Zenith Book One with Jay McKiernan
We’re back with another episode of Trade School! This time, we’re talking about Zenith, Book One: Tygers! Our host this week is Jay McKiernan!
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Scored by Bret Eagleston
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Outline
This section provides a structured outline of the key topics discussed during the meeting.
Introduction to Zenith (00:00)
Overview of Zenith as a unique superhero character created by Grant Morrison.
Discussion of the character's background and his role as a pop star rather than a typical superhero.
Establishment of the 80s superhero context and Morrison's impact.
Character Analysis (01:19)
Exploration of Zenith's personality traits: apathetic, self-serving, and cowardly.
Introduction of supporting characters from the 60s supergroup Cloud 9, such as Voltage and Red Dragon.
Mention of the antagonist, the Many Angled Ones, and their threat to Earth.
Story Structure and Phases (02:37)
Breakdown of the story into three phases, starting with Phase One.
Overview of the multiverse concept introduced by Morrison and its significance in superhero narratives.
Recognition of the Eagle Award for the story as a validation of its quality.
Artistic Contributions (05:16)
Praise for Steve Yeowell's artwork, highlighting its expressive and detailed nature.
Discussion of Yeowell's limited exposure in North America compared to his work in 2000 AD.
Identification of future reading interests based on the podcast discussion.
Transcription
00:00
Welcome to Certain Point of View's Trade School, where each episode a different host talks about a comic book trade paperback that they loved and why they love it.
00:08
Hi everyone, my name is Jay McKiernan and I'm back on Trade School to talk about another incredible trade paperback that's a prize of my collection. Let's head back to the past and talk about comics in the late 80s and early 90s. A young Scottish writer had just hit DC Comics and was stunning readers of both Animal man and Doom Patrol. Their name, Grant Morrison. Now, I loved reading both of those books and I would anxiously await each issue and move them to the top of the reading pile. I wanted more and more Morrison, but to find more, I'd have to go across the Atlantic Ocean.
00:42
Like most of the British invasion of the 80s and 90s, Morrison developed their talents on a little book called 2000 A.D. if you've never heard of this weekly magazine, it's a British sci fi anthology that started in 1977 and is still going strong today. You may have heard of one of their creations, Judge Dredd. Now, in 1987, Morrison was joined by series artist Steve Yoel and designer Brendan McCarthy to create a completely 80s superhero, Zenith. Now that might sound a little different for you, but because this is a British character, I'm going to use British pronunciation. So it's Zenith, not Zenith. Hope that's not too confusing for everybody, but it's kind of a tomato thing. Zenith was unlike any other superhero I'd seen before. First and foremost, he wasn't a superhero. He was a pop star.
01:34
He was more interested in partying and being famous than he was in saving anyone's life. Instead of the grim and gritty world of the 80s, Zenith was the exact opposite. He complained about being hungover and wanted nothing to do with any superheroes from the 60s. He didn't care about the past, wouldn't say he really cared about the world that was around him. He was apathetic and unaffected. The only reason he agrees to help fight anyone is when another character promises to tell him what happened to his parents. He doesn't do anything altruistically. He's self serving and self absorbed. But what Morrison and Yowl did was they also created a universe around Zenith. And they created this. In this first book, we meet the surviving members of the 60s supergroup called Cloud 9. Characters like Voltage, Mandela and Red Dragon.
02:23
They introduce a new threat called the Many Angled Ones. And we reveal that they want to take over the Earth. We also get the return of the Nazi superman master man who's been possessed by AK Satok, one of the many angled ones. And this creature wants to possess zenith's body as well, because he wants as many superheroes because they can handle the power of these multidimensional threats. It's a great introduction to the series, the character. And this first trade paperback provides all the building blocks that you need for the next two parts of the story. Now, these are broken up into phases. So this first trade paperback is phase one. We're also talking about phase two and phase three. And in these books, Morrison gets to explore a multiverse.
03:09
And actually, in my opinion, they end up creating one of the best crossover stories of their career. And it really sets the tone for every multiverse universal story that they would work on in the future. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's just talk about phase one, okay? Why should you read this? And really simply, it's one of the best stories to ever come out of 2000 AD and it's just an excellent superhero book. Now, if you don't believe me, this first phase one, this story won the eagle award for favorite British single or continued story in 1988. Now, the Star, zenith is one of the most unique characters in superhero comics because, honestly, he's never the hero. He's the sidekick of his own story. As I mentioned before, he's shallow, he's arrogant, he's cowardly, he's opportunistic. It's everybody around him that's the hero.
04:00
Zenith is just kind of there. So as a fan of a movie like big trouble in little china, where the main character is kind of the sidekick to everything going around, you know, I really related to this story. Now to try to convince you to. To read one of these trades. I'd normally talk about the creators, but what do I have to say about Grant Morrison? I mean, they've deservedly earned the reputation of being one of the best comic writers of all time. I mean, I think he's probably on the. I mean, if we want to say Mount Rushmore, he's definitely up there. And this is a great story because you get to see their early work, you get to see them developing their craft, and it's awesome to read. But the person I really want to call out on this is Steve yeohl.
04:41
His artwork is stunning. It is beautiful. Every page. It's this amazing black and white line work. The drawings are so expressive. The facial expressions are amazing. The action sequences blow you away, and there's literally nothing he cannot draw. His talent is shining on every page. And as I reread these stories, I can't help but wonder why we didn't see more of his work in North America. He gets a few issues of the Invisibles and he does the miniseries Sebastian O with Morrison, but otherwise, almost all of his work can be found in the pages of 2000 AD. He does this long series called the Red Seas with Ian Eglinton, which, after I've done the research for this podcast, it's another book that I'm going to have to go look for because I want to see more of this guy's drawings. It's just beautiful stuff.
05:31
So if you're looking for something new to try, and when I say new, it's actually, you know, 40 years old. Or if you just want to see some early Grant Morrison work, or if you love reading about superheroes who aren't very super, or if you want to see how an entire multiverse can get created in a very short amount of time, this is the book for you. And luckily Zenith is still in print. You can find it in your local bookstore or in digital form. And something I also learned, because I've only read the first three phases, is there's actually a fourth phase as well, which is another thing I have to go look for.
06:04
So this is one of the dangerous things about making all of these podcasts is it ends up making my reading list even bigger, which is alternately good or bad. So all I can say is this is a series that's definitely worth checking out, this is a book that's definitely worth checking out, and this is a trade that you should go read now. If you want to hear me talk about a much longer running series, the Legion of Superheroes, you can check out my bi weekly podcast, Long Live the Legion, on the certain POV network that I co host with Jim Fetters. I also do weekly Legion reviews and you can see those@jmlonglivethelegion.blogspot.com and if you want to find me on social media, I'm on Bluesky at McKiernan BSky Social, and I'm also on Discord and Reddit under the name Drake Burrows. Happy reading.
06:53
Hey, Jay.
06:53
Hey Jim.
06:55
You're a fan of the Legion of Superheroes, right?
06:57
Yeah, I've been reading their adventures for decades.
07:00
Me too. It was tough at first with all the characters, but now I think I'm an expert.
07:03
It's not too hard to get into the Legion and to make it even easier. We have a podcast called Long Live the Legion. We talk about different aspects of all its history to help you out.
07:13
So whether you're a new reader in the Legion Academy or have your own flight ring, or anywhere in between, the Long Live the Legion podcast should be on your playlist.
07:24
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