Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

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Song of the Day: “Fresh Eyes” by Andy Grammer

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When I hear a song for the first time my brain does something special.

It’s like the song is made of sand and my mind is a special sort of sifting pan. With each passing second I am sifting through the writing, the performance, and production to find something hidden inside.

The influences.

Sometimes I don’t even realizing it’s happening until my brain starts spitting out information, readouts printed on mental ticker tape. I think this only works the first time I listen to a song because afterwards I’m hearing it more as a single, gestalt creation. I might still be able to identify its influences, but it’s something deliberate I’m doing with my conscious mind.

Listening for the first time is different. I’m trying to make sense of the whole of the song out of its parts, and it’s easier to sift out an obvious pinch of another song. A certain melody. A vocal tone. And, just like the mental sand I sifted them from, if I don’t jot them down right way they’re lost forever. The next time I hear the song, I’ll just hear the song.

Last week I was setting up my weights at the gym before a workout when the little ticker tape printer in my brain started working overtime. My mind buzzed non-stop, spitting out the names of other songs and performers.

Weirdly – because this never, ever happens – one of the names it spit out was mine. And then, just as unconsciously, I started singing along with the song as I was hearing it – first with the melody, and then the high floating harmony on the chorus.

The cause of all that buzzing was Andy Grammer’s late-2016 single, “Fresh Eyes.”

Now, I’m not saying Andy Grammer was influenced by me or nicked one of my songs. I heard so many hints of other artists in this song. [Read more…] about Song of the Day: “Fresh Eyes” by Andy Grammer

This week in comic book collected editions & graphic novels – April 5, 2017

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Welcome to another wild week in new releases of graphic novels and comic collected editions!

You’d think seeing a list of what comics are out this week along with what they collect and what’s come before would be an easy thing to do since comic book publishers want you to buy comics, right?

Well, they don’t. At least, they don’t without you going through the arcane process of pre-ordering books three months ahead of time from a physical comic shop with no guarantee that the books will come out on time or at all.

When it comes to promoting books to the mass book market (which is exponentially larger than the comic market) on the week of release, most companies do nothing.

Oh, and all of their books come out in the mass market at different delayed intervals from the direct market!

If you’re anything like me, you think that’s a short-sighted bunch of malarky. Well, until we convince comics publishers of the same, I’ll do the heavy lifting for you.

Here’s what’s out this week from all the major publishers and many of the indies, frequently with context on the book and preceding or related collections.

Publishers:

What are the must-read books this week?

Green Arrow was one of my favorite Rebirth one-shots, but my review came with some caveats – I wasn’t sure if the excellent dynamic with Black Canary would continue with her also in Batgirl & The Birds of Prey, and I only wanted to keep reading if I could consume more of the delectable art from Otto Schmidt. His panels look like single cells of animation from a Green Arrow cartoon in the style of the classic Batman: The Animated Series.

Well, last week I caught up with the first trade of Green Arrow, Volume 1: The Death and Life Of Oliver Queen, and it easily took care of both of my caveats. It’s a nice blend of DC’s classic, more mature Arrow with a hint of the romance and adventure of his TV show. This week, the second edition is out – Green Arrow Vol. 2: Island Of Scars – still with art by Schmidt.

This guy is a must-see, must-buy artist and Arrow is so far one of DC’s stronger books. Don’t sleep on this.

Also out this week: Lumberjanes, Vol 06: Sink or Swim! Our house is finally caught up through the end of Vol. 5. More on this treasure of a series, along with everything else out this week, below.

[Read more…] about This week in comic book collected editions & graphic novels – April 5, 2017

RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E02 – “She Done Already Done Brought It On”

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The second episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race is packed with 14 queens, three B-52s, two cheer squads, and a weirdly out-of-place Lisa Kudrow.

It’s all a little much.

The editors are being a gaggle of tricky bitches this episode, keeping most of the stars of episode one in the background while foregrounding a new set of queens.

That makes for a big juggle in the rankings, and a bit of a mystery about who the next weak link will be after this week’s bottom two.

If you want to read more each week, please leave a comment and share on social media, okurrrrr? It’s the only way I can know anyone is out there listening, henny.

[Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E02 – “She Done Already Done Brought It On”

Comic Book Review: X-Men Prime (2017) #1 – Marvel relaunches the X-Men with Kitty Pryde in charge!

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Yesterday, Marvel kicked off the relaunch of it’s entire X-Men line of comics with X-Men Prime, a one-shot meant to reset the status quo of Marvel’s mutants in the wake of Inhumans vs. X-Men.

This issue represents the first time in many years that I can approach the X-Men as anything resembling a “new” reader. That’s because I’ve barely read a single issue of X-Men in Marvel’s All-New, All-Different era following Secret Wars. I usually trade-wait before reading, and in the middle of trade-waiting I was distracted from my Marvel reading by DC Rebirth and my WildStorm read.

What is X-Men Prime? Is it any good? Will it lead to me reviewing X-Men comics every week from now on?

Let’s find out!

X-Men Prime (2017) #1 (buy digital)

Written by Marc Guggenheim, Greg Pak, and Cullen Bunn with line art from Ken Lashley, Ibraim Roberson, Leonard Kirk, and Guillermo Ortego and color art by Morry Hollowell, Frank D’Armata, and Michael Garland.

Bottom Line: This “Kitty Pryde: This Is Your Life” issue is an easily skippable recap, more about her as a character than about the last two years of x-comics. It would be a fine free comic, but offers little entertainment for a steep $4.99 cover price.

X-Men Prime is an insubstantial read that still manages to make a major change in the X-Men’s status quo. That comes along with a choice that may or may not work out in the end.

The choice is to make Kitty Pryde the leader of the X-Men, which explains why this issue could just have easily been called “Kitty Pryde: The Return #0.”

Now, let me be clear – Kitty Pryde is never disappointing to me. She is one of my favorite characters in all of comics!

That’s in part because Kitty Pryde is the eternal point-of-view character. That’s been true from her beginnings as the X-Men’s teen sidekick through her years in Excalibur and her return as an outsider first to Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men and then to Matt Fraction’s run on Uncanny X-Men. 

Even when Kitty is the heart of a given team, she’s also the rational, grounded character who speaks with the voice of the reader. That’s why it’s fascinating to see her step in to lead dozens of characters we’ve grown to love over the past half century. Can she remain our POV-character when she’s the one in charge of all of the X-Men’s comings and goings? Can she even credibly take charge of characters like Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Magik, and more?

This issue does little to explore that reality. It’s more of a “Kitty Pryde, this is your life” walkthrough that focuses more on her relationships than her (or the reader) catching up on the X-Men’s recent history. It also includes minor scenes of the original X-Men and Lady Deathstrike (more on those below).

The strategy of the main story, scripted by incoming X-Men Gold writer Marc Guggenheim, seems to be that Kitty’s emotional ties to the team are more important than detailing anything that’s happened in the past five or ten years, or giving any hint of what’s to come. Aside from the sparest of recaps of Inhumans vs. X-Men by Storm and an explanation of the unlikely location of the X-mansion, there’s honestly very substance little to this main story.

Despite the lack of content, the story still managed to be an emotional moment for me because it features Ken Lashley as the primary artist on a core X-Men title drawing Kitty Pryde. Lashley was one of my favorite 90s artists on Warren Ellis’s run of Excalibur, my favorite comics title of all time. He still makes for appointment reading whenever he shows up on a current comic. So far he’s not announced for any of the upcoming X-titles, but I have my fingers crossed that he will be the alternating arc artist on the bi-monthly Gold title. and he will be one of the alternating artists on Gold.

More than the dialog, it’s Lashey’s art that reminds us that Kitty is still the heart and rational brain of the X-Men through scenes with Storm, Colossus, Magik, and the teen versions of the original X-Men. It certainly seems she might work as their leader when the issue ends with her saying, “We’re also going to show that world what we are. No mutants. Not freaks. Not homo superior. But heroes.”

Kitty’s words mirror the complaint of many major fans of the X-Men who have been disappointed with their recent status quo. We just want the X-Men to be heroes. Still mutants first, but heroes second before they are an endangered species. [Read more…] about Comic Book Review: X-Men Prime (2017) #1 – Marvel relaunches the X-Men with Kitty Pryde in charge!