Cheap Pops - January 17, 2016 by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!

Fear is a part of life.  Whether you’re young, old, or somewhere in between, there's probably something you fear.  As we grow older, many of these terrors are outgrown, although some stick with us throughout our entire lifetimes.  Conquering fear is a buzzword of the modern world, but in reality, management is truly the best medicine for those things that frighten us.  

Hollywood Reporter announced that Tim Curry will be returning to Rocky Horror!  For Fox's upcoming Rocky Horror Picture Show musical, Tim Curry will be playing the narrator!  Charles Grey played the role in the original play and movie.  Curry joins a cast which already includes Laverne Cox as Dr.Frank-N-Furter (the role Curry made famous in the original play and movie), Adam Lambert as Eddie, Victoria Justice and Ryan McCartan as Brad and Janet, Reeve Carney as Riff Raff, and Staz Nair as Rocky Horror  Kenny Ortega will be directing.  

Entertainment Weekly posted up a new teaser for the second half of Star Wars Rebels Season 2 (which returns next Wednesday, January 20th).  It's pretty epic!
 

Click here to watch!

Featuring Luke, Slave Oola and the Rancor from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, soon you'll be able to adorn your shelf with a Rancor, its snack and the one that got away.

*     *     *     *

From Diamond Comic Distributor's Inc:

Recreate the iconic Rancor battles in Jabba’s Palace from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi with the figure pack, featuring a 6” supersized Rancor POP! and two 3 ¾” vinyl figures of Oola, Jabba the Hutt’s Twi’lek slave dancer, and Luke Skywalker wearing his black Jedi costume and wielding a bone.

The Rancor monster was a creature that lived beneath Jabba's palace. For punishment (or just pure entertainment) the notorious gangster would occasionally send it a snack through a trap door in the floor.

In an update on their website, Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) has issued a statement that they've exercised their right to stop recording for Warner Bros. Records.

*     *     *     *

In their statement they cite the incredible turnover of executives since they signed on, including "3 different regimes". There is also a mention of a lawsuit filed by the label against the band:

"In the coming days, you may read about the lawsuit our label filed against us for exercising our legal rights, rights the State of California granted specifically to protect artists." - A7X

MTV's new fantasy epic, THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES, is based off the best selling book series by author Terry Brooks and delivers a unique take on a fantasy world that exists here on Earth.

*     *     *     *

The opening sequence of the pilot episode, "Chosen", shows us several landmarks that immediately tell us this story takes place thousands of years after the fall of mankind. This isn't an imaginary realm on another world, even though the world your viewing is a far cry from what we're accustomed to.

Elves and humans alike are threatened by Trolls, Gnomes and 'Rovers' when they're outside of the safe confines of home. Other than those threats, the land is at peace and has been for quite some time.

Breaking up is hard to do. Especially when the one doing the leaving is only one of 32 options you have. So it's understandable that this break-up can only end one way. Badly.

With the NFL owner's vote that allows the Rams to pack up operations and move to Los Angeles in 2016 the fans wasted no time in offering up some parting gifts for the team:

St. Louis Rams fans dropped off jerseys at Rams Park, no fans out here now pic.twitter.com/eiQegdQQC8

— David Carson (@PDPJ) January 13, 2016

And others prefer to just burn bridges-er jerseys:

For Christmas, my wife was able to get us tickets for the January 8 taping of THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT.  I have been a huge Colbert fan for a long time now.  We actually got to attend two tapings of THE COLBERT REPORT back in the day (and we got to attend a tapings of THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART and THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN too). 

I don’t think most of our readers have gotten the experience of what it’s like to attend a TV taping, so I thought I would walk them through the whole process.  In my opinion, there has to be a far better way of doing it, but pretty much every taping I’ve been to has been exactly the same. 

Zack Snyder has been adamant that he's not okay with people spoiling his movie. Latino Review is known for digging up spoilers and sometimes throwing theories at the wall to see what sticks. It makes for a toxic combination.

In it's latest attempt to spoil a movie, Latino Review is reporting they know who the 'other' villain in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be.

Exclusive: Batman V Superman's Other Villain Revealed...[SPOILER] — https://t.co/fFRpJHW1Rr #BatmanvSuperman pic.twitter.com/vcXpFiCtIe

— Latino Review (@LRNews) January 13, 2016

Saban has announced the debut date of Power Rangers Dino Super Charge along with some information on what the future holds for the franchise.

Dino Super Charge will be returning January 30 on Nickelodeon.  Saban is saying that Dino Super Charge will feature the biggest team of Power Rangers yet with ten active Rangers.  We have already met the Red, Blue, Pink, Black, Green, Gold, Graphite and Purple Rangers.  And last season we found out that there was someone out there who had bonded to the Aqua Energem.  Can't wait to see who the Aqua Ranger is and who our mysterious tenth Ranger is too.

For more on Dino Charge, please check out my earlier "Critical Depth" columns.  

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #14 by James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Fernando Blanco, and Roger Robinson

Summary: In Prague, several years ago, Batman and Robin break into the Uranex chemical plant in pursuit of Scarecrow.  Scarecrow manages to tap into Batman’s cowl radio and says they need to talk about Mother.  He convinces Batman to send Robin to disable a bomb and come to talk to him alone.  Batman agrees.

Open Mike Night by Mike Maillaro and Mike Weaver

Uncanny X-Men (2016) #1

Written by: Cullen Bunn
Penciled by: Greg Land
Inked by: Jay Leisten
Colored by: Nolan Woodard
Lettered by: VC’s Joe Maramagna

Published by: Marvel
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

Cheap Pops - January 10, 2016

by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!

There's a new kid in school at Ducard Academy this year. His name is Bruce Wayne, and he's a little too curious for his own good. But he can't stop himself from getting involved from investigating the strange happenings: the bullies led by Bane, the gang of clowns who roam the halls, the always-angry Coach Zod, and the ever-present shadowy ninjas who stick to the shadows of the school.

My wife and I binged watched JESSICA JONES over the holiday break.  We were so engaged with the show that we ended up knocking off 4 or even 5 episodes off at a time.  JESSICA JONES is the television adaptation of the comic series, ALIAS, which we both loved.

The 2015 People's Choice awards were held last night and SUPERGIRL took home the award for best new drama!

When the show was first announced, while it was met with much excitement, there was concern about how it would fare on CBS. Being a major network means that it would be on a short leash as far as ratings go.

A show like SUPERGIRL seemed more appropriate for 'The CW' where established hit drama's, ARROW and THE FLASH, continue to have success.

With the new year upon us, the "New Year, New Me" Facebook posts are in full swing! The folks over at Morphsuits have come up with a clever infographic to see what superheroes are coming up with for their resolutions.

My personal favorites are the goals set by Cyclops and Batman. To view the infographic, click on the image to open it and enjoy the light-hearted take on some super self-relfection.

Add a clever resolution, for a hero you think needs some self-improvement, in the comment section below!

The Philadelphia Eagles off-season got started a little early with the firing of Chip Kelly a week before their finale against the Giants. So as their search for a new Head Coach begins, the solution to success may be nesting at their fingertips.

With all kinds of candidates lined up for interviews with the Eagles brass, one in particular has already had his. Eagles Offensive Coordinator (and interim head coach) Pat Shurmer. Retaining him will be the best way to solve their QB situation and fix their defense in one fell swoop.

Not as the head coach though. That designation should go to former Philly guy, and current Panthers DC, Sean McDermott.