Stains & Stones

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, who created Bizarro in the late twentieth century, continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Bob Dylan, "Subterranean Homesick Blues"

 

It's the July Fourth weekend, but for many, there's little to celebrate this year. Rulings by hacks on the country's highest court push the country closer to its new identity as Saudi America, or the United States of Surveillance, Ammo, Oppression, and Greenhouse Gases.

Corporations Über Alles

Pyrotechnical displays feel like little more than sparkly distractions from rampant power grabs, and it's sometimes difficult to make jokes while the rights of fellow citizens are being ratcheted back to nineteenth century levels, or worse.

Yet, on occasion, we're reminded that humor has a purpose in the worst of times. A few days ago, we received a lovely message from someone who read Bizarro for the first time after finding some comics on Instagram:

If you are the artist behind the creativity, I'd like to extend a genuine thank you for your work. Today was a sack of crap. I stumbled on your humour, it's wonderful, I smiled and laughed; thanks. The day still resembles a sack of crap but you've lightened the weight of it.

That note certainly made my day, and provided extra motivation to keep working. Thanks to brand-new Bizarro reader Andy B for the kind words, with hopes that the sack of crap was followed by better days.

With good will in our hearts, let's review the week's cartoon output.

We kicked it off with my latest inanimate object gag, depicting (as a witty commenter mentioned) "relationsnip" problems.

 

This one's a mashup of cartoon tropes: the evolving fish and the desert island. We've used both many times in the past, but this is our first two-in-one. Our protagonist has made an evolutionary leap, but might starve on that patch of land.

The next day, we regressed to a straight up desert island gag. Apparently, my humor isn't making any evolutionary progress, although this one may have a subtext of social commentary.

Macbeth Cleaners proudly notes that they've never had to attach this tag to a customer's order:

We saw a wide range of reactions to Thursday's panel. Many people who commented missed the Shakespearean reference, but those who got it seemed to like it a lot. 

I'm not an expert on the Bard by any stretch, and thought that a reference to one of his most familiar lines was fair game for a comic. I still do, and offer no apologies for not spelling it out. I only mention the negative comments because it was a bit shocking to see how many people were angry that a cartoon they didn't like has the temerity to exist.

I'd sketched an early version of the gag at least ten years ago, which I share here for the first time.

The final version, with its more concise dialog, is far superior to that sketch.

The reception may be spotty, but it's almost unbreakable.

Another gag based in no small part on personal behavior.

I freely admit to having no idea what is on granddad's plate.

Your guesses are welcomed.

Also, don't be that guy.

That wraps up another litter of funnies. Please come by next week, and check out a new batch of jokes. And don't forget to visit Dan Piraro's blog to see his newest Sunday Bizarro page, which is always a wonderful work of art, along with his commentary on comics and other matters.

If you'd like to see a teaser for an upcoming Bizarro comic, along with a graphic artifact from my files, you're cordially invited to subscribe to my newsletter. You can easily unsubscribe at any time, so there's nothing to lose.

Don't forget, kids: Fight the theocracy!

Bonus Track

I was dreamin' in my dreamin'
Of an aspect bright and fair
And my sleepin' it was broken
But my dream it lingered near

In the form of shinin' valleys
Where the pure air recognized
Oh, and my senses newly opened
And I awakened to the cry

And the people have the power
To redeem the work of fools
From the meek the graces shower
It's decreed the people rule

People have the power

I hope you're right, Patti.

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