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!

The Pull List: Batman, Brave and The Bold, Damnation, Maestros, Mighty Thor, Punks Not Dead, and more!

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Doctor Strange: Damnation #1, art by Rod Reis

I know it seems impossible, but The Pull List has grown even bigger this week for the third week in a row! That’s because I finished catching up to present on a number of DC and Marvel books, plus I picked up five smaller press books.

  • DC Comics
    • Batman #41
    • Batman & the Signal #2
    • The Brave and The Bold #1
    • Damage #2
    • Deathbed #1 (Vertigo)
    • Justice League #39
    • Milk Wars – DC Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye / Swamp Thing Special
    • Super Sons #13
    • Superman #41
    • Trinity #18
  • Image Comics
    • The Further Adventures of Nick Wilson #2
    • Ice Cream Man #2
    • Maestros #5
    • Redlands #6
    • Twisted Romance #3
  • Marvel Comics
    • Astonishing X-Men #8
    • Avengers #681
    • Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #5
    • Doctor Strange – Damnation #1
    • Generation X #87
    • Infinity Countdown Prime
    • Mighty Thor #704
    • Tales of Suspense #102
    • The Incredible Hulk #713
    • Venom #162
    • X-Men Gold #22
  • Smaller Publishers: Dark Horse, Dynamite, IDW, Vault Comics, Zenescope
    • Belle Beast Hunter #2, Zenescope
    • Heathen #6, Vault Comics
    • James Bond: The Body #1, Dynamite Comics
    • Mata Hari #1, Dark Horse / Berger Books
    • Musketeers #1, Zenescope
    • Punks Not Dead #1, IDW Publishing / Black Crown

Pick of the Pull

Big Two (Marvel/DC) Issue of the Week:
Mighty Thor (2016) #704

A bloody, thrilling, heart-rending comic. Aaron has somehow amped up the drama in each of the last three issues as we hasten towards a potential Ragnarok at the hands of the Mangog and Jane Foster’s death at her own hands if she takes up the mantle of Thor just one more time.

Yet, beyond those looming disasters there is still Makelith’s war on the Ten Realms. Mangog is just one facet of that. Even in the dimness and tragedy, Aaron finds shining moments – Jane with her friend in the cancer ward, a father and son joined in battle, and a mother casting aside a snake that has wounded her before.

All the while, Dauterman and Wilson are turning in a quality of artwork never seen before at Marvel comics – truly, one of the pinnacles of art at Marvel in over 75 years of publishing.

This story has officially become the best Thor story in my eyes, and it just might be Marvel’s best longform story of all time. I’d place it alongside Mark Gruenwald Captain America and Chris Claremont X-Men at this point.

Best Small-Pub Issue of the Week:
Punks Not Dead (2018) #1, IDW Publishing / Black Crown

An utterly madcap introduction to Punks Not Dead (and, for me, to Black Crown comics, which are edited by Shelly Bond distributed by IDW). This book is part Injection, part Sid and Nancy, and a little dash of the more lighthearted issues of Sandman.

It follows a teenage boy and his scam artist mom as the kid picks up some kind of supernatural echo of the deceased Sid Vicious in a dingy airport bathroom. Meanwhile, the beleaguered Department for Extra-Usual Affairs is busy putting minor demons out of the closet at 10 Downing Street with a staff of one.

This book is funny, unique, and looks freaking brilliant. Artist Martin Simmonds is simply incredible, drawing a real-seeming Britain with amped up color and clever use of cut-and-pasted patterns to ground it in real, textured reality. I am in love with this book, and will not only be keeping up with it, but also checking out other titles from Black Crown. [Read more…] about The Pull List: Batman, Brave and The Bold, Damnation, Maestros, Mighty Thor, Punks Not Dead, and more!

This Week In X: Astonishing X-Men, Generation X, X-Men Blue in Venom, & X-Men Gold

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It’s the eighth week of new comics in 2018, and This Week in X we have the end of two series while two arcs hit their midpoints and one just starts heating up.

  • Astonishing X-Men #8 (of 12) finds Charles Soule delighting in making flashy, early-90s style comics.
  • Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #5 (of 5) winds up as a slightly sub-par Deadpool story that looks pretty darn good and gives us a strong new character.
  • Generation X #87 (final issue!) puts a wrap on a series that had more heart than action, and which included the best character voices of the entire X-Men line.
  • Venom #162 (Poison-X 3 of 5) continues the X-Men Blue squad’s space adventures in a big, fun way.
  • X-Men Gold #22 is a comic book that exists and has pages with words on them.

Learn more about how each of those series reached their current issues and hear which ones I’d recommend picking up. Plus, learn what new X-collections are out this week, including All-New Wolverine, Astonishing X-Men, classic Cable & X-Force, and one of my favorite Excalibur stories of all time!

 

Crushing Comics S01E077 – Guilty Pleasures + Evolutionary War & Atlantis Attacks

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I get back to talking about Clue and how I don’t believe in guilty pleasures and then open a pair of 1980s Marvel events that many fans might label as guilty pleasures. Not me. I unabashedly love these all-annuals crossovers.

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

Episode 76 features Evolutionary War Omnibus and Atlantis Omnibus, both of which are covered in my Guide to Marvel Universe Events.

Black Panther Film Club! (Warning: Spoilers!)

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After wrapping up tonight’s installment of Black Panther Book Club, FanGirl and I couldn’t resist turning to a conversation about the film! Watch out – spoilers abound in this free-wheeling, far-ranging conversation about Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther.

Have you been keeping up with the reading assignments to get to know some of the stories that inspired this film? Visit the Guide to Black Panther to learn how to collect these issues, and then check out our past three discussions.

Black Panther Book Club, Week 3 of 4: Black Panther by Christopher Priest issues #25-35

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It’s our third of four sessions of Black Panther Book Club, where FanGirl and I read and discuss some of the stories that were the biggest influences on Marvel’s Black Panther film.

In this installment, Black Panther butts heads with his sovereign peers in Namor, Dr. Doom, and Magneto as Klaw tries to thrust Wakanda into international conflict. And, the long-running conflict with former Dora Milaje and not-quite-lover Nakia comes to a head.

Want to keep up with the reading assignments all this month? Here’s our full schedule for the month – visit the Guide to Black Panther to learn how to collect these issues.