The folks over at Bleeding Cool have revealed several panels from today's comic books that could be clues to 'Rebirth'; a concept revealed by DC co-publishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee.

In some cases there are characters regaining their lost memory. What this means for the future of the DC Universe remains to be seen. How far will they go with memories returning and others being wiped out?

If what they're spoiling turns out to be true, it's an easy fix for Superman regaining his 'Clark Kent' secret identity. Not long ago, Lois Lane revealed Superman's secret identity to the world in order to prevent Hodr_root from having control over the Man of Steel. This revelation angered Superman as he insisted that he was handling it his way and Lois had no right to do such a thing.

Cheap Pops - February 16, 2016

by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!

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

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1 – David F. Walker writing on what should be a pretty big deal project with Power Man and Iron Fist both getting Netflix series over the next two years? Definitely count me in for this one! 

Ever since it was announced that John Bernthal would be cast as Punisher for season 2, of the Netflix orginal series DAREDEVIL, fans were excited to see the two rivals square off. The new trailer will only enhance that level of excitement.

A 2 minute and 12 second trailer has premiered that details the conflict between, not only Daredevil and Punisher, but Matt Murdock and his friends. In typical 'It's okay for me to do it, but not someone else' fashion, Matt Murdock doesn't like the Punisher's methods. It begs the question: When does right, become wrong?

"You know, you're one bad day away from being me." - Punisher

With all of the hype and marketing, there was some concern that DEADPOOL was trying to overcompensate for being a small member of the superhero genre. Now that the covers are off and we finally get a look at the goods, it's clear that DEADPOOL is bigger than expected.

While the movie has some kinks, it's not tied down by too many gags that don't work. A highly quotable movie, don't try to do it line-by-line because DEADPOOL can be a mouthful.

But before you take in all of DEADPOOL, it's important to prepare yourself.

 “Who am I?” While this question may be asked throughout the film, the answer seems clear that ZOOLANDER 2 is just another sequel hoping to follow in moderate success after the original film…and falls flat on the runway.  Ben Stiller directs this train wreck, and he also co-wrote the movie with Justin Theroux.  However, I wish someone could have salvaged this script to make it partially enjoyable.

Disney Junior Buccaneer Jake and his crew of Neverland Pirates are in for another adventure when Captain Hook looks for the treasure of the shipwrecked Colossus when, at the same time, the mer-wizard Lorth Fathom (Malcolm McDowell) escapes his imprisonment and looks to take over the Never Sea. In fact, it may be more than Jake and his crew can handle -- so they get help from Captain Flynn (Josh Duhamel), Captain Frost (Harland Williams) and Captain Beatrice Le Beak (Teri Hatcher).

As the final official trailer has now been released, while it was mostly the same scenes shuffled around, we did get a few new shots to tease our senses.

So what did we make of it all?

1) Batfleck is a Badass
In case there were people unsure of Batman's badassery, it was on full display as this trailer features the bat. Is this a hint about how the movie opens up? Or will the movie be interrupted for a beatdown of thugs? Either way, the repor between Bruce and Alfred is enjoyable and anyone who had any doubts can now set them aside. He even blocks a punch from Superman. Without effort.

Yes, Flash, welcome to Earth-2, where up is down, black is white and... Wait a minute. I'm pretty sure that would be either Earth-3 or Bizarro World. Either way, the Earth-2 in THE FLASH is a pretty trippy place, where science has advanced enough to make DNA-level detection easy enough to be an app in your smart watch, but style took a sabbatical in the 1940s.

(New York, NY – February 10, 2016) Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, announced today that it will publish a script book based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II, a new play by Jack Thorne. The Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book will be published in print in the United States and Canada at 12:01 a.m. on July 31, 2016. Published in hardcover under Scholastic’s Arthur A. Levine Books imprint, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (ISBN 978-1-338-09913-3; All Ages), the eighth Harry Potter story, will be priced at $29.99 U.S. and $39.99 Canada. The script eBook will be published by Pottermore simultaneously with the print editions by Scholastic in the US and Canada, and Little, Brown Book Group in the UK.

The film FROM DUSK TILL DAWN was such a cool event for me.  Think about it, this was the team up of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.  At the time, it seemed otherworldly and more akin to a comic book than a movie theater.  As a film, it was wasn't perfect, but it was funny, featured great performances, and was a hybrid of action and horror.  If nothing else, it was unforgettable.

The folks over at Nerdist have the 'exclusive' but we've got the Critical Analysis! The new Voltron series for Netflix has an official logo and title! And that titles implies that this probably isn't a reboot of the classic franchise.

Voltron: Legendary Defender

From Nerdist:

Little is known about the series thus far, particularly about the cast and creators, but we do know that it will follow the same classic Voltron formula of uniting five teenagers in gigantic, robotic lions to protect the universe from towering evil. Only through the power of teamwork will they be able to kick some robotic ass, take some robotic names, and stop a terrible intergalactic war.

Open Mike Night by Mike Maillaro and Mike Weaver

Spider-Man (2016) #1

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Sara Pichelli
Inking assist: Gaetano Carlucci
Colored by: Justin Ponsor
Lettered by: VC's Cory Petit

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

SHAFT IMITATION OF LIFE #1 – David F. Walker is one of my favorite comic writers and Shaft was one of my favorite books that came out last year. This is definitely the book I am most looking for to this week. 

Cheap Pops - February 8, 2016

by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This Week:

I don’t care much for Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, Marvel Comics’ “Merc With The Mouth.” As a character, he’s a blatant derivative of DC’s Deathstroke, he talks too much, and writers have made him corny and sophomoric for years. When the character first debuted in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, played by heartthrob Ryan Reynolds, he was merely okay at best, given a couple of decent lines early on before showing up at the end of the movie (one that most comic book fans pan but I actually enjoyed) with his mouth missing and two long forearm spikes that made him look more like Baraka from the Mortal Kombat video games franchise than the lithe, gun-toting assassin. Reynolds waited patiently while DEADPOOL, a standalone feature, languished in developmental hell. During that wait he played Hal Jordan in DC’s GREEN LANTERN, which was so poorly crafted that most people would probably agree that X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was far superior, even if they didn’t like it either.

Special thanks to our friend Matt Graham.  Grey and I were talking to him a few weeks ago about comics, and I asked him to participate in this conversation about the best in comics for last year. Let's talk comics!

Best Comic Company

Mike Maillaro's picks:

On the heels of Zack Snyder announcing that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is 99.9% completed, Henry Cavill has posted an image to his instagram account. Indicating that he's started his training for the upcoming Justice League movie and the image serves as motivation.

Henry Cavill IS Superman.

From his instagram account henrycavill:

Warm up phase for Superman training started today! Posting this pic to set myself a minimum goal...and force myself to actually keep going haha! @gritandteeth

MINIMUM goal? Way to make the rest of us feel inadequate, sir. Having no need for padded 'muscle' suits, Cavill is determined to be bigger than ever. Whether you like Snyder's interpretation of the character or not, Cavill is 100% committed to being the best on-screen portrayal of Superman we've ever seen.

When you think of Caesar, you think of three things: Rome, betrayal, and salad. The Coen Brothers, creators of such classic comedy films as RAISING ARIZONA, FARGO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI and O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? and more dramatic features such as NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and TRUE GRIT are back with HAIL, CAESAR!, a tale of McCarthy-era Hollywood. I typically enjoy movies that explore that era, but the Joel and Ethan Coen didn’t break any new ground here. HAIL, CAESAR! had the grandeur of Rome, it was as funny and exciting as your average Caesar salad, and it betrayed my high expectations.    

CBS has made it official! THE FLASH and SUPERGIRL will be joining forces as the scarlet speedster makes his way to National City on March 28th, 2016. Details of the episode have yet to be released.

CBS has released a statement from executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg:

“We are so incredibly excited to announce something that we have dreamed of happening since we starting making SUPERGIRL – THE FLASH and SUPERGIRL are teaming up!” said THE FLASH and SUPERGIRL Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. “We want to thank Grant Gustin for making the time to come visit (on top of his already immense workload) and all of the folks at CBS, The CW, Warner Bros. and DC for working this out. And finally, thanks to the fans and journalists who have kept asking for this to happen. It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone’s enthusiasm and support.”