Crushing Krisis

The Newest Oldest Blog In New Zealand

New X-Men

Crushing Comics S01E037 – Grant Morrison’s New X-Men (and why he writes the best Jean Grey)

by

I start off this episode musing about the skill of talk show hosting. It’s one thing to be able to extemporaneously monologue with coherence, but it’s another skill entirely to be able to do that while doing something with your hands – like unwrapping bricks of comic books.

The books I wind up unwrapping are a major part of the uncanny origin of my now-massive comic book collection. Grant Morrison’s New X-Men were the first trio of books I had delivered to our new house back in 2010. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with them since then, though even from my first read it’s been clear to me that Grant Morrison understood Jean Grey like no writer before him – and, none after have gotten the chance!

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 37 features Grant Morrison’s complete run on New X-Men, covered in my guide to New X-Men and X-Men, Vol. 2.

Oversize X-Men: A map of every existing omnibus, plus what’s missing (Part 3: 2001 to 2008)

by

I’m back with a third installment of the ultimate X-Men omnibus mapping, finding a way to squeeze just about every issue of X-titles into a cohesive bookshelf of handy omnibus volumes.

Okay, they’re not actually all that handy. Most of them could probably be wielded as a deadly weapon.

Today’s era begins with Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men starting on #114 in 2001 and ends with the final issue of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, which is the last thing that happens to any X-Men prior to Messiah Complex. Of course, there are a lot of other series contained in that material – you’ll immediately note that neither of those historic runs address a single issue of Uncanny X-Men!

Every one of those issues is covered in this post. Why? To give you ideas for the The Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot, where you vote for the comic runs you’d most like to see in an oversized format. Monday I covered all of X-Men from 1963 to 1991, and yesterday I covered 1991 to 2001.

There are 25 potential omnibus volumes in this material! Many of their contents are high debatable, but that’s part of the fun – collected edition mapping is a contentious pastime. Heck, I don’t even agree with how Marvel does things half of the time! If you have a correction or disagreement don’t hold back – sound off in the comments below.

Now, prepare to be fully educated in the seedy underbelly of this period of all-star X-Men writers, including some books I am sure you never knew existed unless you are a superfreak of a walking Encyclopedia-X like I am.

[Read more…] about Oversize X-Men: A map of every existing omnibus, plus what’s missing (Part 3: 2001 to 2008)

Collecting X-Men #114 – 207 as Graphic Novels

The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade reading order on collecting Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and X-Men, Vol. 2 comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Collecting X-Men: A Definitive Guide. Last updated November 2018 with titles scheduled for release through April 2019.

NXM - 0114 promoX-Men was rechristened New X-Men when Grant Morrison took the helm with issue #114, indicating his radical (and sometime controversial) departure from X-Men status quo.

Morrison created the first definitive period in the book’s history, stripping down the team to the bare bones of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Emma Frost, and Beast – all acting as the staff at the Xavier school. Notably, he forged the Cyclops and Emma Frost relationship that exists to this day, and was the first writer to develop Jean Grey in years.

Associated Content provides a fantastic guide to understanding Morrison’s run on the book and the symbolism of each team member.

After Morrison’s run ended in 2004 the book reverted back to its prior X-Men, Vol. 2 name while maintaining its issue numbering. Meanwhile, the remainder of his team moves to Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. [Read more…] about Collecting X-Men #114 – 207 as Graphic Novels