Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

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Music Monday: “Bliss” – Amber Mark

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There’s something about an R&B song with wah pedal and an every-quarter-note rhythm that I cannot turn off.

I blame TLC’s “Waterfalls.”

That’s the first comparison that came to mind when I heard “Bliss” by Amber Mark, even if her song is much more driving than the languid, trickling feel of “Waterfalls.”

I was already sold on Amber Mark’s 2022 debut full-length, Three Dimensions Deep, long before I hit “Bliss” at track 16. I dig the consistent Neo-Soul groove of the entire record, which backs Mark with tangible instrumental performances blended with programmed beats. I love

It’s “Bliss” that I keep coming back to. There’s something about that hypnotic “wah wah wah wah” and the more-organic drum sound that draws me in and keeps playing in my brain when I wake up in the morning.

Also, not for nothing, I love a chorus that starts with a great “Oh!” full of stacked harmony. And, I love a second verse that messes with your expectations about the song’s rhythm. And I love a song about something commonplace that juxtaposes it with the fantastic or galactic, as she does in the sublime first verse:

Conversations, sexual tension
Taking me to new dimensions
Outer space, nights at my place, oh
You teach me things I never knew
A crush don’t have to leave a bruise
My soul is shining, changed my life with perfect timing

There’s something about “Bliss.” The wah pedal and the every-quarter-note rhythm might have caught my attention in the first place, but there’s so much more than that in Amber Mark’s song.

Guide to Jane Foster, Mighty Thor & Valkyrie – now available to the public!

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I’m happy to announce that my Guide to Jane Foster – The Mighty Thor & Valkyrie is now available to all CK readers to help them get ready for Thor: Love & Thunder thanks to the ongoing support of the Mighty Patrons of Crushing Krisis.

Guide to Jane Foster – The Mighty Thor & Valkyrie

Check out my original guide announcement for CK Patrons for an entire essay on what I learned from researching my Guide to Jane Foster!

This guide isn’t just a walkthrough of Jane’s time as The Mighty Thor from 2014 to 2019. It’s a reading order for every Jane Foster issue, ever. That includes a full issue-by-issue recap of all of her more than 180 appearances before becoming a hero, a full collecting guide to her time as The Mighty Thor, plus coverage of her current heroic mantle of Valkyrie.

Jane makes 198 primary appearances in her own titles or in Thor titles, plus her time as a team member in Avengers, and many guest appearances from the 1960s through the present day. If you’re just interested in the core of Jane Foster, I’ve got that covered in a “Greatest Hits” section that distills 40 years of continuity down to just 18 key appearances as a civilian prior to her time as The Mighty Thor in 2014.

Finally, if you’re after only Jane’s time as a superhero, Marvel has that covered in a pair of newly-released paperbacks:

Jane Foster: The Saga of the Mighty Thor (2022 paperback, IBSN 978-1302934873 / digital)
Collects Thor (2014) #1-8 & Annual 1 (2nd story); Mighty Thor (2015) #1-5, 8-11, 13-14, and Generations: Unworthy Thor and Mighty Thor (2017) #1. This collects all of the introduction and build-up of Jane’s story, but the climax and transformation is in the next volume.

Jane Foster: The Saga of Valkyrie (2022 paperback, ISBN 978-1302934828 / digital)
Collects Mighty Thor (2015) #702-706, material from Mighty Thor: At the Gates of Valhalla (2018) #1 and War of the Realms: Omega (2019) #1, and Valkyrie: Jane Foster (2019) #1-10. This won’t read as well as a standalone as it does with the build-up from the “Saga of the Mighty Thor” volume, but it is fantastic material!

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 7, Episode 8 – Santa’s School For Girls: recap & power ranking!

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Welcome to my recap of the eighth episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 7 – Santa’s School For Girls, an acting challenge that’s part holiday movie, part Mean Girls, part slasher flick.

Of all the many types of challenges on RuPaul’s Drag Race, acting challenges are consistently the lowest quality but with the highest meme-ability. It’s much easier to pay a songwriter to write a song that captures the essence of “He Had It Coming” or “Bye Bye Bye” than it is to hire a screenwriter to write a script that has the vibe of Scream but with the references of Mean Girls.

In earlier seasons, these challenges were about memorizing lines and being ridiculous. As the years have pressed on, Drag Race has begun to treat them as actual challenges of acting that require characterization and melodrama. Yet, they still tend to receive the same lackadaisical direction from Ru, a regular judge, or a sitcom-starring guest judge – all of whom are there more to flummox the queens as they are to create a great final product.

This week’s challenge is different because it is directed by Janicza Bravo. She’s not a household name, but she’s an actual director of movies. I’ll get into the results of that below, but the thing that leapt out at me was that these queens were getting the experience of actually being directed. Bravo’s comments were not just about slamming the punchlines and playing to cameras, but establishing the pace and embodying the characters.

Could the show pull off this same high-calibre direction with the uneven skill levels of queens on a regular season? I would argue that it ought to try. If we view Drag Race less as a reality competition and more as “RuPaul’s Finishing School for Drag Queens,” then the ability to take direction on set from someone with a singular vision is a huge part of what will make these competitors employable after the show.

Drag Race brings in star choreographers for dance challenges, real music producers for their girl groups, and fashion industry figures to judge the queen’s workroom creations. I’d say it’s time to level up their acting challenges an equal amount … even if the scripts still come off like a Mad Lib assembled over the weekend by an intern on a bender.

That’s a lot of build-up of this challenge from me, but did the queens pay it off in their performance? Find out in my full-episode recap, below. Plus, at the end of the recap I’ll update my Episode 7 power rankings to show where the queens stand with just three more challenges of Legendary Legend stars left to earn. (Want to skip right to the power rankings? Go for it!)

Readers, start your engines! And, may the best drag queen… win! [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 7, Episode 8 – Santa’s School For Girls: recap & power ranking!