This Week in Crushing Comics - 03 March 2021 (Patreon)

Hello, Patrons!

I'm trying something new this week. Instead of only bringing you the uncut video of our This Week in X podcast as a Patreon-only exclusive, I'm also summarizing other Crushing Comics action for the week - including guide updates!

I'm planning to continue trialing this post through the end of March. My hope is that these predictable updates can help you stay tuned in to what's happening across all of Crushing Krisis/Comics. Plus, it can be a place you can chime in with any questions or suggestions you have on a regular basis.

If you see and read this post, please hit the LIKE heart at the bottom! That's the best way for me to know it's worthwhile to you.

Comic Guides

I made major updates to a pair of guides this week:

Revised! Excalibur, The Definitive Guide

This is my first completely rebuilt guide using my new solicit research database!

Every collection has been rechecked, the guide now has "Where to Start" and "Greatest Hits" sections, the OHC section has been moved up to the top of the reading order and streamlined, and I improved the reading order for some guest appearances. And, of course, it has all of the newest Excalibur collections, including ones just announced for August!

This update took >10hrs, but only because it was the first time around with my new solicits DB. That meant having to look up and clean up the entries for any X-Men book that has even included ONE Excalibur issue ... which, of course, is a lot of books. 

The cool thing is that once I set the collection blurb for a book like Fatal Attractions one time, I can now automatically output that same blurb and link for every other guide that includes the book. I'm hoping this will create a snowball effect as I keep working that speeds up each subsequent guide - cross your fingers!

I'd love to hear any feedback you have, as this new format is what I'm planning to bring to every guide as I refresh them all. Specifically, look for this format to hit New/Young X-Men, Cable, X-Factor, and X-Force very soon since they all cover currently-running X-Men titles. After that, I'll start rolling it out to more of Marvel and DC.

Revised! X-Men Reading Order #3 - The X-Tinction Era

This reading order has been completely re-written, with nearly every placement refined and tons of new appearances incorporated. It also has new introduction text to every section fo the era. It now matches the more-detailed format of Eras 1-4.

Over time, I'm planning to bring similar massive updates to every era of the X-Men Reading Guide, which one of the signature features of CK These updates tend to take about 6-12hrs each based on the research, re-reading, and re-writing I have to do.

Updated! Also, I made smaller updates to the following pages:

• X-Men Reading Order #1 - The Silver Age: I made slight tweaks to this era, including adding some minor guest appearances and improving the order of a few stories late in the era.
• X-Men Reading Order #2 - Second Genesis: I performed a major format clean-up on this era, which included streamlining the Classic X-Men story placements and making a pair of Team-Up issues essential reading.

Finally, I rebuilt the CK contact form, which hadn't been passing through email addresses! A few of you have contacted me recently there, so I've replied to you here where I know I can reliably reach you.

Multi-Media

This Week in X - 3 March, 2021 

Above you can check out the unabridged video version of our podcast about X-Men books out on 03 February 2021 - which was just Hellions #10 and Demon Days: X-Men #1. I didn't read Demon Days since it's an AU (or so we think), so Fariha and Tyler pitched to me.

This version includes our complete intro/outro discussion, which is only available on video here on Patreon. The podcast is available on our RSS feed, Spotify, Stitcher, PodChaser, Apple Podcasts, and Podcast Addict!

Plus, we posted the individual videos for last week's This Week in X comics - New Mutants #16, X-Men #18, and Wolverine #10.

Epic X-Men (re)Read - Uncanny X-Men (1963) #112-113

In addition to This Week in X, every week Tyler, Fariha, and I have been following my X-Men reading orders from Giant-Size X-Men onward. We dissect each issue, plus any Classic X-Men back-ups and guest appearances from the same period.

This is my favorite episode we've recorded so far. I think it's a great example of how we react to the plot from a modern context as well as engage with its Bronze Age silliness.

If you subscribe to the podcast, you'll notice that we generally alternate This Week in X episodes with (re)Read episodes. Once we hit #137 in our re-read, we'll be take a break for a different read - more news as we get closer!

Map My X with Near Mint Condition

Last weekend I made my monthly special appearance on the wonderful Near Mint Condition's channel to map a classic X-Men run across one or more omnibus volumes along with my friends Omar and Ryley - and, my new X-buddy, the incredible Ødfel!

This time we mapped the original volume of New Mutants from the end of the recently-released first omnibus through issue #100. This show is two hours of sheer joy for me every time we do it. And, next time we'll be working through Excalibur!

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What's up next for comic guides?

I really, really wanted to get the next DC guide up for $2+ Patrons this week, but I couldn't quite get it finished. It needs another 6hrs, but it's the fun stuff of linking collections and getting the page formatted. I can tease that it's a team guide, and it's hugely complex.

I really hope you'll be seeing it in the next week!

Otherwise, I'll continue working through updates of existing guides, as well as getting a few smaller Marvel guides out to strengthen my coverage of one particular part of the universe.

As always, I'm very interested in what you would like to see THE MOST right now as a Patron of CK - whether that's brand new guides or updated content. Leave a comment below with your most-anticipated guide, and I'll give you an update on where I stand!

Total Comic Guides Supported by Patrons: 171! 

Current Exclusives For Crushing Cadets ($1/month): 23 Guides!

DC Guides: Batman - Index of Ongoing Titles, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: Hal Jordan, Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner, Omega Men

Marvel Guides: Alpha Flight, Blade, Captain Britain, Dazzler, Domino, Dracula, Elsa Bloodstone, The Eternals, Legion, Marvel Era: Marvel Legacy, Mister Sinister, Sabretooth, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Weapon X, X-Man - Nate Grey, X-Men by Jonathan Hickman 

Current Exclusives For Pledgeonauts ($1.99+/month): 48 Guides!

DC Guides: Animal Man, Aquaman, Books of Magic, Catwoman, Batman - Index of Ongoing Titles, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Flash, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: Hal Jordan, Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner, Harley Quinn, Houses & Horrors, Justice League, Lucifer, Mister Miracle, Nightwing, Omega Men , Outsiders, Suicide Squad, Swamp Thing

Marvel Guides: Alpha Flight, Ant-Man & Giant-Man, Captain Britain, Champions, Darkhawk, Blade, Dazzler, Domino, Dracula, Elsa Bloodstone, Falcon, Gwenpool, Legion, Marvel Era: Marvel Legacy, Moon Boy / Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur, Ms. Marvel: Kamala Khan, Power Pack, Sabretooth, Scarlet Witch, Sentry, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Venom, Vision, Weapon X, X-Man - Nate Grey, X-Men by Jonathan Hickman

Indie & Licensed Comics: None right now