Zippy The Pinhead
About Zippy The Pinhead
Bill Griffith has been bringing Zippy’s brand of absurdity to the masses since 1970, and there is often nothing better for restoring faith in the nonsense that is this world than taking a moment to read today’s Zippy cartoon.
Zippy lives in the town of Dingburg, a mystical Shangri-La where the diners never close and the architecture of roadside America stands side by side with modern art and metaphors made flesh. He’s the modern remix of the King’s Fool–at once possessed of otherworldly wisdom and innocence. Zippy is also, to his roots, kind. He is curious, and not a little magical, and consistently able to find joy in everything.
Zippy’s foil in his metaphysical questing is Griffy, who is perpetually anxious, analytical, judgmental, and all too attached to the “real world.” The two aren’t quite adversaries, but Griffy often provides a counter perspective to Zippy’s whimsy that at once feels more grounded in reality and frequently all the sadder for it.
Zippy is a real comic lover’s comic, a comic that never tires of exploring the way a few panels of images can come together to tell a story or send a message that simply couldn’t exist in another medium. It never ceases to delight, whether it’s Bill’s faithful renditions of architectural Americana, or the way Zippy seems to go on through life, irrepressible, in a way that inspires us to let life be a little more silly.
Meet the Creator
Bill Griffith
Bill Griffith, the imaginative mind behind the iconic Zippy the Pinhead, has left an indelible mark on the world of comics. Beginning his journey in New York City in 1969, Griffith’s early works featured the adventures of Mr. the Toad, showcased in publications like the East Village Other and Screw magazine. His move to San […]
Characters
Claude Funston
Claude is a perennially lovesick urban hillbilly with a cowlick on steroids whose real life closely parallels the guests on tabloid TV talk fests. He’s originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma,...
Dingburg (Zippy’s hometown)
A few years ago, Zippy’s circle of friends began to expand beyond the usual “cast of characters” to a wider world of other people like Zippy — other pinheads. More and more muu muu-cla...
Fuelrod
Fuelrod and Meltdown are Zippy and Zerbina’s twin offspring. Though they have “regular kid” qualities, they often act less childlike than their parents. They try valiantly to negotiat...
Griffy
Griffy is Zippy’s partner in “surreal” social criticism. He never met a phenomenon about which he didn’t have an instant opinion. All-too-rooted in the real world, he’s the “bad cop” t...
Lippy
Zippy’s twin, yet diametrically opposite, brother. Lippy dresses in black and thrives on misery — his own, as well as others. He only enters Zippy’s life for one purpose: to try and ma...
Meltdown
They’re caught somewhere between “pinhead” and “normal,” kind of like the children of immigrants, juggling “old country” and American values. Typical interaction: Zerbina: “Turn that M...
Mr. Toad
Mr. Toad is, essentially, a malevolent force. He enjoys seeing other people squirm as a result of his words and deeds. His motto is, “Screw them before they can screw you.” He’s a big,...
Shelf-Life (S.L.)
Shelf-Life (“S.L.”) is always looking for the “next big thing,” especially if the merchandising rights are available. He never stops scheming and dreaming. He’s the poor ma...
The Doggie
An enormous dachshund head mounted on a pole, the Doggie is the last remaining vestige of a defunct fast-food chain named “Doggie Diner.” It stands on a corner of town Zippy walks by a...
Zerbina
Zerbina is Zippy’s full-figured, occasional wife. Though she’s a pinhead too, she’s a little more “rooted” than Zippy. Not that she doesn’t forget as often as he does that they’re marr...
Zippy
Zippy is the “wise fool.” He knows nothing at all and everything at once. Media-soaked, he has the attention span of a channel surfer. He’s giddy from information overload. His mind w...