With assistance by Mike Maillaro

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

DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #1 by FRANK MILLER, BRIAN AZZARELLO, ANDY KUBERT & KLAUS JANSON

The epic ending you never saw coming is here because you demanded it! The Dark Knight rises again to face the dawn of the master race!

Iron Maiden is arguably one of the most innovative and influential metal bands in existence. Despite little support from radio or television, they are still considered one of the most successful bands throughout heavy metal history. Known for frontman Bruce Dickinson's piercing vocals, and the bands lengthy musical interludes, their songs often contain dark themes, such as 'Hallowed be thy Name', or historical context like 'Aces High' and 'Alexander the Great'.

According to NME, Dikinson spoke to an Italian publication about what song from the new album BOOK OF SOULS, was his favorite. Unfortunately, the publication was not credited in their article.

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

This Week:

• Summer Slam Predictions

• More “Best of the WWE Network”

This contest has ended. The randomly selected winner is JAMES C. of SCRANTON, PA.

Up for grabs is the second season of the hit CW series and sister show of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, THE ORIGINALS, on Blu-ray and Digital HD.

The Justice League is back, and ready to hit the bad guys like a ton of bricks. LEGO bricks, that is.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: ATTACK OF THE LEGION OF DOOM is the latest installment in the animated LEGO adventures of DC Comics' Justice League characters: Superman (Nolan North), Batman (Troy Baker), Wonder Woman (Grey Griffin), Flash (James Arnold Taylor), Green Lantern (Josh Keaton) and Cyborg (Khary Payton). Together, they've been successful in stopping the bad guys in their tracks.

Posing in full Supergirl costume, Melissa Benoist visited with some Girl Scouts from Oklahoma. Judging by their blue vests and patches, they were Daisy Scouts, which is the entry level for young girls. This provides us fans with comfort, knowing that Ms. Benoist truly understands the importance of not only putting on that costume, but what it means to girls all over the world.

She will be looked up to.

Actors and actresses will often dismiss the idea that they are 'idols' and will feed reporters with quotable lines such as, 'children should idolize their parents'. The truth is, to young children, the characters portrayed on film and television are fantastical. And provide the youth with hope and mysticism in an otherwise dreary world, that us parents fight to protect them from.

The root story behind MATCH is a simple one, but therein lies its mystery as well.

Patrick Stewart stars as Tobi Powell, an aging, single, Manhattan ballet instructor and former dancer who is forced to confront his past -- willingly at first, and forcibly later on -- when a young couple, Lisa and Mike Davis (Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard), from Seattle interrupt his life under the guise of wanting to interview him about his colorful life as a dancer back in the 1960’s.

I tend to love movies that feature a limited main cast in a confined set area (mostly Tobi’s apartment), where the story and acting are so strong that you not only lose track of the time but you're unaware of the limited surroundings. MATCH is a textbook example of this for me. While, yes, there are times when we are not in Tobi’s apartment, and there are some limited interactions with other people, those times are more to set up the story that plays out in the apartment between the three of them.

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

SECRET WARS #5 by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic

Summary: An old Thor is giving a funeral service for Doom’s first disciple, Stephen Strange.  Strange was the only witness to the miracle of creation, besides Doom himself.  A memorial statue has been built, next to the statue of Molecule Man in Doomstadt.  Franklin vows to find who killed Strange and “mash them into little pieces.” We find out that 616 Thor has infiltrated the ranks of Doom’s Thors after Strange scattered the Life Raft Survivors all over Battleworld.

When I first met Bird and Squirrel, they were on the Run. And my boy and I loved them! The pairing of the brave, cocky, devil-may-care Bird with the skittish, paranoid, defensive Squirrel made for the least likely of friendships, but they made it work. (They even made their own theme song.)

Now the pragmatic squirrel and plucky bird are back, in BIRD & SQUIRREL ON THE EDGE! They're trying to make their way back home, and they've made a new friend: a baby bear cub. They've also made a few enemies along the way as well, in the form of a pack of wolves who've got their hearts set on the taste of bear, with a little bit of squirrel appetizer. Fortunately for Squirrel and Cub, Bird is there to distract the wolves and send them running.

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.