STREAM BEGAN AT 9:00 AM CENTRAL TIME! 10/4/17

Game Jab hasn't died! Zach has decided to take on the Cuphead challenge and is either very determined or very insane for putting himself through this madness. 

For those who don't know what Cuphead is, it is a game influeanced and stylaized to the old school cartyoons back in the black and white days when everything had style and class but Micky Mouse and Betty Boop ain't got nothing on Cuphead. This game is HARD yet amazing cause it's addicting but the fact it is all hand drawn and loaded with familliar Artsyles and classic music just adds onto the experiance.

In Joshua David Bellin’s new YA sci-fi, FREEFALL, humanity has destroyed the earth and must seek a new home. A relatively small – and carefully selected – group are granted access to the mission, dooming those left behind to die. They will enter into cryogenic sleep for a thousand years, during which they’ll be transported to a brand new, habitable planet. While the wealthy Upperworlders take the best ship for themselves, the poor and marginalized Lowerworlders are stuck on the supply ship, the Freefall. Unfortunately, when all passengers awaken one thousand years in the future, they find themselves on a scary, uninhabitable planet full of monsters, where daylight temperatures are brutal enough to fry you in seconds. Something – or someone – sabotaged the ships so they wouldn’t reach their planned destinations.

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

At a time where the world is in a state of unrest due to things that make us different from one another, THE GIFTED brings these subjects to the forefront.

Some shows try to inject personal politics into the plot, but the X-Men has, and always will be, about equality. This isn't a political statement, this is a story about how being different comes with a social price tag.

Being a mutant is synonymous with being gay, transgender, muslim, black, or any other group that has ever felt oppressed because...they're different. But different from what?

Everything else.

It's probably not a coincidence that a suburban white family is used to be the gateway for viewers into the world of bigotry.

The Jerry Bruckheimer franchise seems to have finally capsized. The motion picture, budgeted at $230 million ($20 million less than it's predecessor, ON STRANGER TIDES), grossed $172 million at the box office, compared to the $241 million grossed by the previous film. Those are numbers that don't bode well for there being a fifth film in the franchise--unless it's a rebooting, and honestly who could see Captain Jack Sparrow as anybody but JOHNNY DEPP?

The first thing that's a bit off about the film is the title: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES. Given that the entire run has been filled with ghosts who relate stories of curses, and that the plot of this movie hinges on one Captain Salazar (JAVIER BARDEM) who perished in the Devil's Triangle pursuing a young Jack Sparrow, it would seem that dead men tell quite a few tales at sea.

The second season of SUPERGIRL put Superman back on the small screen, gave Alex and legit love interest, brought Winn to the DEO and intro'd two crossovers.

Packed full of action, romance, and comedy, season 2 of SUPERGIRL was a sophomore success!

The first two episodes see Tyler Hoechlin donning the 'S' as the television version of Superman. Many people loved his confidence and chemistry displayed on screen alongside Melissa Benoist. As a contrast to Henry Cavill's DCEU Superman, whose character is meant to be still finding his way, Hoechlin delivers an experienced hero who is not burdened with the cost of his actions.

Greatest all-female rock band ever... go! The Bangles? Nope. The Go-Gos? Nah. Bananarama? Really? The Spice Girls? You’re not even trying. Pussycat Dolls? Not even close. Jem and the Holograms? Oooh, now you’re getting warmer. Jem and the Holograms' arch enemies, The Misfits? Hotter! The Runaways, which included Joan Jett and Lita Ford? Well OK, probably, but if the cast of New Line Theatre's hard rock musical Lizzie was an actual band they'd be number one with a bullet...or more accurately a hatchet. 

There are 7.4 billion people out there in the real world. Sometimes I think there are a whole lot more that exist in the fantasy realms we've created in cartoons, comics, and video games, all of whom get cosplayed to one degree or another.

And it's not that they're not all great, but sometimes it's refreshing to see someone go "back to basics," back to the classics, back to the good old-fashioned super characters that helped form the foundation of the culture.

Well, set off your signal watches and light up the Cosplay Signal, because our October Bombshell is just the guy for the job. Old Fashioned Nerd has been drawing attention on the convention circuits and on Instagram with his classic interpretation of characters like X-MEN's Iceman (seen left and below) and Wolverine (even further below, bub). So without further delay, let us introduce you one and all to our...

So here's the thing with DARK NIGHTS: METAL. It's the latest chapter in a continuing idyll that began with FINAL CRISIS and THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. That's going back to 2009, and continuing on through The New 52 JUSTICE LEAGUE series. That's an 8 year story-arc for those keeping track on fingers and toes.

Basically, when Darkseid sent Batman back in time (FINAL CRISIS), he was seen by the god Barbatos. He landed in caveman days, which we find out is what initially kicked off the Court of Owls. All history has been shaping Bruce Wayne to become Batman and the gateway for Barbatos to enter the physical world from the dark dimensions. And over several of his past adventures, Bruce has been infused with different metals, all of which are necessary for a ceremony to open that gateway. Five are required -- four have been applied.

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

Reviews

Tim Drake, aka Robin III, made his debut in a storylne called "A Lonely Place of Dying." Then he became Red Robin in the New 52 version of the DC Universe, retaining that identity into the Rebirth version.

And then he decided to give it up. Which happened almost moments before he was killed.

Except he wasn't killed. He woke up a prisoner of a mysterious man calling himself Mr. Oz. And with DETECTIVE COMICS 965, James Tynion IV brings us back to that story, merging in the revelations from ACTION COMICS on Mr. Oz's true identy -- Jor-El of Krypton.

When LETHAL WEAPON hit the big screen starring DANNY GLOVER and MEL GIBSON, the SHANE BLACK screenplay was a hit with audiences. Roger Murtaugh was an aging cop looking forward to keeping a low profile in the last few years of his career before collecting his pension. He gets saddled with a new partner, Martin Riggs, who is suicidal after the loss of his wife, and takes death-risk chances that endanger not just himself but Murtaugh. It worked.

Superman has been the topic of controversy ever since Warner Bros hired Zack Snyder to direct 2013's Man of Steel.

So it's no surprise that his perception as a hero is once again the topic of conversation. Portraying a brooding Kryptonian, living on Earth, many feel that this iteration of Superman is too dark. His story, which takes him from being a relatively unknown mystery hero to a highly controversial figure of immense power, is a journey that nobody else had dared to explore.

JUSTICE LEAGUE, is considered by some to be the third act in a trilogy of movies which brings Superman's heroism to light.

Or will it?

He's a Good Guy. A living doll. And he's coming for you!

You may feel a little prick.

Confined to an asylum for the criminally insane for the past four years, Nica (FIONA DOURIF) is wrongly convinced that she, not Chucky, murdered her entire family. But when her psychiatrist introduces a new group therapy tool -- a "Good Guy" doll -- a string of grisly deaths plague the asylum and Nica starts to wonder if maybe she isn't crazy after all. Andy (ALEX VINCENT), Chucky's now-grown-up nemesis from the original CHILD'S PLAY, races to Nica's aid. But to save her, he'll have to get past Tiffany (Oscar-nominee JENNIFER TILLY), Chucky's long-ago bride, who will do anything, no matter how deadly or depraved, to help her beloved devil doll.

This Blu-ray / DVD / Digital-HD combo pack includes bonus features including feature commentary with Director Don Mancini and Head Puppeteer Tony Gardner, as well as deleted scenes and other features.

From TV Insider:

Warner Bros. Television announced Monday the casting of a new addition in Supergirl's world. British-born actress, Amy Jackson, will recur as Saturn Girl in The CW show's third season.

"Saturn Girl, aka Imra Ardeen, is a kind, smart, and strong-willed hero who uses her telekinetic ability to help those in need. She was born on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, and arrives on Earth to help Supergirl battle one of her biggest threats," according to a release.

Not in a hateful way, mind you, but the division is real. And mostly playful.

In the world of DESTINY 2, the 2017 sequel to the smash hit video game DESTINY, the faction provide some familiarity to a world decimated by the 'Red Legion'. Guardians fought hard to regain their light and defeat the orchestrator of destruction, Dominus Ghaul.

Now that the dust has settled, the three factions have come out of hiding to seek your allegiance:

WWE NEWS

• Coming out of No Mercy

How much trouble can you attract with just 140 characters?

Since the advent of Twitter, millions of us have been given the chance to find that out, venting our frustrations and clicking the ol' submit button before having a cooler head.

Yesterday was comic book artist Sophie Campbell's turn in the Twitter hotseat. The artist of @IDWPublishing's TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS took to her account on Monday and began expressing a wish for world peace, for all the children of the world to join hands and sing a song, a cure for cancer, wings for kittens, and the overall betterment of mankind.

Greg Cipes (the voice of Beast Boy) just posted this on his Twitter feed:

@GregCipes 20h20 hours ago