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 think the misconceptions people have about artists is that artists walk around with unrealized things in their head, and the process of being an artist is making those become real. But I don’t really know any artists who work that way. You might have an idea of where you want to start, but the process of making something is the process of you starting to understand it as well. You find your way through making it, not you’ve got it all in your head. We are not architects, essentially. Architects have to plan it all in advance because otherwise the things fall down. But in art, it doesn’t matter if it all falls down.
~Brian Eno
Source: Brian Eno Looks Back At Roxy Music And More With Zane Lowe
Here we are at the final blog post for 2025. It continues to be my honor to make comics for Bizarro's community at the close of my eighth year as the daily cartoonist.
Brian Eno is one of the great artists and thinkers of modern times, and the lengthy quote from a March interview sums up the often nebulous process of creating art of any type, even one as lowly as cartooning. There isn't anything I care to add to Eno's eloquent statement, so I'll simply offer a few words of thanks.
I'm grateful to every reader, and all who commented, subscribed to my newsletter, or sent me pipe pics for the blog. Working with Dan Piraro as a creative partner is the best work experience I've ever had, and I don't expect it to be topped, so I'm hanging on into Year Nine of my Reign of Humor.
Our year-end pipe pic is a vintage print ad; magazine and publication date unknown.
I found this in September while exploring a time-wasting image-search rabbit hole. With that sculpted Brilliantine pompadour, the model could be mistaken for a particularly unqualified US cabinet member, minus the theocratic tattoos.
Now, let's check out the last full week of Bizarro gags for 2025, and see how many fell down and how many remained standing.
As stated above, I appreciate every online comment, even from readers who may have a beef with the gag, but was it really necessary for so many responses to be "more cowbell"?
It's only a matter of time before smart appliances evolve into smug appliances.
Behold the hunter-fabricator, and the coincidental second gag in a row to use the word "successful."
How the mighty have fallen, albeit in slow motion.
The username "Poppycock" should have raised a shiny red flag.
The week closed with a company known for excellent craftsmanship and questionable messaging.
Stop by next week as we face a new year of outrages and, one hopes, defeats of oppressors and their enablers.
I wish you a festive, fun, and safe New Year's celebration. I'll be offline as much as possible between now and January 1.
Talking Shop
Alex Garcia of King Features recently had me as a guest on the Inside the Kingdom podcast. I hope you enjoy the interview, and overlook my inability to look the camera in the eye.
Bonus Track
Eno: "Needles in the Camel's Eye"
From Here Come the Warm Jets
Island Records, 1974
Beginning in the early 1970s, to aid my quest for finding new and different music, I started reading the British music weeklies (New Musical Express, Melody Maker, and others), which were available in independent record stores and many newsstands. These papers introduced me to Roxy Music, and I devoured their LPs, beginning with their self-titled 1972 debut and its 1973 follow-up, For Your Pleasure.
One of the band's two geniuses, and arguably its most fascinating, was Brian Eno, who at that time went by his last name alone. He was credited with playing the VCS3 synthesizer (an early analog synth known for unstable tuning), tapes (or tape effects), and backing vocals. He was responsible for adding otherworldly noises to the band's performances of Bryan Ferry's songs.
I had no idea what to expect from his first solo album after departing from Roxy, but I knew I had to hear it. It was dense, weird, inscrutable, and fascinating, and unlike anything I'd heard before. The opening track, "Needles in the Camel's Eye," felt like a declaration of independence from Bryan Ferry's leadership, and a challenge to listeners to accompany him on an exploratory journey.
Vast Volumes of Bizarro Verbiage
If you like what we do and appreciate that it's still free, we encourage you to explore the following links.
No comments:
Post a Comment