Random Reviews: Zot!

It has been awhile since I reviewed any comic books on my blog.  So I figure what better way to be relevant than to review a comic first published in 1987?

Of course Zot! is not just any comic book.  It is an early effort by comic writer and artist Scott McCloud, who is most famous for his amazing comics about comics: Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics.  Reading these books changed the way that I looked at comic books forever.  They have even caused me to be a bit of a comic book evangelist; I feel that the potential of comic books has been squandered in this country and the medium dismissed as "kid stuff".

Despite this, I never sought out Scott McCloud's earlier works.  I am not sure why.  It might be that I was sure I was going to be disappointed in it.  I held his scholarly works on the subject of comics in such high regard that I was afraid of finding out that the emperor had no clothes after all.  It helped that his books were long out of print and hard to find.

When the black and white issues of Zot! (1987-1991) were compiled on one easy to find trade paperback, I figured I finally had run out of excuses.

I shouldn't have worried.  The stories focus on Zot, a young Flash Gordon style adventurer from an alternate universe set in the "retro-future" of 1965, and Jenny, a typical teenage girl from our world.  Technology from Zot's world allows the characters to travel between the two dimensions.  The comics are a mixture between the high adventure in Zot's world and the smaller, more personal stories on Jenny's.

This premise sounds pretty typical for a superhero comic.  What makes it special is the care with which Scott develops his themes.  Jenny is not a true pessimist, but she has to deal with all of the little disappointments of living in the our world.  Seeing Zot's "perfect" world throws these problems into sharp contrast.   On the other hand, Zot can't help but see the best in both worlds.  It's not that Zot doesn't see the bad, it's just that he believes it is outweighed by the good. 

In short, Zot is a character driven book, but it is a book about little changes, rather than big ones.  The action sequences are mostly superfluous, except in how they affect the characters emotionally.  It's hard for me to think of another book like it.  The best I can come up with is Marvels, but even that comparison comes up short in the end.

I guess I would just recommend that you check it out yourself!

Google Chrome Comic Book art by Scott McCloud

Not sure if any of you have checked out Google Chrome yet.  It is basically a new open source web browser with several innovations like a privacy mode and multi-threaded tabbed browsing.  I downloaded it today and have been using it almost exclusively since then.  Which is pretty impressive considering how much I love Firefox!

Why try out a new browser when I was happy with my old one?  Was it because of the technical merits? Well, I am impressed with some of the technology behind it.  Honestly though, it is the fact that they created a comic book justification for it.

I mentioned that Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics changed the entire way I look at the medium of comics.  One of the things Scott bemoans in Understanding Comics is that comic are pretty much seen as only capable of producing stories about adolescent power fantasies (i.e. superheroes).  Manga shows us that there is nothing inherit in the comic medium that prevents us from telling all-manner of stories.  Instead of just superheroes, why not write police dramas, romances, historical fiction, situation comedies, and even non-fiction?  Seriously, a lot of potential is being wasted.

Scott even mentions how the potential of comics as an instructional tool is often overlooked.  An example of comics being used that way are the "comics" in airplanes that explain how to put on air masks, assume crash position, etc.  Sadly, comics are almost never used this way.

When I saw Google had released a comic book about why they created Chrome, I was very intrigued.  Within the first couple of pages I thought, "Wow, whoever did this certainly read Understanding Comics".  I am embarrassed to say I did not recognize that Scott McCloud was actually doing the art for the comic until I was half-way in!

Since Google sent some work to one of my comic creating heroes, I figured the least I could do was try out their product.

I have to admit it is way better than I expected for a beta product.  Heck, it's better then some mature browsers.  Like Safari.

Yeah, you heard me Apple.  Watch your back.

Top Ten Favorite Comic Stories: DVD Extras (Part 1)

I bet you figured I was done with my Top Ten Favorite comic stories once I hit number one.  Shows what you know!  Seriously though, I thought I would briefly touch on a few more comics I love that didn't make the cut and why they didn't.

V for Vendetta:  I have to admit I like this book a lot.  Alan Moore and David Lloyd's create a complex morality play.  The protagonist is V, a terrorist waging a one man war against an England that has become a complete fascist state. 

V for Vendetta raises more questions than it answers.  V does many unconscionable things.  His treatment of Evey is horrific, even if it does help her reach a new level of enlightenment.  But that is sort of V's point.  He is born to tear things down, not build things up.  That is a task he leaves for his successor.

As to why it didn't make the list... well, honestly I can't say why.  Partially, its because I felt the list was starting to become "My Top Ten Alan Moore" stories.  Also, I felt that it was too similar to Watchmen, which was on the list already.

Batman:Year One and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller:

Batman: Year One is frankly one of the best retellings of Batman's origin story.  It almost makes the whole "dress up like a bat to scare criminals" shtick look like the only logical course for Bruce Wayne.  

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is the story of a long since retired aging Batman taking up the mantle again.  The world has changed though, and Batman is branded a violent vigilante who must be brought down.

Between the two of them, Frank Miller helped to redefine Batman for a new generation of comic book readers.  So why didn't they make my list?  Mostly because I felt Frank Miller's Daredevil: Born Again was a better example of this kind of deconstructive storytelling.

At least one commentator has wondered why Paul Chadwick's Concrete series was not on the list.  I am a big fan of the Concrete series, which might be best described as a superhero comic without the superheroics. 

Concrete is the story of a man who is abducted by aliens and finds his mind transplanted into a nigh indestructible cyborg body.  However, rather than decide to try to save the world by punching out bad guys, he uses his newfound fame to become a writer and use his words to elicit change.

Most of the drama in Concrete comes from his feelings of alienation and the fact that he has to deal with the all too fragile world around him.  He cannot have a physically intimate relationship with the woman he loves.  His strength and weight make him unable to sit in normal chairs or even dial a phone without breaking it.  Concrete is not bitter though, more wistful and melancholy as he tries to make the best of the hand life has dealt him.

So why didn't it make the list?  Well, even though I am a fan of Concrete, I do tend find the book a bit to preachy for my tastes.  Also, Paul Chadwick's political views fall quite a bit left of mine, and mine are pretty left already.  Still, if I had put together a top twenty list, I am sure it would be on it.

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud literally changed the way I looked at comic books, manga, and animation.  It is probably the most in-depth look at the mechanics of how comics work ever created. 

This comic about comics is so good, it's almost impossible to describe to someone who hasn't read it.  It is especially impressive because Scott McCloud has to create an entire nomenclature to discuss comic in a scholarly manner, since it has never been done in such depth before.  Nevertheless, it is a relatively easy read, since Scott manages to inject a lot of humor into what would otherwise be a rather dry subject.

The only reason Understanding Comics didn't make it on my Top Ten Favorite Comic Stories is that it is not technically a story.

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross: Set in the future of the DC Universe, most of the old generation of superheroes have retired and have been replaced by a newer and more violent breed.  When Kansas is irradiated and rendered uninhabitable by their antics, Superman comes out of retirement and reforms the Justice League to police these new heroes.

However, in the attempt to restore order, the Justice League begins to trample over the very freedoms they are trying to protect.  This is a familiar theme in comic books, I can't call Kingdom Come the most original story.  Still, between the amazing artwork by Alex Ross and the sense of grandeur imparted by Mark Waid's storytelling, this story has never been told better.

As to why it isn't on the list, it is mostly because it shares too many similarities with Marvels.

Tomorrow, I will look at a few other great comic books that didn't make the list.