Product Placement

Welcome to the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North. 

Summer is flying by, and it already feels like back-to-school season, since we work on our cartoons at least four weeks in advance of publication. It's almost time to come up with some Halloween gags.

I'd been thinking about the everything bagel as the basis for a gag, and toyed  with variations such as anything bagel, everywhere bagel, etc. The idea of an "everyman" bagel inspired a funny/disturbing image, and presented the opportunity for gentle social commentary.

By the way, "Some Sports Team" shirts are available from Dan Piraro's Bizarro Shop. Dan created the shirt in a previous Bizarro gag, and it seemed to fit today's character perfectly.

They all had motive, and Pinocchio seemed most likely to rat out his co-conspirators. Now, I'm wondering if any other fictional characters had unpleasant encounters with whales. There must be a few more.

Sharp-eyed readers who've spent any time in old New York delis might recognize my little tribute to the classic "Anthora" paper coffee cup.

This is yet another gag that resulted from an idea that initially fizzled out. It began as a discussion between two people at some sort of rally, with one character saying "I feel pretty strongly about the cause. Somewhere between a t-shirt and a tattoo." That dialog had promise, but we couldn't think of anything the character could wear that fell between those two things, so we had a line of text and no illustration. After shelving it for a while, we came up with the marker tattoo, for someone who's squeamish around needles (or permanence).

The word "curated" is in danger of overuse these days. It's a safe bet you probably encountered it recently, when something less lofty (edited, compiled, selected, haphazardly thrown together) would have been just fine. The child in today's cartoon remains unimpressed.

Like it or not, the gig economy is gaining ground over traditional jobs with needless corporate expenses like health benefits for workers. Our enterprising protagonist tried working as an Uber driver for a while, but nobody would get into the vehicle once they recognized him. Arriving in a hearse was probably a poor choice, too.

Saturday's gag is based on an expression my wife and I often use while walking our neighbor's dog. When the pup encounters one of her canine pals, we give them both treats, and have always referred to it as "breaking biscuits."

Hey, when you draw a cartoon every day, you're constantly on the lookout for material.

As I do each week, I heartily recommend that you mosey over to Dan Piraro's blog for his perspective on the week's cartoons, and check out what he's created for the Sunday Bizarro page. 

This Week's Bonus Tracks

Petrochemical Heaven, 2007
Acrylic on Masonite, 12" x 12"
(Private Collection)

Several years ago, I curated cobbled together a virtual mixtape of music from my record collection for Inkstuds, a radio show based in Vancouver, BC.

After the show was broadcast, I posted info and commentary on the records we featured, because info and commentary is what we do here on the ol' WaynoBlog.

Enjoy!