Show notes
Welcome back to Collecting Issues, your monthly comic book book club!This month, Mick and Ben are strapping in (and trying not to burst out of identical tight t-shirts) to review Assorted Crisis Events, Volume 1, collecting issues #1-5 of the hit 2025 Image Comics series. Created by the powerhouse team of Deniz Camp (20th Century Men, Absolute Martian Manhunter) and artist Eric Zawadzki, with breathdtaking colours by Jordie Bellaire, this book asks the ultimate question: What happens when timeline-shattering multiversal events happen to ordinary, everyday people instead of A-list superheroes?It’s The Twilight Zone meets Black Mirror, but deeply grounded in the grim, weird, and human reality of 2026.In This Episode We Break Down:Issue #1: Apocalypse Now – We follow Ashley Cargill through a chronally displaced city where reality is stranger than fiction, blending pop-culture commentary with an impending nightmare around every corner.Issue #2: Slaughterhouse Nine to Five – A devastating, visceral look at the immigrant experience, generational trauma, veganism... and velociraptors. Plus, we rave over Eric Zawadzki's savant-level panel layouts.Issue #3: Crisis on Hearth 2 – A brilliant Crisis on Infinite Earths homage that serves as an unflinching metaphor for displacement, immigration, and how quickly society fractures when doppelgangers move into town.Issue #4: Time Flies – Mikey has made some terrible choices (like some really terrible choices), but is he just an adrenaline-junkie leaping through time, or is this a tragic look at regret and impulse decisions?Issue #5: Strange Loops – The world-building issue (kind of)! We meet Anna, a woman who survives a 60-second time loop that lasted 30 million years. We trace the Easter eggs, time-loop tropes, and finally start piecing together the overarching mystery of the jetpack hobo.Next Month's Book: We are shamelessly riding the cinematic hype train! In preparation for the upcoming movie, we’ll be reading Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s incredible Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Listen to the Absolute Martian Manhunter EpisodeListen to our 20th Century Men EpisodeFollow the Podcast:Join the Discord and read alongRead Our SubstackFollow us on InstagramFollow us on TiktokWatch us on YoutubeTime Stamps:0:00 Intro 00:32 Spoiler Warning Banter02:02 Multiverse Fatigue Explained03:32 What This Series Is04:33 Deniz Camp Track Record06:40 Anthology Shared World09:49 Personal Crisis Metaphor15:46 Issue One Breakdown21:37 Art Layout Praise31:43 Issue Two Slaughterhouse35:10 Gore Vegan Subtext37:19 Panel Layout Color Work42:20 Crocodile Trauma Origins43:43 Blood Fear and Family Cycles46:33 Crisis on Hearth Two48:00 Doppelgangers and Displacement53:06 Chaos Camp and Panel Mirrors56:33 Time Flies Bad Choices59:40 Unreliable Narrator Debate01:05:02 Strange Loops Worldbuilding01:11:08 Medium Tricks and Rereads01:12:07 Final Thoughts and Next Read Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
