Understanding Scott McCloud's Zot!

We went to interview Scott McCloud with the idea that he would be a quick talking head in a feature documentary we were working on. In an effort to ease him into the interview we asked him about his 1980’s comic Zot. Later when we watched the footage we realized Scott painted an intriguing portrait of himself, his relationship to comics, and a wonderful and overlooked time in comics history all through the lens of a mostly forgotten comic book. We wouldn’t be able to use any of that for the film we interviewed him for, so we used that footage to make this film. You don’t have to know anything about comics or comics history, but the more you do the more layers you’ll find. Like its subject, this film lies at the balance point of esoteric comic book subject matter, and universal human experiences.
Understanding Scott McCloud's Zot! won GeekFest Best Documentary at Los Angeles Comic Con 2022.

[@garyshaller8294]

Great documentary! Zot is absolutely one of my favorite comics of all time. Truly a must-read.

[@dwaynemuth8775]

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Scott a couple of times and he is very humble guy,creative and amazingly informative and underrated! Zot,DESTROY!!,and Understanding Comics and I almost forgot the 1st year of Superman Adventures! Whenever I get any doubts where comics are going with all the marketing and merchandising of the so called big 2 these daze I will always remember Scott and this excellent video! Thank you!⚡️👍😎🎯

[@mailtojds]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this!

[@chthonica]

This is AMAZING! So grateful for this behind-the-scenes of one of the best comics (and artistic experiences) I enjoyed as a teenager.

[@fad23]

Thank you! Zot! has long been my favorite comic. I think hearing that Zachary was a stand-in for Scott's father hit me more emotionally than I might have expected.

[@Bertramtalespinner]

I teared up as soon as he started talking about the girl sitting cross legged. Love you Scott.

[@G_BLASTER]

Thank you so much for this. ZOT! has been one of my favourite comics since I found an issue in a dollar bin at my local comic shop as a kid.
I have the entire original comics run, and all the trades including the edition of 1000 hardcover omnibus of the B&W issues!

[@carlsondrol]

That was fascinating! What a thoughtful and intelligent guy. Really cool to hear his thought processes, as well as the experiences & influences he carried into his work.
Excellent work on this, Dallas and team!

[@andretfg]

This was truly wonderful. Thank you so much for producing such beautiful work.

[@shawngraham2705]

I was late to game with Zot! Bought a bunch and binged it. Talented guy.

[@WakenerOne]

I loved Zot! from the very beginning to the end. I would constantly recommend it, but alas, nobody listened. The owners of the comic shops in town at the time assured me that only two people had it on their (what we now call) pull lists. I was one. P. Craig Russell was the other. I consider that good company.

[@dallashallam8065]

Good company indeed!

[@KevinAgot]

THANK YOU for this wondering documentary. I’ve had close to 10k comics over the years. However, the only constants that have been with me throughout my adulthood have been William Messner-Loeb’s Journey and Zot! As far as I know, this doc is the only one doing a deep dive into Scott’s life and Zot! A couple of things: 1) any plans doing a Journey doc? 2) in the credits, Scott’s last name is spelled two ways (McCloud and McCleod). Do you know the reason?

[@Mikeusagisan]

Great film. I’m not sure about the ending though. Such a downer last line, essentially, “it wasn’t a hit.” Was there nothing better you could have found to give it a more upbeat/hopeful ending?