Zot! is a comic book created by Scott McCloud in 1984 and published by Eclipse Comics until 1990 as a lighthearted alternative to the darker and more violent comics that dominated the industry during that period. There were a total of 36 issues, with the first ten in color and the remainder in black and white. McCloud credited Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka as a major influence on the book, making it one of the first manga-inspired American comic books. Heroes Zot (Zachary T. Paleozogt) – a blond haired, blue eyed teenage hero from an alternate Earth who flies via gravity boots and fights villains with a ten-shooter laser gun and boundless optimism. Jenny Weaver – a sensitive teenage girl from our world and the reader's point-of-view character throughout the series. Butch – Jenny's older brother, a typical blustering bully who, after a mishap in the first issue of the series, is transformed into a talking chimpanzee whenever he is on Zot's world. Uncle Max – Zot's uncle, an eccentric inventor, artist and surrogate parent whose gadgets help Zot fight crime. Peabody – Zot's robot butler/guardian. Woody – Jenny's nerdy but sweet "boyfriend" and close friend for the majority of the series Terry – Jenny's best friend Ronnie – a comic book obsessed writer Brandy – Ronnie's girlfriend, a thin bubbly, slightly ditzy, girl with an alcoholic mother George – a lazy genius determined to get straight D's only Spike (Bob) – a violent and rude comic book nerd Elizabeth – Spike's extremely quiet and fairly odd sister Villains Zot and his friends faced a number of enemies, including: Bellows – a former inventor who is angry that his environmentally un-friendly inventions are no longer used. 9-Jack-9 – assassin for hire who can travel through any electrical signal. Originally the astral projection of a man named Sir John Sheers, he was killed by Zot. Upon his death his astral form remained and is now a being of pure energy, even more dangerous than before. Dekko (Arthur Dekker) – Max's friend turned madman who slowly replaced his cancer-ridden body with robotic parts. The Devoes – a cult of humans who believe that coming out of the trees was a bad idea, hence the name de-evolutionaries. Use de-evolutionary guns to "revert" humans back into monkeys. Zybox – a supercomputer hoping to acquire a soul. The Blotch – a gangster/businessman with a warped