Sep 8
House to Astonish Presents: The Lightning Round Episode 27
Posted on Monday, September 8, 2025 by Al in Podcast
Paul and I continue to bop back and forth to Counter-Earth this episode, as we look at Thunderbolts (1997) #69-71. There’s plotline resolutions, a parade of fill-in artists and the least elite team of Elite Agents of SHIELD you could ever hope to encounter, plus Boobforce powers, the Curse of Taz and Café La Plume De Ma Tante.
The episode is here, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Bluesky or via email!
Curious to see if that is Taz Mania Taz, wrestling Taz or other Taz. Presumably not Global Guardians Taz.
Is M-80 pronounced “Matey”? As in “Ahoy Matey”.
If you mean the firework/explosive, in the states, it’s usually said “M Eighty” not “Matey.”
I wonder if it’s this Code 5 instead (dates seem to line up better – though this lot are even more secure, as their single and album both don’t seem to have had a commercial release): https://youtu.be/l5-KezYjwc4?si=eIy0KlwECen_-0os
I think I’m the same age as Al, so you were clearly listening to cooler music than me in the late ’90s/early ’00s, as who doesn’t remember M2M?! They were on the Pokemon soundtrack lol
*obscure not secure.
@Mika it is most likely that Code 5, as they were on Elektra, a Warner Music subsidiary.
So this Lindsay Pagano was, over the course of her contract with Warner Music, involved with Looney Tunes, AOL, The WB, and Hanna-Barbera? I was almost waiting for you to continue “She also sang the theme tune to Time Magazine and was a member of the Justice League for three issues.”
Given Paul’s description of what the Verdant Fields look like on the iPad, I was kind of amused by Al calling it a “cool wee effect”.
I started to look up the Elite Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., discovered the one called Skull with the skull face had the real name John Skulinowski, and decided that was all I really needed to know about how seriously I should take the Loser Squad.
The more I think about it, the more I think that the Avengers and FF being all “No, we’re not abandoning this Earth — everyone on it is going to die anyway, so whatever” actually makes them look worse than if they hadn’t believed that, and it was more like “We must go now, but we trust these people to carry on without us.”
Curious about where Zircher landed after this? My knowledge was that he started at Marvel in relief of Robertson on New Warriors and then went to Thunderbolts. The next time I remember him was Cable & Deadpool in 04. I see he did some on and off work at DC in 02-03 but no real steady work.
@Thomas Williams
Seems most recently he’s doing work for Titan Comics (Conan universe). Specifically, he’s been both writing and illustrating comics featuring Solomon Kane.
I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Taz would probably be into hardcore early Industrial music, the kind that samples vacuum cleaners and jack hammers and whatnot. That, or really mild soft pseudo-folk songs about flowers, which offers him no catharsis.
Angst-era KMFDM and ‘90s Skinny Puppy, probably.
Al… tell your daughter that the accent is still alive. In 2018 he made a standing jump onto a desk and danced. Who knows how many takes, but it was a single camera with no cuts or splices. Dick Van Dyke may not have much time but he is still here.
Van Dyke loves life too hard to go out easy.