Warner Bros. Pictures announces “FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD” as the title of the second of five all new adventures in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World™.  Opening exactly one year from today, November 16, 2018, the film features an ensemble cast led by Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, with Jude Law and Johnny Depp. 

At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Redmayne).  But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings. 

Archie (KJ APA) and Jughead (COLE SPROUSE) evade the police in no less than two scenes in the latest episode of RIVERDALE before they engage in a madcap car race that ends with them narrowly evading the police a third time!

And somebody didn't get Waylon Jennings music approved for the scene? I mean, after all, Archie and Jug are just some good old boys, never meaning no harm.

Betty (LILI REINHART) has just about had it with taking orders from the Black Hood -- so much so that she's actually changed her ringtome from "Lollipop" by The Chordettes to a simple chime. Fortunately, he says he only has one job left for her: Find the identity of the so-called Sugarman, the main supplier of the drug Jingle Jangle -- that stuff Reggie Mantle (CHARLES MELTON) gave everybody last week at the party.

Okay, deep breath…I can do this…in through the nose, out through the mouth…okay, I’m ready…

Justice League didn’t suck. There, I said it. Happy now? Oh, don’t get too excited, it’s far from perfect. It’s also got lots of Gal Gadot reprising her role as Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck returning as Batman, virtually no Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and a pretty breezy pace, so that’s all good.  If the last Fantastic Four had not been released, Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice would be the Ishtar of superhero movies, and this effort is nowhere near that bad. However it’s also rather derivative, at times, of Marvel’s The Avengers films, has a tacked on villain few outside of DC Comics’ most loyal fans will have even heard of, way too much of Zack Snyder’s signature visual overkill, and poorly integrated Joss Whedon humor.

PACKS OF THE LOW COUNTRY is a six-chapter graphic novel set in a world where monsters have, relatively recently, become a reality--the dreamchild of creators John Dudley and Don Cardenas, two Chicagoans with a love of the comics art form and a passion for telling stories.

Currently, the two have begun a Kickstarter campaign to put their six chapter tale into a hardcover format, and thus far the response has been positive and on track to meet that goal.

We sat down with Dudley to discuss the origins of this latest entry into the monster-fighting genre, to learn what makes it stand out from its competitors and how the book went from idea to reality.

How did you and Don come together to work on this project?

I've been a fan of THE FLASH since the pilot. It wasn't the easiest thing to be some of the time, particularly last season. So it's quite relaxing to be an ardent fan and be able to honestly say that the current episodes are some of the best of the series.

"When Harry Met Harry" gets its name from Cisco's advice to Harry Wells (TOM CAVANAGH) to make some friends. Harry does so -- with himself, from different corners of the Multiverse. This brings together the "Council of Wells," as Cisco (CARLOS VALDES) calls it, a think tank that does a lot of arguing with itself. But if they can get along, they may just be able to track down which of the many "DeVoes" out there is the one that Team Flash is looking for, having advance knowledge that he/she will be one of his greatest foes.

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!

When Reese Getty (BETTER CALL SAUL's PATRICK FABIAN) wakes up in a hospital, he's told he just had a brush with death. But now that he's got a second chance at life, he's going to try to turn things around with his wife. He shows up with roses, only to hear her canoodling with another man -- and that man is revealed to be Lucifer Morningstar (TOM ELLIS). Reese follows Lucifer to Lux, and Lucifer buddies up to him. He learns that Reese is out to destroy the man who stole his wife, and Lucifer--not realizing it's him--gives him the encouragement to truly punish the man.

"Nazi piece of s***. Be seeing you at Gotham Pizza motherf*****."

If you were planning to be at Gotham City Pizza and received this message prior to showing up, you would understandably be concerned. But this was the message sent via Facebook to comics artist ETHAN VAN SCIVER right before a planned event at Gotham City Pizza in Ormond Beach, Florida. According to store manager, MARCO FALLETTA, van Sciver let him know that he was receiving the threats.

Latin Grammy winner Mister G brings forth a children’s album here that tells a story about nature and us all being one with the Earth—with the planet, with its animals, and with each other, bringing a message that we have ownership in this beautiful world we live in, be it adults or children.

Mister G does this by painting a pretty picture of a lush green Earth and the wonders in it. As he sings about it, he sings about how we must not only enjoy it, but do our part to keep it that way. Singing lyrics in both Spanish and English, he gives this sense of unity to children--that it’s not the languages that makes us different, but the music that binds us together. One does not need to understand all the words to hear the beauty in these songs. But whether you speak English or Spanish, you can enjoy it even more because he blends the two seamlessly throughout the album.

I live in a LEGO world. My son has thousands, separated into color-marked drawers. We made a plywood top overlay for one of his play tables and covered it with LEGO base plates. We've worked on some pretty intense kits.

Or so we thought.

Along comes THE GREATEST BRICK BUILDS: AMAZING CREATIONS IN LEGO. And not only do the contents live up to the title, they surpass it. These models aren't just creative -- they're enormous. The smallest of them begin at just over 10,000 bricks. The largest is two million! The level of detail in the model of Ohio Stadium (750,000 bricks) is astounding, and just needs the sounds of fans cheering to complete the illusion.

A while back, we were privileged to review THUMP: THE FIRST BUNDRED DAYS, a novel concept that presents the 2016 campaign in a new setting. Rather than getting into the policy wonk details of how each campaign was run, Thump's creators -- Brett R. Smith, Timothy Lim, and Mark Pellegrini -- simplified the events to the traditional rhyming style of the children's picture book, complete with illustrations that draw from Peter Rabbit rather than from the editorial cartoon pages of your daily newspaper.

After reviewing the book, and seeing the reactions online of others once the book was released, we spoke with editor Brett R. Smith about some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of Thump -- where he came from, and where he's going from here.

What was the "secret origin" of THUMP: THE FIRST BUNDRED DAYS?

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

November’s Bombshell of the Month – Bean J. Bunny

After the tragic confrontation with Professor Pyg, Detective James Gordon (BEN MCKENZIE) is called into the mayor's office, where Mayor Burke (LARRY PINE) offers him the paperwork that will promote him to Captain. However, Gordon doesn't want the job, particularly as the current captain is his partner, Harvey Bullock (DONAL LOGUE). But Bullock has lost the faith of his men, and even Gordon realizes this, so he promises to at least mull the offer over.

Little Pip-Pip is the smallest of the penguins on his corner of the Antarctic. But it's not his size that's a problem for him, but his intense fear of doing what all the other penguins are doing: getting into the water.

Pip-Pip is laughed at by his peers, but encouraged by his mother. We learn there are all sorts of very good reasons why Pip-Pip should be afraid of the water. It's cold. It's dark. And there are things that live beneath the water that might eat him. Sounds like good reasons to me for staying on the ice! But then, what kind of lesson would that be for young readers?

Told in an engaging rhyming meter and illustrated with edge-to-edge color illustrations, BE BRAVE, LITTLE PENGUIN is an adorable tale, designed in an easy-to-read fashion that encourages children to follow along and vocalize the verses.

At the rate the Hollywood sex scandals -- particularly the under-age sex scandals -- are proliferating, Hollywood is going to be holding its award ceremonies in a high school gymnasium and even then have plenty of room to accommodate the crowds.

The Black Hood begins a torturous mental game with Betty (LILI REINHART) when he begins calling her with demands. He's already told her that he's begun this mission all because of her inspiration, cleansing Riverdale of sin by getting rid of the sinners. To co-opt Betty's loyalty, he tells her he knows the secret of her sister Polly's pregnancy, and he knows where she went. If Betty doesn't cooperate, he'll kill her. But Betty sets up a return flow of information. If she does what is asked, she gets to ask the Black Hood a question (other than his name) and he has to answer.

The secret is out! All PRETTY LITTLE LIARS msut come to an end!

The mystery begins in the small town of Rosewood when four teenage girls -- Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings and Emily Fields -- receive threatening messages from someone named "A" after the murder and disappearance of their queen BFF, Alison DiLaurentis. What follows are seven suspenseful, scandalous and terrifying seasons, as the girls spin a sticky web of secrets and lies in order to unearth the very not pretty truth about what happened to Alison.

The Halloween candy bucket is about half-empty now, and the freezer is getting stocked with the groceries we'll need for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast. That means it's time to think about getting that advanced shopping done for everyone on your Christmas list (or at the very least, dropping heavy hints to everyone else for the things you want Saint Nick to put under your tree).

For media buffs like us, Blu-rays and DVDs will always be a welcome thing to unwrap, especially when they're completely binge-worthy. Fortunately, Warner Brothers Home Video has a plethora of items being released now that will more than satisfy any good pop-culture geek's tastes! Here's a sample of what we suggest you might want to look at for your shopping/registration lists!

While perhaps not the "flashiest" of THE FLASH episodes, "Girls Night Out" is a fun bit of personal introspection and partying, as the members of Team Flash split up into boys and girls for the respective bachelor and bachelorette parties of Barry Allen (GRANT GUSTIN) and Iris West (CANDICE PATTON). And just to give it that extra bit of fun, we get a guest appearance from ARROW's Felicity Smoak (EMILY BETT RICKARDS).

Team Iris -- Iris, Felicity, Caitlin Snow (DANIELLE PANABAKER) and Cecile Horton (DANIELLE NICOLET) have planned a quiet little dinner at a fancy restaurant. Team Barry -- Barry, Cisco (CARLOS VALDES), Joe West (JESSE L MARTIN), and Harry Wells (TOM CAVANAGH) are enjoying a quiet brandy and home movies at the West household. Both parties get crashed by unwelcome guests that throw the whole evening into disarray.