Two True Freaks

It's the second episode of Required Reading with Tom and Stella! This podcast, which is hosted by Tom Panarese (Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country, Taking Flight) and Stella (Batgirl to Oracle: A Barbara Gordon Podcast, The Batman Universe) is two teachers talking about literature. Each episode, we will be taking a look at a single work, analyzing it, criticizing it and deciding if it's worth its place in the canon.This time around, we will be looking at Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie, a story of a mother clinging to outdated ideas, a son who seems to long to be elsewhere, a daughter who is as fragile as the glass animals that she collects, and the spectre of a father who looms over them.If you like our podcast, feel free to liked our Facebook page (just search for Required Reading with Tom and Stella) or email us at [email protected]

Take a trip down Montgomery Scott's memory lane, and learn the best kept secret of everybody's favorite chief engineer in the pages of DC's Star Trek Annual #3.

Why is Scotty depressed and drinking more than he should? What news has brought up specters of the past? Peter David and Curt Swan bring us a very personal, and hearbreaking tale.

Also, what did Dave do in high school that had lasting effects on his Star Trek fandom? Why all of the questions? Download the episode and find out.

Over 18 months ago, Andrew and family recorded a Commentary for STAR WARS for Andrew's Birthday. It was alcohol fueled and a tad ribald and some of the gags felt a bit tasteless given real life events but a few days later. Well, life has moved on since then and the world has even less of a sense of humour so if I don't release it now, I never will. So here's a special early Christmas treat - the "lost" episode 32.

Good Ol' Boy, Chris Franklin, joins Paul to look at the 1977 chase adventure/comedy, Smokey and the Bandit. How does it hold up to the test of time? Is it painfully dated or do these sum' bitches entertain still. Where does it fall on the Jaws scale? Join the convoy and find out!

It's episode seven of season seven and Mike, Scott and a slightly tardy Brian recap this week and we check in with a lot of our main characters. We join Rambo Carl and Ninja Jesus at Sanctuary and Carl gets the grand tour and some fatherly advice/psychological torture by Negan. Michonne and Rosita are planning their suicide revenge runs and Aaron and Rick are out desperately looking for supplies to satisfy the saviors. Spencer is a jerk, but surprisingly competent, Father Gabriel absolves sin like a boss and someone in Negan's harem is being unfaithful. One episode until the mid-season finale so listen while the iron is hot and check out the best collection of boobs in the apocalypse on your Fear the Walking Deadcast!

Scott is off on assignment, hanging out with Snappper Carr and being tested to see if he has the Meta Gene. So in his absence, Bill and Paul are joined by Michael Bailey to look at this DC Comics Crossover event that was recently adapted for the DC CW shows! It's a mega event. Does it hold up? Does the adaptation do it justice? Listen in and find out!

This week we swear to give you an interesting recap and review of the sixth episode of season seven of The Walking Dead. It's getting close to the mid-season finale and the show is spinning its wheels a bit, or getting washed up on a beach of Amazon Island. Scott, Mike and Brian discuss Tara's trip to the Oceanside colony where all the men are mysteriously missing and the residents have a strict (until now) shoot first and then shoot again greeting policy. Then they shoot again and then once more then they have to just capture you because they're horrible "Stormtrooper" level markswomen. But I digress. We also get a brief glimpse of mopey Heath before he goes off to his other job on a different network. It's fun in the surf and sun and no Abigail to rescue us from it on another Fear the Walking Deadcast.

Join Hope Mullinax and Chris Honeywell as they forego the Clone Wars episodes for December and bring you PREQUEL COMMENTARY MONTH! We start, of course, with EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE! Hope has not seen these movies SINCE THEIR ORIGINAL RELEASE! Will it be all that she remembers? Will Jar Jar be TOO MUCH? Does Clone Wars make this movie BETTER somehow? Is this movie even really NECESSARY? ALL THIS AND MORE!!!!!

On a SPECIAL ALL-NEW episode of 3rd Degree Byrne, Tim Elliott and Brian Hughes tell you about the very best, the true favorites, the top 5s of John Byrnes work in comics.

Of course, it is all opinion and a step back in time as they recount stories of their youth and when they bought that one special issue with a pack of Juicy Fruits.

They cover some of the real greats here. Not a stinker in the bunch. And while they are at it, they really shoot the s#!t. So catch up with the boys and listen to them discuss the best of Byrne!

Seriously, they gave you homework the last time out, lets see how they did and you can send your homework to us through the usual channels. You will be graded!

In this week's ball-losing episode, Magnus concludes It's All About Image, a megaseries about few Image titles from the 1990's.

In perhaps better terms, it's an opportunity to maybe change your opinion of a handful of Image comics. Or at least it has the potential.

Possibly.

The curtain rises on Supreme #41 this week, which marked the beginning of Alan Moore's run on the title. What's good? What's bad? What's typical freaking Alan Moore? Quite a lot of all three, in fact.

But no matter what, there's only one way to find out for sure! (pssst, that's your cue to download the show)

For those of you determined to soil the Internet by sharing click-bait, "Magnus starts the episode by talking about *WHAT* movie?!"

There's also a long shoutout to Gene "Gene the Podcasting Machine" Hendricks in the cold open. So lots of fun all around, yes?

Due to the deluge of ass-kickery this week, unfortunately there just wasn't time for listener feedback this week. But don't cry about it because there's more coming in the future!

Patience! The vast backlog of feedback will be addressed in due time. Fear not!

In the meantime, though, don't let the lack of feedback this time get you down! You can still offer your feeble effort at tribute! You humble serfs are always welcome to kiss your benevolent leader's ring. Corrupt DiManzocorp interns are ready, willing, able and eager to accept your bribe to present your meager missives to your wise emperor. The email address to use is [email protected] as the other seems to be having technical problems.

In an another sublime act of truly unprecedented charity, your emperor permits you lowly rabble to suggest topics for a future episode. Thus, petitions may be sent to [email protected] for DiManzocorp interns to review, whereupon your leader might consider thinking about the possibility of potentially discussing whatever you have in mind some day. And that's a promise!