Creation

Vic was created by Scott McCloud for the first color volume of Zot!, in issue 1.

Major Story Arcs

The Sirius IV Conspiracy

Vic Taylor lives in the utopian universe where his friend Zot is a celebrity hero. Vic’s father is Raymond, a fairly stern man, and his little brother is Chris.

Vic starts as Zot’s 3rd best friend but eventually moves up and becomes his best friend, along with Digger and Hacker.

Vic hangs out with his friend Josh Hacker, who has been working on Floyd, a small flying robot with the capacity to hide someone from all electronic surveillance. Vic bets that he could use Floyd to steal the Golden Key, one of the most sacred and well-protected objects on the planet Sirius IV. The Golden Key is the only way to open the Doorway at the Edge of the Universe; there is a prophecy that whoever opens the door will then lead the people of Sirius on a Grand Mission.

Vic successfully steals the Key while on a school trip to Sirius. He plans to give it back, since he’s only taking it as a prank, but while he’s hiding in the building, he overhears General Schrapp, Grand Inquisitor Von Clokmann, bureaucrat Sam Twik, and palace advisor Weevis Swimbler talking about the conspiracy they have created. They plan to use the Golden Key to open the Doorway, then convince the populace that they have been anointed to start a holy war with Earth.

Vic knows he has to let people know what happened. He goes on the run, but the conspiracy sends out warships and robots to track him down. Apparently he hides the Key in another dimension before getting caught. The Grand Inquisitor interrogates him, but to no avail. Vic manages to escape and the conspiracy sends out more robots to find the Key.

Vic’s family has no idea about where he is. To them, he has just disappeared, and they are worried.

Unaware of any of this, Vic’s friend Zot decides he has to stop the robots, which have been causing a lot of destruction, and find the Key himself. He and his Uncle Max track the robots and Key to another universe, where Jenny Weaver lives. Zot and Jenny fight the robots and her brother Butch finds the Key. They all go back to Zot’s universe.

Zot decides to bring the Key back to the leaders of Sirius, not knowing about the conspiracy. However, somehow Jenny loses the Key at this time and Vic regains it. (It’s a little unclear where he gets the opportunity to do this.)

Vic plays a game of Survivalax, a virtual reality game, and beats the high score with the help of Floyd. Zot tracks the Key's radiation signature to the game and fights Vic--who is in disguise, so Zot doesn't know it's him--for the Key, and succeeds. Drufus, a well-meaning but ineffective prince of Sirius, also shows up and fights Vic but mostly manages to get in Zot's way. Vic runs off.

Vic’s brother Chris asks Zot for help, but as soon as Chris leaves, Vic appears; he’s already in Max’s house, hiding. He explains what has been going on, although he doesn’t get a chance to describe the conspiracy. When Drufus shows up, Vic surreptitiously messes around with his robots.

The cyborg villain Dekko appears with his own robots and wants to steal the Key for his own reasons. Vic temporarily takes it from Zot, but Dekko gets it from him.

Vic uses Floyd to track Dekko and the Key to Antarctica. The group of friends all break into Dekko’s base. Vic uses Floyd to help himself, Drufus, and Zot go one way while another group goes a different way and gets caught. Zot gets distracted by a robot and Vic breaks off. He finds Dekko, whose programming has just been broken by Jenny and Max, pretending to be Dekko’s ex-girlfriend, Sarah. Vic turns Dekko off and takes the Key. He plans to go to Sirius and open the Doorway himself, thus heading off the conspiracy.

He leaves Floyd with the others. Floyd plays a recording of the conspiracy talking about their plans, so now Zot, Drufus, and the others finally understand why Vic won’t return the Key. The friends all go to Sirius to stop Vic; Drufus still wants the Key himself, as the Prince, but Zot just wants to stop him from going through the Doorway and to figure out a better way to stop the conspiracy.

Vic’s dad, Raymond, now joins the group. He feels responsible for what his son has done and does not approve.

Vic disguises himself as an old woman and stands in line at the Doorway, but Zot realizes it’s him when Floyd, who Vic now somehow has back, makes him invisible to Peabody, Zot’s robot butler’s, eyes, but not to Zot’s own. Zot and the others chase Vic. He escapes all of them except, surprisingly, Drufus. They fly above the desert in their own aircars, but when Vic’s almost runs out of fuel, he jumps into Drufus’s. They crash.

Drufus is hurt and Vic helps him. Vic lies and says the Key is in the burning wreckage, but really he still has it. They fight. Vic is much better prepared for survival in the desert and helps Drufus, even though Drufus is being annoying. Vic realizes how badly Drufus has been treated by his family and does some roleplaying with him so Drufus can learn to stand up to them. Vic and Drufus start to bond.

Some soldiers finally find them. They’re happy to help Drufus but are going to shoot Vic. Drufus jumps in the line of fire and saves Vic. The soldiers run off, fearful of the repercussions of shooting the prince. Drufus survives for a short time but does eventually die. Vic buries him in the desert, mourning him.

Some more soldiers find Vic and bring him in. Von Clokmann takes the Key. He plans to execute Vic and open the Doorway. Zot manages to get the Key from Von Clokmann and he and Jenny open then Doorway and go inside. When they return, they are now the prophecied heroes.

Vic once again escapes custody with the help of Floyd. Zot finds him while he’s on the run and brings him back to where the rest of the friends are hiding out—a cathedral run by Father Kimm. Vic reunites with his dad, who now appreciates what he was trying to do. Unfortunately, one of their arch-enemies, the assassin 9-Jack-9, manages to possess their robot, Peabody, and shoots Vic in the back. He is badly hurt.

Von Clokmann takes them all prisoner, but Butch and his army of De-Evolutionaries counter-attack and rescue everyone, turning Von Clokmann into a monkey.

Vic is still stuck healing in bed. He tells Drufus’s mother, the Queen, who is now on their side, about Drufus’s last days, but also tells her off about how she mistreated him. She reluctantly comes to agree with that. Kimm tells them that Drufus’s soul is safe beyond the Doorway, which is true.

Vic lends Floyd to Zot, and they come up with a plan. Zot and Jenny fight Schrapp, the last member of the conspiracy, and use Floyd to broadcast Schrapp’s confession about all his crimes. The people of Sirius reject Schrapp and want Zot to be their leader. He refuses and says they should learn to rule themselves. Vic's original goal of stopping the conspiracy is fulfilled.

Heroes and Villains

On Zot’s Earth, Digger, Hacker, Max, and Vic watch Zot fight Bellows from lawn chairs set up for the occasion when Jenny arrivs. The guys see it all as fun, unlike Jenny. Vic is friendly to her and explains that he used to worry about Zot too, until he realized that Zot can’t lose as long as he believes in himself.

When the robot called Zybox starts causing problems, Vic joins Zot and others to discuss it. Vic and Zot then play an augmented reality combat game against each other in front of a large audience. Butch tried to join in, against the rules, but Vic says that’s OK as long as he gets Floyd. Unfortunately the match ends when the power to the whole city goes out.

Zybox shows up to threaten them. They go to meet him in a stadium on Jenny’s Earth, where he has traveled from Zot’s Earth. Vic thinks he is safe from Zybox because Floyd makes him invisible to all electronic detection. However, when Zybox sends out a horde of tentacles to catch them, they grab him as well as Zot and Jenny.

Zybox puts them all in a coma where he makes them think they are awake in an alternate world where they got away. Jenny wakes up first and Zot and Vic wake up later after Floyd hacks Zybox’s wiring.

They try to escape with the help of Ernesto Cortez, Zybox’s inventor. Vic helps the others fight some of Zybox’s robot minions. Eventually they all get out and Zybox is defeated.

Digger and Hacker, and their friends, are turned into monkeys by the De-Evolutionaries when the Devoes try to revert the President and his family. They are eventually turned back after the efforts of Zot and others.

Vic attends Zot’s birthday party, held at Max’s house. He answers the door when Dekko arrives. Later, Vic is there when Dekko goes crazy. However, his mind freezes up and he is not a threat to the group.

Unlike Digger and Hacker, Vic is not supportive of Zot’s foray into making commercial endorsements. He thinks Zot sold out and he knows Jenny won’t like it. Zot offers presents to all his friends but Vic says no. Vic is there when the Blotch starts causing problems (because he owns the drink company that Zot signed with) and eventually watches from a distance when Zot tells Digger that he gave up the commercial money.

When Zot and Jenny come to Zot’s Earth with a pie, Vic meets them and tells them that Bellows has escaped. Jenny and Vic watch Zot fight him; Jenny is much more casual about it now than she was the last time Zot fought Bellows. Vic mentions that he has a date with a girl he met in Egypt. Jenny remarks that Vic seems more mature now than he was during the Sirius IV adventure when he was always getting into trouble. Vic agrees that he has mellowed out. When it looks like Bellows might win, Vic sends Floyd to help; he knocks Bellows out. They run into Digger, who is frustrated that he can’t get his parents to teach him how to drive. Vic volunteers to talk with his dad for him.

Alternate Versions

Within the world of "Dimension 10 1/2," the stick-figure alternate universe created by Matt Feazell and running in the back of the black-and-white issues of Zot!, Digger, Hacker, and Vic get ready to watch Zot fight, but he has been made antisocial by Antisocialman. He bonks them on the head and says Antisocialman is his friend.

Antisocialman, driving a flying school bus, captures Josh, Digger, and Vic. He drops them off in school where Antisocialman forces them to read Ulysses and do math. Vic has an idea and they escape and find Butch and the others. They all drive to Max’s but he’s not there.

Vic calls up the military and the media as part of their strategy against Antisocialman. He also fixes Peabody.

Josh makes an antiserum and starts curing people, starting with Jenny. Digger finds Zot. Zot evades their serum-blasts but they trick him by splashing him with many serum-laced pies thrown in his face.

They go back to Max’s, who has now returned. Many of Zot’s villains attack, led by Antisocialman, but they are defeated and sent away.

Later, Zot and Cynicalman switch bodies. Vic, Digger, and Hacker think he has amnesia and take him to a doctor.

On a day that Zot can’t go outside, Vic tells him that Godzilla is threatening the waterfront.

Digger, Hacker, Vic, and others watch tv and hang out and talk about missing Zot. Digger and Hacker then get in a misbegotten plot to keep Jenny away from him but Vic does not join in.

Many of Zot’s friends play Woody’s variant of a role-playing game. Vic plays Worker Unit, a robot that is attracted to work. Vic agrees with Jenny about the joys of imperfection. He and some of the others join Brandy’s set of serial dates she sets up for the night. Then they get Stupidboy, who pretends to be Zot’s twin brother Zit, to go out with Brandy instead. Josh, Dig, and Vic run into some criminals and are caught with Zot and others. Jenny and “Zit” save them.

Hacker and Digger go to a movie about Zot along with his other friends. Vic helps Josh fix the projector and takes Zot’s side when the actor in the movie goes nuts. He is later dismayed to see that Dekko’s whole family has shown up.

Powers and Abilities

Vic is a skilled technologist, helping make mods on his robot drone, Floyd; making quick modifications to Drufus's robots; and turning off Dekko when Dekko was already partially incapacitated.