From WWE:

WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino passed away at age 82.

The story of Bruno Sammartino is the story of the American dream.

During his childhood in the small Italian mountain town of Abruzzi, Italy, Bruno Sammartino heard stories about how the streets in the United States were paved with gold. Though he believed it literally at the time, Sammartino would experience fortune and fame first-hand as the longest-reigning WWE Champion and the most beloved competitor in the history of the squared circle.

The first season of BLACK LIGHTNING wraps things up after a 13-episode run -- and, honestly, it's none too soon.

There were so many different things going badly for this series after its debut, but the acting wasn't one of them. CRESS WILLIAMS turned in a fine portrayal of high school principal Jefferson Pierce, but he's simply not action hero material when it came to being Black Lightning. Or perhaps it was just that the hero suit was so bulky and inflexible that made the fight scenes look stilted and awkward. The suit itself was never really fully explained, as far as having a reason other than disguise and identification. The best I can guess is that Pierce could funnel his natural electrical charge into it to make it do other things, but he still could perform electrical stunts without the uniform.

I've known that this episode of THE FLASH was likely coming, given the track record of the bus metas that The Thinker (NEIL SANDILANDS) had been tracking. But that doesn't mean I had given up hope, and it certainly didn't mean I was prepared for the event when it got here.

Last night, it got here.

Barry Allen (GRANT GUSTIN) and Ralph Dibny (HARTLEY SAWYER) are examining the actual bus that was hit by the wave of dark matter, scanning it for dark matter signatures in order to help the find anything on Edwin Gauss (ARTURO DEL PUERTO), a man who is completely off the grid, and lived that way even before the bus incident. As Harry (TOM CAVANAGH) gets further addicted to using the "thinking cap," the rest of Team Flash investigates a commune to find the extremely laid back Gauss to bring him in for protection. They're intercepted by one of The Thinker's Samuroids, but ultimately get Gauss into the Pipeline.

From Valiant:

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s long-running 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!

Can an angel sleepwalk -- or sleepfly? That's the question Lucifer (TOM ELLIS) finds himself asking when he and Detective Chloe Decker (LAUREN GERMAN) investigate a home invasion murder where one of the would-be victims claims to have been rescued by an interceding angel. Lucifer has serious doubts that another of his brethren are wandering Earth interceding in petty robberies, but is given reason to be concerned by his therapist, Linda Martin (RACHAEL HARRIS) that the angel could, in fact, be him, engaging in a little celestial somnambulism over his inability to come to terms with the relationship developing between Chloe and Cain (TOM WELLING).

Not sure if you've heard by now but Action Comics #1000 comes out tomorrow. On the same day that Action Comics #1 debuted.

In AC1K Tom King (Batman, Grayson) tells a tale about the end of days for the planet Earth, and how Superman is visiting for one final goodbye to his parents. It's a beautiful homage to Ma and Pa Kent who took in an alien immigrant and raised him as their own. Loved him like he was born from them.

Then King ruined it with one panel. Give a listen to the latest "Superman Talk" and I'll explain why. If you haven't read his story yet and can't wait for tomorrow, you can read it for free here.

We hit two major milestones in GOTHAM last night, as Jerome (CAMERON MONAGHAN) puts together his biggest attack on the city ever.

With the mayor, police commissioner and other Gotham notables captured and wearing dynamite necklaces, the leader of the Arkham maniacs holds a street concert hostage while demanding that his last two empty seats be filled with the final two people who have upset his plans in the past -- his twin brother, Jeremiah, and Bruce Wayne (DAVID MAZOUZ). Meanwhile, Jerome's partners Mr. Freeze (NATHAN DARROW) and Scarecrow (DAVID W. THOMPSON) prepare the real attack -- a zeppelin loaded down with Jerome's lethal laughing gas. On board, a hypnotized pilot, courtesy of the Mad Hatter (BENEDICT SAMUEL), and a panicked Penguin (ROBIN LORD TAYLOR) who has been tied up after betraying Jerome to the police.

The modern political landscape is a labyrinthe so torturous and dizzying that those who live outside it are often happy they do not understand it. Ignorance, after all, is bliss, and those who do completely understand the inner workings of the machine never seem all that happy about having the knowledge.

For all the misery that comes with political knowledge, there sure are a lot of books on the subjects -- and an awful lot of people buying them, depending on the season. Case in point: Peter Schwiezer's point-by-point takedown of the Clinton Foundation during the 2016 campaign, which was greatly anticipated, hotly debated, and, now, nearly antiquated (such is the speed of the news cycle).

While much was made of the anecdotes relating to UraniumOne, Rosatom, and Ericsson, the overall gist of the book was to demonstrate a pattern of enrichment, following the players and the flow of money across a blurred-line overlap of political favors and charitable donations. 

The fourth season of THE FLASH has been, to date, one of the most exciting of the series. It's been running like a well-oiled machine.

Last night, a cylinder misfired.

Now, I don't know where it went off the rails. Maybe the writing. Maybe the directing. Maybe there's just too many episodes and not enough story. Either way, things didn't work.

Things begin with Flash (GRANT GUSTIN) trying to run Ralph (HARTLEY SAWYER) through a training scenario. But Ralph's inability to take it seriously grates on Barry, who keeps reminding Ralph that they're doing this to save his life, since he's one of the remaining Bus Metas that The Thinker (played this week by MIRANDA MACDOUGALL, the former Fiddler) is trying to acquire and absorb.

Action Comics #1000 4-page preview of Brian Michael Bendis story, chock full of Jim Lee art! Also: Pre-Order numbers for Action Comics #1000 and DC Nation #0!

Tune in to tonight's episode to hear what I have to say about the newly released 4-page preview and how big the pre-order numbers are for Action Comics #1000. DC Nation #0 has twice as many pre-orders and could be twice as important for the future of DC Comics. Listen in and check out the preview below! Also as an added bonus, the cover of the FREE DC NATION #1 featuring Rogol Zar!

From Ultimate Classic Rock:

They've certainly had their ups and downs, but it looks like Gene Simmons and his former Kiss bandmate Ace Frehley have enjoyed their recent reunions. In fact, Frehley will join Simmons for a series of upcoming tour dates in Australia.

Source: Ultimate Classic Rock

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s long-running 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!

Steve talks (Bizarro) Superman as he goes over the latest issue of Superman by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason.

Some of the topics covered:

• Is Bizzaro truly Superman's opposite? 
• How much effort goes into editing Bizarro language?
• Why is there so much emphasis on characters being attracted to Superman?

Did you read Superman #44? Leave your comments below!

Orson Eerie found a way to live forever -- by embuing his soul into the building and grounds of Eerie Elementary School. Unfortunately, he needs to feed his power by (gulp) eating students! Only the hall monitors have historically stood in his way, and the current batch of hall monitors -- Sam, Lucy and Antonio -- have thus far been able to thwart every evil plan the school has concocted.

Now, with the annual kickball competition on the horizon, Orson Eerie finds a way to eliminate his opposition, by doing little things to teachers when the hall monitors are around to make it look like the hall monitors are misbehaving or acting disrespectful. Events conspire to make them late for class, or doors slam in the faces of teachers. It's enough to get the hall monitors fired!

From Good Housekeeping:

They're back! Actress Candice Bergen, who played the Murphy Brown, shared the first photo from the upcoming reboot of Murphy Brown — and we are getting serious flashbacks.

In the Instagram photo, Candice is joined by the old and new cast members, including Nik Dodani, Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto, Grant Shaud, and creator Diane English. And get this: The crew will start filming new episodes this July in New York City!

Marvel Entertainment Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada, shared a little fan art on Twitter. But it wasn't exactly what you'd expect. He left out a very important piece of the character as he drew it on official Marvel Comics stock. Was his omission by design?

In today's episode, I discuss the image and what may have been going through Joe Marvel's mind when he drew it. Give us 5 minutes of your time and let us know what YOU think about Quesada's fan art.

​

The hunt continues for the escaped Arkham inmates, including Jervis Tetch (BENEDICT SAMUEL), Jonathan Crane (DAVID W. THOMPSON), and their ringleader, Jerome Valeska (CAMERON MONAGHAN). And Jerome's own hunt also continues, as he seeks out a reclusive building engineer named Xander Wilde for reasons unknown.

Until now.

Leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, Jerome finds the proxy used by Xander to communicate to his clients. But she turns out to be too much for him to handle, and he finds himself knocked out and transported to Wilde's underground home where he's locked away in a concrete prison.

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

Bombshell of the Month: RavenGlitch