All-Star Superman #10 (May 2008)

It's that time again! It's time to join the Man of Steel in what appears to be his final adventures.

The story begins in Egypt. It's 7:02 AM. What's going on there? Well, if you were at the pyramids on this day, you may have seen a flying school bus. 

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Nothing sinister going on, it's just Superman taking a bunch of ill children on a little field trip. They love his visits. Last time, he took them to see that Moonbase. Got to see some moon rocks. It was neat. 

The time? 11:25 PM. Superman is hard at work composing something he thought he'd never have to do...at least, not at this point in his life: writing his last will and testament. And because he's Superman, he doesn't do it with a pen and paper. He has a laser write Kryptonese on a slab of metal, the laser attached to an apparatus that reads his thoughts. Because he's Superman. He recalls that the time-travelling adventurer known as Samson told him he'd complete Twelve Challenges before he died. So far, he has accomplished seven. Every one of these tasks has brought him closer to meeting the Grim Reaper himself. And he has no time to waste.

The time? 10:25 AM. Yeah, we're moving back and forth through one day. Leo Quintum has headed towards the Bottle City of Kandor. He's there because he believes he has found a solution to Kandor still well, being shrunk. He also heard that Kandor has some great restaurants. Mmmm, Kryptonian mac and cheese...

The time? 12:01 AM. Superman wanted to study what a world without him would be like. So, he made a universe.

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"Yeah, how did Bizarro DNA end up in it?" 

The time? 4:35 PM. Superman is stopping a bullet train that ran amuck. 

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Remember that man screaming on the phone there. This'll be important.

He's investigating a rampage, caused by someone looking for what appears to be a time capsule from the far future. Then he spots the cause of the whole mess.

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"The Power Rangers just had to be on vacation today..."

That is one angry giant robot. And even worse, it has Lois Lane in its grasp. This is a Tuesday for her. Superman smashes the robot's head, revealing it's actually a giant mech piloted by an old mad scientist named Mechano-Man with Alzheimer's. And he's after Luthor for some reason.

Superman is able to calm that situation down, and Lois reveals she got herself captured because she's been unable to get Superman's attention any other way, and she really wants to talk to him. She knows that he's dying from the events of issue #1. Leo Quintum accidentally slipped it out to her, but he also feels that he shouldn't burden this alone. 

Lois begs Superman to find a way to save his own life. He has always found a way out of situations like this before. Superman points out to Lois that there is no way to stop this by telling her that they can't have children (Kryptonian and Human DNA being too incompatible). Again, she says there has to be a way. After all, that's what he himself says. Superman then hears the man from earlier screaming to a girl named Regan to not put the phone down and that he's on his way. He has to take care of something. On a building, a young woman gets ready to jump off it, but Superman arrives. He assures her that the doctor did get held up. She's a lot stronger than she thinks, and things are not as bad as she believes.

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This moment has become a rather iconic one from this miniseries. More on this later. The time? 11:00 AM. The Kandorian Council is debating Quintum's proposal. The Kandorian Emergency Corps have made up their minds after hearing Quintum's proposal. And they have a plan to save Superman's life.

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"And we're going to look real spiffy doing it, too!"

The time? 1:36 PM. Superman is repairing the world's bridges. Meanwhile, on the artificial Earth-Q, its version of Australian Aboriginals is making rock paintings of gods. 

The time? 3:27 PM. Superman is reciting his genetic code. On Earth-Q's India, a man is carving a statue of one of the many gods of Hindu mythology. In particular, Krishna. 

The time? 5:13 PM. Superman goes to visit Luthor, who has started reading up on making cocktails. Gotta find some way to pass the last weeks of your life, I guess.

 Superman tells Luthor he has won. The world is his for the next three weeks before he is executed. As such, Superman gives him a challenge. Since Lex likes to say that his big brain could have saved the world if Superman would just stop getting in the way by existing, this is his chance to do so. Luthor responds by hocking a loogie at him. It's a nice subtle way of showing that Luthor's talk of how he could have made the world a better place is exactly that: All talk. 

Meanwhile on Earth-Q, that Earth's undergoing its own Renaissance. Its version of scholar and philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola is giving a public discourse that would be known as the Oration of the Dignity of Man. This oration would become known as the "Manifesto of the Renaissance". In real life, it was never delivered due to Pope Innocent VIII canceling it and having it investigated for heresy.

The time? 9:10 PM. Superman opens the "time capsule", revealing that it contains a message from the 24th century. The message is from a scientist known as Roo Mac2. Roo wants to warn Superman that "Solaris" is coming. He's forbidden from doing this, but he feels he has to as well, he owes his life to Superman. Why? Because if it weren't for the Man of Tomorrow, Roo wouldn't exist.

Remember that girl Superman managed to save earlier? Well, it turns out that she is an ancestor of Roo's. Yeah. One act of kindness, a life being saved has a very big impact. 

The time? 11:20 PM. Superman is at work making a new supersuit. The 8th Challenge is coming. 

The time? 4:30 PM. Superman and Leo Quintum are placing the Bottle City of Kandor on Mars. Superman has to go, as he's seeing Mechano-Man on a rampage. Before he leaves, he gives Quintum a couple of gifts: A book that records his entire genetic structure (Quintum has never been able to develop a successful clone of Superman without it becoming a Bizarro), as well as instructions on how to combine it with human DNA, basically allowing a hybrid to exist. A little something for Lois. 😉

Over on Earth-Q, Friedrich Nietzsche is developing his concept of the Ubermensch. 

The time? 6:45 PM. The Kandorian Emergency Squad has some bad news. Despite their superhuman abilities, they can't stop the solar overdose from killing him. That's fine, though. They were able to buy some time, which is something Superman needed. And it's not like they can't still do some good. Remember those sick kids Superman took to Egypt? Well, Kandorian super-doctors may not have been able to cure Superman...but there isn't any Earth disease they can't tackle. So, yeah. Those kids are going to be a-okay. 👍 

And on Earth-Q, in Cleveland, Ohio, a Canadian immigrant is sketching something. Something that'll become a big hit.

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The time? 11:49 PM. Lois Lane finds an article open on Clark's computer. It's another gift he gives to her: the Headline of the Century.

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"God, even in death, he beats me to the punch!" 

Morrison has long stated that they see superheroes as modern mythology. It's not hard to see why they would come to that idea. I mean, think about it. Superhero stories often feature beings with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man, having grand adventures while interacting with mortals, and their stories have been told and retold in various forms over the decades. It's hardly an unreasonable conclusion to make. The point of Earth-Q is meant to show that even in a world without any of the fantastical elements we think of in a superhero universe, Superman can still come into existence in some form.

The main meat of the story is basically a day in the life of a Superman reaching the end of his life. We see him make plans for a future without him. The Kandorians have a new home and potential for a new golden age on Mars. Leo Quintum has a chance to make new protectors to take over for the Man of Steel. This amused me as this seems to imply that outside of Batman, there are no other superheroes running around...which makes no sense to me. We've seen Bizarro versions of Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern, which seems to imply that they exist as well. I get not having them appear (this is a Superman-focused story, after all), but 

International Archaeology Day

Happy International Archaeology Day!

This day is traditionally celebrated on the third Saturday in October. As a result, it fell on October 20th in 2024. This day was organized by the Archaeological Institute of America alongside various other such organizations around the world to celebrate archaeology and its contributions to society. 

World Bread Day

Happy World Bread Day, everyone!

World Bread Day was created in 2005 by the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners for the purpose of celebrating the cultural, and nutritional value of bread, as well as recognition of the art of making bread. Mmmm, bread...

Bread is a rather universal concept. It's a staple food in much of the world, especially in Europe and the Middle East. Bread is one of the oldest foods around. In fact, it's arguably been around as long as agriculture itself has been around. The first evidence of breadmaking was in rocks with traces of starch found in Europe and Australia dated to around 30,000 years ago. Further evidence of early breadmaking includes a 14,500-year-old statue found in the country of Jordan.

Bread also holds cultural significance all throughout the world. It has been used as a metaphor for basic living conditions. It has also been used in religious ceremonies. For example, in Christianity, bread is one of the elements of the Eucharist.   

So, yeah. Bread is a simple food, but it's an important one. It's arguably the food of civilization itself. So go enjoy some bread today! ...if you can. 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 Fossil Day

 Today is National Fossil Day!

What is this day about? The purpose of this day is to promote awareness and appreciation of fossils and paleontology. The day was originally born as part of an Earth Science Week established by the National Park Service in 2010, but has become a separate celebration in its own right. 

Fossils are important because they give a record of what animals and plants were like in the distant past. The oldest known fossil is the cyanobacteria fossil. These fossils were found in the Archaean rocks of Western Australia. These fossils have been dated to around 3.5 billion years old.

The youngest known fossils are from around 10,000 years ago, around the end of the last Ice Age. When it comes to humans, some of the oldest fossil evidence of evolution into modern humans was discovered in Ethiopia, dating back between 195,000 and 233,000 years ago. 

If you want to learn more about his day, you can click right here on the National Park Service website. 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 Dessert Day

 Happy National Dessert Day!

The word "dessert" comes from a French term meaning "to clear the table". Which makes sense, as desserts are often the last course of a meal. 

The earliest sweeteners are dried fruits and honey, often used as offerings to gods in various gods like in Mesopotamia and India. Speaking of India, they would help create desserts as we know them. How? Because before 500 BC, they would grow and refine sugarcane. Sugarcane would spread throughout Asia thanks to trade, allowing sugar to be a staple ingredient in cooking and dessert-making for the next thousand years there and in the Middle East. 

In Europe, sugar and sugarcane would be rather rare, if not outright unknown until the Crusades and colonization. Still, desserts would remain a luxury for the rich in Europe. It would not be until the rise if the Industrial Age that sugar and desserts would be readily available to commoners. 

Desserts can take many forms. Cakes, pies, ice cream, cookies/biscuits, or even something like a little candy bar. But they generally are something that is delicious, but not the healthiest thing to have regularly nutrition-wise, ha ha. So yeah. Treat yourself to a nice dessert today! Tnaks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!

Wonder Man Trailer, My Thoughts

The Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe marches on! And this time, it's time for adventures in the bright lights of Hollywood! Back in the day, a movie called Wonder Man was made. One of its watchers and fans was a young boy named Simon Williams. Now as an adult, Simon has a dream: to portray his favorite superhero in a remake of Wonder Man. 

Wonder Man is a miniseries, the 17th TV show in the MCU. It was co-created by Destin Daniel Cretton (who directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day) and Andrew Guest. The film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon, and the cast also includes Sir Ben Kingsley reprising his role as Trevor Slattery from Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi. Let's look at the trailer!

I don't know about you all, but I loved the original Wonder Man movie, and I think the remake will be pretty good. And even if it doesn't work out, well, the original will still be out there and enjoyed. I mean, it's been on Tubi forever.

I will laugh so hard if it turns out they actually also did make a legit old-school-style Wonder Man film. 

LEO?! Why are they talking to a lion for this role?!

...oh, they meant Leonardo DiCaprio, oh! My bad! Right. Are they going for the whole "environmental aesop" with this movie?

You got this, Simon!

Oh my goodness, that was funny! 

I remember laughing so hard when that twist hit in Iron Man 3! Sir Ben is hilarious!

Wow. Mr. Kovak has a nice house. 

Yeah, he's a drunk.

Yeah, this is going to be good! I am excited for this! This sounds like a very fun addition! A little more low-key comedic series about an actor achieving his dream. I am looking forward 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!

Quasar #11 (June 1990)

Back in November 2021, I took a look at Quasar #10 (May 1990). I enjoyed it. In fact, I think Mark Gruenwald's Quasar run is a rather underrated piece of Marvel's publication history. As such, I thought I'd return to it this week. So, let's take a look at Quasar #11!

The cover is a Mike Manley and Christopher Ivy piece. It depicts our man Quasar getting blasted by Rachel Summers, aka the Phoenix. It does do a good job of showing just how powerful the Phoenix (then hosted by Rachel Summers) is, and just how much Quasar is in over his head.

"By the Time I Get to Phoenix"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Mike Manley
Inker: Fred Fredericks
Colorist: Paul Becton
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with our man Wendell Vaughn in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. He's on another assignment from Eon to find a pair of potential alien menaces to Earth. They've split up and left Quasar in the dust, as it were.

He decides to give up and look for them another day. After all, they likely aren't this great threat that Eon claims they are. He emerges from the water, thinking about how he prefers the expanses of space. Why? Well, space is open, space is wide, and space is big. Oceans are big, but they make Wendell feel like he is trapped. Water everywhere.

Wendell then gets hit with a tidal wave, like the ocean itself knew what he was thinking and decided to flip him the metaphorical bird. Wendell spots a wake indicating something was moving very fast across the water, as in on top of the water.

"Hey, I was looking for that sunken ship!"

Wendell pursues the wake, noticing tachyons are being emitted. Wendell can't fly fast enough to catch up with whatever is moving at that speed. However, he can create something that can slow it down. He blasts the figure with a bit of his Q-Energy that creates a parachute. Quasar hopes that whoever he's caught hasn't drowned. 

"Hey, isn't this that guy from that show?"

Thankfully, as can be seen here, he's breathing.

Our man Wendell hasn't been studying much of the Avengers' files, as he has no idea who this being is. Since the West Coast Avengers' HQ is closer (and had medical facilities specially made for superhumans), he takes the being there. While that is being taken care of, let's look in Jolly Ol' England, shall we? In particular, the lighthouse headquarters of the X-Men spin-off team known as Excalibur.

"Awww, super-team bonding. Disgusting."

They're enjoying a night of relaxation after the whole "Cross-Time Caper" thing. A pair of evil magical eyes are watching the group, and looks them over. The eyes' magic has no effect on Captain Britain. Nightcrawler's teleportation power is too limited. Meggan is a shapeshifter, so there are possibilities there...adn then the eyes turn to Rachel Summers, the young extradimensional mutant. She is the powerhouse of the group, thanks to her being able to channel the Phoenix Force. Yes, she is perfect! The magic eyes possess Rachel, seeing her as the key to the eyes' freedom...and revenge.

Quasar drops the figure off at the WCA headquarters, Wonder Man recognizing him as Makkari, one of the Eternals. He then heads back to his office in New York City. And just in time, too. You see, his small company has someone applying to join them.

"I also make a mean sub sandwich."

The mysterious lady is named H.D. Steckley. An engineer with systems technology and design experience, she thinks Vaughn Security Systems has potential to be one of the titans in the security field. She is so confident she'd be a boon to the company that she makes Vaughn a proposition: If she can get the firm five more clients in the next week, then he hires her. Wendell reluctantly agrees. 

He heads to his office and checks in Eon, his boss when it comes to protecting Earth from alien threats. The two look at a projection of Earth, showing where there are still potential alien threats. The two see an image of the Phoenix Force, and Wendell goes to check it out.

In the skies north of London, Rachel is fighting the presence in her head. She's a tough girl, but eventually the presence wins out. They tell her to concentrate her energies on a point where the fabric between Earth and their extradimensional prison is at its weakest, while they use their own energies at their end to do the same. This works, and the figure is freed.

"And Merlin will also pay for EATING MY PIZZA!"

The gentleman's name is Modred the Mystic...not to be confused with Mordred of Arthurian (and Marvel) mythology. First appearing in Marvel Chillers #1 (October 1975), he was created by writers Bill Mantlo and Marv Wolfman, and artist Yong Montano. An Arthurian-era sorcerer, he would try to master the evil tome of magic known as the Darkhold, making him a servant of the evil Elder God known as Chthon. Because of his connections to Chthon, Modred has waffled between being an anti-hero and a villain. Modred at this time has gone full on bad guy, wanting revenge on Merlin for banshing him from Earth in Captain America #308. 

Quasar arrives. He recognizes Rachel, but naturally, Modred is unknown to him. The mad mystic orders Rachel to make Wendell into cosmic toast.

Wendell finds himself feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sheer power Rachel is putting out. He gets his Quantum Bands working on analyzing her energies. If they fall under the electromagnetic spectrum, he could use his Q-Bands to control it. He's not able to control all of it, but he is able to blunt some of the potential damage she could cause. Modred steps in, binding Quasar with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. He and Rachel take their leave as Quasar struggles to free himself. Wendell remembers from his college days that iron is supposed to interfere with magic. But he's not going to need it, as he's got himself some backup.

"🎵Here we come to save the dayyyy...🎵"

Wendell and Excalibur pursue Modred and Rachel. Quasar captures Modred, but Rachel attacks him. He's having trouble concentrating, and it causes him to drop Excalibur into the water.

Modred also breaks out of his bonds. But Quasar's brain works fast. He creates a funnel that allows him to blast Rachel's attacks back at him.

As Modred is distracted, Kurt calls upon his fellow Excalibur member Widget to create a portal to send Modred packing. And it works. With Modred gone, Rachel's mind is free. The story ends with Quasar fliying off, feeling down about himself. He feels he's not the best man to be Protector of the Universe. If Modred can get one up on him, what chance would he have against any of the major threats of the Marvel Universe? 

I enjoyed this issue, but then again, I always felt Mark Gruenwald's Quasar stuff was very underrated. This issue helped emphasize how much of a rookie Quasar is at this point. Keep in mind, he hasn't been a superhero for very long at this point, despite his history connecting him to other heroes like the Thing. His whole thing is that he's, in the Marvel tradition, an everyman who ended up being given great power and a big responsibility. Of course he's going to feel overwhelmed and question whether he's up for the job. But that's part of his arc. I would have liked to have seen Excalibur give him a pep talk. That would have been nice. 

I think Mike Manley is an underrated artist as well. His art is very nicely done, with good storytelling.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback Quasar: Cosmos in Collision. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off!Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!