Bill Griffith
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William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
"Are we having fun yet?" is credited to Griffith. Over his career, which started in the
underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
era, Griffith has worked with the industry's leading underground/ alternative publishers, including Print Mint, Last Gasp, Rip Off Press, Kitchen Sink, and
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
. He co-edited the notable comics anthologies '' Arcade'' and '' Young Lust'', and has contributed comics and illustrations to a variety of publications, including '' National Lampoon'', '' High Times'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.


Early life, family and education

Born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, New York, Griffith grew up in Levittown on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. He is the great-grandson and namesake of the photographer and artist William Henry Jackson (Jackson died at age 99 just two years before Griffith was born). One of Griffith's neighbors was
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
illustrator Ed Emshwiller, whom Griffith credits with pointing him toward the world of art. Griffith, his father and his mother all served as models for Emshwiller at one time or another; a very young Griffith appears (along with his father) on the cover of the September 1957 issue of '' Science Fiction Stories''. For over a decade, starting in 1957, Griffith's mother Barbara had an affair with cartoonist Lawrence Lariar; this formed the basis of a 2015 graphic novel by Griffith.“I Had Moments Where I Just Broke Down Crying”: An Interview with Bill Griffith
by Chris Mautner, in '' The Comics Journal''; published November 23, 2015; retrieved December 16, 2015
While attending Brooklyn's Pratt Institute in 1963, Griffith saw a screening of the 1932 Tod Browning film '' Freaks''. As he said in a later interview, "I was fascinated by the pinheads in the introductory scene and asked the projectionist (who I knew) if he could slow down the film so I could hear what they were saying better. He did and I loved the poetic, random dialog. Little did I know that Zippy was being planted in my fevered brain." Griffith graduated with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in
Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...
from Pratt in 1964.


Career


Underground comix

For a short period in the late 1960s, Griffith joined a team of artists that included Kim Deitch, Drew Friedman, Jay Lynch, Norman Saunders,
Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...
, Bhob Stewart and Tom Sutton, who designed Wacky Packages trading cards for the Topps Company. Later, Griffith drew new "Wacky Packages Old School Sketch Cards" for Topps. In 1969, Griffith began making
underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
, first in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. His first
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
s, which appeared in the '' East Village Other'' and '' Screw'' magazine, featured an angry amphibian named Mr. The Toad, who showed up later in a solo comics series and then as a recurring character in '' Zippy''. Griffith ventured to
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
in 1970 to join its burgeoning underground comix movement. He quickly gained a reputation for his willingness to collaborate and organize: one of his first acts upon arriving in San Francisco was to help form the United Cartoon Workers of America,Goodrick, Susan. "Introduction," ''The Apex Treasury of Underground Comics'' (Links Books/Quick Fox, 1974). along with Robert Crumb, Justin Green,
Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...
, Spain Rodriguez, Roger Brand, Michele Brand, and Griffith's sister Nancy. (The U.C.W. of A. brand appeared on a number of comix from that era.) '' Young Lust'', an " X-rated parody of girl's romance comics" that Griffith co-founded and edited with cartoonist Jay Kinney, was a huge hit upon its 1970 debut,Rosenkranz, Patrick. ''Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution, 1963-1975'' (Fantagraphics, 200), p. 153. with the first issue enjoying multiple printings. The title eventually published eight issues, with the last one appearing in 1993 (with a ten-year gap between issues #6 and #7). In 1973, Griffith was one of the founding members of Cartoonists' Co-op Press, along with Kim Deitch, Jerry Lane, Jay Lynch, Willy Murphy, Diane Noomin, and Spiegelman. The press was a short-lived
self-publishing Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fro ...
cooperative that operated out of Griffith's apartment. It was founded as an alternative to the existing underground presses, which were perceived as not being honest with their accounting practices. (For example, Griffith's popular
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
, ''Young Lust'', ran through three publishers — Company & Sons, Print Mint, and Last Gasp — in its first three issues.) Griffith's solo title, ''Tales of Toad'', had a three-issue run from 1970 to 1973, published first by the Print Mint and then Cartoonists' Co-op Press. The main character, Mr. Toad, is a humanoid toad who embodies blind greed and selfishness. Griffith's weekly
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
''Griffith Observatory'' (a play on the tourist attraction of the same name) was distributed by the Rip Off Press Syndicate in the late 1970s.Fox, M. Steven
"Rip Off Comix — 1977-1991 / Rip Off Press,"
Comixjoint. Retrieved Dec. 5, 2022.
Material from the strip was published in '' Rip Off Comix'' ( Rip Off Press) and ''Arcade'', and then collected, first by Rip Off Press in 1979, and then in an expanded edition by Fantagraphics in 1993.


''Arcade''

In 1975, after many years of gestation,"Bill Griffith: Politics, Pinheads, and Post-Modernism," ''The Comics Journal'' #157 (Mar. 1993), p. 73. Griffith and Spiegelman debuted the magazine-sized anthology '' Arcade, the Comics Revue'', published by the Print Mint. Arriving late in the underground era, ''Arcade'' stood out from similar publications by having an ambitious editorial plan, in which Spiegelman and Griffith attempted to show how comics connected to the broader realms of artistic and literary culture.Fox, M. Steven
"Arcade, The Comics Revue,"
ComixJoint. Accessed June 19, 2018.
''Arcade'' also introduced comic strips from ages past, as well as contemporary literary pieces by writers such as William S. Burroughs and
Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...
, and illustrated nonfiction pieces by writers like Paul Krassner and J. Hoberman. Soon after the magazine's debut, however, co-editor Spiegelman moved back to his original home of New York City, which put most of the editorial work for ''Arcade'' on the shoulders of Griffith and his new partner (later wife), Diane Noomin. This, combined with distribution problems, retailer indifference, and a general failure to find a devoted audience, led to the magazine's 1976 demise after seven issues. Nonetheless, many observers credit ''Arcade'' with paving the way for the Spiegelman-edited anthology '' Raw'', the flagship publication of the 1980s
alternative comics Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comic book, American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alterna ...
movement.


''Zippy''

The first ''Zippy'' story appeared in the underground comic ''Real Pulp'' #1 ( Print Mint) in 1971. As Griffith said of that story, "I was asked to contribute a few pages to ''Real Pulp Comics'' #1, edited by Roger Brand. His only guideline was to say 'Maybe do some kind of love story, but with really weird people.' I never imagined I'd still be putting words into Zippy's fast-moving mouth some 38 years later." Zippy's original appearance was partly inspired by the microcephalic Schlitzie, from the film ''Freaks'', which was enjoying something of a cult revival at the time; as well as the P. T. Barnum sideshow performer
Zip the Pinhead William Henry Johnson ( or – April 9, 1926), known as Zip the Pinhead, was an American freak show performer known for his tapered head. Early life William Henry Johnson was likely born in New Jersey, and was one of six children in a very poo ...
, who may not have been a microcephalic but was nevertheless billed as one. The ''Zippy'' strip went weekly in 1976, first in the underground newspaper the '' Berkeley Barb'' and then syndicated nationally through the Rip Off Press Syndicate."Zippy Congratulates Rip-Off Press," ''Rip Off Comix'' #21 (Winter 1988), p. 50. At this point, Zippy strips began appearing regularly in '' High Times'' magazine . In 1979, Griffith added his
alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...
character, Griffy, to the strip. He describes Griffy as "neurotic, self-righteous and opinionated, someone with whom Zippy would certainly contrast. I brought the two characters together around 1979, perhaps symbolically bringing together the two halves of my personality. It worked. Their relationship seemed to make Zippy's random nuttiness more directed and Griffy's cranky, critical persona had his foil, someone to bounce happily off of his constant analysis of everything and everyone around him." In 1979–1980, Last Gasp published a three-issue Zippy comics series, with much of the material made up of strips that had appeared in ''High Times''. At first titled ''Yow'' (which is Zippy's exclamation when he is surprised), the title was changed to ''Zippy'' for the final issue. The first full-length Zippy collection, ''Zippy Stories'', was published in 1981 by And/Or Press. The collection was brought back to print by Last Gasp in 1984, and had multiple printings (up through 1995). In 1986, the "Zippy Theme Song" was composed and performed, with lyrics by The B-52s' Fred Schneider and vocals by The Manhattan Transfer's Janis Siegel. Also on the cut are singers Phoebe Snow and Jon Hendricks. The daily ''Zippy'' strip (syndicated by King Features Syndicate to over 200 newspapers worldwide) started in 1986. Griffith compares the creation of the strip to
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
: "When I'm doing a ''Zippy'' strip, I'm aware that I'm weaving elements together, almost improvising, as if I were all the instruments in a little jazz combo, then stepping back constantly to edit and fine-tune. Playing with language is what delights Zippy the most." In October 1994 Griffith toured
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
for two weeks, during a period of mass exodus, as thousands of Cubans took advantage of President
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
's decision to permit emigration for a limited time. In early 1995, Griffith published a six-week series of " comics journalism" stories about Cuban culture and politics in ''Zippy''. The Cuba series included transcripts of conversations Griffith had conducted with various Cubans, including artists, government officials, and a Yoruba priestess. Years ago, as continuity comic strips gave way to humor strips, typeset episode subtitles vanished from strips. Griffith keeps the tradition alive by always centering a hand-lettered subtitle above each ''Zippy'' strip. In 2007, Griffith began to focus his daily strip on Zippy's "birthplace," Dingburg. In 2008, Griffith presented a talk on Zippy at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
at Ann Arbor. In it, he laid out his "Top 40 List on Comics and their Creation,” which has been reposted on numerous comics blog posts.


Personal life

Griffith's younger sister, Nancy, was also involved in the underground comix community. His wife was cartoonist Diane Noomin, whom he began dating in 1973 and married in 1980. They lived together in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
from 1972 to 1998, first in an apartment on Fair Oaks Street, and then in their own house on 25th Street in Diamond Heights. They moved to Hadlyme,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, in 1998."About Bill Griffith," '' Current Biography'' (2001)
Archived at Zippy the Pinhead official Website
Accessed Dec. 11, 2019.
Noomin died of uterine cancer in 2022.


Bibliography

In January 2012, Fantagraphics published ''Bill Griffith: Lost and Found, Comics 1969-2003'', a 392-page collection of Griffith's early work in underground comics from the ''East Village Other'' to his pages for ''The New Yorker'' and the ''National Lampoon'' in the 1980s and 1990s. Griffith's mother's affair with cartoonist Lawrence Lariar formed the basis of Griffith's 2015 graphic novel memoir, ''Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist'', published by Fantagraphics. ''Invisible Ink'' depicts various other details and incidents involving Griffith's family, including his father's physical and
psychological abuse Psychological abuse, often known as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including Anxiety disorder, anxiety, c ...
of his family members. In 2019, Griffith's graphic biography of Schlitzie, ''Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead'', was published by Abrams ComicArts. Griffith revealed in the August 19, 2020, ''Zippy'' strip that he was writing and drawing a graphic biography of '' Nancy'' cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller. The book, ''Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy'', was published by Harry N. Abrams August 2023. In 2023, Griffith produced a comic book memoir of Diane Noomin and their marriage together, titled ''The Buildings Are Barking''. ''Zippy'' comics and books are now published by
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
.


Zippy titles (selected)

* ''Zippy Stories.'' Berkeley: And/Or Press, 1981. . San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1984. * ''Nation of Pinheads.'' Berkeley: And/Or Press, 1982. Reprinted, San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1987. Zippy strips, 1979–1982. * ''Pointed Behavior.'' San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1984. Zippy strips, 1983–1984. * ''Are We Having Fun Yet? Zippy the Pinhead's 29-Day Guide to Random Activities and Arbitrary Donuts''. New York: Dutton, 1985. Reprinted, Seattle: Fantagraphics, 1994. * ''Pindemonium.'' San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1986. Zippy strips, 1985–1986. * ''King Pin: New Zippy Strips.'' New York: Dutton, 1987. Zippy strips, 1986–7. * ''Pinhead's Progress: More Zippy Strips.'' New York: Dutton, 1989. Zippy strips, 1987–8. * ''From A to Zippy: Getting There Is All the Fun.'' New York:
Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
, 1991. Zippy strips, 1988–90. * ''Zippy's House of Fun: 54 Months of Sundays.'' Seattle: Fantagraphics, 1995. (Color strips, May 1990 - September 1994) * ''Zippy and beyond: A Pinhead's Progress - Comic Strips, Stories, Travel Sketches and Animation Material.'' San Francisco: Cartoon Art Museum, 1997. * ''Zippy Quarterly'' (eighteen collections, published from January, 1993 until March, 1998) - no ISBN identification for these publications * ''Zippy Annual: A millennial melange of microcephalic malapropisms and metaphysical muzak.'' ("Vol. 1", "Impressions based on random data".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2000. * ''Zippy Annual 2001.'' ("Vol. 2", "April 2001 - September 2001".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2001. * ''Zippy Annual 2002.'' ("Vol. 3", "September 2001 - October 2002".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2002. * ''Zippy Annual 2003.'' ("Vol. 4", "October 2002 - October 2003".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2003. * ''Zippy: From Here to Absurdity.'' ("Vol. 5", "November 2003 - November 2004".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2004. * ''Type Z Personality.'' ("Vol. 6", "December 2004 - December 2005".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2005, * ''Connect the Polka Dots.'' ("Vol. 7", December 2005 - August 2006".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2006. * ''Walk a Mile in My Muu-Muu.'' Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2007. * ''Welcome to Dingburg''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2008. * ''Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2010. * ''Zippy the Pinhead: The Dingburg Diaries''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2013.


References


External links


Official ''Zippy The Pinhead'' site
* Griffith's "Top 40 List on Comics and their Creation”
part 1part 2part 3part 4"On the Road with Zippy the Pinhead"
'' Boston Globe'' (2011)
Review of ''Bill Griffith: Lost and Found, Comics 1969-2003'' by novelist Paul Di Fillipo
Barnes & Noble ''In The Margin'' blog (Feb. 12, 2012)
Zippy Meets Mick Jagger


Interviews


Radio interview relating to Griffith's book on the real "Zippy."
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Bill 1944 births American comics writers American comics artists American comic strip cartoonists American surrealist artists American humorists Artists from San Francisco Inkpot Award winners Living people Pratt Institute alumni Artists from Brooklyn People from Levittown, New York People from East Haddam, Connecticut Underground cartoonists Alternative cartoonists