Jack Kirby

Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #9, 8, and 7

June 15, 2016 by krisis

Omnibus on Shelf Welcome to another edition of Marvel’s most-wanted omnibuses based on the annual secret ballot by Tigereyes. I covered #10-12 in the last installment.

We’ve broken through to the Top 10 books on the survey. That doesn’t immediately make all of it classic – some of it warrants high demand for other reasons, like a specific creator or filling in a highly-desired gap.

However, today I have three classics for you. For two of the books, that designation is an obvious one. For the third, this might be the first time you’ve ever been asked to consider it as a classic, but I’ve felt that way for over 25 years!

Do you own an oversized tome of the comics starring your favorite character or featuring your favorite story? My Marvel Omnibus & Oversized Hardcover Guide is the most comprehensive tool on the web for tracking Marvel’s hugest releases – it features details on every oversize book, including a rundown of contents and if the volume is still readily available for purchase. [Read more…] about Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #9, 8, and 7

Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #25 to 21

June 11, 2016 by krisis

Omnibus on Shelf It’s time for the next set of results from the 2016 Secret Ballot for Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibus by Tigereyes. I covered #30-26 in the last installment.

This set of books is decidedly more classic than some of the ones we’ve seen so far, with all of the issues under consideration released by 1991. Unsurprisingly, that means we’ve seen all of these votes on past year’s of the survey. They’re all relative longshots save for one, but for a number of different reasons.

Marvel has released these oversized omnibus editions for over a decade now, with a staggering amount of their most-popular material now covered in the format – from Silver Age debuts to modern classics. Is your favorite character or run of issues already in an Omnibus? My Marvel Omnibus & Oversized Hardcover Guide is the most comprehensive tool on the web for answering that question – it features every book, plus release dates, contents, and even breakdowns of $/page and what movies the books were released to support.

And now, it’s the omnibuses that placed at #25 through 21! [Read more…] about Marvel’s Most-Wanted Omnibuses of 2016 – #25 to 21

Black Panther Reading Order & Collecting Guide

Updated Apr 10, 2025! The definitive issue-by-issue comic book collecting guide and reading order for Marvel’s Black Panther in omnibus, hardcover, trade paperback, and digital. Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated April 2025 with titles scheduled for release through June 2025.

Black Panther Original_Sin_Vol_1_2_Dell'Otto_Variant_Textless

T’Challa, The Black Panther. He was the marquee black hero of both Marvel and DC in the early 60s, invented by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as Reed Richard’s equal and then adopted into the cast of The Avengers by Roy Thomas & John Buscema.

Even with that pedigree, and a later solo turn by Kirby himself, Black Panther was never a major solo character for Marvel. He disappeared for most of the 1980s only to return in the anthology Marvel Comics Presents (1988) and in a pair of mini-series.

T’Challa wouldn’t have his real breakout moment until he was launched into his own series in 1998 by Christopher Priest. The wordy, range-y, and often inane tale took Panther from American inner-city streets to Wakandan Palace intrigue. Along the way, Priest created the vast majority of Panther’s supporting cast and Wakanda’s mythology out of whole cloth.

After that, T’Challa had a streak of solid solo series penned by Reginald Hudlin, Jason Aaron, and Jonathan Maberry before Jonathan Hickman adopted him as a main player in his universe-altering New Avengers (2013) in the drive to his Secret Wars.

Panther returned from Secret Wars as perhaps Marvel’s highest-profile character. He not only had an MCU film incoming, but also had his series piloted for five years by internationally acclaimed journalist and non-fiction literary star Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates and a list of literary luminaries he pulled in as collaborators gave us the biggest explosion of additions to the world of Wakanda since Priest.

Panther’s path has been slightly rockier since Coates’s departure in 2020. A brief run from screenwriter John Ridley fizzled with little noise, and a Wakanda-centered run from Dr. Eve Ewing was cancelled just as it found its footing. With T’Challa out of the MCU due to the tragic untimely passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, Marvel seems content to keep Black Panther as an anchor on The Avengers.

Fantastic Four – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Updated May 8, 2025! The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade-reading order on collecting Fantastic Four comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated May 2025 with titles scheduled for release through December 2025.

The Fantastic Four are known as “Marvel’s First Family,” not only because they are the most enduring family of the Marvel Universe but because their debut marks the start of the superheroic Silver Age at Marvel! [Read more…] about Fantastic Four – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

Silver Age X-Men – Collecting Guide and Reading Order for Uncanny X-Men (1963) #1-93

The definitive issue-by-issue comic book collecting guide and trade reading order for Marvel’s Silver Age X-Men and X-Men Hidden Years comic books in omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated November 2024 with titles scheduled for release through June 2025.

The Silver Age X-Men

The X-Men debuted in 1963 under the pen of the father of the Silver Age Marvel Universe, Stan Lee, and his frequent collaborator, Jack Kirby.

X-Men (1963) is one of the most important key issues of the Silver Age because the team debuted fully formed with a complete cast of Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Marvel Girl AKA Jean Grey, Angel, Iceman, Beast – and, their signature foe, Magneto!

The “Original Five” were lead by Professor Xavier against foes like Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Namor, Unus The Untouchable, The Blob, Juggernaut, the original Sentinels, and many other classic X-Men enemies that are recalled to this day. Issue #4 introduced Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, who would soon migrate to the Avengers to become a part of “Caps Kooky Quartet” along with a third reformed villain, Hawkeye.

The original run of X-Men lasted from issue #1 in September 1963 through issue #66 in March 1970. From there, the title continued exclusively as a bi-monthly reprint book from issues #67-93, republishing prior issues with new cover illustrations.

Those five ears ended in 1975 with the publication of Giant Size X-Men and the relaunch of the title with a new cast in issue #94.

Though no new X-Men material was published from 1970 to 1974, the team was still active at the margins of the Marvel Universe – as seen in occasional guest appearances. That has led this period to be dubbed “The Hidden Years” by both Marvel and fans. Those “Hidden Years” contain contemporaneous Silver and Bronze Age material from the period, as well as later-inserted material.

Since all of that material features the assembled Silver Age team, it is also covered by this guide – distinguished as “Silver & Bronze Hiatus Appearances” and “Modern Age Hidden Years.”

(Making things even more confusing, the “Modern Age Hidden Years” should generally be read first – since it does not include the fuzzy version of Beast!)

Because this era is covered comprehensively by multiple formats, I have not listed the full breadth of single issues collected by story or single issue – there’s no reason to collect this run in that fashion. However, I have included some key issues below to help orient you to major moments in the Silver Age run.

If you want a reading order of every X-Men comic and character in that period (including guest appearances, flashbacks, and retcon stories), see The Definitive X-Men Reading Order, Era #1: Original X-Men.

A note on the title of this series: The official publication name of this title was “X-Men” through the Silver Age and beyond. The title was not formally changed to “Uncanny X-Men” until the indicia of issue #142. However, Marvel routinely refers to the entirety of this 1963 – 2010 volume as “Uncanny X-Men,” as on this Marvel Unlimited entry for issue #1. As a result, my convention on Crushing Comics is to always refer to the entire series as “Uncanny X-Men,” even prior to the indicia change.