View source for Zippy the Pinhead

{{Short description|Fictional character in an American comic strip}}
{{About|the cartoon character|the freak show performer|Zip the Pinhead}}
{{Infobox comics character
<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| character_name = Zippy the Pinhead
| image          = Zippy the Pinhead (title panel).png
| imagesize      = 150
| caption        = The title panel from the comic strip
| alt            =
| publisher      = [[Print Mint]]<br />[[Last Gasp (publisher)|Last Gasp]]<br />[[King Features Syndicate]]<br />[[E. P. Dutton|Dutton]]<br />[[Fantagraphics]]
| debut          =   ''Real Pulp Comics'' #1 ([[Print Mint]], March 1971)
| first_series   =
| first_episode  =
| first_comic    =
| creators       = [[Bill Griffith]]
| voiced_by      =
| alter_ego      =
| full_name      =
| species        = human or possibly alien or possibly android
| homeworld      = Earth or possibly another planet; also Dingburg
| alliances      = <!-- optional -->
| partners       = Zerbina
| supports       = <!-- optional -->
| aliases        = <!-- optional -->
| powers         =  philosophical [[Non sequitur (absurdism)|non sequiturs]], verbal [[Free association (psychology)|free association]]
| cat            =
| subcat         =
| hero           =
| villain        =
| sortkey        = Zippy the Pinhead
}}
'''Zippy the Pinhead''' is a fictional character who is the [[protagonist]] of ''Zippy'', an American [[comic strip]] created by [[Bill Griffith]]. Zippy's most famous quotation, "Are we having fun yet?", appears in ''[[Bartlett's Familiar Quotations]]'' and became a [[catchphrase]]. He almost always wears a yellow [[muumuu]]/[[clown suit]]<ref>{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bktLaSRoG1sC&pg=PA87|title=Marketing Through Minefields|publisher=Harvard Business Press|year=2008|author=Bill Griffith|isbn=978-1-4221-9992-3|page=87}}</ref> with large red polka dots, and puffy, white [[clown]] shoes.<ref name=zip>{{cite web|url=http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aaaunderstanding.html |title=Understanding |publisher=Zippythepinhead.com |access-date=2013-02-18}}</ref> (Other forms of attire may be seen when appropriate to the context, e.g. a [[toga]].) Although in name and appearance, Zippy is a [[microcephalic]], he is distinctive not so much for his skull shape, or for any identifiable form of brain damage, but for his enthusiasm for philosophical [[Non sequitur (absurdism)|non sequiturs]] ("All life is a blur of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and meat!"), verbal [[Free association (psychology)|free association]], and pursuit of [[popular culture]] ephemera. His wholehearted devotion to random artifacts [[satire|satirizes]] the excesses of [[consumerism]].

The character of Zippy the Pinhead initially appeared in [[underground comix|underground]] publications during the 1970s.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Estren |first1=Mark James |title=A History of Underground Comics |year=1974 |publisher=Straight Arrow Books |isbn=978-0879320751 |page=8 |chapter=Foreword: Onward! }}</ref> The ''Zippy'' comic is distributed by [[King Features Syndicate]] to more than 100 newspapers, and Griffith self-syndicates strips to college newspapers and [[Alternative weekly|alternative weeklies]]. The strip is unique among syndicated multi-panel dailies for its characteristics of [[literary nonsense]], including a near-absence of either straightforward gags or continuous narrative, and for its unusually intricate artwork, which is reminiscent of the style of Griffith's 1970s [[underground comix]].

==Origin==
Zippy made his first appearance in ''Real Pulp Comics'' #1 in March 1971, published by [[Print Mint]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sacks |first1=Jason |last2=Dallas |first2=Keith |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s |date=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490564 |page=59}}</ref>

The strip began in the ''[[Berkeley Barb]]'' in 1976 and was syndicated nationally soon after (by [[Rip Off Press]]),<ref name="ROP">"Zippy Congratulates Rip-Off Press,"  ''Rip Off Comix'' #21 (Winter 1988), p. 50.</ref> originally as a weekly strip. When [[William Randolph Hearst III]] took over the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' in 1985, he offered Griffith an opportunity to do ''Zippy'' as a daily strip. Several months later, it was picked up for worldwide [[Daily comic strip|daily distribution]] by [[King Features Syndicate]] in 1986, appearing in 60 daily papers by 1988.<ref name="ROP" /> The [[Sunday strip|Sunday ''Zippy'']] debuted in 1990. When the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' canceled ''Zippy'' briefly in 2002, the newspaper received thousands of letters of protest, including one from [[Robert Crumb]], who called ''Zippy'' "by far the very best daily comic strip that exists in America."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zippythepinhead.com/chron.htm |title="No Zippy In San Francisco Again?" |publisher=Zippythepinhead.com |date=2004-05-17 |access-date=2024-08-26}}</ref> The ''Chronicle'' quickly restored the strip but dropped it again in 2004, leading to more protests as well as grateful letters from non-fans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fighting over the funnies |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2002/01/10/fighting-over-the-funnies/ |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref>

The strip has developed a [[cult following]]<ref>{{Cite news|title=A Cult of Comic Proportions|last=Muro|first=Mark|date=March 11, 1988|newspaper=Boston Globe|via=EBSCOHost}}</ref> and continues to be syndicated in many newspapers.

==Characters and story==
Zippy's original appearance was partly inspired by the [[Microcephaly|microcephalic]] [[Schlitzie]], from the film ''[[Freaks (1932 film)|Freaks]]'', which was enjoying something of a cult revival at the time, and [[P. T. Barnum]]'s sideshow performer [[Zip the Pinhead]], who may not have been a [[microcephalic]] but was nevertheless billed as one.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aaishehavingfunyet.html |title=Are We Having Fun Yet? |publisher=Zippythepinhead.com |access-date=2013-02-18}}</ref>

Griffith has never committed himself to a set origin story or time period for Zippy; no fewer than five have appeared:

* a strange visitor from another planet
* a pinhead who wandered away from the circus
* an android whose inventor didn't live to see its imperfections
* the secret identity of a jaded heir to a fortune who decided to apply Zen to everyday life
* a college student who inexplicably turned into a pinhead

Zippy's favorite foods are [[taco sauce]] and [[Ding Dongs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aacast.html |title=Cast of Characters |publisher=Zippythepinhead.com |access-date=2013-02-18}}</ref> He sometimes snacks on [[Polysorbate 80]]. 

Zippy's signature expression of surprise is "Yow!" Zippy's unpredictable behavior sometimes causes severe difficulty for others, but never for himself. (For example, drug dealers tried to use him as a [[drug mule]], but lost their stash or were jailed.)

He is married to a nearly identical pinhead named '''Zerbina''', has two children, '''[[nuclear fuel|Fuelrod]]''' (a boy) and '''[[nuclear meltdown|Meltdown]]''' (a girl), both apparently in their early teens, and owns a cat named '''Dingy'''. His parents, '''Ebb''' and '''Flo''', originally from Kansas, live in Florida. Zippy's angst-ridden twin brother '''Lippy''' also frequently appears. He is portrayed as Zippy's total opposite, often dressed in a conservative suit, thinking sequentially, and avoiding his brother's penchant for non-sequiturs. In a daily strip dated 8 March 2005, he is depicted as being deeply moved by the poetry of [[Leonard Cohen]], the landscape paintings of [[Maxfield Parrish]], and the music of [[John Tesh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ZTP&Product_Code=8-Mar-05&Category_Code= |title=Lippy's Lite Side |publisher=Zippy the Pinhead |access-date=2013-02-18}}</ref>

He has four close friends:

* '''Claude Funston''', a hapless working man
* '''Griffy''', a stand-in for Bill Griffith, who often appears in the strip to complain about various aspects of modern life to Zippy, who encourages him to mellow out
* '''Shelf-Life''', a fast-talking schemer always looking for "the next big thing"
* '''Vizeen Nurney''', a 20-something lounge singer who, despite her rebellious image, has an optimistic and sympathetic nature

A humanoid [[toad]], '''Mr. Toad''' (less commonly "Mr. the Toad") who embodies blind greed and selfishness, appears occasionally (along with his wife, '''Mrs. Toad''', and their children, '''Mustang''' and '''Blazer'''), as do '''The Toadettes''', a group of mindless and interchangeable amphibians, who pop up here and there; and the '''Stupidity Patrol''', described by Bill Griffith as "cruising the streets of [[Los Angeles|L.A.]], correcting the behavior of insensitive louts".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aacast.html |title=Cast of Characters |publisher=Zippythepinhead.com |access-date=2013-05-02}}</ref> (Mr. Toad first appeared in [[underground comix|underground]] strips done by Griffith in 1969.)<ref name= lambiek>{{cite web | url= http://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/griffith.htm |title= Bill Griffith | website= Lambiek.net| publisher= Lambiek Encyclopedia| date= July 10, 2016| access-date= June 7, 2017}}</ref>

[[Image:Doggie Diner 1.jpg|thumb|right|The actual sign for the San Francisco Doggie Diner, commonly portrayed in the comic strip as one of Zippy's conversational foils]]

Another occasionally occurring character is '''God''', appearing either as a disembodied head or a head superimposed on various peoples' bodies. He is depicted as either conversing with Zippy on various philosophical topics, or commenting on humanity in general.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ZTP&Product_Code=19-Jun-13&Category_Code= |title=Stand Back! |publisher=Zippythepinhead.com |access-date=2016-12-07}}</ref>

In his daily-strip incarnation, Zippy spends much of his time traveling and commenting on interesting places; recent strips focus on his fascination with roadside icons featuring giant beings; Zippy also frequently participates in his long-running conversation with the giant fiberglass doggie mascot of [[San Francisco]]'s [[Doggie Diner]] chain (later, the Carousel diner near the [[San Francisco Zoo]]).  For a while the Zippy website encouraged people to send photos of interesting places for Zippy to visit in the strip.

In 2007, Griffith began to focus his daily strip on the fictional city of Dingburg, [[Maryland]], Zippy's "birthplace" which, according to the cartoonist, is located "17 [[mile]]s [[west]] of [[Baltimore]]."<ref>{{cite web|last=Cavna |first=Michael |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2008/10/the_morning_line_from_blues_to.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022153722/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2008/10/the_morning_line_from_blues_to.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |title=Cavna, Michael. "The Morning Line: 'Zippy' Creator Draws on Real (Pungent) Maryland," ''The Washington Post'', Tuesday, October 21, 2008 |publisher=Voices.washingtonpost.com |date=2008-10-21 |access-date=2013-02-18}}</ref>
==Appearances elsewhere==
Comedian [[Jim Turner (comedian)|Jim Turner]] appeared as Zippy on college campuses as well as in several live-action short videos alongside [[Diane Noomin]], in character as DiDi Glitz, for a satirical campaign during the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]], which Griffith wrote 8 episodes of that aired on local San Francisco station [[KQED (TV)|KQED]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Griffith |first=Bill |date=2011 |title=Bill Griffith Lost and Found |location= Seattle|publisher=Fantagraphics Books |page=xv |isbn=978-1-60699-482-5 }}</ref>

Following years of a ''Zippy'' movie project that was never made between 1984 and 1995, Griffith devoted dozens of strips to his real and imagined dealings with Hollywood. An animated television series, to be produced by [[DPS Film Roman|Film Roman]] and co-written by Diane Noomin, was in negotiations from 1996 to 2001, but fell through after Film Roman failed to find funding.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=n.d.|title=THE NEVER-TO-BE ZIPPY ANIMATED SERIES |url= https://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/animation.html|website= zippythepinhead.com|publisher= Bill Griffith|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221094539/https://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/animation.html |archive-date= February 21, 2024|access-date=February 19, 2025}}</ref>

On July 9, 2004, Zippy made his stage debut in San Francisco in ''Fun: The Concept'' at the Dark Room Theatre. Bill Griffith approved of the adaptation, though he did not work on the project. ''Fun: The Concept'' was adapted by Denzil J. Meyers with Jim Fourniadis.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Griffith
  | first = Bill
  | title = Zippy—the Play
  | year = 2004
  | url = http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/theplay/FrameSet.htm
  | access-date = 9 November 2008 }}
</ref>

A collection of about 1,000 Zippy quotes was formerly packaged and distributed with the [[Emacs]] text editor. Some installations of the "[[Fortune (Unix)|fortune]]" command, available on most Unix-type systems, also contain this collection. This gives Zippy a very wide audience, since most Emacs users can have a random Zippy quote printed on their screen by typing "M-x yow" and most Linux or BSD users can get a random quote by typing "fortune zippy" in a [[Unix shell|shell]]. However, as a result of a decision by [[Richard Stallman]] prompted by FSF lawyer [[Eben Moglen]], motivated by copyright concerns,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2006-06/msg00290.html |title=Re: yow.c |publisher=Lists.gnu.org |access-date=2013-02-18}}</ref>  these quotes were erased in GNU Emacs 22.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/emacs/etc/yow.lines?revision=1.11&root=emacs&view=markup |title=[emacs&#93; View of /emacs/etc/yow.lines |publisher=Cvs.savannah.gnu.org |access-date=2013-02-18 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> Zippy under emacs now will only say "Yow! Legally-imposed CULTURE-reduction is CABBAGE-BRAINED!".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.red-bean.com/pipermail/arcana/2007-August/000019.html|title=[Arcana] Yow! Legally-imposed CULTURE-reduction is CABBAGE-BRAINED!|access-date=2014-06-03|archive-date=2015-12-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226011916/http://www.red-bean.com/pipermail/arcana/2007-August/000019.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Zippy can be restored by replacing the yow file with one from an older Emacs.

After Griffith criticized [[Scott Adams]]' comic ''[[Dilbert]]'' for being "a kind of childish, depleted shell of a once-vibrant medium,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aaarticles.html |title=Articles by Bill Griffith |publisher=Zippythepinhead.com |access-date=2018-02-12}}</ref> Adams responded a year and half later on May 18, 1998, with a comic strip called ''Pippy the Ziphead'', "cramming as much artwork in as possible so no one will notice there's only one joke... [and] it's on the reader."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/1998-05-18/ |title=Dilbert comic strip for May 18, 1998 |publisher=Dilbert.com |access-date=2023-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025052158/https://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-18 |archive-date=2020-10-25}}</ref> [[Dilbert (character)|Dilbert]] notes that the strip is "nothing but a clown with a small head who says random things" and [[Dogbert]] responds that he is "maintaining his artistic integrity by creating a comic that no one will enjoy."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-19 |title=Dilbert comic strip for May 19, 1998 |publisher=Dilbert.com |access-date=2015-08-24 |archive-date=2015-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806202929/http://dilbert.com/strip/1998-05-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Zippy also makes an appearance in the 1995 round-robin work ''[[The Narrative Corpse]]'' where he takes the [[stick figure]] protagonist to [[Croatia]] for "peace and quiet". Another appearance can be found in the [[Ramones]]' comic book-themed 2005 compilation ''[[Weird Tales of the Ramones]]'', consisting of Zippy asking to play "air [[glockenspiel]]" for the band.

Zippy appears in several issues of the Red Anvil Comics 2011 comic book series ''War of the Independents''.

==Books==
* ''Zippy Stories''. Berkeley: [[And/Or Press]], 1981. {{ISBN|0-915904-58-6}}. San Francisco: [[Last Gasp (publisher)|Last Gasp]], 1986. {{ISBN|0-86719-325-5}}.
* ''Nation of Pinheads''. Berkeley: And/Or Press, 1982. {{ISBN|0-915904-71-3}}. Reprinted, San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1987. {{ISBN|0-86719-365-4}}. Zippy strips, 1979–1982.
* ''Pointed Behavior''. San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1984. {{ISBN|0-86719-315-8}}. Zippy 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. {{ISBN|0-525-48184-2}}. Reprinted, Seattle: Fantagraphics, 1994. {{ISBN|1-56097-149-5}}.
* ''Pindemonium''. San Francisco: Last Gasp, 1986. {{ISBN|0-86719-348-4}}. Zippy strips, 1985–1986.
* ''King Pin: New Zippy Strips''. New York: Dutton, 1987. {{ISBN|0-525-48330-6}}. Zippy strips, 1986–7.
* ''Pinhead's Progress: More Zippy Strips''. New York: Dutton, 1989. {{ISBN|0-525-48468-X}}. Zippy strips, 1987–8.
* ''From A to Zippy: Getting There Is All the Fun''. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. {{ISBN|0-14-014988-0}}. Zippy strips, 1988–90.
* ''Zippy's House of Fun: 54 Months of Sundays''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 1995. {{ISBN|1-56097-162-2}}. (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. {{ISBN|1-56097-351-X}}.
* ''Zippy Annual 2001''. ("Vol. 2", "April 2001 – September 2001".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2001. {{ISBN|1-56097-472-9}}.
* ''Zippy Annual 2002''. ("Vol. 3", "September 2001 – October 2002".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2002. {{ISBN|1-56097-505-9}}.
* ''Zippy Annual 2003''. ("Vol. 4", "October 2002 – October 2003".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2003. {{ISBN|1-56097-563-6}}.
* ''Zippy: From Here to Absurdity''. ("Vol. 5", "November 2003 – November 2004".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2004. {{ISBN|1-56097-618-7}}.
* ''Type Z Personality''. ("Vol. 6", "December 2004 – December 2005".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2005, {{ISBN|1-56097-698-5}}.
* ''Connect the Polka Dots''. ("Vol. 7", December 2005 – August 2006".) Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-56097-777-3}}.
* ''Walk a Mile in My Muu-Muu''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-56097-877-0}}.
* ''Welcome to Dingburg''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-56097-963-0}}.
* ''Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-60699-389-7}}.
* ''Zippy the Pinhead: The Dingburg Diaries''. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2013. {{ISBN|978-1606996416}}.

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.zippythepinhead.com/ Official site]
* [https://archive.today/20240527124502/https://www.webcitation.org/6bRxafqnn?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/zippy.htm Zippy the Pinhead] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]].  at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240527124502/https://www.webcitation.org/6bRxafqnn?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/zippy.htm Archived] from the original on September 10, 2015
* [http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/volume1/issue2/griffith/ "Still asking "Are we having fun yet?{{'"}} by Bill Griffith], transcript of Griffith's talk at the 2003 University of Florida Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060629184645/http://laughingsquid.com/pix/2004_07/zippy/ Photos of the opening night of the stage play ''Fun: The Concept'']
* [http://www.philosophynow.org/issue84/The_Heideggerian_Disruptions_of_Zippy_The_Pinhead The Heideggarian Disruptions of Zippy the Pinhead] by Ellen Grabiner, ''Philosophy Now'' (June 2011)
* [https://www.youtube.com/v/ZKbON_80VRs 2003 TV interview] with Bill Griffith in his Connecticut studio. The "Zippy Theme Song" is heard on the soundtrack.
* "[http://www.waymarking.com/cat/details.aspx?f=1&guid=b12d9a31-bcef-49a8-bd4d-c374e88ec278 Waymarking" website] tracks down and photographs real world locations in ''Zippy'' strips. It also links the photos to the ''Zippy'' strip in which the location appeared.
* [http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/themsong.htm BBC/Current Affairs interview with Griffith by Phil Jupitus, 2008] as well as lyrics of the "Zippy Theme Song" and those to other songs by Bill Griffith

{{Underground comix characters}}
{{King Features Syndicate Comics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zippy the Pinhead}}
[[Category:1971 comics debuts]]
[[Category:American comic strips]]
[[Category:American comics characters]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1971]]
[[Category:Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Fictional American people]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Metafictional comics]]
[[Category:People with microcephaly]]
[[Category:Satirical comics]]
[[Category:Surreal comedy comics]]
[[Category:Underground comix]]