The Fantasticast

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Joining Steve and Andrew today is the marvellously wonderful and hairy David Wynne, co-creator and artist of Hypergirl, creator of Ideasman, and all-round nice bloke. Oh, he also created the Fantastic-Arse joke, but we forgive him for that. David joins us to look at Fantastic Four #21, featuring the hateful Hate-Monger, Colonel Nick Fury, and a surprise guest-star on the final page. We then move onto Strange Tales #115, featuring the Sandman and... not much else.

We also introduce our new blog, Fantastic Flame On, a daily picture blog chronicling every instance of Flame On, It's Clobberin' Time, Asbestos, and more. Swing by the site to check it out!

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

David Wynne can be found on twitter (@davidwynne) and tumblr (http://davidwynne.tumblr.com/, or http://bigfootrock.tumblr.com/)

Ideasman can be found at http://particlefiction.posterous.com/

Hypergirl can be ordered in trade paperback from here or in digital form from Comixology

The (Pre-Emtpive) Return Of Captain America (Secret Wars II Continues In This Episode)

Landmark! Record Breaker! We Never Thought You'd Get There! Just some of the comments made about this episode before it was even listened to by human ears!

Steve and Andrew re-unite once more to continue their trek through all things Fantastic. This episode they cover one of the less-good issues of the Fantastic Four, featuring the first appearence of the Molecule Man. They then move on to one of the less-bad issues of Strange Tales, featuring the first modern appearance of Captain America... sort of... Along the way, they tackle listener e-mails, and kill off the Teen Brigade.

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

NOW It's Time For A Move Commentary!

Greetings from the Olympic Park in Stratford, London! Steve is away helping people with mobility issues to move around the park, sneaking into events, and meeting Oscar Pistorius. Andrew's enjoying the last dregs of his holiday. Between us, we've had minimal editing time, so we thought we'd take a different tack with this week's show. Instead of working through a couple of issues of Fantastic Four and Strange Tales, we thought we'd sit down and watch Fantastic Four (2005), and record a commentary.

Join us as we journey through the team's first (released) cinematic outing and see how we feel about the film seven years after its release. We also take a brief moment to evaluate the upcoming Marvel NOW (not a) reboot of the Fantastic Four titles.

No emails or trailers this time around, but we'll be devoting a bit of time on the next episode to catch up on our mailbag, so do send your comments and thoughts on the show, the comics, or even the film to [email protected]

Pharoahs and Plants, Spiders and Soldiers

Welcome to the Eighteenth episode of the Fantasticast, where Andrew and Steve take you through the Fantastic Four from the very beginning. This time around, we have a monster episode with four issues to cover.

In Fantastic Four #19, we meet Rama-Tut/Kang/Immortus for the very first time in a time-travelling romp to Ancient Egypt. Then in Strange Tales #113, Jerry Siegel regales us with the saga of the Plant Man. We then move over to Amazing Spider-Man #5, where Doctor Doom forces the Fantastic Four to make a brief appearance in the narrative, before finishing with an overdue look at Sgt. Fury And His Howling Commandos #3.

Along the way we hear a couple more 'And we're back's', debate the influence of Asterix on Stan and Jack, and discover what happens when Andrew's 's' key stops working.

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

No Funny Episode Title Springs To Mind

Damn my alcohol-fueled lack of imagination!

Welcome to the 17th episode of The Fantasticast. This week, Andrew and Stephen take a look at Fantastic Four #18, featuring the first appearance of the Super-Skrull and formulaic plotting. We then dive into Strange Tales #112, where an unexpected guest-scripter takes the series to new heights. Just with lots of words. And a very casual attitude to atomic explosions. Ah well.

Finally we take a brief look at Avengers #1 and the role our favourite family play in the founding of Earth's Mightiest Heroes! It's a pretty packed episode, and it's surprising we fit it all into one-and-a-half hours!

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

The Best Of Annuals, The Wost Of Annuals

This is the 16th episode of The Fantasticast, and it's our biggest one yet. Which is appropriate, considering we're looking at the largest amount of story pages yet on the show. To help us out with this massive task, we invited podcaster extraordinaire Jon M. Wilson (New 52 Adventures of Superman, Golden Age Superman, Xavier's Podcast For Gifted Children, The Mighty Shield, Amazing Spider-Man Classics, Teenage Wasteland: An Ultimate Spider-Man Podcast) to sit in with us for the show. And to our great delight, he agreed!

It's time for us to take a look at Fantastic Four Annual #1 and Strange Tales Annual #2. In one, the Marvel universe expands in breadth and depth. The world is invaded, the secret history of Atlantis is revealed, and Jack Kirby hits an artistic peak. In the other, there's a load of gubbins involving The Human Torch and some imposter dressed up as Spider-Man, and Jack Kirby hits an artistic trough.

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Whence Came The Man Of Asbestos!

Dedicated to the memory of the great Ernest Borgnine, without whom Airwolf would never have flown.

The fifteenth episode of The Fantasticast! BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! Featuring the return of Doctor Doom! BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! The deadly attack of the Asbestos Man! BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! The voice of Professor Alan! BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! Spoiling the end of Quantum Leap! BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT!

Quit demanding stuff, it's making our episodes too random!

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The Return of Doctor Doom!

Cower, mortals, for this episode of the Fantasticast sees Doom return in all his gloriousness, and at only a fraction of his original size! Featuring a special guest appearance from Ant Man and possibly the first appearance of the Microverse! But we don't end there! Both the Wizard and Paste Pot Pete team up in the latest issue of Strange Tales. But we don't end there! See how Johnny Storm helps Peter Parker in his first battle with Doctor Octopus... without even knowing it!

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The Thinker's Fantastical Predictions

Hello and welcome to a very special episode of The Fantasticast! Not only are we celebrating half a year's worth of the show (we're aiming for 26 a year), but we're also celebrating the birthdays of both Andrew and Stephen, born only 24 hours (and a handful of years) apart. Not that we realised this when recording the show, but I thought I'd put some metaphorical balloons up anyway!

So, this time around, we get to grip with The Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android in Fantastic Four #15. Steve's been going on for weeks how much he dislikes the Thinker, so the contents of this episode may just surprise you. And then it's over to Strange Tales #109 for the threat of the Sorceror and the contents of Pandora's Box. And with a villain called the Sorceror, you just know we've gone overboard with the Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy music...

We also cover our most recent e-mails, but we need some more, so please do send your feedback, thoughts, views, comments, abuse, dirty jokes, and requests for help in moving money out of Nigeria to: [email protected]

HYPNOFISH!!!

Twelve episodes into the Fantasticast and Andrew and Stephen find themselves confronted by the titanic not-quite-a-team-up of Namor and Puppet Master, followed by the worst forger (and moustache) in the world, The Painter. Discover the joys of the Hypnofish, marvel at Alicia Masters' uncanny ability to resolve the plot in time for the end of the book, and cower before the meance of Wilhelm van Vile.

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