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This Week in X at The Hellfire Gala, 16 June 2021, pt. 1 – Planet-Size X-Men #1 | Crushing Comics Podcast, Episode 0069

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It’s part one of This Week in X for 16 June, 2021 – the third week of The Hellfire Gala! Join Peter, Tyler, & Harry for a planet-size discussion of Planet-Size X-Men #1 – our coverage of this week’s other two issues will follow in a separate episodes.

We cover the events that lead to these cosmic fireworks, the most memorable moments of art and story, and the ramifications of the mutants’ major move both from our real world perspective and within the Reign of X. Get ready, y’all – we were in an intense, occasionally hot-headed, and thoroughly silly mood for this one.

Spoiler warning – we discuss everything about X-Men up to and including comics from this week, as well as other current events in the Marvel Universe.

Want to dive in to reading and collecting the X-Men and the rest of the Marvel Universe? Visit the Crushing Comics Guide to Collecting Marvel Comics, or head directly to the guide to X-Men’s Age of Krakoa by Jonathan Hickman.

Want to subscribe? You can find us on our RSS feed, Spotify, Stitcher, PodChaser, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

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Batman by Grant Morrison, Episode 03 – The Demon Trilogy | Crushing Comics Book Club

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Welcome back to Crushing Comics Book Club for Batman by Grant Morrison! This is the final of our three episodes of pre-reading to catch up on some of the themes, characters, and influences on Morrison’s run. Next week, Morrison begins!

In this episode, we read the final 3rd of the Tales of the Demon TPB, which includes Batman’s unlikely marriage to Talia al Ghul! Then, we take a quick spin through the Demon Trilogy of OGNs (collected together as Birth of the Demon TPB), reaping diminishing returns from each one.

Harry is our expert – he loves Batman and Morrison, and he has read this run multiple times. Fariha is our intermediate – she has read plenty of Morrison and DC. And, Peter is now the novice – he’s read some of this run before, but otherwise this is his FIRST TIME reading pre-New-52 Batman!

The stories are:
– DC Special Series #15 – “”I Now Pronounce You Batman and Wife!”” (Summer 1978)
– Detective Comics #485 – “”The Vengeance Vow”” (Aug/Sep 1979)
– Detective Comics #489 – “”Where Strike the Assassins”” (April 1980)
– Detective Comics #490 – “”Requiem for a Martyr”” (May 1980)
– Batman: Son of the Demon (September, 1987)
– Batman: Bride of the Demon (December, 1990)
– Batman: Birth of the Demon (December, 1992)

Tune in next week for our first engagement with Grant Morrison material, as we crack open our omnibuses and read Batman (1940) #655-658 & 663-666.

Want to dive in to reading and collecting Batman and the rest of the DC Universe? Visit the Crushing Comics Guide to Collecting DC Comics or the Batman Collecting Guide & Reading Order (which includes a specific page for the Morrison era of Batman).

Want to subscribe? You can find us on our RSS feed, Spotify, Stitcher, PodChaser, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

Our full Batman schedule (click through for a larger version):

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This Week in X at The Hellfire Gala, 9 June 2021 | Crushing Comics Podcast, Episode 0067

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It’s This Week in X for 9 June, 2021 – the second week of The Hellfire Gala!

Join Peter, Fariha, & Tyler as we discuss X-Men (2019) #21, Excalibur (2019) #21, & Children of the Atom (2021) #4. (Yes, we know the books have Excalibur first; we disagree!)

X-Men #21 is the finale of Hickman’s X-Men, and it is fireworks-filled but surprisingly subtle. Come for intense Namor ego, stay for Sinister Secrets and sumptuous art (but, not for the anticlimactic off-panel psychic vote).

Excalibur #21 is about breaking things and circling back to previous status quo. We discuss narrative necessities, the personal vs. the political, ridiculous capes, finding the right cast, and a long-anticipated reunion.

Children of the Atom #4 is a BUY or SKIP discussion, with us highlighting what’s working and what’s worrying about this supporting book (which is NOT part of the Gala).

Spoiler warning – we discuss everything about X-Men up to and including comics from this week, as well as other current events in the Marvel Universe.

Want to subscribe? You can find us on our RSS feed, Spotify, Stitcher, PodChaser, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

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Batman by Grant Morrison, Episode 02 – Tales of the Demon | Crushing Comics Book Club

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Welcome back to Crushing Comics Book Club for Batman by Grant Morrison! This is the second of three episodes of pre-reading to catch up on some of the themes, characters, and influences on Morrison’s run.

In this episode, we read the first 2/3rds of the Tales of the Demon TPB, which includes the debut of Talia al Ghul and R’as al Ghul. We didn’t know what to expect from these Bronze Age stories, but we wound up falling in love!

Harry is our expert – he loves Batman and Morrison, and he has read this run multiple times. Fariha is our intermediate – she has read plenty of Morrison and DC. And, Peter is now the novice – he’s read some of this run before, but otherwise this is his FIRST TIME reading pre-New-52 Batman!

The stories are:

  • Detective Comics #411 – “Into the Den of the Death-Dealers” (May 1971)
  • Batman #232 – “Daughter of the Demon” (June 1971)
  • Batman #235 – “Swamp Sinister” (Sep 1971)
  • Batman #240 – “Vengeance for a Dead Man” (March 1972)
  • Batman #242 – “Bruce Wayne – Rest in Peace!” (June 1972)
  • Batman #243 – “The Lazarus Pit” (Aug 1972)
  • Batman #244 – “The Demon Lives Again!” (Sep 1972)

Tune in next week as we wrap up our pre-reading by finishing the final four issues in Tales of the Demon, as well as the Demon Trilogy of Son of the Demon, Bride of the Demon, and Birth of the Demon.

Want to subscribe? You can find us on our RSS feed, Spotify, Stitcher, PodChaser, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

This Week in X at The Hellfire Gala, 2 June 2021 | Crushing Comics Podcast, Episode 0065

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It’s This Week in X for 2 June, 2021 – and time for The Hellfire Gala!

Join Peter, Fariha, & Tyler as we discuss Marauders (2019) #21, X-Force (2020) #20, and Hellions (2020 #12.

In Marauders #21, we discuss every morsel of this opening platter of Hellfire Gala hors d’oeuvres, including welcome committees, psychic consent, Banshee’s multiple invites, potential bonus Cuckoos, and fireworks that are only implied.

For X-Force #20, we discuss the team’s role in keeping undesirables OUT of Krakoa, inserting themselves in places THEY aren’t desired, and encountering internal resistance to Beast’s interventionist ambitions.

Finally, in Hellions #12, it turns out the Hellfire Gala is NOT for all mutants. We discuss Sinister’s oblivious mingling, Nanny’s unlimited imbibing, Havok’s ineffective inquiries, Empath’s kindest moment, and that shocking final panel.

Spoiler warning – we discuss everything about X-Men up to and including comics from this week, as well as other current events in the Marvel Universe.

Want to subscribe? You can find us on our RSS feed, Spotify, Stitcher, PodChaser, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

Batman by Grant Morrison, Episode 01 – Intro to Batman & The Black Casebook | Crushing Comics Book Club

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Welcome to a new season of our Crushing Comics Book Club, where we discuss a classic run of comics together as both fans and critical readers. For the next few months we’ll be reading Grant Morrison’s Batman, but before we get started we’ll be doing a few weeks of pre-reading to catch up on some of the themes and influences of the run.

Harry is our expert – he loves Batman and Morrison, and he has read this run multiple times. Fariha is our intermediate – she has read plenty of Morrison and DC. And, Peter is now the novice – he’s read some of this run before, but otherwise this is his FIRST TIME reading pre-New-52 Batman!

Today, we start with a discussion of how we first found Batman (and Morrison), plus a read of Batman’s debut in Detective Comics (1937) #27 as well as Batman (1940) #1 – the first appearances of Joker and Catwoman.

Then, we all read The Black Casebook for the first time! It’s an unusual book – 12 of the most-outlandish Golden and Silver Age stories as selected by Morrison to hint at, explain, or reflect the themes of their Batman run. We’ll talk about our FAVORITE Casebook story, the WEIRDEST story, plus give a rundown of EVERY tale in this tome – with a few hints from Harry at how they might be relevant later.

The stories are:

  • Batman #65 – A Partner For Batman! from June, 1951
  • Batman #86 – Batman – Indian Chief! from September, 1954
  • Detective Comics #215 – The Batmen of All Nations from January, 1955
  • Detective Comics #235 – The First Batman from September, 1956
  • World’s Finest #89 – The Club of Heroes from July, 1957
  • Detective Comics #247 – The Man Who Ended Batman’s Career from September, 1957
  • Batman #112 – Am I Really Batman? from December, 1957
  • Batman #113 – Batman – The Superman of Planet X from February, 1958
  • Detective Comics #267 – Batman Meets Bat-Mite from May, 1959
  • Batman #134 – The Rainbow Creature from September, 1960
  • Batman #156 – Robin Dies at Dawn from June, 1963
  • Batman #162 – The Batman Creature from March, 1964

Tune in next week as we read the Tales of the Demon TPB.

Want to subscribe? You can find us on our RSS feed, Spotify, Stitcher, PodChaser, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!