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
Detail and texture have a reason for existing beyond just my taste; they flatter wear and erosion. A flat block of concrete looks worse every day it exists. A carved form looks better because the patterns of erosion it undergoes outline the carving.
Brian Eno
I recently began reading A Year With Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno's Diary (1995), and finding it even more enjoyable than I'd anticipated. Eno is one of the smartest and most interesting people in the arts. He's an original thinker adept at writing about his art in an entertaining voice.
The quote above comes from one of the book's many appendices. In a letter to a friend, Eno expresses his disdain for modern buildings with solid glass exteriors. The erosion analogy resonated with me because I felt a similar antipathy toward digital art around that same time.
By the mid-1990s, I knew I'd have to start using Photoshop for my illustration and comics work, if not to draw and color the art, at least to deliver it electronically. I resisted because I hated the slick digital images I saw everywhere. That first wave of digitally created art was too sterile and "perfect" for my taste—it reminded me of certain over-rendered airbrush illustrations of the 1970s and 80s.
Eventually, I realized that an artist can use Photoshop as a tool without being controlled by it. I could draw traditionally and after scanning the art, I could resize, rearrange, clean up, and color it without eliminating evidence of the human hand.
I love seeing the natural imperfections (Eno's "detail and texture") in an enlarged scan of a drawing.
I employ a tiny fraction of Photoshop's capabilities in my comics and artwork. If the program is a giant warehouse of tools, I'm getting by with a screwdriver, a ruler, and a utility knife, and I'm usually (relatively) happy with the results. Either way, I know it's my own and not the result of soulless bots scraping and stealing the work of others.
A few weeks back, my middle brother sent me a Fred MacMurray pipe pic, and this week, the youngest of us three sent me a photo he took at an art museum.
He even included this handy information.
Today, I tip my hat to baby brother for spotting this cubist work and sending it my way.
We now present the most recent Bizarro comics, with all imperfections intact.
We kicked off the week with my latest salute to surrealist René Magritte, who inspired the Pipe of Ambiguity.
Tuesday's gag has that "ewe factor."
This was not intentionally timed to coincide with any real-life high-profile criminal proceedings, although a certain case in the news is proving to be a hell of a journey.
Here we segue from self-incrimination to an interesting sort of self-awareness.
The familiar depiction of Aladdin's lamp has always reminded me of a fancy little teapot, and I used that resemblance for a bit of visual misdirection in Friday's gag.
I dig the beat writers and the music they inspired, while also enjoying mass culture's warped reflection of the beat generation, as evidenced by this gag.
The "low ceiling" of the strip layout has an appropriately claustrophobic vibe.
Bonus Track
Tom Waits: "Underground" From the album Swordfishtrombones Island Records, 1983
Swordfishtrombones was a turning point for Waits, one of several in his long ongoing career. He began to move beyond the boozy beatnik hipster persona and more conventional style of his earlier records.
Although the albums that preceded it were rather weird in their own right, the songwriting and arranging became more experimental and idiosyncratic with this release.
More Bizarro for Your Hungry Eyes
If you like what we do and appreciate that it comes to you free of charge, we encourage you to explore any or all of the following links.
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
I plan to be away from the studio and computer this weekend, enjoying spring weather and the company of fellow humans, so this post will stick to the basics. Which, of course, includes a pipe pic.
Last month I shared a photo from an eBay listing titled "German Toy Head with Pipe." I then searched the web for "German toy pipe," and was shocked by the number of hits it returned.
This character is described as a hedgehog from the 1970s.
Apparently pipe-smoking toys were a thing in Germany.
A Pleasant Surprise
I was notified on Sunday that I'm one of three finalists for a 2023 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award in the Newspaper Panels Division.
My fellow nominees are Dave Blazek and Nick Galifianakis, and I’m honored to be named alongside these two excellent cartoonists.
NCS members voted this week, and the awards will be presented in San Diego in August. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my expectations low.
I shared this news with subscribers to my weekly newsletter on Monday. If you'd like to read more behind-the-scenes stuff, you might consider checking it out. It's free and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Let's see if any of the week's Bizarro panels are award-worthy.
The Hemogoblin is a little-known beast from medical mythology. And yes, they usually wear Crocs.
"But do you know anyone who sells privacy screens?"
More than a few readers asked whether the Fish of Humility symbol appears in this panel. I didn't draw one, and it took me a while to see what they might be referring to. I'm guessing it was the flame on Liberty's torch. I can see why that could be mistaken for a fish tail. If you saw it as one, award yourself a point for finding an unintentional symbol.
We never deliberately put an incorrect number by the signature (except perhaps on April Fools' Day.) When that happens, it's an honest mistake by one of your mathematically challenged cartoonists.
I'm always grateful for readers who pay close attention to the details, even when they point out an error on my part.
I like this gag because the payoff is out of frame, and only appears in the reader's mind, and it happened in the past, so it's twice-removed from the scene we see.
In the strip layout, the character who speaks is also partly off-camera.
Fantasy football's got nothing on these make-believe musicians. If nothing else, they're dedicated to their craft.
Her alternate job title is Fair and Balanced Godmother.
That wraps up another batch of words and pictures from my Little Shop of Humor. Thanks for dropping by. Please come back next week for more of this kind of thing.
Bonus Track
Television: "Venus" From the album Marquee Moon Elektra Records, 1977
I was fortunate enough to see Television perform in my hometown twice. The first time, in 1977, they were the opening act for Peter Gabriel, and my recollection is that the audience gave them a poor reception. When they returned in 2015, they were properly welcomed.
Television's signature sound was highlighted by the intertwining guitars of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd.
Even More Bizarro Stuff for You
If you like what we do and appreciate that it comes to you free of charge, we encourage you to explore any or all of the following links.
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
Dreams are constructed from the residue of yesterday.
Sigmund Freud
I hadn't planned on quoting Freud in two consecutive posts but his words from The Interpretation of Dreams are particularly fitting this week.
Last Sunday night into Monday morning, I had a vivid dream of working on a project in my garage. I was standing by a folding table, cutting apart a large poster with an oversized pair of scissors. I then rearranged the pieces and secured them using egg yolks as homemade glue.
I was doing this to reconfigure a portrait-oriented poster to fit into a horizontal frame. It was a precise analog equivalent of what I do with Photoshop in my waking life every week.
As many of you know, some newspapers print Bizarro in a horizontal strip configuration. The feature is available in both formats to make it easier to sell if a potential client has a strip-sized vacancy. I conceive and draw the gags as vertical panels, and after they're completed, I digitally rearrange the parts to fit into a widescreen strip.
I woke up with a laugh because this was the first time I ever had a dream about doing this comic. In the past, I've had nightmares related to jobs I was working. Some of the less disturbing ones involved showing up at the office without shoes (or worse).
One summer during my college years, I worked in a hot, dirty, dangerous factory, and was assigned to a different shift every week. My sleep cycles were disrupted for three months, and I lost a ridiculous amount of weight from my already small frame. Once, after working the four to midnight shift, I dreamed that I was in my bed (where I actually was at the time). I saw/hallucinated a forklift in the corner of my bedroom, as if the factory had infiltrated my home. I vowed never to again work on rotating shifts.
Although I found the recent Bizarro dream amusing, I'd much rather wake up with a usable gag. Maybe next time.
Today's weirdly charming pipe pic is a shot of the men's room door in a Mexico City restaurant.
Bizarro reader Bruce D. spotted this while on vacation and was kind enough to send me his photo. I've been wondering what they have on the door to the women's room. If I could see them both, I might be able to figure out the meaning, but for now, it remains a tantalizing mystery.
Heartiest thanks to Bruce for sharing his find with us.
All of this week's Bizarro comics were written and drawn while your cartoonist was fully awake.
After inking this gag, I became envious of the comedian's amplifier. I bet a harmonica would sound wicked played through that thing, and at the very least, it would look cool.
I'm as guilty as anyone of asking a server to take a group photo when we're out to dinner with friends, but I always show my appreciation when calculating our gratuity.
The Terminator movies may have been onto something.
Thursday's panel offered a dark take on a game of Rochambeau.
I was pleased with the strip version of this gag, which felt a little more threatening.
I'm taking suggestions for the name of this astronaut, the first to squawk on the moon.
The signs are nice, but airports are among the least calming places to be, which is probably why their bars open so early.
The strip layout forced me to rearrange the inspirational art on the walls, which fortunately required no egg-based adhesives.
Bonus Track
Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra: "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" Recorded in Chicago, November 4, 1931
The opening discussion of dreams allows me to (once again) share my favorite Louis Armstrong recording. I enjoy almost every phase of his career, but the years 1931 and 1932 are my sweet spot. This particular number gets me every time I hear it.
Bizarro Bonanza
If you like what we do and appreciate that it comes to you free of charge, we encourage you to explore any or all of the following links.
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
If
one has occasion as a doctor to make the acquaintance of one of those
people who, though not remarkable in other ways, are well known in their
circle as jokers and the originators of many viable jokes, one may be
surprised to discover that the joker is a disunited personality,
disposed to neurotic disorders.
Sigmund Freud from Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious
Greetings from Hollywood Gardens, PA, where your cartoonist is feeling gratitude for modern conveniences. Around ten o'clock Monday morning, a water main break interrupted our neighborhood's water service. By early evening, it hadn't yet been restored, so my spouse and I walked to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed a meal together on a lovely spring evening.
When I woke up Tuesday morning, the pipes were still dry, and I couldn't focus on anything other than the fact that my system needed caffeine, stat! I jumped in the car and went in search of coffee.
By the time I returned, the repairs were complete and everything was functioning normally, but I was grumbling about having to drink coffee from a certain ubiquitous chain. A quick shower moderated my mood but didn't wash away the realization that in less than twenty-four hours, I'd become a muttering crank.
Fortunately, I confined my poor behavior to the home, and my spouse and I had a good laugh about it. The incident reminded me how absolutely spoiled we are by having everything we might need at our fingertips at all times.
Perhaps an occasional service interruption isn't so terrible if it makes us think twice before ranting about a minor inconvenience.
I recovered from my temporary neurotic disorder, and for the rest of the week, my home-brewed java tasted better than usual. Maybe I learned a small lesson.
A family member suggested today's pipe pic of Fred MacMurray, who has appeared in the blog before.
On April 10 (National Sibling Day) I sent both of my brothers an old family photo of the three of us. As kids, we watched My Three Sons on TV every week, and my middle brother remarked that in those days, we related to the titular sons (Robbie, Chip, and Ernie) but now all three of us are more like their grumpy caretaker Uncle Charley.
L-R: Barry Livingston ("Ernie"), William Demarest ("Uncle Charley"), Stanley Livingston ("Chip"), Don Grady ("Robbie")
I'm approaching the age where I feel more like Uncle Charley's predecessor, Bub (portrayed by William Frawley).
Let's check out this week's Bizarro comics, which Dr. Freud might have said are the product of a disunited personality.
For Tax Day, we presented a method to stimulate business. My first idea was candy toothbrushes, but this seemed to work better.
I wondered if it would be possible to do a Narcissus joke without including the name or drawing the trope of him admiring himself in a pond. I think the character's body language and facial expression do a decent job of showing personality type, but I also gave him a monogrammed belt buckle.
I resisted the temptation to call the ride the Tunnel of Self-Love.
They refer to themselves as Original Gagstas.
It's more convenient, but it doesn't have that warm analog sound.
I scanned an old clothbound volume to get a funky texture for the book in this panel. We spare no effort to bring you quality cartoon content here at BizarroCo.
Some advertising characters have dark psychological subtexts.
That, my friends, is the latest from my Little Shop of Humor. Thank you for visiting. We'll have another batch of new stuff next week.
Bonus Track
The Lively Set: "There's Nothing Like Coffee" Straight Ahead Records single, 1966
Sascha Burland, who cowrote this tune, was a jazz musician who earned a living writing commercial jingles, cartoon music, and novelty songs like this one. Burland and his frequent collaborator Don Elliott recorded as The Nutty Squirrels, a jazzed-up response to the Chipmunks.
An Abundance of Bizarro
If you like what we do and appreciate that it comes to you free of charge, we encourage you to explore any or all of the following links.
