Twitter very helpfully reminds me that today is Batman Day 2021. Explains the site: "Fans pay tribute to the DC Comics superhero on Batman Day, which is celebrated each year on the third Saturday of September." The only problem with that description is that it is not true.

Maybe Batman Day is held on the third Saturday of September since 2018, but it wasn't always. As I have documented elsewhere, Batman Day has been all over the calendar since it was first recognized in July 2014. But that's not the part I'm really bothered by.

The word "fans" in that description is misleading, unless you'd describe the corporations who own the Batman intellectual property as fans. Unlike Star Wars Day, which began as a genuine celebration of its source material before being taken over as a marketing exercise by The Walt Disney Co., Batman Day has never been anything other than a marketing exercise by WarnerMedia.

I wonder if whoever crafted that description for Twitter wasn't having a little fun with the wording. The phrase "pay tribute," which has come to mean a figurative giving of praise, was originally meant quite literally. A tribute is a tax levied on conquered peoples. Give your thanks (and dollars!) to your corporate masters, Bat-fans!

Which is not to say that I don't like Batman or think it's uncool to say how great the Caped Crusader is. I'd just like a little honesty in why we chose today to do it, is all.

Batman #119, October 1958

Honesty! It's what Batman would want.

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: batman comic books grammar holidays rant

Happy 60th Birthday to The Greatest Quarterback Ever to Play the Game of Football.

Marino then:

Marino now:

Gold only ever goes up in value!

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: birthday holidays the greatest quarterback ever to play the game of football

Independence Day is my favorite day of the year, but I really, really hate it when it falls on a Sunday. That means 2 full nights of non-stop fireworks. (From sundown until after midnight! There oughta be a law!)

Spidey Super Stories #17, 1976

Everyone who shoots fireworks in a residential neighborhood should be reincarnated as a dog.

Comments (1) | Leave a Comment | Tags: comic books holidays independence day

Celebrate Christmas in June with Superboy!

What I heard: solve poverty by giving poor people money. That Superboy, he's a thinker.

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: christmas comic books holidays psa superboy

Because of the pandemic — which can't hurt Superman but can hurt the very people he has dedicated his life to helping — the Metropolis, Illinois, Superman Celebration was cancelled last year, and has been postponed to the end of July this year.

But in case you ever wondered why it's usually held around the second weekend in June, here's your answer:

Superman #263, April 1973

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: birthday comic books holidays metropolis superman

It was such a pretty Easter Sunday that I went outside and snapped a pic of Captain Carrot by the mailbox.

One of the biggest differences between Carrot and past yard signs is that this time I put some color on the back, too. This is what it looks like from the house:

Yep, I'm happy with this one.

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: art captain carrot diy easter holidays yard signs

Be careful, Superman; today is April Fool's Day!

DC Challenge #12, 1986

Of course, that solution wouldn't work today. We don't have phone books anymore!

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: april fools comic books holidays superman

Every time I show a picture of my lawn ornaments in the fall and winter, friend Otto teases me about the sorry condition of the yard. So this time, I'm going to give you the pic of how my latest creation looks inside the studio:

That's Captain Carrot, fearless leader of the Zoo Crew!, painted just in time for Easter.

Last year's Easter painting was the chocolate rabbit. I love it so much, I'm disinclined to subject it to another round of elements. (I've never liked sharing my chocolate.) Tragically, I might love this one even more.

If the flowers come out next week, maybe you'll get a second pic of the good Captain.

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: art captain carrot diy easter friends holidays otto walter yard signs

I'll be spending Valentine's Day with the person I love most.

(Yes, that's the cutout of me that took my place at Georgia football home games during the unusual, COVID-abbreviated 2020 season. Well, for one game of it, anyway. UGA Athletics allowed FanCutouts only for the last two season games, the second of which was ultimately canceled when Vanderbilt could no longer field a healthy team. So even at only one game — a 31-24 win over Mississippi State on November 21 — that $55 piece of corrugated plastic spent more time in Sanford Stadium in 2020 than I did. Lucky guy.)

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: covid19 football georgia holidays sanford valentines day walter

On February 6, I complained that my horoscope calendar was horribly wrong. I need to retract that post. It seems the calendar wasn't wrong; I was.

See, I had mistakenly turned the page to March instead of February. Both months start on a Monday, and I simply didn't realize I'd made the error until today. (Why didn't the stars warn me?)

So everything I wrote on February 6 should instead apply to March. The real February doesn't have 8 different days telling me I should be buying a house or falling in love. It actually has 10, including February 14:

Happy Valentine's Day! Wedding bells may ring for many Scales in love. Others might get engaged, It's also a favorable day to buy a house.

I love having options.

Comments (0) | Leave a Comment | Tags: holidays horrorscope valentines day walter