It's the Fourth of July!

For this year's Fourth, let's go all the way to the beginning, for the first patriotic super-hero, the Shield. He was ready to fight on the American home front as early as 1939, when World War II was underway in Europe but a full two years two years before the United States entered the fray following the attack on Pearl Harbor. There have been plenty of patriotic heroes that have followed in the Shield's wake, including, of course, Captain America, but the Shield set the tone.

Be careful this year, and enjoy any festivities you take part in. But if you see any enemy tanks on the grounds of the Capitol, follow the Shield's example and take them out!

Happy Canada Day!

We're in the exact middle of the year, so that means it must be Canada Day! In the last couple of years, I've used the day to spotlight Captain Canuck, but I thought this year that I'd go old school and return to Canada's most famous super-hero son, Wolverine. (He needs the attention, since this is an off-year for X-Men movies.)

But I can't forget the good captain completely. He's got a new comics series that debuted in May, and a second series of animated web episodes has recently been announced (here's the teaser trailer). The cast from the first series is returning, and it includes people you might have actually heard of--such as Canada's current "it" girl, Tatiana Maslany, whose amazing work on Orphan Black may allow her to hold our attention for quite some time. The new Captain Canuck web material won't be out until the fall, but you can always go back to catch up on series one if you haven't seen it yet.

Canada's also been getting a fair bit of attention as host of this year's Women's World Cup. So enjoy Canada Day by hugging a moose, taking a swig of maple syrup, and watching this evening's semi-final between Japan and England to see who'll be facing Team USA in Sunday's final.