EARTH DAY!
The day when we especially try to do our very best to protect and preserve our planet: Earth.
We, as regular folks, can do many things to try and ensure the long, harmonious existence of our world; such as: Recycling, composting, abstaining from littering, avoiding water waste, using electricity and fossil fuels sparingly, and such.
However, our 4-color heroes have a higher level to maintain; such as: preventing world destruction and stuff like that.
In order to achieve this, some heroes have set up satellite watchtowers, or partnered with law-enforcement to establish sky-borne alert signals so as to help keep a bigger view on trouble than they might otherwise be able to root out on their own.
Still others set up elaborate detection devices that scan the globe for danger-zones.
Doctor Strange has long employed such a device.
In lieu of his Orb of Agamotto (think: crystal ball that can see into other dimensions) he often would use an enchanted globe, upon which evil would manifest as a glowing red or black point of "light".
As far back as his earliest appearances in 'Strange Tales' from the 1960's he would use this Earth image to root out evil that might endanger our world.
The Earth Orb as seen on the cover envelope of the
1983 Doctor Strange portfolio by Michael Golden.
Strange continued to use the enchanted globe on other occasions, such as the time that he had (seemingly) destroyed the Orb of Agamotto and his other talismans of power (at the end of the 'Master of the Mystic Arts' series and into the 'Strange Tales' v2 era) in order to defeat an otherworldly menace.
Of course, he had soon regretted his decision to destroy his talismans, as that act once again let loose all the ancient evils to the face of the Earth.
Defeating them one after another, gaining their powers (and darker energies) to himself, he eventually made his way down to the lowest depths of existence to confront and combat the ultimate of the ancient evils; Shuma Gorath.
Despite the fact that by this point, Dr. Strange was nearly godlike in power, he still remembered the Earth and his vow to protect it - at all costs.
"At all costs" usually means that the hero will suffer all manifestations of sorcerous slings and metaphysical arrows to protect the person (or in this case billions of people) to which he has sworn safety.
Of course... "at all costs" can kind of go both ways... so if it takes destroying the Earth (metaphysically, anyway) in order to save it from a worse evil, then that's just how some heroes might have to roll.
Boom goes Shuma Gorath - and the mystically linked Earth.
OK. So, sometimes, protecting the Earth doesn't always go as planned.
Let's take a look at another hero; ROM: SPACEKNIGHT!
Here we see that he has constructed a "wraith-finder" in order to detect the alien threat of the Dire Wraiths anywhere on the Earth.
With this he would be able to stand as a solitary sentinel against the hidden menace of shape-changing monsters who would try to kill us all and take over our world.
This image is a metaphorical image. ROM isn't a super-giant cyborg whose right foot is crushing millions of Canadians.
But, it's a visual shorthand for the sort of long-winded vow that ROM espouses (as seen below) detailing that he will stay and defeat the wraith menace no matter how long it takes.
Now THAT's a HEROIC ideal to saving the Earth from evil menaces!
ROM is a hero we can count on!
Well, at least for a few more issues, until he cleanses the world of the specific menace that he came to eradicate. Then, he ditches us to hot-foot it back into space.
Thanks ROM... I guess it would have been too much to hang around and fight other world-threats.
But, it's cool... the Spaceknight Union won't allow you to touch anything non-Wraith oriented.
See ya around.
OK, so maybe Super Heroes aren't always all that good about the whole "Save the Earth" thing.
But that doesn't mean that WE can't still try.
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* BONUS EXTRA *
On the subject of "Earth Day" and all things "green" - this past Friday was April 20th; otherwise known as 4-20 or "green day".
This is an unofficial "holiday" by pot aficionados to "celebrate" their use of "the green".
Man-Thing, being a swamp creature (and mostly composed of weeds, and such) has a word or three for those who would otherwise "partake"...
"Just Say No"
When offered an hallucinogenic tuber by Swamp-Thing (or in this case; "Swamp-THANG", as it was an issue of the spoof-comic; "What The---?", #6 to be exact), Man-Thing (or in this case; "Man-THANG") decides not to bow to peer pressure.Anyway, however you decide to celebrate our beautiful planet; EVERY DAY should be Earth Day... so... Have Many HAPPY EARTH (and GREEN) DAYS!
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