12 episodes

Join your cosmic host Al Kennedy as he's joined by some very special guests to revisit Marvel Comics' major 1984 event story, Secret Wars!

Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort Shelfdust

    • Arts
    • 5.0 • 6 Ratings

Join your cosmic host Al Kennedy as he's joined by some very special guests to revisit Marvel Comics' major 1984 event story, Secret Wars!

    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #1

    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #1

    Welcome to Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort, a special twelve-part podcast hosted by Al Kennedy!
    For this, our first special collector's edition episode, Al is joined by special guests Jay Edidin and Paul O'Brien to talk about, appropriately, Secret Wars #1. They discuss The Beyonder's great big smashy plan for the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man getting an Incredible piggyback, and Doc Ock's sense of fashion. And more!
     
    The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!
     
    Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here.
    Jay Edidin is co-host of the mega comics podcast Jay and Miles X-Plain The X-Men, which, if you ask me? About time somebody did that. A writer, editor, and hero of the people, you can find more from Jay here, or follow him on Twitter here!
    Paul O'Brien is the other co-host of House to Astonish, alongside Al. Paul writes regularly on the House to Astonish website, where amongst other prolific things he's been covering every single Wolverine comic to ever exist, if such a task is possible. You can find Paul on Twitter here!

    • 40 min
    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #2

    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #2

    For our second episode of The War Effort, host Al Kennedy is joined by special guests Dan White and Fraser Geesin to talk about Secret Wars #2. They talk about Magneto's mysterious power plant, Captain America's very specific briefing room, and do A LOT of Alan Bennett impressions in the process.
     
    The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!
     
    Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here.
    Dan White doesn't know who The Beast Must Die is, but he would probably recommend their comics podcast SILENCE!, which you can find on the Mindless Ones website. Dan is also co-host of The Savage Beast podcast, which talks about cult films, and runs through the same site. You can find Dan on Twitter here!
    Who is Gary Lactus? I'm sure Fraser Geesin couldn't say, other than the very talented other half of SILENCE, which, uh, you can find on the Mindless Ones website. For more from Fraser, however, you can follow him on Twitter here!

    • 24 min
    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #3

    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #3

    For our third episode Al is joined by special guests Kelly Kanayama and Claire Napier to talk about Secret Wars #3. They talk about Mr Fantastic and Cyclops being the ultimate wife guys, Magneto's fabulous chairs, and, of course, Claire's myriad thoughts about Jim Shooter. And more besides!  
    The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!
     
    Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here.
    Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don’t believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here!
    Claire Napier is a writer and editor, and has been published by The Guardian, ComicsAlliance, and of course at WomenWriteAboutComics, for which she served as Editor in Chief for several years. You can find her on Twitter here, you can find her website here, and you can buy her comic Dash Dearborne here!

    • 41 min
    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #4

    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #4

    For our fourth episode of the show Al is joined by special guests Kirsten Howard and Steve Morris to talk about Secret Wars #4, and you better believe they're talking about Hawkeye's singing ability! They also cover Muppet Treasure Island, Volcana and Molecule Man's blossoming romance, and Al's personal origin as a Marvel reader!
     
    The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!
     
    Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here.
    Kirsten Howard is the News & Features editor for Den of Geek. You can find their byline on the website here, or follow them on Twitter right here!
    Steve Morris runs Shelfdust! Having previously written for sites including The Beat, ComicsAlliance, CBR and The MNT, he can be found on Twitter here. He’s a bunny.

    • 38 min
    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #5

    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #5

    Our special guests Jay Edidin and Paul O'Brien return for episode #5, ready to talk about the fifth issue of Marvel's Secret Wars! And they're just in time, too, because Galactus is about to destroy everything! They talk to cosmic host Al Kennedy about Xavier's bedside manner, Molecule Man's glow-up, and reveal what Jim Shooter's idea of a psychedelic mind-expanding experience looks like.
     
    The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!
     
    Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here.
    Jay Edidin is co-host of the mega comics podcast Jay and Miles X-Plain The X-Men, which, if you ask me? About time somebody did that. A writer, editor, and hero of the people, you can find more from Jay here, or follow him on Twitter here!
    Paul O'Brien is the other co-host of House to Astonish, alongside Al. Paul writes regularly on the House to Astonish website, where amongst other prolific things he's been covering every single Wolverine comic to ever exist, if such a task is possible. You can find Paul on Twitter here!

    • 22 min
    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #6

    Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort #6

    As we reach the halfway point for the series, Al is joined by special guests Kelly Kanayama and Chloe Maveal to talk about issue #6 of Secret Wars, which means we're in for a whole lotta talk about Janet Van Dyne. When not discussing The Wasp, they chat about Klaw's love of soup, Johnny Storm's seductive rendition of Thriller, and the lasting cultural impact of Dazzler. Because of course they do.  
    The War Effort is produced by the immensely talented Dave Bulmer, who you can follow on Twitter here. Our logo comes from the tremendously gifted mind of James Wendelborn, who is on Twitter here. Thank you to them both for their incredible work - give them a follow!
     
    Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here.
    Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don’t believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here!
    Chloe Maveal has written all over the comics internet – including pieces published by Polygon, WomenWriteAboutComics and The MNT.  She’s also the Culture Editor-at-Large for NeoText. You can find her on Twitter here!

    • 37 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
6 Ratings

6 Ratings

Larry Brenner ,

Really enjoyed this

House to Astonish fan here, but really enjoyed the first episode. Secret Wars is such a great series to dissect. Really loved it as a kid (although I share the disdain for Secret Wars II.).

For me, this series really cemented the idea (illusion) that there was an overall story of the Marvel Universe and that what happened in one book would have repercussions in another. The next ten years of the Thing’s life would be the result of what happened in SW. I think more than Spider-Man, Ben is the character whose life was forever changed.

Looking forward to the second episode.

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