ZITS COMIC STRIP FEATURES MYSPACE --FOCUS ON TEEN CULTURE CHANGES

ZITS by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman is the lead comic strip on the LA TIMES Sunday COMICS section www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/zits/about.htm -Cached-- syndicated in more than 1000 newspapers the strip focuses on what the Zits website(see above) says is "the life of Jeremy Duncan, a 15-year-old aspiring rock musician, riddled with angst, boredom and parents who don't understand anything".

So is it any wonder that Pierce (Jeremy's pal who was "brought in to replace the former drummer,Y.A. in Jeremy’s band") would ask his pal for help with the history test they're about to take in 10 minute?

What IS so telling of today's times is that Pierce (known for wearing 3 pounds of jewelry on his head) would pull out his Blackberry and stick it into Jeremy's face to ask him to decipher a picture of that history test they're about to take which their pal Moe took a mobile photo of and posted on her "MySpace Page". Pierce it seems has been "trying to make out on my teenie Blackberry screen for the past 45 minutes" the posted test. To which Jeremy says: "Good use of your study hour" and of course Pierce replies "Why do people keep saying that to me?".

ART REFLECTS LIFE! 

Hollywood2020 blogger Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, emerging entertainment columnist & analyst checked Myspace we could not find a posted history test-- we searched for Moe first and then for "history test" -- okay, okay so we figured if we didn't check MYSPACE we'd find that the cartoonists or the syndicate had posted the 'faux' history test. That's life in the age of 'alternate reality gaming' like the LOST EXPERIENCE. What we did find online was info on both of the cartoonists who appear to both have teenage daughters -- looks like Borgman (who lives in Ohio) has 5 (five) teenagers and Jerry Scott (who lives in California) may have two teens (or at least one and a preteen--not sure about the second child's age). More on them at the ZITS syndicate webpage http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/zits/about.htm. Note King Features appears to have a new business model - you pay $15 yearly and you get to read 100 strips (not necessarily the latest though -- appear to now be 1 month old and not in sequence any more) BUT you do get the techno magnifyng glass for those of you who might be a bit older than 15 eyar old Jeremy starring in ZITS!

COMICS & CULTURE

We're always fascinated by how the COMICS start to reflect what's happening in the WIRED world and how it affects our culture too --many times even before the editorial folks start to write about the trends.