House to Astonish Episode 219
Tick tock, it’s podcast o’clock, as Paul and I talk about the Midnight line’s rescheduling, Alien v X-Men, the Absolute Batman animated series, the upcoming new volumes of Doom Patrol, Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes, Crimes Against Nature, Bride of Frankenstein, and You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive. We’ve also got reviews of 100 Bullets: US of Anger and Iron Man, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is in need of a revival. All this plus product endorsements by both Jonathan Hickman and Paul O’Brien, She-Hulk v Legally Blonde and issue 16 of My Boss Is My Stallion.
The podcast is here, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Bluesky or via email.
I love those ridiculous manga titles. My favourite is “Suppose A Kid From The Last Dungeon Boonies Moved To A Starter Town”. No idea if it’s any good, but the title is all I need.
I think of Demogoblin whenever I see the word hemoglobin. Which is not that often.
Might want to update the “About” page linked in the site header. It’s been a while since this was fortnightly!
For those of us reading along with The Lightning Round – what issues are being covered?
I think the next Thunderbolts episode will cover some amount of New Thunderbolts #1-6 (collected as Volume 1: One Step Forward)
Interesting to hear Al calling the Threeboot Legion respectability politics. Looking back, he’s absolutely right, but at the time I remember folk on rec.arts.comics.dc.universe being absolutely outraged that Waid had reinvented the Legion as a gang of disrespectful punks with the battle-cry “Eat it, Grandpa!” (FACTCHECK: Cosmic Boy actually lectures Lightning Lad on why their battle-cry shouldn’t be “Eat it, Grandpa!”) So yeah, some people really have a problem with non-standard versions of the Legion.
I’m also torn because the continuity nerd in me thinks they should maybe explain how current canon seems to be that Jon was a member of the Bendis Legion and Clark was a member of the Geoff Johns Retro Legion, but a much larger part of me thinks that’s never going to make sense and they shouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot inertron pole. (Especially since it looks like it’s going to be yet another reboot anyway, in which case the best option is probably not to mention any Superboys.)
I agree that Cap has the guilt over being away from his country, but I’d say that maybe he has more guilt over the more personal failure of letting Bucky die (or become the Winter Soldier once he learned that had happened).
Demogoblin as a trial version for people considering purchase could actually fit in with Roderick Kingsley later turning the Hobgoblin identity into a franchise of sorts.
There was a Legion of Super Heroes cartoon from 2006 to 2008. Presumably there’s some writer in their mid 20s who loved that show when it originally aired and would want to write the comic.
I get the impression Paul and Al think of the Absolute universe as “Super-Dark DC” (and if Midnight is truly a response to the line, so does Marvel, I guess), but I disagree with that characterization.
Yes, ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN has Diana raised in Hell, but it’s not a grim book; the first issue has multiple sweet moments that make you smile. And Snyder’d guiding principle in ABSOLUTE BATMAN is clearly not “Would this be utterly dark?” but “Would this be awesome?” (I mean, look at what he’s doing with the Robins.) Even the issue in which Batman is put through the worst treatment ends with a hilarious 90s-style cool reveal. And ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER reads like a terribly dark story in summary but its treatment is an absolute delight.
As Paul wrote in his long-ago reviews of Grant Morrison’s NEW X-MEN, which began with Genosha’s destruction, it’s all about the tone. The nature of the Absolute world as evil is just stacking the odds against the heroes, as good stories should.
@Adam – I agree. As someone mentioned in another thread, Marvel Midnight feels more like a belated response to the brief popularity of DCEASED and DC VS VAMPIRES than to the Absolute line.
Also, I’ll admit to being a sucker – I AM a horror guy, but I was going to give the books a pass until the “release them all on the same day AND they’re the only books we’re releasing that week” stunt got announced. Now I’m at least going to give the first issues a try, because it at least *feels* like Marvel has faith in the product.
I’m definitely getting Midnight X-Men 1. The concept doesn’t wow me, but it’s by a writer whose work I like about 2/3 of the time, and it looks like Nightcrawler will be a main character. I have no interest in horror takes on the FF or Spider-Man, but might check those books out if it’s a slow week.
I didn’t buy any Absolute books because they were “dark,” I bought them because they looked good. Absolute WW and Martian Manhunter are two of my favorite comics from the last few years. If the Midnight comics are Marvel’s attempt to chase DC’s success by going “dark,” then they don’t understand what makes the Absolute comics so popular. Talented creative teams reinvented well-known characters. Respect to the artists on the Midnight books, but none of them have produced work as bold or innovative as Nick Dragotta, Hayden Sherman, or Javier Rodriguez.
Meanwhile, the Absolute comics start at or near the characters’ beginnings. I don’t know if the Midnight books will do the same. It looks like the X-Men series doesn’t begin until the team has been well-established. Instead of an Ultimate or Absolute universe, it looks like an issue of What If…? I like What If…?, but those comics have almost always been inconsequential. It makes the Midnight line look skippable.
Will Al be writing the Dakota North vs. Devil wears Prada? I would totally read that! ABSOLUTE DAKOTA NORTH!!
Al can totally write about hats.
“I love those ridiculous manga titles.”
The long-premise-description type of title originates from webnovels rather than manga, as writers on one of the major sites for those use them to be eyecatching (and apparently don’t have a space for a blurb to give the premise in). The title then usually gets retained for print novel/manga/anime versions.
“current canon seems to be that Jon was a member of the Bendis Legion and Clark was a member of the Geoff Johns Retro Legion”
The met-multiple-Legions thing was already coming up as an issue in the Reboot era. I guess the future being ever-changing is a possible excuse?
You mentioned a retcon for Cheshire Cat. If you want to get an idea of her current status, she appeared recently in “Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League” (written by Greg Rucka) which I enjoyed.
Hopefully, we’re doing a pod with Greg in July about that mini series and probably Greg ranting about the World Cup. .
[…] doors to House to Astonish opened once more, as Paul O’Brien and Al Kennedy shared thoughts on upcoming publications from […]