Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

X-Force

X-Force (2020) #15: X-Force vs. Beast! | This Week in X

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It’s This Week in X for X-Force (2020) #15, released 16 December 2020!

X-Force (2020) #15, released on 16 December 2020, finds Ben Percy and Joshua Cassara returning to their pre-X-of-Swords plots to kick of Year 2 of the mutant intelligence division.

Is it a smooth transition? Why is everyone on both sides of X-Force so frustrated with Beast? And, what’s the newest deadly threat to our island paradise?

This week is driven by the question “What is X-Force?” – both meta-textually in terms of what the comic is delivering AND in the story when it comes to what X-Force is meant to do for Krakoa.

Join Peter, Tyler, and Fariha’s specially-nominated guest New Mutant, Harry, for this epic discussion.


(watch on YouTube)

Need help making sense of reading and collecting the X-Men? Crushing Comics can help!

Want to keep up with comics commentary all week long? Follow Crushing Comics on Twitter and subscribe to my channel on YouTube.

Recapping X of Swords, Week 9: X-Force #14, Hellions #6, and Cable #6 | This Week in X

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Join Peter, Tyler, and Fariha as we dissect the penultimate ninth week of X of Words in the X-Men comics of 18 November, 2020 – X-Force (2020) #14, Hellions (2020) #6, and Cable (2020) #6.

They’re the 17th, 18, & 19th chapters of X of Swords, and it’s all about duels and double-crosses. We discuss Sinister’s duplicitous plans, ponder whether we’re eager to see the resurrection process go awry, and charge through a lightning round chat about EVERY ONE of the tournament match-ups this week.

Plus, Fariha brings along a special surprise!

Need help making sense of reading and collecting the X-Men?

Recapping X of Swords, Week 3: Wolverine #5, X-Force #13, & Marauders #13 | This Week in X

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Join the former HiX-Men Report as we dive into the third week of the 22-chapter X of Swords crossover in two stories across three issues, as Wolverine seeks the deadly Muramasa blade in Wolverine (2020) #5 and X-Force (2020) #13, while Storm returns to Wakanda as a sister, daughter, wife, diplomate, and thief in Marauders (2019) #13.

In this episode we discussed how comics leave representation to “alien” characters/cultures, how colors help to sell time changes, why Shuri is the better Panther sibling, Storm’s many identities, and more!

Need help making sense of reading and collecting the X-Men?

Crushing Comics S01E083 – X-Statix emerges from X-Force (+ X-Men, Diversity, & Acceptance)

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I’m down to just two books left to unwrap. I know exactly what they are, but not which one is which, so I’m 50% surprised to unwrap the massive X-Statix omnibus.

X-Statix is an indie-style, deconstructionist take on mutantdom that features ongoing themes of addiction, teenage pregnancy, promiscuity, and racial identity/discrimination. I talk a little bit about X-Statix’s story, but spend a lot of the episode discussing diversity and comics. If you reject a (great) comic for having a same sex relationship, then have you been paying attention to the X-Men in the first place?

(You might recall this story from when I originally told it on CK over half a decade ago; it is still one of my favorite posts of all time.)

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

Episode 83 features the X-Statix Omnibus, which is covered in the Guide to X-Force.

Crushing Comics S01E042 – My Macabre Childhood Favs + X-Force Omnibus by Rob Liefeld

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In this episode my Clue t-shirt sends me on a brief trip down memory lane about all the macabre stuff I liked as a kid. What was your totally peculiar interest as a child?

Afterwards I unwrap one of the most mainstream comics of my childhood: the initial run of Rob Liefeld’s X-Force! It’s at once the perfect metaphor from mutants moving on from an eternal high school and a bit of a let down when it comes to the big ideas behind the guns and pouches.

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

Episode 42 features the X-Force Omnibus, Vol. 1. For more information, head to the Guide to X-Force.