Bottle of Awesome is the story of a real geeky dweeb named Billy Butterman, narrated by his unrequited love in a post-apocalyptic future. Like all dweebs, Billy is constantly terrorized by the school bullies, gym teacher, and principal. That is until one fateful night when, walking home late after school, he comes across a mysterious bum under a bridge. That bum gives Billy something amazing, something magic, the Bottle of Awesome. Whenever Billy drinks from the magic glowing bottle, he gets really awesome at whatever he wishes. However, if he drinks too much, he has the potential to become too awesome and capable of causing life-threatening damage.
The strip was one of the few 'instant winners' at Zuda, bypassing the usual monthly competition process. Writer/artist Andy Belanger, already an established webcomic creator, pitched the concept directly to Zuda editorial director Ron Perazza and editor Kwanza Johnson at Comic-Con New York in 2007. Writing began over Christmas 2008, and the first pages premièred on 22nd June, 2009. In the week before the first strips were published, Zuda dropped hints on their blog and via Twitter.
A second season was planned for 2010, but on July 1st DC announced the immediate closure of the Zuda imprint and website. At that time, DC announced that some Zuda titles would be published through digital distributor ComiXology, and Bottle Of Awesome was among the first of the titles to be announced. The first season's strips were collected into three issues, and published shortly afterwards, from July-August 2010. The second season was eventually published on ComiXology in two issues, from May-June 2011.
Andy Belanger described the series as a break from his usual horror work, and a change to the "dark, brooding, anti-hero with a chip on his shoulder". As well as citing the vibe of 1980s "you can do it" movies such as The Karate Kid, he likens the strip in comics terms to Popeye, and Archie, and to the animation South Park.
In 2010, Belanger was nominated for the Joe Shuster award in the Webcomics category for his work on Bottle Of Awesome and his Transmission-X webcomic Raising Hell.
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