Long-time industry veteran Wyatt Easterling has spent a good part of his career as a successful songwriter, producer and as the head of A&R for a major label. But it’s often when those such as Easterling step out of the shadows as artists themselves that true music fans are rewarded. Such is the case with Easterling’s latest effort, Goodbye Hello. The album features eleven original songs that speak to love and loss, honoring the past, and a changing outlook on life and on the future.

“In the process of writing these songs I discovered, for the umpteenth time, that life is about facing change and embracing it,” said Easterling.  “As the new album began to come into focus, it dawned on me that I’d been writing songs about my own transitions.”

The album is summarized thus: The songs here are about endings and beginnings, some about living and some about dying, and in the end finding new love and how that brings out the best in us all.

SECRET WARS 8 by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic

Summary: It’s all out war as everyone seems to be coming together to take on Doom. The two Reed Richards arrive on the scene in a ship piloted by Starlord. They are hit by a Hulk and their ship crashes into Doom’s palace.  The Reeds head off to disrupt Doom’s power, leaving Starlord to repair the ship.

Meanwhile, the giant Ben Grimm arrives.  He takes down Maestro’s ship.  Franklin arrives riding Galactus to try and stop Grimm.  Ben is stunned to realize Franklin is Sue’s son.  This allows Franklin to destroy Grimm.

There are several emerging trends in current films that I’ve noticed – and many are trends I’m not fond of, such as rebooting old concepts (Another Batman movie but still no Wonder Woman or Black Widow?) and making single books into multiple movies (don’t even get me started on my rant). However, one thing I’ve noticed in recent cinema that I absolutely love is the rise of lady-driven comedies crushing it at the box office. Between Bridesmaids, Trainwreck, and a whole slew of Melissa McCarthy movies (Spy, Tammy, The Heat, and Bridesmaids again), those “but women aren’t funny!” trolls are running out of steam.

Should someone 70 years old be able to play the guitar like this? Should Vladimir Horowitz have been able to play the piano the way he did in his 80s? While you may have to sacrifice a little finesse, when you’re the master of your instrument age really does become nothing more than a number.

What can be said about Eric Clapton that hasn’t already been said before? Even that line has been said before! I have often found it very interesting that, when guitarists talk about Jimi Hendrix, they say he was the best ever, and they invariably follow up with "I can play him perfectly." Oddly enough, though, I have not heard such banter spoken about Eric Clapton. Yes, there are many that will say, and perhaps justifiably so, that he is the best ever, but I have never heard anyone say they could play him perfectly. Why is that?

So what is it that makes Dino Charge so special?

Like I said when I started this, I really didn’t have a strong bond to Power Rangers growing up.  I did think the martial arts they showed off in the show were cool, especially the Green Ranger (Jason David Frank), but it wasn’t anything I went out of my way to watch.  If I turned on TV and it was on, then I watched it. 

Welcome to part 2 of our deep dive into Power Rangers: Dino Charge!

The Power Rangers

First of all, I thought the casting was great.  All of the Rangers were good actors, and they all brought their characters to life brilliantly.  Usually there is at least one (maybe more) Rangers that annoy me, but I thought each Ranger was given a strong personality in Dino Charge.

Before we get started here, huge shout out to my friend, Brian Clark.   I am terrible about naming things.  That has been a long-standing issue for me.  In the past, I have done a few of these deep dive columns where I talk a look at a topic and go into obsessive detail about it.  In the past I've done "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the DC Multiverse" and "The Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who."  I have hated both those names, but I felt they needed a name, so that is what I came up with.  I had opened this up to some friends, and Brian got back to me immediately with Critical Depth. Which I loved, so it's the winner.

In a single tweet, one of Zenescope's best titles has been cancelled. Pat Shand, writer of ongoing series 'Robyn Hood', announced that issue #20 will be the end of his run for the alluring archer.

In his blog post he states that he will have one more story to tell in April, a month after the final issue comes out. According to Shand, the double-sized Robyn Hood: Annual #1 "acts as a coda to basically everything I’ve done on the title since the first issue in 2012. Also, there’s a wedding."

He goes on to say that she will be back and fans won't have to wait very long.

Open Mike Night by Mike Maillaro and Mike Weaver

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

Written by: James Tynion IV
Art by: Freddie E. Williams II
Colored by: Jeremy Colwell
Lettered by: Tom Napolitano

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

Twenty years after the Captain of the USS Enterprise retires, young Terry McGinnis is recruited to...

What?

Oh. Let me start over.

Set to a rousing soundtrack of "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys, the trailer for STAR TREK BEYOND comes across more like a music-video mashup than a movie trailer. It has a ton of intense action scenes and incredible jumps (both on foot and on wheels), highlighted by humorous one-liners. I half-expected Star-Lord to appear at any moment to help out.

So here it is -- the trailer for STAR TREK BEYOND. Let's hear your opinions on it.

The hunt is on for Ethan Hunt in the latest installment of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise. With recent events in the IMF history, the CIA, headed up by Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), is keen to have the force defunded and folded into CIA operations. But Hunt (Tom Cruise) is now personally involved in unmasking the existence of an anti-IMF team calling itself The Syndicate. No one believes that this Syndicate exists, and when Hunt is callled in, he goes to ground, becoming the CIA's most wanted.

When Hunt is finally ready to make a move against the Syndicate leader (Sean Harris), he needs to call in favors from his friends, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) -- all of whom live under constant and intense scrutiny by the CIA for any chance that they might betray Hunt's location.

My first real exposure to steampunk was Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series way back at San Diego Comic Con in 2011. I happened to be looking for someplace to take a break waiting for a panel to start, and I ended up sitting in on Scott Westerfeld’s panel. He talked quite a bit about his other work, but his description of Leviathan caught my attention. It is a retelling of World War I, but the Central Powers (Clankers) use mechanized, steam-powered war machines opposed by Entente Powers (Darwinists) who fabricate living creatures genetically. Even before the panel was over, I had downloaded the first book on my Kindle and loved it.

Cheap Pops - December 13, 2015

by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!

- TLC Predictions

- NXT Takeover London Predictions

When I see a musical theatre production for the first time, you pay close attention to the story and the song lyrics. I let the music envelope me and let the set and costumes bring me on stage and pull me into their world. The second time I start noticing little things, like how lines are delivered differently from the actor who played the roll the last time the tour rolled through town. The third time, I keep my peripheral senses open to hear the gasps of delight of the audience around me, enjoying the same reactions I had the first time. That's why my third time seeing WICKED at the Fabulous Fox Theatre was still just as charming and fun as the first time I saw it.

20th Century Fox has released the first trailer for next year's X-MEN: APOCALYPSE. I have enjoyed pretty much enjoyed all of the X-Men movies (even X-MEN: THE LAST STAND), and Apocalypse is one of my favorite comic villains. It's real early to judge, but I am not sure this trailer captures the character all that well. He totally looks like a villain from a Power Rangers episode.  X-Men: Apocalypse is set for release on May 27, 2016.

ALL-NEW X-MEN #1 by Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley

Summary: Wolverine and Young Angel are skiing in Vail, Colorado.  They are both competitive, cheating in an effort to beat the other down the mountain. Wolverine ends up hitting a rock, and Angel catches her.

Meanwhile, Young Beast and Kid Apocalypse are in Florida.  They are going to pick up Iceman and meet up with Wolverine and Angel in about a week.  They have been trying to reach out to Young Cyclops, but he’s been refusing their calls and laying low since Old Cyclops died as “the world’s most hated mutant.”

Many geeks may know Noel Clarke as an actor. He played Mickey Smith in the first two season of DOCTOR WHO, and he had a major (but brief) role in STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS. But what many fans may not know is that Noel Clarke has also been touted as one of England’s hottest young writers and directors. His films (like 4.3.2.1, Kidulthood, and Adulthood) have been earning him all kinds of awards and recognition. So, when I head he would be writing a new spin on superheroes for Titan, I was definitely curious.

THE TROOP #1

Call me Ishmael. No, wait, don’t do that. Ron Howard didn’t. With IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, Howard managed to make Moby Dick in full glory, creating a killer (no pun intended) whale that is almost as likeable as Godzilla. It’s a shame, though, because there’s just no reason not to make MOBY DICK. Howard decided to play it safe and make the story behind the story, the truth of which I would think would be pretty hard to verify. The film is based on a nonfiction book of the same name, detailing the misadventure of the Essex, a Nantucket whaler in the 19^th century. I have no doubt that the Essex’s misadventure happened, the book was non-fiction, verified by various firsthand accounts in historical records, but the odds that it informed Herman Mehlville’s writing of MOBY DICK seem pretty long.

Merry Christmas, Flash-fanatics! As a special treat for all of you (or maybe just for me), the CW has brought back the Rogues -- Weather Wizard (Liam McIntyre), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and my personal favorite looney-tunes, The Trickster (Mark Hamill)!

The episode opens with a confrontation between Zoom and Doctor Harrison Wells of Earth-2 (Tom Cavanagh of Earth-Prime). Zoom wants something from Wells, which is why he's been keeping Wells' daughter, Jesse (Violett Beane) hostage. Wells talks the demonic dervish into getting more time to make his decision, and then for the bulk of the episode seems pre-occupied.