The Fantasticast

Hello, and welcome to the 68th episode of the show! Your hosts, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland, are all fired up and ready to look at Fantastic Four #59: Doomsday!

First, though, there's the small matter of our Listener Question of the Month, where we asked our listeners to tell us their feel good Fantastic Four reading experiences. Our feedback was limited, but we've gathered it all together anyway. There's also a new Listener Question of the Month for you all to answer... but you'll have to listen to the show to find out what that is.

Then it's off to Fantastic Four #59, wherein Doctor Doom poses a lot, the Fantastic Four cower a lot, Black Bolt shouts a lot, Attilan suddenly gains a population, and the longest-running subplot in Marvel Comics get wrapped up (a bit).

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The Silver Surfer: Imprisoned and drained. Doctor Doom: Enhanced with the power cosmic. The Inhumans: Still trapped. The Fantastic Four: Blissfully unaware of Doom's power, and wilfully ignorant of unusual lightning strikes.

Professor Alan Middleton: Still here after an entire week. His family miss him. He's eaten all the cereal and won't go and buy some more. Terrible house guest. Although he did write a synopsis for Fantastic Four #58, which saved Steve and Andy the bother of doing so.

Along the way, we pay tribute to Jack Kirby to mark the 20th anniversary of his passing, get involved in a detailed conversation regarding the benefits of renting vs buying in the context of discovering your borther-in-law's former college rival gaining unimaginable power, and remark on just how wonderful Doctor Doom is. That last bit may just be Alan...

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So, who like Latverian monarchs? Who likes cosmically-powered ex-world-eater heralds? Who likes surfing? Who would like to see all three combined, and served with a side-salad of granule-based supervillain? And how would you like if such a story were to be covered on the show in the presence of the Cultural Attache to the Embassy of Latveria (or whatever his title is)?

We think you all would, which is why Steve and Andy are proud to welcome back to the Fantasticast... Professor Alan Middleton! Alan joins us as we start our coverage of one of the most epic stories Stan and Jack ever told. Fantastic Four #57 is the first of four issues to feature Doctor Doom and the usurped power of the Silver Surfer. If you thought it looked pretty poor in Rise of the Silver Surfer, we three are here to show you how it should have been done.

Oh, and one of the biggest outtakes ever.

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It's time to dust off a character whose copyright is about to expire, deliver a resounding beat-down to a litigious creator, and welcome back the original android Human Torch to Marvel Comics. Join Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland as they cover Fantastic Four Annual #4, featuring The Torch That Was, and take a look at the behind-the-scenes goings-on that led to this copyright-retaining revival.

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I'll give you three guesses as to which villain makes a return in this issue, and the other two guesses just don't count. Yes, Klaw is back, and he's shed the meth-addict look for some a classic Kirby onesie, complete with unfortunate highlights around his backside. Fantastic Four #56 is devoted to clearing up the biggest loose end of the Fantastic Four's sojourn to Wakanda. See Sue fail to be silent. See Reed abandon his reasoning and resort to the power of his fists. See... er... something happen to the Inhumans.

As for the opening to the show... well... we literally ran out of time to create an opening. You have our sincerest apologies.

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It's our shortest ever episode as Steve and Andy see what happens when the Silver Surfer returns to the lives of the Fantastic Four in issue #55. It's a fantastic issue-long punching match between Ben Grimm and Norrin Rad, with at least one incredibly suspicious tactical decision from the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing along the way.

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Year Three of The Fantasticast is here! If we were Batman, we'd be introducing our kid sidekick right about now... But as we legally can't do that, instead we're going to return to Lee and Kirby following our end-of-year shenanigans.

Steve Lacey (20 Minute Longbox, Who True Freaks) and Andy Leyland (Heykids Comics, Who True Freaks) are here to guide you through Fantastic Four #54, featuring the first appearances of Prestor John and the Evil Eye, two bastions of the Marvel Universe who definately aren't unknown by most readers of comics, oh no.We also dive into our e-mail bag, swing with Ol' Blue Eyes himself, and imagine the moment of JJ Abrams' birth.

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Welcome to The World's Silliest Comic Podcast!

As our listeners rouse themselves from the annual turkey coma, we head back in time 31 years to celebrate with 20th year of publication of the Fantastic Four with a good old-fashioned roast. Yes, this episode, Steve Lacey and Andrew Leyland present the glorious gag-packed jam issue, Fantastic Four Roast, masterminded by Fred Hembeck. Check out the list of creators:

Fred Hembeck, Jim Shooter, Ron Wilson, Jon Byrne, Michael Golden, John Romita Jr, Al Milgrom, Mike Zeck, Bob Layton, Alan Weiss, Sal Buscema, Mike Vosburg, Kerry Gammill, Keith Pollard, Frank Miller, Denys Cowan, Marshall Rogers, John Buscema, Don Perlin, Gene Day, Walt Simonson, Frank Springer, Brent Anderson, Steve Leialoha, Dave Cockrum, Chic Stone, Terry Austin, John Romita Sr, Joe Rubinstein, Joe Sinnott, John Beatty, Bill Anderson, Ricardo Villamonte, Dan Green, Keith Pollard, Klau Janson, Bob McLeod, Bill Sienkiewicz.

All this, and one of the greatest number one singles of all time.

Don't forget to answer our listener question of the month: We want to know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

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

Happy Christmas, and welcome to the first of our two end-of-year special episodes of The Fantasticast. Once again, Steve and Andy are throwing the Lee/Kirby issues out of the window (not literally - we've proved over the past two years just how dangerous hardback collections of these comics can be) and are choosing two issues from across the length and breadth of the 53 years of the Fantastic Four.

Andy's selection is up first, and he's chosen 1981's Marvel Two-In-One #74, a Christmas-themed team-up between The Thing and the Puppet-Master. With script by Mark Gruenwald and art by Frank Springer and Chic Stone, this story features a guest-appearance from the best bovine midwife in the world - Bova!

Don't forget to answer our listener question of the month: We want to know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

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

No, it's not another origin song - your ears are safe! Instead, it's an origin story, as Stan and Jack tell the tale of the Black Panther, and the tragedy that birthed him. Join Steve Lacey and Andrew Leyland as they take a look at Fantastic Four #53, violent murder, giant red sound elephants, and a chilling comparison with Gotham's greatest hero.

Don't forget to answer our Listener Question Of The Month: We want to know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

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