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

The boys continue to explore Hyrule and in this vast open land the boys find themselves lost in a vast amount of conversations. Today the boys share they're worst dating stories.
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BLACK LIGHT EXPRESS is the sequel to Philip Reeve’s critically acclaimed (and much loved by this reader) RAILHEAD novel. It picks up after that novel’s climactic finale with our hero and heroine, Zen Starling and Nova, now in a new world that they never knew existed -- and shouldn’t exist, for that matter. But their story is only half the tale, for back in The Great Network, plans are unfolding between the Prell and the Noons, the outcome of which will bring together old friends and enemies, along with some new characters and new trains, not to mention a Guardian or two, those “beings/caretakers/gods” in the great Data Sea who have more to lose than either Starling, the Noons or the Prell.

For those of you who have not read the first book, not to worry: you can pick up the gist as the book moves along; and to help out, Reeve’s includes a glossary of terms that will bring you up to speed on the important things you will come across to help you better understand things.

After the accidental death of a diamond smuggler, the prestigious diamond-dealing Green family finds itself under the thumb of a powerful crime boss who draws them into the dangerous world of blood-diamonds. While the family fights to keep their business legitimate, their relationships threaten to fracture under the pressure.

Starring Cam Gigandet, Jeremy Sisto, Audrey Marie Anderson, Ray Winstone and Donald Sutherland, the first season of this AT&T Original Series is now collected onto DVD, and you can dig up your chance to win a copy by using the Rafflecopter form below. Be sure to check out our Rules & Regulations page, then proceed to get your cut in this gem of a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"The superman exists, and he is an American."

With those words, the world of WATCHMEN learned of the existence of Doctor Manhattan, formerly Dr. Jon Osterman, after he survived a quantum experiment at the Rockefeller Military Research Center. Gifted with inconceivably godlike powers, Doctor Manhattan found himself further and further removed from humanity as the years went past. Of particular interest was his view of time -- not as a line, not as a waveform of potentials, but as a multi-faceted, immutable solid that could not be changed. Everything was predestination, even his own actions (according to himself).

Remember when MOUNTAIN MONSTERS had a big story if an episode was a two-parter? This season, the Hillbilly X-Files is the plot line that never ends, as the sojourn into the Dark Woods reveals further creatures and conspiracies. It's like an Appalachian Twin Peaks, with every episode adding another weird layer onto a layer cake of weirdness.

Saturday, May 20th, the Destination America series picks up with Huckleberry covered in blood after having tangled with Predator an invisible creature with a shimmering humanoid outline to it. The blood wasn't Huck's, because my man knows how to use a knife, so there's an invisible creature leaking very visible (and very red) blood. Also, he doesn't heal all that fast, because the next day he's still leaving a fresh blood trail; coagulation apparently one of his cryptid-powers.

To protect themselves, the AIMS team decides to fortify their base camp cabin by surrounding it with an electric fence.

ALIEN: COVENANT is the next installment in what has become the ALIEN Prequel series. Taking place in the year 2104 (roughly ten years after Ridley Scott’s PROMETHEUS occurs) it is supposed to bring us closer to the starting point of ALIEN, which starts around 2122. How much closer it brings us is sort of a conundrum for me, because with roughly 18 years left in the time line gap, some major questions still need to be answered for me. I would say would take at least one more movie, maybe two.

I will do my best not to give away any spoilers here.

With Adrian Chase, aka Prometheus, aka the Throwing Star Killer locked away at A.R.G.U.S., Team Arrow seems to finally be getting a well-deserved rest, which includes a surprise birthday party for Oliver (STEPHEN AMELL). The gang's all there, with the exception of Rene, who also missed his custody hearing, something Quentin plans to ream him for when he finds him.

Touted as "not just a re-telling" of the classic Macross saga by Harmony Gold, Robotech is back this July with all-new adventures by writer Brian Wood and artist Marco Turini.

As a big fan of the 80's cult TV series, I was skeptical when I learned that Titan Comics would be releasing a comic book. I've seen the entire series and own it on DVD. I dismissed it as just something for a new generation of fans.

This isn't the ROBOTECH you grew up with though. It's being pitched as a re-telling and all bets are off, in regards to the safety of each character. With long form comic book storytelling, the characters we know and love can have their story fleshed out a little more. We can get a deeper look into Rick and Roy's relationship and maybe even dive deeper into the romantic confusion that Rick experiences between Minmay and Lisa.

FLASH 22 concludes "The Button," but it's a conclusion that brings with it little in the way of a conclusion. Flash is still in the dark about everything that has gone on, including the death of Eobard Thawne, and Batman is giving serious consideration to chucking the whole Batman thing on the advice of his Flashpoint reality father. (Show of hands: Who thinks he will do it? Hint: Does DC still have solicitations for Batman, Detective, and half the rest of their publication lineup? Right.)

See you're running round on Infantino Street

Whatcha doin' out there? Who ya tryin' to beat?

He knows what you're thinkin', cuz he your evil future self

Savitar's got plans to put Iris West on the shelf.

This is why the CW  doesn't come to me to provide the music for its shows. But it's really nice to see episode pays tribute to one of the all time most influential artists on THE FLASH comic books, Carmine Infantino. But in the CW series, Infantino Street is not a place of optimism -- it's a place of death. It's the place where Savitar is fated to murder Iris West and The Flash won't be able to save her.

And the countdown is at 24 hours.

Zach and Kevin work the night shift at Joe's Diner, cleaning up after messy customers while putting up with noisy dead people.
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Thanks for watching! Any view that we get is a shining moment for us but let us know how this episode made you feel because we are here to keep you entertained.

This was teased a while ago, but I was so glad to see the return of Jay Garrick in this week's Flash!   I've been a fan of the character since he served as Impulse's mentor for a while. Amd yes, I know this was spoiled on the cover, but I still totalled geeked out at this panel!

In the comic, Barry Allen doesn't recognize Jay Garrick, so he ends up vanishing back into the speed force, but we've been getting a lot of teases about JSA returning in recent months, so I am taking this as just a quick tease of things to come.

We've seen the teaser. We've witnessed the trailer. Now, we have questions that need answering. Mainly, now that the X-Men franchise has expanded and mutants are spilling over onto television, will THE GIFTED be a part of a shared universe?

Join me as I discuss the pitfalls of such a possibility. Also, what's with that title, couldn't they have found something that utilizes the 'X' a little more?

by Chris A. Jones, author of Reversione: Reset The Future

Time travel has been a source of fascination for decades, serving as the central theme in some of our most treasured science fiction stories. But is time travel really possible? Although I’ve recently penned a novel centered on time travel, the truth is I personally don’t believe that it is possible. There are of various opinions, science, and theories circulating around this issue and there are a number of things that seem to negate the possibility of time travel, or at least prove to be quite problematic.

In a tweet put out yesterday, Geoff Johns expressed that everything he's done in comics has led to November's big event: DOOMSDAY CLOCK.

In an interview with SyFyWire, Geoff Johns wanted people to know that the big event was not a sequel to WATCHMEN, and that it will not crossover with any other titles. It will be a self-contained story with "No watered down one-shots or mini-series". That being said, he made sure to note that it will "affect everything moving forward and everything that has come before".

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

Last week Marvel and FOX gave us a teaser for their upcoming tv series THE GIFTED and promised a full trailer today.

As with most made for tv comic book properties, THE GIFTED is grounded in reality to deal with more dramatic themes so the focus can be more on the characters than their 'gifts'. While SFX continues to improve on most of these shows, the more fantastical they become, the harder it becomes to deliver without appearing campy.

The series will deal with siblings who have a 'gift' due to a genetic mutation. And while they're afraid to let their father know, because he apparently hunts people like them, when he finds out that his organization is after his children, he opens his eyes to acceptance.

Seth and Kendra Sorenson are back, and the world is a better place for it.

The teenaged siblings who captured our hearts and imaginations in Brandon Mull's FABLEHAVEN series return in an all new adventure, DRAGONWATCH, and the dangers continue to mount. After having defeated the demons with the aid of the dragons, the dragons have decided they want more. They are no longer happy being confined to magical preserves, and are testing their limits. The wizard Agad comes to Grandpa Sorenson for assistance in finding caretakers for Wyrmroost, a dragon sanctuary where the caretaker duties are split between the wizard Marat and the dragon king, Celebrant. But the defenses of Wyrmroost have been weakening during this partnership, and Celebrant is probing those mystical defenses that would allow him to obliterate the walls of Blackwell Keep and release all the dragons of Wyrmroost upon the world, free once more.

According to the website Winter is Coming, George R.R. Martin is releasing an anthology-style book titled BOOK OF SWORDS to give fans a pacifier as they anxiously await the next installment of the on-going A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series.

Martin's inability to finish a novel, in a reasonable amount of time, has infuriated fans over the years. This news will be met with both excitement and frustration.

Of the 16 stories included in BOOK OF SWORDS, Martin's is compiled from unused notes he wrote for THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE. Titled "Sons of the Dragon" and will tell the history of Aenys I Targaryen and Maegor the Cruel (the second and third Targaryen Kings that ruled from the Iron Throne).