Photographic Memory: William Henry Jackson and the American West

by Bill Griffith

Legendary cartoonist Bill Griffith brings a personal touch to this illustrated history of his great-grandfather, William Henry Jackson—a pioneering photographer of the American West whose work led to Yellowstone becoming the first National Park and was a major influence on Ansel Adams

In his new graphic biography, legendary cartoonist Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead, tells the story of his namesake and great-grandfather, William Henry Jackson, who was one of the first photographers of the American West.

Jackson’s photography spurred Americans to move westward, inspiring photographers such as Ansel Adams, and playing a role in the creation of our national parks, including Yellowstone.

Using his unique approach to graphic novel biography, which Kirkus hails as setting a “standard” for the medium, Griffith explores every aspect of his great-grandfather’s life and legacy, which he pulls from family letters, diaries, and anecdotes, primary sources, and the archives of the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress, as well as from the more than 25 books written about Jackson and his work.

Like all of Griffith’s biographies, Photographic Memory is a thoroughly researched, sharply observant character study written from a place of love, which explores photography in an illustrated medium. Not an easy trick to pull off—unless you are Bill Griffith.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Comics, Nonfiction, Photography, History, Art

288 pages, Hardcover

Published October 21, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photographic Memory: William Henry Jackson and the American West (2025) by Bill Griffiths is the biography of one of the most important photographers in American history, who also so happens to be Griffith's great grandfather and namesake, as his full name is William Henry Jackson Griffiths. It is unusual to have two major, big book comics books of historically important photographers in one year. The first is one of my favorite of the year, Muybridge by Guy Delisle, which I take to be Delisle's greatest accomplishment (so far), and now this also impressive story by alt-comix icon (Zippy the Pinhead and other surrealist/satirical humor) Griffith, also widely known as Griffey. Griffith is now 81 as of this writing, and is inspiringly driven in these last years to create some of his most ambitious, non-surrealist work. Amazing:

*Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist (2015).

*Schlitzie, Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead (2019).

*Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy (2023).

*The Buildings Are Barking (2023), a comic book memoir of Diane Noomin and their marriage together.

Griffiths/Griffey grew up proud to have four names, proud to have a famous artist in the family, proud to have that name, but he had no idea how complicated his great grandfather's legacy was. At one point Griffey has in his possession more than 25 different biographies and collections of his photography, and almost none of them dealt with any seriousness with the fact of the theft of land from various indigenous populations in the "taming" of the American West. So 1) famous photographer but 2) part of colonizing the west and in part erasing the actual history that implicates white Americans in the devastation. So Griffiths importantly deals with this early on, sharing stories from leading Native American leaders on the slaughter of buffalo, stolen land, murder, justified as "manifest destiny." And tells us of his having read an 1882 book sent to each member of congress that specifies the atrocities, and crickets in response. So this book is importantly corrective and I give Griffiths--who grew up as I did playing "cowboys and Indians" based on distorted information--some credit for that.

So why read this?
*As a public record of the "expansion." His work is in the National Library of Congress now. Framed appropriately as Griffiths does.
*Jackson lived to be 99, so his life as a photographer spans the first century of American photography
*Jackson's photographs--some of the first on some important places, such as Yellowstone--led to the creation of several national parks. Wouldn't have happened without him. All these areas would be developed, forests gone, landscapes destroyed for "natural resources" such as oil, which is being discussed now, again, of course.
*Jackson wrote an autobiography, and he spent his last decade being interviewed by a guy who also wrote about him. These two sources were really important for Griffiths in his deep research and framing his version of the biography.
*Jackson was not a great husband or father, on the road to take photographs in the West and across the world, so those truths get faced, as well
*Griffey liked unusual characters, and he looks through the photographs for signs of unusual characters, and finds some, precurosrs to Zippy and other wierd chracters in his work. Of course some of this is problematic, too: Griffiths (and I) grew up in a time when we could see "freak shows" in circus tents, at carnivals and circuses, now thankfully no longer possible
*Griffiths includes a selection of Jackson's photographs.

This is an impressive book, that doesn't hide the faults of his great grandfather. Great art, attractive layouts, interesting factoids throughout. Griffiths can tell a story, that's for sure.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Griffith takes a ramble through the life of his great-grandfather, William Henry Jackson, the man who took some of the earliest photographs of what would become the Yellowstone and Mesa Verde national parks.

With access to Jackson's autobiography, diaries, and letters, Griffith is able to provide an overload of information that is sometimes taxing but almost always engaging. He dramatizes the facts and crams in some of his own quirky interests, even if they were unlikely to have happened or outright did not, including a meeting with a certain sideshow performer, a pioneering comic strip cartoonist, and a smarter-than-the-average bear.

In the midst of his love-fest for his famous forebear, Griffith does take a few pages to ponder how Jackson's work may have contributed to the marginalization of Native Americans and to spreading imperialistic propaganda of the superiority of Western civilization.

Jackson led a long and interesting life, and Griffith's enthusiasm for digging into his family history is infectious. This makes for an interesting bookend with Griffith's other autobiographical work, Invisible Ink: My Mother's Love Affair With A Famous Cartoonist, with several family members appearing in both.


(Best of 2025 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:

• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2025
• Publishers Weekly 2025 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2025: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made the NPR list.)


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Prologue -- Early Days -- Go West -- The First People -- On Assignment -- Yellowstone -- Emilie -- Mesa Verde -- Back in Business -- Family Man -- Have Camera, Will Travel -- The Father of the American Picture Postcard -- Over the Range -- Epilogue -- Sources -- Notes -- Photographs by William Henry Jackson

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slowed down a bit for me in the middle, but a great achievement. His third with another in the works. He keeps churning creativity.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novel biography of the life and career of William Henry Jackson, a photographic pioneer who took some of the notable early pictures of the American West, primarily in the area that would one day be become Yellowstone National Park. It's written and drawn by Bill Griffith, who also happens to be William Henry Jackson's great-grandson and namesake. Now eighty plus years in age, Griffith recalls tidbits from his own childhood learning about his great-grandfather who had only died two years prior to Griffith's own birth. As such, this biography is a tad bit more sentimental and personal, though ultimately much of what is covered here is a matter of public record and not derived from family records and anecdotes (which are included here but are not substantial).

Griffith's coverage of Jackson's life is deep, completing the entirety of his early and late life, along with the developing career in wildlife and nature photography. The detail here can be daunting and at times, a dry read, but it's clear that Griffith was going for an encompassing narrative for this biography. Some portions of Jackson's life are a bit skimmed over, as the emphasis is placed on the various expeditions he went on and the physical challenges attributed towards completing them. And despite being a biography told through familial eyes, Griffith does not sugarcoat the more insensitive parts of Jackson's life, including that of the rather dismissive and condescending attitude Jackson presented regarding Native Americans. Jackson's dismissive nature also extended to his own family, where family records indicate that Jackson was rather unconcerned with the raising of his own children. These are not dwelled upon story beats, but the inclusion here does belie Griffith's desire to be a rather neutral biographer despite the direct family ties.

Even at age 80, Griffith's cartooning remains sharp and detailed, with the shading and cross-hatching as refined as it has always been. The crisp artwork works well with the concept of a story about a photographer, with some of the photos transcribed through Griffith's art possessing a high level of naturalistic beauty to them. Photographic Memory is a dense retelling of William Henry Jackson's career, one that feels particularly special given the choice of the storyteller here. A little overlong and dry at times, the overall graphic novel biography does it's job capturing an interesting career of an early pioneer in the medium of photography.

[David Schwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jackson was an early photographer of the American West. His photos of Yellowstone were pivotal in the area becoming the first national park. Through some proper wheeling and dealing, 40,000+ of his original negatives now reside in the Library of Congress. This book was created by Jackson's great-grandson who is the creator of the Zippy comics of the 1970's.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Abrams ComicArts for an advance copy of a graphic novel that works as a biography of a photographer who helped change the way Americans view nature, helped design and create early postcards, after traveling the world, and a memoir on artistic talent and how it runs through the generations from great-grandfather to great-grandson.

My grandfather was a little bit of poet people tell me, though I never would have thought it. My Father wrote great letters, to my Mom especially, letters that showed a skill that was quite surprising. My brother works in publishing writing for others, and doing quite well. My Mom and her mom were both very good artists, but being women were never told they were good, except my father, my brother and I. Which has always made me wonder about the creative gene and how it runs in families. If say one's great-grandfather was both an artist and a photographer of great renown, would a great-grandson inherit those skills also? What makes a person become in artist, encouragement, perseverance, doggedness. And does art keep one going when everyone has left you, knowing there are still things one has not shared, painted or drawn. Which is why I really loved this graphic novel, for this book asks all these questions, while profiling an amazing life. Photographic Memory: William Henry Jackson and the American West written and illustrated by Bill Griffith is a look at the life of a man whose pictures changed laws, created post cards, allowed him to travel the world, always looking for beauty, but in many ways isolating him from those around him.

William Henry Jackson was born in New York in 1843, and grew up in Vermont with a skill for painting and drawing, but was quickly developing an eye for photography. A stint in the Civil War showed him a world outside his quiet New England, as well as using his skill at art for friends, family and the war effort. Things were going well with a burgeoning business in studio photography, until a relationship got in the way and Jackson headed west working with cattle, which after a few years grew to be to much. Jackson returned to photography and was hired first to take photos of train lines, and soon the lands of the west. Jackson's photos of the Yellowstone area made Congress call for the area to be protected as a National Park. Jackson traveled across the wilds of America and soon the world, on a trip around the globe, for a doomed expedition. Bill Griffith looks at the works of Jackson and wonders what made the man travel so much, what drove him, his art, a wandering spirt, or something more. Griffith looks at his own career and his art for answers, all while sharing much a bout a man I knew little about.

Bill Griffith is a cartoonist famed for his Zippy daily strip, but in recent years has taken his pen and looked back at his life to see what made him an artist. I knew nothing about William Henry Jackson, a man who should be better known. I really enjoyed this story, something I think only could be told in a graphic format. Griffith really captures Jackson, the emotional moments making him flee west, getting ripped off by publishers, not understanding how a wife might be upset by a husband taking a three-year trip around the world, without his family. The writing is very strong, a good biography with lots of information on taking photos in the wild, plates, and the storage. Even injecting himself in the narrative makes sense, and works as a connection between Jackson and Griffith that looks at creativity and what it can do. The art is amazing. A mix of realistic depictions of photos, trains, geysers, train tracks and people. I kept looking at pages wondering how one person could create the art for al this. A really beautiful book.

Everything a graphic novel can be. A great story, a strong narrative, excellent art and a work that stays with readers. I can recommend this enough. A strong contender for an Eisner award.

[Rosanne Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know a lot about photographer William Henry Jackson. I wrote my master's thesis on his negatives of my hometown, San Diego, and continued to learn more and more about him as the years passed. I became a postcard collector because of my love of WHJ. Although my master's is in History Museum Studies I did not become a museum curator but became a community historian instead. I know much about WHJ and the Detroit Publishing Company. After returning to San Diego in 2013 I wanted to finally write about the postcards of San Diego his photos became. I decided to divide them into niche markets that they were taken to cover-- two local hotels and the rise of tourism that occurred at the turn of the 20th century after the train lines completed their tracks across country. For San Diego the re are two things that added to tourism here--The Novel "Ramona" by Helen Hunt Jackson and the 1915 Panama-California Exposition that was held at the same time as the San Francisco World's Fair and brought travelers to both cities. The railroads were prepared by dropping tourists off in Old Town to visit Ramona's Marriage Place. Helen Hunt Jackson is the author of Ramona (and is the second of three Jacksons I have studied or studied under.)
None of this is in Griffith's book so there are no spoilers yetPhotographic Memory: William Henry Jackson and the American West . All that said...Why did I love "Photographic Memory" so much? it's partially because of the simplicity of the story thanks to Griffith's graphic biography format. I enjoyed his own story inter-mixed with that of WHJ's. I spoke with Griffith in 2014 or so and I could tell then how much he cared for his great-grandfather's story and for his mother. Griffith also came across to me as a truly nice person and that's how he came across to me in the way he tells WHJ's story. He's definitely someone I'd want to have fish tacos and a beer with. The book does not spend much time on the Detroit Publishing Company and the height of postcards occurred at the same time as middle-class tourism began. I became a postcard collector because of WH Jackson's Glass Plate Negatives. Griffiths does discuss how WHJ's photographs helped to start the National Park Service and the Antiquities Act of 1906. He was a man who accomplished much in his long life of 99 years.
Two Spoilers: He was Not a photographer during the Civil War, nor were all of the photographs in the DPC's collection taken by him. The attribution book was mis-delivered and rediscovered shortly before I began working on my thesis. (Not to boast but I was the first researcher to use it.)

[Steve Rainwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great graphic novel from Bill Griffith!

I think I've read nearly every comic Bill Griffith has written from Zippy strips to his more serious graphic novels depicting historical and biographical events like 'Three Rocks' and 'Invisble Ink'. This book falls in the latter category. It's a biography of Griffith's great grandfather, the famous photographer and explorer, William Henry Jackson.

Rather than tell a linear story of Jackson's life, the book follows a timeline that parallels Bill's discovery of his grandfather. It starts with Bill as a child learning from his mother that he has a famous grandfather. Over time, Bill learns why he famous and begins to see some of his photography, including in one of his school books. As Bill gets older, he become more interested in his grandfather and begins to read more about him. So we learn about Jackson in strange little snippets of time that bounce around from retirement years, to his early life, and to various expeditions. For me, it made the book a little more interesting than a typical biography.

Griffith slips in a few jokes here and there including references to Zippy the Pinhead, Yogi Bear, and a few frames that claim Jackson photographed the Boilerplate robot at the Chicago World Fair in 1893 (most readers will recognize Boilerplate as the infamous hoax from the early 2000s).

As a photographer myself, I wished for more detail on the specific cameras and photographic techniques being used but I can see how that would probably be boring to the average reader and it turns out to be easy enough to find those details online.

Recommended!

[John Mihelic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read in which the Zippy guy explores history through his ancestors.
Here it is: William Henry Jackson, who took many of the first photos of the West and is credited here with helping Yellowstone become a national park. What is most interesting here is following the biography as its own history of the West and expansion. It wasn't that long ago that we were filling places on the white man's maps for the first time, and it's an interesting history. It also parallels the growth of photography, as both an art and a commercial enterprise, as we developed new and faster ways to document images.

Overall, an interesting text, even if the ending veers off a little by bringing in Jellystone Park.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I live near Yellowstone and knew quite a bit about William Henry Jackson as one of the people whose work helped influence it becoming the first national park. This book was an interesting historical fiction of WHJ's life, done by his great-grandson who is also an artist, a cartoonist. This graphic novel explores the highs and lows of the original WHJ, of how he became a photographer and how he had an absolutely amazing life, traveling the world, but still struggled with mundanities like actually being paid for his work.
Some of it was a little bit of a slog for me but I can see why it was included on the list of NPR Best Books.

[Clarissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story for the photographer and nice graphics, but I did not care about so many details on his life. I really liked the chapter on the Detroit publishing company and postcards, as well on how the collection of his photos are saved.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite things - a graphic novel about an early photographer. Glass plate negatives developed in the field and transported by mule. The author tells his great grandfathers life story but in a questioning way. Wonderful.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories behind the photos, with some artistic liberties.

[Carol Tilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Emily Goenner Munson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the time lines were hard to follow and I wish there were more re productions of Jackson’s photography, but a quick way to learn about an interesting man

[Olena V · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched book with way, WAY too many details. You can tell that it was written by an older person, though the art was great.

[Chet Taranowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great artwork. The story can drag at times.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

High end comics (not a "novel")
Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead) does a biography of his great-grandfather, William Henry Jackson. Jackson was the photographer who was with the expedition that explored the Yellowstone region in 1872. (The Hayden Expedition, I seem to recall)

Quite good..