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

In the past few weeks Paramount announced they were developing a remake of the THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE.  Say what you want about all of the remakes cinema churns out these days, most of them are pale copies of the originals.  Occasionally, though, you get a film that’s of comparable quality or even superior to the original.  I don’t know what the future holds for the VALANCE remake, but I’ll tell you, if the producers make a film that even approaches the original, well, look out, there’s a spectacular film in the offing.

JOURNEY TO STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS - SHATTERED EMPIRE #4

Written by: Greg Rucka
Art by: Marco Checchetto
Cover by: Marco Checchetto
Colored by: Andres Mossa
Lettered by: VC's Joe Caramagna

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!

After a series of really cool teasers, Marvel has finally released the first real trailer for Netflix's Jessica Jones:

This is a real good trailer.  David Tennant seems like he's going to be absolutely terrifying as "Purple Man."  And Krysten Ritter looks like she is going to be perfect as Jessica Jones.  That has to be a real tricky role to play.  Jessica is a character with great physical strength and a strong cynical shell, but inside, she's dealt with great trauma that continues to haunt her and effect her judgement.  Ritter seems to have all that down pat, and even if this quick trailer shows that she's going to be very different from anyone else we've seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Oct. 20, 2015 – Screams.com has unveiled its 2015 list of the Top 13 Haunted Houses in America. Advanced pyrotechnics, trained actors and superior use of technology highlight the attractions, which stretch from New Hampshire to as far west west as Arizona.

“This list represents haunts that have been extensively honored by their peers and the haunted attraction industry,” said Todd James, owner of the Cutting Edge Haunted House in Texas and industry veteran. “A lot of thought and research went into creating this list, which we hope will serve as a guide to haunted house lovers across the country.”

James notes that consumers are expected to spend about $7 billion this Halloween.

Family matters on both sides of the law become the focal point of this latest episode of THE FLASH, "Family of Rogues." Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) grapples with the unexpected return of his wife, Francine (Vanessa Williams), who abandoned the family when Iris (Candice Patton) was just a child. He's told Iris that she died and painted a picture of her as a perfect mother, rather than tell her the truth -- that she was an addict who fled from rehab. Now Francine is back in Central City, and Joe has to decide whether or not to tell Iris the truth.

JOURNEY TO STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS - SHATTERED EMPIRE #3

Written by: Greg Rucka
Art by: Marco Checchetto & Angel Unzueta
Cover by: Marco Checchetto,
Colored by: Andres Mossa
Lettered by: VC's Joe Caramagna

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!

by Mike Maillaro & Mike Weaver

New Avengers (2015) #1

Cartoon Network's Adult Swim knows how to blend nostalgia with cutting edge (some might even say 'inappropriate' humor). With MIKE TYSON MYSTERIES, the team has successfully mixed the opening of JONNY QUEST with the framework of SCOOBY-DOO (although I lean more toward THE FUNKY PHANTOM). And bringing the actual Mike Tyson in to voice himself was just icing on the cake. Mike Tyson: Voice Actor. There's a job description nobody saw coming.

It’s impossible to write a review of a documentary about Elliott Smith without it becoming deeply personal.  That’s apt, because his solo career was one of deeply personal lyrics and the intimacy of a man alone with only his guitar.

            I was really interested in viewing this documentary because my knowledge of Elliott Smith was rather limited.  I knew he had a rough adolescence, played in a band prior to his solo act, and had committed suicide.  Also, I was aware that he was struggling with his fame from his career.  On the album EITHER/OR, he sings, “I’m so sick and tired of all these pictures of me/Completely wrong/Totally wrong.”

SAN ANDREAS on Blu-ray and DVD is a non-stop action movie that takes place basically in San Francisco and areas along the…you guessed it, San Andreas Fault line.

There is not a lot of back story here, as the movie starts with tremors happening within the first couple of minutes. Then the basics of the story are revealed through a college classroom dissertation on seismic activity by Caltech Seismologist Lawrence Hayes (Paul Giamatti), talking about the biggest earthquakes in history, and that it is more important than ever to be able to predict where they will happen to save lives. A young associate of the professor figures out how the tremor felt at the beginning of the movie could possibly predict a larger one by using the model they developed, and while testing it at Hoover Dam…well, I don't want to spoil things, but I bet you can guess what happens next.