Way back in January, I wrote about Ernie Bushmiller and his strips: Fritzi Ritz and Nancy. You might have read that one here. Fritzi morphed into Nancy not long after that character was introduced.
When I was at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, I was moderating a panel at the San Diego Public Library. It’s an impressive building and different enough from the rest of the convention center so that you always feel like the overwhelming convention craziness is far away. It’s a nice, albeit brief, break from it all.
At the Public Library during SDCC week, they also hold an amazing book sale. Every year I usually end up rescuing some bargain from this annual sale. This year was no exception. I snagged a “like new” copy of Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller, The Man who created Nancy by Bill Griffith. You might know his name. He as the big talent newspaper strip Zippy the Pinhead.
I’m slowly learning to appreciate Nancy and Ernie Bushmiller (as detailed in that column earlier this year), but with Griffith’s book, I’m ready to sign up as a legitimate fan.
It is obvious that Griffith is a huge fan of Nancy. He’s also a curious acolyte. It’s easy to see that in creating this biography he enjoyed revisiting the source material, telling the stories he already knew and researching things he didn’t yet know.
It doesn’t hurt that I’ve been a big fan of his Zippy work since the 80s. Much like when Max Allan Collins writes about his favorite author, Mickey Spillane, I just love learning about one author’s works through eyes of another professional.
I do have to stress: this book isn’t a straight prose biography. Instead, it’s like my favorite graphic novel/business book Mission in a Bottle by Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff (illustrated by Sungyoon Choi) or the recent Tolkien and CS Lewis GN, The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien (A Graphic Novel). It’s told in a loose graphic novel style. In dissecting the life and times of Ernie Bushmiller, there are lot rabbit holes to scurry down and Griffith takes just about every opportunity explore them.
On the other hand, as usual, Mike Gold says it all better than I ever could:
“This one of the greatest biographies ever written. I am amazed at Bill’s graphic biographies — and autobiographies. He’s done three and now is working on a history of underground comics. Oh, and Ernie was absolutely brilliant. I even liked the binding glue.”
This is officially my last summer book. Very different from the other detective series I’ve been reading, of course. But HIGHLY recommended. For me, it’s been quite a literary summer. Don’t worry, I did manage to sneak in just a bit of summer fun too.
