Writer: Peter David
Penciler: Jeff Purves
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Tom Fine
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Editors: Mike Rockwitz, Terry Kavanagh 
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with a scared sailor. And he has reasons to be frightened.

"This anchor sucks! You need to get a refund."

Yup, Joe Fixit is here, and as his job at the time, he's here to collect on some debts that the sailor incurred in Sin City. Good news, the man has some of the money. Bad news, he only has some of the money.

The sailor offers Joe's boss a stake in his theme park's profits, but the big angry gray guy isn't biting that bait. Captain Morgan shows Joe around the park. The two head to a show starring an orca named Shandu (likely a parody of Shamu). Shandu seemingly performs as normal but then decides to do a bit of improvising.

"OM NOM NOM Hey, human doesn't taste like chicken! YOU LIED TO ME, BENNY!"

Oooh, that's going to hurt.

Joe refuses to step in to stop it, until Shandu leaps at some kids. Joe then decides to step in. After all, even that big gray legbreaker has standards. The sailor begs Joe to get rid of the whale...and offers money. He just spoke the legbreaker's language. Joe goes to send the whale back to the sea, when he spots a strange submarine. The occupants are Atlantean, and they're testing out a device to make sea animals go berserk. So far, it seems to be working. Joe slams the whale into the sub, wrecking it and making it sink. The Atlanteans flee, the story ending with a very confused Joe Fixit wondering what that was all about. 

This was a nice short little story. It was nice seeing Joe Fixit save those kids from the rampaging Shandu. Yes, the Hulk has a rather...complicated relationship with humanity, and the Joe Fixit/Gray Hulk was more unscrupulous and arguably more heartless than the classic "Savage"/Green Hulk, this is a good way of showing that there are lines that even Fixit would not cross. The art is decent. It does its job. Although it didn't really show the clothing damage Joe suffered thanks to Shandu.

This was supposed to be Hulk's entire involvement in Atlantis Attacks. Yes. It was. At the time, the Hulk was believed to be dead. However, he would go on to appear in Avengers Annual #18 (1989), helping the Avengers. Whoops.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate!

I hope that you had a wonderful day today. This day is about giving thanks and showing appreciation for 

National Cake Day

Fibonacci Day

Today is Fibonacci Day!

This day celebrates the Italian mathematician Leonardo Bonacci, aka Fibonacci. He was the man who popularized the Hindu-Arabic numerical system, the numeric system that is commonly in use throughout much of the world today. He also is arguably most known for the Fibonacci sequence. 

What is the Fibonacci sequence, you may be asking? Well, said sequence