The Fantasticast Episode 360: Fantastic Four #229 - The Thing From The Black Hole

The Fantasticast Episode 360

Reed's Tool

Hello, and welcome to episode 360 of The Fantasticast. Each episode, Steve Lacey guides you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It's a bumper episode of The Fantasticast this week, as we cover no less than five comics! From visitors from the inside of a black hole, to scientific handwaves, from the disco floors of New York to the funeral of a President that could have been, with a quick sidestep into flashback territory, this is one of our busiest episodes to date.

Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiwicz, Joe Sinnott, George Roussos, Jim Novak, Bob Budiansky, Jim Salicrup, and Jim Shooter present Fantastic Four #229 - The Thing From The Black Hole. And many, many more creators bring us Amazing Spider-Man #215, Dazzler #2, Thor #306, and What If? #26. Join as us we discover the first Fantastic Four work of John Romita Jr and Tom DeFalco!

Direct download: https://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_360.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. Follow us on twitter, where we are @fantasticast

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 298: Marvel Two-in-One #46 - Battle In Burbank

The Fantasticast Episode 298

Oh So Tropey

Hello, and welcome to episode 298 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've got a triple-shot of late-70s Marvel goodness for you. We start with Marvel Two-in-One #46, in which some jealousy over the Bill Bixby TV series leads The Thing to Hollywood, where a throwdown with the Hulk disrupts an attempted kidnapping of Karen Page. Allan Kupperberg, Chic Stone, Gaspar Saladino, Roger Stern, and Jim Shooter are along for the ride.

Then it's off to Earth-7812, which attempts to answer the question... What If Rick Jones Had Become The Hulk. What If? 312 sees Reed Richards trying to help Bruce Banner separate the teen from the monster. And finally, we swing by an introspective Spider-Man in Spectacular Spider-Man #25. Oh, and we also discover what the word is.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_298.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 278: Marvel Two-in-One #38 - Thing Behind Prison Bars

The Fantasticast Episode 278

How Do I Chicken?

Hello, and welcome to episode 278 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 diving into the pages of Marvel Two-in-One #38, which purports to feature The Thing, but spends a lot of time with Daredevil as he digs into the events that conspired to confine Ben Grimm to jail. Well, until he decides to break out and fall through a surprisingly-fluid hole in the sewers, that is...

Joining us for this episode is Stacey's Pop Culture Parlour host Stacey Taylor, warming up for her upcoming 24 hour live broadcast to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. And now, I'm just going to list the notes I made during the edit.

• Insulted By A Brummie
• Smutty & Nutty?
• Aunt May's Not Dead
• Blokes Being Weird
• 'Sylvester Stallone's Giant Schlong
• Minty Fresh Vagine
• Daredevil's Inflatable Chin
• Bin Skateboardin'
• King Of Everywheres Of Something
• The Thinker, Mad-Splained
• Brotherhood Of Man or Boney Me?
• Brotherhood Of Man or Brotherhood of Nod?

Find Stacey's 24 hour live broadcast at mixlr.com/spcp-live and donate to her fundraising at justgiving.com/spcplive3. Why not drop her a follow on twitter, where she is @staceysparlour?

The Fantasticast is support by Stitcher Premium, home of Wolverine: The Long Night, launching March 12th. Starring Richard Armitage as Wolverine, this ten episode podcast audio drama is the first of its kind for Marvel. For a month's free trial to Stitcher Premium, head over to stitcher.com/premium and enter the promo code Fantasticast.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_278.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 193: Fantastic Four #154 / Marvel Team-Up #29

The Fantasticast Episode 193

A Team-Up With A Team-Up

Hello, and welcome to episode 193 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 packing them in with coverage of two complete issues. First up is The Man In The Mystery Mask, presented in Fantastic Four #154, in which the dreaded deadline doom catches up with Len Wein before his run has even begun, and a panicking bullpen reprint Strange Tales #127. Thankfully, we skip the stuff we've covered before (check out episode 37 for fuller coverage), which allows us to get straight on to the next issue.

And what an issue that is Marvel Team-Up #29 - Beware The Coming Of Infinitus, or, How Can You Stop The Reincarnated Man? Yes, this issue has a title for each hero. You'll find Iron Man being a massive tool, Vince Colletta back on inks, and the unlikely sight of Johnny Storm conducting heavy-duty academic research.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_193.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. 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 189: Fantastic Four #152 - A World Of Madness Made

The Fantasticast Episode 189

An Actual Ice-Cream Van

Hello, and welcome to episode 189 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 bid a fond farewell to Gerry Conway with Fantastic Four #152, his last regular issue. Thundra and the team are lost in a nightmarish, hyper-masculine future. Rich Buckler's taking on too much work, and Reed Richards has the wrong number of appendages. As it turns out, not only is this Conway's final issue, but it's not even the conclusion to the story, and it's one of the most notorious rushed comics.

We're also activating our childish-snigger circuits as we get to grips with Giant-Size Man-Thing #2, by Steve Gerber, John Buscema and Klaus Janson. As well as this, we're talking about San Diego Comic-Con, celebrating some new equipment, celebrating the release of something long-lost, and getting interrupted by an actual ice-cream van. It's a packed episode of The Fantasticast, so why are you reading this? Get listening!

Find Amazing Spider-Man Classics at http://amazingspiderman.libsyn.org. Donate to Stacey Taylor's fundraising at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/spcplive2 and listen to our appearance on her 24 hour live podcast at

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_189.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.

Episode 188: Marvel Team-Up #26 - The Fire This Time

The Fantasticast Episode 188

The Cockamamie Fan Club

Hello, and welcome to episode 188 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

With Spider-Man taking a month off, the Johnny Storm steps up to lead this issue of Marvel Team-Up, joining forces with the God of Thunder to investigate a Hawaiian volcano and a set of fiery bootprints, as both a forgettable Avengers storyline and a forgettable Marvel Team-Up plot get a follow-up. It's Thor and the Human Torch against the Lava Men in the abandoned kingdom of the Mole Man!

As if all of this doesn't excite you enough, we can also promise you a moloid with a six pack, and a hard-hitting investigation into the medical ethics of Donald Blake, MD. It's these kind of shenanigans that make the podcast what it is - almost the best Fantastic Four podcast on the internet!

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_188.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 165: Fantastic Four #140 - Annihilus Revealed

The Fantasticast Episode 165

Namor's Onesie

Hello, and welcome to episode 165 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 a triple-comic week on the Fantasticast. First up, the main event, Fantastic Four #140, which pulls together just about every unresolved plot line since Jack Kirby left the book. Where did Agatha Harkness go? What's going on with Franklin's glowing eyes? Will Sue and Reed ever reunite? Thanks to the return of our favourite buck-toothed, armour-clad insectoid ruler of the Negative Zone, a sense of purpose and direction returns to the book.  And, as if all of this wasn't enough, we also find out the  origins of Annihilus.

Elsewhere, we're also taking a look at the beginnings of one of the most superfluous mandated pieces of superhero technology, the Spider-Mobile, in Amazing Spider-Man #126. We then follow up with some big changes for Namor in Sub-Mariner #67, where a heavy dose of nerve-gas leads to the introduction of a brand new costume.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_165.mp3

Send in your feedback to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, leave your comments at the libsyn site, or at www.TheFantasticast.com. 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 159: Marvel Team-Up #10 - Time Bomb!

The Fantasticast Episode 159

Prince Philip: Iron Man

Hello, and welcome to episode 159 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 our last episode of 2015. We could have closed out this year with a nice, simple standalone comic. We could have, but we didn't. Instead, we decided to look at the middle part of a three-part Marvel Team-Up story. Spider-Man is caught in a temporal battle between Kang The Conqueror and Zarrko The Tomorrow Man, and only Johnny Storm can help save the day. Gerry Conway, Jim Mooney and Frank Giacoia bring us an issue packed full of time-travel, literal time-bombs, and surprisingly easy international air travel.

We're also paying tribute to our dear friend, podcast and former co-host Shawn Engel, who passed away this past week. Shawn was a huge supporter of the show, and he joined us for episode 31, three years ago. Messages can be left here, and the family have asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to a charity of your choice. Shawn, you were one of the best of us, and we miss you very much.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_159.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 143: Marvel Team-Up #2 - And Spidey Makes Four

The Fantasticast Episode 143

Peter Parker's Chin's Secret Identity

Hello, and welcome to episode 143 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 time for another team-up, in more ways than one. We're covering Marvel Team-Up #2: The Frightful Four are back, with a surprising new addition to the team, and only the Human Torch can stop them. Aided and abetted by Spider-Man, it's the teenage heroes of the Marvel Universe against the Fantastic Four's greatest villains, as well as an unexpected threat from the Negative Zone. All this comics goodness if brought to you by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and Jim Mooney.

Teaming up with us to tackle this titanic tussle is writer and podcaster James Hunt. James is a regular feature writer at Den of Geek, co-writer of A Brief History Of Time Travel, and part of the panel at the excellent Cinematic Universe podcast. He can be found on twitter as @jameshunt.

Together, all three hosts find themselves carbon-dating Marvel fashions, discovering the Human Torch in polyester, subjecting someone to unexpected and violent disrobing, and musing the possibilities of Garfield Minus Garfield, Plus Lying Cat...

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_143.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 134: Fantastic Four #118 - Thunder In The Ruins

The Fantasticast Episode 134

Undoing The Incursions

Hello, and welcome to episode 134 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 taking a look at Fantastic Four #118, as Johnny Storm tries to undo Crystal's  brainwashing, Diablo plays with his chemicals, and Ben Grimm takes a journey to Earth-A, where everyone looks like Reed, except... Reed? We're also taking a look at Sub-Mariner #45. I say we... does anyone have anything they want to confess?

We're also taking a look at Dan Slott's greatest achievement, and... other fun things, but I forgot to take notes, so I'm just desperately filling space here. So, that Game of Thrones, huh? Boy, words are hard to think of...

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_134.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 133: Fantastic Four #117 - The Flame And The Quest

The Fantasticast Episode 133

Expository Pyjamas

Hello, and welcome to episode 133 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Much like Breaking Bad, this episode of the Fantasticast is all about Crystal (I apologise for that terrible joke). Fantastic Four #117 starts the search for Johnny Storm's true love, with Archie Goodwin and John Buscema weaving a globe-trotting, Thing-scaring tale. We're also looking at Sub-Mariner #44, where an evil hippie-burning Johnny Storm helps Namor against Llyra and Tiger-Shark. Finally, we've a brief peek at a few panels of Avengers #94, a true turning point in the Kree-Skrull War.

As well as all this goodness, we present The Adventures of the Cul-De-Sac Crew, the greatest unintended consequence of Secret Wars, and Bagpuss in cosplay. As for what happens when Rita Repulsa meets the Sub-Mariner... you won't believe what happens next!

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_133.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, but more importantly, head over to www.elementalmicah.com where Mike's creator-owned comic, Elemental Micah, is currently available on a pay-what-you-want basis!

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.

The Fantasticast Episode 126: Fantastic Four #110 - One From Four Leaves Three

The Fantasticast Episode 126

Unbeatable Benny Grimm

Hello, and welcome to episode 126 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

And we're back. This week, Steve and Andy are joined once again by Chris Thompson of Orbital Comics in Conversation to take a look at Fantastic Four #110, and hopefully answer the question of just how Reed Richards can escape the ever-watchful eye of Annihilus in the Negative Zone. We're also taking a brief look at Avengers #88, with plotting by SF legend Harlan Ellison.

We've also got mention of the first credited female creator on the Fantastic Four (sort of), more ABBA than you can shake a Pierce Brosnan-shaped stick at, a radical reinterprtation of the catchiest theme tune of 2015, and a superb Harlan Ellison anecdote.

Chris's podcast backlog can be found at popculturehound.net. New episodes of Orbital Comics In Conversation can be found at http://www.orbitalcomics.com/podcast/. You can also follow Chris on twitter where he is @popculturehound.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_126.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 105: Fantastic Four #91 - The Thing Enslaved

The Fantasticast Episode 105

A Piece Of The Action, See?

Hello, and welcome to episode 105 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four, see?

This week, we focus our gaze onto two comics, see? In Fantastic Four #91, The Thing is transported to a Star Trek episode and has to pretend that he's not seen the series, see? Meanwhile, in Amazing Spider-Man #77, The Torch treads on Spidey's toes as he tries to restrain the Lizard, see? With artwork from Sal Buscema, this is a rare thing -  a 1960s Torch/Spidey crossover that we actually enjoy, see?

We also bear withness to the strange fate of Whitey Mullins, examine the maxim 'With Great Balls Comes Great Responsibility', and Andy teaches Steve how to talk gangster, see?

Direct download, see?: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_105.mp3

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

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

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage, see?

The Fantasticast Episode 104: Fantastic Four #90 - The Skrull Takes A Slave

The Fantasticast Episode 104

No Vagrant Is Safe

Hello, and welcome to episode 104 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 start our coverage of the last extended storyline from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with Fantastic Four #90: The Skrull Takes A Slave. It's a bit more than that, though, as the issue takes some time to wrap up the previous Mole Man story as well. There's torture, deathly danger, and some lovely new clothes for The Thing.

As well as this, we've got an e-mail looking ahead to our 200th episode, the first and only Fantasticast 'rap battle', and a very long discussion about hair...

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_104.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.

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

Episode cover design by Samuel Savage.