Zippy

    (Last Gasp, 1980)
™ and © 1978, 1979, 1980 Bill Griffith

“Are we having fun yet?”

This seeming nonsensical quote reveals the speaker as someone who is unaware or unsure what he should be feeling. It has become part of the lexicon of modern society and aptly characterizes Zippy’s innocence. Making his first appearance in Real Pulp #1 in 1970, Zippy went on to be syndicated nationally by Rip Off Press and eventually a regular feature in The National Lampoon during the early 1980’s. By 1986, after a year of appearances in the San Francisco Examiner, artist Bill Griffith was approached by King Features Syndicate to take his creation to the mainstream. This character whose origins stem from the unlikely world of underground comics has become a fixture of the comic pages.

This 40 page black and white magazine reprints the daily strips of the counter–culture icon. Artist Bill Griffith uses Zippy and his cast of bizarre friends and hangers–on to pointedly skewer everything from pop culture to politics with his absurdist and surreal sense of humor.

— George Haberberger
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