Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

comic books

Crushing Comics includes definitive comic book guides, essays about characters and titles, collecting strategies, comic reviews, and more!

From The Beginning: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989), Issues #5-8

by

Tonight’s discussion wraps up the first arc of The Sandman (1989) with issues #5-8, which include three issues of Dream trying to out-maneuver the psychopathic Dr. Destiny to regain control of the Ruby, and the all-time classic introduction of Death.

In this run, Sandman quick delves from suspense in issue #5 down to the depths of horror in issue #6 before widening its scope in issues #7 and 8 – first to the expanse of Dream’s kingdom, and then to the very concept of death and existence.

Read on for my thoughts on each of these issues, or listen to our full discussion above. FanGirl and I have had an amazing time discussing Sandman’s first arc these past few weeks. We’re going to break from Sandman to refocus on Black Panther for the month of February, but we’ll happily return to Sandman if you demand it! [Read more…] about From The Beginning: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (1989), Issues #5-8

Crushing Comics S01E066 – Women of Marvel Omnibus (+ Who are your idols?)

by

I reflect on my idols growing up and ask about yours. Are they people that you know, or celebrities you’ve never met? Afterwards, I unwrap the Women of Marvel Omnibus (apt, since all of my idols are women) and explain why it’s one of the best and most-overlooked Marvel omnibuses.

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 66 features the Women of Marvel Omnibus, which contains key issues of Tigra, Night Nurse, Black Widow, She-Hulk, Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel, and more!

Back Issue Review: Black-Eyed Kids, Lady Mechanika, Warframe, and more!

by

Welcome to another week of Back Issue Review! In this post, I share my capsule reviews of comic books I read that were not newly-released this month.

My reading this week was entirely focused on non Big Two comics (that means no Marvel and no DC) and largely on checking out books with women protagonists I hadn’t read before.

This post includes reviews of:

  • Black Cloud (2017) #1-2
  • Black-Eyed Kids (2016) #1-15
  • Bonehead (2018) #1
  • Dread Gods (2017) #1-2
  • God Complex: Dogma (2017) #1-3
  • Interceptor (2016) #1-5
  • Justice League (2016) #22-24
  • Lady Mechankia (2010) #0-2
  • Maxwell’s Demons (2017) #1
  • Morea (2017) Vol. 1
  • Paper Girls (2015) #11-15
    (AKA Volume 3)
  • Reactor (2018) #1
  • The Realm (2017) #1-4
  • Rose (2017) #1-4
  • Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose (2000) #1
  • Void Trip (2017) #1-2
  • Warframe (2017) #1

Unfortunately, most of those weren’t very good, but I did come away with a pair of new favorite titles, plus one I enjoyed but couldn’t commit to because we’re from such different worlds. [Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Black-Eyed Kids, Lady Mechanika, Warframe, and more!

The Pull List: Avengers: No Surrender, Backways, Detective Comics, Maestros, Marvel 2-in-One, & more!

by

The Pull List has grown a lot longer this week – 17 issues in all!

That’s due to catching up with another Marvel book (Thanos), several new indie #1s, and a few Image books I’ve read to the present in the past few weeks. Also, starting this week I’m running very short reviews of the X-Men books covered in This Week in X here, so that you can catch up on all the week’s new titles in one place!

Here’s what’s on my Pull List:

  • Abbott (2018) #1
  • Avengers (2017) #677
  • Backways (2017) #2
  • Detective Comics (1937/2016) #973
  • Dissonance (2018) #1
  • Doomsday Clock (2017) #3
  • Gasolina (2017) #5
  • Legion (2018) #1
  • Maestros (2017) #4
  • Marvel 2-in-One (2018) #2
  • Phoenix Resurrection (2018) #4
  • Raven: Daughter of Darkness (2018) #1
  • Thanos (2016) #15
  • Vinegar Teeth (2018) #1
  • Wonder Woman (2016) #39
  • X-Men: Blue (2017) #20
  • X-Men: Blue (2017) Annual 1

I hope these capsule reviews can help you decided what series you should add to your own pull list, or at least catch up with once they hit collected editions! And, remember, this feature is still new and evolving, so your comments and suggestions count a lot! [Read more…] about The Pull List: Avengers: No Surrender, Backways, Detective Comics, Maestros, Marvel 2-in-One, & more!

This Week in X: Legion #1, Phoenix Resurrection #4, and X-Men Blue #20 & Annual 1

by

It’s the fourth week of new comics in 2018, and it brings a bumpy week of four X-Men titles that are all kind of average.

We have the debut of Peter Milligan’s Legion #1, the penultimate chapter of Matthew Rosenberg’s Phoenix Resurrection #4, Cullen Bunn wrapping up a major arc on X-Men: Blue #20, plus the kickoff of a new crossover with Venom in Bunn’s X-Men: Blue Annual 1.

As much as I abundantly loathe the time-displaced original X-Men, I couldn’t help but be thoroughly impressed with how Bunn reinserts some urgency and mystery into their title just as it his the 80-issue mark.