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Crushing Comics includes definitive comic book guides, essays about characters and titles, collecting strategies, comic reviews, and more!
Adam Warlock Guide – now available to the public!
As we count down to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 in just 10 days, I’ll be releasing a number of Guardians-related guides and guide updates! First up is the major Marvel character finally making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (after they have arguably already told his biggest story!). Read all about Him in my Adam Warlock Guide!
Learn more about the distinct eras of Adam Warlock in my original launch essay for the guide.
From the advertising for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, it looks like it’s pulling from the earliest Adam Warlock stories – when High Evolutionary encounters his protective cocoon floating through space and subsequently installs him on Counter-Earth as a hippy space Jesus.
However, though early Bronze Age comics might be a little dated for modern readers (both for the style and the hippy themes). Instead, you might want to check out the stone-cold classic Infinity Gauntlet (1991), which is pretty much the plots of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame but with Warlock as Thanos’s primary opposition instead of a number of underpowered Avengers.
Or, for a much more modern story of Warlock serving alongside the Guardians, check out their landmark 2008 revival series by Abnett & Lanning!
All of those runs and more are covered in my Adam Warlock Guide, now available to all readers of CK thanks to the magical ongoing support of Patrons of CK.
New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – April 26, 2023
It’s time to take a look at what’s out from Marvel Comics this week! This post covers Marvel Comics April 26 2023 releases.
This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. For each new release, I’ll point you to the right Crushing Comics guide.
Marvel Comics April 26 2023 Collected Editions
All-Out Avengers: Teachable Moments (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947019 / digital)
See Guide to Avengers Flagship Titles (2010 – Present). This new “All-Out” brand for Marvel indicates an all-action series that is a non-stop five issue fight, here created by Derek Landy & Greg Land. The Landy-Land team continues to a new volume, Avengers Beyond, below.
Cosmic Ghost Rider by Donny Cates (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302949891 / digital)
See Guide to Ghost Rider. This paperbacks collects all of Donny Cates’s Cosmic Ghost Rider material, which is a subset of the material from the 2021 omnibus. However, there is really just one full CGR series in this collection – his first 2018 five-issue limited series. All the other material in this book are his debut in Thanos (2016) and guest-starring and team membership issues. Bottom line: This is the right buy if you’re a Cates fan or looking purely for origin material, otherwise you should buy the omnibus instead.
Deadpool & Cable Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949921)
See Guide to Deadpool or Guide to Cable for this complete reprint of their 50-issue 2004 team-up series.
Fantastic Four by Millar & Hitch Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949716 / digital)
See Guide to Fantastic Four. This omnibus fits directly prior to Jonathan Hickman’s run and pair of omnibuses. This run’s reputation tends to be overshadowed by Hickman, but there are some enjoyable big ideals here and I enjoy seeing Millar in his less-audacious mode when he’s not writing mature books.
Midnight Suns (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947187 / digital TBA)
See Guide to Ghost Rider or Guide to Blade. This series featured a peculiar hodgepodge of a team of supernatural heroes… and Logan, with a cast of Magik, Wolverine, Blade, Spirit Rider, and Nico Minoru.
Thor Epic Collection Vol. 9: Even An Immortal Can Die (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948689 / digital)
See Guide to Thor – The Odinson. This material has been covered in Masterworks and in bits and pieces across several old trades, but it has never been collected comprehensively in paperback before.
Strange, Vol. 2: The Doctor Strange of Death (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302946746 / digital)
See Guide to Doctor Strange. The second (and final) volume of Jed MacKay’s volume of Clea as the Sorcerer Supreme before the relaunch of Doctor Strange last month.
X-Terminators (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302946999 / digital)
See Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa. Leah Williams takes Dazzler, Jubilee, Boom Boom, and Wolverine (X-23) on a high-action, high-comedy spin.
Read on for a rundown of Marvel Comics April 19 2023 single-issue releases, including a link to their accompanying guide pages on Crushing Comics.
[Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – April 26, 2023
New for Patrons: Guide to Spider-Man 2099 (+ Guide to Marvel 2099!)
What’s this? A special Saturday launch of a new guide for Pledgeonaut Patron supporters of CK? You betcha! What can I say, I found myself with some free time without a brand new RuPaul’s Drag Race episode to recap. I’ve wanted to add this guide to the site ever since 2014, and it makes more sense to add it now than ever before – and not just because I just updated the Guide to Exiles or because this character is about to hit the big screen. I’m happy to announce my Guide to Spider-Man 2099!
Hmm… while I’m at it, do you think I should just make a guide to every 2099 title Marvel has ever published? Really? Well, okay, since you insist – also exclusively for Pledgeonaut Patron supporters of CK…
I mentioned above that I first wanted to launch this Guide to Spider-Man 2099, because that’s when Dan Slott brought Miguel O’Hara back from the vast unknown of the 2099 continuity to the present day in Superior Spider-Man just ahead of the original Spider-Verse event.
But, if I had created his guide back then, I might not have paired it with a guide to all of Marvel 2099 … because it wasn’t clear if it existed! [Read more…] about New for Patrons: Guide to Spider-Man 2099 (+ Guide to Marvel 2099!)
Updated: Guide to Exiles
This week I have an X-Men guide update that’s not for an X-Men guide, although it’s actually an extremely X-Men guide. Confused yet? Hopefully this update will help alleviate your confusion, because today I rebuilt my Guide to Exiles!
Here’s my simple pitch for Exiles: Imagine if Marvel’s What If? had a single team visiting all of the many realities it explored, and most of them were mutants.
(Or, if you’re as old as I am, picture Sliders, but with mutants!)
That aptly describes Exiles as it was originally launched by Judd Winick and Mike McKone. It was anchored by the beloved Blink from Age of Apocalypse and featured a version of Morph who resembled his X-Men: The Animated Series incarnation, but all of the other characters were alternate versions of Marvel-616 mutants. Or, in one case, a potential next generation of mutants with the introduction of Nocturne – Nightcrawler’s daughter!
Part of the enduring charm of the original 100-issue run of Exiles is that it’s a straight sprint that isn’t involved in any Marvel-616 mutant shenanigans. It included mutants, but it was NOT an X-book tangled up with the rest of the line. Other than a single story in X-Men Unlimited and a three-issue dalliance with House of M, Exiles was 100% self-contained from issues #1-99 & Annual 1.
Then, Chris Claremont happened. [Read more…] about Updated: Guide to Exiles