Since 1993, artist Scott McCloud has been known for his book Understanding Comics, which has gone on to become one of the foundational texts within media studies, never out of print, translated into over 20 languages, a winner of countless awards, and taught in major universities around the world.

But where did that Understanding come from?

A true auteur, McCloud developed his ideas on storytelling, structure, art, and character, in his comic series Zot!. Drawing on influences from around the world, with a level of characterization rarely seen in the superhero comics of the time, Zot! was something new, weird, and magical. In 1980s comic shops it confounded many traditional comics fans, while becoming beloved to others. Readers saw not just the usual super escapism, but something deeper reflected back from it’s newsprint pages.

In 2020 comic book stories are a cultural phenomenon, and we’re all familiar with the modern myths of characters orphaned by crime, bit by spiders, or shot into space from dying planets… but for every hero who jumps from comics to cultural icon, there are hundreds who simply fade from the popular memory into obscurity. Many certainly deserve their fate, being derivative, or poorly executed, but sometimes you discover a forgotten story and find it filled with more wonder, emotion, meaning, and joy, than any blockbuster film could hope to contain.

Understanding Scott McCloud’s Zot! is a look back with McCloud on his earliest creation and delivers a thoughtful conversation on story, comics, history, and art in a compelling portrait of a young artist, as seen through the eyes of his older self.