Southside High has been closed, effective immediately. The good news is that this means Jughead (COLE SPROUSE) is returning to Riverdale High. The bad news is that his Southside Serpent friends are coming with him.

Veronica (CAMILA MENDES) organizes a welcoming party for the new students, as part of her promise to her parents Hiram (MARK CONSUELOS) and Hermione (MARISOL NICHOLS) now that she's not just their daughter but their business partner. It seems the closure of the high school will allow Hiram to swoop in and buy out the land later at a cheap price for his SoDale project. But there are students in opposition to the new students as well, like Reggie Mantle (CHARLES MELTON) and Cheryl Blossom (MADELAINE PETSCH), and they're not going to make it easy on the newcomers.

I can't imagine what it must have been like to have been Tony Isabella last night. Isabella (@TheTonyIsabella) is the creator of Black Lightning, the DC Comics character who got his first live-action debut on the CW.

CRESS WILLIAMS (PRISON BREAK) plays the titular hero, now in retirement and trying to make a difference in his Freedland neighborhood as the principal of Garfield High School. The divorced character maintains relations with his ex-wife Lynn (CHRISTINE ADAMS, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.) as they raise their two daughter, student Jennifer (CHINA ANNE MCCLAIN, A.N.T. FARM) and part-time health teacher Anissa (NAFESSA WILLIAMS, CODE BLACK).

This is one of those episodes of a superhero show where I wish I had open and free access to Bob Ingersoll. Bob's a comics fan and a lawyer, so don't let anyone tell you that the hobby stunts your education. Bob used to write a legal analysis column for comic book and television plotlines, whenever they'd get into the courtroom weeds. I wish I had been watching THE FLASH with him last night, as Barry Allen was put on trial for the murder of Clifford DeVoe, because while the body of DeVoe was definitely found in Barry Allen's home, and the two had had conflicts in the past, I don't see how the court ever established motive.

THE SPIRIT: THE CORPSE-MAKERS #5 – Yikes this issue was ridiculously late. I really like Dynamite’s SPIRIT books, but I always hate when a mini-series has a massive delay. Just seems like bad business, get the mini-series done before you solicit it. Hopefully this isn’t the last we see of SPIRIT in Dynamite…but next time, I hope it comes out in a reasonable time frame.

Fans of Gerry Anderson rejoice. And really, if you’re into sci-fi, who isn’t a fan of Gerry Anderson? There can’t be many sci-fi fans who have not been affected by his creations at one time or another in their early development of the affection. Whether it was by THUNDERBIRDS, SPACE: 1999, UFO, STINGRAY, or another of his iconic shows, one way or another you were smitten by his creations.

Here now is a chance to see some of his “lost” treasures: from early examples of his work to pilots that were never picked up to alternate takes on pilots. There is a lot to offer in the neat little 2-DVD set for the Gerry Anderson fan in all of us (including a signed limited-edition postcard by Jamie Anderson) from MPI.

Supergirl has been beaten. Reign has proven superior.

At least for now.

The Maid of Might was indeed down, but she's not out; just comatose. Fortunately, she has some friends at the DEO to help her out -- time travelers from a thousand years in the future: the Legion of Super-Heroes. And while there are a "legion" of them, we only get to meet three of them: Imra Ardeen aka Saturn Girl, Querl Dox aka Brainiac-5, and Mon-El, aka Supergirl's ex-boyfriend Mon-El. They've put her in a healing tank while Brainiac-5 projects his consciousness inside her to assess brain damage by talking with Kara inside the "mind apartment" (Sherlock would be disappointed) she's built to protect herself.

There've been a ton of fairy tales reimagined in the Grimm Fairy Tales universe from Zenescope Entertainment. So many, that it's hard to believe they've gone this long without tapping the iconic Beauty and the Beast for inclusion.

Meet Belle: a girl who's strange but special, and most peculiar. She's the latest caretaker in the family business, which happens to be monster hunting. Assisted by her mentor and director, Candlestick, we watch as this lithesome masked beauty takes out a minotaur before hopping onto a tricked out cycle to take it to a centaur appearing elsewhere the same night. And on the ride, we get treated to Belle's thoughts, which help explains her world and her place in it.

In Marvel Legacy and Avengers: No Surrender, we are led to believe that a character named Voyager has retconned herself into Marvel history.  But unlike Sentry or Blue Marvel, it seems that everyone in comics' memories have been rewritten to believe that Voyager was there all along (Blue Marvel and Sentry were written as if they were always there).

​Avengers #675 - No Surrender Part 1

Written by: Mark Waid, Al Ewing, and Jim Zub
Art by: Pepe Larraz
Colored by: David Curiel
Lettered by: VC’s Cory Petiit

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $4.99

From Marvel:

Today, Marvel Entertainment and Conan Properties International are excited to announce the iconic CONAN franchise will make its grand return to Marvel next year.

With over 650 issues from 1970 to 2000, Marvel brought fans the adventures of Conan The Barbarian, Conan the Adventurer, Conan the Savage, and Savage Sword of Conan, among other popular titles.

The often troubled Lindsey Lohan has thrown her cowl in the ring for consideration to play Barbara Gordon, aka BATGIRL.

Joss Whedon is set to direct the movie, announced months before the big shakeup at DC Films, which placed Walter Hamada as the new president. There's no guarantee that Hamada will continue with the project however, as we've seen many movies get cancelled or lose their directors.

Lindsey Lohan took to twitter last week asking her fans to "RT if I should star in the new BATGIRL movie and everyone tell (Joss Whedon)". After being in and out of re-hab, its nice to see that she feels stable enough to get back into Hollywood, but being a red-headed actress doesn't exactly give her an automatic look.

What did we talk about on Critical Blast this week?

Disclaimer: We don't actually have any articles about Norm MacDonald this week, but I am a fan so he got the cover image this week.

by David Jones
How to Make a Blockbuster on a Budget? by Moneypod.

Mister Miracle -- Scott Free -- is a character that has had me puzzling over him ever since I first encountered him in Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics. Oh, I got his schtick: world's greatest escape artist, so naturally anyone he fought would try to trap him rather than just shoot him or fight him hand-to-hand. And I got that he was in love with this amazon-like Big Barda who used to work for the bad guys. And I even got that he was supposed to be a god -- one of the new ones -- even though he seemed to be the least godlike, relying on tools and technology rather than exhibiting anything remotely deific.

But what I never understood was, how does his mask conform to his face so perfectly? I mean, look at that thing! It curves to his lips, and goes right inside his mouth! He can eat, he can smile, he can shout -- the mask never slips! I have a ski mask. I can tell you, that's not natural.

Eh, it's comics. Go with it.

I know a lot of people who find comfort in repetition. They drive to work the same way every morning. They eat the same thing for breakfast or lunch, or both. They go out for dinner and order the same thing at the same restaurant. Some people need that reliable stability in their lives. That is absolutely fine, I make no judgment here. For others, that’s a torturous existence. That’s like waking up every morning to Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” going to work, getting soaked by a truck driving through a puddle along the curb, and thinking, “Really? Again? I swear this happens every time…” That’s how I’m beginning to feel myself. Repetition, déjà vu—but not quite a true “Groundhog Day” experience when I go to the movies to watch anew Liam Neeson action flick. There are some slight deviations from film to film. The Commuter, opening everywhere on January 12, 2018, is one such deviation, but by and large it’s exactly what you might suspect it is.

Today, Nintendo launched a 15-minute Nintendo Direct mini which focused on heavily on games coming for the Switch.

Here's the thing, I love my Switch, but at times it just feels like this system is going to be primarily ports, including ports for games that already came out years ago.  There are a lot of cool announcements here, but if I didn't have a Switch yet, there is nothing here that really grabs me as a potential customer.  And still no sign of a Virtual Console coming anytime soon, so I am pretty much treating that as as "never going to happen."   

In a time when Confederate statues and flags are being vandalized, removed, or simply voted away, it's shouldn't be surprising to hear that other Southern references are taking the hit. Case in point: Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, a dinner theater event in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (home of Dollywood), as well  as in Branson and Myrtle Beache, will be removing the word "Dixie" from its title.

Dolly explained that the name changes were due to an expansion of the shows into other markets. "By streamlining the names of our shows, it will remove any confusion or concerns about our shows and will help our efforts to expand into new cities," she says. Which probably translates to, "If we wanted to get permits to break ground in these new places, the politicians said we might want to rethink our branding."

Yesterday, WB posted the trailer for TEEN TITANS GO TO THE MOVIES!  This will be in theaters on July 27, 2018.

I loved the WONDER WOMAN gag in the trailer.  The fifteen second fart joke, not so much.  That is definitely the dichotomy of TEEN TITANS GO.  Clever moments and dumb gross out moments often within seconds of each other.  All in all, I usually really  like TEEN TITANS GO....though I am not sure I could sit through a 90 minute TEEN TITANS GO movie.  But it's very likely I will be taking my kids to see this. 

Judging a book by its cover, David Jagneaux's THE ULTIMATE ROBLOX BOOK: AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE is visually appealing. The hard, glossy binding; bold title font, pictures, use of color, compact size, and thickness are all a huge win. You could picture this book sitting on your desk, picking it up, fanning the pages, perusing its large font, clear graphics, screenshots, explanations, bullets, and continuous use of the top seller banner throughout. Stunning to say the least.

The title of the book, at first glance, also grabs your attention. Using a power word like ULTIMATE would seem to indicate all users, at any level, would not only benefit from reading it, but that it would offer immense value. What should an ultimate guide contain? Beginning 101 account creation? How to create games? How to script? Advance power user techniques? Examples? And much more! But does it accomplish its objective, or is it just another gimmick to lure an easily persuaded gift-giver?