Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Here’s the dealio…

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A brief note for those of you who have been dutifully keeping up with my Most-Wanted omnibus blogging (and everything else – I see you, Drag Racers).

Your intrepid author sitting on his front step (which is called a “stoop” in his ancestral home of South Philly), still glistening from his Monday workout in his never-ending bucket list quest for visible abs (slowly but surely) and with a little bit of a neck beard (I ain’t getting pretty just to get sweaty).

First: you are wonderful. I’ve been receiving so much awesome feedback both here in comments and on the various message boards I inhabit. This writing has been really fun to do and I am very happy you are enjoying it.

Second: As you may have noticed, I am about two weeks behind on the omnibus posts. That’s not only because they take a long time to research and write, but because I had a one-two punch of (positive!) life stuff happen for over a week that keep me from writing.

Because I am incredibly stubborn, I am still posting the Most-Wanted posts on the days they were scheduled to hit. However, also in my stubbornness I haven’t been posting any posts that would be ahead of the omnibus posts or debuting new comic guides.

I’m going to put an end to that stubbornness and get back to making more timely posts. I’ll still be filling in the Most-Wanted posts as quickly as I can – and we are absolutely going all the way to #1 – but it might run into July. Keep your eye on the slider images in the sidebar for a quick view of what’s new – or, just head to the Most Wanted Omnibus tag or the “comics” category.

I only get to make this post because you are reading, which is a great situation to be in. As a reminder, CK’s hosting expenses are now supported by readers on Patreon. If you’ve enjoyed reading this in the past month as much as you have some of your traditional favorite web sites, comics, or magazines, consider chipping in $1 a month to keep CK up and running all year round.

xo

RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E12 – “Category Is”

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This week the world got flipped turned upside down in more than one way.

First, RuPaul made the unprecedented decision to go with a final four queens in the finale!

If you’ve been following my rankings, you’ll know I’m pretty pleased with the development, as I’ve been shuffling the same four queens back and fourth in the top four for weeks now.

However, the other thing that feels totally flipped tonight are the rankings themselves! I feel like we’re completely topsy turvy compared to what the queen’s average rankings from the season were telling us coming out of last week.

I got the distinct sense tonight that the queens are no longer competing against each other, but battling against themselves to turn the best version of their own take on drag. As such, I’ll be grading each queen individually in their own 50 point scale based on their original song verse, their choreography, their dance outfit, their final runway look, and their brief speeches.

No points will be awarded for the four-way lip sync because nobody cares. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E12 – “Category Is”

RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E11 – “Gayest Ball Ever”

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It’s my favorite every-season episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race – the Drag Ball – and this year’s Gayest Ball Ever did not disappoint!

(How could anything be a disappointment when it involves sexy unicorns?)

Our consistent finale foursome absolutely delivered in every look without a single fail amongst them, and it made for some very interesting final jockeying in the rankings after last week and before the final elimination next week.

Because this episode was all about gag-worthy looks, I’m going to rank each of the three ball looks individually before recapping the queen’s overall power ranks! I won’t bother ranking our departed queen since she was the worst in every look.

(It’s not shady if it’s true.)

Look #1: Rainbow-She-Betta-Do

If this was any other group of queens we’d be at risk of being pounded over the head with the most rainbow-y rainbow looks that ever rainbowed, so it was a pleasant surprise to see all four of these brainy queens depart from the expected color spectrum in their own way.

1. Sasha Velour

I was living for Sasha’s deconstruction of the rainbow!

Sasha Velour’s color-blocking approach to wearing the rainbow was a genius turn, and her tailored skirt set with green leather gloves and Dorothy shoes was gorgeous. That she had a tiny rainbow house tucked beneath her red hat (wrapped with fabric from her cowgirl costume!) just sealed the deal of her outfit’s excellence.

2. Shea Couleé

Shea’s pastel graffiti rainbow dress might go down as the most controversial look of the entire season … at least, for me it will.

There’s no denying the cut and silhouette was high fashion, but was it rainbow bright? Honestly, I was getting “dirty sofa” from it way more than “rainbow,” especially from the structured top.

Yet, this is an instance where I can tell my read is a total mismatch with the judges – Shea’s desaturated take on rainbow was clearly a hit with the panel. [Read more…] about RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings, S09E11 – “Gayest Ball Ever”

X-Factor, Vol. 1 – The #31 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

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(Note: This post was originally scheduled for June but is being stickied to the top of the main page during the week of November 27th so current readers don’t miss it! Regular updates continue, below.)

X-Men fans who know the team from cartoons and movies are familiar with that single title acting as an umbrella to all of the various incarnations of the franchise.

That’s about to change in 2018. Fans will get their first taste of a X-Men spinoff title with the release of New Mutants, a movie based on the third generation of young mutants at Xavier’s school who were spun off into their own title in 1984. Either that film or Deadpool will likely lead us to another movie named X-Force, which would show off a more-proactive, bloodier version of X-Men on film.

Those spinoff titles – “new” and “force” – are explicit in describing what their teams represent. That’s one of many reasons why the film franchise is skipping over another X-Men spinoff title: X-Factor.

X-Factor (1986) #1

We might eventually see an “X-Factor” movie or TV show thanks to a 2006 incarnation of the title, which envisioned it less as a team and more as the motley crew staffing a mutant detective agency.

What we probably will never see is an adaptation of the original X-Factor, which was dedicated to reassembling the original comic book X-Men – Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Jean Grey returned from the dead. That’s because the film series has always been smart enough to realize that those five characters are a boring combination that’s quickly dominated by the Cyclops/Jean relationship.

If the original X-Men are so boring, why were they reassembled? And, is it worth reading about over thirty years later? Those two questions are answered by the #31 vote on this year’s Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibus ballot.

(Note that this post was published in November, as the originally scheduled post was interrupted by coordinating my move to my new home in New Zealand).

X-Factor, Vol. 1

X-Factor, Vol. 1 is tied as the #31 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot. Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes and collect all of these issue right now as detailed in my X-Factor Guide

Past Ranking: X-Factor was #13 last year, making it one of the biggest drops in rank in 2017.

Probable Contents: Fantastic Four #286, Avengers #263, X-Factor #1 to 26 or 32, plus Annuals #1-3.

Creators: Written by Louise Simonson with Bob Layton and Walt Simonson. Penciled by Jackson Guice (#1-7) and Walt Simonson (#10-11, 13-15, 17-19, 21, 23-31, & Annual 3) with Marc Silvestri (#8 & 12)

Can you read it right now? Not entirely, and what you read will be in an hodge-podge of formats. The whole run isn’t even on Marvel Unlimited! Visit the X-Factor Guide for the full story.

What’s in the X-Factor, Vol. 1 omnibus?

X-Factor marked the first time the original five X-Men were reunited in over a decade.

It was a clever solution to a non-existent problem, but also very nearly a dead-on-arrival dud. Even though it turned out to be good, I’m still convinced it was the first big misstep of the X-Men franchise.

Let’s start at the beginning.

The year is 1985. Jean Grey is still dead. Cyclops represents the “old guard” in Uncanny X-Men and is increasingly unnecessary to the team, though he continues to get pulled back into their adventures despite starting a new life (and family) with Madelyne Pryor (later decided/revealed to be a clone of Jean!). Angel, Beast, and Iceman are roughly half of the New Defenders in a title headed for cancellation. [Read more…] about X-Factor, Vol. 1 – The #31 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart (AKA, Vol. 1) – The #32 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

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Marvel has made terrific use of their cosmic characters and settings in the past decade. Stories like Annihilation and War of Kings yielded the modern Guardians of the Galaxy team and returned Thanos to reality-threatening villain. They also cast the struggle of the Shi’ar, Kree, and Skrull societies as galaxy-spanning epic centuries in the making.

Imagine the confusion of readers who loved those stories as they look for all of the vast history they imply deep within Marvel’s classic continuity and find … nothing.

Well, not nothing. Thanos has lots of material, of course, via Jim Starlin. It’s just that those space-faring races had received their prior development in fits and starts, and in the background of other stories. We learned about the Shi’ar via The X-Men, and the infamous Kree/Skrull War was as much about the Avengers and Rick Jones as alien races.

If this fruitless search describes you, then Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart is the cosmic comic you are looking for. This was less a Surfer solo comic as a comic about all of Marvel’s vast galaxy of races and powerful entities – basically, everything that wasn’t Claremont’s Shi’ar or Starlin’s Warlock/Thanos territory.

It’s lengthy, full of intrigue, and uninterrupted by crossovers and superheroes – and that’s why fans insist it must see omnibus collection even though half of it is already in an Epic Collection.

(Note that this post was published quite a while after its post-date, as the original series was interrupted by coordinating my move to my new home in New Zealand).

Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart (AKA, Vol. 1) is the #32 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot. Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes and collect all of these issue right now as detailed in my Guide to Silver Surfer.

Past Ranking: #36 in the 2016 Survey

Probable Contents: This volume will definitely contain Marvel Fanfare #51 (a prologue story) and Silver Surfer (1987) #1-31 & Annuals 1-2.

It would also likely mirror Silver Surfer Epic Collection, Vol. 3 by including the preceding Silver Surfer (1982) #1, Super-Villain Classics #1, and material from Epic Illustrated #1.

If not exclusive to Englehart, this could could also include any or all of Silver Surfer (1987) #32-33, 38-39, & 41-43 to marry it to the Infinity Gauntlet omnibus. It might also contain material from West Coast Avengers Annual 2 and Avengers Annual 16, which tie strongly to this material, and an Al Milgrom short from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #1.

(There’s a chance it could also include the Eisner-Award Winning Lee/Mobius Silver Surfer (1988) #1-2, though they are not in continuity (and probably have their own unique royalties challenges).)

Creators: Written by Steve Englehart with Mike Higgins (#21), Mark Gruenwald (Annual 1), Renee “Ink” Witterstaetter (Annual 2), and Peter Sanderson (Serpent Crown backup in Annual 2 – likely not collected here).

Pencils by Marshall Rogers (#1-10, 12, 21) and Ron Lim (#15-20, 22-31, Annuals 1-2) with Joe Staton (#11, 13-14). Inks by Joe Rubinstein (#1-12, 14-18, 20) and Tom Christopher (#20, 22-23, 25-30, Annual 2) with Dave Cockrum (#13 & 21), Jose Marzan Jr. (#14 & Annual 2), Keith Williams (#19, 31, Annual 2), Randy Emberlin (#24 & Annual 1).

Colors by Marshall Rogers (#1-12) and Tom Vincent (#13-25, 27-31, & Annuals 1-2) with Gregory A. Wright (#26 & Annual 1). Letterers by John E. Workman Jr. (#1-7) and Ken Bruzenak (#8-22, 24-29, 31, Annuals 1-2) with Joe Albelo (#23) and Richard Starkings (#30).

Marvel Fanfare with John Buscema pencils, Jack Abel inks, Christie Scheele colors, and Rick Parker letters.

Can you read it right now? Not entirely

You can can pick up Silver Surfer Epic Collection, Vol. 3 – Freedom to read half of this (through #14), but then you’re out of luck.See the Silver Surfer Guide for more information.

Worse, Marvel Unlimited doesn’t have any of this material as of this writing!

The Details:

Steve Englehart’s run on Silver Surfer is more than just a comic about one space-faring hero. It’s an intergalactic epic of multiple warring empires that will feel just right to modern fans who love stories like War of Kings and Game of Thrones. It was the first time Marvel’s cosmic characters had received such focus outside of a small cluster of 70s titles, mostly penned by Jim Starlin.

Ironically, Englehart’s Surfer run served to pave the way for Starlin’s triumphant return to Marvel, as he crafted the run-up to Infinity Gauntlet in the run that followed this. [Read more…] about Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart (AKA, Vol. 1) – The #32 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017