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Luke Cage, Power Man – Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Updated Mar 11, 2025! The definitive Power Man – Luke Cage – comic books issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated March 2025 with titles scheduled for release through June 2025.

Collecting Luke Cage

Luke Cage emerged from Marvel’s early-70s habit of stealing themes from pop culture – in this case, the emergence of Blaxploitation films. That made him only the second prominent black hero at Marvel, after Black Panther – who had become a staple in The Avengers.

Cage’s story could have easily come to an end with the waning of the 70s, but Marvel made an unusual move in 1978 – they introduced the similarly fad-based character Iron Fist into Cage’s title, rechristening it “Power Man & Iron Fist.”

A street-smart man with unbreakable skin and a billionaire’s son who mastered a secret martial art. This memorable odd-couple pairing lead to another eight years of an ongoing series, until 1986 when Marvel ended several long-running 70s books at the end of Secret Wars II. Afterwards, Luke Cage was basically put into mothballs, and when he was taken out he didn’t prove a hit on his own – his 1992 self-titled series lasted only 20 issues.

Despite numerous guest-appearances and a brief Heroes for Hire run during Marvel’s late-90s struggle, it was one man who brought Cage back to prominence despite never writing him in a solo title: Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis introduced Luke Cage as a foil and on-again/off-again flame to Jessica Jones in Alias, linking the characters from that point forward (and using them both in his Daredevil run). Then, he plucked Cage from relative obscurity to join New Avengers alongside surefire sellers Spider-Man and Wolverine.

Ever since then, Luke Cage went from occasional guest-star to one of the most prominent heroes in the Marvel Universe, though he occasionally takes a break to change a few diapers. Like Hawkeye before him, he serves as an anchor and mascot for Avengers teams and as a mentor for reformed criminals the Thunderbolts. He also has a habit of popping up in any Iron Fist title.

In the wake of his smash Netflix series released at the end of 2016, Luke’s profile at Marvel was as high as ever – with him appearing in his own title, as well as Jessica Jones and a re-branded Defenders team. [Read more…] about Luke Cage, Power Man – Collecting Guide and Reading Order

RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S8E03 – “RuCo’s Empire”

March 24, 2016 by krisis

Last week I kept Bob The Drag Queen in the top spot despite Chi Chi taking home dance captain honors. This week Bob strutted her stuff on the Empire parody – so, do I still have her leading the pack? And, where will returning queen Naysha Lopez wind up?

thorgy-thor-01 1. Thorgy Thor (Average 5, was 6, 7)

The lovable Thorgy hoscotches to the top spot this week with impeccable acting (maybe the best ever on Drag Race?) and a perfectly on-theme and girly runway. She truly should have won the episode over Bob’s ad-libbing spectacle; more on that in a moment.

This lady has all the chops this show requires – including being a classical musician, which means she’ll likely be decently equipped for musical challenges. Aside from the willfully silly streak we saw last week I don’t think she will commit any unforced errors. Also, it seems like the plastic showgirl opening look was an example of how hard she commits to each look rather than a fashion faux pas, which is a good sign for future runways.

Altogether, my initial read of, “She’ll never be the next drag SUPERSTAR” has evaporated completely. She’s quickly becoming the star of the show, and she doesn’t have the confidence gap of Katya.

2. Bob the Drag Queen (Average 1; was: 1, 1)

How did Bob descend in the rankings while winning a challenge? Because this episode exposed just how reliant she is on her charisma and comedy to get her through other, weaker spots. She bested the challenge by constantly going off-script – a lot – which wasn’t really the assignment. Then, on the runway, she was in a busted Halloween costume look with flaking makeup, a bit of a belly, and an inability to roller skate, all of which she sold through comedy.

Bob remains my personal favorite, but I’d like to see a decisive win from her while playing the game, rather than deconstructing it. Right now I feel she’s at risk of that awful top four cut.

Punisher – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Updated Mar 22, 2025! The definitive issue-by-issue comic book collecting guide and trade reading order for Marvel’s Punisher, Frank Castle comic books in omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated March 2025 with titles scheduled for release through June 2025.

Collecting Punisher

Pun00 - 0001 promo Few characters chart the changing trends of the Marvel Universe as well as Frank Castle, The Punisher.

Punisher was initially introduced in 1974 as a vigilante foil to the rule-abiding Spider-Man. Punisher was a former marine who felt that any killer deserved death themselves, and that he would mete it out regardless of the progress of the justice system. Of course, Spider-Man did not remain in his sights for long, but Punisher was a quandary for the wallcrawler – was this man a hero he could team up with or a villain he had to stop?

The question was consistent with Marvel’s mid-70s output, which had begun to diversify its heroes and ask more challenging questions of them. However, that was the only space the Punisher could hold at the time – being a challenging question. There was no room for him as a star.

One of his prominent early-80s appearances was in Frank Miller’s Daredevil, who at the time was himself seen as a boundary-pushing vigilante. However, by contrast to the Punisher, his actions still seemed heroic. While he sometimes acted as a judge and even a jury, he never cast himself as an executioner.

By the mid-80s, violent heroes were on the rise at Marvel, and Punisher finally earned his own mini-series in 1986. That was quickly followed by one ongoing series, then two, then three – plus a regular flow of graphic novels and seasonal specials. By the height of his popularity and of comic speculation in 1992-93, Marvel releasing nearly as many pages of Punisher as they were Spider-Man. Yet, the later 90s were not kind to Frank Castle. The entire Marvel line had shifted towards the more extreme as well as massive game-changing gimmicks. Punisher’s edgy relaunch in 1995 (literally branded as part of the “Over the Edge” line) didn’t fare as well, and a pivot to having him be a supernatural avenger is one of the most reviled comic stories of the late 1990s. It seemed that Punisher had finally become irrelevant.

Frank Castle’s great savior was Marvel’s movement toward realism in the early 2000s, which was partially aligned with the leather-clad heroes in Fox’s first X-Men film. The Punisher drafted off this movement with “Welcome Back Frank,” which found Castle more grounded than ever in the hands of Preacher creators Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. This gritty no-superheroes take on Punisher grew so popular that it spun off into it’s own out-of-continuity Punisher MAX series, which finally felt like the right format for the violent hero. He still had a role to serve in the main Marvel Universe, acting as a major instigator in the landmark Civil War, which mirrored Punisher’s own origin with heroes taking the law into their own hands.

Punisher now represents less of a shocking thread of violence and more the chance for Marvel to publish a comic in a different genre from its capes and spandex fare. Rick Remender found a way to make Frank Castle both more horrific and more lighthearted (if you can imagine), while Greg Rucka turned him into a on-the-streets mob book that could withstand an occasional intersection with Spider-Man. He even joined a team for the first time with the 2013 reinvention of Thunderbolts.

Punisher spawned a pair of films in 2004 and 2008, but he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016 with Netflix’s Daredevil. With his exposure to the wider (and voracious) Marvel viewing public, he will likely remain a prominent feature in Marvel’s publishing line. [Read more…] about Punisher – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S8E02 – “Bitch Perfect”

March 17, 2016 by krisis

Last week I had Bob on top of the weekly winner, Kim Chi. Where did they land after an all-dancing challenge? It turns out, the only shake-up came from one of the two of them.

1. Bob the Drag Queen (Avg 1; was: 1)

bob-the-drag-queen-02 Bob was safe for a second week in a row, so why does she have the top spot? Because she is pretty great at everything, and when she isn’t she’s doing so with great intent.

I was annoyed by her oddball take on the cha cha dancing challenge, but did she really want to be a team captain a singing or dancing challenge, which is what always happens in this spot? Maybe it was better not to win. Similarly, her runway fashion was unassailable, but not a week-winning standout – but why blow a major closet piece (as Kim Chi did) on an early week when your performance had you near the top of the pack?

Bottom line: she has flaws, but none of them are as troubling as the weak spots of the other queens. Add to that the fact that Untucked is effectively the Bob The Drag Queen Comedy Revue (and for that reason is the best it has recently been) and heading into an acting challenge, and Bob remains the queen to beat.

2. Acid Betty (Average 3, was 3)

On this show, attitude is everything – and for Acid Betty that cuts both ways. This week she slayed in the challenge and in the runway, but her acid test personality took its toll on all the other girls on her team (even if it helped them in the end).

If Betty could balance the Ph of her personality she’d be a surefire winner this season, but right now she’s destined to be stuck as a villain. After seeing the edited episodes and social media reaction, Ru will never crown such a heel. Maybe Betty doesn’t want the win… but if she does, let’s hope she found a kinder, gentler side at some point in the competition.

(Also, just so someone says it: Betty is a dead ringer for Amanda Palmer when she is in drag)

Hawkeye – Collecting Guide and Reading Order

The definitive Hawkeye – Clint Barton and Kate Bishop – issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for comic books, omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated September 2024 with titles scheduled for release through December 2024.

If there is a single character outside of the holy-trinity of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor who is most associated with The Avengers, it’s Clint Barton as Hawkeye.

Hawkeye began as an early Iron Man villain in Tales of Suspense and so it comes as a surprise to the team in the classic Avengers #16 when he breaks into their Mansion with a request to join (he’s soon followed by fellow former villains Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver).

Despite his unlikely initiation, Hawkeye has one of the longest tenures of any character in the Avengers – and has maybe quit and been kicked out the most of any character, too. He is often represented as the core of what the Avengers are and as a conscience for the team.

In 2005, with Clint out of the picture, a young woman named Kate Bishop took up the mantle of Hawkeye. Kate is nearly the opposite of Clint – she grew up rich and privileged, while he literally joined the circus as a child.

However, their shared grit, marksmanship, and moral compass finally brought them together as partners in Matt Fractions’ remarkable 2012 Hawkeye ongoing.

From there on out, they share the codename. [Read more…] about Hawkeye – Collecting Guide and Reading Order