Saturday, July 06, 2024

Wishful Angling

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

My goal today is to convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks.

Amy Coney Barrett, September 12, 2023
quoted in the Louisville Courier Journal

Apparently, that wasn't a long-term goal.

I'm writing this entry early in the week, with plans to disconnect from electronics over the Independence Day weekend. You know, the holiday that commemorates our rejection of being subjects of a king.

Rather than comment further, as I'm no constitutional scholar, I'll provide some balance with a quote from a worthier source:

Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law. Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity. If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop.

 

With fear for our democracy, I dissent. 

Sonia Sotomayor, July 1, 2024 

Enjoy the holiday. Next year at this time we could well be under an evangelical autocracy.

Please pardon the tone of today's intro. Watching the country's highest court and half of Congress aiding and abetting a criminal psychopath tends to make one cranky.


Until all forms of art are outlawed, we'll continue making cartoons and sharing them with you. But first, let's see what I've pulled from the pipe files.

Over the past couple of years, a few readers have sent me this internet-famous photo that's said to be a man named Rocky Fiegel, the real-life inspiration for Elzie Segar's Popeye character.


There was an actual person named Frank "Rocky" Feigel who probably inspired Segar, but this photo isn't him. (Thank you, Snopes.com.)
 
The ubiquitous image commonly identified as Feigel is actually a British sailor whose shipmates nicknamed him Popeye. The photo is from 1940, more than a decade after Segar created his iconic character. The internet has conflated that photo with Feigel's biography, and it will probably always be associated with him.

Thanks to faithful friend of Bizarro Jamie S. for reminding us about this pipe smoking swabbie, and prompting me to investigate its authenticity.


No felons participated in the creation of the following cartoons.


Unfortunately, genies are masters of deceptive fine print. Sorry, Aladdinsured.


Tuesday's panel depicts a little-known subplot from the Book of Genesis.


Transylvanian IP law is clear on this point.


Apologies to anyone who doesn't find courtroom gags funny right now. I do understand, but I still like the defendant's reading material.


ATMs are time-savers, but this one takes it to the next level.


I believe I attended this very sales pitch a few years back, though the message wasn't delivered so explicitly.

The complex will be named A Revolting Development.

Thanks for checking in on my latest comical activities. Your readership means a lot to us, and we appreciate your comments, questions, and pipe pics. See you next week!

Bonus Track

X: "Fourth of July"
from the LP See How We Are
Elektra Records, 1987





This song was written by the great American musician and songwriter Dave Alvin, who has performed and recorded killer versions of it on his own and with the Blasters.

The post will be published two days after the fourth, but it will still sound good.

A Lovely Bunch of Bizarro



 

28 comments:

  1. Judi11:58 AM

    While I don't come here for politics I also will admit to being a little cranky over the current goings on. I hope you had peaceful and relaxing holiday!

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    1. Wayno4:29 PM

      Thanks, Judi. When non-editorial cartoonists express political views, it usually just provokes angry responses (often from people whose comments on anything are always political).

      However, as a human being above all else, I had to at least say something. One can't ignore the efforts of a small radical faction to seize power and trample the rights of women, immigrants, people of color, non-Christians, the LGBTQ community, and so many others -- literally a MAJORITY of the US population.

      Thanks for your kind comment.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous2:03 PM

    Ooohhh, thanks for the tip about the upcoming Dr. John! You're awesome, Jennifer in Yakima.

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    1. Anonymous2:03 PM

      *upcoming Dr. John book.

      Delete
    2. Wayno4:30 PM

      Thanks, Jennifer! I've been reacquainting myself with the "Gris-gris" album since I heard about David Toop's book.

      Delete
  3. David R2:46 PM

    While attending a conference in Las Vegas several years ago I saw a funny sight. At an ATM in the hotel lobby / casino were several Elvis impersonators in the queue, presumably in need of some cash...
    Tangential aside: Does anyone here have a good explanation as to why drive up ATMs have braille buttons and signage?

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    1. Wayno4:33 PM

      That would have made a great photo, David!

      A quick web search will answer your question about ATMs.

      Delete
    2. Mick3:31 PM

      The ATMs are the exact same machines no matter if they are plugged into a stand-alone cabinet, a wall at the mall or a drive-up kiosk. It makes zero sense to build different machines for mounting in different locales.

      Delete
    3. Morten Sickel9:26 AM

      Reminds me of once walking one if the side ways on 'the Strip' early afternoon and a van pulled up, emptying its load of Elvis impersonators. Got me wondering what is plural of Elvis? Elvises? Elvi? Elvisen? Would have loved to have a picture of it...

      Delete
    4. Wayno2:32 PM

      Ha! So many choices, Morten. I lean to "Elvi."

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:08 PM

      Popeye the Sailor 95 years of epic adventures created by Elzie Segar & King Features Syndicate serialized in TV films comics animation & media throughout the world.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous6:01 PM

    Thanks Wayno, for sayin’ it like it t.i., t.i.. ‘tis, and for saying it so succinctly.

    A little off topic - it seems contemporary songwriters have yet to encapsulate our current predicament(s) into a rousing, unifying, badly needed anthem we (well anyway for those of us hoping to retain our country’s way of life) can rally around. Being much more musically astute than the average bear, are you aware of any song or songs that might fit the bill? (I’m screwing up the courage to ask some skilled local musician friends if they might like to collab - I believe such a song is much in need, right now.) Think, “Ohio”, or Country Joe’s Vietnam War Rag (‘don’t recall the name, but has the lyrics , “1,2,3, what’re we fightin’ for, don’t ask me I don’t give a damn, next stop is Vietnam …”

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    1. Wayno10:59 AM

      I appreciate your kind comment.

      The music business today is so different from then. It's much more fragmented, with people accessing music in many different ways. It's not really a mass culture like it once was. I'm not sure that music is even as important to many people as it used to be, when learning about a record, buying it, unwrapping it, and playing the whole side were part of the process of getting inside of it. Everything is instantly available, and any individual band or song doesn't have the special value it did in those days. (Not a rant, just an observation).

      Oh, the Country Joe & the Fish song was "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag." The tune was copied from Kid Ory's "Muskrat Ramble," recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1926. The Ory family sued, but the court said they had waited too long to file the suit.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:25 AM

      Thanks, I was afraid of that - that is, the whole “fragmented” thing … (gunnar, Fresno, CA)

      Delete
  5. Anonymous9:29 PM

    I love the Inferiority Complex pun. In reference to your comment about calling it a Revolting Development, I have a a trivia question for you: What was the name of the 1950s TV series in which the catchphrase of the titular character was "What a revolting development this is!" ?
    Bonus points if you can name the actor.

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  6. Wayno11:00 AM

    "The Life of Riley," Chester Riley, played by Jackie Gleason! (William Bendix played the character on the earlier radio version.)

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    1. Anonymous1:56 PM

      Excellent! However, William Bendix did return to the TV series after the first season. You score bonus bonus points for referencing the radio show. Don't spend them all at one time.

      Delete
    2. Wayno9:08 AM

      Both incarnations of that show (radio and TV) were before my time, but I was somehow aware of it. After seeing Bendix in "The Glass Key" it's difficult to imagine him as a comedic figure!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:12 PM

      Popeye the Sailor literary character & legend.🇺🇸☀️🌈🌎🌏🌍🎭🎬⚓️⛵️🚤⛴🚢🛶📺📻🎉

      Delete
  7. Anonymous1:27 PM

    I would suggest "Monster/Suicide/America" by Steppenwolf. A great history lesson from my high school years, still painfully relevant...

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  8. Mick3:46 PM

    "If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop." ...
    Sonia Sotomayor, July 1, 2024

    That is not at all what the majority opinion handed down mandates. Immunity is only granted for official acts and for personal or unofficial acts.
    Kind of a sad state of affairs when a Supreme Court justice cannot grasp the essence of the majority decision just released by her colleagues.

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    1. Anonymous5:30 PM

      But the courts will decide whether an act is official or not. Any doubt what this current court will decide?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:04 PM

      Popeye the Sailor 95 years of epic adventures created by Elzie Segar serialized in TV films comics animation and media throughout the world.

      Delete
  9. Pat in Belgium5:38 AM

    May I suggest Randy Rainbow (his real name!) who's all over YouTube with his one-man hilarious political parodies, often using Broadway or pop music melodies, and incorporating real news footage, interview excerpts, and the like. (I don't work for him, get nothing for this recommendation.)

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    1. Wayno12:58 PM

      Thanks, Pat!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05 PM

      You’re always welcome!!!

      Delete
  10. Anonymous12:44 PM

    I was contemplating your Moses and the Ark cartoon. Dan suggested that he might not have taken “fish” creatures with him on the Ark, but who knows. Moses fishing for fish might have been for naught because he had the only non extinct fish left in his Ark? I know that this sounds fishy.

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    1. Wayno12:59 PM

      If you look closely at any of those stories they fall apart.

      Delete