Musical Interlude: Talk of The Town (1980)

 "Talk of The Town" was first released on the Pretenders' "Extended Play" EP in 1980, then edited for a re-issue on 1981's "Pretenders II".

What Might've Been: Bus Stop (1961)

 20th Century Fox decided to adapt the movie, "Bus Stop", into a weekly series in October 1961. A good idea, but it was torpedoed by the end of the season for a number of reasons.

Marilyn Maxwell was the lead as the owner of a diner situated at a bus stop in fictional Sunrise, Colorado. However, a format change prompted Maxwell to depart after 13 episodes, or, halfway through the season. Richard Anderson and Rhodes Reason co-starred.

The opener, "Afternoon of a Cowboy", features Dean Stockwell and Bobby Buntrock (Hazel).

I'd never seen the show, nor the Marilyn Monroe movie that led to it. No rating.

Videos of Summer: Promise of a New Day (1991-2)

 Summer's almost over, so how 'bout a little Paula Abdul to brighten the night? Here's "Promise of a New Day", from "Spellbound":

Notes from around town

 Time was when kids dreaded going back to school, knowing summer vacation lasted just a couple of months.

Today, schools are trying to eliminate the fear and dread by being more, well, encouraging.

Take, for example, this video from the Troy City School District, set at School 2.

Works for me.

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To follow up on an earlier report, it appears Vivian's Lounge on Congress Street appears to be back in business. The notices from the State Liquor Authority have been taken down, but, aside from a "For rent" sign in the window, there's no indication that the bar has actually reopened.

Stay tuned.

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Count Troy among the cities housing cannabis retailers, as there are at least two that specialize in it.

One is 420 Bliss, located at Brunswick Plaza, a few doors from Spectrum's store. The other just opened on River Street a few weeks back. Other stores do offer CBD items among their available stock. 

You knew this would happen when they decided to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the recreational users want their fair share, too, it'd seem.

I never understood the appeal, and likely, never will.

On The Shelf: EC's revival continues

 Cruel Universe is the 2nd miniseries from the revived EC Comics, released through Oni Press. This one deals in science fiction, and has the same format as Epitaphs From The Abyss, which we reviewed last time, except that there is no host for the book.

However, the plotting in the opener, "The Champion", is a bit confusing, and infuriating. Who or what is supposed to be narrating this tale? It's hard to tell. I've read this twice, and I still don't get it. The artwork is still an attraction, but, unlike Epitaphs, we're not sticking around.

Rating: B--.

Vault's Something Crawled Out is a tale of teen angst, with the appearance of one youth being a vessel for the devil. Nothing crawled out in this issue, and the hometown shop was giving away copies, as if to say, this one's not long for this world, and that may be true. Could've waited for Halloween before releasing, and that's being kind.

Rating: C.

Happened to see an ashcan for IDW's Exorcism at 1600 Penn the other day. The address, of course, is that of the White House, which is where this tale is set, another one that's also targeted for Halloween, in this writer's estimation. Trying to figure out the period in which this story is set, though, whether it was during the Obama administration, or sometime in the future, isn't that easy. Neither is Vanessa Del Ray's artwork, which is a little busy.

Rating: C.

Saving the best for last, Jonny Quest finally arrived from Dynamite, picking up where the Free Comic Book Day preview leaves off. Time travel is the theme, and, let's just say someone's getting a look at his prospective future in this first arc. Not spoiling anything. Old foe Dr. Zin does figure into the plot. Just how deep, we'll soon see.

Rating: A-.

Quick hits: Oni's Nacelleverse also includes the 90's cartoon, The Wild West C.O.W.boys of Moo Mesa, which spent 2 seasons on ABC (1992-4). Cowlamity Kate appears in a Nacelleverse one-off that sets up the whole thing. The current Biker Mice From Mars, reviewed last time, is a 3 part miniseries, but if sales warrant, the Mice may be back. The EC line will refresh in December with a 1-shot, Shiver SuspenStories, followed by Cruel Kingdom in January. Surprise your friends for the holidays!!

As a former "letterhack", I was stunned to receive a copy of Cary Friedman's 2006 book, Wisdom From The Batcave, from the author himself the other day. We'll review it next time.

Musical Interlude: The Joker (1973)

 The Steve Miller Band's #1 smash. "The Joker" , was my first exposure to the group when it was released to radio in 1973. Little did I know that the band is approaching its 60th anniversary in 2 years' time, and its alumni roll includes Ross Valory (later of Journey), Boz Scaggs, and Doug Clifford (Creedence Clearwater Revival). Whew! Paul McCartney, under an assumed name, sat in with the band on one of their early albums when they were labelmates at Capitol.

Here's "The Joker".

2024 NFL preview, part 1

 The last preseason games of 2024 are playing today. On September 5, it all begins "for real". Today, we're taking a look at the NFC.

NFC East:

Dallas welcomed back Ezekiel Elliott after a forgettable season in New England. However, backup QB Trey Lance looked like he was already washed up, throwing 5 interceptions in the preseason finale vs. the LA Chargers. They definitely need Elliott to be the Zeke of old. Philadelphia fortified their offense by picking up Saquon Barkley (Giants), and trading for Jahon Dotson (Washington), while Kenny Pickett came over from Pittsburgh to caddy Jalen Hurts. Giants QB Daniel Jones did not look good vs. Houston, and that spells trouble for Big Blue. Why the Commanders traded Dotson, I don't know, but rookie QB Jayden Daniels (LSU) could be a keeper.

Now, all Dallas needs to do is have Dak Prescott take a break from selling Sleep Number mattresses....!

Projected order of finish:

1. Philadelphia.

2. Washington.

3. Dallas.

4. Giants.

NFC North:

Minnesota drafted JJ McCarthy out of Michigan to be a successor to Kirk Cousins (Atlanta), but stupidly let Joshua Dobbs walk as well (San Francisco). Unfortunately, McCarthy is out for the year with a torn ACL. There goes the playoffs for the Vikings.

In Chicago, they're raving about Caleb Williams (USC), and why not? It makes the Bears braintrust look smart in letting Justin Fields leave (Pittsburgh). Someone check the schedule to see if the Bears & Steelers play each other, this could ultimately backfire on Chicago. Green Bay & Detroit stood pat.

Projected order of finish:

1. Detroit.

2. Chicago.

3. Green Bay.

4. Minnesota.

NFC South:

If Tampa Bay taught us anything last year with Baker Mayfield, they are going to stay in the hunt, as long as the pieces remain in place. Carolina is hoping for a better year from Bryce Young, who led the Panthers past Buffalo in the preseason finale on Saturday. There are already issues with Cousins and Atlanta, and that does not sound good for the Falcons. New Orleans? Who knows?

Projected order of finish:

1. Tampa Bay.

2. Carolina.

3. New Orleans.

4. Atlanta.

NFC West:

Los Angeles would like to see Stetson Bennett see some time on the field this year, backing up Matthew Stafford, after missing most of 2023. Seattle got burned letting Drew Lock, for whom they traded Russell Wilson (now in Pittsburgh) leave (Giants), but time will tell. Arizona may not wait long before tanking like they did last year. They teased a playoff run, then faded before Christmas. That leaves San Francisco, which has the vibe of its glory years of the 80's, and that's a scary thought.

Projected order of finish:

1. San Francisco.

2. Los Angeles.

3. Seattle.

3 (tie). Arizona.

Of course, I could be wrong. We'll look at the AFC next week.

Dunce Cap Award: Donald Trump

 "How do I know you're not sick? You could be some deranged lunatic!"--Will "The Fresh Prince" Smith, 1987.

I'll let Farron Cousins paint the word picture before I have my say:

Here's the thing. Trump thinks the rioters were "patriots", and, as such, this to him justifies the awards ceremony taking place September 5 at Mar-a-Lame-O. As Farron notes, Trump is in violation of the terms of his release on bail by having other felons congregating with him. Oh, of course, he'll deny that he actually knows these people personally, which is probably true to an extent, and, on top of that, he has shown absolutely zero understanding of how the legal system actually works, which explains his constant childish temper tantrums on Truthless Social, railing against the courts when he himself was on trial, all because he was conditioned to believe that he was above the law. The reality is, he never was, and the more he's reminded of this, the more he rages like a kindergartener.

Thus, Trump gets another Dunce Cap to add to his collection. Wear it well, Donnie. You deserve it.

You just don't see these kinds of commercials anymore (1985)

 Tampax was originally an independent manufacturer, later sold to Procter & Gamble, which continues to market the product today with comic Amy Schumer as its commercial spokeswoman.

In 1985, Courteney Cox, a year removed from her TV debut in Bruce Springsteen's concert video for "Dancing in The Dark", and a few months from Misfits of Science, appears in this ad, which appears to be set in a gym. Schumer's spots have had her in places like laundromats. 

P & G isn't buying as much airtime for Tampax as they do for Always these days.

Musical Interlude: Don't Stop (1977)

 "Don't Stop" was one of the hit singles off Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, 'Rumours". The video appears to be a rehearsal in an empty theatre.

A Classic Reborn: The New Odd Couple (1982)

 If a psychologist could study the minds of network television executives in the 80's, we wouldn't have all these reboots & remakes based on the concept of the product being "pre-sold".

One such case was ABC's 1982 reboot, The New Odd Couple. Someone decided that they could try to re-do the series with two African-American leads. Ron Glass, fresh from Barney Miller, was cast as Felix Unger. With Miller in syndication at the time, viewers could not see Glass as anyone but Detective Ron Harris. Demond Wilson was shoehorned into the role of Oscar Madison, who was as different as night & day from Lamont Sanford (Sanford & Son). Nice idea, but ABC put the show on the wrong night.

It didn't help, of course, that the original Couple was also in syndication, and viewers preferred Tony Randall & Jack Klugman to Glass & Wilson. John Schuck (ex-McMillian & Wife, Holmes & YoYo) filled Al Molinaro's police uni as Murray (Molinaro was over on Happy Days at the time), and Bart Braverman, fresh from Vega$, filled out the core cast.

Let's check the opener, "The Ides of April":

Rating: B.

Bigfoot is a tire? (1974)

 Now, I have to admit that I've never heard of Goodyear putting out the Bigfoot tires when they were introduced 50 years ago, but check the ad.

I think these Bigfoot tires were off the market by the end of the decade.

Phil Donahue (1935-2024)

 What started as a local talk show in Ohio grew into a syndicated icon in its own right. Not just the host, but the show itself.

Phil Donahue, an Ohio native, began his self-titled talk show in 1967 in Dayton, then went into syndication three years later. The series would shift first to Chicago, then, to New York, where the show was taped at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios until it ended in 1996.

A few years later, MSNBC lured Donahue out of retirement to host a primetime show, but it was cancelled not too long after. As Donahue noted after this run ended, he was required to have two conservative guests, and he counted as two liberals instead of one. Go figure.

One entire episode in 1976 was devoted to movie icon John Wayne.

Donahue passed away Sunday at the age of 88, survived by his 2nd wife, actress Marlo Thomas. The family is asking for donations to St. Jude's Children's Hospital, the Memphis-based hospital long championed by Thomas, and before her, her father, Danny Thomas.

Rest in peace.

Is Mike Lindell wishing to go to jail?

 This is where the stress that goes with supporting Donald Trump really goes off the page.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has made some strange statements in recent days.

First, he claimed he was heading to Chicago for the Democratic convention, which starts tomorrow, in the hope of converting some Democrats to "Trumpism", or, in other words, getting them to flip and vote for the embattled former president. Not. Gonna. Happen.

Now, as Farron Cousins explains, Lindell has dug a deep hole for himself with unverified claims that a charity he started for recovering drug addicts is being investigated by the Minnesota Attorney General's office. 

What Farron doesn't point out is that Lindell is, in fact, making this up, not so much for sympathy points and pillow sales for his flailing company, but to instead stain the administration of Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic VP candidate. As Farron does note, Lindell's latest tall tale has not been picked up by major media outlets, and probably won't. You know what they say about the boy who cried wolf.....!!

Classic TV: One Day at a Time (1975)

 Norman Lear gave CBS two huge hits in 1975. We've already covered The Jeffersons, but, now, it's time to turn our attention to One Day at a Time.

With successful series set in New York (The Jeffersons, Maude, All in The Family) and Chicago (Good Times), Lear moved further into the Midwest by setting Day in Indianapolis, the tale of a divorcee (Bonnie Franklin) with two daughters (Valerie Bertinelli & MacKenzie Phillips) moving into the city to start a new life. For so, so long, the writers teased that building manager Dwayne Schneider (Pat Harrington) might be a love interest for Ann Romano (Franklin), but it was not to be.

As time wore on, however, Cupid's arrows found all three Romano women. The cycle started with Julie (Phillips), who found her true love with Max (Michael Lembeck, ex-Barney Miller, The Krofft Supershow). Toward the end of the series, Howard Hesseman, fresh from WKRP in Cincinnati, joined the show as a love interest for Ann.

Knowing they needed to keep the youth demographic, up & coming teen star Glenn Scarpelli, son of comics artist Henry Scarpelli, joined the show, and ultimately got a comic book deal out of the gig. However, Scarpelli lasted just 3 seasons (1980-3), and left to briefly co-host NBC's Fantasy, then co-star opposite Ann Jillian in Jennifer Slept Here.

Check the opener:

We had the pilot, Three to Get Ready, but it was deleted from YouTube.

The series settled into a powerhouse Sunday comedy block until the series ended in 1984.

Rating: A-.

Heaven adds two more to its chorus

 It has come across the wires within the last two hours of the passing of singer-songwriter Greg Kihn at 75. Kihn first burst on the scene in 1981 with "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)", but is better remembered for 1983's "Jeopardy", with its B-movie horror theme.

Here's "The Breakup Song":

And, then, there was a massive gut punch to anyone who was into game shows back in the 60's & 70's.

Peter Marshall, the genial, original master of The Hollywood Squares, passed away earlier today at 98 due to kidney failure.

Born Ralph Pierre LaCock, Marshall began as a big band singer before joining forces with comic Tommy Noonan in a nightclub act in the late 50's. Marshall then transitioned into acting, appearing on such shows as The Lucy Show (as Lucy's brother-in-law in season 1) before Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley brought him in to pilot Squares in 1966, leading to a 15 year run, ending in syndication in 1981. In the midst of this, Marshall also found time to front a syndicated variety show in 1976, from whence we get this duet with Bill Hayes (Days of Our Lives), a cover of "Trouble", from "The Music Man". 

After his Squares run ended, Marshall returned to NBC with Fantasy in 1982. That series lasted a year before a rebooted Squares, now fused together with Match Game, took its place, with Jon Bauman filling Marshall's role as Squares MC. That lasted 9 months. Peter had last been doing an oldies show on satellite radio, returning to his first love, music.

Rest in peace.

An era ends: WCBS AM ends its all-news format

 After 57 years on the air, WCBS-AM 880, an all-news channel, will sign off on August 26, giving way to an all-sports channel that will compete with WFAN.

WCBS TV devoted two minutes to reporting this piece of news.

Living here in the 518 my entire life, I first discovered WCBS-AM on my transistor radio in the late 70's after moving into my current home. Sure, the signal was faint, but audible enough to hear. News, sports, weather, updated every half hour. Today, Audacy, its parent company, streams WCBS-AM & FM online. The AM band is the home of Mets baseball, and, to the relief of Mets fans gobsmacked after the Mets were swept by Seattle over the weekend, Audacy will continue to carry Mets baseball even with the format change.

That all sports channel will be the new home of ESPN radio in NYC, which won't exactly make Mets fans in the city happy, as they feel the "Worldwide Leader" seems to be biased against the team. Audacy's other news channel, WINS, will continue unabated.

Can a blind woman be convicted of murder? (Petrocelli, 1975)

 Barry Newman's 2 season crime drama, Petrocelli, is now readily available on YouTube, so we're taking a deeper look at this series. 

We'll start with the season 2 episode, "To See No Evil". Julie Kavner (Rhoda) is a blind woman accused of murder.

Tony Petrocelli (Newman) did his own legwork, in addition to having a seasoned investigator (Albert Salmi, ex-Daniel Boone) helping. Character actor Michael Bell (ex-The Bold Ones: The Protectors, The Senator) joined the show in the 2nd season, usually as prosecutor Frank Kaiser. So far, we've found 3 episodes with Bell as Kaiser. The dude should've gotten his own show, based on what I've seen of his work over the years. 

Fred Stromsoe came over from Adam-12 not only to play a variety of extra roles, but also as a stunt coordinator.

Rating: A.

The GOP needs to have Donald Trump undergo psychiatric treatment. Yesterday

 It is increasingly clear that Donald Trump is experiencing signs of old age catching up to him at 78.

Now, he's telling tall tales of events that didn't really happen the way he spins it, and, as Farron Cousins asserts, Trump might've gotten a couple of California guys named Brown---Willie & Jerry----mixed up.

Per Farron, that 2018 helicopter ride didn't come close to crashing, and it would've been news if it was even close to doing so. This Munchausen-esque fable suggests that Trump is fishing for sympathy points because of his advanced age, even if his most ardent supporters don't recognize or acknowledge what's happening.

Maybe Melania should call Dr. Phil.........

It's time for Donald Trump to wave the white flag

 If we've learned anything about Donald Trump as a politician in recent years, it's the fact that he just can't be bothered to follow protocols for licensing music to be used at his rallies.

The latest case being in Montana earlier this week, when his warm-up music was Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On", from "Titanic". As usual, Trump refused to obtain a license to use the song, but, oh, did that backfire on him. Trump doesn't realize the significance of "Heart" in relation to his current campaign. He's losing in the polls to VP Kamala Harris, who followed the protocols to use music by Megan Thee Stallion, and even had Megan appear at a rally with her. Trump has probably forgotten "Titanic". Period.

Brian Tyler Cohen explains:

The Democratic convention, which starts a week from Monday, will be a formality, as Harris is already the Democratic nominee. All the momentum is on her side, despite GOP efforts to smear her or her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who has gotten a ringing endorsement from one of his predecessors, Jesse Ventura, who has made the rounds of CNN & MSNBC in recent days.

With less than three months to the election, Trump has to realize that all of his usual tactics aren't landing on a younger candidate. Once he does, then he has no other choice than to wave the white flag, and withdraw from the race himself, because his is a tired act. Mar-a-Lago might as well be a retirement home now.

Notes from around town

 The owners of the Ilium Building, which houses a group of businesses on Fulton Street between 4th Street and the alley separating 4th Street & 5th Avenue, were forced to shut the building down on Thursday after an inspection of the sprinkler system by city officials found the system to not be in accordance with city guidelines.

While Nite Owl News at the corner of 4th & Fulton is completely shut for the duration, Aquilonia Comics & More, at the other end of the block, is still taking customers at curbside, as they did during the COVID pandemic 4 years ago.

Owner Bob Lupe has said he is parked curbside to meet with customers during store hours, and is confident he'll be opening the store to the public again sometime this coming week. The store's weekly Magic tournament on Friday was cancelled as a result of the temporary shutdown.

Now, the onus is upon the Gutierrez Trust, the building owners, to ensure the sprinklers are actually working properly. Stay tuned.

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For many months, Stewart's on Congress Street has had some folks loitering in front of the store. While they do make purchases, they linger too long, and now, store clerks are cracking down.

One week ago, a man using a wheelchair due to what he says is limited mobility, was parked to the left of the entrance on the 5th Avenue side before being chased away by the morning clerk. I suspect that customers have complained about the loitering. One more reason for the city to actually take a moment to consider renting a storefront from RPI to house the transients. It can't hurt.

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The NY Office of General Services is hoping to finally have live music at the Empire State Plaza on Wednesday for the annual NYS Food Fest, which this year is headlined by 80's rockers 38 Special. All 4 Wednesday night concerts last month were moved either to the Egg or to the Corning Preserve boat launch due to rain, but, guess what? Rain is in the forecast for this Wednesday. Hmmmmm.

Musical Interlude: Radioactive (1984)

 The Firm was touted as a supergroup when their debut CD was released in 1984. Paul Rodgers (ex-Free, Bad Company) sang lead, Jimmy Page (ex-Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds) was on lead guitar, Tony Franklin was on bass, and Chris Slade (Manfred Mann's Earth Band, among others) manned the drum kit. Slade would later play with AC/DC on their 1990-1 album, "The Razor's Edge", and Rodgers was one of the singers in Mike & The Mechanics.

Here's the 1st single, "Radioactive", which got a ton of airplay in 1984.

A former Trump associate thinks the former president's mind is gone. Well, maybe.............

 Said associate is former campaign adviser AJ Delgado, who, in a recent interview, said that she believes the former president's mind is "gone". Well, I wouldn't put it that way, but when you consider that he misidentified his opponent as "Kamabla" Harris, I'd settle for it being a symptom of Trump's advanced age.

Delgado also claims that Trump, a known UFC fan, attends the shows so he can get some of the adulation he craves. When asked to name a favorite fighter, he settled on Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov, instead of an American fighter, which, Delgado alleges, says that the 78 year old doesn't know what he's talking about.

Farron Cousins tries to sort all this out.

Farron has described Trump's mental deterioration as the former president's brain turning into mashed potatoes. I'm sorry, but that would be an insult to the potato industry. If it gets any worse, Trump's going to start sounding like this guy:

Ladies & gentlemen, I give you Mushmouth, or, as they finally revealed his real name in the 2004 "Fat Albert" movie, James Mush. In Mush's defense, he had a speech impediment that created his unique speech patterns, which Wikipedia likens to the "ubbi-dubbi" language created on PBS' Zoom back in the 70's. Trump will never admit he's making mistakes. Again, his ego won't let him, and for that same reason, he has to stick it out the final three months of what could be his final attempt at regaining the White House. 

All the old tricks he's employing again to smear his opposition won't work, either. Come November 6, if I'm Melania, I'm scheduling an appointment with a psychologist, and maybe order a brain scan. It could save Trump's life. Just sayin'.

What Might've Been: Karen (1975)

 Karen Valentine was just a year removed from Room 222 when 20th Century Fox called her back for a new series. 

Karen, not to be confused with the 1964-5 NBC entry of the same name with Debbie Watson, was a winter replacement for ABC that lasted 4 months. With Room 222 in syndication, this Karen was already fighting an uphill battle, despite the creative pedigree involved. Valentine was reunited with co-executive producer/co-creator Gene Reynolds, who'd shepherded the first year or two of Room 222, and he brought with him M*A*S*H creator Larry Gelbart and producer Burt Metcalfe.

Here, the M*A*S*H connection strikes again, with Edward Winter guest-starring as a Congressman who is Karen's boyfriend. Bob Hastings (All in The Family, ex-McHale's Navy) also guest stars.

Charles Lane (ex-Petticoat Junction) landed his first regular gig since Petticoat ended 5 years earlier, but he wasn't the antagonist he usually played.

Rating: B.

On The Shelf: Of Biker Mice and other revivals

 Oni Press is developing a shared universe of licensed titles, with said licenses obtained from the Nacelle Company, which has acquired some long dormant toy lines from the 80's & 90's.

First up is Biker Mice From Mars, which is gearing up for an animated revival, nearly 20 years after the last series. Actor Ryan Reynolds ("Deadpool & Wolverine") and his Maximum Effort group are attached to the forthcoming cartoon.

This, then, is a prequel to said series, and it can be said that it's also a prequel to the original 1993-6 syndicated cartoon produced by Marvel's television arm. The artwork is crisp and clean, even better than Rurik Tyler's interpretations back in 1993. Looks like fun.

Rating: A.

Oni is also the home of the revived EC Comics brand, which is good news for horror comics enthusiasts from EC's glory years of the 50's. The bad news is that the books coming from Oni are miniseries.

Epitaphs From The Abyss is the first of these, a 5 issue anthology series that captures the mood, atmosphere, & spirit of EC, right down to the lettering, now done, of course, by computer programming. 4 short stories make up the 1st issue, and if you're a true EC fan, you'd be well served to make the investment ($5 per issue). The Grave Digger, your genial host, wasn't an original EC character, but there was a host by that name in the 70's over at Marvel. 

Rating: A.

Coming in October from Oni & Nacelle is Sectaurs, which was a short-lived toy line in the mid-80's from Coleco which led to a comic book from Marvel and a 5 part miniseries from Ruby-Spears. Winter brings the Power Lords, which was Revell's entry into the toy sweepstakes (better known for model kits), adapted by DC in a 3 issue miniseries, written by comics vet Michael Fleischer. 

Mad Cave has laid its first egg, in this writer's opinion, with their adaptation of Flash Gordon. Bear in mind that the continuity created by writer Jeremy Adams is completely separate from the publisher's forthcoming Defenders of The Earth miniseries. In Defenders, Flash was married to Dale Arden, but Dale was killed, leaving Flash to raise his son, Rick, and train him. 

As Adams sees it, however, Flash is assumed dead, and Dale has become Empress Arden. So not digging. Luckily, the 2nd issue doesn't come out until September, giving Adams time to put more context on a bad idea, perhaps making it better, but I doubt it.

Rating: B--.

I can't speak to sales figures, but Mad Cave has done a good job of building a line of Gatchaman titles, the latest of which is a Galactor miniseries, focusing on the planet bent on conquering Earth. Forget what you know about the characters from previous American translations (i.e. Battle of The Planets), this is based on the original Japanese source material dating back to 1972.

Rating: A.

Short bits: DC has delayed the final chapter of Tom King's The Penguin to the 1st week in September. No reason given for the delay, but with King's workload, coupled with talk that he may be attached to a forthcoming film project, that would explain it.............Archie Comics is giving Sabrina's familiar, Salem, another 1-shot try-out in October. The Nine Lives of Salem puts him in a heroic role once again........Speaking of Sabrina, she and Archie and their friends have to deal with Amber Nightstone in October's Archie-centric Halloween special. You know the drill. One new story, plus reprints.......Diamond is still marketing Titan's revival of Savage Sword of Conan as an ongoing series, though GoCollect.com claims it's a 6-issue miniseries which would wrap up this winter. Who's right?

Back to Archie's horror line. There was a reason I never really gave any lip service to the just concluded Judgment Day miniseries. The artwork by Megan Hutchison shifts as the story goes, there isn't much cohesion, and the daemonic forms of Betty & Veronica just don't work. Personally, I'm tired of "grimdark" in its various forms, and we've talked about the flaws in the Archie Horror line before. I wouldn't wish this on an enemy.

Archie, though, is heavily pushing Madam Satan as their go-to big bad, although she appears to be an anti-hero in the Cursed Library trilogy of 1-shots that begins this month. Jinx, now a teenager, as the devil's daughter?? No sale. If they keep turning out dreck, people are going to be asking for a return to the classic Archie stories. Trust me.

Mad Cave's Dick Tracy is not being solicited for October, which suggests that they'll take a break after issue 5 comes out in September. I can deal with that.

Musical Interlude: Collide (2004)

 Howie Day's lone top 40 hit came in 2004 with "Collide", co-written by Better Than Ezra singer Kevin Griffin.

I was thinking of this song today after reading that Olympic gymnastics champ Simone Biles took a spill on the balance beam, finishing 5th in the discipline. There's a line that fits this sitch:

"Even the best fall down sometimes".

I think Simone and her husband, NFL star Jonathan Owens of the Chicago Bears, will appreciate the sentiment.

Weasel of The Week: Care to take a guess?

 Prior to President Biden dropping his re-election bid a couple of weeks ago, he & Donald Trump had agreed to a 2nd debate on September 10 on ABC. With VP Kamala Harris now in the mix, Trump has decided to bail out, and wants a debate on Fox No News six days prior to the scheduled ABC debate.

He claims Fox reached out to him, and he agreed to the 9/4 debate, but there's been no word from the Harris camp. If it sounds suspicious, knowing Trump, it certainly is. He wants the debate on Fox No News, despite the fact that some of their anchors have shredded him and primetime sycophants like Dirty Watters and Spam Hannity. He wants a cheering audience to feed his ego.

In short, he wants the ball in his court to regain momentum heading into Election Day. Harris has vowed to be present on 9/10, even if she has to debate an empty podium. She's also picked up the media narrative that Trump is too scared to debate her, period.

Does Trump get what he wants? Nope. He's not in a position to dictate the terms. He has no leverage. He reportedly filed a lawsuit against ABC claiming defamation. The truth hurts, doesn't it, Donnie?

"WAAAAHHHHHH! I'm suing ABC, so I can't appear on their debate. I want it on Fox! WAAAAHHHH!"

I'm calling BS on his frivolous lawsuit against ABC. His behavior here, of course, resembles that of a 7 year old who can't get things his way, and constantly whines. Grow up, Donnie.

As you could probably guess, because he wants to alter the playing field to suit his ego, Trump gets another set of Weasel ears.

Musical Interlude: Midnight Wind (1979)

 By all rights, John Stewart's "Midnight Wind" should've been the follow-up to his 1979 chart smash, "Gold", but it wasn't released as a single here in the US. As with "Gold", Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac sings backup, but does not appear in this concert clip.

Old Time Radio: Mr. District Attorney (1939)

 We've previously reviewed the TV version of Mr. District Attorney, but now, let's go back to its radio roots.

Gang Busters producer Phillips Lord brought Mr. District Attorney to radio in 1939, and it spent 14 seasons on the air between three networks and syndication. It's a standard police procedural that doesn't get the same kind of love that its contemporaries, such as Gang Busters and Dragnet, received.

We're going to take a listen to a 1952 episode with David Brian as Jeff Garrett----Mr. District Attorney---in "The Case of The Supermarket Killer":

Rating: A.

Videos of Summer: Summer Nights (1986)

 Not to be confused with the "Grease" hit of the same name, Van Halen released a live version of "Summer Nights" as a single off "5150", and I'd bet it's still a FM radio staple this time of year.

We've seen this movie before: Donald Trump invokes the race card on Kamala Harris

 Did the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) think former president Donald Trump would behave himself on Wednesday in Chicago?

In the words of Will "The Fresh Prince" Smith, circa 1987, hmmmmmmm, wellllllll, of course not!

Faced with tough questions that he doesn't have the answers to, Trump went back to an old routine of questioning Vice President Kamala Harris' racial background.

Photo courtesy USA Today.

We all know Harris is multi-racial. Trump seems to think, and, this was clearly a dog whistle to his base of suburban bigots, that the presumptive Democratic nominee "turned black". That is biologically impossible.

Once the questioning got a little too harsh for his liking, Trump bailed out like the coward he's been perceived to be, and the program ended abruptly after just over a half hour, just so Trump could fly to his next rally, in Harrisburg, PA, where he got a reception much more to his liking, and spewed the usual garbage.

As far as his attacks on Harris are concerned, we've seen this movie before, back when Barack Obama was president. The ending's going to be the same, Donald. You lose again. Deal with it.