Don't Cry For Me Latveria Hello, and welcome to episode 253 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 delving into the realms of the 1970s conspiracy thriller, as a technical wizard, a mesmeric master, and a mind-controlled zombie cyborg from an alternate future ripped from his own time come together to try and assassinate President Jimmy Carter at the moment of his inauguration. ...
Oct 21, 2017•52 min
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...
Oct 14, 2017•50 min
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 c...
Oct 07, 2017•56 min
You Can't Tie A Knot In Your Neck Hello, and welcome to episode 250 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 celebration time for The Fantasticast, as we reach our milestone 250th episode. And how do we mark this huge moment in our history? Er... by doing nothing about it at all. Instead, we get stuck right into Fantastic Four #181, which sees the FF splintered and scattered across New York ...
Sep 30, 2017•47 min
Half-Inching The Goodyear Blimp Hello, and welcome to episode 249 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 rushing through both Fantastic Four #180 and Marvel Two-in-One #25 in one episode. This task is made a lot easier by Fantastic Four #180 being a cunningly-disguised reprint of Fantastic Four #101. So cunningly-disguised is the reprint that Marvel even got Jack Kirby to draw ...
Sep 23, 2017•1 hr 6 min
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...
Sep 16, 2017•1 hr 18 min
The Who? 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. This week on the show, we come to the conclusion of Bill Mantlo's run on Marvel Two-in-One. In common with a lot of his issues, he's picking up the reigns of a character rejected by the comics readership of the time, and giving him a second shot. In this case, it's Bill Foster - Black Goliath. And the Whiz Kids. B...
Sep 09, 2017•1 hr 10 min
Hardback, Softback, Any Kind Of Back Hello, and welcome to episode 246 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 peeling back the covers of Fantastic Four #179. Reed Richards is lost and almost naked in the Negative Zone, forced to hunt bats for sustenance and to make fire from quite literally nothing. His doppelganger, The Brute, has taken his place on the team. Thundra is flirti...
Sep 02, 2017•51 min
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 ...
Aug 26, 2017•46 min
The Counter-Earth Pantsless Pipe-Smoking Society Hello, and welcome to episode 244 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Following an unexpected diversion with the last episode, we're back on track this week with a look at Fantastic Four #178. The Brute has joined the Frightful Four, and the team of villains is holding the Fantastic Four hostage in the Baxter Building. Will New York pay the pr...
Aug 19, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Emergency Fill-In Episode Hello, and welcome to episode 243.5 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Due to a sudden hoarseness caused by screaming guest vocals on notable Evanescence songs a little too much, Steve and Andy find themselves hamstrung by the dreaded deadline doom, and have to resort to diving into their Patreon archives, released the first two installments of Steve & Andy vs ...
Aug 12, 2017•1 hr 3 min
Diagnosis: Moider! Hello, and welcome to episode 243 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 heading into hospital with The Thing, The Human Torch, Dr Donald Blake, Thor, half of Black Sun, and Seth. It's Marvel Two-in-One #22, which features the only available doctor in New York and the Egyptian god of death stalking the hall of the hospital in which he works. Bill Mantlo, Ron ...
Aug 05, 2017•52 min
Bitten By A Radioactive Tornado Hello, and welcome to episode 242 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, to celebrate our coverage of Fantastic Four #177, both Steve and Andy have been placed into restraints and forced to witness the auditions of their replacements. Which is appropriate, as the centrepiece of this issue sees the Frightful Four on the hunt for a male replacement for t...
Jul 29, 2017•53 min
A Pig In A Tartan Waistcoat Hello, and welcome to episode 241 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 delving into the realm of never-reprinted* comics with Marvel Two-in-One #21, in which a licensing-defying•• Doc Savage crosses the boundaries between one fictional universe and another, coming golden-face-to-rocky-face with the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. Bill Mantlo, Ron Wils...
Jul 22, 2017•1 hr 11 min
George Perez Saves Stan Lee! Hello, and welcome to episode 240 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 arriving at the much-anticipated Fantastic Four #176, in which The Impossible Man shatters the fourth wall, causing havoc and mayhem in the Marvel Bullpen. With a Jack Kirby cover inspiring the action, Roy Thomas, George Perez and Joe Sinnott pull out all the stops, puncturing ...
Jul 15, 2017•1 hr 27 min
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,...
Jul 08, 2017•1 hr 2 min
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), teami...
Jul 01, 2017•1 hr 32 min
Bobblehead Galactus Hello, and welcome to episode 237 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 an anniversary week at The Fantasticast, as we get to grips with the not-super-sized Fantastic Four #175. The High Evolutionary and Galactus are finally getting down to the battle for Counter-Earth, and the Fantastic Four can do little more than stand by and watch. A solution seems almost... imposs...
Jun 24, 2017•59 min
The Inessential Tigra Hello, and welcome to episode 236 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 taking a look at the history of the Cat People, as Tigra - The 61st Sexiest Female Character in comics, according to CBG - arrives in both the Baxter Building and Marvel Two-in-One #19. Tony Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema and Don Heck introduce an actual Were-Woman (do...
Jun 17, 2017•1 hr 24 min
I Drove My Fantasticar Through Your Haystack Last Night Hello, and welcome to episode 235 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 continue our journey through the story of the High Evolutionary / Galactus war for the very existence of Counter-Earth. Ben and Reed find themselves inciting revolution on Torgo's planet of robots, whilst Johnny and Gorr go jousting on a suspiciously-cli...
Jun 10, 2017•57 min
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 pa...
Jun 03, 2017•57 min
Thank You, Rich Buckler Hello, and welcome to episode 233 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 turn of Fantastic Four #173, as Ben Grimm prepares to battle Galactus in space, before events conspire to split the team up and hunt down a different snack for the World-Eater. Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Joe Sinnott present a tale of digging for oxygen, unconvincing reasons for...
May 27, 2017•58 min
Powered By Plotonium Hello, and welcome to episode 232 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 concluding our coverage of this volcano-themed three part story by taking a look at Marvel Team-Up #47. With The Thing and Spider-Man finally teaming up, only they can stand between The Basilisk and the fiery destruction of New York. Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson and Dan Adkins present a comic full of ...
May 20, 2017•58 min
Andy vs Jabba The Hutt Hello, and welcome to episode 231 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 returning once again to the world of Marvel Two-in-One for an issue of Marvel Team-Up that was printed in the wrong place for reasons that aren't exactly clear to us. As a result, we spend a little too long dealing with recent events for Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up and not enough time focusing...
May 13, 2017•54 min
Feeding Twinkies To The Cosmic Cube Hello, and welcome to episode 230 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 scene of the crime, with a talking golden gorilla held in Reed Richards' sex dungeon laboratory. It's Fantastic Four #172, which returns the team to space to battle The Destroyer, Herald of Galactus, for the very existence of the High Evolutionary and Co...
May 06, 2017•1 hr 5 min
Surprise Pterodactyl Hello, and welcome to episode 229 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 doing the unlikely this week, tackling two, full-length comics in one, full-length podcast. First up is Marvel Two-in-One #16, guest-starring Ka-Zar, Nick Fury, a surprised pterodactyl, a numbered tank, and a surprisingly-complacent Reed Richards. Written by Bill Mantlo, with art by Ron Wilson an...
Apr 29, 2017•51 min
8 Simple Rules For Punching A Nazi Hello, and welcome to episode 228 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. For the first time in nearly three years, we open up the pages of a Fantastic Four Annual. The appearance of The Watcher and the disappearance of a small cylinder sets off a journey into an alternate past where the Nazis won World War II. Any similarity between our subject matter this wee...
Apr 22, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Swipe Left To Turn Page Hello, and welcome to episode 227 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Apparently, at the time this comic was released, there was a new King Kong movie about to be released. Now, I'd hate to suggest that such a cinematic event would affect the plotting of this issue... but when there's a giant golden gorilla scaling the Baxter Building with Sue Richards in its hand whi...
Apr 15, 2017•50 min
Interdimensional Linoleum Hello, and welcome to episode 226 of The Fantasticast. Each week, Steve Lacey and Andy Leyland guide you through every issue, guest-appearance and cameo of The Fantastic Four. Hey everyone, the Living Eraser is back! Woohoo! Yaaay! We totally know who he is! And that completely affects our level of enthusiasm for his return! It's Marvel Two-in-One #15, in which the Living Eraser returns, along with Morbius, The Living Vampire. It's a tale of granite blocks, interdimensi...
Apr 08, 2017•52 min
The Prat In The Cat In The Hat Hello, and welcome to episode 225 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 say a fond farewell to the most recent substitute member of the Fantastic Four, Luke Cage. A victim of mind-control and Reed's inventiveness, the Hero For Hire is sent packing back to Harlem. But not before he goes toe-to-toe with an artificially-enhanced Ben Grimm across the sk...
Apr 01, 2017•1 hr 3 min
