There's a new hero on the horizon, a mythic figure of folk legend who fights for justice for the common man--the flyover man. His name is Red Rooster, and his is a mantle that passes from generation to generation.

The Red Rooster is the creation of comic book creator Mitch Breitweiser, who, along with his wife, colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser (SKYBOUND), is driving hype for one of the most hotly anticipated crowdfunded comics to come down the pike.

We sat down to talk to Mitch about this project, and what it's like using the crowdfunding vehicle to bring a dream to reality, complete with its triumphs--as well as its surprising adversities.

Click below to listen to the Critical Blast Podblast.

Marvel superheroes are beloved around the world, but perhaps none is more beloved than Spider-Man. The character is far more intricate and interesting than most, coming from humble begins to experience personal tragedy that drives bookish Peter Parker to become one of the best superheroes his world—or any other—has ever seen. Sony’s new animated feature, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, is remarkable not only for its technical prowess and excellent acting but for exploring the nuances of the hero archetype in ways both subtle and profound.

Victor Hugo’s enormous novel about a failed student uprising in post-Revolution France would seem an unlikely source for a much beloved musical theatre production. Nonetheless, Les Misérables has run continuously in London’s famous West End theatre district since it premiered in 1985, and has had tremendous staying power the world over. The Les Misérables National Tour has arrived in St. Louis for a sadly too brief stay at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. Running only from December 11 through December 16, 2018, this production was a bit different from my first experience with the show and largely much better for it.

There are all kinds of things that the comic book industry is arguing about right now, (looking at you #comicsgate) but hopefully, they can all agree that insulting women is not okay.

In today's industry, many professionals are looking to fund their own titles to show that readers just want good books; without being inundated with political opinions. There are artists who want to draw "sexy" protagonists and those who feel that style just demeans women. There are writers who want to focus on plot-driven stories and others that want to drive a political narrative. And the only wrong answers are the books that don't sell.

Sales determine who's right and who's wrong as the consumers vote with their dollars.

On Monday, December 10, 2018, Cynthia Naugle took to Twitter to announce she had sent a letter to a man she claimed had sexually abused her on multiple occasions.

While Naugle never went so far as to mention the name of her abuser, she was very clear that they worked together at the same comic shop where he was a manager, and that the abuser went on to become a current writer at DC Vertigo. With that information, coupled with the fact that the evens she described occurred in Tucson, Arizona, it did not take much detective work for the Internet to work out that the mysterious “X” of Naugle’s story was Eric M. Esquivel, currently the writer of DC Vertigo’s much-discussed comic series, BORDER TOWN.

No matter how fastidious you are in maintaining your comic shop pull list in your never-ending battle to make sure you don't miss anything good (or accidentally waste your money on something not so much), it never hurts to do a last minute check on what's coming out this week so you can make those fine-tuned adjustments.

Here are our looks at this week's upcoming comics, and our hot takes on whether they're a pick or a pan. Your mileage may vary.

The Milgram family is full of tensions, both open and repressed. Son Nick (SAM GITTINS) hasn't been home for years, and gives no explanation as to why. He returns for Christmas, unannounced, and brings with him his girfriend, Annji (NEERJA NAIK), into an environment that's openly racist. His sister, Kate (HOLLY WESTON) is a stereotypical airheadh and two weeks out from delivering a baby, and her husband Scott (KRIS SADDLER) is a clueless sheep with muscles. Mom and Dad are poles apart from each other, with Bet (ABIGAIL CRUTTENDEN) trying to put on a cheery holiday face and ignore the stress, while Tony (GRANT MASTERS) is a follower of rules because they are laid down by those who know better.

The boys from Riverdale fled across the country, and the Man in Black followed.

Archie (KJ APA) and Jughead (COLE SPROUSE) have headed out on foot, following Archie's escape from a corrupt juvenile detention facility. Despite Archie's exoneration and reversal of the verdict, Archie still has to be on the run or run the risk of Hiram Lodge (MARK CONSUELOS) finding him. It was Hiram who set him up for a murder rap in the first place, and the mob boss isn't about to let Archie free so easily.

The Nutcracker is a well-known and beloved Christmas story performed yearly by ballerinas all across the country. This book, and the recently released movie, puts a new and different twist on Clara’s life. Clara’s mother has passed, and Clara discovers Four Realms or “otherworlds” of which her mother had been the queen. At a pageant held for Clara, a beautiful ballerina dances gracefully and elegantly, bringing the story to life. Not all the “otherworlds” are happy ones, and Clara’s goal is to make all the worlds peaceful once again. 

Wonderland: Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure is a hybrid of the traditional Lewis Carroll tale of a young girl trying to make sense of her crazy world and modern rock concert. It doesn’t try to completely emulate the beloved Disney animated film that so many us remember fondly from our youth. With a modest but effective set design and a bevy of jams to give the old standards a kick in the pants, this Metro Theatre Company production turns the volume and the energy up to 11.

Celebrated by many fans and critics as perhaps the best video game to come out in 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 has quickly won over the gaming community. A prequel to the 2010 original Red Dead Redemption, RDR2 takes us through the Wild West, as we walk in the shoes – or rather, cowboy boots – of Arthur Morgan, a member of the infamous van der Linde gang we met in the first installment. But don't worry: John Marston is still here as the original outlaw-turned-hired-gun, as are several elements from the original game that was celebrated as Game of the Year by many critics. One of the most interesting features that made a return, much to the fans’ rejoice, is the poker minigame – could this signal that poker minigames are increasing in popularity among gamers?

The Vaude-villains are a group of criminals unlike anything existing in comics. Created by a person or persons unknown in TAP DANCE KILLER #1, they were an innocent group of actors hired to play roles in a horror musical, transformed through chemical means into being psychologically traped in their roles. While on-stage, they performed the deed they were programmed to -- the elimination of members of the Vitalli mob family.

No matter how fastidious you are in maintaining your comic shop pull list in your never-ending battle to make sure you don't miss anything good (or accidentally waste your money on something not so much), it never hurts to do a last minute check on what's coming out this week so you can make those fine-tuned adjustments.

Here are our looks at this week's upcoming comics, and our hot takes on whether they're a pick or a pan. Your mileage may vary.

Tis the season to be jolly, hang the holly, and oh! by golly get into the folly of...

You know, sometimes a line just doesn't go where you plan it to. But you get the idea. It's December, and everyone's thoughts are turning to that special person in the special outfit who brings us wonderful feelings of happiness.

Nope, not him. At least, not in the Critical Blast offices. We're still totally ready for Santa, sure, but it's our monthly cosplay model who is all the buzz today.

We couldn't wait until Christmas to unwrap this gift. So, please, gather round and feel the comfort and joy as Critical Blast presents to you our...

Critical Blast Bombshell, December 2018

Spittani

The schedule must be getting tight on the 20-page comic (remember when they were 22 pages?) HEROES IN CRISIS, because the former lead artist, Clay Mann, was only able to turn in the first page and the last page of this issue, which were basically the confidential confessional pages. Lee Weeks picks up the rest of the in-between, where Tom King's plot doesn't move the action forward from the previous issue (or even the issue before that).

That's because this issue is done entirely in flashback, to fill in the gaps and answer some of the questions about what Sanctuary was and how it operated.

I’ve gotta say, the Joker of the future is looking pretty spry for a (very) white guy.

The Clown Prince of Crime has been hinted to still be alive during the time of the BATMAN BEYOND comic book series, which has this reviewer questioning whether or not the animated movie BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER has any bearing on the comic book canon, which seems to be an anchor-point in actual DC Comics future history. At the end of the previous issue, he brought down a high-rise owned by Bruce Wayne, although nobody as yet knows he’s responsible. He only took credit for it when he confronted Barbara Gordon, surprising her in her office and narrowly missing her with a bullet.

My first exposure to the tradition of Krampus came through Brom's exquisite horror novel, KRAMPUS: THE YULE LORD. Since then, I've seen Krampus headline a film and appear in a few other media outlets.

The horned devil appears in this issue of TAROT, WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE, doing that thing he does: kidnapping naughty children to be taken away and whipped with a switch. But he stands opposed by Tarot, who seeks him out each year in her attempts to stop him. Unfortunately, he is more powerful than most magical-based entities she battles. Her magic doesn't affect him, but his magic -- a very unusual magic for the task he has at hand -- certainly has an impact on Tarot. (Take the plot of Milo Manara's SWITCH and instill it into a magic bell, and you'll figure it out.)

Things are getting seriously weird in RIVERDALE as Betty (LILI REINHART) and Jughead (COLE SPROUSE) won't let go of their investigation into the Gargoyle King and the addictive role-playing game of Griffins & Gargoyles. With the Warden having commited suicide via the traditional means of ascendance -- cyanide and blue fruit-like-flavored drink (Kraft Foods will seemingly never break the link to them and the Jim Jones tragedy that forever tainted their brand) -- Jughead is left without a primary suspect for the Gargoyle King. But Betty uncovers that their parents knew the Warden when they were playing G&G in high school, when he was the RROTC instructor. She lures all the parents to Veronica's speakeasy through forged invitations from the Gargoyle King, intent on interrogating them to find out which of yhem might have committed the first G&G murder. The finger of suspicion points conveniently to Darryl Doiley -- convenient, because he killed himself years ago.

It's Thanksgiving on THE FLASH, and the parallel themes running triplicate through this plot are all about fathers and daughters, and the relationships that build between them.

When thirteen-year-old Ben wakes up in a fantasy land called Meridia, he encounters evil faeries, transparent elves, and others like him called 'weeds.'  The world he has entered is disappearing, or 'fading.'  All things are vanishing.  ”What once was, never was.”  Fortunately, Ben is wearing a watch, albeit broken, that can stop the Fading.  He befriends brother elves, Tamerlane and Charlemagne, as well as other weeds Queen Regent Avery and Marcus.  They are attacked, and barely escape one of the Sovereign’s generals in the queen’s crystal castle.  Together they set out on an adventure to find The Creator to stop the Fading.  During the journey, they acquire three dragonwoofs, creatures Ben describes as, “You really are just a dog, aren’t you?”  The dragonwoofs used to be able to fly and breathe fire; but no longer, and they are almost extinct in Meridia.