House to Astonish

To quote the Bard, it's been a long road, getting from there to here, but Paul and Al have made it to episode 200 of House to Astonish, and they're indulging in their traditional vices of cake and fizz, and talking about Vault Comics' Headshell line, Titan's new Conan series, Joe Kelly and Kim Niimura's Immortal Se rgeant, and Ty Templeton's cancer-free all-clear. They're also reviewing a bunch of comics on a theme, as they look at Batman #200, House of Mystery #200, Amazing Spider-Man #200, and, er, Deadpool #58? And as always, the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is ringing in the new. (As this episode was recorded on Sunday evening, the news hadn't yet broken of the incredibly sad loss of Kevin O'Neill, an absolute giant of British comics, but there will be more to say about him on a future episode.)

It's been a busy couple of weeks, and Paul and Al are back to fill you in on everything that's been going on, from the Image Expo to the Sandman Universe, from Fresh Start to Bendis's Super-Books, and from IDW's Transformers reboot to Boom! and Dynamite stepping up to the Eloi section of Previews, as well as bringing you reviews of Mera and The Beef. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe doesn't know who you are but you're a real dead ringer for love, apparently.

And now for something... slightly different. Al and Paul step beyond the bounds of the regular Thunderbolts title to look at the 2001 miniseries Citizen V and the V-Battalion, with chat about two-fisted journalist Jim Daring, HR disasters and the horniest comics in Marvel history.

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.

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.