Friday, April 9, 2010

Bill Griffith's Bukowski; or Why Rex Morgan Doesn't Cut the Cheese


Click on images to enlarge









If ever there was a poet's comic, aka cerebral as all get-out, it's Bill Griffith. Griffith is so good that, a number of years back, he got run out of my hometown newspaper during one of their dismal annual polls in which Rex Morgan, Cathy, Marmaduke, and unending, sadly shrunken reruns of Peanuts somehow continue to cut the mustard.

I'm sure Griffith considers it a badge of honor. His local fans are reduced to electronic subscriptions to keep up with the zany Zippy's hip happenings. Above is a small collection of strips that are Charles Bukowski related. His work is endlessly rewarding, the artwork the finest of any daily strip comic being done today .

He has a sensational, subversive sense of humor; check out his 6 part "Understanding Zippy in 6 Easy Lessons." Still not sure? Perhaps "The Heideggerian Disruptions of Zippy the Pinhead" by Ellen Grabiner will convince you.

Then again, there is always Rex Morgan.



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in ceremonial robe
he's fallen down drunk...
blossom shade
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue





best,
Don

8 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Maybe a little too cerebral for most. Humor is often the lowest common denominator, which may be one reason I don't appreciate a lot of what passes as humor.

Ed Baker said...

"The least-liked comics (from last to fifth-from-last) were "Mary Worth," "Rex Morgan M.D.," "Cathy," "Prince Valiant," and "The Amazing Spider-Man.""

from that article.. heck

when they dropped Lil' Abner AND Little LuLu and The Phantom and Dick Tracey, and Superman, and The Lone Ranger and Mark Trail, and Joe Palooka, and...
that's when I dropped The Sunday (Washington) Post!
now I get my fill of comics daily via them talking air-heads on MSNBC!

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Probably very true, Charles ...

Ed, I stopped reading the comics (and the paper) for quite sometime when Zippy went ... now I'll sneak a look over Laurie's shoulder at "Mutts" now and again ...

Regular commenters will note I've gone to comment approval for awhile as some marketing idiot keeps commenting on each post trying to sell something or other. Hopefully, he'll just give up when he realizes this blog is read by a handful of appreciative regulars who aren't about to reach for their wallets cause they haven't any.

Greg said...

I liked that 6-part tutorial, but I still don't get most of the daily Zippy ones. then again, I'm not usually the smartest one in the room. guess I'll stick to my "Speed Bump" and "Non Sequitor."

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Greg, not for everyone, no doubt - I do enjoy "Non Sequitor." Haven't seen "Speed Bump."

John Grochalski said...

love zippy. great stuff!

Greg said...

Don't know how popular "Speed Bump" is -- it's a one-panel cartoon that popped up in our local paper sometime after Gary Larson took "The Far Side" and went home.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Jay, Zippy is it ... I hate reading him online but there you go ...

Greg, looked through some of the Speed Bumps and I definitely see the appeal.