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
The only thing I knew how to do was to keep on keeping on...
Bob Dylan, "Tangled Up in Blue"
Last week, I paused briefly to look at the work I've done (so far) as Bizarro's daily cartoonist. I'll elaborate on that later in the post.
I selected a fragment of a Dylan lyric as the header for today's entry. It's taken out of its original context within one of Bob's epic tunes, but these words, on their own, resonate with me in regard to spending years on a body of work.
I try not to think about how many gags I'll have to write and draw in an upcoming month or year, and focus on the current batch of six. When that's finished, the process starts over. Looking further ahead can become overwhelming.
The only thing I know how to do is to keep on keeping on.
Another part of my routine is sharing a pipe pic. It's a weekly nod to Bizarro's Pipe of Ambiguity Secret Symbol, which was launched on New Year's Day 2021.
Today's example is a generic illustration that could have been clipped from any American magazine or newspaper of its day. Like most of the images I share in this section, it was the result of idle googling when I should have been at work on comics.
Although most readers consume Bizarro online, I still enjoy seeing comics and photos on newsprint, in glorious, grubby halftone dots. I tip my hat to the anonymous art-monkey who created this smiling smoker.
The personal milestone I mentioned above was closing the lid on the latest box of original art.
Each one of these archival storage boxes holds the drawings for 150 Bizarro panels, plus some sketches and other materials.
Each filled box provides a bump of motivation to keep working.
I regularly reference surrealist art, and feel that cubism deserves equal time.
The popular Where's Waldo? character and "you are here" information kiosks often appear in Bizarro, so it's only natural that their Venn diagrams overlap today.
Bonus Track
The Impressions, "Keep on Pushing"
from the album Keep on Pushing
ABC-Paramount Records, 1964
Musical inspiration from Curtis Mayfield and company.
Other Bizarro Locations
Dan Piraro's Bizarro Blog
Dan's latest Sunday Bizarro page, and some sobering thoughts on artificial intelligence
Wayno's Bizarro Newsletter
More miscellany from the studio, a preview of a future gag, and an archival image
Copyright© 2023 by Wayno®
That unpublished cartoon is very funny, but you're right, it never could have run.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it could have been a nose-picking gag, but that's too gross for me.
Delete"Sire, I've never seen anything like it. Honestly, I don't think I can perform the circumcision with the instruments I have on hand."
Delete(I'm thinking the circumcision reference would cause enough wincing to distract from the object of his affliction.)
re information kiosks: on "talk like a pirate day," one might say "yarr harr ear"
ReplyDeleteAs usual, your weekly update had me laughing out loud. I, too, liked the censored one and agree t wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s mine though. My fav this week is the Valentine one. Give me a puppy any day to get the old blood pressure down…or a kitten. Not fussy. :). Thanks for all you do. I drop a little in the tip jar when I can but don’t give up the ship. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly.
DeleteI wouldn't have thought the Prince Midas one was too naughty to publish - I mean, gee, he could have been touching himself ANYWHERE ;) However, I guess I'm too innocent for the pirate & mermaid one to be even somewhat risque. A cluster of eggs? - what does that imply? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteHow to put this delicately?..... They're awaiting fertilization.
DeleteSomeone needs to brush up on their piscine reproduction.
DeleteMy count of secret symbols ran too high, as i counted the mermaid's tail! :-) ( as a Fish of Humility )
ReplyDeleteThe fish symbol can be tricky.
DeleteAt my next trial (where I'll be defending myself), I'll insist that you are the courtroom cartoonist. ~~ Black Mold, WWOZ
ReplyDeleteIt would be an honor, sir.
DeleteIs the chihuahua's name Tempest?
ReplyDeleteThere should be courtroom cartoonists!
ReplyDeleteYou know I have great admiration for you and your work. Always be a friend buddy.
ReplyDelete