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.

Just ahead of Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con, we sat down with James Marsters for a bite errr we mean bit. While Marsters is probably best known for his role as Spike in Buffy, he chatted with us about all the things he's involved in, which is everything from tv, movies, and Shakespeare plays, to his band, audio books, and even video games. And if that seems like a ton of stuff, this interview is packed with even more! We talked about his stunt works, his dream roles, and whether it's more fun to play the hero or the villain. And we even asked the biggest question of them all, is there anything planned for the Buffy 20th anniversary? But we wont spoil you with any of the answers, you'll have to check out the video below to find out!

Extraordinary X-Men #8 (Apocalypse Wars) by Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos (backup by Jeff Lemire and Victor Ibanez)

Summary: Storm has a lot of concerns about the current state of the X-Men.  Are they mutantkind’s saviors or just witnesses to the end? She admits her doubts to Old Man Logan.  They seem to be getting pretty close.  Forge comes in, telling them that Cerebra has located 600 new mutant signatures in a warehouse in Tokyo.  The X-Men team is spread pretty thin, so Colossus decides to take some of the students along with them.  

THE HATEFUL EIGHT on Blu Ray/DVD and Digital copy is Quentin Tarantino’s Eighth movie. It takes place in Wyoming 6 or 8 or 12 years after the civil war. It tells the story of 8 people…8 hateful, untrusting, uncouth, belligerent individuals thrown together by fate into a one room haberdashery in the middle of a blizzard. Somehow these 8 individuals have more in common than we are first led to believe, and as they all antagonize each other and “stir the pot,” we find out just how hateful these individuals are.

A villain team-up, a shift in the status quo and a cliffhanger ending highlight the fun and free-spirited latest episode of SUPERGIRL!

The episode has aired and the results are in! CBS experienced an uptick in ratings for the Supergirl/Flash crossover episode. And while it wasn't their highest rated episode, it certainly provided a boost in ratings that have leveled off over the last several weeks. Leaping +31% in adults 18-49 to a seven-week high and increasing +21% in viewers proves that the audience at home were eagerly awaiting this moment. According to Nielson SUPERGIRL was Monday’s highest-rated scripted series in adults 18-49.

Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball delighted audiences for years; Burnett by way of her variety show and Ball with her sitcom. Now, for the first time ever, audiences will enjoy their talents simultaneously in the never before seen CAROL+2: THE ORIGINAL QUEENS OF COMEDY!

Before Carol Burnett could begin her career as a prime time star, the last major step occurred in 1966. CBS promised Burnett her own special if she could deliver a big star. As the story goes, she hesitantly phoned one of her biggest influences: Lucille Ball. Her reply?

"When do you need me there?"

From the press release:

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 - March 27, 2016

This week!

Back in February we told you about Netlix and Dreamworks partnering on a new Voltron series. Now, they've released a 'teaser' trailer that provides some great visuals on how Voltron comes together.

After watching it you can see the attention to detal this series will have. Dreamworks is taking this property very seriously. With a massive update to the animation and a much more serious tone, this iteration of Voltron could blow the original series out of the sky. It's often very difficult to compete with nostalgia, however looking back on the original series, the storylines were often over-simplified for a younger audience and the animation was good, but certainly not high quality.

Take a look at the trailer and see for yourself:

You may have noticed that one of my fellow writers, here at Critical Blast, has posted a review of BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Caution: there are spoilers, but you can read it here if you'd like; you may agree with his viewpoint. That being said, I would like to offer my own thoughts on this epic presentation of two of the world's finest heroes.

This review will NOT include spoilers. I try to take an open-minded and objective approach when offering my opinion on whether or not a movie should be seen. Ultimately it's up to you to decide whether your hard-earned dollars are worth the price of admission.

BATMAN vs SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is a great example of the leadership problems with DC Comics/Warner Brothers. They don’t really know how to build a unified brand with a clear, well-defined vision. The result is a cinematic universe that doesn’t echo the comics nearly enough, and doesn’t dovetail with the CW/DC Television universe either. The earnest young Bruce Wayne of GOTHAM does not grow up to be Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne. The happy-go-lucky scarlet speedster that team’s up with Green Arrow on television is not the Flash briefly glimpsed in this film. The characterizations of Batman and Superman are inconsistent with the near-century of back issues that the hardcore comic fans have absorbed. If you don’t want to risk spoilers, I’ll leave you with this: BATMAN vs SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is overlong, overloud, and overkill. It’s also borderline boring despite the relentless violence and videogame fight sequences. Thank you for visiting CriticalBlast.com.

No it’s not an April Fool’s joke, Wizard World Comic Con returns to St. Louis for the fourth time, April 1-3, 2016. The lineup is jam packed with artists, authors, graphic designers, cartoonists, illustrators, cosplay guests, and iconic replica vehicles. In addition, the schedule boasts celebrities from Daredevil (Charlie Cox, Elden Henson, Jon Bernthal), Jessica Jones (Mike Colter, David Tennant), Doctor Who (Billie Piper, Matt Smith, David Tennant), Voice Actors from Halo (Steve Downes, Jen Taylor), and much more who will be conducting panels, signing autographs, and posing in photo ops. 

On the show floor you'll be sure to find hundreds of amazing vendors with great art, comic books and collectibles. And this year for the first time in St. Louis, Wizard World is adding a gaming to the mix. You'll be able to play the games as well as compete in tournaments for cash prizes.