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Nov 16

House to Astonish Episode 187

Posted on Monday, November 16, 2020 by Al in Podcast

A compact and bijou hour-and-change of comics chat for you this time round, with discussion of Marie Javins’ promotion to DC EIC, John Nee being let go as Marvel Publisher, and the announcements of Truth & Justice, X-Men Legends, Hollow Heart and Geiger. We’ve also got reviews of Punchline and Hellboy and the BPRD: The Seven Wives Club, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe mentioned it once but it thinks it got away with it. All this plus Adam Smith’s Golden Age comics career, 1990s house anthems and Johnny Fishnchips, the scrappy British superhero.

The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page. And remember, if you ever feel like your torso could be warmer, you can always buy one of our neato t-shirts over at our Redbubble page.

Bring on the comments

  1. Jerry Ray says:

    Looking forward to listening to the episode.

    Having a “danglers” series seems very odd for 2020 (I wonder if they have the old canonical danglers list curated on Usenet back in the day). Kicking it off with Nicieza and Brett Booth seems even odder. I hope the series is better than the logo.

  2. Chris V says:

    I hope Claremont’s offering is the identity of the true parents of Nightcrawler.
    Then, Marvel can make that story canon and ret-con away Azazel, the mutant devil.

  3. Mark coale says:

    Hooray. I didnt think we would get a new episode before the 2020 Homies.

  4. SanityOrMadness says:

    I really thought the danglers thing was a one-shot when I first saw it – they’ve done plenty of vaguely similar things with older creators in recent years. That it was a(n ongoing?) series shocked me.

  5. Si says:

    Punchline would have been one of those people in the late 90s who took Grant Morrison a little bit too seriously, and haunted the forums telling people how actually Joker is hyper-sane and we just can’t understand him.

  6. SanityOrMadness says:

    Si> Punchline would have been one of those people in the late 90s who took Grant Morrison a little bit too seriously, and haunted the forums telling people how actually Joker is hyper-sane and we just can’t understand him.

    I wouldn’t be so sure Morrison didn’t mean it. He’s not Mark Millar – with Millar, when he says something ludicrous, you know it’s a game to try and get maximum press coverage. Morrison… eh…

  7. Daibhid C says:

    I think France probably has the best developed super-scene in the MU after the US, Canada and UK — there was a whole Parisian team that the Thing joined when he decided to opt out of Civil War entirely.

    @SanityOrMadness: Morrison has that weird Moorean mystical doublethink thing where they can say something totally sincerely as a profound truth and in the full knowledge that it’s ridiculous and shouldn’t be taken seriously at the same time. The difference is Moore doesn’t play it to get press coverage, because he doesn’t much care about that.

  8. Chris V says:

    Yes, with a heavy-hitter like Le Peregrine (who apparently doesn’t even speak French with that name) as their most famous hero, there’s little doubt that France has much to offer the superhero world.

    Seriously though, I’d have to rank Russia in either third or fourth place.

  9. Martin Smith says:

    I wonder if that X-Men Legends danglers series does well, they’ll expand out to cover other series. Maybe we could get X-Men Forever Legends?

    I actually quite liked that “Forever” revival series concept and it’s a shame it was only a fad. I’d have got Doug Murray and Wayne Vansant to revive the Nam from the point where editorial forced them to drop the real time gimmick and have it see out the rest of the war as intended.

  10. Adam says:

    I have to admit, I was completely uninterested in Punchline from a distance, but that is indeed an interesting hook.

    Hope DC still offers “incentives” for character creation, since he’s doing the old-fashioned work of populating the series with new characters.

  11. Daibhid C says:

    @Chris V – Oh, good point. Yeah, Russia probably does have the edge since there’s been so many incarnations of the Winter Guard, and AFAIK only one version of the imginatively named Les Heroes de Paris.

    Am I the only person here immature enough to find the word “danglers” somewhat amusing?

  12. Si says:

    Men danglers. I mean X-Men danglers. That guy on Bleeding Cool who regularly goes on about Wolverine’s junk must be having a field day.

  13. Voord 99 says:

    Meanwhile, Ireland supposedly has a large enough need for superheroes that the country has its own official superhero team.

    Who have only appeared once, in a story that luckily is not on Marvel Unlimited. So I haven’t read it, and perhaps the following is unfair.

    But if you think Shamrock is bad, take a look at Wee One: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Wee_One_(Earth-616).

    Ireland seems to produce a lot of superheroes in proportion to its population: Banshee, Siryn, Feron, Shamrock, and these Kinsmen people.

  14. Krzysiek Ceran says:

    USA, UK, Russia, Canada… Marvel’s China has a not insignificant superhero presence as well. There have been at least three teams – all affiliated with the Chinese government, I think. People’s Defense Force, Ascendants – both of which I’ve actually seen on-panel – and something called Dynasty that I only found on the wiki right now.

    Also there’s SPEAR, though technically it’s a pan-Asian answer to SHIELD, not just Chinese. Also I think it’s been forgotten, unless somebody uses it right now in those Aero and Sword Master books I haven’t checked out.

    And there’s a lot of individual Chinese superheroes, though most of them probably operate outside China.

  15. Karl_H says:

    Voord 99> But if you think Shamrock is bad, take a look at Wee One: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Wee_One_(Earth-616).

    Scott Lobdell!

  16. Voord 99 says:

    Incidentally, thinking about it, Steve Rogers is entitled to Irish citizenship. He’s presumably never taken advantage of it, but it’s his if he decides he wants it.

  17. […] new episode of House to Astonish arrived this fine week, as Al Kennedy and Paul O’Brien got together to discuss the […]

  18. Mark Coale says:

    The idea of someone reusing the Blitzkrieg costume reminded of the late 90s WCW wrestler of the same name who retired and then sold the name and outfit to another worker.

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