Charts – 29 December 2017
There’s still time to vote in our end of year awards! But first, we have what’s usually the first of two dead charts, covering the weeks of Christmas itself and New Year – too late to be part of the fight for Christmas Number One, too early for anything else to be going on.
And what do people listen to over Christmas? Well, they hammer the Christmas playlists. So all those Christmas singles that stayed put last week surge forward this week, bringing with them a bunch of stragglers that were previously hovering outside the top 40. Which means that there are new entries! There’s something to write about! The Christmas singles account for more than half of the chart, but then that’s what people are actually listening to. It also means the chart is set for a convulsion next week, when all the Christmas tracks are likely to plummet.
All very well. But first, Ed Sheeran hangs in there for a fourth week with “Perfect” – not a huge upset. His other current single, guesting on Eminem’s “River”, slips to 3 this week, but that’s more staying power than other Eminem singles have shown.
Weapon X #7-11 – “The Hunt For Weapon H”
(Before we start, you’ve still got time to vote for our end-of-year awards.)
With the knowledge that Marvel are launching a Weapon H series in March, this storyline makes rather more sense. It’s not so much Weapon X #7 to #11 as Weapon H #-4 to #0.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that the new title needs to be set up, you wonder if Weapon X would really have stayed with this plot thread for quite so long. To judge from issue #12 (which has been out for a while, because I’m really behind on these), the ongoing set-up of Weapon X is supposed to be that, having beaten the Weapon X Project and stolen a fancy flying base, the team steal the Weapon X name and stick together as a sort of black ops squad hunting down Weapon X-style schemes around the world. So they could always have come back to this thread later.
Charts – Christmas 2017
It’s Christmas, and yes, I will, at last, get started on clearing that review backlog. You might also want to pop down a post and vote in our end of year poll for the podcast.
But first the Christmas Number One, because it’s topical and because it won’t take long, since nobody releases anything in Christmas week. Well, almost nobody.
1. Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”
The Homies 2017
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – time for the annual House to Astonish Homies awards, where we dish out our gongs in various categories to the best and brightest comics of the year.
As always, Paul and I will individually be choosing a winner for each category, but there’s the usual proviso – we want YOU to help, so you all name your picks in the comments, and Paul and I each choose our own, and we talk a bit about each of the three on our awards show.
We’re likely to be recording at the very end of December, so we’re giving you until 8pm UK time (3pm Eastern, noon Pacific) on December 30 to make your choice. When you list your picks, don’t just name names either, because we’ll be reading out the best comments on the show, so let us know your thinking!
BEST NEW SERIES
This one’s pretty self-explanatory – any comic whose first issue was published between 1 January 2017 and the close of nominations (30th December) is eligible. What new series got your attention the most this year?
BEST ACTUALLY NEW SERIES
This one’s a little less self-explanatory – what series, again first published between 1 January and 30 December, did you think was best, with the proviso that it has to be something where the property wasn’t in existence prior to the start of 2017. We’re counting re-use of titles as well as concepts, so Saucer State or The Wild Storm wouldn’t be eligible, but (for example) Black Cloud or Godshaper would.
BEST CONTINUING SERIES
The counterpart to the categories above, which covers books whose first issue was published in 2016 or before. They’ve been around the block, but they’ve still got what it takes.
BEST MINI, ONE-SHOT OR OGN
These are explaining themselves by this point, right? We’re looking for OGNs, one-shots and minis published in 2017 (or partially in 2017, in the case of minis).
FAVOURITE WRITER
FAVOURITE ARTIST
FAVOURITE COLOURIST
Each of these three is pretty self-explanatory – whose name on the cover or credits box of a book makes you want to pick it up? Whose work do you most look forward to seeing?
MOST WANTED
This is for the comic, series or graphic novel that saw print this year which you’d want to see more of, whether that be a book that was cancelled before its time, a one-shot or mini that just begs for a follow-up, or an OGN that you’d love to see a sequel to.
MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE
It may have seemed unappealing when you read about it online, and those preview pages may have looked unremarkable, but when you finally got the winner of this category in your hands you were ready to eat your words. What comic, series or graphic novel did you find yourself enjoying much more than you thought you would?
STIFF DRINK AWARD
This award will go to the comic or graphic novel that most made us gasp with surprise – an unexpected plot twist, a daring cliffhanger or a shocking denouement will stand a book in good stead here.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
This is exactly what it says – which creator, creative team, publisher or other contributor to the world of comics really knocked it out of the park this year?
Let us have your picks in the comments thread below, along with your thinking on each one – we’ll read out a range of the responses on our big end-of-year show. Happy nominating!
Charts – 15 December 2017
It seems that a lot of you have had the Spotify Christmas playlist on repeat. Let’s have a look at this week’s top 40 and have a think about what you’ve done.
1. Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”
But first, “Perfect” lands a second week at the top. It only needs one more to hang on for Christmas. And Sheeran wants that badly enough to keep putting out extra versions of the track. This week, it’s “Perfect Symphony”, a duet with Andrea Bocelli. One for the mums and dads, apparently. It’s a completely ridiculous record; Ed Sheeran songs lend themselves to understatement, and a tenor is not understatement.
Charts – 8 December 2017
Oh, here we go. Christmas time.
1. Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”
In case you were in any doubt that Ed Sheeran would like to be Christmas Number One please, here’s the audio for the Beyonce version, now on YouTube with snowfall throughout. It’s not an especially good version of “Perfect”, mind you – Ed Sheeran trades in unassuming sentimentality, and there’s something wonkily incongruous about Beyonce wrestling with his run-on sentences. But here it is anyway.
Iceman #6-7 – “Champions Reunited”
Yes, I know issue #8 is out now, but it’s a totally different story. So let’s cover this two-parter quickly.
The Marvel Legacy remit requires this to have something to do with past continuity. As it happens, that works out quite well, because what Sina Grace mainly wants to achieve in these two issues is to give Iceman a reason to quit the X-Men and move to Los Angeles so that his series can go its own way. That’s fair enough; if he’s going to anchor his own title, there’s a lot to be said for prising him away from the team. And it fits with the book’s general theme of Bobby trying to establish a new social life for himself outside the X-Men.
Fortunately, old continuity provides a perfectly serviceable reason for Iceman to visit Los Angeles, because apparently Black Widow is dead this week (Secret Empire or something – it really doesn’t matter), which is a good enough reason for Iceman to attend a Champions reunion. That’s the sum total of the continuity callbacks in these two issues, which is fine. The other Champions get plenty to do, even if most of it is acting as a collective sounding board for Bobby, but there’s no need to descend into any of the detailed history, and the story wisely avoids doing so.
Old Man Logan #25-30: “Days of Anger”
Stories like “Days of Anger” come along every so often – stories which seem to be competent, properly paced, sensibly constructed, and generally solid, yet manage to fill six issues without ever appearing to be about anything in particular. They always leave me with the nagging sense that I’m probably missing something, since there’s no denying that effort has gone into them. But eventually I’m forced to concede defeat and conclude that the good-looking parts haven’t added up to anything.
This is the first arc for the new creative team of Ed Brisson and Mike Deodato. Brisson’s not familiar to me, but he’s written some well-received indie books. Deodato is the workhorse he always was; not always exciting but generally a sound storyteller, which is what we get here. He’s from the school of artists who barely try to make Logan look old, but his heavy use of screentone certainly gives the book a distinctive feel.
Given that the original Wolverine is back in circulation following Marvel Legacy, taking over Old Man Logan feels like a thankless task – there’s a definite sense that we’re just counting down the months until the inevitable return of the real thing. But in the meantime, “Days of Anger” starts off with what seem like sensible enough ideas.
Charts – 1 December 2017
Yup, we’re definitely in the dead period before Christmas…
1. Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug – “Havana”
That’s five weeks, the longest run since “Despacito” back in the summer. It’s very close – a mere 1,000 notional sales ahead of Rita Ora – but it’s a fifth week for all that.
“Perfect” by Ed Sheeran edges up 4-3, finally beating the peak of its first run from the spring; the “Perfect Duet” version with a weirdly miscast Beyonce came out on Friday, so he’s clearly angling for the Christmas number one. “Man’s Not Hot” by Big Shaq moves 6-5, and “I Miss You” by Clean Bandit featuring Julia Michaels jumps 11-6 to restore Clean Bandit’s top 10 strike rate and become Michaels’ biggest hit (her own “Issues” only got to 10). “17” by MK moves 16-10, technically becoming his biggest hit too. In theory that used to be “Always”, which reached number 12 in 1995, but this does require you to ignore “Push The Feeling On” by the Nightcrawlers, which was basically his record by the time it was remixed for mass consumption.
11. James Arthur – “Naked”
Charts – 24 November 2017
I suspect we’re now in the pre-Christmas phase where not much happens – a bit too early for anyone hoping to score in the Christmas period, a bit too late for anyone hoping to get in a regular promotional campaign before the festive break.
1. Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug – “Havana”
Four weeks, and still leading by a comfortable margin. “Silence” by Marshmello featuring Khalid is up 5-3, and “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran finally makes it back to number 4 – its peak from back in March, when it was charting as an album track. “Man’s Not Hot” by Big Shaq moves 8-6, and “Blinded By Your Grace – Part 2” by Stormzy featuring MNEK jumps 12-7. Not quite his highest chart position, but it’s getting close.
9. Selena Gomez & Marshmello – “Wolves”
