Wed
06
Jul

Front Lines - Mini-Reviews (Week of June 22 and June 29) - Civil War II and Apocalypse Wars

Captain America: Sam Wilson #10 by Nick Spencer and Angel Unzueta

Summary: A Texas Senator and an oil executive are working together to create a new private policing initiative called the Americops.  They are reducing crime rates, but there seems to be a lot of harassment, racial profiling, and excessive force, especially when it comes to dealing with minorities.

Meanwhile, several black heroes have gotten together in a private memorial for James Rhodes.  Sam is asked to give a eulogy at the funeral, and he does a terrific job.

Wed
06
Jul

DVD Giveaway: Bitten - The Final Season

Bitten Season 3 DVD

The Truth Changes Everything!

In the third and final season of Bitten -- In order to end a decades-old vendetta, Elena Michaels leads her family into a vicious war against the Russian Alpha and his Pack, who will stop at nothing to wipe out her bloodline.

Bonus features in this release include deleted scenes, extended scenes, and A Look at the Final Season featurette.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tue
05
Jul

The Longbox Short-List - Week of July 5 2016

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


4001 AD: SHADOWMAN – Stop taunting me, Valiant!! Shadowman was one of my favorite Valiant books. It’s clear that Valiant wants to do more with the character. He’s appeared in various forms in Ninjak, Books of Death, and now 4001. Stop teasing us and just give us a new Shadowman series already!!! 

Mon
04
Jul

Green Hornet Origin Echoes With A Thunder of Hoofbeats

Lone Ranger Green Hornet Dynamite Comics

The setting is 1936, and John Reid -- the retired Lone Ranger -- knows one thing for certain: "Hitler and Mussolini are up to no good, without question! And their no good is a far worse no good than no good ever was in my day. Makes me mad as a hornet!"

Fri
01
Jul

ABC's "Greatest Hits" (1980-1985) Recap: Messin' Around Kept to a Minimum

ABC's "Greatest Hits"

The perfect summer series, IMHO, is mindless, full of music, has plenty of dancers, and is unabashedly nostalgic. ABC's six-week summertime event, Greatest Hits, fits the bill. When I heard about it from Steve Spears over at Stuck in the '80s I immediately thought back to the summer of 2005, when the limited series Hit Me Baby One More Time trotted out bands from the '80s to sing one of their hits, then tackle a newer pop song. Greatest Hits blessedly skips the "competition" format and just presents the musicians to let them do what they do best: perform in front of an appreciative crowd, just like the good ol' days.

Fri
01
Jul

Introducing Our Critical Blast Bombshell for July 2016: Lady J

LadyJ Cosplay Spidergirl Critical Blast Bombshell July 2016 Spidergirl

Starting today, Critical Blast is proud to introduce a new feature showcasing the art of cosplay: The Critical Blast Bombshell! Every month we will spotlight a cosplayer doing his or her best to bring our favorite heroes (or villains) to life.

This month, and inaugurating our new feature, we are privileged to present to you a cosplayer from Philadelphia, Lady J, who embodies the essence of cosplay both in imagination as well as in her career path and charity work.

Critical Blast Bombshell, July 2016

Lady J Cosplay

Thu
30
Jun

Bolster Your Firewalls: Wreck-It Ralph Wrecks the 'Net in 2018

In an announcement today from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the sequel to 2012's WRECK-IT RALPH is coming to theaters on March 9th, 2018!

Moving on from the arcade, Ralph and Venellope von Schweetz will be racing along the information highway via the internet. John C. Reilly and Sara Silverman are slated to return to voice their lovable, yet flawed, characters.

The movie will be directed by Rich Moore (ZOOTOPIA) and Phil Johnston (writer: ZOOTOPIA, WRECK-IT RALPH), and produced by Clark Spencer (ZOOTOPIA, BOLT) has yet to be given an official name.

Here are a few statements from their announcement on Facebook Live today:

Thu
30
Jun

Open Mike Night: Wonder Woman (1968) #178 and #179


Wonder Woman (1968) #178 and #179

Written by: Dennis O’Neil
Pencilled by: Mike Sekowsky
Inked by: Dick Giordano

​Published by: DC
Cover Price: 12 cents each

Tue
28
Jun

The Longbox Short-List - Week of June 29, 2016

Plutona #5 from Image Comics

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

Tue
28
Jun

Book Giveaway: The Fangirl Life by Kathleen Smith

The Fangirl Life by Kathleen Smith

This contest is over. The winner is AIDA R. of MIAMI, FL.

Hilarious, warm, and fangirl-certified, THE FANGIRL LIFE is an essential guide on channeling amazing fangirl traits into moving forward in real life, too. As a contributor to Slate, Lifehacker, HelloGiggles, and Bustle, Kathleen Smith is also a licensed therapist reporting for outlets such as Counseling Today, The Huffington Post, and PsychCentral.

Critical Blast is proud to present our readers the option of winning a copy of this life manual for the geek girl, adorkable girl, or just the every day fangirl, discussing topics such as:

Mon
27
Jun

Hired to Kill Hard to Watch

Hired to Kill Blu-ray review Dennis Russo Critical Blast

Hired To Kill

Tag Line: A-Team meets Charlies Angels meets Miami Vice.

So what do you get when you mix A-Team’s macho-ness, Charlies Angels’ beauty and toughness and Miami Vice’s sexiness? The answer is a 90’s movie shot direct to video that has risen to cult status.

This 2-disc director approved Special Edition Blu-ray+DVD starring America’s answer to Jean-Claude Van Damme, Brian Thompson, along with big name draws (at the time) like George Kennedy, Jose Ferrer and Oliver Reed, the latter two of which I consider to be two of the finest actors in cinematic history.Which has me asking myself: Why are they in this movie?

Sun
26
Jun

St. Louis Comicon Has Strong Debut, Room To Grow

Mighty Con presents S. Louis Comicon at the St. Charles Convention Center, June 18-19, 2016.

St. Louis has more than enough comic, anime, cosplay, sci-fi and fantasy geeks within its general market area to support a substantial pop culture convention or “comicon.” Yet we don’t have one, or at least we don’t really have one in the traditional sense. The Wizard Worlds conventions have run downtown for a few years now and some comic creators have said they’ve done okay there, but they are grossly overpriced for admission which grants you the privilege to hand over an even bigger wad of cash to the likes of T.J. Hooker, some random cannon fodder Jedi gal from one of the what-should-be-non-canon STAR WARS prequels, or some dude who got ate by one of THE WALKING DEAD three seasons ago.

Sat
25
Jun

Front Lines - Mini-Reviews (Week of June 8 and June 15) - Apocalypse Wars, DC Rebirth, Civil War II, Daredevil, Vote Loki

All-New X-Men #10 by Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley (Apocalypse Wars)

Summary: Beast is dying in the desert, but Ozymandias arrives and convinces the Sandstormers that Baal (En Sabuh Nur’s father) would be angry if they let him die. Ozymandias takes Eye of Horus that Beast got from Dr Strange and heals him.  Ozymandias realizes Beast is from the future.  Ozymandias wants Beast’s help in overthrowing Baal to help bring about the Apocalypse.  The Sandstormers arrived to arrest Ozymandias and Beast

Fri
24
Jun

Open Mike Night: Wonder Woman (2016) #1


Wonder Woman (2016) #1

Written by: Greg Rucka
Art by: Liam Sharp
Colored by: Laura Martina
Lettered by: Jodi Wynne

Published by: DC
Cover Price: $2.99

Fri
24
Jun

It's Saturday Morning All Over Again with DC's Future Quest

Future Quest #1 from DC Comics

Remember when you'd get up on a Saturday morning before your parents, sloppily make yourself a bowl of cereal (using the mixing bowl, the whole box of cocoa-whatevers, and half a gallon of milk), then turn on the television and do nothing but live in the animated world until lunchtime? It was fun, it was adventure -- and it was serious business! Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, the Herculoids, the Impossibles, the Galaxy Trio, Birdman, Space Ghost, Frankenstein Junior, and more were always there to take you on the ride of your young life.

Thu
23
Jun

Team Packs and Foil Cards Announced for WizKids 'Dice Masters' Game

It was announced today that WizKids will be selling 'team packs' which can be paired with any starter set and include 24 cards and 16 dice for $9.99 MSRP.

Dice Masters players have been clamoring for an option that eliminates unnecessary items for veterans of the game. With each set that has been released, players have found themselves with a huge surplus of Sidekicks, Rulebooks and Dice Bags. With 'team packs' those items will be a thing of the past, with one caveat: There will be no Basic Action Cards or their corresponding dice as well.

Thu
23
Jun

Game of Thrones 'Battle of the Bastards' Leaves You Gasping for Air

In all my years of watching television, never have I felt such despair after watching what should have been cause for joy. But in the end, the epicenter of 'Battle of the Bastards' was portrayed with such dark reality, that it needs to be discussed.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

In the second to last episode of this year's GAME OF THRONES, we witnessed the liberation of Winterfell and the defeat of the 'Masters' at the hand of Daenerys and her Dragons. And while I'm always up for Dragon's raining down fire on slavers (or anyone for that matter), the focal point of the episode, 'Battle of the Bastards' was the most powerful of the two themes.

Thu
23
Jun

KISS Rocks Vegas Right Into Your Home

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...right? Well not if your America's #1 Gold Record Award-Winning band of all time: KISS!

For this all-time great Rock-n-Roll event, 'KISS Rocks Vegas', they are changing the mantra to: "what ROCKS in Vegas, ROLLS into your home"!

Wed
22
Jun

DC Launches Official Spotify Playlist for Superman: Rebirth

Superman has his own Spotify playlist, of over 30 songs, for readers of his latest adventures and some of the song choices are very interesting.

Coming in at just under 2 hours long the playlist has several tracks from both MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN V SUPERMAN original motion picture soundtracks.

The first two songs 'Love Kills' and 'Hurt by Love' carries a pretty interesting theme to start off the playlist. Then you throw in 'Occupy the Love' and 'The Lady is a Tramp' and one would assume that 'Rebirth' Superman is the comic book version of Taylor Swift.

Wed
22
Jun

And The New President of the United States is...Wonder Woman!

Ever since it was announced that SUPERGIRL has been moved to The CW, news about the show has been coming faster than a speeding bullet-point list.


Let's round up the news so far:

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