Charts – 24 August 2018
It’s a busy week, so let’s dive in.
1. George Ezra – “Shotgun”
Second week in this run, fourth week in total. But it’s a busy week, so let’s move on…
2. Calvin Harris & Sam Smith
The follow-up to “One Kiss” is along fairly similar lines – a while back, Calvin Harris made a fairly sharp stylistic turn away from his electropop formula and towards soul. Now, he seems to have settled into a new formula. Still, it’s a good formula, and this is one of his better renditions of it; and it suits Sam Smith’s voice, too. It’s Sam Smith’s first appearance in the top 40 this year, and his first time in the top 10 since last year’s number one “Too Good at Goodbyes”. This isn’t his primary genre, but he’s cropped up on Disclosure singles before.
8. Ariana Grande – “Breathin”
22. Ariana Grande – “Sweetener” (more…)
House to Astonish Episode 166
Paul and I have got an absolute truckload of news for you this time round, as we pay respects to Russ Heath, chew over the announcements of Uncanny X-Men, Marvel Knights 20, Conan the Barbarian, Best Defense, Riri Williams: Ironheart, Batman & the Outsiders and the Green Lantern, as well as the creative shuffle on Return of Wolverine, Dark Horse losing the Buffy license, Aftershock comics’ first-issue returnability, IDW losing another senior member of staff and Legendary Entertainment’s option on My Boyfriend is a Bear. We’ve also got reviews of Cold Spots and West Coast Avengers, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is its own best friend. All this plus a major Bunnfight, Pets Win Parole and Border Television’s finest game show singalongs.
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 don’t forget, if you want to support the show our fabulous merch is available at our Redbubble store.
Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor
So Hunt for Wolverine saves the most important story for last. Not the most important to the return of Wolverine, mind you. From the look of it, this series plays into the return of Wolverine mainly by establishing that Soteira are baddies with an interest in Wolverine, which we’ve already established thrice over. There’s also a plot about a satellite that does something as yet undivulged, but the big-deal-ness of that is as yet unestablished.
This week, instead, people will be talking about the fact that Psylocke is now back to her original body, which means she isn’t Asian any more. That came out of nowhere – and that’s before you get to the surprise of having it happen in a Hunt for Wolverine mini.
Hunt for Wolverine: Claws of a Killer
Three down, one to go. And if you’re going to do four parallel lead-in stories, each drawing on a different aspect of Wolverine, then somewhere along the line you’re going to need a story about beclawed people doing violent things. Of course, even if you can’t use Wolverine himself, the Marvel Universe has no shortage of other characters who are, shall we say, Wolverine-adjacent.
Mariko Tamaki and Butch Guice are the creative team tackling this remit in Claws of a Killer. Lady Deathstrike has found out about Wolverine’s return through her contacts with the Reavers, and enlists Sabretooth and Daken to look into it. The idea seems to be that all three were meant to have devoted their lives to getting revenge on Wolverine, and his death screwed that up. So they need to get their chance now, before anyone else does.
Charts – 17 August 2018
More of an albums chart week, this. But let’s quickly knock through the singles chart first. Believe me, this won’t take long.
1. George Ezra – “Shotgun”
That’s a little unexpected. “Shotgun” had two weeks at number one in July, but it’s been stuck at number two for five weeks behind first “Three Lions”, and then Drake. Returning to number one is less rare than it used to be, though still unusual; returning to number one after five weeks is still pretty rare.
Cable & Deadpool Annual #1
I’m nothing if not comprehensive. Why is there a Cable & Deadpool annual this year? No idea. Well, not exactly no idea – maybe it’s something they wanted to do before Extermination – but this is very much disposable stuff.
It’s David Walker writing, and a whole bunch of artists doing anything from a scene to an individual page. Basically it’s an artist jam issue, then, and your mileage will vary depending on your interest and tolerance for such things. Mine… not so high.
Astonishing X-Men Annual #1: “Who We Are”
It seems we’re headed for yet another relaunch, with a new Uncanny X-Men weekly title on the way. It’s no great surprise to see Gold and Blue coming to an end (the time travelling kids look like their storyline is finally building to some sort of conclusion in the Extermination mini). It’s perhaps a little odder to see yet another relaunch in the offing while X-Men Red and Astonishing X-Men are literally in the course of “gathering the team” arcs. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that this direction, or indeed any other, will stick it out for long. Still, it’s a decent line-up of creators, so let’s hope it works out.
In the meantime, we have an Astonishing X-Men Annual, predictably numbered #1. And this is pretty good. Although it’s written by the current Astonishing writer Matthew Rosenberg, it’s a follow-up to Charles Soule’s arc, catching up with what Professor X is up to now that he’s been revived. Always good to see some follow-up.
Hunt for Wolverine: Adamantium Agenda
On with the prequels, then. From the look of it, these Hunt for Wolverine minis have two main functions: first, to revisit a different part of Wolverine’s life and define him in his absence; and second, to set up a plot point for the main event to come.
This one has Tom Taylor writing and R.B. Silva on art, a promising start – and most of the series lives up to that promise. While last week’s Weapon Lost seemed only tangentially connected to Wolverine, this one is much more clearly linked: it’s a New Avengers miniseries. It’s perhaps more surprising just how much actual Wolverine there is in it, given Marvel’s determination to delay gratification for as long as possible (and more). Half of issue #1 is flashback; the remaining issues have much less of him, but he’s still actually in this story to a surprising degree.
Charts – 10 August 2018
This week: Travis Scott has an album out! And…. um…
…yeah, that’s about it, to be honest.
1. Drake – “In My Feelings”
Four weeks. Its streaming points are still growing, but only very slightly; despite the release of the video during this chart week (which counts to the chart now, remember), it seems like this could be the peak. The album is at 4; the other two singles are on their way out of the chart, currently sitting at 19 and 30.
9. Travis Scott – “Sicko Mode”
15. Travis Scott – “Stargazing”
29. Travis Scott – “Carousel”
Old Man Logan #43-45: “Bullseye Returns”
Well, there’s a title that does what it says on the tin. This is indeed a rematch against Bullseye, who last showed up in issues #36-38 (“Moving Target”, the Kingpin arc). As I pointed out before, Bullseye is a perfectly good Wolverine villain; the two of them might not have any particular history, but he’s a strong character and his gimmick plays well against Wolverine, who can take the damage and keep coming.
But this is also a sequel to Ed Brisson’s own Bullseye miniseries from last year, in which an aggrieved FBI widow pursued Bullseye with the aid of obscure Daredevil villains Bullet and Shotgun, and did about as well as you’d imagine, bearing in mind that it wasn’t her book. Brisson is clearly fond of Joy Jones, as she shows up here in full costume, repackaged as “Vendetta”.
