The Fantasticast Episode 251: Marvel Two-in-One #26 - The Fixer And Mentallo Are Back

The Fantasticast Episode 251

The Logistics of SHIELD Pizza

Hello, and welcome to episode 251 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're tackling two mighty Marvel tales. In the first, Marvel Two-in-One #26, a pizza date with Nick Fury turns into a fight against a mesmeric master and a future Thunderbolt for Ben Grimm. Mentallo and The Fixer are back, the world will never be the same again, and neither will a certain refugee from Earth-7484.

Then we're off into Earth-774 to revisit the history of The Incredible Hulk in What If? #2 - What If The Hulk Had The Brain Of Bruce Banner? This questions leads to the permanent cure of Ben Grimm, the abandonment of mutant rights, and the non-destruction of Earth, proving that the series just doesn't know its own tropes.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_251.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 250: Fantastic Four #181 - Side By Side With Annihilus

The Fantasticast Episode 181

You Can't Tie A Knot In Your Neck

Hello, and welcome to episode 250 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It's celebration time for The Fantasticast, as we reach our milestone 250th episode. And how do we mark this huge moment in our history? Er... by doing nothing about it at all. Instead, we get stuck right into Fantastic Four #181, which sees the FF splintered and scattered across New York and beyond. Reed's fighting against Annihilus, Sue's contending with the return of Agatha Harkness, and Johnny's confronting PTSD with the subtlety of the Presidential tweet.

Roy Thomas, Ron Wilson, and Joe Sinnott present Fantastic Four #181, a tale of battle in the Negative Zone, dredging the Hudson River, kidnapping a child, and watching a marathon of film noir with an extra-dimensional shape-changing chaotic being with a penchant for green and purple.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_250.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 249: Marvel Two-in-One #25 - A Tale Of Two Countries

The Fantasticast Episode 249

Half-Inching The Goodyear Blimp

Hello, and welcome to episode 249 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're rushing through both Fantastic Four #180 and Marvel Two-in-One #25 in one episode. This task is made a lot easier by Fantastic Four #180 being a cunningly-disguised reprint of Fantastic Four #101. So cunningly-disguised is the reprint that Marvel even got Jack Kirby to draw a brand new cover that does not represent the contents in any way shape or form. Much like most covers from the early 2000s...

Marvel Two-in-One #25 is a more original affair, as The Thing and Iron Fist go for a wander in the jungle and get contracted to provide military training for an entire army. Marv Wolfman has arrived as series writer, joining Ron Wilson and Sam Grainger to present the most logical way to kidnap Ben Grimm from a football stadium.

Lending his vocals to our episode is Patreon supporter Patrick Delmore. Patrick has a new podcast launching this week: Next Generation's First Generation, a Star Trek: The Next Generation commentary podcast. Check out the first episode on September 23rd.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_249.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 248: What If? #1 - What If Spider-Man Joined The Fantastic Four?

The Fantasticast Episode 248

Return Of The Bollocksfish

Hello, and welcome to episode 248 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Today, we peer through the windows into a strange parallel world of what might have been. For, none save The Fantasticasters (and their guest) can truly know what could have happened, but for the invisible workings of an incomprehensible fate. Today, we answer the question, What If Spider-Man Had Joined The Fantastic Four, as we read What If? #1.

We're joined by our episode image designer Sam Savage to look at the first of many Marvel titles devoted to the alternate worlds where history took a different turn. Roy Thomas, Jim Craig, and Pablo Marcos come together to retell and revise Fantastic Four and Marvel history. Will The Watcher's narration irritate us all? Will the Earth explode? Will we spend too long recapping fight scenes that have little-to-no bearing on the plot? Find out, as we enter Earth-772!

We also take some time at the start of the episode to pay tribute to Len Wein, who sadly and unexpectedly passed away earlier this week.

Sam can be found on instagram as slpsavage92 

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_248.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 247: Marvel Two-in-One #24 - Does Anyone Remember The Hijacker?

The Fantasticast Episode 247

The Who?

Hello, and welcome to episode 248 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week on the show, we come to the conclusion of Bill Mantlo's run on Marvel Two-in-One. In common with a lot of his issues, he's picking up the reigns of a character rejected by the comics readership of the time, and giving him a second shot. In this case, it's Bill Foster - Black Goliath. And the Whiz Kids. But they're so unimportant that none of us recognise them.

Joining us for this episode is Fantastic Four superfan and comicbook.com writer Mike Brown. He stands beside us as we examine the work of Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, Sal Buscema, and Pablo Marcos. Strap in, folks - the Hijacker is here, and we definitely remember him!

Mike can be found on twitter as @EvrLvnBluIdThng, and you can find his interviews at comicbook.com with us here, here, and here.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_247.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 246: Fantastic Four #179 - A Robinson Crusoe In The Negative Zone

The Fantasticast Episode 246

Hardback, Softback, Any Kind Of Back

Hello, and welcome to episode 246 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're peeling back the covers of Fantastic Four #179. Reed Richards is lost and almost naked in the Negative Zone, forced to hunt bats for sustenance and to make fire from quite literally nothing. His doppelganger, The Brute, has taken his place on the team. Thundra is flirting outrageously with Ben, Sue's got her doubts, and Tigra just wants lunch.

Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Ron Wilson and Joe Sinnott present a tale full of double-crossing, film noir marathons, almost-pizza, a discussion of Kai Cole's recent statement regarding her marriage, unlikely giant robots, and sunken garbage scows. Oh, and a completely bland number one single.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_246.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantaticast Episode 245: Marvel Two-in-One #23 - Death On The Bridge To Heaven

The Fantasticast Episode 245

Blacksun Won't You Come, And Wash Away The Rain

Hello, and welcome to episode 245 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, in We Set A Format For The Show Six Years Ago And We're Sticking To It No Matter What, we're taking a look at Marvel Two-in-One #23. The Mighty Thor continues to guest star as he and The Thing do something involving Seth, a golden bridge, a size-changing door, and Blacksun. You remember him, right? Well, that's more than the writers of this comic did.

Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, Ron Wilson, Marie Severin, and Pablo Marcos present the final part of this story involving the threat of Blacksun (even though that threat has spent this issue and the past lying unconscious with Johnny keeping hot/cold). The final part. With a conclusion. That ends things. Yes.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_245.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 244: Fantastic Four #178 - Call My Killer -- The Brute

The Fantasticast Episode 244

The Counter-Earth Pantsless Pipe-Smoking Society

Hello, and welcome to episode 244 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Following an unexpected diversion with the last episode, we're back on track this week with a look at Fantastic Four #178. The Brute has joined the Frightful Four, and the team of villains is holding the Fantastic Four hostage in the Baxter Building. Will New York pay the princely sum of... ONE MILLION DOLLARS? Or will Marvel's First Family pay the ultimate price?

Roy Thomas, George Perez, and Dave Hunt present Call My Killer --  The Brute, with a whole host of guest stars including Thundra, Tigra, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, The Impossible Man, and more. As well as this, we're also taking a look at Tom Hanks' oovoo, and discovering that there is nothing quite like The Fonz.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_244.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 243.5: Steve & Andy vs The Fantastic Four (Cartoons) Episodes 1 & 2

The Fantasticast Episode 243.5

Emergency Fill-In Episode

Hello, and welcome to episode 243.5 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Due to a sudden hoarseness caused by screaming guest vocals on notable Evanescence songs a little too much, Steve and Andy find themselves hamstrung by the dreaded deadline doom, and have to resort to diving into their Patreon archives, released the first two installments of Steve & Andy vs The Fantastic Four (Cartoons). In this Patreon-only extra podcast, we provide episode commentaries for the various Fantastic Four cartoons. For this episode, it's the first two episodes of the 1967 Fantastic Four series - Menace Of The Mole Men, and Diablo. As well as this, Steve chats about his experiences hosting comics panels at the recent London Film and Comic Con, particularly those featuring future Fantastic Four writer Marv Wolfman.

Direct download: 

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 243: Marvel Two-in-One #22

The Fantasticast Episode 243

Diagnosis: Moider!

Hello, and welcome to episode 243 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're heading into hospital with The Thing, The Human Torch, Dr Donald Blake, Thor, half of Black Sun, and Seth. It's Marvel Two-in-One #22, which features the only available doctor in New York and the Egyptian god of death stalking the hall of the hospital in which he works. Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson, and Pablo Marcos join forces for the first of two consecutive Two-in-One issues to feature the same credited guest star.

Then we're off to the realm of Andy's nightmares to take a look at our first ever TV tie-in comic. The Electric Company comes to Marvel comics in Spidey Super Stories #20, in which Spider-Man, the Human Torch, and the Invisible Girl, to defeat Mysterio and his hateful hate ray of hate. You know, like Mysterio always has.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_243.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 242: Fantastic Four #177 - Look Out For The Frightful Four

The Fantasticast Episode 242

Bitten By A Radioactive Tornado

Hello, and welcome to episode 242 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, to celebrate our coverage of Fantastic Four #177, both Steve and Andy have been placed into restraints and forced to witness the auditions of their replacements. Which is appropriate, as the centrepiece of this issue sees the Frightful Four on the hunt for a male replacement for the team. It goes about as well as you'd expect...

Roy Thomas, an uncredited Mike Friedrich, George Perez and Joe Sinnott bring the Frightful Four to the heart of the Baxter Building, in a tale full of eager wannabes, Texas Twisters, surprise guests, queued vengeance, and brutish doppelgangers. Hang on to your overcoat - this one has more villains than any issue seen to date!

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_242.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 241: Marvel Two-in-One #21 - Black Sun Lives

The Fantasticast Episode 241

A Pig In A Tartan Waistcoat

Hello, and welcome to episode 241 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're delving into the realm of never-reprinted* comics with Marvel Two-in-One #21, in which a licensing-defying•• Doc Savage crosses the boundaries between one fictional universe and another, coming golden-face-to-rocky-face with the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson and Pablo Marcos push against the boundaries of how to tell a superhero story in 1976. Well, for half an issue at least.

But that's not all! We're also rummaging through the opening pages of Captain Marvel #47, in which Mar-Vell does not make a good showing of himself, and Rick Jones makes up an entire friendship. Following this, we get into a snowball fight with The Thing in few pages from Marvel Treasury Edition #13. It's a bumper episode of The Fantasticast, for your listening pleasure.

*Oh, Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Two-in-One vol. 3 got solicited this week, with this issue included in it, you say?

**Well, not any more. Bloody Marvel. Ruining our podcast since Tuesday of this week.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_241.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 240: Fantastic Four #176 - Improbable As It May Seem -- The Impossible Man Is Back In Town

The Fantasticast Episode 240

George Perez Saves Stan Lee!

Hello, and welcome to episode 240 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're arriving at the much-anticipated Fantastic Four #176, in which The Impossible Man shatters the fourth wall, causing havoc and mayhem in the Marvel Bullpen. With a Jack Kirby cover inspiring the action, Roy Thomas, George Perez and Joe Sinnott pull out all the stops, puncturing egos and giving cameos to just about everyone in the Bullpen.

Joining us for this madcap comic is frequent podcast e-mailer, comic book inker, and lifelong Fantastic Four fan Charles Yoakum. Together, we attempt to identify every single creator cameo, play a round of Starlin or Salicrup, and try and squeeze the entire show through Steve's Poppuppian filter. (It's a joke about an important piece of podcasting equipment, you see.) (Not, admittedly, a very good joke.) (Ah, well...)

Charles can be found at http://charlesyo.com/, and his blog at http://inkdestroyedmybrush.blogspot.co.uk/

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_240.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 239: Marvel Two-in-One #20 - Showdown At Sea

The Fantasticast Episode 239

Swastika Fidget Spinner

Hello, and welcome to episode 239 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're finally bring to a completely satisfying (honest, guv) conclusion this multi-annual story involving multiple divergent World War IIs, time-travelling vibranium, mimetic Watchers, and underwhelming period superhero teams. Yes, it's Marvel Two-in-One #20, featuring the Liberty Legion, in their last attempt at standing in the spotlight in the 1970s.

Returning to join us for this episode is Michael Bailey, currently the most prominent Liberty Legion fan to be found within this episode. He's here to try and explain how gyroscopes can affect the power of brain and eyeballs in a jar welded to a giant flying swastika, and to show us why Gerry Anderson hipsters are the worst of the puppet hipsters.

Michael Bailey is the host of numerous podcasts, including From Crisis To Crisis: A Superman Podcast, Views From The Longbox, The Overlooked Dark Knight, the upcoming Married With Comics, and the upcoming It All Comes Back To Superman. All of these, as well as his comics blogging, can be found at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/

Direct download: http://www.thefantasticast.com/podcast/239

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 238: Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1 - Their Name Is Legion

The Fantasticast Episode 238

The Podcast With Everything But Yuuuul Brynner!

Hello, and welcome to episode 238 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we're doing something new on The Fantasticast. Marvel Two-in-One is going giant sized with Annual #1. Picking up the story threads of Fantastic Four Annual #11, the Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing heads back to World War II (via the world's slowest time machine), teaming up with the Liberty Legion to retrieve half of a vibranium cylinder. As you do.

Returning to The Fantasticast to help us cover this issue is former guest-host, voice of The Thing, podcaster, and fan of obscure World War II superhero teams, Michael Bailey. He's on hand to explain Roy Thomas's Time Wedge, The Thing's things, and exactly what happens when you find yourself rubbing against the crotch seams of the trousers of time.

Michael Bailey is the host of numerous podcasts, including From Crisis To Crisis: A Superman Podcast, Views From The Longbov, The Overlooked Dark Knight, the upcoming Married With Comics, and the upcoming It All Comes Back To Superman. All of these, as well as his comics blogging, can be found at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_238.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 237: Fantastic Four #175 - When Giants Walk The Sky

The Fantasticast Episode 237

Bobblehead Galactus

Hello, and welcome to episode 237 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It's an anniversary week at The Fantasticast, as we get to grips with the not-super-sized Fantastic Four #175. The High Evolutionary and Galactus are finally getting down to the battle for Counter-Earth, and the Fantastic Four can do little more than stand by and watch. A solution seems almost... impossible...

Roy Thomas and John Buscema (inking himself) present the first ever final ever Galactus story, concluding a tale that began with a giant golden gorilla, and ensuring that the life of Ben Grimm will never be the same again until the next time his life will never be the same again. All this, included in the limits of Galactus's peripheral vision.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_237.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 236: Marvel Two-in-One #19 - The Claws Of The Cougar

The Fantasticast Episode 236

The Inessential Tigra

Hello, and welcome to episode 236 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week on the show, we're taking a look at the history of the Cat People, as Tigra - The 61st Sexiest Female Character in comics, according to CBG - arrives in both the Baxter Building and Marvel Two-in-One #19. Tony Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema and Don Heck introduce an actual Were-Woman (don't think about it) in a book described by one of the team for this episode as "like reading gas."

Joining us for this episode is Gary Lactus, live from his spaceship in space. Gary's a lifelong Fantastic Four fan (although this issue may have affected this passion somewhat, and one of the hosts of SILENCE!, a fantastic comics podcast. Together, we discuss the nomenclature of Greer Nelson - Happy Housewife, the misadventures of Benjamin 'Shagger' Franklin, and exactly how Ben Grimm sleeps at night. And, just for kicks, there's also a brief discussion of a couple of pages in Avengers #151, in which Ben is a bit of a hypocrite.

Find Gary on SILENCE!, every week at mindlessones.com. Gary's civilian alter ego Fraser Geesin releases comics, short films, and more at frasergeesin.com. Follow Gary on twitter where he is @frasergeesin. And, if you like the very last thing in the show, you can find more at http://mindlessones.com/2012/12/24/silence-night-holy-shit/

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_236.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 235: Fantastic Four #174 - Starquest!

The Fantasticast Episode 235

I Drove My Fantasticar Through Your Haystack Last Night

Hello, and welcome to episode 235 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, we continue our journey through the story of the High Evolutionary / Galactus war for the very existence of Counter-Earth. Ben and Reed find themselves inciting revolution on Torgo's planet of robots, whilst Johnny and Gorr go jousting on a suspiciously-cliched medieval planet. Well, I say Johnny does this - what he actually does is literally tread water for half a comic.

Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Joe Sinnott present Fantastic Four #174, containing unusual armour, a life-changing admission, a cunning disguise, a discussion of why Reed isn't working (both literally and figuratively), and someone spoiling the Planet of the Apes. Some of those things might be us.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_235.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 234: Marvel Two-in-One #18 - Dark, Dark Demon-Night!

The Fantasticast Episode 234

No Charge? I Still Want A Refund!

Hello, and welcome to episode 234 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week is a Marvel Two-in-One week, and what a week it is. Marvel Two-in-One #18 features possible the most obscure guest star to ever appear in the comic. It's The Scarecrow, and if you think you know who this guy is, you should probably check again. The inhabitant of a supernatural painting that also happens to be a portal to another dimension, The Scarecrow is here to make Ben reconsider his views on the Supernatural and to fail to do his one job.

Bill Mantlo, Scott Edelman, Ron Wilson, Jim Mooney and Dan Adkins present a comic that completely fascinates Steve, as it works to incorporate a complex backstory and an entire supporting cast into one punch-happy team-up story. We also take a brief look at Super-Villain Team-Up #7, ignoring anything at all to do with The Shroud, and see just how the Fantastic Four react to being thrown out of Latveria by Henry Kissinger.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_234.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 233: Fantastic Four #173 - Counter-Earth Must Die At The Hands Of Galactus!

The Fantasticast Episode 233

Thank You, Rich Buckler

Hello, and welcome to episode 233 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

This week, it's the turn of Fantastic Four #173, as Ben Grimm prepares to battle Galactus in space, before events conspire to split the team up and hunt down a different snack for the World-Eater. Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Joe Sinnott present a tale of digging for oxygen, unconvincing reasons for Sue to stay out of the action, and the return of the surprising character.

But before all of this, we take a few minutes to remember writer and artist Rich Buckler, whose two year tenure as Fantastic Four artist we finished covering just a few months ago. Rich recently passed away after a long battle with cancer, and with his work fresh in our minds, we sit down to discuss his artistic contributions to the Fantastic Four, as well as his wider career in general. 

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_233.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, or leave them in the comments below. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

The Fantasticast is Patreon supported. Visit www.patreon.com/fantasticast to donate and support us.

The Fantasticast is part of the Flickering Myth Podcast network.

Original artwork by Michael Georgiou. Check out his work at mikedraws.co.uk

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.