Guides to Pre-Crisis Action Comics & ROM Spaceknight (Early Access for Pledgeonauts & Up) (Patreon)

Hello, my action-packed Pledgeonauts! I'm so happy to bring you two super-heroic guides for a pair of heroes who left their home planets for very different reasons. One just celebrated his 85th birthday last year, and the other is celebrating his 45th birthday this year. Maybe you've heard of them...

• NEW: Guide Superman - Action Comics (Pre-Crisis, 1938-1986) (Launch Essay)
• NEW: Guide to ROM, Spaceknight (Launch Essay)

Plus, powered-by-Patrons but available for all readers:

• New Releases: Marvel Comics - January 24, 2024 
• Quick Updates: Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, Mighty Avengers & Ultimates, Star Wars: Legends (Old Expanded Universe) 

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Yes, folks, it's finally time - it's the first of many Superman guides to fill out my Guide to DC Comics!

I've struggled for years at how to address Superman and his many, many comic book series. Not only is my strategy complicated by their number, but also by how all of the titles are mostly one big title in the "Triangle Era" of the 90s and early 00s.

As it turns out, the Superman Problem is pretty much the same thing as The Spider-Man Problem I already have on my massive Guide to Spider-Man - Peter Parker (1963-2018). With Superman, the challenge starts nearly 25 years earlier with a vast number of Golden Age comics starting with Action Comics (1938) #1 and exploding from there.

Thus, my first step is this Guide to Superman - Action Comics (Pre-Crisis, 1938-1986). It's not the most thrilling guide in my repertoire, since so much of Pre-Crisis Superman is not reprinted. However, I tried to make up for that with an explanations of the divisions between Golden, Silver, & Bronze Ages and descriptions of the many back-up features that ran across the 583 pre-Crisis issues of the title.

There are more Superman guides to come, including the Pre-Crisis Superman (1939) guide that corresponds with this one! I'm so excited to finally fill in guides for this seventh core member of the Justice League for my seven-year anniversary of covering DC Comics. It's almost like I planned it this way!

(I did not plan it this way.)

Also, last week I debuted a Guide to ROM, Spaceknight just in time for the release of the first of three omnibuses collecting his classic Marvel Comics material. This guide was a lot of fun, because I got to read about ROM's origins on Galador from over 200 years ago. Plus, I tracked down every appearance of Spaceknights and Dire Wraiths at Marvel, and also included a reading order for ROM's appearances in the IDW Hasbroverse.

I also made a January 24 2024 Marvel New Releases post (my 4th of the year), which brought with it a handful of quick updates, including a clean-up of the Star Wars Legends (Old Expanded Universe) and a spur-of-the-moment decision to put Hickman & Schiti's G.O.D.S. into the Guide to Doctor Strange (for now).

(Quick Updates are only announced here on Patreon. They include current and future series and collected editions, but not and update to guest appearances or page structure- both of which I save for when I make full guide updates that are announced on the CK main page.)

To see new guides and guide updates announced as they happen, keep an eye on the CK homepage.

When you visit a Patreon guide you should be prompted to log in to CK using your Patreon login. If you aren't prompted when visiting a guide page, try visiting the CK login page directly.

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Behind-the-Scenes Krisis

I have launched 38 Guides to you in the past 365 days - 15 Marvel, 3 DC, & 20 Indie/Licensed! Plus, I've updated 123 of my 200+ guides.

Yeah, I know, I'm still on my "launching multiple guides a week" B.S.. Just trust me that I have a master plan, okay?

It turns out my appearance with my dear friend Omnidog to talk X-Men collected editions is actually next week, but I had an absolutely riotous time arguing over Marvel evergreen omnibuses with my friends at Near Mint Condition. I don't think we've ever been so mean to each other or had so much fun! We've already been green-lit for another episode based on the response to this one.

Since my last Patreon post, the median guide freshness date improved from January 2021 to February 2021, while the current median freshness goal remains May 2023. I'm so close to being less than two years behind my goal - updating some of my earliest DC Guides will finally move that needle.

• Marvel: median guide freshness is July 2021, median freshness goal is now June 2023 (one very old X-Guide continues to drag this down).
• DC: median guide freshness is still September 2018 (😱), median freshness goal is January 2023 (progress on this coming very soon now that Superman is in progress).
• Image: median guide freshness is March 2023, median freshness goal is July 2023.
• Indie/Licensed: median guide freshness improved from May to July 2017, median freshness goal remains July 2023.

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What's up next on Crushing Comics?

What do YOU want to see me work on next? Leave me a comment on this post on Patreon to let me know!

Here's what I have in mind:

• You crazy fools gave me a three-way tie in the January Patron's Choice poll, so one of those is headed everyone's way in the next two weeks.
• You'll be seeing a final off-schedule indie guides coming that is not already teased on the Crushing Comics indie home page
• The Pre-Crisis Superman Guide will be showing up very soon.

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Current Exclusives for Crushing Cadets ($1/month): 50 Guides!

DC Guides (7): Batman – Index of Ongoing Titles, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Birds of Prey, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: Hal Jordan, Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner, Omega Men

Marvel Guides (30): Alpha Flight, Angela, Beta Ray Bill, Black Cat, Blade, Captain Britain, Dazzler, Domino, Dracula, Echo, Elsa Bloodstone, Emma Frost - The White Queen, Heroes for Hire, Legion, Marvel 2099, Marvel Era: Marvel Legacy, Mister Sinister, Monica Rambeau - Photon, Rocket Raccoon, Sabretooth, Silk, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man 2099, Thunderstrike, Valkyrie, Vision, Weapon X, Werewolf by Night, What If?, X-Man – Nate Grey

Indie & Licensed Comics (13): Aliens, The Authority, Black Hammer, Brigade, Codename Strykeforce, Cyberforce, Pitt, Princeless & Raven The Pirate Princess, Savage Dragon, ShadowHawk, Stormwatch, Supreme, WildStorm Events

Current Exclusives For Pledgeonauts ($1.99+/month): 84 Guides!

All of the 50 guides above, plus 34 more guides…

DC Guides (17): Animal Man, Aquaman, Books of Magic, Catwoman, Doctor Fate, Flash, Harley Quinn, Houses & Horrors, Infinity Inc., Justice League, Justice Society of America, Mister Miracle, Nightwing, Outsiders, Suicide Squad, Superman - Action Comics (Pre-Crisis, 1938-1986), Swamp Thing

Marvel Guides (13): Darkhawk, Falcon, Gwenpool, Hellcat - Patsy Walker, Howard the Duck, Kang the Conqueror, Loki, Power Pack, Red She-Hulk, Sentry, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Venom

Indie & Licensed Comics (4): Miracleman, ROM - Spaceknight, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - IDW Continuity, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mirage Studios Continuity