Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Marvel Comics

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.

Crushing Comics S01E054 – X-Men Inferno & Operation: Zero Tolerance (+ the vicarious thrill of natural disasters)

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As I unwrap I talk about the combined thrill and terror of living through natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes. I always said that Philly was relatively immune to such apocalyptic events, but now I live right on a fault line (and right on the water).

Then, I open what might be the most sought-after X-Men hardcover today – Inferno! Is the story worth all of the hype and high prices? I walk you through how it came to be, including a brief history of Madelyne Pryor, and speculate if it was Chris Claremont’s way of “fixing” his master plan after the debut of X-Factor. (I have much less to say about Operation Zero Tolerance.)

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

Episode 54 features X-Men: Inferno and X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance, which are covered in the guides to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont and X-Men (1991), respectively.

Crushing Comics S01E050 – Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Vol. 2 (+ how many times have you moved?)

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Today I pull one of the first books I wrapped back in Philly, which leads me to talk about the (relatively limited) number of times I’ve moved in my life – all but two of which are documented here on CK! Plus, how we (or, at least, I) grow to fit the space that I occupy.

After a much longer-than-intended introductory chat, I open an unusual omnibus that’s as much a collection of magazines as it is comic stories – including the first stories of Daughters of the Dragon, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing!

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

Episode 50 features Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Omnibus, Vol. 2. For more information on these stories, see the Guide to Shang-Chi.

Crushing Comics S01E049 – “The Illusion of Profit” + Early-90s X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda, Bishop’s Crossing, & X-Cutioner’s Song

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My new Dazzler T-Shirt must be lucky, because today I unwrap a haul of four books from my prime era of X-Men collecting – the early 90s! First, I talk about how we convince ourself that some of our habits in life are profitable when really they’re costing us more than we realize.

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

Episode 49 features X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda, X-Men: Bishop’s Crossing, and X-Men: X-Cutioner’s Song – see the guides for X-Men by Chris Claremont and X-Men: The Crossover Era for more!