Creation

Woody was created by Scott McCloud for the black and white volume of Zot!, in issue 11.

Major Story Arcs

Heroes and Villains

Woody, a scrawny nerdy kid, asks Jenny if she wants to come to the French club with him. Jenny’s friend Terry tries to wave him away but Jenny is nice and says she can’t but she likes him (platonically). Woody misinterprets and is led on.

He comes up again another day but Terry is more aggressive, pointing out that Jenny has a boyfriend (Zot, even though Jenny doesn’t use that term for him). Woody is embarrassed and says they didn’t have to make him look dumb as he leaves.

Months later, Jenny reminisces about Woody and tells Terry she feels bad that she wasn’t nicer to him. Terry says that Woody has been out of the country with his parents since then. She drops her books and a tall, handsome boy helps her pick them up. She realizes it’s Woody, who has quickly matured. She now has a crush on him, to Terry’s dismay.

They meet up later. Woody explains that his dad is a diplomat and they were in Paris. They have a long heart-to-heart and talk about their real sense of self. Both of them feel set apart from most of the other kids and have a hard time relating to others. She tells him she’s going to a birthday party in another dimension and he says he believes her, but she doesn’t take him along.

Some time later, Woody sees her at her job at a convenience store. They bond some more and he asks her on a date. Instead of going to New York, as she did with Zot, they go to Boston, where Woody shows her all the classic public arty things to do, like watching jugglers or listening to drummers. They have a nice time together. After be brings her home, he asks her to think about him if she ever leaves Zot, and she says she’s already thinking of him. When he turns to leave, Zot appears. Woody looks into the portal into Zot’s dimension and is freaked out to see it is really true. He can’t see how he can compete with Zot for Jenny but he stands his ground and tells Zot he loves Jenny anyway. Woody leaves, fretting, but Zot is his classic Zen self about it, saying that he doesn’t own Jenny and telling her that he likes Woody.

Later, Woody sits by the side of the road wondering again how he can compete with a dimensionally-traveling hero. Jenny drives by with Terry and her family. They wanted to ask him to go to the beach earlier but missed him. Jenny gets out to walk with him even though it’s going to rain. As Terry’s family drives away, her dad remarks to Terry that Woody’s dad is an unusually-principled diplomat, having taken a stand about racism in South Africa when that was unusual. Terry begins to respect him.

Jenny tells Woody how Zot kind of sold out in order to get a soda advertising gig. Woody tells her how when he told Zot that he loved Jenny, Zot said he does too, that everyone does. Jenny is excited to hear that Zot loves her, and then also realizes belatedly that Woody does too. But she doesn’t know how she really feels about either of them. Woody says she should work out her feelings.

Woody and his friends play their own variant version of Dungeons and Dragons. In this game, everyone is a superhero, and the situations they get into are very surreal. Woody is the Game Master. His friends include Ronnie, Elizabeth, Spike, and George. Ronnie gets annoyed that Woody isn’t focusing on the game as much these days. Woody has to leave to go on a date with Jenny. George walks with him. When they get to Jenny’s, she’s with Zot and explains that she can’t go on the date, she and Zot have to save someone in danger. Woody is initially mad but then accepts it.

Jenny and Zot try to help Suzy, whose dad was president of another planet. He was killed and the planet was taken over by dictators. Now they’re sending an assassin, 9-Jack-9, to kill Suzy. He succeeds, and Jenny and Zot are distraught at their failure. Zot brings Jenny to stay with Woody for comfort while he goes to defeat Jack.

Jenny and Zot bring Woody and Terry to Zot’s Uncle Max’s house so they can experience Zot’s dimension. It’s a New Year’s party and everyone Zot knows is there. Various villains also show up but without major consequence. At midnight, everyone watches the moon; a giant set of clock hands have been projected on it. Jenny is confused because she first visited Zot’s world in 1965 and when the New Year arrives, everyone celebrates the beginning of 1965. After more conversation it’s as if every year it becomes 1965 again. The natives of the dimension all think last year was 1964.

Max and Woody begin to wonder if, instead of Jenny’s world being an imperfect copy of Zot’s world, perhaps Zot’s world is the copy. Woody investigates around Zot’s world for a time. Not only is the technology advanced, but Frank Lloyd Wright’s never-built Mile High Tower exists there, Walt Disney is alive, and culture is expansive. But then Woody starts noting odd details. A poster advertises a song about the Vietnam War, which never happened in Zot’s dimension. Other artifacts exist of other non-existent events, like the also never-fought World War II. They decide that Zot’s world must be the copy, because it has all these references to things in the “real” world. Zot’s world’s inexact history is why it keeps repeating 1965.

Jenny, Woody, and Zot go back to Jenny’s world, but due to a mix-up, the path between their worlds is lost. They can’t go back to Zot’s world and lose contact with Max.

Jenny is distraught. Zot is fine. Woody seems to wonder if Jenny will learn to accept living in reality like everyone else.

The Earth Stories

Woody reads the book Stop Time, by Frank Conroy, in class. He enjoys challenging literature. Terry can’t understand why; she assumes he likes it because it has dirty parts.

Jenny has a hard time answering when Terry asks if she and Woody are girlfriend/boyfriend.

As the school day continues, Woody does well on a math test because he studied, like always. Jenny has a harder time. At lunch, they sit with Woody’s comic and RPG friends, George, Ronnie, Brandy, Spike, and Elizabeth. Woody argues with Ronnie about Robocop II. Woody is shocked when he hears that Zot has been staying in Jenny’s bedroom at night but then she explains, embarrassed, that he lives in an extradimensional box in the room.

Woody comes by Jenny’s house and chats with Zot on the front steps for a while. Woody thinks Jenny’s family is heading for divorce and sees their new addition as a desperate attempt to pretend everything is ok. Zot feels more sanguine about the Weavers’ future. Woody remarks that fall is his favorite season because it seems the most honest.

Jenny’s mom tells the teens a story of her earlier life. When she says it’s easy to get caught up in everyday difficulties now, Woody understands, but Zot thinks about ideals. When Mrs. Weaver seems depressed, Woody mentions that burning a leaf helps bring his memory back to his younger years when they would burn leaves in their town. When she takes them to a movie, she thinks Woody is perhaps better for Jenny, because he’s gone through troubles and grown from them.

Woody asks Ronnie if he wants to RPG, and Ronnie is annoyed when Woody asks if he’s going to play his Cyclops-like character. Ronnie thinks the character is unique, but he clearly shares several characteristics with Cyclops.

Jenny later talks about how Woody shouldn’t be jealous of Zot, so Woody asks Ronnie if he would be jealous if Brandy, his love, went out with other guys. Brandy says it’s possible to be committed to more than one person. Woody decided to test it and asks Brandy if she’ll go out with him. Jenny is now suddenly annoyed.

They go to play the role playing game with the gang, which Woody Game Masters with flair. The various players argue among themselves.

Another day, Brandy expands her range of dating. She now assigns times for every guy to take her out. Woody’s date with her goes fine. They have some deep conversations. But then she brings up the topic of sex and he thinks she’s hitting on him so he tries to kiss her, only for her to rebuff him. He is embarrassed. Brandy ends up sticking with Ronnie after all.

They play D&D outside during lunch at school. Terry complains about them all being weird, but Woody and some of the others point out that "normal" people are the ones who pick on them. They’d rather be weird.

After a classmate, Harry Singer, is bullied and maimed because people think he’s gay, Jenny pressures Woody to write an editorial in the school paper against gaybashing. However, Woody is scared that if he does, people will beat him up.

Woody eventually pulls himself together and writes the article. He talks about it with his dad. His dad thinks it’s a good idea. He believes that it’s important to fix your principles early on, because as life goes by, it’s easy to forget them.

When the article comes out, Woody’s friends all compliment him. However, the original bully comes by and threatens him with a bunch of bigoted language. Harry’s sister, Pam, later comes up to Woody and thanks him on behalf of Harry with a kiss. Woody, once again misreading the situation, thinks she is hitting on him and asks he out. She turns him down and soon he realizes she’s gay and going out with Terry, who is only now coming to terms with her own sexuality.

He talks about it with his dad some more. His dad thinks the kid should be arrested. Then he talks with his mom about Jenny. He’s tired of waiting and feeling like he’s in second place. She says it’s reasonable for him to move on at this point. He asks about how she and his dad got together. She says she was a popular girl and his dad was a nerd, but she eventually realized he was more interesting than all the other guys. She also confirms that his dad was on the fast track for his diplomatic career at one point, but then he stuck by his principles and was left on a slower path. But she is obviously proud of him for doing so.

Back at school, his friend George confides that he’s not totally sure he’s happy about the article, because, as someone who is still in the closet, it makes puts a lot more attention on gay-seeming people. Woody says he won’t tell anyone his secret.

Zot shows up, invisible. He plans to help Woody with the bully. When the bully starts to beat up Woody, Zot tells Woody to throw one punch. He does, and Zot uses his abilities to knock the bully way back into a tree.

They all watch a movie. After, Woody tells Jenny that he can’t keep staying in second place and he needs to stop seeing her. She understands and says she still loves him. It’s amicable but sad. On the way home, he helps a kid get her hat off a roof. He remembers asking his dad if he ever reached his "lighthouse," meaning his goals, and he says no—but he is always moving in the right direction, and that’s all that matters. "Sometimes, a direction is a destination."

The last day of school arrives. Woody tries to not be anxious about tests. After it’s done, he feels good and talks with the others. He notices that Jenny isn’t there and tries to find out why. She is in the city looking for Zot. She finds him in a hospital after trying to stop some crime. She calls him while they’re playing the RPG. He says he’ll come in to help.

Woody’s dad drives a bunch of them into the city to see Zot. Woody comforts Jenny. She is becoming even more unhappy with their world. It is too broken for her, in comparison with Zot’s world. She can’t take seeing him be hurt.

However, Max finally figures out how to create a portal between their dimensions again. He brings Zot back and heals him, then comes back to see Jenny. Because of the time-flow differences between dimensions, it’s just the next day. They decide that all the friends could use a mental health break in Zot’s world. They all meet up to go through the portal. Jenny says she’s never coming back. Zot doesn’t think that’s healthy and eventually persuades her to just come for a visit.

They all go through, many of them amazed at seeing the world for the first time. They will be happy, at least for a time.

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!, Woody asks Terry about Zot. Then Jenny and Zot run into them while riding bikes. Woody awkwardly gives Jenny flowers and asks if she wants to go to a robot show with him. She’s not sure but Zot is excited, so all four of them go.

At the show, Woody volunteers to start a Workman Unit robot. It starts to go wild and he can’t turn it off. Eventually he catches it in a net in an attempt to get Jenny to notice him (Woody stays as a nerd in Dimension 10 ½ much longer than in Jenny’s world). However, the robot rips the net and then wraps Woody up in tape. Worker Unit eventually flies into space.

Much later, Woody and Jenny walk through the woods. A bird falls out of a tree and Woody saves it. Another bird falls but Zot saves this one, and he does a lot more due to his gear and heroism. Getting angry, Woody destroys a ring he had gotten for Jenny. Jenny can’t decide between the two. But then, Cynicalman shows up and asks her out. Jenny chooses Cynicalman. Woody freaks out but Zot doesn’t care. Woody gets more and more neurotic. Jenny becomes Cynical. Woody and Zot team up to make Jenny uncynical but it doesn’t work. They get all the other guys together and create a crazy faux-Truman Show situation that somehow cheers up Cynicalman, which in turn cheers up Jenny. Then they go to eat hot dogs.

Woody and the gang play their role-playing game. It’s wacky as usual. Then they get into a similar situation as on Jenny’s Earth where everyone wants to go out with Brandy. They end up setting her up with Stupidboy, and hijinks ensue.

Woody, Zot, and Jenny are sailing on a boat when Woody realizes they’re in Beanworld. They meet various Beans while trying to get home. They eventually succeed and show one of the Beans, Mr. Spook, an art show and their RPG game. More weirdness occurs and eventually the Beans all leave.

Woody and all the friends go to a movie about Zot. Woody points out how much merchandising is on sale there. The movie is interrupted by various villains including the Dekko family. Woody is shocked to hear they are planning to make a sequel to the movie.