All throughout April and May, we’re crowdsourcing a coronavirus quarantine comics reading list. Each weekday for a month, we’ll post a new recommendation from someone in the comics industry to help folks get through the isolation. This includes writers, artists, letterers, editors, comics journalists, publicists, and more…all paired with a local shop that’s currently selling the books via mail order.

Today’s pick comes from comics journalist Chloe Maveal…enjoy!

If there's any emotion we can all relate to right now it’s feeling disillusioned and jaded with the people whom we’re meant to view as heroes, and ZENITH: PHASE 01 (and the subsequent three "phases" that follow that follow it) by Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell are here to cradle those feelings in a warm blanket made of Generation X powered apathy. Zenith manages to act as the perfect follow-up to a post-Alan Moore era of comics where heroes are not all they’re chalked up to be and evolves from being a parody of celebrity culture to a full-on parody of American superhero culture. It’s actually really easy to draw a line from Zenith to an American superhero of celebrity aspirations like Booster Gold, but I can promise that Zenith is much more bitter and is -- increasingly throughout the series -- proven to be less than the ideal hero the world needs. Morrison clearly had a good time flexing his anti-conservatism muscles with this one, but even if that’s not your bag or the message you need right now, sticking around for Yeowell’s artwork is worth everything in it’s staggeringly intricate ink work that has moved me to tears on more than one occasion.

As someone who gets mentally exhausted trying to keep up with the “positive vibes only” mentality that is forced on us in trying times, ZENITH may be the breath of bitterly fresh air that you need to feel valid and seen in your frustrations right now. -Chloe Maveal

Chloe Maveal is a pop culture journalist who specializes in British comics. She has been featured all over the comic internet with bylines in Comics Beat, Publishers Weekly, Polygon, Shelfdust, and Women Write About Comics.

Zenith: Phase 01
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Steve Yeowell
Letterer: Mark King
Publisher: Rebellion/2000 AD
Berlin, 1945: The allies unleashed the World War II hero Maximan upon the German super soldier Masterman. Maximan's defeat was only kept secret by the nuclear bomb which destroyed both men. Forty-plus years later, and twenty years after a generation of '60s British superpowered heroes came and went, the teenage pop star Zenith is the only superhuman left - and his only interest in women, drugs, alcohol and fame. So when he is contacted about the threat from the many-angled ones and the impending destruction of our world, his first reaction is to steer well clear. But the superhumans of the past have other plans!

Buy It Now: Big Bang Comics in Dublin, Ireland, is doing its best to get comics to folks during the current crisis. Get more info here!

Get it from a local comic shop with this directory from the Comics Industry Collective of stores open and doing mail order!

Click here for the full coronavirus reading list!