photo by Flickr, Peter Pham

From music to film to TV to literature, poker is not just defined by the table, it resonates throughout popular culture. As fans of poker, we are always pleased to see our favorite strategic game referenced so often. Here we explore the many defining moments in pop culture where poker has been showcased.

Lucifer (TOM ELLIS) has hit a mental block. He's been trying to find a way to break Cain's curse and end his immortal life, but everything he can think of is something that Cain has already tried. The Devil isn't used to being out of ideas, and it bothers him into an unlikely sullenness that Chloe (LAUREN GERMAN) notices. However, when a murdered YA science fiction author is rumored to have written in the afterword to her latest book the cure for her writer's block, Lucifer is keenly focused on finding the killer so that he can find the stolen manuscript.

It feels a little odd in these last few days of February to say that a long year has come to a close. But that's how it feels, now that all the votes, all the announcements, and all the awards are finally out of the way. And, of course, we like to top off our Best Of awards with a very special one to all of us here at Critical Blast, the Bombshell of the Year.

Each month, Critical Blast focuses on a cosplayer and highlights what makes him or her special, a focus that goes beyond how great he or she looks in a costume. Then, at the end of the year, you the readers determine which of that year's cosplayers are to be the esteemed Bombshell of the Year. And with your help, we can now announce the latest to hold that title.

It is with great pride that Critical Blast introduces to you our 2017 Bombshell of the Year...Jennifer of Themyscira!

Take it away, Jennifer!

WONDER WOMAN was the superhero film no one expected, but we all agreed well deserved, reportedly earning more than $400,000,000, and was the 3rd highest grossing film of the year. It was tremendously well-received by audiences and critics alike, and it finally broke the DC curse of taking some of the most iconic and beloved comic book characters and producing severely underwhelming movies (the infamous Martha scene in the penultimate BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE movie arguably reached new levels of disappointing even diehard fans). It was immediately clear that WONDER WOMAN 2 had to happen. And it will.

Wonder Woman’s Unexpected Success

The Critical Blast Best of 2017 Awards are almost in the rear view mirror, as we announce the Best Game of 2017! All the usual suspects were at play, and a couple of dark horse entries, and with everything being determined by the votes of the readers, it was truly anybody's game.

Ultimately, however, it came down to a fight between the top four games: SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY and LEGEND OF ZELDA, both from Nintendo, CUPHEAD from StudioMDHR, and the DC Comics superhero fighting game, INJUSTICE 2 from NetherRealm Studios.

From IGN

Ghostbusters World is a mobile Augmented Reality (AR) game, like 2016 juggernaut Pokemon Go, in which players use smart devices to find and catch "specters, ghosts, and apparitions." The game is coming to Android and iOS this year, although a specific release date and price have not yet been revealed. More information will be announced at the Game Developers Conference next month.

In Ghostbusters World, players will be able to battle and capture hundreds of ghosts from "all dimensions of the franchise," including the films, TV shows, comic books, theme parks, and video games. There will also be new ghosts to capture created especially for the game.

There was a fun little exchange between Scott Snyder  and Jason Aaron on Twitter a few days ago:

It started with Scott Snyder saying:

Crazy excited for @jasonaaron on Avengers - going to be epic

When DC Comics brought in Brian Michael Bendis to take over writing duties on the Superman comics, they brought in arguably one of the best in the industry.

And he has big plans.

Not only will he be re-launching (sort of) the Superman comic book, but his story in Action Comics #1000 will be the foundation for much of what is changing going forward. He will also be penning a MAN OF STEEL weekly book in May which builds off of his story in the pages of the historical 1000th issue.

In an interview with Men's Health, actor Cameron Cuffe talked about how he added 15 lbs of muscle in order to bear the weight of being Superman's grandfather.

It's been a very good year this year for DC Comics at the annual Critical Blast awards.

First, they take the prize for Best Comic Book Storyline of 2017 with DARK NIGHTS: METAL.

Then they get more notoriety when BATMAN and MISTER MIRACLE SCRIBE, Tom King, is awarded Best Comics Writer of 2017.

Well, DC fans--the streak isn't over yet!

To celebrate the centenary year of Mickey Spillane, Titan Comics is excited to announce Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, a brand-new Hard Case Crime comic book series, based on a story originally written by Mickey Spillane and adapted by Max Allan Collins (Road To Perdition, Quarry’s War) – coming in June 2018.

Following his debut novel, I, The Jury in 1947, Mickey Spillane became one of the best-selling novelists of all-time, with more than 225 million copies of his books sold internationally. Famed, yet controversial for the depictions of sex and violence in his novels, Spillane created Mike Hammer, one of the most famous of all fictional detectives, and even starred as Hammer in one of the many movies made from his books.

The Best Book category was probably one of the closest, most hotly contested races of the entire Best of 2017 awards. And why shouldn't it be? Every nominee was an excellent title, as we let the genres and styles all battle it out for a single trophy. The YA and the SF, the adult books vs. the kids books -- if it had pages and was bound, it was a book and thus eligible for nomination.

When the dust settled, it was hard to tell the winner at first. The top five were clearly included Gerald Welch's SHATTERED PROPHECY (the latest in THE LAST WITNESS saga). However, pinning him down was David J. Pedersen's BURNING WITH ANGST (of Pedersen's ANGST series).

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

Bombshell of the Month Sofy Frezer

Comics writers do a lot of double-duty. They generally aren't assigned one specific title, but they usually only shine for one.

This year was exceptional, however, in that several of our nominees for Best Comics Writer of 2017 were nominated for their work on more than one comic. Charles Soule came in for both ASTONISHING X-MEN and CURSE WORDS. David Walker was nominated for OCCUPY AVENGERS and LUKE CAGE.

As an avid board game player and a fan of Jason Bateman, I was eager to see Game Night, the new comedy by directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein, the fellows that brought you Horrible Bosses. As usual, I avoided previews so I wasn't really sure what I was going to see. The premise is actually pretty similar to the brilliant Michael Douglas thriller The Game, but this time done as a farce. As with most farcical films, they tend to be better if everyone goes all in on the conceit. Game Night does exactly that.

Alex Garland, who received a lot of praise for his first directorial effort, Ex Machina (2015) and wrote and produced one of my favorite comic book adaptations with Dredd (2012), is a way ahead of me. I like to think I’m a pretty sharp guy. I can usually spot the twist nobody saw coming just before everyone else. I generally am aware of the nuanced use of the color palette and lighting to achieve mood and heighten tension.  I can appreciate a slow, thoughtful pace. I most certainly can applaud the predominant casting of strong, capable women in this film. Yet I cannot even begin to tell you what Garland’s latest picture, Annihilation, is really about. I just can’t. I didn’t get it. I mean, virtually none of it. So this is going to be one strange flick to discuss.

If there was a motto to my life, it would probably be this: So many comic books, so little time.

2017 certainly had its share of memorable storylines. Valiant's BLOODSHOT: SALVATION reinvigorated the character. DC Comics' THE OZ EFFECT has people guessing about the identity of the enigmatic Mr. Oz, while PAST TIMES AT SUPER HERO HIGH was a fun adventure with the cartoon-version of some of our favorite super heroes (in high school). Over at Marvel, fans continue to fall in love with MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR, while SECRET EMPIRE set fandom on its ear with the idea of an evil Captain America taking over the country with Hydra.

When an art dealer (GREG KINNEAR) is discovered to be cheating on his wife (RENEE ZELLWEGER), she forgives him on the condition they try to fix their relationship. For Ron Hall, this means he will be joining Debbie in assisting at a homeless shelter, not by writing a check but by using his hands and putting in the effort to get to know the people there and help them one-on-one. It is here that they meet Denver Moore (DJIMON HOUNSOU), a violent man with a criminal past. He also looks exactly like the man Debbie has been having dreams about, and she focuses on finding out more about him.

The "Best Actor in a Series" category is probably one of the most hotly contested in this year's Best of 2017 awards. It's not just that there were so many nominees to choose from, but every one of them comes with a solid fan following, and the shows they appeared on represented a myriad of genres. Just about everyone on THE ORVILLE got at least one vote, attesting to the ardent following of that series. Also in the running were all the leads from the CW super-shows -- ARROW's Stephen Amell, THE FLASH's Grant Gustin, and SUPERGIRL's Melissa Benoist -- as well as comedies like YOUNG SHELDON's (Iain Armitage), medical dramas like THE GOOD DOCTOR (Freddie Highmore), and dystopian science fiction like THE HANDMAID'S TALE (Elisabeth Moss).