Zot! 1987-1991 by Scott McCloud
Zot!: The Complete Black-and-White Stories: 1987-1991, by Scott McCloud, is a great collection of a great series. I was happy to reread its 36 issues, and sad all over again when I got to the end of Zot, Jenny, and everyone else’s story. This collection stands alone, but is a follow up to the out-of-print Zot! Book 1. Zot! is a great YA series, with heroes and villains, but also romance and problems for everyday, interesting, engaging characters. It has a hopeful outlook, which stands in pleasant contrast to bleaker views that have predominated in the comics landscape since Moore’s Watchmen and Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, in the 80’s.
McCloud’s brief commentary is enlightening. It places the comics in historical perspective, as well as on the continuum of McCloud’s work. He followed Zot! with the highly regarded, influential Understanding Comics. He also includes entertaining anecdotes, like the one where his wife went into labor with their second child during a dinner party. She gave birth hours later, while Neil Gaiman sang songs from Sweeney Todd to the elder daughter in the waiting room.