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Back Issue Review: Lumberjanes, DC Comics Titans, & Unstoppable Wasp

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I haven’t been doing much back-issue reading this week, which means this Back Issue Review isn’t as sprawling as its been in past weeks.

I did manage to knock out four volumes worth of youthful titles. None of the were major standouts, but they all presented nuanced looks at the meaning of friendship and identity.

  • Lumberjanes (2014) #25-28(AKA Vol. 7 – A Bird’s-Eye View), Boom! Entertainment, Inc
  • Titans (2016) Rebirth & #1-6 (AKA Vol. 1 – The Return of Wally West), DC Comics
  • Titans (2016) #7-10 & Annual 1 (AKA Vol. 2 – Made In Manhattan), DC Comics
  • Titans (2016) #12-18 (AKA Vol. 3 – A Judas Among Us), DC Comics
  • The Unstoppable Wasp #1-4 (AKA Vol. 1 – Unstoppable), Marvel Comics

[Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Lumberjanes, DC Comics Titans, & Unstoppable Wasp

The Pull List: Avengers, Death of Love, Detective Comics, The Flash, Paradiso, Sideways, & more!

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I’ve managed to one-up last week’s edition of The Pull List! This week, the list is a whopping 27 issues deep – one more than last week. However, its also a tick worse, with an aggregate rating of 3.055 compared to 3.17.

What did I pull this week? I caught up with Birds of Prey, Flash, and Titans to add to my DC pull list, sampled four new number ones, and dropped a pair of weak books. Here’s what I reviewed in brief:

  • DC Comics
    • Batgirl and The Birds of Prey (2016) #19
    • Detective Comics (2016) #974
    • The Flash (2016) #40
    • Sideways (2017) #1
    • Titans (2016) #20
    • Wonder Woman (2016) #40
  • Image Comics
    • Dark Fang (2017) #4
    • Death of Love (2018) #1
    • Paradiso (2017) #3
    • Port of Earth (2017) #4
    • Sleepless (2018) #3
    • Slots (2017) #5
    • Twisted Romance (2018) #2
  • Marvel Comics
    • Avengers (2017) #680
    • Cable (2017) #154
    • Captain America (2017) #698
    • Marvel Two-in-One (2018) #3
    • Old Man Logan (2016) #35
    • Weapon X (2017) #14
    • X-Men: Blue (2017) #21
  • Smaller Publishers: Aftershock, Boom! Studios, Dark Horse, Dynamite, & Zenescope
    • Babyteeth (2017) #8, Aftershock Comics
    • Barbarella (2017) #3, Dynamite Entertainment
    • Black Sable (2017) #4, Zenescope Entertainment
    • Cold War (2018) #1, Aftershock Comics
    • Giants (2018) #3, Dark Horse
    • Judas (2017) #3, Boom! Studios
    • Xena (2018) #1, Dynamite Entertainment

Pick of the Pull

Big Two (Marvel/DC) Issue of the Week: The Flash (2016) #40, DC Comics

I have never before been so viscerally scared of Grodd. He is utterly terrifying here, and I was really concerned that we could be seeing the end of Flash at multiple points – and, in a way, we did.

Joshua Williamson is proving that he is one of the best writers in the business with this constantly thrumming plot that has been building non-stop rising action for 40 straight issues. While you could easily jump right one with every arc, each of them builds off of everything that came before. That means this run has notched itself as the third or fourth best extended Flash run of all time in under two years, and it shows no immediate signs of stopping.

Carmine Di Giandomenico continues to stun on artwork with vivid coloring from
Ivan Plascencia. This issue includes some of the most inventive action paneling I can think of reading in recent memory. The paneling of Avery catching the lighting rod is breathtaking.

An A+ book through and through, with a thrilling final moment.

Best Small-Pub Issue of the Week: Giants (2018) #3, Dark Horse Comics

There’s no denying the craft, power, and charm of Giants. For a third issue in a row The Valderrama Brothers. turn in a beautiful, action-packed comic full of heart.

We begin our story with Zedo, the boy left for dead who is now making a cavalier power-play to control the gangs of the underworld. Only a child could see things as so black and white, yet both in the last issue and here he is making vicious choices that he can’t take back.

In stark contrast, Gogi has found a group of other children who are necessarily tough but still enduringly kind. Their acceptance and willingness to give without asking anything in return is alien to Gogi. At first he resists it, then he resents it, but finally he understand that’s it’s easier to live openly then be on guard and full of distrust.

Gogi’s journey from underground child to hero in the wider wider stands in stark contrast to Zedo’s dark turn at the end of this issue. Neither boy can entirely blame fate, nor can he say that the choices were all his own. That makes Giants a powerful allegory for the role of environment on our lot in life.

We might not all be fighting giant monsters, but we’re frequently either the child who ran away or the child that was left behind. [Read more…] about The Pull List: Avengers, Death of Love, Detective Comics, The Flash, Paradiso, Sideways, & more!

Back Issue Review: Alan Moore’s The Courtyard, Captain Canuck, Dark Ark, & more!

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Welcome to a pilot of a new series of comic book posts on Crushing Krisis – Back Issue Review!

If I tried to complete my quest to read 2018 comic issues in 2018 purely by keeping up with new releases, I’d have to read 39 new comics every week!

Since my pull list isn’t quite that deep, I pad out my new release reading (and my playing catch-up to get current with new releases) with a healthy amount of back back issue reading, both from my own ridiculously deep collection and in browsing for digital deals.

Here’s the rundown of the back-issues I’ve read this week and reviewed below:

  • Alan Moore’s The Courtyard (2003) #1-2
  • Aquaman (2016) #1-6
  • Avengers/Champions: Worlds Collide (Avengers #672-674 & Champions #13-15)
  • Captain Canuck (2015) #1-2
  • Captain Marvel (2016) #6-10
  • Civil War II (2016) – The Oath
  • Dark Ark (2017) #1-4
  • Freelance (2017) #1
  • Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland (2007) #0-3
  • Judas (2018) #1
  • Monstro Mechanica (2017) #1
  • Port of Earth (2017) #1-2
  • Realmwalkers (2017) #1-3
  • Silk (2016) #14
  • Spencer & Locke (2017) #1-4
  • The Skeptics (2016) #1-4
  • Toil and Trouble (2015) #1

Interested in what I have to say about other random pulls? Leave a comment about a series you’d love to see me dig into in the coming weeks. Given the scope of my collection, you might be surprised to learn I already own a copy! [Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Alan Moore’s The Courtyard, Captain Canuck, Dark Ark, & more!

Crushing Comics S01E041 – The little things that keep you alive + War of Kings & Realm of Kings

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Today I muse over our self-image, how I used to be called “Spockchild,” and how my first haircut in Wellington made me think of how we sometimes take for granted all of the little aspects of life that keep us alive.

Then, I unwrap a massive hunk of Cosmic Marvel and get to talk about Nova, War of Kings, and Realm of Kings … plus throw a little shade about how Abnett & Lanning ran a better X-Men and Inhumans event than Marvels actual Inhumans vs. X-Men even in early 2017.

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

Episode 41 features Nova: Annihilation, War of Kings, Realm of Kings, Annihilators, and The Thanos Imperative. See Marvel Universe Events for more information.

Collecting Guardians of the Galaxy comic books as graphic novels

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide to collecting Guardians of the Galaxy comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Collecting Avengers Graphic Novels: A Definitive Guide. Last updated February 2017 with titles scheduled for release through October 2017.

Collecting Guardians of the Galaxy

GotG Promo PosterIn 2014 Marvel introduced the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise to the entire planet with their movie version of the team consisting of Starlord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.

However, the Guardians have only existed in that configuration since 2008! The only similar team was the 1990s cosmic group The Infinity Watch, which included Gamora and Drax. Historically, Guardians of the Galaxy referred to a very different, specific group of characters from Marvel’s far flung future with little overlap to the 2008 version of the team.

What both groups have in common is that they are a set of space-faring heroes who stand against the forces of destruction in the universe. They are, in effect, the Cosmic Avengers.

With that mandate in mind, this guide looks at more than just the titles named “Guardians of the Galaxy.” It also follows all of the core members of the various incarnations of that team, most of whom have never maintained an ongoing title. It also covers prominent cosmic hero Adam Warlock, who lead the Infinity Watch.

If you are interested in the cinematic incarnation of the team, this is your path:

[Read more…] about Collecting Guardians of the Galaxy comic books as graphic novels

DC New 52 Review: Resurrection Man #1

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Resurrection Man is one of the more peculiar choices for the DC New 52 relaunch.

First, there is his peculiar power. Thanks to an experiment meant to render him invincible, Resurrection Man Mitchell Shelley bounces back from each death in perfect health with a random new super power that he can only discover through trial and error. Otherwise, he’s a a relatively regular guy.

Second, he’s largely unknown. He headlined his own 1997-99 monthly series, but has only been seen or heard from a scant handful of times in the intervening decade.

Why this new resurrection? The secret ingredient of Mr. Shelley is his writers – Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning AKA DnA. After an ignoble 1988 start on the Real Ghostbusters, they worked their way up the ranks to become one of the hottest writing teams in comics. After penned years of Legion and Majestic for DC they moved on to a multi-year stint on the wildly well-received Marvel Cosmic line. Now they’re back at DC, and back at the helm of their very own hero.

How did DnA do with this peculiar pick in the New 52 lineup?

Resurrection Man #1

Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, art by Fernando Dagnino

Rating: 5 of 5 – Outstanding!

In a Line: “I’ll sleep when I’m dead. I’ll get back to you when I’ve got a schedule for that.”

#140char Review: Resurrection Man #1 does re-intro right w/perfectly-paced grim glimpse into RM’s dire, hapless life & the forces controlling it. A must-read

CK Says: Buy it!

Writers Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (DnA) are perfection in a reunion with their hero Resurrection Man, abetted by fantastic art from Fernando Dagnino.

From the intro device of our hero slowly awakening to his new life and his new power to his gruesome death and a final scene of him slipping away from a crash, the script never lets up and maintains a vibe of lingering dread throughout.

Resurrection Man Mitch spends most of the book talking to himself and the reader, and you get the sense that his matter-of-fact internal monologue is the majority of conversation in his life. Would a hunted man who dies and dies again have a girlfriend or sidekick handy to chat with? Probably not. His narrative of fellow passengers via the metal on their bodies is a gem stolen from the mind of Magneto. The implication that he quietly re-experiences the world through each new power he awakens with says much about his solitude.

Dagnino’s art is beautiful and perfect for the tone of the script. It reminds me of Gaiman’s Sandman – reminiscent of old Sam Keith, or maybe Jae Lee. It’s the sure black fields of a self-inker, not afraid to get his pages a little dirty with darkness. Colorist Rob Leigh obliges with a set of muted, rusty colors.

The result might turn off some readers as too dark or dull, but it sets an 80s Vertigo vibe and couldn’t be any more perfect for DnA’s script. I took special thrill in small details like the burnished exterior of a plane in flight fading back into an interior scene of the plane.

The deus ex machina of each resurrection coming with both a new power and an inexplicable compulsion to take action could have seemed forced, but you’ll forget it by the time Mitch boards a plane and meets his “hot, in a Gaga kind of way” seatmate. Clearly there are forces greater than him at work and play here – literal god machines reaching their hands into his life. Is it worth stopping a villain about to kill dozens of people if they were all going to die anyway? Can it even be done?

Resurrection Man is a perfect entry into DC’s relaunched lineup of 52 books – his power to start anew from each death is a fitting metaphor for readers picking up his relaunched title with no prior knowledge of the character. DnA have a proven track record of mercilessly dissecting the lives of their heroes to produce fantastically unexpected stories, and Mitch is a rare hero who can walk away from each dissection unharmed.

A must-read comic.