International Lynx Day

Today is International Lynx Day!

Lynxes are a species of medium-sized wild cats that are named because of their reflective eyes. Lynes are also easily identifiable thanks to their large paws and tufts of black fur on their ears. Their fur colors can come in a variety of colors, but they all tend to have white fur on their chests and bellies.

The four species of lynx reside in North America (bobcats and Canada lynxes), Europe (Iberian lynx) Eurasia, Scandanavia, and China (Eurasian lynx). They are believed to have shared a common ancestor that spread itself around the ancient world.

Lynx tend to be rather solitary critters. Despite this, they can occasionally form hunting parties. Due to their great ranges, lynxes have a very varied carnivorous diet. They have been known to eat various species of deer, fish, birds, and even hares and goats. Lynxes are also talented climbers and swimmers. 

So, yeah. Lynxes are fascinating creatures. Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!

Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD #12 (June 1990)

The Marvel Universe has its fair share of fantastical elements: magicians, monsters, mutants, etc. However, even in a world like that, there still is room for the mundane. One does not need superpowers to be a superhero in the Marvel Universe, after all. 

The cover is a Michael Bair and Kim DeMulder piece. 

"Fears and Obsessions"
Writer: Bob Harras
Penciler: Michael Bair
Inker: Kim DeMulder
Colorist: Steve Buccellato
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Greg Wright
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins at an insane asylum, in particular the Tyler Foundation for the Criminally Insane. It's a dark, grim place, housing some of the crazier folks out there. Which makes sense as (typically for the spy world) things are not as they seem. You see, the Tyler Foundation is also a prison used by the US Government as a place to house its most dangerous criminals. And among them is this jade-haired beauty.

Page 4, Panel 4

This is Madame Hydra. No, this is not the more famous Ophelia Sarkissian incarnation who is more known under the codename "Viper", this Madame Hydra debuted in the Nick Fury vs. SHIELD miniseries that preceded this ongoing series. She is writing a letter to Alexander Pierce; a SHIELD agent she has a bit of an obsession with. A doctor and nurse come by to visit, as it's time for her medication.

(I am so high right now)

The nurse prepares a syringe...and sticks the doctor, killing him quick. The nurse tells Madame Hydra that she's a friend, and there's someone who wants to see her. Yup, it's a jailbreak!

(

But enough about that, this book is about SHIELD, right? So, where are they at? Well, one young agent is hard at work training his butt off.

Page 7, Panel 9

Meet Alexander Pierce. You may be familiar with him if you ever saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where he was portrayed by Robert Redford. In the comics, Pierce is a much younger man, an eager ally of Nick Fury, which he shows here by yelling at the training computer to bring it on.

(Bring it on)

He is being observed by a fellow agent, an LMD known only as "Red", and an alien known as Lump. Lump is trying to master the game of jacks. Red remarks that Pierce would get notes from the Madame Hydra we saw earlier in the issue, and they drove him nuts. Mainly because the notes would contain her babbling about how the two are alike in being insane killers. Red believes that Pierce is a good guy, but he fears that Madame Hydra may be right. That they are alike. Red finds it tragic, but Lump is more interesting in being a better jacks player. You may be thinking right now, "Okay, we got SHIELD here, but where is Nick Fury himself? The book is named after him, after all." Well, don't you worry, because he is also in the HQ.

Elsewhere in the new headquarters, Nick Fury and Kate Neville are supervising a new computer system being put in. These new computers incorporate Wakandan technology, so you bet your sweet bippy that this stuff will be beyond cutting-edge. To show this, Nick puts on a helmet that looks like it was stolen from Cerebro.

Page 9, Panel 4

The helmet picks up his thoughts, and projects them in the air as holograms. And based on this, a file on Werner von Strucker (son of the then-late Baron Wolfgang von Strucker) appears. Contessa Valentina de Fontaine wonders why Fury thought of him, and Fury believes that it's because Werner is something he doesn't like: a loose end (he was left in Europe). Not to mention the name "von Strucker" sticks in his craw. That's understandable. The von Strucker family has brought nothing but trouble for Fury over the years.

That's when Fury gets alerted that Madame Hydra has escaped. So much for a peaceful base upgrading. Since it's Madame Hydra, Fury needs all hands on deck. In New York's theater district, two more SHIELD agents were planning to enjoy a show: Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie, and Network Nina.  

Page 11, Panel 2

If you watched Agents of SHIELD, you may be familiar with Mack. He was played by Henry Simmons. Network Nina is a personal favorite character of mine from this run. She is a cyber-psionic. What that means is that she has telepathic powers, but not because she is a mutant or an Inhuman or a mutate. She has them thanks to cybernetic implants in her head. She's effective, but also a bit wacky. I adore her.

The SHIELD team heads to the Tyler Institute. When Madame Hydra was committed, a tracker implant was placed under her skin. MacKenzie can't detect it, despite it having a range of 1500 miles. And since nobody saw her leave, and this is the Marvel Universe, she likely was teleported out. We get some interplay between the agents here, including Fury demanding to know why Pierce was getting letters from Madame Hydra. He'd been getting them since she was committed. Pierce didn't report them because he felt it was a personal matter.

(headdesk)

Fury angrily retorts that his agents are not supposed to have a personal life. Pierce points out that Fury vanished for a year, and Pierce himself still stayed at his post. He's got you there, Nick. Thankfully, Network Nina is able to cool their heads. She uses a form of cyber-psychometry to reveal the face of the woman that liberated Madame Hydra. 

Now that they have a face, they just have to identify it. Fury warns her to not do that again, as she could have hurt someone. After all, she did last time...

(Hmmm)

So. Where is Madame Hydra?

Page 15, Panel 1

These mountains are gorgeous.

Madame Hydra is like "Okay, you brought me here, what's going on here. What's the point of all this?" She turns around and finds herself being surrounded by a bunch of lady warriors in leather. They're not here to talk, they're here for a donnybrook.

(fight fight fight)

Madame Hydra fights the woman, ranting about how she grew up in war-torn streets, and that she not only doesn't fear death, she mocks it. A voice tells Madame Hydra that she has proven herself. 

On a SHIELD craft, the crew use the Wakandan neuro-tech to find the woman who liberated Madame Hydra. It turns out that SHIELD has a file on her. The lady's known only as Mai-Pan. A biochemist by trade, she was last seen in China aiding Plan Chu, the terrorist known as (at the time) the Yellow Claw. As the group goes to investigate this, we get a nice character moment between Nick and Pierce. Pierce offers to resign after this mission as he technically committed insubordination. Fury tells him that Pierce can't and shouldn't get in trouble for telling the truth. Fury did abandon SHIELD, and Pierce was right about it. 

He asks Pierce to tell him about Madame Hydra. After all, any information can be helpful.

(smart)

Pierce thinks that Madame Hydra is a lunatic, naturally. However, he does admit that he is attractive to her. Well, that does make sense. She's a "bad girl". Dudes can dig that. Their conversation is interrupted by an announcement: Neville has found Madame Hydra. She's on an island that was owned by the Claw's great-great-grand niece, Suwan. Yeah, the Yellow Claw was created as a pastiche of Fu Manchu, and like Manchu, he is functionally immortal. At the time, Suwan was seemingly dead after the events of Captain America #167 (November 1973), but it would eventually be revealed in Agents of Atlas #8 (September 2009) that she was very much still alive and would become known as the Jade Claw.

(the more you know)

The island is supposedly barren, but they're going to check it out. Kate hangs out with Red and Lump. N'Gami, the Wakandan techie who's been heling install the new computers, notes that Red and Lump are Deltans, an advanced form of SHIELD's Life Model Decoys. Things is, they should have died months ago as they're supposed to have short lifespans. Those two should have ceased functioning by now. In fact, they should have died several months ago.

(huh)

Back to the China Sea! Madame Hydra's tracker is pinging loud and clear. It's like the woman isn't even trying to hide herself. Fury thinks this is good. She's being cocky, and cocky people make mistakes. Pierce...senses her somehow. 

Page 21, Panel 11

Mai-Pan tells the SHIELD agents that Madame Hydra is actually praying so her soul will be prepared for her fate. The group then gets ambushed. As our intrepid band of Agents try to fight off Mai-Pan's warriors, Hydra awakens. She is ready for what's to come.

(let's do this)

Plan Chu himself then shows his face.

Page 26, Panel 2

The time is right for him to rise once more. With the Cold War ending (remember, this is 1990), he sees this as the perfect opportunity to take power over the Earth. He tells Hydra to take Pierce and leave the agents behind. They have a lot to do.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion: She-Hulk & Rocket Raccoon Reveal, My Thoughts

Back in March, I gave my thoughts on the reveal trailer of the upcoming beat-em-up game Marvel Cosmic Invasion. This game will use a tag-team mechanic and will boast 15 playable characters. We know seven of them already: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett), Storm, Quasar (Phyla-Vell), Nova (Richard Rider), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), and Venom (Eddie Brock). But this new trailer just revealed two more playable characters: The Sensational She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), and the Rough-and-Tumble Rocket Raccoon! Let's look at the reveal!

I love that the mushroom cloud looks like a raccoon's head. 

I like this game's rendition of She-Hulk. Shows that she is a beautiful powerhouse.

Heh, fist-bumping with a Hulk is never the best idea when you are small.

Good thing Rocket is tougher and meaner than the average raccoon. 

I love that he just magically whips out massive guns.

As a wrestling fan, I appreciate that She-Hulk's moveset seems to be modeled on pro wrestling. I want to see her suplex a Sentinel. Same with Rocket using his claws to fight. He's got 'em, why not use 'em?

Another nice touch with She-Hulk's thunderclap move. She's strong, but not as powerful as her cousin. But that doesn't mean her thunderclap won't hurt.

The presence of Sauron seems to imply that we'll be going to the Savage Land in this game. Nice.

This looks great! I like that She-Hulk and Rocket seem to be for people who prefer different styles. You like to hit and run and blast your opponents? Go for Rocket. You prefer a tank that can hit hard? You go with Shulkie. Personally, I want to try them both out and see what they can do. My hype for this game has grown thanks to this. 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 Donut Day

 Today is a very special day, as it is National Donut Day in the United States! 

National Donut Day is celebrated on the first Friday in June, as well as in early November. 

The first National Donut Day was organized by the Salvation Army in 1938. Why? Well, during World War I, volunteers would travel overseas to make donuts for the troops in the trenches. These volunteers would be known as "Donut Lassies", and their work would help make donuts a popular treat. And now here's a couple fun facts about donuts, courtesy of MSN:

- You ever wonder why cops are associated with consuming donuts? Well, it is because of availability. Back in the day, cops working graveyard shifts had limited options when they wanted to get something to eat. Bakeries often opened very early, before sunrise, to make their wares for the day's customers. Some cops would pack lunches, but it was often easier just to get a donut.

- You ever watch someone get donuts in a movie and TV show and notice the donut boxes are pink? Well, that's because pink boxes are used in Southern California to carry donuts. If you're watching something set in New York, and the donut box is pink, it's likely originally filmed in SoCal. Why is that, you may ask? Well, according to the Los Angeles Times, it's because of a Cambodian refugee named Ted Ngoy and his protegee, Ning Yen. The story is not clear, but one possibility is that they wanted a cheaper alternative to the white boxes used to deliver donuts at the time, and pink just came up. However, another story, told by Ning Yen's son, claimed that they wanted red boxes (red symbolizes good luck in Cambodian culture), and the box-makers kept sending them pink ones. Either way, pink boxes have become associated with SoCal donut shops.  

- What country consumes the most donuts? Canada. Yeah, Canada loves their donuts. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada consumes more donuts per capita than any other nation. In fact, their most successful native restaurant chain is Tim Horton's, which is a coffee-and-donut shop. Canada has more donut shops per capita than any other country. So, yeah. If you think of Canada, don't just think of moose, snow, and the Harts. Think of donuts as well. You know, I bet Homer Simpson would love visiting Canada. 

And that's some fun facts about the treat! I hope you treated yourself to a nice donut today!

Predator: Killer of Killers Trailer, My Thoughts

Since 1987, humanity has been a favorite hunting target of an alien race that have been known as the Hish-Qu-Ten, the Skin Thieves, the Yautja, but most famously...as the Predators. 

In the decades since, the Predators have hunted in various other media, like comic books, video games, and even novels. The Predator has also fought the Xenomorph of the Alien franchise. This upcoming film, much in the vein of Prey, explores encounters between the Predators and people at various points in history: A Viking mother looking for vengeance, a ninja feuding with his samurai brother in Feudal-era Japan, and a young Allied pilot in World War II. Let's look at Predator: Killer of Killers!

"Guys, we have got to go to Earth! I heard this planet has the best milkshakes!" Mmm...milkshakes...

That Viking lady is cool.

"We also fight because it's fun, my son. Remember that."

That voice actress puts a nice little bit of ham in that performance.

Oooooh, that had to hurt!

And that. And that. And that. Fighting Predators is painful.

Man, the cuts and editing of the trailer is great! Whoever did it hopefully got a nice fat raise.

I am especially excited for the ninja story. I mean, it makes a bizarre bit of sense. Ninjas are known to use trickery, stealth, and obfuscation to infiltrate, gather information, and even kill. They're good prey for alien hunters with advanced tech, including actual invisibility.

That BIG Predator. They got the best steroids, the yautja. All the benefits, none of the side effects.

Wait a minute, is that...the planet from Predators?!

I am excited for this movie! Predators fighting humans at different points in time is always ripe for good stories. And I think we'll get some of those right here. The ninja one looks especially fun, but the other two also caught my interest. This will be fun! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Bicycle Day

International Dinosaur Day

Happy International Dinosaur Day, everyone!

Dinosaurs are extinct animals that lived millions of years ago. Their time was known as the Mesozoic Era, going from about 252 to 66 million years ago. They are the ancestors of modern reptiles and birds. Many dinosaurs are well-known in popular culture, like the Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, and the Stegosaurus. Thing is, based on what we have learned from fossils, these species may never really have co-existed, even though pop culture likes to say otherwise. Also, pterodactyls? While they are often seen as dinosaurs by the general public (For example, Swoop the Dinobot), they actually are not dinosaurs. That's because they have their own classification: Pterosaurs. 

The word "dinosaur" comes from Greek. It means "terrible lizard", and it was coined in 1842 by English paleontologist Sir Richard Owen. 

The largest known dinosaur is the Argentinosaurus. It is believed to have weighed over 180,000 pounds. That's about 82,000 kilograms. Dinosaurs were originally believed to have been covered in scales, much like modern reptiles. However, further discoveries have revealed that some species may have had feathers. Also, it was believed that like modern reptiles, dinosaurs were cold-blooded. However, studies of dinosaur bones have led to the discovery that their metabolisms were closer to warm-blooded creatures (mammals and birds). 

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for millions of years, until a mass extinction event. The general consensus is that a large meteor caused it when it hit the earth, causing massive environmental upheavals. Mammals adapted better to the conditions, allowing them to survive. But some dinosaur species did manage to survive this event as well, allowing them to become the modern reptiles and birds of today.

Yup, dinosaurs are really cool. But you didn't need me to tell you that. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!