Tarzan. There are so few legends sprung up from American literature that are so rich with potential as the story of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, orphaned infant raised by apes in the jungles of Africa. And there are so few moviegoers who really know much beyond the Ron Ely and Johnny Weissmuller films of bygone days. Not many know the Tarzan who learned to read English from a primer but speak French from a jungle explorer.

I'll give Director David Yates and his writers this credit -- they at least tried to put as much of the Edgar Rice Burroughs character as they could into THE LEGEND OF TARZAN -- and they couldn't have cast a better Tarzan than TRUE BLOOD's Alexander Skarsgård for sheer rippling abs combined with a gentle voice.

Teen Titans: Rebirth #1

Story and Art by: Ben Percy and Jonboy Meyers
Colored by: Jim Charalampidis
Lettered by: Corey Breen

Published by: DC
Cover Price:  $2.99

And the first chapter is FREE! Writer, Shea Fontana, is set to write the digital first comic series titled: DC Super Hero Girls: Past Times at Super Hero High.

While the kids won't get the reference, it's sure to make their parents chuckle a bit. I think it's safe to say a certain element of the referenced movie will NOT be present in the comic.

Shea Fontana has already written DC's first original graphic novel DC Super Hero Girls: Finals Crisis, which also made the New York Times Bestseller list. The second graphic novel, sub-titled HITS AND MYTHS, will be available on November 1st of this year. A third graphic novel sub-titled WONDER WOMAN: SUMMER OLYMPUS is set to be released summer of 2017.

Here is Shea Fontana talking about the opportunity:

Stop me if you've seen this one before: A CW hero begins a new season of a much-watched show, and the premiere ultimately reveals a new villain with a set of abilities exactly the same as the hero.

With THE FLASH, we started with the Reverse-Flash, moved on to Zoom, and are now potentially facing off against The Rival and/or Savitar. In ARROW we've been up against the Dark Archer, Damian Darkh (who admittedly was a bit more than a weapons master), and we conclude "Legacy" by meeting another hooded character who leaps off buildings and fires arrows. It's a big DC Universe out there, writing staff. You don't always have to have an equal-but-opposite villain.

But I'm moving too fast -- something I usually reserve for the show with the red-suited character.

The mega-marketing campaign for DC Super Hero Girls continues to explode with exciting new products! 

They've already lined the shelves with clothing and toys to compliment the popular web-series. More recently they released an original movie and a music video! Now, this weekend at the New York Comic-Con, DC will be announcing some additional products that are sure to find their way into your home!

The Horribly Hungry Gingerbread Boy: A San Francisco Story by Elisa Kleven is a wonderful newly-imagined romp through a classic tale. Everybody knows the Gingerbread Man tale and each generation has a retelling of the same story, ie cookie comes to life, causes mayhem, ends abruptly, usually in someone’s stomach. In this version of the folk tale, we are allowed a completely unique look at the boy who cried ginger and a bold location with a ton of personality.

Last night, I committed a cardinal sin. 

I watched the movie without having read the book first. 

I know, I know. After years of shaming Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Hunger Games fans who said they didn't need to read the books because they saw the movies, I became a culprit. Although I still might check out the book because I really enjoyed the story. 

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN is a thriller of GONE GIRL proportions. The story focuses on three women:

For those wondering if the events from "Flashpoint" would last all season long or just for the first episode -- well, you're both right.

The second season of CW's hit superhero drama THE FLASH ended with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) traveling back in time to prevent the Reverse-Flash from killing Barry's mother, setting the stage for what fans of the comics knew to be the "Flashpoint" paradox. And, certainly enough, when The Flash returns to the present day, his world has been changed. Both his parents (John Wesley Shipp, Michelle Harrison) are alive, but nobody remembers that Barry Allen is The Flash.

Instead, there's a new Flash in town -- Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale), who battles his own super-speed villain, The Rival (Todd Lasance). Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) is a billionaire, Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) is a pediatric eye doctor, Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) is a drunk, and Iris (Candice Patton) hasn't seen Barry since middle school.

The New 52 will always hold a special place in my comic book loving heart as it offered so many new opportunities to meet classic characters for the first time. However the tone was bitter and left a lot of fans disappointed with the direction.

Now, with 'Rebirth', DC is rebuilding a universe that was fractured by a poor mishandling of the brand. And, so far, they're doing a fantastic job through storytelling and character building.

As always, the DCU begins and ends with the world's greatest superhero:

SUPERMAN

While Action Comics is the series that started the superhero craze, with the introduction of the Man of Steel back in 1938, the title that really seems to be carrying the torch this time around is SUPERMAN.

The always adventurous New Line Theatre in St. Louis kicked off their 26^th season with the world premiere of the recently revised show, CELEBRATION, a musical by the team of Tom Jones (no, not that one) and Harvey Schmidt. The team also wrote the book, lyrics and music for the better known show THE FANTASTICKS. The show has been revived off and on since its debut in 1969, and never really seemed to find its audience. Writer Tom Jones revised the ending and that’s the version New Line Co-Directors Scott Miller and Mike Dowdy-Windsor are presenting through October 22, 2016 at the Marcelle Theatre in St. Louis’ Grand Center.

From Comicbook.com:

Warren Ellis will return to DC, to work on some of the characters that made him a household name among comic book fans, as the curator of a new pop-up imprint called WildStorm, ComicBook.com has learned exclusively. 

Following on the heels of the success of Gerard Way's Young Animal imprint, WildStorm will take a similar approach, with Ellis writing the "main" book and curating the others.

Voltron has finally released the preview footage for season 2 and combined the ominous score that accompanies it, it appears that darker days loom ahead.

When season 1 ended, the 5 lions of Voltron were split up. My theory has long stood that since Shiro was a new character for this updated version, eventually Keith would step into a leadership role. Given his time spent with Shiro during season 1 he has had time to learn from his mentor.

In the early hours of the morning the official twitter account, for Marvel's IRON FIST on Netflix, awoke after a 3 month hiatus.

Starring Finn Jones (Game of Thrones) as Danny Rand, the show follows the story of a young man who is "bestowed with incredible martial arts skills and a mystical force known as the Iron Fist."

Breathe deep. #IronFist pic.twitter.com/RSTKHgJg6I

— Iron Fist (@MarvelIronFist) October 4, 2016

Huge changes to NY rules regarding pro wrestling

Mike Maillaro: Readers of this column know that we love independent wrestling.  Recently the New York State Athletic Commission made some changes to the regulations regarding running a wrestling show in New York.  Some of these changes seem designed to put smaller indy companies out of business:

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

Lots of new series to cover this week…

It should be no secret that I am a bona-fide Laurie Berkner fan. So when I heard that the Queen of Kiddie Music was releasing her first new record of all new songs in 8 years, I said to myself, “Self, you’ve got to hear if Ms. B still gots it.” Would she be able to create songs as endearing as “Victor Vito” and “Bottle caps?” A tall order indeed!

The new CD is called SUPERHERO, and it contains 21 new songs and 2 bonus tracks, running 56 minutes in length.

Right out of the gate, the title track of the album struck a chord with me as I am sure it will for every boy, girl and adult who grew up reading (and still reads) comic books, dreaming of being a superhero. (Yeah, I still dream that too.) Laurie even names one or two that are not on everyone’s tongues because of the Marvel and DC movies, but that I and (I’m sure) many others will remember.

It's October, and as much as the summer months bring us conventions all over the world for cosplayers to strut their stuff in front of fans and foes alike, this is the month that it's really all about. Because with October comes the original cosplay event, Halloween!

So while you're preparing all the final tricks for this year's costumes, Critical Blast is happy to be bringing you a treat with the cosplay art of Desi-Rae Pense, an Arkansan transplant to California, who draws upon anime and online role-playing games as a source of inspiration for her outfits and props.

With Supergirl landing on The CW, the network has significantly upgraded it's 'Superhero Fight Club' promo from last year.

Seeing the entire gang together for the first time is enough to make any geek burst with excitement. It's the shortest of previews into the window of the upcoming 4 episode crossover that will have all four shows following the same story.

Rather than keep you in suspense with all the "mysterious mystery" we'll get you right into the video and provide commentary afterwards:

You can watch the entire episode on The CW App.

Sometimes, when I get up in the morning, I certainly feel as though the effort to do so is a superhuman one.

Serving as an excellent companion piece to his previous book, BEDTIME FOR BATMAN, Michael Dahl's GOOD MORNING, SUPERMAN retains the look established by the animated television series, this time with Omar Lozano illustrating the examples.

As with BEDTIME FOR BATMAN, the narrative follows the morning rituals of a young boy preparing to tackle the day, with a direct comparison to the activities of the Man of Steel undertaking an adventure. There are duties to be performed, and friends who will assist you as Supergirl and Krypto show up to lend a hand.

While it's more or less playing the song "That's My Girl" by Fifth Harmony while showing clips of DC's Super Hero Girls, it's still a nice partnership to attract attention to the successful property.

The lyrics to the song aren't nearly as empowering as Jordyn Kane's original theme "Get Your Cape On", which was written for the show, but it's got a very catchy beat. Hopefully it will have young girls singing, dancing and associating the girl powered heroes with it. This is just the latest marketing campaign being used to promote DC's Super Hero Girls. A partnership with McDonald's is currently in full swing, as they offer headbands and action figures in their Happy Meals alongside toys for the upcoming cartoon Justice League: Action!