posted by McFrozen on July 25, 2002
Did anyone else see this? I saw it the day it was published, but the paper got tossed before I could scan it. Does Bil Keane like Zippy? Or is his inker a monkeywrencher? Or does he have a ghost cartoonist who's the monkeywrencher?
I copied this off the "newsroom" page at https://www.zippythepinhead.com:
From the "JAVA" column by Pat Seremet ,The Hartford Courant,
7/11/02:
When Comics Collide: Zippy Meets Jeffy
In Thursday's comics, weird-looking Zippy from the "Zippy" cartoon
shows up in "The Family Circus" cartoon with adorable Dolly and Jeffy.
Does this mean the demise of the family as we know it, not to mention
the circus?
Java reached "Zippy" cartoonist Bill Griffith at his East Haddam home,
and he said that although Bil Keane's "Family Circus" would seem at
odds with his, both cartoonists admire each other.
"His is the only remaining folk art strip," Griffith said. "If you look at it
one way, it's a heartwarming moment. At a slightly different angle, it's
off the wall. It's supposed to be the epitome of squareness, but it turns
the corner into a hip zone."
The Courant runs "Family Circus" next to "Zippy," and Griffith said that
he reads "Family Circus" as if it were the first panel to "Zippy." "It adds
to the surrealism," he said.
Once, the Ziggy comic strip insulted Zippy in a cartoon, and Griffith had
to retaliate in kind. But Keane's cartoon was done all in good fun.
Keane's use of Zippy's head on a totem pole - to which Dolly responds:
"Look at the tadpoles!" - will inspire "another tit for tat," Griffith said. But
it will be the gentle kind.
It was particularly amusing to people who know Keane's surprisingly
salty way of talking, peppered with profanities, that his cartoon with the
Zippy head be right next to Zippy himself swearing up a storm.
"We're at opposite ends of the spectrum," said Bil Keane, reached in
Arizona,"and it's unusual to have a crossover of two comics." But
Keane has featured Jeffy dreaming of Zippy, and Griffith has had Zippy
visiting the magical world of Family Circus.
As for the totem poles, he thought it would be fun to see Zippy the
Pinhead coming out of one pole, and Silly Philly, a character from
Keane's days at the Philadelphia Bulletin, coming out of the other.
Check out that OTHER "surrealist" comic on the
funnies pages! Go to: www.familycircus.com
I had that same thought about the character on top of the other pole, Hoyt. And lookie! We was right!
McHoyt, we's as smart as that reckt uranus scientist guy!!! And that's SMART!
I actually did that when I was little :) I was very excited to see this cartoon when it first came out in the paper. My mom still tells that story.
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That's great! And the guy wearing the hat next to Zippy looks familiar too, maybe from a cartoon?... Anyone else recognize him from anything?
Posted by: Hoyt at July 25, 2002 07:54 AM