Crushing Krisis

The Newest Oldest Blog In New Zealand

Chris Claremont

New For Patrons: Guide to Captain Britain

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Today I have a solo guide for a character who previously lived in the shadow of a team guide on the site…

Captain Britain – The Definitive Reading Order and Collecting Guide

On Wednesday, a new Excalibur title launched as part of Dawn of X – the new line-up of x-books curated by Jonathan Hickman. In this new series, Betsy Braddock (AKA Psylocke) takes on the role of Captain Britain from her brother who is… indisposed.

Captain Britain is an interesting case because he, his sister Psylocke, and his extended mythology are one of only two major imports from Marvel UK to American Marvel.

(I’d say the other is Death’s Head.)

Not only that, but Captain Britain is one of the characters who has had the biggest impact on Marvel’s Universe. Ever. [Read more…] about New For Patrons: Guide to Captain Britain

The Epic X-Men (Re-)Read: X-Men (1991) #1-3 (Ep001)

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After nearly a decade of collecting and planning, it’s finally here: I’m tackling my entire 50-year collection of X-Men comics with the intent of reading every single issue, and you’re invited along for the ride!

Rather than start from The Silver Age and trundle forward through a lot of very wordy classic comics, we’re taking inspiration from Marvel’s Epic Collections and jumping around from era to era and title to title.

I don’t know how I could start anywhere but with the arc that brought me to comic collecting, which marks the end of the truly classic period of X-Men – Chris Claremont and Jim Lee’s X-Men (1991) #1-3 (found in the Guide to X-Men, Vol. 2). This story arc is the platonic ideal of a major faceoff against Magneto with a cast of a dozen X-Men, many of them in the Jim Lee uniforms that would follow them to X-Men: The Animated Series a year later.

Do these comics still hold up today? And, does Claremont leave the series doing right by his cast of indomitable-willed woman? Watch this mega-sized episode and find out!

Want to keep up with the next six weeks of (re-)reading? Here’s our schedule: [Read more…] about The Epic X-Men (Re-)Read: X-Men (1991) #1-3 (Ep001)

Crushing Comics S01E060 – X-Men by Claremont/Lee Omnibus, Vol. 2

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It’s part two of my Claremont/Lee Omnibus unwrapping, where I discuss the events that follow X-Tinction Agenda that briefly brought the teams together, split them apart, brought them together again and – finally – launched a new X-Men book!

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 60 features X-Men by Claremont/Lee Omnibus, Vol. 2, which covers material in both the Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont and Guide to X-Men (1991-2001).

Crushing Comics S01E059 – Building a Mystery (not the song) + X-Men by Claremont & Lee Omnibus, Vol. 1

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I begin this episode by asking “where is the mystery?” – or, more accurately, the persistence of mystery and why as consumers of stories have lost our appetites for long-running mysteries in fiction. (I think it’s all JJ Abrams’ fault.)

Appropriately, after that introduction I finally unwrap a pair of my most-cherished collected editions – X-Men by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, and Marc Silvestri! I had so much to say about them that this turned into a two-parter! In this edition, hear the tale of the unravelling of the X-Men, who spend thirty entire issues not being a team even as their popularity soared.

I tackle this book nearly issue-by-issue to explain how the X-Men get from their confrontation with Mastermind to the beginning of their reunification in Genosha during X-Tinction Agenda.

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 69 features X-Men by Chris Claremont & Jim Lee Omnibus, Vol. 1. To learn more about this book and its contents, visit the Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont.

Crushing Comics S01E056 – Learning Vocabulary from Claremont + X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Companion Omnibus

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Coming off of two episodes of unwrapping intense Claremont X-Men books, I talk a little bit about how reading classic comics built my vocabulary and how the loss of narration boxes has really limited the narrative power of comics. Then, I unwrap the Age of Apocalypse Companion and sift through its material to explain what is and isn’t essential in this tag-along book.

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 65 features the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Companion Omnibus. For more on Age of Apocalypse, visit the Guide to Marvel Events.

Crushing Comics S01E055 – Why I can’t meditate + X-Men: Fall of the Mutants

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As I unwrap today’s book, I talk about my inability to meditate in the traditional “relaxed mind” version of meditation. For me, meditation comes from engaging my brain in something. For some people that’s a zen koan, but for me it’s more like alphabetizing books or organizing files.

The book I unwrap after all that musing is X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, the “crossover that was not.” I explain how it began the unravelling of the main X-Men team and how it marked the highlight of Louise Simonson’s run on X-Factor.

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 55 features X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, covered in the Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont.