comic books

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

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – June 5 2024

May 31, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 23nd new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics June 5 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 29 2024 new releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: The Ultimates debut, Alpha Flight divided, Ms. Marvel’s Inhumans reunion, Lando’s verdict, a second Spencer Spidey omni, the Age of Krakoa finale, and more!

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

Marvel Comics June 5 2024 Collected Editions

Alpha Flight: Divided We Stand
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952457 / digital)
See Guide to Alpha Flight. I really, really loved this Ed Brisson & Scott Godlweski Alpha Flight mini-series that was a part of the Fall of X fallout from the 2023 Hellfire Gala.

I have a lot of affection for the core Alpha Flight characters and Ed Brisson voiced all of them particularly well as he explored how they might be stuck on separate sides of the mutant conflict. I think this reads just fine as a standalone outside of a full-on Krakoa read, since most of these characters are non-mutants and not a big part of the past five years of X-Men.

The Amazing Spider-Man By Nick Spencer Omnibus Vol. 2
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302953645 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present). This collects the final half of Nick Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man (2018). I deeply disliked this comic – it felt like a Spider-Man with no jokes and no heart. I think if you are an Osborn Family superfan this would appeal to you, as it deals with a lot of the intricacies of the relationship between Norman and Harry. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it.

In a curious turn of events, the next omnibus is already available – Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949624 / digital), which contains the entire final portion of this run that reintroduces Ben Reilly.

Black Panther by Eve L. Ewing Vol. 2: Reign at Dusk
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948849 / digital)
See Guide to Black Panther. I was soft on this series from Dr. Ewing to start, but after the first three issues I really warmed to it and I was bummed to see it end abruptly at issue #10.

I think Ewing did something intriguing and much-needed here by defining more of the urban environment of Wakanda outside of the capital city and exploring T’Challa’s relationship to it outside of being king. Plus, she brought in strong new supporting players and villains. If you can get into a more slow, cerebral take on Black Panther that does not have the political bent of Coates’s run, this could be for you. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – June 5 2024

Announcing Marvel September 2024 Collected Editions – LIVE on Near Mint Condition

May 30, 2024 by krisis

Today I’m live with Near Mint Condition @ 2:30pm US ET to announce Marvel September 2024 collected editions – including omnibuses, Masterworks, Epic Collections, and new trade paperbacks. This is the official, exclusive announcement of Marvel September 2024 Collected Edition solicits on the web – Near Mint Condition receives them directly from Marvel!

I’ll be on a panel with my friends Omar of Near Mint Condition, Jess the Omnidog, Lars of Mad Norwgian Press, Kurtis of Epic Marvel Podcast, and more to discuss every new release. Per usual, I’ve read everything new from Marvel in this catalog – so I have lots of recommendations to make!

Tune in to Near Mint Condition on YouTube live @ 2:0pm ET today or watch our stream as a replay to hear all the announcements.

Announcing September 2024 Collected Editions on Near Mint Condition

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 29 2024

May 24, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 22nd new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics May 29 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday May 28 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics May 22 2024 new releases.

(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)

This week in DC Comics: The Knight and Danger street collected, DC Pride, Brave Nightwing & Bold Deadman, Ram V’s Detective Comics crescendo, Spurrier’s deeply weird Flash, Power Girl and Crush, Green Arrow’s archer-off, and more!

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from DC this week, plus collected editions including omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

DC Comics May 29 2024 Collected Editions

Batman: The Knight
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525079 / digital)
See Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present). This collects all 10 issues of Chip Zdarsky’s “Year One” style of prelude story that set up many of themes of his ongoing run on the Batman flagship title.

Danger Street Vol. 2
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779524959 / digital)
This is the first I’m hearing of this Black Label prestige book from Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles, which exists out of continuity and focuses on the journeys of several unlikely characters towards joining the Justice League.

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525185 / digital)
The paperback collection of DC’s 2022 mega-event, Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Much of the Dawn of DC status quo emerges from this event, although you don’t need to read it to understand what is currently happening in the DC Universe. This paperback professes to collect only issued #1-7, but a previous hardcover also included issue #0 and Justice League (2018) #75.

DC Pride: Better Together [AKA “Brave and Bold”]
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525062 / digital)
This hardcover collects Collects the DC Pride (2023) #1 Pride month special along with exclusively collecting the Alan Scott story from DC Pride: Through the Years (2023) #1 – which was mostly reprints. It also add the first appearance of of Circuit Breaker from In Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate (2023) #1, which has been collected elsewhere).

Read on for a summary of all of the DC Comics May 29 2024 single issues. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 29 2024

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – May 29 2024

May 23, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 22nd new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics May 29 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 22 2024 new releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: a killer Black Panther creative team, a Pride-filled X-Men wedding, an Epic Spider-Man gap filled, penultimate Krakoa, Night Thrasher fights depression, Spider-Boy vs. his maker, and more!

Marvel Comics May 29 2024 Collected Editions

The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Volume 10: Big Apple Battleground
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302955267 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (1963-2018). This presses forward with the continuous run of Epic coverage from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #1 through issue #185.

The Amazing Spider-Man Epic line has just five more volumes left to fill its remaining gaps – four directly following this one and the long-awaited Volume 16. However, this year we saw two Clone Sage era Epics to extend the line deeper into the 90s alongside three reprints of existing Epics with just this one gap-filling Epic, so it could be as many as five more years until we get total coverage from this line.

Yes, that’s slow-going. But, the fact that Marvel has already reprinted 13 of the 23 epics in this line is a great sign of their dedication to the ongoing health of the line.

The Avengers Epic Collection Volume 1: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957988 / digital)
See Guide to Avengers (1963 – 1996). Go back to the start of Marvel’s iconic team with their original “Avengers Assemble” against Loki followed by them unthawing Captain American from his deep freeze and continuing through the debut of “Cap’s Kooky Quartet” when the book shockingly swapped to Cap being backed by an all-villains roster of Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, & Quicksilver! Imagine the fan rage if that happened today!

Hulk: Grand Design
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302958145 / digital)
See Guide to Hulk – Bruce Banner. This roughly recaps all of the Hulk’s history from his first appearance through the Immortal era, as retold by Jim Rugg. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – May 29 2024

Debating our Evergreen Batman Omnibus List – LIVE on Near Mint Condition

May 22, 2024 by krisis

Are you ready to rumble? Tomorrow – Thursday May 23 @ 6:30 PM US ET, I’m live with Near Mint Condition to share my Evergreen Batman Omnibus List – that means the Batman books should never go out of print!

Of course, I’m not a noted Batman fan, so what do I have to contribute to this debate? Well, over the past several weeks of DC Omnibus mapping I made time to read a handful of issues from every single Batman & Bat-Family omnibus ever printed by DC. Not only did I want to make an informed vote, I wanted to be able to joust with all of our many merry guests!

I’ll be co-hosting this debate with Uncanny Omar of Near Mint Condition, featuring Jess the Omnidog, Lars of Mad Norwegian Press, Jake from The Brave & The Boys, Wonder Maddie from NMC’s Old Reader / New Reader, and even more distinguished panelists. We will each share our 3 picks for Batman & Bat-Family evergreen omnibus volumes… and then we’ll fight tooth and nail over our officially endorsed Evergreen Batman Omnibus List of 10 books. Plus, viewers on the live stream will get to have their say to correct our mistakes and choose their own fan vote!

It’s the stream that is half serious recommendations, half a cut-throat game show of all of us trying to block other people’s recommendations so that all of our own make the list.

Tune in to Near Mint Condition on YouTube tomorrow to find out!