Charts – 19 April 2015
A very odd week, full of singles suddenly vaulting their way up the charts after making an initial appearance at the bottom end.
29. Meghan Trainor – “Dear Future Husband”
Up 11. The midweeks don’t show it making much further progress, though. I keep mis-typing the title as “Dead Future Husband”, which sounds like a much more interesting song.
27. Kodaline – “The One”
Chikara 15.1 – “A New Start”
Preamble: Okay, so. I did a preview of this show, the first Chikara show of 2015, back in January, and then never came back to the topic. But I figured it’d be interesting to look back on all this year’s shows a few months behind, to see where they ended up going. It’s going to be more of an episode guide thing, I guess. At time of writing, five shows from this year have been released (the fifth came out while I was writing this, and I haven’t seen it yet); a further three were taped in the UK last month and should be out shortly.
These posts are going to be pretty erratic, by the way – don’t expect any sort of regular schedule. If anything, I’m confidently expecting to drift further and further behind. “A New Start” is the season opener, so this is going to be unusually lengthy; most shows will have a lot more matches that we can skip happily over in search of the bigger picture, and the next show is particularly light.
Charts – 12 April 2015
So, no reviews this week – because there’s nothing to review, aside from anything else – but don’t forget there’s a new podcast, one post down. Meanwhile… for the second week running, the midweek charts get it wrong.
40. Meghan Trainor – “Dear Future Husband”
House to Astonish Episode 131
We’re back (on what seems to be a three-weekly schedule, though don’t go setting any recipe timers by it) with discussion of the Daredevil Netflix show – not spoilery in terms of plot details, though we do discuss tone and so on – as well as the Agents of Shield and Arrow/Flash spin-off shows, the Luke Cage showrunner, Valiant’s next crossover, James Stokoe’s return to Godzilla and Marvel’s latest Secret Wars tie-ins. We also review Convergence: The Question and Kaijumax, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is pressing the flesh. All this plus Godzilla’s stockings, the accidental word of the week and the Radox Bandit.
The show 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. We also have a Redbubble store where you can outfit yourself in our most chic duds.
Charts – 5 April 2015
Cyclops vol 2 – “A Pirate’s Life For Me”
The first volume of Cyclops was one of the quiet gems of the line last year. Plainly never intended for anything more than a short run (though sales would probably have done for it anyway), and doomed to be seen as a footnote to All-New X-Men, the second volume nonetheless has a good stab at completing the title character’s arc.
But while the first five issues were written by Greg Rucka, this arc sees John Layman take over. Layman’s good in his own right, though, and for most of this book he does a solid job of continuing what Rucka had started. Broadly, the idea seems to be that the series starts with Scott depressed by the knowledge of what his older self will become, and sees him gradually regain his confidence and mature into a (somewhat) different sort of hero under the different mentorship of his father Corsair, who was absent the first time around. So instead of Cyclops being defined by the X-Men, this is Cyclops having formative experiences in the Starjammers’ milieu.
Charts – 29 March 2015
Wrestlemania 31
Right, the biggest WWE show of the year. The fact that it’s now thrown in with the Network subscription, and that the network is available worldwide, makes it logically less significant financially than it used to be. And that’s probably why there are no big name guest stars this years. On top of that, the company’s increasingly dodgy writing has not provided the most inspiring build. But it should still be good in the ring.
I’m watching this on the WWE Network as I write. I haven’t read the results, as usual. So basically first draft.
Okay, let’s get started.
Nightcrawler vol 2
Nightcrawler is but the latest in a long line of X-Men solo titles that never looked remotely likely to make it past a year, whatever it might turn out to contain. And so it comes as no great surprise to find that this second volume is the last.
You have to wonder about Marvel’s thinking, when it comes to commissioning books like this. I doubt anyone would seriously dispute that the X-Men line is far larger than any creative considerations could justify. But persistently launching titles for which there is little discernible demand doesn’t exactly make much sense on purely mercenary grounds either.
Charts – 22 March 2015
Another rather quiet week sees Sam Smith hang on uneventfully. I know, I’m really building this one up, aren’t I? Perhaps the most interesting announcement this week is the official confirmation that the chart is shifting to Fridays, where Radio 1 will grudgingly accommodate it in a reduced two hour slot. To be honest, that’s probably for the good of the chart show, as three hours of statistically-determined play listing is a bit much for most people. (Even I don’t actually listen to it live.)
38. MNEK – “The Rhythm”
