House to Astonish Paul O'Brien and Al Kennedy

And now for something... slightly different. Al and Paul step beyond the bounds of the regular Thunderbolts title to look at the 2001 miniseries Citizen V and the V-Battalion, with chat about two-fisted journalist Jim Daring, HR disasters and the horniest comics in Marvel history.

Al and Paul are back (back! Back!) with remembrances of Trina Robbins and Mark "Doc" Bright, a whiz through the first six post-Krakoa X-books and a mini-explainer of Misty and the new Gail Simone-run iteration thereof, as well as reviews of Action Comics and Uncanny Valley. The Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe can't believe it's not butter either.

It's a brave new world for the Thunderbolts, as they try to readjust to civilian life... or, in the case of some, to adjust to being bossed around by Captain America as part of the Redeemers. Paul and Al say hello to new regular penciler Patrick Zircher, as well as to the continuity transplants from the Heroes Reborn universe, as they look at issues 51 and 52 of Thunderbolts, as well as the Thunderbolts: Life Sentences oneshot. Join them as they explore the questions of who is the 19th best telepath in the Marvel Universe, where can you find the most racist electrical goods store in America, and how badly a 1990s comics character can lacerate himself with his own costume.

Merry Chri... er... Happy New Y... um... Happy February? Welcome to the joint 15th anniversary and end of year wrap-up episode of House to Astonish, as Paul and Al chat through the news of the past few weeks, including Blood Hunt's polybagged "Red Band" editions, Jason Aaron taking on the relaunched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the 40th anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo and Criminal coming to Amazon Prime. On top of that, they have the 2023 Homies awards, where we (and our listeners) give their picks of the best things we read last year, and the complete audio of the SILENCE! To Astonish panel from November 2023's Thought Bubble festival. There's almost too much here! Don't eat it all at once! 

It's anniversary time, as Paul and Al mark the 15th turn round the sun of House to Astonish by briefly mourning the original episode they recorded for the occasion and lost in a computer disaster, before moving on to another anniversary in the form of issue 50 (and 48 and 49) of Thunderbolts, from 2001. It's the end of the Scourge story, the return of Jolt, and time to bid a fond farewell to Mark Bagley. It's all go!

The Thunderbolts are on a collision course with Scourge (and issue 50), but right now they've got to deal with Moonstone's identity crisis, the Battle of Techno's Ear and the arrival of Genis-Vell, as we look at issues 45-47 from the turn of the millennium. Plus Cybergoth Santa, the Titanian Smurfs and the concept of Pink Pavements crossovers.