House to Astonish Episode 75
Happy New Year (Nearly)! It’s our end-of-2011 wrap-up episode, with a special guest in the form of games blogger (and friend of the podcast) Cara Ellison. We’re talking about the big news stories of the year, such as the New 52, the new Ultimate Spider-Man, the closure of Wizard and the future of digital distribution. We’re also running through a few of the comics that have caught our fancy this year, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is puttin’ on the Ritz. All this plus super-heroes drinking their own pee, how the Hulk takes care of boiled eggs and a tiny little Sean Phillips living inside all of us.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available through the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments below, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
If Tapping Tommy was dark and gritty, wouldn’t he be Gorgon from the Inhumans?
I remember that Defenders story… I’m pretty sure the dancing robots were delivering karate chops or blows with their canes or something like that. And I think Alan Moore did something similar in his first issue of Youngblood…
whats the name of the sketch diary book?
@Zak S
EmiTown – http://www.amazon.com/Emitown-TP-EMI-LENOX/dp/1607063190
I tried looking for that multi-artist year in the life book, Nelson (sp?) but couldnt find it. Can anyone help me out?
Nice show. I have to say that the choices for best books of the year were more eclectic that I would have expected.
(So happy Al didn’t technically pick Morning Glories, which I thought was maybe the most overrated book of the year. YMMV)
Also would have liked to seen some love for Snarked or Chew, two books that I believe have gotten positive reviews on the pod in past episodes.
I think your guest is destined to become very popular, due to her outgoing personality and areas of interest. She was on the Thumbcast a few episodes ago, right? Also enjoyed her on there.
The other day I listened to an episode from mid-2010 (there was a reference to England going out of the World Cup). Discussing Wonder Woman’s redesigned costume, you gave it eighteen months before the old outfit came back. Over-generous.
There was also some amusement at the idea that DC would ever renumber Action Comics…
Yes, Cara was on the Thumbcast a couple of months back.
Dacl: Nelson’s details are here.
http://www.blankslatebooks.co.uk/our-books/nelson/
Which is strong. Also happy to see Mystic turn up, which I love. I kept on saying “Disney does Marx” on twitter, in cheery hope of being quoted on the trade.
KG
Another great podcast. And hooray for the Gosh Comics shout-out.
The DC female solo book you didn’t mention is Supergirl, which is one of my favourites of the relaunch. The first two issues put some people off by being mostly big fight issues, but I thought they had some good character moments in there too (there’s a nice bit in issue 2 where Supergirl observes that Superman speaks Krypton like he learned it from a book).
The third and fourth issues have more plot, and set up stuff for the future, with a nice new villain for Supergirl. Lovely art by Mahmud Asrar too.
I was a big fan of Nelson as well, nice to see it get some appreciation. Very well done book.
Dacl, you should be able to get Nelson from the usual places; I think I got my copy through Amazon.
Great end of year episode, and Cara should come back!
As for Tapping Tommy’s swordfighting, don’t forget that Steed would often fight using his umbrella in The Avengers and he seemed to do just fine.
Jimmy Olsen isn’t completely freestanding and hermatically sealed; ISTR there’s a single reference to events in the Lex Luthor In Action Comics/Secret Six crossover, which even comes with a footnote.
Minor niggle (if you can call it that) about the year-end show. No mention of those we’ve lost this year? Particularly, Joe Simon and Eduardo Barreto who were both, very much, alive at the time of the last podcast. A quick scan of the obituaries on the Comics Beat blog reminds me of the others who have left us in 2011:
Jerry Robinson
Alvin Schwartz
Mick Anglo
Gene Colan
Lew Sayre Schwartz
Dwayne McDuffie
Clément Sauvé
Great talents, all.
I have to thank this podcast for turning me on to JiM. I didn’t pick it up until you guys said that it made Fear Itself better and indeed it did. jiM has to be my suprise of the year and the book I read first the week it comes out.
I would be willing to put it as 1B to Daredevil as 1A soley due to fill-in art issues.
My favorite single issues of the year come from this title, both being the whimsy issues starring Mephisto and introducing Thori
Not big on you guys having a guest, but nice show. Thanks!
Things I’m looking forward to in 2012
Punk Rock Jesus by Sean Murphy
A creator owned project being put together by the amazingly talented Sean Murphy of Joe the Barbarian fame. His passion for this project shines pretty strongly on his deviantart and even though I hardly know anything about it Im eager to see it.
Furry Water by Rapheal Grampa
Another creator owned project. Even though Grampa hasnt done much in comics but after reading his comic ‘Mesmo Delivery’ and that Wolverine Story in Strange Tales 2 he has been a personal favourite of mine. Some art can be seen here http://furrywater.wordpress.com/
Batman: Death by Design
A graphic novel where Batman fights a graphic design based villain in what looks like the 30s or 40s, written by Chip Kidd and drawn by Dave Taylor? Sign me up
Multiversity by Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly, Cameron Stewart and others.
This series of 8 one shots taking place on different earths in the DC multiverse has been tease for what seems like forever, who knows, it may come out this year.
The Frank Quietly/Mark Millar project
Worse comes to worse I can just look at the pictures
Watchmen 2
cos why not 🙂
My own 3 favorites of 2011:
1 – Hellblazer (Vertigo): I don’t know where Peter Milligan is going but I’m happy for the ride. After getting Constantine married, now the urban magician has to hunt down his murderous lost trenchcoat. The rotating art teams of Giuseppe Camuncoli and Simon Bisley keeps the book achieving the perfect tone for the best Constantine storyline since… the Ennis/Dillon era?
2 – Secret Six (DC): oh, how I miss you so, Secret Six. Where can I get my monthly input of intelligent and witty nastiness now? The book ended with a bang, concluding some storylines, but I would have taken more. Damn you, new 52!
3 – Stumptown (Oni): yes, I’m cheating. But the collected edition came out in 2011 and that’s how I read it! When one of the hot topic of 2011 was the portrayal of women characters in comics, here is a reminder that Greg Rucka still writes strong and believable women. I can’t wait for the next storyline.
Thanks for the podcast, and have a great year.
Happy new year everyone! Cara was a nice surprise in the podcast and as I see, most of us would like to hear more from her (or maybe more guests?). Anyway, I think it’s better to listen to the year in review in the podcast and keep the regular reviews for the site rather than what used to happen in the old x-axis. Either way the podcast was great as always.
Yeah more guests every now and again would be nice, or even a return for Cara as she was pretty good.
It’s always nice to see the Brubaker/Phillips books get some love, as they are generally quite terrific. Also agree on the good words about Daredevil and Journey Into Mystery. I’ve quite enjoyed Thunderbolts as well, and Avengers Academy has kept up its strong quality.
From DC, I was really enjoying Booster Gold, Secret Six, and Zatanna, but sadly none of them got relaunched. DC do deserve tons of credit for the relaunch and there are plenty of good books coming out from them at the moment.
I’ve been most impressed with Scott Synder’s work on the Batman line, especially since he has collaborated with excellent artists like Jock & Francisco Francavilla.
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