Is there anything so personal and so conveying of one's personal story than the t-shirt? We use to them to support our favorite sports teams and musicians. We project our politics to the world on them. We let them say what we're thinking and because it's on a t-shirt it's okay. We basically allow ourselves to be billboards for brands and ideas, and we pay for the opportunity to be used as such.

So since we're paying for that, we obviously feel pretty strongly about the message, whether that message is "Save the Whales" or "I was at this concert when it happened" or "I like superheroes." So why should we part with these favored items just because they've gotten too small (a misnomer, to be sure -- it's always because we've gotten too large), or because you have to make some drawer space for the newer t-shirts expressing more newly acquired ideas?

There will be more references made to the original animated movie than Rafiki can shake a stick at, but with news that Jon Favreau (THE JUNGLE BOOK) is directing a live action update of The LION KING, I am pouncing out of my skin!

It only seemed like a natural progression with the success of THE JUNGLE BOOK, especially if you leapt out of your seat while Mowgli rode on the back of a wildebeast. I got excited and then my heart sank as I thought of that memorable scene where Mufasa died trying to save Simba.

Too soon. It will always be too soon to revisit that emotional moment.

There is no reason we can't get Jeremy Irons and James Earl Jones to reprise their roles as Scar and Mufasa respectively. And heck, even Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as Timon and Pumba are capable of jumping into the fray.

Raven #1

Written by: Marv Wolfman
Art by: Alisson Borges
Colored by: Blond
Lettered by: A Larger World

Published by: DC
Cover Price:  $3.99

Being a comic book trivia geek, I love books featuring comic book trivia. Being blessed/cursed with a Y-chromosome and a heteronormative perspective, I also happen to love comic books that feature female artwork on the cover. Good girl, bad girl, it doesn't matter.

So how could I pass up the opportunity to review Louise Simonson's DC COMICS COVERGIRLS, a collection of some of the best of the best featuring DC Comics (or is it DC Entertainment these days?) heroines, villainesses, and supporting characters? The answer, of course, is that I couldn't, especially when it's as big as a coffee table and sporting a gorgeous Adam Hughes' cover.

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

Based on the debut novel by Ransom Riggs, MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN tells the story of a young teen named Jacob Portman (Asa Butterfield, ENDER’S GAME) who, through and from his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp), discovers clues to a mystery that spans time itself, leading him to a magical, mysterious place called Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children...and it is here that the mystery and the danger deepens and escalates as he comes to grip with who he is, who his grandfather was, and who Miss Peregrine and the extraordinary “peculiar” children are.

I found this to be a very interesting movie on several levels. For one, it was sort of like the X-Men, sort of like The Avengers, sort of like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, sort of like Harry Potter, sort of like Beetlejuice, and sort of like Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, all in one.

If a piece of art offends someone, that's often a key indicator to the artist that he or she has done the job correctly.

Kelley Walker is trodding in the controversy-laden footsteps of Robert Mapplethorpe. Both use the medium of photography with a 'little something extra' added to it. But where Mapplethorpe gained notoriety for tackling religion as a subject with the infamous "Piss Christ," Walker focuses on a different subject -- race relations -- and the backlash is, quite probably, predictable, as his critics are calling for his body of work, "Direct Drive," to be removed from display at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis.

Yes, even in these enlightened post-millennial times, when we meet something we don't like we try to censor it.

Clash of Champions Predictions

Mike Maillaro: Only two weeks after the Backlash, WWE is back with another PPV, this time the Raw brand is doing Clash of Champions.  I will say I love that they are using that name!  Tons of history there (yes, I know it was Clash of The Champions).  Never occurred to me that they should have used that instead of the terrible name, The  Night of Champions, which they had been using the last few years.

The adventures of Simba's son Kion continue with this episode compilation, THE LION GUARD: UNLEASH THE POWER.

Kion (Max Charles) and his young friends work together as the Lion Guard to protect the Pride Lands, helping out during natural disasters and assisting other animals in trouble -- and, of course, fending off Janja the Hyena (Andrew Kishino) and his crew as they forever try to creep into the Pride Lands and disrupt the Circle of Life.

This newest album from Anna Danes recorded at Capital Records Studio A, the same studio and microphone by the way used by her role models Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, is one of those albums that sounds both new and classic at the same time.

That’s no small feat, considering Anna didn’t start really singing until 3 years ago when, as fate would have it, her daughter refused to sing at a vocal lesson. And, with the lesson already paid for, Anna stepped in. And the rest, as they say, is history.

This new album, set to release in October during National Breast Cancer Awareness month, turned out to be not only an album of great songs but also an album of great strength, comfort and peace. Because while Ms. Danes was working on marketing and promoting this record, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Just when you thought those little blue devils were done smurfing around, SONY Pictures Animation dropped a teaser trailer on us!

Featuring the voices of Demi Lovato (Smurfette), Rainn Wilson (Gargamel), Joe Manganiello (Hefty), Jack McBrayer (Clumsy) and Danny Pudi (Brainy). 

Due to the unfortunate passing of the wonderfully talented Jonathan Winters, Mandy Patinkin will be taking over as Papa Smurf.

Earlier today, Larry Teng, executive producer turned director for The CW's Supergirl, tweeted his thoughts on this season's seventh episode, after giving it a read.

Needless to say he lacked a filter:

Just read @TheCWSupergirl 2.07... Holy shit. @DavidHarewood @chy_leigh @JeremyMJordan @MehcadBrooks @MelissaBenoist

— Larry Teng (@larryteng) September 21, 2016

A.V. Club's website released an 'exclusive' preview of the Rebirth edition of TRINITY and to put it simply: Rebirth Batman appears to be a giant, arrogant douchebag with no regard for subtlety.

Francis Manapul is flying solo on this title as writer, artist and colorist. Makes me wonder if he's doing it all from the comfort of his Bat-bed while wearing Bat-pajamas complete with cape and cowl. The setting is the Kent farm, with Lois Lane providing narration while Wonder Woman arrives discreetly in her invisible jet. Landing carefully, before emerging with a dead boar around her neck, Diana calls out to Batman looking for re-assurance that he's on his way.

Alters #1

Written by: Paul Jenkins
Art by: Leila Leiz
Colored by: Tamra Bonvillain
Lettered by: Ryane Hill

Published by: Aftershock
Cover Price:  $3.99

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

Even though this book is called The Scourge, it is anything but. For fans of Jennifer Nielsen’s The False Prince, they will find a similar love in Ani and Weevil the stars of her latest dystopian middle grade novel. And if you haven’t checked out The False Prince, I highly recommend it alongside The Scourge.

The Scourge follows the story of Ani Mells, a bit of a troublemaker, who finds herself captured by the governor’s wardens. When her best friend Weevil tries to rescue her, the wardens arrest him as well. In prison, the governor has Ani tested for the scourge, a deadly plague that is ravaging her country. When her tests surprisingly (or not) come back positive, she is sent to a colony where scourge victims live out their remaining days before death. Weevil manages to weasel himself onto the boat to the colony alongside his friend despite remaining untested from the scourge.

The Head and the Heart, an indie folk band from the Seattle area, has been unfairly grouped with the singalong bands The Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men. While all leaped into the opening created by Mumford & Sons, what differentiates the band from their banjo-blending peers are excellent songs. The group is composed of songwriters Jonathan Russell and Josiah Johnson along with pianist Kenny Hensley, bassist Chris Zasche, violinist (and sometimes fan favorite vocalist) Charity Rose Thielen, and drummer Tyler Williams. Their debut was self-released in 2010 and later picked up by Sub Pop. The album was a breath of fresh air, with 11 terrific songs that didn’t rely on the banjo inflection (or bro-fans). While not breaking any new ground, their 2nd album, Let’s Be Still, released 2 years later in 2012, continued their journey to open hearts and ears with acoustic guitars, pianos and heartfelt songs.

The 2016 - 2017 Broadway Series at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis got underway with the national tour of the Tony Award-winning A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER. The story comes from a novel written by Roy Horniman way back in 1907 called ISRAEL RANK: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CRIMINAL. That tales was the basis of film called KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS starring Sir Alec Guinness. The production clearly has a classic pedigree, and yet, I didn't like the Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak, production, directed by Darko Tresnjak, as much as I'd expected to. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I'm getting harder to please in my old age. Maybe you'll absolutely love it and I'm completely fine with that!

A year after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took down their nemesis, Shredder (Brian Tee), and sent him to prison, they are still living under the radar in the sewers, sneaking into basketball games and enjoying pizza. It's not a perfect existence, but more or less they are happy. However, their friend April (Megan Fox) learns that scientist Baxter Stockton (Tyler Perry) is somehow planning to help Shredder break out during a prisoner transfer. Despite Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Michaelangelo (Noel Fisher), and Raphael (Alan Ritchson) racing to stop this, Shredder manages to escape with the help of Stockton's teleportation device. When the Turtles realize Shredder's plans to open a portal and ensure his rising power, they race to stop him.