Podcasters Ponder the Plight of the Plummeting Indians Hello, and welcome to episode 164 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Good news, everyone! We're returning to the Miracle Man story with this week's episode of the show. Fantastic Four #139 sees Ben, Johnny, Medusa and Wyatt conclude their struggle against one of the first villains to face the Fantastic Four. Will everything pull togethe...
Jan 30, 2016•1 hr 6 min
Stupid Pile Of Orange Rocks - Hulk Will Smash! Hello, and welcome to episode 163 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 leaving the Fantastic Four behind this week, and picking up our copies of Marvel Feature #11, the first book to feature the Thing as a solo(ish) star, and the first step on the short road to Marvel Two-In-One. With words by Len Wein and pictures by Jim Starlin, Ben Grimm...
Jan 23, 2016•52 min
Socially Cordial Recaps Hello, and welcome to episode 162 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 covering Fantastic Four #138, featuring the return of three beloved characters last seen in the Lee/Kirby era. One is Johnny's college dorm-mate, Wyatt Wingfoot. Another is Wyatt's wannabe football coach and interesting plot-dodger, Coach Thorne. And the third is... uh.....
Jan 16, 2016•1 hr 1 min
This FOOM Is On Fire Hello, and welcome to episode 137 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 bringing to a conclusion the story of the Shaper of the Worlds and the 1950s throwback world that the Fantastic Four have found themselves trapped in. If it seems like this week's episode doesn't quite match up with last week's, that's just our attempt to recreate these comics in podca...
Jan 09, 2016•59 min
Legs vs Cubes Hello, and welcome to episode 160 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 back! 2016 is here and we're kicking things off with our coverage of Fantastic Four #136, by Gerry Conway and John Buscema. What do you get when you cross a poorly-defined 1950s nostalgist with the Shaper of Worlds? Why, it's a dystopian reality where laser-guitar biker gangs battle against old people! ...
Jan 02, 2016•1 hr 3 min
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 T...
Dec 19, 2015•58 min
I-Spy: Gil Kane Edition Hello, and welcome to episode 158 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Things are a little quieter this week for us, as we take a look at Fantastic Four #135. Of course, quieter is a loose term to use for an issue that includes a rampaging Dragon Man, Gregory Gideon and his cyber-suit of power, Medusa's hair, Sue's emotional trauma, and the betrayal of Thomas Gideon. G...
Dec 12, 2015•1 hr
Two Hundred Dollars! Hello, and welcome to episode 157 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 one the most packed episodes of The Fantasticast seen in a long time, with three comics before us. We start with Fantastic Four #134, with the return of the Dragon Man, and of one of the most unlikely Fantastic Four villains from the early 1960s. We continue with the legendary Luke Cage, Hero For ...
Dec 05, 2015•1 hr 27 min
Thought Bubble Be Crazy Hello, and welcome to episode 156 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 week of new beginnings for the Fantastic Four. It's the first issue to be written by Marvel mainstay Gerry Conway. It's also the first issue to be drawn by a woman, as Silver and Bronze Age legend Ramona Fradon provides fill-in pencils for this issue. And what pencils they are! Tundra's back,...
Nov 28, 2015•1 hr 14 min
Roy Thomas's Illicit Wank Hello, and welcome to episode 155 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 looking at Roy Thomas's final issue of the Fantastic Four for a couple of years. It's the concluding part of the two-part story pitting Crystal, Quicksilver and Johnny against the Alpha Primitives in the Inhumans' Great Refuge, and big changes are in store for the team by the end ...
Nov 21, 2015•1 hr 9 min
Flamenco Exposition Hello, and welcome to episode 154 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 the first part of Roy Thomas's final Fantastic Four story for a few years. John Buscema's taking a holiday, so Ross Andru swings by to provide fill-in art for this story featuring Johnny Storm, Crystal and Quicksilver in the Great Refuge. The Alpha Primitives are revolting... a...
Nov 14, 2015•1 hr 6 min
The Secret Origin Of Phil Hello, and welcome to episode 153 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 dipping our toes back into the world of Marvel Team-Up, with issue #5. The Thing is the guest-star for this issue, stepping forward in his own right for the first time. Can you tell that Marvel Two-In-One is on the horizon? This titanic team-up also features two (count 'em, two!) villains, t...
Nov 07, 2015•59 min
Longbox Amnesia Hello, and welcome to episode 152 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Big changes are afoot in this week's episode of The Fantasticast. Fantastic Four #152 sees the Frightful Four infiltrate the Baxter Building, striking a blow at the heart of the Fantastic Four. With the team seemingly broken apart and defeated, can the combined force of Franklin and Sue Richards save the da...
Oct 31, 2015•1 hr 2 min
Attack Of The Giant Asterisk Hello, and welcome to episode 151 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 another landmark issue of The Fantastic Four, as issue #129 sees the introduction of the fiery Femizon, Thundra. As the Fantastic Four start to splinter and fracture, the Frightful Four mount a brutal attack on the Thing and Medusa. Roy Thomas and John Buscema have big changes in store for...
Oct 24, 2015•1 hr 9 min
How Do You Avoid Sadness? Hello, and welcome to episode 150 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. 150. That's quite a number, and one we're really proud of. Nearly four years to the day after we sat down to record our first episode, we're passing a century-and-a-half's worth of episodes. Thankfully, we've got a cracking Fantastic Four issue to take a look at, with Roy Thomas and John Buscema's...
Oct 17, 2015•55 min
I Am A Mole (Man) And I Live In A Hole (Man) Hello, and welcome to episode 149 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 #127, in which Roy Thomas and John Buscema bring together the myriad rulers of the subterranean kingdoms of the Marvel Universe - The Mole Man, Kala, and Tyrannus. It's a melting pot of underground intrigue, with lashings of moloi...
Oct 10, 2015•1 hr 7 min
Deja Vu All Over Again Hello, and welcome to episode 148 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 dawning of a new era for the Fantastic Four as Roy Thomas comes on board as the regular writer, with Fantastic Four #126. And what better way to start a new era than by revisiting the start of the previous era? Yes, it's time to retell the origin of the Fantastic Four, complete with extra di...
Oct 03, 2015•1 hr 27 min
Penicillin Hello, and welcome to episode 147 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 end of another era for the Fantastic Four, as Fantastic Four #125 marks the final work by Stan Lee as regular writer of the book. Concluding the return of the Monster from the Lost Lagoon, this final issue features unlikely concussions, melodramatic melodrama, quick-change costuming, and deep, meaningfu...
Sep 26, 2015•58 min
The Waffles Are An Untruth Hello, and welcome to episode 146 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 us dip our toes back into the murky waters of Marvel Team-Up, as the Human Torch once again teams up with Spider-Man, this time to take on the Living Vampire himself, Morbius. Joining us for this team-up is UK Podcast Award nominee Stacey Taylor, of Stacey's Pop Culture Parlour and...
Sep 19, 2015•1 hr 17 min
Walls Aren't Elastic Hello, and welcome to episode 145 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's we're diving into part one of Stan Lee's final story for The Fantastic Four, with Fantastic Four #124. Keeping in line with his return to the book, it's a revisiting of a concept already seen in the book, the mysterious, mute, monster from the Black Lagoon. Will this be a new facet of a con...
Sep 12, 2015•1 hr 3 min
The Great Galactus Bake-Off Hello, and welcome to episode 144 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. And lo, there shall be an ending, of a sort. With Galactus poised to eat the entire planet, it's up to Reed to do the equivalent of reading the small-print, before bragging to the entire planet. Well, when you've got the equivalent of a brain the size of a planet, you might as well let everyone ...
Sep 05, 2015•1 hr 7 min
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 again...
Aug 29, 2015•1 hr 22 min
Is Galactus A True Scotsman? Hello, and welcome to episode 142 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 us cover Fantastic Four #122. Galactus has arrived on Earth, and he is very hungry. The Fantastic Four get into their most physical confrontation yet with the World Eater, before splitting up and embarking on a daring hijacking mission. Can the Silver Surfer find a way to escape ...
Aug 22, 2015•48 min
What Is It? Do Tell! Hello, and welcome to episode 141 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. It feels like ages since it was just Andy and Steve discussing an issue of The Fantastic Four, and that's what we're doing today. Fantastic Four #121, the second part of Stan Lee's final run on the book, continues to try and find something interesting to do with Gabriel The Air Walker. Will it succeed?...
Aug 15, 2015•59 min
Review Time Hello, and welcome to episode 140.5 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, it's just Steve, as he's the only one of the team to have seen the current Fantastic Four movie. It's time to review this troubled, incoherent film, and whilst the review isn't great, hopefully enough of the good things that lurk underneath the surface of the film are brought forward. Send in your ...
Aug 12, 2015•18 min
A Very Sandman History Hello, and welcome to episode 140 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 branching away from The Fantastic Four to cover the first issue of the iconic team up book from Marvel, Marvel Team-Up. The Human Torch and Spider-Man teaming up to stop the Sandman from... er... anyway. Roy Thomas and Ross Andru team up to bring you this titanic team up. And they're...
Aug 08, 2015•1 hr 25 min
Freud Batman, I Think You're Right, OK Hello, and welcome to episode 139 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 final special episode, and to celebrate the imminent release of the new Fantastic Four movie we're taking a look back to the first, unreleased Fantastic Four movie. Made on a shoestring budget and in less time than it took to edit this episode, the Roger Corman-produced Fanta...
Aug 01, 2015•1 hr 48 min
Because It's About Time Someone Did Again! Hello, and welcome to episode 138 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 taking a break from our usual format this week to take a look back, in the second of three special episodes to celebrate the release of the new Fantastic Four movie. In the style of the rather wonderful Rachel and Miles X-Plain The X-Men, we're taking look back at issues 52-...
Jul 25, 2015•59 min
Because It's About Time Someone Did! Hello, and welcome to episode 137 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 taking a break from our usual format this week to take a look back, in the first of three special episode to celebrate the release of the new Fantastic Four movie. In the style of the rather wonderful Rachel and Miles X-Plain The X-Men, we're taking look back at the first 51 issue...
Jul 18, 2015•56 min
Andy's Astonishing Agatha Adoration Hello, and welcome to episode 136 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 return of our fearless leader to the Fantastic Four. Face front,, frantic one - Stan Lee's back to write Fantastic Four #120. And he's brought with him a whole load of original ideas, and definitely hasn't written a story with more than a few parallels with a classic ...
Jul 11, 2015•53 min
