National Bagel Day

 Happy National Bagel Day, everyone!

What is National Bagel Day, you may ask? Well, it's a day to celebrate...the bagel! Mmm...bagels...

Bagels have been around for far longer than you think. The modern bagel as we know it can be traced back to 1600s Poland, where they were given as presents to women in childbirth. Yeah.

The bagel may likely have derived from the pretzel, which was brought to Poland from German immigrants. It would go on to be a staple of the Polish diet. The word "bagel" derives from Yiddish world "beygal", which itself came from a German dialect word "beugel", which means "ring" or "bracelet". Which is rather appropriate for a food shaped like, well...a ring.

From there, the bagel would spread to Europe. Polish Jews immigrating to America would bring the bagel to the country, especially in New York City. The City that Never Sleeps had thriving bagel businesses controlled by the trade union Bagel Bakers Local 338. The innovation of automated bagel-baking machines would break the trade union's hold over the bagel-making business and help spread bagels all over North America. 

From there, bagels became a popular food to enjoy. It's not hard to see why. They're a quick little thing you can scarf down, and you can add all sorts of things to them. So enjoy yourself a bagel today! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! See you next time!

Marvel: The Lost Generation #12 (March 2000)

The Marvel Universe has a very long history of costumed heroes and villains. Its heroic history can be traced all the way back to Lifebringer One, a living embodiment of heroism. From there (and over several cosmos), generations of heroes would rise to help protect the world from evil. One of those generations would focus on a superhero team called the First Line. This group of heroes would become known...as the Lost Generation. 

Marvel: The Lost Generation came about because of a bit of a conundrum when it came to the Marvel Universe's history. You see, since the events of Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961), the Marvel Universe was considered to operate on a literary device called the "floating timeline", or as it's more well-known as, the "sliding timescale". Fantastic Four #1 was considered the start of the "Modern Age" of superheroes, about fifteen years before the present. For example, now that it's 2026, the FF debuted in 2011. And next year, the year they debuted will be 2012. Now, the exceptions are stories that are deliberately meant to be set in a certain point in time. For example, the miniseries Origin (a miniseries that told the, well, origins of Logan/Wolverine I) was set in Canada in the 19th century. Many of Marvel's predecessors, Timely Comics's stories were set during WWII, because that's when they were originally published. 

Because of that, by the year 2000, there was now a 4-to-5-decade long gap in time between the era of the Golden Age heroes like the Invaders, and the debut of the Fantastic Four. Remember, at this point, the FF would have debuted around the late 80s/early 90s thanks to the sliding timescale. Enter Roger Stern and John Byrne. By this time, the two were veterans to Marvel fans. Stern and Byrne's talents had graced many of Marvel's books: Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc. They knew a lot of the MU's history, so it was only appropriate they be the ones to tell the tale of these lost and forgotten heroes. 

You may have noticed we are starting at issue #12 instead of #1. "Why is that?" you may ask? Well, that's because unlike the other maxiseries I've looked at in the past, this one is numbered backwards, issue #12 is the first issue, etc. So, with that out of the way, let's look at Marvel: The Lost Generation #12!

The cover is a John Byrne and Al Milgrom piece. It depicts a horrified woman surrounded by bodies. It's a pretty big attention-grabber and makes you wonder what happens here, who these people are, and what just happened here. The blurb on the cover is pretty accurate, too. You'll see what I mean. 

"This is Where it Ends"
Writers: Roger Stern, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins with...the end. As we are going backwards in the First Line's history, we start with their final adventure: fighting an invasion of the Skrull Empire in the 1980s. This is being shown to time-traveling far future scientist Cassandra Locke by the Watcher. On the many screens, she sees many of the Earth's active heroes and even supervillains at this time fighting and dying to stop the Skrulls. They had been aware of Earth for centuries, but humanity really piqued their interests thanks to the creation of the atom bomb. A group of First Liners have managed to make it to the Skrull Fleet's flagship, but there's still a lot of soldiers, and the group is outgunned. 

Locke begs the Watcher to do something to stop this madness. However, he refuses, saying that it is forbidden. You may find this odd, considering Uatu has been known to bend if not outright violate his oath, but it does make sense. Remember, this story is set long before the events of Fantastic Four #13 (April 1963), when he revealed himself to the FF.

Locke realizes this, being a time-traveler and all. She decides to use her power belt to try and help, finding herself on the Skrull ship. 

"Oh God, the Skrulls discovered cocaine!"

Locke finds the dead body of the Skrull named Korya. We'll see her again in the future. However, Cassie angrily gets batted away by the Inhuman First Liner known as the Yeti.

"AND THE YE-TAY!"

The Yeti was rather...obsessed with Korya. He grabs her body and hops away, ranting that he's here and she'll be okay now.

The Yeti hit Cassie hard, possibly breaking her ribs. Thankfully, the Line's resident healer, Nightingale, is there to, well...heal her up. 

"Did you get that thing I sent you?"

This turns out to be the healing heroine's last act as she collapses and seemingly fades away, leaving only her costume. One of the last things Nightingale says is that she thought that Cassandra's warning was heeded. This confuses Cassie, naturally. She doesn't realize that this is a future event for her. Yeah, it's time-travel stuff. Elsewhere in the ship, the Atlantean criminal known as Mako is having the time of her life, tearing into Skrulls like they were made of tissue paper. She then encounters an injured Templar and his son Squire. 

Templar tries to urge Mako to not give in to her savage nature. Mako points out she was created to kill and destroy. Also, they're on a Skrull ship full of soldiers that are all too willing to kill them, so maybe now is not the time, Tempy.

As if to prove Mako's point, an injured Skrull manages to get to a blaster and shoot Templar in the head, his armor offering little protection against the alien weapon. Squire angrily impales the Skrull with a lance, only to get a blast in the back himself. Mako is infuriated and starts really tearing into the Skrulls. After all, even if she wasn't too fond of humans, they still were fellow natives of Earth. Desperate to stop the madwoman, some Skrulls blow an airlock hatch, seemingly blasting Mako and them into space itself.

The hatch blowing out is heard by two other First Liners: the Eternal Pixie and archer Oxbow. Pixie fears the First Line are losing this battle, but Oxbow isn't too worried. After all, they still have each other. Pixie dispatches some Skrulls with her pixie dust, turning them into stone. Oxbow uses an explosive arrow to blow open a door. The two find a badly injured Black Fox.

"You should have seen the other guy."

The Fox is wounded, but he insists it's mostly just his pride.

He bought some time for another First Liner named Effigy. He'll need their help, so they should just leave him alone. Alone with his wounds. Thankfully, he has a little company. 

"🎵Here I come to save the dayyyyyy!🎵"

Meet Gadfly. She's been a pain in the neck of the Black Fox, mainly because she's after his attention. She unmasks him, revealing the now-elderly face of Robert Paine. Fox dies in her arms, Gadfly lamenting that the two could have had so many years together. She kisses him and then joins Fox in death tanks to the Skrulls blasting her. Those Skrulls get ambushed by the seemingly-robotic Walkabout, who proclaims that the concept of an empire is a dying one. 

"FOR DEMOCRACY!"

The robot manages to take down the Skrulls, but suffers some damage, revealing said robot is actually a form of power armor for what looks like a telepathic fetus in a jar. The vampiric villain known as Nocturne then attacks Walkabout, revealing the fetus was a "Dr. Carmody". 

"I HAD ONE PAYMENT LEFT ON THIS MECH, YA JERK!"

Unfortunately, as the dialogue explains, Nocturne just doomed himself as Carmody can't stop the nearby Skrull blaster from overloading...and exploding. As Cassandra watches the battle, she notices that there was seemingly no record of this invasion before. As far as she's aware, the first major Skrull incursion into Earth occurred in Fantastic Four #2 (January 1962) ...and it was not at this scale. Not to mention she was unaware of these superheroes before. 

However, that's tabled when she is recognized by Mr. Justice. He notes her time-travel belt looks like the one the Yankee Clipper used. She had found it in some ruins on a dig in her far future time. Justice realizes that she's the future woman the Clipper told him about...but nothing more is revealed as he gets shot in the back by a Skrull. Man, getting shot in the back is happening a lot here. I mean, I get why, but it's just a noticeable pattern.

 She runs through the battles on the Skrull ship, seeing First Line members fighting valiantly and dying left and right. She tries to find a quiet spot to adjust her time belt, but finds herself in the company of Oxbow, Pixie...and a blond man. He's the "Effigy" Black Fox mentioned earlier. Effigy implores Oxbow and Pixie to get to an escape craft, as he has his own way out. They're going to blow the ship up. And Effigy is the latest First Liner to get a shot to the back. The dying Effigy transforms back into his true form...into a Skrull.

Thing is, Effigy may have been a Skrull, but he was hit by the "Alien invader becomes fond of Earth and decides to stand with it" trope. He has lived on Earth for decades, and he's come to consider it his home. Before he got blasted, he was able to somehow rig the cruiser's engines to all explode together. Cassandra tries to talk to Pixie, but the Eternal just tells her if you got a way out, take it now. Cassie agrees, using her time belt to travel further back in time. Maybe she can stop this madness before it starts. Good luck with that, Cass.

Pixie flips the switch, and the Skrull ships go kablooie.

The invasion is stopped, but the First Line has seemingly been exterminated in the process. And the governments of the world work to cover it up to not only panic people about the existence of aliens. The Watcher notes that the government will also keep an eye on scientists like Reed Richards, Henry Pym, and Bruce Banner to help create a defense, and also may play a role in the birth of the next generation of heroes: The Marvel Age. He and another guest converse.

"By the way, you know when that pizza I ordered will come?"

Strange asks if Cassandra's quest is doomed to fail, if this is the end result. But the Watcher points out that just because she failed to save the First Line, doesn't mean that she hasn't succeeded at their beginning. And that is her true tale...

I did enjoy this comic. Starting it with the death of the First Line is quite an interesting choice. I do have a bit of an issue of the explanation of how they ended up being forgotten. A bit of a minor spoiler here, the First Line debuted in 1958 (in-universe, not the real world). They've been a superhero team for about thirty years by this point. You'd think someone would notice that a whole bunch of superheroes and supervillains had suddenly vanished. Maybe a sorcerer with a grudge against the Line took advantage of this and cast a spell to make people forget? It would not be that implausible in the Marvel Universe, and I can imagine the Line has faced their share of magical foes. 

Another thing I liked is the bits of character stuff and foreshadowing we saw here. For example, Templar and Mako's interactions could imply that there was some form of mutual respect between them. Oxbow and Pixie also seemed close. And the revelation of Effigy being a Skrull is a nice twist. It helps show that not all Skrulls are warmongering conquerors. Also, in a way, he can be seen as in-universe foreshadowing of Skrulls that end up being allies and friends of Earth's heroes like Lyja the Lazerfist and Jazinda. 

About my only criticism is the bit with Gadfly and Black Fox. It's a bit squicky, although to be fair, the Fox didn't seem to be too fond of her. 

John Byrne's art here looks a bit, well, rougher for lack of a better term. I can't help but wonder if it just looks that way from Al Milgrom's inks, though. I mean, look at his art on Uncanny X-Men with Terry Austin inking. It looked cleaner. But still, Byrne is a veteran, and his style then was still preferable to the likes of the 90s imitators.

All in all, this was a good story about a team of heroes facing their final battle, sacrificing their lives to save the world. Sadly, the miniseries has never been collected in a standalone trade. It has been collected as part of an Omnibus: The Marvel Universe by John Byrne Vol. 2. If you don't want the Omnibus (they're big, heavy, and expensive), you'll have to hope a comic shop's back issue bins have it. I got the maxiseries on eBay. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Old Rock Day

 Happy Old Rock Day!

"What is Old Rock Day", you may be asking? Well, since you all asked so nicely, I'm going to tell you! Old Rock Day is a day for celebrating geology, and geologists. The word "geology" comes from Ancient Greece, and it basically means "study of the earth". A person who studies geology is known as a geologist. Geologists study the rocks of the Earth and other worlds, as well as how they change over time. This branch of science overlaps with other Earth sciences due to, well, everything living on Earth.

Humanity's interest in the Earth and its rocks stretches as far back as antiquity. For example, in 540 BC, Greek poet and philosopher Xenophanes would describe the fossils of fish and shells he would find out in the mountains. The more famous Aristotle would make observations of how the Earth changed, with his Lyceum successor Theophrastus that would make the biggest leaps in geological study with his work On Stones. And no, it was not about being stoned. Either the punishment or being high. Although getting an Ancient Greek philosopher high sounds hilarious.

Interest and research would continue on. In the Middle Ages, Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni wrote one of the earliest works on the geology of India, theorizing it was once a sea. Persian physician Ibn Sina and Chinese statesman Shen Kuo would also contribute greatly to the understanding of the Earth's geology during this time.

The first usage of the word 'geology' is credited to Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603. The first large-scale geological maps would go on to be made by British geologist William Smith based on his studies of fossil records in the late 1700s. This would cause him to be regarded as the "Father of English Geology". In 1785, Scottish physician and agriculturalist James Hutton wrote a paper called "The Theory of the Earth", which he presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Studying the geology of his native Scotland, he theorized that rocks could be used to figure out the natural history of the Earth. As such, he became known as the father of modern geology. 

In 1809, Scottish geographer and cartographer William Maclure became 'The Father of American Geology' when he produced the first geographical map of the USA. And from there, many more men and women worked to find the secrets of our world's history through its rocks and fossils. 

So, yeah. Geology has been quite important to help the world's inhabitants understand this big ol' ball of rock and magma we live on. Just something to think on. Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!

National Bird Day

 Happy National Bird Day, everyone!

This day is for celebrating the wildly diverse species of bird throughout the world, from the pigeon to the ostrich. The heron to the eagle. The flamingo to the owl.

This day was created in 2002 by the Avian Welfare Coalition as a way to raise awareness of the importance of birds. You see, birds are a way of indicating the health of an ecosystem. If the birds are doing well, the rest of the ecosystem may be doing well. Birds are also living history, as they are the descendants of the dinosaurs. 

It's believed that there are 1,150 species of birds native to the United States alone. The largest known bird is the common ostrich of Africa, with males standing at over six feet tall and can weigh nearly 300 pounds. Common ostriches can't fly, but they are the fastest species of bird on land, able to briefly run at speeds of 40 mph. The smallest is a Caribbean bird called the bee hummingbird, which only is about 2 inches long and weighs less than an ounce. 

I wanted to write this short little blog entry commemorating this day because, well...I think birds are kind of neat, and I hope you do, too. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

U.S.Avengers #1 (January 2017)

If anyone has read my blog, they'd know that one of my absolute favorite superhero teams is the Avengers. Thanks to Kurt Busiek and George Perez, I was fan of Earth's Mightiest Heroes long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made them a household name. 

One of the most interesting things about the Avengers is how the roster has evolved and changed over the 63 years of the team's existence (Yes, 2026 is the Avengers' 63rd Anniversary). Not just that, but the spin-offs the team has had over the years. West Coast Avengers, Solo Avengers, etc. Heck, there's a joke team called the Great Lakes Avengers. These spinoffs have allowed many heroes say they proudly have worn the Avengers' iconic "A" logo over the years. 

The Avengers have had an incredibly diverse roster over the years. And I'm not just talking about gods and aliens and robots. They've had members from all over the world, all different colors, creeds, and even sexual orientations. As such, I thought I'd look at an Avengers comic for my first review of 2026.

Avengers spin-off teams tend to have a gimmick. For example, the West Coast Avengers' gimmick was they were based in California. This team, the U.S.Avengers, is meant to have a theme of American patriotism. British writer Al Ewing wanted to explore American patriotism and its relationship with American citizens. So, let's take a look at U.S.Avengers #1! 

The cover is a Paco Medina, Juan Velasco, and Jesus Abertov piece. It's a basic cover, showing the roster of the team, but it is well-drawn. Also, it gives me the vibe of an American action movie poster. 

The story begins with...a flashback.

It's being told by Roberto da Costa. He talks about the day he wanted to be an American. The flashback shows him watching Magnum PI with his fellow original New Mutants: Sam "Cannonball" Guthrie, Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair, Danielle "Mirage" Moonstar, and Xuan Cao "Karma" Manh. As shown in the New Mutants graphic novel, he had come to the Xavier Institute after his powers manifested and his girlfriend died. 

He remarks that he felt truly loved amongst his teammates. They all had their differences. They were from different countries, but they were able to bond and come together. They had become a little family. To him, that group was a microcosm of the United States. The melting pot, disparate and separate cultures coming together to form a mighty whole. As Roberto is recalling this, the Secret Empire is coming by to pay a visit. 

Page 3, Panels 1-2

They're packing what looks like what Ernst Blofeld would have if he had access to SHIELD technology: A helicarrier that is also a volcano base. I love comics. Conventional weapons can't scratch the paint on the thing, so our man Berto needs to bring out a big gun. Roberto makes a call to another man: a General Robert L. Maverick. God, that is such a gloriously 1980s name. He asks Maverick if it's been long enough, but Maverick says that the "safety lock" is still active. It will shut down in four minutes...and the Empire will arrive in America will arrive...in two minutes.

The scene then shifts to this young lady.

Page 3, Panel 1

Meet Dr. Toni Ho, the daughter of Ho Yinsen. I wonder if she's aware of the Sons of Yinsen from Joe Quesada's Iron Man run? Yinsen and her mother divorced when she was a kid. When she was a child, her father died saving Tony Stark's life in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963). She never got the chance to tell her father about how she felt about her parents divorcing, and now she never will. It left her with a disdain for Stark, and she set out to be his better. High School was tough for her, being an Asian-American lesbian, but she showed to be a real good programmer and engineer, also managing to graduate from Caltech with three Ph.Ds. Much like Stark, she built a suit of power armor of her own. This suit is the latest incarnation of the Iron Patriot armor. 

Her Iron Patriot armor has no guns, no outright offensive weaponry. All its armaments are non-lethal/less-lethal stuff. Stun lasers, gas pellets, but most notably...it packs forcefields. 

Page 6, Panel 1

Her forcefields are able to slow the Secret Empire's flying HQ, but not stop it completely. But that's alright. Roberto has another member of the team in position: Aikku Jokinen, aka Enigma. 

Page 7, Panel 1

First appearing in Avengers #4 (January 2013), Jokinen was a Norwegian born to Finnish parents. She was bonded to an alien suit of armor known as Pod. After some shenanigans, she would be freed from Pod with the aid of Toni Ho, her eventual girlfriend. She infiltrated the Secret Empire HQ and starts wrecking house.

The HQ launches a lot of drones. Roberto has a plan for that: His old friend Cannonball and Squirrel Girl. Dorren Green's army of squirrels deal with the drones. Maverick's "safety lock" has switched off. Thanks to a special genetic plug-in, and now for one hour about every day and a half, Maverick can now become the new Red Hulk. And he does what a Hulk does best: Smash the sweet baby Jebus out of the Secret Empire's HQ. 

We then next see Sam Guthrie talking about himself. We've had talking head scenes like this throughout the comic so far. It isn't some fourth wall-breaking thing. They're actually making videos meant to be sent as internal memos to convince SHIELD that the U.S.Avengers and the new AIM are genuine in being the good guys. Sam asks about the videos, why they have so much flash, rah-rah USA, that kind of thing. Roberto points out that it's his flag. As well as Sam's. Doreen's. Toni's. As well as Aikku's if she wants it to be. That's what he believes in. He has to believe in the future...and a version of Captain America arrives. 

Page 16, Panel 3

Elsewhere, a man in a golden skull mask remarks to a crowd that there is no America. He believes that everyone is corrupt. That everyone lies. There are no guiding principles, there are no rules. There is only one truth: Get Yours, and Screw Everyone Else. The story ends with the Golden Skull welcoming his audience...to the $kullocracy. Yes, that is spelled right, it's supposed to have an American Dollar sign.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2017 trade paperback U.S.Avengers Vol. 1: American Intelligence Mechanics.

National Science Fiction Day

Happy National Science Fiction Day, everyone!

"Why is this day Science Fiction Day", you may ask? Well, it's because on this day in 1920, Isaac Asimov was born. Well, Asimov himself considered this day his birthday, his actual birthdate is unknown. For those not in the know, Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was a very prolific author in the genre, having penned and edited over 400 books in his lifetime. While he's most famous for science fiction, he's also written in the mystery and fantasy genres. Asimov would be regarded as one of the great sci-fi authors, most known for his Foundation, Galactic Empire, and Robot series. In fact, he coined the word "robotics". 

I myself happen to be a bit of a fan of science fiction. Mainly thanks to Star Trek. As a kid, I was obsessed with space. I loved spaceships. My dad and I would watch Star Trek together, and it really helped mold me as a person. I own several Star Trek novels, my favorite one being Strike Zone from 1989. I must have read that one like, four times. I bought it at my local library. Dollar well-spent. 

Science fiction has been a big part of my life, and I hope you spend some time enjoying some, whether it's watching a movie or TV show, or reading a book/comic. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone!

Hope you all have a wonderful day today, and may 2026 be a good year for you!