Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Jason Aaron

New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – February 8, 2023

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Welcome to the second in my trial run of a return to new release posts! This post covers Marvel Comics February 8 2023 releases.

Avengers by Jason Aaron, Volume 11 - History's Mightiest Heroes, out from Marvel Comics February 8 2023This 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 February 8 2023 Collected Editions

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus, Vol. 1
(2017 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302907082 / 2023 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302945473 / digital)
This is the massively-satisfying first half of Hickman’s Avengers run, taking it through the end of the Infinity event in perfect Hickman-approved reading order. Although I’ve been known to have complains about this run, they’re 100% from the back half – you cannot go wrong with this (and I’m a rare dissenter on the run as a whole). See the Guide to Avengers Flagships (2010 – Present Day).

Avengers By Jason Aaron Vol. 11: History’s Mightiest Heroes
(2022 paperback, ISBN 978-1302928858 / digital)
This is the final volume of this series collected on its own before it heads into the climactic Avengers Assemble crossover. See Guide to Avengers Flagships (2010 – Present Day).

Avengers: Kree/Skrull War Gallery Edition HC
(2023 oversize “Gallery” hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949594)
These gallery editions are even larger than omnibus-size – they’re similar to DC Absolutes. And, if any classic run of art merits one, it’s Kree/Skrull war, which contains one of my favorite issues of all time, Avengers (1963) #93 – “Journey to the Center of the Android.” See Guide to Avengers (1963 – 1996).

Mighty Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 1 – The Coming of Captain Marvel
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948894 / digital)
This book is part of Marvel’s new paperback Masterworks recollection line, which does not always line up directly with the breaks in the original Masterworks line. See Guide to Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers or Guide to Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell (eventually).

Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Menace Revealed Vol. 3
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302932312 / digital)
This release (and the announcement of some Epics for later in 2023) brings us tantalizingly close to full coverage of Star Wars Legends in Epic format. Of course… Marvel hasn’t reprinted a single volume, so some of them have risen to omnibus-prices on the aftermarket! We’ll see if Marvel releasing the actual omnibuses deflates that a bit. See Guide to Star Wars Legends (Expanded Universe, 1977-2015).

X-Men: The Animated Series – The Adaptations Omnibus
(2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302947774 / digital)
This one is PACKED with nostalgia for us 90s X-kids. It collects the three ongoing series comic adaptations-slash-extensions of the iconic X-Men Animated series. Collects X-Men Adventures (1992) #1-15, X-Men Adventures (1994) #1-13 and X-Men Adventures (1995) #1-13 in full. See Guide to X-Men Ongoing Titles.

Read on for a rundown of Marvel Comics February 8 2023 single-issue releases, including a link to their accompanying guide pages on Crushing Comics.

[Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – February 8, 2023

Updated: Guide to Avengers Flagship Titles, 2010 – Present

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Today I’m excited to bring you a complete from-the-ground-up re-build and major update of one of the most-important guides to reading Marvel Comics from 2010 to present… Avengers flagship titles (2010 – present) – The Definitive Collecting Guide!

This massive update was made possible by Patrons of Crushing Krisis. It covers hundreds of issues across over 20 volumes of comics that have been collected in more than 250 different print editions, spanning four major eras of Avengers. Whether you want to buy collected editions, build a digital collection, or read as a Marvel Unlimited subscriber, this guide has you completely covered. [Read more…] about Updated: Guide to Avengers Flagship Titles, 2010 – Present

Guide to Jane Foster, Mighty Thor & Valkyrie – now available to the public!

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I’m happy to announce that my Guide to Jane Foster – The Mighty Thor & Valkyrie is now available to all CK readers to help them get ready for Thor: Love & Thunder thanks to the ongoing support of the Mighty Patrons of Crushing Krisis.

Guide to Jane Foster – The Mighty Thor & Valkyrie

Check out my original guide announcement for CK Patrons for an entire essay on what I learned from researching my Guide to Jane Foster!

This guide isn’t just a walkthrough of Jane’s time as The Mighty Thor from 2014 to 2019. It’s a reading order for every Jane Foster issue, ever. That includes a full issue-by-issue recap of all of her more than 180 appearances before becoming a hero, a full collecting guide to her time as The Mighty Thor, plus coverage of her current heroic mantle of Valkyrie.

Jane makes 198 primary appearances in her own titles or in Thor titles, plus her time as a team member in Avengers, and many guest appearances from the 1960s through the present day. If you’re just interested in the core of Jane Foster, I’ve got that covered in a “Greatest Hits” section that distills 40 years of continuity down to just 18 key appearances as a civilian prior to her time as The Mighty Thor in 2014.

Finally, if you’re after only Jane’s time as a superhero, Marvel has that covered in a pair of newly-released paperbacks:

Jane Foster: The Saga of the Mighty Thor (2022 paperback, IBSN 978-1302934873 / digital)
Collects Thor (2014) #1-8 & Annual 1 (2nd story); Mighty Thor (2015) #1-5, 8-11, 13-14, and Generations: Unworthy Thor and Mighty Thor (2017) #1. This collects all of the introduction and build-up of Jane’s story, but the climax and transformation is in the next volume.

Jane Foster: The Saga of Valkyrie (2022 paperback, ISBN 978-1302934828 / digital)
Collects Mighty Thor (2015) #702-706, material from Mighty Thor: At the Gates of Valhalla (2018) #1 and War of the Realms: Omega (2019) #1, and Valkyrie: Jane Foster (2019) #1-10. This won’t read as well as a standalone as it does with the build-up from the “Saga of the Mighty Thor” volume, but it is fantastic material!

New for Patrons: Guide to Marvel’s Angela

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Surprise! I’m back with a second new guide in a row for Patrons of Crushing Krisis, for yet another Asgardian leading lady… although, she started out somewhere very different (both within Marvel continuity and before she arrived at Marvel)…

Guide to Marvel’s Angela

 

One thing that DC Comics is very well known for that Marvel Comics is absolutely not known for is incorporating the characters from other publishers into their line.

Even before Crisis on Infinite Earths gave DC the infinite flexibility to subsume entire lines of characters like Wildstorm and Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics, the DC juggernaut had absorbed entire universes of characters. They incorporated many Charlton Comics characters like Blue Beetle and Captain Atom (who also doubled as inspiration for Watchmen), and before them Fawcett Comics’ Shazam! Not to mention their self-incorporation of the many properties that branched out into the Vertigo line back to DC continuity.

Plus, DC never hesitates to engage in cross-company crossovers, as long as it’s not with Marvel. Even relatively recently we’ve seen Batman cross paths with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Gotham Academy with Lumberjanes!

The only time Marvel really came close to a wholesale import of characters was through their acquisition of Malibu Comics’ Ultraverse, which they hastily shuttered.

We could speculate endlessly about why this is the case. Is it Marvel’s self-reliance that borders on stinginess? The sacrosanct nature of their 616-Universe? That DC’s characters are more iconic and stand up better to other media properties? That Marvel has less adventurous fans?

Regardless of the why, it is a very big deal when any kind of outside character makes their way into Marvel’s Universe. It’s an even bigger deal when that character was created by Neil Gaiman, was one of the original big draws during the launch of Image Comics, and has been involved in a somewhat nasty set of legal battles with her now-no-longer-officially-recognized co-creator Todd McFarlane.

I am, of course, talking about Neil Gaiman’s Angela. [Read more…] about New for Patrons: Guide to Marvel’s Angela