The introduction of Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Vandal Savage to the DCCW Universe (as well as the introduction of the upcoming LEGENDS OF TOMORROW series) continues with the second part of the ARROW/THE FLASH crossover, which began here.

The episode opens with a flashback to ancient Egypt, where we learn that meteors have been falling with regularity, striking the kingdom. Prince Khufu brings offerings to Horus, but the priestess, Shayara (I know, they're going with Chay-Ara here, but I still miss my Thanagarian Shayara), says the offerings are meager. What we learn shortly after is that Khufu and Shayara are lovers, and Vandal Savage becomes aware of this.

Here at Critical Blast, it's important that we offer ways to assist our community of fans. With the new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer having been released, I'm here to offer sage advice to those who have nothing but contempt for movies made by Warner Bros., Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. movies by Zack Snyder.

Step 1: Be sure to check your Marvel fandom. If it's not at peak level, you may have trouble noticing the lack of your favorite characters.

Step 2: Watch a lot of cartoons before viewing. This will assist in helping your eyes contrast how 'dark' the movie will be.

Welcome to the DCCW Universe, Hawkgirl!

If you've already seen Will Ferrell's ELF, then you will notice very quickly that ELF: BUDDY'S CHRISTMAS MUSICAL is the condensed version of the same story, squeezed into a lesser running time by eliminating extraneous characters like Bob Newhart's Papa Elf and merging other characters into single ones, as is the case with Mr. Greenway, who is the publisher but with the characteristics of Peter Dinklage's author character.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does make the grown-up viewer walking away feeling as though they were given less than expected.

It is sort of strange for a comic series to celebrate it’s 46th anniversary, but that seems to be exactly what Dynamite did here for Vampirella #1969. They got an all star list of writers and artists to put together some Vampirella stories covering a wide span of her history.  I am a pretty new arrival to Vampirella. She first came to my attention with Nancy Collins terrific run.  I have read some of Dynamite’s terrific Vampirella Archives which collect her older series, so I did have some background when I started this book.

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

Perhaps the most frightening book you'll read this year is Rodman Philbrick's YA novel THE BIG DARK.

Imagine the worst power outage you can think of. Now add to this the fact that the power is just not out, but that the very basics of producing electricity have been stripped away -- no batteries, no generators, no hand-crank flashlights. Every modern mode of transportation, communication and commerce are simply gone.

Doctor Who Series 9 - Episode 11 – Heaven Sent

Writer: Steven Moffat

Director: Rachel Talalay

Cast:

Doctor Who Series 9 - Episode 10 – Face The Raven

Writer: Sarah Dollard

Director: Justin Molotnikov

Cast:

The Rolling Stones Limited Edition Clear Vinyl + Album Art Lithographs.

Normally in reviews such as these I list the email and phone numbers to order the item(s) being reviewed at the end of the review.

Well I’m not doing that here. These collectibles are so beautiful, so well made, and so you-need-to-have-one-of-these, that even at $199.00 they are such a value for what you receive. And because they are limited to only 2,500 worldwide each, I’m afraid that if you wait till the end you might miss out on any remaining. Remember you’re not only going to get the limited edition lithograph, you’re going to get the matching limited edition vinyl album on clear vinyl as well, for the same very reasonable price!

You can come back and finishing reading the review after you have secured yours.

If you’re in the mood for a classic cocktail, you might order up an Old Fashioned—a jigger of bourbon, two dashes of Angostura bitters, a lump of sugar and just a splash of water. It’s a drink that goes back to the 19^th century and is something every bartender should know how to mix. “THE NEW OLD FASHIONED,” however, is an entirely different yet no less potent concoction of heartwarming harmonies, familiar aural flavors and inhibition-busting a cappella, served Straight No Chaser, in the Indiana tradition. Welcome to your new addiction. Please tip generously.

In fact, here’s a tip for you: if you have an opportunity to see Straight No Chaser live in your town, you owe it to yourself to do so. They’ll lift your spirits, get your toes a-tappin’, and stay for a solid hour after the show to meet you and sign your CD, t-shirt, and ticket stub, or perhaps even one of your children. You won’t find too many musical acts more accommodating!

With assistance by Mike Maillaro

Check out Newsarama for a complete list of Marvel books shipping in February.

SPIDER-MAN #1 by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS & SARA PICHELLI

With assistance by Mike Maillaro

Check out Newsarama for a complete list of DC books shipping in February.

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: THE LAST CRUSADE #1 by FRANK MILLER,BRIAN AZZARELLO, JOHN ROMITA, JR., and BILL SIENKIEWICZ

The Joker. Poison Ivy. Selina Kyle. And the last Robin.

SECRET WARS, TOO

Sraw Terces by Jonathan Hickman and Brian Churilla

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is coming May 6, 2016, and we've got the first real trailer.  

Appropriately, I saw this on Stan Lee's website!   Thanks to the post-credits sequence for ANT-MAN, we already knew Winter Soldier was going to be at the heart of the Civil War conflict, and this trailer seems to lay out exactly how that will work.  We do get a glimpse of Black Panther in the trailer, but no sign of Spider-Man.   I loved both of the Captain America movies, so I am really looking forward to this.  Though I will say that THIS should have been the plot for Avengers 2.  I like Ultron, and James Spader was awesome, but it just seems strange that they are calling this movie "Captain America" when it features Iron Man, Black Widow, War Machine, Falcon, and Black Panther too.  Hopefully the marketing will clue the general movie goer in that "this is really an Avengers movie."

HUCK #1

Written by: Mark Millar
Art by: Rafael Albuqueque
Colored by: Dave McCaig
Lettered by: Nate Piekos of Blambot

Published by: Image
Cover Price: $2.99

Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!

by Mike Maillaro & Mike Weaver

Black Knight (2015) #1

Written by: Frank Tieri
Art by: Luca Pizzari
Colored by: Antonio Fabela
Lettered by: VC’s Joe Sabino

Yesterday, WB announced when some of their new shows will be launching and returning.  Tops on the list for me is the much anticipated Legends of Tomorrow!   Legends of Tomorrow is a spin-off from Arrow and Flash.  Arthur Darvill (Rory from Doctor who) plays Rip Hunter who comes back from the 22nd century to put together a team to stop Vandal Savage (played by Casper Crump).  The team consists of Atom (Brandon Routh), White Canary (Caity Lotz), Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), Hawkman (Falk Hentschel), Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée), and Firestorm—the new team of Martin Stein (Victor Garber) and Jefferson “Jax” Jackson (Franz Drameh).

Here's the trailer:

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

Cheap Pops - November 22, 2015 by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!