Am I officially a geek now?
Okay, I guess to pre-empt the chorus of laughing “friends” I’ll beat everyone to the punch and say that yes, I’ve been a geek for years. But today was the first time I’ve actually gone out and made a trip to the comic book store because a special guest was there. That guest, ladies and gentlemen? Scott McCloud.
Most folks know that Scott has many interesting insights into comics, and in fact has an excellent book out called “Making Comics,” but to me he’ll always be the author of Zot! Jump with me into the wayback machine, back to the late 80’s. I was in high school and had already been reading comics for ten years. I did my fair share of buying indie titles, but didn’t discover Zot! until I was in college, at which point I picked it up faithfully in Chapel Hill, at Second Foundation (now Chapel Hill Comics). I always looked forward to it.
Thirty six issues were published, but my collection stops with issue 35. I have no memory of why I don’t have that last one – maybe I had finals? Maybe it came out over break, and I was home and neglected to go the comic book store? Whatever the case, I still have the rest of my collection. So when Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find hosted Mr. McCloud when he was in town for a lecture, I took the fangirl plunge and dusted off my Zot! box.
(By the way, “Zot box” is totally what my secret weapon will be called should I ever enter the field of evil geniusing.)
Man, what a trip down memory lane. It was nestled between my Puma Blues and some Cynicalman and Antisocialman minicomics by Matt Feazell. I used to get these at Heroes when they were on Thomas street. I often went with my dad, who favored Uncle Scrooge. According to Mr. McCloud, Matt’s gone from stick-figure minicomics to contributing to Disney Adventures magazine, so maybe I can pick up something he’s done for my daughter to enjoy.
Aaaaaanywho, Scott was there with his charming family, all of whom were gracious. It was quite pleasant meeting and chatting with he and his wife. I think they took their own little trip in the wayback machine when I pulled out my old Zot!, which Scott was kind enough to sign for me.
It was nice to talk about characterization, and to find that I’d selected an issue which apparently doesn’t make him wince too much. I think we’re all our own harshest critics, particularly of our older work. I look back at my TV spots, such as the one for “Super Borg Sunday” (yeah, we were counterprogramming Trek against the Superbowl) and enjoy it, but I also think about how I would improve it now. And God knows I heave a sigh every time I put on that nipple hat. Yet, while I often pull out the newer stuff, sometimes I still wear the old girl, which I’m sure says something about… something. Nostalgia? Pride in learning new skills? Let’s just go with “something.”
Scott’s wife Ivy mentioned that there was a possibility of getting the later issues (maybe all the issues?) put out again. I’d buy it – it would be great to at least know what the heck happened in issue 36. Seventeen years later and I’m still in the dark!
All in all, it was a very pleasant experience, and intruding on a total stranger’s time and space wasn’t nearly as awkward as I thought it would be, thanks to the grace of Mr. McCloud and his wife. Maybe I’ll come out to another one of these dealies sometime.
Next time: Yarn and knitting pics!
Devolve! (erm, I think that was Zot, with the devolving ray? I read it about 12 years ago)
Devolve! (erm, I think that was Zot, with the devolving ray? I read it about 12 years ago)
Yep, that’s the one! And I may have to look up 🙂
Yep, that’s the one! And I may have to look up 🙂
I will point him thisaway.
I will point him thisaway.
took me a while to remember the exact state of things before #36, that it was Zot stuck in the “real” world because the Zotworld government had passed a ban on interdimensional travel, and Zot got out through the last gate and is now trapped because he’s the only one who has a copy of the coordinates or something. And then we have n issues of meeting all of Jenny’s various friends and learning about all of their various problems while Zot makes a go of being a crimefighter, that the Jenny-Zot-Woody triangle gets resolved and #35 is the Zot and Jenny Sitting on the Bed Talking About Sex Issue.
so…
#36 cover is Zot and Jenny flying, silhouetted against the full moon.
p1:
George, lying awake at night. George is much smarter than anyone gives him credit for. He purposefully gets straight Ds, just to mess with the system and because it’s a challenge (much harder than getting straight As, see…)
p2:
Elizabeth is up late reading her journal. Her mother is yelling at her from the other room telling her to go to bed
p3-4:
Zot prepares to leave on another crimefighting run; Jenny trying to talk him out of it, fails, but extracts a promise that he’ll be back by 6am, no matter what.
Spike lies awake listening to the shouting match between Elizabeth and their mother; the dad pipes up, which turns things into a 3-way screamfest. Last panel is Spike thinking “GET ME OUTTA HERE”
p5-6:
Zot heads out.
Ron lies awake, comes up with another superhero, this one a guy who can teleport anywhere and escape whenever he wants (… there’s a theme here, see…)
Brandi, lying in bed, talking to her dog: “Mommy didn’t mean to hit you….[everything will get better; I just know it…]”
p7:
Terry lying awake: “He said they’d *understand* me on his world. Is it possible?…”
Shots of everybody sleeping.
p8:
Morning. Woody wakes up, momentarily panics at having missed his French final exam, then looks at the clock; it’s still only 6:25am.
p9:
6:52am. Jenny eating breakfast. Butch stumbles in; he’s been out all night drinking.
“…gotta throw up…”
“Butch you’ve got to help me! Zot’s in trouble [… said he’d be back by 6 and he’s not]”
Several panels of Butch with the wheels in his head turning very slowly..
“I’m going to bed now. After I throw up.”
Jenny pleads as Butch leaves.
Last panel: Butch sticks his face back in the door,
“If he’s not back in an hour, come and get me, okay?”
p10-11:
Woody finishes his French exam, turns it in and goes outside.
Runs into George. George is pretty sure he got a D in math. Woody explodes. “You know more math than the teacher himself! [how the hell …]” etc.
Brandi and Elizabeth appear.
Evidently, Jenny didn’t show up for her Social Studies final.
p12-13:
Ron and Spike appear. Yes, the D&D game is still on tonight. No, Ron hasn’t seen Jenny either.
Woody goes back inside to give her a call. No answer. Terry wanders by the phone. She hasn’t seen Jenny either; mentions that the divorce is final. Moment of silence.
p14-15:
City scene; central business district.
Jenny and Butch are looking for Zot using Jenny’s pendant, confused because this isn’t one of the high crime areas.
Turn the corner.
Hospital.
Oh shit.
(continued in next comment)
took me a while to remember the exact state of things before #36, that it was Zot stuck in the “real” world because the Zotworld government had passed a ban on interdimensional travel, and Zot got out through the last gate and is now trapped because he’s the only one who has a copy of the coordinates or something. And then we have n issues of meeting all of Jenny’s various friends and learning about all of their various problems while Zot makes a go of being a crimefighter, that the Jenny-Zot-Woody triangle gets resolved and #35 is the Zot and Jenny Sitting on the Bed Talking About Sex Issue.
so…
#36 cover is Zot and Jenny flying, silhouetted against the full moon.
p1:
George, lying awake at night. George is much smarter than anyone gives him credit for. He purposefully gets straight Ds, just to mess with the system and because it’s a challenge (much harder than getting straight As, see…)
p2:
Elizabeth is up late reading her journal. Her mother is yelling at her from the other room telling her to go to bed
p3-4:
Zot prepares to leave on another crimefighting run; Jenny trying to talk him out of it, fails, but extracts a promise that he’ll be back by 6am, no matter what.
Spike lies awake listening to the shouting match between Elizabeth and their mother; the dad pipes up, which turns things into a 3-way screamfest. Last panel is Spike thinking “GET ME OUTTA HERE”
p5-6:
Zot heads out.
Ron lies awake, comes up with another superhero, this one a guy who can teleport anywhere and escape whenever he wants (… there’s a theme here, see…)
Brandi, lying in bed, talking to her dog: “Mommy didn’t mean to hit you….[everything will get better; I just know it…]”
p7:
Terry lying awake: “He said they’d *understand* me on his world. Is it possible?…”
Shots of everybody sleeping.
p8:
Morning. Woody wakes up, momentarily panics at having missed his French final exam, then looks at the clock; it’s still only 6:25am.
p9:
6:52am. Jenny eating breakfast. Butch stumbles in; he’s been out all night drinking.
“…gotta throw up…”
“Butch you’ve got to help me! Zot’s in trouble [… said he’d be back by 6 and he’s not]”
Several panels of Butch with the wheels in his head turning very slowly..
“I’m going to bed now. After I throw up.”
Jenny pleads as Butch leaves.
Last panel: Butch sticks his face back in the door,
“If he’s not back in an hour, come and get me, okay?”
p10-11:
Woody finishes his French exam, turns it in and goes outside.
Runs into George. George is pretty sure he got a D in math. Woody explodes. “You know more math than the teacher himself! [how the hell …]” etc.
Brandi and Elizabeth appear.
Evidently, Jenny didn’t show up for her Social Studies final.
p12-13:
Ron and Spike appear. Yes, the D&D game is still on tonight. No, Ron hasn’t seen Jenny either.
Woody goes back inside to give her a call. No answer. Terry wanders by the phone. She hasn’t seen Jenny either; mentions that the divorce is final. Moment of silence.
p14-15:
City scene; central business district.
Jenny and Butch are looking for Zot using Jenny’s pendant, confused because this isn’t one of the high crime areas.
Turn the corner.
Hospital.
Oh shit.
(continued in next comment)
p16-17: Panel of Zot in hospital bed with bandages, IV and breathing tube.
Cut to Woody’s house and game in progress. Phone rings. It’s Jenny.
Zot somehow found his way into the middle of a crackhouse raid, was trying to talk to the addicts (who were leading him on); police opened fire. He’s lost a lot of blood, isn’t waking up, doctors are going in now for a 2nd operation.
p18-19: Van heading into the city with everybody (Woody, Spike, Elizabeth, Ron, Brandi, George) in it. Woody’s dad is driving.
They get to the hospital lobby; Butch & Jenny are there. Butch tells Woody to stay with Jenny, takes everybody else up to Zot’s room.
“Woody, I hate this place”
“I know, hospitals are just so …”
“I’m not talking about the hospital.”
“Oh,… right.”
p20-21: Hug.
Zot finally wakes up a few minutes before visiting hours end.
Z: “Guess that wasn’t such a good idea after all.”
J: “No.”
Later that evening, Jenny is back home, in her room, listening to thunderstorm. Butch at the door, “Are you gonna be okay, sis?”
p22-23:
Apparently Jenny’s mom called earlier. Butch talked to her (Jenny is still mad at her and not speaking to her for some reason), didn’t say anything about Zot.
She’s coming back tomorrow night.
“Get some sleep willya? You sound like a zombie”
“Butch?
“I’m here”
“Life sucks, right? I mean, everything just totally sucks, right?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Okay, thanks. Just checking.”
Jenny at 1:30am, watching Larry King, finally falls asleep on the couch.
Dream Zot: “Jenny wake up” “I don’t want to” etc…
p24:
Jenny wakes up. Morning. Sunlight streaming in.
Zot is in the room. No bandages. Completely healed.
“zot? How?”
“They found me.”
Max is standing over by the TV. An open portal is right behind him.
p25:
Explanations. Max managed to reconstruct coords from some old notes.
Zot has spent 3 weeks healing in Zotworld. Time flows differently, etc.
Max and Zot convinced the Science Council
to rescind the ban on interdimensional travel.
They arrange a trip back for the next evening; everbody is invited.
p26-27:
Next evening. Jenny’s front lawn with open portal onto Zotworld.
Woody,Ron,Brandi,Terry,Pam,George,Spike,Elizabeth are all there.
The ones who haven’t seen it before are suitably bugeyed.
p28:
Jenny comes out of the house, bags packed.
She’s moving to Zotworld and that’s that.
“Jen you can’t run away from your problems”
“Yeah? Watch me.”
p29:
Zot stays on the Jworld side of the portal
“I haven’t given up on this world, why should you?
If you run away now, you’ll be running for the rest of your life.”
… Max, can’t you do something?
“[No] It’s her life.”
p30-31
Zot takes a stand. If Jenny gives up her world,
Zot won’t ever come back to his.
Much argument, all of it from Jenny.
Zot just stands there and waits for her to cave; he knows he’s right.
“Our world is dead, Zot! … Why can’t you let it go? …”
Trademark Zot Smile.
p32
“All right. All right.”
Jenny takes her bags back into the house.
“Goddamn “Super Hero” thinks the whole world revolves around him…”
Woody to Zot, “[uh, you were bluffing right?]” Zot to Woody, “[No]”
p33
Everybody is on Max’s balcony. Peabody is getting the flying car ready.
Jenny’s mother appears in the portal.
“Hey, mom! Wanna go for a ride?”
p34.
Everybody (including Jenny’s mom, dazed) is in the flying car over Zot’s city.
p35
More flying over the city. Woody thinks, is it wrong for us to want this?
p36
Another city view, at night with everything lit up.
We’ll be back; we know we can’t stay away forever.
But, just for a while…
And then there’s a letter column. “Zot will return, though it may be two years or more.” Um, yeah.
There’s also a Zot in Dimension 10 1/2 episode, but since I didn’t actually read that one even the first time around, well… let me know.
p16-17: Panel of Zot in hospital bed with bandages, IV and breathing tube.
Cut to Woody’s house and game in progress. Phone rings. It’s Jenny.
Zot somehow found his way into the middle of a crackhouse raid, was trying to talk to the addicts (who were leading him on); police opened fire. He’s lost a lot of blood, isn’t waking up, doctors are going in now for a 2nd operation.
p18-19: Van heading into the city with everybody (Woody, Spike, Elizabeth, Ron, Brandi, George) in it. Woody’s dad is driving.
They get to the hospital lobby; Butch & Jenny are there. Butch tells Woody to stay with Jenny, takes everybody else up to Zot’s room.
“Woody, I hate this place”
“I know, hospitals are just so …”
“I’m not talking about the hospital.”
“Oh,… right.”
p20-21: Hug.
Zot finally wakes up a few minutes before visiting hours end.
Z: “Guess that wasn’t such a good idea after all.”
J: “No.”
Later that evening, Jenny is back home, in her room, listening to thunderstorm. Butch at the door, “Are you gonna be okay, sis?”
p22-23:
Apparently Jenny’s mom called earlier. Butch talked to her (Jenny is still mad at her and not speaking to her for some reason), didn’t say anything about Zot.
She’s coming back tomorrow night.
“Get some sleep willya? You sound like a zombie”
“Butch?
“I’m here”
“Life sucks, right? I mean, everything just totally sucks, right?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Okay, thanks. Just checking.”
Jenny at 1:30am, watching Larry King, finally falls asleep on the couch.
Dream Zot: “Jenny wake up” “I don’t want to” etc…
p24:
Jenny wakes up. Morning. Sunlight streaming in.
Zot is in the room. No bandages. Completely healed.
“zot? How?”
“They found me.”
Max is standing over by the TV. An open portal is right behind him.
p25:
Explanations. Max managed to reconstruct coords from some old notes.
Zot has spent 3 weeks healing in Zotworld. Time flows differently, etc.
Max and Zot convinced the Science Council
to rescind the ban on interdimensional travel.
They arrange a trip back for the next evening; everbody is invited.
p26-27:
Next evening. Jenny’s front lawn with open portal onto Zotworld.
Woody,Ron,Brandi,Terry,Pam,George,Spike,Elizabeth are all there.
The ones who haven’t seen it before are suitably bugeyed.
p28:
Jenny comes out of the house, bags packed.
She’s moving to Zotworld and that’s that.
“Jen you can’t run away from your problems”
“Yeah? Watch me.”
p29:
Zot stays on the Jworld side of the portal
“I haven’t given up on this world, why should you?
If you run away now, you’ll be running for the rest of your life.”
… Max, can’t you do something?
“[No] It’s her life.”
p30-31
Zot takes a stand. If Jenny gives up her world,
Zot won’t ever come back to his.
Much argument, all of it from Jenny.
Zot just stands there and waits for her to cave; he knows he’s right.
“Our world is dead, Zot! … Why can’t you let it go? …”
Trademark Zot Smile.
p32
“All right. All right.”
Jenny takes her bags back into the house.
“Goddamn “Super Hero” thinks the whole world revolves around him…”
Woody to Zot, “[uh, you were bluffing right?]” Zot to Woody, “[No]”
p33
Everybody is on Max’s balcony. Peabody is getting the flying car ready.
Jenny’s mother appears in the portal.
“Hey, mom! Wanna go for a ride?”
p34.
Everybody (including Jenny’s mom, dazed) is in the flying car over Zot’s city.
p35
More flying over the city. Woody thinks, is it wrong for us to want this?
p36
Another city view, at night with everything lit up.
We’ll be back; we know we can’t stay away forever.
But, just for a while…
And then there’s a letter column. “Zot will return, though it may be two years or more.” Um, yeah.
There’s also a Zot in Dimension 10 1/2 episode, but since I didn’t actually read that one even the first time around, well… let me know.
Yay for fangirlishness at a comic shop! Last time I went to one of those it was Bruce Campbell, one of the best nights of my life. Cons are fun too; I remember getting Brian Michael Bendis’ autograph on a couple things about a year before he became the biggest thing at Marvel since Wolverine.
Yay for fangirlishness at a comic shop! Last time I went to one of those it was Bruce Campbell, one of the best nights of my life. Cons are fun too; I remember getting Brian Michael Bendis’ autograph on a couple things about a year before he became the biggest thing at Marvel since Wolverine.
Wait a minute… I have read that! I distinctly remember it now!
Huh. Maybe it was in Old Artist Boyfriend’s collection. Hmmm….
Thank you so much for posting that. 🙂
Wait a minute… I have read that! I distinctly remember it now!
Huh. Maybe it was in Old Artist Boyfriend’s collection. Hmmm….
Thank you so much for posting that. 🙂
Fangirls unite!
And if “Zot!” wasn’t a fan-geek give-away clue, then “Wayback Machine” certainly was!
Gotta love it!
Fangirls unite!
And if “Zot!” wasn’t a fan-geek give-away clue, then “Wayback Machine” certainly was!
Gotta love it!