YouTube Theatre: Johnny Shiloh (1963)

 Welcome back to Wartime Mondays. This time, we're going all the way to the Civil War, and a 2-part installment of Disney's Wonderful World of Color, presented in its feature film form. Kevin Corcoran has the lead in "Johnny Shiloh", about a 10 year old drummer working with the Union Army in the Civil War. Our cast is loaded with familiar names, including Skip Homeier, Regis Toomey (Burke's Law), Darryl Hickman, Edward Platt (2 years before Get Smart), Brian Keith, Buck Taylor (later of Gunsmoke), and Hayden Rorke (2 years before I Dream of Jeannie). Enjoy the show.

In two weeks: We celebrate Memorial Day with Combat!.

On The Shelf: More Free Comic Book Day stuff

 Continuing with the Free Comic Book Day reviews:

Mad Cave decided to release black & white specials of Terrorbytes & Flash Gordon. Why did they even bother?

In Flash's case, writer Jeremy Adams just had to remind us of how Dale Arden was brainwashed into becoming the new, evil empress of Mongo at the start of the series. No sale. Seems Adams is in no hurry to repair that mistake. And that's a mistake in and of itself.

Mark Russell has been entrusted with Terrorbytes, but I'd rather see this in full color glory.

Ratings for both: C.

Over at Marvel, the House of Missing Ideas decided three features are better than two in two of their offerings.

For example, you get Amazing Spider-Man, plus Venom, and a preview of Queen in Black, which, we already know, is Hela, from Thor. More than 35 years after the debut of Venom, the symbiote concept has jumped the shark. Venom itself is now bonded to Mary Jane Watson, who's more than likely destined to return to Spider-Man's side, after her most recent beau was killed. This after some genius decided to give the Black Widow a symbiote. Right about now, Stan Lee is turning over in his grave.

Rating: None. Not worth it.

Meanwhile, the 20th Century Studios imprint offers a trifecta featuring Aliens, Predator, & Planet of The Apes, with a small tease of what we talked about last time involving the latter pair.

Rating: A-.

Dark Horse reportedly plans on a Masters of The Universe ongoing, timed to precede the remake of the 1987 live-action film. The backup feature is Dungeons & Dragons, because that franchise is still around, more than 45 years later. Take yer pick, effendi.

Rating: B.

DC's Next Level sampler offers teases of the first wave of titles, some of which are already out, including Fury of Firestorm (previously reviewed). The Jeff Lemire-penned series has been expanded from 6 to 9 issues, meaning it'll wrap in time for Christmas.

Batwoman returns, but we are not thrilled with Dani's artistic rendering of Kate Kane. At least enough time passed after the CW series ended in a debacle a few years ago. You have to be reading Batman to have an understanding why Barbara Gordon has gone to prison in Matt Fraction's current storyline. Her spinoff series won't mean anything otherwise, and we're closing in on the 60th anniversary of her debut as Batgirl. No sale.

Lobo is back as well, just in time for his big screen debut this summer in "Supergirl". The "Last Czarnian" is as rowdy & nasty as ever.

Ratings:

Batwoman: C.

Lobo: B.

Barbara Gordon: No rating.

Meanwhile, Mad Cave has launched a new Gatchaman spinoff series, Red Impulse, whose titular hero has ties to the team. That's all I can say about Steve Orlando's plot. We've seen variations on this plot before, as it's an oft-used trope.

Rating: Incomplete.

As Dynamite's ThunderCats-Silverhawks event continues, Mumm-Ra, the 'Cats' arch-nemesis, gets his own miniseries. We dig the Golden Age style aesthetic, as the villain's origins are revealed. We're less enthused about ThunderHawks, in which some characters from ThunderCats Lost don Silverhawk armor. Without being bonded. Hmmmmmm. Curious. And Silverhawks marks its 40th anniversary this year. Oy!

Ratings for both: B.

Videos of Summer: Let Your Love Flow (1976)

 50 years ago this month, the Bellamy Brothers hit #1 on the Hot 100, #21 on the country chart (WHAT?), and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Let Your Love Flow". Since Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is two weeks away, let's start our Videos of Summer....

A message from some famous moms

 Remember when the dairy association had those milk mustache ads?

Well, for Mother's Day, here's a vintage print ad with Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family), Marion Ross (Happy Days), & Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch).

Speaks for itself, doesn't it?

Sports this 'n' that

 In the run-up to tonight's Backlash PLE on the ESPN app (the 1st hour will be simulcast on ESPN2), various WWE personalities have appeared on ESPN programming.

Perhaps the biggest impact on sports outside WWE came from Long Island native Paul Heyman. Heyman, beloved in Philadelphia as the mastermind behind Extreme Championship Wrestling, threw his support behind his hometown Knicks in the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals, and warned the 76ers that "their season was already over". It might've seemed like typical bluster from Heyman, with the Knicks already up, 2-0, when he made this statement, but, as of today, he might actually be right, after the Knicks won again on Friday to go up, 3-0.

Your move, Philadelphia.

It has not been a good week off the field for the Atlanta Braves.

First, former announcer John Sterling, who later became an icon as the radio voice of the Yankees, had passed away, followed by former owner Ted Turner on Wednesday. Now comes word that Bobby Cox, who served two stints as manager (1977-81, 1985-2010), with a run in Toronto in between, winning 5 National League titles, 14 division titles, and the 1995 World Series, has passed at 84.

MLB has produced this video obituary, narrated by Matt Vasgersian:

There is also mourning in Pittsburgh, as former player & coach Bob Skinner passed away mid-week at 95. I never saw him play, but he served as a coach for managers Bill Virdon & Jim Leyland for several seasons.

Rest in peace, gentlemen.

Family Fridays: The prodigal daughter comes home (The Donna Reed Show, 1963)

 How fitting is it for Mother's Day weekend? Sure, college season is winding down, and when this episode of The Donna Reed Show aired in 1963 (the open carries a 1965 copyright because that was the copy the then-Decades channel had on hand), Mary (Shelley Fabares) returns home from college to visit her parents on what could be parents' weekend. The episode first aired in October 1963.

By that point, Patty Peterson (Paul's sister) had joined the show as Tricia, an orphan adopted by the Stone family.

It was 10 years ago today

 On a hot August night in San Diego, the Mets were in the midst of a weekend series vs. the Padres.

Top of the 2nd. Mets already up, 2-0, with a runner on for pitcher Bartolo Colon.......

Padres starter James Shields was already on the back nine of his career after this. MLB decided to take the bats out of the hands of pitchers for good, unless you're Shohei Ohtani, a few years later.