Theories on "Zero"

[Agent John Bishop]

So I have made a list of some things that I still don't get in Zero after finally reading volume two. Obviously spoilers abound but I would love to get some opinions on this stuff.

How is Ginsberg Nova still alive after the shot to the head? He appears to have a scar now, but it didn't phase him...

What is up with him at all? We know he was with the agency but what happened and what were his motivations? We have two missions from him now and it appears that both involved teleportation. Also, what is on that phone?

There have been repeated mentions of a mole in the agency, is that supposed to be Zizek. While his plan was not clear, he was definitely two timing the agency.

What did Zero see through the door in issue seven. The comments are cryptic but it looked like a tv screen reflected in Zero's eye. Snuff film perhaps?

Obvious the big one is what's up with the Mushroom plague? It's being referred to as "the shift" and it somehow involves the compound from issue 10 as well as the behemoths in the flash forwards.

The vagueness itself does not bother me as long as we get answers at some point. But two volumes in we have way more mysteries than answers and personally, I was hoping this would be less "Morning Glories" and more "Lazarus". I am really enjoying this series, but anybody have any thoughts on where it might be going?

[cc008]

The more I hear about this, the more I think I should check it out because of Lazarus. Is it not as much like Lazarus as I expect it to be?

[Agent John Bishop]

The more I hear about this, the more I think I should check it out because of Lazarus. Is it not as much like Lazarus as I expect it to be?

Complicated answer: it depends on what you like about Lazarus. From a pure story standpoint the similarities are not huge: they both deal with children who are trained to kill but can't lose their heart. On the other hand they both intelligently investigate post traumatic stress from the standpoint of a damaged character who wants a real life. Both series deal with the effect of parents on our lives.

I like Lazarus better, but they are quite different in structure. Each issue of Lazarus jumps around in chronology and atmosphere to form a surreal tapestry.

[cc008]

Complicated answer: it depends on what you like about Lazarus. From a pure story standpoint the similarities are not huge: they both deal with children who are trained to kill but can't lose their heart. On the other hand they both intelligently investigate post traumatic stress from the standpoint of a damaged character who wants a real life. Both series deal with the effect of parents on our lives.

I like Lazarus better, but they are quite different in structure. Each issue of Lazarus jumps around in chronology and atmosphere to form a surreal tapestry.

Great insight.. thanks for the answer.

[Agent John Bishop]

Oops, I mean the chronology jumps around in Zero not Lazarus.

[cc008]

I had a feeling.. no worries.

[Conway]

So I have made a list of some things that I still don't get in Zero after finally reading volume two. Obviously spoilers abound but I would love to get some opinions on this stuff.

How is Ginsberg Nova still alive after the shot to the head? He appears to have a scar now, but it didn't phase him...

What is up with him at all? We know he was with the agency but what happened and what were his motivations? We have two missions from him now and it appears that both involved teleportation. Also, what is on that phone?

There have been repeated mentions of a mole in the agency, is that supposed to be Zizek. While his plan was not clear, he was definitely two timing the agency.

What did Zero see through the door in issue seven. The comments are cryptic but it looked like a tv screen reflected in Zero's eye. Snuff film perhaps?

Obvious the big one is what's up with the Mushroom plague? It's being referred to as "the shift" and it somehow involves the compound from issue 10 as well as the behemoths in the flash forwards.

The vagueness itself does not bother me as long as we get answers at some point. But two volumes in we have way more mysteries than answers and personally, I was hoping this would be less "Morning Glories" and more "Lazarus". I am really enjoying this series, but anybody have any thoughts on where it might be going?

Making me want to dig up my old issues. As for where it's going though, I'm not sure he's decided. I think it obviously is going to end where it started with Zero sitting on a chair by the ocean watching the sunset drinking a beer and waiting for the agency to kill him. So far it feels like every story is a one shot. I think there has to be some outline, but Kot is using the opportunity to just tell a new story each month. I'm not sure how much of these stories are really going to tie into the overall story. A lot of it seems like character building for Zero. I guess it's possible that it will just be a Character Piece, but whether that is a piece about Zero or the Agency I'm not sure yet.

[Agent John Bishop]

Making me want to dig up my old issues. As for where it's going though, I'm not sure he's decided. I think it obviously is going to end where it started with Zero sitting on a chair by the ocean watching the sunset drinking a beer and waiting for the agency to kill him. So far it feels like every story is a one shot. I think there has to be some outline, but Kot is using the opportunity to just tell a new story each month. I'm not sure how much of these stories are really going to tie into the overall story. A lot of it seems like character building for Zero. I guess it's possible that it will just be a Character Piece, but whether that is a piece about Zero or the Agency I'm not sure yet.

I guess I felt like it was one-shots for the first volume, but few, if any, of the second volume stories stood on their own and I was left with more questions than answers. Still loving the book, but I really hate the "Lost" phenomena of putting out more mysteries than you have solutions to, so I hope that's not happening here.

[HellsRider]

I can touch on a few points.

Not sure how Nova (aka Richard) survived the gun shot to the head, but in terms of what happened to him with relation to the agency - he quit or they let him go. We know Zizek was his handler similar to Zero and the horse collectors comment from Sarah Cooke directly connects to Richard's horse/phase shift story the issue after that. The circumstances for why he quit/let go we don't know.

In terms of Nova's phone in issue 3, I believe it was Zizek calling him (given his knack for two timing the agency) given Nova's words "two of your agents...and I'll kill the girl obviously" which would explain how Nova can get on to the facility in issue 5.

As for what Zero saw in issue 7, probably child porn given the guard's dialog of "the boys have to get their kicks somewhere" and the dialog after that. Though a snuff film be that too, I've seen both thoughts mentioned.

Not sure where its going myself. Its a story of a man's life, but how that ends given how the world ends up due to a decision he made I'm unsure. My hope is that future issues flesh out Nova more and I hope we see Mina again as she was taken from us too soon!

However one thing from the solicits of future issues I noticed is that their are a number of ties to issue 1 - the Biet Hanoun incident especially given Carlyle's comments on that in issue 4 its certainly fishy. But I do agree that their are a number of mysteries and hopefully they will be solved soon and I have faith Kot will do that.

[Agent John Bishop]

I can touch on a few points.

Not sure how Nova (aka Richard) survived the gun shot to the head, but in terms of what happened to him with relation to the agency - he quit or they let him go. We know Zizek was his handler similar to Zero and the horse collectors comment from Sarah Cooke directly connects to Richard's horse/phase shift story the issue after that. The circumstances for why he quit/let go we don't know.

In terms of Nova's phone in issue 3, I believe it was Zizek calling him (given his knack for two timing the agency) given Nova's words "two of your agents...and I'll kill the girl obviously" which would explain how Nova can get on to the facility in issue 5.

As for what Zero saw in issue 7, probably child porn given the guard's dialog of "the boys have to get their kicks somewhere" and the dialog after that. Though a snuff film be that too, I've seen both thoughts mentioned.

Not sure where its going myself. Its a story of a man's life, but how that ends given how the world ends up due to a decision he made I'm unsure. My hope is that future issues flesh out Nova more and I hope we see Mina again as she was taken from us too soon!

However one thing from the solicits of future issues I noticed is that their are a number of ties to issue 1 - the Biet Hanoun incident especially given Carlyle's comments on that in issue 4 its certainly fishy. But I do agree that their are a number of mysteries and hopefully they will be solved soon and I have faith Kot will do that.

All great points, thanks for contributing. Zizek was definitely up to something (and notably Mina says he wasn't notified she'd be Zero's backup that night). I am curious though how all the disparate pieces tie together.

[HellsRider]

Thanks.

Yeah Zizek was up to something. I believe he was grooming Zero to be his successor given A) him showing Zero what the agency really is about in issue 5, B) the Kali Yuga issue where Richard served the same role as Zero but as the guy Zizek was talking to pointed out Zero was more in on the conversations than Richard was, and C) the fact that Zero was the kid Zizek raised and Zero rejected all of it by killing him.

With that said, an interesting aspect is Nova and these teleportation machines in both issue 3 and issue 6. With issue 6, I believe Nova contacted Zizek about the situation at the Hadron Collider (a facility owned by the agency) which then lead to Zizek and Cooke sending Zero in and Zizek ""acting happy about it." Are these teleportation devices tied to the aliens and if so does this mean that the agency wanted these aliens to come and Zizek wanted to stop that or is it vice versa?

Also a possible reason that Nova may have survived the gun shot to the head maybe because of the device from the first issue that Zero took. Remember, that incident happened one year before issue 3 and Zero certainly lied to Cooke's face in issue 5 about it and Zizek was certainly sweating bullets when Cooke was asking questions about it. I may be remembering the first issue wrong in terms of what Zero did with the device at the end though since its been a while.