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Krakin’ Krakoa #38: X-Men #7 Review – What Is Hickman’s Crucible? What’s It Mean For Mutants?

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X-Men #7 delivers a major update to the state of mutants on Krakoa and in the Marvel Universe, in easily one of the biggest issues since House of X ended!

Today I’ll answer:

+ What is “Crucible” and what does it mean for the X-Men’s resurrection protocols?

+ How does X-Men #7 tie heavily into House of M and X-Men “Decimation” stories from the mid 2000’s?

+ Why Nightcrawler is the perfect guide to introduce us to the new Crucible practice on Krakoa

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Krakin’ Krakoa #37: Giant-Size Jean Grey / Emma Frost Review!

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Few power players in the world of X-Men are as essential to Krakoa with as much baggage between them as Jean Grey and Emma Frost, two of the world’s most powerful telepaths and members of Krakoa’s quiet council. ​

Today I’ll answer:​

+ What does this Giant-Size special mean for Jean and Emma in the Krakoa era?​

+ What’s the big picture role of the 5 Hickman written Giant-Size specials in Dawn of X?​

+ What do you need to know about the history between Jean and Emma?​

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Taskmaster Reading Order!

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They say “those who can’t do, teach,” but the Taskmaster – a mercenary-trainer-for-hire with “photographic reflexes” also known as Tony Masters – proves the phrase wrong. “Anything the Avengers can do, I can do better!” he boasts on the cover of Avengers #196, his first full appearance. All that skill and the heart of an educator to boot? What a catch!

2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the Taskmaster’s introduction at the end of Avengers #195 (May 1980). His capacity to mimic the athletic abilities of anyone he watches immediately made him a formidable foe for countless heroes, often thwarted only through clever tricks, as opposed to physical prowess. Acting as a foil to every hero he faces, the Taskmaster has made it into hundreds of single issues, dozens of episodes of animated television, and video games including Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4 – all leading up to his live action debut in this spring’s entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow. [Read more…] about Taskmaster Reading Order!

DC Black Label Reading List

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At least once per year, my local comic shop runs a “newer comics” sale, where books that are still on their shelves that came out at least a month ago are all $1.50. It’s a great sale, and I typically use it to obsessively collect runs I wasn’t pulling in real time, or in some cases to spot up for atypically expensive oversized specials purely based on the savings.

In 2020, I was most excited for the sale as an opportunity to catch up on DC’s Black Label books. For the unfamiliar, “Black Label” is an imprint within DC Comics that launched in 2018 with Batman Hung Damned, and offers standalone, (generally) out of continuity stories from A-list creative talent. While the exact marketing can get muddled, I think of it as something like Vertigo for just DC superheroes and villains, with stories that are targeted for more mature audiences and gunning hard for “must read” long-term status. [Read more…] about DC Black Label Reading List