On a Roll

Some of you may know that I'm a big fan of the art and history of the comic strip, and have collected a bunch of books on the subject. As the years go by, however, I find myself less and less interested in the current crop of strips, though there are a handful of favorites that I still check out virtually every day. One of these is Bill Griffith's "Zippy the Pinhead," and I have to say, that strip over the past few weeks has been outstanding. Griffith is one of the few (maybe the only) strip artist who insists on packing his panels with great visual detail, regardless of how much it may be reduced in publication. In the past, he sometimes lapsed into long stretches where he seemed to fixate on a particular verbal or pictorial tic almost ad infinitum, but he always bounces back. Right now, he's on a particularly hot streak, with mostly stand-alone strips that are bright and funny. The jokes especially have been consistently stellar of late, and though they can be a little esoteric, if you get the references they are sure to bring a chuckle (see the above example). If you want to follow along daily, you can find "Zippy" here. Enjoy.