Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

krisis

Krisis has been creating Crushing Krisis since 2000, writing songs since 1996, and reading comics since 1991. He is a Customer Success and Digital Brand Strategy executive, serial organizer, parent, and feminist, among other things. Based in Philly through 2017, he now resides in Wellington, NZ.

New: Guide to X-Men: From The Ashes

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Last week Marvel announced the creators and titles that will kick off the new era of X-Men comic books starting this July with X-Men: From The Ashes! And, a new era of comics means a new comic book guide – supported by Patrons of CK but available to all readers: Guide to X-Men: From the Ashes (2024 – Present).

Right now all we know about the nine incoming new X-Men titles are the creative teams and casts of the three flagship books – X-Men (2024), Uncanny X-Men (2024), and Exception X-Men (2024). This new guide will track every issue of the new era as they are announced, and explain the best way to read it and collect them all.

Guide to X-Men: From the Ashes (2024 – Present)X-Men: From the Ashes - Ryan Stegman teaser

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have two episodes of X-Men ’97 to rewatch for the fourth time!

X-Men Reading Order, Part 2: 2010 to 2019 – LIVE on Omnidog’s Vault

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Today I am making my return to Omnidog’s Vault with my dear friend Jess to help him re-organize his X-Men collected editions into reading order LIVE on camera! Last time we handled all of his X-Men books from 2000 to 2010. This time, we’re tackling the next decade – with books from Utopia, Marvel Now, All-New All-Different Marvel, ResurrXion, and Krakoa!

Do you love my comics Reading Orders – like my famous X-Men Reading Order – but wish you could see how I create them LIVE and in REAL TIME? Here’s your chance.

This will be interesting, because I don’t maintain any official reading orders for X-Men past 2012! Am I ready to play Cerebro for an era of comics I don’t often re-read and don’t actually enjoy? Tune in live at 1pm ET to find out! The only advanced knowledge I have of what Jess has in store for me is the thumbnail of the video below.

Crushing Krisis Organizes Omnidog’s X-Men Books LIVE!

 

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 11 – Corporate Queens & DragCon 1980 runway Power Rankings

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RuPauls Drag Race Season 16 Episode 11 - Corporate Queens drag seminars - Drag Herstory astronaut

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 11 was called “Corporate Queens,” which required the queens to balance a buttoned-up drag seminar with stand-up comedy. On the runway, the theme was “Flashback: DragCon 1980” – offering a dragged up look that would fit a Drag Convention in the early 80s.

This is the point in a 14+ queen season where things can start to… well, drag. Even though there’s tiny bit of tension here about who will make the cut to Top 4, the fact that we have two queens with no decisive solo wins in the Top 6 makes it feel like we ought to hurry through the next two eliminations rather than savouring the drama.

What wasn’t a drag to me was this absurd “Corporate Queens” drag seminar challenge concept. Many people might have preferred a traditional roast for a comedy challenge over this. For me, it was a lot more reflective of the sort of weird branded gigs these queens are going to have the opportunity to book in the real world.

RuPauls Drag Race Season 16 Episode 11 - Corporate Queens drag seminars - Drag Herstory Plane Jane Q

The success of queens like Trixie, Monét, Courtney Act, and even Tia Kofi has shown that you have to be able to bring the power of your drag out of the nightclub and into corporate settings if you want to score the kind of bookings that expose you to the broader audience of the non-queer mainstream.

That said… I do think “Drag in the Workplace” is a pretty tough nut to crack, from a comedy perspective. It certainly wasn’t an easy challenge!

The result was that we have an even-more solidified front-runner than we had last week in the Werq the World “Power” performance power rankings, but the rest of the queens are still jockeying for the other three spots in the finale.

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best drag queen win!

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Reacting to the X-Men: From The Ashes announcement LIVE on Near Mint Condition

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We interrupt your regularly-scheduled weekend of Drag Race power rankings for this special emergency X-Men bulletin! Last Thursday at SXSW, Marvel Comics announced the initial line-up of the next era of X-Men comics – titled X-Men: From the Ashes. Tonight, I’ll be dissecting every title, creator, and cast member live with the one-and-only Uncanny Omar in a special bonus live stream on Near Mint Condition!

It’s just Omar and I one-on-one f0r this X-Men: From The Ashes reaction as we discuss what we think this new era will hold in store… and how it will connect to the end of the Age of Krakoa.

Plus, I made a sweet slide show! Don’t miss it live at 6:30 PM US ET – or, just watch the stream anytime after it ends.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2, Episode 6 – Strictly Come Prancing Power Rankings

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I’m back with more coverage of the Drag Olympics of Drag Race! RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2 Episode 6 – Strictly Come Prancing, a choreographed partnered dance challenge with a “Business In The Front, Party In The Back” contrasting runway.

RuPauls Drag Race UK vs The World Season 2 Episode 06 - Strictly Come Prancing - title cardI am not a dancer, but I love dancing – both doing it myself as watching other people do it! I grew up dancing all the time in my living room, at parties and weddings, and on the sidewalk in front of my grandmother’s house with my boombox blasting “Pump Up The Jam.”

As an adult I’ve discovered I have no head for learning choreography (as divined by working with my competitive dancing sister-in-law to try to learn the American Foxtrot). I’ve never taken a proper dance class, but I leap at the chance for any gym class with a hint of choreography.

Even if I’m no dancing queen myself, I am very well-acquainted with this week’s guest-choreographer Janette Manrara (and her dance partner, real-life husband Aljaž Škorjanec)!

I fell in love with Janette’s dancing from the moment I first glimpsed her on So You Think You Can Dance Season 5. She executed everything flawlessly, but with a casual air that reminded me of the chic Italian women of the 80s at all those parties and weddings. I’ve rewatched her routine to “Ruby Blue” with Brandon Bryant so many times I can play it back perfectly in my brain! And, she is one of the few (only?!) celebrities who I personally follow on Facebook, where I’ve kept up with her transformation from reality show contestant, to professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing (the UK’s Dancing With The Stars), to becoming a co-host and media personality in the UK.RuPauls Drag Race UK vs The World Season 2 Episode 06 - Strictly Come Prancing - rehearsal Janette Manrara Aljaz Skorjanec Scarlet Envy Choriza May

Manrara has been on both sides of dancing competitions – as the contestant and the pro – and she brought a no-nonsense approach to instructing our queens without a whiff of for-the-cameras drama.

The result was a predictable winner and an obvious eliminated queen, without many surprises in the middle. That did lead to one key change from last week’s Power Rankings for Seven!: The Rusical, which might make a real difference heading into the finale in two weeks!

(Want to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World outside of the UK? For most of the world, it’s available with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best international drag superstar win!

[Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2, Episode 6 – Strictly Come Prancing Power Rankings