Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection, 1987-1991 (Limited and Signed First Edition) » (Limited and Signed First Edition)

Scott McCloud has been writing, drawing, and examining comics since 1984. Winner of the Eisner and Harvey awards, his works have been translated into more than sixteen languages. Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) called him "just about the smartest guy in comics." He lives with his family in southern California. His online comics and inventions can be found at scottmccloud.com.

Long before manga took the American comics market by storm, Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, Making Comics) combined the best ideas from manga, alternative comics, and superheroes into Zot!—a frenetic and innovative exploration of comics' potential that helped set the stage for McCloud's later groundbreaking theoretical work.

Zachary T. Paleozogt lives in "the far-flung future of 1965," a utopian Earth of world peace, robot butlers, and flying cars. Jenny Weaver lives in an imperfect world of disappointment and broken promises—the Earth we live in. Stepping across the portals to each other's worlds, Zot and Jenny's lives will never be the same again.

Now, for the first time since its original publication more than twenty years ago, every one of McCloud's pages from the black and white series has been collected in this must-have commemorative edition for aficionados to treasure and new fans to discover.

Includes never-before-seen artwork and extensive commentary by Scott McCloud

Publishers Weekly

Understanding Comics' McCloud spent the first six years of his career on this lesser-known Astro Boy-inspired comic. This mammoth volume collects issues 11-36, along with lots of commentary from McCloud. The series stars Zot, a teenager from an alternate Earth where rocket-powered boots and laser guns are commonplace, and Jenny, a girl from our Earth who just wants to escape her humdrum high school existence. The zippy, pulpy stories feature Zot facing off against a multitude of villains, from robots run amok to thwarted, steampunk-style inventors. Looking through the comics peers through a window at the development of a comic writer's talents; as the art morphs slowly into McCloud's recognizable style, the stories take on more sophisticated subject matter-one later issue features Zot and Jenny discussing sex, like a scene from a soapy teen drama. McCloud's love of classic superhero comics is clear, even as he consciously contrasts it with the problems of the real world. The collection only suffers from the absence of the first 10 issues, leaving new readers confused at some unexplained plot twists, but it is sure to be a treasure trove for McCloud fans or lovers of intelligent retro comics action. (July)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.