Charts – 8 July 2012
Don’t get too comfortable, this won’t take long. The week ending 8 July 2012 was utterly dead for new releases, resulting in a chart with only two new entries, both miles down the chart, and with only one major climber (“Pound the Alarm” by Nicki Minaj, jumping 34-16).
1. Maroon 5 (feat Wiz Khalifa) – “Payphone”
Haven’t we been here before? “Payphone” was number 1 two weeks ago, it got knocked off by will.i.am’s “This Is Love” (which drops to 3 this week), and now it’s back. It’s probably not going to manage a third week, though you never know. Judging from the video, the quality of aim among American gun-users has improved little since the days of the A-Team. Also, it’s remarkably easy to just run out of a bank besieged by the cops.
Housekeeping
Just for anyone who’s wondering:-
The next podcast will be next weekend. (If we did it today, there’d be an enormous gap before the next one. Trust me, it’s neater this way.)
Chart post and wrestling preview to follow later this weekend, and (probably) reviews on Sunday night – depending mainly on whether I manage to find the time to actually read the comics before then.
The X-Axis – 8 July 2012
Two crossover issues this week, plus the comic you’ve all been waiting for – Jeph Loeb returns to Wolverine! May God have mercy on our souls.
Age of Apocalypse #5 – First up, though, Age of Apocalypse shifts gear by giving us what looks to be a single-issue story. The focus here is on the AoA version of Quentin Quire, who turns out to be a wildcard in that universe. He’s still a powerful telepath, but without anyone to teach him, it’s driven him a bit mad. The result is a character who mainly talks gibberish but, in an echo of the original’s iconoclastic pretensions, is steadily building a street-level following of other psychics who fall under his influence.
Charts – catch-up
I’m two weeks behind on this, so let’s race through the current week’s charts (albeit late) before it turns into three when tomorrow’s chart comes out. Fortunately, they’ve been pretty quiet weeks.
The previous week’s number 1 was (as expected) “Payphone” by Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa, evidently not suffering too badly from the sales of spoiler cover versions. Perhaps it even benefitted. I still think it’s a pretty uninspiring song, though Samuel Bayer’s video cheerfully ignores it entirely in favour of blowing things up.
House to Astonish Episode 87
We did promise that we’d be back midweek, and we are (just). We’re talking – a lot – about Marvel NOW and Marvel’s publishing plans in general, Monkeybrain Comics, the Amazing Spider-Man opening day box office, Marvel’s future movie plans and the Harvey Award nominations. We’ve also got reviews of Infernal Man-Thing, Atomic Robo: Flying She-Devils of the Pacific and The Hypernaturals, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe can keep its hat on (except it can’t seem to keep its hat on). All this plus a taste-test of Hershey’s chocolate, pants with Spider-Man on them and the Legion of Super-Heroes with a moustache.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via Stitcher.com (or their free iOS or Android apps). You could also just use the player below, of course, or get hold of it via iTunes.
Let us know what you think, either in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
The X-Axis – 1 July 2012
The stop-start world of Marvel scheduling gives us a nice quiet week this time. Three X-Men titles, and two of those are part of the big event…
Wolverine and the X-Men #12 – This is one of those books that you can feel struggling to assert its identity in the face of a crossover. The plot is basically written in the margins of Avengers vs X-Men – the X-Men are hunting down the Avengers and this book is doing it from the perspective of Rachel Grey.
Jason Aaron clearly understands that if you’re going to do a Phoenix crossover in a book where the main cast includes Rachel Grey, at some point you’re going to have to address the fact that she’s a former host. That’s presumably why we’re getting a whole issue about her. Unfortunately, the moment you acknowledge Rachel as a former host, you blast the plot of the wider crossover to smithereens, since it begs the question of why everyone outside the X-Men is ignoring the fact that the Phoenix has been here before and caused no real trouble at all.
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.
The podcast is here, or on Mixcloud here, or on Stitcher.com (or their free iPhone or Android apps) or available via iTunes. Or, y’know, you can use the player below.
Let us know what you think, either in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
