Zits Supersized: A Zits Treasury [Paperback]

Jim Borgman (Author), Rebecca Tanquery (Author), Jerry Scott (Author)

Book Description

Series: Zits Treasury | Publication Date: April 2, 2003

Fifteen-year-old Jeremy Duncan is bored with school. His mom talks his ear off. His dad's jokes are lame on a world-class level. But while Jeremy may believe much of his life is a big yawn, parent and teen readers of the comics pages from more than 1,000 different newspapers eagerly embrace the real-life humor and clever stories of Zits every day.Zits: Super-Sized marks the third anxiously awaited treasury of the hilarious trials and tribulations of Jeremy and a dynamic cast of characters that includes girlfriend Sara, best-friends Hector and Pierce, and parents Connie and Walt. The strip is such a funny pages staple that it's hard to believe it was only six years ago that creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman were pondering whether Zits was the right name for their soon-to-debut strip. Charles Schulz told Borgman that it was "the worst name for a comic strip since Peanuts." It only stands to reason that the strip would go on to Peanuts-like notoriety. Today, it's impossible to imagine that the humorous, edgy strip could be known by any other name. Complete with brilliant four-color illustrations, Zits: Super-Sized chronicles more than two years' worth of the wildly popular strip that's twice been honored with the award for Best Newspaper Comic Strip by the National Cartoonists Society.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Zits creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman are two-time winners of the National Cartoonists Society top honor for Best Newspaper Comic Strip. Jerry, the writing side of the duo, is also cocreator of the tremendously popular Baby Blues strip and winner of the 2001 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year. He lives in Malibu, Calif. Jim is the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Cincinnati Enquirer, a four-time winner of the National Cartoonists Society's Best Editorial Cartoonist Award, and the 1993 Reuben Award winner for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year. He lives in Cincinnati.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (April 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740733079
• ISBN-13: 978-0740733079
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 10.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #321,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The return of Jeremy Duncan, August 9, 2004

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 Supersized: A Zits Treasury (Paperback)

He is your son, your brother, your neighbor's kid, and your kid's best friend. He is Jeremy Duncan, the sullen star of the hit comic strip "Zits." In the third treasury, "Zits Supersized," Jeremy continues with the typical troubles of a teen -- clueless parents, a longing for freedom, hijinks with pal Hector, and a commitment-phobic girlfriend.

Living in the suburbs with his orthodontist dad Walt and child-shrink mom Connie, Jeremy longs for the wild, dangerous life of a rock star. Unfortunately, he's mired in a relatively quiet life. But even if he's not a rocker, Jeremy has plenty of excitement in his life -- he makes the mistake of sleeping nude on the roof, starts calling his dad "Walt," and gets a summer job digging koi ponds. If only he knew what a koi was.

A new guy arrives at school -- Pierce, who lives up to his name by having several pounds of metal sticking through various body parts. Jeremy makes the mistake of having an all-night horror-movie marathon... while his parents are out of the house. And Jeremy has a bad breakup, then encounters a beautiful orthodontist's daughter at a convention, but he still can't forget Sara.

Remember "Calvin and Hobbes," which so aptly showed the inner thoughts of a six-year-old? Fast forward about nine years, and Calvin has transformed into Jeremy Duncan. (Hobbes has turned into a stocky Hispanic teenager) With the same sort of whimsical realism, "Zits" appeals to all age groups by spoofing both teens and parents at once.

Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott (of "Baby Blues" fame) also add in the unedited "Good Night Dude" spoof of the classic kids' book. It's a few stanzas longer, with some wink-nudge naughty material ("And a picture of.../a girl with some big bazooms"). "Good night clutter/good night dust/good night week-old pizza crust!" Jeremy says joyously.

Jeremy himself is the contradiction of a teenager -- he wants to be a bad boy, but is locked in the personality of a good boy. His long-suffering parents try desperately to understand him, which only drives him crazier. His high school is inhabited by an amusing array of freaks: the airhead patrol, the militant vegetarian, the gooey couple who never stop hugging, and the barb-tongued gossip.

"Zits" has lost its initial freshness, but the fifth and sixth books in this treasury show that it's still solidly in its groove. Funny and goofy for anyone who has either been a bewildered parent or a disgruntled teen.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Humorous Trials of Jeremy Continue, March 9, 2004

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zits Supersized: A Zits Treasury (Paperback)

Zits is fast becoming a modern classic comic strip, and with good reason. It is consistently funny. The authors, Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, use every humor tool available to them to get their point across. And, no matter whether it's exaggeration, sarcasm, understatement, or a hilarious sight gag, this book is sure to entertain.

The collection starts with the "director's cut" of "Good Night Dude." The original strip appears later in the collection, but here we get a full spoof of the classic picture book.

From there, we launch into the daily strip. This book contains strips from sketchbooks #5 and 6, "Unzipped" and "Busted." As an added bonus, the Sunday comics are in color. We get about a year and a half of strips all in one place. Not only do we get the latest on Jeremy and Sara's rocky relationship, but we get to see Jeremy and Hector start their own summer business for no fun and little profit. Pierce also joins the band this time around, with the most amazing intro to the most amazing drum solo you've ever heard. Along the way, gentle fun is poked at teens, parents, peers, and school equally.

Actually, the peers seem to have come into their own this go around. I don't remember enjoying Jeremy's friends from school so much. And Hector's put downs remind me of Hobbes from "Calvin and Hobbes." I especially loved his stuff from the week about the internet intelligence quiz.

Any teen or anyone living with a teen will love this strip. If you aren't careful, you might even starting laughing at yourself a little more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the better Zits collections, March 5, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Zits Supersized: A Zits Treasury (Paperback)

There are multiple problems with the Zits series, mainly pertaining to Jeremy's mother (I mentioned this in my review of Random Zits) but this edition gets it pretty well. However, both Big Honkin' Zits and Random Zits were better in terms of plot. Regardless, there are some funny strips here.

It has always been blatantly obvious that the situations in the strip were inspired by real teenagers somewhere, and here it doesn't get any better. Sadly, this treasury probably has the highest number of undoubtedly real situations. Despite that, there is not a total absence of plot. Another reviewer said that the buddies come into their own more this time. This is very true- Hector has some pretty awesome comebacks here (yes, even better than his ones during the Amber incident in the last book) and Pierce is introduced. Pierce would be better developed later, but I like to think of this book as the Last Stand of Tim, the one where quiet Tim Olsen left the scene in favor of Pierce for a while.

Anyway, not much else to say. Out of the four currently out (haven't gotten Crack of Noon yet), probably the third best. Not a good introduction like Big Honking Zits, or with the sheer comedic value of Random Zits, but a welcome addition to your collection.