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381: Through the Cronen-Hole

Today we descend into darkness as we discuss those wretched hives of scum and villainy: comment sections and fan forums! Okay, okay, there are plenty of wonderful and positive fan communities that we all love, and should! But something about the direction of fandom online over the decades tends to take a turn for the toxic whenever negativity, bullying, and anger (and, uh, threats to drink spit in protest to watching a movie?) take hold of the conversation.

What makes a good thread go bad, or even go on for 15 years? We dig into the evolution of fandom and fans online, how the platforms we use change the experience, how we’re hard-wired to choose and defend our favourites from childhood, and plenty more in this free-wheelin’, far-reaching discussion from three middle-aged fanboys who’ve seen it all on this ol’ Internet of ours. Merk even shares the twisted tale of the most deranged comment thread under a Brie Larson news post that was ever cursed upon his feed by: The Algorithm!

But on a brighter note, we just realized it’s the 9th anniversary of when we started making Zero Issues! And to celebrate this auspicious occasion, Merk challenges Kyle & Bry with a NEW GAME using his trusty deck of 1991 Marvel Universe trading cards: the roll of a die will reveal hidden truths about randomly-selected but still totally bodacious heroes and villains.

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368: A James Gunn Rock-Afire Explosion

It’s beginning to look a lot like CHAOS! Usually we’d have a short bit of holly-jolly fun for you this week, but the DCU rumours and news and rumours and announcements and responses and outright lies for clicks are flying fast, and we are forced to do this holiday season wacky-backwards style and take a look back, and a look forward, at the state of the DCU and predictions for what we’ll see in the future! And also comics, we also do that for comics in general. (But we’re not too happy to be trapped in the Fandome again, so we may get extra raunchy! Consider that a warning, youse.)

Oh, but there’s so much other news! The TMNT and Usagi team up one more time at IDW, Netflix closes an umbrella as their programming gets mysterious and spooky and altogether ooky, The Boys give the world the first good NFT, and we share some “very real” news articles from a comic-news site that will not be named here! Hey, year’s almost over, let’s get wild!

Disclaimer: This series is not officially affiliated with the successful comedy podcast Cum Town. Officially. O…fficially.

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351: What the #@$% is Going On!?

We’re all reeling from the bloodbath of cancelled projects at Warner Bros and HBO Max after David Zaslav’s Discovery FUSION-HA‘ed with Warner Brothers. The cancellation of Batgirl shocked the Internet and the impact of the takeover seems to keep spreading by the day. As we react to Warnergeddon, we also go through some other announced, scheduled, and even pre-existing projects that have met the corporate reaper’s blade. What can we expect for the future of DC, and perhaps WB as a whole? And along the way, let’s decide who should replace Ezra Miller as the Flash… and discover the secret of Alan Moore’s Five-Way Revenge!

But first there is other news, if you can believe it! The four-season – and completed – Infinity Train is erased from existence by Cartoon Network! It’s time for Guardians of the Galaxy: the Ride: the Comic! Chris Claremont shares some very uncensored opinions at C2E2, and oh ho ho you’d better believe the internet reacted.

And last but not least! We review and discuss LYCAN: SOLOMON’S ODDYSSEY, a new historical werewolf horror (but more!) graphic novel by Dennis Robinson, Sal Donaire, Ezequiel Dominguez and Joel Saavedra, published by Hive Head Studios. Spoilers: we dug it! And we’ll tell you why you may dig it too! [And incidentally, we’d love to do more indie reviews, so please reach out to us if you’re interested!]

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348: Don’t Quote Me on this Podcast that’s Recorded and Released Online

The Zero Issues July Vacation Classic Spectacular comes to a close! As the boys try to remember how they got to the blue side of the Moon, enjoy what may be the most classic “classic” of all:

We’re baaaaaaack! And we’ve got all the latest and greatest news from SDCC!

*checks watch*

*checks calendar*

Oh.

Well, we’re still back, and we are still our very charming selves. VERY charming.

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283: Do You Know What Happens to Darkseid When he’s Hit By Lightning?

Since the beginning, the superhero works of Zack Snyder have loomed large over this podcast. The source of debates, disagreements, and endless jokes. But now, our greatest challenge yet has arrived, and the team is united as they… watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League and talk about it for a while, I dunno! But that’s not all: Jamie “The Roastmaster” Nichols joins to help, bringing the perspective of a movie fan who doesn’t know much about the original comics! But first: What is the Mystery of Meemaw? Can you pinpoint the exact place we stopped bothering to bleep out F-words? Can you guess which one of us was secretly Martian Manhunter the whole time? Find out as you reach around into this extra-long, extra-sweary episode brought to you by RNC Coffee (promo code: zeroissues) and The Goofy Movie on Disney Plus!

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258: Hawkman Hits a Window

We pit the JSA against each other in a series of “Survivor” style scenarios! Green Lantern! The Flash! Atom! Hawkman! Sandman! The Spectre! Wonder Woman! Hourman! Black Canary! Dr. Fate! Which old-time superhero would survive being stranded in the woods? Working retail at Christmas? A galaxy-wide bar crawl with Hal Jordan? Social media? A Zack Snyder movie!? And more!!

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253: Peril at Castle Snyder

We really meant for this episode to be all about Mike Mignola, we did! But then Bry and Kyle were told of a secret screening of the Snyder Cut that was happening out at a private country estate, and… no wait, that’s the Chooses the Doozes story/game that Merk puts his cohosts in this week! What mysteries will BryKy oncover? What traps has Merk laid in waiting for them? What is Gal Gadot’s speaking voice? All that and also some news, this week!

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241: Justice League-The Craft Services Cut

So … it’s finally happening. The elusive Snyder Cut will hit HBO Max next year. How? Why? What? WHAT?!?! And at twice the original length?!? We puzzle over how this will come about. Extra characters? Extra subplots? Mirrors? All without reshoots? But…. how? We’re baffled. Join us for this and lots more! Batwoman recasting! Mandalorian casting! We go over another #release’SOME DIRECTOR’S’ cut. And in a warm up we do a Snyderesque game of Character Storm! And we postulate on OTHER films that demand a director’s cut! #releasethefattermartiancut !

 

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218: Death by a Thousand Snyder Cuts

Release the Snyder Cut! I guess! There’s somehow still talk of this thing (possibly more talk, even), so this week, we’re coming up with our own Snyder Cuts. How do you fix a movie like Justice League, anyway? And how could you fix other movies in the same way?

Plus, we’re talking about comic book piracy. When indie books are being downloaded by the hundreds of thousands, and the creators are broke, is that cool? On the flipside, comic books are damned expensive, dawg. Like, real ‘spensive. We solve this problem*!

All that, and Kyle manages to contribute to the news for once.

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*we do not

 

 

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131: The Justice League vs. a PS3 Game

The world is mired in darkness and all hope is lost, so a ragtag band of heroes must assemble to face a grave threat… That’s right, the Zero Issues boys are joining forces to take on “Justice League”!

The big culmination of the Snyder era of the DCEU sure is… something… and our reactions to the movie are as mixed as the film itself! What we liked! What we hated! What we couldn’t wrap our heads around! From tonal whiplash to costumes made of jeans to ass-shots to codpieces to PS3-level CGI, we leave no topic unexplored as we just really try to come to terms with this movie.

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