The Fantasticast

Give Me A Minute Whilst I Read This F---ing Book

Hello, and welcome to episode 204 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It's Thought Bubble weekend, and Steve and Andy are up in Leeds. We're sharing Table 11, New Dock Hall with show artist Michael Georgiou, and we would love to see you there. We're debuting our new logo and artwork (launching on the show next weekend), and will be recording at our table throughout the weekend. Come and say hi!

For everyone not at Leeds, Steve and Andy are in your ears, discussing Fantastic Four #159, in which the Fifth Dimension invades, Sue displays new powers, Black Bolt is fitted with a superfluous gag, Johnny gets a snog, and Steve struggles to remember even the basics of the plot five minutes after they've been explained to him.

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Hast Thou Left Asgard With Thy Mittens?

Hello, and welcome to episode 203 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're diving back into the world of Marvel Two-in-One. Issue 9 poses the question: Just how wrong can a children's puppet show go? Well, if the puppeteer is the inevitably-revealed Puppet Master, and Thor's nearby for reasons of editorial mandate, then it can go pretty wrong!

Joining us for this episode is podcaster, critic and actual Man of Words, Alasdair Stuart. Together, we get intimate with detergent, we join Ben, Donnie Wahlberg, and Daria on Broadway, and we answer that all-important question: If there are no sausages, why should there be puppet shows?

Alasdair is the host of Escape Pod, Pseudo Pod, Pod Castle, and Cast of Wonders, presenting original SD, Horror, Fantasy and YA fiction in podcast form. He is currently running a kickstarter to help fund Pseudo Pod, please check it out. You can find his writings at www.alasdairstuart.com, and on twitter, he is @AlasdairStuart

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Your Mother's Moustache

Hello, and welcome to episode 202 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It's the beginning of the end for Medusa, as our coverage of Fantastic Four #158 marks her penultimate issue as a member of the team. Fittingly, the title rejoins the Inhumans. Less fittingly, Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott drag up a near-forgotten villain from the earliest days of Strange Tales to provide some threat. And a giant horn.

As well as all of this, Johnny goes to a singles bar, Reed is a colossal ass, Sue first with being a PI, Ben goes to the opera, Medusa does nothing of interest at all, and we meet the ultimate mashup of villains whose names are spurious acronyms - QuasiMODOK!

All this, and... we encounter the very first Hostess Fruit Pies advert!

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Idaho's Most Haunted

Hello, and welcome to episode 201 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

We kick off our third century by looking at the perennially underwhelming Marvel Team-Up. Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, is the special guest star, bringing his expertly-defined powers to this semi-sequel to Marvel Two-in-One #8. Will Wyatt Wingfoot get any lines? Will the writer remember the name of his tribe and where their reservation is? And will the villain turn out to be even worse than the Miracle Man? Only Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema, and Vince Coletta can tell us.

Elsewhere, Steve and Andy are changing up their format to give more time to these four-colour masterpieces, Steve's friends are chilling with George Takei, and there's a bit too much musing about the contents of an obscure Marvel Essential collection.

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Let's Go Latverian Bargain Hunting - Yeah!

Hello, and welcome to episode 200 (yes, 200) of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

For our giant-size anniversary special, we're taking a look at Fantastic Four #157, the conclusion to the latest Doctor Doom/Silver Surfer storyline. The Doomsman returns, the Surfer gets a snog, the truth about Shalla-Bal is revealed, and revealed again, and someone's playing a much bigger game than the Fantastic Four realise. Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott welcome the coming of the Endeth, whatever that is.

Following this, we take a very deep dive into our mailbag, stuffed full of listener questions. We wonder about which version of the films deserve to continue, who Johnny's least-terrible girlfriend was, discover how we'd bring back the Fantastic Four, explore what's in our current pull-list, and reassign Stan and Jack to other comics properties. All this, and more, in our extra-sized 200th episode.

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Cosmic M&Ms

Hello, and welcome to episode 199 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It's time to get to grips with the middle game. The middle of the game. The intermediary stage. Not the end, neither the beginning, but the all important middle. The. Middle. Game. It's Fantastic Four #156, featuring some of Rich Buckler's best panel layouts to date, and Roy Thomas and Len Wein playing some great games with exactly who's perspective is driving the story.

We're joined by Tom Harris, host of Radio Free Asgard, to revisit his first ever Fantastic Four issue. Doctor Doom is manipulating the Silver Surfer, the Reavers are eyeing up the equipment in the torture chamber, there's LSD in the Negative Zone, and a free binder with part one.

Check out Radio Free Asgard at http://radiofreeasgard.podbean.com

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Three Wise Men And A Ghost Rider

Hello, and welcome to episode 198 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

In a last-minute change to our schedule, we're celebrating Christmas early with Marvel Two-in-One #8. Three Wise Men are following yonder star, Wyatt Wingfoot's got no room in the inn, and a flaming-headed demonic stunt rider is wondering just why all of this is happening in Arizona! A shadow, powerful figure is looming - is it the Collector? Is it God? Or is it someone far, far worse?

Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito present a Ghost Rider/Thing team-up of quite literally biblical proportions, with an extra dash of exploding Christmas tree, a sprinkle of astronomical anomaly, and a serving of egg nog.

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Suspiciously Unsolid Wall

Hello, and welcome to episode 197 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

In an unusual move, we're throwing our regular titles to the side, and spending this week in the weird world of Marvel's premier non-team, The Defenders. Issue 20 brings to a conclusion the plot line involving the harmonica, the Valkyrie and Destiny that has been running through the last two issues of Marvel Two-in-One, and because The Thing is along for the ride, we are too.

Guided by the hands of Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema and Vince Coletta, we follow The Thing, Valkyrie, Doctor Strange and Nighthawk into the town of Cobbler's Roost, where great old ones are waiting to burst into our dimension, trapdoors are waiting to be sprung, harmonicas are waiting to be blown, husbands are waiting to be revealed, and plots are waiting to be wrapped up. Not all of these things actually happen in this book...

You can find Andy's recent appearance on 90s Comics Retrial here, Steve's recent appearance on Waiting For Doom here, and we'll both be appearing on Views From The Longbox very soon.

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Multiple Multiplying Madroxes Make Merry Mayhem

Hello, and welcome to episode 196 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It's our final excursion into the world of Giant-Size Fantastic Four, with the fourth issue of the oversized not-quite-an-annual. Of all the issues, this is the one with the most impact on the Marvel Universe, as it introduces one of the most enduring secondary X-Men of all - Jamie Madrox, The Multiple Man.

Len Wein, Chris Claremont, John Buscema and Joe Sinnott present an unusual tale with no clear villain, the Thing in a pimp suit, the closest Professor X has got to actual criminal neglect of a minor, and the first appearance of Peregrine Namath - Sports Player!

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Barry van Dyke Of Podcasting

Hello, and welcome to episode 195 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're spending more than 10 minutes covering an issue of The Fantastic Four, as we cover Fantastic Four #155. It's the first full issue from incoming writer (and Editor-in-Chief) Len Wein. It's a welcome return for the Silver Surfer, featuring in a story which draws inspiration from across the spectrum of Silver Surfer stories, from his solo series to his appearances in the Defenders, and back to his original appearances in the Fantastic Four.

It's not just a good story that revives the previously-flagging FF title. Rich Buckler is on fire, providing a combination of great pencils and innovative page layouts, with Joe Sinnott providing excellent inks, although that's pretty much the norm for him. Could this be the start of a great run on the Fantastic Four? Let's find out...

Send in your feedback to [email protected], leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.