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 mysterious pipe pic comes from Bizarro reader Stuart V.
The only information we have about it is that Stuart spotted it "on the backside of a garage, looking out over the countryside in Redmond, Oregon."
I can't decide whether it's whimsical, menacing, or both. Perhaps it was meant to protect the garage it's attached to.
Whatever its origin or purpose, I thank Stuart for the photo, and for not taking offense when I recently did a comic about someone named Stu.
Now, let's look at the cartoons I've been hiding behind for the past week.
Isn't their matching climbing gear adorable?
When I turned in this batch of comics, I spelled the chimp's name as "Cheetah." JB, my tireless editor asked me if it should be spelled without the final "h," and we both spent a fair amount of time researching the correct spelling.
The character never appeared in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan books, so that was a dead end.
Credits for the 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man used Cheeta, who was played by a chimp named Jiggs. Articles in The Washington Post and People Magazine referred to the animal character as Cheetah, as did The New York Times, in the animal's 2012 obituary.
A photo from the funeral only muddied the waters.
The box of ashes is marked Cheetah, and the memorial card says Cheeta.
We decided to go with Cheeta, as credited in the 1932 film. I think that variant looks more like a name anyway.
The poor fellow's only half-awake.
I shuffled more than two dozen titles while working out this gag.
Daria S., who received a Bizarro tee as a birthday gift from her husband Richard says, "On a gorgeous autumn day, my jazz pickle and I take in the sights of Saint John, New Brunswick on the shores of the Bay of Fundy."
Bizarro Jazz Pickle, Pipe of Ambiguity, and Irön Bunnies öf Dööm shirts are available in assorted colors from the Comics Kingdom Bizarro Collection.
Thanks to Daria and Richard for sharing this delightful photo. If you’d like to be a Bizarro fashion model, send your picture and a comment to WaynoCartoons(at)gmail(dot)com.
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Thank you for reading Bizarro and supporting the art of cartooning.
See you next week.
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Oh man! I haven’t heard ‘Martian Hop’ since Dr. Demento! Cool beans!
ReplyDeleteWayno, thanks for all you do, even and especially for the "Martian Hop", but i have to tell I don't understand the one about the sheriff broadcasting the alert for the escaping convicts; my best guess is that the word "seersucker" is a sibilantly-named suit to sport in the sibilantly-named Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if wearing seersucker in the summer is still a tradition in the South, but the weird bumpy cotton fabric (usually striped in some pastel and white) was perfect for people in pre-AC times who were forced by their positions to wear suits in hot weather. They still have a "seersucker day" in the U.S. Senate.
DeleteThank u, Anonymous. By the way, I loved your novel, "Primary Colors".
DeleteThanks to Anonymous for jumping in! Yes, I was riffing on folks in the southern US wearing seersucker in the hotter months. It's not so widespread nowadays, since so many adults wear short pants year-round!
DeleteLove the Warhol / Velvet flag...
ReplyDeleteI thought the same when I saw that banana!
DeleteGood catch!
Delete"Martian Hop" is one of my favorite novelty songs! I have it on a CD called THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, a collection of UFO and space-themed songs by everyone from Sheb Wooley to the Jefferson Airplane.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a cool collection, Jeff. For those who are REALLY gaga for science fiction type songs, I recommend Rhino's epic "Brain in a Box" collection.
DeleteI agree with the insightful (inciteful?) comments of Oscar and Wayno regarding masks– physical, metaphorical, and Internet. But rather than revealing truth or one's true nature, social media have encouraged too many people to reveal only the worst aspect of their nature. Freud's unrestrained ID, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Vere.
DeleteSometimes a mask is just a beard and eyeliner - LOL - quote of the week!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI’m glad that you left out the thousands of other people and cheetah’s, that are lined up like ants, behind the ones that you put on Everest’s peak.
ReplyDeleteJohn Hurlbut
John, Absolutely true.
DeleteBy coincidence, I read an article - Smithsonian or Nat'l Geo, perhaps? - about the "traffic jams" on the south face, and the deaths caused by inexperience and/or stupidity. A shame, but the Chinese gov't wants to sell as many permits as it can; easy money. And for the Sherpas, it's their only income, so they do things despite their knowing better. Excellent article.
DeleteYes, I've read about that phenomenon, too. Awful. I can just imagine a tourist at the summit complaining because the cappuccino truck is out of almond milk.
DeleteI’m always impressed by the fact checking and research you put into a cartoon panel. Here It would be so easy to say “It’s a comic panel about a fictional character and his fictional chimpanzee accomplice on the top of Everest, with a Warhol tribute flag. Is accuracy really that important?”
ReplyDeleteIt Is, and we (or at least I), appreciate the extra effort. Another great week of Bizarro!
Thank you, Kevin! You might be pleased to know that I drew the banana, although I had a high resolution scan from the album cover that I could've used!
DeleteDue credit must also go to JB, my editor! She's the greatest!