Wikipedia

Bill Griffith

For the Australian rules footballer, seeBill J. Griffith.

William Henry Jackson Griffith(born January 20, 1944) is an Americancartoonistwho signs his workBill GriffithandGriffy.He is best known for hissurrealdaily comic stripZippy.[3]Thecatchphrase"Are we having fun yet?" is credited to Griffith.[4]

Bill Griffith
Griffith in 2012
BornWilliam Henry Jackson Griffith
(1944-01-20)January 20, 1944(age 80)
Brooklyn,New York City,New York,U.S.
Area(s)Cartoonist
Pseudonym(s)Griffy
Notable works
Young Lust
Arcade
Zippy the Pinhead
Invisible Ink
Nobody's Fool
AwardsInkpot Award(1992)[1] Reuben Award(2023)[2]
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m.1980; died 2022)​
Signature
Signature of Bill Griffith

Over his career, which started in theunderground comixera, Griffith has worked with the industry's leading underground/alternativepublishers, includingPrint Mint,Last Gasp,Rip Off Press,Kitchen Sink,andFantagraphics Books.He co-edited the notablecomics anthologiesArcadeandYoung Lust,and has contributed comics and illustrations to a variety of publications, includingNational Lampoon,High Times,The New Yorker,The Village VoiceandThe New York Times.

Early life, family and education

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Born inBrooklyn,New York City,New York,Griffith grew up inLevittownonLong Island.He is the great-grandson and namesake of the photographer and artistWilliam Henry Jackson[5][6](Jackson died at age 99 just two years before Griffith was born).

One of Griffith's neighbors wasscience fictionillustratorEd Emshwiller,whom Griffith credits with pointing him toward the world of art.[7]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 ofScience Fiction Stories.[8]

For over a decade, starting in 1957, Griffith's mother Barbara had an affair with cartoonistLawrence Lariar;this formed the basis of a 2015 graphic novel by Griffith.[6]

While attending Brooklyn'sPratt Institutein 1963, Griffith saw a screening of the 1932Tod BrowningfilmFreaks.As he said in a later interview, "I was fascinated by thepinheadsin 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 thatZippywas being planted in my fevered brain. "[9]

Griffith graduated with anAssociate of Applied ScienceDegree inGraphic Designfrom Pratt in 1964.[10][11]

Career

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Underground comix

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For a short period in the late 1960s, Griffith joined a team of artists that includedKim Deitch,Drew Friedman,Jay Lynch,Norman Saunders,Art Spiegelman,Bhob StewartandTom Sutton,[12]who designedWacky Packagestrading cardsfor theToppsCompany. Later, Griffith drew new "Wacky Packages Old School Sketch Cards" for Topps.[citation needed]

In 1969, Griffith began makingunderground comix,[3]first inNew York City.[13]His firstcomic strips,which appeared in theEast Village OtherandScrewmagazine, featured an angry amphibian named Mr. The Toad,[3]who showed up later in a solo comics series and then as a recurring character inZippy.

Griffith ventured toSan Francisco,Californiain 1970[3]to join its burgeoning underground comix movement.[13]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,[14]along withRobert Crumb,Justin Green,Art Spiegelman,Spain Rodriguez,Roger Brand,Michele Brand,and Griffith's sister Nancy.[15](The U.C.W. of A. brand appeared on a number of comix from that era.)

Young Lust,an "X-ratedparody of girl'sromance comics"[16]that Griffith co-founded and edited with cartoonistJay Kinney,was a huge hit upon its 1970 debut,[17]with the first issue enjoying multiple printings.[18]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 ofCartoonists' Co-op Press,along withKim Deitch,Jerry Lane,Jay Lynch,Willy Murphy,Diane Noomin,and Spiegelman.[19]The press was a short-livedself-publishingcooperative that operated out of Griffith's apartment.[20]It was founded as an alternative to the existing underground presses, which were perceived as not being honest with their accounting practices.[21](For example, Griffith's popularanthology,Young Lust,ran through three publishers —Company & Sons,Print Mint,andLast 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 thePrint Mintand then Cartoonists' Co-op Press. The main character, Mr. Toad, is a humanoidtoadwho embodies blind greed and selfishness.[22]

Griffith's weeklycomic stripGriffith Observatory(a play on thetourist attraction of the same name) was distributed by theRip Off Press Syndicatein the late 1970s.[23]Material from the strip was published inRip Off Comix(Rip Off Press) andArcade,and then collected, first byRip Off Pressin 1979,[24]and then in an expanded edition byFantagraphicsin 1993.

Arcade

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In 1975, after many years of gestation,[25]Griffith and Spiegelman debuted the magazine-sized anthologyArcade, the Comics Revue,published by thePrint Mint.Arriving late in the underground era,Arcadestood 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.[26][27]Arcadealso introduced comic strips from ages past, as well as contemporary literary pieces by writers such asWilliam S. BurroughsandCharles Bukowski,[28]and illustrated nonfiction pieces by writers likePaul KrassnerandJ. Hoberman.

Soon after the magazine's debut, however, co-editor Spiegelman moved back to his original home of New York City,[29]which put most of the editorial work forArcadeon 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,[27]led to the magazine's 1976 demise after seven issues. Nonetheless, many observers creditArcadewith paving the way for the Spiegelman-edited anthologyRaw,the flagship publication of the 1980salternative comicsmovement.[27]

Zippy

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Main article:Zippy the Pinhead

The firstZippystory appeared in the underground comicReal Pulp#1 (Print Mint) in 1971.[30]As Griffith said of that story, "I was asked to contribute a few pages toReal Pulp Comics#1, edited byRoger 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. "[9]

Zippy's original appearance was partly inspired by themicrocephalicSchlitzie,from the filmFreaks,which was enjoying something of a cult revival at the time; as well as theP. T. Barnumsideshow performerZip the Pinhead,who may not have been a microcephalic but was nevertheless billed as one.[31]

TheZippystrip went weekly in 1976, first in theunderground newspapertheBerkeley Barband then syndicated nationally through theRip Off Press Syndicate.[32][3]At this point, Zippy strips began appearing regularly inHigh Timesmagazine.

In 1979, Griffith added hisalter egocharacter, Griffy,[16]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."[33]

In 1979–1980,Last Gasppublished a three-issue Zippy comics series, with much of the material made up of strips that had appeared inHigh Times.At first titledYow[34](which is Zippy's exclamation when he is surprised), the title was changed toZippyfor the final issue.[35]

The first full-length Zippy collection,Zippy Stories,was published in 1981 byAnd/Or Press.The collection was brought back to print by Last Gasp in 1984, and had multiple printings (up through 1995).[36]

In 1986, the "Zippy Theme Song" was composed and performed, with lyrics byThe B-52s'Fred Schneiderand vocals byThe Manhattan Transfer'sJanis Siegel.[37]Also on the cut are singersPhoebe SnowandJon Hendricks.[38]

The dailyZippystrip (syndicated byKing Features Syndicateto over 200[3]newspapers worldwide) started in 1986. Griffith compares the creation of the strip tojazz:"When I'm doing aZippystrip, 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. "[39]

In October 1994 Griffith touredCubafor two weeks, during a period of mass exodus, as thousands of Cubans took advantage of PresidentFidel Castro'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 inZippy.The Cuba series included transcripts of conversations Griffith had conducted with various Cubans, including artists, government officials, and a Yoruba priestess.[40]

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 ahand-letteredsubtitle above eachZippystrip.[citation needed]

In 2007, Griffith began to focus his daily strip on Zippy's "birthplace," Dingburg.[16]

In 2008, Griffith presented a talk on Zippy at theUniversity of Michiganat 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.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Griffith's younger sister, Nancy,[6]was also involved in the underground comix community.[41]

His wife was cartoonistDiane Noomin,whom he began dating in 1973 and married in 1980.[42]They lived together inSan Franciscofrom 1972 to 1998, first in an apartment on Fair Oaks Street, and then in their own house on 25th Street inDiamond Heights.[43]They moved toHadlyme,Connecticut,in 1998.[13][40]Noomin died of uterine cancer in 2022.[42]

Bibliography

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In January 2012, Fantagraphics publishedBill Griffith: Lost and Found, Comics 1969-2003,a 392-page collection of Griffith's early work in underground comics from theEast Village Otherto his pages forThe New Yorkerand theNational Lampoonin the 1980s and 1990s.

Griffith's mother's affair with cartoonistLawrence Lariarformed the basis of Griffith's 2015 graphic novel memoir,Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist,published byFantagraphics.[6]Invisible Inkdepicts various other details and incidents involving Griffith's family, including his father'sphysicalandpsychological abuseof his family members.[44]

In 2019, Griffith's graphic biography ofSchlitzie,Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead,was published byAbrams ComicArts.

Griffith revealed in the August 19, 2020,Zippystrip that he was writing and drawing a graphic biography ofNancycartoonistErnie Bushmiller.The book,Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy,was published byHarry N. AbramsAugust 2023.

In 2023, Griffith produced a comic book memoir of Diane Noomin and their marriage together, titledThe Buildings Are Barking.[45]

Zippycomics and books are now published byFantagraphics Books.

Zippy titles (selected)

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  • Zippy Stories.Berkeley:And/Or Press,1981.ISBN0-915904-58-6.San Francisco:Last Gasp,1984.ISBN0-86719-325-5
  • Nation of Pinheads.Berkeley: And/Or Press, 1982.ISBN0-915904-71-3Reprinted, San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1987.ISBN0-86719-365-4Zippy strips, 1979–1982.
  • Pointed Behavior.San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1984.ISBN0-86719-315-8Zippy 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.ISBN0-525-48184-2Reprinted, Seattle: Fantagraphics, 1994.ISBN1-56097-149-5
  • Pindemonium.San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1986.ISBN0-86719-348-4Zippy strips, 1985–1986.
  • King Pin: New Zippy Strips.New York: Dutton, 1987.ISBN0-525-48330-6Zippy strips, 1986–7.
  • Pinhead's Progress: More Zippy Strips.New York: Dutton, 1989.ISBN0-525-48468-XZippy strips, 1987–8.
  • From A to Zippy: Getting There Is All the Fun.New York:Penguin Books,1991.ISBN0-14-014988-0Zippy strips, 1988–90.
  • Zippy's House of Fun: 54 Months of Sundays.Seattle:Fantagraphics,1995.ISBN1-56097-162-2(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.ISBN1-56097-351-X
  • Zippy Annual 2001.( "Vol. 2", "April 2001 - September 2001".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2001.ISBN1-56097-472-9
  • Zippy Annual 2002.( "Vol. 3", "September 2001 - October 2002".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2002.ISBN1-56097-505-9
  • Zippy Annual 2003.( "Vol. 4", "October 2002 - October 2003".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2003.ISBN1-56097-563-6
  • Zippy: From Here to Absurdity.( "Vol. 5", "November 2003 - November 2004".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2004.ISBN1-56097-618-7
  • Type Z Personality.( "Vol. 6", "December 2004 - December 2005".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2005,ISBN1-56097-698-5
  • Connect the Polka Dots.( "Vol. 7", December 2005 - August 2006 ".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2006.ISBN978-1-56097-777-3
  • Walk a Mile in My Muu-Muu.Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2007.ISBN978-1-56097-877-0
  • Welcome to Dingburg.Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2008.ISBN978-1-56097-963-0
  • Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg.Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2010.ISBN978-1-60699-389-7
  • Zippy the Pinhead: The Dingburg Diaries.Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2013.ISBN978-1606996416

References

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  1. ^Inkpot Award,Comic-Con International San Diego website. Retrieved Dec. 9, 2022.
  2. ^"Bill Griffith Wins the Reuben Award".ComicsBeat.com.September 8, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 11,2023.
  3. ^abcdef"Bill Griffith".Lambiek.net.Lambiek Encyclopedia. July 10, 2016.RetrievedJune 7,2017.
  4. ^"Are We Having Fun Yet?".Bartlett's Familiar Quotations(16th ed.). 1992.
  5. ^Griffith, Bill.Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair With a Famous Cartoonist(Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2015)ISBN978-1606998953.
  6. ^abcd“I Had Moments Where I Just Broke Down Crying”: An Interview with Bill Griffith,by Chris Mautner, inThe Comics Journal;published November 23, 2015; retrieved December 16, 2015
  7. ^"Bill Griffith".zippythepinhead.com.
  8. ^Post on Griffith's Facebook page; March 5, 2019
  9. ^ab"Dueben, Alex." Is Bill Griffith Having Fun Yet? ", CBR, October 6, 2008".Comicbookresources.com. October 6, 2008.RetrievedFebruary 18,2013.
  10. ^Anderson, Lexi. "New and Noteworthy: Summer Reading by Pratt Alumni," Pratt Institute, Monday, June 10, 2019.Retrieved October 24, 2021
  11. ^Bill Griffith (faculty profile) – School of Visual Arts.Retrieved October 24, 2021
  12. ^Original arton wacky packages.org
  13. ^abcBattista, Carolyn (July 11, 1999)."Q&A/Bill Griffith; Exploring The State With Zippy and Griffy".The New York Times.
  14. ^Goodrick, Susan. "Introduction,"The Apex Treasury of Underground Comics(Links Books/Quick Fox, 1974).
  15. ^Young Lust#3 (Last Gasp, June 1972).
  16. ^abcHeller, Steve (December 22, 2011)."Bill Griffith: The Man Who Made Zippy a Pinhead".The Atlantic.RetrievedJune 7,2017.
  17. ^Rosenkranz, Patrick.Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution, 1963-1975(Fantagraphics, 200), p. 153.
  18. ^Young Lust entry,AtomicAvenue.com. Accessed Sept. 6, 2016.
  19. ^"Aline and Bob's Dirty Laundry Comics Lot #1 #2 Comix R. Crumb Aline Kominsky | #1975257675".Worthpoint.RetrievedApril 23,2020.
  20. ^Griffith, Bill.Lost and Found: Comics 1969-2003(Fantagraphics Books, 2012), p. 11.
  21. ^Estren, Mark.A History of Underground Comics: 20th Anniversary Edition(Ronin Publishing, 2012), pp. 251-253.
  22. ^"Cast of Characters".Zippythepinhead.com.RetrievedMay 2,2013.
  23. ^Fox, M. Steven."Rip Off Comix — 1977-1991 / Rip Off Press,"Comixjoint. Retrieved Dec. 5, 2022.
  24. ^"Griffith Observatory #1 (1979), Rip Off Press, 1979 Series,"Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Dec. 9, 2022.
  25. ^"Bill Griffith: Politics, Pinheads, and Post-Modernism,"The Comics Journal#157 (Mar. 1993), p. 73.
  26. ^Grishakova, Marina; Ryan, Marie-Laure (2010).Intermediality and Storytelling.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN978-3-11-023774-0,pp=67–68.
  27. ^abcFox, M. Steven."Arcade, The Comics Revue,"ComixJoint. Accessed June 19, 2018.
  28. ^Buhle, Paul (2004).From the Lower East Side to Hollywood: Jews in American Popular Culture.Verso.ISBN978-1-85984-598-1,p. 252.
  29. ^Witek, Joseph, ed. (2007). "Chronology".Art Spiegelman: Conversations.University Press of Mississippi. pp. xvii–xiii.ISBN978-1-934110-12-6,p. xix.
  30. ^Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014).American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s.TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 59.ISBN978-1605490564.
  31. ^"Are We Having Fun Yet?".Zippythepinhead.com.RetrievedFebruary 18,2013.
  32. ^"Zippy Congratulates Rip-Off Press,"Rip Off Comix#21 (Winter 1988), p. 50.
  33. ^Dooley, Michael Patrick; Heller, Stephen (2005).The Education of a Comics Artist.Allworth Press. p. 43.ISBN9781581154085.
  34. ^"Yow, Last Gasp, 1978 Series,"Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Dec. 9, 2022.
  35. ^"Zippy, Last Gasp, 1980 Series,"Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Dec. 9, 2022.
  36. ^"Zippy Stories, (March 1984), Last Gasp, 1984 Series,"Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Dec. 9, 2022.
  37. ^"Zippy Theme Song".zippythepinhead.com.
  38. ^Griffith, Bill (2012).Lost and Found: Comics 1969-2003.Fantagraphic Books. p. xxi.ISBN978-1606994825.
  39. ^"Is he having fun yet?".zippythepinhead.com.
  40. ^ab"About Bill Griffith,"Current Biography(2001).Archived at Zippy the Pinhead official Website.Accessed Dec. 11, 2019.
  41. ^Fox, M. Steven."Fits #2".ComixJoint.com.RetrievedDecember 8,2016.
  42. ^abGreen, Penelope (September 11, 2022)."Diane Noomin, Who Helped Bring Feminism to Underground Comics, Dies at 75".The New York Times.RetrievedSeptember 11,2022.
  43. ^Griffith,The Buildings Are Barking,p. 15.
  44. ^"Ask A Cartoonist: Sibling Revelry,"Comics Kingdom(May 2, 2018).
  45. ^Griffith, Bill(June 2023).The Buildings Are Barking: Diane Noomin in Memoriam.F.U. Press.
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Interviews

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