Today’s non-holiday bears an urgency for the third largest cat on Earth.

International Tiger Day is to recognize the plight of the Panthera tigris. A staggering 97 percent of all wild tigers have disappeared in the past century. At present, only about 3,000 remain.

Those numbers continue to decline due to habitat loss, climate change, hunting and poaching. It is believed only about seven-percent of tiger habitats exist today.

Tiger (1970) 1

International Tiger Day is celebrated to raise awareness of these majestic animals. India has the largest tiger population in the world; only fitting the country inaugurated Project Tiger in 1973 to revive the big cat population. Currently the largest reserve in India is the Nagarjunsagar-Srisaliam Tiger Reserve.

Bud Blake serves up a more human face for the non-holiday. His Tiger began as a comic strip May 3, 1965, based on boyhood friendships. King Feature Syndicate distributed the strip to 400 newspapers worldwide.

The strip ran until 2004, a year before Blake’s death who drew until he was 85.

The National Cartoonists Society awarded Tiger the Best Humor Strip award in 1970, 1978 and 2000. It was also nominated in 1998.

Charlton Comics featured the tyke in eight issues of a comic book version of the newspaper strip. The book ran from 1970 to 1971.

While the Tiger of newspaper fame has passed with his creator, there is no reason the tigers of today’s commemoration have to follow.

The World Wildlife Fund offers the ability to adopt a tiger with various levels of donations ranging from $25 to $250.

By adopting a tiger, donations ensure continued work to protect the endangered species.

Please consider offering a fellow living organism the opportunity for continued existence.

His star may have faded over the decades, but America is still defined by the rugged, jeans wearing, dusty booted, low-slung gun belted image of the cowboy.

Today we celebrate with National Day of the Cowboy.

Putting a face to the day is DC’s pale rider, Jonah Hex.

All-Star Western (1970) 10

Hex first appeared in a full-page house advertisement in several of National Periodicals (soon to be rechristened DC Comics) November/December 1971 cover-dated war comics and a half-page spread in Batman (1940) issue 237.

His debut came in February/March of 1971 in the aforementioned All-Star Western issue 10. It would be retitled Weird Western Tales two issues later where Hex would reside as the headliner through issue 38.

Hex’s self-titled series began in 1977, running a total of 92 issues. It met its doom with the rest of the DC Universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1984.

He would be resurrected the following year in the simply titled Hex. The book ran a total of 18 issues with the title character molded more in the Mad Max vein as he trekked through a post-apocalyptic 21^st century.

Hex would appear in three mini-series during the 1990s under the Vertigo imprint. He would earn a second series in 2005 running 70 issues. The book would be cancelled and Hex moved to All-Star Western (2011).

Beyond the comic book field, Hex has appeared in animated form in Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Justice League Action.

A feature film was released in 2010 to lackluster response. The commercial failure grossed $11 million on a $47-million budget.

National Day of the Cowboy began in 2005 when the organization sponsored a bill in the Wyoming House and Senate to commemorate cowboy culture and history in the state. To date, 15 states have passed the same bill.

The plan is to have a bill passed in all 50 states.

To celebrate, attend a rodeo, study cowboy culture or simply dig out some of those dogeared four-colored westerns, open a can of beans and dust off the cap gun.

Welcome to another National Moon Day.

For a third year we recognize the non-holiday spearheaded by former President Richard M. Nixon in 1971. To date, we have used Marc (Moon Knight) Spector and John (Man Wolf) Jameson as our emcees for the day. This year we call on Jack Russel (I’m sure the pun is intended), aka Werewolf by Night.

The Russel curse was unveiled in Marvel Spotlight issue two. Young Jack learned he was the latest in a long line of lycanthropes. The earliest recorded transformation was in 1795 when the surname was still Russoff.

Marvel Spotlight (1971) 2

Through a convoluted back story, the curse went into remission until ancestor Gregor Russoff opened the Darkhold book and released the family demon once again.

Following the Werewolf’s debut, two more stories were released in Spotlight before he received his own title. Werewolf by Night ran 43 issues.

Most notable of the run is issue 32 marking the first appearance of Moon Knight.

WWBN would play host to a second notable first-appearance with Giant-Size Creatures by Night (1974) issue one. Greer Grant Nelson would make her transformation from Cat to the furry Tigra.

Giant-Size Creatures by Night would be renamed Giant-Size Werewolf by Night for issues two through five.

Following the cancellation of his series, Russell made various guest appearances throughout the MCU. Moon Knight would return the favor with a periodic guest spot. Spider-Woman was another stopover, mainly because the two existed on the west coast together.

He would also appear in West Coast Avengers and Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme and became a supporting character in Morbius: The Living Vampire.

Russell was given his own mini in 1998 that ran six issues. In 2007, Russell earned a one-shot, Legion of Monsters, Werewolf by Night and a four-issue mini-series in 2009, Dead of Night Featuring Werewolf by Night under the Max imprint.

On the small screen Russell has appeared in The Super Hero Squad Show, This Man-Thing, This Monster; Ultimate Spider-Man episodes Blade and The Howling Commandos and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Hulking Commandos.

To celebrate today, read any of the above-mentioned issues, watch any of the above-mentioned animated features and/or really delve into some history of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

Your choice, but all good ones in our opinion.

While Heff R. Jones is the official face of National Cow Appreciation Day, we’re harkening back to a time when America was exiting the Great Depression and mascots were as wholesome as their product.

Our candidate for National Cow Appreciation Day is Elsie the Cow.

Elsie the Cow (1949) 1

Elsie was developed for the Borden Dairy Company in 1936. While Borden has gone the way of the dust bowls in which it was spawned, Elsie has moved on to Eagle Family Foods, a subsidiary of sorts of Borden Dairy.

She was one of four anthropomorphized bovines at the beginning of the campaign, but proved the most popular and enduring. Her first live appearance was at the 1939 World’s Fair; the same year Elsie’s advertisement campaign was voted best of the year in the Annual Advertising Awards.

Her first of three comic books was published Oct. 1, 1949.

As for Heff R. Jones, he’s the spokesman for Chick-Fil-A.

Heff, the cow not pornographer, was first featured on billboards in 1995 with the famous “Eat mor chikin” slogan. The franchise’s free meal deal didn’t begin until 2004.

Those unfamiliar with Chik-Fil-A’s offering either don’t live near a restaurant or didn’t read last year’s National Cow Appreciation Day offering.

The day is celebrated on the second Tuesday. Participants may receive free entrée meals from Chick-fil-A.

The promotion was designed to encourage people to eat more chicken. Not only is it supposed to bring more business to restaurants like Chick-fil-A, but to highlight the benefits of chicken over beef and limit the consumption of red meat.

Chicken intake has increased by 400 percent over the past 50 years while beef has stayed on an even keel or even decreased at times.

To offset the increase in intake, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations have become the norm for mass producing our poultry. Chickens are forced to endure overcrowding and filthy living conditions, usually wallowing in their own waste.

Unfortunately, the same can be said for beef.

As far as human health concerns, grass-fed and grass-finished, humanely raised red meat is far more nutrient dense than chickens. People are cautioned to opt for the cow over the chicken if these conditions are met.

So, in addition to appreciation the cow today, we should also appreciate the person raising said meat if they do so humanly.

It’s that time of year again, one of my favorite non-holidays. Today is July 11, aka 7-Eleven Day.

Today is the day we celebrate with a free brain freeze courtesy of their signature Slurpee.

Any longtime reader of this page will know my passion for those summer slushies sucked down on a hot mid-year day. We’ve discussed 7-Eleven’s history and partnership with DC and Marvel Comics at length in 2019, 2020 and last year.

This year we continue by looking at their relationship with Marvel Comics and the 1981 The Secret of The Power Crown! Featuring Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk and Spider-Woman for the good guys.

Marvel’s Collector’s Edition The Secret of the Power Crown! (1981)

The Enchantress, Wizard Rhino and Trapster make up the opposition.

This 36-page, full-size free comic book was a promotional collector’s item jam packed with punches, passion and product placement.

Peter Parker and Sue’s idyllic afternoon at the local 7-Eleven is interrupted by someone hijacking the Empire State Building in chapter one’s Mission of Gravity! The Wingless Wizard proves to be the unwitting dupe of the Enchantress who leaves him groveling for continued attention following the deed.

Paste Pot Pete, aka the Trapster, stars in Peril on the Potomac! in chapter two.

Captain America greets fans in front of a 7-Eleven near the Washington Monument. The Trapster as been entrusted to dig up a relic for the Enchantress. Like the previous chapter, Pete is left lonesome as the Asgardian turns her affections to the Rhino and the next chapter.

Spider-Woman stars in Shakedown! Set in sleepy San Francisco, the Rhino goes after artifact number two hidden in Alcatraz. The Hulk leaps in to help, ushering in chapter five, Beauty and the Beast!

As the name suggests, the Hulk falls under Enchantress’ spell, serves up the secret power crown now constructed of the resurfaced pieces and defends his mistress from both the heroes and villains who take umbrage for having been played fools.

After a heated battle, the Enchantress escapes while the bad guys are taken into custody. The heroes rendezvous at, where else, a 7-Eleven before going their separate ways.

To cool down after that red hot review, head down to your local 7-Eleven for that free Slurpee. Remember, things are little different now. To prevent people from taking advantage of the offer, participants will receive one, free coupon for a small Slurpee courtesy of their 7Rewards ap.

So, take it easy on the 95-year-old franchise that started convenience stores.

Oh, yes, this is real.

As real as National Fried Chicken Day.

Fried chicken, or southern fried chicken, are pieces of chicken that have been coated in a seasoned batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior of the chicken while retaining juices in the meat. Boiler chickens are most commonly used.

The history of National Fried Chicken Day is unknown.

Green Lantern co-staring Colonel Sanders (2017) 3

Still, it’s a better idea than a team up with Green Lantern and Colonel Sanders.

This 16-page product-placement misadventure has the Colonel hawking his fried fowl across this and any other universe that hadn’t been destroyed during one of DC’s house cleanings.

The story really runs afoul when the Colonel learns his new Zingers (patent pending) are being hijacked before they can reach their cosmic destinations.

Together, the Colonel and Green Lantern set off to solve the mystery of the missing sandwiches. On their way they meet with Adam Strange, a big fan of the Colonel’s, and the Hawk people of planet Thangar.

Larfleeze is discovered to be the thief. Green Lantern and the Colonel team to trash the greedy alien. Thanks to Sander’s KFC bucket-shaped power ring, he is able to unleash a bushel of greasy justice with his drumstick and plastic spoon and fork creations.

On the ropes, the Colonel finally outwits Larfleeze by offering him his own KFC franchise for the planet Okaara.

Back on Oa, Harland Sanders is made an honorary Green Lantern by the Guardians of the Universe.

While this may have been envisioned by some grease-soaked, feverish nightmare born of an ad exec, the actual event was crafted by writer Tony Bedard and rendered by Tom Derenick.

Read at your own risk.

Now, back to fried chicken.

It is believed the practice of frying chicken in its own fat was done by the Scotts in the middle ages. They did not use seasoning. West African tribes practiced similar recipes, but did season. When the two cultures met during the days of slavery, the processes were combined.

To celebrate give the above reviewed comic book a pass and visit a local fried chicken franchise to see if they are offering any specials.

Today’s origins date back to June 30, 1908, when an asteroid destroyed 830-square miles of forest in Siberia. It has become known as the Tunguska event.

International Asteroid Day was founded by Dr. Brian May (yes, that Brian May), Danica Remy, president of B612 Foundation; Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut and filmmaker Greg Richters in 2016.

The day is used to raise awareness of hazardous impact by asteroids. The 1908 strike caused a 12-megaton explosion that flattened 80-million trees and caused at least three deaths.

It is the largest recorded impact on Earth.

X-Men (1963) 5

Outside of mythical meteoroids causing zombie outbreaks maybe the most famous asteroid in comic bookdom is Asteroid M.

Asteroid M was unveiled in X-Men (1963) five. Scarlet Witch caused its demise and the artificial asteroid fell to Earth off the shore of San Francisco. It was later brought to the surface to become the mutant homeland Utopia.

Magento rebuilt his space-faring fortress, this time a cubic mile in size. Warlock damaged the station and it, too, fell to Earth. When Magneto learned of its destruction, he set out to retrieve any salvageable technology.

A third version was constructed as a failsafe should his then dealings with the Hellfire Club fail. While that didn’t happen, his third attempt met with destruction when a rival deployed missiles against him.

Avalon was born of pieces of the previous Asteroid M and stolen bits of Shi’ar technology. It, too, was destroyed.

A fourth version was tossed into the sun causing Magneto to construct a fifth, and as of this writing, final Asteroid M.

X-Men issue five not only marks the first appearance of Asteroid M, but the first time a man-made celestial body called Asteroid M is destroyed. It also marks the X-Mens’ final exams, which they pass as determined by Professor X.

On a lesser note, issue five provides the first appearance of Jean Grey’s parents.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan designated June 25 as National Catfish Day by Presidential Proclamation after Congress called for the day to be established with Joint Resolution 178.

Why?

To observe the importance of celebrating the value of farm-raised catfish.

Catfish are easy to farm in warm climates, leading to inexpensive and safe food at local grocers. Mississippi is the largest domestic catfish supplier in the United States. Channel catfish support a $450-million dollar a year aquaculture industry.

The practice began in the early 1960s in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. It moved into the Mississippi Delta by the late 1960s.

While a sidekick on television, the Ictalurus punctatus of the day is simply known as Catfish and voiced by Arnold Stang.

Catfish is the animated confidante to Misterjaw, a blue-colored, great white shark voiced by Arte Johnson. Their goal was to catch Harry Halibut, voiced by Bob Ogle.

All were part of the 1976 The Pink Panther Laugh and Half Hour and a Half Show that played on NBC. A total of 34 episodes were filmed.

The Pink Panther Show premiered in 1969. It expanded to its hour-and-a-half format for 1976, but returned to half-an-hour the following year. In 1978, The Pink Panther moved to ABC and changed its title to The All New Pink Panther Show.

Misterjaw was designed to cash in on the Jaws craze of the time.

The comics pictured were published by American Mythology Productions, cover dated Feb. 8, 2017. The special was designed to be reminiscent of the Saturday morning cartoon that spawned the comic. Featured in addition to the Pink Panther were the Texas Toads, Misterjaw & Catfish and The Ant and the Aardvark.

Text for the Proclamation is as follows:

More and more Americans are discovering a uniquely American food delicacy — farm-raised catfish. In 1986, catfish comprised the third highest volume of finned fish consumed in the United States.

Ninety-nine percent of all these catfish were farm-raised. Between 1975 and 1985, production of farm-raised catfish increased by 1200 percent. Most observers expect that production will continue to increase in 1987. Production costs of catfish farming, which have averaged only 65 cents per pound over the past 8 years, have resulted in a stable income for growers and an economical food product for consumers. The accompanying growth of the catfish processing industry also has created thousands of permanent jobs.

Farm-raised catfish have come a long way from their bottom-feeding ancestors. The catfish that are available today, fresh or frozen in markets nationwide, are products of state-of-the-art methods of aquaculture. They thrive in clean freshwater ponds on many American farms, where they are surface-fed soybean meal, corn, fish meal vitamins and minerals Farm-raised catfish not only furnish American consumers with a tasty delicacy but also provide a nutritious, low-calorie source of protein that is also low in cholesterol.

In recognition of the value of farm-raised catfish, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 178, has designated June 25, 1987, as National Catfish Day and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in its observance.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 25, 1987, as National Catfish Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

Ronald Reagan

Welcome to West Virginia Day.

Now I have to wonder how many readers are asking why the western part of Virginia is being recognized as a non-holiday.

And, it is kind of a holiday. State and other institutions do receive a paid vacation day in recognition.

Anyway, to address the question I posed; West Virginia is a separate entity from its parent state of Virginia. For those unfamiliar with the war between the states, the populace of the western portion of Virginia chose to secede from that portion of one of the original 13 colonies.

Well, Virginia had already seceded to continue with loyalties to the south, so maybe the newly minted – and rather unoriginal sounding – West Virginia was receding.

That doesn’t sound quite right, either, but you get the gist.

Rom Spaceknight (1979) 1

So, West Virginia became a state unto itself on June 20, 1863.

Now that that’s settled, let’s move along to Rom, Spaceknight.

Jeff may never have thought we could shoehorn Rom into a non-holiday, but we have.

We’re using the fictional setting of Clairton, WV, for the spaceknight’s base of operations. Or, rather, that’s what Marvel duo Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema did.

Rom began as the brainchild of Scott Dankman, Richard C. Levy and Bryan L. McCoy who sold their baby to Parker Brothers to be mass produced as a toy. The company then licensed Rom to Marvel Comics in hopes of creating more of an interest in the action figure.

Ironically, the comic book outlasted the toy. Rom ran from 1979 to 1986 chronicling the cyborg’s adventures over 75-regular floppies and four annuals.

When interest wanned on the Marvel front, the title was allowed to slip back to its original owners.

Not until 2016 would the character return to printed page. This time IDW would handle the spaceknight’s exploits. Issue zero was released as part of Free Comic Book Day May 7. The ongoing series debuted in July of that year and continued through 2018.

With all that information to digest, sit back and relax before diving into either series. Wash the reading down with a West Virginia exclusive pepperoni roll, it’s just what is sounds like, and enjoy some level footing beyond the Mountain State.

Someone, somewhere, has decided today is International Panic Day.

Why June 18? Why a panic day at all? If anyone really knows, they’re not talking.

Today can be observed in one of two ways. Participants can opt for just what the day calls for and have a full-blown meltdown. Or, just the opposite, relax, compose and be calm.

Rather than put a single face to the non-holiday, we’re going to recognize Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein and the talent behind the bi-monthly Panic comic book.

Gaines is better known as the publisher of MAD Magazine. The younger Gaines was heir to one of the original founders of comic books, Max Gaines. His brainstorm of packaging and selling comic books on newsstands in 1933 led to the industry we know today.

Panic (1954) 1-12

Bill inherited his father’s empire after Max’s untimely death. EC Comics reinvented itself becoming known for publishing horror and crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy and science fiction.

A witch hunt neutered the comic book industry in the mid-1950s leading to the end of Bill’s Entertaining Comics line. MAD began as a comic book, running 25 issues, before converting to magazine format and removing it from scrutiny.

So popular was Mad as a comic book, Bill chose to imitate his own product with a clone of sorts. While Harvey Kurtzman oversaw Mad, Panic became Feldstein’s project.

On the eve of a Senate investigation into the comic book industry, Bill allowed the birth of Panic. Its first issue raised more than eyebrows as the parody of The Night Before Christmas caused sale of the title to be banned in the state of Massachusetts.

Another point of contention in the first issue was the depiction of a transvestite. The New York Police raided EC’s offices and arrested Lyle Stuart for the trespass. He was later released and no charges were ever filed.

Panic became one of the many casualties of the day. A Senate Subcommittee led an investigation into the morality of comic books as presented to children. Rather than deal with any subsequent rulings, the industry chose to begin a self-policing campaign of its own courtesy of the Comics Code Authority.

The Code was in effect from 1954 through January of 2011 when Archie Comics discontinued submitting material for approval.

Either seize the day or hide from it; your choice.

If you like, go back in time with us to one of our early posts looking at Panic number one as a Christmas issue.