Kurt Busiek

Conan Comics – Defintive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

The Conan comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! A part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated September 2023 with titles scheduled for release through June 2024.

Robert E. Howard’s Conan has lived many lives in comics, from a young barbarian to a grizzled old king. Those lives are split into four distinct publishing eras of Conan comics.

His first life in comics was at Marvel from 1970 through 2000, largely under the pen of veteran Roy Thomas in his long-running series Conan the Barbarian as well as the long-running Savage Sword of Conan.

Then, in 2003, Conan comics made the jump to Dark Horse Comics – initially under the pen of Kurt Busiek. Dark Horse launched his book with reverence, assuring fans that they would present adaptations of Robert E. Howard’s original work and its implied connective tissue. The comics were widely-beloved by fans of the character.

Then, in a major twist, Marvel won the license back starting in January of 2019! That not only meant Marvel could release new Conan titles, but that they could also incorporate him into the modern Marvel Universe, as well as reprint their original Conan comics plus reprint the entirety of Dark Horse’s 15 years of Conan in paperback Epic Collection!

Most-recently, at the end of 2023 Marvel relinquished their license back to intellectual property holder Heroic Signatures, who began publishing their own comics directly through Titan Comics in 2023.

Each of those publishing eras is covered in full in the guide below! In each case, titles are listed in the guide chronologically by release date. However, in the table of contents, Marvel’s original run from 1970 to 2000 are listed as an alphabetical index by title, since Marvel published many series outside of the spine of the major ongoing titles.

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Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #20 to 16

June 12, 2016 by krisis

Omnibus on Shelf A week into this countdown and accompanying annotation and we’ve finally reached the Top 20 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibuses from the 2016 Secret Ballot by Tigereyes. I covered #25-21 in the last installment.

This installment includes two books of fan-favorite material, a long shot second volume to an orphaned first, the long-ignored origin of a hero who has two films to his name, and the highest-ranking vote from my own ballot! There’s a solid chance I would buy all five of these books.

If you have any extra information to add about the probable runs or opinions to share about the comics therein, please leave a comment! Even when it comes to X-Men, I don’t know (or remember!) everything about these books – and you might.

Do you own an oversized tome of your favorite character’s comic books? My Marvel Omnibus & Oversized Hardcover Guide is the most comprehensive tool on the web for tracking Marvel’s hugest releases – it features details on every oversize book, including a rundown of contents and if the volume is still readily available for purchase. [Read more…] about Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #20 to 16

Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide on collecting Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers comics books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Comics – Guide to Marvel Comics. Last updated November 2024 with titles scheduled for release through May 2024.

The Thunderbolts were a curious creation for Marvel, and its most-recent enduring property after 1991’s Deadpool. The team was introduced in early 1997, at a time when the Avengers and Fantastic Four had been banished to the Heroes Reborn pocket universe in the wake of Onslaught. Their absence left a super-team gap in the modern Marvel universe, which was obliging filled by the Thunderbolts.

The Thunderbolts were posed as a brand new super team not only in the Marvel Universe, but in the promotion around the new title. That made it all the more shocking when the end of the first issue revealed the do-good team to be the Masters of Evil masquerading behind newly made heroic identities! Fans flipped out, sales shot up, and Marvel had a new franchise on its hands.

After a brief hiatus in the early 2000s, the title returned and ran through the beginning of Marvel Now. However, it would twice detour its cast to a second title – Dark Avengers. [Read more…] about Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Collecting The Avengers Vol. 2 (1996-1997) & Vol. 3 (1998-2005) as graphic novels

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide on collecting Avengers comic books from 1996 to 2005 – including Heroes Reborn and Avengers by Busiek & Pérez – via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Comics – Guide to Marvel Comics. Last updated August 2024 with titles scheduled for release through December 2024.

Avengers: Reborn and Disassembled

This run continues from Avengers (1963) – see Guide to Avengers (1963 – 1996) for collection details.

In 1996, The Avengers were presumed dead at the hands of Onslaught in the Marvel Universe, but they were just hidden – trapped in a pocket dimension without realizing they had been removed from their own reality. This was an attempt by Marvel to revitalize some of their most-established (but not especially popular) properties by handing them to the creators who left them for Image Comics.

The experiment was short-lived, but Marvel took advantage of the heroes return to restart The Avengers third volume in 1998 with a bang – they brought in Kurt Busiek and classic DC artist George Perez.

The series remains popular to this day, as does the following run by Geoff John. However, Marvel hasn’t shown any recollection love to the two Chuck Austen stories that followed prior to Brian Bendis thoroughly disassembling the franchise to launch New Avengers. [Read more…] about Collecting The Avengers Vol. 2 (1996-1997) & Vol. 3 (1998-2005) as graphic novels