Editing Zippy the Pinhead (section)

==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>

In a 2008 interview with Alex Dueben, Griffith recalled how it all began:
{{Quote|I first saw the 1932 Tod Browning film ''[[Freaks (1932 film)|Freaks]]'' in 1963 at a screening at [[Pratt Institute]] in Brooklyn, where I was attending art school. I was fascinated by the pinheads in the introductory scene and asked the projectionist (who I knew) if he could slow down the film so I could hear what they were saying better. He did and I loved the poetic, random dialog. Little did I know that Zippy was being planted in my fevered brain. Later, in San Francisco in 1970, I was asked to contribute a few pages to ''Real Pulp Comics'' #1, edited by cartoonist [[Roger Brand]]. His only guideline was to say "Maybe do some kind of love story, but with really weird people." I never imagined I'd still be putting words into Zippy's fast-moving mouth some 38 years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18342 |title=Dueben, Alex. "Is Bill Griffith Having Fun Yet?", CBR, October 6, 2008 |publisher=Comicbookresources.com |date=2008-10-06 |access-date=2013-02-18}}</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.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

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.