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Secret de famille - Une histoire écrite à l'encre sympathique
Au lendemain du décès de son père, Bill Griffith apprend de sa mère que celle-ci a entretenu durant de longues années une relation avec le cartoonist et romancier américain Lawrence Lariar. S'ensuit une enquête de la part du dessinateur underground qui, en découvrant le journal intime de sa mère, envisage son histoire familiale sous un jour nouveau, à l'aune de ce secret de famille dévoilé sur le tard.
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2015
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354 people want to read
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Bill Griffith
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
August 7, 2016
Just a glance at the Goodreads ratings for the collections of Bill Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead stories reveals his reputation is fading (59 reviews is the most for any of his books, worldwide! Come on, people, read Zippy!) and needs to be revived, especially for y'all comics history buffs. Griffith left home in North Carolina to head to the hippie San Fran alt comix scene where his goofy and hilarious characters depicting a fictional American town, Dingburg, would make decades of somehow sardonic and also lighthearted cultural criticism. These comix are in the form of strips--Jules Feiffer calls it the "four panel comics ghetto"--mostly published in alt rags, but also to be found in myriad book collections for your viewing pleasure. So even though I read them for decades in that strip format, I am now on a mission to review a few collections so I can talk you into picking them up and enjoying them as many people my age (62) and older have done for years. Griffith is far from the mainstream, better described as an iconoclast. One of the best.
This book is a huge departure for Griffith, because it is 1) a memoir, his first; 2) a graphic memoir, also his first, 196 pages, and 3) more serious and mainstream looking than anything he has ever done (of which I know, at least!). As a memoir, it is a bit about Griffith's (who turned 71 this year) growing up, becoming a cartoonist, and about his family, including a few things about his mother and father's distant/battling relationship. He doesn't have much to say about his father except he was abusive and reclusive and mean, which maybe helps set up his sympathetic account of his mother's love of her life, a secret 16 year affair with pulp mystery writer, gag writer and comics writer/cartoonist Larry Lariar. Now, I have to say that for 120 pages or so there is nothing particularly unique or compelling about this story. A boy grows up, gets into comics, his Dad is bad, his mom has an affair with a kind of minor league (famous? Griffith says he was famous….) corny writer, and Griffith decides to look more deeply into this affair: eh. I mean, our parents are mysteries to us, some of them have affairs, okay. And much of the tale seems competent, interesting, unremarkable. Though Griffith is an alt cartoonist, Lariar was mainstream, and Griffith's mom was an aspiring writer.
But then Griffith's approach in the main is sort of mainstream memoir, which disappointed me. Griffith is an amazing artist, and because it is a longer work he gets to show off a greater range of his talent, but the thing I and others like about him is his off-center insights, his goofy and bizarre angles on existence. Here, gripped with the story of his life, he is pretty deadly serious, and we get to see the researcher Griffith going through boxes of his mother's writing, including a thinly veiled unpublished novel of her affair, and journals, most of which unearth unremarkable information and hardly tell him/us anything. Sure, it's cool for him, but for us?
But in the way of better memoirs, Griffith keeps looking and 2/3 or so through his tale he reveals finding some rhapsodic pages stuck in the back of one journal, and that writing from his mom (and his retelling) is pretty terrific. He also spends a few pages imagining what his art/Zippy would have looked like if his mother had divorced his Dad and he had been raised by Lariar, a mainstream corny guy. We get some reflections on comics, mainstream and alternative, as we look into Lariar's work. Those are the best pages, where the scope of Griffith's invention gets known. This is good stuff, sometimes great, though I still say this project needs more Zippy!
Griffith also reads for us some of his mom's novel, which is interesting in helping him gain insights. And ultimately, his look at Lariar's work is a look that helps us understand WWII-era comics and cultural history, so it's valuable in that respect. The last 3 pages are actually silent, and meticulously drawn, and somber, as we see the artist depicting himself alone, waiting for a train, 71. Griffith, as a moving storyteller, at the end!? But yep, he is! And though I wish it were a little kookier or Zippier in the telling, I have to say I really did enjoy it, and see this as an accomplished work of art, a kind of somber crowning achievement in Griffith's life and art. I recommend your checking it out.
This book is a huge departure for Griffith, because it is 1) a memoir, his first; 2) a graphic memoir, also his first, 196 pages, and 3) more serious and mainstream looking than anything he has ever done (of which I know, at least!). As a memoir, it is a bit about Griffith's (who turned 71 this year) growing up, becoming a cartoonist, and about his family, including a few things about his mother and father's distant/battling relationship. He doesn't have much to say about his father except he was abusive and reclusive and mean, which maybe helps set up his sympathetic account of his mother's love of her life, a secret 16 year affair with pulp mystery writer, gag writer and comics writer/cartoonist Larry Lariar. Now, I have to say that for 120 pages or so there is nothing particularly unique or compelling about this story. A boy grows up, gets into comics, his Dad is bad, his mom has an affair with a kind of minor league (famous? Griffith says he was famous….) corny writer, and Griffith decides to look more deeply into this affair: eh. I mean, our parents are mysteries to us, some of them have affairs, okay. And much of the tale seems competent, interesting, unremarkable. Though Griffith is an alt cartoonist, Lariar was mainstream, and Griffith's mom was an aspiring writer.
But then Griffith's approach in the main is sort of mainstream memoir, which disappointed me. Griffith is an amazing artist, and because it is a longer work he gets to show off a greater range of his talent, but the thing I and others like about him is his off-center insights, his goofy and bizarre angles on existence. Here, gripped with the story of his life, he is pretty deadly serious, and we get to see the researcher Griffith going through boxes of his mother's writing, including a thinly veiled unpublished novel of her affair, and journals, most of which unearth unremarkable information and hardly tell him/us anything. Sure, it's cool for him, but for us?
But in the way of better memoirs, Griffith keeps looking and 2/3 or so through his tale he reveals finding some rhapsodic pages stuck in the back of one journal, and that writing from his mom (and his retelling) is pretty terrific. He also spends a few pages imagining what his art/Zippy would have looked like if his mother had divorced his Dad and he had been raised by Lariar, a mainstream corny guy. We get some reflections on comics, mainstream and alternative, as we look into Lariar's work. Those are the best pages, where the scope of Griffith's invention gets known. This is good stuff, sometimes great, though I still say this project needs more Zippy!
Griffith also reads for us some of his mom's novel, which is interesting in helping him gain insights. And ultimately, his look at Lariar's work is a look that helps us understand WWII-era comics and cultural history, so it's valuable in that respect. The last 3 pages are actually silent, and meticulously drawn, and somber, as we see the artist depicting himself alone, waiting for a train, 71. Griffith, as a moving storyteller, at the end!? But yep, he is! And though I wish it were a little kookier or Zippier in the telling, I have to say I really did enjoy it, and see this as an accomplished work of art, a kind of somber crowning achievement in Griffith's life and art. I recommend your checking it out.
January 17, 2016
Always happy to see new work from Bill Griffith. And I especially love him in autobiographical mode. I love Zippy as much as anyone, but I really love his occasional stories from his own life (and the Griffith Observatory strips. Love those!) The title pretty much tells you all you need to know about the content of this book. Griffith's mother had an ongoing affair with writer and cartoonist, Lawrence Lariar. The name wasn't familiar to me, though I believe I may have read one or more of the Best Cartoons of the Year collections that he edited. Griffith makes use of quotes from some of Lariar's fiction output, as well as writings from his mother's unpublished novel, to illustrate parts of the story. It's really more of a tale about his discovery of his parents--or at least, of new aspects of them--than it is about his mother's affair. The narrative jumps around a bit. Griffith has a lifelong fascination with non sequiturs, and, although they aren't given the free reign here that they would be in Zippy, their presence is still felt. It's been a while since I've read any of his work, and I'm pleased to see that time hasn't diminished his drawing skills in the slightest.
February 6, 2017
This book is perfect.
July 8, 2016
Griffith's graphic novel deserves respect: it is about as far from Zippy the Pinhead as you can imagine, and Griffith's art is allowed a larger canvas here, obviously, than he gets in the daily strip format. Griffith rises to the challenge, and many of the pages here incorporate impressive details and shading.
The story itself is oriented around Griffith's excavation of his mother's letters, diaries, and an unfinished novel, all of which provide details of her extended affair with a not-quite-as-famous-as-the-title-would-lead-you-to-believe cartoonist, Lawrence Lariar. Griffith documents his visits with an uncle who has kept much of the family history, before delving into imagined sequences of his mother and Lariar on their escapades. Griffith bravely portrays his mother without sentimentality, as a sexual being with emotional and physical needs largely ignored by her husband, Griffith's father. This portrayal is a highlight of the book.
Ultimately, however, the story is not extraordinary, and occasionally becomes dreary. Fans of cartooning will find some insights into how the profession worked in the 1950s, and anyone familiar with Griffith will, I think, be surprised and pleased by his narrative ambition and artistic dexterity in the creation of this memoir. Non-fans, however, may wonder what the point of the story may be, aside from digging up old family secrets.
Still, graphic novels like this are rare, and gag-strip cartoonists are seldom afforded (or are worthy of) a book-length forum. Griffith's work shines here, and will certainly reward the curious.
The story itself is oriented around Griffith's excavation of his mother's letters, diaries, and an unfinished novel, all of which provide details of her extended affair with a not-quite-as-famous-as-the-title-would-lead-you-to-believe cartoonist, Lawrence Lariar. Griffith documents his visits with an uncle who has kept much of the family history, before delving into imagined sequences of his mother and Lariar on their escapades. Griffith bravely portrays his mother without sentimentality, as a sexual being with emotional and physical needs largely ignored by her husband, Griffith's father. This portrayal is a highlight of the book.
Ultimately, however, the story is not extraordinary, and occasionally becomes dreary. Fans of cartooning will find some insights into how the profession worked in the 1950s, and anyone familiar with Griffith will, I think, be surprised and pleased by his narrative ambition and artistic dexterity in the creation of this memoir. Non-fans, however, may wonder what the point of the story may be, aside from digging up old family secrets.
Still, graphic novels like this are rare, and gag-strip cartoonists are seldom afforded (or are worthy of) a book-length forum. Griffith's work shines here, and will certainly reward the curious.
November 22, 2016
159. Invisible Ink: my mother's secret love affair with a famous cartoonist: a graphic memoir by Bill Griffith Bill Griffith is the originator of Zippy the Pinhead, which started in National Lampoon, and ended up with syndication for several years. Bill’s parents have moved to the suburbs of Levittown in the 1950s, and his mother, Barbara, was finding it difficult. Despite her miserable husband’s objections, she takes a part-time secretarial job with a cartoonist and novelist, Larry Lariar. She soon starts to have an affair with him and she is able to hide this from her family for years until the death of her husband, when she just blurts it out. Griffith wonders what would have happened if he had been taken under the cartoonist’s wing, if he would have been more mainstream. Griffith’s drawing style never interferes with the story. He finds part of a novel she wrote and some of that ends up in the book as well. I was left with an overall feeling of sadness, and gratitude that I was born later.
October 2, 2015
This is a very different kind of book for Bill Griffith, and in a number of ways. It's his first sustained narrative (call it a "graphic novel," if you want), it's a very personal memoir, and it's a significant departure from the kind of humor you usually find in Zippy or his other comics. What's more, this is a very sophisticated narrative where Griffith manipulates time and memory in amazing ways. I recently interviewed Griffith for The Comics Alternative about the release of this book: http://comicsalternative.com/comics-a....
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December 26, 2015I'm interested in what it was like for Griffith to draw pictures of his mother having sex with another man besides his father. No matter how old you are, thinking of your parents as sexual beings is tough.
It was nice to read something by Griffith that I actually understood. Read Zippy in the Sunday funnies growing up (through adolescence) and could never understand the humor...
It was nice to read something by Griffith that I actually understood. Read Zippy in the Sunday funnies growing up (through adolescence) and could never understand the humor...
March 8, 2016
Great art, of course. It's also hard NOT to connect with someone who was looking into his family's history and became fascinated. I'm not really sure why this didn't pull me in more, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
March 19, 2019
This book is a story, a history, some inside jokes and great illustrations. The creator of Zippy the Pinhead writes this beautiful memoir which has illustrations of his mother, his father, his uncle, his sister and others, where we can see the artist that he is. I love the old black and white style with all the detail shading. It captures the feeling everyone has of knowing and not knowing your parents as people, and the mixed feelings of grief when they die.
September 27, 2015
Bill Griffith can draw. Make no question about it, the man can draw. His pictures are more than half of this book, but I'm not going to give short shrift to his writing. Griffith structures the book as an investigation, but he's layered so much more into this weird familial detective story. He puts his own life under the microscope, stripped bare what must be very uncomfortable to strip bare: the sex life of his own mother.
Griffith can't help but be ironic. It seems settled into his bones. Zippy has a tiny cameo here. Griffith's "three rocks" trope shows up. Reading "Invisible Ink" informs his daily Zippy strip. Griffith's work is a mere step away from his life. Zippy's daily appearance in the newspapers seems to reduce it to a disposable commodity, but it's hardly that. Zippy is a daily dose of art. It's very reproduction is part of the point.
Can we really know our parents? That's the question that Griffith is asking here as he digs through his mother's archives. What's more, he seems to be saying that our quest to understand them (a quest that will no doubt end in failure) is more a quest to understand ourselves. Who can pull back enough to understand? Thus the title of Griffith's book. It's all there, just written in invisible ink, disappearing before it becomes comprehensible.
Griffith can't help but be ironic. It seems settled into his bones. Zippy has a tiny cameo here. Griffith's "three rocks" trope shows up. Reading "Invisible Ink" informs his daily Zippy strip. Griffith's work is a mere step away from his life. Zippy's daily appearance in the newspapers seems to reduce it to a disposable commodity, but it's hardly that. Zippy is a daily dose of art. It's very reproduction is part of the point.
Can we really know our parents? That's the question that Griffith is asking here as he digs through his mother's archives. What's more, he seems to be saying that our quest to understand them (a quest that will no doubt end in failure) is more a quest to understand ourselves. Who can pull back enough to understand? Thus the title of Griffith's book. It's all there, just written in invisible ink, disappearing before it becomes comprehensible.
December 24, 2018
When I first discovered underground comics at some chain bookstore in my early teens it was a revelation. I remember the mass paperback of R. Crumb comics, not Fritz the Cat, but the funny animal stuff. I never was a fan of those types of cartoons, but Crumb was hilarious and drew so well. That opened the floodgates and of course Zippy the Pinhead washed up on my reading desk. I loved “Pinhead” by the Ramones and the movie “Freaks,” but as much as I could admire Bill Griffith’s craftsmanship, I was just never able to genuinely love his strip. What can I say, it’s all subjective. Except when it’s not. So, when I saw he had a graphic memoir, INVISIBLE INK, I dipped my eyes in that pool again. I was much happier this time, with the story of his hard-nosed father and free-spirit mom, who ended up having a longtime affair with a cartoonish and pulp mystery writer. The slow reveal of his parents as fully fleshed out people is interesting, but what kept me reading were the tidbits of the gone world of commercial arts where cartoonists could make a living and even get rich. Lots of great drawings and details, and only a few pinheads pop up.
February 8, 2017
It's a nice, entertaining read. I want to take it more seriously but somehow the comic book format does not yet fully engage me.
It's a nice flashback to the 40s, 50s & 60s seen through the writer re-discovering his parents, the dynamics between them, snd what this all means to him.
We travel along through letters that the writer was discovering for the first time about his mother and her secret affair.
I suppose it wasn't easy for him talking about her affair, particularly as he seems to have been quite close to her and in good ties with his extended family.
Therefore, I wonder if choosing the comic book format wasn't an easy choice on the details, as it spares him to reflect more about how the affair happened and how it later affected his mother; that's on the one hand. On the other, I suppose it mustn't have bern easy for him to draw his mother in love with another man, while still married. I even suspect it should be harder to execute.
I recommend this book; it's entertaining and a nice read.
It's a nice flashback to the 40s, 50s & 60s seen through the writer re-discovering his parents, the dynamics between them, snd what this all means to him.
We travel along through letters that the writer was discovering for the first time about his mother and her secret affair.
I suppose it wasn't easy for him talking about her affair, particularly as he seems to have been quite close to her and in good ties with his extended family.
Therefore, I wonder if choosing the comic book format wasn't an easy choice on the details, as it spares him to reflect more about how the affair happened and how it later affected his mother; that's on the one hand. On the other, I suppose it mustn't have bern easy for him to draw his mother in love with another man, while still married. I even suspect it should be harder to execute.
I recommend this book; it's entertaining and a nice read.
April 28, 2017
Couldn't put it down brilliant. Griffith captures the anxiety of the 1950s-1970s, the changes in cultural expectations, the situation of suburban women in the post-WWII years, — all through the story of his mother's long-forgotten affair. Along the way, he entertains the reader with side trips into one of cartooning's oddball characters, Lawrence Lariar, and the hidden influence this man exerted on Griffith's own life.
Anyone who has undertaken a family history or genealogy project will immediately identify with Griffith's experience, trying to build a coherent story from the bits and pieces left behind. The moment Griffith realized he was the world's leading expert on Lawrence Lariar matched exactly the experience my husband and I had doing research on one of his family's lost but pivotal stories.
Griffith's exacting crosshatch illustration style provides perfectly a feeling of being in the past.
Definitely recommended.
Anyone who has undertaken a family history or genealogy project will immediately identify with Griffith's experience, trying to build a coherent story from the bits and pieces left behind. The moment Griffith realized he was the world's leading expert on Lawrence Lariar matched exactly the experience my husband and I had doing research on one of his family's lost but pivotal stories.
Griffith's exacting crosshatch illustration style provides perfectly a feeling of being in the past.
Definitely recommended.
October 12, 2015
The title is a little misleading - I'd never heard of Lawrence Lariar, and I've been a fan of comic books and cartooning my whole life. That being said, it's still an intriguing tale of history, memory, identity, secrets and the desire to discover more about your family as time passes. If you're curious about what the lives of the 'people in the background' might've been - those who brushed shoulders with famous people, or were there when iconic events took place - I think you'll like this book whether you're a "Zippy" fan or not.
February 16, 2018
Bill Griffith's graphic memoir about his mother's secret affairs is part detective story, part warm exploration into the hidden lives of our loved ones as revealed by the missives, notes, and recollections they (and we) leave behind. Who are our parents, really, and what can we ultimately know about them as actual human beings? Griffith cobbles together a more complete picture of his own mom (and dad) and the people with whom they intersected, and reading this memoir made me want to know more about my own folks.
August 15, 2016
Awesome to see Griffy take on such a project. Sad to see why he lets so little personal juice into his work (not a great family life), but a joy that he has found the quirky outlets that such a difficult family life has fostered (Zippy, the weird old America obsessions, Claude, Mr. Toad, etc.). And, the ending of this book is probably one of the most satisfying things I've read in about a decade.
May 22, 2022
How come some marriages "go the distance?" Why do others fail? If they fail, how could two people, once in love, grow so far apart during their marriage as to render it unfixable? And once broken, why would one spouse -- in this book, it was mom -- carry on a torrid affair with a married man when the mom herself remains married? Why would mom want the guilt, the furtive rendezvous, the lies, the constant uncertainty of role playing the "good suburban mom?" Why?
Sigh.
Uncle Al, a WWII veteran and mom's brother, sums it up to the author, Bill Griffith (mom's son), with an observation, something like this: "Well, you know Bill, life's a funny thing." And, to that observation we could add this one: "Moms are people too."
Sigh.
Uncle Al, a WWII veteran and mom's brother, sums it up to the author, Bill Griffith (mom's son), with an observation, something like this: "Well, you know Bill, life's a funny thing." And, to that observation we could add this one: "Moms are people too."
August 28, 2020
Rounding up to 3. The main people in the story make for unappealing characters, and the primary love affair wasn't very interesting. Points deducted for a multi-page retelling of the author's dreams. I would have preferred more time with the slightly quirky nice guy uncle.
November 21, 2020
This is a compelling deep dive into the author's family history as he pores through his mother's papers,and more. Possibly most relevant to those of us in a similar position of pondering the lives of people who have recently passed. Well drawn and told.
May 4, 2024
Meh. Artistically well done and varied, not a long strip. The story, well Griffith gives away the punchline early in the story and the rest is more self-therapy than something interesting to read.
January 15, 2021
I loved this book! It was funny, poignant, intriguing, and really does illustrate how complex and complicated humans and family and relationships are. Highly recommend it!
October 13, 2024
He's interested in history, his ancestors and his immediate family. A trip to visit an uncle results in some old letters and a look into his mother's past. It's more about how he discovers what her life was like than about the affair itself, which makes sense. The cartoonist was famous in his day but not a name I recognized. I love his artwork and enjoyed this very much.
March 7, 2016
Bill Griffith's Zippy collection from 1985, Are We Having Fun Yet?, was deemed by one of my friends "the funniest book ever written." The Zippy comic strip is perhaps an acquired taste. I don't find it to be laugh-out-loud funny, but it's definitely one of the better comic strips of the second half of the twentieth century.
Invisible Ink is (as far as I know, anyway), Griffith's first dramatic work. Part autobiography, part biography of his mother, and part biography of Lawrence Lariar--a forgotten cartoonist and mystery novel writer with whom Griffith's mother had a sixteen-year affair from the late '50s to early '70s--the book covers a lot of ground. It shares the same narrative space as Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and Are You My Mother?, as well as Seth's It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken (except that the cartoonist Griffith writes about actually existed). The book also reminds me of David Collier's biographical stories of interesting (but widely unknown) people. Coincidentally, Griffith and Collier even share a similar drawing style.
Because Griffith's parents and Lariar are dead, Griffith has the freedom to write their collective story without softening any of the harsher edges. (Though how he could bring himself to illustrate various scenes of his mother in bed with Lariar is beyond me.) But because they're dead he also has a lot of detective work to do, combing through Lariar's archives at Syracuse University (interestingly--and sadly--enough, he learns that he's the first person to explore them) and reading through his mother's old diaries, letters, and other assorted papers, which she insisted he save after she died. As an aspiring writer who had only middling success (she published stories in several magazines but was never able to publish her novel, a roman à clef from which Griffith gleans a lot of his story), Griffith's book becomes his mother's lasting legacy.
And this is a big part of what makes the book so poignant. More than just a biography of Barbara and Lariar, the book is a meditation on the pursuit of fleeting happiness--both personal and professional. Lariar had more success than Barbara in terms of getting published: he provided hundreds of cartoons to dozens of magazines in the '30s, '40s, and '50s, he wrote several cartooning books, edited annual best-of books, and wrote detective novels under three different pen names. But his big dream of writing a popular daily comic strip never really panned out, and by the '70s he was almost completely forgotten as an artist. Likewise, his relationship with Barbara, though passionate and fulfilling, was nonetheless dissolved when Lariar needed to devote himself to his ailing wife.
Framing this story is the story of Griffith coming to terms with all this information about his mother and, peripherally, his father, with whom Griffith (along with everyone else in his family) had a strained relationship. James Griffith died in a bicycling accident in 1972, and he looms over the story like the ghost of Hamlet's father. Fortunately, Griffith himself seems to be completely well adjusted, with a perfectly enviable personal life. It is a testament to his mother, I suppose, that she kept the affair a secret from him until she died.
Invisible Ink is (as far as I know, anyway), Griffith's first dramatic work. Part autobiography, part biography of his mother, and part biography of Lawrence Lariar--a forgotten cartoonist and mystery novel writer with whom Griffith's mother had a sixteen-year affair from the late '50s to early '70s--the book covers a lot of ground. It shares the same narrative space as Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and Are You My Mother?, as well as Seth's It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken (except that the cartoonist Griffith writes about actually existed). The book also reminds me of David Collier's biographical stories of interesting (but widely unknown) people. Coincidentally, Griffith and Collier even share a similar drawing style.
Because Griffith's parents and Lariar are dead, Griffith has the freedom to write their collective story without softening any of the harsher edges. (Though how he could bring himself to illustrate various scenes of his mother in bed with Lariar is beyond me.) But because they're dead he also has a lot of detective work to do, combing through Lariar's archives at Syracuse University (interestingly--and sadly--enough, he learns that he's the first person to explore them) and reading through his mother's old diaries, letters, and other assorted papers, which she insisted he save after she died. As an aspiring writer who had only middling success (she published stories in several magazines but was never able to publish her novel, a roman à clef from which Griffith gleans a lot of his story), Griffith's book becomes his mother's lasting legacy.
And this is a big part of what makes the book so poignant. More than just a biography of Barbara and Lariar, the book is a meditation on the pursuit of fleeting happiness--both personal and professional. Lariar had more success than Barbara in terms of getting published: he provided hundreds of cartoons to dozens of magazines in the '30s, '40s, and '50s, he wrote several cartooning books, edited annual best-of books, and wrote detective novels under three different pen names. But his big dream of writing a popular daily comic strip never really panned out, and by the '70s he was almost completely forgotten as an artist. Likewise, his relationship with Barbara, though passionate and fulfilling, was nonetheless dissolved when Lariar needed to devote himself to his ailing wife.
Framing this story is the story of Griffith coming to terms with all this information about his mother and, peripherally, his father, with whom Griffith (along with everyone else in his family) had a strained relationship. James Griffith died in a bicycling accident in 1972, and he looms over the story like the ghost of Hamlet's father. Fortunately, Griffith himself seems to be completely well adjusted, with a perfectly enviable personal life. It is a testament to his mother, I suppose, that she kept the affair a secret from him until she died.
February 7, 2017
Subtitle pretty much says it all.
This is a fairly engaging adult child's recounting of what he's learned about his mother's affair with cartoonist who did a lot of great things but the amateur probably won't recognize his name.
He also covers his family tree and general history. More melancholy than salacious, we don't get under the skin of either his mom or (even more) the cartoonist. The whole thing is kind of an enigma.
It's drawn effectively, black and white, and I'm really glad he includes a Family Tree at the end (which I had to look for - there's no heads-up that it's there).
I honestly find myself wondering if I would have liked this more if the author hadn't drawn himself (as the narrator/younger self discovering all of the data) with a ::ahem:: quite dated haircut. Which makes me wonder how biased I am for/against people's stories (in GN form or otherwise) based on my judgement of their appearances. Maybe this is why many cartoonists choose not to render themselves realistically?
Read with: The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir and Calling Dr. Laura
This is a fairly engaging adult child's recounting of what he's learned about his mother's affair with cartoonist who did a lot of great things but the amateur probably won't recognize his name.
He also covers his family tree and general history. More melancholy than salacious, we don't get under the skin of either his mom or (even more) the cartoonist. The whole thing is kind of an enigma.
It's drawn effectively, black and white, and I'm really glad he includes a Family Tree at the end (which I had to look for - there's no heads-up that it's there).
I honestly find myself wondering if I would have liked this more if the author hadn't drawn himself (as the narrator/younger self discovering all of the data) with a ::ahem:: quite dated haircut. Which makes me wonder how biased I am for/against people's stories (in GN form or otherwise) based on my judgement of their appearances. Maybe this is why many cartoonists choose not to render themselves realistically?
Read with: The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir and Calling Dr. Laura
June 10, 2017
Came across this title when I was working on book club selections for next year. We don't have enough copies in the system for everyone in book club, but it sounded interested to me so I ordered it in. Honestly I'd never heard tell of Bill Griffith or Lawrence Lariar, but I really enjoy reading family histories and memoirs. I was also intrigued by the idea of a man writing about his mother's sex life - I was definitely curious to see what kind of person he would portray his mother to be. I very much enjoyed the conversations between Bill and Uncle Al, and Bill and his wife Diane. I expect that if I knew more about the history of comics in the 20th century I would have picked up on a lot more nuanced elements, like the mirroring of Lariar's style when discussing his work. I identified with Griffith's feelings of being 'haunted' by the memories of his deceased family members. As we are growing and getting to know them, they too are evolving throughout their lives. In my childhood I often wished that I could have known my great-uncles in their young adulthood. Going through old family papers and photos is something I can easily spend hours doing, imagining what they were thinking and how they would react to the world today.
I would recommend this to graphic novel readers who are also fans of memoirs/biographies.
I would recommend this to graphic novel readers who are also fans of memoirs/biographies.
October 7, 2018
Families. Can't live with them. Can't bury them with a shovel. Bill Griffith discovers through a relative that his mother carried on a red-hot affair with minor cartoonist Larry Lariar (not "famous" as in the title). Her decision to work for him as his assistant caused a rift with her husband, a cold emotionally repressed man who beat his children.
Griffith charts the course of his mother's affair, based on her collection of letters, a roman a clef novel she wrote, and even a confession tucked into the pages of her diary. He inserts himself into the narrative at times to discuss whether his father knew, his encounter with Lariar, how he came across this information, what it was like meeting his relative in High Point, N.C., and speculations and observations on what happened between his parents and what could have been. Would having a conventional cartoonist as his stepfather changed his style? Would he have created Zippy the Pinhead or morph him into a mainstream character?
"Invisible Ink" is a heartfelt memoir about need, desire, love, and loss. Griffith observes with empathy and never considers if his parents' behavior influenced him in any way. He is a reporter, not a participant.
Griffith charts the course of his mother's affair, based on her collection of letters, a roman a clef novel she wrote, and even a confession tucked into the pages of her diary. He inserts himself into the narrative at times to discuss whether his father knew, his encounter with Lariar, how he came across this information, what it was like meeting his relative in High Point, N.C., and speculations and observations on what happened between his parents and what could have been. Would having a conventional cartoonist as his stepfather changed his style? Would he have created Zippy the Pinhead or morph him into a mainstream character?
"Invisible Ink" is a heartfelt memoir about need, desire, love, and loss. Griffith observes with empathy and never considers if his parents' behavior influenced him in any way. He is a reporter, not a participant.
May 16, 2016
I'm a longtime fan of Griffith's "Zippy" strip (though I haven't really kept up with it since my local daily dumped it) and was fascinated by this discursive account that's part Griffith learning about his mother's life and half about that life itself. The drawing is wonderful and the expression of emotion is beautifully restrained. Virtuoso sequences include Griffith's imagining what it would have been like had the hack cartoonist (though, weirdly, otherwise sophisticated guy) who was his mother;s lover been a direct influence on him -- how Zippy for instance might have turned out differently, visually and otherwise. It's funny stuff, just as funny as the stuff about his mother not being able to be with the love of her life, or Griffith himself being unable to understand his own parents, is poignant. But just generally, a beautiful book.
April 8, 2016
I have moved around a lot, but there was only a little bit of time in my life when I came across zippy the Pinhead. I never really liked it. Maybe I came around to it too late or too soon in my life. But that doesn’t matter. This book isn’t about that character. It’s about another character, this a different comic artist who I had never heard of.
It’s actually a compelling story, and well told by Griffith. I mean, If I were to write a whole book about my mom stepping out on my dad for years and years, I’d want to makes sure I did it really well. Because that’s the thing. The impetus for this book is that the artist’s mom had an longstanding affair with the cartoonist and the cartoonist of the book is writing about it. And I just realied how Oedipal that is. Ew ew ew ew.
July 10, 2016
This is probably my favorite graphic novel to date. It would be hard to understand this novel if you weren't a Zippy The Pinhead fan. Bill Griffith has a mysterious power and sublime artistic talent of taking you into the deep recesses of his mind evoking intense humor and sadness. He is beyond genius - the word genius is derived from Jinn or Genii which is evoking fantastic power - many people are considered geniuses to me but this is something else - it is transformative and healing. His mother feels like the suppressed female and male spirit inside me. The most powerful part of the book was not about his mother but about his father. That struck a chord in me that I can never let go. Reading this book was like a spiritual experience for me.
October 9, 2016
I guess our moms are always a mystery to us. It's hard to imagine them having a life before we existed and even harder to imagine them having a life outside of ours.
Bill Griffith reveals what his mom said right after his father died and then takes us on a journey to answer the questions he has about his family history. His mom's secret life is only a part of that.
I found the story very interesting but occasionally confusing. I didn't feel like I had a really good understanding of what it was like to be in Barbara Griffith's skin after I finished. She sounded fascinating, but we were always looking at her through her son's eyes. I wanted him to talk to more of her friends instead of mostly relying on her journal entries and unpublished novel.
Bill Griffith reveals what his mom said right after his father died and then takes us on a journey to answer the questions he has about his family history. His mom's secret life is only a part of that.
I found the story very interesting but occasionally confusing. I didn't feel like I had a really good understanding of what it was like to be in Barbara Griffith's skin after I finished. She sounded fascinating, but we were always looking at her through her son's eyes. I wanted him to talk to more of her friends instead of mostly relying on her journal entries and unpublished novel.
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