Red-Hot Blues

Heeere's Ziggy! The ultimate underdog of the comic-strip world appears to have quite a busy year ahead of him as he celebrates his 25th year of existence. Already a mainstay on many Hallmark products, the Tom Wilson-created character is either presently or soon to be found adorning limited-edition lithographs, books, mugs and women's apparel. Indeed, 1997 promises to be a veritable licensing bonanza of Ziggy products.

So what's behind this Ziggy zeal? "Ziggy is really philosophical," says Laurie Blumenfeld of United Media, the worldwide licensor for you-know-who. "In this fast-paced, high-tech world of the '90s, Ziggy gives you a sense of peace. We're sort of looking at him as a Zen character."

A Zen character with a huge audience, it turns out: More than 75 million readers are estimated to follow Ziggy's exploits in almost 600 newspapers around the globe. Not too shabby for a comic-strip underdog.

This article was originally published in the January 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Red-Hot Blues.