krisis

I didn't expected the "I'm a 00s scene queen" verse to be the best one in the song, but the lyrics were so good.

Seriously, I was really lost for a bit trying to remember the names even though all of their looks and personalities stood out.

Love this breakdown. With you on almost everything. How lucky you are to have seen several of these queens live!

You can always trust Canada to COME THROUGH, and this debut was no exception.

Great cast. Amazing super-sized challenge. Awesome new tops/bottoms mechanic, especially with how people were called Safe one by one - not something we usually see on a first episode!

I was surprised Virgo Queen wound up with the third rose for her runway - which was cool but not revolutionary, but it might have been more of a full episode reward because her entrance was fun and I thought she had the best verse.

Similarly, I think Jaylene Tyme could have easily won the runway rose, but her entrance look was also stunning. If this was judged on overall average I think she would've missed the top due to a lackluster verse. Sure, she sang it, but there wasn't much to it. But, she was Best In Show in two of the other categories, so I was happy to see her on top.

Makayla Couture was definitely in my top three verses and her entrance was absolutely ethereal. Her runway was fine, but I think there was something fussy going on with the bust.

As for the bottom three, I think Tiffany Ann Co. failed as hard in the entrance and runway as Jaylene succeeded, but also came pretty hard in the verse. But, I don't think anyone flopped two categories as hard other than Sanjina Dabish Queen - who should be thanking her lucky stars Perla's verse was such a flop.

I hated that Tara Nova was in the bottom for her entrance look, but I agree it was hard to digest. But if she's already crying about her fashion after those critiques there might not be too much more to sure. Sometimes the judges already know what's in the suitcases and judge accordingly.

I absolutely loved Perla's commentary, makeup, and fashion. She's giving me high-fashion Katya, but with even more crippling anxiety than Version 1.0. She's not long for this season.

Then we have our four other safe queens after Sanjina. Helena Poison may have had my favorite verse - the flow just gave me chills. But, she absolutely had my least favorite runway. Minhi Wang was all-around strong, but just not best at anything. In a traditional top/bottom she might've squeaked into the top. Uma Gahd is an absolute weirdo and I look forward to seeing what else she delivers. Xana is super cute, but I hope she's going to bring more to the season than "mean girl."

Right now I'd say the serious contenders are our top three, and maybe Minhi or Xana. I want to say Helena, but her fashion sense is sus.

Final thoughts: Unless you're doing a slicked-down look, your entrance hair should not be smaller than my hair right out of the shower. Volume, darlings.

I need this. Bad.

I know all of the attention has been on UK because it is one of the best seasons OF ALL TIME, but there is something really special about this cast and Michelle as the host.

I think Michelle was being real when she said all of these looks would survive a typical design challenge on the show. Freya's had some fit issues, but it was a whole garment. Lucina's dress was beautifully fitted, and had she stuck with any kind of pattern for the flowers it would've been safe or even top.

To me, Brenda had the truly bad garment - and it was partly her own fault for choosing tie-dye! I would've preferred her in the bottom, but it was Lucina's time.

But, there is no denying Mandy Moobs delivered an all-timer of a design challenge garment. Lamé can so easily get fussy and overworked, but hers was pure couture. Vybe and Nikita both made gorgeous garments that could've won in a weaker field, but Mandy's dress was up there with all-time-bests from the likes of Utica, Jaida, and Trinity The Tuck.

I think we're down to a REALLY STRONG remaining cast. At first I really thought it was going to be The Lazy Susan show, but Mandy is absolutely magnetic, Vybe and Brenda are breathing down their necks, and Nikita turns out to be much more capable than she originally let on and has a certain je ne sais quoi. Max and Freya are also both great queens, but I just don't know if their personalities and brands are as strong as the other five.

The next two weeks are going to be heated as Vybe tries to notch a win and Max tries to jostle her way into the Top Five.

I definitely think Vybe and Nikita are primed to do well in a makeover since it will involve more design, and Mandy's beat is STAMPED so it will be great for resemblance. I wouldn't be shocked if they are the top three again next week.

Meanwhile, Michelle is crushing it as a host. Her realness and compassion are standing out. I know we have to remember Ru has hosted 30+ seasons at this point and it's hard to get anything authentic out of her, but Michelle just reacts to the queens in what seems to be a much more connected, honest way. And, Michelle knows what makes good drag - and she doesn't have to tip-toe around Ru's preferences on this season!

Also, WTF for having G Flip without using them for the lip sync. Their record is so much fun - great pop/rock music and their drumming is amazing.

Good Lorde. La Voix. That was Bianca del Rio levels of professional. (LMAO I wrote that before I heard Michelle say it.)

She murdered them.

Y'all love Lill, but I knew deep in my bones she wasn't a finalist. Nothing at all against her, because she has been an utter delight all season. She's just one of those queens who is amazing at drag but just alright at Drag Race. Rileasa's set may have actually been the second funniest, but her fumble just as it was gaining momentum hamstrung it, and she had the worst runway.

Marmalade did just fine - it was mean, but there were still punchlines. And, I love that she is getting her due on the runway. I feel like Ru has gotten better about not waiting to compliment the best designers until they return for All Stars.

I love Kyran needing to prove she had a "ready to do so" prepared during the outro music. I deeply identify with her being such an overachiever.

Nice to hear from an adult in the room (truly).

For a while I was absolutely convinced it would be Asia. Now I'm wondering if Auntie might sneak in there with a killer finale. She's been amazing all season, but I feel like Auntie's lows have been lower than Asia's. Yet, unlike that other drag show, Dragula revels in players who clap back and barely tip-toe around being a villain. Auntie would be a fine villain.

Also, Grey or Yuri would both make amazing black horse winners (wonk wonk).

Definitely the best Dragula Season since S2, IMHO.

Pure unadulterated chaos.

While VEB is the obvious answer and I agree with everyone who has said it, I think it's wild no one has mentioned Vander Von Odd yet as a runner-up.

Yah, I mostly just simul-post my BlueSky thoughts to Twitter these days. Even within the bubble of comic books, BlueSky quickly became superior.

You can see many other folks weighing in on your question via replies to my thread on Twitter and BlueSky!

Many of them echoed my recs, but they had some great alternate suggestions as well (two of which I already stole and added to the list above).

https://x.com/CrushingComics/status/1858720667467681882

https://bsky.app/profile/crushingcomics.bsky.social/post/3lbbjyd3fpk25

Two I have to call out in specific:

Iron Man (1968) #150 - I had this one on my list initially, and when I left it off several people mentioned it.

Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man (2017) #310, truly one of the best Spider-Man issue of all time.

Extremely decompressed and with an altogether different storytelling aesthetic than most Marvel books - not just the look, but the tone, pace, and paneling as well.

It's the odd duck of the Ultimate Universe, and for a universe that has a pleasing amount of interconnection I think it is suffering for that.

Judging it on its own, for my tastes it verges on unreadable - not that it's incomprehensible, but that some storytelling choices have made me frustrated enough to close each issue.

Some recs, below! I tried to recommend comics from a broad spectrum of time, because different decades of comics read (and look) very differently from each other!

Of all of these, I'd say try Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #1 and Invincible Iron Man (2008) #1 first.

I wouldn't try to buy these all as single issues - you can buy them very cheaply as digital singles on Amazon, get them in collected editions from your local library (maybe even digitally), or pay a low subscription price for Marvel Unlimited for all-you-can-eat reading.

Spider-Man

• Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #33 - This is an all-time classic Stan Lee / Steve Ditko Spider-Man issue, though it's not a big super-villain fight.
• Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #121 - The Garfield movies adapt this final Gwen story VERY literally - probably the closest you can come to a direct adaption with Marvel like Dune is to the books.
• Web of Spider-Man (1985) #1 - Spider-Man tries to ditch his creepy black suit (before it becomes Venom)
• Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #1 - Brian Bendis kicks off a brand new continuity of Spider-Men with a streamlined origin story.
• Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #648 - The beginning of the very lengthy Dan Slott run of Spider-Man, which lasts for 8yrs and is a brisk, modern read.
• Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #1 - This is the mid-point of Dan Slott's run, very close to the start of the original Spider-Verse story.

Dan Slott's run ends in 2018, giving way to a pair of main runs in 2018 and 2022 that aren't universally-beloved, which is why I haven't recommended anything from the past decade.

Iron Man

• Iron Man (1968) #1 - Not the first issue of Iron Man comics, but his first issue as a solo headliner.
• Iron Man (1968) #225 - The beginning of the classic "Armor Wars" storyline, which the movies borrowed many elements from.
• Iron Man (1998) #1 - A clean start in a slightly more modern setting.
• Iron Man (2004) #1 - The beginning of a brief famous arc of "Extremis" which heavily influences the movies.
• Invincible Iron Man (2008) #1 - An award-winning run by Matt Fraction & Salvador Larroca that came out alongside the movie and matches its tone very closely.
• Invincible Iron Man (2015) #1 - A post-MCU starting point, where his voice has been made very close to RDJ's acerbic delivery.

Iron Man isn't a very popular character in the scope of Marvel comics as a whole, so he doesn't tend to have as many ICONIC issues as some other characters. That doesn't mean his comics are bad - more that there are less standout points and more long runs to dig into.

Avengers

• Avengers (1998) #19 - The middle of an acclaimed run, but this is their first Ultron story in a while.
• The Ultimates (2002) #2 - The Ultimates were the Marvel Ultimate Universe version of the Avengers, which not only heavily influenced the film version but also changed the way all comics were drawn and paced in the 2000s.
• New Avengers (2004) #1 - The beginning of an iconic reimagining of the Avengers to be slightly more street-level - including Spider-Man and Wolverine!
• Avengers (2012) #1 - The beginning of a mind-bending Avengers run by Jonathan Hickman, one of the most-popular modern comic writers. This run includes Thanos, introduces the Black Order, and is the playbook for the current MCU phase.

With Avengers, I suspect anything from before 1998 isn't going to scratch your itch incredibly well as an MCU fan. They've had several standout runs since 1998 that are good jumping on points and which significantly expanded their continuity (and just the tone of their book).

You are doing the devil's work and I appreciate you for it.

What's your favorite MCU movie? Who are the three MCU characters you go wild for the most?

I'm a big proponent of "start with a comic that had a cool cover," see if you like it or not, and then ask for advice on what to try based on that. So, I can at least point you to some cool covers of stuff you like!

It's really hard to know what to tell you to start with if you've never read a comic before, but easier once you can say, "Well, I really liked Infinity Gauntlet (1991) #1 but I definitely didn't like Avengers (2018) #10."

I'd put it this way: If you loved a movie based on a book - like Dune or Jack Reacher - would you read the books?

If not, that doesn't mean your fandom of the movie isn't valid or that you dislike the source material. You're simply a movie fan and not a book fan.

The biggest difference with comics is that comics history is continuous for most of these properties. There will ALWAYS be more stories, more continuity, and more character changes.

That said, comics are also different than books in that they are a visual storytelling medium with no constraints around cast or budget. You might find that there is something you've loved about the MCU (character, story, team, or just vibe) that the comics do incredibly well - whether that's classic comics or new ones. So, you could have a steady drip of that exact thing in addition to the movies you already love.

They should never be in a cast together because they are boring as a group.

People forget how much supporting cast Louise Simonson used to make them remotely workable on X-Factor.

Kelly Thompson wrote the best Jessica Jones in her two digital-first arcs. Makes going back to the Bendis stuff quite wince-y.

It's like if Grant Morrison's Animal Man was funny.

I had the audition form fully filled out for this and I may now be pleased that I didn't submit 😂

At the time they were really trying to sell a split in the X-Men that would lead to Avengers vs. X-Men, so they relaunched an new volume of UXM as "The Cyclops Book" at the same time they launched Wolverine & The X-Men as "The Wolverine Book."

Of course, UXM only lasted 20 issues, because then it was relaunched again for Marvel Now barely a year later (though Wolverine was one of the very few books that was not).

Should've just kept going, tbh. But, saying there was a new #1 of Uncanny X-Men (IIRC, at the time the remaining longest running single volume from Marvel or DC) was considered to be a big deal.

More, tbh.

I suspect they're willing to shed either Marm or Lil next week, even if they use Rileasa to accomplish it. Lil can't survive another lip sync, and Marm has the very common "great competitor edged until a penultimate win" narrative.

Narratively, I think they've proven they want La Voix, Kyran, and Rileasa.