Comic Strip of the Day

CSotD: Sunday profile: Jerry Scott on “Zits” and partnerships

Skip to comments

Mike Peterson Published: April 10, 2010 1 minute 0 comments

Jerry Scott didn't want a partner for "Zits."

He already was writing "Baby Blues" with artist Rick Kirkman as a partner, but that was another matter. Scott and Kirkman were longtime friends and had determined years ago to do a strip together.

Besides, Kirkman had provided the inspiration for that strip.

"We couldn't come up with an idea for several years," Scott recalls. "Then we got together right after his second daughter was born and we're sitting there trying to think of something, and there it was, right in front of us: Rick was just a mess, and I was fascinated by how this tiny little baby could so totally destroy this guy! And that was the birth of 'Baby Blues."

But Jerry Scott is a fine artist in his own right. He had taken over the classic Ernie Bushmiller strip, "Nancy," changed its look and handled both writing and art for a dozen years. He didn't need, or want, anyone to draw "Zits" for him.

When he met Jim Borgman, it had nothing to do with partnering. Borgman, who had recently won a Reuben award for his work as an editorial cartoonist, was named a board member of the National Cartoonists Society the same year as Scott, so they sat near each other at the-annual dinner.

"I sat next to his wife, and she was very nice," Scott recalls. "But editorial cartoonists scare me. They're so smart and they draw so well! So I didn't talk to him much."

However, they got to know each other through serving on the board, and when Borgman was coming to Arizona for a speech, he called Scott, then living in the area, for a suggestion on how to extend the one-day trip into a vacation. Scott suggested a mountain resort, and, after some conversation, they each rented cabins.

The trip had nothing to do with business, but Scott was in the midst of trying to create his new strip, and it wasn't coming together very well. "It was too squeaky-clean looking, too cartoony."

So one night, he grabbed a pile of sketches and a couple of beers and went over to Borgman's cabin.

"He said, 'I think they're funny,' but I told him I didn't like the way it looked, and he said, 'Well, if you're asking me .. .'and it just came out of his pen: There was Jeremy, with his slouch, and his checkered shirt and his big shoes, and I knew at that moment, 'I just can't do it and make it come out that good.'''

But there was no talk of partnership. Scott wanted to draw "Zits," and Borgman was willing to help him work through developing the concept, but had no interest in working on a strip.

Still, they were up all night talking about it. When Borgman went home to Cincinnati, they began exchanging faxes. Scott would fax out a rough idea and Borgman would fax back sketches.

"After a few months of that, we decided we need to either stop doing this or just do a strip together," Scott says.

The result was comics history.

"Zits" got off to the hottest start of any strip and was quickly in 500 newspapers. Today, it's in more than 1,000 papers.

Meanwhile, Scott's other partnership, "Baby Blues," is in about 850 newspapers around the country.

Both strips have won numerous awards, but both strips are also distinguished by being frequently seen on refrigerators.

"I think being a 'refrigerator strip' takes you out of the category of being 'smart,'" Scott laughs. "But it means you're popular, and our goal is to be in as many newspapers as possible and make a lot of money!"

Despite his joking, having his work cut out brings him some satisfaction.

In the case of "Zits," the team attempts to balance jokes about Jeremy and jokes about his parents.

"We're consciously trying not to do jokes about 'oh, those wacky teenagers!" Scott says, and, according to the feedback from readers, the effort pays off.

"The most gratifying letters are from people who say this is the only way they can communicate with their kids: They talk about the strip," Scott reports.

"They tell us that they'll cut one out and tape it up on their kid's door, and then, a few days later, they'll find one on their car keys when they're about to go out the door, one where Jeremy's folks have done something clueless.

"It's nice when you can help parents and kids talk to each other."

Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.