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!

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As the third season draws rapidly to a close, LUCIFER delivers an emotionally impacting episode with some true character changes for our stars as well as the reveal of a dark plot befitting a show about the Prince of Darkness.

At the close of last episode Lt. Pierce (TOM WELLING), whom the viewers also know to be the immortally cursed Cain, got Chloe (LAUREN GERMAN) to fall in love with him -- but stopped short of letting her say it. His deduction was that it was Chloe's love for Lucifer (TOM ELLIS), not her presence, that made Lucifer vulnerable and that if he could get it, it would do the same for him and allow him to die.

Female plaintiff joins #MeToo movement with claims of assault, battery, violation of the Illinois Gender Violence Act, emotional distress and civil conspiracy against Stan Lee

CHICAGO – Apr. 23, 2018 – Maria Carballo, a massage therapist based in Cook County, has filed a complaint against renowned comic book creator, Stan Lee, and his assistant, Mac Anderson. Ms. Carballo’s complaint contains five counts, including assault, battery, violation of the Illinois Gender Violence Act, emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

The suit states that during the weekend of April 21-23, 2017, Ms. Carballo performed two massage therapy sessions for Lee in his hotel room at a Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Records indicate that the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo was taking place that weekend at the neighboring McCormick Place convention center.

BEN WHISHAW returns to lend his voice to the delightfully courteous and thoughtful-to-a-fault Paddington Brown, a talking bear who lives in London with the Brown family -- Henry (HUGE BONNEVILLE), Mary (SALLY HAWKINS), Judy (MADELAINE HARRIS) and Jonathan (SAMUEL JOSLIN).

Paddington's Aunty Lucy (IMELDA STAUNTON) is having an important birthday coming up, and Paddington wants to get her the perfect present. He finds it in an antique shop -- a pop-up book of all the London landmarks, created by a very famous carnival owner. Alas, the book is very expensive, and Paddington sets out to earn the money to buy the book.

The Riddler (CORY MICHAEL SMITH) teaches a lesson in betrayal with this episode of GOTHAM. Having agreed to perform a series of bank robberies for Lee Thompkins (MORENA BACCARIN), the proceeds of which are distributed among the impoverished of The Narrows, GCPD Captain James Gordon (BEN MCKENZIE) and Harvey Bullock (DONAL LOGUE) suspect Nygma's cleverness behind the thefts.

They're not the only one. Oswald Cobblepot (ROBIN LORD TAYLOR) and Butch Gilzean (DREW POWELL) are also on the trail of The Riddler. They want in -- by force -- and they want half of the take. When Oswald sees that Nygma is lending his brilliant mind in the service of Thompkins, he plants doubts in The Riddler's mind about Lee using him, doubts which fester when the mirrors are turned on Riddler, who is now taunted by his alter ego, Nygma (where it used to be the other way around).

Riverdale fans who follow the fictional Instagram account of Kevin Keller (played by CASEY COTT) were given the news that Midge Klump (EMILIJA BARANAC), who was last seen impaled on the set wall of CARRIE: THE MUSICAL, is indeed dead.

Kevin writes, "Sometimes it takes tragedies to put things in perspective. RIP Midge you’ll be missed." This all but confirms that a major character has been written off of the series.

"The Gift" leads up to the wedding of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle by taking us, after the events of METAL and all the various universes to -- you guessed it -- another alternate universe. In this case, it's an alternate timeline -- a BoosterPoint universe.

Gotham City is unrecognizable. Jokers -- plural, and way more than just three -- run amok in the streets. Tim Drake has a cubicle job, Jason Todd sells tires, and Duke Thomas is a mental invalid. And where is the Batman?

He's armed to the teeth and killing superheroes who come to Gotham so they don't get "Jokered." Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is at a party, dancing with his mother on her anniversary.

That's right. Bruce Wayne and Batman are different people, all because Booster Gold time-travelled in an attempt to recreate "For the Man Who Has Everything" as a gift to Batman for his upcoming wedding.

"I TOLD YOU SO". That tweet was sent out by star Cameron Cuffe as the big reveal was delivered to audiences.

This whole time, showrunner Cam Welsh and many other actors and participants who live tweet KRYPTON have been warning us that this show isn't what we think it is. To paraphrase Cuffe, KRYPTON has been setting up the game, moving the pieces on the board, and last night they flipped the table.

If you don't want SPOILERS I suggest you TURN BACK NOW! Bookmark this page and come back after you've watched the episode. Because you never saw this coming. What's worse is they give you a red herring while cleverly working it into Jayna Zod's backstory.

It's time for CARRIE: THE MUSICAL, and this episode of RIVERDALE delivers on its titular promise. Believe us, readers, this isn't just "A Night to Remember" -- it's a night you won't be able to forget!

Director JASON STONE  and writers ARABELLA ANDERSON and TESSA WILLIAMS have done a great job of paralleling the classic CARRIE storie elements against the backdrop of the twisted gothic horror that RIVERDALE has become, with Betty (LILI REINHART) as good-girl Sue Snell, Archie (KJ APA) as her boyfriend Tommy Ross, Veronica (CAMILA MENDES) as bad-girl Chris Hargensen and trying-to-reform Chuck Clayton (JORDAN CALLOWAY) as her boyfriend, Billy Nolan.

From Marvel

He put Frank Castle in the War Machine armor for Marvel Legacy — but that was just the start. Now writer Matthew Rosenberg discusses his plans to take the Punisher’s war on crime to the next level in a brand-new series!

Marvel: In the new Punisher series, Frank will no longer have the War Machine armor. Is this, then, a back-to-basics approach?

It's here! Action Comics #1000 is available today and we're covering yet another previously released story right out of the pages of the landmark issue!

"Five Minutes" is written by Louise Simonson with art by Jerry Ordway. Listen in as I discuss my thoughts about this self-contained story as well as share in my excitement for Action Comics #1000. Wednesday, April 18th will forever be a holiday for Superman fans, as it's the 80th anniversary of Action Comics #1.

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.