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 276: Marvel Two-in-One #37 - Game Point

The Fantasticast Episode 276

The Shining Is A Ghost Story

Hello, and welcome to episode 276 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

We're entering a new era of Marvel Two-in-One with issue 37, as the book catches up with current Fantastic Four continuity to deliver a detailed look at the humdrum life of Benjamin J. Grimm when shorn of the Fantastic Four. Well, it's a humdrum as it can be when he's accidentally smashing up New York, getting thrown in jail by a bunch of reluctant cops, and being defended by none other than Daredevil's alter-ego: Matt Murdock, Attorney-At-Law!

As you might have intuited, we didn't want to waste this opportunity to invite Daredevil blogger Christine Hanefalk back to the Fantasticast, and to our great delight, she couldn't come up with an excuse to not be here. She joins us to look at the mechanics of balancing a lit cigar, an extendable chin, and an in-depth look at just what kind of trial Ben is actually involved in. Spoilers: it's inconclusive!

Christine's Daredevil blog can be found at http://www.theothermurdockpapers.com/, and on facebook. Follow Christine on twitter where she is @Chris_TOMP, and pre-order your copy of Daredevil Psychology: The Devil You Know.

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_276.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 273: Fantastic Four #191 - Four No More!

The Fantasticast Episode 273

Self-Folding Sheets

Hello, and welcome to episode 273 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 push past the reprints and the redrawings to cover the final farewells of the Fantastic Four. Reed's decision is final, and a maudlin issue sees the team pack up the Baxter Building, assault some reporters, repel an over-zealous landlord, and receive a suspiciously-convenient telegram from a semi-retired postman.

Len Wein, George Perez, and Joe Sinnott present Fantastic Four #191 - Four No More, in which an ersatz SHIELD agent triggers a temporary reunion of the World's Greatest... uh... Team? Along the way, we discover the world's first Arcade cosplayer, debate the merits of using Whatsapp to co-ordinate a dramatic entrance, and wonder just what happened to Mark Lamarr?

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_273.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 272: Marvel Two-in-One #35 - Enter: Skull The Slayer And Exit: The Thing

The Fantasticast Episode 272

Punch Him In His Dino-Neck

Hello, and welcome to episode 272 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 welcome the great Ernie Chan to the world of the Fantastic Four, as he brings his pencils and inks to the first part of a two-part story dedicated to wrapping up the ongoing plotlines of the short-lived and recently-departed time-travel series, Skull The Slayer. With Ben Grimm searching for a cobalt bomb in the Bermuda Triangle, a time-warp drops him right in the middle of an unresolved cliffhanger in a world full of very angry, beautifully-drawn dinosaurs...

Marv Wolfman and Ernie Chan present Marvel Two-in-One #35, a tale full of anachronisms, angry supporting cast members, devilish priests, oversized pteradons, mis-identified brontosauruses, mis-pronounced diplodocuses, and a regained appreciation for Wolfman's Two-in-One. Admittedly, the last one is from us, rather than from the tale itself, but it filled up a couple of lines in the episode description.

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_272.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 271: Fantastic Four #190 - The Way It Was

The Fantasticast Episode 271

Atomic Powered Shotgun

Hello, and welcome to episode 271 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Is it a reprint? No! Is it a flashback? Er... no? Ish? Is it an original story? Hell, no! Is it an awkward mix of all three hastily assembled to fill an unexpected gap in the production schedule? Yeeeeeaaaahhhhh!

Marv Wolfman, Sal Buscema, and Tony DeZuniga present Fantastic Four #190 - The Way It Was, which awkwardly attempts to craft a narrative out of 189 issues of squabbling, fighting, breaking-up, and Namor's horn. All this, and the latest instalment of Hostess Masterpiece Theatre!

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_271.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 269: What If? #6 - What If The Fantastic Four Had Different Powers?

The Fantasticast Episode 269

Sorcery Wankers

Hello, and welcome to episode 269 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 off to Earth-7712 (well, it's better than the UK as featured in recent issues of Two-in-One!) to discover a different incarnation of the Fantastic Four. A twist of fate grants the team a different set of super-powers to the ones we are familiar with, and we're here to examine the adventures of Big Brain, Ultra Woman, Mandroid, and Dragonfly, as they encounter Doctor Doom for the first time.

Roy Thomas, Jim Craig, Rick Hoberg, and Sam Grainger present What If? #6. Discover the first time that the team's personality traits are used as a reason for their specific powers, and read along with never-published comics from an alternate universe, before Immortus destroy them all. Because what's the point in having a podcast if you can't go all multiversal when you want to?

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_269.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 267: Fantastic Four Annual #12 - The End Of The Inhumans... And The Fantastic Four!

The Fantasticast Episode 267

Thraxon, Thraxoff

Hello, and welcome to episode 267 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 jumping into a nest of continuity errors as we join the definitely-an-ongoing-concern that is the Fantastic Four for their 12th annual. The Inhumans are in trouble, having come under attack from both Thraxon and the Sphinx, and only Crystal, Lockjaw, and the Fantastic Four can save them from the plots of this immortal super-villain (and his lackey).

Joining us for this episode is podcaster Mark Adams. Mark is the host of the Marksmess series of podcastsm including Marksmess vs The Evolutionary War, Marksmess vs Atlantis Attacks, and The Marksmess Podcast, as well as the World War I podcast looking at the letters of his grandfather, John Adams: Letters From The Front.

Mark joins us to examine this giant-size comic from Marv Wolfman, Bob Hall, Keith Pollard, Bob Wiacek, and Marie Severin. Along the way, we create the 'Ben's Finger' test, encounter Anabelle and her Singing Appendix Scar, discover that we don't know how to pronounce 'Wiacek', and discover that Steve is a Formula One Expert (TM).

Mark and his podcasts can be found at http://marksmesspodcasts.blogspot.co.uk, on twitter where he/they are @marksmesspodcas, and on Facebook. The letters of John Adams can be found at http://johnadams.org.uk/letters/

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_267.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 264: Marvel Two-in-One #32 - Only The Invisible Girl Can Save Us Now

The Fantasticast Episode 264

The British Bobby Cavalry

Hello, and welcome to episode 264 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

It comes to something when The Thing has spent more time in the UK of late than one of the hosts... We're back to the world of Marvel Two-in-One. A mutated Alicia Masters - complete with extra limbs, Dr Seuss feet, and hairy forearms - is on the rampage in London, and only The Thing and Spider-Woman can stop her. Until they can't, and Susan Storm has to step in.

Marv Wolfman, Ron Wilson, and Pablo Marcos present (but not in a proud way) Marvel Two-in-One #32, featuring a quickly-rebuilt Big Ben, a featureless grey void, some incredibly heavy inks, a lack of agency or point of view for one of the main characters, and the return of everybody's favourites - Chauncey and Trevor.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_264.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 262: Marvel Team-Up #61 - Not All Thy Powers Can Save Thee

The Fantasticast Episode 262

KISS Me Quick

Hello, and welcome to episode 262 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

We close out our episodes for 2017 with a nifty little threesome. First up, we find out what happens when Spider-Man goes up against the entire Fantastic Four, in Marvel Team-Up #61. Well, as close to the entire team as you can get, while just being one person. The Human Torch guest stars as future Fantastic Four creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne, along with Dave Hunt, make their debuts.

Then we're off to Long Island to check in with Marvel's teen superhero, Nova. In amongst his battles with perennial FF nemesis The Sandman, he finds time to put the fear of the almighty into the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. And finally, we check in Gene Simmons et al as KISS find themselves on a whistle-stop tour of the Marvel Universe, in Marvel Comics Super-Special #1.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_262.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 260: Fantastic Four #186 - Enter: Salem's Seven

The Fantasticast Episode 260

11PT SPLASH SUBTITLE HERE

Hello, and welcome to episode 260 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Brutacus! Hydron! Thornn! Vakume! Gazelle! Reptilia! Vertigo! Salem's Seven are here, and you'd better be afraid of their awesome might! See how they cow the Fantastic Four! Marvel at their powers!  Delight in their artistic depiction! Snigger at their method of defeat!

Len Wein, George Perez, and Joe Sinnott present Fantastic Four #186, featuring the introduction of Salem's Seven. And, let's be honest, we'd all rather that they hadn't. Thrill as we discuss the possibilities of water-absorbing snakes! Gape agog as we discover the dumbest thing since Strange Tales! Plug your ears as someone sings!

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_260.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 257: Marvel Two-in-One #29 - Two Against HYDRA

The Fantasticast Episode 257

Bruce Forsyth is... The Master of Kung-Fu!

Hello, and welcome to episode 257 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four.

Groetjes uit Nederland! And I totally had to Google Translate that... Yes, the Big Move (tm) is over, and Steve is ensconced in a small town in the south of The Netherlands, with only a few issues of Marvel Two-in-One for company. Luckily, one of these is Marvel Two-in-One #29, in which Shang-Chi and The Thing team up to beat up HYDRA agents beneath the streets of London.

Marv Wolfman, Ron Wilson, and Sam Grainger present a tale of introspective wanderings through the (mostly accurate) streets of London, a suspicious Italian restaurant, and a narratively-unimportant boyfriend. We also get to see The Thing on a Routemaster, and we ask the question: Who is the mysterious colourist?

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_257.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 252: Fantastic Four #182 - Enter The Mad Thinker

The Fantasticast Episode 252

No Such Thing As The X-Factor

Hello, and welcome to episode 252 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 returning to the many, many subplots in progress in the main title, with Fantastic Four #182. Between revolution in the Negative Zone, child abduction in Whisper Hill, spousal impersonation in the Baxter Building, and the removal of as many extraneous characters as the writers can get away with, this is one heck of a full issue.

The fullness starts with the credit box, which lists Archie Goodwin, Len Wein, Jim Shooter, and Bill Mantlo as writers, alongside Sal Buscema (who we really like, despite the evidence to the contrary) and Joe Sinnott. They come together to present the misadventures of the Mildly Disturbed Thinker, and the long-awaited return of... ZANTE!

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_252.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 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 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 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 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 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 223: Fantastic Four #169 - Five Characters In Search Of A Madman

The Fantasticast Episode 223

Spinal Discord

Hello, and welcome to episode 223 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 sees the team come to terms with its new line-up, just in time a mysterious force to take control of Luke Cage, MASTERing him like some kind of PUPPET. Yes, it's Fantastic Four #169, in which Ben Grimm goes looking for a fight, Luke Cage goes looking for some continuity, and Roy Thomas goes looking for a clumsy bit of setup for an upcoming annual.

Pencils are provided by Rich Buckler, in what would turn out to be his final full issue of the Fantastic Four for over 150 issues. We take a few minutes in this episode to look back on his work, a few minutes before Andy is forced to face an uncomfortable truth about 1970s pop culture.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_223.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 216: Fantastic Four #165 - The Light of Other Worlds

The Fantasticast Episode 216

Venusian Fiduciary Services

This week, we're looking at Fantastic Four #165, by Roy Thomas, George Perez, and Joe Sinnott. We've got a whole load of 'splaining to do, as we discover the origins of the Crusader, his connections to a 1950s iteration of the 1940s character that would feed directly into a 1970s character who would become prominent in the 1990s. Oh, and it turns out that thanks to the power of retcon, it's not that person after all. Thanks, Jeff Parker!

Somewhere amongst all of the continuity porn is a story of misplaced revenge, confused motivations, sensible bank managers, unreasonable loan requests, and people miraculously having their heads crushed by high-velocity masonry. What else would expect from the mighty world of Marvel?

And, just as a heads-up, next week's episode will include a discussion of the 1970s Fantastic Four radio series, featuring Stan Lee and Bill Murray. You might want to check out archive.org or Old Time Radio Downloads for some episodes.

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_216.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.