Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Updated: Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)

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This year celebrates the 60th anniversary of several major Marvel Comics publishing milestones. Yesterday I shared an update to my Silver Age X-Men Guide to mark the 60th Anniversary of X-Men (1963) #1, with a cover date of September 1963 (though it actually hit the stands in July – cover dates functioned as a “sell by” date in the Silver Age). The X-Men weren’t the only team to hit the newsstands in the middle of 1963, because the same month featured the debut of Marvel’s iconic supergroup – and another one of their most-iconic franchises – The Avengers! Today I’ve not only updated but completely rebuilt one of the most important Crushing Comics guides – my Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)!

Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)

I originally launched this guide back in November of 2011 as my first guide to comics outside of the X-Men line! It has been incrementally updated many times over since then. However, I never fundamentally changed the structure of the guide as Marvel’s collection strategy evolved to include more omnibuses, comprehensive coverage of universe-spanning events, and the amazing Epic Collection line to cover all of the gaps in each long-running series. The Avengers have transformed from an occasionally-collected title with major gaps – especially in the 90s – to a 400+ issue title with just a handful of issues left uncollected.

Today, I have completely rebuilt this guide from the ground up! What does that mean? Not only did I list every collected edition of Avengers (1963), but I also did all of the following… [Read more…] about Updated: Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)

Updated: Silver Age X-Men Guide

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Earlier this year I launched an initiative to completely overhaul all of my X-Men team title guides with up-to-date collections, revised formatting, and links for digital buying and reading. Now, those guides will all continue to receive regular updates throughout the year! First up: My uncanny Silver Age X-Men Guide – covering every major collection format for Uncanny X-Men (1963) #1-66, their hiatus years guest appearances, and modern “Hidden Years” stories inserted into that period!

Silver Age X-Men Guide

Guide to Silver Age X-Men

Since this Silver Age X-Men guide had a major update back in February, this update focused on adding just a few new collections:

  • Confirming that the Marvel Masterworks Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 reprints are indeed “Remasterworks” with revised restoration.
  • Adding the newest volume of the “Mighty Marvel Masterworks” digest-sized paperback reprint series
  • Adding a new section for Marvel’s licensed reprints with other companies, including a new Penguin Classic collections and a massive Taschen artbook with newly-shot artwork and restoration.
  • I also added some additional detail about collection formats and hiatus years appearances.

I think it’s so cool that Marvel is leveraging its new relationship with Penguin Random House to produce comics collections in their typically academic- and classics-focused Penguin Classics line! What an awesome way to celebrate the X-Men’s 60th birthday this month!

This Silver Age X-Men Guide update is just the first of a series of regular X-Men guide updates. I now have over 200 guide pages to maintain, but the X-Men guides will always be the closest to my heart and some of the highest-trafficked pages on CK! But, don’t worry – my upcoming page updates won’t be restricted just to revisiting these X-title guides again. There are some fresh page updates heading your way as well!

Updated: Guide to Conan The Barbarian

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On Monday I released a new guide celebrating a new #1 comic I loved in Birds of Prey (2023) #1. Today I’m back with a major guide update for another new comic I am really digging – the new Titan Comics relaunch of Conan the Barbarian (2023)! You can find that, and every other Conan comic ever published, in my Guide to Conan!

Guide to Conan The Barbarian

Guide to Conan the Barbarian

The last time my Conan guide had a major overhaul was in 2019. It was still early in Marvel’s relaunch of the licensed property – around the time of their launch of the in-continuity Savage Avengers (2019).

A lot has happened with Conan since then! [Read more…] about Updated: Guide to Conan The Barbarian

New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 13, 2023

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It’s time to take a look at what’s out from Marvel Comics this week! This post covers Marvel Comics September 13 2023 releases.

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. For each 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!

Plus, I’m getting close to caught up on reading all of the Marvel Universe – so I have some commentary on some of the single issues and new collections.

Marvel Comics September 13 2023 Collected Editions

Marvel Action Captain Marvel - Game On digest paperback released by Marvel Comics September 13 2023Bishop: War College (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948054 / digital)
See Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa. I read the first issue of this book back when it was released, and it’s an odd bird. A book about Bishop training young X-Men in the defense of Krakoa would’ve been a solid hit, but what we actually got was Bishop dealing with an inane alternate universe side quest while the X-kids got cornered by a villain in their own subplot. If I’m being honest, this pitch never should’ve received a green light.

Captain America: Cold War (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952389 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. This collects the crossover intersection between the Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson Cap titles. There’s only another three issues of both titles combined after this, which makes it odd that they didn’t simply close out the runs in this volume, but there will be a separate “Finale” volume in a few months with Sentinel of Liberty #14, Cap #750, and a Finale issue.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker: Captain America Lives! Omnibus [AKA Vol. 3] (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302954468 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. This omnibus reprint tracks the return of Steve Rogers at the end of the period where Winter Soldier was serving as the primary Captain America. This book doesn’t stand so well on its own – you probably want to first read Brubaker Omnibus, Vol. 2: The Death of Captain America (2009 hardcover, ISBN 978-0785138068 / 2021 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302929619) to understand the story.

Captain Marvel: Game On (2023 digest-sized paperback, ISBN 978-1302951153)
See Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. In a totally brilliant move by Marvel, this is a recollection of the all-ages Marvel Action Captain Marvel (2019) #1-6 and Marvel Action Captain Marvel (2021) #1-5. Both the kid and I absolutely loved these books – they’re very close to actual Marvel continuity and Sam Maggs’s writing for Carol is spot on. Highly recommended for Captain Marvel fans of truly any age!

Captain Marvel: The Saga of Monica Rambeau (2023 “Saga of” paperback, ISBN 978-1302950996 / digital)
See Guide to… Monica Rambeau? Hmm, I should probably have one of those… maybe you should check back in a week or two ?. In the meantime, Monica’s comics appear in Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. If you want Monica’s early comics history, this is a fairly complete collection of her greatest hits and solo stories of the 80s and 90s reprinted from a 2019 Direct-Market-only volume.

Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness: The Art of the Movie (2023 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302945879)
See Guide to Doctor Strange.

Marvel-Verse: Kraven The Hunter (2023 digest-sized paperback, ISBN 978-1302950644 / digital)
In a relief to me specifically, this “kids and libraries” targeted digest-size collection does not collect any in-continuity Spidey stories, so it is not covered by any of my guides! It collects Collects Marvel Action Spider-Man (2018) #5-6, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (2005) #7, Marvel Adventures Super Heroes (2010) #4, Spidey (2015) #9.

Moon Knight Vol. 4: Road to Ruin (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947354 / digital)
See Guide to Moon Knight. This is more of Jed MacKay’s spectacular Moon Knight run, one of of my favorite books at Marvel! While I think this series is worth reading from the start, this story does pick up from a solid jumping-on point for the big antagonist in the past year of this run.

Star Wars: Sana Starros – Family Matters (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302933074 / digital)
See Guide to Star Wars Expanded Universe Comics (2015-Present).

Venom Epic Collection: The Madness (Vol. 3) (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302953874 / digital)
See Guide to Venom. This is the the third Epic Collection volume in the Venom line, but it’s actually the first that is fully collecting Venom’s own mini-series, rather than mostly his appearances in Amazing Spider-Man. While his landmark first mini Lethal Protector is in the prior volume, this collects his mini-series from 1993 and 1994.

Wolverine Omnibus Vol. 4 (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302953997 / digital)
See Guide to Wolverine – Logan. This collects the year of stories leading up to Logan losing his adamantium in issue #75 in 1993, which is the final issue in this collection – as well as the original graphic novels and Marvel Comics Presents issues released at the same time.

X-Men Epic Collection: Proteus (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950538 / digital)
See Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975-1991). If it’s helpful to you to think about this another way, we could call this Epic Collection “Phoenix Saga Prologue.” It covers the break-up and reunion of the team after their throwdown with Magneto in his volcano base, plus the debuts of Alpha Flight, Arcade, and Proteus! That’s a lot of major X-Men history packed all into one book. If you enjoy Phoenix Saga, this is a natural extension for you. However, if you only enjoy later 80s X-Men, it might not be a total slam dunk – Claremont is still getting his feet under him at this point, and his character voices don’t quite meet the standard of his amazing plots just yet.

Read on for a summary of all of the Marvel Comics September 13 2023 single issue and digital releases! [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 13, 2023

New for Patrons: Guide to Birds of Prey

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After a lengthy southern hemisphere winter hiatus, I’m back with the first of a new series of guides for Patrons of CK! This wasn’t the next guide on my list before last week, but thanks to a brilliant new #1 issue from Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, Jordie Bellaire, & Clayton Cowles last week I decided it was time for this new guide to fly: Guide to Birds of Prey!

Guide to Birds of Prey

Guide to Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey is a comic with a dedicated fanbase, in large part to Gail Simone’s star-making turn writing it for the better part of seven years prior to DC’s 2011 Flashpoint event. And, it got a raised profile with the Harley Quinn & The Birds of Prey flick in 2020.

But, if I had to boil down the title to a single summary or mission statement for my new Birds of Prey Guide, what would that be? [Read more…] about New for Patrons: Guide to Birds of Prey