Al Ewing

New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 13, 2023

September 12, 2023 by krisis Leave a Comment

It’s time to take a look at what’s out from Marvel Comics this week! This post covers Marvel Comics September 13 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 guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

Plus, I’m getting close to caught up on reading all of the Marvel Universe – so I have some commentary on some of the single issues and new collections.

Marvel Comics September 13 2023 Collected Editions

Bishop: War College (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948054 / digital)
See Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa. I read the first issue of this book back when it was released, and it’s an odd bird. A book about Bishop training young X-Men in the defense of Krakoa would’ve been a solid hit, but what we actually got was Bishop dealing with an inane alternate universe side quest while the X-kids got cornered by a villain in their own subplot. If I’m being honest, this pitch never should’ve received a green light.

Captain America: Cold War (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952389 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. This collects the crossover intersection between the Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson Cap titles. There’s only another three issues of both titles combined after this, which makes it odd that they didn’t simply close out the runs in this volume, but there will be a separate “Finale” volume in a few months with Sentinel of Liberty #14, Cap #750, and a Finale issue.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker: Captain America Lives! Omnibus [AKA Vol. 3] (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302954468 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. This omnibus reprint tracks the return of Steve Rogers at the end of the period where Winter Soldier was serving as the primary Captain America. This book doesn’t stand so well on its own – you probably want to first read Brubaker Omnibus, Vol. 2: The Death of Captain America (2009 hardcover, ISBN 978-0785138068 / 2021 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302929619) to understand the story.

Captain Marvel: Game On (2023 digest-sized paperback, ISBN 978-1302951153)
See Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. In a totally brilliant move by Marvel, this is a recollection of the all-ages Marvel Action Captain Marvel (2019) #1-6 and Marvel Action Captain Marvel (2021) #1-5. Both the kid and I absolutely loved these books – they’re very close to actual Marvel continuity and Sam Maggs’s writing for Carol is spot on. Highly recommended for Captain Marvel fans of truly any age!

Captain Marvel: The Saga of Monica Rambeau (2023 “Saga of” paperback, ISBN 978-1302950996 / digital)
See Guide to… Monica Rambeau? Hmm, I should probably have one of those… maybe you should check back in a week or two 😉. In the meantime, Monica’s comics appear in Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. If you want Monica’s early comics history, this is a fairly complete collection of her greatest hits and solo stories of the 80s and 90s reprinted from a 2019 Direct-Market-only volume.

Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness: The Art of the Movie (2023 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302945879)
See Guide to Doctor Strange.

Marvel-Verse: Kraven The Hunter (2023 digest-sized paperback, ISBN 978-1302950644 / digital)
In a relief to me specifically, this “kids and libraries” targeted digest-size collection does not collect any in-continuity Spidey stories, so it is not covered by any of my guides! It collects Collects Marvel Action Spider-Man (2018) #5-6, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (2005) #7, Marvel Adventures Super Heroes (2010) #4, Spidey (2015) #9.

Moon Knight Vol. 4: Road to Ruin (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947354 / digital)
See Guide to Moon Knight. This is more of Jed MacKay’s spectacular Moon Knight run, one of of my favorite books at Marvel! While I think this series is worth reading from the start, this story does pick up from a solid jumping-on point for the big antagonist in the past year of this run.

Star Wars: Sana Starros – Family Matters (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302933074 / digital)
See Guide to Star Wars Expanded Universe Comics (2015-Present).

Venom Epic Collection: The Madness (Vol. 3) (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302953874 / digital)
See Guide to Venom. This is the the third Epic Collection volume in the Venom line, but it’s actually the first that is fully collecting Venom’s own mini-series, rather than mostly his appearances in Amazing Spider-Man. While his landmark first mini Lethal Protector is in the prior volume, this collects his mini-series from 1993 and 1994.

Wolverine Omnibus Vol. 4 (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302953997 / digital)
See Guide to Wolverine – Logan. This collects the year of stories leading up to Logan losing his adamantium in issue #75 in 1993, which is the final issue in this collection – as well as the original graphic novels and Marvel Comics Presents issues released at the same time.

X-Men Epic Collection: Proteus (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950538 / digital)
See Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont (1975-1991). If it’s helpful to you to think about this another way, we could call this Epic Collection “Phoenix Saga Prologue.” It covers the break-up and reunion of the team after their throwdown with Magneto in his volcano base, plus the debuts of Alpha Flight, Arcade, and Proteus! That’s a lot of major X-Men history packed all into one book. If you enjoy Phoenix Saga, this is a natural extension for you. However, if you only enjoy later 80s X-Men, it might not be a total slam dunk – Claremont is still getting his feet under him at this point, and his character voices don’t quite meet the standard of his amazing plots just yet.

Read on for a summary of all of the Marvel Comics September 13 2023 single issue and digital releases! [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 13, 2023

New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 6, 2023

September 5, 2023 by krisis Leave a Comment

It’s time to take a look at what’s out from Marvel Comics this week! This post covers Marvel Comics September 6 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 to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

Plus, I’m getting close to caught up on reading all of the Marvel Universe – so I have some commentary on some of the single issues and new collections.

Marvel Comics September 6 2023 Collected Editions

Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson Vol. 1
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950989 / digital)
See Guide to Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel. This is effectively a “Complete Collection by Kelly Thompson,” recollecting the first two trades worth of this ongoing series. That’s actually somewhat short for a complete – it would take five volumes to collect the entire series, at this rate! I love this comic, and it comes with a ringing endorsement from me.

Captain Marvel, Vol. 10: Revenge of the Brood, Pt. 2
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947637 / digital)
See Guide to Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel. This is the final half of the final arc of Kelly Thompson’s multi-year Captain Marvel epic, plus a double-sized final issue that is entirely reflective. I think this arc is one of the shakier of the series, simply because Thompson is juggling a massive cast without much time to focus on Carol. While I’m a big proponent of picking up any comic run with any issue to get started, I’d say if you’re planning to read this run you ought to start from the beginning.

Loki Modern Era Epic Collection: Everything Burns (Vol. 2)
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952655 / digital)
See Guide to Loki. The second (and final?) volume of the Loki Modern Era Epic Collection line, collecting the back half of his run of Journey Into Mystery including crossovers with New Mutants and Thor. The contents of this are just slightly different than the contents of a previous Complete Collection.

Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 3 – Less than Monster, More than Man
(2021 digest-size paperback, ISBN 978-1302949037 / digital)
See Guide to Hulk, Bruce Banner. This continues the digest-sized reprint of Hulk’s Silver Age Tales to Astonish (1959) material.

Spider-Man 2099: Dark Genesis (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952235 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man 2099. This is a Steve Orlando mini-series set in 2099 continuity.

Red Goblin Vol. 1: It Runs in the Family (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948634 / digital)
Hmm, this still has no guide to call home! But, I have caught up on this book to present day, and I dig it! Alex Paknadel is writing a very different title than anything else going on at Marvel right now. I wish he’d lean even further into the intergenerational aspects of the book and its lead characters, but I liked all of this first volume.

She-Hulk by Mariko Tamaki (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950774 / digital)
See Guide to She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters. Collects the entire run by Eisner-winner Mariko Tamaki from All-New All-Different Marvel and Marvel Legacy. This book is not a similar tone to most She-Hulk runs or the She-Hulk MCU show. It starts out subtle and decompressed, focusing on She-Hulk’s trauma in the wake of Civil War II, picking up just a hint of the typical acerbic She-Hulk wit towards the end.

Venom Vol. 4 by Al Ewing & Ram V: Illumination (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948504 / digital)
See Guide to Venom. This continues Ewing’s multi-timeline Venom epic (V has departed the title), but with a slightly more grounded story than the past 1o issues. What I think works well about this is you absolutely could jump in here and be tantalized with references of what has come before, which to me is good comics-making.

Rocket Raccoon – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Star-Lord, Peter Quill – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

The definitive issue-by-issue comic book collecting guide and reading order for Marvel’s Star-Lord, Peter Quill, in omnibus, hardcover, trade paperback, and digital. Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated March 2023 with titles scheduled for release through July 2023.

Star-Lord is a Marvel character who has multiple versions and multiple origins, and what can sometimes seem like multiple personalities thanks to a tug-of-war between his comic stories and his happy-go-lucky Marvel Cinematic Universe persona.

Star-Lord was originally a pulp sci-fi character whose feature ran across a handful of Marvel magazines and anthology titles in the 1970s, as penned by his creator Steve Englehart (as well as Chris Claremont).

None of the worlds or characters he interacted with closely corresponded with Marvel’s version of space at that time. And, a close reading of his comics show that his taking on his heroic name occurred in our future (but his past) in 1990. That seemed to confirm he was not meant to coexist with the Marvel Universe of the 1970s. That character was completely forgotten throughout the 80s and 90s, and was relaunched with a different character taking on the title in a 1996 mini-series.

That pair of Star-Lords are now known as The Star-Lords of Earth-791. How did they wind up excommunicated from Marvel’s mainstream continuity? That’s down to his film success and Brian Bendis,

In March 2005, Keith Giffen & Ron Lim introduced an old, grizzled, partly-cybernetic man named Peter Quill into their Thanos ongoing series. Quill had an unnamed off-panel history with Thanos and was imprisoned for life after a galactic defense gone wrong resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. That explained why he refused to acknowledge anyone else calling him Star-Lord.

Peter Quill was freed from his sentence by Gladiator of the Imperial Guard and next turned up as the second-in-command to Richard Rider as the last Nova in the 2007 Annihilation event. This was the same cynical, cybernetic Peter Quill. He was promoted to a title star in a mini-series that lead into the next cosmic event, Annihilation Conquest. Quill’s cybernetic implants were removed and he assembled a team readers and film fans will recognize as an early iteration of Guardians of the Galaxy. The team’s roster and name would be formalized coming out of the event and leading into the Guardians ongoing series in 2008.

As Peter resumed the title of Star-Lord, authors Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning slightly softened his personality and youthened him, but he was still the battle-scarred veteran of the Annihilation events. Abnett & Lanning ended their run on the character with his disappearance at the end of The Thanos Imperative.

Throughout all of those stories, the unspoken implication was that our present-day Marvel-616 Peter Quill was in fact the same as Englehart’s future version, meaning that he (or, perhaps, his father) had traveled back in time from those original 1970s stories.

That slate was wiped clean by Brian Bendis in 2012. Bendis brought Quill back as the leader of the Guardians with no explanation in his Avengers Assemble series, a tie-in the impending Avengers film as well as a stealth reboot of a Guardians team that would perfectly match their impending film incarnation. Bendis continued that continuity-wipe with the point-one issue of the new Guardians ongoing, in which he completely revised Peter Quill’s origins to be based definitively on the Marvel-616 Earth (in a story that would be somewhat echoed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

Although all of the Annihilation stories were still in continuity, Bendis’s version of Peter Quill was younger and funnier – though he still wasn’t quite the silly, somewhat-bumbling version we’d meet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As the MCU version of Star-Lord became a hit with the public, Bendis leaned into exploring his parentage and his connection to the planet Spartax while solo runs by Sam Humphries and Chip Zdarsky detailed his romance with Kitty Pryde and his solo adventures. Further Guardians books by Gerry Duggan and Donny Cates hewed closely to the Bendis template of the character.

It was Al Ewing in his 2020-21 Guardians of the Galaxy run who truly transformed Peter Quill’s character to align his present-day version and his comic origins, as well as exploring his devotion to Richard Rider and Gamora. Finally, by the end of Ewing’s run, it felt as though we had a Star-Lord who made sense as the combat-hardened Annihilation veteran as well as the happy-go-lucky Bendis-era Guardians. [Read more…] about Star-Lord, Peter Quill – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – February 15, 2023

February 15, 2023 by krisis Leave a Comment

Welcome to the third post in my trial run of a return to new release posts! This post covers Marvel Comics February 15 2023 releases.

Marvel Comics February 15 2023 Collected Editions

The Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb Wells Vol. 3: Hobgoblin (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302933135 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man, Peter Parker (2018 – Present Day). This volume includes Spider-Man’s brief intersection with last year’s A.X.E.: Judgment Day event.

Captain America by Nick Spencer Omnibus Vol. 1 (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN / digital)
See Guide to Captain America or Guide to Falcon. While much of this run is the dour run-up to the joyless Secret Empire event, it also includes a lot of Sam Wilson being incredibly competent as Captain America, which is a decent read. However, I just don’t think this run is significant enough to warrant a spot on an omnibus shelf – especially not two books of it.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty Vol. 1: Revolution (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302931438 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America. The first collection of this Kelly, Lanzing, & Carnero run, which I am absolutely dying to dig into! I’m working my way up to it as fast as I can!

Daredevil & Elektra Vol. 1: The Red Fist Saga (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302926113 / digital)
See Guide to Daredevil or Guide to Elektra. This is the first collection of the Daredevil & Elektra co-starring run of Daredevil from Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checchetto that directly follows Devil’s Reign and Elektra’s stint as “Woman With Fear.” There are another two volumes already solicited to follow, and the entire prior Zdarsky run is covered in oversize hardcover – so there’s every reason to jump in (unless you are awaiting an inevitable omnibus in a few years).

Daredevil Epic Collection: The Man Without Fear (2016 paperback, ISBN 978-0785195481 / 2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950361 / digital)
See Guide to Daredevil. A reprint of the first in Daredevil’s 21-book Epic Collection line covering his 1964 series in full. Right now we have every volume except 7-12, most of which have been collected in other formats (including Miller’s entire run).

Doctor Strange Epic Collection Volume 11: Nightmare on Bleecker Street (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302951054 / digital)
See Guide to Doctor Strange. I’ve just given this guide a major shake-up to bring it up to date on collections, although I still have a lot of work to do on guest appearances and formatting. I was surprised to see how aggressive Marvel has gotten with Epic Collections of his 1988 series, since they’ve also been covering it in omnibus volumes at the same time. I would’ve guessed that they’d want to pump out some classic Stern material to coincide with last years Multiverse of Madness film, but I suppose the Masterworks line is still not too far ahead of that point.

Edge of Spider-Verse (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947170 / digital TBA)
See Guide to Spider-Man, Peter Parker (2018 – Present Day). This is the prologue to Dan Slott’s Spider-Verse redux that played out in Spider-Man (2022).

Genis-Vell: Captain Marvel (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302946722 / digital)
See Guide to Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers or Guide to Captain Marvel, Genis-Vell (eventually) for the return of the son of Captain Mar-Vell

Hulk: Planet Hulk Omnibus (2017 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302907693 / 2023 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949686 / digital)
See Guide to Hulk, Bruce Banner for this 2023 straight reprint of the 2017 omnibus.

Iron Man, Books of Korvac IV: Source Control (20xx paperback, ISBN 978-1302932701 / digital)
See Guide to Iron Man. I was absolutely obsessed with the first three volumes of this epic Christopher Cantwell Iron Man series, though I haven’t yet read the contents of this final book.

Marvel Knights: Make the World Go Away (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302949709 / digital)
See Guide to Daredevil. I’m a little puzzled about this one, as this book collecting the six-issue Marvel Knights anniversary series by Matt Rosenberg & Donny Cates was already issued in trade with the same contents in 2019… and neither collection puts Daredevil in the title, which would help it sell better! It primarily stars Daredevil and fits in just prior to his Zdarsky series.

Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 16
See Guide to Iron Man. This book pushes the Iron Man Masterworks collection into 1983!

Star Wars – Bounty Hunters Vol. 5: The Raid on the Vermillion (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-0785194798 / digital)
See Guide to Star Wars Expanded Universe Comics. This is one of the current Star Wars ongoing series set in the period directly following Empire Strikes Back.

X-Men: Hellfire Gala – Immortal (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952099 / digital)
See Guide t0 X-Men – The Age of Krakoa. This second annual Hellfire Gala merits a much less fancy and much slimmer release compared to the special oversize hardcover gold edition from 2021’s event. It collects the Hellfire Gala one-shot, the mirth-filled Tini Howard follow-up to the prior gala from Secret X-Men (2022) #1, and a number of digital shorts.

Read on for a rundown of Marvel Comics February 15 2023 single-issue releases, including a link to their accompanying guide pages on Crushing Comics.