House to Astonish
House to Astonish - Episode 151 - Imaginary Mince Pie

It's the end of the year, and as always, Paul and Al are running through the results of the Homies awards, with Paul's picks, Al's picks, and the winners of the listener vote. They've got unexpectedly good books, predictably good creators, astonishingly close votes, and shambolically tabulated results. Come hear what the House enjoyed this year, and what the voting Housemates plumped for. All this plus a wooden piece of wood, a beautiful leather briefcase, and a perfunctory log fire.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_151_-_Imaginary_Mince_Pie.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:47am EDT

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here - House to Astonish episode 150, commemorating eight years of chat and waffle about comics. This time round, Paul and Al aren't doing their usual news-reviews-handbook format, but instead tackling questions about what current books they'd recommend, what the most ridiculous stories are that they've ever read, the Transformers: Earthforce stories, their secret origin, the concept of the "Reverse OHOTOHOTMU", their greatest hits, and how they'd remake crossover events. Plus their most punsome Amalgam characters, a spot of House to Astonish Theatre and a feature which they straight-up ripped off from another podcast. As a bonus, they've also got the entirety of the House to Astonish vs SILENCE! panel from Thought Bubble 2016, featuring Ryan North, Brenden Fletcher, Emi Lenox and John Allison, for anyone who missed that.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_150_-_Podcast_Three_Times_Backwards.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:26am EDT

Al and Paul are gearing up for their big 150th episode, with discussion of Charlie Adlard becoming the UK's Comics Laureate; more details on Marvel's Monsters Unlimited event; Scott Snyder reteaming with Greg Capullo; Kieron Gillen and Kev Walker's upcoming Doctor Aphra series; the impending relaunches of Nova and Batwoman; Warren Ellis's revamp of the Wildstorm universe; America Chavez's 2017 ongoing; Thunderbolts anniversary stories and LionForge's new superhero universe, as well as giving reviews to Reborn and Mosaic. Theorising that one could time travel within his own lifetime, the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator... and vanished.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_149_-_Favourite_Corks.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:22am EDT

Paul and Al remember they have a podcast, and take a canter through the comics news of the past week or so, including the renaming of Death of Hawkman; the announcement of the Justice League/Suicide Squad event and Steve Orlando as Justice League of America writer; the suggested new optimistic direction for the DC Cinematic Universe; Marvel's teases for Ressurexion and Monsters Unleashed; the mooted New Warriors sitcom; Alan Moore's retirement from comics; Image's cross-country move; and Warren Ellis and Coleen Doran's forthcoming webcoming Finality. They've also got reviews of Night's Dominion and Supergirl. The word's on the streets and it's on the news, I'm not going to teach the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe how to dance with you.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_148_-_No_Shires_No_Shoes_No_Service.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:27pm EDT

House to Astonish - Episode 147 - Story: Ark

Al and Paul have got absolutely loads to get through this episode, as they run through the Marvel NOW! announcements, take a look at the most recent Direct Market sales figures, look at Spell on Wheels, Ether, Hawkman and Adam Strange: Out of Time and the Lost Boys sequel comic, have a quick chat about the new artist on Black Panther, discuss Plutona's potential move to the big screen, dig into the upcoming Marvel/Fox co-produced TV show and sigh wearily at the Wonder Woman cover thing, as well as reviewing Horizon and New Super-Man. Clap along if you feel like the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe without a roof.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_147_-_Story__Ark.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:22pm EDT

House to Astonish - Episode 146 - Immune to Terrapins

In which Paul and Al promise not to spend time chewing over the massively-masticated topics of Captain America's Hydra cliffhanger and DC Rebirth's unexpected additions to the DCU, then proceed to spend 15 minutes doing exactly that. They also chat through the Cinemax-optioned Scarlet; the Civil War II #3 midnight openings (and the candidates for the "big surprising death"); the director of the Flash movie and Superman's upcoming guest spot on Supergirl, and review Detective Comics and Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe! The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe!  Kick off your Sunday shoes!

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_146_-_Immune_To_Terrapins.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:12pm EDT

House to Astonish - Episode 145 -  Being Lex Shrapnel

Al and Paul are back to their regular comics chat this time out, with news of the sad and untimely death of Darwyn Cooke; the cancellation of Agent Carter; the renewal of Supergirl; the woes of Marvel's Most Wanted; a bit of movie chat around Black Panther, Civil War, Suicide Squad and BvS; the end of Darth Vader; the upcoming Section 8 mini; and DC's anti-sexual harassment measures, along with reviews of Punisher and Satellite Falling. Iggle Piggle Iggle Onk, we're going to catch the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_145_-_Being_Lex_Shrapnel.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:21pm EDT

It's been a big few weeks for comics news, so Paul and Al are running through the DC Rebirth announcements, the Image Expo presentation, Gerard Way's new DC imprint, the sale of CBR to Valnet, the (very) minor trinkets of Marvel news from the past couple of weeks and a little bit of chat about Batman v Superman along with reviews of The Fix and Black Panther. Battle not with monsters, lest you become a monster, and if you gaze into the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe gazes also.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_144_-_The_Avengabus_Is_Coming.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:34am EDT

House to Astonish - Episode 143 - How to be Tortured With Fruit

A quiet time for comics news as we head towards convention season, but Al and Paul have got some chat for you this time out on the Civil War trailer, the renewed slate of CW DC shows, Amazon's Tick pilot order, Valiant's Deathmate event, Civil War II: X-Men, the revival of the Icon imprint, the planned roll-out of DC Rebirth and the price point and shipping schedule that goes along with that, as well as reviews of Mockingbird and Baker Street Peculiars. If you were the only girl in the world, and I were the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, you'd probably get bored pretty quickly.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_143_-_How_to_be_Tortured_With_Fruit.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:43pm EDT

There's an absolute ton of news for Paul and Al to discuss this time around, so they're looking at DC Rebirth; Wal-Mart's move into graphic novels; the Hanna-Barbera comics revamp; the mess that was this year's Angoulême; Si Spurrier and Dylan Burnett's Weavers, the return of Steve Rogers as Captain America; the Supergirl/Flash TV crossover and the Legion show casting, as well as reviewing Spider-Man and Mirror. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe makes our heart sing; it makes everything... groovy.

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_142_-_Effys_Illegal_VR_Den.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:39pm EDT

Al and Paul are back to normal operations this time round (by which we mean "recorded with sound errors" - for some reason the laptop didn't pick up the mic so the show recorded using the internal mic on the Macbook, which means a slightly echoey experience that long-time listeners will remember from the show's first year). They've got a good bit of chat about Civil War II, the newly-announced Poe Dameron ongoing, the all-new Wasp, Netflix's potential Punisher series, titbits of info on the Wonder Woman movie and the creative team change on A-Force. They're also casting a critical eye over the December sales charts and reviewing Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion and Spider-Man/Deadpool. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. 

Direct download: House_to_Astonish_141_-_All_This_and_Civil_War_II.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:59pm EDT

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