Housekeeping
Just a reminder that, as we mentioned on the last show, the next podcast will be up midweek.
The X-Axis – 25 June 2012
One day late, and there’s an awful lot to write about here. Loads of Avengers vs X-Men tie-ins bloated the line last week, but for a change the publicity centres on a book that’s sitting the crossover out…
Astonishing X-Men #51 – Yes, it’s the much-hyped gay wedding issue. I now pronounce you man and supporting character.
As I said last time, if you leave aside the promotion and focus on the actual story, this is quite the odd little arc. It has two distinct threads which, so far, appear to be wholly unrelated to one another. There’s Northstar proposing to his boyfriend to demonstrate his commitment and set up their wedding in this issue. And then there’s the mystery villain mind-controlling villains and getting them to attack the heroes. It’s there to provide the obligatory action, but thus far it’s had no apparent connection to the wedding story – except on the purely mechanical level of having Northstar and Kyle get caught in the crossfire.
Housekeeping
Reviews probably tomorrow, people. Busy, busy, busy.
House to Astonish Episode 86
Paul and I are a couple of days late due to super-busy schedules, but we’ve got discussion of Chris Roberson’s Monkeybrain Comics, Grant Morrison’s MBE, the DC cancellations and launches, Carlos Pacheco being honoured by Getafe and a canter through the solicits. We’ve also got reviews of The Massive, Spider-Men and Extermination, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe takes tea with the vicar. All this plus the Phantom Stranger’s business card, the embroidered teacosies of Amanda Conner and a knighthood for services to disco.
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Charts – 17 June 2012
With the Jubilee receding from view, Gary Barlow’s “Sing” drops back to number 3. No surprise there. The album is still holding up remarkably well, with a third week at number 1, but it’s surely got to peter out sooner rather than later.
There are a couple of very unlikely new entries on this week’s chart, but first, one that’s entirely predictable…
1. Cheryl – “Call My Name”
Yes, officially it’s now just “Cheryl”. For the benefit of readers overseas, this is Cheryl Cole, who you may remember from when she wasn’t on X-Factor in the USA. Cole is her married name, but her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole broke down some time ago. (“How do you think I feel when you call my name?” Well, if the tabloids are anything to go by, I’d guess at “relieved”.) Her maiden name of Tweedy has evidently been deemed insufficiently glamorous for the demands of the celebutainment industry.
The X-Axis – 17 June 2012
This week: three more crossover issues, Brian Wood takes over X-Men, and X-Force mercifully continues to do its own thing.
AvX: Versus #3 – Two more fighty scenes from the tie-in book that does what it says on the tin. The question with a book like this is, since there’s essentially no plot and no character, does it either have spectacular art, or come up with some inventive way of doing the scene? Since this issue has art by Ed McGuinness and Terry Dodson, if you’re feeling charitable, you might well judge that the visuals just about carry it. Plainly, there’s not a great deal more to it than that.
Both of this issue’s stories are expanded from the Avengers/X-Men fight on the moon in Avengers vs X-Men #5. Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness are reunited to do Colossus versus the Thing, which is actually not bad for what it is – namely, a fight scene with above average art and a bit of effort put into adding a bit of imagination into the moves. What’s odd about it is that Loeb spends the entire story trying his damnedest to sell the current Colossus-as-Juggernaut plot, and the tragedy of Colossus’ condition. In a book that prides itself on its aggressive disdain for any sort of actual content, this seems very out of place. It’s like Loeb didn’t get the memo. Even so, the story is none the worse for trying to make some sort of point, even if it’s one that Uncanny X-Men has already been making on a regular basis.
No Way Out 2012
Another pay per view this weekend, and there’s a bit of filler going on here. Injuries and suspensions have led to a bit of reshuffling of this card, and there’s also a main event match that looks sure to under deliver.
No Way Out is a name that hasn’t been used since 2009, but it’s basically just one of the generic B-list pay per views that has no particular gimmick. There was some talk at one point that this was going to be a cage match show, which would have fitted with the name. But it turns out there’s just one cage match. In practice, it’s simply a generic PPV. (In Germany, by the way, it’s called No Escape. That’s because they already used the name No Way Out in February when the Germans flatly refused to promote a show called Elimination Chamber.)
So… the card.
Housekeeping
For those of you avidly hitting refresh, we’ll be recording the podcast tomorrow evening. at the start of the week and it’ll probably be up on Tuesday. (Busy weekend…)
(Edited for… well, accuracy.)
Charts – 10 June 2012
It’s Jubilee time, everyone! Actually, as I write this, the British media have already moved on to the Olympic torch. But this week’s chart shows the fall-out of the big Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace, which got a lot of TV time, and was one of the major events booked for the weekend. The other stand-out was a big flotilla of boats along the Thames, an event which forced the elderly monarch and her husband to stand in the freezing rain without shelter for some two hours. And then the next day they made her watch JLS. I suspect she’s had more enjoyable weekends.
But major TV broadcasts of pop music shift records to people who don’t normally pay much attention, and that’s what we see this week, in a chart which combines some Jubilee-related hits and resurgences, a couple of other unexpected appearances, and regular releases from people who evidently figured it was going to be a quiet week.
1. Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band – “Sing”
Jumping from 11 to 1, this is the specially composed song by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd-Webber featuring musicians from around the Commonwealth, though it mainly sounds like Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Some listings have the Military Wives Choir down as featured artists, though the official chart website would apparently beg to differ. If you count them, it’s their second number one following the Christmas single “Wherever You Are”.
The X-Axis – 10 June 2012
Let’s get straight to it, shall we?
Age of Apocalypse #4 – We’re four issues into this series, and it’s not really working for me. There are some interesting ideas floating around in here, but it’s missing something.
This issue, the human resistance (“the X-Terminated”) continue their efforts to stop the Dark Beast from reviving a whole load of dead mutants using the Life Seed. To help out, Goodnight tracks down their world’s version of Bruce Banner to get the Hulk on their side – at least as a distraction. The basic idea, I guess, is to play up the lead characters’ “end justifies the means” attitude, which is consistent with their roots as fanatical villains in the mainstream universe, and to present it as something which, in the context of the Age of Apocalypse world, nonetheless counts as a note of optimism.
