The Fantasticast

Irv Watanabe

The Fantasticast Episode 259: Marvel Two-in-One #30 - Battle Atop Big Ben

The Fantasticast Episode 259

Cripes, Explosion!

Hello, and welcome to episode 259 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 jolly ol' London town for an issue of Marvel Two-in-One. Ben just wants to relax and see the sights, but Spider-Woman insists on attacking at every opportunity, and two crooks are content to blow up everything they can to avoid attracting attention. It's not a particularly clever plan, but it's the one we've got.

Marv Wolfman, John Buscema, and Pablo Marcos present Marvel Two-in-One #30, a comic book that, if you hold at an angle and squint slightly, makes sense. As well as the plot and art, we discuss how to forget Julia Carpenter, the usefulness of Spider-Woman's hood, and just what Steve misses about Eastenders.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_259.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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 Fantasticast Episode 255: Marvel Two-in-One #28 - In The Power Of The Piranha

The Fantasticast Episode 255

Weekend At Deathlok's

Hello, and welcome to episode 255 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 heading under the Atlantic Ocean to adventure in Atlantis with the Sub-Mariner. Marvel Two-in-One #28 sees the return of The Piranha, a villain so obscure that he would be forgotten about for another 24 years of comics. Anyway, it's not really him, but hundreds of mutated piranhas who ate the original Piranha and mutated into copies of him and... I need an aspirin!

Marv Wolfman, Ron Wilson, and John Tartaglione present this story of unlikely air traffic routes, breathing pills, ampitheatre mechanics, piranha-ical proportions, and a Crisis on Multiple Irene V's! 

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_255.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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 Fantasticast Episode 249: Marvel Two-in-One #25 - A Tale Of Two Countries

The Fantasticast Episode 249

Half-Inching The Goodyear Blimp

Hello, and welcome to episode 249 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 rushing through both Fantastic Four #180 and Marvel Two-in-One #25 in one episode. This task is made a lot easier by Fantastic Four #180 being a cunningly-disguised reprint of Fantastic Four #101. So cunningly-disguised is the reprint that Marvel even got Jack Kirby to draw a brand new cover that does not represent the contents in any way shape or form. Much like most covers from the early 2000s...

Marvel Two-in-One #25 is a more original affair, as The Thing and Iron Fist go for a wander in the jungle and get contracted to provide military training for an entire army. Marv Wolfman has arrived as series writer, joining Ron Wilson and Sam Grainger to present the most logical way to kidnap Ben Grimm from a football stadium.

Lending his vocals to our episode is Patreon supporter Patrick Delmore. Patrick has a new podcast launching this week: Next Generation's First Generation, a Star Trek: The Next Generation commentary podcast. Check out the first episode on September 23rd.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_249.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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 Fantasticast Episode 247: Marvel Two-in-One #24 - Does Anyone Remember The Hijacker?

The Fantasticast Episode 247

The Who?

Hello, and welcome to episode 248 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 on the show, we come to the conclusion of Bill Mantlo's run on Marvel Two-in-One. In common with a lot of his issues, he's picking up the reigns of a character rejected by the comics readership of the time, and giving him a second shot. In this case, it's Bill Foster - Black Goliath. And the Whiz Kids. But they're so unimportant that none of us recognise them.

Joining us for this episode is Fantastic Four superfan and comicbook.com writer Mike Brown. He stands beside us as we examine the work of Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, Sal Buscema, and Pablo Marcos. Strap in, folks - the Hijacker is here, and we definitely remember him!

Mike can be found on twitter as @EvrLvnBluIdThng, and you can find his interviews at comicbook.com with us herehere, and here.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_247.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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 Fantasticast Episode 246: Fantastic Four #179 - A Robinson Crusoe In The Negative Zone

The Fantasticast Episode 246

Hardback, Softback, Any Kind Of Back

Hello, and welcome to episode 246 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 peeling back the covers of Fantastic Four #179. Reed Richards is lost and almost naked in the Negative Zone, forced to hunt bats for sustenance and to make fire from quite literally nothing. His doppelganger, The Brute, has taken his place on the team. Thundra is flirting outrageously with Ben, Sue's got her doubts, and Tigra just wants lunch.

Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Ron Wilson and Joe Sinnott present a tale full of double-crossing, film noir marathons, almost-pizza, a discussion of Kai Cole's recent statement regarding her marriage, unlikely giant robots, and sunken garbage scows. Oh, and a completely bland number one single.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_246.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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 Fantasticast Episode 243: Marvel Two-in-One #22

The Fantasticast Episode 243

Diagnosis: Moider!

Hello, and welcome to episode 243 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 heading into hospital with The Thing, The Human Torch, Dr Donald Blake, Thor, half of Black Sun, and Seth. It's Marvel Two-in-One #22, which features the only available doctor in New York and the Egyptian god of death stalking the hall of the hospital in which he works. Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson, and Pablo Marcos join forces for the first of two consecutive Two-in-One issues to feature the same credited guest star.

Then we're off to the realm of Andy's nightmares to take a look at our first ever TV tie-in comic. The Electric Company comes to Marvel comics in Spidey Super Stories #20, in which Spider-Man, the Human Torch, and the Invisible Girl, to defeat Mysterio and his hateful hate ray of hate. You know, like Mysterio always has.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_243.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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 Fantasticast Episode 236: Marvel Two-in-One #19 - The Claws Of The Cougar

The Fantasticast Episode 236

The Inessential Tigra

Hello, and welcome to episode 236 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 on the show, we're taking a look at the history of the Cat People, as Tigra - The 61st Sexiest Female Character in comics, according to CBG - arrives in both the Baxter Building and Marvel Two-in-One #19. Tony Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema and Don Heck introduce an actual Were-Woman (don't think about it) in a book described by one of the team for this episode as "like reading gas."

Joining us for this episode is Gary Lactus, live from his spaceship in space. Gary's a lifelong Fantastic Four fan (although this issue may have affected this passion somewhat, and one of the hosts of SILENCE!, a fantastic comics podcast. Together, we discuss the nomenclature of Greer Nelson - Happy Housewife, the misadventures of Benjamin 'Shagger' Franklin, and exactly how Ben Grimm sleeps at night. And, just for kicks, there's also a brief discussion of a couple of pages in Avengers #151, in which Ben is a bit of a hypocrite.

Find Gary on SILENCE!, every week at mindlessones.com. Gary's civilian alter ego Fraser Geesin releases comics, short films, and more at frasergeesin.com. Follow Gary on twitter where he is @frasergeesin. And, if you like the very last thing in the show, you can find more at http://mindlessones.com/2012/12/24/silence-night-holy-shit/

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_236.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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 Fantasticast Episode 232: Marvel Team-Up #47 - I Must Fight The Basilisk

The Fantasticast Episode 232

Powered By Plotonium

Hello, and welcome to episode 232 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 concluding our coverage of this volcano-themed three part story by taking a look at Marvel Team-Up #47. With The Thing and Spider-Man finally teaming up, only they can stand between The Basilisk and the fiery destruction of New York. Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson and Dan Adkins present a comic full of arse equality, and we genuinely compare the writing styles of Mantlo and Jonathan Hickman.

Joining us for this episode is writer and podcaster Peter Dillon-Trenchard. Pete is one half of The Mostly Made-Up Doctor Who Podcast, another half of Ranger Pod, and a regular writer for the fantastic film and TV website Den of Geek. We're pretty sure we gave him the strongest issue out of the three parts of the story, but we're not entirely sure that would stand up in court. Follow him on twitter at @pdtsaysthings

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_232.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. 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.