Episode 249: Zot! The Earth Stories
From The Comics Canon by The Comics Canon
January 21, 2026 · 1h 38m
About this episode
The episode celebrates the 10th anniversary of the podcast with a discussion of Scott McCloud's Zot! The Earth Stories, exploring themes of optimism and social issues.
On this episode, we celebrate our 10th anniversary -- and gear up for our 250th episode -- with a discussion of Zot! The Earth Stories! Specifically, Zot! #28-36 from 1989-1991, written and drawn by Scott McCloud, originally published by Eclipse Comics! The high-flying teen superhero Zot zips merrily along in a bright, shiny and cool retro-futuristic version of our world, cheerful and carefree – so what happens when he ends up stranded on OUR Earth? Mostly, he cedes the stage to his not-quite-girlfriend Jenny and her high school friends, most of whom get a moment to share the spotlight in these touching stories filled with warmth, humor and heart while deftly dealing with topics including coming out, racism and teen sex. Can Zot's relentless optimism remain intact after he experiences crime on our world? Can he convince Jenny not to turn her back on Earth? And can these stories ascend to that World of Tomorrow known as … The Comics Canon? In This Episode: · Horton's utterly ridiculous career goal · Optimax vs. Cyclops · Zot's best moment · 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and its comic-book connection · Fortune and Glory: The Musical Join us in two weeks as we discuss a book we've…
People in this episode
Host: The Comics Canon
Topics covered
- Zot! The Earth Stories
- teen superhero
- coming of age
- optimism
- social issues
- 10th anniversary
Keywords
- Zot
- Scott McCloud
- Eclipse Comics
- teen sex
- racism
- coming out
- Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Eclipse Comics, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Books & works: Zot! The Earth Stories, Understanding Comics
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- Episode 252: The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans · April 1, 2026 · 1h 18m
- Episode 251: Green Lantern Origins · March 16, 2026 · 1h 7m
- The Ask Us Anything Episode · March 2, 2026 · 1h 14m
- Call for Questions! · February 23, 2026 · 15 min
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