Welcome to 2014, a shiny new year of comics, and what better way to see out 2013 than to look back at the best it had to offer? Paul and I are naming our picks in a variety of categories, with the result of the listener vote also being revealed. We’ve also got a little news, regarding Star Wars moving to Marvel, Jim Starlin’s new Thanos graphic novel and Deadpool’s wedding celebration, but the emphasis is on the Homies as we hand out the gongs… or rather, have to watch them being handed out. There’s the best new series, best actually new series, pleasant surprises, cliffhangers and outstanding achievements, among others, so please do join us. All this plus Frankly Cock Cho, banana peels and seltzer bottles and the Five Interesting Things You Meet In Heaven.

The episode is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.

And why not start the year by spending a little of that Christmas money on a lovely new t-shirt or hoodie? Christmas jumpers are for Christmas, but HtA merch is for life.

It’s our Christmas gift to you – a slightly belated podcast featuring discussion of the casting of Ant-Man, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Sandman movie, Shia LaBoeuf’s plagiarism, Matt Fraction leaving Inhuman and Zeb Wells leaving Elektra, the return of Stray Bullets, Mike Carey and Salvador Larocca’s X-Men OGN and Stephen Wacker’s job move. We’re also reviewing The Illegitimates, The Midas Flesh and Harley Quinn, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is just your dad really.

Hear! Al briefly sing a They Might Be Giants tune. Boggle! At both Paul and Al admitting that they really don’t get one of the most celebrated newspaper strips of all time. Wonder! If there is no awards ceremony because Al was too disorganised to ask for nominations (yes). All this plus a clown car, a pint of drawing pins and the Coen brothers movie that’s happening behind the DC offices.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email, or on our Facebook fan page. Don’t forget that we’ve got our t-shirt store open 24/7 if you want to spend some of that Christmas money Granny gave you, and we’ll see you again in the new year.

After last week’s debacle, we’re very pleased to be able to say that things seem to have worked out a good bit better this time round – we’ve got news about Stan Lee Media’s latest lawsuit, Fox’s Marvel movie universe, the X-Men movie after next, Warners’ casting of Wonder Woman (and yes, we know her name’s not Godot, that was just for a rubbish joke, we promise), Marvel’s digital trades giveaway and the new Wolverine & the X-Men and Magneto series. We’ve also got reviews of Inhumanity, Rover Red Charlie and Black Science, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is retro chic. On top of that, we’ve got interviews with Al Ewing, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Kieron Gillen which we recorded at Thought Bubble. All this plus Superman eating a puppy, scratch & sniff numbering, the sound of fighting geese and the true story of what killed all the Romans.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page. Please do also leave iTunes reviews if that’s your thing, and remember that we have a range of very swish t-shirts and hoodies available via our Redbubble store.

Due to Garageband being an unutterable piece of garbage, we won’t have a podcast for you this week. Apologies. We’ll try to convene again next weekend if we can, where you’ll be able to hear the interviews with Kelly Sue DeConnick, Al Ewing and Kieron Gillen which were recorded at Thought Bubble.

It seems ridiculous to think that we’d ever hit this point, but here we are – it’s the fifth anniversary of House to Astonish, and we’re joined for our longest-ever podcast by Graeme McMillan and Jeff Lester of Savage Critics’ Wait, What? to talk about the Ultimate universe, Marvel’s Netflix deal, comics creators who’ve fallen by the wayside, the state of play at DC and a huge amount more. There’s Alicia Masters trying not to get pee on her shoes, a badly-pitched Daredevil story, a labrador writing Avengers, a low-rent Scooby Gang and Schrodinger’s Channel.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the player below. Get comfortable. This one’s long (and yes, very self-indulgent, but if you can’t be self-indulgent on your fifth birthday, when can you be?).

Let us know what you think, either in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page. Don’t forget too that you can get our t-shirts on our Redbubble page, with its delightful range of sartorially smashing shirts.

Thanks for joining us for the past five years, and here’s to the future…

We have a nice lean 75 minutes for you this time round, talking about DC relocating to Burbank, the end of Fables, the Daredevil Infinite comic, Winter Soldier: The Bitter March, Marvel’s Japanese animated show, the latest comings and goings in comics-related litigation and the Mighty Avengers 1 script release SNAFU. We’ve also got reviews of Sandman: Overture, Damian, Son of Batman and Velvet, and The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is trying not to hurt its stiff upper lip. All this plus Batman’s sexytime habits, a left hand pouring water on the carpet and someone being sued by their own trousers.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, via email, on Twitter or on our Facebook fan page.

As always, if you want to help us pay rents, hosting costs or baby food bills, our Redbubble store will let you do that and look snazzy at the same time.

Yep, you read that right – we’re back, and on a (theoretically) regular schedule too. This time round, on a special extra-length episode, we’ve got tons of discussion of news out of New York Comic-Con for you. We’re talking about a whole load of things, including Batman: Eternal, the Dynamite revival of the Gold Key characters, the return of Priest and M.D. Bright to Quantum & Woody, Greg Rucka’s new horror series Veil, the slew of new Marvel series, the return of Miracleman and, of course, the ReedPOP promotional tweet controversy. We’ve also got interviews with Antony Johnston, Greg Pak, Justin Jordan and Charles Soule, and all the usual waffle you’ve come to expect (except reviews or Handbook stuff, both of which are AWOL). All this plus a 24-hour hype man, a really complicated tax spreadsheet and Alan Moore giving you the finger.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.

Don’t forget too that there are snazzy t-shirts available through our Redbubble store. Look good! Feed Paul’s son!

By way of something to tide you over in anticipation of House to Astonish’s full-blown return, here’s an hour of questions, answers and general messing around featuring me and previous guests Cara Ellison, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, where we answer questions on comics-based video games, gritty superhero TV shows, all-ages comics, Marvel Now Wave 2, the future of the Ultimate universe and loads more.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available through the embedded player below. Let us know what you think in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.

Don’t forget that our stylish and charming House to Astonish shirts will keep you warm and contribute to Paul’s son’s college fund, and can be found at our Redbubble store.

By way of update on the podcast, after having had a good think about it Paul and I have decided that it’s likely to be a couple of months or so before it returns on a regular basis. However, there are going to be a few bonus episodes between now and then, which aren’t the podcast as we know it. One of these will be a Thought Bubble interview special, another will (hopefully) be a NYCC interview special. The third is the Shed of Ideas, where games journalist, comics reader and previous guest Cara Ellison and I will be taking questions on any comics-y subjects that take your fancy.

This isn’t HtA episode 112 – that’ll probably surface nearer to Christmas – but it’s a bit of fun to tide you over for a bit. We may even have special guests. Stay tuned. In the meantime, please let us have your questions in the comments below, or on Twitter (I’m @housetoastonish) – this is going to be recorded tomorrow (25 August), so you may need to be quick…!

Paul and I hit a milestone in our first three-digit, one-number, palindromic podcast edition, and to mark the occasion we’ve got a handy recap of all the major news out of San Diego for you. We’re talking about IDW’s new Artist’s Editions, the republishing of The Maxx, the continuing partnership between IDW and 2000AD and Walt Simonson’s new creator-owned series, Dynamite’s new Twilight Zone and Heroes books (as well as Howard Chaykin’s return to The Shadow), Dark Horse’s Ghost and Terminator series, five new titles from Monkeybrain, DC Digital’s upcoming new books, the launch of a new Harley Quinn title, Marvel’s latest addition to the X-books, Wolverine: Origin II, the return of the Marvel UK characters and the Avengers movie sequel. Oh, and something to do with a big superhero movie from Warners…

We’ve also got reviews of Hunger, Tomorrowland and Mysterious Strangers, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe stole the sun from our hearts. All this plus the mountains of Belgium, the Refreshers Event and Lobo Meets the Smurfs.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.

Remember, you can also help put Paul’s imminently-arriving new son through college with our Redbubble store – shirts that will look fantastic on you, we imagine.