The mystery of who massacred literally dozens of metahumans -- some of them very high profile -- at the therapy retreat known as Sanctuary continues, without a single clue (maybe) coming to light in this fourth issue. The readers may get a clue, but it's a very slight one, and it has to do with why Harley was able to get past Booster Gold's shield when she hit him.

Other than that, what we really learn is just how $%@#'ed up our heroes are. And how much they all like to say "$%@#" in this issue. Which is understandable -- they should all be more distraught, angry... hell, they should be pissed off. But they're inhumanly restrained.

When you watched wrestling back in its heyday, before the WCW got gobbled up by the WWF (which later became the WWE), you had a host of colorful, unbridled, over-the-top personalities all itching to get at one another in the squared circle to combat each other and find out who would be victorious.

Riding herd on all of these men and women through his interviews and broadcasts was "Mean" Gene Okerlund, a man of little stature yet who towered large over the industry. He never backed down from the big guys, and always kept the audiences entertained.

Today, we ring the bell for Gene Okerlund, who has passed away at age 76. No cause of death has yet been listed, however Okerlund has had a history of kidney troubles requiring transplants in 1995 and again in 2004.

Godspeed, "Mean" Gene.

It's like a scene from COMIC BOOK VILLAINS -- but it's sadly all too real.

A collector in Las Vegas, Nevada, was robbed last night when thieves sawed into his storage unit and made off with over $100,000 in collectible comic books -- some of which had been earmarked for a charity, Critical Care Comics.

Surveillance footage captured the face of the driver as he made his getaway with the longboxes sticking out of his trunk, which must surely have him making number two in his skivvies, so let's get his face out there a little bit more, okay, and help bring justice for one of our own.

Another year has come and gone. 2018 is officially in the rear-view mirror, and we've gone hurtling into 2019 like the Sweet Meteor o' Death.

But before we get too deep into the New Year, we've reached that point where we reflect on all that happened in the previous year that was good and notable, and cast our votes as to what was the best of the best ("of the best, sir!")

So here we go again! It's time to pick the Critical Blast Best of the Year for Movies, Television, Actors, Books, and Comics -- and, of course, to pick our CRITICAL BLAST BOMBSHELL OF THE YEAR! So use the handy form below to pick from this year's nominees -- or suggest one that you think is deserving that we missed (so long as the work happened during 2018). Voting is open through the end of January, and on February 1 we'll start tabulating the results and announcing the winners!

So long, 2018! You gave us some great entertainment!

Wow. 2018 has just flown right by! Hard to believe we've seen twelve incredible cosplayers already, and with our January 2019 Critical Blast Bombshell, it looks like there's no end to the creative people who are out there making our heroes pop out of the pages and screens and into the real world!

And every once in a while, you find a cosplayer who does a character you not only merely recognize, but whom you would swear was lifted right out of the medium and placed into the world. This month's Bombshell is definitely in that category, and one month in is already on target to be our Bombshell of the Year for 2019. (Granted, he's in a field of one right now, and we'll be adding eleven more to the competition before the year is out -- but for the next 31 days, the odds are definitely in his favor!)

So let's draw back the curtain on a new year -- and a new cosplay Bombshell feature -- as we proudly present to you, our readers, the...

CONSPIRACY: DOPPELGANGER is an offshoot of Zenescope's CONSPIRACY: THE ILLUMINATI. The nut of this story arc is that The Illuminati replace people with exact duplicates.

This first issue follows two plot threads. The first pertains to the reunion of two high school friends at the funeral of a third -- a funeral brought about because this former friend going off on a shooting rampage after a lifetime of being a peacenik. According to Taylor, this is because the dead man decided to listen to someone who advocated for the Second Amendment. Apparently this means he's programming people for The Illuminati, and it's enough evidence to nearly convince her friend Drew, who remains skeptical of the group's existence.

One of the frequently repeated questions during WESTWORLD is, "Is this now?" It's a question the viewer struggles with as well, as we are never quite sure where we are in the narrative. How many times do we have to see Bernard (JEFFREY WRIGHT) found on that beach after the massacre that occurred at the end of first season? How can we tell what's truly happening if he's with Elsie (SHANNON WOODWARD) one moment, and then with corporate goons in the next scene with no transition?

Fans of David J. Pedersen's ANGST series are in for a couple of treats, not the least of which is the newest installment of the epic "Midlife Crisis in Medieval Times."

The ANGST books have followed a pattern, beginning with the second book, of giving readers clues to the magical elements involved in each adventure, with titles like BURIED IN ANGST (Earth), BURNING WITH ANGST (Fire), and DROWNING IN ANGST (Water).

So what is the fateful title of ANGST 5? That's part of our exclusive interview. Watch here...

(Rather just listen? Plug in and take a listen to the CRITICAL PODBLAST podcast!)

Anastasia is a newer musical, opening on Broadway in 2017 and currently on the road for its first U.S. Tour. It’s playing at the Fabulous Fox Theatre December 26, 2018 – January 6, 2019. Based loosely on the Don Bluth-directed animated feature from 1997, the musical adapts the myth of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, daughter of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II. In gossip that grew into national folklore, young Anastasia somehow survived the brutal massacre of her family at the hands of the Bolshevik Revolution. Don Bluth’s animated version changed some of the more gruesome details for the sake of the children that would comprise much of his audience. The musical does not, and while it doesn’t recreate the last moments of the Russian Royal Family’s terrible demise in gory detail, it could be a little unsettling for small children.

Since 1964, the Rankin/Bass animated film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been a holiday staple for several generations. Featuring Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman, who regaled the viewers watching at home with his unmistakable voice on classics like “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold,” and of course the title track, the show was an instant classic. In the last few years, the show has been adapted for the theatrical stage by playwright Robert Penola and uses the original lyrics and score by Johnny Marks.  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: the Musical played the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis December 22 – 23, 2018.  

P:andora has arrived on Earth, and worldwide people ask two questions: Is the combined might of Project: Superpowers enough to stop him? And how the heck do you pronounce a name with a colon in it?

Rob Williams and Sergio Davila weave an action-packed and dynamically-presented superhero yarn that pulls out all the stops and includes all the things we love about the classic comic book story. Where else can you see an 80-story giant get swatted down by The Might Samson by using a skyscraper as a baseball bat? Where else can you find an American Flag with a life of its own that seeks to bind with a human host and become an entity powerful enough to stand against evil? 

Rob Feldman's miniseries, CYKO KO, from Alterna Comics, finishes its three-issue arc with the titular hero facing off against the fiendish foe who killed his father -- the Devil Spider!

CYKO KO is a hero that's part Madman, part Ambush Bug, part Freakazoid, and completely all-ages friendly. The art and coloring are done in a flattened style reminescent of 1970s comics that adapted cartoons from television like SUPER FRIENDS. This actually broadens the appeal to younger readers who will fall in love with the antics and interactions of Cyko, Peachy, and Karate Bot -- and the newly introduced interdimensional uber-fan of Cyko, Blipso Facto aka Cyko Jr, a being from a dimension where everyone has modeled their lives after the adventures of Cyko KO.

Here's more of what you need to know:

Ben Greenbloom lives on the island of Mimameidr with his adoptive family, which includes Barnabas his father, Vita his mother, and Guinevere his sister.  On the island, the Greenblooms protect all fabulous creatures like dragons, trolls, rats, a homunculus, centaurs, ravens, geese, swans and many more.  Ben is a dragon rider for Firedrake, the dragon, and during their adventures together; they have become the best of friends.

This story takes off when a Pegasus and his three unborn foals arrive on the island.  The inhabitants of Mimameidr must aid the Pegasus and his offspring. In their travels, they encounter griffins, gibbons, krakens, crabs, lorises, jackal scorpions, and proboscis monkeys.

Goliath Games proves you don't have to have a completely original concept to introduce an interesting and playable toy. Sometimes, all you need to do is take something that's been around a while--and put a new spin on it.

Granted, it's not the first time someone has set out to renew interest in the basic toy that uses centripetal and centrifugal force (see, it's science!) to entertain children. There have been different takes through the years on the flying disc and the hula hoop.

Of course, this time we are talking about that most primal spinner, The Top!

No, not this classic supervillain from The Flash. The toy you spin and watch. Then spin again and watch again.

It's actually a lot more fun that it sounds.

I was a huge fan of the FREEDOM FIGHTERS comics in the late 1970s. These books featured the Quality Comics characters acquired by DC -- Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, Doll Man, The Ray, The Human Bomb, and The Red Bee -- and formed them into a team of heroes, banded together to fight the Nazis on Earth X, a parallel dimension where Germany won World War II and conquered the United States.

There have been various attempts to revive the team with a more modern angle to them. This newest version from Robert Venditti and Eddy Barrows, however, succeeds by sticking the closest to its roots. The book opens in 1963 with what remains of the Freedom Fighters planning an assault on a Nazi robot-making factory. However, their plans are foiled by an infiltration of Plastic Men (or PlaSStic Men, with the SS done in the Nazi SS style), and they are captured and summarily executed. Only Uncle Sam remains, barely escaping the Plasstic Men by pulling a Jedi death.

Who doesn’t love the tradition of the holidays? Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, crazy lines at department stores, Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Rudolph and Frosty…and live a cappella music to delight the mind and warm the heart. For as many years as Straight No Chaser has been coming to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to perform around the holidays, I’ve had the privilege to attend and review their show. It’s always a fun evening of new and classic pop songs and holiday favorites.   This year, Straight No Chaser is on tour to promote their seventh full length album, One Shot.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name, “Aquaman?” The 1970s Super Friends cartoon, where the superhero of the seven seas was voiced by Norman Alden? The Mego action figure that had to sometimes stand in for your sister’s Ken doll when the real Ken was MIA but Barbie just couldn’t take another ladies night? Maybe all you know of the character is that he’s in the lyrics to “One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies. Thanks to Warner Brothers and DC Comics, that’s all about to change in a big way.

According to The Numbers, a website that tracks financials and rankings for movies, with a production budget of $90 million Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse may turn out to be a financial bust.

Full disclaimer: I haven't seen the animated Spider-flick at the time of this article. I'm sure it's very good. As a matter of fact, I want to see it and plan on going while it's still in theaters. That being said, it may not last much longer as this weekend marks the official opening of both Aquaman AND Bumblebee. 

Spider-Man may not have enough legs to make it's budget back from ticket sales.

With ardent narration, Jennifer Lawrence pleads with listeners with patronizing charm to stop destroying planet Earth with your stupid antics. Okay, that was harsh and unwarranted, but such sentiments are subtly sprinkled like glitter from a Christmas card throughout this IMAX documentary, “A Beautiful Planet.” In this follow-up to her “Hubble 3D” (which featured voiceover work by Leonardo DiCaprio), Toni Myers writes, directs, produces and edits another 45-minute spectacle of large-scale natural beauty and innocuous propaganda.

Every battle. Every challenge. Every character arc. Every episode has led to this, the 8th and FINAL season of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER!

For eight seasons we have watched this re-imagination of the classic animated series exceed expectations. The character development, while demonstrating a love for the original series, has allowed the paladins to grow into themselves organically. The trailer offers no dialogue but delivers the synthesized music we've come to love, as it flashes images across the screen to offer a glimpse of what we can expect. First shown at the New York City Comic-Con, you can now watch the trailer for the upcoming epic finale to what has been one of the best re-imagined shows in recent memory.