Escape Hatch

Before we review the week's cartoons, here's an amazing piece of Bizarro fan art created by Stella, a ten year old Jazz Pickle from Seattle. 

Stella included four Secret Symbols in her epic drawing, along with my fire, my flag, my cow, my Saturn V parachute, and my hot pink grill.

I categorically deny meeting Mary Poppins atop a volcano, or anywhere else, for that matter.

A tip of the old porkpie to Stella for this delightful art, which will be forever preserved in the Bizarro archives.

This is pretty much the way I remember what passed for career counseling at my high school. Several readers pointed out that the answer to the algebra problem on the board is 34. I realized after publication that I should've created an equation whose answer is 42. Next time.

My knowledge of Lorelei, the siren who lured sailors to their deaths in German folklore, was superficial at best. While researching this panel, I learned that the character was named after a giant rock in the Rhine River. I also learned that she had blonde hair, but we play fast and loose with literary references here at Bizarro Studios North.

Frogs have been getting away with this bogus story for centuries. This odd-looking fellow is actually one of the more pleasing transformations. Let that be a warning to anyone tempted to smooch an amphibian.

I'm not sure if this actually qualifies as a pun, but it's an odd and interesting bit of wordplay that made us laugh. Also, it utilizes the missing letter e from last Tuesday's cartoon.
  

Certain vehicles seem to require their owners to cover every available surface with bumper stickers and decals. I believe this gag contains the highest number of secret symbols I've crammed into a panel so far. I sincerely hope I counted correctly.
 
Drawing the meta-stickers was a lot of fun, and the strip layout gave me space to add a few more.

Here's an enlarged detail for a closer look.

Saturday's gag is based on my own experience as a home buyer. The previous owner of our house didn't use tools either, but did leave a drawing or two on the walls.

As always, I thank you for reading the comic and commenting, and bestow extra credit and a virtual gold star upon you for reading this post.

Be sure to check Dan Piraro's weekly blog for his look back at the week's cartoons, and to see what he's created for the Sunday Bizarro page.

This Week's Bonus Track

In honor of Stella's spectacular fan art, here's The Kirby Stone Four with an oddball vocal version of Elmer Bernstein's "Great Escape March."

And, yes, I own a copy of this record.