Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Black Panther Film Club! (Warning: Spoilers!)

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After wrapping up tonight’s installment of Black Panther Book Club, FanGirl and I couldn’t resist turning to a conversation about the film! Watch out – spoilers abound in this free-wheeling, far-ranging conversation about Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther.

Have you been keeping up with the reading assignments to get to know some of the stories that inspired this film? Visit the Guide to Black Panther to learn how to collect these issues, and then check out our past three discussions.

Black Panther Book Club, Week 3 of 4: Black Panther by Christopher Priest issues #25-35

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It’s our third of four sessions of Black Panther Book Club, where FanGirl and I read and discuss some of the stories that were the biggest influences on Marvel’s Black Panther film.

In this installment, Black Panther butts heads with his sovereign peers in Namor, Dr. Doom, and Magneto as Klaw tries to thrust Wakanda into international conflict. And, the long-running conflict with former Dora Milaje and not-quite-lover Nakia comes to a head.

Want to keep up with the reading assignments all this month? Here’s our full schedule for the month – visit the Guide to Black Panther to learn how to collect these issues.

Crushing Comics S01E075 – The X-Men Classic Omnibus (+ why we need an omnibus-of-the-month club)

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In this second part of my unboxing of new comics from my December order, I dig deeply into the X-Men Classic omnibus. What is it and why were X-Men fans so shocked and excited to hear about its release?

Find out more, including how the book is laid out, in this video. Then visit my issue-by-issue guide to how Classic X-Men back-up stories fit into continuity.

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 75 features The X-Men Classic Omnibus.

Back Issue Review: Lumberjanes, DC Comics Titans, & Unstoppable Wasp

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I haven’t been doing much back-issue reading this week, which means this Back Issue Review isn’t as sprawling as its been in past weeks.

I did manage to knock out four volumes worth of youthful titles. None of the were major standouts, but they all presented nuanced looks at the meaning of friendship and identity.

  • Lumberjanes (2014) #25-28(AKA Vol. 7 – A Bird’s-Eye View), Boom! Entertainment, Inc
  • Titans (2016) Rebirth & #1-6 (AKA Vol. 1 – The Return of Wally West), DC Comics
  • Titans (2016) #7-10 & Annual 1 (AKA Vol. 2 – Made In Manhattan), DC Comics
  • Titans (2016) #12-18 (AKA Vol. 3 – A Judas Among Us), DC Comics
  • The Unstoppable Wasp #1-4 (AKA Vol. 1 – Unstoppable), Marvel Comics

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RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3 Power Rankings Episode 04 – All Stars Snatch Game

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This week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3 brings what is usually the highlight of the season – Snatch Game! It’s a kitschy, 70s-style game show where queens win not with their answers but with hilarious impressions of famous figures.

Weirdly, this season’s game is the weakest we’ve seen in years. That’s partially down to three queens totally flatlining on the panel, but also down to RuPaul being downright mean to the girls and due to the oddball choice to place actual celebrity Kristin Chenoweth in the Snatch Game with a set of highly-scripted answers that come complete with props.

Maybe having a real life famous person sitting next to the queens would make for a good litmus test of who seems the realest (“real is what you feel, feelings aren’t real…”), but not letting the hilarious Chenoweth think on her feet anchored the Snatch panel with a leaden quality.

The same goes for having judges Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley as the contestants in the game instead of low-grade celebrities or past queens. Delivering Snatch performances directly to the toughest pair of judges takes all of the fun out of the proceedings.

Despite all my complaints, we still wind up with some memorable performances – and a new all-time Snatch Game champion! That doesn’t do much to shake up the top of the ranking compared to last week, but the queens competing for the third spot in the finals get quite a shake-up.

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