Crushing Krisis

Spring Thing: s’mores in the yard!

May 12, 2017 by krisis

Last night Lindsay and J gave me the night off from cooking my elaborate bi-weekly desserts and substituted making s’mores!

It was EV6’s first time roasting marshmallows over a fire, made all the more amusing by the fact that L&J’s fire pit is actually EV6’s Nana’s old, unused fire pit, given to her by E & I as a birthday present early in our relationship, which was later upcycled by L&J after Nana abandoned it in the process of downsizing to a smaller abode!

Did you follow all of that?

Personally, I’m not really a fan of anything sticky nor made of chocolate, so I was more on marshmallow roasting duty than anything else … which I completely failed by setting our marshmallow on fire.

I shook it furiously to try to put out the flames while Girl Scout Lindsay admonished from over my shoulder, “Never shake the marshmallow! Give that to me!”

It’s good that I have people like this in my life, because honestly without them it’s likely that calamity would befall me every time I set foot outside into nature.

Cable & X-Force Omnibus, Vol. 1 – The #55 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

May 12, 2017 by krisis

Cable & X-Force Omnibus, Vol. 1 is the #55 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.

What Is It? This is a shared volume between X-Force (1991) and their leader Cable (1993), whose titles were tightly intertwined in this period from March 1994 to February 1995.

While it’s usually not productive to assume Marvel will group related titles together in this way, they’ve already set the precedent with the forthcoming Deadpool & X-Force Omnibus beginning to collect Cable’s solo series.

Past Ranking: This year is the book’s debut placement in the ballot results.

Creators: Written by Fabian Nicieza (with Glenn Alan Herdling, Scott Lobdell, Larry Hama, and Jeph Loeb III) with pencils by Tony Daniel and inks by Kevin Conrad on X-Force (with Terry Dodson and Paul Pelletier) and army of artists on Cable and the crossover issues.

Probable Contents: Collects X-Force (1991) #32-43 & Annual 3 and Cable (1993) #9-20 along with crossovers into New Warriors #45-46, Excalibur #82, and X-Factor #106, and Wolverine #85.

This is a slim, unsurprising set of contents that cover just a year of storytelling. All of the contents have been previously collected across four volumes (as well as five issues from the Phalanx Covenant oversize hardcover). In fact, it would make a future Volume 2 a little simpler if this volume covered a bit more, but a major direction change in both titles after Age of Apocalypse makes that unlikely.

See the full map in Oversize X-Men: A map of every existing omnibus, plus what’s missing (Part 2: 1991 to 2001). Note that Cable #20 is part of the “Legion Quest” crossover, but has already been collected once without the direct crossover issues.

Can you read it right now? Yes! You need to pick up X-Force: Child’s Play, X-Force: Phalanx Covenant, Cable Classic, Volume 2, and Cable Classic, Volume 3. Find out more in the Guide to X-Force and Guide to Cable.

Unfortunately, Marvel Unlimited currently stops just short of this run in its coverage of X-Force (1991) and they only have a handful of the Cable (1993) issues.

The Details:

You could easily subtitle this period of X-Force and Cable “Family Matters,” as the runs of both books are deeply concerned with the connections between long-serving teammates in X-Force and generations of family in Cable.

X-Force begins this period with one of its more entertaining line-ups – Cannonball, Boomer, Richtor, Shatterstar, Warpath, and Siryn – plus frequent co-stars Cable and Domino.

It’s a truly delightful cast of characters, a trio of whom would later become mainstays in Peter David’s X-Factor, which plays out the theme of Richtor and Shatterstar’s unlikely friendship that developed in these issues.

This run begins with a four-issue “Child’s Play” crossover with New Warriors. We tend to have a modern view of crossovers as disconnected plays for increased sales, but that wasn’t necessarily the case with this Fabian Nicieza’s story. [Read more…] about Cable & X-Force Omnibus, Vol. 1 – The #55 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

Namor, The Sub-Mariner Silver Age Omnibus, Vol. 1 – The #56 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

May 11, 2017 by krisis

The Namor, The Sub-Mariner Silver Age Omnibus, Vol. 1 is the #56 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.

What Is It? The Sub-Mariner (1968) was Namor’s first solo ongoing title after almost thirty years of starring in anthology series. It ran for 72 issues from May 1968 to September 1974.

Before that, Sub-Mariner split Tales to Astonish (1959) with the Incredibly Hulk for 32 issues from #70-101 from August 1965 to March 1968.

Past Ranking: This year is the book’s debut placement in the ballot results.

Creators: Written by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas (with Archie Goodwin and Raymond Marais) with pencils by Gene Colan and John Buscema (with Werner Roth, Marie Severin, & Dan Adkins), inks by Vince Colletta, Dick Ayers, and Frank Giacoia (with Dan Adkins & Jerry Grandenetti), and letters by Art ‘Artie’ Simek.

Probable Contents: Most Silver Age omnibuses collect the contents of three Marvel Masterworks volumes, so this volume would almost certainly contain Marvel Comics #1, Daredevil #7, and Tales To Astonish (1959) #70-101, Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1, and The Sub-Mariner (1968) #1-13.

However, Marvel has recently shown a little bit of adventurousness when it comes to expanding the contents of their Silver Age omnibuses in Daredevil, Thor, Amazing Spider-Man, so it’s not a stretch to think this would include another 10-14 issues.

The question is – which 10-14 issues! Click to expand a discussion of further content for this volume.

Can you read it right now? Yes! This run is entirely covered by the Sub-Mariner Masterworks volumes, which are out-of-print but not terribly expensive – Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3. For more details, see the Guide to Namor, The Sub-Mariner.

Plus, Marvel Unlimited has the complete contents of Tales To Astonish, the single issue Iron Man and Sub-Mariner, and The Sub-Mariner (1968) #1-14.

The Details:

Namor, The Sub-Mariner was Marvel’s original anti-hero – the tempestuous prince of an undersea kingdom long past its halcyon days who takes out his unending aggression on the above-the-waves world of the surface dwellers.

You may not know this, but he was also the first major hero that Marvel unthawed in the Silver Age, although this unthawing was metaphorical rather than him being relieved from an actual block of ice like Captain America.

And, actually, it was Namor who was partially responsible for freeing Cap!

But now we’re getting ahead of ourselves. [Read more…] about Namor, The Sub-Mariner Silver Age Omnibus, Vol. 1 – The #56 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

Spring Thing: Hip-Hop For Parents (and other adult beginners)

May 11, 2017 by krisis

Last night I went to an actual dance class for the first time.

Not Zumba. Not step-aerobics. A dance class in Philly for parents, adult beginners, and other gawky human beings with necks like storks.

I’ve always loved to dance, ever since my mother would hold impromptu dance parties in our living room to records like Rufus and Chaka Khan and CeCe Peniston’s “Finally.” I lived for weddings and school dances, where I had an excuse to show those skills off on a real dance floor.

For whatever reason, it never occurred to either of us that I ought to take an actual dance class. While I’ve gone mashed-potato for mashed-potato with my mother for years, it isn’t quite the same thing as learning choreography.

In the ensuing years I’ve taken a lot of gym classes with dance elements, but they’re always more work-out than dance steps. I had one fantastic Zumba instructor who did the bare minimum of Zumba and then plugged in tons of great pop and hip hop into the rest of the class and pretty much treated it like we were training to be in music videos. I was sorely disappointed to find that wasn’t the norm in other classes.

Ever since then, whenever I meet new people doing any kind of fitness-related thing, I always ask them, “Have you ever been to a real hip hop dance class for adults who have never danced before? Like, I want to get as close to Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 as I possibly can.” [Read more…] about Spring Thing: Hip-Hop For Parents (and other adult beginners)

X-Force by Kyle & Yost Omnibus – The #57 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

May 11, 2017 by krisis

The X-Force by Kyle & Yost Omnibus is the #57 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot – and I’ve included the complete X-Force reading order (and casualty count) below!

Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes.

What Is It? X-Force (2008) maintained the proactive mandate of 1991’s X-Force iteration but added a no-holds-barred bloody approach to the X-Men’s take on counterterrorism.

That’s what you get when Cyclops appoints Wolverine to lead a team of hunter-killers, although he’s not too happy about his line-up. X-23 is there – despite Wolverine trying to steer her to non-violence, as is Warpath – a reluctant killer, both Angel and Rahne – not entirely in control of themselves, and later Domino, Vanisher, and Elixir.

X-Force (2008) ran for 28 issues and one annual from April 2008 to September 2010.

Past Ranking: This year is the book’s debut placement in the ballot results.

Creators: Written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost with art by Clayton Crain along with pencils by Mike Choi, Alina Urusov, Carlo G. Barberi, Gabriele Dell’Otto, and Jason Trent Pearson, inks by Sandu Florea, colors by Sonia Oback, Edgar Delgado (AKA Pato), and Dave Stewart, and letters by Jeff Eckleberry and Cory Petit.

Probable Contents: X-Force (2008) #1-25 & Annual 1, X-Force: Sex & Violence #1-3, Cable (2008) #13-15 (and material from #6-7 & 12), Messiah War one-shot, X-Men: Future History – The Messiah War Sourcebook, X-Force/New Mutants: Necrosha One-Shot, X-Necrosha: The Gathering, and X-Force Special: Ain’t No Dog, as well as some background material. See below for a full reading order.

[Thanks to John S. on FB for catching two of the one-shots I omitted!]

Click to expand a discussion of further content for this volume.

Can you read it right now? Yes!

With the exception of Messiah War and Second Coming, X-Force has now been released in four formats! A pair of oversized hardcovers – Volume 1 and Volume 2 – are the quickest way to collect the non-event issues, but Complete Collection Volume 1 and Volume 2 paperbacks add the Necrosha material.

See the Guide to X-Force for every possible iteration. Or, just head to Marvel Unlimited – every issue is available there (although, note you have to type “X Necrosha” to find the Necrosha one-shots in search.

The Details:

There no other way to say it: X-Force was a shock.

Up to this point it the X-Men’s 40 years of history we had seen plenty of bloody panels – many of them courtesy of Wolverine, Cable, and Deadpool, but also some in books like X-Statix. Yet, even when the X-Men were at their most proactive and forceful, they were rarely a team of killers. That’s something we associated more with their enemies, like the Marauders or Omega Red.

(And of course, there were some major-scale genocidal wipeouts courtesy of Dark Phoenix (billions!) and the mega-sentinel at the beginning of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men (millions!).)

X-Force was the first time that we had an X-Men team devoted to merciless killing. [Read more…] about X-Force by Kyle & Yost Omnibus – The #57 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017