Crushing Krisis

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – May 8 2024

May 3, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 18th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics May 8 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 1 2024 new releases (plus, Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day 2024 issues!)

This week in Marvel Comics: Blood Hunt expands, first trades for Captain America by JMS & Marvel by Wong, a Black Armor flashback, historic Miracleman, Dagger goes solo, Thing & Torch get a job, penultimate Wolverine & X-Men Forever, and more!

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

Marvel Comics May 8 2024 Collected Editions

Captain America by J. Michael Straczynski Vol. 1: Stand
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302955670 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. Even though I’m slightly down on this JMS run on Cap (more on that, below), I think this initial trade does have something special going for it with the flashback scenes to Steve’s pre-Super-Soldier-serum youth in the slums of NYC.

Some of this adventurous plot for the spindly, sickly Steve Rogers might seem slightly apocryphal, but if you love the first 15 minutes of the first Captain America film then this book is for you! I’ve seen a pretty wide consensus that this flashback material to the early days of World War II and Nazi sympathizer rallies being held in the US is strong stuff.

Plus, the present day plot includes some fun material with Doctor Strange (who feels like the hero that JMS really ought to be writing).

Captain Marvel Vol. 1: The Omen
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957056 / digital)
Guide to Captain Marvel. The start of the 2023 run by Alyssa Wong ties in heavily to the plot of The Marvels, with Carol Danvers swapping places with a mystical thief due to a pair of malfunctioning Nega Bands being hunted by a powerful force from another dimension.

I don’t recommend this run for Carol fans. It simply doesn’t have much to say about her, nor is her voice very specific. Just keep re-reading your Kelly Thompson run!

Contest of Chaos
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302955038 / digital)
See Guide to Scarlet Witch. This Annuals crossover was really a Scarlet Witch & Agatha Harkness mini-event, though most of the stories were of heroes being randomly compelled to fight each other. However, it ended with an intriguing and all-new status quo for Agatha Harkness and for the Darkhold, which now has significance during Blood Hunt. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – May 8 2024

Announcing Marvel August 2024 Collected Editions – LIVE on Near Mint Condition

May 2, 2024 by krisis

Today I’m live with Near Mint Condition @ 1pm US ET to announce Marvel August 2024 collected editions – including omnibuses, Masterworks, Epic Collections, and new trade paperbacks. This is the official, exclusive announcement of Marvel August 2024 Collected Edition solicits on the web – Near Mint Condition receives them directly from Marvel!

I’ll be on a panel with Omar of Near Mint Condition, Jess the Omnidog, Kurtis of Epic Marvel Podcast, and more to discuss every new release. Per usual, I’ve read just about everything new from Marvel in this catalog, plus it includes a lot of omnibuses – so I’ll have plenty to say!

Tune in to Near Mint Condition on YouTube live @ 1pm ET today or watch our stream as a replay to hear all the announcements.

Announcing August 2024 Collected Editions on Near Mint Condition

Doctor Who: Fifteenth Doctor Guide – now available to the public!

May 1, 2024 by krisis

There are just 10 more days until the debut of the first Doctor Who Series starring Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor – and, what better way to prepare than with a Doctor Who – Fifteenth Doctor Guide.

The Guide to Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor is now available to all readers thanks to the support of Patrons of CK. This guide was curated by my personal Doctor Who expert, AdjectiveNoun. It contains literally every possible piece of media related to the Fifteenth Doctor to make it easy for you to jump in whether you are a new Whovian or a long-time viewer. It includes links to episodes, novels, comics, and more!

Plus, if you want to see the regeneration (or, should we say, bi-generation) of The Fifteenth Doctor, you need you watch the finale of the trio of 6oth Anniversary Episodes starring The Fourteenth Doctor – the return of David Tennant! Our Guide to The Fourteenth Doctor is also now available to all readers.

Guide to The Fifteenth Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa

Guide to The Fourteenth Doctor Who, David Tennant (again!)

These guides not only cover comic books, but episodes, novels, short stories, audio dramas, and magazines! How? Why?! Because I recruited my Down Under friend AdjectiveNoun, a major Whovian who got me hooked on the new 60th Anniversary episodes that debuted this past December.

We combined AdjectiveNoun’s Who knowledge and my established Guide infrastructure & style to create a set of Doctor Who Guides that are organized differently than any other guides we could find online.

Guides to the remaining 12 Doctors will launch over the course of the next 12 months, including a new guide next week! Become a Patron of CK to gain immediate access to that guide once it arrives, plus our exclusive Guide to Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston.

Free Comic Book Day: Marvel Comics FCBD 2024, May 4 2024 – Every Issue Explained!

April 30, 2024 by krisis

This Saturday, May 4, is Free Comic Book Day 2024! That means you get an extra and extra-special new releases post for Marvel Comics. This post covers Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 releases – explaining the contents and background of every issue. Missed this week’s regular releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 1 2024 new releases – which will all be available in shops on FCBD 2024!

This year from Marvel Comics FCBD 2024: the first drips of Blood Hunt from Jed MacKay, a preview of Gail Simone’s X-Men, all-new Spider-Man India by Nikesh Shukla, Star Wars & Darth Vader by Soule & Pak, the return of Ultimate Marvel Ultimates by Deniz Camp, and a hint of the final phase of Zeb Wells’s run on Amazing Spider-Man!

Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 Titles

Saturday May 4 2024 is Free Comic Book Day 2024! Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is a special promotional event for local comic shops that falls on the first Saturday of May. Publishers big and small release promotional comics at low or no cost to stores, which they can give away for free. That draws in a huge crowd of both established fans and curious newbies. It gives stores the chance to throw special events, sell tons of stock, and establish new customers.

Marvel Comics FCBD issues tend to include 2-3 stories each. That usually includes least one unique story that will be excerpted in a collection within the next year. Sometimes books are a pair of unique stories, but they can also include recent reprints or teases of upcoming comics.

Here’s the line-up of Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 issues:

Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt / X-Men #1
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Marvel Voices #1 [featuring Spider-Man India]
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Spidey and His Amazing Friends #1
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader #1
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe / Spider-Man #1

If there’s a big surprise here for me, it’s the lack of a Deadpool / Wolverine issue! With Deadpool & Wolverine as the only major MCU entry coming in 2024 it seems wild not to capitalize on that excitement. At least for X-Men ’97 there’s a Jubilee story in the Blood Hunt / X-Men issue.

Want to know more about all five of these issues, their stories, and their creators? Keep reading! [Read more…] about Free Comic Book Day: Marvel Comics FCBD 2024, May 4 2024 – Every Issue Explained!

Guide to Superman, 1987 – Present (New for Patrons!)

April 29, 2024 by krisis

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s one of my biggest single-character guide pages of all time exclusively for Pledgeonaut Patrons of CK. That’s right, folks, it’s my second super week in a row, because today I bring to you my Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present), including a full issue-by-issue reading order for the Triangle Era!

Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present)

For the past seven years this Guide to Superman has existed somewhere between being my white whale and my albatross. I knew I had to tackle Superman at some point. But, he is the Justice League hero who I knew the least about. Plus, I could never make heads or tails of his publishing history – with how his titles traded names in 1987 only to swap back in 2006.

Oh, plus, there was the little matter of THE TRIANGLE ERA. From 1991 to 2001, every Superman comic was coordinated in perfect reading order by a brain trust of editors and authors, with their covers clearly labeled with their absolute placement within each year of continuity.

That meant I had to make a guide that was even better at explaining The Triangle Era than the hundreds of comic book covers from the actual Triangle Era.