Saturday, February 15, 2025

That's MISTER Fresh to you!

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno

The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.
Hannah Arendt

Wednesday evening, I had the privilege of chatting with three fellow cartoonists on their PenciltoPencil video podcast. (I guess that's the correct term—it's streamed live and archived on their YouTube channel.)

We spoke about many aspects of the business and craft of being a cartoonist and touched on how we deal with negative internet comments and "hate mail" (using that term jokingly.)

I've learned to ignore or laugh at most online comments, which are probably dashed off semi-thoughtlessly. However, I pay closer attention when someone emails me. Unless the message is extreme, abusive, or vulgar, I take it seriously and reply sincerely. Some things I've written can be read as having a different tone than I intended, so I remind myself to give others the benefit of the doubt.

People read, see, or hear tons of material daily, and it's easy to forget that a human being is behind it. Come to think of it, in some cases, there isn't a human being behind it.

When a reader considers a cartoon incorrect or objectionable, I consider what they say and respond as directly and honestly as possible. When I disagree, I do so respectfully. In almost every case, the person writes back in a friendlier manner and thanks me for the response. At that point, we both feel better about the exchange. Also, I've learned some things from letters of complaint, even if they aren't elegantly written.

I'm not always as thoughtful when responding to in-person criticism, but I'm working on that. 

In a December blog post, mi amigo Dan Piraro summarized Dickens's A Christmas Carol with the fortune-cookie-worthy line, "Being a hateful asshole ruins no one's life more than your own."

Empathy is a commodity whose supply is dwindling. Any that we can give is more valuable and necessary than ever. 


This week's charming pipe pic came from faithful Bizarro reader Ron K.


The photo shows a young Paul McCartney (left) with his father, James Paul, and brother Mike. 

Mike McCartney is also a musician and photographer who went professionally by the name Mike McGear because he didn't want to appear to be exploiting the family name.

He was a member of the bands The Scaffold and GRIMMS and released some outstanding solo records.

Thanks to Ron for the delightful photo.


If any of this week's gags make you angry, feel free to write, but please take a few deep breaths first.


This panel depicts a pivotal moment in publishing history, or at least one I imagined.


I sketched two variations of the "hip replacement" idea and was happily surprised when Dan suggested I run with them on consecutive days. I prefer the surgery version, which leaves the image of the patient to the reader.

A few people wondered if I was doing another "theme week," but it was just these two. A whole week might have prompted some hate mail.

This panel is less a prediction than a comment on a sad reality. It started with AutoTune and went downhill.


That's a drawing of your cartoonist's hand in the background. Fortunately, I draw right-handed.

Here, we see the lesser-known deity Nerf Eros.

We ended the week with a silly marsupial caption.

For those of you who observe, Happy Valentine's Day, Valloween, Lupercalia, and anything else I may be missing. Be nice to yourself and to each other.
 

Bonus Track

Advertising: "Ich Lieber Dich"
From Jingles
EMI Records, 1978


In the spirit of romance, here's a song from Advertising's one and only album.

A Bountiful Bouquet of Bizarro

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free of charge, we encourage you to explore the following links.

Copyright© 2025 by Wayno®    

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Saturday, February 08, 2025

Maintaining a Level Head

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno

Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
Buckminster Fuller

Over the years, I've developed a limited capacity with technology. I use Photoshop daily to make comics, mainly to clean up and color analog art and format it for print and online publication.

If Photoshop were a hardware store the size of a city block, I'd be the guy happily working with a wooden yardstick and a couple of screwdrivers.

Last month, I made a simple comics process video using my computer. It turned out all right, considering I was manipulating files while narrating in real time via my display's built-in microphone. It sounded a little muffled and boomy, but it did the job. 

Next week, I'm scheduled to live-stream a video chat with my colleague Jamar Nicholas and his partners Mike Manley and Steve Conley on their YouTube channel, Pencil to Pencil. After Jamar invited me, I invested in a separate microphone for improved sound.

The mic remained untouched for three weeks after arriving. On Wednesday, I unboxed it, set it up, and made test recordings. The echo feature was maxed out, making my first attempt sound like I was trapped in a well.

Eventually, I adjusted the settings to where it made decent recordings, and I felt an unjustified sense of accomplishment.

The conversation with Jamar, Mike, and Steve will be archived on the Pencil to Pencil channel. If it's not too embarrassing, I'll share a link.

My fingers are crossed that my work area won't require any new attachments for a while.

Bucky Fuller has been dead for over forty years. I wonder what he would think of this century's technology.


This week's pipe pic is a cheerful Boris Karloff, photographed around 1936.


This would have been five years after Karloff appeared in Frankenstein. His portrayal of the monster is my default image.


Let's review my latest analog-to-digital creations.


Speaking of Boris Karloff's iconic role, Monday's gag imagined a monstrous visit to the barbershop for the ultimate flattop style.


Quite a few people assumed that the barber was based on the Floyd Lawson character from The Andy Griffith Show, and there is some resemblance.

The model was, in fact, movie makeup artist Jack Pearce, who designed the makeup for James Whale's Frankenstein. Maybe Pearce and Floyd were distant cousins.


The Grammar Police were off-duty on Tuesday, but the Spelling Police were out making traffic stoops.


No music is required, either.

Hey, it works for the human recruits.

Long ago, I worked in a traditional office setting and was given assignments that made less sense. There's a level of corporate management that doesn't produce, plan, or direct anything of consequence. They feel the need to create meaningless activities and tasks for those reporting to them, believing that this justifies their salaries.

When a large number of American citizens switched to remote work and were shown to be more productive than they were in the office, the in-betweeners collectively panicked and scheduled countless video chats and conference calls to appear to be doing something.

Having experienced that in the past, I truly realize how lucky I am to be working from my home studio drawing cartoons for you.


As long as they continue to hold tiebreaker votes, they can't do any harm to the rest of the world.
 

Bonus Track

Tom Waits: "Tango Till They're Sore"
From the Rain Dogs LP
Island Records, 1985


Rain Dogs is one of my favorite albums in Waits's discography. My pal Ralph Carney played on it long before we met, though he didn't appear on this particular song.

Much More Bizarro Madness

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free of charge, we encourage you to explore the following links.

Copyright© 2025 by Wayno®    

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Saturday, February 01, 2025

The Power of Uncertainty

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno

Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable, and all-pervasive companion to your desire to make art. And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding.
David Bayles, Art & Fear

I haven't read David Bayles's book Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, so I can't comment on it as a whole, but the quote will make sense to artists of all stripes.

People who are supremely confident in everything they do are not to be trusted. Because they never question themselves, they are incapable of or unwilling to imagine that they're ever less than perfect. Examples abound in many areas, but I'll limit myself to the river in which I swim. 

Anyone with an urge to create ought to know that all artists experience the feelings of uncertainty Bayles describes. It's helpful to remember this if you've ever said that you can't draw a straight line (or boil water, whistle a tune, etc.) 

Not everything you make will be perfect, but if you practice any art repeatedly, you're likely to improve, whether or not you ever reach a professional level. 

Creating something, even if no one ever sees or hears it, is an act of self-care and is good for one's overall well-being.

In other words, Have fun making something. You'll feel better when you're done!


I have no uncertainty regarding this week's pipe pic, brought to us by Bizarro reader Jeff W.


Jeff writes:
My wife has an online resale business. One item she acquired last year at an estate sale was this snowman statue. I waited until the weather was more fitting before I shared it with you. The snowman's mixed feelings expression was very fun, along with the mini snowman smoking a full-size pipe.
The character's face does indeed send mixed messages; it's half benevolent and half threatening. Jeff sent the photo in December, but I had so many pictures in the queue that it's only appearing now. But we're still in the winter season, and it's such a fun image it would be appropriate at any time of year.

A tip of the Bizarro headgear to Jeff for recognizing this knickknack as a worthy pipe pic candidate.


Following are the most recent examples of my uncertainty being conquered by the desire to create art—or at least the desire not to miss a deadline.


Any resemblance to an actual cartoonist is purely noncoincidental.



I reversed the layout to fit all of the text (and most of the art) into the strip configuration, although I had to tuck part of the word balloon behind the seatback.

Shortly after drawing this gag, my trusty old task light fell apart. Finding a replacement was time-consuming (and expensive), but I'm back in business and don't have to work by candlelight.



Tuesday's gag salutes frontline art warriors. These brave souls load up their cars and travel to conventions, fairs, shopping malls, and other places to display their work to the public week after week. It's exhausting and sometimes thankless, and I admire everyone who does it.


I've "tabled" many times but rarely do it now. Several years ago, I shared a space with three colleagues at a local comics expo. One attendee breathlessly made the rounds, asking every exhibitor if they were giving anything away for free. After scooping up whatever tchotchkes we had hoped might attract paying customers, he proclaimed, "I just love to support local artists," and scurried away to find his next victims. 



I slipped a reference to my cartoonist hero Virgil Partch into the display of prints based on this 1964 "Big George" panel. Several Bizarro Secret Symbols also appear among our fictional artist's wares.



I hope I didn't accidentally draw an actual Transformers toy here. Does the franchise include an annoyance bot?



The strip version is unconventional, with the word balloons separating the characters, but it works well enough.


Not every 19th-century prospector hopped around cackling, "Gold! Gold!"

Subscribers to my newsletter saw a preview of this gag in November. I temporarily removed the text to see how it worked as a standalone composition. Perhaps this version will someday appear in a Bizarro coloring book.

Friday's panel shows an artist having an audience with the Poblano.

The drawing is based on a painting of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II by Anastasio Fontebuoni (1571-1626) for no reason other than my compulsion to research this sort of thing.

We closed out the week and began February with a silly visual pun. Hey, if an hourglass is a thing, why not an hourmug?
 

Bonus Viewing

Marianne Faithfull: "Broken English"
From the Broken English LP
Island Records, 1979


The other day, news broke of Marianne Faitfull's death at the age of 78. Broken English, her 1979 comeback album, departed from her earlier recordings. A hard life had changed her voice from light and breathy to deep, dark, and ragged. With its pulsing electronic backing punctuated by sparse guitar stings, the title song was shocking and powerful. The entire album stands up 46 years later, including a haunting cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero."

A Big Buncha Bizarro

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free of charge, we encourage you to explore the following links.

Copyright© 2025 by Wayno®   

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