Monica Rambeau

Monica Rambeau, Photon, Spectrum, & Captain Marvel – Definitive Collecting Guide and Reading Order

New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 20, 2023

September 19, 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 20 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 20 2023 Collected Editions

The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection, Vol. 22: Round Robin
(2015 paperback, ISBN 978-0785192688 / 2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302950545 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man, Peter Parker (1963-2018). I’ve just updated all of the Amazing Epic Collections on the guide and I was shocked at how many of them have been back to print in the past three lines. Even Epics of relatively insignificant runs! Marvel has truly found a way to create a Manga-Style, well-organized, evergreen line of their entire comics history and we love to see it.

The Avengers Omnibus Vol. 4
(2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302953621 / digital)
See the freshly rebuilt Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)! This is the last of the four reprints in addition to a brand new Volume 5 out this month. We love to see this line advancing without new Avengers movies on the big screen, which used to be the only way it got a new volume.

Bloodline: Daughter of Blade
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302924423 / digital)
See Guide to Blade. This series has an awkward history – originally it was meant to be launched by Tim Seeley several years ago, and then it was shelved and seemingly lost before it was revived (and revised) by Danny Lore. Unfortunately, this just didn’t hold together for me. It wasn’t Lore’s fault – I think the artist had trouble keeping up with a story that repeatedly mixed casual scenes with action scenes. The discontinuity of storytelling in the art eventually wore me down.

Captain Marvel: The Saga of Carol Danvers
(2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302951818 / digital)
See Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. This is a peculiar trade that’s more of a sampler for the movie crowd then a trade for a consistent bookshelf. It collects the opening eights issues of Kelly Sue DeConnick’s 2012 Carol Danvers series (which includes a great pair of issues where she meets up with Monica Rambeau) as well as the origin-redefining The Life of Captain Marvel (2018), which brought her comic origins more in line with the MCU (booo!).

New for Patrons: Guide to Monica Rambeau – Photon, Spectrum, & Captain Marvel

September 18, 2023 by krisis Leave a Comment

This week I’m back with a new guide for all Patrons of CK to spotlight a character who used to be just a footnote in another guide! She has been known by many names at Marvel, but ever since she was created by Roger Stern 41 years ago she has never quite disappeared from sight. Now, in 2023, she’s poised to have her biggest year ever thanks to this Novembers The Marvels. That’s right, it’s her time to shine: Guide to Monica Rambeau – Photon, Spectrum, & Captain Marvel.

Guide to Monica Rambeau – Photon, Spectrum, & Captain Marvel.

I adore Monica Rambeau and get excited every time she shows up on the page. Yet, I really hadn’t read her at all before I encountered her in a guest appearance in Captain Marvel (2012) #7-8 to argue with Carol over who should use the Captain Marvel name!

That’s because all of Monica’s past appearances – as Captain Marvel, Photon, and Spectrum – fell curiously between my prime reading years. I always knew that Monica Rambeau was a creation of Roger Stern’s for his run in Avengers, but those weren’t the back-issues I was tracking down in my X-crazed 90s collecting years, and she was mostly absent from comics the entire time I was collecting save a handful of solo stories. Then, I totally missed out on her 2006-2010 resurgence when I came back to reading in 2010!

I thought I’ve picked up a lot from context over the past 13 years of reading, but now that I’ve been through every single Monica Rambeau appearance I realize just how much I was missing – which makes me even happier to have created this guide.

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.

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 – April 26, 2023

April 23, 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 April 26 2023 releases.

Marvel Comics April 26 2023 Collected Editions

All-Out Avengers: Teachable Moments (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947019 / digital)
See Guide to Avengers Flagship Titles (2010 – Present). This new “All-Out” brand for Marvel indicates an all-action series that is a non-stop five issue fight, here created by Derek Landy & Greg Land. The Landy-Land team continues to a new volume, Avengers Beyond, below.

Cosmic Ghost Rider by Donny Cates (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302949891 / digital)
See Guide to Ghost Rider. This paperbacks collects all of Donny Cates’s Cosmic Ghost Rider material, which is a subset of the material from the 2021 omnibus. However, there is really just one full CGR series in this collection – his first 2018 five-issue limited series. All the other material in this book are his debut in Thanos (2016) and guest-starring and team membership issues. Bottom line: This is the right buy if you’re a Cates fan or looking purely for origin material, otherwise you should buy the omnibus instead.

Deadpool & Cable Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949921)
See Guide to Deadpool or Guide to Cable for this complete reprint of their 50-issue 2004 team-up series.

Fantastic Four by Millar & Hitch Omnibus (2023 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302949716 / digital)
See Guide to Fantastic Four. This omnibus fits directly prior to Jonathan Hickman’s run and pair of omnibuses. This run’s reputation tends to be overshadowed by Hickman, but there are some enjoyable big ideals here and I enjoy seeing Millar in his less-audacious mode when he’s not writing mature books.

Midnight Suns (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302947187 / digital TBA)
See Guide to Ghost Rider or Guide to Blade. This series featured a peculiar hodgepodge of a team of supernatural heroes… and Logan, with a cast of Magik, Wolverine, Blade, Spirit Rider, and Nico Minoru.

Thor Epic Collection Vol. 9: Even An Immortal Can Die (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302948689 / digital)
See Guide to Thor – The Odinson. This material has been covered in Masterworks and in bits and pieces across several old trades, but it has never been collected comprehensively in paperback before.

Strange, Vol. 2: The Doctor Strange of Death (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302946746 / digital)
See Guide to Doctor Strange. The second (and final) volume of Jed MacKay’s volume of Clea as the Sorcerer Supreme before the relaunch of Doctor Strange last month.

X-Terminators (2023 paperback, ISBN 978-1302946999 / digital)
See Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa. Leah Williams takes Dazzler, Jubilee, Boom Boom, and Wolverine (X-23) on a high-action, high-comedy spin.

Read on for a rundown of Marvel Comics April 19 2023 single-issue releases, including a link to their accompanying guide pages on Crushing Comics.