Yow -- An Original Griffith!

Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy, has long had a website that he's run himself, offerring various books and merchandise featuring his most famous character. The site has been in its current form for around twenty years at this point, and Griffith has been offerring for most of that time the ability to buy an original 5" x 7" pen and ink drawing of Zippy with a word balloon that you can ask to be filled with whatever 'Zippyism' you'd like. Either by selecting one of a dozen Griffith-written phrases or writing your own.

I don't recall when I first saw that exactly, but it likely was in the two-decades-ago ballpark and I thought a fun, original phrase that would be completely personal and still sound very much like Zippy would be, "Kleefeld is just dlefeelk spelled backwards!" I can't recall if it was a cash flow issue or some kind of problem with the site, but I never pulled the trigger on that.

Until last week.

I was actually looking at getting a copy of Griffith's new Photographic Memory book and I saw that he still had that commission option available. Still using the circa 2004 preview image. Still charging $100. And so, twenty-ish years after having the idea, I received in the mail yesterday...

For as much as my copy looks almost exactly the same as the preview, it is an original piece of art. The pencil sketch is visible underneath the ink, and there are indeed a couple ink marks that have been corrected with white paint.

Griffith is in his 80s now, and his artwork isn't showing any signs of faltering. And that he's only charging $100 for a piece like this in 2025 strikes me a steal. It's a fun bit of original art, and Griffith apparently has done so many of these that he can do them in his sleep. I put in my order on Friday, and he had it in the mail the very next day! I recognize that things are fiscally tight for a lot of people right now, but I'd recommend taking advantage of the opportunity if you're able.

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