Zero Issues Comic Podcast

Jim Shooter — the legendary writer and editor behind reviving the Legion of Super-Heroes and other DC titles in the ’60s, then his reign as Editor-in-Chief at Marvel during their ’70s-’80s hot streak, founder of Valiant Comics, and much more — sadly passed away on June 30th at the age of 73. So we’re taking a look back at the true titan’s legacy, his caree...

 I am the law, and so can you! This week, we are– inexplicably, unexplainedly, baffingly– taking the time to watch Judge Dredd, the 1995 Sylvester Stallone-led flop. What did we think? Did we love it? Are you about to listen to an hour of the three of us just gushing about Rob Schneider? No. But first, in the Warmup, we let you know about (mostly) some of our favourite comic book-...

 Ok. THIS one is a bit of a meandering conversation. This week’s episode starts with a Dad game (What if Bucky was Annihilus’ dad and other fun questions). And the main topic is comics and authoritarianism. And we DO discuss that. We do. But we jump all over and it just becomes a fun romp through various fields of things, jumping back & forth to authoritarianism and back out ag...

It’s Dramatic Reading time once again — that’s when we perform a classic comic radio-drama style while commenting and making jokes about it throughout! This time we take you back to 1972’s The Brave and the Bold #99, where Batman rents the old Wayne summer home from… Bruce Wayne… himself, for some reason! There he finds his parents’ ashes and an elaborate...

 Doctor doctor, what do I do, I’ve got a bad case of talkin’ ’bout doctors! Also nurses, and medical professionals (and the medical field) in general! This week, we go over some very obscure medical characters (for example: Dr. Death, the original boneitis-haver!), Merk quizzes us on what is the made-up medical comic (spoiler: even the real ones sound dumb), and we imagine what...

 How many comic characters have been replaced? Whether temporarily, for a good stint, or permanently? Quite a few apparently, when the boys delve into the topic and start uncovering a slew of them. From Blue Beetle to Dr Fate, Ms Marvel to Green Lantern(s). Then there’s the Thors and the Spider-Guys. They go pretty in depth into the numerous replacements for Captain America and Batman. By...

This week it’s ALL NEWS, with endless comic and pop culture developments to dig through! Including: The Buffy revival and Sarah Michelle Gellar reveal the new Vampire Slayer! Amazon Prime absolutely isn’t making a Judge Dredd series with Karl Urban, so definitely don’t obnoxiously demand it from them until they actually do, haha! IDW announces even more TMNT spin-off comics inclu...

 Thunderbolts* is not only out, it’s so out that that isn’t even the name of the movie anymore! This week, we talk about what we liked about the movie, and even what we didn’t, but there isn’t as much of that, because we really liked it! Turns out, if you write a good script, and get good actors to perform said script, and have the humour be character-based, and also actu...

 DAREDEVIL BORN AGAIN! Was it good? Was it bad? Why was Jason Mewes/Muse in it? The boys dig deep into the Disney+ show and the gloves are off! SPOILER ALERT … obviously. All that and a warm up speculating (hilariously) on how Trump’s America would deal with fictional comic book countries. Latveria! Big Doom, beautiful Doom, Strong Doom! Direct Download: MP3

This week it’s a Power Records double-feature! We’ve got two Hulk stories to listen to and riff over, but not just any Hulk, the 1978 live-action television Hulk! (But don’t call him Bruce, you wouldn’t like him when you call him Bruce.) First! In “Black Chasm”, David Bruce Banner wanders into a mining office and is just handed an accounting job because it&#8217...

 Get out of this world, get into my space ship! This week, we’re talking about aliens, both in comics, and in the greater pop culture sphere. Who’s better, the xenomoprhs of the Brood, and what is the Kirby connection to the Alien franchise? Who are our favourite weirdo Green Lanterns? How weird is it that Venom was just a little thing of goo when it was first introduced, and is went...

 It’s an all games episode! Superdedouper defight! Hulk Out/Fake Out! MFK! Battleholes card game! A Bry Quiz! And stunt casting with bad actors! We usually come up with the title from some random phrase that was said during the episode. To give you a sense of the ridiculousness that ensued, these were the other possible titles: Im potentially in poopsplosion town. – The bigger the cha...

Once again it’s time for adventure! One that a very dynamic duo chooses the outcome of! A real “Chooses the Doozes”, as it were. Kyle and Merk commiserate over the Bad Present we find ourselves in — when a cyborg Bry from a Worse Future suddenly arrives to recruit them on a mission to save their own! The boys must traverse the “BadFutureVerse”, battling deadly f...

 Here comes Daredevil! Again! He’s being born! Again! This week, we’re talking about the first four episodes of the new really-really-in-the-MCU-this-time Daredevil show. What we liked, what we really didn’t like, and why every part of a story matters if you want to make it a good one. Big ol’ spoilers for the first four episodes, so please, if you don’t want the fir...

 JOSE LUIS GARCIA LOPEZ!! This week the boys celebrate this amazing artist for all that he’s given to comics. From his early days in Argentina starting out in comics, to the iconic work creating the DC Style Guide, to his work at Charlton, to the Batman/Hulk treasury edition or the many other titles he’s brought his stunning talent to like Jonah Hex, Deadman, Atari Force, Adventure Co...

Fight on! It’s March, which means that it’s time for another March Madness episode, where we pick a bunch of comic book characters and make them fight for our, and hopefully your, amusement. This time, we’re pitting Nature versus Future (which sounds close enough to Nurture). So expect a team of robots and cyberaters and wind-up dudes fighting some hippie dippie treehuggers, just...

It’s been a bit since we had a “Fix This Character” episode, in which we reimagine underperforming characters in wildly different ways! This time: CLOAK and DAGGER! And to be honest, Ty and Tandy are great and don’t really need “fixing”. But they seem trapped in the C-list, and maybe a fresh look could help fix that! Kyle reimagines Cloak and Dagger with a more...

 John Constantine! This month he celebrates not once, not twice but… no… well, yea, twice. It’s been 40 years since his first appearance in Swamp Thing and 20 years since the Keanu Reeves helmed film was released! Wow. So we talk about that. The boys reread that first appearance and discuss the bizarreness of that issues…. but it’s Alan Moore, so that’s e...

 This week, to coincide with the release of Captain America: Brave New World, we’re covering Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, partners in… well, not crime, but mostly the opposite? Captain America and The Falcon, partners since the ’60s. How did they meet? Why do they work so well together? Whaddya mean they’ve both been werewolves? Plus: Bry talks wings, Merk talks MODOK: Ori...

In honour of Valentine’s Day, as well as cynicism, we’re discussing each others’ picks for WORST COMIC BOOK COUPLES! Some couples just don’t work, even beyond the usual ups and downs of decades-long continuity. Maybe you root for them, but deep down they’re just bad for each other, and sometimes everyone around them. Bry thinks Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris have left too much destruction in the wake...

 It’s a Lava Lamp Episode! In that we are just bringing up whatever topics and chatting about everything! What does that have to do with lava lamps? These three knuckleheads have no idea. Tariffs are first up! How do these effects comics? Comic consumers? Comic makers? Indie comic creators? Kyle brings up Hank Howard Pizza Detective Kickstarter and the troubles insuing…. (This is...

 This week/month/news cycle, a lot of us north of the US/Canada border are feeling a little worried. Maybe you are, too, regardless of where you live? From a Canadian perspective, we talk about the relationship between Canada and “The States,” at least in terms of comics. That’s right, we’re talking about We Stand On Guard! But also other stuff, too: how US tariffs may...

It’s time for another electrifying Dramatic Reading, as we travel back to 1966 for Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom #17! Reacting to a volcanic plot from his arch-nemesis, NURO, the good DOCTOR SOLAR must recharge his waning atomic powers to face off against the hot and cold flame monster PRIMO! Featuring a veritable grab-bag of terrible impressions for this story’s many background extras! It&#...

 Do you have a mentor? Someone who helped guide you through the weirdness of life? Helped you with picking your first cape to go on patrol in? Or how to take down a sleezeball mugging an old lady at 40 yards? Or how to get bludgeoned with a crowbar…..yeek. We’re talking mentors this week! From Batman to Green Arrow to Wolverine to ol’ horrible Chuck and many more. Bry runs a...

 2024 sure was a year that happened, huh? It really, really happened. Such an important, vital year. *Sigh* But hey! Some good stuff happened that year, and we’re gonna focus on it this week. What’s the GOOD stuff that we read? What’s the good stuff that we DIDN’T, and can we fix that? We’ll find out, this week, and then, eventually, this year, one assumes! PS: Th...