Green Lantern #173 (February 1984)

It has been a little while since we last had a certain Emerald Gladiator grace this here blog. In fact, the last time any incarnation of the Green Lantern appeared here was back in May 2026, with my review of The Brave and the Bold #2 (May 2007), depicting the Hal Jordan Green Lantern teaming up with Batman to solve an intergalactic mystery. But the comic we're looking at here is long before that. The mid-1980s were an interesting time for Hal Jordan. He would spend some time in exile from the Earth at the order of the Guardians of the Universe, as they felt that he was favoring his own homeworld of Earth over the rest of Sector 2814. You know, like it's Hal's fault that a lot of crazy stuff goes down on his home planet he has to deal with, and he also has a life outside of the power ring. 

But as all things do, Hal's exile would end, and he'd return to Earth. But that doesn't mean Hal is going to have himself a nice, relaxing vacation. In fact, it'd be the opposite problem. Evil never rests, and neither does the drama of a superhero's civilian life. You'll see what I mean when I look at Green Lantern #173!

The cover is a Dave Gibbons piece. It's pretty good, depicting a brand-new villain taking on our hero, and showing that he is a genuine threat. 

"Old Friends, New Foes"
Writer: Len Wein
Penciler: Dave Gibbons
Inker: Dave Gibbons
Colorist: Anthony Tollin
Letterer: Dave Gibbons
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins with our man Hal Jordan flying through the skies of Los Angeles, California. Hal is feeling pretty darn good. His exile from Earth is over, he's still got his job at Ferris Aircraft (because the Guardians evidently don't pay their space cops), his relationship with Carol Ferris is going well. All in all, right now...life is good for Hal Jordan.

Let's see what comes along to screw that up, shall we? Hal spots a car veering wildly on the road, crashing through a divider. He's able to use his mighty power ring to stop the crazy vehicle (no, it's not a taxi). He checks on the driver, hearing he suffered a medical emergency like a heart attack. Good news is that the driver has no medical issues. The bad news? The driver was just drunk. 

Hal is, naturally and understandably angry about this. Man chose to drive in a debilitated state. He could have gotten himself and/or someone else killed. Hal decides to leave him to the cops, while showing them why he drove wildly...in his own way.

"...hey, I can't drink this, you green jerk!"

As he flies away, Hal laments that for all the things he can do thanks to his ring, he can't save morons from themselves. It's a sad fact of life, Hal. All we can do is just do better ourselves. After all, we can learn from others' mistakes as well as our own. Hal heads to the home of his lady love Carol Ferris, where she's getting ready to head to work herself.

"Nothing better than drying my hair out in the air..."

Hal is amazed that Carol was able to rebuild her home after the villain known as Goldface trashed the place in issue #151. She has great insurance. I can imagine there are special insurance policies in the DCU in case a supervillain wrecks a home. She tells Hal that he'd better get ready himself. But there's plenty of time, so Hal knows a way to spend it with Carol...

Out in space, a certain satellite cloaked from all detection technology is floating around.

Man, Ted Turner's cable satellites are WEEEEEIRD...

Inside the satellite, Lyla is grumbling about getting calls from a Congressman named Jason Bloch. Alongside his father Conrad, Jason has been on a campaign to bring down Ferris Aircraft. The elder Bloch co-founded the firm with Carl Ferris, Carol's father. Thing was, Conrad was a bit of a lazy jerk, leaving Carl with the actual work when it came to building the company while Conrad got drunk and chased skirts. Basically, Conrad got fired and built a new company that competed with Ferris.

Later on, long story short, Conrad Bloch lost a contract to build a solar jet to Ferris, went crazy, tried to blow up Ferris's protoype that resulted in his face getting wrecked, and the elder Bloch died facing Green Lantern, his sons Jason and Benjamin vowing revenge. 

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Right. Well, Bloch has contacted the Monitor for aid against Ferris Aircraft. Especially since Green Lantern has returned to Earth. And as I said earlier, it was during a battle with GL that Conrad Bloch died. Lyla asks if this will cause some problems. The Monitor tells them it will...but not for them. In fact, it could be a boon for them in the form of potential extra business. I'm sure that won't lead anywhere.

Anyway, what's Hal up to? Well, he and Carol have arrived at Ferris Aircraft. And as is typical for a superhero universe, a minor disaster erupts, in the form of a falling girder. 

Thankfully, Hal is here to save a man from becoming girder kabob. And it turns out that this man wasn't just some ordinary employee.

"Heyyyy, you saved my hat!"

This is Richard Davis, one of Hal's oldest friends. He was Hal's commanding officer back in the Air Force and was a veteran pilot in his own right. Of course, considering how many times Hal's history has been rebooted and retconned, we can assume that's not the case anymore. 

Rich is seemingly glad Hal is back, as he figures Ferris could use a man like him. As the two leave, Rich secretly grumbles that Jordan always has to spoil things.

Yeah, I'm confused, too. Anyway, Carol takes Hal to another building. This one has a laboratory, where three more Ferris employees are working on an experiment.

"Carol, I think your company gives people too much free time..."

The redhead is April O'Rourke. The mustached man is Jose Alejandro Carlos Esteban Ramirez y Diego. Call him "Jake". The blond man in the funny chair is Clay Kendall. Both April and Jake are debuting here, and it's also established here that April is Clay's fiancée. The three are working on a psionics experiment, trying to tap into the supposed 90% of the human brain that humans don't use. Yeah, that's a pretty famous bit of pseudoscience. In reality, every part of the brain has a purpose. A popular trope in fiction with this myth is that the supposed "unused 90%" of the brain allows hidden psychic powers. Telepathy, telekinesis, that kind of thing. For example, a recent example of this myth/trope combination I know of was the film Lucy. So, yeah. It's a myth. Although I can imagine RFK Jr believing this. 

Anyway, Clay was trying to use his brain to move a paper airplane. Hal makes an attempt as well. The plane seems to move away...

But it was just a breeze. Me thinks Clay, April, and Jake need something better to do with their time. We then switch scenes to an area north of LA. A Ferris truck is driving through a road, with heavy security. The man in the passenger seat grumbles that there's no need for all this said security, but a man in the road illustrates that maybe there was a need for it.

"We demand...ein SHRUBBERY!"

Meet the Javelin. You may be familiar with him if you watched The Suicide Squad. A former German Olympic athlete turned supervillain, he is able to get past the so-called "heavy security" with his namesake weapon and get what's inside the truck.

Back at Ferris Aircraft, Hal reunites with his old friend Thomas Kalmaku, who is working on a new jet. This is the Solar Jet, the brainchild of another man.

Considering Eclipso is looming behind him, Bruce may not be as cured as he thinks...

Yes, Dr. Bruce Gordon, aka the (at this time) former supervillain Eclipso. Eclipso was seemingly destroyed for good in issue #139. Carol gets a call where she is informed that the engine of the jet was hijacked. Yeah, that's what Javelin stole earlier. Hal then races into action as the Green Lantern. He flies to the scene, the cops disbelieving that a man with a javelin could steal the engine. My brothers. It's the DC UNIVERSE. 

Hal's ring picks up the trail of the thieves, and it leads him to these this quartet of goofballs.

In the DC Universe, the Hell's Angels had to get high-tech.

Hal is easily able to deal with these men. They may have laser guns, but his ring can just whip up some mirrors to counter them. The Javelin himself then engages Hal.

Now you may be thinking, "This Javelin guy. He throws javelins." Well, yeah. That's why he's called that. "Now how can this guy go up against Green Lantern, the dude with the ring that lets him do just about anything?". Thing is, Javelin is well aware of what the Green Lantern is capable of. He's made some special javelins to take on the Lantern. One in particular allows him to get an advantage over the Emerald Gladiator. 

Now Hal Jordan knew what it was like to be Jill Masterson... 

Yup. Javelin prepared a special yellow javelin, knowing the power ring is useless against anything yellow. Yeah, this was decades before the Parallax retcon. And likely would explain why the Javelin's costume has a lot of yellow on it. The javelin covers Hal in a yellow plastic-like substance, and the story ends with Hal plummeting out of the sky like a rock.

This was a good issue, but it's one of those issues that's read best as part of a trade paperback than on its own. What this issue does is set up Hal's new status quo after his exile from Earth. We meet some new supporting cast members, and we get a shiny new villain in Javelin. And speaking of Javelin, I kind of like him. He has a cold-blooded streak yet treats his battle with Hal like he's competing in a spectator sport. I would like to see more of him. We also get a hinting of the Monitor, foreshadowing the Crisis to come.

Dave Gibbons has a wonderful art style. It's very pleasant to look at. It's very clean, and it almost has that Silver Age quality to it. No wonder he was chosen to do Watchmen. I also don't take much about lettering, but I love that he has his own distinct font for it.

All in all, this was a good little tale. It's nothing groundbreaking, but that's okay. Sometimes, being an enjoyable story is just fine. If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2012 trade paperback Green Lantern: Sector 2814 Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Navajo Code Talkers Day

 Today is Navajo Code Talkers Day.

This day is about honoring the members of the Navajo Tribe that used a code based on their language to transmit and receive important messages and information during WWII. Most famously, the Navajo language was used as a basis for codes, but other languages from other tribes were used, including Comanche, Hopi, Mohawk, and Cherokee. These "code talkers" can be credited with aiding in several major victories in WWII. 

Code talkers were actually first known to be used during World War I, thanks to Cherokee soldiers in the 30th Infantry Division. They transmitted messages in their tongue during the Second Battle of the Somme. 

During WWII, a city engineer for Los Angeles named Philip Johnston proposed using the Navajo language as a basis for secret transmissions. Johnston himself was the children of missionaries to the Navajo and knew a dialect of it. Why that language? Well, Navajo has a complex grammar, and even by the 1930s, it was still an unwritten language. It also had a lot of dialects, which made it hard to translate for those who were not heavily exposed to it. The code that developed from the language would not be deciphered until 1968. 

The first Navajo Code Talkers Day would be declared in 1982 under Ronald Reagan. In 2008, President George W. Bush would sign the Code Talkers Recognition Act into law in 2008, which awarded every Native American soldier that served in the World Wars with a Congressional Gold Medal. These Gold Medals were awarded to the tribes as a whole, with silver medals given to the surviving talkers at the time or next of kin.

These brave people used their language to help win World War II, and on this day, we honor and give thanks to them. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Partial Eclipse Day

Today is a rather special day, as today, we'll get to see a partial solar eclipse!

On this day, we'll get to see the moon pass between the Earth and the Sun. A total solar eclipse is when the moon completely obscures the Sun, leaving only a very faint corona visible. This type of eclipse occurs every 18 months on average. This is unlike a lunar eclipse, in which the Earth passes between the sun and moon. 

"Wait a second!" You may be asking yourself. "If this kind of eclipse happens every 18 months, why is it such a big deal?" Well, that's because of the orbits of the Moon 🌑 around the Earth 🌎 and the Earth around the Sun 🌞. You see, the Moon's orbit around the Earth, just like the Earth's around the sun, is not perfectly circular. It's elliptical. The Moon's orbit is also tilted at about 5 degrees to the Earth's. This is the reason why the Sun and Moon can appear to be different sizes in the sky. The elliptical orbits cause differences in distances between the three celestial bodies. As a result, the Moon's shadow often misses Earth. In fact, if the Moon's orbit was circular, and shared an orbital plane with Earth's, total solar eclipses would occur once a month with every new moon.

This eclipse will be seen as partial or total depending on where you are. If you're in Europe today, you'll get to see the moon cover most of the sun. If you're in the U.S. like I am at now, you'll get to see it being more covered, due to the path of totality.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! if you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

World Lion Day

 Today is World Lion Day!

In honor of this day, here's some lion facts courtesy of MSN.

1. Baby Lions have spots.

When lions are young, their fur has little spots on it. These disappear as the cubs grow up.

2. Lion manes have a purpose.

Male lions' manes look cool, but there's also a point to them. Much like glam rockers in the 80s, male lions use their manes to attract mates. However, the manes also help provide some protection for their heads and necks.

3. Lions are pretty fast.

While they're no cheetahs, lions are no slouch when it comes to speed. they can run at speeds up to 50 miles per hour for brief periods to catch prey.

4. Lions are LOUD.

Lions do not do things small. That includes roaring. A lion's roar can be heard up to five miles away, thanks to it reach the ear-splitting height of 114 decibels. This is handy as a lion's roar has a variety of purposes, including intimidating away others from its territory.

5. Lions are great leapers.

When we think of animals that can leap, for many of us, frogs and kangaroos come to mind. Which is understandable. After all, leaping is their thing. But lions can leap pretty far, too. A healthy lion can leap as far as 36 feet. A lion would be handy to have on the long jump. 

6. Lions love sleep.

Like many other cats, lions love to sleep. Sleep is their passion. In fact, they can sleep for up to 20 hours a day. 

7. Lions are big.

Lions are pretty big animals. On average, a male lion weighs over 410 pounds. The more active female lions can weight only almost 280 pounds on average. But then again, the female lions are significantly more active. 

8. Lions are big eaters.

As I said before, lions do nothing small. They are big, their roars are big and loud, and so are their meals. A lion can eat up to nearly 90 pounds of food per meal. Maybe that's why male lions are so big? 

9. Lions are nocturnal hunters.

Lions may sleep most of the day, but the remaining four hours of the night? It's hunting time. Yup, night is when the lion goes to get some food.

10. Lions are endangered.

Like the tiger, the lion is a very endangered species. It has lost almost all of its historical range, and it's believed there are only about 23,000 lions left in the world. Yeah, like the tiger, it's in big trouble, population-wise.

So, yeah. Ten facts about the lion. They are fascinating, beautiful creatures. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Marvel: The Lost Generation #5 (October 2000)

It's that time again! It's time to return to the adventures of the Lost Generation of Marvel Super Heroes: The First Line! Last time, we looked in on the Line as they helped prevent the Skrulls and their super-villainous cronies from wrecking the historic Moon Landing. But they had another adventure in the Swingin' Groovin' 1960s. Let's take a look at it! This is Marvel: The Lost Generation #5!

The cover is a John Byrne and Al Milgrom piece. I love it! It's such a cool cover. You have the First Line gasping in shock at a familiar hammer. Gets you wondering why Thor himself has shown up.

"Wild in the Streets"
Writers: Roger Stern, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins in Asgard, the realm Eternal. Odin is sitting on his throne, and he is not a happy skyfather. It's not the throne itself, that's fine. The new cushions are nice and comfy. What he's angry about...is Thor.

"Thou has spilled the royal coffee on mine favorite couch for the last time, Thor!"

You see, Odin had been working to renew a royal truce between Asgard and Niffelheim. Things were finally cool between the Asgardians and the Storm Giants. Of course, Thor had to go and screw it all up by trespassing on some forbidden lands. Dagnabit, Thor...

Thor defends himself by saying there was a legit reason he was there. He was pursuing a monster that was a threat to Asgardian and Storm Giant alike, and he feels Odin is deliberately ignoring that part. Odin is in no mood to hear it. He tells Thor that the Thunder God must go to Midgard (what the Asgardians call Earth), and see this evil to its end. And it's here that we head to Earth. 

We're still in the 1960s, before the Moon Landing. A mysterious singer has a whole lot of young people ensorcelled by her magical songs. Among the people enraptured is Autumn MacRae, the superheroine Sunshine, much to the horror of her husband Fred, aka Captain Hip. 

Yeah, you may remember the MacRae family from earlier issues. It can be presumed that their daughter Truth is very young at this point. Pixie tells Fred there's nothing they can do now, as they need to find out who is behind all this at the moment.

The singer on the stage would have a natural knack for getting people under her spell, as this singer is no ordinary woman: this woman was Venus. As in the Olympian Goddess of Love.

Funny enough, Timely Comics (the predecessor to Marvel Comics) published a romance comic series starring Venus from 1948 to 1952. It lasted 19 issues. The series started out light-hearted but would take on darker sci-fi and horror themes through its short run. It's also notable for introducing an early version of Marvel's incarnation of Loki. 

If we go by how Marvel incorporated their Golden Age comics into their canon, then we can assume that not only were the events of those series canon, but they also happened in-universe in the late-40s/early 50s. So yeah, Venus would be running around in the MU in the 1960s.

She herself has seemingly fallen under the spell of a mysterious man.

"Now, who wants to hear some Chubby Checker?!"

He laments that his power no longer works on everyone, just the young, but since gods can have eternal youth, they still work on Venus. Backstage, the ensorcelled Sunshine is brought backstage. Venus wonders how she could be affected, as Sunshine is in her mid-twenties at this point, too old for the power to work on her. But Sunshine says that age is a state of mind. The man behind is worried about something else. If Sunshine was in the crowd, then other superhumans could be there as well...and that could get the attention of the First Line. And much to his fear, Pixie is spying on him. She spots a man towering over her and hits him with her petrifying pixie dust. But it has no effect. You can guess why.

"Urgh! Tastes like cranberries! I hate cranberries!"

Heh heh, that's pretty funny. Anyway, Captain Hip is off looking for Sunshine himself, as he thinks Pixie flaked out on him. He finds her, but she has no idea who she even is. In fact, she blasts him with her powers. She can create kaleidoscopic light effects that can dazzle or even hypnotize people. She can even use this power to control minds...which makes you wonder how she can be effected by Venus. But then again, Venus is a goddess, and Sunshine has to actively try to control someone's mind, so...yeah. Either way, Captain Hip is out of action for a while.

Meanwhile, Black Fox is angrily grumbling about "the hippies".

"Those hippies stole my car!"

One member of the Line, a Major Mercury, thinks this is just kids acting up, a tradition in every generation. Black Fox disagrees. This isn't normal juvenile delinquency. The Fox believes an old enemy of his is behind this. A man...called Rumor. Thankfully, Pixie has brought Thor to the First Line. The Black Fox is naturally unhappy with Pixie just bringing presumed gods straight to their command post, but the argument is tabled for now. After all, there's a massive gathering of youths...being led by Sunshine and the now mind-controlled Captain Hip. 

One First Liner, Frank (who may or may not be Frankenstein's Monster. Personally, I think he's a different monster. That's because in the comics, the actual Monster was in suspended animation in the 1960s, and wouldn't be revived until the Marvel Age), doesn't want to hurt the kids. Mr. Justice is sure Black Fox has a plan, but he disappeared.

Makes sense when you keep in mind that Robert Paine is meant to be a pastiche of Batman. Thor's had enough and is eager for some action. Oxbow will hold the fort down as he's been sidelined with a broken leg. I imagine he got injured in an earlier battle. 

Meanwhile, Effigy is sneaking around. He thinks about how the world is seemingly falling apart since 1963. He hints something really bad happened then, but he's not going to let an entire generation of Americans suffer. After all, he owes it to the Yankee Clipper. He sneaks in pretending to be a child that's hard of hearing and ends up recognizing Venus. Effigy's thoughts reveal that he and Venus first met in 1952. Again, the last issue of Venus's comic was published in 1952, so it can be assumed that they met after the events of it. 

Effigy asks for Venus's autograph. Rumor tells her to keep him close by, not realizing the boy is actually Effigy. He then puts on a special mask.

"The mask makes me feel pretty!"

To Effigy, the mask confirms that the man is Rumor, mind controlling war criminal. During World War II, he was a hidden member of Hitler's elite, using his powers to subtly amplify the madman's own charisma and persuasive abilities. Until he ran into an Allied intelligence agent named Robert Paine. Yup, Paine was an Allied spy before he became the Black Fox. Rumor managed to flee the future costumed crimefighter and had not been seen since. Effigy had heard, well, rumors about Rumor's activity since, mostly that he may be helping the Soviets, but this is the first confirmed activity he's been involved in since the war. Makes you wonder what he was doing in the last nearly twenty years since.

Black Fox is watching the march, and he finds it ironic that Captain Hip and Sunshine are leading them, despite they're being mind-controlled. You see, the Fox believes that the two got their powers thanks to secret drug tests from the CIA. Yeah, a government agency may have created the superhumans that just may end up destroying it.

The Fox tries to use some sleeping gas to slow the march down, but there's far too many people. He also manages to knock out Sunshine before her dazzle powers knock her silly. An angry Captain Hip starts beating him down with his own superior speed and strength. Thankfully, the Fox is saved by Thor, who has arrived with the rest of the First Line. They need to contain the riot; Frank gives it a shot by throwing a car over the crowd...but Major Mercury is able to bring it a gentle landing. That's because throwing a car could cause a fire and even an explosion thanks to damaging the gas tank.

How are the Line doing when it comes to containing the riot? Honesty? ...things could be better. A lot better. 

Thor was sorely tempted to bring down the lightning after one kid kicked him in the nards.

The First Line may be full of experienced superheroes with a variety of powers, but they're massively outnumbered. Not to mention the First Line really do not want to harm any of these people, being innocent victims of Rumor and Venus. And as if fate has decided to be a big troll, Venus manages to get Thor under her power.

Yeah. It's not a good day to be a First Line member. Frank gives the addled God of Thunder a Mighty Punch across the chops, showing that he can potentially match him in raw power. Effigy is just left completely confused by the whole thing.

To be fair to Effigy, he wasn't in the room when Pixie introduced Thor to the Line. Rumor uses his power to make Frank toss Thor away, reasoning that his power will work on the monster's child-like mind. Meanwhile, Captain Hip and Sunshine are back to their normal selves. Hip is confused as to why Sunshine fell under Rumor's spell. After all, she's no kid. But Sunshine has a theory: she's pregnant. Yup, the MacRaes are going to be parents!

Remember Truth McRae from previous issues? Yes, she's the kid they're going to have here. Anyway, the rioting youths are advancing on the Line. Thankfully, a massive tragedy is averted as Effigy manages to capture Rumor, and Black Fox ends the threat.

"Augh, that was my favorite voice box! WHY?!"

Yeah, Rumor's vocal cords can produce a subsonic pulse, and I'm guessing his mask has some tech in it that helps enhance it. With that, Rumor's threat is stopped. Black Fox offers an invitation to Thor to join the First Line. Thor is not interested. He was only here to help stop the threat. And now that it's done, he has better things to do with his time than hang out with a bunch of mortals. Like get drunk.

Remember, this is long before Thor re-emerged in the Marvel Age a humbler god thanks to his time as Donald Blake. Frank suggests that Captain Hip and Sunshine join up, but like Thor, they're not interested in it, either. They've always preferred doing their own thing. Also, now that they got a kid on the way, Hip and Sunshine have decided that now is a good time for them to retire. Hang up their costumes for good, as it were. The story ends with Venus wondering if that was really Thor. Lady, you're a goddess, I think you'd know if that was the real deal or not. 

Sadly, I have to say, this is the weakest issue of the maxiseries so far. And that's a shame, because the First Line meeting a pre-Marvel Age Thor? That is just ripe for story and character potential. The Line dealing with an arrogant Thunder God that could presumably take any of them to the woodshed if they annoyed him enough? That sounds a like a big old fountain of story potential. I did like Thor remarking during the riot that he'd rather embrace Hela than allow the rioting children to come to harm. It's a nice little bit of subtle foreshadowing, showing that even though at this point, Thor is more arrogant, self-centered and hotheaded, he still has lines that he will not cross. He still has a code of honor, and helps show a bit of the humbler god he'll become in the future.

I also admit, I was a bit thrown off by Odin sending Thor down to Earth to deal with a "great threat", but then I remembered that "Oh yeah, Nazi war criminal managed to somehow get a goddess under control". Personally, I would have gone with the idea of an Asgardian monster or mad sorcerer making their way to Earth. That would be cooler in my opinion. 

As for John Byrne's art, nothing new. I still enjoyed it. That's pretty much it, really.

Sadly, this maxi-series has never been collected as a standalone trade. It was collected in a 2018 Omnibus: The Marvel Universe by John Byrne Vol. 2. Otherwise, you'll have to look around for the original issues. I got the maxi-series on eBay. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

International Cat Day

Today is International Cat Day!

This day was started in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare out of a desire to honor cats. Humans and cats have had a long relationship. It's believed that cats were domesticated in Africa and the Near East during the Neolithic Era. It's believed the modern domestic cat is descended from the African wildcat. In fact, there is evidence that Neolithic Man and wild cats had interacted quite a bit, presumably due to human settlements providing plenty of rodents for them to eat. From here, domesticated cats would spread to the Mediterranean into Europe via maritime trading and into Asia via the Great Silk Road. 

In actuality, what we call "domesticated" doesn't quite apply to cats. They never were selectively bred for complete domesticity. As a result, cats often retain behaviors of their wild ancestors. Ancient Egypt famously loved their cats, even mummifying them on their deaths. When the family cat died, the mourning family would shave their eyebrows and take said cat to Bubastis to be mummified. The goddess Bastet was depicted as having a cat's head, which led the Ancient Greeks to associate Artemis with cats. In the 19th century, cat breeds started to emerge.

Cats are known for their love of perching in high places and having excellent night vision. They only require one-sixth of the light humans require to see. They also have better noses and ears than humans. However, we have them beat in taste. Humans have 9,000 taste buds on their tongues, much greater than the cat's 470, and cats can't taste sweet things. Cats love hunting small prey, mainly rodents and birds. They either actively stalk prey, or ambush them. They can cause a lot of problems for local wildlife. 

As of 2007, over 500 million cats are kept as pets. Owning cats have been shown to help improve mental health, easing anxiety and depression. So show some love to cats today! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!