Reed Richards vs Skype Latency Hello, and welcome to episode 135 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. This time around, it's an episode full of firsts. Future Fantastic Four writer Roy Thomas contributes to the book for the first time, scripting the first-ever fill-in issue of the Fantastic Four, a blisteringly good take on the issue of racism. It's the first issue of the book to feature the ...
Jul 04, 2015•1 hr 6 min
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 ...
Jun 27, 2015•1 hr 8 min
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,...
Jun 19, 2015•1 hr 19 min
Doom Shall Lead Them Hello, and welcome to episode 132 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, Steve and Andy present a giant-sized episode, covering Fantastic Four #116 and Avengers #93 - both oversized, 25c special issues. In FF #116, the Over-Mind saga concludes with a shocking plot twist completely spoiled by the cover. Aganst all odds, the Over-Mind finally presents an interestin...
Jun 13, 2015•1 hr 37 min
Planet Of The Moderately-Trained Baristas Hello, and welcome to episode 131 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. The saga of the Over-Mind trundles on, with an extended origin flashback for the villain in Fantastic Four #115. Stan Lee's on holiday, so we welcome Awesome Archie Goodwin as scripter for the Fantastic Four for the next few issues. Steve fails to do an interview, Secret Wars II co...
Jun 06, 2015•1 hr 14 min
Under-Mind, Over-Mind, Wombling Free Hello, and welcome to episode 130 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, Steve and Andy are sitting down to take a detailed look at Fantastic Four #114, featuring continuity, the Over-Mind, an angry dog, the return of Agatha's resting cloud-face, and awkwardly-timed flashbacks. We're also casting our eye over Avengers #92, where The Thing proves h...
May 30, 2015•1 hr 5 min
Cryptic Title Derived From Minor Joke Hello, and welcome to episode 129 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. The Thing - dead. The Hulk - missing. The Human Torch - angry. Mr Fantastic - prostrate. The Invisible Woman - inconsequential. The Over-Mind - Fourth World-ish. Stan Lee - not paying attention. Steve's microphone - faulty. Andy and Steve it down to cover Fantastic Four #113, featuring...
May 23, 2015•1 hr 15 min
HULK SMASH PUNY CAROUSEL Hello, and welcome to episode 128 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 celebrating the 100th issue anniversary of the first meeting of Marvel's mightiest titans. Back in Fantastic Four #12, the Hulk and the Thing fought for the first time, and today, in Fantastic Four #112, the Incredible and the Ever-Lovin' do battle once again. This is t...
May 16, 2015•53 min
She Hid The Gun Where? Hello, and welcome to episode 127 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 a bumper crop of comics for Steve and Andy to cast their Fantastic-eye over. The main feature is Fantastic Four #111, with a rampaging mad Ben Grimm tearing up a suprisingly small New York. We're also taking a look at the origins of the Kree-Skrull War with Avengers #89, and taking a ...
May 09, 2015•1 hr 11 min
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 ...
May 02, 2015•1 hr 35 min
No Smoking Except In The Designated (Negative) Zones Hello, and welcome to episode 125 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 Negative Zone for the second full appearance of Annihilus, The Death That Walks, in Fantastic Four #109. As befits the return of one of our favourite villains (and Janus, the Nega-Man), we've roped in a special guest host. The Pop Cultur...
Apr 11, 2015•1 hr 27 min
All-New Flashbacks Hello, and welcome to episode 124 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 cracking open Fantastic Four #108, and experiencing a bit of deja vu all over again. As is well-know, the contents of Fantastic Four #108 were 'frankensteined' together from unused Jack Kirby pages, originally intended for Fantastic Four #102 before they were rejected by Stan...
Apr 04, 2015•46 min
Steve Buscemi's Fantastic Four Hello, and welcome to episode 123 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 Fantasticast, we're taking a look Fantastic Four #107. Ben's about to get defrosted, Janus is looming on the horizon, and nobody's really caring about Crystal. More importantly, this is the first issue to feature art from Fantastic Four mainstay John Buscema. As well as this,...
Mar 28, 2015•56 min
It's Pronounced Solzhenitsyn Hello, and welcome to episode 122 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 #106, featuring the return of Joe Sinnott to the inking brush. A monstrous figure is laying waste to downtown New York, Reed's experiments on Ben are reaching a critical point, and everyone's already forgotten about Crystal. We've also got an exp...
Mar 21, 2015•56 min
Pollution Is Bad, M'Kay? Hello, and welcome to episode 121 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 getting our grubby, non-Inhuman hands on Fantastic Four #105, which casually slides a key character over to another title, sets up a potential cure for The Thing, and rather niftily introduces multiple levels of threat for the entire team. It's John Romita's penultimate full issue o...
Mar 07, 2015•59 min
Dramatically Defeatist Namor Hello, and welcome to episode 120 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 concluding a story started by Jack Kirby and finished by Stan Lee and John Romita. Magneto has taken command of the armies of Atlantis, developed a curiously personal grudge against the Fantastic Four, and kidnapped Sue and Lady Dorma into the bargain. Can Reed and Namor save t...
Feb 28, 2015•44 min
The Usefulness Of Lady Dorma Hello, and welcome to episode 119 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. We've done it. We've broken through the Jack Kirby barrier. Let the uncertain era of Lee, Romita, Thomas, Buscema, et al. begin. And begin it does, by picking up the pieces of Kirby's Magneto/Atlantis plot and rebuilding them in the form of a fast-paced action epic. We've got the Master of Magn...
Feb 21, 2015•1 hr 1 min
The Lee/Kirby Retrospective Episode Hello, and welcome to episode 118 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 bumper-sized episode this week, as Steve and Andy tackle an unusual 'Frankenstein' project from 2008, when Marvel published a special issue comprising of a recreation of the original, rejected Fantastic Four #102, along with scans of the original artwork, and a reprint of Fantasti...
Feb 14, 2015•1 hr 46 min
The Podcast That Goes Like This Hello, and welcome to episode 117 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. This is it. The end of an era. Fantastic Four #102, featuring the dual-menace of Magneto and the Sub-Mariner, and the final issue of the Fantastic Four pencilled by Jack Kirby. There's a certain serendipity to releasing this episode on the 21st anniversary of his passing, although absolutely...
Feb 07, 2015•1 hr 18 min
Post-Trailer Comedown Hello, and welcome to episode 116 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 to take a look at the penultimate Jack Kirby-penciled issue of the Fantastic Four, issue #101. The Maggia have their eyes on the Baxter Building, and will stop at nothing, including murder, to get their hands on the contents of Reed's laboratory. It's a small but effective tale, and a late b...
Jan 31, 2015•47 min
Hello, and welcome to a special midweek minisode 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 finally here. An official trailer for this year's Fantastic Four film. Even the best of expectations were low for this, following lots of silence from the studio, some unfortunate mis-speaking from the cast, and lots of rumours. In this special episode, Steve and Andy are joined by Micheal Leyland to di...
Jan 27, 2015•7 min
Generic Quote Regarding Anniversaries Hello, and welcome to episode 115 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 covering Fantastic Four #100, Jack Kirby's antepenultimate issue of the Fantastic Four and the first Marvel anniversary issue. Nowadays, Marvel celebrate an anniversary at the drop of a hat (did we really need a 25th issue anniversary celebration for All New X-Men?), b...
Jan 24, 2015•57 min
Oh, The Inhumanity Hello, and welcome to episode 114 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 Steve and Andy tackle Fantastic Four #99, Jack Kirby's preantepenultimate issue of the title. There's a new Inhumans strip in the offing, so Kirby's treasured creations make their final appearance under his pen in the Fantastic Four. Johnny's got all hot-headed (pun!) and the rest of the t...
Jan 17, 2015•45 min
How Not To Celebrate The Moon Landing Hello, and welcome to episode 113 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. We kick off our journey through 2015 with Fantastic Four #98, a celebration of the first landing on the Moon. Ish. There's a Kree Sentry, a mysterious island, something dormant beneath the surface of the moon, and Neil Armstrong's foot. And if this sounds like a mash-up of Doctor Who's...
Jan 10, 2015•55 min
Hello, and welcome to The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. But not this week. We're taking a well-earned post-Christmas nap, and have woken momentarily to produce a new trailer for the show. It's been three years since our first trailer, and we wanted to produce something a little shorter, and a bit more relevant to our upcoming episodes. Hope you enjoy!
Jan 03, 2015•1 min
To Save You, Why Must I Floss? Hello, and welcome to episode 112 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey (for it is he) and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. It's Christmas time at the Fantasticast, and Steve (for it is he) and Andy are continuing their annual tradition of pulling an issue of a Fantastic Four related title from outside of the reading order and covering it. Due to time pressures, Steve (for it is he) abstained from c...
Dec 27, 2014•35 min
In The Kingdom Of The Mute, The Phlegmatic Man Is King Hello, and welcome to episode 111 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 the final episode of 2014, and taking advantage of the wintery season, Steve and Andy are taking a look at Fantastic Four #97, featuring a summer holiday, a trip to a marine mammal park, and a magical, size-changing submarine. Sensible plotting has been put on hol...
Dec 20, 2014•1 hr 8 min
Lurgi Strikes Britain. Well, Manchester... Hello, and welcome to episode 110 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, Andy's been hit with a terrible cold, and it sort of shows... However, this doesn't stop him from teaming up once more with Steve and tackling the final Lee/Kirby Mad Thinker story. Can a good Mad Thinker issue be produced in the dying days of the run? And i...
Dec 13, 2014•1 hr 7 min
Stuck In The Middle(ton) With You Hello, and welcome to episode 109 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, Steve and Andy are joined once again by Emily Middleton of the Relatively Geeky Podcast Network. As host of Uncovering The Bronze Age, co-host of the Shortbox Showcase, and having a few familial connections to Latveria, Emily is the perfect person to help us take a look at Fanta...
Dec 05, 2014•59 min
How Many Seamen On The Love Boat? Hello, and welcome to episode 108 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, Steve and Andy welcome Emily Middleton of the Relatively Geeky Podcast Network to the show. As the host of Uncovering The Bronze Age, Emily is ideally positioned to help us transition from the 1960s to the 1970s. And, as the daughter of previous guest-host Alan Middleton, she ev...
Nov 29, 2014•1 hr 26 min
