From The Sun:

Tom Baker, 83, completed a story that had to be abandoned 38 years ago.

He recorded final scenes for Shada, written by Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy creator Douglas Adams. It was meant to be a six-episode tale for Tom’s fourth incarnation of the Doctor in 1979-80.

But production was wrecked by a BBC technicians’ strike and only half was filmed before it was shelved.

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!

Last year, the San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick sat out and eventually took to one knee during the opening National Anthem of the NFL games he played in, stating that he was "not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color." It was a controversial move then, and remains one even today as more and more players have opted to join with him in solidarity. What was the action of one man became the action of a few, which then became the action of many, until the point where entire teams began to "take a knee" or simply not show up on the field at all during the playing of the anthem.

THE ORVILLE continues to be a pretty divisive show.  The newest episode continues that trend.  I’ve seen reviews with titles ranging from "The Third Episode Of 'The Orville' Is A Must-Watch For 'Star Trek' Fans" to "Why ‘About a Girl’ is the The Worst Episode Yet."  Personally, I thought ‘About a Girl’ really showed what THE ORVILLE can be.

THE ORVILLE- EPISODE 3
"About a Girl"

Written by Seth MacFarlane
Directed by Brannon Braga

It's September, which means the toy industry is in full court press for the dollars of parents who want to be sure they get their kids the hottest toys on the market.

This year one of those toys taking up the airwaves is RC Pocket Racers, a remote-control rechargeable car about the size of your average Hot Wheels or Matchbox car. All that sounds pretty cool, because it would be kind of fun to put such a vehicle on your original designed orange plastic tracks and send a car around it under its own power.

From EW:

The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will join forces in a crossover event called “Crisis on Earth X,” which begins production today. In this year’s crossover, all of the superheroes come to town for Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris’ (Candice Patton) wedding (sounds like couples’ therapy ended up working); however, villains for Earth-X crash the festivities with a deadly agenda.

...

Could there be two more kindred spirits that Diana of Themyscira and Conan of Cimmeria? It's too bad they are kept apart by years and publishers.

Waitasec, what am I talking about? This is comic books! And these days most publishers are willing to do a joint venture if they think it'll make them a buck. And the way to make a buck is to give the fans what they want.

And so from DC and Dark Horse Comics, we get WONDER WOMAN / CONAN, written by Gail Simone with art from Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan. With that team of creators, what could possibly go wrong?

Honestly, very little.

Conan, being Conan, allows himself to be bribed into saving a gambler, Kian, from a gang of Vikings, and has to follow him to collect his reward. Their destination takes them into the city of Shamar, where Kian promises to collect on a massive wager against the city's champion, solely because she is a female.

By now I bet you can guess who the female is.

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

Reviews

I've been following just enough of METAL to know a little about what's going on. That's enough to enjoy the tie-in books, especially the one that involves two of my favorite characters in the DC Universe, Batman and The Flash.

The story opens with a narrator echoing the words for the classic CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. "World will live. Worlds will die." But that narrative is prefaced by the introductory clause, "Stop me if you've heard this one..." There's only one person in the DC Multiverse who would open a book with that line, And by the time that narrator starts to talk about how "...all it takes is one bad day..." and you're certain that this is some dark mirror version of The Joker. The fact that one of the solicits for all these alternate Batman titles involves The Batman Who Laughs, and I think we know who our unreliable narrator is.

The Book of Monsters, aka Monstrox (MARK OLIVER) has been defeated. Jestro (VINCENT TONG) has been freed from his influence and is back to doing poor jokes for the kingdom of Knighton. And the Nexo Knights have earned their well-deserved rest, with Lance Richmond (IAN HANLIN) co-starring as a morning talk show host and Macy Halbert (ERIN MATHEWS) taking on more duties as a Princess.

I received an interesting email from WWE this afternoon asking if I would be interested in a survey about "premium content" for the WWE Network.   There was nothing in the survey that said it was confidential, so I decided to share it.  Some really interesting ideas here, including audio content, and even content from RoH, TNA, and NJPW.  I suspect most of this is just a red herring, but I still thought it was interesting enough to share.  I am terrified by the idea of original dramas and comedies from WWE...

For the record, I am happy with my $10 a month, but I rarely get to watch the network.  If they raised the price much, I am not sure I would still be a subscriber.  BUT, this all seems optional.

From Archie Comics:

Sabrina the Teenage Witch is back – like you’ve never seen her before.

Get ready for an intense look into the world of magic and witchcraft with THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, a new one-hour dark drama/horror project based on the classic Archie Comics character. The new project is eyed to debut in The CW’s 2018-19 television season as a companion to RIVERDALE.

Calling all alien races, VOLTRON is recruiting for the upcoming war against the Galra and they want YOU!

That's the overarching theme for season 4 of the hit NETFLIX series, VOLTRON. As the paladins learn their new roles on the team (spoiler: Shiro's in the castle/Alura's in the Blue Lion) and adjust to the new dynamic, they begin to spread the word and use Voltron to inspire others to rise up against the Galra. They're building a Voltron "Coalition"

Meanwhile Lotor is about to be confronted by Zarkon, who has awoken from his coma.

Are there truly individuals in politics that care more about service to country than themselves? Is it ever possible to take ambition, greed, hypocrisy, broken promises, and distrust out of Washington? Probably not, right? But what if you destroy every member of Congress, the entire Presidential Cabinet, Supreme Court, and their staff in one fatal blow? Who is left standing?

The Designated Survivor! The Lone Ranger--truth justice and the American way, but with a tie.

Boxing, the Sweet Science if you will, was a frequent distraction in my formative years in the ‘80s. There were so many brilliant fighters and they were constantly battling each other for supremacy. They were legends like Hagler, Duran, Hearns, Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield, Foreman, and Leonard. Giants of their profession no matter the weight class. Perhaps even greater was the generation from the ‘60s and ‘70s known by many as Kings. Men like Frazier, Arguello, Monzon, Ali, not to mention Duran & Foreman who spanned both groups. Having been born in 1973, I just missed being a first hand witness of that glorious age for boxing. My window into that time was replays, interviews, and highlights. Honestly, it made the men and their actions slightly more mythical in my mind.

If you have children...

No. Scratch that. Trigger warning, I'm about to go sexist for a half a second.

Ahem.

If you have young boys in your home, you are likely no stranger to that dynamic figure in the tighty-whiteys, Captain Underpants. (If you're not, just check under their mattress, so long as they're still under 13.) That jaunty gentleman of justice who makes brief work of supervillains has starred in countless books (okay, they could actually be counted, but I'm kinda lazy) has now leaped off the page and onto your screens in an epic movie flush with adventure and clogged with laughter! (Okay, maybe I should leave that to Mr. Pilkey.)

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton is an un-put-down-able story of friendship and the price of success, set in a New Orleans inspired world where physical beauty is prized above all – and comes at a cost.

In the city of Orleans, every person is born with gray skin, red eyes, straw-like brittle hair, and “ugly” features. The wealthy receive regular beauty treatments, during which their skin color, hair color, facial features, and body structure are magically (and painfully) altered by Belles, young women born with the ability to change a person’s appearance through their Arcana. These treatments are pricey, but coveted (skin returns to gray after a month or so, requiring constant upkeep).

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!

Runaways (2017) #1

Written by: Rainbow Rowell
Art by: Kris Anka
Colored by: Matthew Wilson
Lettered by: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!