Nerd Lunch

Officially kicking off the Christmas season on After Lunch, Michael and Rob welcome back Jacob Bean-Watson (The Movie Connection podcast) to discuss the tangential Christmas movie, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Directed by Shane Black and starring Robert Downey Jr, Val Kilmer, and Michelle Monaghan.

Michael, Rob, and Pax finish this month's lounge discussion with what they've been watching and thinking about, including She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Mike Flanagan movies, Black Adam, The Sound of 007, Clerks 3 and the View Askewniverse, elderly action heroes, Jack Ryan, the recent Halloween trilogy, in-universe canons, and Twitter.

Michael, Rob, and Pax gather in the After Lunch After Dinner Lounge to talk about what they've been listening to and reading this month, including Agatha Christie, early Marvel comics, and James Tynion IV.

Christmas is a time for ghost stories. And though it may not be Christmas season for everyone yet, it's never too early for a haunted tale. Michael and Rob kick off what they hope is a new After Lunch tradition of November ghost stories by talking about Doctor Sleep, in which one of their favorite film directors adapts a book by one of their favorite authors.

Michael and Rob welcome back Chris Bailey (aka Charlton Hero) to the show to match up the greatest literary villains of all time in an ultimate showdown to determine the absolute best. Also featuring picks from Evan Hanson, who sadly couldn't join us for the recording. 

Michael debriefs Rob about his recent trip to Disneyland in (extremely) sunny California. Rob talks about what he liked and what he didn't, Michael adds some thoughts from his own trip there a few years ago, and they both compare it with Florida's Walt Disney World, which they're much more familiar with.

Happy Halloween! To celebrate, Michael and Rob welcome Bloody Popcorn's Joanna back to the show along with everyone's old buddy, old pal Jeeg to create the ultimate team-up of horror characters. Each panelist nominates two members of the team as well as a bunch of honorable mentions to flesh out the cast and come up with a story worthy of them all. And possibly even tie in with the Avengers of Science Fiction, you never know.

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gather in the lounge to talk about what they've been watching and thinking about, including mummy movies, zombie movies, what monsters they'd want to fight and what curses they'd prefer to have, and the scariest topic of all: cash.

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gather in the lounge to talk about what they've been listening to and reading, including Elvis, harpsichord music, Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula, and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Michael, Rob, and Evan confront vampires and theology in writer-director Mike Flanagan's 2021 mini-series, Midnight Mass. They talk about how the show handles vampire lore, its Stephen King influences, and the characters it creates, but mostly how it discusses big themes like faith, knowledge, addiction, sacrifice, and forgiveness. 

Rabbit Holers Carlin Trammel, Jeff Somogyi, and Paxton Holley reunite to celebrate the release of Carlin and artist Bill Wiist's fan-made Super Powers Superman mini-comic with an all-new Down the Rabbit Hole episode exploring the Super Friends Wiki. With guest Michael May, the group sets out to get from the mini-comic's wiki page to... Ed McMahon? Find out if they're successful and while you're at it, download both the Superman mini-comic and the newly released second issue featuring Green Lantern.

Michael, Rob, William Bruce West, and David May board the Bus for a deep dive into the first season of Agents of SHIELD. 

Michael, Rob, Pax, and Christian wrap up their Lounge conversation with what they've been watching and thinking about. Topics include The Sandman TV series, the resurgence of the murder mystery genre, the US healthcare system, and Mortality vs the Relentless March of Pop Culture.

Michael, Rob, and Pax welcome Christian Nielsen to the Lounge to talk about what they've all been listening to and reading. Among many other things, subjects include James Patterson and Brian Sitts' The Shadow novel, comics artist Art Adams, a 1970s Fantastic Four radio show narrated by Stan Lee and featuring [REDACTED] as the Human Torch, and a lot of Star Wars talk inspired by Adam Christopher's Shadow of the Sith novel.

Michael, Pax, and Evan (yes, Evan!) welcome Noel Thingvall to the show to talk about each of their Top 10 Movies of 2012 as ranked in 2012. How do the four lists compare and are the movies on them still favorites? 

Building on Episode 27, in which an After Lunch panel created a science fiction themed amusement park, Michael, Rob, Mike Westfall, and John Vanover add to that with new lands devoted to various fantasy books and games like Assassin's Creed, Legend of Zelda, The Dresden Files, and Tolkien's Middle Earth.

Michael, Rob, and Delaney continue trekking through Star Trek with the first couple of seasons of Star Trek: Discovery. How does it fit into other Star Trek continuity? How comprehensible are the plots? How good are the characters? It's not quite a five-year journey to uncover the answers, but it's close in this extra-long episode.

Michael, Rob, and Pax continue their rambling conversation, touching this time on Stranger Things, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Thor: Love and Thunder, art criticism, favourite vacations, Fourth Chair Carryover Questions, and breakfast cereal traps.

With Evan on hiatus, Michael, Rob, and Pax talk about James Bond radio plays starring Toby Stephens, the current state of ComiXology, the Superman ‘78 and Batman ‘89 comics, and many many other things.

We're not promising that Ocean Master actually comes up in the episode, but a bunch of other comics characters sure do. Michael, Rob, Pax, and new guest Jody Collins (the Ramblin' Man podcast) each draft a comic book Ocean's 11-style heist team to liberate a priceless artifact from an unassailable location defended by powerful guards. Listen to the episode, then head over to Twitter to vote on which team you think will succeed in the heist.