Zits: Sketchbook 1 [Paperback]

Jim Borgman (Author), Jerry Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

Fitting in. Being different. Growing up. Staying a kid: Zits is a comic strip about the funniest, most painfully emotionally charged, physically demanding, mentally challenging, and colorful times of our lives--adolescence. Those who are living it can relate. And those who have been through it cannot remember the time without smiling, or at least wincing at the arrogance and ignorance we all mistook as maturity during those few eternal years.

Zits: Sketchbook #1 is an inside look at life from the point of view of Jeremy, a private 15-year-old who is desperately hacking his way out of childhood and into maturity. He labors in the shadow of Chad, his perfect older brother who is away at college. Jeremy is a freshman in high school whose main pastimes are hanging out with his best friend, Hector Garcia, forming a garage band, and being amazed at his parents' spectacular ignorance about almost everything. Impatient, self-absorbed, emotional, and bored silly, Jeremy is the essence of adolescence. Zits resonates with its fans because the strip contains so much truth and insight, wrapped in an uproarious context that's all too familiar to everyone who's been 15 or has parented a teenager.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Zits writer Jerry Scott also is co-creator of the award-winning strip Baby Blues. He won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 2001 for his work on both strips. He lives in Malibu, Calif. Zits artist Jim Borgman won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning and the Reuben Award in 1993. Jim lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is the editorial cartoonist for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Jim Borgman is the only cartoonist to win the NCS's Best Editorial Cartoonist Award five times, as well as a Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1993. He lives in Cincinnati and draws for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0836268253
• ISBN-13: 978-0836268256
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Teen Years, September 23, 2000

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zits: Sketchbook 1 (Paperback)

When a strip has a name as tasteful and enlightening as "Zits," you know it'll be a winner. And the third "Sketchbook" just came out!

The absence of "Calvin and Hobbes" left a hole in the witty humor department for a very long time (the WP newspaper has replaced it with the abysmal "Boondocks") but Zits has an almost eerie similarity to it in structure--as well as the fact that Jeremy has a remarkable resemblance to a six-foot-tall Calvin. It's "Calvin: The Teen Years."

Jeremy Duncan is a fifteen-year-old boy who lives in an average home in the suburbs. He tolerates his out-of-it-but-smart parents Walt and Connie, secretly longs for the unattainable Sarah (think of Susie at fifteen), and hangs out with best friend Hector (Hobbes has morphed into a Hispanic high-schooler with more wisdom than Jeremy can ever have).

Jeremy is such an "ordinary" teenager that it's astounding. He longs to be dangerous and edgy, but only makes himself look weird in the process. His schemes and daydreams are funny and very realistic. Hector is the best friend we all want--he's wise, funny, interesting, and against his better judgement he always goes along with Jeremy.

But this isn't a joke at the expense of the parents: Walt and Connie are almost as funny as their son. Though he thinks they are clownish pains, they are actually much smarter than he gives them credit for. "Un-chill" and passe, Connie has a biting wit and Walt a quiet wit. Parents will definitely sympathize.

If you're an adult, you'll be transported back to your teenage years. If you're a teen, you'll nod in agreement.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Strip Can Relate, January 3, 2000

By 

TR Herlihy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zits: Sketchbook 1 (Paperback)

This book is full of strips that can relate to almost every teenagers life. Everything from having a girlfriend to the actions made towards the parents by Jeremy(the teenager), and the actions of the parents towards him. After reading this book I found that almost every strip related to me. It's good reading for all ages (if you can read), so I recommend that you check this book out. You won't regret buying it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the ultimate summit of cartooning art!, September 5, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Petersburg, Alaska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zits: Sketchbook 1 (Paperback)

Today, the cartoon characters are so often grotesque and dysfunctional. Not so in Zits! For the majority of us THIS is a refreshing, good old peek at humor with class, talent, and superb art. The reader can identify with Jeremy, his friends, his experiences, and the parents' perspective. It is a magical combination of first rate profound humor that we can all relate to with clearly unparalleled artistic expression.