Your name is Bruce Wayne. You're just a kid. And you're kneeling over the broken, bleeding bodies of your parents as their murderer runs away down the alley.

At that particular moment, something happens. Something formative.

A ring appears floating in the air, green, glowing. And it selects you as the next Green Lantern, just as your body is coursing with rage and a desire for vengeance. You catch the criminal, and you exact your will upon him -- a will so strong it overloads every safety protocol built into the Green Lantern ring, allowing it to employ lethal force.

WARNING!  THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS TO DUCKTALES EPISODE 4 - THE BEAGLE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE

So, in all the promotional material for the new DuckTales series, we never saw Magica De Spell.   It seemed like the writers were suggesting that we would not see Magica until season 2. I will admit, I was kind of disappointed.  Magica was always one of the best parts of the original DuckTales series and the comics.  \

As a result, I didn't see the plot twist at the end of Episode 4 coming...it was revealed that Webby's new friend, Lena, is Magica's niece and she was tasked by Aunt Magica with infiltrating the McDuck family.

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

October’s Bombshell of the Month – Old Fashioned Nerd

From DC Comics:

Today, at New York Comic Con, DC Publisher Jim Lee, writer/producer/director Reginald Hudlin and Milestone co-founder and artist Denys Cowan announced the return of popular characters of the Dakota Universe in a new collaboration called Earth M in spring 2018. Cowan, Hudlin and Lee were joined by Milestone co-founder Derek Dingle and Earth M collaborators Alice Randall, Ken Lashley and Greg Pak to share details of the re-emergence of classic Milestone characters, including Static Shock, Icon and Rocket, as well as brand-new character creations which will debut in a series of different titles under the Earth M imprint.

The fourth season of GOTHAM finds Bruce Wayne (DAVID MAZOUZ) finally taking up the notion of protecting the innocents on the street while wearing a mask and a suit. It's not the Batman costume yet, but it's a giant step in the right direction. And that's not the only disguise Bruce Wayne has been crafting. He's also been taking cues from Alfred (SEAN PERTWEE) on creating a mask out of Bruce Wayne as well, as he tries out the spoiled billionaire brat routine that eventually will become the billionaire playboy public persona.

Hollywood is a funny place. Where else would you go to find a movie like 1992’s The Bodyguard starring cinema superstar Kevin Costner and pop diva Whitney Houston, which somehow manages to be mediocre at best but still manages to have the best selling soundtrack of all time? I know where else: Broadway. There isn’t a single property in Tinseltown that someone, somewhere, isn’t writing a book or songs for to turn that film into the next smash hit in Manhattan. Some of them work reasonably well—Bring It On and Sister Act were both pretty entertaining. Others, like Dirty Dancing and A Christmas Story, well, the less said about those the better. I’m not sure why someone thought The Bodyguard: The Musical would succeed where the film fell short, but nonetheless someone did and now its national tour has arrived to kick off the Fox Theatre’s 2017-2018 Broadway Series.

From Variety:

Netflix has again raised the monthly price of its most popular streaming plan in the U.S., with the two-stream HD tier now $10.99 per month for new subscribers — while existing customers will be moved to the new rate over the next several months. That’s up $1 per month from the previous $9.99 monthly fee.

The company also increased the monthly fee for its four-stream “family plan,” from $11.99 to $13.99 per month. That “premium” tier also includes select content in Ultra HD 4K format.

This Blu-ray/DVD/CD set from Eagle Rock Entertainment covers the Stones in an intimate setting at the Fonda Theater in LA in 2015, at the start of the North American Zip Code tour, and captures the first time the band had ever (and, so far, has ever) played the entire STICKY FINGERS album in concert (along with some other great Stones' songs).

When we left Lucifer Morningstar (TOM ELLIS) at the end of Season 2 of LUCIFER, he awoke in the desert to find the wings he had cut off had been replaced. This, after he had been knocked out from behind  just as he was preparing to tell his partner, Detective Chloe Decker (LAUREN GERMAN) the truth about himself -- that he's literally the Devil of the Bible.

Which is funny, because Lucifer has never made any bones about who he is to anyone. That's the one thing interesting about his character: the "liar and the father of lies" tells nothing but the truth. It's a unique commentary on humanity from the writers that nobody ever believes he's precisely who he says he is. The only one -- the only human -- who knows for certain is his therapist, Dr. Linda Martin (RACHAEL HARRIS), who learned it last season when he revealed his true face to her.

Darkness. Deep dark despair. Can you imagine not being surrounded by the light, truth, knowledge of the Gospel as we know it today?

I was enthralled by the vivid displays in words and art of the plight of Martin Luther. Truly this remarkable man suffered much for years before his mind was enlightened by ignoring the benighted teachers of his time. Showing boldness without regard for life, he desired to not just find fault with the misuse of power by the Church, but to declare a new interpretation of the scriptures based on his beliefs.

STREAM BEGAN AT 9:00 AM CENTRAL TIME! 10/4/17

Game Jab hasn't died! Zach has decided to take on the Cuphead challenge and is either very determined or very insane for putting himself through this madness. 

For those who don't know what Cuphead is, it is a game influeanced and stylaized to the old school cartyoons back in the black and white days when everything had style and class but Micky Mouse and Betty Boop ain't got nothing on Cuphead. This game is HARD yet amazing cause it's addicting but the fact it is all hand drawn and loaded with familliar Artsyles and classic music just adds onto the experiance.

In Joshua David Bellin’s new YA sci-fi, FREEFALL, humanity has destroyed the earth and must seek a new home. A relatively small – and carefully selected – group are granted access to the mission, dooming those left behind to die. They will enter into cryogenic sleep for a thousand years, during which they’ll be transported to a brand new, habitable planet. While the wealthy Upperworlders take the best ship for themselves, the poor and marginalized Lowerworlders are stuck on the supply ship, the Freefall. Unfortunately, when all passengers awaken one thousand years in the future, they find themselves on a scary, uninhabitable planet full of monsters, where daylight temperatures are brutal enough to fry you in seconds. Something – or someone – sabotaged the ships so they wouldn’t reach their planned destinations.

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!

At a time where the world is in a state of unrest due to things that make us different from one another, THE GIFTED brings these subjects to the forefront.

Some shows try to inject personal politics into the plot, but the X-Men has, and always will be, about equality. This isn't a political statement, this is a story about how being different comes with a social price tag.

Being a mutant is synonymous with being gay, transgender, muslim, black, or any other group that has ever felt oppressed because...they're different. But different from what?

Everything else.

It's probably not a coincidence that a suburban white family is used to be the gateway for viewers into the world of bigotry.

The Jerry Bruckheimer franchise seems to have finally capsized. The motion picture, budgeted at $230 million ($20 million less than it's predecessor, ON STRANGER TIDES), grossed $172 million at the box office, compared to the $241 million grossed by the previous film. Those are numbers that don't bode well for there being a fifth film in the franchise--unless it's a rebooting, and honestly who could see Captain Jack Sparrow as anybody but JOHNNY DEPP?

The first thing that's a bit off about the film is the title: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES. Given that the entire run has been filled with ghosts who relate stories of curses, and that the plot of this movie hinges on one Captain Salazar (JAVIER BARDEM) who perished in the Devil's Triangle pursuing a young Jack Sparrow, it would seem that dead men tell quite a few tales at sea.

The second season of SUPERGIRL put Superman back on the small screen, gave Alex and legit love interest, brought Winn to the DEO and intro'd two crossovers.

Packed full of action, romance, and comedy, season 2 of SUPERGIRL was a sophomore success!

The first two episodes see Tyler Hoechlin donning the 'S' as the television version of Superman. Many people loved his confidence and chemistry displayed on screen alongside Melissa Benoist. As a contrast to Henry Cavill's DCEU Superman, whose character is meant to be still finding his way, Hoechlin delivers an experienced hero who is not burdened with the cost of his actions.

Greatest all-female rock band ever... go! The Bangles? Nope. The Go-Gos? Nah. Bananarama? Really? The Spice Girls? You’re not even trying. Pussycat Dolls? Not even close. Jem and the Holograms? Oooh, now you’re getting warmer. Jem and the Holograms' arch enemies, The Misfits? Hotter! The Runaways, which included Joan Jett and Lita Ford? Well OK, probably, but if the cast of New Line Theatre's hard rock musical Lizzie was an actual band they'd be number one with a bullet...or more accurately a hatchet. 

There are 7.4 billion people out there in the real world. Sometimes I think there are a whole lot more that exist in the fantasy realms we've created in cartoons, comics, and video games, all of whom get cosplayed to one degree or another.

And it's not that they're not all great, but sometimes it's refreshing to see someone go "back to basics," back to the classics, back to the good old-fashioned super characters that helped form the foundation of the culture.

Well, set off your signal watches and light up the Cosplay Signal, because our October Bombshell is just the guy for the job. Old Fashioned Nerd has been drawing attention on the convention circuits and on Instagram with his classic interpretation of characters like X-MEN's Iceman (seen left and below) and Wolverine (even further below, bub). So without further delay, let us introduce you one and all to our...

So here's the thing with DARK NIGHTS: METAL. It's the latest chapter in a continuing idyll that began with FINAL CRISIS and THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. That's going back to 2009, and continuing on through The New 52 JUSTICE LEAGUE series. That's an 8 year story-arc for those keeping track on fingers and toes.

Basically, when Darkseid sent Batman back in time (FINAL CRISIS), he was seen by the god Barbatos. He landed in caveman days, which we find out is what initially kicked off the Court of Owls. All history has been shaping Bruce Wayne to become Batman and the gateway for Barbatos to enter the physical world from the dark dimensions. And over several of his past adventures, Bruce has been infused with different metals, all of which are necessary for a ceremony to open that gateway. Five are required -- four have been applied.