The Fantasticast

Superfluous Triton

Hello, and welcome to episode 340 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 tackle the middle chapter of the Serpent Crown Affair. The Serpent Soci- uh, Squad are here to explain everything, destroy and oil rig, go treasure hunting, and exchange underwater punches with The Thing, Stingray, and special guest star Triton of the Inhumans, who definitely has a role to play in this issue, oh yes.

Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, George Perez, Gene Day, Carl Gafford, John Costanza, Jim Salicrup, Bob Budiansky, and Jim Shooter present Marvel Two-in-One #65 - Serpents From The Sea, in which your hosts definitely know who each member of the Serpent Soci- uh, Squad is, and Sidewinder (we think) delivers the most gratuitous exposition seen in Marvel Comics to date. And, as a bonus, we also dive into one entire panel of the Dark Phoenix Saga, as we take an exceedingly-brief look at Uncanny X-Men #135.

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.

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Gratuitous Vindicator

Hello, and welcome to episode 339 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 taste of things to come that will dominate the Fantastic Four for years, this week sees John Byrne at the typewriter for the first time, assuming both writing and penciling duties as a corporate tie-in gets repurposed to fill an unexpected hole in the publishing schedules. Is it the real thing? You can't beat the feeling of know the good stuff is only a handful of issues away...

John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Bob Sharen, Irv Watanabe, Jim Salicrup, and Jim Shooter present Fantastic Four #220 - And The Lights Went Out All Over World, in which the lights go out in a geographically-minute area, an artistic depiction of an updraft just doesn't quite work, a Canadian and a flashback are deployed to pad out a page count, and the most unlikely moment in Fantastic Four history is selected to be represented by a pinup page.

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.

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Pregnancy Blind Spot

Hello, and welcome to episode 338 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 return to both the Marvel multiverse and Earth 772 as we take a look at how Reed Richards might fare following Sue Storm's decision to stay with Namor the Sub-Mariner. Rejecting Spider-Man, alienating Ben, faking evidence to draw the world into war, and attempted genocide - all perfectly reasonable responses that don't warrant further analysis.

And joining us for that further analysis is podcaster Jon M. Wilson. Host of Make Ours Marvel, All The Pouches: An Image Comics Podcast, former host of more shows than we can mention, and the podcast who gave Steve his podcasting break, Jon joins us to complete his Fantasticast guest-hosting hat trick, a feat that has taken eight years to complete. Well, good thing come to those who wait... Follow him on twitter, where he is @jonreadscomics!

Bill Mantlo, Gene Colan, Bob Wiacek, Carl Gafford, Tom Orzechowski, Denny O'Neil, Mark Gruenwald, and Jim Shooter present What If? #21 - What If... Sub-Mariner Had Married the Invisible Girl?, a comic full of a diminishing team, misplaced attempts to garner the sympathy of the reader, an inability to distinguish between Attuma and Krang (although that may just be Steve) and, sadly, no bollockfish. But if you're after toxic masculinity and an irrelevant Sue Storm, then this comic is the one for you!

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.

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Wind-Generated Oil Rigs

Hello, and welcome to episode 337 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

We're at the start of another big storyline for Marvel Two-in-One, as abandoned plotlines from Namor's solo title drive the adventures of Benjamin "The Thing" Grimm and Walter "Stingray" Newall. A jaunt to visit the Inhumans turns into a rescue mission at a suspiciously-acting oil rig, and there are yet larger forces at work...

Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Maccio, George Perez, Gene Day, Carl Gafford, Ben Sean, John Costanza, Jim Salicrup, and Jim Shooter present Marvel Two-in-One #64, the first part of the classic The Serpent Crown Affair. As well as this, we also take a brief look at the Tom DeFalco and Steve Ditko-produced Machine Man #15, in which wheels are definitely better than legs.

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.

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Much Ago About Namor's Horn

Hello, and welcome to episode 336 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

When is a fill-in not a fill-in? When it's the first issue of an ongoing run that immediately goes on hiatus for another fill-in, right? Despite being introduced as a fill-in, this is the first issue of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz's much-criticised run on the Fantastic Four, as they remix the first appearance of Namor the Sub-Mariner with a little extra dash of Barracuda, just in case things get too exciting.

Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Sinnott, George Roussos, Jim Novak, Jim Salicrup, and Jim Shooter present Fantastic Four #219, which features far too many people wanting to grasp Namor's horn, an unfeasibly-large sandwich, a comic awakening, a costume too dull to draw in close-up, and the complete and total plunder of New York. The city. All of it. Yeah.

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.

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Everybody Hates Starhawk

Hello, and welcome to episode 335 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 returning to outer space to hunt down those who have stolen Counter-Earth, discover Adam Warlock's body, and get someone laid. Behold as plotlines from comics nothing to do with the Fantastic Four get explained and retconned while the star of this book stands around and listens.

Mark Gruenwald, Jerry Bingham, Gene Day, Roger Slifer, Joe Rosen, Bob Budiansky, Jim Salicrup, Jim Shooter, George Perez, and Terry Austin present Marvel Two-in-One #63, in which a Warlock is not suffered to live. In addition, we pay a final visit to the Microverse (for now) as the Fantastic Four and the Micronauts team up to survive capture by the Psycho-Man, in The Micronauts #17.

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.

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

Steve's Eternal Spider-Disappointment

Hello, and welcome to episode 334 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 sees us firmly in fill-in crossover team-up territory. In a shared story of Spectacular Spider-Man #42, the Frightful Four have reformed - this time with Electro - and have set their sights on both Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. With the aid of some nifty technology, they're out to impersonate Spider-Man and the Human Torch. Will anyone notice the difference between four middle-aged hardened super-powered career criminals and two lithe superheroes in their early 20s?

Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Ben Sean, Jim Novak, Jim Salicrup, Jim Shooter, Al Milgrom, Mike Zeck, Jim Mooney, Janice Cohen, Irv Watanabe, and Joe Rubinstein present Fantastic Four #218 and Spectacular Spider-Man #42, in which a cunning disguise manages to fool even our hosts, and the Trapster runs the entire gamut of villainy 'hyper-competent' to 'facepalm'.

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.

It's Spankin' Time

Hello, and welcome to episode 333 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 back in the realms of Marvel Two-in-One, as an extended cast (including Starhawk, Moondragon, Her, and Alicia Masters) make their way to Counter-Earth. Well, they would do, if some bastards hadn't towed the bloody thing away, forcing them to resurrect the High Evolutionary to work out where it's gone. All this for a shag...

Mark Gruenwald, Jerry Bingham, Gene Day, George Roussos, Joe Rosen, Jim Salicrup, Jim Shooter, George Perez, and Joe Sinnott present Marvel Two-in-One #62 - The Taking Of Counter-Earth, in which Counter-Earth is taken, Starhawk reveals his secret power, and Moondragon receives some corporal punishment. Yes, it's time for us to look at a spanking! As well as this, we linger in the Microverse for Micronauts #16, and head into the multiverse for a brief look at What If? #20.

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.

This Little Robot Tramp

Hello, and welcome to episode 332 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Ah, Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics, we barely knew ye. Actually, we knew you rather too well - you were annoying and unfunny. But still, in Fantastic Four #217, your final appearance, a modicum of empathy is gained. Secrets are uncovered, identities are revealed, and a sacrifice is made...

Bill Mantlo, Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Bob Sharen, John Costanza, Mark Gruenwald, Morrie Kuramoto, and Jim Shooter present Fantastic Four #217, in which danger rises from within, Marv Wolfman bids his farewell by dint of leaving some post-it notes dotted around the office, and the birds and the bees explain CEX.

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.

Er... Yeah... Fnarr?

Hello, and welcome to episode 331 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 doing our best not to snigger in a smutty manner at the title of Marvel Two-in-One #61. Because there's nothing to laugh at, at all, alright? Anyway, we start another cosmic epic for Ben Grimm, as he gets mixed up with Her, Moondragon, Starhawk, and Alicia Masters. Some of these characters are headed out into space, and it's not necessarily the ones that you might be thinking of...

Mark Gruenwald, Jerry Bingham, Gene Day, Ben Sean, Joe Rosen, Jim Salicrup, George Perez, and Terry Austin present Marvel Two-in-One #61 - The Coming Of Her. Featuring some things that I made notes about while editing the podcast, but I left those notes at home in Gent, and I'm over 500km away, so those notes might just as well have not been taken. Hmm.

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.