Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand
Are you ready to rumble? Today – December 19, I’m live with Near Mint Condition to debate the books Marvel ought to publish if they launch a speculated paperback Compendium line.
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.
What made our list? Tune in to find out!
Happy Thanksgiving from the Upside Down (and by the Upside Down, I mean New Zealand)! To celebrate the holiday and the release of the final season of Stranger Things, I’m excited to release the only complete guide to the Stranger Things expanded universe on the internet: my Guide to Stranger Things Comics & Novels! This guide was made possible through the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis!
Guide to Stranger Things Comics & Novels
If you’ve only ever watched Stranger Things on Netflix, you might be asking, “Does we even need a Guide to Stranger Things? How much other stuff is there?”
Well, I’ve got some news for you! There have been over 50 issues of Stranger Things comics over a dozen different volumes, a series of adult novels, a series of YA novels, junior novelizations of the show, script books for each season, and even a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book!
Not only that, but none of those Stranger Things expanded universe tie-ins were released in order of continuity, and no other source on the internet puts them all in story order and explains their placement. Nope, not even the incredibly-detailed Stranger Things wiki – trust me, I checked.
What’s so fascinating to me about Stranger Things tie-ins is the way The Duffer Brothers have managed the expansion of their story universe. Novels tend to stick closest to the lore of the show, but focus on expanding unseen moments of character history that occured before the show. YA novels always fill in character development for the core cast between the seasons. And, comics explore the wide range of adventures the kids get into that don’t involve the Upside Down (as well as expand the plot of the other lab kids and the background on the Russian plot).
None of that is required if you just want to watch the show. But, whether you just want to spend more time with your favorite character or are craving as many Stranger Things stories as possible, the Guide to Stranger Things Comics & Novels has got you covered. It’s one of over 250 guides that are part of Crushing Comics, which covers Marvel, DC, indie, and liscenced comic books with hand-curated guides to collecting and reading every story.
Want instant access to future guides like this one? Become a Patron of CK for the cost of one comic a month to gain access to every new guide as it arrives, plus over 100 Patron-Only guides months before the general public gains access.
It’s time for my tiniest guide of all time for Patrons of CK! How tiny? We’re talking about eleven issues. Twelve, if we count a black-and-white edition. So why make a guide to this comic? Because even though I own it, I wasn’t entirely sure of its release order or if there was a different order to read it in, and if I am not sure that means someone on Reddit is bound to ask! Plus, ’tis the season… for my Guide to Klaus by Morrison & Mora.
Guide to Klaus by Morrison & Mora
This guide is available exclusively to Patrons until Christmas Day!
I am historically not the hugest fan of Grant Morrison, but my curiosity got the better of me a few years ago and I dug into his initial seven-issue Klaus mini-series with artist Dan Mora. I was surprised to discover it was a surprisingly grounded “Santa Claus Begins” story. Given Morrison’s many authorial flights of fancy, I wasn’t expecting their take on one of the world’s most-cherishes myths to be quite so straightforward!
Then I read onward to the four one-shots that followed… which felt more like the Grant Morrison I know (and don’t always love).
[Read more…] about Guide to Klaus by Morrison & Mora (New for Patrons!)
I’m back with another new guide for Patrons of CK! In a way, this guide is a combination of the last two. It significantly revises and expands existing guide content like the Guide to Old Man Logan, but it’s also a guide that refers to real world dates like the Guide to Stranger Things Comics & Novels! That meant putting together the reading order was a lot of fun, since in this case it involved a bit of actual historical research! Plus, I got to page through a lot of comics I own and love. That’s right, I’m introducing the most complete reading order on the internet to Marvel’s World War II heroes with my Guide to Invaders!
This guide is available exclusively to Patrons at this time.
As with many new reading orders that involve expanding an existing section of a guide, when I began this Invaders reading order I thought to myself, “This can’t be too hard, right? I already know every Invaders series that has existed!”
The Invaders have two distinct periods of continuity – their World War II adventures and their various reformations in the modern day.
The modern day material is simple enough. But, the WW2 material hasn’t always been released in the order it works in continuity. And, since the team canonically stayed together to the very end of the war, that means they existed through the presumed death of Steve Rogers and Bucky.
Oh and, also, the original Human Torch killed Hitler.
Now do I have your attention?
It’s another slightly scary new guide for Patrons of CK. This one is for something I love outside of comics – so much that I’ve actually written a few blog posts about it! I’ve also kept up with its comics for years, and when I searched the web for a complete guide I came up with nothing. Nada. Zero. Even the supposed main Wiki is missing tons of information and guidance. Well, we all know what happens next – I make a new guide! No guide on the internet has every put every TV Season, Novel, and Comic Book in order … until now, in my brand new Guide to Stranger Things Comics & Novels!
Guide to Stranger Things Comics & Novels
This guide is available exclusively to Patrons until the debut of Season 5 later this month!
I know what you’re asking yourself: Is Stranger Things really this complicated? Can you just… watch the show and then read the comics?
My friend, I need you to roll for Perception… with disadvantage!
That’s because the comics have never told a story in continuity order. The jump between seasons and tell prequel stories, with occasional one-shots set during seasons and their epilogues. Then, adult novels have added more prequel stories, but YA novels have told stories that overlap seasons – which doesn’t count the junior novelizations of the seasons themselves.
No wonder no other guide has ever gotten this right. Just like Nancy’s relationship with Jonathan and Joyce’s relationship with Hopper, it’s complicated.
[Read more…] about Guide to Stranger Things Comics & Novels (New for Patrons!)