Earth Day

 Happy Earth Day, everyone!

What is Earth Day, you may ask? Well, Earth Day is a day to celebrate the Earth's natural beauty and to call for protection of the environment. The first Earth Day was celebrated on this day in 1970. One year earlier, a peace activist named John McConnell had proposed a day to celebrate the concept of peace that would be held on March 21, 1970. That day was considered the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. He proposed this day at a UNESCO conference. This proposal would be made into a proclamation that was written by McConnell and then signed by then-UN Secretary General U Thant.

A month later, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson (yes, that was his name) proposed an idea for a nationwide teach-in to be held on April 22, 1970. Nelson was inspired by witnessing the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill from an airplane. He hired an activist named Denis Hayes to be the teach-in's National Coordinator. The event became "Earth Day". Hayes took the idea national, and 20 million Americans participated in the protest, making it the largest single-day protest in human history.

Over the next 50 years, the event would grow. In 1990, Hayes would organize Earth Day events in 141 countries. In 2020, over 100 million people amassed online to celebrate Earth Day's 50th anniversary, the largest mass-mobile gathering ever.

On this day, we should do something we should do every day, think about our natural world. Enjoy its beauty, appreciate it. And also, stand to protect it. We only got one planet, better take good care of it.

Happy Easter

 Hello, to all my blog readers! I just want to wish you all a happy and wonderful Easter Day today!

Easter is basically the day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after he got crucified. Here in the United States, where I live, the holiday often falls on a Sunday, so it has not been declared a federal or public holiday. State and federal employees don't work on Sundays anyway, that's why. And many cities hold Easter parades. You can read more about Easter, it's history, and it's traditions here.

One of the symbols of Easter is the Easter egg. The egg is meant to symbolize rebirth and new life, which makes sense, considering what Easter is supposed to represent. Another Easter symbol is of course, the Easter Bunny. Originating among German Lutherans, the Bunny is a Santa Claus-like figure who gives colored eggs (and originally toys) to good children. You can read more about the bunny here.

I hope it was a wonderful day for you all! Sorry for the cut-and-paste, I wasn't able to come up with anything better to say. Thanks for reading!

Alpha Flight #2 (September 1983)

Back in July of 2019, I looked at the premiere issue of Alpha Flight, a team of superheroes based out of the Great White North, America's Hat: Canada. It gave us a further introduction to the team and its members, and in a twist, it showed that the team had already been disbanded by this point. But the group still vowed to continue protecting Canada despite this. After all, as it was shown, Canada still needed Alpha Flight. So, where did the group go from here? Let's find out in Alpha 

The story begins twenty miles southwest of Fort Albany, Ontario. this place has a secret area where the Canadian military tests their top-secret weaponry. However, the skies above the old trading post are not being graced by some new bullet or rocket, they're being graced by a man. In particular, James MacDonald Hudson, the Vindicator. He's just flying along, when he's attacked by the Beaubier twins: Aurora and Northstar. 

Page 46, Panel 2

"No fair! I wasn't ready!" 

The two managed to send Hudson on a crash course to the ground. He ends up getting caught and tossed by Walter Langkowski, the Sasquatch. He tosses the Vindicator away. There's...a bit of a problem, though. You see, the Beaubier twins' attack messed up the protective forcefield in Vindicator's suit. And considering that Walt is super-strong in his Sasquatch form, and he tossed James very hard...yeah. James is a dead man.

(uh oh)

Not quite! You see, Michael Twoyoungmen, aka Shaman, is able to save the scientist by magically sprouting a tree. You see, Alpha Flight is doing a bit of training. Sasquatch points out that considering what Alpha Flight does, people are going to get some bruises. He gets a bit of karma courtesy of Marrina, and presumably the Albany River.

Page 47, Panels 3-4

"Blast it, Marrina! I just showered last month!"

Eugene Milton Judd, aka Puck, is getting a good laugh out of this, which leads him to get chased by an angry Sasquatch. With this session over, Shaman and Vindicator do a bit of talking. James feels that he doesn't have what it takes to be leader of Alpha Flight, or even be a superhero in general. Not to mention that he's also still haunted by the events of X-Men #109. He does accept that Alpha Flight needs a leader, and that he must play that role. Shaman gives him...an attempt at a pep talk about it. The group get ready to take five. 

(break time)

Puck notices that something is up with Marrina. She seems to have a bit of a headache. But then she angrily roars for Puck to not touch her, slashing at his chest.

Page 50, Panel 2

Marrina flees, nightmares and strange images in her head. She feels a powerful urge to return home...wherever that is. She jumps into the river, swimming away at a ludicrous speed. The Beaubiers try to catch up with their own super-speed, but she had too much of a head start. She's still wearing her signal medallion, so she can be tracked. The priority is Puck right now. Marrina hurt him bad, and he needs a hospital.

(call a doctor)

Luckily, Shaman is also a legit medical doctor. The Alphans head to the hospital. Shaman's done all he can, but he's apparently stable for now. With that out of the way, James, the Beaubier twins, and Walt go to find Marrina. Over in Yellowknife, RCMP recordkeeper Anne McKenzie hears Shaman summon her. You see, the young lady is the civilian form of Alpha Flight member Snowbird. She transforms into her super form and leaves as her new boss, Chief Inspector Hamilton, arrives in the room. He's angry about her disappearances due to her activities as Snowbird, as he is unaware that McKenzie is Snowbird. 

Real subtle, John. Real subtle.

As she heads out, the other Alphans continue their search. Walt, Jean-Paul, and Jeanne-Marie want to know more about Marrina, and James tells them what he knows.

(story time)

18 years ago, a raging storm hit the seas near Newfoundland. This storm caused problems for a fishing boat known as the Mary D. The boat's captain, Tom Smallwood, tried to get the fishing boat's nets in, but ended up swept out to sea. He was a strong swimmer, but he was tangled in the nets, and the nets' sinkers were pulling him down. As he struggled, he found a glowing object on the sea floor.

Page 57, Panel 2 

"A golden egg! I'm RICH!" 

The egg ends up being rather buoyant, allowing Smallwood to get up to the surface. He's rescued and the ship returns to port. Tom took the egg home to his wife Gladys and grandson Daniel. Gladys thinks the egg is hatching, so she tries to help whatever it is in there. 

Page 58, Panel 3

"Do we...do we eat this?"

The strange child had an appearance as odd as its origins, but it didn't matter to the Smallwoods. They raised the little girl as their own, naming her Marrina. Her community was also welcoming to their new little arrival. Marrina was a born swimmer, often doing so with them. At the age of sixteen, she also had a moment like this. Her adopted brother Daniel called the Canadian Ministry of Defense, and she was brought to Department H, and put in Gamma Flight. You see, unlike the Avengers or many other American super-teams, Alpha Flight works on a tier system in levels of readiness for superhuman defense of Canada. Think a superhero version of a baseball system, going from the minor leagues to the majors. She was one of the first members of Gamma Flight. From there, she went to Beta Flight, and now she was in Alpha Flight. All in a matter of months.

(woo-hoo)

Walt worries that Marrina was put in too quickly, that she wasn't checked out enough. James assures she was and she passed with flying colors. Whatever has gotten into her isn't something you can find with a regular psyche exam. That is what worries James. So, where did Marrina swim off to?

Well, she's headed up north, to the freezing waters of the Arctic. There is something calling to her, a siren song that she not only hears, but cannot resist its call. She walks into a cavern, finding an advanced technological lair in the ice. Every step she takes further inward, she finds herself calmer, more at peace. It's like she belongs here. She then hears someone calling to her. It's a man in a black, white, and red armored suit. He claims he revealed to her what her true nature and purpose is...and to refer to him as the Master. Marrina feels an urge to destroy.

Backup tale time! We go back ten years. A decade ago, James Hudson was working for the Am-Can Petroleum Company, based out of Edmonton. Hudson is not a happy boy, as he learned this experimental new suit he has spent the last four years working on is being turned over to the military. The American military.

(jawdrop)

Yeah. You see, much of the funding that Am-Can has gotten for James's new invention was American, and they have made deals with the American army before. This was explained by future Alpha Flight villain Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon. Hudson is enraged by this as he created the suit for peaceful measures, for exploration, not for combat. As he storms out, he encounters the future Mrs. Hudson, Heather McNeil. 

Page 63, Panel 1

"I spent all my rainy day money on this suit!" 

That night, James heads to Am-Can, thinking about how he thought Jerry was a friend, someone he could trust. But that turned out to not be the case. Hudson uses the suit to break into the company's vault, and destroys the plans for the suit. He then flies off, the suit using the earth's natural electro-magnetic field. It also comes with a forcefield, which allows James to not only survive the crash landing of the suit in one piece, but ensure the suit itself remains undamaged. James is willing to accept that the suit is Am-Can's, but there is one part they can't have: the special helmet that allows the suit to be run with the wearer's mind. That is his, as he designed and built it before he came to Am-Can. He leaves the suit, taking the helmet with him. After all, the suit is basically a man-sized decoration without it.

Page 66, Panel 5  

"I'll make my own suit! With blackjack! And...aw forget it."

 If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2007 trade paperback Alpha Flight Classic Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry!

International Bat Appreciation Day

 Hello, everyone! Welcome to International Bat Appreciation Day!

This day celebrates a little flying critter that is rather misunderstood: The bat. It's celebrated in April as this is the time of year bats start to emerge from hibernation. Bats are often misunderstood creatures, associated with witchcraft and vampires. But bats are actually rather important to the ecosystem. Not to mention, bats are pretty cool.

Bats are mammals, just like humans. They are also the only mammals that are capable of true flight, thanks to their forelimbs being adapted into wings. In fact, what could possibly be considered the smallest mammal is a species of bat: the Kitti's hog-nosed bat, native to Thailand and Myanmar. These little guys have a six-inch wingspan, are around an inch in length, and weigh less than an ounce. The biggest known species of bat is the giant golden-crowned flying fox. Native to the Philippines, this bat can weigh about 3.5 pounds, and has a wingspan of over five-and-a-half feet. 

There are about 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found in every continent except for Antarctica. They are the second largest order of mammals, only beaten by rodents. Most bats are nocturnal, and they feed mainly on fruit, nectar, and insects, depending on the species. There are bats that do feed on other things, most famously the vampire bat. 

Despite the reputation bats have in the West, bats are actually very important to their ecosystems. Because many species of bats eat insects, they can help reduce the need for chemical pesticides. In fact, one bat can eat up to one thousand mosquitoes in an hour. Bats are also expert pollinators. Many plants in tropical regions need bats for this purpose. For example, you like tequila? Well, tequila is made from the agave plant. The agave plant needs the lesser long-nosed bat to pollinate.

In some cultures, bats are associated with protection from disease, long life, and even rebirth. 

So, yeah. Bats are awesome critters and deserve a lot more love. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

World Art Day

Today is World Art Day!

What is World Art Day, you may ask? Well, World Art Day is a day to celebrate, well, art! The reason why it's on April 15 is because it's the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci, considered one of the greats in fine art. The day was first declared in 2015 by the International Association of Art.

Art comes in a wide variety of forms, and people use art to express themselves in a variety of ways. Painting, drawing, filmmaking, writing, photography, it's all forms of art. Since humanity started scribbling in caves, art has been used for a variety of reasons: to express themselves, draw attention to issues, to show off their creativity. Art helps make this crazy world a little more interesting, a little more vibrant, a little more beautiful. So, enjoy some art today, or make some art, whether with paints, words, or a camera. Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!

Puffin Arrival Day

Today is Puffin Arrival Day!

The puffin is a species of seabird that resides in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Puffins are known for their stocky builds, black and white plumage, and their colorful beaks. They also are surprisingly smart birds, using sticks to scratch themselves. Pretty clever little critters.

This day was started in Iceland, where puffins are celebrated, as colonies of Atlantic puffins (most of them consider this country their home, mainly the Westmann Isles) come to the area around this time every year to nest and breed. Puffins like to establish these colonies on coastlines and islands. They can also use rabbit burrows to breed. I can imagine that annoys the rabbits.

Puffin Day is a day not just to celebrate the puffin but is also a day to raise awareness of them. Like many animals, puffins face problems of food supply shortages and habitat loss. For a time in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Atlantic puffins were nearly wiped out as they were hunted for their meat and eggs. They still are hunted as puffin meat is considered part of Icelandic cuisine. Thing is, puffins help control fish populations. Their nesting also helps keep soil fertile in their colonies. 

Yeah, puffins are wondrous creatures, and they should be celebrated. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Superman '78 #1 (October 2021)

In 1978, Superman premiered. I'm talking about the Richard Donner-helmed film that starred the late Christopher Reeve as the titular character. The 1978 film is beloved by fans the world over, and spawned three sequels. For many, Reeve's portrayal of Superman is the portrayal of the character, and nearly fifty years later, Superman is considered one of the very best comic book superhero films ever. 

In the early 2020, DC had been embracing a bit of a trend of doing comic book tie-ins to past media portrayals of its characters, mainly Batman with Batman '66 and Batman '89. So, it only made sense that eventually the world of the 1978 Superman film would be revisited in comic book form. As a fan, I personally was interested in this comic. I had basically sworn off DC Comics after the DC Rebirth one-shot in 2016, and I admit, this had made me worry. I am no fan of current DC, and I feared that they would find some way to screw this up. But still, my love of the 1978 movie inspired me to pick this up. So, did DC do right by the movie with this, or is this just a mindless cash-in? Let's find out in Superman '78 #1!

The cover is a Wilfredo Torres and Jordie Bellaire piece. It's pretty neat. It gives me the vibe of an old movie poster. 

"Brainiac: Chapter One"
Writer: Robert Venditti
Penciler: Wilfredo Torres
Inker: Wilfredo Torres
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Dave Lanphear
Editor: Andrew Marino
Executive Editor: Marie Javins

The story begins...on Krypton, believe it or not. Jor-El and Lara, the parents of our man Kal-El, witness the spiky crystalline pod that contained the baby Kal leave the dying planet. However, before the destruction can claim them, something...strange happens. 

"Ooooooh crud, we left the oven on!"

The destruction of Krypton is also witnessed by another being, a green-skinned being who remarks that the Kryptonians were a dangerous and careless civilization that sealed their own doom. 

Years pass. Baby Kal-El is found by the Kents, grows up to become Superman, you all know the rest. The story actually begins in Metropolis, where a now-adult Clark Kent and Lois Lane are trying to get to Perry White's office on time. They don't have time to get some proper breakfast, so Lois buys a couple hot dogs from a vendor. Mmmm...hot dogs...

Truly, hot dogs are the breakfast of champions. Lois tries to get Clark to get some confidence in himself. After all, man's a darn good reporter himself. Clark overhears a woman screaming about a man stealing her purse. Clark secretly uses his heat vision to give the man a slight case of hotfoot. 

This is not what people mean when they say your shoes are fire.

The man douses his foot with wet cement, allowing the cops to catch him. Clark also helps pay for the hot dogs, as Lois forgot her wallet. Clark's worries about Perry turn out to be not completely unfounded, as Perry grumbles about the fluff pieces he's been turning in. Perry tells Clark he has to dig in, cover some serious stuff every now and then. It's how Lois made her name. Clark points out that Lois has a knack for the news, and she takes a lot of risks. Perry counters that's just part of the reporting job. When you think about it, reporters are actually very brave people. 

Anyway, Perry tells Clark that he needs to find an angle. After all, stories don't just fall out of the sky...and then a pink laser beam blasts Metropolis.

Hey, Perry did want Clark to cover a big story. The laser beam heralds the arrival...of this being.

These new Terminators are WEEEEEEIRD.

Meet Brainiac, collector of knowledge. Well, a drone of his, anyway. The drone starts wrecking the city, his dialogue indicating it is reporting to Brainiac that humanity is a primitive race and a minor threat. As people flee from the alien robot, Lois Lane wants to report on it. After all, that's what they do. And the stories are not behind a person, they are in front. The drone's rampage is stopped by our man Supes.

BAH GAWD, KING! SUPERMAN OUTTA NOWHERE!

Good thing that drone was robotic, because I can imagine being punched by a Superman flying at you at super speed would hurt.

After seemingly smashing the drone, Superman asks if anyone needs immediate medical attention.

However, the Brainiac drone is tougher than it looks. It discovers that Superman is naturally not a native of Earth. The drone determines that Superman is Kryptonian, and it tests that hypothesis...by blasting the Man of Tomorrow through a building. 

Yeah, he's Superman. He'll be fine. This confirms to the drone that Supes is Kryptonian. And Superman helps provide further backup to the hypothesis by punching the drone's head off. The drone's last words are reporting the transmission of its findings to Brainiac. This leaves Superman wondering: Who is this 'Brainiac' guy?

Elsewhere in space, Brainiac does his classic shtick of stealing a city, miniaturizing it, and putting it in a bottle. The planet he took this city from was dying, and this was his way of preserving some of it. He gets the transmission from his drone on Earth. The story ends with him remarking that a Kryptonian on Earth is affecting a "balance", and not in a good way. As such, Superman must be...collected.

This...is actually pretty darn good. The creative team really capture the spirit of the character and this version of the Superman mythos. I also like the mythology gag of Brainiac's drone resembling Ed Hannigan's early-1980s robotic re-design that was implemented just before the Crisis on Infinite Earths hit. I think some would say it looks a bit out of place in the world of a Superman film released in the 1970s, but I think it works to help underline how alien Brainiac is. Torres' artwork is enjoyable to look at, and Bellaire's colors help fit the 1970s vibe.

You know, I wish this was what Superman III ended up being. I mean, the closest we ever got to a live-action Brainiac in a Superman movie was the supercomputer created by Gus Gorman in that movie. It's a shame. Superman's rogues gallery is more than just Luthor and Zod. Heck, if I wrote a Superman movie, I'd have Brainiac be the villain.   

Superman '78 would get a sequel miniseries in 2023 subtitled The Metal Curtain. It introduced the Donner-verse version of Metallo. If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2022 hardcover Superman '78. It's never been released in trade format as far as I know. I have my copy as part of a two-pack "Double Feature" with the first Batman '89 miniseries. Which is also really good. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!