Crushing Krisis

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Amadeus Cho

The Pull List: Batman, Brave and The Bold, Damnation, Maestros, Mighty Thor, Punks Not Dead, and more!

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Doctor Strange: Damnation #1, art by Rod Reis

I know it seems impossible, but The Pull List has grown even bigger this week for the third week in a row! That’s because I finished catching up to present on a number of DC and Marvel books, plus I picked up five smaller press books.

  • DC Comics
    • Batman #41
    • Batman & the Signal #2
    • The Brave and The Bold #1
    • Damage #2
    • Deathbed #1 (Vertigo)
    • Justice League #39
    • Milk Wars – DC Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye / Swamp Thing Special
    • Super Sons #13
    • Superman #41
    • Trinity #18
  • Image Comics
    • The Further Adventures of Nick Wilson #2
    • Ice Cream Man #2
    • Maestros #5
    • Redlands #6
    • Twisted Romance #3
  • Marvel Comics
    • Astonishing X-Men #8
    • Avengers #681
    • Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #5
    • Doctor Strange – Damnation #1
    • Generation X #87
    • Infinity Countdown Prime
    • Mighty Thor #704
    • Tales of Suspense #102
    • The Incredible Hulk #713
    • Venom #162
    • X-Men Gold #22
  • Smaller Publishers: Dark Horse, Dynamite, IDW, Vault Comics, Zenescope
    • Belle Beast Hunter #2, Zenescope
    • Heathen #6, Vault Comics
    • James Bond: The Body #1, Dynamite Comics
    • Mata Hari #1, Dark Horse / Berger Books
    • Musketeers #1, Zenescope
    • Punks Not Dead #1, IDW Publishing / Black Crown

Pick of the Pull

Big Two (Marvel/DC) Issue of the Week:
Mighty Thor (2016) #704

A bloody, thrilling, heart-rending comic. Aaron has somehow amped up the drama in each of the last three issues as we hasten towards a potential Ragnarok at the hands of the Mangog and Jane Foster’s death at her own hands if she takes up the mantle of Thor just one more time.

Yet, beyond those looming disasters there is still Makelith’s war on the Ten Realms. Mangog is just one facet of that. Even in the dimness and tragedy, Aaron finds shining moments – Jane with her friend in the cancer ward, a father and son joined in battle, and a mother casting aside a snake that has wounded her before.

All the while, Dauterman and Wilson are turning in a quality of artwork never seen before at Marvel comics – truly, one of the pinnacles of art at Marvel in over 75 years of publishing.

This story has officially become the best Thor story in my eyes, and it just might be Marvel’s best longform story of all time. I’d place it alongside Mark Gruenwald Captain America and Chris Claremont X-Men at this point.

Best Small-Pub Issue of the Week:
Punks Not Dead (2018) #1, IDW Publishing / Black Crown

An utterly madcap introduction to Punks Not Dead (and, for me, to Black Crown comics, which are edited by Shelly Bond distributed by IDW). This book is part Injection, part Sid and Nancy, and a little dash of the more lighthearted issues of Sandman.

It follows a teenage boy and his scam artist mom as the kid picks up some kind of supernatural echo of the deceased Sid Vicious in a dingy airport bathroom. Meanwhile, the beleaguered Department for Extra-Usual Affairs is busy putting minor demons out of the closet at 10 Downing Street with a staff of one.

This book is funny, unique, and looks freaking brilliant. Artist Martin Simmonds is simply incredible, drawing a real-seeming Britain with amped up color and clever use of cut-and-pasted patterns to ground it in real, textured reality. I am in love with this book, and will not only be keeping up with it, but also checking out other titles from Black Crown. [Read more…] about The Pull List: Batman, Brave and The Bold, Damnation, Maestros, Mighty Thor, Punks Not Dead, and more!

Incredible Hercules by Pak & Van Lente Omnibus – The #52 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

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Incredible Hercules by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente Omnibus is the #52 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot. 

Incredible_Hercules_2008_0119Visit the Guide to Hercules for the full details on how to collect this run, which spun out of World War Hulk.

Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes.

What Is It? Incredible Hercules (2008) took over its sequential numbering from Incredible Hulk, where both Hercules and Amadeus Cho had been supporting players during World War Hulk.

It was the first time Hercules had his own starring ongoing title. It took him on a heroes journey of owning his godhood and becoming a leader, then ultimately rejecting it to rely on his humanity to be a hero.

Incredible Hercules (2008) ran from February 2008 to April 2010 and was followed by a trio of connected mini-series and a second 11-issue ongoing, Herc (2011), which ran from June 2011 to January 2012.

Past Ranking: This year is the book’s debut placement in the ballot results.

Creators: Written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente with an assortment of artists including Rafa Sandoval, Salva Espin, Clayton Henry, Rodney Buchemi, Reilly Brown, Ariel Olivetti, Khoi Pham, Neil Edwards, and more!

Probable Contents: Incredible Hulk (1999) #112, Incredible Hercules (2008) #113-141, Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide, Assault on New Olympus Prologue, Hercules: Fall of an Avenger (2010) #1-2, Heroic Age: Prince of Power (2010) #1-4, Chaos War (2010) #1-5, Chaos War: Chaos King (2011) #1, Chaos War: God Squad (2011) #1, Chaos War: Ares (2011) #1, Herc (2011) #1-10 & 6.1, and maybe Deadpool Team-Up Vol. 2 (2010) #899. See below for a full reading order. [Read more…] about Incredible Hercules by Pak & Van Lente Omnibus – The #52 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

The Definitive Hercules Collecting Guide and Reading Order

The Hercules comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated December 2017 with titles scheduled for release through May 2018.

Hercules has had a peculiar career as a Marvel superhero.

Hercules - Fall of an Avenger #2 (textless cover)

After what later proved to be an imposter appearing in his stead in Avengers #10, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby debuted the real Hercules in Journey Into Mystery Annual 1. There, he appeared along with his father Zeus in an attempt to create a set of worthy colleagues for Thor, Odin, and the Asgardian pantheon.

In short order, Hercules was established as a sort of good-time loving, screw-up demi-god, repeatedly cast out of Olympus by Zeus for his various transgressions.

During an early expulsion he rooms with the Avengers, assisting them in several adventures as repayment. Later, after a run of adventures with Thor, he moves to Los Angeles to found the short-lived Champions with other characters who were team-less in the mid-70s – Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Iceman, and Angel.

Hercules rose to solo prominence in the early 1980s with a pair of mini-series and a graphic nove. However, this Hercules penned by Bob Layton, wasn’t the one readers knew from The Champions. He was a 24th Century future version of the god who was – once again – exiled from Olympus!

In the early 90s, Hercules settled in for an official run as an Avenger with his Champions colleague Black Widow. However, after Onslaught caused The Avengers to disappear from the Marvel Universe while he was on leave, he became a hero adrift – appearing briefly in Heroes for Hire as well as his first in-continuity mini-series in 1997.

Hercules would finally get his starring turn as a result of a battle with an old foe – Hulk! In the 60s, Hercules proved to be one of the few heroes who could stand toe-to-toe with the Jade Giant. In 2007, he took over Hulk’s title in the wake of World War Hulk, becoming The Incredible Hercules! His book was a fan favorite, spawning two mini-series and another brief ongoing in 2011 before Hercules disappeared from the page. He would see revival in a 2016 All-New, All-Different Marvel series, which controversially ignored his canonical bisexuality.

While Hercules still isn’t a marquee hero at Marvel, it seems that he won’t ever disappear again for more than a few years at a time. [Read more…] about The Definitive Hercules Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Collecting Incredible Hulk comic books as graphic novels

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide on collecting Hulk comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Collecting Avengers: A Definitive Guide. Last updated June 2020 with titles scheduled for release through February 2021.

Collecting Hulk

incredible_hulk_7_1There are hundreds of different collections of Iron Man, especially his original run from 1963 to 1996. However, there are a few specific formats of books that cover large portions of this title, and I’ll cover those first – Essentials, Epics, Masterworks, and Omnibuses. [Read more…] about Collecting Incredible Hulk comic books as graphic novels