If you've ever read Deborah and James Howe's children's classic series of books featuring BUNNICULA, then you'll almost instantly notice that this cartoon series is several steps away from the story you know. The characters -- the animal characters -- are the same: Chester (SEAN ASTIN) the cat, Harold (BRIAN KIMMET) the dog, and of course Bunnicula the vampire rabbit (CHRIS KATTAN) are here. Their young master, Toby has been replaced with a manic young girl, Mina (KARI WAHLGREN) -- no doubt as an homage to Mina Harker from Bram Stoker's DRACULA. But even the familiar characters are a little different. Chester is excessively paranoid rather than curious and leaping to conclusions, while Harold has gone from easy-going and sensible to an ADHD afflicted canine like UP's Doug. Oh, and there's no doubt at all that Bunnicula is indeed a vampire bunny who sucks the juice out of vegetables.

What did you miss on Critical Blast this week?

News

Hey Critical Blasters! We all know that we have at least one drawerful of comic book tee shirts in our house (more if you're serious about being a geek). So with SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING right around the corner, the fine folks at Film Jackets are asking us to help spread the word -- by giving away a SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Mask Log shirt from their line of Spider-Man Jackets!

Be sure to check out our Rules and Regulations -- and note that there's an exception this time (and it's a good one)! Unlike most of our giveaways, this contest is also open to all our fellow geeks in CANADA and the UNITED KINGDOM!

Once upon a time (goodness, was it really 15 years ago?) I had the opportunity to interview Neil Gaiman, who was just coming off of publishing AMERICAN GODS. Assuming it to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (and so far time has supported me on this), I kept him forever and asked him everything about everything.

And now, lo these many years later, AMERICAN GODS has made its way from the page to the screen, from the literal to the visual. And visually, it's divine.

The long and the short of AMERICAN GODS is this: When people immigrated to America, they brought their beliefs, and thus their gods, with them. The gods have had to adapt over time, and make room for new gods that we've created (unwittingly or not). And now one of the old gods wants to reestablish his place in the cosmos by going to war with the new gods.

BURBANK, CA (June 22, 2017) – Jinkies! Yabba dabba doo! Heavens to Murgatroyd! To celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the founding of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera’s animation studio on July 7, 1957, Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) is releasing a comprehensive catalog of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons to date. The 60^th anniversary catalog collection is a celebration of the lovable gang of animated characters that children and adults alike remember and continue to influence pop culture around the world.  The Diamond Collection will include over 70 seasons of the most popular animated titles of the 50s, 60s and 70s, many of which have not been released on DVD or Digital until now. The Diamond Collection will feature brand-new packaging, new digital content, discount pricing and select free episodes throughout the summer surrounding the milestone anniversary.

After 4 explosive movies, the last two which have grossed over a billion dollars each worldwide, TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT is hitting theaters this weekend. Have we reached 'sequel fatigue' yet with these films?

Fans of the franchise don't even understand what these movies are about, but that doesn't stop them from going. Even comic book icon Rob Liefeld chimed in:

Tonight, a new TRANSFORMERS film is opening. I'm not sure what number it is or what it's about it but I'm seeing it!

— robertliefeld (@robertliefeld) June 20, 2017

Crime doesn't pay in Forth Worth, Texas! That's because the city has its own Dark Knight, and his identity is no secret.

Damon Cole dresses up as Batman and other superhero characters to lift the spirits of children with cancer, and to create safety awareness. In fact, he was at a neighborhood safety event when he heard about a nearby incident at a Walmart involving the theft of some DVDs.

So he did what any superhero would do when learning of a crime in progress: He showed up.

Now before you get any bright ideas of going into the caped vigilante business, you should know something else: Damon Cole isn't just a caped hero -- he's a uniformed one.

From Radio Times:

The Sherlock team are reuniting on a new version of the classic horror story Dracula, RadioTimes.com can confirm.

Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are due to begin work on a series of BBC specials based on the classic 1897 novel by Bram Stoker in which the bloodthirsty count moves from Transylvania to England.

...

San Diego, CA (June 20, 2017) – Jack is back! Samurai Jack, that is, and he’s making his grand return to comics, courtesy of writer Fabian Rangel Jr. (‘NAMWOLF) and artist Warwick Johnson Cadwell (TANK GIRL). Hot off the heels of the critically acclaimed HELENA CRASH, the pair are re-teaming for a bold new take on the iconic samurai.

The story, entitled “Quantum Jack,” sees Jack like we’ve never seen him before. After getting zapped by an experimental Quantum Ray, Jack is sent hurtling into one alternate reality after another, his memories erased, but his spirit intact. Can you imagine Jack as the leader of a ruthless biker gang of bounty hunters? Thanks to the warped minds of Rangel Jr. and Cadwell, you don’t have to. They’ve done it for you! And that’s just the beginning...

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

• ARCHIE #21 – I am not all that sure how I feel about OVER THE EDGE. The first issue really felt out of character for so many of the characters here. I think there is a lot of ways to tell a strong ARCHIE story with more adult themes and real consequences, but so much of the first part of this arc felt like a stretch just to get all the pieces in the right place. I will definitely wait and see.

This collection contains nine never-before-released shows from the '70s, '80s, and '90s featuring three of the most loved guests from THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON -- Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy. Each DVD contains full shows -- including commercials -- highlighting some of the most cherished moments from 30 years of THE TONIGHT SHOW.

DISC ONE: STEVE MARTIN (July 21, 1976; May 21, 1982; December 19, 1991)

DISC TWO: ROBIN WILLIAMS: (April 3, 1984; January 10, 1991; September 19, 1991)

DISC THREE: EDDIE MURPHY (January 1, 1982; February 10, 1982; July 30, 1982)

Be sure to check our rules and regulations page for full details of our contests.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

OWEN WILSON and LARRY THE CABLE GUY return to the Disney*Pixar franchise with CARS 3, and it's a welcome change. Whereas CARS 2 seemed like a political message with existing CARS characters shoe-horned into it for delivery, CARS 3 is a natural progression of the character development begun in the first film.

Lightning McQueen (WILSON) has had a stellar career as a racer, sometimes winning, sometimes placing. But suddenly he finds himself up against newer, younger models that are engineered for greater speed and precision. As he pushes himself to beat them (and fails), his longtime racing rivals begin to go into retirement, usually at the request of their sponsors. Unwilling to be put out to pasture against his will, Lightning is determined to beat the latest challenger who has been taking his lead, Jackson Storm (ARMIE HAMMER), and ends his season on what seems certain a career ending crash.

CBS announced today 16 Houseguests who will embark on a new season of BIG BROTHER.  This season’s cast includes a government engineer, a rodeo clown, a microbiologist and a cosplay artist, among others.  CBS’ summer reality hit debuts with a two-night premiere event on Wednesday, June 28 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), and Thursday, June 29 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Julie Chen returns as the host of the hit summer series. 
 

The newest addition to the adult coloring book craze comes in the form of THE LITTLE MERMAID: A COLORING BOOK. However, don’t go into this looking for Flounder, Sebastian, and Ursula; this coloring book is based on the original story by Hans Christian Andersen, not the popular Disney movie. The illustrations seem to have been drawn by several different artists, and you can find the names associated with each page at the back of the book.

The Little Mermaid Coloring Book features full page (and many two-page spread) images to color. There are also colorable quotes from the original fairytale that make it look like a picture book. However it is not a complete story; think of it as a coloring book with random, eye-catching quotes from the original fairytale.

This week, Disney XD posted three more DuckTales shorts.  This time Launchpad, Weeby, and Ms. Beakley get the spotlight. Of the three, Launchpad's was my favorite.  He seems like the character that is most like the original DuckTales.  That said, I enjoyed all three shorts (plus the three shorts they posted last week). 

With Nintendo's Switch still having record sales, it was important for Nintendo to have a strong showing at E3 to show what comes next.  For the last few years, Nintendo has stopped doing normal presentations at E3, instead relying on livestreams and their "Treehouses" to get the word out. 

At Tuesday's livestream, they announced that Pokemon would finally be getting a core RPG release on a console.  They also showed a lot of great trailers that my kids have been playing on non-stop loops all week.

I love that they did a full opening title sequence, and the update of the song is very well done.  I can't help but be pretty hyped up for the return of DUCKTALES!  You can tell a lot of love and respect is going into this relaunch.