Marvel Comics

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

December 18, 2017 by krisis

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.

Crushing Comics S01E40 – X-Men: Inferno Prologue & X-Men: Inferno Crossovers

December 15, 2017 by krisis

Today I clear another shelf in my quest to unwrap my entire collection. This time I pull out the two pieces of bread in Marvel’s X-Men Inferno sandwich – Inferno Prologue and Inferno Crossovers – which gives me the chance to explain the X-Men’s status quo as they came out of the Fall of the Mutants era.

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

Episode 40 features X-Men: Inferno Prologue and X-Men: Inferno Crossovers. For more information, see Marvel Universe Events.

Crushing Comics S01E038 – The dangers of loving canon + Avengers West Coast (& Mockingbird)

December 13, 2017 by krisis

After I deliver a rousing monologue on the utter meaninglessness of canon in comics I unwrap a pair of books that helped the Avengers franchise branch out – the Avengers West Coast omnibuses (which brings me back to the flexibility of canon when it comes to Mockingbird)!

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

Episode 38 features Avengers West Coast Omnibus Volumes 1 and 2, covered in the Guide to Avengers West Coast.

Crushing Comics S01E037 – Grant Morrison’s New X-Men (and why he writes the best Jean Grey)

December 12, 2017 by krisis

I start off this episode musing about the skill of talk show hosting. It’s one thing to be able to extemporaneously monologue with coherence, but it’s another skill entirely to be able to do that while doing something with your hands – like unwrapping bricks of comic books.

The books I wind up unwrapping are a major part of the uncanny origin of my now-massive comic book collection. Grant Morrison’s New X-Men were the first trio of books I had delivered to our new house back in 2010. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with them since then, though even from my first read it’s been clear to me that Grant Morrison understood Jean Grey like no writer before him – and, none after have gotten the chance!

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

Episode 37 features Grant Morrison’s complete run on New X-Men, covered in my guide to New X-Men and X-Men, Vol. 2.

Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan – The Definitive Reading Order and Collecting Guide

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade reading order on collecting Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel comic books via omnibuses and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Comics Guide to the Marvel Universe. Last updated November 2024 with titles scheduled for release through March 2025. Looking for Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel (and Captain Marvel)? Head to the Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers!

It’s fitting that the title of Captain Marvel has passed through the hands of so many Marvel heroes, since it tacitly implies the holder as a mascot for the unified Marvel Universe, just as Captain America stands as a patriotic symbol of America.

Similarly, it makes sense that the title of Ms. Marvel – originally tied to women’s liberation in the 1970s – has been passed down to a new hero.

The many long-time comic readers know Carol Danvers as the original Ms. Marvel, thought she graduated to being Captain Marvel in 2012. That status was cemented by her appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her Captain title. It’s likely she’ll never be a “Ms.” again.

With the name freed up by Danvers, in 2014 Marvel created a new hero to take up the mantel. Kamala Khan is a teenage girl, a Pakistani-American, a major Carol Danvers fan, and a dormant Inhuman whose shape-changing powers were activated by the aftermath of Marvel’s Infinity event.

Khan’s title is a modern-day delight – a perfect update of the teenage fumbling of early Spider-Man to the modern day for a young women of color trying to live up to the standards of her immigrant parents while forging her own identity.

Kamala Khan was allowed to exist on her own with little intervention in 2014-2015 – she makes few guest appearances outside of her first series. That changed in 2015 with the launch of her second series, after Marvel’s Secret War. Kamala returned with a much higher profile both with fans and within the Marvel Universe. That mean becoming a member of team titles (both Avengers and the Champions), participating in events, and appearing as a more frequent guest star.

Still, you don’t have to pay attention to that! G. Willow Wilson’s tenure ran for more than 50 issues, making a compelling, straight-forward run you can enjoy without the distraction of Kamala’s other appearances. A follow-up series by Saladin Ahmed is more connected to Kamala’s membership the The Champions, but it can still be read on its own.