Post-Apocalyptic Slapstick Hello, and welcome to episode 194 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 fertile lands of Marvel Two-In-One. The Valkyrie needs an origin, Destiny needs a harmonica, and Doctor Strange is on call to provide some ghostly exposition. Richard Burton is dead, and the Thing's under crackers are just wrong. Don't ask, just accept. Making a ...
Aug 27, 2016•1 hr 19 min
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...
Aug 20, 2016•50 min
Bondage Trousers Hello, and welcome to episode 192 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. What is it with creative teams changing mid-story? From Kirby to Romita Sr, and Lee to Goodwin, it seems that more creators have switched out without completing their stories than there should be for the FF. Fantastic Four #153 is no exception, as Tony Isabella steps up to complete Gerry Conway's plotline,...
Aug 13, 2016•56 min
Is... Is That Stalin? Hello, and welcome to episode 191 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. If there's something' strange in your neighbourhood, who you gonna call? Doctor Strange! Especially if the something' strange is an exploding manifestation of Destiny in a subway station, touching the lives of a myriad of New Yorkers. Threats for the Thing and Doctor Strange to overcome include facele...
Aug 06, 2016•1 hr 17 min
Cryptic Title Hello, and welcome to episode 190 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 go giant-size once again, as we get to grips with the epic storytelling on display in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3. Ancient beings return to Earth, equipped with innate abilities to hasten the destruction of humanity, and only the Fantastic Four can do something about it. That is, of course, assu...
Jul 30, 2016•1 hr
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 ...
Jul 23, 2016•1 hr 3 min
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. ...
Jul 16, 2016•48 min
A Wombful Of Wombats Hello, and welcome to episode 187 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 another double-comic episode. We start with Avengers #128, which sees the Fantastic Four's now-redundant nanny Agatha Harkness head take up a new position as the Defence Against Dark Arts teacher for the Avengers. Following this, we peer into the pages of Fantastic Four #151, as Gerry Conw...
Jul 09, 2016•1 hr 7 min
Twatted By Ultron Hello, and welcome to episode 185 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, wedding bells are ringing, celebrations are in the air, and everyone wants to kill each other. It's another Marvel wedding, as Quicksilver and Crystal prepare to spend the rest of their lives with each other. Such a momentous event couldn't be contained in one comic alone, so this week, we're l...
Jul 02, 2016•54 min
Honky-Tonk Badoon-Ba-Donk Hello, and welcome to episode 185 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 year 3014AD, as The Thing, Captain America and Sharon Carter attempt to overthrow the Badoon occupation of Earth. But they can't do it alone - they need the aid of the Guardians of the Galaxy (Classic Edition). And we can't do it alone either - we need the aid of ...
Jun 25, 2016•1 hr 26 min
I'm The General... Whee! Hello, and welcome to episode 184 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 tackling something a little... bigger than usual. It's the second/first issue of Giant Size Fantastic Four (blame title changes for the lack of certainty), in which another accidental activation of Doctor Doom's time platform threatens to unravel human evolution becaus...
Jun 18, 2016•1 hr 3 min
No-Prizing A Boardwalk Hello, and welcome to episode 183 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 #149, by Gerry Conway, Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott. With the title fast-approaching an big anniversary issue, there's a need to start wrapping ongoing plots and storylines. So, it's time to deal with Reed, Sue and Namor. And Thundra. And an Atlant...
Jun 11, 2016•57 min
A Latverian Dictator In King Arthur's Court Hello, and welcome to episode 182 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 stretching the title of Marvel Two-in-One to breaking point, as issue #4 not only guest-stars Captain America, but the Agent 13, Namorita, Reed Richards and Wundarr as well. It's Doomsday 3014 as Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema and Frank Giacoia lay the gro...
Jun 04, 2016•1 hr 8 min
A Team-Up Of Ice And Fire Hello, and welcome to episode 181 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. A titanic team-up as the tremendous twosome throw in together to tussle with the terrifying top dog of temperature, Equinox the Thermonuclear Man! Which tremendous twosome, we hear you ask? Why, the Human Torch and Iceman, who take over Marvel Team-Up for an issue. And just for fun, we also cover ...
May 28, 2016•49 min
Such Maths. Wow. Hello, and welcome to episode 180 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 journeying to a purely fictional location within the otherwise-completely-non-fictional Baxter Building to age war, in Fantastic Four #148. The Frightful Four have returned to battle the Fantastic Four for reasons that are carefully explained in detail, and Thundra's definitel...
May 21, 2016•48 min
Namor, The Fastest Milkman In The West Hello, and welcome to episode 179 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, and it's time to get damp and get punched. Divorce papers arrive in the Baxter Building, kicking off another throw down between the Thing and the Sub-Mariner, in Fantastic Four #147. We also take a moment to look at a couple of pages from Daredevil #110 as Ben Grimm gives ...
May 14, 2016•58 min
A Pro-Patriotism Podcast Hello, and welcome to episode 178 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 our favourite Thing-starring team-up title, Marvel Two-In-One, to jump into the middle of an ongoing Daredevil storyline. The Black Spectre are attacking in an impossible blimp, the Black Widow is only appearing one body part at a time, and Hitler's killing Captain Ame...
May 07, 2016•1 hr 19 min
Giant-Size Rental Lycanthropy Hello, and welcome to episode 177 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Giant-Size greetings to you all, as we take our first dip into the mid-1970s Marvel Giant-Size comics. Giant-Size Super Stars #1 is, to all intents and purposes, Giant-Size Fantastic Four #1, and it features another bout of fighting between the Hulk and the Thing... or does it? We're looking a...
Apr 30, 2016•58 min
Junior Comics Podcaster Deathmatch Hello, and welcome to episode 176 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're discovering just how cold it is in the hidden lands inhabited by a scientifically-advanced race of Bigfeets located just 50km away from the Great Refuge. Yes, we're covering Fantastic Four #146, by Gerry Conway, Joe Sinnott and guest-penciler Ross Andru. Given the cover, you ...
Apr 23, 2016•1 hr 20 min
There Is No Cannon Hello, and welcome to episode 175 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 Fantasticast team reunited and looking at Fantastic Four #145, by Gerry Conway, Joe Sinnott and guest artist Ross Andru. Medusa and Johnny are stuck in the Himalayas, under attack from a race of advanced yeti-folk, struggling under the weight of too many flashbacks, and facing off agai...
Apr 16, 2016•1 hr 1 min
Stupid Superman Hello, and welcome to episode 174 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 different episode of The Fantasticast this week: Andy's taken a holiday, leaving Steve to entertain our special guest. To help us cover Marvel Two-In-One #2, guest-starring the ever-horny Namor, we've enlisted the help of Kulbir Mann from the House of Flying Scalpels . Together, we examine the return...
Apr 09, 2016•1 hr 7 min
Topless Johnny Hello, and welcome to episode 174 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 looking at Fantastic Four #144, the conclusion to the Doctor Doom/Darkoth saga, as brought to us by Gerry Conway, Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott. Things are so dire that not Johnny, Reed, nor even Coach Thorne's wife can stop Doctor Doom! We're also taking a peek at Amazing Spider...
Apr 02, 2016•1 hr 11 min
It's A Bit Battle-Ish... Hello, and welcome to episode 172 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 Darkoth and Doctor Doom to pay a visit to Marvel Team-Up #18. It's the first time the Human Torch has led a book since Strange Tales, and if that doesn't sell you on this book, then maybe this will. The Torch and the Hulk team up to battle with Blaster, the Living Bomb Bur...
Mar 26, 2016•45 min
He Looks Like John Constantine! Hello, and welcome to episode 171 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 core FF title for Fantastic Four #143, in which Doctor Doom slowly captures the entire team, a college football coach, his wife, and a semi-mythical beast from the Balkans. As you do. Created by We also spend some time on Medusa's balcony, ponder the mystery...
Mar 19, 2016•58 min
Marvel Two-On-One Hello, and welcome to episode 170 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 here. We made it. We're finally starting out coverage of Marvel Two-In-One, and what a wonderful cluster of Things it is! The Molecule Man('s son) brings together Marvel's favourite Things for one of the best team-up issues we've covered to date. With writing from Steve Gerber, art from Gil Kane and ...
Mar 12, 2016•50 min
Moloid Selfies Hello, and welcome to episode 169 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 tremendously titanic team-up! Marvel Team-Up #17 sees Spider-Man teaming up with Mr Fantastic and Captain Marvel to battle the Mole Man, his moloids, and the Basilisk. With more heroes and villains than your shake a shaky shaking stick at, it's a wonder that Len Wein, Gil Kane and the s...
Mar 05, 2016•50 min
Time-Delayed Insults Hello, and welcome to episode 168 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. January 1974. The month that everything changed (for about a decade or so). But we'll get to that in a couple of episodes. In the meantime, it's time to pick up the pieces of the team with Fantastic Four #142. Alicia's on another sight-restoring kick, there's an impressively-designed villain/monster ou...
Feb 27, 2016•1 hr 9 min
Annihilus Hamilton Hello, and welcome to episode 167 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 huge week for the Fantastic Four, as the Annihilus story comes to a conclusion with Reed forced to make an impossible decision in Fantastic Four #141. We've also got a look at at an undressed Spider-Mobile in Amazing Spider-Man #127, and a quick look at the effects of the Avengers-Defenders War in...
Feb 20, 2016•1 hr 3 min
The Physics Of The Double-Punch Hello, and welcome to episode 166 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 diversion into the world of Marvel Feature, which itself diverges into the first stages of Jim Starlin's Thanos tales. Marvel Feature #12, which guest-stars Iron Man, sees Starlin pick up threads from his Captain Marvel stories, tying The Thing and the Blood Brother...
Feb 13, 2016•48 min
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 ret...
Feb 06, 2016•57 min
