House to Astonish

A tidy little hour of comicsy nattering for you this time, as Al and Paul discuss Marvel/Star Wars: Hope Assembles , Fugitive X-Force, Origin III, The Snail and the extensions of Fury of Firestorm and Deadman , and review Fixation and The Forever Home . I say I say I say, my Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe has no nose. How does it smell? It does not, it is a conceptual feature of this podcast.

New volume, new team, new episode, as Paul and Al look at 2005's New Thunderbolts issues 1-3, and Mach IV assembles a wonky squad of screw-ups to take on one of Marvel's classic Barons (so what else is new?). There's also the clunk of victory, the burger van outside TBolts HQ and the hitherto-unsung villainy of Portugal.

Tick tock, it's podcast o'clock, as Paul and Al talk about the Midnight line's rescheduling, Alien v X-Men , the Absolute Batman animated series, the upcoming new volumes of Doom Patrol , Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes , Crimes Against Nature, Bride of Frankenstein , and You'll Never Leave This Place Alive, as well as reviewing 100 Bullets: US of Anger and Iron Man . What if The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?

The launch of New Thunderbolts is just around the corner, but first Paul and Al are polishing off the Avengers/Thunderbolts miniseries with issues 4-6, as one fight runs for three issues and they learn just how much of a petty dillweed Captain America can be. Along the way, they'll be ruminating on the possibility of Magnesium Man, boggling at an advert for the concept of doing things, and learning about "an MTV film that extreme right-wing moralists can be proud of".

Paul and Al are back with more comics waffle for you to gobble up, as they send good wishes to Adam Hughes, chew over Marvel's layoffs and its wider malaise, and discuss DNX , Challenges of Doom , Clayface: Celebrity Dirt , Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Dark Horse's Marvel reprints and Jughead: Piemageddon , while also giving reviews of Fireborn and The Fury of Firestorm. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: the treat you can eat between meals, without ruining your appetite.

Back once again with the renegade Masters of Evil, as Al and Paul look at the first half of 2004 miniseries Avengers/Thunderbolts . There's talk of Spider-Man working down the mines, Jean Grey's ex-boyfriends and a deranged neo-Nazi who names everything after the letter X, and even some discussion of the Avengers and the Thunderbolts, so why not come and join them? Exactly, no reason, that's what we thought.

Al and Paul have a lot of news for you this time round, as they remember Tatjana Wood, and talk 3 Worlds 3 Moons, Hulk War, Terminal, M.A.S.K., Skate Ali, Odin, Avengers/JLA, Jays of Future Past and Concrete: Stars Over Sand, as well as reviewing The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery and The Punisher. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: the choice of a new generation.

It had to happen. And now, it finally has. It's time for Paul and Al to bite the bullet and step into the squared circle to take on the Marvel's Most Merciless, the Masters of Mayhem, the Mush-Mangling Mavens of the Marquis of Queensbury, the... Thunderbolts?

It's only 348 sleeps 'til Christmas, so Paul and Al are taking the opportunity to look back at the best 2025 had to offer, as they run down their pick of their three favourite comics of last year in the 14th annual Homies awards. Will your favourite make the cut? What did the listeners choose? Find out here, true believer!

Al and Paul hit a major milestone this episode, as they reach the end of the first run of the original Thunderbolts team, and cover issues 72-75. There's fighting, arguments, and weird things exploding, and that's just the behind the scenes escapades of Bill Jemas. Will all the TBolts survive? Will they all get off Counter-Earth? Will they all make it to the next volume of the book? Find out the answers to two of these questions right here, true believer!

With NYCC in the rear-view mirror, it's time for Al and Paul to look back at some of the news coming out of the show, like the revamped Vertigo slate, Swamp Thing Is Killing The Children , DC K.O.'s unexpected crossovers, Marvel's two upcoming symbiote-centric sagas, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's Crowbound , the first wave of post- Age of Revelation X-books, the impending Spider/Super crossover and a smattering of other little newsy nuggets, and once that's all done there's also reviews of Endeavour and DC K.O. to chew over. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: not even once.

Paul and Al continue to bop back and forth to Counter-Earth, as they look at Thunderbolts (1997) #69-71. There's plotline resolutions, a parade of fill-in artists and the least elite team of Elite Agents of SHIELD you could ever hope to encounter, plus Boobforce powers, the Curse of Taz and Café La Plume De Ma Tante.

A small but perfectly formed episode for you this time round, as Paul and Al bring you news about Die: Loaded , the new Infernal Hulk and Doctor Strange , DC's upcoming Batman/Static: Beyond and the announcements of the murderers' row of creators working on Batman/Deadpool, along with reviews of Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum and Uncle Scrooge: Earth's Mightiest Duck. I see the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe tremble with antici

We're on the home stretch of TBolts Volume 1, as Al and Paul look at Thunderbolts #65-68. There's a whole new squad of 'bolts, a brand new costume for Moonstone and a fresh new minty taste (that'll be the Verdant Green). Plus! The logistics of Hydro-Man's stogie! The Continuity Sugababes! and the unfortunate wording of early 2000s soft drink ads!

Two weeks in between episodes? What is this, 2014? Whatever it is, it's Al and Paul talking about Peter David, Marvel and DC's upcoming Deadpool and Batman crossovers, David Marquez's The UnChosen , Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum and Punisher: Red Band, as well as reviews of Imperial and Be Not Afraid. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook? I don't think they exist.

An odd little selection of issues this time round, as Paul and Al look at Thunderbolts issues 63 and 64, and Thunderbolts: From The Marvel Vault. Want to know what Zemo's sulky face looks like? Want to know what Nomad sings to himself to when he's wandering the highways? Want to know how many gratuitous instances of nudity one issue can contain? Well then this might just be the episode for you!

It's not the biggest of weeks for comics news, but Paul and Al have their fun regardless, as they talk you through the new UK comics industry trade body, the end of Immortal Thor , Werewolf By Night: Blood Moon Rise , the upcoming The Shredder series, Archie's crossovers with Minor Threats and Jay & Silent Bob and Hellboy and the BPRD: Professor Harvey is Gone, as well as reviewing Amazing Spider-Man and Fire and Ice: When Hell Freezes Over. Meanwhile, the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe has eaten the fresh-baked cherry pie right off Mrs Witherspoon's window ledge, that rascal.

Paul and Al are taking a look at Thunderbolts issues 60-62 this time round, as Marvel's Most Wanted put the T in both TBolts and Teleported To counTer-earTh. What will they our heroes do when confronted by the planet of doomed NPCs? What is the dark secret of Fixer's terrible Tamagotchi? And how do power-dampening manacles work when your power is "big teeth"? All this and definitely some more, Thunderbuddies!

And so this is January, and what have you done? Another year over, a new one begun about three weeks ago. It's not the most topical of year in review shows, but Al and Paul have once more brought you their pick of 2024 in the world of comics, as they name the books that turned their heads over the past 12 months, in what they could only call... The Homies (largely because that's what they've been calling it for the past decade and a bit)

They had to get there eventually. Al and Paul bite the bullet and tackle Citizen V and the V Battalion: The Everlasting #1-4, the second (in any sense you care to choose) miniseries starring everyone's least favourite patriotic superhero. They did it so you don't have to, so the least you can do is listen to them suffer through it.