tick, tick... BOOM!

Adapted from Jonathan Larson's stage musical, the semi-autobiographical work takes us inside the struggles of aspiring musical theater playwright and composer attempting to complete an 8 year project of a dystopian futuristic musical called Superbia before his thirtieth birthday. Pressured by needing to compose a crucial song to complete the musical as the workshop for its one and only performance begins, his girlfriend (Alexandra Shipp) needing an answer to a crucial relationship question, another of his friends hospitalized after becoming HIV Positive, and the daily struggles of working at the Moondance Diner and finding ways to pay his bills, a constant ticking reminds Jon that he's running out of time.

The film jumps between the performance of tick, tick... BOOM! on a stage, narrated by a self-deprecating Jon (Andrew Garfield) and providing context to the story, while flashing back to sequences of his life in further detail. The movie doesn't so much break the fourth wall as ignore it completely while the audience is swallowed into his story and willingly taken along for the ride.

Legacies - I Thought You'd Be Happier To See Me / You're A Long Way From Home

"I Thought You'd Be Happier To See Me" and "You're A Long Way From Home" continue the thread of Legacies exploring the fallout of Hope (Danielle Rose Russell) unlocking her vampire side as Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) and Josie (Kaylee Bryant) enter the comatose mind of Alaric (Matthew Davis) and discover Hope's responsibility for her situation, causing the Super Squad to get to planning how to take down their friend. The episodes also offer a pair of returns as Rebekah (Claire Holt) shows up in a failed attempt to get Hope back on the right path and then the tribrid takes a road trip to enlist the unwilling help of Clark (Nick Fink) for information about those in charge of Triad Industries who want her dead.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings Honest Trailer

Checkmate #6

Betrayal is the main theme of the final issue of the Checkmate mini-series. Talia al Ghul has been revealed, but Checkmate steps up to successfully prevent her from stealing the Heroes Network (although she's learned enough to keep Leviathan off their radar going forward). The Snowman's Ticket has also managed to turn back Mark Shaw who faces betrayal from within Leviathan as it's old queen returns to sit on its throne.

Hawkeye - Hide and Seek

The LARPing episode. While there is plenty more going on in the second episode of Hawkeye, involving the first scenes of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) together, "Hide and Seek" will be remembered predominantly as the LARPing episode as Clint tracks down the Ronin costume but is forced to take place in a LARP tournament to win in back. The sequence is glorious as the unamused Avenger works his way through the tournament, and helps out the firefighter, who stole the costume from the burnt-out shell of Kate's apartment, to have the best day of his life.

The Flash - Armageddon, Part 2

"Part 2" of the season's opening arc offers an explanation for Despero's (Tony Curran) claims that the Flash (Grant Gustin) will soon lose his mind and cause Armageddon with the appearance of a new meta-human in Central City known to cause insanity in her victims. Barry's work to find Xotar (Kandyse McClure) is hampered by new attacks on Team Flash. First, Barry's credentials with the Central City Police Department are suspended and second S.T.A.R. Labs is shut down due to an unmanaged radiation leak. While the team might not see the connection between the various events, it's obvious someone is screwing with Barry's life.

In the Heights

Adapted from the stage musical, In the Heights follows the lives of several characters in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood. In a reverse of an immigrant chasing the American dream, our main character is a bodega owner (Anthony Ramos) saving his money to leave New York and return to the the Dominican Republic to restart his father's beach-front business. Other characters include his crush (Melissa Barrera), Olga Merediz as the neighborhood's matriarch, and the neighborhood's brightest star (Leslie Grace) returning in failure from Stanford who can't articulate her problems to her father (Jimmy Smits).

In the Heights is a story about dreamers. Each character is chasing a dream or trying to help others achieve their own. The eclectic neighborhood of Dominican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and other nationalities is punctuated by vibrant musical numbers around dreams, love, and everyday life.

Alex Rider - Surf

Alex Rider (Otto Farrant) may have left the spy world behind, but the spy world isn't done with him just yet. Still traumatized by the events of the show's first season, and seeing the scar-faced man (Thomas Levin) around every corner, Alex agrees to a surf vacation with Jack (Ronke Adekoluejo) and Tom (Brenock O'Connor) in Cornwall. Little do they know the trip will turn out to be the thing to pull Alex back into the shadows, chasing ghosts no one else initially believes are really there.

Spencer

Set at Christmas of 1991, Spencer offers a peek into the holiday with the Royal Family during a tumultuous time between Diana, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart), and her husband Prince Charles (Jack Farthing). With her husband's affair and her marriage at a breaking point, Diana is forced into the traditions and expectations of the holiday which she begins fighting in her own way to try and avoid a death of one-thousand cuts.

Cleopatra in Space - Mentor

In order to graduate to Level 2, Cleopatra (Lilimar), Akila (Katie Crown), and Brian (Jorge Diaz) are each given a younger student with a similar disposition to mentor. Akila and Brian hit it off with their matches quickly, but Cleo struggles with reaching the impulsive and annoying Philo (Gunnar Sizemore) who nearly get the pair killed on a mission on the Moon of Naqada (that they weren't even assigned). The episode serves to help Cleo understand Khensu's (Sendhil Ramamurthy) exasperation with her behavior, which, of course, was the point of the exercise all along. Oh, and Cleo gets to fight a robotic dinosaur, which even Philo has to admit was pretty cool.

Hit-Monkey - Pilot

How does a monkey become a hitman? That's the question the "Pilot" episode of Hit-Monkey answers when a wounded assassin (Jason Sudeikis) takes shelter in the mountains after being double-crossed by his employer only to be taken in by a tribe of monkeys. When other killers arrive to finish the job the tribe and the assassin are wiped out, except for a single monkey who was against the tribe taking in the killer in and picks up his weapons to avenge his fallen family becoming... Hit-Monkey. Seriously, how did Marvel do Hit-Monkey before Fin Fang Foom!?

Injustice

Adapted from the 2013 video game and subsequent comic series, Injustice offers a look at a dark future where tragedy befalls Lois Lane (Laura Bailey) which changes the path of Superman (Justin Hartley) and the DCU. The game was far from the first to examine this idea.

The Blacklist - Benjamin T. Okara

The latest case, involving someone killing using secret DARPA technology to murder the scientists who designed it, takes a backseat to several ongoing B-stories involving someone framing Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix) for murder, Alina's (Laura Sohn) health and a bombshell dropped on her marriage, and trouble for Raymond Reddington (James Spader) regarding Dembe's (Hisham Tawfiq) work for the FBI. The later causes Red to question his return again when Dembe's life is put in danger by a potential ally and he's forced to choose whether to protect Dembe or allow him to come to harm. It's unfortunate that the Blacklister and the invention get bumped for so many of these other stories that aren't nearly as interesting (although the Dembe storyline does end in a tease as to what Reddington left his former comrade in a box).

Suicide Squad #9

Rick Flag has raided various Task Force X facilities putting together his own team while Amanda Waller has retreated to a secluded island base and plans to use her remaining troops for a space mission. It seems Flag and Waller are in an arms race to put together the best Task Force X team, and Waller has an eye on a prisoner in Oa.

Psych 3: This is Gus

Determined to discover what secrets his best-friend's fiancé is hiding, Shawn (James Roday Rodriguez) begins poking his nose into Selene's (Jazmyn Simon) past in the latest Psych TV-movie made for the Peacock Network. All of the regulars are back, including Timothy Omundson as Carlton Lassiter who is able to do a little more this time around as the actor continues to work back from his stroke.

There are plenty of antics after Shawn drags a reluctant Gus (Dulé Hill) down a rabbit hole searching for answers about who the woman carrying Gus' child truly is. The craziness includes a fight in a men's room and a pair of ridiculous disguises for the duo (one of which involves a ventriloquist dummy) while checking out Selene's old apartment.

Hawkeye - Never Meet Your Heroes

The first episode of Disney+'s Hawkeye, notably being marketed as a mini-series and not a first season, involves two separate threads that will be brought together in the final scene. The breakdown is somewhere around 65% to 35% with the bulk of the episode focused on the introduction of Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) whose love of archery and desire to protect comes from her experiences witnessing the Chitauri Invasion of New York and her first look at Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Years later, the talented college student returns home after some trouble at school to snoop into her mother's (Vera Farmiga) new fiancé (Tony Dalton) which leads to a black market auction and the reason for putting her on a path to meet her hero.

Legacies - We All Knew This Day Was Coming / See You On The Other Side

Since the character's introduction in The Originals, and through the first three seasons of Legacies involving the character's connection to Malivore, there has been a promise and destiny waiting to be fulfilled. "We All Knew This Day Was Coming" offers the calm before the storm with Hope (Danielle Rose Russell) living her last day among family and friends before choosing to end her life, triggering her vampire side, and truly taking on the mantle of the tribrid. 

Usagi Yojimbo: The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy #6

The reprinting of the classic Usagi Yojimbo storyline "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy" concludes here in the aftermath of the defeat of Lord Tamakuro and his planned uprising. Mostly an extended epilogue to the earlier events of the series, both Miyamoto Usagi and Gen separately say their farewells, declining service to Lord Noriyuki before returning to their lives as wandering ronin.

The History of The Last Starfighter

The Lost Symbol - Order Eight

The search for portal and the mysterious power continues as Robert (Ashley Zukerman) uncovers a clue on the pyramid and hopes to use that knowledge to lure Mal'akh (Beau Knapp). Of course, things don't go as planned. Much of the episode is devoted to more clue deciphering, with increasing ridiculousness making it feel like the worst possible National Treasure sequel, we also get Robert and the FBI betraying each other, and Mal'akh quite easily seeing through the ploy. The episode also teases the power of the technology Mal'akh got from the Freemasons, and how its ability to create specific frequencies might play into his plans to unlock the power he is searching for. By the end of the episode, the madman has once again outplayed the other characters and taken one step closer to his goal.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

It's impossible to make a Ghostbusters film funny as the original; even the original cast and crew could only muster up Ghostbusters II. Realizing this, Ghosbusters: Afterlife takes an unexpected approach of not offering a comedy but rather instead a family drama wrapped in the trappings of the Ghostbusters franchise. The choice is likely to surprise and anger some fans. Sure, there's humor (much of it from Paul Rudd as the wacky summer school teacher), but the driving momentum behind the story isn't for big laughs but for the family, and their new friends, coming together to save the town, and the world, from ghosts.

King Richard

King Richard offers a different type of sports biopic with the focus not on the athlete, coach, or team, but on the father of a pair of promising young tennis players. The fairly conventional film showcases the unconventional path to tennis stardom Richard Williams (Will Smith) led his daughters Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) to while pissing off pretty much everyone in the tennis world.

Because of how early the film is set, ending on Venus' professional debut (which doesn't paint a flattering picture of her opponent Arantxa Sánchez Vicario played by Marcela Zacarias), and how little the Williams sisters played in junior tennis, the younger Serena draws the short straw here and we don't get as much tennis as you may expect. What King Richard does offers is a character study of the often rigid Richard Williams and the environment that raised two tennis stars who would change the sport.

The Flash - Armageddon, Part 1

The Flash returns for its Eighth Season with part one of a five-week opening arc which promises the return of several Arrowverse familiar faces, starting with the return of Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer who arrives in Central City for a Tech Conference. "Part 1" sees the return of a new low-budget version of the Royal Flush Gang to Central City making a series of high-tech crimes while also arranging prison escapes and train crashes to keep the Flash (Grant Gustin) occupied elsewhere while working on a big cryptocurrency heist of Central City's casinos. Although the Scarlet Speedster takes care of them easily enough, we also get an appearance of Tony Curran as Despero as a much more fearsome foe who arrives from the future looking for a speedster to kill.

James Bond: Himeros #2

Bond spends some time getting to know Wilhelm's former assistant Sarah Richmond while mercenaries hit the human trafficker's island only to discover his defenses are more than enough to keep out any uninvited guests. The question is, who is controlling the island now with Wilhelm dead? And is Sarah truly a victim in all of this, or something much more sinister?

It's Oni-Con 2021 Cosplay Halloween Beach Party

The Big Leap - What Prevents Us?

Wedding bells chime in "What Prevents Us?" as Mike (Jon Rudnitsky) helps Paula (Piper Perabo) knock off one of her bucket list items. The entire show comes together in setting up the wedding, complete with bachelor and bachelorette parties, and a few last-minute hurdles for Nick (Scott Foley) to produce his way through including dealing with Mike's former wife and getting certified to officiate the ceremony. While there are other storylines at play involving Justin's (Raymond Cham Jr.) future and Gabby's (Simone Recasner) relationship, the episode begins and ends with Mike (who has a complicated past dealing with the death of his loved ones) and Paula who have a hard road ahead but were given a beautiful wedding night by their friends.

The Shrink Next Door - The Consultation

Based on true events, and inspired by the podcast of the same name, the opening episode of The Shrink Next Door introduces us to nice guy Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell) who is constantly being taken advantage of and goes into a panic attack at the first sign of confrontation. We're also introduced to Dr. Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd), a psychologist Marty's sister (Kathryn Hahn) insists he see. During their first session, Ike helps Marty deal with a clingy ex-girlfriend (Casey Wilson) while promising not to let anyone take advantage of Marty ever again. However, scenes from three decades later show us (perhaps a bit too much) that Ike has found a way to worm himself into Marty's life and create far more problems for his patient than Marty arrived in his office with in 1982.

Kung Fu - The Complete First Season

The CW's reboot of Kung Fu casting Olivia Liang as Chinese-American Nicky Shen provided a solid 13 episode arc as Nicky discovers a destiny in a Chinese monastery of protecting sacred artifacts. Leaving, Nicky reengages (and discovers secrets about) her family as she returns to her home to California, while seeking to avenge the death of her mentor (Vanessa Kai) and putting her skills to use week to week in San Francisco helping those in need.

All episodes are collected on DVD and Blu-ray. The Blu-ray also includes digital copies of the episodes. Highlights of the First Season include the exploration of the motives of villains Kerwin Tan (Ludi Lin) and Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman), Althea's (Shannon Dang) bachelorette party, Nicky's search for her aunt, and the season finale big showdown between Nicky and Zhilan. 

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #4

Reprinting two previous Spider-Man tales, the first story of Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #4 gives us the constantly broke Peter Parker breaking into the Baxter Building with hopes of impressing the Fantastic Four and asking for a job as a way to monetize Spider-Man.

The Blacklist - The Avenging Angel

Raymond Reddington (James Spader) sends the team after a former nun turned judge, jury, and executioner (Annabella Sciorra) who looks to avenge those who have been wronged. Her latest goal is to steal the heart of a wealthy businessman who used his power to bump the line leaving the rightful recipient of the heart transplant slowly wasting away. While hardly the show's most villainous target, the rescue of the businessman does leave Red with a new friend. The episode's B-story continues Ressler (Diego Klattenhoff) drug issues while also starting a ridiculous new plot thread of someone quite obviously attempting to frame Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix) for murder. 

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #287

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #287 offers a spotlight on several new characters including Sherlock, Multo, Black Hat, and Mongoose. who are sent to infiltrate Cobra Island in the Gulf of Mexico where Dr. Mindbender is turning the old Cobra headquarters into a casino (with a brand new lab conveniently located in the kitchen).

WWE Extreme Rules 2021

Extreme Rules is one of the WWE's gimmick PPVs created to highlight specific kinds of matches on that night. What makes the 2021 edition so perplexing is only one of the seven matches on the night's card is actually an extreme rules match. Instead, the card is filled with relatively forgettable matches such as the opening six-man tag involving the New Day defeating Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, and Omos more fitting Raw or Smackdown.

The night is mostly memorable for some odd endings ruining the night's two best matches. First, Charlotte Flair defeated Alexa Bliss (at one time a dream match-up for WWE fans) in a match that couldn't ever figure out what do do with Bliss' current witchy persona. The match would be immediately overshadowed by the extended bizarre post-match mourning by Bliss for the loss of her doll Lily which was destroyed by Flair after a rushed end to an otherwise solid, if uneven, match. Then there's the incredibly awkward ending to the main event involving the ring malfunction allowing Roman Reigns to successfully defeat Finn Balor. While both matches had their moments, it's hard not to look at each as missed opportunities that WWE really botched in the end.

NCIS: Hawai'i - Rescuers

When a Navy petty officer is killed and his famous Coast Guard girlfriend (Ashleigh LaThrop) is targeted from by a monster (Ashton Holmes) from her past who she put in prison for a decade, NCIS steps in. Mark Gessner guest-stars as the prickly CGIS agent assigned to the case who is known for doing things his own way. The case fits the basic formula of the show with the team struggling to get the truth from the young woman before being able to protect her and get justice for her boyfriend. We also get a callback to Lucy's (Yasmine Al-Bustami) fear of the water in what seems like the show is setting up something for her character later this season.

Deadpool: Black, White & Blood #4

Another issue collects three more Deadpool tales in black and white, and, of course, blood (also, oddly, cherry Kool-Aid). The creators of the popular manga Deadpool Samuari offer a story in "Samurai Version" in which Deadpool squares off with the Dipsoser (who turns out to be as disposable as his character name suggests).

Supergirl - The Last Gauntlet

The penultimate episode of the final season of Supergirl is full of doubt, mistakes, fear, betrayal, really bad decisions and loss as Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) and Nyxly (Peta Sergeant) kidnap Esme (Mila Jones) in order to get their hands on all of the totems and recreate the AllStone. With the heroes floundering in all directions, Alex (Olivia Nikkanen) prepares to hand over the totems aware that it will likely bring about a post-apocalyptic future while Brainy (Jesse Rath) plans to super-charge Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) by stealing power from the sun and doing irreparable harm to the world. Led by fear, Kara goes along with the plan frightening the citizens and the government alike, only deciding to stop at the last possible second (which is odd, because wouldn't that make her 99% more powerful AND done 99% of the damage?). 

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #8

While attempting to eat at one of the few businesses still open on the rundown Gotham Waterfront, the gang runs into a ghost. The search leads Batman and Mystery, Inc. to investigate a former villain lair which has been bought out, along with much of the abandoned land, by a lottery winner with plans for revitalization... or that's at least what the city wants to believe.

Peggy Carter Cosplay by Irine Meier

Irine Meier is a Russian model, cosplayer, artist, and TV presenter. You can follow her on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube. And you can support her on Patreon.

Legacies - You Have to Pick One This Time / You Have to Pick One This Time

Both of the first two episodes of the Fourth Season of Legacies focus on plans to free Cleo (Omono Okojie) and Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) from Malivore. Since neither is successful, we can guess this will becoming a running theme. In the first plan, the super squad invade Malivore's mind in an attempt to rescue the muse, who they believe holds the key to defeating the monster once and for all, only to almost be trapped with Malivore themselves. Malivore continues to do its best using both a stick and carrot to push Cleo to find the answer to its Tribrid problem. The second plan involves a risky spell to syphon Malivore from the Landon body and trap it into Ryan (Nick Fink), but that only creates a new monster and an eventual second hospital stay for Malivore's least-favorite son.

Belfast

There's a nostalgic feel to writer/director Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical film about a young boy growing up in Belfast during the times of The Troubles as communities were torn apart by Protestant and Catholic sides over national rather than religious fervor. The lens which events are shown is the likable schoolboy Buddy (Jude Hill) who loves his home, neighborhood, and family despite the violence that rages around them to a point where soldiers deploy and barricades are erected.

Buddy's family includes his mother (Caitriona Balfe), mostly absentee father (Jamie Dornan), older brother (Lewis McAskie), and grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds). Despite the tumultuous setting, much of the movie centers around Buddy's everyday life, his crush on a girl (Olive Tennant) at school, going to the movies with his family, and getting dragged into situations by an older neighborhood girl (Lara McDonnell) he isn't ready for.

Finch

Tom Hanks stars as grumpy scientist Finch in a post-apocalyptic future where his only friend is a dog and the robots he builds to help him cope with the desolate landscape. The movie begins with the building of a new robot. Far more complex than the rover Finch has been using, the sentient Jeff (voiced by Caleb Landry Jones) is designed to take care of the dog once Finch is gone.

Boiled down, the movie is basically a road trip trying to stay ahead of a super storm likely to kill them. There's also a thread of Jeff learning about humanity through Finch's pessimistic eyes, and even the hard won friendship that eventually develops between the robot and the dog. Other than flashbacks, and very few of those, the film is devoid of other actors as Finch and his friends avoid other humans like the plague while hoping to reach San Francisco.

There are of course questions about the plot concerning the devastation that left the sky scorched, destroyed crops, and yet left roads and highways largely free of any blockages that could possibly interfere with Finch's journey. And, of course, Finch always finds what he needs (even if that need is to build the most sophisticated robot the world has ever seen). The film's look is consistent, if far from the most interesting post-apocalyptic world rendered on film.

The Lost Symbol - Cascade

"Cascade" introduces another member of the Solomon family as Robert (Ashley Zukerman) and Katharine (Valorie Curry) visit her mother (Laura de Carteret) to break the news about Zachary only to discover she's known he has been alive for some time. It's also revealed that she, not the group Zachary was indoctrinated in while in prison, has been funding his efforts (although she has been largely ignorant of how bloody those efforts have become). Robert, looks like you dodged a bullet in not marrying into this crazy-ass family.

This is Fan Expo Dallas Comic Con 2021 Music Video

Hellboy: The Bones of Giants #1

The four-issue mini-series adaptation of Hellboy: The Bones of Giants begins here with Hellboy and Abe Sapien sent to Sweden to investigate the discovery of what appears to be the smoking skeletal remains of the Norse God Thor. After picking up the hammer, Hellboy witnesses odd visions and becomes temporarily possessed. Even after regaining his senses, Hellboy is incapable of laying the hammer down and still seems mentally connected to the hammer's pull leading the group to a cave in the mountains which has recently been disturbed.

Only Murders in the Building - Double Time

The penultimate episode of the First Season of Only Murders in the Building offers a few surprises as the podcasters face backlash from the neighbors, possible eviction, and Charles (Steve Martin) announcing plans to leave the podcast and spend time with his healing, but not surprisingly not dead, girlfriend (Amy Ryan). While they were able to solve one murder, the trio still hasn't solved the case that brought them all together.

Chilling Adventures in Sorcery

Archie Comics offers up this only sorta spooky anthology one-shot for Halloween. "A Walk Through Hell" works to tie the various stories together. It stars with an intern, who turns out to be Archie, getting Madam Satan lost on the River Styx. She spends the rest of the issue trying to get to through the gates of Hell but not before running into another Archie character with a story to tell.

MCM Comic Con London 2021 Music Video Part 2

The Big Leap - Revenge Plot

Gabby's (Simone Recasner) convoluted revenge plot to steal Brittney's (Anna Grace Barlow) part and get her kicked off the show makes up the primary storyline of "The Revenge Plot." It's an awkward story that has moments. It leaves Gabby with the part she so desperately wanted but without her car, which she had to trade to save her plan, and with Brittney still a part of the show.  Tied to this is a thread of a high Monica (Mallory Jansen) searching for how to make "Swan Lake" work. The ridiculous dance-off provides the inspiration, but after the drug wears off will she be willing to follow it?

Free Guy

While you could certainly turn down some of the Deapool-esqe winking at the audience, and the plot is certainly not breaking the mold on the type of story we've seen done before, Free Guy is easily one of most fun movies of 2021. Ryan Reynolds stars as a non-player character in the world's most popular video game who breaks outside of his programing and starts to become more than he was designed to be. What makes things work is Blue Shirt Guy, or simply Guy, is immensely likable. He's just a good guy whose head has been turned by a beautiful girl (Jodie Comer) and begins making changes to his life that effect both the video game world and the perception of it in the real world.

The Blacklist - The SPK

Following the two-part premiere, "The SPK" offers the first Blacklister of the week with the team now back in place once more. SPK isn't a person, but a cult obsessed with stealing and destroying religious artifacts (unaware its leader is a con man actually selling them on the black market for a tidy profit). Stacy Keach returns to reprise his role as the con artist Robert Vesco. Vesco, however, has lost control of his cult who are embracing a more destructive, and bloody, method of teaching the world a lesson.

Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Two #6

"Mayor Mayhem" continues as the corrupt former Gotham City Mayor Emerson Mayfield's candidacy to reclaim the office continues to gain support. With something obviously fishy about how quickly the notorious scoundrel is winning people to his sides, Barbara joins the campaign looking for answers and Mayfield calls in a specialist to deal with Batman.

Leverage: Redemption - The Golf Job

"The Golf Job" offers the first boys' night episode without Nate while also giving us the return of Leverage recurring character Jack Hurley (Drew Powell) and providing an episode to integrate Harry (Noah Wyle), who witnesses something suspicious on the golf course and pushes the trio into action, further into the team. Hurley's return provides it's share of laughs (and references to past episodes), particularly in his interactions with Eliot (Christian Kane) on the golf course as they attempt to turn a con against a human trafficker (James Marsters) keeping his employees in a state of constant fear.

The Human Target #1

As part of DC's Black Label, the noir-ish The Human Target #1 opens with the death of Christopher Chance in an empty hotel room before jumping back a dozen days to Chance playing the role of Lex Luthor at a LexCorp press event where a terrorist will inevitably attempt to make an attempt on the life of his client.

V for Vendetta Cosplay by KQueenSiren

KQueenSiren is a cosplayer and digital creator from Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram. You can support her on OnlyFans.

NCIS: Hawai'i - The Tourist

NCIS' search for a social media influencer (Chloe Lanier), and wife of a Navy submarine officer (Titus Makin Jr.), who disappeared at a luau is complicated after they discover she's a CIA asset whose cover has been blown. Even after Whistler (Tori Anderson) orders them to stand down, Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) continues the search which leads to her husband's abduction by those wanting to trade their hostage for the spy. The episode confirms Tennant's role as a former agent for the CIA and also gives her a house guest (Julie White), and former partner in her spy days, who pushes Tennant to continue the search.

Black Widow #12

Calling in a couple of friends in Bucky Barnes and Clint Baton, Natalie rounds up the girls and hits the Golden Gate Gala where she's been told there's information to be found and something far more nefarious underneath the upscale atmosphere. Ditching the party early, Lucy and Anya uncover a bizarre secret auction in the basement of the building before going silent leading to the Widows going to Plan B and taking a more direct approach to uncover just what the hell is going on.