These are sad and strange times we are living in. As the forces of unpatriotic fascism clash with the forces of unpatriotic fascism (and no, that is not a typographical error), resulting in a woman's death in Charlottesville, VA, people are lining up to take sides and throw blame.

Meanwhile, in the Twittersphere, the self-righteous lose their sense of self-awareness as they tweet from the safety of their keyboards. The most egregious instance of this occurred over the weekend when vlog-warrior Keith Olbermann, host of GQ Magazine's political web show, The Resistance, took issue with Omarosa Manigault, former contestant on Donald Trump's THE APPRENTICE reality show and current political aide in President Trump's administration.

Apparently not liking Omarosa's response to a question, the former sports analyst sent out the following tweet:

Over the last few months, I’ve been doing quite a bit of coverage of Disney’s DUCKTALES relaunch.  I have to admit, a big part of me was very concerned that I was overhyping it to the point where there was no way I could enjoy it.  On Saturday, August 12th, they aired the premiere episode, “WOO-OO!” repeating it for 24 hours straight.  Probably a bit excessive, but I am here to review the episode itself, NOT the marketing strategy.

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

Game Jab

I’ve been covering New Line Theatre for several years running, and the one thing I can always count on is to expect the unexpected. When I heard that director Scott Miller closing his 26^th season with Out On Broadway: The Third Coming, I thought to myself, “Hmmm…never heard of the first two comings but I assume it’s about gay actors on Broadway?” and yep, that’s pretty much it. Five musical veterans: Dominic Dowdy-Winsor, his real-life husband Mike Dowdy-Windsor, Ken Haller, Sean Michael, and Keith Thompson, along with Nate Jackson on the piano, cover a range of songs from a wide variety of musicals. It’s not a musical in and of itself as it doesn’t have a plot; it’s more of a revue, a five-part cabaret without the introspection between numbers. It’s as stripped down to the bone as a New Line production will likely ever get, and that’s perfectly fine, because the music is pretty great.

Like I said about CAPTAIN AMERICA #25, this comic felt really special. Everything is moving in a real positive direction with the heroes all rallying together for a final battle led by Sam Wilson. It made me exciting to read the last two issues of SECRET EMPIRE and really curious where Marvel is going to head in LEGACY. A few years ago, it seemed like Marvel was heading in this direction with THE HEROIC AGE, but that sort of fell to the wayside. Hopefully, this time they follow through entirely. 

I know a lot of people are down on Marvel for a lot of reasons.  But there are always a lot of Marvel books I enjoy each month.  That said, this issue promises a bold new optimistic direction for the Marvel universe.  I definitely hope they follow through with that.  If so LEGECY will truly be something special.

A SOLAR ECLIPSE IS IMMINENT!
On Monday, August 21, 2017, a solar eclipse will be visible across all of North America. The whole continent will experience a partial eclipse lasting 2 to 3 hours. If you care about the well-being of Earth and you're a space-head like us, check out COMET's...

"When The Moon Throws Shade"
Ultimate Guide to Eclipsing

http://www.CometTV.com/eclipse/

The MONTY PYTHON FAQ: ALL THAT'S LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT SPAM, GRAILS, SPAM, NUDGING, BRUCES AND SPAM, written by Chris Barsanti, Brian Cogan, and Jeff Massey, is one of a series FAQ books from Applause Theater and Cinema Books.

When I first heard about the book, I thought, "Wow! A book that answers the most frequently asked questions about Monty Python!" After all, that is what the acronym “FAQ” stands for. But upon opening it to read, it is actually something completely different…in a good way!

Hey Critical Blasters!

Last week I told you we'd have coverage from Dragon Con complete with cosplay pictures, live panel tweets, interviews and more. This week there's even more exciting news for con enthusiats who aren't able to attend.

Dragon Con has a new streaming service that allows you to catch the higlights of the con with a subscription based service right from your living room. And for those not familiar with Dragon Con TV, it's one of the best compilations of geek culture I've ever seen. There's panels, interviews, videos, and so much fandom awesomeness. Check out the press release below!

And don't forget to check out Critical Blast Labor Day weekend! I'm looking forward to filling all your social media streams with amazing things from Dragon Con!

JK Elison

Streaming Service Will Bring the Best of Dragon Con’s Panels, Costume Contests, and Other Events Directly To Your Device, Wherever, Whenever You Go  

When I started reading comics, X-Force was my absolute favorite.  I was there was the first appearance of Cable, Deadpool, and Domino, and I have been a fan of the characters ever since.   I absolutely loved the first DEADPOOL movie, and I was even more hyped up when they teased Cable for the sequel.  Over the last few days, we've gotten our first look at Cable (played by Josh Brolin) and Domino (played by Zazie Beetz). 

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!

Comics shipping this week

• FIRST STRIKE #1 - I have been playing catch up on IDW's Hasbro line. I actually only read REVOLUTION a few months ago. I don't love all the series, but ROM, MICRONAUTS, REVOLUTIONARIES, and ACTION MAN (which needs to come back) have all been excellent, so I will likely give this a shot.

He destroyed Tokyo almost a dozen times, but Godzilla, King of the Monsters, has finally succumbed to time.

Or, more precisely, the actor who marched in the rubber suit across scale models of cities, has passed.

Haruo Nakajima was a stuntman in 1954 when he first donned the reptilian hide -- which was not rubber in the beginning, but concrete and over 200 pounds! After the original release of GODZILLA (or GOJIRA if you're a true kaiju purist), Nakajima went on to play the nuclear lizard eleven more times, with the last being the 1972 creature feature, GODZILLA VS. GIGAN.

Nakajima studied the walking patterns of bears and elephants to develop the signature gait of Godzilla, and went on to appear in other monster movies. He also played a role in the equally classic SEVEN SAMURAI.

We've all been there. Whether it was deep in our childhood, or just last night, we've all been at that place where we've watched a movie before going to bed that just kept us up all night, afraid to go to sleep and praying that the covers were just enough protection to keep us safe.

The folks at MattressOnline know a little something about trying to get to sleep. But sometimes even a good mattress is no cure for the horrors in our head after watching a scary flick. So they've compiled the infographic below on Movie Nightmares. Let's get this Halloween season started a little early, shall we? (Click to Enlarge)

Generations: Totally Awesome Hulk & Banner Hulk

Continuing our interview with Mike Grell, who will be accepting his induction into the Wizard World Hall of Legends this month in Chicago. In this installment, we discuss Mike's work on JON SABLE and stories from the headlines--and Mike's short-lived armed standoff with Nazis! Click here to read the prior installment of this interview series.