Zero Issues

An ongoing podcast series by three bald dudes who love and make comics! Your Hosts: Bry Kotyk, Kyle Lees and Merk. Produced by Kyle Lees. Subscribe on iTunes! | Follow on Facebook! | RSS Feed | Email us!

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Moving Day

Hey gang! After a year and a half on Tumblr, we’ve moved to our brand-new website at zeroissues.com. It’s got all the same content, but it should be a bit easier to find old episodes, and our RSS feed is not working properly for the first time in... ever. Thanks for following the podcast! Much more to come, starting with the 2016 Advent Calendar series beginning tomorrow, December 1st! From now on all new episodes will be posted at the new website, so please follow us there!

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ThunderCon: Webcomics and Podcasts

Presenting a special, glow-in-the-dark holo-foil miniseries event: the ThunderCon Live Special (Part 3 of 3)! We had the pleasure of sitting on three panels during ThunderCon on October 25th, so for the next few days we'll be sharing those as some bonus episodes! Today: Kyle, Bry, and Merk are joined by Mandy Osipenko of the podcast series LittleGeekLost to talk all about creating webcomics and podcasts!

Direct Download: MP3

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ThunderCon: The Rise and Fall of Mainstream Fandom

Presenting a special fold-out die-cut cover miniseries event: the ThunderCon Live Special (Part 2 of 3)! We had the pleasure of sitting on three panels during ThunderCon on October 25th, so for the next few days we'll be sharing those as some bonus episodes! Today: Kyle, Bry, and Merk are joined by Todd Shewchuk once more to talk about “The Rise and Fall of Mainstream Fandom”.

Direct Download: MP3

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ThunderCon: The Changing Face of Comics

Presenting a special, chromium-embossed miniseries event: the ThunderCon Live Special (Part 1 of 3)! We had the pleasure of sitting on three panels during ThunderCon on October 25th, so for the next few days we'll be sharing our recordings as some bonus episodes! Today: Kyle, Bry, and Merk are joined by Todd Shewchuk to discuss "The Changing Face of Comics" and all that entails.

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 50: Trivia - Winners Don't Drink Drugs

Did you miss us? We missed you! This week, we're celebrating fifty episodes (plus a bunch of bonus episodes, a whole Advent Calendar full of minis, and more) with the biggest, dumbest "don't get it right and you drink" trivia contest ever!  Who will bring home the Koozie of Champions? Who has the most obscure questions? Who thought that we should record this episode immediately after recording two other episodes?  Really guys, who thought that, we're all cuckoo.

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 49: Ultraviolence - Think of the Children

Ready for a bit of the ol' ultraviolence? We are! We kinda are. This week, we point a barbwire baseball bat at over-the-top violent comics. Are they good? Can they ever be good? Is it a good storytelling technique, and what's the line? We try to figure that out, on location from the Korova Milk Bar.

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 48: Canadiana - Get Pucked

Canada and comics! Two topics the Zero Issues boys are especially qualified to discuss. This week's episode is about Canadian comic series, characters, and creators! We’re talking about all your favourites, like Red Ketchup, the Polka-Dot Pirate, Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Captain Newfoundland, Purple Rider, and of course… Puck! Pour yourself a glass of Ontario craft beer and join us for an in-depth and funny chat about all things Canadiana in comics! And only like 7 weeks too late for Canada Day!

Outro Music: "Log Driver's Waltz" by The Bay Street Bastards Image Source: Robot 6 Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 47: Merchandise - I’ve Got the Kessel Runs

Zero Issues is back, and this time we're talking all about comic and pop culture merchandise! Particularly the really weird, bad stuff. Join Kyle, Bry and Merk as we ask "why would anyone decide this was a good idea?", discuss a fake line of superhero beers that should totally be real, quiz each other on whether strange items of merchandise are real or fake, and ponder if Marvel is purposely tanking their own properties.

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 46: Magic - They Call Me Jimmy Snikkits, or: Trust Me, I'm Lying

This week we're talking about magic! Also, Magik. ALSO: various magic doctors, Zatanna, making pre-established non-magical characters into magical ones, Captain Britain, and, ummm, Belasco Hot Sauce? It's gonna be a journey. A MAGICAL journey. (Sorry about that.)

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 45: Miniseries - The Soup Episode

You know those series that are, like, shorter than regular series? Of course you do! They’re miniseries, and they’re often great! So join us as we discuss the pros and cons of self-contained limited series, talk about our favourite examples, ponder how they fit into the current comics landscape, and go off on some tangents about Doctor Strange, Secret Wars, and Alan Moore’s fancy wedding hat. All that and more in the Zero Issues Miniseries Episode: Part 1 of 1!

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 44: Lightning Round - Too Much Lightning

It's a full-sized lightning round! Make yourself a team of Avengers, take down the Hulk with three trick arrows, and fix Free Comic Book Day! All that and so much more, it's cazy how much more, this is a dense episode where we bounce all over the place. Stop reading this and press play!

Direct Download: MP3

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Extra: Current Issues

It’s an extra-special, extra-current Zero Issues, recorded just last night! Kyle, Bry, and Merk discuss recent events in comics: from the controversy over half-page ads, the trouble with advance previews, some Secret Wars impressions, and recent comic and “real” book recommendations! All that, and a sing-along too!

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 43: Grown Ups - The Metaphor That Wouldn’t Die

Are comics growing up? That's the question that Merk springs on us this week, and what results is maybe one of the smartest episodes we've done yet. We've come a long way from Ben-Day dots, and we're celebrating the journey that our favourite pastime has gone on. Join us as we laugh a little, cry a little, and drink a mature, adult amount. And no more, for real. This week's episode is brought to you by The Sovereign Room, Bight, Crocks, and The Foundry. We did our part, now you give us money!

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 42: Age of Ultron - People Died For Sure

Age of Ultron: bad event comic, pretty good movie! This week we run long... just like the movie! And we don't get around to everything we talk about... just like the movie! Nitpicks, things we loved, and what comes next? Also: a game of Who's Your Favourite Chris. This week on Zero Issues: Age of Coaltron!

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 41: The Dickishly Hard Quiz Show

It's another comic book quiz show episode! This time Bry's the quizmaster, and he tried to make it challenging. And he succeeded... if you call "really overdoing it" succeeding. Kyle and Merk have their buzzers at the ready, so join us for the quiz show! QUIZ SHOW!

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 40: The Cull List - AM I SHOUTING?

Who lives? Who dies? We play God this week (lower case god? Upper case? Bry, you're the expert, help me out), and talk about what comic book characters we don't really want to see above ground anymore. Be warned: not everyone makes it out of this episode alive! 

We're fine, though. 

All of us are fine. Not dead.

Direct Download: MP3

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Episode 39: Daredevil - The Horniest Man in New York

Hey, you guys like Daredevil? We sure do! We like gritty Daredevil, we like swashbuckling Daredevil, we like Affleck Daredevil, even... we like 'em all! Except Shadowland, Shadowland was dumb. Let's chat about this fella! 

Oh, and hey! Zero Issues is now one year old! It can walk, a little, and is real close to saying its first word. My guess for what that word will be: neeeeeerds.

Direct Download: MP3