From time to time, the guy who writes “Zippy” will insert characters from other (old) comic strips (like “Sluggo”, “Nancy”,etc.
Does Griffith ever get in trouble for this?
How about his portrayals of Mickey Rooney?
As far as I know, he’s never been sued at all. I’ve certainly never heard about a lawsuit even being filed, nor did a quick google search turn anything up.
I would think he’s covered by the fact that he’s not exploiting the images of other comic/cartoon characters, he’s using them as satire.
And it’s hard for a public figure to sue anyone unless it’s an out-and-out lie and done with malice, AFAIK.
Comic strip writers borrow each other’s characters a lot - Stephan Pastis in Pearls Before Swine and Mark Tatulli in Lio do it all the damn time. (Pastis has a particular love of The Family Circus, Tatulli classic comics - Blondie, Peanuts, etc - here’s a cameo from last week.)
And a lawsuit would be free publicity for his strip, and make all the copyright-holders suing him look like pricks.
“Family Guy” does it all the time, too. And that’s a lot higher on the radar screen than Zippy has ever been!
Other comic book cameos were the entire point of Sam’s Strip.
And Alfred E. Neuman made an appearance in Peanuts in 1973.
Comic artists usually like it when other comics use their characters.