National Cat Day

 Happy National Cat Day!

National Cat Day was created in 2005 by Colleen Paige. An expert on cats and lifestyle, she founded this day to help raise awareness of issues around cat care, mainly the promotion of spaying/neutering them to help keep down the population of feral strays, as well as promoting the adoption of cats. Aftar all, cats were found to be the second most popular pet in the US in 2017. 

Humans and cats have a very long relationship. It was originally believed that humans started domesticating the cat during the era of Ancient Egypt. After all, cats were venerated by their culture and even mummified on death like pharaohs were. But there has been evidence discovered in Cyprus that indicates that humans may have actually done so as early as the Neolithic era.

Cats are fascinating animals. They are crepuscular critters, and the word cat may come from Latin or a Germanic language. And despite their domestication, cats are still very capable of living out in the wild. Most breeds of cat love jumping up on high places. It's believed that this behavior may allow cats to better ambush prey and survey its territory. Yeah, cats are social animals, but they prefer hunting alone. They also prefer drinking alone. No wait, that's George Thorogood. 

As someone who has owned numerous cats over the years, I have to say there is no greater pleasure than having one. Give yours a lot of love today and every day! 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!

National Pumpkin Day

 Happy National Pumpkin Day!

It's only appropriate that this day be in October, considering that this month also has Halloween, and pumpkins are a big part of the holiday.

Pumpkins are the popular name for certain species of winter squash from the Cucurbita genus. Pumpkins are originally native to North America, mainly Mexico and the southern United States. They're actually one of the oldest known domesticated plants, believed to have been domesticated between 7,000 and 5,500 BC. 

There are a couple of theories as to how the pumpkin got its name. One is that the word derives from an Ancient Greek word meaning 'melon'. The other is that it's derived from a word in the Massachusett language that means 'grows forth round'. 

Pumpkins are one of the most popular crops in the United States. 1.1 million tons of pumpkins were produced in the country in 2020. And some farmers like to grow pumpkins big. Real big. The world record for biggest pumpkin was set by a horticulture teacher named Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota. He grew a pumpkin that weighed 2,749 pounds. You could likely get a lot of pie out of that pumpkin. Mmmm, pumpkin pie...

Anyway, that's the pumpkin for you! With Halloween and Thanksgiving coming up, enjoy yourself some pumpkin pie! 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!

Invaders #31 (August 1978)

There are three things that the Marvel Universe is full of: Monsters, Mayhem, and Madmen. This was true even back during the days of World War II. During that time in the Marvel Universe, the Invaders attacked Adolf Hitler's Fortress Europa itself, while dealing with various villains and Nazi super-agents. But on one occasion, the Invaders had to deal with something that was straight out of the mind of Mary Shelley. You'll see that I mean when I look at Invaders #31! 

The cover is a Joe Sinnott piece. It's really cool. It depicts a Frankenstein Monster (not the Frankenstein Monster, more on that later), taking on the titular heroes. I also like that the masthead logo is used to advertise this meeting, and it's done in the style of old comedic monster movies like Abbott and Costello meet the Wolfman, for example. The cover's hook is a great one, the Invaders battling what looks like a Frankenstein's Monster that has gone Nazi, and makes me want to read this comic.

"Heil Frankenstein!"
Writer: Don Glut
Penciler: Chic Stone
Inker: Bill Black
Colorist: George Roussos
Letter: Tom Orzechowski (Credited as "Orz")
Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story beings with Spitfire, the Invaders' resident speedster, doing a bit of housecleaning. But being a woman of noble birth, it's not her cup of tea. But she is bored, and it's still around thirty years before video games become a major thing. She finds a hat box that contains the hat of a Gestapo officer. A very big Gestapo officer.

"Hey, who turned out the planet?!"

Captain America enters, and reveals the hat was a souvenir from a battle the Invaders had in the past before she joined the group. And he decides to regale her.

The Invaders were in England when they learned of possible Nazi activity in the Swiss Alps. Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch and his sidekick Toro went to investigate it, but they ended up vanishing.

Captain America, Bucky, and Namor went to investigate. Cap and Bucky went ahead while Namor found a place to park his craft (the Invaders used an Atlantean ship to get around). The current and future Sentinel of Liberty would find a village that was deserted...except for lights in the windows. And then...an ambush!

"WHERE'S OUR MONEY BASIL-Oh hey, Cap."

The villagers back off when they realize that the Invaders are in their midst. The villagers explain that there's a horror in their backyards. A horror beyond all comprehension. It started with someone robbing the graves of their dead. They saw the Human Torch and Toro headed towards a nearby castle...and never returned. The villagers called them "flaming demons" (their words), not mine...wait, they recognized Captain America, but not the Human Torch and Toro? Really?

Anyway, as established earlier, they never returned from the castle. Finally, a monster had come from the castle and murdered several villagers for seemingly no reason. The villagers had prepared to storm the castle when the Invaders arrived. Cap convinces the villagers to stand down and let the other Invaders investigate. After all, two of their own are in danger. As for the castle...well, it's the castle...of the family Frankenstein.

Yeah, the events of the Mary Shelley novel happened in the Marvel Universe. Marvel adapted the novel in The Monster of Frankenstein #1-3 (January-March 1973), and other comics over the years would introduce other members of Victor Frankenstein's family. Most notably, Victoria, Victor's great-granddaughter. She's as prone to mad science as her ancestor but tends to use it for good. For example, she once helped bring Wolverine back to life after he died fighting Sabretooth in Wolverine #12 (October 2014). 

The novel also exists in the Marvel Universe as well, as one of Frankenstein's family members, Ernst, would talk about his family to Mary Shelley, and she was like "Hey, this sounds like it'd make a great book!"

Anyway, Cap and Bucky infiltrate the castle of the Frankensteins. They discover that there are indeed Nazis infesting the place...and they get spotted by said Nazis.

Our heroes give the Nazi soldiers a good walloping, but they have a nasty little surprise waiting for them. Remember, this is the castle of the Frankensteins, so it's not hard to guess what said surprise is.

"ALLIES BAD."

Yup, their very own Nazi Monster. Keep in mind, this is not the actual Frankenstein's Monster of the Marvel Universe that was created by Victor. That monster was still frozen in ice during World War II, as established in The Frankenstein Monster #8-9. He would get revived in the Marvel Age in Monsters Unleashed #2.

Cap tries to knock out the Nazi Monster with a Mighty American Punch, but it shockingly has no effect. The Monster knocks Cap back, but the First Avenger noticed that it paused before fighting back, as if it didn't want to fight. But that is tabled as the monster's creator reveals himself. 

"Cap, you tell those villagers I'm not giving them their money until they paint my chicken coop!"

Meet Basil Frankenstein and his assistant, Dr. Kitagowa. Basil calls her "Kitty". I'm not sure if that's her first name, or it was a nickname based on "Kitagowa". I'm thinking it's the latter. Kitagowa remarks that Captain America is a fine specimen, in a scientific sense, of course. 

Basil orders his Monster to beat down Bucky and Cap, but in Cap's case, try not to damage his body too much. The Monster manages to knock them out.

They wake up and find themselves chained up: Bucky to a wall, and Cap to a slab. Toro is also there, being regularly doused with chemicals to keep him from going all fiery. Cap asks Basil why he's got his monster wearing a Nazi uniform. Well, it's pretty obvious, Steve. Basil created this monster for the Nazis as a weapon. He's embraced their cause because they were rather...appreciative of the family's forays into mad science. Cap notes that Kitagowa is Japanese. Well, yeah. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were allies during the war, Steve. The Monster concussed him worse than we thought.

Kitagowa is one of Japan's finest surgeons, and she's been helping Basil thanks to a lab accident crippling him. After all, this stuff could be useful to the Emperor of Japan. Maybe even allow them to build their own monsters out of corpses. Also, imagine a whole army of Nazi Frankenstein Monsters. Much stronger, much tougher than normal human soldiers. And also completely expendable. Kitagowa has another reason she's helping Basil. It turns out that she's his main squeeze, and the thought of Basil's brain in the body of Steve Rogers...well, that is very appealing to her.

But that's just a side gig. The real target of Basil and Kitty...is Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch. 

"Cap, these people are friggin' WEIRD!"

Basil needs the "energies" of Phineas Horton's magnum opus. I have no idea what he means. The villagers see the lights of Castle Frankenstein flash, which means the monster is going to return. They get ready to form a mob, but Namor tries to make them stay. But they're more afraid of Frankenstein than they are the Sub-Mariner. Namor doesn't want to harm the villagers, so he flies ahead, hoping to find the other Invaders. Thanks to his flight powers, he's able to get ahead of the angry mob. The Atlantean prince spots the castle's lab. 

He sees energy being transferred from the Torch to the Monster. This causes the monster to grow in size, his uniform bursting. The mob make it to the castle and start brawling with the Nazi soldiers inside.

Namor uses a terminal to free the Torch, who then is able to free the other Invaders. The empowered monster engages the Invaders and proves to be a match for them. However, the creature freaks out around Jim and Toro, in the Frankenstein tradition.

Namor Mighty Punches the Monster into a console, shorting it out. The Monster survives this...and cries.

Turned out all the Monster wanted was some Swiss chocolate.

Yeah, it was revealed by Basil earlier that there was an implant in the creature's brain that kept it obedient to him. The blow from Namor or the short-circuiting machines broke it, freeing the creature. He angrily turns on his creators, grabbing Basil and Kitagowa. He takes them to the top of the castle's walls. The Monster declares that he's going to return to the graves he was born from...and he'll take his creators with him. And with that, he jumps off the wall into the ground below, his creators with him. 

"Wait...I FORGOT TO PUT THE BOUNCY CASTLE HERE!"

So long, Basil and Kitty. Don't let the door hit you where the dog should have bit you. The Invaders mull over this turn of events. The mob, still unsatisfied with the death of Basil and Kitty and the seeming destruction of the Monster, prepare to destroy the castle. Jim Hammond angrily snuffs out their torches, saying the castle must stand as a monument to the creature who in the end, showed his true humanity. And with that, the story is over. Spitfire asks Cap if the Torch really protects the castle, and he nervously answers, "uh...would you?" 

This was a fun adventure tale. While it's got its flaws by modern standards, it did have the feel of a Golden Age tale, which does fit these wartime-era heroes. And I do think that since the Frankenstein family do exist in the Marvel Universe, it does make sense that the Nazis would try to use their work to create their own super-soldiers. I mean, the original Monster had been shown to be quite strong and durable. Makes a bit of sense that they'd want to have something like that on their side.

The plot point of using the Human Torch's "energies" to make the Monster stronger is a bit silly and dumb by today's standards...but it does work here as it feels like something out of a Golden Age comic book.  It makes sense here as it's a team of Golden Age-era heroes set in World War II, when the Golden Age of Comics was going.

Art-wise, John Buscema and Chic Stone turn in some great work. It does have a bit of a Golden Age feel in parts, not to the level of Frank Robbins, but hey, Buscema is always welcome in any comic. 

You know, I can't help but wonder. In the Marvel: The Lost Generation maxiseries (particularly issue #5), we've seen that one of the members of the Line in the 1960s was Frank, a Frankenstein's Monster-like creature. Reading this comic, it got me thinking. Could it be possible that Frank was this Monster? It would make sense. This Frankenstein's Monster only fought for the Nazi cause due to being controlled, not willingly. There's nothing indicating that he may not have survived the fall that likely killed Basil and Kitagawa. He seemed pretty durable (he likely had to be built tough to take on Namor). Maybe he ended up in a form of stasis as a result, was found by the First Line, and convinced by them that fighting evil alongside them could be a way for him to redeem himself for the events of this comic here. And Frank's speech pattern from M:tLG could be a result of brain damage. I mean, that Frank can't have been the Frankenstein Monster of Mary Shelley's novel (as he was on ice in the 1960s). That's just my theory.  

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend that you track down the 2014 trade paperback The Invaders: The Complete Collection Vol. 2. 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 Snow Leopard Day

  Happy Snow Leopard Day!

Snow leopards are native to the mountain ranges of central and southern Asia. During the summer, they'll move to areas above the tree line, and they like broken, rocky terrain.

Snow leopards are solitary critters by nature. They like to be alone. They are often most active at dawn until early morning and then afternoons until early evenings. They prefer resting in places that give shade and high vantage points. I'm guessing because they like to keep cool as well as an eye on what's around them.

Snow leopards are carnivorous, liking the Himalayan blue sheep, the Himalayan tahr, and wild goats. They are active hunters, their preferred tactic is to leap down on prey from above, using that momentum to help give chase. Farmers can encounter them, but attacks on humans are actually extremely rare.

Snow leopards can live around 15-18 years out in the wild. Their mating season is late winter, and mating pairs tend to stick together as they have short mating seasons. Female snow leopards give birth of litters of typically two to three cubs, but it is possible for bigger litters to happen.

Snow leopards are considered a vulnerable species, the biggest threats to them and their habitats being global warming, human farming, and poaching/trade of its skin. Various countries in the animal's range have been working together to protect the species, including India and Kyrgyzstan. 

So, yeah. Snow leopards are pretty cool creatures. I hope you learned something neat about them here. 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!

Back to the Future Day

Happy Back to the Future Day, everyone!

Why is it on this day? Well, this is the day Marty McFly, Jennifer, and Dr. Emmett Brown arrived in 2015 from 1985 in Back to the Future Part II!

Yup! It's Back to the Future Day! A day of celebration for BTTF fans, and fans of pop culture in general. The time-jumping saga is on the mind of every film buff and pop-culture geek today!

In Back to the Future Part II (released on November 22, 1989), Marty McFly, Jennifer Parker, and Emmett Brown travel to the year 2015, in an attempt to prevent Marty and Jennifer's future son, Marty Jr., from getting involved with a criminal gang and ruining his life. And of course, mayhem and insanity ensues.

This film was actually made back-to-back with the third movie in the BTTF trilogy. There wasn't any intention to be a sequel to the original BTTF, but the first film became a huge hit. As such, a there were calls for a sequel. Director Robert Zemeckis re-teamed up with screenwriter Bob Gale to create the story of the second movie. Zemeckis had only agreed to do a sequel if Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd would agree to reprise their roles as Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown.

The film was a groundbreaking effort for iconic special-effects firm ILM, being one of the first films to use digital compositing, and one of the first uses of the VistaGlide motion control camera system. There's also a brief bit of CGI in the scene when Marty encounters the holographic shark in 2015 Hill Valley.

Back to the Future Part II was a box office success, raking in $333 million on a $40 million budget. It became the third-highest grossing film of 1989, only behind Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Batman. It was praised by critics, despite a view that it was inherently inferior to its predecessor. This year, 2026, marks the 37th anniversary of this movie. While it did get some predictions wrong about the real-life 2015, it did get some things right...but then again, Bob Gale has said that the film wasn't meant to be a serious look at what the future could be like. Big flat-screen TVs? Nailed it. Paying for things on personal devices? Nailed it. Video chat? Nailed it. Wearable technology? Nailed it. Smart home technology? Nailed it. I hope they find a way to make that pizza hydrator thing from Marty's 2015 home a reality.

I love this movie, and I hope you give it a watch and enjoy it as well. Maybe enjoy some of the pizza from the movie while you do. 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 dontion to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

Marvel Cosmic Invasion DLC #2 (Invisible Woman and Doctor Doom) Trailer, My Thoughts

 Back in March 2025, I gave my thoughts on the announcement trailer for the beat 'em up game known as Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The game was an homage to the beat 'em up games of the late-80s and 90s, bringing together an eclectic group of Marvel's heroes to beat back the invasion of Earth by the monstrous extradimensional villain known as Annihilus. The game so far has had 15 characters at launch. The announcement trailer revealed seven of those playable characters: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Venom (Eddie Brock), Nova (Richard Rider), Quasar (Phyla-Vell), Storm, and Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett). Future trailers revealed the rest of the launch roster: She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) and Rocket Raccoon, Beta Ray Bill and the Silver Surfer, Black Panther (T'Challa) and Cosmic Ghost Rider, and Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Phoenix (Jean Grey). We also got the first two DLC characters: Cyclops and the Thing. 

And now, we got two more characters joining up! This brings the total of playable characters to 19: The Fantastic Four's secret MVP/powerhouse Susan Storm-Richards, the Invisible Woman...and the tyrant of Latveria, Doctor Victor Von Doom himself. Makes sense, with Avengers: Doomsday coming. Let's take a look at the trailer!

Man, Doom's really upgraded his Doombots. Makes sense he would, though. Technology is ever evolving.

Yeesh, what did Doom do to make Sue that mad. It's one of the unwritten rules of the Marvel Universe. You do not make Sue mad. I guess you could say that Doom is...doomed, heh heh.

I'm sorry. I am so so sorry.

And of course, Doom would arrogantly think he could take on anyone by himself. 

I do wish that Sue said something motherly to Spider-Man. Considering she's had to play the role to Johnny, is one to Valeria and Franklin, and the connections between the Wall-Crawler and the FF, it would be something nice to see.

Yeah, in the comics, Doom has stolen the Power Cosmic from the Surfer. So I can imagine if that's also true here, there would be plenty of awkwardness there when they're forced to fight together.

You know, I don't think Doom and Beta Ray Bill have ever met. I imagine they'd have some interesting interactions. 

And as with the Surfer, I can imagine there's plenty of awkwardness on Iron Man's end, too. 

Well, this is really cool. Considering this DLC is focused on Doctor Doom, it does make sense that he'd appear here. And I can also imagine from a character perspective, he'd be none too happy with someone trying to conquer his planet. Invisible Woman was a genuine surprise. I never expected another member of the FF to be among the playable cast. Now I'm hoping that Marvel will finally bring some Inhumans into this game. I know they like to pretend that they don't exist anymore now that Marvel Studios got the live-action film rights to the X-Men back, but come on! 

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!

Bass X Machina Trailer, My Thoughts

The Wild West has its own fair share of legends, on both sides of the law. The likes of Wyatt Earp and Billy the kid paint a picture of the era that has endured even to this day. One of those legends, an understated one from what I understand about it, is the legend of Bass Reeves. 

Reeves was one of the first Black U.S. Marshals, Reeves was born a slave. His enslavers fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. However, during that time, Reeves himself would escape and flee to the Indian Territories. While there, he learned various skills from Native tribes there, like their languages, customs, and how to track and survive. After the war, he became a farmer and rancher. At the age of 37, he became a U.S. Marshal. Over the next nearly thirty years, he worked as a peace officer in the Indian Territory. In fact, Reeves is seen as a possible inspiration for the Lone Ranger.

The man has appeared in television, movies, even comic books. And now he's getting his own animated six-episode series, a steampunk Western in which the man himself will be a cyborg voiced by Brian Tyree Henry (who is also executive producer). Created by LeSean Thomas, the series focuses on the man as he fights for justice in a steampunk Wild West. The series will also feature the vocal talents of singer/actress Janelle Monae (who also wrote the theme song and is making music for the series), Tati Gabrielle, Cree Summer, and Chaske Spencer. Let's look at the trailer!

Ohhh, he is going to be hurting after that.

19th Century steampunk tech for you. They can make you a cyborg, but they still haven't figured out that operating rooms should be sterile.

Besides, Mrs. Reeves. I don't think you can handle his dreams about the sandwich monsters. So. Many. Sandwich. Monsters.

Ooh, that robot arm is nice.

"Bunch of bears got in the moonshine, Mr. Reeves. We need an awesome cyborg to deal with 'em, and you're the only one we know of. Becaus Victor Stone hasn't been born yet."

Oh, the Confederates. Yeah, Bass is probably wishing he was dealing with bears drunk on moonshine right now.

Come on, Bass! Have a bit of gerne savvy! Bring her along! She'll end up saving your butt!

YA SEE?!

Man, those were some cool shots! 

And of course, gotta throw in a little magic to make this Wild West a bit more wild.

I'm surprised they didn't give Bass a Rocket Punch.

Well, this show looks fun as all get out. I can't wait to watch it! I think it'll be a great rip-roaring adventure based on a Wild West legend! 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!