The Triforce is real, the legend is real... THE STRUGGLE IS REAL! OH MY GOD THE STRUGGLE!

Continuing the project of using DC Superheroes as object lessons for young readers such as BEDTIME FOR BATMAN and GOOD MORNING, SUPERMAN, author Michael Dahl delivers an example for young girls with BE A STAR, WONDER WOMAN!

With delightful illustrations from Omar Lozano, BE A STAR, WONDER WOMAN! focues on a young Hispanic girl facing the challenges of her school day while, in parallel, Wonder Woman takes on the challenges of a fight between two monsters controlled by her foe, Circe. Readers will learn the lessons of peacemaking and bravery, while being shown that it's okay to ask for help from your friends when its needed (making way for a cameo appearance from Supergirl, Batgirl and Bumblebee in Wonder Woman's adventure).

ENTER THE WARRIORS GATE is a certifiable bomb. It probably won't even score above 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. As a matter of fact it already opened in China to a paltry $3.2 million; which means I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Luc Besson made this movie for me.

A trailer for the movie, whose most recognizable actor isn't even its main character, takes us on a journey that gamers would appreciate.

Just read the plot synopsis so you understand what I mean:

Look! Up near the sky boxes! It's a Raven! It's a Viking!

No, it's all those things and more -- because at Wizard World Saint Louis, fans got to meet professional cosplayer, Super Kayce!

During the mayhem that constitutes a media convention like Wizard World, I was able to meet up with Kayce for a few moments to ask her about her art. The exchange has been recorded for posterity and presented for the readers (in this case, viewers) of Critical Blast.

Burbank, CA, April 11, 2017 – Bring home the year’s funniest family adventure when “The LEGO® Batman Movie,” arrives onto Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. The film features Will Arnett who reprises his starring role from “The LEGO Movie,” as the voice of LEGO Batman, aka Bruce Wayne.

The film also features Zach Galifianakis (the “Hangover” films, “Muppets Most Wanted”) starring as The Joker; Michael Cera (TV’s “Arrested Development”) as the orphan Dick Grayson; Rosario Dawson (TV’s “Daredevil”) as Barbara Gordon; and Ralph Fiennes (the “Harry Potter” films) as Alfred.

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

It was once said that there are two kinds of people in this world: people from Brooklyn, and people who wish they were. In the newest album from Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights, BROOKLYN BABY, we have a kids’ record by a bona fide Brooklynite, with many songs centered on kids growing up and living in that wonderful corner of the world.

Marv Wolfman and George Perez's NEW TEEN TITANS: THE JUDAS CONTRACT is one of the seminal stories in comics history. Not just a four-part tale, the story served as an endcap to a long-running plot, revealing that one of the Teen Titans had actually been operating undercover as a spy for Deathstroke, the Terminator.

While this story couldn't be captured accurately in the DC Animated Universe, writer Ernie Altbacker and director Sam Liu came as darn close as they could to the feel of that story and its touchstones, while also staying true to the established DCAU continuity.

The film opens with a vignette of the original Teen Titans: Robin (the Dick Grayson incarnation), Speedy and Kid Flash, with Beast Boy and Bumblebee taking the places of Aqualad and Wonder Girl. The scene details their first encounter with Starfire as they find her in battle with aliens. It's also the first kiss between Robin and Starfire, since Tamaranians absorb language through kissing.

One of the real pleasures of attending a convention is to take in all the cosplay -- the good and, yes, the bad. And among the most impressive cosplayers this year at Wizard World St. Louis had to have been Ashe Lynne, who spent Friday saluting the fans as a stunning Captain Marvel.

We caught up with Ashe on Saturday, when she had transformed herself into X-Man Jean Grey in her White Phoenix of the Crown aspect.

Offline, we spoke more about her Disney experiences, so if I'm ever in a parade, I know exactly how to get the wave correct. ("Wipe the window. Get the spot.")

Wizard World St. Louis was the weekend place to be to find fan art, celebrity signatures, fantasy weaponry, iconic vehicles, and sundry other geeky goodies. But it didn't put the slightest strain on your wallet to enjoy the free show that was brought to the Dome at America's Center by the attendees who took advantage of the event to show off their talents at transmogrification, bringing to life some of our favorite comic book, animation, video game and television characters. It's all part of the phenomenon known as cosplay -- a portmanteau word of 'costume' and 'play' -- and it's serious business for a lot of the attendees. This isn't a pair of red shorts and a bathtowel tied around your neck and calling yourself "Superman." Utilizing body paint, plaster casting, rubber molding, rivets, stitchery, and every other manufacturing method available, cosplayers pull out all the stops to make their characters look as off-the-page and out-of-the-screen as possible.

As a kid growing up, I was very fond of Nickelodeon cartoons. This was during the good days, before it all became preteen Junior High drama shows for kids learning about the cruel fate that awaits them all as they climb on up there. Nickelodeon used to host a wide variety of amazing cartoons which where ahead of their times, like ROCKO'S MODERN LIFE, ANGRY BEAVERS, CATDOG, and my all time favorite REN AND STIMPY. But there was one show that gave REN AND STIMPY a run for it's money, and that show was none other than INVADER ZIM.

The Internet is buzzing today with the release of the trailer for perhaps the least anticipated film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe: THOR RAGNAROK.

So before we tell you about it. why don't you just watch it for yourself?

The first thing I have to ask is: Did Thor really just pull a record-scratch/freeze-frame meme to introduce his trailer? Seriously? Who knew Thor was that up on his 4chan? He may be a God of Thunder in Asgard, but he's a full-on /b/tard when he's slumming it in Midgard.

The next thing I want to know is what makes Hela so worthy to be able to pick up Mjolnir? Okay, technically she didn't "pick it up" so much as caught it in mid-flight, but still.

And finally -- "He's a friend from work?" What, The Avengers is just another day at the office for the Norse god?

Heading into the weekend the Bronx Bombers were fighting through some rough starting pitching and playing in a dome that causes every pop-fly to be a nightmare. When they arrived in Baltimore, their starting pitching continued to struggle. Going against an Orioles team that had yet to lose a game, the Yankees had a tough series ahead before they could set their sights on going home.

Let’s take a look at how they did...

The boys ask the age old question. What would you do if you won the lottery? If you would like to play along then please feel free to leave a comment down below.
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Spring is here, which means it’s that time of year again--the time when newness and life spring forth. For those so inclined it means baseball, but for those of us more eclectic types in the Saint Louis area it means one thing above all: It is time for the now apparently annual Wizard World Convention at the America’s Center.

Now that the Superman: Reborn story is behind us, things begin to settle down at the Kent farm in Hamilton County. Until Batman and Robin show up.

***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***

Clark Kent is enjoying his family life as he pauses from his chores to watch Jonathan and Lois go about their day. When a storm begins to brew, Mr. Cobb (a local dairy farmer), asks Lois if she'd send his grandaughter home. He kindly suggests that she get Jonathan inside to take shelter as well. Lois clearly wants to talk about what just occurred but Clark cuts her off and says even though things have changed, they'll figure things out as a family.

Zach forces Kevin to travel down what appears to be an endless maze. Forced to go through room to room only to slip further into madness.
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With a lot of hype and excitement for the New York Yankees youth movement and their success in Spring training, (24-9) the first week of regular season baseball is finally here. With cold weather lingering back home, the Yankees take an extended stay in Tampa to face the AL East rival Rays. Evan Longoria feasts off of Yankees pitching but the Yankees youth movement gives some hope that their bats can keep pace.

Let’s see how the series turned out.

DC's LEGENDS OF TOMORROW has been, overall, a fun show to watch. The characters are a disparate bunch, their origins are slightly (okay, more than slightly) different than what we've seen in the comics, but for the most part it's been enjoyable to watch them band together and travel through the history of the DC universe (or the Arrowverse, specifically). We've seen them travel back to work with Jonah Hex and even the Justice Society of America.

Granted, the rules of time travel for our band of adventurers don't seem all that consistent. For instance, they're told by their founder, Rip Hunter (ARTHUR DARVILL) that they can never go to an event in time where they've already been, to avoid interacting with their other selves. This is something that could break time. This is also something The Flash does about every half-dozen episodes or so, but his actions never seem to cause a time-quake detectable by the Waverider.