X-Men

New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – April 12 2023

April 12, 2023 by krisis

Let’s take a look at what’s out from Marvel Comics this week! This post covers Marvel Comics April 12 2023 releases.

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. For each new release, I’ll point you to the right Crushing Comics guide.

Marvel Comics April 12 2023 Collected Editions

Ghost Rider (2022) Vol. 2: Shadow Country (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947972 / digital)
See Guide to Ghost Rider. This continues collecting the current Benjamin Percy series, plus the Ghost Rider: Vengeance Forever (2022) #1 one-shot. The upcoming crossover with Wolverine is still one volume beyond this – we’ll get a Volume 3 later this year before the crossover is collected in its own book. The Ghost Rider Guide is updated with all of those collections!

Guardians of the Galaxy Epic Collection: Earth Shall Overcome (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950439 / digital)
See Guide to Guardians of the Galaxy. This is an Epic Collection not of the main MCU Guardians team in their early appearances, but of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team which were based in the future.

Thor Mighty Marvel Masterworks Vol. 3: The Trial of the Gods (2023 digest-size paperback, ISBN 978-1302948931 / digital)
See Guide to Thor – The Odinson. This is Marvel’s new digest-size Silver Age collection line, which DOES NOT line up perfectly with the break points in existing hardcover Masterworks.

Nova, Vol. 1: Sam Alexander (2023 digest-size paperback, ISBN 978-1302950422 / digital)
See Guide to Nova(s). This is volume is part of Marvel’s initiative to recollect all of their 2010s teen heroes into library-friendly, digest-sized paperbacks. This covers the first two arcs of Sam’s 2013 Marvel Now series.

Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948351 / digital)
See Guide to Shang-Chi. This collects the third series (and subsequent one-shot) of Gene Luen Yang’s ongoing run on Shang-Chi.

War of Kings Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN / digital)
See Guide to Marvel Universe Events – War of Kings & Realm of Kings. This collects the heart of the multi-year intergalactic epic that mashed up X-Men, Inhumans, and the new Guardians of the Galaxy. This is immensely satisfying to read all in a single, coherent collected order – even if you don’t have the Prelude or Aftermath omnibuses to sandwich it.

X-Men Epic Collection Volume 22: Legacies (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302951115 / digital)
See Guide to Uncanny X-Men – The Crossover Era or Guide to X-Men, Vol 2 (1991). This is the fourth Epic Volume that interweaves both flagship X-Men titles in reading order – exactly what we’ve always wanted! This covers the aftermath of X-Cutioner’s Song, the lead-up to Fatal Attractions, and the introduction of Kwannon as Revanche – Psylocke’s body double!

Read on for a rundown of Marvel Comics April 12 2023 single-issue releases, including a link to their accompanying guide pages on Crushing Comics. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – April 12 2023

Guide to X-Men, The Age of Krakoa – now available to the public!

March 31, 2023 by krisis

Before I debut the final guide of my Indie Comics Month, first I have the next installment in my weekly X-Men Guide update series. This time, it’s not just an update, it’s a whole new guide! I’m thrilled to announce the my Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa is now available to all readers as we anticipate the announcement of more details of “The Fall of X” this weekend from Marvel at MegaCon.

Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa

This guide is different than all of my other X-Men guides, because it’s not just about a single title or a group of flagship books. It’s about an entire publishing line with several distinct eras. [Read more…] about Guide to X-Men, The Age of Krakoa – now available to the public!

Updated: Guide to X-Men flagship titles, 2010 – 2019

March 24, 2023 by krisis

This week my X-Men guide update includes an unusual event: the birth of a new guide page! Now that we have hindsight on the storylines and collections of X-Men from 2010 to 2019, I’ve consolidated all of the main X-Men flagship titles into a single guide. Welcome to the all-new, all-different Guide to X-Men flagship titles (2010-2019)!

Guide to X-Men flagship titles (2010-2019)

This page consolidates the contents of a pair of older pages – a “Guide to Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2-5” and “Guide to X-Men, Vol. 3 & 4,” though some of the former contents of those pages now lives in the recently revised Guide to New Mutants & Young X-Men.

At the time I original created my X-Guides, the “Second Coming” storyline was still ongoing and the map of X-Men titles seemed so obvious. There had always been and would always be the 1963 volume of Uncanny X-Men, often accompanied by an adjectiveless X-Men title as well as many supporting teams and titles like New Mutants, X-Force, X-Factor, and Astonishing X-Men.

I thought I had it all figured out. But, when it comes to the X-Men, that feeling never lasts for long.

Updated: Guide to X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s

February 23, 2023 by krisis

Oh, you thought I was done with X-Men guide updates for the week? Not quite yet, my mutant friends! How could I complete yesterday’s update to Uncanny X-Men’s “Crossover Era” without also updating the guide to its sibling in crossover madness? That’s right, it’s an update to my Guide X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s.

Guide X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s

The collection status of this decade of X-Men comics hasn’t changed much in the past few years. There’s even less to report from this update than there was for Uncanny X-Men in the same period, since a few more issues of X-Men (1991) had already been covered by Pre-Epic Collection paperbacks.

That doesn’t meant there was nothing to improve on this guide page! [Read more…] about Updated: Guide to X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s

Updated: Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s – The Crossover Era

February 22, 2023 by krisis

What?! Two days of Crushing Comics guide updates in a row? Your eyes do not deceive you, folks! After digging into a comprehensive update to guide that started it all, Uncanny X-Men’s Claremont era, I couldn’t help myself from charging onward to the next era of the title! Did you know that from 1991 to 2000 Uncanny X-Men featured no less than 16 direct crossovers and events?! They’re all covered by my Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s – The Crossover Era.

Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s – The Crossover Era

That image is the recolored cover of Uncanny X-Men (1963) #281, the first issue after Chris Claremont’s historic 16-year run on the title.

That was the comic that greeted me face-to-face when I walked into a comic book store for the first time at the age of 10. I had already started grabbing copies of its sibling title, X-Men (1991), off of the spinner racks in mall bookstores. But, X-Men’s popularity was at its peak during a rise in speculation, and even an issue from just a few months prior was already nearly $10!

There is so much new and accumulated plot in this one issue of X-Men that I wish I could go back to record my reaction to reading it live. Jean Grey, who apparently died before, died again! An entire class of young students were slaughtered, along with their instructor who was also apparently really into BDSM, Emma Frost. And there were giant purple robots and green-haired mutants from the future.

IT WAS WILD! And, I loved it – then and forevermore.