Press Releases

In the category of Best Film of 2019, we had, perhaps, the most competition of any other category in terms of the number of nominations each vying for the vote of our readers. But there were only three films that cracked the barrier into double-digit percentages of the prize pie.

Coming in for the third place position was the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD, and its fictionalized account of actors who fell into the orbit of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate, just before the Manson family murders.

We've written before how so many of our Best of 2019 contests were nail-biters, close calls, and photo finishes.

That certainly wasn't an issue when it came to the readers selecting who they thought the Best Film Actor of 2019 was. In fact, the field quickly narrowed so that the only significantly reportable actors became a club of five.

Rosa Salazar and Brie Larson made up the superhero contingent of the pack, for their roles in ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL and CAPTAIN MARVEL, but both were overtaken by Taron Edgerton for his exuberant performance in the Elton John musical-biopic, ROCKETMAN. 

Comics fans run both hot and cold. One of our favorite activities is kvetching about how some of the big comic stories are going in odd, strange, uncomfortable, or flat-out wrong directions. But ask us what our favorites are? Well, then we'll switch gears and tell you all why those exact same stories are captivating our attention and why you should be reading them too!

And so it that we had quite a number of votes for our nominees for Best Comics Story of 2019, starting with some independent titles who made some impressive debuts, like WHITE WIDOW (Absolute Comics) and BIGFOOT BILL (Doug TenNapel).

In the five years of running the Critical Blast Best Awards, we've never sweated bullets as much as we have over this year's Best Comics Artist category. Every day we peeked in on the results, the top spot would belong to someone different, and the margins were nearly microscopic! And while there was a minor skirmish going on at the lower end of the poll between independent crowdfunding publishers Doug TenNapel and Ethan Van Sciver (who won this award for 2017), the real battle was taking place between Gary Frank (DOOMSDAY CLOCK), J. Scott Campbell (BLACK CAT) and Ivan Reis (SUPERMAN).

Looking back over 2019, there were a number of high-profile comic arcs that caught the attention of the fans. Some of those were the annual event or non-canonical runs, like Tom Taylor's DCEASED, which brought a zombie apocalypse to the DC Universe. Geoff Johns' sequel to WATCHMEN, DOOMSDAY CLOCK crossed universes to tell it's tale, while Jonathan Hickman received critical acclaim for his remastering of Marvel's mighty mutants in HOUSE OF X. 

But there were also notable runs this past year in your ongoing series that focused our eyes on the people crafting the latest twists and turns in the lives of our favorite characters. Brian Michael Bendis stunned us by having Superman reveal his identity publicly to the world, while Donny Cates and Kelly Thompson enjoyed the increased readership on their titles, VENOM and CAPTAIN MARVEL thanks to the appearance of their characters in theatrical films.

While fan response to the Disney STAR WARS films has been more starkly divided than the philosophies of the Jedi and the Sith, one thing everyone can seem to agree on is that the first ever STAR WARS live-action series, THE MANDALORIAN, is a unifying (wait for it) force. A western adventure set in another galaxy, the series is an original to the Disney Plus streaming service, and has been pleasing fans since its debut -- perhaps, in no small part, due to the presence of The Child, universally known to all as "Baby Yoda."

It used to be that we voted on the best actor of a television series. But ever since the advent of streaming services, we've struggled for what to call the collective shows that are available many different ways. Sometimes we still catch ourselves saying "Best Actor in a TV Series" even if the show, technically, didn't get shown on a traditional television broadcast.

The past year was a surfeit of choices for pop culture fans, especially if you wanted some live action superhero drama. And while some of the streaming shows got a nod, it was still the tradional broadcast media that led the pack this year, with RIVERDALE's Cole Sprouse taking 16 percent of the votes, just trailing Jean Smart for her portrayal of Agent Laurie Blake in HBO's WATCHMEN.

The Prototype Car, Now Worth Upwards of $100,000, Is the Only Redline Enamel White Hong Kong Version Car Ever to be Discovered - Considered the Holy Grail of Hot Wheels Collectibles

West Palm Beach, Florida – (February 5, 2020) – One of the rarest finds in toy collecting history was discovered by America’s Toy Scout, Joel Magee.  A Hot Wheels Camaro dating to 1968 and verified as the first Hong Kong enamel white example ever found was acquired by Magee and now stands alone as the only one in the world. The white prototype Camaro is three of the most desirable Redline Hot Wheels collectible cars in the world.  Found in a set of several other Hot Wheels cars, it wasn’t until Joel examined the collection and consulted a Hot Wheels expert that he was able to confirm that the lone white Camaro was, in fact, the rarest of rare.

Holy cow, is it 2020 already? 2019 seems to have gone by in a blur, with so much happening in the world of movies, television, and comics. It's hard to believe we've reached the point where we now have the unenviable task of deciding which was the best in every category to recognize the producers of entertainment for their efforts.

So below you will find the voting form, featuring our nominations for the best film, film actor, television series (which includes streaming until we come up with a word to replace television), series actor, comic book storyline, comics writer, comics artist, and -- last but certainly not least -- the selection of our Critical Blast Bombshell of the Year from the list of 2019's Bombshell of the Month candidates.

NEW YORK (July 15, 2019) – Deep in the Appalachian Mountains, creatures both legendary and terrifying lurk among the shadows, evading capture at every turn. Season Four of the cult-classic series
“Mountain Monsters,” moves to its new home on Travel Channel with a special two-hour premiere on Wednesday, August 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, reuniting the fearless team of hard-core trappers to
confirm the sightings of these fabled monsters. Calling themselves the AIMS team – the Appalachian Investigators of Mysterious Sightings – this rip-roarin’ group of self-proclaimed “hillbilly hunters” treks
through the depths of Appalachia’s mountain forests, searching for creatures of mythical origins, determined to track down proof these monsters still roam this region today.

SAN DIEGO, CA (July 25, 2019) – IDW Publishing is proud to debut Rom: Dire Wraiths, a three-part comic book miniseries about Earth’s incomparable heroes – the astronauts whose mission among the stars brought them face-to-face with the Dire Wraiths, the shape-shifting scourge of the universe!

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang have fought hard alongside their friends to bring the Relic of Knowledge to Atlas, the northernmost Kingdom in Remnant. However, the futuristic urban-sprawl may hide just as much danger as the Grimm-infested tundra that surrounds it. Enemies and allies will collide as our heroes fight to stop Salem's forces, but banding together is dangerous when you don't know who you can trust.

In a world filled with horrific monsters bent on death and destruction, humanity's hope lies with powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long are four such Huntresses in training whose journeys will take them far past the grounds of their school, Beacon Academy. Though each may be powerful on their own, these four girls must overcome dark forces and work as a team if they truly hope to become the next generation of Remnant's protectors.

1:8 Scale ECTO-1 Build-Up to Debut at Official Ghostbusters Fan Fest in June

[June 7, 2019 – New York, NY]  Eaglemoss Hero Collector, designers, manufacturers and publishers of high-quality collectibles from across the many worlds of pop culture, gets all spooky in June when it introduces the Build the Ghostbusters Ectomobile subscription program at the first-ever Ghostbusters Fan Fest, presented by Wizard World at the Sony Pictures Studio Lot in Culver City, California on June 8.

Little Rock, AR, 4/1/2019— Cirsova Publishing has teamed up with StarTwo to create an all-new, fully illustrated 70^th Anniversary Edition of Leigh Brackett’s original Eric John Stark Trilogy. Cirsova Publishing aims to bring the action, adventure and romance of Leigh Brackett to a new generation of readers.

First published in the Summer of 1949, Queen of the Martian Catacombs introduced the world to Eric John Stark, the black mercenary swordsman. Stark’s adventures continued on Venus in 1949’s The Enchantress of Venus, and the swordsman returned to the Red Planet in 1951’s Black Amazon of Mars. While Brackett would revisit the character in 1970s with the Skaith trilogy, the original novellas are significant as one of the last iconic Sword & Planet cycles of the pulp era.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.  (Feb. 18, 2019) — While Carol Danvers fights to save Earth from a galactic battle as Captain Marvel, Dole is celebrating other female superheroes for their battles waged a bit closer to home.

“Powering the Hero Within” (#DoleHero) is a 10-week empowered-living alliance between Dole and Marvel’s Captain Marvel inspired by Danvers’ dramatic transformation into the title character of the much-anticipated March 8 release. Taking its cue from Danvers, Dole is acknowledging influential women in food, health and wellness plus female-focused nonprofit groups working toward a healthier, more heroic world. 

Press Release

Redmond, WA – January 10, 2019: Calliope Games is celebrating its 10th anniversary by launching Tsuro: Phoenix Rising.

This brand new tile-laying game, the third in the classic Tsuro series, puts each player in control of a magical phoenix, cleverly swooping around the board to reach floating lanterns and turn them into new stars in the night sky. During the game, players will flip and rotate the double-sided tiles to create clever paths to the lanterns. The revolutionary patented board allows one tile to be manipulated without disturbing surrounding tiles. Tsuro: Phoenix Rising can be enjoyed by 2-8 players ages 8 and up, and plays in less than an hour.

Another year has come and gone. 2018 is officially in the rear-view mirror, and we've gone hurtling into 2019 like the Sweet Meteor o' Death.

But before we get too deep into the New Year, we've reached that point where we reflect on all that happened in the previous year that was good and notable, and cast our votes as to what was the best of the best ("of the best, sir!")

So here we go again! It's time to pick the Critical Blast Best of the Year for Movies, Television, Actors, Books, and Comics -- and, of course, to pick our CRITICAL BLAST BOMBSHELL OF THE YEAR! So use the handy form below to pick from this year's nominees -- or suggest one that you think is deserving that we missed (so long as the work happened during 2018). Voting is open through the end of January, and on February 1 we'll start tabulating the results and announcing the winners!

So long, 2018! You gave us some great entertainment!

The Limited Edition “RWBY Alpha Beowolf Battle Statue” Will Be Available This Holiday

RTX Attendees Get Sneak Peek And Exclusive Buying Opportunity At Con

LONDON, UK, July 13, 2018 – Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski announced today that Focus has set production with Carnival Films on the Downton Abbey movie.  The original principal cast from the acclaimed television series have assembled to return for the feature which will begin production later this summer.  Also returning from the series is its creator Academy-Award® winner Julian Fellowes who wrote the film’s screenplay and will produce alongside Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge.  Brian Percival (The Book Thief, About a Girl), who directed the series’ pilot, will direct the film.  Nigel Marchant will also return to executive produce.