E Pluribus Nasum

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

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Humor is a cognitive process. And it's a creative process, not only on the part of the cartoonist, but on the part of the viewer.
Robert Mankoff

Today marks the end 2022, and is also the close of my fifth year as the daily cartoonist for Bizarro. In that time, I've published 1,579 panels, and have signed up for another five-year hitch, taking us through 2027. 

I started writing gags for Bizarro in 2009, not long after I met Dan Piraro. I worked as Bizarro's colorist from 2011 through 2014, and filled in as guest cartoonist for weeklong stints in 2011 and 2012. I guess that added up to a nine-year apprenticeship, interview, and trial run. Somewhere along the way, there was also a long talk in Ohio over cigars and Scotch whiskey. That was the fourth or fifth time I smoked a cigar of my life; definitely the last. Dan's since given up the stogies, too.

Bob Mankoff (quoted above) is a cartoonist, editor, author, and ridiculously smart person. He was cartoon editor at The New Yorker for twenty years, and his statement about humor being a two-way creative process is right on the money.

Cartooning is a solitary profession, and it's reassuring to know you're out there seeing our work. We're fortunate to have so many smart, creative readers in the Bizarro community, who add to the enjoyment of our job. 

Thanks to all of you for reading, commenting on, and supporting the comic. I hope we keep bringing you laughs over our next five-year run.

Without further babbling, here's your final pipe pic for 2022.

I've no doubt shared this one before. It's one of my favorites of the many "record heads" photos I made around 2015. The caricature of Bing Crosby was drawn by Sam Norkin (1917-2011). He was a contemporary of Al Hirschfeld and, like Hirschfeld, specialized in stage and film illustrations. There are some similarities in their work, with Norkin often leaning to a slightly more Cubist approach.

Now, let's see how Bizarro wrapped up 2022.

Several readers astutely pointed out that this patient's condition might also be named Shatner's Syndrome.

As always, we advise you to trust any medical professional whose lab coat has a pipe in its pocket.

Tuesday's gag reminded me of my colleague David Coulson, another Pittsburgher. David is a great cartoonist and an absolutely amazing hand-letterer who owns an impressive collection of carrot bags.

It's not always easy to find a store's smashwear department.

Clarity is important when putting together your dating profile.

Here at Bizarro Studios, we love gags based on adjacent metathesis (the interchange of two phonemes within a word).

Saturday's panel most likely depicts a scene that has actually taken place many times over in recent years. The drawing includes the first known appearance of an Inverted Cuckoo Bird Secret Symbol variant. Should we consider offering an actual t-shirt with this design?

And that, dear friends, brings us to the end of another year of Bizarro shenanigans. I wish you health, happiness, peace and prosperity in the coming year.

If you're hungry for more words and pictures from your cartoonists, cruise on over to our other electronic outposts:

Dan Piraro's Bizarro Blog
Dan's latest Sunday Bizarro page, accompanied by whatever else is on his mind this week

Wayno's Bizarro Newsletter
Additional ramblings, a sneak preview of a future gag, and something old from my illustration and design files

Peyote Cowboy

Dan Piraro's surreal western graphic novel

 

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Bonus Track

The Specials: "Gangsters"
Two-Tone Records (UK), 1979

 

Terry Hall, vocalist with the Specials, died on December 18 at age 63. The original release of the song "Gangsters" was a split single, with another great band, The Selecter, on the flipside. The Specials, and other bands on the Two-Tone label advocated for racial harmony and against racism and fascism, using catchy danceable music.

 

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