Creation
Mr. Withers was created by Scott McCloud for the first color volume of Zot!, in issue 6.
Major Story Arcs
Mr. Withers is a bureaucrat in the government of the planet Sirius IV. He seems to be a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy who keeps his head down and nose to the grindstone.
However, a conspiracy made of leaders from different elements of the government and society, including fellow bureaucrat Mr. Twik, Grand Inquisitor Von Clokmann, General Schrapp, and palace advisor Swimbler, are planning to start a war with Earth and take over the government.
Withers finds Twik’s records of the conspiracy’s meetings and discovers that they’ve assassinated the King. He is a self-described coward but feels like he has to do something, so he comes to Zot and his friends, knowing that Zot has an established record of being a hero and that they are allies of the missing Prince (and now King) Drufus.
Zot and the others already know about the conspiracy but it is good to have corroborating evidence. Withers warns them that the Queen will be the next target.
The conspiracy’s soldiers attack and capture Withers, Jenny, Uncle Max, and Raymond Taylor, and shoot Peabody. Butch escapes and Zot has already left; he foils the assassination attempt on the Queen thanks to Withers’ warning.
The conspiracy members interrogate Withers and the captured friends, and are about to kill Withers when Zot breaks in and rescues them.
Withers and the others hide out at a cathedral run by Father Kimm for protection. He is last seen there shortly before the conspiracy’s forces invade. Presumably he is captured like the rest of Zot’s allies, and then released when Butch’s army of De-Evolutionists counter-attack.
Zot eventually stops the conspiracy, thus resolving Withers’ concerns about stability and corruption in the government.