View source for Zot!

{{Short description|Comic book by Scott McCloud}}
{{About|the comic book|the esoteric computer language|Iota and Jot|the University of California, Irvine cheer|UC Irvine Anteaters|the definition of the word|Wiktionary:zot}}
{{Infobox comic book title
<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
|image               = Zotissue11.jpg
|imagesize           = <!-- default 250 -->
|caption             = <nowiki>#11</nowiki> was the first black & white issue of ''Zot!'', effectively a reboot of the series written to stand independently from the first ten issues in color.
|schedule            =
|ongoing             = Y
|genre               = Superhero, Science Fiction, Romance, Drama
|publisher           = Eclipse Comics
|date                = 1984–1990
|startmo             =
|startyr             =
|endmo               =
|endyr               =
|issues              = 36
|main_char_team      =
|writers             = [[Scott McCloud]]
|artists             = Scott McCloud
|pencillers          =
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|letterers           =
|colorists           =
|editors             =
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|creators            =
|TPB                 = Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987–1991
|ISBN                = 978-0-06-153727-1
|TPB#                = 
|ISBN#               = 
|subcat              =
|altcat              =
|sort                = Zot!
|addpubcat#          =
|nonUS               =
}}

'''''Zot!''''' is a [[comic book]] created by [[Scott McCloud]] in 1984 and published by [[Eclipse Comics]] until 1990 as a lighthearted alternative to the darker and more violent comics that dominated the industry during that period.<ref name="webcomicsreview.com">[http://webcomicsreview.com/?p=151&page=2 The Webcomics Examiner » Making Lightning<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123061749/http://webcomicsreview.com/?p=151&page=2 |date=January 23, 2008 }}</ref> There were a total of 36 issues, with the first ten in color and the remainder in black and white.

==Creation==
McCloud credited ''[[Astro Boy]]'' creator [[Osamu Tezuka]] as a major influence on the book, making it one of the first manga-inspired American comic books.<ref>Montero, Patrick (August 24, 2008), [https://archive.today/20120701135233/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-08-24/entertainment/17903581_1_superhero-comics-comic-book-earth "Scott McCloud's 'Zot!' is out of this world"]. ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]''</ref> He also cited ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' and ''[[Uncle Scrooge]]'' as inspirations.<ref name=AH062Z>{{cite magazine|date=January 1, 1985|title=Zot!|author=[[Heidi MacDonald]]|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics|Redbeard, Inc]]|number=62/1985 Preview Issue}}</ref>

==Publication history==
Despite critical acclaim, ''Zot!'' was initially cancelled after 10 issues due to low sales in July 1985.<ref name=AH106NL>{{cite magazine|date=November 1, 1986|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=106}}</ref> However, McCloud and Eclipse came up with the idea of switching from color to black-and-white, and the comic was then able to run profitably from January 1987<ref name=AH108NL>{{cite magazine|date=December 15, 1986|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=108}}</ref> to July 1991 before McCloud ended the series after a total of 36 issues.<ref name=AH187NL>{{cite magazine|date=January 1991|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=187}}</ref> Issues #19-20 shipped together, and due to McCloud's honeymoon featured [[Chuck Austen]] inking the artist's pencils.<ref name=AH145Z>{{cite magazine|date=July 15, 1988|title=Zot!|author=[[Heidi MacDonald]]|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=145/Preview Special 7}}</ref><ref name=KCA>{{cite book |last=Khoury |first=George |author-link= |date=2001 |title=Kimota! The Miracleman Companion |url= |location= |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |page= |isbn=9781605490274|chapter="Beckum" and the Art of Violence}}</ref>

Eclipse planned to print the color issues as trade paperbacks to support the revived series, but the original color negatives were destroyed when their [[Guerneville, California]] headquarters flooded in 1986.<ref name=AH147TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=August 15, 1988|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=147}}</ref> Instead Eclipse funded new color separations<ref name=AH157GN>{{cite magazine|date=January 15, 1989|title=Graphic Novels|author=Sheldon Weibe, Ed Sample & Gil Jordan|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=157/Preview Special}}</ref> by Dennis McFarling.<ref name=AH170GN>{{cite magazine|date=August 1, 1989|title=Graphic Novels|author=Ed Sample, [[Fred Patten]], [[Rogers Cadenhead]] & Gil Jordan|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=170/Preview Special 9}}</ref> ''The Original Zot! Book One'' ({{ISBN|0-91303-504-1}}) was released in August 1989 which collected issues 1–4 and included an introduction by McCloud.<ref name=AH169TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=July 15, 1989|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=169}}</ref> ''The Original Zot! Book Two'' followed in June 1990, containing issues 5-8.<ref name=AH179NL>{{cite magazine|date=May 1990|title=Newsline|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=179}}</ref>

Although the comic has been [[out of print]], following the collapse of Eclipse it was collected by [[Kitchen Sink Press]] in Book One ({{ISBN|0-87816-427-8}}), which collected issues 1–10 and included an introduction by [[Kurt Busiek]]; Book 2 ({{ISBN|0-87816-428-6}}), which collected issues 11–15 and 17–18; and Book 3 ({{ISBN|0-87816-429-4}}) which collected issues 16 and 21–27. Book 4, collecting the "real world arc" of issues 28–36, was a casualty of Kitchen Sink's turmoil.

In 2000, ten years after the last print issue appeared, McCloud brought the series back in [[webcomic]] format under the title '''''Zot! Online'''''. He published the 440-panel story arc "Hearts And Minds" at ''[[Comic Book Resources]]''. McCloud used an [[infinite canvas]] style for ''Zot! Online'', using trails to instruct the reader what the reading order of the panels are.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbr.com/hes-got-your-number-mccloud-launches-the-right-number-online/|work=[[Comic Book Resources]]|title=He's Got Your Number: McCloud Launches 'The Right Number' Online|date=2003-01-07}}</ref>

In July 2008, [[HarperCollins]] published the complete black and white issues of the series (11–36) in one volume. This edition included never-before-seen material and commentary by McCloud. It did not include the published "Getting to 99" story, but only McCloud's breakdowns, as the art was done by another artist, [[Chuck Austen]].<ref name=Austen>[http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=44561 Zot #19]. [[Grand Comics Database]]. Retrieved November 16, 2011.</ref> In addition, HarperCollins published a limited, signed collector's edition of this collection in November 2008.

==Plot summary==

=== Issues 1–10: "Key to the Door" ===
Jenny Weaver, a normal lonely girl recently relocated to a new town, stumbles across Zot, a superhero from an alternate world who is chasing a troop of robots in pursuit of a key that will open a door hanging out in space. Jenny returns with Zot and her brother Butch to his world. They retrieve the key and take it to the authorities, but it is stolen again. Eventually their pursuit leads them to Sirius IV, a drab theocratic planet, home of the key. While there they uncover a plot to use the key, and the subsequent door opening, as an excuse to lead a holy war against Earth. To foil the plot Zot and Jenny take themselves through the door where they converse with the spirit of Sirius IV. Once out again they lead the revolt against the acting leader of planet who is tricked into goading his subjects on live television. Zot defeats the tyrant, but refuses to lead the planet, stating that they must learn to look after themselves.

=== Issues 11–27 ===
The next sequence features a series of super villains, each of which Zot must defeat in turn.
* Ignatius Rumboult Bellows was his planet's foremost scientist, pioneering the Industrial Revolution, but all his work is made obsolete when more sophisticated worlds share their technology. Bellows responds by determining that he will wipe out the technocrats of Earth.
* Zybox was a huge supercomputer, channelling most of North and South America's communication. When his creator is let go by the government, Zybox escapes to our world, plotting to kill everyone simultaneously and steal a soul for himself in an attempt to fully understand the human condition.
* A cult of de-evolutionaries who believe that coming down from the trees was a bad idea turn the lead cast into monkeys, before Zot manages to save the day.
* Dekko, a villain previously seen in the Key arc, engineers his release from a mental institution and turns up to Zot's birthday party. He is apparently determined to destroy the universe and recreate it with his own sense of order, but instead ends up delving further into his own psychosis.
* '''Getting to 99''' is the only story not drawn by McCloud and features Zot flying deep into the bowels of an underground city (to the 99th floor) just in time to prevent it from being accidentally blown up.
* The Blotch was a gangster with a purple splotch for a head, who appears to be made entirely of some form of [[viscous]] liquid. When he becomes upset he loses control of his physical form and "melts down" into a large puddle.
* 9-Jack-9 (J9AC9K), who also featured in the Key to the Door arc, was an electronically transmitted assassin hired to finish off the president and his family of a distant planet. Zot tracks him down to his base, and during the ensuing battle Jack accidentally electrocutes his human operator, Sir John Shears. However, Jack, the programme, survives independently.
* Following a poll in which Zot! readers could vote for a character to be hit by a pie in the face, a special New Year's party is held in which all the villains and friends of Zot turn up, with said pie making many forays into the air, until finally hitting one of the assembled cast. At the end of this story Zot is stranded on Earth.

=== Issues 28–36 ===
These stories are usually referred to as the "Earth stories" as they feature Zot being stranded on Jenny's Earth. They are more character driven than the earlier stories and focus on Jenny's band of misfit friends. The final culmination of the arc is a cliff hanger in which the whole ensemble leaves to go to Zot's world, though not permanently. The arc also contained an entire Eisner Award nominated issue with Zot and Jenny talking about sex, and an issue dealing with Jenny's friend Terry being a lesbian.

=== Issues 10½ and 14½ ===
[[Matt Feazell]] usually drew a non-canonical stick figure back-up strip to ''Zot!'' in which the characters from the main story were featured in absurd or surreal situations, as well as having crossovers with Feazell's work and other Eclipse books. For two issues Feazell was allowed to take the helm and produced these stories, set in "dimension 10½", with McCloud providing a one-page back-up to issue 14{{frac|1|2}}.

==Themes==
Throughout ''Zot!''{{'}}s run the principal theme is the contrast between Zot's utopian world and Jenny's flawed version.<ref name="webcomicsreview.com"/> The two lead characters find each other's worlds fascinating: Jenny desiring the tranquility of the parallel world and Zot embracing the challenges of Earth. Later on, teenage sexuality, bigotry, [[homosexuality]] and a sense of not belonging are all explored in a sensitive way, displaying Zot (and by association his world) as socially liberal.

==Characters==
===Heroes===
* Zot (Zachary T. Paleozogt) – a blond haired, blue eyed teenage hero from an [[Parallel universes in fiction|alternate Earth]] who flies via gravity boots and fights villains with a ten-shooter laser gun and boundless optimism.
* Jenny Weaver – a sensitive teenage girl from our world and the reader's point-of-view character throughout the series.
* Butch – Jenny's older brother, a typical blustering bully who, after a mishap in the first issue of the series, is transformed into a talking [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] whenever he is on Zot's world.
* Uncle Max – Zot's uncle, an eccentric inventor, artist and surrogate parent whose gadgets help Zot fight crime.
* Peabody – Zot's [[robot butler]]/guardian.
* Woody – Jenny's nerdy but sweet "boyfriend" and close friend for the majority of the series 
* Terry – Jenny's best friend
* Ronnie – a comic book obsessed writer
* Brandy – Ronnie's girlfriend, a thin bubbly, slightly ditzy, girl with an alcoholic mother
* George – a lazy genius determined to get straight D's only
* Spike (Bob) – a violent and rude comic book nerd
* Elizabeth – Spike's extremely quiet and fairly odd sister

===Villains===
Zot and his friends faced a number of enemies, including:
* Bellows – The main villain of the second arc and the only one of two villains (the other being Zybox) who was not introduced in the colour arc. Bellows is a psychopathic, megalomaniacal, and socially awkward inventor whose planet used to be dependent on his inventions before they were replaced by creations by another inventor. Bellows lost his mind and traveled to Zot’s planet, where they clashed before Bellows mysteriously traveled to Earth alongside Zot, where he was defeated. He reappears in the “Ring in the New” arc as The Blotch’s friend.
* 9-Jack-9 – assassin for hire who can travel through any electrical signal. Originally the astral projection of a man named Sir John Sheers, he was killed by Zot. Upon his death his astral form remained and is now a being of pure energy, even more dangerous than before. 
* Dekko (Arthur Dekker) – Max's friend turned madman who slowly replaced his cancer-ridden body with robotic parts.
* The Devoes – a cult of humans who believe that coming out of the trees was a bad idea, hence the name de-evolutionaries. Use de-evolutionary guns to "revert" humans back into monkeys. They are generally unintelligent, and rarely have any chain of command (with the exception of Butch in the colour run), and wear football outfits.
* Zybox – a supercomputer hoping to acquire a soul.
* The Blotch – a gangster/businessman with a warped face trying to stay out of jail. When he feels any important emotional reaction, he may turn into a mass of strange liquid. In “Ring in the New” it is revealed that he can shape-shift when he turns into a cycloptic being.

==Zot's Earth==
Using a portal created by Uncle Max, a link is created from contemporary Earth to the alternate reality of Zot. It is a [[retro-futurism|retro-futuristic]] technological utopia, reminiscent of imagery from [[Golden age of Science Fiction|Golden Age SF]], [[flying car (fiction)|flying cars]], [[robots]] and interplanetary travel are common and nearly all of its inhabitants benefit from peace, prosperity and a marked lack of conventional social ills. There also seem to be subtle differences in the essential nature of the two Earths, as on Zot's world events naturally favor the "good guys" in any conflict. Still, there are several commonalities between Zot's world and the "real" Earth, such as the careers of several popular musicians.

On Zot's utopian Earth, the year is permanently 1965. The inhabitants of Zot's world are unable to notice this, although Jenny and her friends from their Earth realize it. The true nature of Zot's world is never truly explained in the comic, and is left as a loose end, but it is hinted that Zot's world is a copy of the real one.

==Reception==
[[Chester Brown]] was among those to praise the series.<ref name=AH157Z>{{cite magazine|date=January 15, 1989|title=Zot!|author=[[Heidi MacDonald]]|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=157/Preview Special}}</ref> Several ''[[Amazing Heroes]]'' reviewers were also highly positive about ''Zot!'', including [[Andy Mangels]],<ref name=AH149CIR>{{cite magazine|date=September 15, 1988|title=Comics in Review|author=[[Andy Mangels]]|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=149}}</ref> Edd Vick,<ref name=AH161CIR>{{cite magazine|date=March 15, 1989|title=Comics in Review|author=Edd Vick|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=161}}</ref> [[T.M. Maple]],<ref name=AH194RDC>{{cite magazine|date=September 1991|title=Reviews - Eclipse|author=[[T. M. Maple]]|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=194}}</ref> and Eddie Sacks.<ref name=AH196RZ>{{cite magazine|date=November 1991|title=Reviews|author=Jason Sacks|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=196}}</ref>

==Awards==
*1985 [[Jack Kirby Award]] for Best New Series<ref>[http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby85.php 1985 "Jack Kirby Awards"]. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac]. Retrieved November 16, 2011.</ref>
*1985 [[Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award]]<ref name=Lambiek>{{cite web|author=Kees Kousemaker|publisher=[[Lambiek|Kees Kousemaker's Lambiek Comiclopedia]]|title=Scott McCloud|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/m/mccloud.htm|access-date=November 16, 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_manning.php "The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101190330/http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_manning.php |date=November 1, 2011 }}. [[San Diego Comic-Con International]]. Retrieved November 16, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/manning.php "The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award"]. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.</ref>

===Nominations===
*1988 [[Harvey Award]] for Best Cartoonist<ref>[http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/harvey88.php "1988 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners"]. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.</ref>
*1988 [[Eisner Award]] for [[Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/One-Shot|Best Single Issue]] for ''Zot!'' #14<ref name=Eisners1988>[http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner88.php "1988 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees"]. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. November 16, 2011.</ref>
*1988 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series<ref name=Eisners1988/>
*1988 Eisner Award for Best Black-and-White Series<ref name=Eisners1988/>
*1988 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist<ref name=Eisners1988/>
*1991 Harvey Award for Best Writer for<ref name=Harvey1991>[http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/harvey91.php "1991 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners"]. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.</ref>
*1991 Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story for ''Zot!'' #33<ref name=Harvey1991/>
*1991 Eisner Award for Best Story or Single Issue for ''Zot!'' #33<ref name=Eisners1991>[http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner91.php "1991 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees"]. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. November 16, 2011.</ref>
*1991 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series<ref name=Eisners1991/>
*1991 Eisner Award for Best Black-and-White Series<ref name=Eisners1991/>
*1991 Eisner Award for Best Writer<ref name=Eisners1991/>
*1992 Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story for ''Zot!'' #35<ref name=Harvey1992>[http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/harvey92.php "1992 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners"]. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved November 16, 2011.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/zot/ A guide to the characters of ''Zot!'']
*Scott McCloud page: [http://www.scottmccloud.com/2-print/older/original-zot/index.html The Original Zot!], [http://www.scottmccloud.com/2-print/4-zot/index.html Zot! The Complete Black and White Collection], [http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/zot/index.html ''Zot Online Comic – Hearts And Minds'']
*[https://archive.today/20240527124821/https://www.webcitation.org/6bTBYG558?url=http://toonopedia.com/zot.htm ''Zot!''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]].  at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240527124821/https://www.webcitation.org/6bTBYG558?url=http://toonopedia.com/zot.htm Archived] from the original on September 11, 2015.

{{Scott McCloud}}

[[Category:1984 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Books by Scott McCloud]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1984]]
[[Category:Defunct American comics]]
[[Category:Eclipse Comics superheroes]]
[[Category:Eclipse Comics titles]]
[[Category:Kitchen Sink Press titles]]