The X-Axis – 13 November 2011
Thought for the day: Kade Kilgore may seem like a wildly implausible character, but then, we do live in a world where Silvio Berlusconi got elected three times.
It’s the third anniversary of the House to Astonish podcast, and you’ll find that episode just one post down! Meanwhile, after a fairly subdued few weeks, the X-office seems to be back up to full speed again. But there’s also a couple of other major releases from Marvel…
Avenging Spider-Man #1 – A monthly comic by Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira! Anyone seriously believe this is going to come out on schedule without a horde of fill-in artists by issue #6? (As near as I can make out, his record for a book that actually came out on time was five consecutive issues of Uncanny X-Men. And Salvador Larrocca had to help out on one of those.)
But cynicism, and awful title, notwithstanding, this de facto relaunch of Marvel Team-Up is quite good fun.
House to Astonish Episode 72
Three years in and we’re still going strong, with news on the passing of Mick Anglo, the October sales charts, DC’s collections plan, Marvel’s rollout of bagged digital codes, the early online leak of Incredible Hulk issue 2, Jim Mahfood’s Tank Girl OGN, the Spider-Man musical’s continued injury woes and the one-dollar Wasteland promotion. We’ve also got reviews of The Occultist, Uncanny X-Men and Heart, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe features a cult classic. All this plus organically vat-grown Marauders, a full football team of artists and a gun the size of a tree trunk.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or accessible via the player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments thread, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page. As always, nice iTunes reviews are much appreciated, and they really do help.
Here are the cakes we were so kindly given for our three-year anniversary. They are delicious.
Thanks for the past three years, and here’s to the next three.
Charts – 6 November 2011
Unexpectedly, the recent outbreak of chart stability seems to be continuing. The midweeks showed a new number one, but as it turns out “Read All About It” by Professor Green holds on for a second week. Judging from iTunes, it won’t manage a third – sales were actually down sharply this week, but that’s starting from one of the highest first-week sales of the year.
Even more surprisingly, Rihanna’s “We Found Love” is back up to 2, and it’s currently at the top of the iTunes chart – so it’s entirely possible it could yet return to number 1 for a fourth week.
All of which must be very disappointing to the record which was number 1 in the midweeks – “With Ur Love” by Cher Lloyd ft Mike Posner.
The X-Axis – 6 November 2011
The “Regenesis” relaunch is now well and truly underway, with three of the regular X-titles starting their new arcs this week, including core title Uncanny X-Men. Elsewhere… well, there are a few other new titles, and a bunch of more diverse stuff sitting the pile I haven’t read yet. Busy week.
Avengers Academy #21 – By Marvel’s standards, this deserves some sort of award for restraint. It is indeed the start of a new direction for the series – relocating to California, adding two new regulars, and expanding the supporting cast dramatically. But while there’s a big sign on the cover saying “1st Issue of a New Era”, they haven’t renumbered it. Astonishing. Has somebody finally figured out that that stunt only works if you use it sparingly? Seems unlikely. Maybe it was an oversight.
Regardless, Avengers Academy is worth a passing mention because it’s written by Christos Gage, who’s soon to take over X-Men Legacy. While it’s never been a big seller, it is one of Marvel’s most consistent team books. Gage certainly knows how to juggle a large cast and make sure they all have something to do; and the original characters who make up the student body are all nicely rounded personalities with strong individual concepts. The series has a very well judged blend of classic Marvel tropes and fresh characters to experience them. Granted, Gage is writing one of the low-end X-books where he’ll be working in the margins of other peoples’ stories, and granted, his Brood arc on Astonishing X-Men was nothing special… but I have hopes for him as a regular writer.
Charts – 30 October 2011
After the hectic turnover of number one singles during the summer, Rihanna’s three-week run brought a degree of sanity back to the proceedings. But now, with that momentary breather behind us, we can get back to the rapid turnover.
The new number one is “Read All About It” by Professor Green featuring Emeli Sande. This is the lead single from Green’s second album, and it’s his first number one. It’s also something of a change of tack for him.
The X-Axis – 30 October 2011
Happy Hallowe’en. Never liked the holiday myself, but it’s a wonderfully cheap way of lending spurious topicality to an opening blurb. Insert random pop culture observation about zombies here.
It’s a podcast weekend, and you’ll find the new episode just one post down, with reviews of Incredible Hulk, Spaceman and Dead Man’s Run.
I didn’t get this week’s comics until Saturday, and since I haven’t had time to read most of them, and I’m also running low on time to write about them, I’m just going to stick to this week’s three X-books – which, of course, include the big launch of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s Wolverine & The X-Men.
Astonishing X-Men #43 – But first! Astonishing X-Men is still being published! I know!
House To Astonish Episode 71
A little over an hour and a quarter of gabbing about comics for you, as we look at Mark Millar’s big announcements , the Avenging Spider-Man digital promotion, Criminal moving to the big screen, Marvel’s lay-offs, FOX’s Punisher and the January solicitations. We’ve also got reviews of Incredible Hulk, Dead Man’s Run and Spaceman, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe wishes it could fly, right up to the sky, but it can’t. All this plus a fruit basket for Jason Aaron, Nerys Hughes the Midgard Serpent and a secret blend of herbs and spices.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud or available via the player below. Let us know what you think, either in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or at our Facebook fan page.
Charts – 23 October 2011
After all those weeks of rapid turnover, we finally have a proper number one single, as “We Found Love” by Rihanna ft Calvin Harris holdings on for a third week. It was at number two on the midweeks but pulled back ahead on Thursday. Will it manage a fourth? Probably not – but it does now have a proper video, so the added airplay on the music channels could make a difference.
The unfortunate record which was ahead in the midweeks but turned out to have frontloaded its sales was “Lightning” by the Wanted, just missing out on their third number one. As usual with the Wanted, it’s unashamedly targetted at 13-year-old girls, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Not sure I’d have rhymed “frightening” and “lightning” quite so prominently, but that aside, it’s a decent enough record.
The X-Axis – 23 October 2011
(If you’re here for the wrestling preview, it’s one post below.)
After the deluge of new material in September, things seem to be settling back into the normal routine. But we’ve got a few X-books, we’ve got the end of a major crossover, we’ve got the second issue of DC’s flagship title, and we’ve got a new title from Image.
Fear Itself #7 – Well, this certainly didn’t work. I have half a mind to do a separate post trying to figure out the plot glitches and random jumps that have plagued the series, but really, this issue illustrates the point. It’s the big climactic battle between the Serpent’s forces and everyone else – okay, fine. Iron Man returns from Asgard with the special weapons that will empower some characters chosen entirely at random and turn them into variant action figures. There’s no discernible rhyme or reason to the characters chosen, and no real attempt to suggest a logic to it. With all the world’s superheroes to choose from, Iron Man chooses to power up the Black Widow, Iron Fist, Hawkeye and the Red She-Hulk? Why?
Vengeance 2011
No, not the eccentric Joe Casey miniseries – the unwanted second October WWE pay-per-view. Mercifully, the next show is Survivor Series in late November. That’s supposed to be the main show of the fourth quarter, and the Rock’s supposedly going to be wrestling this year. So chances are it’s going get some proper attention from the writers. Vengeance, by contrast, is very much the next level down.
The company has had three weeks to build to this show, and the general consensus is that those three weeks of television have been pretty abject. In one of their occasional forays into outright soap opera, Raw is being built around a storyline where John Laurinitis (a long-serving backstage guy who’s inexplicably been shoved in front of the camera despite his acting being at decidedly sub-amdram levels) is trying to undermine Triple H’s authority so that he can usurp power. This is fine in theory, but dreadful in reality. Not only have they been rushing through the story, but the plot demands that everyone – including the lower card babyfaces – turns on Triple H due to the supposed chaos into which the show has descended. Of course, the WWE operates at a baseline level of ridiculousness so high that it would take a lot to make that story work, and they haven’t even come close.
