Marvel Comics

Magik, Illyana Rasputin – Reading Order & Collecting Guide

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – January 1 2025

December 26, 2024 by krisis

Next week is the 1st new comic book day of the new year, and that means I’m back to cover Marvel’s new releases! This post covers Marvel Comics January 1 2025 releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy, Zdarsky & Checchetto’s dual Daredevils in Omnibus, Pak’s Darth Vader finale, Jed MacKay’s Moon Knight Vengeance, Black Cat vs. The Avengers, Sam Wilson vs. Red Hulk, debuts for Cable & Deadpool, and more!

I was so proud of keeping up with these posts for an entire half a year at the start of 2024. Unfortunately, life conspired to get in the way in June and July. After that, rather than leap right back to the weekly posts, I took five months to update every Marvel Comics guide on Crushing Comics. Every. Single. One.

Even small guides. Even Patrons-only guides. They’re all updated with comics and collections released through the end of 2024 and into 2025. This is the first time all of Marvel has been updated at the same time since 2024! Now that I’m feeling confident about how all of the guides look, it’s time to get back to tracking all of Marvel’s new releases.

The Krisis Pick of the Week: The Ultimates (2024) #8! Denis Camp has been on fire on this Ultimate Universe team book throughout 2024, and his choices of which 616 heroes to adapt keep getting more and more surprising.

This post includes every comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. This isn’t the typical comic releases post you can find on other sites. Why? I explain each collection and review every series with a new issue out this week. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to a personally-curated guide within the Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect that title in full! There’s no other website on the internet that can claim that.

And now, onto Marvel Comics January 1 2025 new releases!

Marvel Comics January 1 2025 Collected Editions

Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky [& Marco Checchetto] Omnibus Vol. 2
(2025 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302956264 / digital)
See Guide to Daredevil. This collects the back half of the outstanding Zdarsky/Checchetoo run co-starring Daredevil and Elektra. That includes final arc of Zdarsky & Checchetto’s Daredevil (2019) series, the main Devil’s Reign (2021) event series as well as the supporting Elektra series Daredevil: Woman Without Fear (2022) #1-3, and all of the subsequent Daredevil (2022).

I could not recommend this run any more highly. It is fantastically written and voiced with spectacular artwork. This is peak Daredevil, even among the many peaks the character has enjoyed across the past 25 years of publishing.

Two things to note: First, the solicit for this series has never included Elektra #100, which is an odd omission since it contains Zdarsky content that fits into this era’s story. We’ll see if it turns up in the actual book.

Second, for the full story of the post-Devil’s-Reign plot, you’ll also want to read Jason Aaron’s Punisher (2022) #1-12. It’s an amazing series, which is not something you’ll often hear me say about Aaron or Punisher! See my Guide to Punisher for collection details.

Get Fury
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302912543 / digital)
See Guide to Punisher. Yes, really! Because Get Fury (2024) #1-6 extend the story of the Punisher MAX universe with this Vietnam-era prequel as written by Garth Ennis. That means this book is NOT in Marvel-616 continuity.

Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 8
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302955571 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (1963-2018). Marvel Team-Up (1972) was almost entirely Spider-Man title, with Human Torch occasionally swapping in for a team-up. This volume is notable as much for what it contains (stories by Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema) as for what it doesn’t (it skips issue #79, a team-up with Red Sonja).

Micronauts: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302957254 / digital)
Collects Micronauts (1979) #55-59 and Micronauts: The New Voyages (1984) #1-20.

Micronauts was a short-lived MEGO toy property whose continuity was vastly expanded by Marvel. The Marvel comics long outlived the toys and Marvel fully integrated the Micronauts in their 616 Universe just as they did with ROM (see Guide to ROM – Spaceknight for more on that!). Today the Micronauts are owned by Hasbro.

This omnibus completes Marvel’s recollection of the entirety of their two main ongoing Micronauts series. However, it controversially skips over the beloved The X-Men and the Micronauts (1984) mini-series by Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, & Butch Guice. Marvel gave no hints as to why they skipped that material while collecting similar material in their ROM omnibus line.

Will Marvel announce the mini as a standalone oversize hardcover to please both X-Men fans and Micronauts fans? It feels like a pipe-dream, but stranger things have happened with Marvel’s collections in 2024!

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957537 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present), although this J.M. DeMatteis & Michael Sta. Maria retcon series actually fits within the first year of Amazing Spider-Man (1963) with a story of the Osborn family from shortly before Norman is the Green Goblin.

You may be surprised to learn that that was one of my favorite comic books of 2024! I’m a little surprised about it myself. J.M. DeMatteis’s writing for Spidey is as impeccable as it was over 30 years ago. Plus, this retcon story feels substantial and connects several disparate plot threads from decades of existing comics, rather than shoe-horning in something unnecessary and new. Highly recommended for fans of classic Spider-Man comics! [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – January 1 2025

Guide to What If? – now available to the all readers!

December 25, 2024 by krisis

Happy Holidays, Marvel fans! Today I’m thrilled to release one of my favorite new guides of the past year with all readers: my Guide to What If?! This guide was made possible through the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis!

Guide to Marvel’s What If?

This Marvel What If? Guide includes so much more than a list of collected editions of Marvel’s big two ongoing What If? series from 1977 and 1989.

First, it breaks down what the “What If” is in every single issue of those nearly-200 ongoing issues and what issues are often collected alongside other existing stories.

Then, it includes every “What If” mini-series and one-shot Marvel has produced over the past 50 years. Sometimes those single issues weren’t released under a specific banner or title, but as a series of disconnected one-shots. That can make them hard to track down – take it from someone who researched every one of them! This Guide explains all of that, including the “What If?” question behind each issue and how they were collected.

Whether you’re looking for a specific “What If?” story or trying to read every issue in order of release, this guide has the answers you’re looking for. It’s one of over 150 guides that are part of the Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics, covering the vast majority of Marvel titles, teams, and solo characters.

Want instant access to future guides like this one? Become a Patron of CK for less than the cost of one comic a month to gain access to over 80 other guides months before the general public gains access.

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – June 12 2024

June 7, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 24th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics June 12 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics June 5 2024 new releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: a septet of Blood Hunt issues, complete Thompson Black Widow, a Thorless Thor Epic, Krakoa’s apocalyptic epilogue, Orlando’s Scarlet Witch perseveres, the end of Hickman & Schiti’s GODS, and more!

The Krisis Pick of the Week: Scarlet Witch (2024) #1 (of 4)! Steve Orlando has been writing what might be his best comic ever with this run, and all of his art teams have been top notch. I have my fingers crossed this will get upgraded to an ongoing stories.

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every 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!

Marvel Comics June 12 2024 Collected Editions

Black Widow by Kelly Thompson
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952662 / digital)
See Guide to Black Widow. This Eisner-Winning series from Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande, Jordie Bellaire, & Cory Petit is easily the best start-to-finish single read for any fan of Black Widow. It starts out by putting Natasha in a uniquely uncomfortable place and ends with her leading an unlikely team of deadly misfits.

This series looks great from start to finish and tells one big and and incredibly satisfying story that actually reads better as a binge than it did in single issues. Highly recommended!

PS: Don’t be put off by the awful cover of this collection; the interiors look nothing like this!

The Incredible Hulk Vol. 2: War Devils
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302954178 / digital)
See Guide to Hulk – Bruce Banner. I think this second collection is a great place to start with Phillip J. Kennedy, Nic Klein & Danny Earls, Matthew Wilson, & Cory Petit is a fine place to begin. While I found the initial Ghost Rider story in this collection to be on the marginal side, I loved the follow-up New Orleans story.

This run leans into Hulk as one of the few weapons against the biggest horrors of the Marvel Universe, and I think that works best in 2-3 issue jaunts rather than longer arcs. It’s also a book full of page after page of stunning artwork, with a carefully curated color palette from Wilson that makes Hulk’s green really pop off the page.

Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 2
(2024 “Remasterworks” hardcover, ISBN 978-1302951405)
See Guide to Avengers (1963 – 1996). This Masterworks collects the first true peak of early Avengers by Stan Lee, as we get the second year of their adventures together – including the iconic line-up change in issue #16!

This is a “Remasterworks” edition, meaning the linework is even more-restored than the original Masterworks edition. That restoration will be largely invisible to all but the most discerning of eyes, but if you want a prestige-format bookshelf of early Avengers comics then this is even more of a must-buy than it was before.

The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302957612 / digital)
See Guide to Thor – The Odinson. This massive brick of an omnibus continues Walt Simonson’s entire multi-year epic both writing and pencilling Thor, all with modern recolors from the 10s.

I thought the modern colors were instantly dated and they haven’t aged particularly well. However, this is the only way to pick up all of Simonson’s run easily aside from a long-since-out-of-print set of trade paperbacks. And, colors aside, this run is about as classic as you can get – it’s one of the major pillars of 80s superhero comics alongside Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men and Wolfman & Pérez’s Titans.

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – June 5 2024

May 31, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 23nd new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics June 5 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 29 2024 new releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: The Ultimates debut, Alpha Flight divided, Ms. Marvel’s Inhumans reunion, Lando’s verdict, a second Spencer Spidey omni, the Age of Krakoa finale, and more!

Marvel Comics June 5 2024 Collected Editions

Alpha Flight: Divided We Stand
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952457 / digital)
See Guide to Alpha Flight. I really, really loved this Ed Brisson & Scott Godlweski Alpha Flight mini-series that was a part of the Fall of X fallout from the 2023 Hellfire Gala.

I have a lot of affection for the core Alpha Flight characters and Ed Brisson voiced all of them particularly well as he explored how they might be stuck on separate sides of the mutant conflict. I think this reads just fine as a standalone outside of a full-on Krakoa read, since most of these characters are non-mutants and not a big part of the past five years of X-Men.

The Amazing Spider-Man By Nick Spencer Omnibus Vol. 2
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302953645 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present). This collects the final half of Nick Spencer’s run on Amazing Spider-Man (2018). I deeply disliked this comic – it felt like a Spider-Man with no jokes and no heart. I think if you are an Osborn Family superfan this would appeal to you, as it deals with a lot of the intricacies of the relationship between Norman and Harry. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it.

In a curious turn of events, the next omnibus is already available – Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949624 / digital), which contains the entire final portion of this run that reintroduces Ben Reilly.

Black Panther by Eve L. Ewing Vol. 2: Reign at Dusk
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948849 / digital)
See Guide to Black Panther. I was soft on this series from Dr. Ewing to start, but after the first three issues I really warmed to it and I was bummed to see it end abruptly at issue #10.

I think Ewing did something intriguing and much-needed here by defining more of the urban environment of Wakanda outside of the capital city and exploring T’Challa’s relationship to it outside of being king. Plus, she brought in strong new supporting players and villains. If you can get into a more slow, cerebral take on Black Panther that does not have the political bent of Coates’s run, this could be for you. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – June 5 2024