House to Astonish Episode 109
We’re a day or two late, but we have a lean slice of chat for you this time round, with news on Comixology’s new subscriptions and bundles, the six new launches from Vertigo and Gerry Conway’s comics creators royalty drive. We’ve also got reviews of Uncanny, Batman/Superman and Lazarus, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is engaging in a cavalcade of crime. All this plus a village fête, the smell of paraffin and a taser taped to a rabbit.
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.
Remember, it’s never too early to buy a House to Astonish t-shirt from our Redbubble store – they’re the coolest possible way to stop yourself for being arrested for public indecency.
The X-Axis – 30 June 2013
It’s one of the X-office’s semi-regular “let’s ship everything in one week” weeks! Seriously, all we needed was an issue of Astonishing and we’d have a complete set!
All-New X-Men #13 – I’ll give it this, though – for once, I can’t use the now-familiar Standard Bendis Review, because for a change, there’s some actual progress in both of his titles. Kitty, Wolverine and the remaining members of the Silver Age team are (at long last) actually trying to trace Mystique and her crew. It’s something they should have got around to ages ago – but now that the series has finally got round to it, the pace suddenly picks up tremendously.
Housekeeping
Morning all. Just a quick update to say that we’re not going to have a podcast for you this weekend due to not being able to coordinate our schedules, but we’re hoping to record on Monday evening. We’ll let you know if there are any changes to that schedule.
Charts – 23 June 2013
The X-Axis – 23 June 2013
Loads out this week, plus a couple I didn’t cover last time round. Let’s take a deep breath and get to it…
A+X #9 – Is this still going? Really? Wow.
Oh well. On paper, this is one of the book’s better line-ups. The lead story has Nathan Edmondson and Humberto Ramos doing Captain America and Wolverine, though Wolverine’s been in the Avengers for so long at this point that I’d query whether he’s a sensible character to be using in this book. Anyhow, Ramos’ art is a matter of taste, and it’s perfectly acceptable here. But the story is a bit half-baked.
Charts – 16 June 2013
Whoops. Nearly forgot about this one.
From the look of it, virtually everyone decided to steer clear of releasing new material this week. That could be because last weekend saw the final of Britain’s Got Talent; perhaps nobody wanted to risk going head to head with some viral sensation. If so, they needn’t have worried, because there is no viral sensation. The result is an almost totally dead chart, to the point where the lower end is propped up by a string of back catalogue material from the iTunes 59p sale.
Such as this…
40. Pras Michel featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard introducing Mya – “Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)”
The X-Axis – 16 June 2013
I’m still waiting for the books that I get by mail order – which, this week, means Wolverine and the X-Men #31 and Astonishing #63. But that still leaves the other three titles that I’m getting digitally – Wolverine, Savage Wolverine and Uncanny X-Force – so let’s cover them.
It’s also a podcast weekend, so check two posts down to hear Al and me talk about Superman Unchained, Six-Gun Gorrilla, and True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.
Savage Wolverine #6 – Now into its second storyline, by Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira. Since the September solicitations have Jock doing the book, it seems this is going to be Wolverine’s Legends of the Dark Knight title. Or, if you prefer, it’s basically a string of miniseries unified under a single banner.
Payback 2013
Wrestling preview time! Payback is the new name for the June show. Last year this show was called No Way Out (except in Germany, long story, don’t ask), but this time they’ve come up with a different name for what remains an un-themed show. Come to think of it, it does feature all six titles being defended, which is going to be presented as a gimmick when we get to Night of Champions in September. Here, though, it’s just a coincidence.
It’s an odd card – a promising undercard, but with a sprawling main event that doesn’t sound very good and surely has to drain time from everyone else.
1. WWE Title – Three Stages of Hell Match: John Cena (c) v Ryback. So here’s where we stand. John Cena regained the WWE title at Wrestlemania in April, after chasing it for months. In May, he defended it at Extreme Rules against Ryback. This was problematic. Cena had only just got the title, but Ryback had only just turned heel (and has been desperately short of credible wins ever since they decided to push him to the main event). So it didn’t make enormous sense for either to lose. (more…)
House to Astonish Episode 108
We’ve got a brand new episode of House to Astonish for you, with a chunky run through Man of Steel‘s opening box office, the recent developments in the Marvel/Friedrich Ghost Rider litigation, Jeff Parker and Mark Laming’s King’s Watch and September’s solicitations (except IDW’s, which we forgot about). We’ve also got reviews of Six-Gun Gorilla, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys and Superman Unchained, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ain’t got no body. All this plus four-year-olds in Mongolia, a German shortwave radio station and the varied career of Marvel’s busiest and most mysterious artist.
The podcast is available here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, either in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
Don’t forget to check out our super-swanky T-shirt store too – look cool, pay for hosting fees.
Charts – 9 June 2013
This week: X Factor alumni fall slightly short of expectations, Voice contestant does rather better. It’s Reality TV Show Tales!
39. The Goo-Goo Dolls – “Iris”
38. John Legend – “Ordinary People”
37. Disclosure featuring Sam Smith – “Latch”
Two of the now familiar perennials from reality TV, plus Disclosure, presumably because of the spillover effect from their album release. This has become a routine phenomenon at the bottom end of the top 40, though with Britain’s Got Talent over for another year, things should quieten down.
22. Kodaline – “Love Like This”
