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!

Crushing Comics S01E045 – Bendis’s New Avengers & Mighty Avengers, Secret Invasion, + the pre-internet joy of comic shops)

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Do you remember how thrilling it used to be to spot a new comic shop out in the wild, back before there was internet shopping and endless databases of physical and digital back issues?

Then you, too, are old. No matter your age, join me for a few minutes of reminiscing before I open my final package of Bendis New Avengers and Mighty Avengers and dig in to why these books don’t stand alone well without Secret Invasion.

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

Episode 45 features New Avengers Vol. 5, Vol 6, & Vol 7, Mighty Avengers: Assemble (Vol. 1), and Mighty Avengers: Secret Invasion (Vol. 2). See the guides to New Avengers and Mighty Avengers for more information.

Crushing Comics S01E044 – X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus (and harrowing tales of left-side driving)

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Have you ever driven on the opposite side of the road? I open this episode with tales of my challenges navigating Wellington’s left-side driving, then open one of the best self-contained X-Men epics of all time (and one of my most re-read stories of all-time) – Age of Apocalypse!

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

Episode 44 features the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse omnibus. Learn more in the Marvel Events Guide.

Crushing Comics S01E043 – Survival Skills + Mighty Avengers, Dark Avengers, and more!

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Today I start out by wondering how I – or, anyone, for that matter – learns basic survival skills like how to balance their checkbooks and what flowers not to eat in the wild.

After that, I unwrap quite a large brick of oversized hardcovers, and give some rapid fire thoughts on Dan Slott’s Mighty Avengers, Brian Bendis’s Dark Avengers, a brief history of Thunderbolts, Iron Man: Iron Age, Fear Itself, and more!

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

Episode 43 features Dan Slott’s Mighty Avengers: Dark Reign, Brian Bendis’s Dark Avengers, Invaders Now, Iron Man: Iron Age, Onslaught Unleashed, and Fear Itself: Shattered Heroes.

Crushing Comics S01E042 – My Macabre Childhood Favs + X-Force Omnibus by Rob Liefeld

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In this episode my Clue t-shirt sends me on a brief trip down memory lane about all the macabre stuff I liked as a kid. What was your totally peculiar interest as a child?

Afterwards I unwrap one of the most mainstream comics of my childhood: the initial run of Rob Liefeld’s X-Force! It’s at once the perfect metaphor from mutants moving on from an eternal high school and a bit of a let down when it comes to the big ideas behind the guns and pouches.

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

Episode 42 features the X-Force Omnibus, Vol. 1. For more information, head to the Guide to X-Force.

Crushing Comics S01E041 – The little things that keep you alive + War of Kings & Realm of Kings

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Today I muse over our self-image, how I used to be called “Spockchild,” and how my first haircut in Wellington made me think of how we sometimes take for granted all of the little aspects of life that keep us alive.

Then, I unwrap a massive hunk of Cosmic Marvel and get to talk about Nova, War of Kings, and Realm of Kings … plus throw a little shade about how Abnett & Lanning ran a better X-Men and Inhumans event than Marvels actual Inhumans vs. X-Men even in early 2017.

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

Episode 41 features Nova: Annihilation, War of Kings, Realm of Kings, Annihilators, and The Thanos Imperative. See Marvel Universe Events for more information.