Saturday, December 20, 2025

Ghost in the Machine

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 

To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.
Thomas Jefferson

Tomorrow, December 21, is the Winter Solstice, the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. It has certainly been a very dark year, but Solstice reminds us that darkness will dissipate and offers hope for enlightenment to overcome ignorance.

As 2025 draws to a close, I wish us all a bright Solstice and a better New Year.

This week's pipe pic is a seasonally-appropriate shot of Frank Zappa.

I believe this image originally appeared on a promotional card from Barfko-Swill, the mail-order business Gail Zappa established in the 1980s.

Update from Bizarro field correspondent Beej:
The Zappa image is from the Honker Home Video Christmas card, sent to all on the mailing list in 1988, [when] Frank [was] still with us.
Big thanks to Beej for clearing that up!

This week's gags include a couple of appearances by Saint Nick. I held out as long as I could.

Fortunately, he can move his own name to the Nice List.


I was, of course, making a pun on the word "s'mores," but when I looked at this after uploading it, it sounded a bit naughty.


Some guys never stop overcompensating.


A tip of the winter fedora to my friend Tim P, whose comment on this panel provided the title for today's blog.


In real life, I've only been asked one of these.


Surely this now exists as an app.

Santa returns to bookend the week, appearing in a familiar cartoon situation. 

That's the blog for this week. Thanks for stopping by.

I expect to get the next two installments out as scheduled, although the year-end crunch and a scheme to take a few days off may result in less commentary, which some may see as a relief.

Whatever holidays you may celebrate, I hope you're among people you love and who love you.

Still Flogging That Merch


You can still save 50% on your entire Bizarro Shop order with the code BIZARROHOLIDAY25 at checkout.

It's too late to buy gifts for anyone else, but why not treat yourself?


     

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Saturday, December 13, 2025

Quietly Complex or Noisily Simple

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 I had more time, I'd have written a shorter letter.
(attributed to) Mark Twain

That pithy sentiment, which Twain may have composed, paraphrases "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time," which was definitely penned (albeit in French) by 17th-century French philosopher, physicist, mathematician, inventor, and theologian Blaise Pascal in his Lettres Provinciales.

I share it today because Bizarro reader J.Z. mentioned it to me the other day, adding that the quote "pertains to your [cartoon] format and the quiet complexity it sometimes contains."

One of the more challenging aspects of creating single-panel cartoons, as well as the most necessary, is verbal and visual editing to remove anything that's not needed to deliver the gag. Dialogue or captions can easily become so wordy that the verbiage obscures the payoff.

At times, a word balloon's verbosity is part of the joke, but it's usually best to simplify.

I like the phrase "quiet complexity," and hope I achieve it from time to time. Our reader's comment is more literate than my usual description of single-panel gags as the punk rock 45s of cartooning.

Before drawing Tuesday's "Sidekick Law Firm" gag, I ran an image search for actors who have played Sherlock Holmes's Dr. Watson. Among the results was this caricature of British actor Nigel Bruce, who was best known for his portrayal of Watson in several films and a radio series.

New Zealand cartoonist Allen Reeve (1910-1962) did the caricature. Nigel Bruce must have liked it, since this image is a glossy photo of Reeve's drawing, autographed by Bruce.


The signature on this 1938 self-portrait by Reeve matches the one on the Nigel Bruce drawing and confirms that it's the same artist. 

In 1932, at age 22, Reeve published a book of 250 caricatures of notable people from Wellington, New Zealand, where he lived. He traveled extensively as a cartoonist and journalist, and his work was published in American magazines such as Fortune, Town and Country, and Vogue.

If this week's comics aren't all punk rock 45s, at least none are triple-LP gatefold-cover concept albums.


The good news is that the mold problem was eliminated.


As someone who once had an overnight lock-in shelf-stocking job at a local grocery store, I can confirm that the referenced syndrome is pure fiction.

When you can't afford first-rate attorneys, go to the second fiddles.


Few biblical scholars know that Cain was an early grammar nerd.


Speaking of grammar, I know that the sign should say "fewer" rather than "less," but supermarket express lane signs nearly always use "less." I applied for and was granted special dispensation in this case.

For the strip configuration, I had some fun with the shelves in the background, and swapped out the flying saucer secret symbol for the dynamite.

Rapunzel never left the tower, but she always tried to look her best.

My Substack newsletter, available this afternoon, includes the alternate strip version and an early sketch of the Rapunzel gag that we abandoned in favor of the one you see here.

That's the blog for this week, and I hope it wasn't too lengthy. Join us again next Saturday for more cartoons and commentary.

Does Anybody Really Know What Day It Is?


You can be in the know for all of 2026 with a Bizarro Canines & Felines wall calendar hanging in your home or office. It's available at the Comics Kingdom Shop, along with t-shirts, hats, and holiday.

Currently, you can save 50% on your entire order by using the code BIZARROHOLIDAY25 at checkout.

Bonus Track

The Kinks: "Father Christmas"
Arista Records single, 1977


The Kinks seemed to draw renewed energy from the emergence of 1970s punk rock and released this great Christmas single, full of cynicism, humor, and crunchy guitar.


Gobs of Bizarro Goodies

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.


     

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Saturday, December 06, 2025

This Wheel's On Fire

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 the winter wonderland that is Hollywood Gardens, PA.

The first measurable snowfall of the season hit us this week. Our area had about three inches of heavy, wet snow, kicking off my supplementary seasonal exercise program.

At least it got me out of the studio for a bit.

And now, here's the blog for Week 49 of 2025.


I spotted today's pipe in the New York Times back in July.


The photo accompanied the paper's obituary of Ronald Ribman, a surrealist/absurdist playwright.

After earning a bachelor's degree in business, followed by master's and doctoral degrees in English (all from the University of Pittsburgh), he saw an Edward Albee play and thought he could do better, so he started writing his own. 

Before reading his obit, I hadn't heard of Mr. Ribman, but I feel a kinship with all artists of the surreal and the absurd.


Let's see how the latest Bizarro gags rate on the Absurd-O-Meter.


This doesn't qualify as a wordless gag; perhaps it's more of a pantomime, though it involves a sort of wordplay. Whatever it is, I was happy with its simplicity.


The Dynamite of Boom Secret Symbol goes by the palindromic alias TNT.


I'd love to hear this guy's hecklers.


I had difficulty simulating the extreme cuteness necessary to put this joke across.

I managed to pull off a wordless gag late in the week. It even has a bit of a delayed payoff.

Saturday's panel imagined history's first mash-up.

Thanks for checking in. See you again next Saturday as we careen toward 2026. Make sure you're registered to vote in next year's midterm elections.

The Twelve Months of Bizarro 


It's not too late to order a 2026 Bizarro Canines & Felines wall calendar for everyone on your gift list. You could even treat yourself. They're available at the Comics Kingdom Shop. 

We also have a selection of t-shirts, hats, and holiday ornaments in King's Bizarro Shop.

Bonus Track

NRBQ: "I Love Her, She Loves Me"
From NRBQ At Yankee Stadium
Mercury Records, 1978


"I Love Her, She Loves Me" has a beautiful lead vocal by Joey Spampinato and a toy piano solo by Terry Adams.


Bizarro Across the Worldwide Webs

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.


     

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