House to Astonish

It's a brave new world for the Thunderbolts, as they try to readjust to civilian life... or, in the case of some, to adjust to being bossed around by Captain America as part of the Redeemers. Paul and Al say hello to new regular penciler Patrick Zircher, as well as to the continuity transplants from the Heroes Reborn universe, as they look at issues 51 and 52 of Thunderbolts, as well as the Thunde...

Merry Chri... er... Happy New Y... um... Happy February? Welcome to the joint 15th anniversary and end of year wrap-up episode of House to Astonish, as Paul and Al chat through the news of the past few weeks, including  Blood Hunt 's polybagged "Red Band" editions, Jason Aaron taking on the relaunched  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , the 40th anniversary of  Usagi Yojimbo and  Criminal  coming to A...

It's anniversary time, as Paul and Al mark the 15th turn round the sun of House to Astonish by briefly mourning the original episode they recorded for the occasion and lost in a computer disaster, before moving on to another anniversary in the form of issue 50 (and 48 and 49) of Thunderbolts, from 2001. It's the end of the Scourge story, the return of Jolt, and time to bid a fond farewell to Mark...

The Thunderbolts are on a collision course with Scourge (and issue 50), but right now they've got to deal with Moonstone's identity crisis, the Battle of Techno's Ear and the arrival of Genis-Vell, as we look at issues 45-47 from the turn of the millennium. Plus Cybergoth Santa, the Titanian Smurfs and the concept of Pink Pavements crossovers.

Al and Paul have a whirlwind recap of news from NYCC for your enjoyment, as they look at the "faux-simile"  Batman  428;  John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America; the Superman Superstars initiative; the formation of Ghost Machine; Avengers: Twilight;  the  Blood Hunt  crossover; the creative teams of the new Ultimate line; and the end of the Krakoan era, as well as taking the time to remembe...

It's crossover time, and Paul and Al are catching up once again with Marvel's Most Wanted, who are going to learn to play nice with other comics whether they want to or not. The Nefaria Protocols play out across Thunderbolts  #s 43 and 44 and Avengers  #s 33 and 34, and nothing will ever be the same again! Except almost everything actually will, but look, at least we get the perils of invisible fu...

Paul and Al are back once again, and this time round they're wishing Jeff Smith well in his recovery from cardiac arrest, and gabbing about Tom Brevoot's intra-Marvel move, the upcoming Sentry, Speed Force and Spider-Man: Reign 2 series, and the strange case of the possibly disappearing IDW Originals line, as well as reviewing Uncanny Avengers and The Cull. Plus the Official Handbook of the Offici...

The mystery of Scourge deepens while Atlas gets drunk, and Paul and Al look at  Thunderbolts  issues 40-42 (with a brief detour into  Avengers  32 for good measure) and the T-Bolts begin the twisty, turny climb towards issue 50.

Al and Paul are back with more comics chat, remembering John Romita Sr and Ian McGinty, talking about #ComicsBrokeMe, Image moving distribution to Lunar, Marvel and DC's upcoming launches and Ram V and Felipe Andrade's  Rare Flavours , as well as reviewing  Void Rivals  and  Ultimate Invasion.  It's 10pm. Do you know where the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is?

It's time for another electrifying set of issues of Marvel's most wanted superteam, the Thunderbolts, as Paul and Al look at Thunderbolts Annual 2000, as well as Thunderbolts #38 and #39. Scourges! Hellstroms! Citizens V! It's very much all go, as the storyline begun in issue 34 continues along its twisty-turny path. 

Paul and Al are back on their regular beat, remembering Al Jaffee and Rachel Pollack, talking about all the upcoming Fall of X and Knight Terrors books, enjoying Mark Waid's mini-renaissance at DC and dissecting the digital drops of DSTLRY, as well as reviewing The Great British Bump-Off and  Guardians of the Galaxy.  The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe? I don't b...

It's a whole new era for Marvel's Most Wanted as Paul and Al's reread of Thunderbolts enters the Fabian Nicieza era, looking at issues 34-37. The team comes face to face with someone who's either a new enemy or an old friend (or possibly both) as the tale of the new Beetle wraps up and the Scourge saga begins!

It's 2023! And you know what that means! That's right, more 2022! Join al and Paul as they dish out the golden gongs in the comics industry's most Scottishy-podcasty awards, the Homies! Now in its titantic tenth year! Who won (they'll tell you!)? Who lost (they won't tell you!)? EXCITING!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me... twelve lightnings striking! It's time for the latest episode of Al and Paul's reread podcast covering Marvel's most wanted, the Thunderbolts, and they're looking at issues 31-33 of the original run of the book. This is the end of series cocreator Kurt Busiek's run as writer, so there's a little tear in everyone's eye as they revisit Arnim...

To quote the Bard, it's been a long road, getting from there to here, but Paul and Al have made it to episode 200 of House to Astonish, and they're indulging in their traditional vices of cake and fizz, and talking about Vault Comics' Headshell line, Titan's new Conan series, Joe Kelly and Kim Niimura's  Immortal Se rgeant , and Ty Templeton's cancer-free all-clear. They're also reviewing a bunch...

The Thunderbolts are back, and Graviton is making heavy weather of things for them. Can Archangel tip the scales in the heroes' favour? Can you imagine how embarrassed he would be if he didn't? We're looking at issues 27-30 of Thunderbolts (1997) this time out, and there's a guy with too many baguettes, some highly unfortunate kerning, and a high society scandal in the world of military robotics t...

Al and Paul are back, and they're remembering George Pérez, Neal Adams, Tim Sale, Kazuki Takahashi and Pat McCallum, as well as talking about Oni-Lion Forge and Comixology's recent personnel shifts, the upcoming Tim Drake: Robin series from DC, Marvel's newest Spider-Man ongoing, the return (again) of Miracleman , the just-announced Wakanda miniseries and Ryan North and Erica Henderson's Danger an...

Lightning keeps striking! Good lord! It's just bizarre by this point! Paul and Al are back to look at Thunderbolts issues 22, 0 and 23 (in that order) and Avengers 12 (not in that order). Thrill to Hawkeye losing his AirBnB deposit! Be wowed by Vision's capacity for complaining! Wonder aloud at whether Hercules and Atlas had a fling! It's all go here!

Paul and Al are back, with more news and reviews and the usual nonsense. They've got chat about Archie Comics' NFT shenanigans, IDW's Originals line, DC's Pride special's lineup, the new Batman and Detective Comics creative teams, Superman: The Space Age , X-Terminators , All-Out Avengers , the relaunch of Shang-Chi and Grant Morrison's debut novel Luda,  as well as reviews of The Wrong Earth: Fam...

Lightning strikes eight times! It's really very dangerous to be out here! Get to shelter! Paul and Al are back to talk about Thunderbolts #21 and Captain America/Citizen V '98 , with all the extraneous cover blurbs, world-class pauldrons and embarrassing Pritt-Stick accidents that entails.

Al and Paul have a full slate of comics news, remembering Ian Kennedy and Tom Veitch, and discussing the Hero Initiative's JLA/Avengers reprint, DC's upcoming Black Label titles, Marvel's Wild Cards and Thunderbolts revivals, IDW's Last Bot Standing and the Amazon/ComiXology disaster, and they've got reviews of Iron Fist and Nightwing to boot. If the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of t...

It's time for another adventure with the Marvel Universe's most neurotic super... er... heroes? Villains? Something along one of those lines, or possibly both. Anyway! We're looking at issues 17-20 of Thunderbolts vol. 1, and we've got Graviton, Charcoal, and the addition of a crucial element of the Tbolts mythos. Plus: a pug in a hoodie! Some French! An old lady from Elgin! It's all go around her...

It's time for Paul and Al's annual look-back at the comics and creators of 2021, as they give out the gongs in the Homies awards. Will your favourites go home with a glittering prize? Only one way to find out! Then it's time for a trip back to Harrogate in November 2021, for the recording of the SILENCE! To Astonish panel from Thought Bubble, featuring Rachael Stott, Becky Cloonan, Al Ewing and Ha...

A relatively quiet few weeks of news means a compact and bijou episode, but Al and Paul still find time to talk about Amazon's postponed assimilation of Comixology, Gina Gagliano leaving Random House Graphic, the launch of Zestworld, Oni signing with Lunar for distribution and Marvel's announcement of Secret X-Men,  as well as reviewing King of Spies and Justice League Dark Annual. Last Christmas,...