WaynoBlog: July 2025

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

Seems to me it ain't the world that's so bad but what we're doing to it, and all I'm saying is: see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. Love, baby - love. That's the secret. If we loved each other, we'd solve many more problems. And then this world would be gasser.

Louis Armstrong

Throughout his lifetime, Louis Armstrong gave his date of birth as July 4, 1900. The date has never been definitively established, and probably never will be. Conflicting documents exist, and it's probable that he was born in 1901. A baptism certificate lists Armstrong's birthday as August 4, 1901.

Ricky Riccardi addresses the controversy in the first four pages of his excellent book Stomp Off, Let's Go. Riccardi's perfectly reasonable conclusion is:

Louis Armstrong, born on the Fourth of July, 1901. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, but that's the date this book will follow. In the end, it's all irrelevant; the bottom line is that Louis Armstrong was born, and that alone is something to celebrate.

I've cited Armstrong's quote in the past, and it's truer than ever. This weekend, I'm celebrating this truly great American.

Today's pipe pic is a beauty. It's a printed cardboard advertising sign that was probably displayed in a drugstore or tobacco shop in the early twentieth century.

I recently received it from Mike Michalik, a fellow Pennsylvanian and a collector of interesting ephemera. Mike hosted Auralcheology, one of my favorite podcasts, which sadly came to an end after 49 episodes.

The podcast featured music from various eras and genres, with each episode highlighting a specific performer. Mike always provided fascinating biographical information and history along with the music.

Although no new episodes are being produced, you can still listen to the whole series on Spotify. Check it out.

Thanks to Mike for all of Auralcheology and for the excellent bit of advertising art.

I hope the current batch of Bizarro gags adds a few chuckles to your three-day weekend.

Melville's works are being updated for the twenty-first century, with varying degrees of success.

Often referred to as "Russian dolls," the character in Tuesday's panel wears the colors and sunflower symbol of Ukraine.

My fellow cartoonist and good pal Mark Parisi emailed me this week to say, "Nesting dolls. They are addictive, aren't they?" Indeed, they are.

Mr. Parisi is the creator of the long-running cartoon panel, Off the Mark, and is one of six deserving nominees for this year's Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

Wednesday's gag presented the biggest challenge of the week, with two speech balloons, a caption, and a "split screen."

The strip layout was tricky, too, but I can't complain, since I have only myself to blame for the structure of the joke.

"The eights" is probably a high estimate, but at least he's wearing long pants.

Friday's gag celebrates my brief liberation from dialogue and captions. I'm always pleased when I'm able to get a joke across without words. If I can poke fun at a superhero at the same time, that's gravy.