Zippy Stories #1 (1977) and #2 (1978).
Not entirely sure where I obtained these…could have been from my previous place of employment, or (I’ve had these long enough) from the days when I’d frequent comic book conventions. But they’re pretty neat, little digest-sized comics. This first issue is a first printing, with black, white and red interiors (later printings were black and white only):
Here’s a sample page to show you how the red was used:
And #2 is all black and white:
In 1982, these were reprinted in the Zippy 2-in-1 Special magazine, which I don’t own, but maybe will get my mitts on someday out of Zippy-completeness.
Great finds!
I always wondered what the shoes Zippy is wearing are called…
I did not realize until I saw the 1932 film Freaks last year that Zippy is sort-of based on an actual historical person, a “pinhead” being the term used in freak shows for people suffering from microcephaly. Although there were twin microcephalists in the film named Zip and Pip, the character Zippy is probably based on Schlitzie, who had a much more prominent role.
Or at least this is what I surmise. Someone who knows more about Bill Griffith might have more insight into what he actually had in mind.
Nick, Bill Griffith has been doing real life histories in graphic novel form for awhile now. One is Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead, which should have your answers.
https://www.amazon.com/Nobodys-Fool-Times-Schlitzie-Pinhead/dp/1419735012/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JIGDUSP7EG6H&dchild=1&keywords=nobody%27s+fool+the+life+and+times+of+schlitzie+the+pinhead&qid=1599671447&sprefix=nobody%27s+fool+%2Caps%2C185&sr=8-1
Zippy! That No.2 cover is so great. I’m really enjoying these archives posts.
Where’s Waldo/Wally?
On the cover of Zippy #2 nine years before his first book was published.