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
Today's pipe pic is quite special, and I'm grateful to our friend Becky B. for sending us this family photo.
Becky shared this story:
When a teenage girl in a romantic phase, I once asked my mother if she recalled any specific moment in which, of my father, she thought, "I’d like to marry this guy." Alas, she could not recall ever having had such a moment. But she added that if ever she did think that, it probably would have been sometime when they were sailing.
Fast forward thirty years. When going through some of her personal effects, I found this circa 1940 photo. My sentimental self has decided that someone did, indeed, capture the moment that I had described. And, how extra special: While my memories of my father have his smoking limited to cigarettes, he’s sporting a pipe!
I hope that you enjoy its story.
Please pardon the partial coffee cup ring on the pic. My 1950s-1960s youth included a household of adults non-stop smoking & drinking coffee. But it was a home filled with music, literature (especially cartoons), lively conversations, and love. I was phenomenally blessed.
Notes like Becky's remind me again that Bizarro has a wonderful community of readers. By the way, I think the coffee ring adds to the photo's charm.
After remembering Coltrane, and reading that lovely memory from our friend, here are some of my silly drawings and words.
They aren't the flashiest, but their powers are impressive.
Shortly after I uploaded my "finished" week of gags, I noticed that I had undercounted the Secret Symbols in this panel and placed a "4" next to the signature. Once again I was saved by my hardworking editors.
The manbaby in Thursday's panel is dressed like Oswald "Stinky" Davis, a character from The Abbott and Costello Show, portrayed by comedic actor Joe Besser. He was known for whiny catchphrases like, "Not so harrrrrd!" and, "You crazy, you!"
We haven't received any photos of readers wearing Bizarro t-shirts this week, so I'm forced to use a hotel room selfie.
I was a little excited here because I was wearing one of the first Irön Bunnies shirts to make it out into the world.
Get Yours! All three Bizarro tees, available in various colors, can be ordered from the Comics Kingdom Shop.
If you’d like to be a Bizarro spokesmodel, send your picture (and a testimonial if you like) to WaynoCartoons(at)gmail(dot)com.
By sending your photo, you permit us to share it online. Readers will be identified by first name only. Whether you send a picture or not, we truly appreciate your purchase of Bizarrowear.
Please don't make me take another one of myself.
That wraps up yet another week of cartoon shenanigans.
Thank you for reading Bizarro and supporting the art of cartooning.
See you next week.
If you like what we do and appreciate that it comes to you free of charge, we encourage you to explore the following links.
Many thanks!
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Subscribe to The Naked Cartoonist
Dan "Diego" Piraro's Peyote Cowboy Graphic Novel
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A friend of mine liked to frequent conferences and meetings back in the day when self stick name badges were mandatory. He loved to make up funny names just in case his name was selected for a door prize. One of my fav funny names was "Stu Baudasso".
ReplyDeleteHe could have made prank calls to the Tube Bar!
DeleteThe quote that you shared from Becky, and the picture of the pipe smoking gentleman, reminded me of how things were at that time. My parents would very occasionally have some people over from work for a small “get together” at our house. It was a large company that they worked for and my father was up-and-coming in the Lab dept. Anyway they all wore suits and ties and smoked. My parents had maybe 4 kids at the time and we were all subjected to this smoke. Nobody knew any better. And I have pictures of everyone smoking in one room, dressed like that. This had to be the early 60s. Crazy. Years later a friend of mine showed me his father’s ’university graduation’ photo and he was holding a cigarette in the photo. He didn’t smoke but someone suggested to him that it would look better if he held one. Which brings me to Becky’s picture. It’s unlikely that you’d smoke a pipe on a sailboat, so it occurred to me that it might be another sign of the times. (Maybe staged for a better picture). Of course I could be wrong. Fortunately only one of my 5 siblings ended up smoking and my parents quit in their 30s.
ReplyDeleteYes, the times were different! We were raised in a nicotine fog, too. I remember having a ballpoint pen that was made to look like a skinny cigar with a holder, and we'd walk around pretending to smoke.
DeleteFavorite Joe Besser line: "I'll give you such a piiiiinch!"
ReplyDeleteHa! The perfect distillation of all that was Besser.
DeleteAh, I was hoping for more commentary on the cat holding Tom's cup :-) Did he brazenly steal it and drink with it in front of Tom? Did the Tom/Turkey donate it to the kitchen? Is everyone named Tom there?? Feels like a nod to the "Who's been stealing my lunch?" trope.
ReplyDeleteJust simple mistaken identity between coworkers Tom Cat and Tom Turkey.
Delete