Forty-one days since our last accident! Nick and Alastair have not only taken in some culture this week (specifically the comedy of Daniel Kitson and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy), they’ve also delved into the exciting new field of cultural hot-takes, as they discuss Jodie Whittaker’s casting as the first female Doctor Who (6:07)!
But that’s only a quick digression before our pop-cultural main events: Spider-Man: Homecoming (11:04), the latest big-screen Marvel-endorsed outing of Nick’s favourite superhero, and the beginning of the penultimate season of Game of Thrones (26:45).
And then we pop back to revisit Preacher (41:07) as it starts its second season – has it improved since we covered the pilot in MFV #8 and the whole first run in MFV #14?
Finally, Nick recommends the first volume of sci-fi robots comic Descender (52:32) by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, which is excellent and unfairly snubbed by the Hugo Awards (as he moaned about during his recent appearance on Radio Free Fandom, the new podcast from occasional MFV guest Claire Rousseau).
Finally finally, as mentioned during the show, we’re doing a listener survey and one randomly drawn listener will win a £20 Amazon voucher by taking part. So click anywhere on this whole sentence to get involved with that. (No, this isn’t any kind of advert/sponsored thing, we really are just curious what our listeners actually like.)


The big 4-0! For this milestone, time to revisit some old friends, as Nick finally finishes Alan Moore’s Jerusalem and Alastair returns to Ben Aaraovitch’s Rivers of London world in comic form.
Also, another revisitation, as they check back with magical Image Comics series Curse Words (49:22) to see how the first storyline ended, after
Finally, time for some serious synth-pop of the soul with Alastair’s latest recommendation: You And Me Against The World by Apoptygma Berzerk (58:45).
Our first deleted chunk for a while – turns out we can bang on for hours about Orange Is The New Black, as it’s one of our favourite shows. So here’s a short chunk cut from MFV #39 where we get a bit overly specific about our favourite characters and how they’re used in the fifth season.
Thirty-nine, yet also two! Nick and Alastair cover two TV shows beginning with O and ending in Black for the second time (see also:
Then it’s down to business with the start of Orange Is The New Black season 5 (9:55), followed by a big look back at the whole of American Gods season 1 (27:18) and a little check-in with the first episode of Orphan Black’s final season (43:26).
Last but definitely not least, Nick recommends Quantum & Woody (55:17) by Christopher Priest and Mark Bright, the mismatched-buddy-superhero comic that influenced much of his style, taste and sense of humour. Will Alastair dig it?
Alastair are back (despite Nick’s laryngitis struggles) to talk about their Team MFV trip to
Finally, what did Nick think of noted sci-fi classic Blade Runner (50:16)? With his malfunctioning vocal systems, did it hit too close to home?
Thirty seven minutes in heaven! Nick and Alastair begin on a pleasingly literate note, looking back on MR Carey’s The Boy On The Bridge (follow-up to his previously-praised The Girl With All The Gifts) and From Hell, classic Jack The Ripper graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.
But the big story this fortnight is Twin Peaks: The Return (8:59), the much-anticipated new series!And if you want more Peaks-casting, you can
But our heroes step into the modern world eventually with My Dad Wrote A Porno (52:54), the popular podcast about self-published erotica.
Thirty six more chances to win! This fortnight, Nick finally watches premium telly classic Deadwood, while Alastair saw Bunch of Kunst, a documentary film about his beloved Sleaford Mods. Also: how has their Mod listening progressed since
Next, Nick’s taste in music takes its turn for a pasting, as they review new Gorillaz album Humanz (33:58).
Thirty five, dirty lies! The recommendations section is a little recycled this time, as Nick talks the second book of Alan Moore’s Jerusalem (last mentioned in
And then another callback with the podcast’s third Better Call Saul (39:06) segment to mark the start of season three. (Previously:
Thirty-four episodes clean and counting! Nick and Alastair kick off with talk about brief recent encounters with kid assassin comic Deadly Class, by Rick Remender and Wes Craig, and apt podcast-based crime novel Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski.
Thirdly, it’s the first two issues of The Old Guard (36:31), a new comic about immortal soldiers by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez.
Thirty-three Power Rangers is less than it takes to change a light bulb! Time to review the new Power Rangers movie, and to do this epic justice, Nick and Alastair bring in mighty morphin’ mega-fan PDT, co-host of
Then, at around 8:28, it’s time to morph all the way and get stuck into Power Rangers in some detail. Could the film meet everyone’s expectations? What did PDT think of epilogue comic Power Rangers: Aftershock? Is Alpha 5 still annoying? Which Ranger is the Wolverine of the franchise? All this and much, much more.
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