Pavel.pa@Xerox.ARPA (07/10/85)
From: Pavel.pa@Xerox.ARPA Eclipse Comics News Release June 24th, 1985 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ZOT! TO SUSPEND PUBLICATION Despite its nomination in the Jack Kriby Awards for ``Best New Series,'' Scott McCloud's ZOT! has not been a record-breaking book in terms of sales. Thus it is, with a very heavy heart, that Eclipse regretfully announces the suspension of this title. ``We are definitely NOT cancelling this series in the normal way that term is used,'' says Eclipse editor-in-chief Catherine Yronwode. ``Scott has decided to temporarily suspend production, and ZOT! No. 10, now at the printer, will be the last issue for a while. I want to be as honest and up-front about this as it is possible to be in the world of media-hype and careful press-release hoopla: if ZOT! had only sold five thousand more copies per issue, it would still be around. It is ironic -- perhaps even tragic -- that a series written up in THE NEW YORKER magazine and listed among the personal top-ten favourites of this industry's leading professionals and critical reviewers cannot sustain the broad economic base it needs to suport one lone creator, but that appears to be the case. Personally, if i had the money i would publish the series at a loss, indefinitely, but i don't, so for now, ZOT! is off the schedule.'' Scott McCloud, equally frank, has this to say about the situation, ``We've kept ZOT! going in its present format as long as possible, but even with Eclipse's generous profit-sharing arrangement, there's just no way I can continue through issue 12. I would have gone into debt almost immediately. More importantly, I'm not at all sure that my work on the book would have improved without some sort of pause. At least this way, when ZOT! does start up again, in whatever form, I'll have a better perspective on what I'm doing. I know this all sounds kind of drastic, but I'm betting you'll see ZOT! again pretty soon. After all, how else can I finally introduce Zybox, The Blotch, Bellows, Digger and about a dozen other characters I've been holding onto?!'' With ZOT! on sabbatical, McCloud plans to produce a few small-press type b&w comics, just to experiment with that form. ``But,'' says Yronwode, ``That `Next Issue' ad at the end of issue 10 still holds true -- ZOT! will be back, and the next story will be set on Jenny's Earth, where she must re-acquaint herself with mundane reality after her planet-hopping adventures by Zot's side. When this material will appear, we can't yet say. But the day we announce that ZOT! is back on the schedule will be one of the happiest days of my life.'' Repleacing ZOT! on the Eclipse schedule will be Timothy Truman's SCOUT, a new science fiction series.
graber@srcsip.UUCP (Robert k Graber) (07/18/85)
Aaeiiiii ... say it isn't so .... ZOT is/was the only comic the keeps/kept me reading comics at all... Heck, even as I type this I have the smiling face of ZOT himself taped to my terminal .. maybe I'll paint a black border around it. [If .. NO .. when ZOT comes back, everybody buy two copies, OK?] (no I didnt think so ... ah well.) rob graber ihnp4!srcsip!graber