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Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel – The Definitive Reading Order and Collecting Guide

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Marvel series still awaiting an omnibus from the Masterworks Era (1961 – 1980)

May 5, 2017 by krisis

This is the final post in our series time-traveling backwards through Marvel’s era of comic books to see what books would make fantastic omnibuses, and this is a big one – it’s what I’m calling “The Masterworks Era.”

After this post, you should have more than enough ammo to fill out your 2017 Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot, which is due by Sunday at midnight! I’ve suggested over a hundred possible votes!

What exactly is “The Masterworks Era,” aside from something I just made up? It refers to the period of comcis that Marvel has covered with their deluxe, standard-size hardcover Marvel Masterworks reprint line. The Silver Age portion of the line begins with Fantastic Four #1 in 1961.

The end is a little fuzzier. The Silver Age is understood to end in 1970-71, but with a handful of exceptions Marvel has already pushed past that point with every line of Masterworks collections. In fact, their newest two Masterworks lines are The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976), Spider-Woman (1978), and The Savage She-Hulk (1980)! 

Yes, that’s right – Masterworks now cover comics that began in the 1980s! That’s like when the oldies station of my youth started playing Madonna songs. Plus, the farthest outlier, Uncanny X-Men, has reached all the way up to issue #188 in 1984.

When it comes to classic Omnibuses, until this year Marvel followed a specific formula almost every time – one omnibus contained three Masterworks volumes. We’re now seeing them deviate from that formula with Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil,  and Thor, all of which contained more than the customary three volumes.

To figure out what comics are due for potential omnibuses to feature in this post, I had to first figure out both what has been covered by Masterworks volumes and what has been skipped! That’s not really a part of this discussion, but if you’re interested, I’ve shown my work.

A list of titles that are eligible for Masterworks treatment

  • Marvel Spotlight (1971), an anthology series which branches to:
    • Red Wolf (1972) – This has never been reprinted in color, but does not have enough material for an omnibus.
    • Werewolf by Night (1972) – This has been reprinted in Omnibus, but could still be Masterworked
    • Ghost Rider (1973) – This has never been reprinted in color and is listed below!
    • Son of Satan (1975) – This received a TPB collection in 2016 and is too short to be an omnibus on its own.
    • Spider-Woman (1978) – This has begun to be Masterworked and could be an omnibus, but we need more MMW volumes first.
    • Moon Knight (1980)– Collected in color in Epic collections and could be an omnibus; it is listed below
    • Plus, the Deathlok MMW line, Warriors Three stories in the Thor MMW line, and a Fury story in the Nick Fury MMW line
  • The Cat (1972) – Collected in the Women of Marvel Omnibus
  • Chamber of Chills (1972) – A horror anthology; this has never been reprinted fully in color.
  • Marvel Premiere (1972), an anthology series featuring:
    • Warlock (1972) – This has been fully Masterworked and could be an omnibus; it is listed below
    • Doctor Strange (1974) – This has begun to be Masterworked and could be an omnibus; it is listed below
    • Iron Fist (1975) – This has been fully Masterworked and could be an omnibus; it is listed below
    • Doctor Who – This is licensed material.
    • And shorter runs and one shots of Hercules, Satana, Legion of Monsters (Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Morbius, Werewolf by Night), Liberty Legion, Woodgod, Monark Starstalker (before Star Wars!), Solomon Kane, 3-D Man, Weirdworld, Torpedo, Seeker 3000, Tigra, Paladin, Jack of Hearts, Man-Wolf, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Falcon, Alice Cooper, Black Panther, Caleb Hammer, Wonder Man, Dominic Fortune, and Star-Lord
  • Night Nurse (1972), collected in the Women of Marvel Omnibus
  • Shanna, the She-Devil (1972), collected in the Women of Marvel Omnibus
  • Supernatural Thrillers (1972), a horror anthology; this has never been reprinted fully in color.
  • Tomb of Dracula (1972) and Dracula Lives (1973) – This has been reprinted in Omnibus, but could still be Masterworked
  • Frankenstein (1973) – Collected in color in TPB and is too brief for an omnibus
  • Vampire Tales (1973) – An anthology series featuring Blade and Morbius. This has been collected in TPB and could be Masterworked, but it’s too short to be an omnibus without including other material.
  • Haunt of Horror (1974), which included Satana stories
  • Master of Kung Fu (1974) and The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1974) – Collected in Omnibus but not Masterworked.
  • Man-Thing (1974 / 1979) – Collected in both an omnibus and a Complete Collection line, but not Masterworked.
  • The Invaders (1975) – Collected in a pair of Complete Collections, and previously in Classics; could still be Omnibused – listed below.
  • Marvel Chillers (1975), an anthology series featuring:
    • Modred the Mystic, not collected
    • Tigra, not collected
  • Marvel Presents (1975), an anthology series featuring:
    • Bloodstone, not collected
    • Guardians of the Galaxy, which has been collected in omnibus and could conceivably hit Masterworks
  • Super-Villain Team-Up (1975) – Collected in a single Complete Collection; too short for omnibus, but could appear in a Namor omnibus line.
  • Captain Britain (1976) – Collected entirely in a pair of OHCs; could still be Masterworked, but an omnibus would be redundant since there’s nothing left to add.
  • The Eternals (1976) – Collected in one of Marvel’s early omnibuses; could still be Masterworked
  • Howard the Duck (1976 / 1979) – Collected in both an omnibus and a Complete Collection line; could still be Masterworked
  • Nova (1976) – Collected completely in a paperback Classic line, but not omnibus or Masterworks – so it’s covered below!
  • Omega the Unknown (1976) – Too short to be an omnibus; has been collected in TPB, but could be Masterworked
  • What If? (1977) – Collected in a paperback Classics line, but not in omnibus – so it’s covered below!
  • Devil Dinosaur (1978) – Previously collected in omnibus, and recently in paperback; could be Masterworked!
  • Machine Man (1978) – Collected in a single TPB in 2016 and has previously appeared on the survey; however, without the rights to reprint 2001: A Space Odyssey material Marvel likely can’t expand this to an omnibus.
  • Amazing Adventures (1979), an anthology series which branches to:
    • Inhumans content in their MMW line; could be omnibused
    • Beast content in the X-Men MMW line; could be omnibused
    • Killraven, which has not been reprinted in color and could be omnibused
  • Marvel Spotlight (1979), an anthology series which branches to:
    • the final volume of the Captain Marvel MMW line
    • A handful of Dragon-Lord stories, uncollected
    • Star-Lord, collected variously with Guardians of the Galaxy (including in Omnibus)
    • Captain Universe, as a spin-off from Micronauts, collected in Captain Universe: Power Unimaginable; not enough material for ominbus

This list omits Western titles like Tex Dawson, Gunslinger (1973), Gun-Slinger (1973), and Gunhawks (1972) and licensed material Marvel can’t Masterwork, including Conan, Doc Savage, Godzilla, The Human Fly, John Carter, Kull, Micronauts, Planet of the Apes, Red Sonja (in her own title and in Marvel Feature (1975), Shogun Warriors, Star Trek, Tarzan, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Wizard of Oz (based on the film).

How am I defining “due” here? It’s any superhero universe series that the Masterworks line has skipped entirely or any Masterworks line with three or more un-omnibused volumes.

Any comic with a Masterworks line that’s in-progress with only one or two volumes is not included: Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-in-One, Not Brand Echh Vol. 1, Rarities Vol. 1, Rawhide Kid, She-Hulk, Spectacular Spider-Man, Spider-Woman.

I also didn’t include the one-and-done Masterworks volumes Champions and Deathlok as potential omnibuses, since the omnibus would be the same as the Masterworks!

Are you ready to travel back in time from 1980 to the beginning of Marvel’s Silver Age in 1961? Here we go! [Read more…] about Marvel series still awaiting an omnibus from the Masterworks Era (1961 – 1980)

Filed Under: comic books Tagged With: Amazing Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Avengers, Black Goliath, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Collected Edition Mapping, Collected Editions, Daredevil, Defenders, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Giant Man, Human Torch, Incredible Hulk, Inhumans, Invaders, Iron Fist, Iron Man, Jungle Action, Killraven, Marvel Comics, Marvel Masterworks, Moon Knight, Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus, Ms. Marvel, Namor, Nick Fury, Nova, Spider-Man, Thor, Warlock, What If?, X-Men

12 Must-Read Marvel Runs (that ought to be an omnibus) – 1998 to 2008

May 2, 2017 by krisis

As we continue our trip backwards down Marvel Memory Lane, I’m here to convince you to read – or, at least, covet – 12 more Marvel runs, this time from 1998 to 2008.

While my concurrent period of X-Men looked at 2001 to 2008, for the rest of the Marvel Universe 1998 was a better starting point. That’s because Marvel’s Avengers and Fantastic Four franchises relaunched new volumes in 1998, and Spider-Man and Daredevil were rebooted within the next year as well.

(That wound up being less relevant to this post than I planned, since I decided not to touch mapping Fantastic Four or Spider-Man in the style of my exhaustive X-Men mapping. I also won’t hit the titles that are just waiting for a sequel – namely Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man. See my Orphan Report for more on those. And, one of the best runs from this period – Christopher Priest’s Black Panther – is already in the survey results.)

I’ve read less of Marvel outside of X-Men, so I’m being a little choosier with these runs so I don’t lead you astray! That’s not only a choosiness in quality, but in self-containment. While Marvel’s Universe was a little more siloed from 1998 to 2005, once New Avengers arrived titles became increasingly intertwined and reliant on events to launch and intersect with them until we hit peak tie-in after Secret Invasion in 2008, with the entire Marvel Universe being affected by Dark Reign in one way or another.

These runs aren’t that – they’re comics you could sit down and enjoy today regardless of your foreknowledge about a certain plot or character. While some of them intersect event series, none of them rely on your reading the main event to enjoy their chapters.

If you want to see any of these runs released in all-in-one omnibus editions, perhaps you should include some of them on your Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot – votes are due this Sunday!

However, omnibuses are not your only hope! The majority of these runs are collected in hardcovers and trade paperbacks listed in Crushing Comics’s Guide to Collecting Marvel Comic Books, and the vast majority of the issues are available on Marvel Unlimited, a $10/month Netflix-for-Marvel-comics.

Of course, all potential collection mapping comes with a disclaimer: all of my suggestions are subjective and subject to improvement, or at least spirited debate. If you have a correction, alteration, or disagreement, there’s no need to be shy – I’d love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Let’s dig in!

[Read more…] about 12 Must-Read Marvel Runs (that ought to be an omnibus) – 1998 to 2008

Filed Under: comic books Tagged With: Black Panther, Black Widow, Brian Reed, Christos Gage, Collected Edition Mapping, Collected Editions, Colleen Wing, Dan Slott, Daredevil, Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak, Hercules, Heroes For Hire, Jason Aaron, Marvel Comics, Marvel Knights, Misty Knight, Moon Knight, Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus, Ms. Marvel, Reginald Hudlin, Young Avengers

Marvel introduced a black female Iron Man – is that a good thing? (Yes.)

July 6, 2016 by krisis

Today, Marvel and writer Brian Bendis broke the news via Time Magazine that at the end of the currently-running event “Civil War II” the mantle of Iron Man will be taken over by a 15-year old black MIT student named Riri Williams

(This IIM - 2016 - promois a major shocker, because the vast majority of fans assumed Riri’s introduction in the pages of Invincible Iron Man (visit the guide) – where she was reverse-engineering Tony Stark’s armor – was a set-up for her to take over the mantle of War Machine. Rhodey has become unavailable to carry that title due to the events of Civil War.)

Riri Williams as Iron Man is a very good thing. We do not have enough female heroes or heroes of color, and to see a that in a character who is both as she takes over the mantle of ostensibly Marvel’s most popular single hero outside of Spider-Man is a huge, visible step not only for Marvel comic readers, but for their film fans who this news will surely reach. To have Williams also be a female super-scientist when Marvel generally boasts only a handful is even more wonderful.

(The most prominent female geniuses of Marvel are Kitty Pryde, who is frequently shown to be nearly as genius as Beast; Valeria Richards, whose preternatural intelligence is partially attributed to super powers; the new Moon Girl; and Mockingbird, an oft-forgotten PhD) .

So Riri Williams as Iron Man is a good thing, right?

On the face of it, yes. Inclusion means representation. I love reading books about heroes that are women, and so does my daughter – also a girl of color.

However, there are some aspects of this character choice that have given some fans and critics pause, which I’d like to discuss here – three in particular. I’m very interested in your input. (Edited to add: Here is a post with similar critique from black writer Son of Baldwin, Here is another from black female nerd BlerdGurl.)

1. Minority legacy heroes are only useful until the original makes their return; then their marginalization can be worse than the average minority hero.

“Legacy Heroes” is a term applied to heroes that are the replacement or junior version to their original heroes. They are sometimes used by creators as an opportunity to change the gender or race of the character bearing the main mantle.. The easiest examples to give are from DC comics (Superboy, Batgirl, Wondergirl, etc), because Marvel simply isn’t known for this practice outside the past few years.

Let’s stick with Marvel, for the moment. For a brief time in the 1980s, Tony Stark could not serve as Iron Man and Rhodey Rhodes took over the title. Rhodey is the best possible example of a Legacy Hero – he was a dynamic, well-developed character long before he became Iron Man, and that means that he was able to continue to be featured even when Tony Stark returned.

Ms-Marvel - 2014 - 0004As War Machine, he’s lead his own title on many occasions (though they are usually short-lived) and he’s and been a significant character in both comics and now films (though he’s frequently sacrificed as a narrative reason to make Stark feel bad, as has happened twice this year alone).

His time as a Legacy Hero made him more visible, but after being Iron Man he didn’t stay an A-level hero. The white guy bumped him.

Another terrific example is the relatively new Ms. Marvel, the Pakastani-American Kamala Khan (visit the guide). Kamala is a wonderful analog to the original Spider-Man as a new, unsure hero, and Carol Danvers is very unlikely to ever retake her “Ms.” hero mantle now that she is officially Captain Marvel.

Her books sell ridiculous amounts of copies and have been nominated for Eisners. She’s now an Avenger. Things are going well … but we’re only in year two.

There are examples that don’t go as well. At the end of the comics version of the original Civil War, Captain America appears to die, and Bucky takes over the mantle as Cap (visit the guide). His days as Cap are amazing – great, layered storytelling. When Cap came back they shared the mantle for a while before Bucky was spun back to being Winter Soldier, at which point he began to sink back into obscurity – and he’s a white guy who stars in movies.

As with War Machine, he’s now a character Marvel needs to periodically kickstart into a new title or team only to watch him sink again.

Despite those concerns, check out the amazing list of Legacy Heroes Marvel is currently fielding: [Read more…] about Marvel introduced a black female Iron Man – is that a good thing? (Yes.)

Filed Under: comic books, critique, essays Tagged With: Ant-Man, Brian Bendis, Captain Marvel, diversity, Hulk, inclusion, Iron Man, Kitty Pryde, Miles Morales, Moon Girl, Ms. Marvel, Representation, Riri Williams, Spider-Man, The Falcon, Thor, Tony Stark, Wasp, Winter Soldier, Wolverine

Collecting Ms. Marvel & Captain Marvel comic books as graphic novels

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade reading order on collecting Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel comic books – including everything Carol Danvers – via omnibuses and trade paperback graphic novels. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated June 2020 with titles scheduled for release through March 2021.

capmarvel-star

Looking for Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel? She has graduated to her own guide!

capmarvel-star

It’s fitting that the title of Captain Marvel has passed through the hands of so many Marvel heroes, since it tacitly implies the holder as a mascot for the entire Marvel Universe just as Captain America stands as a patriotic symbol of America.

captainmarvel-by-mckelvieSimilarly, it makes sense that the title of Ms. Marvel – originally tied to women’s liberation in the 1970s – is now the name of a new generation of Pakastani-American hero.

In reality, adopting the Captain Marvel name was a copyright grab by Marvel Comics, who wanted to prevent Fawcett Comics from using it for their own hero, rechristened Shazam (and later purchased by DC Comics) – which explains both the emergence of Ms. Marvel and why Marvel also finds a way to re-use the title for a new hero.

The original Captain Marvel wasn’t even of this planet! Captain Mar-Vell was a Kree Officer that found Stan Lee riffing on Silver Surfer by bringing an alien meant to scout Earth into its protector. However, it was Jim Starlin who made Mar-Vell truly notable when he became a cosmic hero and began to battle Thanos.

Later, a former police officer and frequent Avenger, Monica Rambeau, took on the name in the 1980s. Rambeau is a proven tactician who could transform her body into any kind of energy, including visible light and electricity.

In the late 90s, the title would pass to Mar-Vell’s son Genis-Vell, and after that to his sister Phyla-Vell. In Dark Reign, when many villains took on the mantles of heroes, Grant Morrison creation Noh-Varr AKA Marvel Boy wore the Captain Marvel mantle, though that was short-lived.

However, the majority of modern-day fans now know Captain Marvel as the original Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers. Danvers is one of Marvel’s earliest leading ladies and she’s been through it all – everything from being an Air Force pilot to having her mind and powers stolen in Rogue’s debut to gaining a flaming head and traveling through space with the Starjammers. After a powerful return to her own title in 2006, it felt incredibly fitting when she was promoted to “Captain” in 2012, and it seems that this title will stick for a long while thanks to Marvel adding Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel to its Cinematic Universe.

With the name “Ms. Marvel” freed up by Danvers, Marvel created a new hero to fit the name. Kamala Khan is a teenage girl, major Carol Danvers fan, and a dormant Inhuman whose shape-changing powers are activated by the aftermath of Infinity. [Read more…] about Collecting Ms. Marvel & Captain Marvel comic books as graphic novels

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