Saturday, April 06, 2024

Jamsplaining

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

Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — "God damn it, you’ve got to be kind."
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

A friend shared these words from Vonnegut's book God Bless You, Mister Rosewater in response to recent events that I won't discuss here. 

The longer I'm around, the more sense this sentiment makes.

The other day I took a rare break from the drawing table to meet a friend for coffee and conversation. We learned interesting things about each other and helped one another in a few small ways. After spending ninety minutes out of the studio, I felt energized and got more work done than on a "normal" day.

Sharing time with people you care for is truly a kindness to them and to yourself.

I'm keeping the intro brief this week because I'm exhausted from filing our taxes. Although I have someone who wades through the documents and prepares our returns, there's still enough math to wipe me out. Not to mention anxiety caused by the fear of missing a signature line.

Thank the gods we have specialists for this stuff!


Blog reader Ian sent this pipe-related photo from almost a hundred years ago, and I'm pleased to share it with you.

Mondrian's Glasses and Pipe
 André Kertész, 1926

Aside from the pipe, Mondrian had some stylish spectacles, didn't he?


A tip of the Bizarro porkpie to Ian. I wasn't familiar with André Kertész, and appreciate the art history lesson.


For more contemporary and less historic art, let's check out this week's Bizarro comics.



My April Fools' Day gag includes a bogus symbol count. In fact, there are only four Secret Symbols in this panel. The number wasn't random, though. This cartoon is the 1,967th I've written and drawn since I started doing the Bizarro dailies.


The terms of investment are cash on the barrelhead.


Someday, I should compile a book of my inanimate object comics. This tabletop drama is the most recent example, but it won't be the last.


She busted me with science.


After a long workday, it's nice to shed the aloha shirt and relax.


I imagined them chilling out in formalwear because anything more casual than their work clothes would tend toward nudity.

If you spot this panel in the wild, particularly at your local Trader Joe's, I'd appreciate it if you could snap a photo. Oh, and grab yourself a container of the triple ginger snap cookies. Trust me on that.


One eternal question is answered, while the other remains a mystery.

That's my cartoon output for the first week of April. I hope some of these trifles amused you. 


We'll return next Saturday with another selection of humorous words and pictures. Thanks for joining us.


Oh, yes, and don't stare at the eclipse without proper eye protection.


Bonus Track

The Jam: "But I'm Different Now"
From the album Sound Affects
Polydor Records, 1980





Bizarro in Abundance



  

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11 comments:

  1. Judi11:12 AM

    Wayno, I had guessed 1967 was your running total. Thanks for amusing and educating us! Keep them coming!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wayno10:03 AM

      Nice catch, Judi. Next April, I guess I won't fool anyone!

      Delete
  2. Dena Mattausch11:44 AM

    Thanks for invokin' Vonegut and for the LOLs! Dig Piet (specs 'n' pipe owner) Mondrian's vision for the future. While it puts artists out of work, who DOESN'T want to live in realized art?! "In the future, the realization of pure plastic expression in palpable reality will replace the work of art. But in order to achieve this, orientation toward a universal conception and detachment from the oppression of nature is necessary. Then we will no longer have the need of pictures and sculpture, for we will live in realized art." (1942)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:16 PM

      What did you say?!?

      Delete
  3. Jeff Barnes1:36 PM

    I would certainly buy a book of your inanimate objects cartoons, or any book that you might compile. And darn it, I wish we had a Trader Joe's here! Now I want ginger snap cookies!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wayno10:04 AM

      Next time you're in town, I'll treat you to a container of them.

      Delete
    2. Jeff Barnes8:58 PM

      Aw, thank you!

      Delete
  4. Anonymous9:35 PM

    Thanks for keeping up yer high standards -- please continue.
    More bon mots from Vonnegut!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous8:59 AM

    Is Bunny's grape jam all natural, non-gmo, fructose free, gluten free, no hormones added, no antibiotics added and fair trade?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wayno10:04 AM

      Yes. It barely even contains grapes and is more of a conceptual jam.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:46 AM

      Touche!!!

      Delete

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