Updated Comic Guide

Updated: Guide to X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s

February 23, 2023 by krisis

Oh, you thought I was done with X-Men guide updates for the week? Not quite yet, my mutant friends! How could I complete yesterday’s update to Uncanny X-Men’s “Crossover Era” without also updating the guide to its sibling in crossover madness? That’s right, it’s an update to my Guide X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s.

Guide X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s

The collection status of this decade of X-Men comics hasn’t changed much in the past few years. There’s even less to report from this update than there was for Uncanny X-Men in the same period, since a few more issues of X-Men (1991) had already been covered by Pre-Epic Collection paperbacks.

That doesn’t meant there was nothing to improve on this guide page! [Read more…] about Updated: Guide to X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) in the 90s

Updated: Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s – The Crossover Era

February 22, 2023 by krisis

What?! Two days of Crushing Comics guide updates in a row? Your eyes do not deceive you, folks! After digging into a comprehensive update to guide that started it all, Uncanny X-Men’s Claremont era, I couldn’t help myself from charging onward to the next era of the title! Did you know that from 1991 to 2000 Uncanny X-Men featured no less than 16 direct crossovers and events?! They’re all covered by my Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s – The Crossover Era.

Guide to Uncanny X-Men in the 90s – The Crossover Era

That image is the recolored cover of Uncanny X-Men (1963) #281, the first issue after Chris Claremont’s historic 16-year run on the title.

That was the comic that greeted me face-to-face when I walked into a comic book store for the first time at the age of 10. I had already started grabbing copies of its sibling title, X-Men (1991), off of the spinner racks in mall bookstores. But, X-Men’s popularity was at its peak during a rise in speculation, and even an issue from just a few months prior was already nearly $10!

There is so much new and accumulated plot in this one issue of X-Men that I wish I could go back to record my reaction to reading it live. Jean Grey, who apparently died before, died again! An entire class of young students were slaughtered, along with their instructor who was also apparently really into BDSM, Emma Frost. And there were giant purple robots and green-haired mutants from the future.

IT WAS WILD! And, I loved it – then and forevermore.

Updated: Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont

February 21, 2023 by krisis

Today I am here to announce an update to the one guide that started it all back in 2010 when I asked the internet, “How do I collect all of Chris Claremont’s X-Men onto one shelf” and found a resounding silence where I expected an easy answer. That’s right, X-Men, X-Women, and X-Thems, it’s a complete overhaul of the one-and-only Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont!

Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont

I feel as though I’m saying this same thing almost every time I update one of the pre-2016 comic guides, but: you have to understand that the world of collected editions in 2010 when I created this guide was completely unlike the world we know today!

At the time, if there was an obscure UK edition trade paperback that collected Uncanny X-Men (1963) #274-277, that was a very big deal. Even as one of Marvel’s most-collected titles, Uncanny X-Men had plenty of gaps in its reprints. Putting together a complete shelf of Claremontian X-Men meant having a hodgepodge of mismatched spines and different-sized editions – I know, because that was my shelf for over half a decade! [Read more…] about Updated: Guide to Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont

Updated: Guide to Silver Age X-Men

February 10, 2023 by krisis

I’m excited to share this much-needed guide refresh, especially in the wake of yesterday’s broadcast with Near Mint Condition – which included a key omnibus this page was missing! Welcome back to my uncanny Guide to Silver Age X-Men – covering every major collection format for Uncanny X-Men (1963) #1-66, their hiatus years guest appearances, and modern “Hidden Years” stories inserted into that period!

Guide to Silver Age X-Men

My Guide to Silver Age X-Men hasn’t had a significant update since 2016, although I did stop by to add a few Epic Collections in the past seven years.

Fortunately, the landscape of Silver Age X-Men collections hasn’t shifted too much since the introduction of the Epic line. Yet, there are still new collections to add to the guide. The big news has been the recent initiation of a new line of paperback “Mighty Marvel Masterworks,” plus the recent announcement of an omnibus of John Byrne’s retcon insert series, X-Men: The Hidden Years. There have also been a number of reprinted books along the way, including both classic omnibuses, and they’ve all been added explicitly to the guide.

I added those new collections, as well as gave the guide a facelift to bring it in line with my newer style guides. That means it now includes publishing years, full ISBNs, and links to buy and read digitally.

Many folks don’t hold this Silver Age run in high regard past the initial handful of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby issues. However, I think a lot of it is worth reading for modern X-Men fans. In particular, I’d suggest reading issues #1-6 to see Namor and Magneto’s first meeting, issues #12-13 for Juggernaut’s first story, and issue #14-16 for the first Sentinels story – as well as some of the Roy Thomas and Neal Adams material from issues #56-66.

This Guide to Silver Age X-Men update is just the first of many X-Men guide updates to come, which have been the most-demanded updates from Patrons and the general public alike. I hear you! There are now over 200 guide pages to update, but the X-Men guides will always be the closest to my heart and I know that’s true for many of you as well.

Updated: Guide to New Mutants, Generation X, Academy X, & other Young X-Men

February 3, 2023 by krisis

I’m excited to share this massive guide rebuild with you because it transformed a page that has been a “catch-all” guide for the past decade into a coherent and well-organized guide to every new generation of X-Men characters from their Giant-Size “Second Genesis” to the present day. Welcome to my all-new, all-different New Mutants Guide – covering New Mutants, Generation X, Academy X, Generation Hope, & other young X-Men titles.

Guide to New Mutants & Young X-Men

This New Mutants Guide now covers every “class” of new mutants, starting with the aptly named New Mutants in 1983 through the present day. If it’s a title focused on a new generation of mutants in the present day (or, in one case, an old generation), it’s covered in this guide.

What do those classes include? After much consideration, I’ve broken up them up as follows:

1st Class: The original Silver Age X-Men, plus Havok and Polaris. (Also Mimic, if you insist.)

2nd Class: The Giant-Size “Second Genesis” team, who Xavier quickly realizes he cannot treat as students. (Well, at least not Wolverine).

3rd Class: New Mutants, including Magma, Warlock, Doug, and their later additions from X-Factor, Fallen Angels and X-Terminators through their transformation into X-Force. (Technically, Kitty, Rachel, Psylocke, and even Longshot could be grouped into this class, but they all were promoted the main squad.)

4th Class: Generation X, including Jubilee although she debuted much earlier.

5th Class: Academy X, including their transformation into Young X-Men. Many are still students in the present day.

6th Class: Generation Hope & The Jean Grey School. Effectively, any mutant new enough to enroll in the Jean Grey School is, by definition, part of Generation Hope since it was Hope who reignited the emergence of mutant powers around the globe. I’d include all characters who debuted as students through 2019 in this category through late adds like Nature Girl.

1st Class Returns: All-New X-Men, from when they were snatched from Uncanny X-Men (1963) #8 through their return to the past in Extermination. (Their adventures sometimes included 5th & 6th Class members.)

7th Class: Age of Krakoa, including all young mutants who have debuted since House of X and Powers of X.

Each of these classes all have obvious starting points, major stories, and some form of graduation to define them. I’m sure we could get into a lengthy fan debate about different sub-classes within New Mutants, or if we should really say that the 6th Class lasts that long, or to which class Scout truly belongs.

Those distinctions would only complicate a guide to these titles. In this newly renovated New Mutants Guide, every young mutant title is accompanied by a “class” tag to indicate which classes are active in it. For example, New Mutants (2003) includes the 3rd Class, but they’re also assembling the 5th Class in that title. And, Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) was the home of the 6th class, but many 5th class students continued into that run.

As with many of my recent guide updates, reorganizing this guide in a coherent way for modern readers meant rebuilding it from scratch. As I did that, I had the chance to reflect on why my 2010s guides now require so much re-building – which is actually making them much simpler.