House To Astonish

Lightning strikes six times! This is surely a sign of the Biblical apocalypse! Paul and Al dive into the second year of Thunderbolts, covering issues 13-16. Bug people! Political intrigue! Hulkbots! Guys called Dirkson! It's all here, and it's all go!

Paul and Al have got a bit of NYCC-dodging news chat for you this time round, as we discuss the Ditko lawsuit, creative changes on the X-books, Kurt Busiek's new Image slate and Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese coming to Disney Plus, as well as reviews of Amazing Spider-Man and We Have Demons. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe has been, and always will be, your friend.

Lightning is striking again! That's five times now! This is surely statistically improbable! Paul and Al are now up to the finale of the first year of Thunderbolts, and are taking a run through issues 10-12. This is where is all starts going off, as secrets are uncovered, plans are revealed and the whole house of cards comes down.

Paul and Al have a busy news week for you this time round, with discussion of Jonathan Hickman stepping away from X-Men, the Great Substack Migration of 2021, Scott Snyder's Comixology Unlimited slate, Brian Michael Bendis transplanting Jinxworld to Dark Horse, and DC signing with Webtoon, along with reviews of Eat the Rich and Kang the Conqueror. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe don't have anything, if it don't have you.

It's time for lightning to strike four times, because... well, because it's the fourth episode of The Lightning Round? Paul and Al are back with another episode of their spinoff reread podcast covering Marvel's most wanted, the Thunderbolts - this time round, they're covering Thunderbolts #7-9 and Heroes for Hire #7.

It's been a long old time, but Paul and Al are finally back, with discussion of X-Force: Killshot, Phoenix Song: Echo, the creative changeover on Amazing Spider-Man,  Human Remains at Vault, Party and Prey at Aftershock, and Jeff Lemire's upcoming pair of miniseries Mazebook and Primordial, as well as reviews of Catwoman Annual and Black Cat Annual. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook is just going to wait here for a little while, see what happens.

Lightning never strikes twice, but luckily for us it strikes three times, because Paul and Al back with the third episode of their spinoff reread podcast covering Marvel's most wanted, the Thunderbolts - this time round, they’re covering Thunderbolts #5 and 6, and Thunderbolts '97.

Al and Paul are back, with discussion of Marvel's distributor changes, John Romita Jr moving from DC back to Marvel, the new X-Men lineup, the upcoming launches of Amazing Fantasy and Moon Knight and Future State: Gotham, and the newly-broken record for sale price of a single comics issue, along with reviews of Batman: The Detective, Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe has got mud on its face, a big disgrace, kicking that can all over the place.

Al Kennedy and Paul O'Brien are back with the second episode of The Lightning Round, an in-depth re-read show all about Marvel's Most Wanted, the Thunderbolts! If you haven't read the series before, be aware that this episode does contain spoilers for the issues under discussion. In Episode 2: Spider-Man Team-Up #7, Thunderbolts #s 3 and 4 and Thunderbolts: Distant Rumblings (aka Thunderbolts #-1)  

Paul and Al are back, and this time out they're remembering Si Spencer, and talking about the Linearverse, Wonder Girl, Milestone's new creative teams, Legends of the Dark Knight, the Year of Spawn, X-Corp and The Blue Flame, as well as reviewing Stray Dogs and Nuclear Family. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ain't a beauty, but hey, it's alright.