What to do when you get lost while time traveling

September 17, 6:36 PMComics ExaminerBrian Steinberg

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Find your way home, Captain America (Marvel.com)

So there you are, throwing your Batarang around or hurling a star-spangled shield, and then it happens: A nasty villain shoots you with a ray or conspires with very advanced electronics to tear asunder the very fabric of the time-space continuum and send you hurtling back decades.

Hey, it happens. And, oddly enough, it's the central premise governing the storylines of two popular characters, Batman and Captain America. Both have been tossed into the shifting waters of time - Cap is jumping from decade to decade, thanks to some chicanery worked out by his perennial nemesis, the Red Skull, while Batman got flung back to a prehistoric era after being zapped by some cosmic ray gun in DC's "Final Crisis" extravaganza.

So look, you know what to do when you get a flat tire or need a shoe shine, right? Now, thanks to Cap and Bats, you're going to get some tips on how to make it through the millenia if you should find yourself cast back to 10,000,000 BC or even just 1945.

From cave drawings to Bat-scratchings (DC Comics)

*Leave some clue to your whereabouts that will be found by your friends in the present day: Yes, you see Batman here (left) chipping away at a little bat-design in some cave. No, he's not scratching out graffiti - he's trying to leave some proof  of his presence that will tell his Bat-chums in 2009 that he's still alive. Why those same Bat-pals are searching for Bat-carvings in caves is beyond me, but just this week, we discovered that one of the many Robins that populate the world has indeed found Batman's little tip-off. So, those of you stuck in 16-aught-four, get to it! Scratch out your sign on the nearby rock wall!

*Tell a dim-witted pal: The Vision has never been the most gifted conversationalist - he is, after all, an android. But that doesn't mean he can't take a few notes on what transpires around him and hold on to them for a few decades. Case in point: In this week's Captain America: Reborn. Cap finds himself back in the 70s or 80s and instead of trying to get his hand on a soon-to-be rare 45 of the Starland Vocal Band singinng "Afternoon Delight," he tells the Vision to tell his pals in the modern day that he's wigging out across the centuries. Let's see if Vision can hold on to the info.... 

*Really? You want more?: Look folks, we're doing our best here, but we've got few other pieces of advice for y'all who are trying to get back to 2009. Wear a jacket. Pack some dried fruit in case you get hungry. Put a few dollars in your sock. And for Heaven's sake, grab hold of a couple of books. You're going to get bored reeling in the years...