I just wanted to take a second and further explain our reasoning behind the new Facebook Shout-Out “rule” as it were. Before I do, though, let me state that we have received no complaints, no hateful messages or email. This is just me wanting to give more information than I probably need to, but it is who I is.

If you’re not aware, the past 2-3 weeks we’ve made the proclamation that if we go FOUR CONSECUTIVE WEEKS without a new “Like” on our Facebook page, we’ll stop doing Shout-Outs until we get a new “Like.” This was not instated to punish our current listeners, or out of meanness, or even out of begging for “Likes.” Yes, we DO want more likes – we want to share our conversations with more and more people. But in sincere honesty, that is NOT why we decided to do this.

Bottom line is we have gone through our entire list of Facebook fans, and have done repeat Shout-Outs for a LOT of you. Some have even gotten 3-4 Shout-Outs on the show! We are very generous that way. Yes, sometimes we embellish and we have fun with them, but that’s just letting you know you are a part of the family. What we seriously LOVE is being able to Shout-Out NEW people, though, because it excites us that we have a new listener, and it allows YOU ALL to hear about these new Legionairres. So it’s just FUN.

Will we stick to this ruling? Yes, we will (as long as I remember to). But so far, we haven’t had to! And even as I type this, we have THREE NEW LIKES today, so apparently our “warnings” are working! lol

At any rate, the Facebook Shout-Outs are something we do to give back to all of you that support the show by “Liking” the Facebook page and listening to the show every week. We really do appreciate it, and it’s the least we can do. We just want to spread the fun around, that’s all.

Speaking of supporting the show, as an aside, if you’d like to help us out, please consider giving us a review on iTunes or listening to us through Stitcher. Both will help the show get more notice and (hopefully) increase our audience! We’re also never adverse to accepting donations. lol But in all seriousness, just spreading the word about the show and enjoying it yourselves is plenty for us.

In closing, when you do tell your friends, or write your reviews, make sure you let everyone know to “Like” our Facebook page so we can Shout them Out on the show! And tell everyone to visit this website, Comic Related and Dark Avenger INC!

Thanks!

-B

We got approved for Stitcher.com, this week, gang! So now you have one more place to listen to us at!

If you’re not familiar with Stitcher.com, it’s an online Radio Station in the simplest explanation. The call it “SmartRadio.”

It’s basically a way to increase our audience as Stitcher offers a ton of programs that people can pick and choose from. And it’s free!  So it’s just a great service that we’re thrilled to now be a part of.

You can see the Stitcher button in the sidebar on the right there, and it’ll be present on the CR posts as well. We’ll have a link to our Stitcher page in the show notes each week also.

So if you are a Stitcher user already, you can add Zone 4 to your listening list. If you’re new to Stitcher, please check us out first!

We’ll have a new All-DC Comics episode up later today, and then Tuesday we launch Toy Zone, and sometime soon we’ll have our Walking Dead Season 3 Finale extra!

A lot of great things to come from Zone 4! Now go listen to us on Stitcher!

-B

Wow… I can’t believe it has been four years already! It doesn’t seem like yesterday when we were first putting this show together, but it certainly doesn’t seem like it’s been four years either. 211 consecutive weeks (not sure how that math works out, but it’s true!) with another in the bag this week. Never missing an update and four years later here we are.

It seems like every anniversary or special episode we have we start the path down memory lane and recap the beginnings of the show and all that. You’ve heard it a dozen times, so we’re not going to do that this week, and I’m not going to do that here. What I will do is thank my original co-hosts, Cary Kelley, Chuck Kennedy and Jason Berek-Lewis for embarking on this adventure with me. All we wanted to do was talk to each other about comics and have fun doing it. And we did. They may not be with me on the journey anymore, but they helped chart the course, and those are memories I will never forget.

And I’ll thank my current co-hosts, John Wilson, Ron Fortier and Gordon Dymowski, who have been with me for a while now, always providing great conversation and fun times as well. We have done well, and we have big things to come, my friends.

And I can’t forget the many reservists and recurring guests we’ve had on the show that are too numerous to list here. Check out the Cast page for their names. You know who you are, though, and I–We thank you.

Now, as for what we have planned for this momentous occasion… it’s nothing too big really. We did a live call-in show for our 100th episode. We did a live video chat for our 200th. Yes, four years is a milestone considering the number is in our title! But we decided against doing anything that spectacular this time around. Instead, we are going to talk about us! Yes, that’s right, we’re taking an entire episode just to stroke our own egos. (that’s a lie – well, partially anyway).

No, what we are going to do is give updates on the various Zone 4 projects in the works. We are also going to talk about what we’re all up to outside of Zone 4. Kind of an extended version of our Plugs segment, that I’m tentatively calling Unplugged. Sure, we’ll still have the usual headlines and Facebook shout-outs and all that jazz, but we’re just taking a little time to fill you in on us more or less.

But then what, you may ask, is being done to celebrate this 4-year anniversary? I’m glad you asked! Because there IS something we are doing especially for this event. But I’m not going to announce it here just yet. Tune in to the show on Friday and you’ll hear exactly what we’re going to do. And it’s pretty cool if I do say so myself. Consider it a special treat for all our Legionnaires!

I’ll also be officially announcing the spinoff show I’ve been teasing for weeks now, and we’ll make some other announcements too. Even though it’s much more low-key than previous anniversary episodes, it’s definitely one you don’t want to miss!

In closing, for all of you who have stuck with us through the years, through the good and the bad, and to all of the new listeners that have found us and for whatever reason fell in love with our bacon-loving, wacky antics, we salute you and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! There have been times I’ve considered hanging it up, but you all keep me coming back. Your support means the world to me-us. And after four years of doing this, you still make it exciting and fun for me to come back each and every week. And I’m sure my co-hosts share that sentiment.

So until Friday on episode #212, thanks for reading, thanks for listening and thanks for everything!

-B

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! Listen to episode #209 on Friday, March 15th to hear the winners of the 2012 Zonies!

The ZONIES return to Zone 4 as we pick the best of 2012 as we see it. But this year, we have opened up voting to the public for the first time! So now YOU get to choose the ZONIE recipients! Of course, those recipients will only be receiving props and an air high-five, but hey, that’s how we do it!

The polls are up on the Zone 4 Facebook page ready for voting, and some have already taken advantage of my mistake in allowing write-in votes on some of them, so that’s cool.

Voting is open until Monday, March 11th, and then we’ll tabulate the votes and announce the winners on episode #209 of the podcast on Friday, March 15th!

So get to voting!

Here are links to the individual polls in case they aren’t immediately visible on the Facebook page:

Best Ongoing Comic Series
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509474819094145/

Best Limited Comic Series
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509474995760794/

Best Original Graphic Novel
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509475115760782/

Best Writer
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509475759094051/

Best Penciller
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509476112427349/

Best Inker
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509476319093995/

Best Colorist
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509477639093863/

Best Letterer
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509478342427126/

Favorite Character of 2012
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509478482427112/

Biggest Surprise of 2012
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509478662427094/

Best New Ongoing Series
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509479002427060/

Best New Limited
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509549462420014/

Best Comic Cover
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509549679086659/

Best Announcement of 2012
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509549925753301/

Best Webcomic of 2012
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509550392419921/

Favorite Comic Company of 2012
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509550985753195/

Best Romantic Relationship of 2012
https://www.facebook.com/questions/509551249086502/