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.

Title: Batman: Gotham City’s Guardian

Author: Matthew Manning

Illustrator: Steven Gordon

Ages: 8-12 / Grade: 3-7

Retail: $5.99

Before you head out to the theaters to watch Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, take a look at the backstory for the mysterious Dark Knight Detective, Batman.

Everyone who has ever read superhero comic books knows that the creators always cut loose for the fight scenes -- and there have been some slobberknockers over the past decades! Superman vs. Doomsday. The Thing vs. The Hulk. Superman vs. Captain Marvel. And does anybody remember the standalone independent nothing-but-a-fight-scene comic called DESTROY?

Now with BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE hitting the theaters, we -- with help from the fine folks at www.morphsuits.com -- want to provide a look back at some of the greatest superhero standoffs that have happened on film. So without further ado, Critical Blast is proud to present:

MTV's fantasy series based on Terry Brooks' epic novels is set to release for DVD on June 7th, 2016.

Set thousands of years in the future, the series follows the adventures of three unlikely heroes: Elf-Human hybrid Wil (Austin Butler, “Arrow”), Elvin Princess Amberle (Poppy Drayton, “Downton Abbey”), and Human Rover Eretria (Ivana Baquero, Pan’s Labryinth), as they embark on a quest to stop an evil Demon army from destroying the world.

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 20, 2016

This week!

Title: Superman: The Man of Tomorrow

Author: Daniel Wallace

Illustrator: Patrick Spaziante

Ages: 8-12 / Grade: 3-7

Retail: $5.99

Before you head out to the theaters to watch Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, take a look at the backstory for the controversial Man of Steel himself, Superman.

Scholastic books offers a wonderful view into the backstory of the most iconic superhero in all of comics, in chapter form. With a forward by the last son of Krypton, that summarizes his journey, the book will enlighten your young reader. Ten short chapters provide insight on how Superman went from orphan alien, raised in Smallville, to beloved superhero and protector of Metropolis (and Earth)!

Brothers Teague and Ian Alexy have been performing as Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank for a decade and just released their fifth album, American Shuffle, on Duluth’s Chaperone Records. For the first time, they worked with a producer, Ryan Young. He’s Trampled by Turtles’ fiddle player and a longtime friend of the pair who played on the Hobo Nephews’ last three records. The brothers tackle some unexpected material on the new album, including former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre (“Old Number Four”) and the legendary Yankees manager Billy Martin (“The Day Billy Martin Quits”).

The television series LOST IN SPACE is one of my guilty pleasures. It didn't create a huge following, and it never got the movie treatement it deserved. It's not STAR TREK. But the whole "Space Family Robinson" concept (another comic book title, by the way; same theme completely different series) was always an intriguing one, and should have found fertile ground in those days of television and movies when imagination looked to the boundless stars.

SHE LOVES ME presented by The Roundabout Theatre on Broadway is literally a story you’ve seen before. If you’ve ever seen Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan's YOU’VE GOT MAIL or James Stewart/Margaret Sullavan’s THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, you've heard this story. Boy meets girl, boy and girl strongly dislike each other, but work together, craziness ensues, low and behold they’ve loved each other the entire time, happy ending. It’s actually quite a unique story as far as rom-coms go.