Naked Spectres and Mythical Miscreants

We're feeling a sense of guarded optimism here at the studio, which must be attributable to some pleasant, sunny weather we've had over the past couple of weeks. We're hoping we've seen the last of any snow for a while. 

Our mood may sour after waking up tomorrow and having to adjust to the change to Daylight Saving Time. Time will tell.

This week's fantastic plastic pipe pic is brought to you by my old pal and fellow cartoonist J.R. Williams, who recently shared it on his thoroughly entertaining Instagram page, JR's Junkyard. "Jar" is one of my oldest cartoonist friends, and his 1980s minicomix inspired me to self-publish.

He's a prolific artist whose groovy little art pieces are quickly snapped up by savvy collectors.

Two goofs, reunited in Portland, 2017

While we're still on Standard Time, let's review this week's cartoons.

If there is an afterlife, I imagine it's full of disappointments.

At a quiet subterranean spot, it was love at first squint.

Remember when paranoid crackpots could only rant on street corners? At least back then, they were sincere in their misguided beliefs, and not reaping profits from gullible suckers worldwide. The good old days!

This panel's payoff is out of frame, which we hope gave readers an extra second of enjoyment while their brains made the connection. Also, we still haven't run out of clown gags. I'll have to do some data mining to see if we have enough on hand for a book.

We were almost a week ahead of the holiday with this one, but felt it was okay since a large segment of the American populace have adopted the Saturday before Saint Patrick's Day as the proper time for public drunkenness and back-alley micturition.

Don't fret, we have another seasonal gag lined up for the actual holiday.

Sometimes you have to suffer for your art.

That's the wrap-up for this week. Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to check out Dan Piraro's blog to see what he's been up to, and to gasp in wonder at his latest beautiful Bizarro Sunday page.

Stay safe and healthy, and when you have the chance, get yourself a COVID vaccine.

Bonus Track

Jerry Colonna: "Hey, Barmaid!"
from the 10" album, Music? for Screaming!!!
Decca Records, 1955

Jerry Colonna was a musician, actor, comedian, and singer, who was popular on radio in the 1940s and 50s as a sidekick to Bob Hope. He was caricatured in several Warner Brothers cartoons of that era. I have a few of his records in my archive, and this one is my favorite, scratches and all.

A few years ago, a Facebook friend commissioned me to do a drawing of Colonna. It was a surprising request, but one I was more than happy to honor.

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