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Zits #1
Zits
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.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Jerry Scott
242 books97 followersJerry Scott is an American cartoonist. He is the creator of Baby Blues and co-creator of Zits.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 22, 2016
This is the first collection of the Zits comic strip I could find. It is totally awesome and right on the money for life with a teenager.
April 24, 2021
Always a fan of the Zits comic strip I recently began purchasing all of the books that compile the strips and have been enjoying reading them. The first book, containing strips before I began reading the comic, to me is one of the most unique and funny volumes of all! Yes the characters are more crudely drawn than today and some of them are still in development. But this book had me laughing continuously and clearly explains the success of the strip. A must read for any fan of Zits!
November 2, 2022
Funny way to spend an hour or two.
March 12, 2023
As a huge fan of coming-of-age fiction, this was my first introduction to the world of 15-year-old Jeremy Duncan (I only discovered it a month or so ago, even though it’s been running since 1997) and I loved it. As the blurb says, Zits is “a comic strip about the funniest, most painfully emotionally charged, physically demanding, mentally challenging, and colourful 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.” Each strip follows Jeremy and his interaction with friends - notably his best friend Hector Garcia and the girl he fancies, Sara Toomey - and his parents - dentist dad Walt and guidance counsellor mum Connie - while getting on at school, starting a garage band and enjoying his free time. There were several strips that chimed with my own teenage years and others that I recognised from being the dad of a teenager (I showed my 17 year old son a few of the strips and they made him laugh too) and it was consistently funny, with some wonderful surreal moments threaded through it. The artwork is great (the visual joke that his successful and popular older brother Chad always has a speech bubble obscuring most of his face made me smile), the characterisation is spot on, the one-liners fit perfectly and I’m so glad to have finally found the comic. In fact, the best thing about coming in so late (the strip is still running, thankfully) is how much I’ve got to catch up on and I’m really looking forward to it. Very highly recommended.
February 9, 2024
First time reading this in like 15 years. Was a sketchbook of my teenage years, and it’s interesting to see how it has aged. Some of the concerns remain relevant (relationships, parent-child communication) and some have evolved (CD players, pop culture references, slang). The comics are specific enough to speak to people of certain demographics, but not soooo specific that they’re unintelligible to younger people.
The art is fun—sometimes more, sometimes less rough around the edges, great incorporation of surreal images (people as animals, spontaneous transformations).
A classic. Looking forward to going back through some of the other collections.
The art is fun—sometimes more, sometimes less rough around the edges, great incorporation of surreal images (people as animals, spontaneous transformations).
A classic. Looking forward to going back through some of the other collections.
July 13, 2020
I've always loved "Zits" comics in the newspaper, so when I saw we had this at our library, I couldn't resist checking it out. An enjoyable collection that made me chuckle, it was particularly entertaining since many of the computer/fad jokes are actually out of date now (this was published in 1998). So, in addition to be funny, this book also had some nice splashes of nostalgia.
December 19, 2021
It is with something of a guilty conscience that I give this collection three stars. The sheer craft of Scott and Borgman in putting this together surely deserves four. The meanspirited and obvious hatred of teenagers deserves no more than one. I find this nasty comic strip to be very good because it is so well done. I am erring on the side of generosity.
February 12, 2023
Snagged this one because someone happened to be using a Zits comic a day page as a bookmark in a swap and I remembered enjoying the cartoon strips as a teenager. All in all, it was pretty good for a nostalgia trip - including the reference to Hanson - but they just don't hit the same way as they used to. Still fun, but not quite as relevant as they once were.
November 15, 2021
Great collection.
Hilarious musings of an American teen.
Hilarious musings of an American teen.
May 29, 2022
It was fun to revisit these comics. Hopefully the kids in my class enjoy them.
March 23, 2024
I recently discovered Zits... and immediately fell in love. What amazed me, especially since I am an adult, yet still have vivid memories from my teenage years, is how the comic does not lean in the favor of OR against teenagers, but allows the reader to see both perspectives: Despite not being a parent (yet), I laughed at some comments the main character's, Jeremy's, parents made about him and his habits, and I could relate to how Jeremy thought or felt in a situation.
However, when I purchased this sketchbook, I was disappointed. Zits is a great comic, but I learned too late that it's the most recent comics I love. I enjoy how today's Zits comics show all of Jeremy's emotions and that the comics are colored. In these comics, Jeremy is only grumpy, and the comics are black and white. I also couldn't find more recent characters, such as Pierce. These comics turn out not to be the first published collection of Zits comics but the very first written/illustrated of Zits's strips.
Don't get me wrong--I love Zits and its humor. I just found the wrong book. If you love Zits of today and want to read hundreds of its comic strips, go ahead and find a collection--just make sure the book was published recently.
However, when I purchased this sketchbook, I was disappointed. Zits is a great comic, but I learned too late that it's the most recent comics I love. I enjoy how today's Zits comics show all of Jeremy's emotions and that the comics are colored. In these comics, Jeremy is only grumpy, and the comics are black and white. I also couldn't find more recent characters, such as Pierce. These comics turn out not to be the first published collection of Zits comics but the very first written/illustrated of Zits's strips.
Don't get me wrong--I love Zits and its humor. I just found the wrong book. If you love Zits of today and want to read hundreds of its comic strips, go ahead and find a collection--just make sure the book was published recently.
January 7, 2008
As the mother of three sons, one 16 years old I found this book a treasure of truths humorously presented. any parent with teenagers is sure to enjoy this book and even the odd teenager might gain insight into their parents!
January 24, 2016
It was fun to see the very first of the comic. Especially since it was set before cell phones, and even cordless phones, back when computers were huge and slow and used modems! Fun walk down memory lane!
December 20, 2012
read my way through the entire series (so glad my mum collects so many books)
hilarious. makes me miss the old days (1980's old days now?) and the old comic pages.
hilarious. makes me miss the old days (1980's old days now?) and the old comic pages.
March 27, 2017
Zits are as good and funny as always even if the drawing style of the newer strips are better made wasn't it as bad beginning as many of the other really early comic series.
December 13, 2016
Never seen a comic hit so close to home.
February 3, 2022
Read this as a teenager, gave me tons of laughs.
May 6, 2011
I think this book should be issued to all parents of teenage boys.
March 27, 2018
This selected this since I needed to find a book that I expected to make me laugh, for one of the many reading challenges I'm undertaking this year. It was a good choice, since I'm already familiar with the comic that was published in our daily paper for a time. As the mother of two boys, both now in their 20s, I can certainly relate to many of the story lines in the strips. It's fair to say much of the laughter was of the art, knowing variety. As a bonus this book is the first collection and I don't think I'd seen any of the strips before. It was certainly interesting to see the changes in artistic style and storylines from then to now.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews