HOUSE OF M #4 by Dennis Hopeless, Cullen Bunn, and Ario Anindito

Summary: Magneto, Polaris, and the Human Resistance are breaking in to the Human Reeducation Center to free the other human rebels.  Alarms so off, so this quickly becomes a fight.  Even without his powers, Magneto is determined to fight as much as he can.  Sentinels arrive to stop the escape.  But Magneto's grandsons, Speed and Wiccan, arrive to lead the Young Avengers to defeat the Sentinels.  Wiccan tries to use his magic to restore Magneto's powers, but he's just not strong enough.  They need Scarlet Witch's power.  Lorna suggests they go rescue her from Quicksilver and Namor.

Last night debuted the second episode of Supergirl's maiden voyage and it continued to soar. SPOILER ALERT: Don't participate in the discussion unless you've seen the episode or don't care to have elements of the show spoiled!

Well, they finally said it.

Superman.

While there were many references and mentions of the Man of Steel in last night's episode titled 'Stronger Together', it was primarily focused on Kara stepping out from his shadow. This episode gives us a reason why Supergirl's story can be told in a way her cousin's never can.

Flashbacks.

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 - November 1, 2015

by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!

- Hell in the Cell Results-  The Return of Alberto Del Rio

STUDIO CITY, CALIF. AND NEW YORK, N.Y. – Nov. 2, 2015 – CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new “Star Trek” television series in January 2017. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.

The next chapter of the “Star Trek” franchise will also be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International.

BATKID BEGINS isn't an overly lengthy documentary. However, it did take me several atempts to watch it. I blame a manufacturer's defect in the disc, that caused the image to go blurry after five minutes or so of watching it (and which somehow made everything else I looked at blurry as well until I wiped my eyes).

Okay, I admit it -- I'm turning into a lachrymose old softie in my old age. Part of it has to do that I have a young boy of my own now, and when I see stories like this it's easier to put myself into their roles.

The story centers on young Miles, a little boy diagnosed with leukemia. During his treatment, he ends up qualifying for the Make-A-Wish program, and his wish is to be the real Batman. Superhero wishes are things that Make-A-Wish has worked out in the past, but this time they decided to think big -- and transform San Francisco into Gotham City for a day.

When I heard that Laurie Berkner was going to release a 2CD set of classic kids’ songs, I said to myself “This I have got to hear!”

It is no secret that I and my family are bonafide Laurie Berkner fans. Her original children’s songs have made us smile and given us countless memories since we first saw her perform on Nick Jr’s Jack's Big Music Show. Now here we were going to be able to listen to Laurie and her band sing and put her touch on classic children’s songs. This 2 CD set has 57 total songs, which also include 6 of her own (which, in my opinion, are classics as well and certainly belong here).

The later part of 2015 is a bountiful time to be a fan of James Bond. Anthony Horowitz's tense, spectacle-filled novel TRIGGER MORTIS was released last month, and the new film SPECTRE reaches American cinemas November 6th. To think, that would be enough to make most years a memorable one for Bondophiles, but for the first time in twenty-years the world's favorite secret agent is available in sequential artistic art! Let's all thank Dynamite Entertainment for rescuing 007 from comic oblivion!

Rob Nance's second album, Signal Fires, finds him broadening the sound he introduced with his first effort, 2013’s Lost Souls & Locked Doors.  Incorporating a wide range of musical styles and instruments- everything from pedal steel guitars to retro Casio synthesizers, Rob made a conscious effort to push Signal Fires into places he had not ventured on his first record.

“This time around I wanted to take the music I’m comfortable with and see if I could push it in any new directions,” says Rob. “I think this album reflects my need to explore beyond the normal scope of folk and Americana music. Whether it was having pedal steel and synthesizer together in the same song or veering into psych rock on occasion, it was cathartic to at least follow some of ideas wherever they led, even if they didn’t always fit.”

This contest has ended.

It takes a certain kind of chutzpah to set upon any stage and perform in front of a bunch of strangers. Be it stand-up comedy, dramatic or musical theatre, vocal or instrumental music, it takes guts and nerve perhaps even more than talent. Of course when someone has immense and diverse talents to go along with that particular blend of gumption and verve, the results are often magical.

Dave Glover is the modern example of taking failure, adding more failure to it, chucking it all away with an "Eff this," deciding to be yourself, and riding that all the way to fame and success. A mediocre attorney, Glover left the law to take on a radio talk show about legal matters -- which was going nowhere. Finally, one day early in his career, the legal questions fell by the wayside to be replaced by penis jokes and tales of his OCD. And a Saint Louis legend was born.

Within the last year I've finally gotten into THE X-FILES with a vengeance. I'm not a complete noob to the seminal series, but I had never been a regular viewer either. I had seen some episodes and caught both films in theaters, but that's about it. My wife was an immense fan growing up, and I had other friends that swore by the series, so I was pretty aware of much of the mythology, the best episodes, and even the big baddies like Krycek and Cancer Man (i.e. Cigarette Smoking Man). I always planned on hitching my wagon to the series and watching it through. A while back I purchased the first few seasons on DVD, but I never went on a huge run. Finally, Netflix made it simple to digest each episode.

Now, I don't want to come on like the mayor's wife or anything, but aren't you excited for the six-episode event in January?

When most people think of Shaft, they probably think of the Richard Roundtree movies. But, John Shaft was originally a character in a series of books by Ernest Tidyman. When I was researching this review, I also discovered they had done a series of TV Movies in 1973-1974 (also starring Richard Roundtree), though they were rotated with other TV movies which doomed the series to failure. There was also an attempt to revive the character back in 2000 with Samuel Jackson playing the title role.

Front Lines by Mike Maillaro, Mike Weaver, Grey Scherl, and Gina Maillaro

1872 #4 by Gerry Duggan and Nik Virella

Summary: Simon Williams is laying a whuppping on Doctor Banner, trying to get him to name other enemies to Roxxon’s interests.  Williams believes his men are torturing Natasha Barnes, but she has killed and tortured all of Roxxon’s men.  She stabs Simon in the neck.  Banner is in real bad shape, having been forced to drink the contents of his bomb.  Natasha convinces him that he needs to still blow up the dam.  Banner manages to set off the bomb, killing himself in the process.

Okay, Flashophiles, there's a lot of story happening in this episode that pre-empts a lot of the "How do we take down the bad metahuman" game. However, it's definitely worth the time -- and the closing 30 seconds is probably the biggest OMG moment since Harrison Wells stood up from his wheelchair and showed us his newspaper from the future.

For the past few episodes, Martin Stein (Victor Garber) has been declining in health. With Ronnie Raymond out of the picture, there's no stabilizing factor for his half of the Firestorm persona, so he's breaking down. Doing some of their patented superspeed research, Team Flash finds two people affected by the Dark Matter Explosion of two years ago in such a fashion as to be potentially a match for Stein to merge with -- which isn't creepy at all.

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

Never mind Matt Damon. The Martian at the top of my list will always be Exigius 12 and a half -- but every else just calls him Uncle Martin.

With his lengthy and historical life span, his pithy wisdom of the ages, and his technology that was so advanced as to be indistinguishable from magic (HT: Arthur C. Clarke), MY FAVORITE MARTIAN was a trendsetting show. While it only lasted three seasons, it predated both BEWITCHED and I DREAM OF JEANNIE -- shows with similar constructs, similar effects, and featuring producers and directors whose names also conveniently appear from time to time in the credits of MY FAVORITE MARTIAN. (In the third season, Martin's "levitating finger" is put out of commission, so he decides to try using his nose -- something he says he saw on one of our American television shows.)

Doctor Who Series 9 - Episode 5 and 6 – The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived

The Girl Who Died

Written by: Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat
Directed by: Ed Bazalgette

Cast:
Peter Capaldi - The Doctor
Jenna Coleman  - Clara Oswald
Maisie Williams – Ashildr
David Schofield – Odin
Simon Lipkin – Nollarr
Ian Conningham – Chuckles
Tom Stourton – Lofty
Alastair Parker – Limpy
Murray McArthur – Hasten
Barnaby Kay – Heidi

The charge is "STAR WARS has dumbed down the perception of science fiction in the popular imagination." Jeff Ritter of CriticalBlast.com represents the Prosecution. 

The very notion of STAR WARS being somehow responsible for “dumbing down” modern science fiction seems preposterous. Of course, the notion is not entirely objective—how does one quantify merit or mediocrity in art, which by its very nature is subjective? How does one quantify the tangible effect of a film from 1977, that wasn’t expected to do much business itself, has had on movies, television, video games, novels, graphic  arts, American and even global pop culture more than 30 years later? I’m sure somebody with a better mind for statistical analysis could find numbers to crunch in this regard, but I find it to be less of a matter of arithmetic and more of a matter of personal taste. Since I can only speak for myself, allow me to take you on a little flashback to the halcyon days of my youth.

Cheap Pops - October 25, 2015 by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!

- Hell in the Cell Predictions