House to Astonish Episode 211
And so this is January, and what have you done? Another year over, a new one begun about three weeks ago. It’s not the most topical of year in review shows, but we have once more brought you our pick of 2024 in the world of comics, as we name the books that turned our heads over the past 12 months, with bonus contributions from you, the good people of the comments section, in what we could only call… The Homies (largely because that’s what we’ve been calling it for the past decade and a bit)
The episode is here, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, either in the comments, on Bluesky, via email or on our Facebook fan page. And why not buy one of our lovely t-shirts? No but, like, why not? Be more constructive with your feedback, please.
I wish I’d voted for She-Hulk too. It was a lovely comic.
Must also be time for the annual Homie the Clown/Homie Don’t Play That joke.
Three cheers for attempting the logomancy, haha!
Also, I really enjoyed She-Hulk as well, Si. Lovely is exactly how I would describe it as well.
I hope Cockney Frank Cho is doing well, wherever he is.
Hi, Al! Yep, same person as on CBR, back in the day. I’m pleased that I was memorable enough to cause that kind of surprised recollection.
I think Bilquis Evely is pronounced Bill-Kiss Ever-Lee. I think she’s a great artist, I’ve liked her since her work on Sugar and Spike, I just don’t have a huge interest in reading Tom King comics, so I’ve not seen much of it in a while.
Oh and Friday isn’t a Nancy Drew analogue, she’s based on Encyclopedia Brown’s partner/muscle Sally Kimball. I got the first volume of Friday at Christmas and found it a little underwhelming by Brubaker’s usual standards. Not much meat in that first book and the encroaching horror elements didn’t really compensate for the main premise of “what if Encyclopedia Brown and Sally grew up” being a bit uninteresting. I think I’m just a bit cool on adult takes on children’s characters these days.
@Martin Smith: I’m glad to hear someone else say this. I felt bad for not liking Friday more than I did. But, yeah, a lot happens, but the emotional stakes never materialized for me. The main draw was the absolutely gorgeous art.
If someone’s looking for a stellar book at Panel Syndicate, Universe! by Albert Monteys hits it out of the park every time.
I always forget to post for these episodes, but I also would’ve gone with She-Hulk. I also really enjoyed Vera Brosgol’s latest YA book, Plain Jane & The Mermaid.
That Danny Wilson single certainly was the worst record of 1988, if not an actual disaster.
I have to dispute the claim that the FF haven’t changed since 1968. Johnny has a moustache now.
I’ve not listened yet, but we were probably due for Paul’s patented rant about the Ff. 🙂
I’ve read like 12 volumes of Spy x Family and I have no idea how to pronounce the title. (I always pronounce it as “ex” in my mind.)
Hey! Charlotte Grote and Shelley Winters are in Tredregyn for ‘Author Unknown.’ So Esther, Daisy and Susan could still visit as well.
A question for folks who love North’s Fantastic Four: Did you like it from the start?
I ask because I read the first four or five issues and it wasn’t for me. Do you feel anything changed as the book went on? Would you I gave up on it before it started working or if I didn’t like it then, I probably wouldn’t like it now?
To Paul’s resistance to the Absolute and Ultimate lines: I read Absolute Wonder Woman, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man because I like those books but not for the lines themselves. I don’t want any backstory or drama for a publishing strategy. I don’t want to read about Darkseid or the Maker. I’m happy with my little character dramas. If the balance ever tips heavily into the multiversal exposition and drama, I’ll bail.
@Matthew Murray: I think when manga titles use that cross symbol, you don’t actually pronounce it, so it’s just “Spy Family.”
@Adam Farrar: I am also reading only those three titles with no interest in the wider lines, and so far so good. I didn’t even realize the other Absolute books were set in the same universe until listening to this episode.
Adam-I’d say if you didn’t enjoy North’s FF from the beginning, then you can give up on the book. It stays in that same type of format for the entire run, and now North is moving in to his FF being a tie-in to “One World Under Doom” (so no reason to start picking the series up now), which is probably going to finish up his FF run before Marvel relaunches it to push it for the movie.
The reason people enjoy it is because it’s simple, it’s fun, and it’s taking the FF back to its core (a family of imaginauts). The stories are done-in-one tales based in actual science fictional concepts. It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel, but it’s doing justice to the classics like Lee/Kirby.
That’s all there from the start with North, so if you didn’t like what you saw, that’s the direction North continues.
Chris V: Thanks. That’s reassuring. I’m glad other people are enjoying it even if it didn’t work for me.
” I think when manga titles use that cross symbol, you don’t actually pronounce it, so it’s just “Spy Family.”’
So in Marvel manga, they’re the Uncanny Men?
I hope we get to see the Cutioner fight Adam The Treme.
(and yes, North’s Fantastic Four sticks closely to the one story one issue format. There’s a couple of minor ongoing plots that get a bit of time every few issues, but it’s not building up as such. If you didn’t enjoy three issues, you probably won’t enjoy any of the others.)
My contrarian take: I’ve been reading the FF to my kid from the start recently — just up to issue 47 — and Kirby’s is less often about “exploring strange new things” that it is about “super-villain attacks FF due to a grudge/to make a name for themself by defeating the top hero team in the world”. I mean, the sci-fi concepts are great and new and imaginative, but rarely start with “Reed finds something interesting to explore”.
Don’t get me wrong, I love North’s FF, but the lack of super-villains does set it apart from the early FF.
Given Al’s love of puns, I’m disappointed that he said how much he was enjoying “the North run” without saying it was a great North run.
Really enjoyed this one gents. Great to hear from other listeners too. The only additional comic from last year I’d add is A Better World from Judge Dredd. I don’t want to ruin too much by giving a plot summary, but the story looks at the chance of changing how the Judge’s work through preventative measures and how the established system reacts. Definitely worth picking up in trade, even if you’re not a regular Dredd or 2000AD reader.
Always appreciate the Homies as a former comics retailer who fell away from most comics for a while in the 2020s and has only recently been returning – I’ll definitely be adding One Hand, Six Fingers and Nice House on the Lake to the list!
One title I alwsy stuck with was FF, though, as I’ve been reading that book for 30 years, and to answer Adam’s question above – I actually didn’t click with North right away either. I loved his Squirrel Girl, but something about the way he wrote the FF,their “voices” didn’t sound right to me (Reed, especially), and it was a real barrier to my enjoyment. But that’s fallen away as the series has progressed and I’ve found I really do enjoy what he’s doing; the done-in-ones and the real science, and the innovative new uses of the team’s powers, where each new issue has me wanting to find out what he’s going to do THIS time. I do still sometimes find the characters not quite right (and that’s compounded when evidence of North’s unfamiliarity with their history slips in; eg, an issue had Reed marvel at a character inventing psychohistory, when a big deal was made about **Reed inventing that** during Civil War) but the positives far outweigh my few negatives at this point. Still wouldn’t come close to ranking it above Hickman though!