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
Greetings from your nose-to-the-grindstone cartoonist.
I'm planning to escape the studio for a bit, so I've been doing extra work to put more distance between myself and our deadlines. Subsequently, I'm too tired for a lengthy, clever intro today. Consider it my gift to you for the week!
Thanks to all of you who responded to the Igor Stravinsky quote about imposing constraints as a way to spark creativity. My appreciation for our readers has increased yet again.
Let's jump directly to this week's pipe pic. It's a terrific shot of a fisherman, taken in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, somewhere around 1906.
This comes to us from the website of the Library of Congress, where the original glass negative is archived (assuming it hasn't been destroyed for being a legitimate historic image).
Although my art may never end up at the Library of Congress, I'm preserving it to the best of my ability. Here's your look into my archive for Week 33 of 2025.
The doomsayer carrying an ominous warning is a stock gag cartoon character, and this guy turned up on the drawing board a while back. He's not fully committed to the bit.
I opted for a vertical strip layout, positioning the Secret Symbols closer to the protagonist. I dropped one symbol from the strip, which only has four, while the panel has five. I'll do something like that very occasionally, figuring that nobody is likely to see both versions. Oh, wait a minute...
If Spotify's A.I. disc jockey were choosing the music for a drive, I'd consider steering into a fire hydrant to escape.
The strip layout required some serious rearrangement, but it works rather well.
Full disclosure: I drew the character once and made a reversed duplicate in the digital realm. The theme is carried through to the identical pairs of Secret Symbols.
The strip layout has a slightly different rhythm, with two word balloons instead of one with two tails.
That's the current batch of quirky quadrilaterals from Bizarro Studios. We'll deliver another six-pack one week from today. Thanks for checking them out.
In addition to the blog, I send out a free weekly newsletter, which always includes a peek at an upcoming gag, along with some old art or design from the files. You can read it here, and if you choose to subscribe, it'll arrive in your digital mailbox every week.
Bonus Tracks
Maynard Ferguson: Theme from Star Trek
From Conquistador
Columbia Records LP, 1977
Columbia Records LP, 1977
Maynard Ferguson (1928-2006) was one of the most popular trumpeters of his time, and his performance style was often as hammy and over-the-top as William Shatner's. Ferguson was known for playing in the trumpet's highest register, and no doubt was hated by dogs.
When I was in high school, the band nerds were crazy about him and often referred to him by his first name only. This recording, with a gigantic band, is representative of his output in the late 1970s.
Scads of Bizarro Stuff
If you enjoy what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
Red Clay, top of my list
ReplyDeleteRic
Ooops, great song, wrong trumpeter. I should know better.
ReplyDeleteRic
I love the "O'Shatner" panel! I suggest that you watch "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," on Paramount+ if you can. It's in Season 3 now, and episode 4, "A Space Adventure Hour," lampoons the original Trek TV show, including a captain who has Shatner's halting delivery. It's a fine series.
ReplyDeleteConquistador came out when I was working very hard at being a high school jazz band nerd. Maynard was the subject of much vexatious disputation: Is Maynard fantastic or ridiculous? Is Maynard's finger on the pulse or has he sold out? Is a high Triple B flat a worthy aspiration or empty swagger? I think his version of the Star Trek theme has aged at least as well as the show itself...
ReplyDeletePaul B