I'm a lifelong fan of comics, and of the actors who portrayed the characters in them. However, there are only a very few who had a pivotal impact on my life, those being the ones I encountered at my youngest, most formative years.

Actress and dancer Yvonne Craig was chief among those, one of those people who had always been there and, in my unthinking naivete, I presumed always would be.

Today, I have learned that Ms. Craig has passed away on August 17 at the forever young age of 78, after battling breast cancer.

While Craig will be eternally remembered for her portrayal of Batgirl in the iconic 1960s BATMAN television series, starring alongside Adam West and Burt Ward, fans will also recall her stunning portrayal of the green-skinned dancer, Marta, on STAR TREK. She also acted opposite of Elvis Presley in the 1964 musical, KISSIN' COUSINS.

Artist Stephen Byrne has released an animated version of how a fight between Batman and Superman would really go down. You can check out Stephen Byrne's art on his Facebook page and Twitter account. He even has a webcomic titled 'Steve Loves Internet'. He does a lot of comic book and pop culture work, ranging from parody to serious depictions of characters.

Clearly anyone who knows Superman, understands that he wouldn't intentionally vaporize Batman, however he could if he wanted to.

With an award winning sountrack and a voice cast that included Jeremy Irons, Mathew Broderick, Whoopi Goldberg and the legendary James Earl Jones, THE LION KING is still considered one of Disney's greatest animated movies. And one of the last that was classically animated, with a mix of CG.

With several sequels having been made to minimal fanfare, Disney is taking one more swipe at the franchise by releasing a new movie: THE LION GUARD: Return of the Roar.

THE LION KING II: SIMBA'S PRIDE focused on Simba and Nala's daughter, Kiara, as she discovers that Scar's son and heir, Kovu has been living in the Badlands. LION KING 1 1/2 was a re-telling of the original movie, through the eyes of Timon and Pumba. The two lovable friends of Simba also had a TV series of their own which lasted four years.

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

STYX: LIVE AT THE ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS from Eagle Rock Entertainment is a recording done, as you would guess by the title, live at the venue during the 2014 “Soundtrack of Summer Tour.” What you do not know, and you can’t tell by this review, is that I am writing it totally exhausted -- exhausted because this CD rocks! Really rocks! Because Styx still really rocks!

Normally when I review a record or CD, I sit myself down in the sweet spot of my listening room, have something to drink by my side and listen through the first time just to experience how it “moves” me, and then another time or two in a more in-depth, critical-listening manner.

This CD, however, had me just rocking out not only the first time I played it through, but the next several times over the next couple of days, before I could even get to a point where I could remain seated and put on my critical listening ears, which I even now have to fight (and ultimately fail) to maintain.

I try to not write columns or reviews with any real agenda beyond “Hey, this is really good, people should hear about it.”  Or “Wow, this is terrible, people should stay far, far away from this.”  But this article is going to be a little different.  I am actively looking to shame a company for their mediocre product and horrifying customer service policies.  

By Gina Maillaro and Mike Maillaro

Howard the Duck (2015) #5

Reading any of the COMPLETE FUNKY WINKERBEAN volumes is like opening a time capsule. Tom Batiuk brings the crew into the 1980s with this fourth volume, and the cultural references pervade the pages from cover to cover.

The advent of Space Invaders, Defender, and other arcade video games chews up a decent amount of space -- as it should in a strip focused on high school students. And the latest STAR WARS movie has its impact felt on not only the characters, but on the readers who were allowed to submit their own STAR WARS jokes to Batiuk and have them drawn into the strip.

By Mike Maillaro, Josh Pollard, Jeff Ritter, & Graham Scherl

This Week:

Heavy Metal Band Iron Maiden has released its first official music video to the upcoming album: BOOK OF SOULS.

Titled, 'Speed of Light', the video has their mascot, Eddie, going on a journey through a history of video games as the graphics grow increasingly better. On a quest to collect hearts, he battles his way through each 'level' until reaching the final altar in which he must display his collection. The ending offers a nice little 'heart-wrenching' twist. It's a fun and nostalgic progression through video games and can be appreciated by anyone who has been playing them for as long as they've been around.

The visuals are a treat for any gamer and the accompanying track is pure bonus.

THE WATCHMEN OF PORT FAYT from David Fickling Books, and available in hardcover on August 25^th is the first novel by English author Conrad Mason and the first book in his TALES OF FATE Trilogy.

Conrad Mason is a graduate of Cambridge University and is an editor of children’s books. So while he's no stranger to children’s literature, THE WATCHMEN OF PORT FAYT is his first novel. Based in a mythical town called Port Fayt, inhabited by humans and elves, imps and ogres, trolls and fairies, goblins and dwarfs, Conrad weaves a well-constructed, thought-out story of mystery, intrigue, monsters, magic and mayhem. The book even has a rudimentary map displaying the town and surrounding oceans, islands and old worlds a la Tolkien and a glossary of many of the various beings mentioned above cleverly written as part of the book.

It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long to me, but it was way back in 1988 when a gang--as they called themselves-- of musicians changed the burgeoning hip-hop genre forever. The artists were from Compton, a hard-times neighborhood in Los Angeles where the infamous LAPD could, with little provocation, drive a swat tank through your front door and harass you on the streets just for being black. If you don’t think things have changed much, I won’t argue with you. Things have, however, changed for those pioneers of reality-based street rap, the N.W.A. And no, I’m not talking about the old National Wrestling Alliance either.

In the mid 1960s THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. was a major hit. It won the Golden Globe for Best Television Show in 1966, and stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum were each regularly nominated for best actor at the Emmys or Golden Globes. The show was conceived in part by Ian Fleming, the man who created James Bond, and as such began as a serious spy program. A couple of years in, the incredible popularity of Adam West’s BATMAN show encouraged the producers to lean heavily towards camp, a decision which ultimately doomed the show. The entire series is available on Amazon Prime.

The first teaser trailer for HALO WARS 2 has been released and it certainly does tease!

Fans of the HALO franchise will be happy to hear that there's plenty of Spartan goodness in the follow-up to HALO WARS, released in 2009. A real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios, HALO WARS sold one million units worldwide the year it was released, making it the best-selling RTS of its time.

Critics of the original game felt that it lacked certain strategic options during gameplay, making it feel shallow, and didn't satisfy the more experienced gamers. Under the guidance of 343 Industries and Creative Assembly, there's hope that HALO WARS 2 will be vastly superior. Creative Assembly is the developer behind TOTAL WAR, which currently exists as one of the few remaining, quality, RTS games in the genre.

Despite the monetary success of HALO WARS, it's highly regarded as the franchise's only misstep.

Entertainment Weekly posted up a bunch of images from the upcoming STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS.  Here they are in all their glory (click on them for bigger versions):

From Entertainment Weekly:

Reviews by Mike Maillaro, Mike Weaver, Grey Scherl, and Gina Maillaro

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #2 by Fabian Nicieza and Gerardo Sandoval

Summary: The X-Men square off with Apocalypse’s Elite Mutant Force. They are all trying to claim Doug Ramsey.  They fight gets real ugly, real fast. 

Marrying up the fairy tales of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, THE SEVENTH DWARF comes up short in story and in film quality, coming nowhere near the levels set by HOODWINKED or the SHREK franchise.

The scene is the 18th birthday party for Princess Rose (Peyton List). It's more than your average big deal, because it marks the day the princess can take off all her armor, which she's been forced to wear since she was born, having been cursed to sleep for 100 years if she were to prick her finger. But the evil witch, Dellamorta, is determined to bring her curse to fruition, and put Rose in a slumber that only the kiss of true love can dispel.

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

I have an obscenely long list of comics coming out next week. I really need to start trimming down my pull list some, but it is pretty much all stuff I enjoy reading...

Galaxy Zack: Hello, Nebulon! 

Written by: Ray O'Ryan
Illustrated by: Colin Jack
Published by: Simon & Schuster (2013)
Cover Price: $4.99

Kira: HELLO, NEBULON!  is the first book in the GALAXY ZACK series.  GALAXY ZACK is about a eight year old boy named Zack who explores space.  Zack used to live on Earth, and in this book, he moves to the planet Nebulon.

Mike: How does Zack feel about moving?

If you're one of the many Star Wars fans that is hungry for more visuals, and don't care where they come from, then feast your eyes on a newly released Korean trailer!

Mixed with scenes we've already seen, this trailer is heavy on the Empire with a side of Rebels on the run. More explosive than adding Tobasco to your Tteokbokki, it appears the victory at the end of RETURN OF THE JEDI has the Empire a little hot under the collar. As a matter of fact, they look more organized and lethal than ever before, as the desire to rule the galaxy continues to burn.

Just take the first opening shot for example. It has a lot of people excited. As the camera pans across and shows a large...well, watch it and see for yourself!