Charts – 21 October 2012
We’re back in the routine of having new entries at number 1 every week, it seems, with Swedish House Mafia slipping to 2. Tons of new entries this week, and we kick off with something you probably weren’t expecting to see here.
38. John Denver – “Annie’s Song”
But of course, Britain.
House to Astonish Episode 93
Another episode that’s a few days late, but there’s plenty in there, with a discussion of an enormous number of stories out of NYCC (really, we get through a lot. Like, about 30 or so). We’ve also got reviews of Uncanny Avengers, The Zaucer of Zilk and Cyber Force and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is rubbing a lucky rabbit’s foot. All this plus Avengers On Ice! On Fire!, gambling with a jetpack and an equal opportunities dingathon.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. We’re also available on Stitcher.com or through their free iOS or Android apps. Let us know what you think, in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
On top of that, next episode’s our four-year anniversary as a podcast – what do you want to hear us do? Q&A? Karaoke? More regionally-accented comics creators?
The X-Axis – 21 October 2012
Late? What do you mean, late?
There’s a podcast as well. It’ll probably be up real soon.
Fortunately, it’s a relatively quiet batch of comics we’ve got here, so let’s bash briskly through these books that came out a week ago…
AvX: Consequences #2 – The vast bulk of this issue is a single scene of Wolverine confronting Cyclops in jail, ostensibly to try and get him to give the Extinction Team the order to come in. Which means that, yes, it’s an issue of thrilling conversation. Fortunately, it’s a Kieron Gillen issue, which means that the “thrilling conversation” bit is not necessarily ironic.
Housekeeping
I’m out of town at the moment, and I haven’t got this week’s comics yet, so podcast and reviews will be Monday or Tuesday, most likely. Just so you know.
Charts – 14 October 2012
Looks like we’re back in a phase of new entries going straight to number one each week. Rihanna’s “Diamonds” turns out to have been a bit front-loaded, dropping to 4 in its second week out. It’s a grower, though, so perhaps it’ll have a resurgence.
Before we get to the chart proper – yes, the Rolling Stones did release a new single last week, and no, it’s not on the charts (even though it’s surprisingly decent for a Rolling Stones single made after 1980). That’s because it’s being offered as an advance download for people pre-ordering their upcoming compilation album, and as such, it’s ineligible for the chart. Judging from the iTunes chart, if it had been eligible, it would probably have been somewhere in the 30s.
On with the chart.
40. Skrillex (feat. Sirah) – “Bangarang”
This has been hovering around the lower end of the chart for ages and never seems to entirely go away.
This was covered by Carolynne Poole on the first X Factor live show. Slightly surprising to see it in the chart, considering she came last. Minaj’s current single “Va Va Voom” is a non-mover at 20.
26. Disclosure (feat. Sam Smith) – “Latch”
The X-Axis – 14 October 2012
Crossover season is virtually over, and we’re now moving into the epilogue phase where the next stories are set up. Once again, that results in Marvel swamping the market this week, so let’s get to it…
Age of Apocalypse #8 – Anyone care? Really? Oh, alright.
This isn’t a bad issue, to be honest. Prophet and his crew have gone to Latveria in search of the notebooks of Reed Richards, which they hope might contain some clue to defeating Weapon X. Unfortunately, the notebooks don’t exist any more, and Dr Doom has his own plans for how to keep the mutants at bay until he can make his own plan for saving the world. That plan basically consists of trying to steal Weapon X’s power for himself on the logic that, hey, he’s bound to be an improvement, right?
Charts – 7 October 2012
It’s a podcast week, so don’t forget to check out the podcast thread one post below! And now…
Psy only managed one week at number 1, largely because he had the misfortune to run smack into a strong week for new releases – his sales actually went up from the previous week. He winds up at an eminently respectable number 2, and he looks set to hang around the top 10 for a few weeks yet.
Meanwhile…
37. Adele – “I Can’t Make You Love Me”
House to Astonish Episode 92
A couple of days late, but better late than never, we’ve got just over an hour and ten minutes of chat for you on Marvel’s latest wave of teasers, Mark Millar’s new role at Fox, the expanded line-up of the Avengers, IDW’s latest mega-crossover and David Lloyd’s Aces Weekly. We’ve also got reviews of Non-Humans, Uncanny X-Men and Detective Comics, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is the new Buzz Lightyear. All this plus the Avengers’ five-a-side football tournament, boob claws and the Secret Invasion point-and-click adventure.
The podcast is here, or on Mixcloud here, or available through the embedded player below. You can also find us on iTunes or via Stitcher.com (or their free iOS or Android apps).
Let us know what you think, either in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or through our Facebook fan page.
The X-Axis – 7 October 2012
So we’re finally here – the end of a storyline that’s been running for months, which in turn ends a storyline that’s been running for years. No wonder they’ve given it a pretty clear run – we have four X-books out this week, but three of them are effectively different perspectives on the same story. Strangely, that works better than you might expect.
Avengers vs X-Men #12 – I may do a separate post looking back on this crossover as a whole. But let’s talk about the finale and where it leaves us going forward.
Housekeeping
Just so you know, we’ll be recording the next podcast on Monday, most likely. Al’s out of town, and besides, I’ve got a cold, so it’d be an hour of intermittent coughing anyway.
