Created in 1977, "Zits" follows the antics of an ever-eating, ever-confused, ever-complaining high school student named Jeremy, who's general form of rebellion is a well-calculated and dramatic shrug.

His desperate-to-be-relevant-and-relate-to-him parents' attempts to decode Jeremy's behaviors, and those of his friends, are most frequently frustrated sociology experiments.

"Zits" is highly regarded for the end results of these confrontations being a mix of "Jeremy's parents just don't get it" and "how do parents relate to their kids these days" better than just about any other comic strip in circulation. "Zits" also provides equal time to the quirky teenagers and the parents featured.

The Pulitzer Prize-awarded editorial cartoonist Jim Borgman, and the Reuben Award-winning cartoonist and writer Jerry Scott, are the brain trust behind "Zits". Jim Borgman began displaying artwork when he was a mere five-year-old kindergartner. He submitted a drawing to "The Uncle AL Show," a Cincinnati, Ohio WCPO Television program for children. The broadcast ran for 35 years and displayed Al Lewis, the station's first Art Director, as "Uncle Al." The "Uncle Al Show" maintains the unofficial record for the longest-running, regularly-scheduled series with the same host for the show's entire run.

In an October 8, 2023 interview, Jim Borgman explained, "I sent in my stuff and I saw my crayon drawing there on "Uncle Al". It was a moment for me. That little thrill that you get - maybe we all have it in our own version - what it would be like to have other people see our stuff [as a writer sure all reading this post can grasp what Borgman referred to here. If not, what are we doing writing?]"

Borgman went on to admit he loved the political cartoons he read in his younger days in the Cincinnati Enquirer newspapers. He also claimed to like "Calvin and Hobbes," "Pogo," and "Peanuts." While a student at Kenyon College, Borgman was shown by a friend how he could make a career out of his artwork, and drew weekly cartoons for that college's newspaper.

To this, Borgman stated, "I'm not a person who seeks the spotlight in any other way but through my drawings. I was excited to be in people's conversations."

A week after graduating from college, Borgman became the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper's editorial cartoonist, which placed him on stage in front of a major city's audience. He possessed approximately fifteen sketches at the point. Two weeks later he had doubled the output.

Borgman explained, "It was a thrilling and scary start. I guess people [in Cincinnati] saw someone paying attention to their town and trying to draw something lighthearted and thought-provoking about their world. I had a feel for just how life looked through those windows. I think people picked up on that."

One extremely special cartoon Borgman drew epitomized his feelings for the Cincinnati Bengals NFL Football team's mascot. Borgman drew the tiger sitting dominantly on the playing field. He called the cartoon "Next". It became a symbol of their 1989 Super Bowl run. A game they lost 20 to 16 to the San Francisco 49'ers.

Borgman's comments about "Next" were, "It's kind of become iconic, and it was everywhere the rest of that season. Suddenly, it just felt like ok, we're really connected here."

Borgman's 1990 cartoon portfolio for the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper included Cincinnati Reds' baseball player Pete Rose's legal woes for betting on baseball games (for which he was permanently banned from Major League baseball). He also drew a cartoon of Cincinnati Bengals' head coach Sam Wyche barring a female reporter from their locker room, and the death of Kokomo, Indiana teenager Ryan White from AIDS. Contracting the ailment through a blood treatment in December 1984, and barred from attending school because of the condition, Ryan White became a poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States. Borgman also drew a controversial art display of American Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whose work featured nudes, celebrities, and still life images. Mapplethorpe documented the gay male BDSM scene of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Awarded annually in twenty-three categories, the Pulitzer Prize is administered by Columbia University in New York for outstanding achievements in newspaper, literature, musical composition, and online journalism. The Pulitzer Prize considers distinguished cartoons or cartoon portfolios. These must be characterized by originality, quality of drawing, pictorial effect, editorial effectiveness, and be published as a still drawing, animation, or both.

Borgman said this about winning the Pulitzer Prize for Cartooning, and his 1990 editorial portfolio, "All these things were happening, and I felt in the zone. I was certainly over the moon for being a Pulitzer finalist, but in a sense I had a feeling that maybe the stars had aligned and this was my year. The aftermath was just so much fun. Everyone you've ever known is calling and congratulating you."

Next Time: "Zits" - Part Two - Jerry Scott

Coming Attraction: "Zits" Comic Strip