Jerry Scott

I have mixed feelings about this. Many of the observations in the strips were spot-on from a teenager perspective, but now, as an adult, I can't help but find Jeremy to be an absolutely infuriating little shit at times considering what his poor parents have to deal with. 3.5/5 stars.

Another great and sumptuous collection of strips. "Zits" constantly amazes me for its ability to be consistently funny over a long period with a limited cast and static time-sense, without ever really repeating itself or becoming formulaic. And this collection has lots of funny comments by Scott and Borgman about how individual strips came to be; I always like that inside look.

Jeremy: "Do you ever feel like you have to edit your thoughts when your mom's around?"
Pierce: "Dude, moms are the show more mothers of censorship." show less

Hilarious. Poignant. True-to-life. I loved this book, even though the strip on page 120 made me cry real tears, not the laughing kind. Jeremy is every teen, and Connie, with her delusions of hipness, is every mom. The fact that my teenaged son was standing next to me the whole time, waiting for me to finish it so he could read it, is a testament to the truth and beauty of it. Highly recommended for parents.

Zits: Chillax (Harper, $9.99) by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman is an illustrated novel, a form that's made a popular comeback in the comics world with the success of Wimpy Kid. The genre is old though - I've got a copy of Skippy by Percy Crosby from 1929 sitting next to my computer as I type this. Borgman's illustrations are integral to the story, as the text quits and let the picture carry the story at times.

I had no idea that a Zits young adult novel was coming out, and was rather surprised show more to get a copy. For any fan of the strip, it's definitely worth reading. Since the press release says the comic is in 1,700 papers, that's probably a respectable number of people. The novel features all the main characters and reads much like a comic strip continuity. Strip star Jeremy and his best friend Hector have tickets to a Gingivitis concert. The band "has a reputationf or some pretty insane stage behavior. Sure, there has been the occasional wardrobe slippage, virgin sacrifice, and live animal ingestion, but it's not like these guys use that to get attention. They are first and foremost musicians." In between ignoring homework about Richard Nixon and Watergate, the two boys need to figure out how to get permission to go to the concert. When they find out that their garage band's guitar-player Tim sold them his tickets because his mother has cancer (a revelation done solely as a splash page illustration), they decide to go to concert and buy something memorable there for Tim (with a bit of prodding from Jeremy's girlfriend Sara).

The novel slips into slapstick when they get to the concert, but even with the cancer subtext it's a light fun read. Borgman's cartoons definitely add to the story, and while Scott's language is probably not that of a real teen, he has a way with a phrase. If you or your children enjoy a drawing with an accompanying sentence such as "There's something beautiful about causing somebody to spew a mouthful of soda just by saying something hilarious (unless, you know, you're in the row in front of that person)" give this novel a try. A second book, Shredded, is previewed at the end. I'll be looking for it. show less