On The Shelf: Old school crime noir, Dick Tracy celebrates St. Patrick's Day, and a creator passes on

 Rather than do another Valentine's Day special, Mad Cave decided to give Dick Tracy a St. Patrick's Day special as an interlude before the next story arc, launching next month.

88 Keys makes his first appearance in the series, rebooted as an Irish pianist turned serial killer, or, vigilante, depending on how you look at it, as he's going after some smaller crooks. Craig Cermak is the guest artist on this one, and it looks great. Tim Seeley wrote the backup, drawn by Rebekah Isaacs, about a leprechaun causing some trouble. Begorra!!

Rating: A-.

Marvel may be preparing for a new slate of Ultraman adventures, which might explain the misleading title, The Fall of Ultraman, in a 1-shot special. Hopefully, when they do reboot, they'll find better writers.

Rating: C-.

In relaunching Vertigo, DC brings out a modern take on old school crime noir.

The Peril of The Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery is a 6 issue miniseries which introduces Cain to readers. I don't think I'd read that it was originally marketed as a miniseries, but learned a week ago that it has been cut to 6 issues, due to poor pre-orders. Artist Jacob Phillips captures the mood and the aesthetic of Chris Condon's script. Get ready for a wild ride.

Rating: A-.

Zorro has found a new home at IDW, starting in May, with Howard Chaykin writing, but not drawing. Thank goodness, since Chaykin has a particular look for his lead characters (i.e. American Flagg!, Dominic Fortune) that wouldn't work with Zorro.

We have to close on a sad note.

Sam Kieth, co-creator with Neil Gaiman of the acclaimed Sandman series at DC/Vertigo in the late 80's, and creator of The Maxx, later adapted by MTV for a short-lived adult animated series, passed away at 63.

One of Kieth's last works with The Maxx, for IDW.

Originally published at Image in 1994-5, The Maxx was a surrealistic fantasy in a dream world of some sort, as if Kieth was using his work with Gaiman as a template. His style was modeled after Berni Wrightson,  and fell along the same lines as a contemporary, Kelley Jones. He will be missed.

Remember Korkers? (1972)

 In 1972, Nabisco thought they had a snack to rival Bugles, which was a General Mills product.

54 years later, Bugles is still with us. Korkers, Nabisco's corn snack, isn't.

This ad feels like a sketch lifted from Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Patti Deutsch & Edward Herrmann are featured. Depending on when this was filmed, Deutsch had either joined Laugh-In or soon would.

Weasel of The Week: Bari Weiss

 She has no broadcasting experience in mainstream media. However, Bari Weiss is overseeing the destruction of CBS News as we know it, in order to please president Trump.

On Friday, Weiss announced that she was slashing 60-70 jobs at CBS News, AND closing down their radio division, effective in May, claiming economics and "changing radio strategies".

BOLLOCKS & BALDERDASH!!

Weiss has tasked herself to clear out any opposition to Donnie Diapers at the network, which prompted Anderson Cooper of CNN, a contributor to 60 Minutes, to leave the network recently, keeping his dignity intact. With CBS & CNN soon to be under the same roof if the merger goes through between Warner Bros Discovery & Paramount-Skydance, Cooper may leave CNN, too.

Locally, CBS radio news briefs on WROW only run for about a minute or so per hour between 5 & 8 am weekdays, and it's been that way since before Weiss came along to ruin things further. Come the end of May, CBS Radio will be no more, and that's a shame.

We know that Trump doesn't like it when he's being criticized. He doesn't understand that constructive criticism is meant to help him, not hurt him, but he can't see it. With the help of ill-prepared types like Weiss, he is ruining this country, bit by bit, because at the end of the day, he is a miserable old man who wants to remold the country as he sees fit, even if his vision is skewed.

Bari Weiss, on the other hand, gets something that Trump has a lot of. A Weasel of The Week award for her contribution to the destruction of American tradition. Deal with it.

Family Fridays: The Bradys expose a scammer (1972)

 From season 3 of The Brady Bunch:

Carol (Florence Henderson) gets into an accident, and is taken to court by the other driver, who is claiming whiplash. Mike (Robert Reed, ex-The Defenders) acts as his wife's attorney. Jackie Coogan (ex-The Addams Family) made his 2nd & final appearance in the series.

This climatic scene exposes the scam before the judge (Robert Emhardt). 

Chuck Norris (1940-2026)

 Martial arts, movie, & TV icon Chuck Norris has passed away at 86.

Norris initially made his fame in martial arts, and made one of his first film appearances with training partner Bruce Lee in 1972's "The Way of The Dragon". Prior to this, Norris had appeared on television shows such as To Tell The Truth and Room 222.

The 80's brought Norris back to movies with films such as "Lone Wolf McQuade" (with David Carradine), "Silent Rage", and the "Delta Force" & "Missing in Action" films. Norris parlayed this into the 90's crime drama, Walker, Texas Ranger, in which he not only had the title role as Ranger Cordell Walker, but he also recorded the theme, "Eyes of a Ranger".

During his Walker days, Norris appeared at a WWF Survivor Series to help the Undertaker thwart a conspiracy concocted by heel managers Mr. Fuji, Jim Cornette, & Ted DiBiase to help Yokozuna. In return, wrestling icons Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, and Sting appeared on Walker (all were in WCW at the time).

Thanks in part to Conan O'Brien, Norris became the subject of a series of exaggerated memes by internet fans. Those memes won't go away with Norris' passing, however.

Rest in peace.

MLB preview 2026, part 3: The AL East

 With less than a week before the regular season begins, we're taking a look at the AL East, which figures to again be one of the more competitive divisions.

Boston may have a little extra swagger after the World Baseball Classic, considering how Wilyer Abreu had a breakout performance in the tournament, and one of the team's biggest offseason acquisitions, Ranger Suarez (Philadelphia), also played a role in Venezuela winning the tournament. Willson Contreras (St. Louis) didn't play as big a role, but he will add some punch to the offense, provided he keeps his temper in check on strikeouts (if you've seen those ejection compilation videos on YouTube, you know what I mean). Contreras & Sonny Gray came over in an offseason trade for pitcher Hunter Dobbins and two minor leaguers. Not that the Red Sox gave up on Dobbins too quickly. No, they just didn't have long term plans for him.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Pittsburgh) returns to the division, having previously played for Toronto & the Yankees after starting his career in Texas. He'll likely spell Trevor Story at shortstop or Nick Sogard at second base. Other than this, the Sox stood pat.

The big news in Baltimore, of course, was heisting Pete Alonso from the Mets, a classic Scott Boras Badenov money grab. Alonso will anchor the infield, and haunt his former club when the Mets & Orioles get together. Reliever Ryan Helsley finished 2025 with the Mets, but was erratic. Alonso will see another familiar face in starter Chris Bassitt (Toronto), who will give the Orioles plenty of innings. Baltimore also acquired another starter in Shane Baz (Tampa Bay), to help Bassitt & Zach Eflin, though Trevor Rogers has already been named the opening day starter. Outfielder Taylor Ward came over from the Angels to help Alonso fortify the offense.

The Yankees now can concentrate on overtaking Toronto to win the division, now that their core players are all back together again after the WBC. Aaron Judge got some undeserved heat after failing to produce vs. Venezuela in the finals, so he'll take it out on AL pitching. Nothing new there. The Yanks get Gerrit Cole back after he missed 2025 due to Tommy John surgery. The problem they face, however, is fan apathy if they don't win the title. Then, the whining will start again, calling for Aaron Boone and/or GM Brian Cashman to be sent packing. However, owner Hal Steinbrenner has shown how he is too loyal to both, and they'd have to miss the playoffs for Boone and/or Cashman to be let go.

Toronto found a diamond in the rough in Trey Yesavage late last season, which explains why Chris Bassitt became expendable. The Blue Jays fortified the rotation by signing Dylan Cease (San Diego) to join Yesavage, Shane Bieber, Kevin Gausman, & Jose Berrios to form a very formidable rotation. Max Scherzer makes it a six pack, and I would not discount the Blue Jays going to a 6 man rotation.

The Jays are counting on Kazuma Okamato to fill the offensive void created by Bo Bichette's departure (Mets). Otherwise, it's business as usual.

Tampa Bay reopens Tropicana Field after playing at the Yankees' minor league home in Tampa last year. Problem is, the team isn't ready to contend. They do have some veteran help in the outfield after acquiring Cedric Mullins, who bombed with the Mets, and Gavin Lux (Cincinnati) in the offseason. Pitcher Steven Matz (Boston) is on his 3rd AL East team, having gone from a rising star with the Mets to a journeyman lefty in 10 years time. The Rays are still a couple of years away from a playoff spot.

Projected order of finish:

1. Toronto.

2. Yankees.

3. Boston.

3 (tie). Baltimore.

5. Tampa Bay.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Monday: The rest of the AL.

Musical Interlude: Pink Shoelaces (1959)

 It wasn't long after Dodie Stevens started climbing the charts (peaking at #3) that "Pink Shoelaces" was covered on The Lawrence Welk Show. Three of the four Lennon Sisters sing backup behind Roberta Shore. Rocky Rockwell gives Dooley his voice.

Roberta Shore would later join the cast of The Virginian for a bit, and I think she did some musical numbers there, too.