Zenith (comics)

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Zenith

Zenith on the cover of 2000 AD prog 792, by Steve Yeowell
Character information
First appearance 2000 AD #535 (August, 1987) (1987)
Created by Grant Morrison
Brendan McCarthy
Steve Yeowell
In-story information
Full name Robert MacDowell
Abilities Flight, strength, durability, (potentially) telepathy, pyrokinesis
Publication information
Publisher Fleetway
Schedule Weekly
Formats Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) 2000 AD.
Genre Horror, superhero
Publication date August 1987 – December 2000
Main character(s) Zenith
Mandala
Lux
Red Dragon
Creative team
Writer(s) Grant Morrison
Artist(s) Steve Yeowell
Letterer(s) Mark King
Gordon Robson
Creator(s) Grant Morrison
Brendan McCarthy
Steve Yeowell
Editor(s) Tharg (Richard Burton)
Reprints
Collected editions
Book 1 ISBN 1852860308
Book 2 ISBN 1852861371
Book 3 ISBN 185286172X
Book 4 ISBN 1852862629
Book 5 ISBN 1852862637

Zenith (Robert MacDowell) is a British superhero, who appeared in the science fiction comic 2000 AD. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Steve Yeowell, with original character designs by Brendan McCarthy, he first appeared in 2000 AD #536 (22 August 1987).

Shallow and sarcastic, Zenith was a distinctly Generation X superhero. Morrison used the Zenith serial to explore cultural differences between generations and make jabs at the Conservative Party.

Zenith was featured regularly in 2000 AD from 1987 until 1992, with occasional appearances since. The series was an early success for Morrison, a future comics superstar.

Contents

[edit] Publication history

Zenith appeared in August 1987 during a period when editor and assistant editor, Steve MacManus and Richard Burton respectively, were shaking up 2000 AD by publishing numerous new stories which gave new talent a chance.[1] Grant Morrison had been thinking along the lines of Zenith since 1982 but "[t]he original version had a more traditional superhero costume and was a little grimmer in tone" and the final concept came together as "a reaction against torment superheroes."[1] Despite liking both Dark Knight and Watchmen he felt that "both books felt pompous and concept albumy to me as a young man in the 80s"[1] He found more of an influence in the work of Brendan McCarthy: "tell the truth on to the page and let your psyche all hang out" and it was McCarthy who would provide the initial character designs, although he never drew the actual story because Morrison says "the story as it unfolded would have been too ponderous and long-winded for him".[1]

With hindsight Morrison says that "I like Phase One the least now - it wears its influences a little too obviously on its sleeve"[2] He rates Phase III far higher, saying "I think it is one of the greatest superhero crossover events ever."[3]

Zenith returned for Phase IV in 1992 but Morrison's attention was elsewhere: "I'd moved on and was more excited by the possibilities of working with American superheroes, By 1992 Zenith seemed like something dragged up from my past." However, this does not mean he thinks any less of the story, saying "I like a lot of things I write under duress. I actually really like the last book of Zenith, I'm very fond of it"[2]

Titan Books published five trade paperbacks of Zenith between 1988 and 1990 collecting Phase I through III. Recent attempts to republish the series (including the never collected Phase IV) have so far been prevented by a copyright dispute between the publisher and Morrison. Morrison has said "Fleetway have no paperwork to confirm their ownership of Zenith so I'm currently involved in legal proceedings to clear things up"[4]

[edit] Plot

Steve Yeowell's cover to Zenith Book one

Zenith, real name Robert MacDowell, was the son of two members of Cloud Nine, a super-team of the 1960s who had been created by the British military but rebelled and became hippies and psychedelic fashion icons. Zenith himself used his somewhat unreliable superhuman abilities not to fight evil but to promote his career as a pop singer. Shallow, spoilt, self-centred and cowardly, he was reluctantly dragged into the struggle against malevolent supernatural entities known as the Lloigor or "Many-Angled Ones".

The British superhuman project had been developed from technology stolen from the Nazis in World War II, and the Nazis had developed it from knowledge given by the Lloigor. The Nazis were advised to create "Ubermenschen", but in fact the real purpose of the project was to create host bodies strong enough to house the Lloigor's spirits. Presumably due to these circumstances, Berlin was the target of the first nuclear weapon, not Hiroshima or Nagasaki, within this alternate history, particularly since both the British and Nazi supermen were fighting in Berlin at the time.

The British superheroes came of age during the tumultuous 1960s, and promptly rebelled, like many teens of that time. Most of the former members of Cloud Nine disappeared. Zenith's parents were killed, others disappeared, and the few remaining, having apparently lost their powers, retreated into civilian life. One, Peter St. John, aka Mandala, became a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party. (Mandala is the one responsible for essentially dragging Zenith kicking and screaming into the world-saving business.)

In the Phase I, Zenith reluctantly teams up with surviving members of Cloud Nine to defeat one of the Many-Angled Ones, although this proves fatal to a member of the team. Phase II details the efforts of a media tycoon modeled on Richard Branson[citation needed] to use Zenith as breeding stock for a new group of superpowered slaves that he will use for world domination. Phase III involves a multidimensional war utilizing comic-book characters from other British comics from the '50s, '60s and '70s (using either the actual characters or analogs, depending on their legal status). The final series, Phase IV, brought the story full circle as the Lovecraftian horrors from the first series were revealed as originating much closer to home than previously realized.

Zenith has since returned three times to the pages of 2000 AD. Once in zzzenith.com, a one-off which featured in "Prog 2001" which took place years after the end of the previous series, and in A Night 2 Remember, a strip about the comic's 25 anniversary celebrations, which appeared in Prog 1280. He appeared on the cover to Prog 1500, although his image is small and hard to see.

[edit] Collected editions

He has largely appeared in his own eponymous series which has been collected into a series of (out of print) trade paperbacks all written by Grant Morrison:

  • Books Four & Five: War In Heaven Parts 1 & 2 (June 1990, ISBN 1852862629 and August 1990, ISBN 1852862637) collects:
    • "Interlude 3: Maximan" (with M. Carmona, in 2000AD Winter Special 1988)
    • "Mandala: Shadows & Reflections" (with Jim McCarthy, in 2000AD Annual 1990, 1989)
    • "Phase III" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD #626-634, 650-662 & 667-670, 1989-1990)
  • Uncollected

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Bishop, 2007, page 120
  2. ^ a b Bishop, 2007, page 157
  3. ^ Bishop, 2007, page 129
  4. ^ Bishop, 2007, page 216

[edit] References

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Grant Morrison bibliography
2000 AD
DC Comics
Marvel Comics
Vertigo
Early work
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