March 10th, 2011

Q & A

by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

Q. Jerry writes the strip, and Jim draws the strip. Is it that simple? Is it a strictly divided partnership?

Jim: It's an entirely organic partnership. No one will ever know how much Jerry contributes to the drawing, and no one will ever know how much I contribute to the writing. We talk several times each day and bounce ideas around. I feel like the embedded reporter sending Jerry my notes from the field, because I've had five teenagers under my roof in the last ten years. Now mine are leaving home and his are coming of age, so we still have inspiration underfoot for many years.

I doubt we could have worked this way even fifteen or twenty years ago. For instance, we send roughs back and forth by email working in real time, whereas I guess back in the day we would have been stuffing them into envelopes and waiting a week or two to get revisions. I’m always sending Jerry what I call “starters” – half ideas that he improves and completes. He sends his roughs to me already sketched out with gestures and expressions. It’s hard to say where the writing ends and the drawing begins.

We have become one brain, really, and I think Zits is better than either of us could produce on our own.