House to Astonish

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House to Astonish was a fortnightly podcast about comics, presented by Paul O'Brien (The X-Axis-) and Al Kennedy (One Hundred Days of Comics). Both formerly wrote for the Ninth Art comics webzine before it folded.

The podcast takes an irreverend (and UK-based) look at comics news (which invariably leads them on some strange tangents), looks through Previews, reviews a few titles that the presenters think look interesting (which does not necessarily mean "good"), and concludes with The Official Handbook To The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, which digs up deservedly obscure characters and imagines how they might fit into the modern Marvel Universe.

It can be found here, with associated blog here.

Tropes used in House to Astonish include:

• Ascended Extra: The Official Handbook to the Offical Handbook is all about how oneshot villains might Ascend.
• British Accents: They're both Scottish.
• Caustic Critic: Sometimes. They're quite happy to declare how much they liked a book, but they'll really put the boot in if they didn't.
• A Good Name for a Rock Band: Their reaction to some of the Flashpoint books with "X and the Ys" titles.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: Always opens with "And in the week when [genuine news event], we ask: [strange comics tangent]?"

"And in the week when riots and flames engulf the whole of England, we ask: Are these Fear Itself tie-ins going a bit far?"

• Name's the Same: Al Kennedy should not be confused with A.L. Kennedy.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Mocked in the episode "Zombie Pirate Ninja Monkey Viking Cowboy", in which they complain that this sort of thing often isn't nearly as awesome as it sounds, and diminishing returns are setting in on how awesome it even sounds. What set them off was a comic called Werewolves on the Moon Versus Vampires.
• Released to Elsewhere: Apparently, DC Comics have sent Wildstorm Comics to live on a farm, and it's very happy there.
• Something Completely Different: Parodied. At the end of one podcast, Al announced that TOHOTOH was being retired and replaced with a new, totally original concept ... which turned out to be Who's Who in Who's Who in the DC Universe.