As kids, we loved new movies not just for the films themselves, but for the inevitable merchandising which would help us reenact some of the thrills at home. Whether through Happy Meals or coloring books, there were dozens of avenues that would help keep us entertained, while building significant profit and interest back in the original property. Often underestimated even to this day, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the most famous merchandising efforts, and the amount of profit and interest they have returned to the starting brand.

Not So Long Ago

Of all the comics creators who have been in the industry, we can never overstate the debt we owe to the great Dave Stevens, gone ten years now, for his lasting contribution to the comic books. Yes, we'll remember his Rocketeer and I for one will never forget his pinup covers for DNAGENTS and CROSSFIRE & RAINBOW.

But it's largely because of Dave Stevens work that the community remains aware of a real life character, Bettie Page, a stag film model with a look that transcended time. She was the girlfriend of his Rocketeer, but has since gone on to become a heroine in her own right, thanks to Dynamite Entertainment.

Case in point: BETTIE PAGE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL ONE-SHOT 2018.

They're the world's most iconic rockers. With their black-and-white facepaint and their over-the-top stage presence, KISS is on top of the world.

And then they were dead. Killed through the machinations of the mother of demons, all so that she could recruit them to fight a greater evil that existed beyond her grasp.

It seems there's another rock star on the rise in the mortal plane, and he's anything but mortal. He's a vampire, and he's got the protection of a group of occultists keeping him safe from Lillith. In exchange, they tell him who he needs to kill. And Lillith wants him dead, even though she created him.

It seems there are a ton of Halloween specials hitting the comics shops this time of year -- more than one would normally expect. But what you would alwaye expect is for Vampirella to have such a special. The Daring Dresser of Drakulon prowls the rooftops this Halloween night, dressed more like DC's Spoiler than the typical barely-there crimson swimsuit that has become her trademark. That's because she's dressed for business, expecting the entirety of Hell to break through and walk the world once more.

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.

Starr Carter is sixteen, with an older brother Seven and a younger brother Sekani.  Their father named them Starr, knowing she would shine, Seven, for perfection, and Sekani for joy.  The Carter family lives in Garden Heights, a poor black neighborhood with crime and drugs, but the children go to school in a suburban white neighborhood.  Starr believes she must act according to her environment in order to fit in and not draw attention to herself.  This creates an internal struggle for Starr which consumes her life.

With all the buzz around the upcoming ELSEWORLD's storyline for this year's CW Crossover event, Superman seems to be leading the charge.

Pictures have been leaked of Tyler Hoechlin wearing the black suit, which many fans are aware was cut from the JUSTICE LEAGUE movie. While it feels like maybe the CW was just trolling the DC Cinematic Universe, now it's starting to feel like something more.

Okay, I've got to quit saying how messed up RIVERDALE is, because every time I do so the writers find a way to make things even darker and more twisted.

Last episode, Jughead (COLE SPROUSE) found two bodies in the woods, with runes carved into their backs, while Betty (LILI REINHART) saw her mother (MADCHEN AMICK) and sister Polly (TIERA SKOVBYE) drop Polly's twin babies into a bonfire -- right before they floated up into the air and Betty collapsed in a seizure.

But the thing you were supposed to remember was that Archie went to a juvenile detention center, framed for a murder he didn't commit (but certainly knew about).

It's been half a year since Archie and the gang graduated from Riverdale High, which puts the date of this issue in mid-December of 1941. The Japenese forces have already bombed Pearl Harbor, and we see an empty theater playing the newsreel of Roosevelt's famous declaration of war, which means we're probably several days past December 7, allowing for time for the filmreels to be cut and delivered to theaters.

Which also means we've nearly run out of days for the titular 1941.

The fifth season of THE FLASH makes it two-in-a-row with some great storytelling. With Team Flash now knowing that Nora (JESSICA PARKER KENNEDY) is not trapped in this time period but here because The Flash (GRANT GUSTIN) never returns from his disappearance in the Crisis that sits five years down the road, Barry settles into the role of mentor to teach his future-daughter how to become the best Flash she can be. But XS is too eager to prove herself, and takes chances that put both her and her dad in danger.

It takes a conversation with Joe (JESSE L MARTIN) for Barry to realize what XS is doing, with the understanding that all the knowledge of her father comes to a museum built in tribute to him. So he takes the time to show her some Season 1 highlights where he made mistakes on his path to becoming a capable hero.

XFL Commissioner, Oliver Luck, was at the Sports Business Journal's Sports, Media & Technology summit yesterday and discussed a myriad of ideas the new league is bringing to the table to be "fan friendly".

Not looking to compete, so much as compliment the NFL, the XFL from its initial inception back in 2001 has always been about the fans. From custom jerseys sporting nicknames instead of surnames, which MLB has now adopted during "Player's Weekend", to WWE style locker room interviews, everything they have done was meant to appeal to the fans.

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.

If you have high blood pressure or low stress thresholds, be warned. This book is probably not for you.

No, that's not a knock on the last STAR WARS film, SOLO, which doesn't even come into play in the historical timeline presented in this book. I haven't even seen that film to comment on it. (It does include milestones from THE FORCE AWAKENS, which I have seen, but I'm not going to hold that against the book either.)

No, the triggering factors of this book are not what you read out of it, but what you punch out of it.

You see, while this is a rather thick book, the reading portion is not that many pages. The rest of the book is cardboard pages with perforated sections that, when following the instructions in order, ostensibly can be assembled into a 3D replica of the Millennium Falcon itself.

Provided, of course, you have patience, skill, patience, and probably a half a tube of super glue. Also, patience.

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side.

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

If Master Yoda hadn't lived a long time ago, and in a galaxy far, far away, he might have said that it also leads to termination. That's what Star Wars writer Chuck Wendig discovered when he took to Twitter in the aftermath of the confirmation of Brett Kavenaugh to the Supreme Court.

The Kavenaugh hearings were a hotly contested subject of conversation in social media, with both sides absolutely convinced the other side was sheer evil, and had to be defeated. So it should come as no surprise that there were many less-than-civil discussions to be had.

But one would think that someone who was as versed in Star Wars lore and Chuck Wendig should be would have recognized the roadsigns, and heeded them rather than plowed over them. Here's how it played out.

Indiegogo. For months now it's been the go-to site for aspiring comic book creators to fund their dreams. Some have been failures. Some have been moderately successful. And some have simply exploded.

But a chilling effect went through the creative community yesterday when, suddenly, Indiegogo took down the Arkhaven Comics account, citing "unusual activity," and refunded all pledges for a $100,000 project being penned by Chuck Dixon. This happened on the same day that Bleeding Cool ran an article with Arkhaven's controversial publisher, Vox Day, an article the site took down that night, bowing to pressure.

We spoke with Arkhaven creator Jon Del Arroz about the event and what impact it could have on other Arkhaven projects -- and non-Arkhaven projects.

When news broke on Twitter that James Gunn had posted jokes about pedophilia and deplorable acts of sexual assault, including rape, Marvel Studios had a PR nightmare on their hands.

Gunn, the writer/director of Marvel's highly successful GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY franchise, had been exposed as someone that may not be a good representative of Marvel's parent company, Disney. While some would argue that since an "alt-right extremist" outed James Gunn, it shouldn't matter. Whether you like who "outed" him or not, it doesn't make the situation less believable when the evidence is clear as day.

There's so much jaw-dropping suspension of disbelief in this premiere episode of RIVERDALE's third season, you'd almost think it was based on a comic book.

Archie (KJ APA) has been on trial all summer long for a murder he did not commit. Of course, he was there when it happened, he told nobody about it, and he knew who did it, but other than that he was innocent. And sure, he really did organize two vigilante gangs and physically assault an injured, bedridden teenager, but at heart he's just the boy next door.

Archie's defense lawyer really has his back on this one. She's his mother, Mary Andrews (MOLLY RINGWALD). Normally I'd have thought a lawyer would have to recuse herself from representing a close family member, but I'll confess I could be wrong on that, since I'm not a lawyer but just a casual viewer of proceedings. And she puts up a pretty good defense, too, given all the rational arguments made by the prosecution.

If you’ve ever wanted a practical demonstration of Einsteinian relativity, you can always rely on the man’s simple explanation: “An hour spent talking to a pretty girl can feel like a minute. A minute touching a hot stove can feel like an hour.” For us fans of THE FLASH, a summer waiting for the new season to begin can feel like an eternity, and the hour we spend watching it can go by in a second.

We pick up immediately where Season 4 finished: with the family and friends all gathered at the West home, when a young lady shows up claiming to be Nora West-Allen — Barry and Iris’s daughter from the future. She’s also a speedster who goes by the name XS. This, and a throwaway reference to Lightning Lad means the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes is closer than we thought. It also means there’s a Legion on this Earth — or is it the same Legion we saw on SUPERGIRL last season?

Each year, new names emerge in the music industry. Some of these new names soon become household names while others will scatter into oblivion after just one hit song. While we don’t know what the future holds for each and every one of the following artists, all we know at this point is that these are the best new artists of 2018. If you encounter an artist you haven’t heard of on this list, then you can simply visit cresus casino to play profitable games and earn that extra cash to purchase their songs online.

Bassette

Magic. Some people can't stand to be fooled. Others thrill at having their expectations toyed with. Having seen The Illusionists Live from Broadway tour last year I thought this time is know what to expect. Perhaps I'd catch their expert slight of hand technique falter and figure out how their trick was done. 

Despite having seen the tour twice now, I'm still flummoxed! I have a theory or two, but there's a reason why these guys are masters of their craft. They're phenomenally good.