Speaking about Zippy

Our Sunday comics with Griffy in women’s attire (7/28/13) was sure a side splitter! I’m thinking that now you’ll come up with one where Griffy can marry himself/herself.................. wow, this stuff is soooooooooooo funny! ... and that final line............ “gender, schmender! How do you come up with such wild humor?
- Ron Kuehn
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8.31.13
Thanks for clarifying Zippy's ancestry. It's interesting that Tod Browning's "Freaks" is probably my favorite all time movie.
Richard Osborn
Kent, WA
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9/15/13
Dear Bill:

I read the editorial in the NY Times this morning which claims that the Republicans are willing to shut down the Government (causing incalculable damage to ordinary people) out of spite if they can't destroy "Obamacare" [sic].

Then I read "Fake and Afraid" immediately after that.

Then I realized how insanely complex the World has become: "Zippy" is THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES SENSE!

Best regards,

Greg Knapp
Chicago
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9/23/13

Message: I doubt this will reach Bill, but thank him for the most wonderful strip on September 21 entitled "Freak Show". FINALLY someone points out the madness afoot as homo sapien devolves into a hunched creature staring into a small screen. As I travel around the world I am stunned. It's everywhere! Even third worlders with little else to their names stare into screens! When did participatory reality lose it's appeal?!? Maybe we could figure out a way to send the same startling message to EVERY screen in the world at once: something like "look up quickly and talk to a real person or else!". Thank him for all of us who agree. Zippy is pretty smart!
- Jeff Virant
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9/27/13
Bill, have been following Zippy's   exploits for years, now I read him online in my sailboat at the harbor here in Sitka AK. Just wanted to say that Zippy has been in the zone lately with his perceptions. Keep up the good work!

-Mike
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11/21/13
Not a question, just a comment.

As a former resident of southern Connecticut (Hamden then Westbrook) , and a native of northern Ohio, I enjoy the references to these areas in Zippy: joyriding from Lima, OH to Ashtabula, OH; the name Guilford Milford; and of course the signed print I purchased of "Can't See The Hair Weave For The Trees." located at Gillete Castle.

I sense that since birth the spirit of Zippy has been leading me to connect with MY inner-pinhead.

Zippy and "Bob": my spiritual guides.

Thank you for channeling Zippy and sharing him with us.

Paul Hoegstrom
Oklhaoma City, OK
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12/13/13

I've enjoyed Zippy The Pinhead since the 70's. I catch it now in The Kansas City Star newspaper. It is one of those rare things that makes life better.

I never laugh at the first panel of any other strip. Zippy has depth, and delivers something in every panel. Today's strip, with a dog pretending it can talk, is whimsical genius with a serious edge.

Thank you for sharing your gift.

Russ Allen
Liberty, MO
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12/13/13

I want to thank Bill G. for all the years of Zippy, Griffy and ALL his friends . Every day I look forward to my daily dose of Zippiness. I hope that his health stays good enough for many more years. Without Zippy, Griffy, Mr. The Toad, Claude, Shelf-life, Zerbina and all the great Dingburgers , Diners
and Taco sauce , my world would suffer a great loss. As a late baby boomer, Zippy's world is invaluable to
me. I love everything about it.

Thanks,
Grady Swafford
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1/25/14
I received a post card from you in 1985 when I was living in Bondi Beach, Sydney, after I told you that I was calling my son Zippy.
I've been an Osho sannyasin for 34 years now and love Zen.

Now my Zippy is 29 years old,
Last December he won the Australian National Karate championships. He is a cool dude and everybody loves him and he loves everyone. He's half Maori with a big tattoo on his arm and he has a smile as big as San Francisco Bay and a heart of gold.
Thank you for your inspiration Bill, which helped me keep a healthy perspective on life. Last week I had to get a pacemaker, which saved my life. I just happened to read one of your zippy quotes which made me laugh. "If I had heart failure now I couldn't be a more fortunate man"         And so it is! Glad You're still here on planet earth.    Hugs, Diti    Mulllumbimby, NSW Australia
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3/21/14
Zippy is my "super hero"strip. Don;t despair - there is at least one of me!

Started reading Zippy when in Boston between 1988-91 when we moved to the hinterlands where your strip is not carried. Thank you for the Daily Zippy.   You - and the strip - make me laugh, wince, think. Thank you!
-Laura Mares
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3/31/14
Dear Friend,
As the last cells of a well-used brain bounce from Zippy to Glen Baxter to Firesign to Groucho and Fields, I want to thank you for noticing the absurd that surrounds us and letting me, along with a few others, in on some of the jokes. Today in particular I give you thanks for the introduction to Alfred Jarry. (3/30/14)

Thanks,

Howard Betts

Deputy Consul General
United States Embassy
Santo Domingo

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5.12.14
Not that I expect Zippy to end anytime soon, but I just wanted to say thanks. I've been reading since the mid-80s, and Zippy was a mystery to me when I found it as a young teen (I was raised on Garfield). Anyway, I've grown into it, and it's been a pleasure. I hope to keep growing along with it. Thanks.

-Gregory May
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5.17.14
Hi Bill,

I've been a Zippy fan since the early '80s. You've evolved all of the
characters to a certain extent, but Zippy the least--until recently. I
can't put my finger on it, but something about Zippy's facial features
or structure has changed. I don't "recognize" him as Zippy any more. For
one thing, his lips are more evident than they once were. That's not the
full extent of it, however. I'm not complaining; I'm just letting you
know that I noticed.

I realize that we're all getting older and of course that as the creator
you're free to change whatever you want without anyone's approval, but I
can't get over the creepy feeling that someone else is masquerading as
Zippy. It's like you've hired a similar-looking actor because the
original demanded too much money and quit in a huff or got prison time
for smuggling taco sauce (perhaps he went back to delivering propane).

I don't know how much longer you can continue drawing Zippy, but I want
you to know I consider your contribution to American cartooning, humor,
art, and iconography immeasurable. People who don't "get" Zippy simply
aren't trying.

The day Zippy ceases publication will be a day America hemorrhages yet
another soupçon of its precious soul.

In friendship,

RGF
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6/12/14
Dang! Picked up the morning paper.............. and it said “The Death of Zippy”. Well, I thought, that’s it! Finally Zippy is gone. Always wondered how it could hang on for as long as it has. Won’t be missed, but had hoped nothing serious had happened to Bill Griffith. Maybe, he’s old enough to collect Social Security and was planning to spend his days drawing vanishing point pictures and heavily shaded items. But, then I read further and found it to be a sham! Or a scam! And surely a Shame! Zippy will continue. Dang! Well, nice trick, ya caught me. RonK
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6/26/14
Dear Griffy,

Greetings from your fan here in New Zealand! I really love your work and am especially fond of the pieces you've done about Schlitzie and the strip you did for "Weird Tales of the Ramones". (Not to mention you've got me crushing just a little on both Zippy and Zerbina!) I've just subscribed to Zippy via email and I can't wait to start my journey towards channeling my inner pinhead.  I've been captivated by the importance of donuts and taco sauce and muu-muus are the must-have fashion item for the new millennium. And of course there's the eternal lesson of unconditional love, which I believe Schlitzie came to earth to teach us all.

Have a great week, and can't wait to read more.

"Somewhere in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, a seagull is liking a selfie of a Lolcat on Facebook".

Hugs & Tyvek,

Ingrid Joachim.
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7/27/14
I have really been enjoying No Zombies. It makes me smile. I hope you return to it again every once in awhile.

Is the dialogue taken from old comics? It is wonderful stuff.

And those trees at strange angles that keep turning up!

Thanks ... I enjoy your stuff daily.

-- Bill

Bill Zoellick
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7/28/14
Just this morning my husband said, "this guy (Bill Griffith) is definitely a genius." Thanks, Bill, for keeping Zippy going.

-Shaun Finnegan
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7/30/14
Some of your cartoon panels of city street scenes, diners, the hovels and
dragged down scenes of once proud cities, the utility wires hovering above
or down the street, the broken sidewalks, the puddles, all of it. If you
have a drawing of a bare bedroom with an old bed, a naked light bulb,
cracked plaster in the walls, the window looks out at another wall.
Your city scapes , in pen and ink, reinforce the despair of the world with
no way out. As good as Hopper without the color. Except hopper liked to show
a window curtain blowing out through an open window like the despair on the
inside trying to get out into the light.
All a kind of existential nightmare, very scary; blows my mind and in the
gut: there but for the grace of God live I. hard for me to put myself inside
people who just live small lives of despair, that will never change.

This is good stuff, great comment on part of the modern world. Belong in
NewYorker and are of their style.
If they can take it.

I think you owe the world at least to run things like this by the NewYorker
and see.

Also-
If you published had a book with just your cityscapes, as described above,
I would for sure buy one.

Gerard Field
Annapolis
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8/27/14

I just wanted you to know that I just finished reading, cover to cover (bought it six months or a year ago, but only recently became totally dedicated) LOST AND FOUND.
And now: my mind is a potato field.

-D. Katz
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August 31, 2014

Dear Mr. Griffith:

Pardon my using email, but Joanne and I are on the road, away from my trusty printer, and I didn't want to delay this a few weeks.

In fact, just now we are in St Paul, Minn., and we note to our delight that Zippy appears in the St Paul Pioneer Press! I remember that sad day when the Pittsburgh (a former hometown) Post-Gazette took a "comics survey" and dropped the Pinhead, leaving me to get it daily from the Washington Post.

Let me begin by writing that Joanne and I feel ZtP has entered into a new, more refined realm of art, better than ever (and it ever has been great)! The recent "Republicans and meat" line delighted us, since for some time now, we two have used that phrase on many occasions. It seems to fit.

Now to the "meat" of this missive: your continuing reference to "Tintin haircut." Yes, as you have rendered these in a few strips, they are very Tintin, indeed. But I have yet to see even one on the streets. Rather, I do see a lot of these 'dos that involve mousseing everything into a sort of hedgerow in the middle. I doubt that many of our youth are familiar with that gorgeously drawn series by the talented (though insufferably bigoted) Hergé, despite a recent (and abominable) movie, which seems to have made little impact on our culture. But we're from Upstate New York; who knows what's going on in Connecticut?

Fondest regards from us to you!

                   Your fan,

                   Tony Moats
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9.4.14

Hi from a long-time Zippy fan.
Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems as if the character Shelf-Life underwent some kind of transformation. In the past (Are We Having Fun Yet) he was a clever -- if mildly annoying -- "college-educated overachiever" and enemy of stupidity throughout the land as a member of the Stupidity Patrol. "I'm in the mood to openly expose massive stupidity on a global scale!' he told Zippy and that seems to me an admirable, if ultimately futile, pursuit. But looking at the current character profile of Shelf-Life, he seems to have morphed into a mere wheeler-dealer in trendiness. Has he lost all redeeming qualities? Is the new Shelf-Life simply his logical conclusion? Reason I ask is   well, I'll await your reply first. greetings from Amsterdam, Daniel
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9/6/14

Questions regarding the strips with Conrad Nervig. Was he an actual comic strip drawer/writer or meant to be humorous? With the latter, I didn’t find it very humorous, or to put it another way................it wasn’t funny. I didn’t understand the.....”juxtaposing seemingly unrelated characters................................frammich and its correlative .....? Really? , or just words you found and used to confuse readers....... or reader, whatever the case may be... ? Then wondering if you are ever going to get off the Dingsburg kick? Any chance you could collaborate with a comic writer to develop something more.................. comical? And in a more personal vein...... is this your only means of income? I am retired and have some artistic ability, plus the ability to think of funny things. Is it tough to get into the comic strip business? You seem to be getting along with pure nonsense most of the time. Let me know, Thanks, RonK .
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9/12/14

Are they slipping battery terminal scrapings into your heroin?

-Uncle Muley
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9/18/14

Multitudinous thanks for your star-spangled superb comic strip, which dazzles my mind, touches my heart, and brightens my day every single day!

Regards and best wishes,

George
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