Newsroom

5th: Bill Griffith will teach a Master Class in Comics 4 Broadway, Suite writer

"INVISIBLE INK" wins the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist: Bill Griffith.

GREEK MUSIC BLOG INTERVIEW with B.G.:
Focuses mostly on his Underground Comix days.

SAVED The DOGGIES: TheKickstarter campaign to restore Zippy's favorite icons was a success--the 3 original Doggie Diner heads seen frequently around the S.F. Bay Area and elsewhere. Read more.

Zippy Video from 1980: Videowest production, produced & directed by Erik Nelson. Starring Jim Turner as Zippy, written by Bill Griffith. Originally broadcast on San Francisco Public Television, KQED.

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ZIPPY gets his due from Cracked.com: "6 Important Things You Won't Believe Were Invented In Comics" details the true origins of Zippy's oft-used catch phrase, "Are we having fun yet?". Cracked. What an honor.

READ all about Zippy's favorite supporting character, MR. THE TOAD (sorry, Griffy) on King Features' "Daily Ink" blog by Tea Fougner!

ZIPPY VIDEO: Unearthed at last! One of the "Videowest" Zippy episodes broadcast on San Francisco's KQED TV in 1980. That's Jim Turner (Of "Duck's Breath Mystery Theatre". etc.) as Zippy. Low budget fun!

"SEQUENTIAL HIGHWAY" interview with B.G.

School of Visual Arts: Bill Griffith has joined the faculty of the esteemed New York art school. He's teaching a Sophomore class in comic storytelling. (CID-2050 Storytelling- B. Griffith)
The course explores different storytelling strategies in cartoon form. One-row, half-page, full page and multi-page formats will be utilized. Writing, pacing and dialog will be emphasized, as well as traditional drawing technique and character development. Whether creating humorous, satirical, literary or personal narratives, communications skills will be stressed. Assignments will guide students through the various formats, using elements of written and graphic narrative, as they learn the vocabulary of the comics medium and find their personal "voice" within it.
Contact SVA for more info.

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Perceptive interview of B.G. on WFMU radio's "Too Much Information" show by Benjamen Walker.

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COMICS JOURNAL Review of "Lost and Found" by Matthew Thurber and Rebecca Bird.

Hour-long RADIO INTERVIEW with B.G. by Robin McConnell of "Inkstuds", the Radio Show About Comics.

Gary Panter interviews Bill Griffith for The Comics Journal.

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Terrific in-depth audio/slide showinterview with "Glitz-2-Go" cartoonist Diane Noomin in the Jewish Daily Forward:

Buy her new book,inscribed & autographed.
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"Lost & Found" reviewed in the Jewish Daily Forward: By Paul Buhle.

Bill Griffith book/ LOST & FOUND: Comics 1969-2003: A huge 392 page collection of B.G.'s early work, most of it from his Underground days. Work from Tales of Toad, Young Lust, Arcade and many long out-of-print comics, magazines and underground newspapers are included. Lots of earl Zippy and non-Zippy. BIG COLOR SECTION. Bibliography. From Fantagraphics Books. Adults only. Available here, autographed and inscribed. In stock & ready to ship!

NEW: Hour-long "Mr. Media" video interview with "Zippy the Pinhead" cartoonist Bill Griffith, one of the longest Mr. Media interviews ever. On the occasion of the new book, "Bill Griffith, Lost and Found".

"Zippy the Pinhead: The Musical"
NOW AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS. 19 songs, from the Overture to "Don't Goad the Toad" to "Pinhead Love". All songs by Lorraine Whittlesey. YOW!!

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DING DONG DADDY FROM DINGBURG: "Zippy Annual #10".
Zippy dailies and Sundays September 2008 to June 2010.
Day-Glo title! BIGGER than ever---216 pages. Big color section, "God" Chapter,
"Little Zippy" Chapter, Dingburg Chapter. FREE with every order: one autographed copy
of the comic book, "Griffith Observatory".
"I was smart enough to know that Sid Caesar was doing something great, and
that Bob Hope wasn't, just as I know that Bill Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead is great
and Garfield isn't."
- Robert Pinsky, U.S Poet Laureate

Flattery--or plagiarism? (Tokyo): Zippy, call your battery of high-powered Japanese attorneys!

"Zippy: The Musical": The Theatre Project of Baltimore presented "Zippy the Pinhead: The Musical". Co-produced, written and directed by Lorraine Whittlesey of Private Sector Productions. The show ran from Nov. 14th to 21st 2010. Audio and video clips will soon be posted.

HEAR Dan Rodricks interview with Bill Griffith on Baltimore's WYPR radio (11/12/10)

What is B.G.'s favorite food?: His favorite comics? His favorite movies? Find the earth-shaking answers on Ricardo Mena's blog.

"Stay Tooned" show: "One Fine Sunday in the Funny Pages" will feature the original art of over 100 different comic strips and panels (including Zippy) appearing in newspapers on the 11th of April, 2010. The traveling show will be exhibited in venues in at least five major cities below the Mason-Dixon Line (and possibly some in other parts of the country) in 2010 and 2011. Curated by John Read, Publisher/Editor - Stay Tooned! Magazine.
Contact magazine for cities and dates.

NOW AVAILABLE!! "Welcome to Dingburg", with fold-out "Dingburg Main Street" cover and, on the other side, a fold-out aerial view map of Dingburg, "The City Inhabited Entirely by Pinheads", located "17 miles west of Baltimore". 160 pages, big color section. Orders for autographed copies taken now.

Zippy caught by Photog when he's not working: Reader Brian Greene forwards this incontrovertible evidence that Zippy is simply an actor. Note the complete absence of either Ding Dongs or taco sauce on his lunch table.

ZIPPY Random Quote Generator: Click HERE, then on new page, click the word "zippy" below the quote box to see a new quote.

Yale comics anthology: Includes work by Bill Griffith and dozens of other cartoonists, edited by Ivan Brunetti. See VIDEO.

Read the transcript of a B. G. Chat with Boston Globe readers: Love, hate and the mysteries of Martinizing from an online chat on 10/8/08.

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"Comic Book Resources" Bill Griffith Interview: Learn why Zippy is a "melancholy" strip and who B.G.'s favorite humorists are in this thoughtful interview with Alex Dueben, posted 10/7/08, illustrated.

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Griffy in 1975: Bill Griffith standing in front of framed self-portraits by various "Arcade" cartoonists. Photo credit: Diane Noomin.

Bill Griffith on the BBC: Listen to an interview with Bill Griffith in his studio conducted in late June, 2008. Bill is interviewed by BBC broadcaster and stand-up comic (and former cartoonist) Phill Jupitus. Also featured on the show, an interview with "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau. Interview is listed near top of new page, along with other Zippy audios.

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1957 Sci-fi magazine cover featuring 13-year-old Griffith: Griffith grew up next door to science fiction illustrator (and later filmmaker) Ed Emshwiller, in Levittown, Long Island. This cover is from Sept. 1957 and also shows Griffith's real father admonishing him on the video monitor (for hijacking a rocketship).

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Zippy fronts for Experimental German band, "The Striggles": The latest CD (and vinyl) from The Striggles ("Expressionism") features a Zippy cover, back cover and interior spread, based on a 1982 Zippy strip. Griffy recommends. Here's the "Zippy cake" the band consumed at the album release party recently. Yum.

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"Up From The Underground With Zippy": Slide talk by Bill Griffith presented on April 19, 2007, at Johns Hopkins University. Covers his long and varied career in comics, from the Underground days in the Sixties & Seventies to the current daily strip. Includes Q & A at the end. Entire talk on YouTube in 10 segments:

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Bill Griffith appearance in comic documentary: Pre-release exerpt from the 1989 Ron Mann film, "Comic Book Confidential" (with Ron Brannan as Zippy--cavorting and singing on the streets of San Francisco). (YouTube)

"Daily Crosshatch" B.G.interview: Bill Griffith interviewed by Brian Heater on the comics website thedailycrosshatch.com on June 18, 2007.

BILL GRIFFITH NPR Interview: Zippy's creator was interviewed by Aaron Henkin for "The Signal" on Baltimore's NPR station in early April, 2007. HEAR it here.

DOGGIE NOW A LANDMARK! The last remaining non-privately owned, publicly displayed Doggie head, formerly of the Doggie Diner restaurant chain, has finally been designated an official City of San Francisco Landmark by the S.F. Board of Supervisors. Thanks go to all the Doggie's ardent supporters over the years, especially Joel Schechter and Diana Scott of the Ocean Beach Historical Society. Below--the plaque commemorating this civic triumph, as well as the gloriously positioned and repainted Doggie planted firmly in the median of Sloat Blvd. and 45th Avenue in San Francisco, opposite the S.F. Zoo entrance, where he keeps a watchful eye on the chimps and elephants. The plaque mentions Zippy and his part in the movement to save the Doggie.

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ZIPPY'S Summer uniform? Spotted in a diner somewhere in Maryland: Zippy look-alike (well, sort of) in a short-sleeve muu-muu (actually, "Roadside" mogul Randy Garbin). Notice the snazzy wristwatch--hmmmm...maybe it's Lippy, gone undercover? Photo by Tipster Michael Stewart . Also seated: Tipster Spencer Stewart (that's him in the hat).

COMPUTER-GENERATED ZIPPY at last: This digital masterpiece is by Scott Tygett. Move over, Shrek.

TEAM ZIPPY: Unauthorized, yet in the race to win: "Team Zippy" (wearing homemade Zippy t-shirts and pinheads) pose as they enter the Arcata-to-Ferndale (CA) bike race in May '06. Who are these people? If you know, let us know.

Zippy on Mt. Rushmore at last: The Library of Congress just published "Cartoon America" by Harry Katz, featuring the comics in their collection. The cover shows a few of the LOC's featured comic characters as faces on Mt. Rushmore---Charlie Brown, Ignatz Mouse (from "Krazy Kat"), Popeye and---- Zippy! Order from amazon.com

ZIPPY in Jeopardy!! Well....Zippy on "Jeopardy" was more like it. Zippy was featured on April 12th, 2006 as a visual clue on the popular TV game show, "Jeopardy". Will Alex Trebek soon be wearing a polka-dotted muu-mmu on air? Stay tuned...

Suzanne Tobin of the Washington Post conducted on online chat with Bill Griffith (and James Sturm, founder of the Cartoon Studies school in VT) on December 9, 2005.

The Nov.-Dec. '05 issue of ArchitectureBoston magazine features Zippy on the cover (it's the "Pleasure" issue) and a long interview with Bill Griffith by Jeff Stein, AIA, including many color strips on the theme of architecture. The above link will take you to their site, where you can click on the word "Interview" at the top right to download the interview. If you'd like a FREE COPY of the print issue, go to: freeAB@architects.org (say you want the "Pleasure issue").

Hurricane Katrina charity auction: "Kidrobot", the ultra-hip New York toy company, staged two auctions in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 3, 2005, to benefit the child victims of Hurricane Katrina (through "Feed The Children"). Various celebs, Griffith included, painted blank "Munny" dolls. Here's Griffith's contribution---is it collectible yet?

ZIPPY as Little Nemo: Reader Wm. Steinmayer (alias Lucius Appaloosius) sent this hybrid drawing of Zippy morphed into a pinheaded "Little Nemo" (a la Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland", 1905-1911 ). Beautiful job!

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Zippy on stage!! The IMPOSSIBLE PRODUCTIONS theatre company of San Francisco CA mounted a new play based on the Zippy strip a few years ago. "FUN: THE CONCEPT" was written by Denzil J. Meyers with Jim Fourniadis, with permission from Bill Griffith. It featured Zippy, Griffy, Mr. Toad, Bill Griffith (an actor, not the cartoonist), the Doggie Diner Doggie, Karen Carpenter, Rene Descartes, Dino DeLaurentis and God. Actors, costumes, lighting, non sequiturs!! Performances took place at the Darkroom Theatre, 2263 Mission St. (bet. 18th & 19th), San Francisco. For more info on the Darkroom Theatre, CLICK HERE.

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A PROGRAM ABOUT UNUSUAL BUILDINGS & OTHER ROADSIDE STUFF premiered last July (2004) on PBS stations across the country . The show is now in reruns and is seen at various times on local stations nationally. Bill Griffith is interviewed as part of the show, spouting off on one of his favorite topics, "roadside attractions" and American vernacular architecture. (Zippy also makes an appearance).

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ZIPPY GETS AROUND: It's always Halloween when you're wearing your own homemade Zippy costume. That's Gary Gellin of Menlo Park CA in the muu-muu. Nice sewing job, Gary. Save a martini for Dingy!!

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Sara Corrigan carved this classy Zippy Halloween pumpkin. To get into the spirit, she and her husband both watched Zippy's favorite movie, "Freaks". Gabba, Gabba, Yow!!

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At least he did in 1985 when he was photographed standing next to David Bowie wearing a Claude Funston "Where's The Party" t-shirt. Photo below from the Sept. '03 issue of "Blender" magazine (pg. 70).