Uncanny X-Men #6 by Cullen Bunn and Ken Lashley  

Summary: Psylocke is still looking for any sign that Warren has any consciousness left.  She scans him and finds a vast wasteland in his mind. She believes she’s starting to get through to him. He appears to her as a true Angel. He says that he's here to tell her prophecy.  This wasteland was the town of Green Ridge if she can’t stop Warren.  She sees an army of archangels descending on the destroyed town. And this it is only the beginning.

It's sad that there have been so many failed attempts to bring the Gold Key characters back. Gold Key was a comic company that started way back in 1962. In addition to licensed books like STAR TREK, they would also put out several new characters in a wide variety of genres, like Magnus Robot Fighter and Turok Dinosaur Hunter. Valiant brought back some of these bigger characters in 1991, to some success. But in later years, Accliam, Dark Horse, and even Dynamite all tried to make another go with these characters only to have them fail badly.

When I think of Gold Key, I can't help but think of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, another old-school property that has made many failed attempts at relaunches over the years.

Doctor Strange will be in theaters November 4, 2016, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mads Mikkelsen,  and Tilda Swinton.  Here's a first look at the trailer!

Commentary: Is it just me, or does it seem like Benedict Cumberbatch is speaking with an American accent throughout the trailer?  I was a little surprised by that, but he seems to make it work.  Personally, you can probably get away with Strange speaking with a British accent, he just seems pretentious enough that you almost expect him to have a British accent, even if he is from the United States.

EMPRESS #1

Written by: Mark Millar
Penciled by: Stuart Immonen
Inked by: Wade Von Growbadger
Colored: Ive Svorcina
Lettered by: Peter Doherty

Published by:Icon
Cover Price: $3.99

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!

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!

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This week!

• Interview with “The Big Deal”
• Wrestlemania Results
• Does Goldust belong in the WWE Hall of Fame?
• Lucha Underground Results

There are so many children’s books available to parents and educators that it can be a daunting task to pick something out the children in your life will love. Obviously, learning possibilities are an important aspect that many of us are looking for when we undertake this arduous process. It takes a skilled voice and practiced artistic touch to bring an engaging story to youthful readers and also offer a message of learning. A NEW LEASH ON LIFE is a fabulous example of the best the genre can offer.

X-Men ‘92 #1 by Chris Sims, Chad Bowers, and Alti Firmansyah

Summary: Xavier has announced that the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters would be accepting new students to be trained by the X-Men.  Many of them came from Cassandra Nova’s facility.  The school is pretty chaotic with students rollerblading in the halls and a new overpowered Danger Room.  Beast is teaching the students X-Men 101 when Maverick bursts through the window screaming “X-Men!  They’re coming for you!” He manages to add “It’s all a game” and passes out.

There are some things you never bring up in polite conversation with mixed company: politics and religion at the forefront. Everyone has very personal views on both matters and anything contrary to those views can draw ridicule, exasperation or outright anger from the opposite party. Then there are topics that even within a tight circle of friends and family can be contentious. Mortality is a good example. What if someone in the family doesn’t want to be buried but cremated? What if they don’t want to be resuscitated or live solely on life support? What if they don’t want to fight a difficult but potentially beatable disease like cancer? Coming to grips with how a loved one wishes to meet their end on their own terms is an emotional and difficult experience. Now you might think this is a crazy notion, but comic books can be almost as emotional and contentious as death itself. Don’t believe me?

 THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY is the Tony Award winning musical based on the novel by Robert James Waller, which in turn was made into a hit 1995 film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood with Meryl Streep. I have somehow managed to miss the film and never got around to the book. I entered the resplendent Fox Theatre in St. Louis knowing only that it was a musical and a love story, and that there were likely going ot be bridges of some sort. I’d like to tell you that I always plan to see shows like this with zero preconceived notions, but this one was just providence.

After the runaway success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I was not particularly looking forward to waiting 2 years for the next Star Wars movie.  Fortunately, Disney will be filling the gap years with side stories set in the Star Wars universe.  On December 26, they will release ROGUE ONE, directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz.  ROGUE ONE stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Neil Breen and Alan Tudyk. From what we know about the movie, it focuses on a group of Rebel spies working to steal the Death Star plans prior to A NEW HOPE.  

Here's the teaser they posted up this morning on Star Wars.com

I count myself among those who discovered Suzanne Collins' THE HUNGER GAME series organically. I was there from the first printing, and I was immediately drawn into the first novel. When the second novel came out, I was just as drawn into that, surprised that I could be as solidly hooked again into this world.

And, like many readers, I found the third novel, MOCKINGJAY, to be less-than-thrilling, and was rather cynical that the movie makers (not to be confused with the game makers -- although...) planned on splitting the least of the series into two parts. To me, that plan could only have made the screen adaptation twice as boring.

I never got into film and theatre criticism because I like to second-guess the artistic vision of a director or debate the relative merits of a given lead in a musical. I have my opinions, sure, but it’s a deeper passion that drives me to rush from a 50-hours a week day job to theatres all over town, and whether it’s serenely sung or admirably acted, for me it always comes down to the story. The story is everything. If you don’t have a strong, compelling story to tell, no matter how intricate or simple the plot, you won’t have an audience for very long. HELVETICA, a new play by Will Coleman, should have an audience for years to come. Unfortunately, the Tesseract Theatre is only running their delightful program from April 1- April 10 in the Regional Arts Commission Building in the Delmar Loop.

The star of the hit CW series ARROW, and playing Casey Jones in the upcoming TMNT sequel, will headline the Heroes & Villains Fan Fest, as the first wave of guests are announced.

Joining Stephen Amell, on the early short-list of guests, are ARROW co-stars: David Ramsey (John Diggle) and Willa Holland (Thea Queen).

The Heroes & Villains Fan Fest is a 2-day event that occurs at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ during the first weekend of July.

This past weekend, Wizard World descended upon Saint Louis in an epic blaze of glory that had this nerd and the throngs of nerd-dom far and wide in 7th Heaven.

Nashville-based soul-pop singer/songwriter JT Spangler celebrates the release of his album What’s A Little Heartbreak, which seamlessly blends in the influences of Motown, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and ’90s pop/soul stars Brian McKnight, Boyz II Men and Babyface.

The album was produced by Stephen Gause, a former top touring tech for Contemporary Christian greats like Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman who has produced, mixed, and engineered for hundreds of country artists and singer songwriters. Gause’s studio credits include Kathy Mattea, Nathan Angelo and Derek Stroker.

Spangler recorded What’s a Little Heartbreak with some of Nashville’s top session cats, including guitarist Gary Burnette (Etta James, Taylor Swift, Chris Tomlin) and keyboardist Tim Lauer (Brad Paisley, The Band Perry, Brooks & Dunn).

Episodes reviewed: Escape from Monster Island, Princess Buttercup, and three shorts - Air Buttercup, Bubbles’ Beauty Blog But on Video, and Run Blossom Run

Sugar. Spice. And everything nice. 

These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girl. 

But Professor Utonium accidentally added an EXTRA INGREDIENT to the concoction.... CHEMICAL X. 

Thus, the POWERPUFF GIRLS WERE BORN! 

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

Cheap Pops - April 3, 2016

This week!

If you don’t believe that a YouTube video about a two man band with over 56 million views is a sign that those two fellows might actually be just as good in person, then you don’t deserve to be on the Internet. I first discovered 2CELLOS the way most of the world has, from fun video clips showing these two good-looking European boys doing to cellos what superstars like Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen do to guitars—namely, beat them up like they owe them money. Two most folks, the word “cello” calls to mind a soft string quartet that plays Celine Dion or The Righteous Brothers while you make your way through the food line at your cousin’s wedding. Unless you were in your school’s orchestra from an early age, you probably couldn’t pick the cello out of any music with more than a couple of instruments involved, sight unseen. After watching them perform live at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, I will never underestimate the power of the cello again.