''Zits'' is a
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
written by cartoonist
Jerry Scott
Jerry Scott (born May 2, 1955) is an American cartoonist and writer. He is known for co-creating the comic strips ''Baby Blues'' and '' Zits''. He is one of only four cartoonists to have multiple strips appearing in over 1,000 newspapers world ...
and illustrated by
Jim Borgman
James Mark Borgman (born February 24, 1954) is an American cartoonist. He is known for his political cartoons and his nationally syndicated comic strip '' Zits''. He was the editorial cartoonist at ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' from 1976 to 2008.
B ...
about the life of Jeremy Duncan, a 17-year-old
high school junior
Eleventh grade, 11th grade, junior year, or grade 11 (called Year 12 in Wales and England and fifth form in Jamaica) is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16–17 years of age, depending ...
(he was 15 when the comic started). The comic debuted in July 1997 in over 200 newspapers and has since become popular worldwide and received multiple awards.
As of 2010, it continues to be
syndicated by
King Features
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial c ...
and is now included in "more than 1,700 newspapers worldwide in 45 countries and is translated into 15 different languages."
Set in central
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
suburbia, the strip centers on Jeremy as he tries to balance his family life, social life, the academic demands of high school and his plans for the future, often with a heavy dose of
surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
, making it stand out from being just a typical teenager cartoon strip.
Origin
In 1996, Jerry Scott was drawing ''
Baby Blues
''Baby Blues'' is an American comic strip created and produced by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott since January 7, 1990. Distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1995 until January 2022, and distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication as of Janu ...
'', a comic strip about raising children he co-wrote with
Rick Kirkman
Rick Kirkman (born 1953) is a cartoonist and co-creator of the comic strip ''Baby Blues''. He received the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award in 1995, and the Reuben Award in 2012 for his work on the strip. He also served as co ...
. He realized, however, that his profession as an independent cartoonist was limited to whatever joke he could conceive next.
A friend suggested he begin a strip about a teenager. Scott heeded the proposition but was unsatisfied with his character's sketches, finding them similar to those of his existing strip. After Scott discussed the issue with his artist friend Jim Borgman, the two corresponded with one another over the next few months and eventually collaborated on the characters that would become the Duncans. King Features, already distributing ''Baby Blues'' and Borgman's editorial cartoons, began running the new comic strip in 1997 with Scott writing and Borgman drawing.
Charles Schulz liked the new strip, but added, "''Zits'' is the worst name for a comic strip since ''Peanuts''." Said quote would later be printed on the back of the compilation book ''Humongous Zits'', along with a ripped-out piece of paper with multiple different names considered (such as ''Jeremy'', ''Yo.'', and ''
My So-Called Life
''My So-Called Life'' is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. It is distributed by The Bed ...
and Stuff''), with ''Zits'' circled last as the final choice.
Main characters
Jeremy Duncan
Jeremy Michael Duncan
is an intelligent, 17-year-old high school junior (earlier a 15-year-old freshman) who aspires to be a rock musician. He is named after
Jeremy Clyde
Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde (born 22 March 1941) is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy (with Chad Stuart), who had little success in the UK, but were an object of interest to American ...
of the 1960s rock duo
Chad and Jeremy
Chad & Jeremy were a British musical duo consisting of Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, who began working in 1962 and had their first hit song in the UK with " Yesterday's Gone" (1963). That song became a hit in the United States in the following ...
(although one strip shows his parents named him after a lyric in "
Joy to the World
"Joy to the World" is an English Christmas carol. The carol was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnwriter Isaac Watts, and its lyrics are an interpretation of Psalm 98 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the carol is usua ...
" by
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup ...
, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog") and was once mentioned to have an older brother named Chad, who is away in college.
Jeremy spends much of his time with his friends and trying to impress love interest and part-time girlfriend, Sara Toomey. Jeremy was once told by his mother he was conceived to the
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
song "
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...
". When not at school or with his friends, Jeremy is often embarrassed and/or lectured by his parents, Walt and Connie Duncan. For example:
: Jeremy: Mom, will you take me shopping?
: Connie: (with a tear) You don't know how long I've waited to hear those words come out of your mouth!
: Jeremy: To clarify: 'Take me shopping' means I shop, and you wait in the car.
He is shown as having an ability to tell who is calling on the telephone and for what reason when it rings (sometimes even before it rings), as when he told his mom to say hi to an aunt who hadn't phoned for weeks, only to have the phone ring and Connie tell him to "stop that!".
He usually wears his purple shirt over a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and fat tongued Sneakers. He is also extremely tall, even when slouching. Jeremy spends time restoring a 1962
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
Type 2 van with his best friend Hector Garcia, which they hope to
drive across the country when they turn 16. The van is in running condition but doesn't run very well considering its age.
Jeremy is also the lead singer and guitarist of his
garage band, which goes by many names including "Chickenfist", "Goat Cheese Pizza", "Jughead's Hat", and "Angry Dwarfs".
In May 2017, his band received their first business engagement – a 6-year-old's birthday party. It was after the band debuted in a
Battle of the Bands competition that Jeremy received his first kiss from Sara and the relationship took off. Since then, Jeremy and Sara have gone through many arguments,
breakups and
reconciliations. For all of Jeremy's flaws, however, he retains a high sense of morality and integrity as can be seen in the story arc where he
steals a signpost with his name on it, only to return it to the police to free himself of the guilt he feels (although he uses Hector's name when turning it over).
On another occasion, Jeremy is overwhelmed by a school essay he has to write and all the other commitments he has made. A fellow student, Phoebe, suggests he use a website to pull a
bootleg
Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to:
* Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially
* Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence:
** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...
essay off the Internet. In the end, however, Jeremy's sense of ethics overcomes the desire to plagiarize, and he spends the night writing the essay himself.
In late-2000s strips, Jeremy received his learners' permit. In September 2007 strips, Jeremy's mother refers to his being a sophomore in high school. As of 2009 strips, Jeremy is claimed to be 16. On the August 23, 2009 strip, his driver's license was shown.
Running gags in the strip include depictions of Jeremy's room as being so messy that Connie has to dig a tunnel to reach him, his tallness and growth spurts, and his ability to consume vast quantities of food in seconds (either by literally inhaling or shoveling it in; one strip even showed him unhinging his jaw to eat a large sandwich).
Connie Duncan
Connie Duncan is Jeremy's
mother, born about 1955. She is a
child psychologist
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...
, but works only part-time after Jeremy's birth, and her profession is rarely mentioned except in early strips.
She is also an aspiring writer, having begun work on a book titled: ''Coping Effectively with Your Teen''. Jeremy constantly interrupts her work with menial requests or by being too loud and she has yet to even finish the first chapter.
Besides being the family
homemaker
Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...
, Connie acts the disciplinarian for Jeremy. She is frequently seen waking him up for school, berating him for not following directions, and driving him to various destinations. Though Jeremy does not share much with his parents, Connie is always more than willing to listen to him.
She describes a conversation with him as "coaxing a smile out of a clam full of
Botox".
In the strip, she is portrayed a few times as a forgetful
airhead
An airhead is a designated area in a hostile or threatened territory which, when seized and held, allows the air landing of further teams and materiel via an airbridge (logistics), airbridge, and provides the maneuver and preparation space necess ...
.
While Connie means well for Jeremy, she has the tendency to be over-controlling. She consistently reads personal items in Jeremy's room, gets upset when Jeremy makes any hint of wanting more privacy, and wants to do everything for him (except homework, which neither of his parents can do).
Walter "Walt" Duncan
Walt Duncan is Jeremy's father, an
orthodontist who, like Connie, finds it almost impossible to hold a conversation with his son. Walt is portrayed as clueless and old-fashioned about technology, especially computers and video players. Despite Jeremy's attempts to explain how to use devices,
Walt is unable to comprehend even the most basic functions.
Walt is shown as having problems with math, as all he knows is the
Pythagorean theorem
In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite t ...
.
He has been shown to think that a fan belt is part of a search engine and that "Googling" somebody means having sexual intercourse with them. His interactions with Jeremy's peers cause intense embarrassment for his son, as Walt makes comments such as "What's up, dood?", not knowing the meaning behind them.
He is the designated clothes launderer, often getting into arguments with Jeremy over notes in pockets, socks inside-out, and other pet peeves. Walt wears oversized blue pants, a plain white T-shirt, black vest, and
combover
A comb over or combover is a hairstyle commonly worn by balding men in which the hair is grown long and combed over the bald area to minimize the appearance of baldness. Sometimes the parting is lowered so that more hair can be used to cover the ...
(Jeremy has commented that this makes him look like a
Wal-Mart greeter). Walt occasionally reveals memories that attest to a wilder youth, but most of these anecdotes are nonsense. According to Connie, his army jacket which "holds ''awful'' memories" was picked up by Walt at a thrift shop on a day when "the traffic was terrible", left Woodstock to paint his aunt's house when it began to rain, and when dating Connie, he once gave her a bong, mistaking it for a flower pot. In one instance, Walt recalls how uninhibited he felt one night at a
Moby Grape concert. This shocking recollection causes him to forbid Jeremy from attending a similar concert.
Another time, Walt reveals he has had a
peace sign
A number of peace symbols have been used many ways in various cultures and contexts. The dove and olive branch was used symbolically by early Christians and then eventually became a secular peace symbol, popularized by a ''Dove'' lithograph by ...
tattoo since the late 1960s, which has expanded along with his rear end, and is described to now be the size of a stop sign.
However, at times, he has been as cool as he can be to his son, like when he got a
guitar pick
A guitar pick (American English) is a plectrum used for guitars. Picks are generally made of one uniform material—such as some kind of plastic (nylon, Delrin, celluloid), rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, tagua, or stone. They ...
from one of Jeremy's favorite bands who turned out also to be orthodontists.
Hector Garcia
Hector Garcia is Jeremy's best friend and is a guitarist/vocalist in Jeremy's band. The two spend a lot of their time hanging out, much of it trying to restore the VW van and dreaming about where their future road trip will take them.
In practice, the two have not gotten far toward restoring the van past making it run, as the boys usually end up lying on the roof of the van, talking. Hector used to date Autumn, a militant vegetarian who refers to Jeremy as "
carnivore", "predator", "
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
", and "flesh-eater" or the like whenever she sees him with meat.
He has the ability to grow facial hair on command. Hector is from a Spanish-speaking family and lives with his parents, grandparents, and multiple younger siblings
and is apparently Roman Catholic. Around the same time Jeremy learned he was conceived to Stairway to Heaven, Hector revealed he learned that when his parents conceived him, blueberry muffins were burning in the oven.
Over the course of a few recent comics, Hector received a complete makeover from the Posse. The makeover has stuck, ultimately giving him a new character design.
Sara Toomey
Sara Toomey is Jeremy's on-again/off-again girlfriend. Although Jeremy thinks the world of her, she apparently likes Jeremy a lot, but has thought of him as a "salvageable male".
Her parents are divorced and her behavior wavers between kindness and aggravation.
She and Jeremy have broken up many times, but they always seem to make up sooner or later.
Sara's genuine kindness and generosity is evident in one story arc where she cuts her hair short and donates her ponytail to a charity for children undergoing
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
.
In the January 15, 2008, strip, Jeremy revealed he did not want to date Sara exclusively anymore, but was upset when she readily accepted this change. Sara has a locker next to Jeremy in their second year.
Pierce
Pierce is another of Jeremy's close friends, and the drummer of Jeremy's band (after the old drummer, Y.A., quit the band) who, as his name aptly implies, has much of his body
pierced
Body piercing, which is a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn, or where an implant could be inserted. The word ''piercing'' can refer to ...
; in a 2008 storyline, Jeremy learned that when not in the presence of his friends, Pierce finds himself compelled to remove his piercings and dress like a
preppy
Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a perso ...
. Unlike most of Jeremy's close friends, Pierce's last name has not been revealed. He explains this early on, before realizing he has to get braces:
:Pierce: "I have a stud in my
tongue
The tongue is a muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surfa ...
, posts in my
lips, rings in my
nose
A nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which receive and expel air for respiration alongside the mouth. Behind the nose are the olfactory mucosa and the sinuses. Behind the nasal cavity, air next passes th ...
and
eyebrows, and twelve earrings on each ear. I defy anyone to find a way to attach more metal to my head."
:Walt: "Pierce, you need
braces."
Pierce is worried by this until Walt says, "Don't think of it as getting braces... think of it as getting your smile pierced." which makes Pierce so happy, he hugs him. After he gets his braces he shows them off a lot for a while and describes them to Jeremy like they were a work of art. In 2016, he had them removed. Additionally, he has Michelangelo's
Sistine Chapel mural tattooed on the roof of his mouth.
Despite his rebellious appearance, Pierce is actually very courteous and often tries to help out, but usually fails due to his interests and ideals. He is also very caring towards his pets and toward others, which he fulfills by donating to charities. Once, when Jeremy asked him to purchase a necklace for Sara for him, Pierce bought a necklace with a pair of jeweled skulls with intertwined snakes in the eye sockets, framed by a barbed-wire heart.
He has also been described as a very polite and cautious driver by Sara's mom. He began dating D'ijon after she went to see him get another stud in his tongue. Like Hector's girlfriend, Autumn, Pierce is an animal activist and environmentalist and has been known to wear tofu shoes because leather uses cow hides, rubber uses oil, and wood uses trees. A running gag in the comic features Pierce pulling the fire alarm at school. Pierce is quite naïve - in one instance his uncle "sold" Pierce T-shirts for the band with the "Goat Cheese Pizza" Logo for $100.00, when the going rate was $2.00.
Supporting characters
Clapton
Clapton is an often-silent brown cat (breed unknown), adopted by the Duncans in a 2020 strip. He seems to have one eye missing, though this has not yet been explained or addressed by the strip or characters. He is shown to have many of Jeremy's traits, such as heavy sleeping; in the October 30th, 2021 strip, he sleeps soundly on Pierce's drums while the latter plays, leading him to remark that Clapton "will be fine" despite the noise of the trick-or-treaters the following night.
Phoebe
Phoebe is one of Jeremy's classmates and is presented as a
hyperbolic overachiever, using any means necessary to excel academically and enter a "high-power college".
She also consumes massive amounts of
caffeine
Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...
and has an espresso machine in her locker, which annoys almost everyone.
She is constantly padding her college resume.
Sadly, Phoebe is so obsessed with success that she has no sense of right and wrong, and will do nearly anything dishonest to get ahead, such as downloading bootleg reports off the Internet. (Jeremy didn't take her suggestion to do so, and she got caught.) She has no pupils in her eyes, which she claims is due to selling her soul for a 4.3
GPA
Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
.
D'ijon
D'ijon is a student at Jeremy's high school. She is Pierce's girlfriend and one of Sara's friends. She has dreadlocks, a copy of
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...
's ''
The Scream'' tattooed on her tongue
and occasionally wanders around with Pierce after connecting their respective earrings. Her real name is Dionne; apparently, she started doing the "apostrophe thing" in 7th grade.
Autumn
Autumn is Hector's ex-girlfriend and a strict vegetarian, whose social graces are as lacking as her personal hygiene (she appears to have more hair under her arms than on her head). She is noted for her extreme
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and environmentalist political actions such as freeing 50,000 live crickets in the school to spare them from dissection (this only led to them being killed by the school being sprayed by an exterminator.) Autumn despises Jeremy and has called him "flesh eater", "
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
", "murderer" and "cannibal" for eating meat.
Brittany
Brittany is another of Jeremy's classmates and is the information pipeline for the sophomore class. She has the "great gift" of being able to critique the shortcomings of others.
Despite her negativity, Jeremy has several times sought her advice. In one story arc, while she is advising Jeremy about a Christmas present for Sara, she says she is lucky to be Jewish.
Timothy "Tim" Olsen
Tim Olsen is a shy, moody classmate of Jeremy's and the bassist of the band. His mother had breast cancer, and thinking the
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
would make her hair fall out (thus Tim's shaved head), Jeremy and Hector shaved their heads as a token of empathy and comfort. It was not until afterward that they discovered she still had all her hair.
The Posse
The Posse is a trio of vapid girls: Zuma, Redondo and LaJolla. The three have reportedly been "best friends forever" and "share the same taste in fashion... finishing each other's sentences."
All three girls are named after beaches in California. Zuma is portrayed in one comic as one very obsessed with her makeup and clothes, even going so far as to change her
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
number so it is "cuter"; this extends to all of the girls to an extent, however, as they were once "held hostage by their hair" when they were supposed to have been helping Jeremy with a biology lab project. The Posse has the ability to outsource their emotions to each other.
Richandamy
"Richandamy", as their classmates have nicknamed them, are boyfriend and girlfriend Rich and Amy who are generally seen in a constant, intertwined hug. One is rarely seen without the other, except for bathroom situations. They hug so hard that they can feel each other's pores and even undergo cellular mitosis. Their embrace is fodder for much disgust and ridicule among their classmates, triggering many cynical comments. They broke up briefly in November 2006, and Rich was shown to have his arms locked in a "permahug" even without Amy in them.
Guest appearances
Chad Duncan
Chad Duncan is Jeremy's older brother by four years. He attends college and is an
overachiever
Overachievers are individuals who "perform better or achieve more success than expected." The implicit presumption is that the "overachiever" is achieving superior results through excessive effort. In a teaching context, an "overachiever" is an edu ...
and the object of much jealousy by Jeremy.
In his first few appearances, Chad was said to be the perfect child, having his face slightly obscured, and having a more muscular build. He was later re-drawn as looking like an older version of Jeremy with a
goatee
A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on one's chin but not the cheeks. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture.
Description
Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer solel ...
.
Chad is an occasional character and rarely appears, typically showing up during the holiday seasons and leaving abruptly. In one strip, he told Jeremy he had been there for two weeks already. After Jeremy said he needed to pay more attention, Chad replied, "That's what I keep telling your sister." Chad is a business major, "with a minor in uncommunication", according to Walt, as he almost never calls home.
Viral
Viral is another of Jeremy's classmates and friends. Viral is an over-achiever, tending to do many things at once (being class president, captain of the JV volleyball team, as well as many other activities) or better than normally expected. It has been revealed that Jeremy has a slight crush on her, although he is still faithful to Sara. Viral is a bit like Phoebe (for example, Viral also has a GPA above 4.0) but much more principled, and outgoing, and is energetic without a caffeine addiction. Viral also has been perceived as a perfectionist, as well as attentive.
[ ] Viral first appeared in the comic strip on November 7, 2007.
It is possible that Viral may have been Jeremy's girlfriend for a time (or someone introduced for a future love triangle with Sara; indeed, her name is an anagram for 'RIVAL')—during the story arc where Jeremy is caught driving past Viral's house 63 times (of which Pierce is so proud that he breaks down crying), the Judge references Viral as Jeremy's girlfriend, and Jeremy doesn't deny it. She began to appear less in the months after this story arc, and since then, seems to have been dropped from the strip.
Becker
Becker, or Rebecca, is a fast-paced girl who is Jeremy's love interest beginning in 2008 strips. They first meet in the coffee shop, where she added her phone number to Jeremy's cell phone and talked to him (never letting Jeremy get in a word edgewise) followed by a kiss that makes Jeremy infatuated with her. However, Becker has not appeared in the strip since this story arc, save for a brief mention in the September 7, 2008 strip.
Albert Tang
Albert Tang is another classmate of Jeremy's, first appearing in a strip that was centered around Jeremy's birthday. They had both been in class when the teacher mentioned someone's birthday was coming soon. Jeremy dreads that the teacher will mention his. When the teacher goes on to tell the class about Albert's instead, Jeremy exclaims "Hey, what about me?!" He returned to the strip in December 2008, asking Sara to the high school's winter formal. He used a rose and love note while Jeremy dressed up in a
gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
suit. Sara picked Albert. He was also mentioned in December 2010 when Pierce decoded a mumbled message from Jeremy about him studying the wrong chapter for a test. Jeremy was both sorry and amused at this.
Billy
Billy is one of Jeremy's classmates; they are distant friends. Billy is openly gay, although this is only mentioned in a small number of strips. Billy once participated in a poker game with Jeremy and a few of their other peers from school.
Guidance couselor
The guidance couselor at Jeremy's high school is a blond woman whose words and advice to Jeremy are often not heard because Jeremy's mind is lost in erotic fantasies about her, whenever he is in her presence.
Recognition and future developments
''Zits'' runs in over 1,500 newspapers worldwide.
Writer Jerry Scott received the
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
(NCS) Reuben Award in 2001.
The strip itself has been translated into at least ten languages, including German, Chinese, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Estonian." Additionally, both Scott and Jim Borgman received the NCS Award for Best Newspaper Comic Strip two years running,
as well as the
Max & Moritz Medal for Best International Comic.
As of 2009, the creators portray Jeremy as a 16-year old, and say this will probably not change. Borgman comments that the strip is inexorably built around the humorous tension of Jeremy living under his parents' rules and that, without this tension, the strip would cease to be humorous. There is some disagreement among them, however, as to how deep the characters should develop. Borgman would like the series to tackle complicated issues such as AIDS, drugs, and
premarital sex, while Scott prefers not to "see the 6 o'clock news...on the funny pages."
Books
''Zits'' comic strips are collected in two formats. The first is as a ''Zits Sketchbook'' and these are numbered sequentially. They contain approximately one year of collected ''Zits'' strips. The second format is as a ''Zits Treasury''. This format combines the material from the two previous "sketchbooks". After sketchbook #15 was published in 2012, this format was dropped, and since then only treasuries have been published. In 2013, Scott and Borgman created an illustrated novel entitled "Zits: Chillax" based on their comic strip.
Sketchbooks
Treasuries
Novels
See also
*''
Aggie Mack
''Aggie Mack'' was a newspaper comic strip about a teenage girl. Created by Hal Rasmusson, it was distributed by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate beginning on September 2, 1946, and concluding on January 9, 1972. It had a 26-year run, with a title ...
''
*''
Etta Kett
''Etta Kett'' is a long-running comic strip created by Paul Robinson, which ran from December 7, 1925 to November 9, 1974.
Publication history
The original distribution in December 1925 was with the Putnam Syndicate, moving over to the Centr ...
''
*''
Freckles and His Friends
''Freckles and his Friends'' is an American comic strip set in the peaceful small town of Shadyside where young Freckles McGoosey and his friends lived. Although the long-running strip, created by Merrill Blosser, is remembered for its continuing ...
''
*
Marty Links
Marty Links (September 5, 1917 – January 6, 2008) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist best known for her syndicated comic strip ''Emmy Lou''.
Biography
Born Martha B. Links in Oakland, California, she moved with her family ...
*''
Penny
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
''
*''
Harold Teen
''Harold Teen'' is a discontinued, long-running American comic strip written and drawn by Carl Ed (pronounced "eed"). Publisher Joseph Medill Patterson may have suggested and certainly approved the strip's concept, loosely based on Booth Tarkingt ...
''
References
External links
''Zits'' at King Features''Zits'' at Seattle Post-Intelligencer''Zits''at
ArcaMax Publishing''Zits''at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
. from the original on September 10, 2015.
{{King Features Syndicate Comics
American comic strips
Gag-a-day comics
Teen comedy comics
Comic strips set in the United States
1997 comics debuts
Comics characters introduced in 1997
Andrews McMeel Publishing books