Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Marvel Comics

New Collecting Guide: Ultimate Marvel Comics

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[Patreon-Nov16-Post-Bug][/Patreon-Nov16-Post-Bug]I’m excited to debut a very special comic guide project that I just finished in the wee hours of this morning thanks to Daylight Savings Time – The Marvel Ultimate Universe Definitive Collecting Guide!

This new guide is available exclusively to CK’s Crushing Comics Club Patrons until December 11th. Want early access? Visit CK on Patreon to learn more.

marvel-ultimate-universeThe new guide includes every single comic from Ultimate Marvel with links to their collected editions, plus an embedded reading order for Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, and other major characters.

Ultimate Marvel started as an experiment in 2000 after years of bankruptcy and bad luck. Could Marvel attract new and lapsed readers to read X-Men and Spider-Man if they started them from scratch without a single piece of backstory to catch up on (while still publishing their main titles).

The answer from fans was a resounding “YES,” and Marvel soon added Fantastic Four and The Ultimates, a more grounded and cynical take on The Avengers. These four pillars of the Ultimate Universe would continue for 15 years, through the coming of Galactus, a flood of biblical proportions, the death of Spider-Man, and another coming of a different Galactus.

Along the way, Ultimate Marvel characters were allowed to grow and change in ways they haven’t done in more than fifty years at Marvel, with a new black and hispanic Spider-Man coming into his own, Kitty Pryde emerging as the leader of all mutants, and Susan Storm taking over for Reed in the FF while Johnny adventured with other teams. Plus, the Ultimate take on The Avengers become the blueprint for Marvel’s magical cinematic formula.

The entire Ultimate Marvel Universe was finally put to rest with Marvel’s 2015 event Secret Wars, though a few aspects moved over into the new main Marvel Universe. Vulture published an exhaustive history in 2015 to commemorate the close of this remarkable experiment.

Luckily, 100% of these comics are available in collected editions, as explained by the guide. For me, the more confusing part was the reading continuity. Which series happened when, and what lead into what else? Here’s a quick explainer (which, in the guide, acts as a table of contents): [Read more…] about New Collecting Guide: Ultimate Marvel Comics

Marvel Collected Editions Solicits – March, 2017

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Marvel_logoHere’s a holiday surprise for you – another month of Marvel solicitations just arrived on Amazon! These books take us though the Amazon release date of March 28, which means these books will hit the direct market on March 14. I covered the January and February solicits last month.

I’ve broken out the books below. They don’t yet list their contents, so I’ve made a few educated guesses until we can fill in the final contents. If you pre-order with Amazon, please keep in mind that Amazon releases dates are two weeks later that Direct Market release dates.

Please note: This post will not be updated with corrected dates, titles, or issue ranges for these titles. For the most up-to-date information, visit the accompanying collection guide pages.

Marvel Masterworks

There’s only one of these books released each month, so this big reveal is a guaranteed feature of each new month of solicits. [Read more…] about Marvel Collected Editions Solicits – March, 2017

50 More Marvel Runs That Deserve An Omnibus

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Marvel_logoWelcome to the epilogue to my epic two-week series of dissecting Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses.

Really, in comic terms, it’s more of an Aftermath – the messy ensuing action after a lengthy tale.

After weeks of going through a list of books that are largely old and generally already-collected, I found myself wondering if they really were the 59 runs most deserving of oversize treatment from Marvel.

Dazzler - 0001Let’s face it – a lot of comic collecting is focused on recapturing the magic of our youth (or, finally owning the things we couldn’t afford back then – which I suppose is the same thing). The Marvel’s Most-Wanted Secret Ballot is pretty reflective of this. If we were to exclude all of Marvel’s original Big 9 Silver Age 1960s titles (Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Daredevil, & Spider-Man) and do a recount we’d be down to 37 books; if we excluded everything mostly composed of pre-1991 material, it would be a scant 21 volumes.

What about everything else? What about littler known pre-1991 runs and modern stuff that’s deserving of massive tomes?

That’s the list I bring to you today: For your consideration, 50 major Marvel runs that obviously fit well into an Omnibus edition without relying on the classic runs of those original nine titles and with flipping the ratio of pre-1991 books. Maybe not all of these runs fit into the “most-wanted adjective,” but none of them are duds.

In all seriousness, I’d probably buy every one. To help temper that enthusiasm, I’ve also argued the con side of each potential book – why should this content not be omnibused?

Think of this as your extended ballot for the 2017 survey, or your nearly inexhaustible rainy-day reading list (especially if you have Marvel Unlimited, where many of these runs are available in their entirety). [Read more…] about 50 More Marvel Runs That Deserve An Omnibus

Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – The Top 59 Books!

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Omnibus on ShelfThe past two weeks of posts at Crushing Krisis have recapped Marvel’s most-wanted omnibuses based on the 4th annual secret ballot by Marvel forum frequenter Tigereyes.

Here’s the full list of all the 59 top-ranked books from the results. Books grouped together without a line break are all in the same post. You can also check out over a decade of Marvel’s Omnibus editions in the Omnibus & Oversize Hardcover Guide.

#1. Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 4 AKA by Claremont & Romita, Jr.
#2. The New Mutants, Vol. 1 AKA by Chris Claremont

#3. Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 3
#4. The Incredible Hulk by Peter David, Vol. 1 – by special guest GrahamGG!

ASMv01 - 0068#5. Alpha Flight, Vol. 1 AKA by John Byrne
#6. New Avengers by Brian Bendis, Vol. 2

#7. Excalibur, Vol. 1 AKA by Claremont & Davis
#8. Fantastic Four, Vol. 4
#9. Avengers (1963), Vol. 3

#10. Avengers by Jonathan Hickman, Vol. 1
#11. Iron Man by Michelinie, Vol. 2 AKA by Michelinie & Layton
#12. Amazing Spider-Man by Michelinie, Vol. 1 AKA by Michelinie, Larsen, & Bagley

#13. X-Factor, Vol. 1
#14. Infinity War
#15. (tie) Punisher MAX (2004) by Ennis, Vol. 1
#15. (tie) Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Bendis, Vol. 2

#16. X-Men: Mutant Massacre Aftermath AKA Old Soldiers AKA Before the Fall
#17. Ghost Rider (1973), Vol. 1 (of 2 or 3)
#18. Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen AKA Loki by Kieron Gillen & Matt Fraction
#19. Thunderbolts (1997), Vol. 1 AKA by Kurt Busiek & Mark Bagley
#20. New Warriors, Vol. 2 (or 3)

#21. The Mighty Thor, Vol. 3
#22. Incredible Hulk, Vol. 2
Wolv2 - 0024#23. Daredevil by Ann Nocenti (Vol. 1 of 2?)
#24. Moon Knight, Vol. 1 AKA by Doug Moench
#25. ROM Spaceknight, Vol. 1 (of 2)

#26. Generation X, Vol. 1 AKA by Lobdell, Bachalo, & Grummett
#27. Wolverine, Vol. 2
#28. Doctor Strange by Roger Stern
#29. Adam Warlock by Friedich and Starlin
#30. X-Factor (2006) by Peter David, Vol. 1

#31. X-Force, Vol. 2
#32. Miracleman by The Original Author (AKA Alan Moore, shh, don’t tell)
#33. Daredevil (2011) by Mark Waid, Vol. 1 (of 2)
#34. Black Panther (1998) by Christopher Priest, Vol. 1 (of 2)
#35. Namor, The Sub-Mariner (1990) by John Byrne

#36. Silver Surfer (1987) Vol. 1 AKA by Steve Englehart
#37. Daredevil (1964), Vol. 1
#38. (tie) Conan The Barbarian, Vol. 1.
#38. (tie) X-Factor (1985) by Peter David OR by David, DeMatteis, & Dezago
#39. Iron Man by Matt Fraction & Salvador Larroca AKA Vol. 3 (sort of)
#40. Captain Marvel, Vol. 1

#41. The Defenders, Vol. 1
#42. Marvel Horror of the 1970s
#43. Iron Man, Vol. 3
Avgv01 - 0234#44. (tie) Killraven
#44. (tie) Punisher, Vol. 1.
#45. West Coast Avengers, Vol. 4 AKA by Roy Thomas AKA Disassembled

#46. She-Hulk by John Byrne
#47. Wolverine, Vol. 3
#48. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 1
#49. Avengers by Roger Stern, Vol. 1
#50. Realm of Kings

#51-56. 2001: A Space Odyssey & Machine Man
#51-56. Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski, Vol. 1 (of 2)
#51-56. Avengers: Galactic Storm
#51-56. Doctor Strange, Volume 2
#51-56. The Micronauts, Vol. 1 (of 2)
#51-56. X-Men Legacy by Mike Carey (Volume 1 of 2?)

Plus, I covered the books from prior ballots that have since been printed or have gone missing from the survey.

Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #2 and 1 Most-Wanted!

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Omnibus on ShelfWe’ve arrived – it’s the finale of my annotated countdown of Marvel Most-Wanted Omnibuses, from the annual Secret Ballot officiated by TigerEyes. I covered #3-4 in the last installment.

As you’ll see in a moment, the top two are a pair of books that hold special interest for me, so this will be a fun one!

Before we get started, I want to thank everyone who has been tuning in daily to read these recaps – especially because you could have easily spoiled the anticipation by Googling to see the ballot results!

Now that you’ve formed a habit of stopping by, I hope you’ll keep it up. I’ll be back to posting comic reviews but I also have a ton of Marvel collections content dreamt up, starting with an absolutely monstrous post tomorrow that acts as an epilogue for this Most-Wanted Omnibus series. To stay up-to-date each week on site content – including new and expanded comic guide pages, you can join my mailing list, “Crushing On Crushing Krisis”:

For more details on all of Marvel’s existing omnibuses, visit my Marvel Omnibus & Oversized Hardcover Guide. It’s the most comprehensive tool on the web for details on every oversize book, including a rundown of contents and if the volume is still readily available for purchase. I’m always working to add more and more-updated information.

Okay. This is it. The final pair of most-wanted omnibuses. Are you ready? [Read more…] about Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #2 and 1 Most-Wanted!